be deceaued and that by those meanes we shoulde not be throwne hedlonge into destruction For therto at the length commeth the fellowshippes with Sathan For the deuil is a lier the father of lyes and he is also a murtherer euen from the beginning as Christ hath taught Wherfore let this be a firm sentēce which the scholemen also in the 2. boke of Sentences Disti 8 among them Thomas especially so that not only the old fathers haue ratified that if there be any thing to be desired which is aboue the faculty of mā the same ought to be desired onely of God which thing they which do not they fall into Apostacy from faith The inconstancy of certayn fathers and especially of scholemen worshipping creatures insteede of god I would to god both the olde fathers and the schole men would haue abidden constant in it who afterwarde forgettinge themselues I cannot tell how consented to the inuocations of sayntes beynge nowe deade and haue instituted exorcistes or cuniurers to the bodyes reliques of saints which being adorned with no peculier gift of miracles do with most seuere threatninges and very imperiously adiure deuils desiringe of the sayntes whych are now dead to driue out euill sprites out of those that be possessed But those spirytes if sometymes they gooe oute as they are bidden they doo not that agaynste etheyr wyll but they dyssemble obedience therewith to establyshe idolatrye And it is no lesse pleasaunte to them to possesse soules then to vere bodies Augustine in his x. booke de ciuitate dei the .xi. Augustine chapt telleth that Porphyrius wrote vnto Anebuntes that certayne sorcerers were so accustomed with threatninges to feare deuils that they said That if they would not do those things which they wer cōmaunded to do they would break down heauen earth and so presse and punish them Who seeth not here the subtelties of the deuil which faineth that he feareth such folish and ridiculous cuniuratiōs as they call them But of this we haue spoken very largely I thinke it good nowe to returne to examine the laste parte of our difinicion wherin it was sayd that miracles are therfore done to establish fayth And that seemeth to be very much against this particle that we ought not lightly to geue credite vnto miracles forasmuch as they may shew occasion of erring And ther hence is deriued no sure kind of argument but an argument very daungerous And that is proued by manye places First the Lorde sayth in the .24 chapter of Math. that the false prophetes in the latter time shall by sygnes so deceiue men that if it were possible euen the very electe should be deceiued which selfe same sentence Paul to the Thessal more amply prosecuted By the boke of Exodus also we learne that we may not beleue signes For the sorcerers of Pharao did for a little space worke the same signes which Moses did In Deutr. also it is commaūded that we must not beleue a prophet although he worke signes if he moue vs to idolatry Wherfore seing miracles may be wrought aswel for the defending of false doctrine Augustine as for true they ought not to be counted mete to confirm faith Yea and Augustine in his 10. boke de ciuitate dei the .16 chapt writeth If aūgels require sacrifices to be offred vnto them and worke signes and contrarywise if other shall testify that we must sacrifice onely vnto God and yet working no miracles we must beleue them and not the other The same Augustine contra Faustum de Manichaeis sayth Miracles ar not sufficient to cōfirm faith Signes ye worke none wherby we should beleue you yea and although ye shoulde woorke them yet shoulde wee not beleue you Wherfore we must know that miracles in very deede are not sufficient to confyrme fayth for it is before all thinges nedefull to iudge of that doctrine whiche is brought and that by the testimony of the holy scriptures wherewith if it do agree we must beleue it euen without signes But if miracles be added the beleuers are still the more established and they whiche yet haue not beleued are made at the least more attentife and the way to beleue is opened vnto them Miracles and sacramentes ar after a sort like Miracles also ar after a sort like vnto sacraments for both of them ar added as certayne seales vnto promises And euen as miracles profite not vnlesse firste there be a respect had vnto the doctrine so also the Sacramentes bring no commodity but much hurt vnlesse they be receaued with a pure fayth Both of them serue to confyrme faythe but neither of them are sufficient by themselues For they are blessed and to be praysed in dede which beleue without the helpe of miracles Our Lord sayth Blessed ar they which haue not sene and haue beleued And yet for all that the confyrmation of signes is not to be contemned Why the lorde sometimes forbad that his miracles should be published Paraduenture thou wilt say Seing they are so profitable to confyrme fayth why did the Lorde in Math. the .9 and .11 and in manye other places forbidde that they shoulde be published There were many causes thereof he woulde firste haue his doctrine preached and afterward miracles shoulde followe But if he had permitted certayne whome he healed strayghtwaye to haue published abroade that which he had done then should not doctrine haue bene ioyned with that spreading abroade of the miracle forasmuch as they were not yet instructed in godlynes He did it also least he shoulde seeme to be infected with-vayne desyre of worldly glory Therefore he would by hys own example withdraw vs from the same Farther none knew better then himself what they wer whome he healed And he woulde not suffer euerye one to publishe and preache his miracles Wherfore he prohibited diuers that they should not do it Moreouer he saw that by the vayne and naked preachinge of miracles it woulde come to passe that the light and fickle vulgare people shoulde not be led vnto the sincere fayth but rather to appoynte vnto him worldly honours which he coueted not And this to be true the .6 chap. of Iohn declareth where it is written that the people bicause they receaued breade of him woulde haue made him a kinge Lastly he would not stirre vp agaynst himself the enuy and woodnes of the high Priestes Scribes and Pharesies more then oportunity of time woulde suffer Wherfore in Luke the .9 chap. when in hys transfiguracion he had shewed vnto his Apostles a shew of his glory he cōmaunded thē that they should not at that time publishe abrode that which they had seene The same thinge also he commaunded when demaunding what men sayd of himself he had wroong from Peter the true confession wherin he affirmed that he was the sonne of God he commaunded I say that they should not tel vnto other that Iesus was the Messias For they wer not then
God that they being turned into the body of a man not withstanding yet abode Angels doest thou take away thus from God which is more mightie as though Christ putting on man in very dede wer not able to remayne God Thus Tertulian fighteth against the Marcionites The errour of the Marcionites for they affirmed that Christ seemed to haue a humane bodye but in verye deede hee had none Tertulian obiecteth against them and if ye graunt this saith he vnto the Aungels that they had true bodies why doo ye not rather graunt it vnto the sonne of God And he addeth Or did those Angels appeare in fantesy of fleshe But thou darest not say so for if it be so that thou count the Angels of the creator as Christ then shal Christ be of the same substance as the Aungels are and the Angels shal be suche as Christ is If thou diddest not sometimes of purpose reiect and sometimes corrupt the scriptures which resist thy opinion the Gospel of Iohn shoulde haue of this confounded thee Of the Dooue wherin the holi gost appeareâ— whiche declareth that the spirite comming downe in the bodye of a Dooue sat vpon the Lorde which spirite being that he was was as truly a Dooue as he was a spirit neither the contrary substance taken destroyed the proper substance I know there are some of the schoolemen which thinke that it was not a very Doue which discended vpon the head of Christ but onely that it was an ayry thicke body which appeared to be a Dooue Augustine Yet Augustine de Agone Christiano writeth the contrary namely that it was a very Doue for to expresse the property of the holy ghost a thing sayth he serueth better then a signe euen as Christians also are better expressed in Sheepe and Lambes then in the lykenes of Sheepe and Lambes Also if Christ had a true bodye and deceaued not then tâ—e holy ghost had in very deede the body of a Dooue Tertulian addeth Thou wilt demaund where the body of the Doue became What becaâ—â— of the Doue wherin the holy goâ—â— appeared when the spirite was taken againe into heauen and likewise of the Aungels It was by the same meanes taken awaye whereby it was made If thou haddest seene when it was broughte foorth of nothyng thou shouldest also haue knowen when it was turned to nothing If the beginning was not visible no more was the ende Farther he remitteth the reader to Iohn Was he also sayth he a fantasy after his resurrection when he offred his handes and feete to be seene of his Disciples saying behold that it is I for a spirite hath not flesh and bones as ye see me haue Then Christe is brought in as a Iugler or Cuniurer And in his third booke against Marcion Wherefore his Christ that is Christe of the true God bicause he should not lye neither deceaue and by that meanes paraduenture should be counted the Christ of the creator was not that which hee appeared to be and fayned to be that thing which he was flesh and not flesh man and not man wherefore Christ is also God and not God For why shoulde he not also cary the fantasy of God Shall I beleue him as touching this inwarde substance that is ouerthrowen as touching his outward substance Howe shall he be counted true in a secrete thing that is found so false in an open thing And afterwarde It is inoughe for me to affirme that whiche is agreing vnto God namely the truth of that thing which he obiecteth to three senses to sight touching and hearing Againe in the booke de carne Christi The vertues sayth he proue the spirite of God the passions proue the flesh of man If vertues are not without spirite neither shal passions also be without flesh If the flesh with his passions be fayned the spirite also with his vertues is false Why doest thou by thy lye take but halfe Christ He is al whole truth The opinion of Apelles Apelles the heretike being in maner ouercome with these reasons graunteth that Christ had in dede true flesh but he denieth that he was borne but brought from heauen and he obiecteth that the bodies which were taken by Angels wer true bodies but they were not borne Suche a body sayth he had Christ Tertulian answereth hereunto They sayth he which set foorth the fleshe of Christ after the example of the Aungels saying that it was not borne namelye a fleshye substaunce I would haue them to compare the causes also as well of Christ as of the Aungels for which they came into the flesh No Aungel did at anye tyme therefore discende to be crucified to suffer death and to rise againe from death If there was neuer any such cause why angels should be incorporate then haste thou a cause why they tooke flesh and yet wer not borne They came not to die therefore they came not to bee borne But Christe beyng sent to dye it was necessarye that he shoulde bee borne that he might dye for none is woont to dye but hee whiche is borne He addeth moreouer And euen then also the Lorde himselfe appeared among those angels vnto Abraham without birth namelye with flesh for the same diuersity of cause Afterward he addeth That the Aungels haue their bodies rather from earth then from heauen Let them proue saith he that those angels receaued the substance of flesh of the stars If they proue it not bicause it is not written then was not the flesh of Christ thereof to whych Christ they apply the example of Angels And in his third booke against MarcioÌ„ My God saith he which hath reformed it taken of the slyme in this quality not yet of seede by mariage and yet flesh might as wel of anye matter haue framed flesh also vnto Angels which also framed the world of nothing into so manye and suche bodies Againe in his booke de carne Christi hee saith It is manifest that angels cary not flesh proper of their own as substaÌ„ces by nature spiritual and if they haue any body yet it is of their owne kinde and are transfigurable for a time into the flesh of man that they may be sene and haue fellowship with men Farther in his third booke against Marcion Know thou saith he that this is not graunted vnto thee that the flesh in Angels was putatiue or by imaginacion but of the very and sound substance of man For if it were not hard to geue vnto that putatiue flesh the true senses and actes of flesh much more easyer was it to geue a true substance of flesh to true senses and actes euen for that he is the proper authour and woorker therof For it is a harder thyng for God to make a lye then to fayne a body Last of al thus he concludeth Therfore are they truly humayne bodies bicause of the truth of God who is far from lying and deceate And bicause they can not humanelye be handled of men
in heauen the Church is not fully perfect neither in al partes absolute For alwayes somthing is therein wanting especially seing we are fallen into the yron age of the latter time For was there not in the goldē world of the Church many discords troubles and maners not agreable vnto a Christian life And shal not that part of the world which is christened be now sycke of the same discōmodities and vices when for age it nowe doteth Let vs looke vpon the Church of the Hebrues which at that tyme was the peculiar people of God seperated from al nacions Vndoubtedlye we shall there finde sundry courses and alteracions of thinges Some times they slipped out of the rightway Sometimes they repented and lamented and amended the synnes wherin they had fallen But whilest they lay in their sinnes and wickednes they were by God corrected with greuous afflictions and most sharp punishments But returning vnto him they faithfully implored his ayde which when they had obtayned they agayne preuailed against their enemies In them except we be vtterly blinde we see the image of the goodnes of God towardes the sayntes and his seuerity vpon the wicked painted and liuely expressed as it were in a table that is most rightly polished Blessed is God which defendeth his in most great daungers and calamities and faythfully keepeth his safe and found which commeth of his goodnes neither suffereth he them wholye to fall from piety or vtterly to be consumed with miseries and aduersities And we if we note these thinges in thys holye historye shall not maruayle that the people of God were often times tossed and euen in maner oppressed with so many and greuous chaunces for whether we behold the godly or whether we behold the vngodly we shall perceaue that al these thinges were done with great fruit and most wyse consideracion For vnto those whom God the heauenlye father hath euen from without beginning chosen vnto him by Iesus Christe and our of an innumerable number of mortall men adopted to be his children aduersities did to this end happen that euen as gold and syluer are by the power of fire purged so their mindes should proue more pure by aduersities For by them as by lyuelye flames the loue of our selfe and of frayle and transitorye thinges is burnt vp But the studies of piety and innocency are wonderfully kindled and inflamed But of the vngodly whom the diuine prouidence hath most iustly decreed to punish with eternal death the consideracion is farre otherwise For aduersities do not burne away their spots and vices but rather encrease and augment them by the augmentaciō of which aduersities the impiety of their minds also increaseth euen as we see that with one and the selfe same fyre claye waxeth hard and wax melteth away Wherefore the reading of the golden history of the Iudges is most profitable so that there want not fayth in reading of them and prayers be without ceasing added whereby we may pray vnto God not fayntly but feruently to make his woordes of efficacy in vs by the holy Ghost For those holye narracions are as it were certaine nourishments or stayes whereby our confidence towardes the promises of God is wonderfully confirmed and our minde is erected to a most firme hope of obtayning of them For whylest we diligentlye consider the wonderful notable actes which God did for the health and safety of the nacion of the Hebrues it is vncredible to be spoken how our hartes are styrred vp to woorship and honour him sincerely and religiously Farther in those heroicall actes the incredible power and wysdome of the prouidence of God doth euery where aboundantly and brightly shine forth which receaued with no lesse pleasure thē fruite For by those thinges which are declared except we wyll wyllynglye be blinde may easely be vnderstand that whatsoeuer was done or succeded luckely or vnluckely at home or on warfare the same is to be attributed either to the iustice or els to the mercy of the eternal God We are also most plainlye taught that God neglecteth not thinges humane But that he hath a consideracion and regard ouer the godly and the vngodly and of them to the one he giueth ioy and pleasure but the other he at the last moste greuouslye punisheth Farther thys thing is chiefly to be marked that Iesus Christ the sonne of God is not secluded from thys holy history For for as much as he is the end of the law and sūme of the holy scripture as much as this booke pertaineth vnto the law and is a part of the holy scripture so much doth it shew and most euidently preach Christ vnto the Readers For the actes of noble captaines are here rehearsed which as it is written vnto the Hebrues through fayth wan kingdomes wrought righteousnes and obtayned the promise But that fayth which is natural and sound includeth Christ him selfe vnto whom singularly and in a maner onely it hath a regard For by him the promises of God are made of efficacye Wherfore whilest we behold the wonderful actes of the Iudges we ought to haue before our eyes the excellent fayth which brightly shined in them together with it the cōmon deliuerer of humane kinde namely the sonne of God Christ Iesus whom they beheld as their Captaine and Emperour And that not vnwoorthely for he by them wrought and by them did set the people at liberty in admonishing them by the voyces of Angels and oracles of Prophetes in confirming them in daungers and at the last not vnconstantlye but most faythfullye performing those thinges which he had before most liberally promised Lastlye when we heare that the Hebrues which were the members of the same Christ were sometime oppressed and slayne of their enemies Let vs in them acknowledge the death and tormētes of our head And in their victories and triumphes Let vs behold his resurrection kingdome and glory For God hath framed vnto vs winges of his spirite and woord but if through our own default we become fleshy and heauy we shal not be caryed vp into heauen but together with beastes bee drawen downewarde I haue hetherto spoken of the history how commodious and profitable it is to all the worshippers of god and how aptly it pertayneth vnto you most excellent rulers Wherfore it should seme that I should now somwhat speake of the interpretacion which I haue added But therof I wyll speake nothing for I feele that those thinges which come out of my study and labour are so sciender and small that I thinke them not worthy of commendacion There is one thing onely which I dare boldly affirme that I by this my doctrine howsoeuer it be my wyl was to be a helpe to the faythful of Christ Neyther do I deny but that there wer other much better learned then I am which with great prayse and fruit exercised themselues in this selfe same course of study howbeit bicause I excedingly allow the sentence of Basilius who in his .18 Epistle
236. 13.1 Let eueri soul be subiect 262 b 13.1 Powers ar ordained of God 260. b. 1. Corinth 2.15 He that is spirituall discerneth all thinges 262. 6.1 Dare anye of you hauyng a cause agaynst an other 256. b 6.13 14 The body is not for fornication 229. b 7.5 Defraud not one another except it be for a time 94. 7.11 If the womā depart let her remain vnmaried or let her bee reconciled 222. b 7.14 Els were your chyldrē vncleane but now ar they holy 182 7.15 If the vnfaithful depart 86 7.37 He dothe well c. that wyll kepe his virgin 46. 8.4 We know that an Idol is nothing in the world 69. b 10.24 Non quae sua sunt quaerētes Such as seeke not their owne 38. b 10.27 If anye that is an infidell byd you c. 44. b. 45. b 11.5 Euery woman that prayeth or prophecieth barcheaded 93 13.2 If I had al fayth 130 13.12 We shal see him face to face 121. 14.34 Let your women keepe silence c. 93 15.44 It is raysed a spiritual body 211 Galath 1.8 Though we or an angel from heauen c. 262 1.15 c. When it pleased God to reueale his sonne in me c. I communicated not with fleshe and bloud c. 265 3.19 It was ordayned by angels in the hand c. 120 Ephes 5.18 Be not dronke with wyne c. but speake in psalmes c. and songes 103 Philip. 4.8 Whatsoeuer things are honest 250 Collossi 3.16 Let the woorde of Christe abounde in you c. in psalmes c. 103 1. Thes 5.22 Ab omni specie ma la abstinete Refrain from al apparance of ill 18. b 1. Timo. 2.1 Supplications praiers intercessions and geuynge of thankes 44 2.11 I permit not a woman to teache c. 93 3.3 No striker 146. b 4.8 Bodely exercise profits lytle but. c. 140. 279 Titus 1.7 No striker 146. b 2.3 Women should be teachers of honest thinges c. 93 Hebru 7.2 Abraham payed tenthes c. 261 13.4 Hooremongers and adulterers God wyl iudge 254. b 13.16 To do good and to distribute c. 251. b Iacob 1.13 God tempteth no mā 79. b 2.10 Who so keepeth the whole law c. 53 1. Peter 4.17 Iudgement begin at the house of God 234. b Apocal. 19.10 22.8 9. I fell downe to woorshpp before the feete c. 69. b ¶ The common places contayned in this booke OF prediction or treasō 36. b Of Masse 41 Of teares 62 Of Sacrifice 63. b Of Idolatrye 68 Of a league 73. b Of truth and of a lye 87 Of dissimulacion 89. b ¶ Whether it be lawfull to lye to preserue the lyfe of oure neighbours 90 ¶ Whether it be lawfull for subiectes to rise against their princes 90 ¶ Whether it bee lawfull for the godly to haue peace with the vngodly 99 Of musicke and songes 102 Of visions or in what sorte and how much God may be knowen of men 118 Of myracles 126 Of Dreames 134. b Of the affections of enuye and emulacion 141. b Of mercy 142 Of a good intent 132 Of Matrimonye and hauing of Concubines 153. b Of ambition 157. b Of murther of Parentes or kinsfolkes called paracidium 158 Of a fable and apollogy 159 Of wyne and dronkennes 161. b Of murther 165. b ¶ How synne dependeth of God 166. b ¶ Whether we cā resist the grace of God or no. 167. b ¶ How God sayth that hee wyll not geue that which he wil giue and contrarily 174. b Of bastards and children vnlawfully borne 177. b ☞ Whether the sonne shal beare the iniquity of the father 178. b Of thinges which were taken by the right of workes 186 Of prescription 188 Of custome 189 Of the vow of Iiphtah 192 Of sedicion 197 Of the vow of the Nazarits 201 Of Sacrifice 206 Of the vision of Angels 208 ☞ Whether it be lawful for children to mary without the consent of their parentes 214 Of playes 218 Of hooredome fornication 129 Of the head of the church 241 Of Securitye 246. b Of the reconciliation of the husbande and the wyfe after that adultry hath ben cōmitted 247 Of a Magistrate 255 Of merites 272 Of fasting 274 Of Rapte 283 Of daunses 286 FINIS ⧠Faultes escaped in the printing desiring thee gentle Reader to correct the same in thy booke before thou beginnest to read this worke which shal helpe thee much in the vnderstanding of those places The order of which correction here vnder thou maiest see The letters a. and. b. which stand by the numbers signify the sides of euery leafe a. signifieng the first syde and b. the second syde Leafe Lyne Faultes Corrected 2. a 3 iudged and iudged 3. b 50 he Greeke the Greke 4. a 20 not reuenge reuenge 7. a 6 holy hylly 10. a 23 region religion 11. a 9 contamined contaminated 11. a 20 This is my This is in my 22. a 48 to vnprofita not vnprofitable 25. a 24 word wordes 25. b 20 wayling wayting 31. b 5 their maters their own mat 31. b 8 greuous suffer greuous 31. b 30 least left 32. a 34 the wel valle the valleys 35. a 2 helpe for the helpe from the 38. b 38 deceaued receaued 39. a 22 ceaseth not to ceaseth to be 40. a 13 signes synnes 43. b 28 saluation salutacion 47. b 47 stranger stronger 48. a 1 that none that to none 49. a 1 obey admoni obey their admo 52. b 25 contemne continue 53. a 10 workers workes 57. a 39 misery mistery 60. a 18 by colour by no colour 61. a 18 weyed weeded 62. a 9 offer offered 62. a 29 sacrifice sacrificer 62. b 33 nation motion 63. b 20 set setteth 63. b 48 sayth fayth 64. a 1 participacion particion 65. b 36 sawe same 68. b 21 there they 73. b 7 angry angry anger anger 77. b 14 doubt double 81. b 18 is maruayle is no maruayle 84. b 16 nothing one thyng 86. b 50 other vnderstād othe vnderstand 87. a 49 not any not least any 92. b 27 do desperate and desperate 96. b 1 by an ordinarye by no ordinary 100. a 22 decreased digressed 100. a 23 the knight the Kenite 100. b 49 Leuites Kenites 106. a 17 xl C. men xl M. men 111. b 25 decrees .23 q. 5. cha dixerit aliquis decrees causa 23. q. 5. dicat aliquis .28 d. 1 120. a 53 word world 122. b 1◠litle title 124. a 17 inuiolated violated 132. a 42 13500. men 135000. men 134. b 1 Recubites Recutites 144. a 32 mention mantion 192. b 51 dryuen drawne 201. b 4 eare heare 203. b 52 preserue obserue 223. a 15 doubting doubling 227. a 20 ententes euentes 228. b 14 pronounces prouinces 230. a 32 Sickenes Sadnes 247. a 16 Cain Cham 269. b 14 leuened leuelled 285. a 14 cōmunicate excommunicate ¶ The commentarie of Master Peter Martyr vpon the Booke of Iudges THere be some whiche deuide the holy scriptures into
that he was a wycked king neyther departed he from the woorshipping of golden Calues Wherefore it is lawfull for vs to graunt that in lying he synned A distinctiō to be noted And as I thinke and before admonished by this onely distinction we maye easily dissolue this doubt Namely that those men were styrred vp to lye either by the spirite of man or by the motion of God When they dyd it as men wee will not denye but that they synned but when they spake so by the inspiration God we will maruaile at their sayinges and doinges but let vs not take example by them or follow them ¶ Of dissimulation Dissimulacion is of two kindes BVt what shal we affirme of dissimulatiō I answer that it is of two kindes One is which hath a respect onely to deceaue And that forasmuch as it differeth not much from a lye it is vndoubtedlye synne If one being wicked doo fayne himselfe to be good and holy the same man without doubt is an hipocrite and in that he dissembleth he haynously sinneth Whosoeuer also hauing a malitious and enuious hart against anye man doth flatter the same man and dissembleth to be his friend he is not without synne yea he is infected with a detestable dissimulation But ther is an other kinde of dissimulation which tendeth not to deceaue any man but serueth onely to kepe counsels secrete that they bee not hindred And this dissimulation is not to be repudiated or to be condemned as a syn forasmuch as we haue alredy declared that it is not alwaies required that we shoulde open what soeuer truth wee knowe What Christ mēt by his dissimulation So Christe being most innocent tooke vpon him the flesh of syn hid his innocency diuine nature And that not to deceiue mortal men but that he might suffer for the saluatiō of mēt For if he had bene knowen to haue bene the Lord of glory thei would neuer as saith the Apostle haue crucified him The same Christ fained also before two of his Disciples that he would go farther He did not that to deceiue them but hee therfore a while opened not himself vnto them to reprooue them of their incredulity and to instruct them by testimonies of the scriptures Therewithall also he signified how farre he was from their hartes Or as Augustine interprereth it he shaddowed vnto them his departure into heauen Wherefore it manifestly appeareth that in those dissimulations there was no lye seing his woordes did well agree wyth the thyng signified And Dauid when hee fell into a most great daunger before Achin Kyng of Geth chaunged his countenaunce and fained himselfe a foole Of the dissimulatiō of Dauid and for that hee seemed suche a one he escaped Here some say that he cōmitted no dissimulation but that God to deliuer him strake such a feare in him that his senses might be taken from him and so did these thinges whych are rehearsed of him in the fyrst booke of Samuel Wherefore in his Psalme which beginneth Psal 34. I wyl alway geue thankes vnto the Lorde he gaue thankes vnto God for so great a benefite And therwithal in his act by the inspiratiō of God he shadowed what Christ should suffer for our sakes namely that he should be counted as a foole and a mad mā Either els we answer that Dauid is not altogether to be excused of synne if as a man being more afeard than was mete he sought for this kinde of helpe But if he by the mocion of God did it wittingly and with knowledge we wil not accuse him of synne although we may not follow his example Neither is it lawful that any man should fayne himselfe to haue committed any crime which he hath not perpetrated Gregory Augustine although Gregory saith that good myndes wyll there acknowledge a fault wher none is Augustine writeth more truly and soundly of that thing in his .29 Sermon de verbis Apostoli For he writeth In so faining if before thou wast not a sinner thou shalt be made a sinner namely in saying that thou hast cōmitted that yl which thou hast not perpetrated It is lawful in dede for euery man to confesse himself to be a synner in vniuersall But this or that crime in special no man ought to receaue in himself which he hath not in verye deede committed Farther we must note that this is true that it is not required of vs that we should open the truth euery where and in all places to speake al that we know but yet in iudgement the same is not to bee permitted For when two of vs are examined as witnesses there we are bounde to testifye that whych we know serueth for the thing whereof at that time we be demaunded ¶ Whither it be lawful to lye to preserue the lyfe of our Neyghbours BVt there ariseth a more hard doubt namely whether it be lawfull to lye for to preserue the life of our neighbour Augustine of a lye to Consentius saith Augustine If a man should be in verye great daunger of death the same man also should know that his sonne also wer in the like extreme daunger which happeneth to dye and thou knowest of his death when the Parent shal aske thee lyueth my sonne or no and thou art sure that he also wil dye if thou shalt tel him that hys sonne is deceased what wouldest thou do in this case whyther thou sayest he liueth or whither thou saiest I cannot tel thou lyest But if thou shall answer that he is dead al men wyll cry out vpon thee as though thou haddest cōmitted manslaughter and as though by thy heauy newes thou haddest bene the occasiō of the death of this father being sycke and lying at the poynt of death Augustine graunteth that it is a hard case neither denieth he but that as a man he shoulde be moued peraduenture it might so happen that affections woulde not suffer him to speake that which is iust right But al the length he concludeth that he should not lye And he addeth moreouer A similitude that if thou knowest that any vnchaste woman loueth thee inordinately which also threateneth to kyl her selfe yea and wil do it in very dede vnles thou wylt graunt to her wicked lust whether therfore thou oughtest to be entised to commit any filthye thing against chastitye I think not So also saith he thou oughtest not for the sauing of thy neighbours life to offend against the truth And moreouer what a window shuld be made open to lyes if we shoulde otherwise iudge of thys For that which one shall thincke to be lawful for life an other wil iudge that he may do the same for money an other for estimation or for defending of lands possessions And so shal it come to passe that there wil be no measure or end of lyes We maye not suffer sayth Augustine that any man should kil his own soule for the corporall
in the myndes of the vnderstanders than if they had ben perceaued by the outward senses Wherfore in expounding the Prophetes it is true that very oftentymes we stād in great doubt whether the thing were so done outwardly or rather so appeared to the Prophet to be done in mind And in certain of thē by reason of the circūstances of the matter we are compelled to graunt that it was onely a vision as Ierome testifieth of the breeches or hosen of Ieremy Ierome whiche at the commaundement of the Lord he put in a rocke by the riuer Euphrates and he suffred them to remayne there so long till they were rotten and then he was commaunded to take them and to put them on agayne And this vision happened whilest the city of Ierusalem was grieuously besieged by the Chaldeyans whē the Prophet could not go and come to the riuer Euphrates For at the same tyme when he would once haue gone to Anathoth where he was borne he was taken euē as he was going out of the gates and accused of treason In like manner the same Ierome affirmeth that that was onely done by a vision whiche is written in Ezechiell of the bread baked in the doung of an oxe and how it lay many dayes vpon one and the selfe same side To these may be added the eatyng of the booke and such like whiche either humane nature or circumstances of the matters and tymes suffred not so to be done as it is writtē And as touching the preaching expressing vnto the people that things which the Prophetes had in their myndes a thing sene by phantasy or imagination was all one and had as much efficacy as if it had outwardly bene sene But yet they fled not vnto the visions of the mynde when the thing it selfe might outwardly be done For seyng God can vse both wayes he hath sometymes taken this way and other sometymes that way as it hath pleased him and as he hath iudged mete and profitable for vs. But in all these things me thinketh the sentence of Ambrose is to be holden Ambrose The visions of Prophets wer not naturall which intreating of these images sayeth That they were such as will did chose and not such as nature hath formed whiche vndoubtedly maketh agaynst those whiche will haue prophesieng to be naturall as though by the power of the heauens or some certain instinct of nature or temperature of humors such images sights offred themselues to be sene of the outward senses of the Prophetes or to be knowen inwardly by imagination phantasy The will sayth Ambrose namely of god or of an aungell would those thinges and aboue other thinges chose them and not the power of nature formed them But there is an other doubt which in dede is not to be left vnspoken of Whether God at any tyme shewed himself or whether they were alwayes angels that appeared namely whether god himselfe at any tyme shewed himselfe vnder these images or formes Or whether onely aungels alwayes appeared which wrought spake with the Prophets sometimes in theyr own name other sometyme in the name of god Ther haue ben some which said the god himself neuer appeared but by angels in the name of god all those things were accōplished which are written to be either spoken or done in those visions And they contend that they haue certayne testimonies in the Scriptures which make with thē among which one is found in the Actes of the Apostles where Stephen expressedly calleth him an aungell whiche called to Moses out of the bushe when as for all that he is in Exodus named God Farther Paul to the Galathians testifieth that the lawe was geuen in the hande of a Mediator be the disposition of Aungels And no man doubteth but that in Exodus it is written that the law was geuen by god Wherfore they conclude that we must vnderstand that God appeared not by himselfe but by Aungels Howbeit forasmuch as the essence or diuine nature can not be taken away either from the holy ghost The holy ghost shewed himself in a Doue or from the sonne for either of them by nature is God how will they defend their opinion when as it is expressedly written in the gospell that the holy ghost descended vpon Christ in the forme of a Doue If they say that an aungell came and not the holy ghost they accuse the Scripture as a lyer but if they cōfesse that together with that Doue the holy ghost appeared what shall let but that god himselfe also appeared vnto the fathers vnder other figures and images They cā from this by no meanes escape except which I thinke they wil not do otherwise they should bring in a manifest heresy they will deny the holy ghost to be God And that which I haue aunswered of the holy ghost we may obiect the like of the sonne out of the wordes of Paul to Timothe the 3. The sonne of God appeared in humane flesh chap where he writeth Without controuersy it is a great mistery god is made manifest in the flesh iustified in the spirite c. For the whole Churche and right faith confesseth that the word was the true god whiche appeared vnder the fleshe of man Whiche if he did as vndoubtedly without conterfayting he did why may he not be said to haue done the same in the old Testament vnder sōdry formes and manifolde figures Without doubt that was much greater whiche he gaue vnto vs in the latter tyme. But he whiche hath geuen the greater thing we doubt not but that he also can geue that whiche is lesse Peraduenture they will say that that whiche was geuen in the latter tyme the holy Scriptures do set forth to the end we should beleue it but that whiche ye require to haue ben done in the old time is no where read It is the word or sonne of god by whom God spake vnto the fathers Prophetes Yea but if we diligently marke the Scriptures teach that also For the sonne of god is named by the Euangelist the worde or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whiche we must beleue was not by him done rashly but bycause it might be vnderstand that by him god spake when the scriptures testifie that he spake Wherfore as often as we read that the word of the Lord came vnto this mā or to that man I iudge that the same is so often to be attributed vnto the sonne of god Christ our Lord namely that god by him spake vnto the fathers and Prophetes Which least I should seme to speake in vayne I wil for this sentence bring forth two testimonies Iohn 1. The first is read in the first chap of Iohn No man hath sene god at any tyme straight way by the figure Occupatio is added The sonne which is in the bosome of the father he hath reueled hym For a man might aske If no man haue sene god at any tyme who appeared then
to the fathers when things deuine wer shewed vnto them who talked with them when sondry formes and images appeared vnto them in the name of god Iohn 12. and wrought with them Straight way it is aunswered The sonne which is in the bosome of the father he hath reueled him he was to man the most true interpretor of the father An other place is in the gospell the 12. chap where it is thus word for word writtē Therfore they could not beleue bycause agayn sayd Esay He hath blinded their eyes hardened their hart that they should not see with their eyes nor vnderstād with their hart and should be conuerted and I should heale them These thinges sayd Esay when he saw his glory and spake of hym Vndoubtedly these two pronounes His and of Him do without cōtrouersy signify Christ for a litle before the Euāgelist had sayd Though he namely Christ had done so many signes before thē yet beleued they not in hym that the saying of Esay the Prophet might be fulfilled that he sayd c. And to this sentence which in very dede is natural do agree Chrisostome Ierome Cirillus Augustine Farthermore the wordes of Hosea the Prophet which he hath in the 12. Hose 12 chap are diligently to be weighed And thus speaketh the Lord there I haue spoken vnto the Prophetes and I haue multiplied visions and vsed similitudes by the hand of the Prophetes c. Hereby we vnderstand that similitudes were not geuen vnto the Prophetes from the beginning but god himselfe spake vnto them By examples it is declared both that God himselfe also that āgels somtymes appered But now must we by examples and such as are most euident confirme that the appearynges of god are vtterly distinct from the visions of aungels First it is declared vnto vs in the boke of Genesis that Iacob saw a ladder which reached from earth euen to heauen and by it the aungels both ascended and discended And at the top of the ladder namely in heauen stode the Lord from whom Iacob heard noble and large promises Hereby is gathered vnlesse we wil stil be blind that aungels shewed themselues in one kind of images and god himself appeared in an other forme This selfe same thing may we see in Esay when he sawe the Lord sitting in his throne and with him two Seraphins whiche cried mutually the one to the other Holy holy holy And with so great reuerence they worshipped God which was in the middest that with their two vpper winges they couered their face and with the two neither wings their feete Who seeth not here a great difference betwene god and the aungels which appeared I will not speake of Ezechiell which saw aungels in the formes of creatures namely of an Oxe an Egle and a Lion by whom wheles were turned but God himselfe sat in the hyghest parte in the forme of the sonne of man Of Daniell also was sene the auncient of dayes vnto whom came the sonne of man And he addeth that thrones were there put bookes opened and a certain forme of a iudgement appoynted then he maketh mencion of aungels of which he sayth were present ten thousand and ten hundreth thousand whiche ministred vnto hym And here we heare what great difference there is betwene God and the angels which ministred Farther there is a place most manifest in Exodus when God beyng angry with the people denied that he would go any farther with them thorough the desert least being prouoked with theyr sinnes he shuld at once vtterly destroy them But he promised to send his aungell with which promise Moses was not content and sayd that he would by no meanes go with the people except god himself would go together with thē And vndoubtedly by prayer and constantly abiding in his sentence at the length he ouercame and as he desired had god for the guide of their iorney How can these men therfore say that god himselfe was not present vnder those formes but only angels were sene in such images Moreouer let vs remember that Moses as it is writtē in the same boke of Exodus desired of God to see his face which his request god for that he loued him excedingly would not vtterly deny but yet he would not graunt him all that he required Wherfore he aunswered My face thou shalt by no meanes see bycause man shall not see me lyue but thou shalt looke vpon my hinder parts namely my backe What is more manifest than this testimony Surely god by certayne wordes here promiseth to appeare vnto Moses in the shape of a man of whose forme or image Moses should see not the face but the backe And the same he faythfully performed vnto Moses for as god passed by Moses sawe the backe of his image by the rocke and heard the wonderfull and noble names of god rehearsed with a most loude voyce Which when he saw he fell prostrate to the earth and worshipped and it is not to be doubted but that he gaue vnto hym that adoration which is onely due vnto the onely god For forasmuch as he beleued that he was there present according vnto his promise it is not to be had in controuersy but that he worshipped him as being present in very dede And vndoubtedly god except he had shewed himselfe present in very dede at the arke mercy seat should haue throwen the Israelites hedlōg into idolatry if he would haue had onely aungels to aunswere such as came to aske counsell for that he commaunded them to cal vpon him and to worship him there To these may be added that history whiche is written in the booke of kinges of Micheas the Prophet whiche prophecied before Achab king of Israell and sayd that he sawe god with whō was present an host of aungels he heard him aske who shal deceaue Achab and that one offred himself to be a lying spirite in the mouth of the Prophetes of the king Achab. By this vision also we vnderstand that there was an assured and notable difference betwene god and the aungels whiche appeared all together vnto the Prophet Wherfore the gift of god which he gaue vnto the fathers is not to be diminished or to be extenuated we must cōfesse that he was in very dede presēt whē he appeared forasmuch as we reade that it was so done and there is nothing that letteth as farre as can be gathered out of the holy scriptures neither is the very nature of god any thing against it that it could not be done It were not sound to attribute vnto aungels all those things which in the scripture are read of such visiōs For so might we easely slip so farre that at the last we should beleue that the word was not immediatly created by god but by angels at his commaundement Wherfore let vs confesse that god was present in very dede God was present in verye dede whē it is sayd that he appeared vnder diuers
But so it is not sayd least in thinking of him Why the scripture attributeth members vnto God thou shouldest be deceaued suppose that he hath those mēbers But the holy scripture if some tyme it attribute members vnto god vndoubtedly this is the only cause to helpe our infirmity whereby althoughe we can not comprehend the essence of God as it is yet in very dede it prouideth that by some certayne simboles and shadowes we may vnderstande somewhat Wherefore members are by a most profitable Metaphore attributed vnto God that we diligently remembryng his proprietyes might godlyly and faythfully exercise our myndes Why the Anthropomorphites are condemned And the Anthropomorphites if for that cause they had ascribed members vnto God as the Scriptures setteth them forth to be a helpe vnto the weake vnderstandyng of men they myght be excused neither should they haue bene condemned But they contended that the nature of God had so in very dede wherefore iustly and worthely are they accused But what shall we aunswere to Paul whiche of the seyng the nature of God in heauen sayth We shall see him face to face and by that meanes he semeth to graunt vnto our eyes and face the beholdyng of god and after a sorte to ascribe vnto god himself a face There is a face of the body and a face of the mynde Augustine aunswereth that there is a face also of the mynde when as Paul sayth that we nowe with a face vncouered do beholde thinges deuine and not with a vayle put betwene as the Iewes vsed when they talked with Moses But these thinges beyng thus finished and concluded In the eternal life the blessed shall know the essence of God let vs in few wordes speake of other kyndes of the knowledge of God In the euerlastyng lyfe the blessed shall knowe the essence of God not in dede by the senses but by the soule or mynde for as muche as Iohn sayeth When he appeareth we shall see hym as he is Paul testifieth the same nowe we see hym thoroughe a glasse and in a shadowe but than shall we see hym face to face The same thyng is gathered by the wordes of Christ Their aungels alway beholde the face of the father for in an other place he hath taught that in the blessed resurrection the iust shal be like the angels of god Wherof it followeth that we shal see god in like sorte as the angels do wherfore if they see his face thā shal we also behold it There is an other testimony also written by Paul to the Corinth Than shall I know euen as I am knowē The nature of GOD is not wholy and by all meanes cōprehended Chrisostome And the god seeth vs thoroughly essencially no mā doubteth Howbeit let vs not thus persuade our selues that the blessed shall wholy euery way know the nature substaunce of God but so much only as we shal be able to receaue◠for things finit cā not fully receiue that which is infinite nether is the which is created able fully perfectly to cōprehend his creator Wherfore Chrisostome in his .14 Homely vpō Iohn Ambrose in his first boke vpō Luke the .1 chap also Ierome as Augustine in the place before alledged declareth all these I say deny that the angels see god But that can not simply absolutly be vnderstād whē as otherwise Christ saith that they see the face of the father which is in heauē Wherfore it remayneth that the same is to be vnderstād of the whole perfect knowledge of his nature substance Wherfore in Iohn the 6. chap it is written No man hath sene god but he which is of god he hath sene the father Also As the father knoweth me so know I the father Wherfore this is onely geuen to Christ which is god perfectly fully to know the essēce of god Other also shall see it but yet so much as their capacity cā cōprehend If thou aske whether it shal be equally or no I will not aunswere to that at this present For in an other place we shall haue occasion geuen vs to speake of the diuersity or equality of rewardes in the blessed life But what shall we affirme of the state of this life Shall our mind whilest we liue here in knowing of god attayne to his essēce Whether in this lyfe we may in soule or minde knowe the essence of God or no. No verely bicause it is writtē Man shall not see me lyue No man hath sene God at any tyme. And Paul addeth He can not be sene bycause he dwelleth in the light that no man can come vnto Howbeit these thinges are not to be vnderstand as touchyng all maner of knowledge for also whilest we lyue here it is geuē vnto vs after a sort to know god Wherfore these sayings are to be vnderstād to speake as the stoolemen do of the substantiall essentiall knowledge of God Neither is this against it in the it is written that Moses saw god face to face which also before him Iacob spake neither the which in an other place is written of the same Moses the god talked with him as a frend with his frend For these things are not spokē simply but by cōparisō with other bycause those excellēt mē aboue other knew those things which at that tyme were opened vnto mē as touching god For vnto thē god would after an exquisite vnaccustomed maner shewe himselfe whiche he did not to others And this to be the sēse of these words Augustine Chrisostome hereby do gather bycause afterward when Moses desired to see the face of god it was denied hym The naturall knowledge as touching God is slender and obscure Symonides There remayneth to intreate of the knowledge of god which whilest we liue here we may obtayne First the same is naturall that very slender obscure Which thing Symonides knew right well who as Cicero writeth in hys booke de Natura deorum being demaunded of Hierone a tyranne of Sicilia what God was he alwayes deferred to aunswere bycause the more he thought as touching the thing the more obscure alwaies it semed vnto him Wherfore Clemēs Alexādrinus in his 5. Clemens Alexandrinus boke of Stromata bringing a reason why the knowledge of God is so hard saith It is not Genus it is not Differēcia it is not Accidēs nor the subiect of Accidēces therfore it cā not be vnderstād of vs which comprehend onely such things in our mind reasō The effectes which the Philosophers vsed by their vnderstāding to know god are not equal with his dignity power faculties Wherfore they declared only certain cōmō light thīgs But we geue vnto him Attributa or proprieties that is good iust faire wise other such like bicause we haue no excellenter things nor nobler names whiche cā better be applied or agree with him Neither yet are these things so in him as we
somewhat vnto kinsfolkes and friendes For these kind of men haue very many dreames when they slepe For pratlers and idle persons are wholy voyde of cogitations wherefore they at inwardly fylled with images and formes The melancholike also by reason of the power and nature of melancholy do dreame very many thinges Farther they ar very much geuen vnto cogitatioÌ„s The phrantike also bicause their mind is void both of the knowledge of the outward senses and also of the vse of reason therfore they ar vtterly geuen to imaginations Lastly frends do for that cause se many things of their frends in theyr dreames bicause they ar very much careful and pensiue for them Al these men now rehearsed are wont by dreames to foretell many thinges bycause in diuerse dreames and in a manner infinite it is not possible but that some true thinges happen sometymes They whyche the whole day excercise themselues in shootynge do much oftner bit the marke then they which do very seldom shoote And they which play al the day at dyse or tables do much oftener throw good castes then they which little or seldome vse that kinde of play Howbeit we must vnderstand that those signes which ar attributed to dreames as touching the fyrst kynde alredy declared are not necessary Of dreames which ar signs there is no necessity of the effectes to be gathered for asmuch as they may be letted And yet this hindreth not but that they may be signs For this is so also in the clouds which vndoubtedly ar signes of rain when as for al that sometymes they are discipated by the wind before it rayn And vrine hath tokens either of sicknes or helth when yet the effect may be letted by vehementer causes the same also happeneth of the pulses Yea and those counsels which we haue appoynted and which with great deliberation decree to do very oftentimes are not accomplished bycause some other thinges happen betwene wherby we can go no farther which self same thinge if it happen in dreames it is no maruayle forasmuche as they are signes of thinges not perfecte but rather of the beginninges of thinges and those weake and feable mouinges of humors maye yet be easely letted of many other causes Democritus thus expoundeth those dreames Democritus which resemble thinges coÌ„ming by chaunce and farre distante There are alwayes saythe he defluctions from things themselues which ar caried to the bodies of those that slepe and do affect them with the quality and symilitude which they bring with them And the same he affirmeth to be for two causes more felt sleping then waking First bicause the ayre by night is easlyer moued as we see done when the water is smitten with a little stone very many circles ar with that stroke multiplied and driueÌ„ a great way vnlesse some other contrary motion resiste it But in the nighte the ayre is more quiet then in the day time bycause it is not driuen into sundry parts by the course of creaturs which moue themselfes An other cause is bicause they which slepe do easlier receaue light mouings And lastly the same author also referreth not the causes of dreames to god Galene Galene also in his little booke whiche he wrote de presagiis in somniorum aboue other thinges maketh mencioÌ„ of this wheÌ„ in dreames we se those thinges which when we were waking we neither did nor thought they ought not to be referred neither to artes neyther to qualities or custome of those things which happened when we wer wakinge but vnto humors This rule seemeth to tende to thys end that we might vnderstand of what thinges dreames are to be counted signes And he graunteth that these things are better knowen in the night then in the day bycause then the soul withdraweth it self into the inward parts wher it easilier feleth those things which ar ther. An history of a certayn dream And he maketh mencion of one who thought in his dreame he had a thigh of stone which many thought to pertayn to his seruants but wtin a few dayes after that his legge fel into a palsey An other thought that he was vp to the throte in a cesterne full of bloude out of which he could by no meanes escape And that declared that much bloud abounded in hym and that he had very great neede to be let bloud He maketh mention also of an other which in his dreame thought that on his critical or iudiciall day he was washed in a bath wyth great aboundance of water who afterward fell into a great sweat Farther sayth he they which slepe do thinke sometimes that they are greuousely laden so that they ar not able to beare the wayght sometimes so light and nimble that they run in a manner fly Al these things saith he are â—okens of excesse or defecton of humors Hippocrates also of these thiÌ„gs in a maner writeth the same namely that the mind in the day time destributeth his powers into the senses other faculties Hippocrates And in the night it draweth theÌ„ to the inward parts therfore it doth the better know them Howbeit he maketh mencion that there are certayn dreames which come by god wherby calamities are foreshewed to come vnto cities people and other certayne greate men for the expounding of which dreames some do professe certayne artes Vnto which neuerthelesse he semeth to geue but very small credite When by dreames it is noted that the humors do offend he sayth that they which are in daunger must be holpen by diete exorcist and medicine And whither the dreames be good or euil he will haue prayers added When helth is by dreames signified we must pray sayth he vnto the Sunne vnto Iupiter celestiall Iupiter possessor to Minerua rich Mercury and to Apollo But if the dreames be vnlucky we must pray vnto the goddes sayth he which turne awaye ill namely vnto the goddes of the earthe and to the Heroicall men c. Wherfore eyther Hippocrates was supersticious or els he would seme so But to me as touching sincere godlines that I mislike not Yea it is very much commended that if at any time wee be vexed with troublesome and terrible dreames we muste praye vnto god that it would please him to turne away those euils if there be anye whiche hange ouer our heddes What is the outward cause of dreames There is an other kinde of dreames whiche procedeth of an outward cause namely from the power of heauen or as it is commonlye called the influence which altereth the ayre For this ayre touching our bodies affecteth them with a new quality Wherby sundrye images and dreames are stirred vp vnto those which are on sleepe Wherfore there are manye effectes wroughte of heauen of whych it bringeth forth some in the phantasy and power or faculty of imagination and other some in deede And that may easely be shewed by an example In dede in the ayre or cloudes there are raine and in the
to sacrifice any other wher yet after the Salomon had built the tēple it was not lawful to offer out of it wherfore the highe places were to be takē away they should sacrifice no where but at Ierusalē But of al the kings onely Iosias Ezechias toke away the high places so hard a thing was it to leade the people to the true obediēce of god But Elias was moued by a certayne peculiar inspiration of God to Sacrifice other where Manoah demaundeth after the name of the Aungell neyther dyd he that so simply as hys wyfe dyd But that he should not be thought to demaund it curiously or without a cause he addeth a reason of hys request That if that come to passe whiche thou hast sayd we may honour thee that is with some reward But I cā not recōpence thee vnles I know who thou art where thou dwellest This Hebrew worde Peli is ambiguous to the Hebrues R. Salomon Aungels ar named of those things whiche they worke signifyeth both wonderful and also secrete R. Salomon sayeth that the names of aungelles are secrete so that they themselues knowe not their owne names And he addeth also that the Aungelles haue no names of their owne but onely haue surnames geuen them of those thynges whiche they are sent to take charge ouer Whiche thyng also the Epistle to the Hebrues toucheth when it calleth them ministryng spirites R. Salomon bryngeth examples out of the holy Scriptures An Aungell was sent vnto Esaye and bycause he dyd put a burnyng coale to his lyppes he was called Seraphim of this verbe Seraph whiche signifieth to burne So maye we saye of Raphaell that he was so called bycause he had healed Tobias as thoughe he were the medicine of GOD. Gabriell also after the same manner was called the strength of GOD. Also thys woorde Peli signifieth wonderfull for therefore came the Aungell to woorke a miracle And vndoubtedly it was very wonderfull to bryng fire out of a rocke whiche shoulde consume the Sacrifice And it may bee that the Aungell would not open hys name bycause menne at that tyme were prone vnto Idolatrye and they would easely when they had hearde the name of an Aungell peraduenture haue woorshypped it to muche religiously That which we haue called an oblation in Hebrew it is Minchah But what manner of oblation that was is vnderstoode by the .2 chapter of Leuit. There wer diuers kindes therof but it euer consisted of corne but yet not alwayes prepared after one manner it was so offred that some part of it was burnt vnto the Lord the other part was left for the Priestes The Papists babble that Minchah was a shadowe of their bready Sacrifice whiche thinge they haue fayned most impudently But hereof we will intreate in an other place Manoah layd the Kid and Minchah vpon the rocke Manoah myght not Sacrifice vnto the Lord by the lawe bycause he came of the tribe of Dan and not of the tribe of Leui. Wherefore he deliuered the fleshe vnto the aungell whom he thought to be a Prophete that he should sacrifice it For Prophetes had an extraordinary vocation that althoughe they were not of the famely of Aaron yet it was lawfull for them to sacrifice as we rede of Helias and Helizeus For whē religiō was decayed in the Priests god suffred others to minister their office But the aungell when the fleshe was put vpon the rocke wrought wonderfully He raysed vp fire out of the stone whiche consumed the offring Whiche thing we rede also was done in Gideon Althoughe it be not herein expressedly shewed that fire was drawen out of the rocke as it was openly sayd in Gideon yet is no mention made of fire that was brought by Manoah at the last it is sayd that the angell vanished away in the flame therfore it is credible that fire was striken out of the stone The angell ascended into heauen as though he vsed the flame for a chariot He dissolued the body whiche he bare and vanished away into the flambe whiche was a notable miracle They fell to the ground for feare for they were wonderfully amased and astonished when they sawe that it was an aungell whom before they thought to haue ben a man 22 And Manoah sayd vnto his wife We shall surely dye bycause we haue sene God 23 But hys wife sayde vnto hym If the Lorde would kill vs he woulde not haue receaued a burnt offryng and an oblation of our handes neither would he haue shewed vs all these thinges nor at this tyme told vs such thynges 24 And the wife bare a sonne and called his name Samson And the childe grewe and the Lord blessed hym 25 And the spirite of the Lord began to strengthen hym in the host of Dan betwene Zora and Esthaol In dyeng we shall dye That is we shall moste assuredly dye For the Hebrues in doublyng the woordes doo earnestly affirme Bycause we haue sene the Lord. Whereof this opinion sprang I haue tolde in the Hystory of Gideon where also I haue declared how God was sene of the fathers The opiniō of R. Leui ben Gerson Wherfore it nedeth not to repeate them in this place But this will I not ouerpasse that R. Leui ben Gerson writeth that this was not an aungell but a man of god and a Prophet namely Pinhas the sonne of Eleazar But he was called angel bycause Manoah and his wife thought hym to be so For after the same maner Ezras although he was a man yet was he called an aungell And Christ whiche is very man is called the aungell of the Testament But how he being a man vanished awaye in the flambe Leui ben Gerson declareth not But I more simply doo iudge him to haue ben an aungell in dede For Pinhas had not a secret name but a name well knowen in his tyme and the wordes of the texte do tend to this Of the name of Elohim to teache that it was an aungell VVe haue sene the Lord. In Hebrewe it is Elohim which althoughe it be the name of GOD yet is it communicated to aungelles yea and also to prynces and Prophetes accordyng to that saying I haue sayde ye are Goddes And Christe in the Gospell sayeth If they are called Goddes vnto whome is come the woorde of GOD why doo ye meruayle c This woman seemeth to be of a stouter courage them the man for she comforteth her husband Whose Oration is grounded vpon two argumentes The first is I do not thinke we shall dye bycause God would not haue accepted our sacrifice if he would haue destroyed vs. Wherfore seyng our sacrifice was acceptable vnto him he counteth not vs as enemyes But whereby knew she that that sacrifice was acceptable vnto GOD. Firste bycause the Aungell had commaunded it to be done which vndoubledly he would not haue don vnles he had vnderstoode that it should be acceptable vnto God Farther bycause the flambe had consumed the Sacrifice and
The summe of the opinion of Tertulian but in the substaunce of men I could rehearse mo thinges out of Tertulian but these seeme sufficient for this present purpose In summe he thinketh that Aungels haue bodies but yet straunge bodies and not their own For their proper bodies as he thinketh pertaine vnto the spirituall kinde Secondlye he sayth that those straunge bodies which they take are created either of nothing or els of some matter which shall seme good vnto God Thirdly he affirmeth that they were true perfect and humane bodies and not vayne or fayned but of a true flesh and not of a flesh onely appearing so that of men they might be both touched and handled to the end he might both remoue dissimulation from God and also confirme the veritye of humane flesh in Christ Wherby is concluded that the humane senses wer not deceaued concerning these thinges as the Papistes contende that the senses are deceaued concerning the bread and wyne of the Eucharist But Origene in hys booke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as he is cited of Ierome agaynste Iohn byshop of Ierusalem thought farre otherwise Origene For wher we say that the visions of Aungels may be imagined three maner of wayes namely either in fantasye or in body but not humane or lastly in a true and humane body he taketh a certaine meane and sayth that the bodies of Aungels wherein they offer them selues to be sene are neyther perfect nor humane nor also fantasticall but onelye bodyes and that he applyeth to them that ryse agayne For in the resurrection sayth he we shall haue bodies but yet onely bodies not bones not synewes not fleshe And in deede there is some difference betwene a bodye and fleshe Al flesh is a body but not euery body is flesh for all fleshe is a body but not euery body is flesh Suche a difference touched Paule to the Collossians saying Being reconciled in the body of hys fleshe And in the seconde chapter In the spoyling of the body of the flesh of synne And in the Symbole also we say that we beleue in the resurrection of the fleshe and not of the bodye Origene sayde that he sawe twoo extreme errours One was of them which sayde there is no resurrection suche as were the Valentinians and Marcionites suche also was Alexander who as Paule testifieth taught that the resurrection was already done and suche also as at this day the Libertines are sayde to be who babble I cannot tell what of that matter both vngodlâ—ly and vnlearnedly An other errour is of those which thinke that the perfecte and true bodyes shall ryse agayne with fleshe synewes and bones whych thing as hee saythe is not possible bycause fleshe and bloode shall not possesse the kyngdome of heauen But Origene ought to haue considered what followeth afterward in Paul For he addeth Neyther shall corruption possesse incorruption Wherefore hys sentence is that the corruptible body cannot possesse the kingdome of God But Origene to retayne that hys meaning confessed that the bodyes shoulde ryse in deede but not thycke and with bones but spirituall as Paule hath sayde The body shall ryse spirituall But Origene in those woordes marketh not that Paule calleth it a spiritual bodye not bicause it shoulde vtterlye bee chaunged into a spirite but bycause it should haue spiritual condicions namely incorruption and most cleare brightnes But bycause he perceaued that the body of Christ which after his resurrection he offered vnto hys Disciples to be touched and to be felt was against hys doctrine therefore he sayth Let not the bodye of Christe deceaue you bycause it had manye synguler priuiledges whiche are not graunted vnto other bodyes Farther that by this dispensacion he might prooue that he verelye was rysen he would after hys resurrection haue a true bodye not that other bodies in the resurrection shoulde be lyke But he shewed the nature of his spirituall body in Emaus when he vanished awaye from the sight of hys Disciples And an other tyme when he entred to his Disciples the doores being shut Ierome thus opposeth himselfe agaynst these thynges Ierome If Christe sayth he after hys resurrection dyd eate in verye deede then had he also a true bodye but if not how prooued he by a false thyng the truth of hys body But in that he vanished awaye from the syght of the Disciples that was not by the nature of the body but by the deuine power For in Nazareth when the people woulde haue stoned him he wythdrewe himselfe from their eyes And that whiche might bee done of a Cuniurer shall we thynke that the Sonne of God cannot doo For Apollonius Thianaeus Apollonius Thianaeus when hee was brought into the Counsell before Domitian foorthwyth vanished awaye And that that thyng in Christe was not by the nature of the bodye but by the power of GOD it is declared by that whyche wente before in the same Hystorye For when hee was in the way wyth hys Disciples their eyes wer holden that they coulde not know hym But in that Origene sayth that the body of Christ was spirituall bicause he entred in Now the body of christ entred the dores being shut the doores being shut Ierome aunswereth that the creature gaue place vnto the Creator c. Wherefore the bodye of Christe pearsed not throughe the myddest of the boordes and postes so that twoo bodies were together in one and the selfe same place but herein happened the miracle bicause the very boordes of the doore gaue way vnto the body of Christ The bodye of Christ weÌ„t not out of the sepulchre it beyng shut Leo. Farther that which some obiect that the body of Christ went out of the Sepulchre it being shut that also is not of necessitye to be beleued but wee maye thinke that the stone was roled away before he went foorth And least a man shoulde thynke that I fayne those thynges lette hym reade the .lxxxiii. Epistle of Leo ad Episcopos Palaesthinos The fleshe sayth he of Christ whych went out of the Sepulchre the stone being roled away The bodyes of angels wherin they appeared were true and humane c. Nowe to returne to the purpose bycause I haue sayde that the bodyes of Aungels may be thought to haue bene eyther fantasticall or spirituall or els perfect and in verye deede humane the twoo first partes are reiected then resteth that the bodies of Aungels wherein they appeare are true and humane Whiche thing I affirme onelye to bee true for as muche as Aungels were so sene The visions of Prophets wer somtime imaginatiue that they wrastled wyth men and offered their feete to be washed Neyther doo I iudge that it is lawfull there to saye that the humane senses were deceaued when as the thinges were outwardlye done But I doo not denye but that there somtimes happened imaginatiue appearinges vnto the prophetes when as they sayd that they sawe God or the Cherubin or
other suche lyke thinges For that for as muche as it was in their mynde or imaginatiue faculty it might well be done by formes images and visions Angels appearing in humane bodyes wer not men Nowe remayne there twoo thynges to be diligently wayghed One is whither Aungels when they after this sorte put on humane bodyes maye bee called men I thynke not For if we vnderstande humane fleshe whiche is formed and borne of a reasonable soule vndoubtedlye Aungels after that maner cannot be sayd to haue humane fleshe What then wyll some man saye Were the senses deceaued when men sawe them Not so For the senses iudge onelye outwarde thinges and suche thinges as appeare But what inwardlye impelleth or moueth those thinges which they see they iudge not That longeth to reason to seeke and searche out Thys also is to be added that Aungels dyd not continually retayne these bodies bicause they were not ioyned vnto them in one and the selfe same substaunce So that an Aungell and a bodye were made one person The holy ghost was not the Dooue nor the Doue the holye Ghost The holy ghost also although it was a true Dooue where he descended yet was not he together one substaunce with it Wherefore the Dooue was not the holye ghost nor the holy ghost the Dooue Otherwyse Aungels may as we haue before taught enter in deede into a bodye before made and whiche before had hys being as it is read of the Aungell whiche spake in the Asse of Baalam and of the Deuyll which by the Serpent talked wyth Eue. But at thys present we dispute not of that kynde but onelye saye that Aungels woorking in thys manner in the bodies of creatures are not ioyned vnto them in one and the selfe same substaunce Wherefore the Asse coulde not be called an Aungell neyther was the Aungell an Asse euen as the serpent was not in very deede the Deuyl neyther was the Deuyll the Serpent The sonne of God is God man But the Sonne of God for as much as he tooke vpon him humane nature was man and man was God bycause of one and the selfe same substaunce wherein were twoo natures But before when he appeared vnto Abraham and to the Fathers although he had true fleshe yet bycause it was not ioyned vnto hym in one and the selfe same substaunce he could not be called fleshe neither was flesh God But afterwarde when he tooke vpon hym both fleshe and soule so that there was onely one substance or person then man was God and God man Whereby it came to passe that he shoulde trulye bee borne that hee should dye and redeeme mankinde Wherefore he dyd truely call hym selfe the sonne of man and in Iohn he sayth ye seeke to kyl me a man whiche haue tolde you the truth And in the Scriptures it is sayd Made of the seede of Dauid And Peter in the Actes ye haue kylled sayth he a man appoynted you of God And Esay Behold sayth he a virgin shall conceaue and beare a Sonne These words haue great force For vnlesse Christe had bene true man a Virgin coulde not haue conceiued him neither haue brought him foorth nor called him her sonne This thing Tertulian prudently marked If he had bene a straunger sayth he Tertulian a Virgin coulde not either haue conceaued him or borne him The Aungell also saluted Mary after this maner Be not afraid sayd he thou shalt conceaue c. Elizabeth sayd How happeneth this to me that the mother of my Lorde shoulde come vnto me If she had Christ onely as a Straunger she coulde not be called hys Mother The Aungell also sayde Blessed be the fruite of thy wombe But how could it haue bene sayde the fruite of her wombe if he had brought a body wyth hym from heauen And in Esay it is wrytten A rod shall come oute of the roote of Iesse and a floure shall ascende out of his roote Iesse was the stocke Mary the braunch but Christ is the floure which tooke his body of her Mathew also thus beginneth his Gospell The booke of the generacion of Iesus Christe the sonne of Dauid the sonne of Abraham If Christ brought a bodye from heauen how was he the sonne of Abraham or Dauid Farther the promise made to Abraham of Christ is in this sorte In thy seede shall all nacions be blessed Paul intreating of these woordes to the Galathians He sayde not sayth he in seedes as though in many but in thy seede whych is Christe And in the Epistle to the Romanes wee reade Of whom is Christe according vnto the fleshe All these thynges prooue most apeartly that Christ was true man and in hym was one substaunce of God and man These thinges cannot be sayd of the Aungels neither of the Sonne of God before he was borne of the Virgin although whylest he appeared he had true fleshe as we haue before sayde but yet not ioyned vnto hym in one and the selfe same substaunce neither could it be sayde of the holy ghost that he was in very deede a Dooue althoughe that wherein he once appeared was a true Dooue And in this sense wrote Tertulian those thynges whych we haue before cited whych thinges being not wel vnderstoode might breede either error or offence vnto the Readers Now resteth the other question Whither Aungels did in very deede eate drink whē they appeared Scotus Whyther Aungels clothed wyth bodyes taken dyd in verye deede eate and drinke Of the Schoolemen some thinke that they dyd eate in verye deede and other denye it Scotus thynketh that to eate is nothyng els then to chawe meate and to conueyghe it downe into the bellye And thys thyng dyd the Aungels wherefore he gathereth that they dyd eate in very deede Other thynke that to eate is not onely to chawe the meate or to conueyghe it downe into the bellye but moreouer to conuert it into the substaunce of hys bodye by concoction thoroughe the power of vegitacion Thys for as muche as the Aungels dyd not therefore they dyd not eate in very deede The booke of Thobias The booke of Tobias is not in the Canon of the Hebrewes but yet it might be applyed vnto our purpose but that there is variaunce in the copyes For in that booke which Munster set foorth in Hebrue in the .xii. chapter Raphael the Aungell sayth I seemed to you to eate and to drinke but I dyd not eate neyther drynke The common translacion hath I seemed to you to eate and to drinke But I vse inuisible meate and drinke Neyther text denyeth but that the Aungell dyd after a certayne maner eate Augustine But whatsoeuer may be gathered of those woordes me thinketh the interpretacion of Augustine is to be receaued in his .iii. booke de Trinitate the .22 chap. where he thus writeth The Angels did eate in very dede but not for neede but to contract custome and familiarity with men Wherefore when in the one text it is said
of Dan sought theÌ„ an inheritauÌ„ce to dwell in for vnto that tyme their inheritauÌ„ce had not fallen vnto them among the tribes of Israel 2 Therfore the childreÌ„ of Dan sent of their famely fyue men out of their coastes valiaunt men out of Zora and Eshtaol to vew the land and diligently to searche it out they sayd vnto them Go searche out the land Then they came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micha and lodged there 3 And when they were nyghe the house of Micha they knewe the voyce of the younge man the Leuite and they turned in there and sayd vnto hym who brought thee hyther What makest thou here and what hast thou to doo here 4 And he aunswered them Thus and thus doth Micha vnto me and hath hyred me to be his Priest 5 And they sayd vnto him Aske counsell I praye thee of God that we may know whither he will prosper the way wherby we walke 6 And the Priest sayd vnto them Go in peace Your waye whereby ye walke is before the Lord. In that it is sayd there was no kyng in Israell is signified that it is not to bee meruayled The Danites were left destitute of their brethren that Religion and the Publique wealth was then troubled There was no Magistrate which shuld iustly haue punished these sinnes By this place is vnderstand that the Danites wer left destitute of their brethreÌ„ when they should get their possession whiche thinge vndoubtedly should not haue bene done for they ought euery tribe one to haue helped an other in getting their inheritauÌ„ce For so had Moses Iosuah prescribed them before but the Israelites forgettyng theyr brethren studyed euery man by himselfe for his owne commodity and profite The vtility of a Magistrate Hereof sprang Idolatry and the takyng away of other mens goods bycause there was neither kynge nor Magistrate to restrayne these euilles Hereby we maye knowe howe muche a Magistrate is to be made of Who if he bee good then keepeth in he good order both the publique wealth the worshyppyng of god For he is the keeper as wel of the first table as also the latter Neither hath he a care onely for the bodyes of his Citezins but also for their soules And howe ill soeuer the Magistrate be yet to defende the common society of men he many wayes profiteth the publique wealth But now al things were decayed bycause the publique wealth was destitute both of a king also of a Magistrate They were not depriued of this good thyng by the institution of God but by theyr owne sinne whereby they were deliuered into the power of the Philistines An obiectioÌ„ touching the primitiue Churche But thou wilt say did not Christian men so in the primitiue Churche For they had not their Magistrates but were most cruelly vexed of tyrannes That is true in deede but in the meane tyme they had very excellent Ministers of the Churche and therewith all most aboundaunt and greate benefites of the holy ghost And when the Apostles wrought wonderfull miracles there seemed to be the les want of a Christian Magistrate Paul by a great power of the holy Ghost made blind Elimas the sorcerer Heresies increase vnles the Magistrate represse them Peter slewe Ananias and Saphira They deliuered vnto SathaÌ„ such as were past correction Howbeit in the meane tyme increased many heresies bycause there was no Magistrate to keepe them downe euen as now in Israel when they wanted their princes Idolatry crept in Afterward wer geuen vnto the Church both Christian princes Magistrates and therewithall there ceased such giftes of the holy Ghost bycause they seemed not so necessary when Christian Schooles Christian Phisitions and Christian Iudges happened vnto the Churche ¶ Of the head of the Churche THis place the Papistes obiect vnto vs An obiection of the Papistes thinke that it maketh very much to establish their tyraÌ„ny Se say they hereof sproÌ„g so many sectes heresies amoÌ„g you bycause ye haue not an Ecclesiastical Magistrate for that ye haue fallen froÌ„ the onely head of the Church Wherfore that the state of the Churche may be the quieter there must be one head therof in earth But we neither wil nor may suffer this bycause it is manifestly repugnant vnto the word of God We acknowledge one head of the Church that is Christ from whom we fele that both lyfe spirite floweth and spreddeth abrode into all the rest of the body But they say there must also be an other head of the Church For Christ say they is the head as touching the soule and iustification But there must be an other head also concernyng the retayning of outward rites and ceremonies for the wedyng out of heresies to vnite Churches together To this we say that it is sufficient that euery Church haue his minister or Byshop who may dispense the word of God and the Sacramentes retayne discipline as much as may be But that there should be some one man to gouerne all the rest neither is it necessary neither ought it to be suffred bycause as I haue sayd the head is from whence lyfe and spirite is deriued into all the body And such a head is Christ onely God woulde haue in the Churche not one Minister onely but many And we must marke the institution of GOD who would haue many Ministers in the Churche For so is it written vnto the Ephesians Christ hath ascended into heauen and hath led captiuity captiue and geuen gyftes vnto men And that we should vnderstande howe he hath geuen them it is added Some he hath gâ—uen Apostles some he hath geuen Prophetes some Euangelistes some Pastors and teachers for the renewyng of the saintes into the worke of administration for the edification of the body of Christ wherfore to builde the body of Christ God wil haue many and sundry gyftes of the spirite and Ministeryes retayned in the Churche Let these men euery one execute his office let them conferre together if there happen any controuersy and if neede be let them assemble together to Synodes But that euery controuersy should be referred vnto the Byshoppe of Rome and that all men shoulde obey the Pope onely it is intollerable and vtterly Tyrannicall Neither doo the Popes contayn themselues Popes do also chauÌ„ge the institutions of God to excercise power onely in outwarde thinges but also they chaunge the institutions of God and rules of religion Which thyng we haue now had experieÌ„ce of to the great hurt of the Church It is a very good saying whiche the Apostle hath vnto the Romanes in the .12 chap. Euen as in one body we haue many meÌ„bers but all meÌ„bers haue not one the selfe same office so we being many are one body in Christ euery one the members of others hauing sundry giftes according vnto the grace geueÌ„ vnto vs. And the same things in a maner are written in the .1 to the
hurt is to be preferred before the greater bycause it hath the nature and reason of goodnes But in sinne there is no consideration of goodnes And vndoubtedly what soeuer is synne the same muste strayghtwaye be reiected let followe what will But Augustine excuseth after a sorte Lot and thys olde manne bycause they fell with a heauy and troubled mynde It oftentymes happeneth vnto wyse men with a troubled mynde to doo those thynges whiche afterwarde when they come to themselues they allowe not But this excuse doth not vtterly absolue these menne from sinne althoughe it somewhat release them But if a manne will say Paul preferred the lesser sinne before the greater when he sayde he woulde be accursed of Christ for hys brethreÌ„ rather then they should persiste in that blyndnes and stubbernnes wherein they were holden He whiche obiecteth this vnto vs must knowe that he doth not rightly vnderstand that place of Paul For the Apostle desired to redeme the saluation of the Iewes with his daunger not vndoubtedly with sinne but with hys losse or hurte namely to be accursed of Christe not certaynely to be made an Apostata or to cease to beleue in Christ but onely not to haue the fruition of the eternall and blessed lyfe Augustine Augustine also hath many thynges agaynst thys compensation of sinnes And amonge other thinges What sayeth he if a man require either of a mayden fornication or of a maryed woman adultery and threateneth to kill hymselfe vnles he obteyne hys request ought the pure and chaste women to fulfill his desire No vndoubtedly Neither thoughe he afterwarde slay hymselfe shall the chast women be counted guilty of his death They ought in deede to be sory for hym to deplore his acte but not to thinke they haue done euill bycause they graunted hym not vnlawfull thynges The same Augustine vpon the .146 Augustine Psalme writeth If a man deny dewe beneuolence vnto his wife bycause he would lyue chastly and the wyfe in the meane tyme fall into adultery he sinneth neither can his entent be allowed For sinne is not to be admitted in the wyfe for the exercising of continency God sayeth he doth not recompense suche a hurte with suche a gayne Wherfore the sentence of Leo the first Leo in the dist .46 chapter Non suo is to be allowed wherein he sayth that it is vncomely that any should bestow theyr faultes vpon other mens commodities Augustine in hys booke De mendacio to Consentius sayeth For the health of our neyghbours Augustine we must doo whatsoeuer may be doone And if it come to that point that we can not helpe them without sinne there remayneth nothyng els for vs to doo And he addeth that no manne must be brought into heauen by a lye The same Augustine in an other place sayeth If poore menne see a cruell and bitter riche manne and woulde steale any thynge from hym eyther to helpe themselues or other poore menne they doo not diminishe sinne but encrease it Gregory And Gregory Byshoppe of Rome in hys Epistle to Siagrius To committe the lesse sinne to the end to auoyde the greater is to offer Sacrifices vnto GOD of a wicked acte To Chrisostome and Ambrose as it is written in the .21 of the Prouerbes But in that Chrisostome and Ambrose doo for thys cause prayse Lot they are thus to bee vnderstande namely that they allowed hys charity and fayth towardes straungers and had a respecte vnto the horriblenes of the sinne whiche the Citezins were ready to committe not that they allowed their abandonyng of theyr women And thus muche as touchyng thys matter How much the horrible synne of the Sodomites is to be detested Augustine But in that the olde manne calleth it a villany and a detestable thyng whiche they went about to committe he sayeth most truely For seede was geuen vnto manne for procreations sake But these pestiferous menne abuse the gifte geuen them of GOD they resiste hys law and agaynste nature chaunge menne in that after a sorte they turne the male into the female Augustine to Pollentius Adultery sayeth he is more grieuous then whooredome and incest more heynous then adultery but that whiche is done agaynste nature is of all most wicked and detestable And he addeth In thynges whiche GOD hath graunted it is more tollerable immoderatly to transgresse then lyghtly to sinne in those thynges whiche by no meanes are graunted And in hys .3 booke of Confessions he sayeth that the fellowship of humane kynde is violated with GOD bycause nature whiche we haue of GOD is polluted This was the crye of the Sodomites and the Gomorhites which ascended into heaueÌ„ and the grieuousnes of their wickednes is moste manifest by their distruction For they were distroyed with fire and brimestone from heauen punishementes vndoubtedly agreable vnto so greate a heynous crime by the fire was noted their burnyng filthy luste and by brymestone theyr stynkyng and vnpure wicked crime Chrisostome Chrisostome writeth Bycause they followed not fertility but barennes therfore God made that so ill baren and infertyle whiche before was most fertile But he demaundeth Why god doth in theâ—e daâ—es deferre the punishement of Sodomites Why are not they whiche are in the same faulte in these dayes punished also after the same manner He aunswereth whome that punishement moueth not for them abydeth the vnquencheable fyre And they are not so punished in this lyfe bycause suche menne for the moste parte are conuersaunt amonge good menne and GOD promised Abraham that he was ready to forgeue Sodome if there mought haue bene founde there but onely tenne good menne Wherefore for as muche as Cityes at this daye are not altogether so corrupte as Sodome was then therefore GOD dealeth more remissedly with them It also oftentymes happeneth that althoughe these men are moste wicked yet they had good predecessors And GOD as he hath testified tarieth and differreth the punishement vnto the thyrde and fourth generation Farther we muste marke that thys vice wheresoeuer it rangeth it is not alone With it are ioyned cruelty inhumanity pryde robbery and oppressing of the poore And when it shall come to this point that menne cruelly withdrawe their dewtyes from their neyghbours GOD doth then on the other side withdrawe hys helpe and grace Wherefore they beyng left vnto themselues that is vnto their owne corrupte and viciate strengthes doo degenerate into beastes The Sodomitical sinne is to bee punished with death The lawe of GOD in Exodus and Deuteronomy made thys sinne death And Paul to the Romanes sheweth that thys is the punishement of Idolatrers And in an other place he numbreth abusers of nature with them whom he excludeth from the kyngdome of GOD. Amonge the olde Grecians thys wicked crime was punished with death and that by the lawe of Laius Bessarion Tertulian whereof Bessarion maketh mention agaynste Trapezuntius Tertullian de Monogamia writeth that among the Romanes there was
a lawe called Lex Scantinia Lex Scātinia whiche was of the same shapenes For he would signify that the Byshoppe of Vthinensis was contaminated with thys kynde of wickednes He feared not sayeth he the lawe called Lex Scantinia In the Code ad l. Iuliam de Adulteriis stupris in the lawe Cum vir nubit Constantius Augustus cōmaundeth the lawes to arise and the lawes to be armed with the auengyng sworde that such as are infamed by this crime should be subiect to most cruell punishementes Iustinian also in his Authentikes in the title vt no Luxurientur contra naturam maketh thys crime death and addeth that for such a detestable crime Cityes are ouerthrowen and plagued with pestilēces hunger and earthquakes He mought also haue added ciuile warres whiche as this Hystory testifyeth doo fellowe and those moste cruell Extra de excessibus prelatorum in the chapter Clerici it is ordeyned that they whiche are taken in thys crime shoulde be put out of theyr place and dignity And the lay men also should be excommunicated But it is to be knowen that euen GOD bendeth hymselfe to vengeaunce ☜ and sendeth fury and madnes vpon suche persons where the Magistrate neglecteth his dewty and suffreth wicked menne to go vnpunished Therefore in Genesis it is written that the aungelles smote the Sodomites with blyndnes so that they could not finde the house We muste also note that the Gabaonites came in a manner all of them vpon a heape vnto the doore that it myght appeare that they all conspired into thys so detestable a crime But there ariseth a doubt whether sinne may by any meanes be excused for this cause Sinne is not excused therefore bycause it is publique bycause it was common and almost all men were infected with it No vndoubtedly yea rather it was so muche the more wicked and heynous as it was committed of many and that without punishement For they dyd not onely conceaue and committe wickednes but also publishe and set it forth openly and without shame ranne together to accomplishe it Wherefore it is rightly written that the sinnes of the Sodomites cried and ascēded vp into heauen Esay also writeth They haue published abrode their sinne like Sodoma And where we see that done we must thinke that it is a certayne token that that publique wealth shall in shorte tyme perishe For menne when they are touched with some shamefastnes althoughe they sinne yet remayneth there some hope of amendement and repentaunce But when in a manner they openly professe wicked actes and write bokes of them and wil haue theyr wicked crimes to be publique there is nothyng elles to be looked for but the vengeaunce of God With thys wicked vyce the Prelates and Papisticall Sacrificers in these dayes are chiefely infected and also the Antechristes of Rome vnto whom matrimony is very odious Let vs also consider the goodnes of God whiche stirreth vp this olde man to admonishe and reproue them and to bryng them agayne into the ryght waye They were menne polluted and contaminated and vtterly vnwoorthy of so great a benefite But there are neuer men so euill but that GOD doth by some meanes admonishe them of their synnes The olde man dyd his dewty but they contemne and deride him He brought foorth hys concubine Who Not the olde manne but the Leuite who deliuered his wife for feare least he should hymselfe haue fallen into their power But why did not the olde manne delyuer his daughter also Paraduenture bycause those Citezins cared not for her beawty who yet counted the wife of the Leuite to be very fayre and beautifull They so afflicted her all the nyght that in the mornyng she dyed Theyr wicked crime turned at the length into murther In this place the hande and vengeaunce of GOD sheweth forth it selfe This woman hauyng before committed adultery and not for it iustly punished The adulteresse as she sinned so is she punished at the length dyeth euen in adultery and suffreth the lawe of the lyke But whether she repented at last or no there is nothyng written of that matter We onely see the outwarde thynges it is GOD whiche searcheth the heartes But if she dyd repent and that with fayth then escaped she eternall punishementes Yet GOD will haue discipline established in publique wealthes and the malefactors punished who if they repent then are they fatherly chastisynges and not punishementes Neither is it lawfull for the Magistrate to neglecte his office althoughe they repent for if they doo cease to punishe God as it is before sayd will by hymselfe reuenge Wherfore that whiche is written to the Hebrues Whoremongers and adulterers GOD will iudge may be vnderstand two manner of wayes bycause God sometymes punisheth by himselfe and sometymes by the Magistrate The Leuite layd his concubine beyng dead vpon the Asse went home and deuided her body into twelue partes whereof he sent into euery tribe a parte But it may be demaūded Howe the Leuite distributed the pieces how he sent twelue parts into euery tribe when as they wer 13. number Some thinke it was bycause he sent nothing vnto the tribe of Leui for that the Leuites dwelled dispersedly among the other tribes Other suppose that he would send nothing vnto the tribe of Beniamin bycause he thought that they would be no equall reuengers for as muche as the Gabaonites pertayned vnto them But this sentence seemeth not probable bycause it was the sinne onely of one City therefore it pertayned not vnto the whole tribe vnles peraduenture we will say that he supposed that the Beniamites were of such mindes that they woulde not know and take vengeance of the offences of theyr owne bretherne Neither was he deceaued in his opiniō For so happened it in very dede Other say that he sent two partes to the tribe of Manasses bycause the Manassites dwelled part beyond Iordane and part on this side therfore they say that in this hys distribution were omitted two tribes Beniamin and Leui for the causes before alledged The entent of the Leuite was What was the entent of the Leuite that no tribe should excuse themselues by ignorance He was compelled so to do bicause ther was then no Magistrate in Israel neyther any certayn place of iudgement where he might plead his cause Wherfore he stirreth vp al the people to take away euil amōg thē And it semeth that he more profited by this meanes then he shoulde haue done if he had vsed letters or spech For those things do very much moue which are set forth before the eies And yet in so doing he sought not reuengemēt either by a wicked or by an vnlawful meanes forasmuch as he did not tumultuously call souldiers together neyther raised vp sedicions or inuaded the city which did him the iniurye He broughte the cause before them to whom it pertained to knowe it He complained not to Ammorhites or Iebusites but to his owne people Wherfore he ordreth his
That was of al the tribes most populous and noble vnto which afterward came the kingdome They enquired not who should be the captaine of the warre but which tribe shoulde begyn the battaile first against the enemies Why thei doubted not of the victory Wherin the Israelits synned They nothing doubt of the victory neither demaund they any thing concerning it They saw that their quarrell was iust They sawe also that they were more in number and multitude and that it would be easy to ouercome so fewe wherefore they pray not vnto God to geue them the victory which was a grieuous synne as R. Leui ben Gerson affirmeth Wherefore God being offended suffred them twise to fal before their enemies and that wonderfullye For God hateth nothing more then pride and to much trust in our owne strengthes He wil also haue men knowe that victory is both to be required D. Kimhi and also to be hoped for at his handes onelye But Kimhi sayth that other thinke that this so great misfortune of warre happened bicause of the idolatry of Micha the Israelite As though God should in this maner haue delt with them Ye will auenge the iniury done vnto a man being a Leuite but ye neglect and wyncke at the contumely which I suffer at the Danites handes who publikely worship Idoles Either of these sentences is very likelye althoughe neither of them is gathered out of the text Howbeit this we may affirme that there were some certain causes wherby God was excedinglye prouoked of the Israelites But what those causes were though we know not it is no meruayle For the counsels of God are hidden and obscure Order at the length required this that the Israelites should first auenge the contumely of God himself and afterward of the Leuite But this is sufficiently declared in the text What thynges the Israelites had omitted that they at those twoo first tymes came not vnto God earnestly inough They came in deede but they neither fasted nor killed sacrifices nor made any praiers as far as the holy history declareth But at the last hauing already two ouerthrowes all of them with a lowly and humble minde come vnto God al pray together and fast These thinges seme sufficiently to declare that they were not before in the house of the Lord in suche maner as they ought to haue beene For if they had had true fayth they would haue before also proclaimed both cōmon prayers and also fasting Mourning fasting and praiers are the effectes of faith and true repentaunce These thinges for that they had not it is probable that therfore they receaued so great losse at the first and second conflict This thing also might bee a cause for that they made warre to much securely and contemptuously as they which dyd put their confidence in the number and strength of their own men Wherefore they contemned the enemy The contempt of enemies hurteth very much then the which nothing is more vnprofitable to those that shal fight For contempt of the enemies engendreth negligence in the hostes 26 Then al the children of Israel ascended and all the people and they came into the house of God and wept and abode there before the Lorde They fasted also that day vnto the euening and offered burnt offringes and peace offeringes before the Lord. 27 And the chyldren of Israel asked the Lorde for there was the Arke of the Lord in those dayes 28 And Pinhas the sonne of Eleazar the sonne of Aaron stoode before it in those dayes saying Shal I yet go any more to battayle against the children of Beniamin my brethren or shal I cease The Lord answered Go vp for to morow I wil deliuer them into your hand 29 And Israel set men to lye in wayte round about Gibea 30 And the children of Israel went vp against the children of Beniamin the thyrd day and put them selues in aray against Gibea as at other tymes 31 Then the children of Beniamin comming out to meete the people were drawen from their City and they beganne to smite and to kyl of the people as at other times euen by the wayes whereof one goeth vp to the house of God and the other to Gibea in the fielde vpon a thirty men of Israel 32 And the chyldren of Beniamin sayd They are fallen before vs as at the first But the children of Israel said Let vs flie and pluck them away from the city euen to the high wayes 33 And when al the men of Israel rose vp oute of their place and put them selues in aray in Baal-Thamar in the meane while the men of Israel that lay in wayte came forth of their place euen out of the medowes of Gibea 34 And they came ouer agaynst Gibea ten thousande chosen men of all Israel and the battayle was sore for they knewe not that the euyll was neare them 35 And the Lord smote Beniamin before Israel and the chyldren of Israel destroyed of the Beniamites the same day .xxv. thousand and one hundreth men All they coulde handle the swoord 36 So the children of Beniamin saw that they wer smitten down for the children of Israel gaue place vnto the Beniamites bycause they trusted to the men that lay in wayte whych they had layde besydes Gibea 37 And they that lay in wayte hasted and brake forth toward Gibea and the embushment drew themselues along and smote al the City wyth the edge of the swoord 38 Also the men of Israel had appointed a certayne tyme with the embushmentes that with great speede they shoulde make a great flame and smoke ryse out of the City 39 And the men of Israel retired in the battayle and Beniamin began to smyte and kyll the men of Israell about .xxx. persons for they sayd Surely they are striken downe before vs as in the fyrste battayle 40 But when the flame began to aryse out of the City as a pyller of smoke the Beniamites looked backe and beholde the flame of the City began to ascend vp to heauen 41 Then the men of Israel turned againe and the children of Beniamin were astoyned for they saw their destruction at hand 42 Therefore they fled before the men of Israel vnto the waye of the wyldernes but the battayle ouertooke them also they whyche came out of the Cities slewe them among them 43 Thus they compassed the Beniamites about and chased them at ease and ouerran them euē ouer against Gibea on the East side 44 And there fel of Beniamin .xviii. thousand men which were all men of warre 45 And they turned and fled vnto the wyldernes vnto the rocke Rimmon and the Israelites glayned of them by the way .v. thousand men and pursued after them vnto Gidehon slew two thousand men of them 46 So that al that were slayne that day of the Beniamites were 25 thousand men that drew sword which were all men of warre 47 But .vi. hundreth men turned and fled to the wyldernes vnto the rocke of