in this corruptible body but which consisteth rather in remission of sinnes and which after this lyfe will supporte the neédy and naked weakenesse of our workes be they neuer so feéble agaynst the importable burden of the rigour of the law Of which mercy Augustine maketh mention in this wise Stand not in Iudgemēt with me O Lord exactyng all thyngs which thou hast cōmaunded me For if thou enter into Iudgement with me thou shalt finde me guiltie Therefore I haue more neéde of thy mercy then thy manifest Iudgement Agayne in an other place treatyng of the last Iudgemēt He shall crown theé sayth he in mercy compassiōs This shall come to passe at that dreadfull day whenas the righteous kyng shall sit vpon his throne to render to euery mā according to his workes who then can glory that hee hath a pure and vndefiled hart or dare boast that he is without sinne And therfore it was necessary to make mention there of the compassions and mercy of the Lord. c. And agayne somewhat more playnly where hee describeth what maner of mercy shal be in the day of Iudgement he doth set it forth in this wise This is called mercy sayth he bycause God doth not regarde our deseruynges but his owne goodnesse that thereby forgeuyng vs all our sinnes he might promise vs euerlasting life Hereunto also may be annexed the testimonie of Basile no lesse worthy to bee noted touchyng the mercyfull Iudgement of God towardes his chosen people you shal heare his owne wordes as they are For if the Iudgement of GOD were so rigorous and precise in it selfe to render vnto vs after our worthynesse accordyng to the workes that we haue done what hope were then or what man should bee saued But now he loueth both mercy and Iudgement that is matchyng mercy equall with him selfe to beare chief rule in the regall seate of Iudgement and so bryngeth forth euery man to Iudgement That is to say if Gods Iudgement should proceéde of it selfe precisely and exactly requityng euery of vs accordyng to the deseruynges of our deédes that we haue done what hope should remayne for vs or what one person of mankynde should be saued But now God loueth mercy and Iudgement And reseruyng mercy for him selfe he hath placed her before the Royall Throne of Iustice as chief gouernesse and so citeth euery man vnto Iudgement You seé here mention made of mercy and the grace of God not that grace onely that doth engender in vs good workes but the same rather whiche doth forgeue sinnes and Sinners through the bloud of his sonne in which forgeuenesse consisteth our whole redemption accordyng to the testimonie of Paule the Apostle In whom sayth hee we obteine redemption through his bloud and remission of sinnes through the riches of his grace c. If I neéded in this matter to vse a multitude of witnesses rather thē substaūce of authority it were no hard matter for me to cite for defence of the Cause infinite testimonies out of Ambrose Ierome Gregory Bernarde others But what neéde I protract the time of the Reader in vouching a nūber whenas it is euident enough already I suppose by those sayinges spoken before that our saluation can by no meanes obteine place in Iudgement without the mercy of God and his freé Imputation The first wherof our Sinnes neéde to be couered withall the next euen our best workes shall want of necessitie Whereupon that saying of Bernarde wherof we made mention before as diuers other Sentences of his to the same effect bee very pitthye Not to sinne sayth he is the righteousnesse of God the righteousnesse of man is the freé pardon of God Of which pardon Augustine very litle differring from Bernarde maketh rehearsall in these wordes Thou hast done no good thyng sayth hee yet thy sinnes are forgeuen theé hitherto thou hearest the worke of mercy Marke now for Imputation Thy workes are examined and they are founde all faultie and forthwith concluding addeth If God should require these workes after their deseruynges he should surely condemne theé But God doth not geue theé due punishement but graunteth vndeserued mercy Thus much Augustine Euen as though hee would say Our best deédes seéme in none other respect good then as farreforth as they be vpholden by his pardon and freé Imputation who if otherwise should searche all our workes euen to the quicke after the most precise rule of his seuere Iustice hee should surely finde nothing sounde in our best deédes many things lothsome and wicked in our workes all thyngs in vs altogether corrupt and defiled Wherein we do not so aduaunce the mercy of God in his Iudgement as though we would haue all the partes of his Iustice excluded from thence But we doe mitigate rather the frettyng wounde of his Iustice which you do so stiffely mainteyne with your speache applyeng thereunto the sweéte and wholesome playster of his mercyfull Imputatiō For who cā be ignoraūt hereof that God shall Iudge the quicke and the dead with Iustice and equitie And who on the other part is so blind that can not discerne this to bee most false that Osorius mainteineth who rakyng all thynges to amplifie the estimation of pure righteousnes doth so stoutly defende this pointe That all our wordes workes are of such force and value in this Iudgement that of their owne nature they are auaylable towardes the purchase of the euerlastyng inheritaunce or els do procure vs a ready downefall to euerlastyng destruction In deede he speaketh truly in respect of the condemnation of the vnfaithful and vnbeleuyng persons and of them which beyng estraunged from fayth haue not acknowledged Christ in this world and of such as abusing their fayth haue despised Christ and of them also which seékyng to establish their own righteousnesse would not submit thē selues to the righteousnesse of Christ. Neither is it any maruell if God doe execute his Iustice somewhat more sharpely agaynst those persōs whenas their deédes beyng foūde guilty haue no ayde to pleade for them that may stand them in steéde besides Christ. For Christ is nothyng elles but a seuere Iudge to them that are not within the fortresse of Fayth as in effect the Gospell doth denounce vnto vs. Who so hath not beleued the Sonne the wrath of God dwelleth vpon him Iohn 3. But the matter goeth farre otherwise with them that are engraffed in Christ by faith of whom we read in Iohn the same Chap. He that beleueth the sonne hath euerlasting life Wherfore as Christ appeareth not a Redeémer but rather a Iudge to them which without the Castle of Fayth seéke to be rescued by the law so on the contrary part Those that shrowde them selues wholy vnder the assured Target of fayth and protection of the Sonne of God shall not finde Christ a rigorous Iudge but a mercyfull Redeémer The whiche sentence he doth verifie him selfe by his own testimony and
a M. Cicero playeng the Rhetoriciā in his Tusculane walkes but the very sonne of God him selfe from out the bosome of the Father who beyng sent downe into the earth may teach vs not the hidden secretes of mans Philosophye but make discernable the will of his Father vnto vs not define by reason distinguish by Arte and propose in order the Morall principles of prophane Phisolophye albeit he doth describe the same many tymes as occasion is offred but commeth forth with farre higher mysteries instrustructing vs of the kyngdome of God of eternall life and of true and euerlastyng felicitie neither instructyng vs onely but by his doctrine powryng also the same blessednesse into vs obteyned it by his death confirmed it with his rising agayne doth dispose it by his dayly raignyng ouer vs doth enseale it vnto vs by his Sacraments and promiseth it in his word To conclude doth geue the same felicitie of his owne liberatie without all respect of reward freély to all that beleue vpon his name Now therfore since the tyme is altered the Schoolemaister chaunged the order of doctrine must likewise neédes be chaunged not bycause we reiect those things in meane whiles as vtterly false which the auncient Philosophers did in tymes past deliuer vnto vs teachyng the preceptes of orderly liuyng wherof you debated earst concerning good maners and godly actions But bycause the Euangelicall Philosophye doth call vs higher to farre deéper mysteries the doctrine whereof consisteth in greater and better rudiments Our study therfore must haue regarde to an other marke That is to say We must not onely learne seriously to know how to direct the course of this transitory lyfe but also by what meanes we may attayne euerlastyng lyfe not how much our righteousnesse auayleth in the sight of men but what thyng doth Iustifie vs in the sight of God You beyng addicted altogether to the rules of your old Maister of Ethnicke Philosophy heape together many good and commendable preceptes of perfect righteousnesse wherein you are not so much to be misliked But in that ye doe nothyng els but the selfe same thyng whereof they haue treated much more cunnyngly and plentyfully before your tyme as Cicero in his bookes of Offices Aristotle in his Ethickes Plato in his bookes De Legibus and many other learned men in their bookes likewise herein surely you cā not be excusable nor voyde of blame not bycause you agreé with them in those good preceptes whereof they dispute well but bycause you are so fast tyed to their opinions that ye skippe away from Christ and obstinately resist his Gospell not bycause you Imitate them whom we accompt to be learned the ensuyng of whole studious industry we do not neglect but for that you do so much Imitate the prophane writers as that ye seéme to doe nothyng els then Imitate thē as though with Paganes you would become a professed Pagane for that disputyng so carefully of righteousnesse and good workes ye make stay and rest your selfe wholy there from whence you ought haue stept a degreé further and pursued the better way to higher mysteries and matters of greater importaunce And as though there were no difference betwixt Morall Philosophy and Christian Diuinitie ye so racke all thynges to the practize of vertue and pursuyng the perfect plotte of righteousnesse and with I know not how huge a heape or wordes blaze out vnto vs a certeine absolute portraite of innocencie whereof happely ye can painte some shewe or shadowe in your bookes better then expresse in your conuersation And yet are we not so much displeased with that imaginatiue deuise howsoeuer deuised and engrauen by you For we know and doe confesse together with you Osorius all the whole secte of auncient Philosophers that there is nothyng more beautyfull amongest all the actions of mans lyfe then vertue and nothyng of more estimation then righteousnesse and do withall as hartely and earnestly as you wishe and desire that this integritie of life might be throughly emprinted in all mens maners and conuersation whereof you finde so great a mayme and want in these new Gespellers But will you heare agayne Osorius This integritie of innocent and vndefiled lyfe whiche you require so earnestly yet performe nothyng lesse will we will we is lost long agoe not in you or in me onely but in the whole nature of mankynd generally also and so altogether lost that it can neuer by any meanes be restored with good life but by beleéuyng onely But you will say That this righteousnesse though altogether lost in vs may bee restored through the grace and boūtie of Christ and so many times is restored in the faithfull Ueryly I would graunt vnto you as much as ye speake Osorius if you would either aptly define that Grace whereof ye make mention or rightly distinguish that rigthteousnesse For it is not to be doubted but that the comfortable Grace of Christ doth purchase vnto vs perfect Righteousnesse But this Righteousnesse if ye will know it good Syr consisteth not in that which we doe procure by well doyng but in that which by onely forgeuyng is not Imputed Wherefore all that Righteousnesse and blessednesse whatsoeuer is in vs is grounded rather vpon the remission of sinnes then vpon any vertuous workes Will you heare the summe of all your felicitie described vnto vs and knit vp in few wordes in the mysticall Psalme and mentioned by the recitall of the Apostle Blessed are they sayth he whose sinnes are forgeuen and whose Iniquities are couered blessed is the man to whom the Lord hath not Imputed his offences Psal. 31. Furthermore whō that Mysticall melodious Psalmiste doth call blessed the same man onely Bernarde doth denounce to be blessed meanyng thereby the same thyng in deéde which is most true that there is no meane nor ayde from whence mā may hope for eternall felicitie besides this onely and alone Why so Ueryly bycause the whole Nature of mankynde is so ouerwhelmed with sinne that vnlesse the continuall mercy of God dyd preuent vs winkyng at our wickednesse who I praye you could stand in Iudgement not I. No nor yet your selfe Osorius For we haue all sinned and we all haue neede of the glory of God And yet notwithstandyng through his onely mercy pardoning vs our offences are in the case as though they neuer had bene committed wherein if you beyng an old raynebeaten souldiour dare not geue credite to our new Gospell Let it not loathe you yet at the least to heare Bernarde him selfe a witnesse both of our Gospel and of our Iudgement herein who albeit is reported not to haue seéne all things yet did discerne this perfectly enough For thus he speaketh Whatsoeuer he hath decreéd not to Impute is as though it neuer were hereunto addeth an other saying which I would wish you to note aduisedly Not to sinne is the Righteousnesse of God but the righteousnesse of man is the
mercyfull indulgence of God And the same sentence hee doth reiterate agayne in an other place in the selfe same wordes or at least doth cōfirme it with wordes not very much differēt from the same For the sinne sayth he that is committed can not be vndone and yet if God doe not Impute the same it shal be as though it neuer were done c. Surely if the sinne shall not be accompted sinne that hath bene committed no more shall the Sinner bee taken for a Sinner that hath committed the sinne And so it followeth necessaryly hereupon that he must neédes be righteous and blessed Whereby you do perceaue I suppose from whence all this sappe or iuyce of our Righteousnesse and Saluation springeth not out of the workes of our righteousnesse which is none at all but from the onely meére mercy of Gods freé pardon as hath bene declared by the testimony of Bernarde Or if the authoritie of Bernarde cā not obteine so much credite with you yet let the Fayth of Basile Augustine Origene and Ierome persuade you or their auncientie moue you for I perceaue that you are much delighted with antiquitie And first what cā be more notable then the wordes of Basile For he that trusteth not to his owne good wordes neither looketh to be iustified by the deseruyng of good deédes all his hope of saluation he reposeth onely in the meéte mercy of almightie God I will adioyne vnto him a companion of the same iudgemēt and auncientie that notable Clarcke Origene Bycause all thynges sayth he are concluded vnder sinne therfore mans saluation consisteth not in merites of workes but in the freé mercy of God Neither doth S. Augustine differre from them who treatyng of the ende of the last Iudgement seémeth to haue setled all the hope of our sauetie in the onely mercy of God God will crown vs sayth he in the end of the world with mercy and compassions Yeldyng the same in the Latine toung almost which Basile before him dyd expresse most manifestly in the Greéke toung in this wise There is Iudgemēt not without mercy bycause here is no such man to bee founde pure and immaculate without some spotte of sinne yea though hee be an Infante dyeng the same day that he is borne And agayne the same Augustine in his booke De Ciuitate Dei 19. booke and 27. Chapter purposing to declare what accompt may be made of our righteousnes in this transitory life affirmeth it to be such as ought rather to be valued by the forgeuenesse of sinnes then by perfection of vertues And agayne the same Augustine in his first booke of Retractations 19. Chap. All the Commaundementes sayth hee are then reputed to be performed when that whiche is left vndone is pardoned And I know not whether Ierome haue declared the same more euidently who referryng all thyngs to the freé mercyfulnesse of God forgeuyng vs speaketh in this wise In Christ Iesu our Lord in whom we haue our hope accesse and affiaunce by the faith of him not by our righteousnes but by him through whose fayth our sinnes are forgeuen vs. But why doe I stand so long vpon a matter that ought to be without all cōtrouersie when as the generall consent and agreément of all learned Authours and antiquitie can not be founde more constaunt nor for the more part more consonaunt in any one thyng so much as in this The matter therefore beyng so playne it remayneth that of two meére contraries we allow the one and vtterly forsake the other that is to say either that which you doe cauill touchyng righteousnesse or els that which they doe teache vs touchyng Gods gracious forbearyng For these two are farre different eche from other and can not be admitted both for it righteousnesse be obteyned by integritie of workes then what neéde haue we of any further forgeuenesse But if this come vnto us by the onely freé benignitie of the forgeuer I beseé you then for the loue ye beare to your Myter where is now that integritie of workes that vprightenesse that may make our righteousnesse perfect For as farre as I can gesse pardon is not geuen to well deseruynges but reward rather offred as of duety Neither can it be truely sayd That pardon must be craued where no offence is committed But ye will say paraduenture that some imperfections doth lurcke secretly in our deédes though they be wrought by the grace of God which yet wanteth the mercyfulnesse of God It is well sayd truely And why then doth your darkyng penne so cruelly rage agaynst Luther Who franckely of his own accorde doth professe the selfe same thing though in other wordes which you are driuē by force to yeld vnto whether ye will or no. That is to say That our deédes are vnperfect lame blynd naked and so altogether barren and hungry that vnlesse they bee clothed and vpholden by the mercy of freé pardon no defence wil be pleadeable before the Iudgement seate of God and shal be accompted rather in place of sinnes then seéme to deserue any reward of vertue If ye be not satisfied with these testimonies but will obstinately persiste in this your opinion still that our workes may be so absolutely perfect as to deserue I beseéch you make proofe therof by some reasonable authoritie either vouched out of holy Scriptures or out of some approued auncient Authours And if ye can make no soūd proofe in that behalfe deale yet somewhat more soberly with vs. For these your reproches rebukes lyes scoldynges outcries spyttynges cursinges glorious hauty speaches and triflyng wordes make nothyng to the purpose On the other part if ye can neither make proofe vnto vs of this perfect Righteousnesse of workes by any demonstration of your owne workes nor any mā els besides you dare presume to offer him selfe in iudgement to tryed by his workes what els doe ye in chargyng Luther so sharpely when ye so condemne him for a franticke and braynesicke mā Then Tertullus did sometyme accusing Paul to bee a seditous person sauyng that he accused Paule but at one tyme once and your penne vomityng out nothyng els besides furies frensies and madnes of Luther doth so continually crawle in ragyng by degreés as will seéme neuer to make any ende at all thereof vntill ye bryng your selfe amongest the Iewes at the last and crye out as they did Crucifige vpon him Crucifige vpon him Iob a most vpright lyuear did stand in doubtfull feare of all the workes of his life Esay the Prophet doth cōpare all our righteousnesse to a foule menstruous cloth Christ him selfe doth pronounce that all our endeuours and workes are vnprofitable Paule as it were loathyng the remembraunce of his owne righteousnes how glorious so euer his works appeared yet did adiudge them so farre distaunt from true righteousnesse that hee esteemed them no better then doung Dauid durst not presume to enter into Iudgement with God Augustine
his mouth But for as much as no man can enterprise any good action vnlesse he doe first utterly cut of the kyngdome of Sinne. But the kyngdome of sinne can not be vtterly cut of if it be true that Luther teacheth It remayneth therefore that no man is able to worke any good deede As touchyng the forme of this Argument perhappes the punyes in Sophistey may somewhat allow but if ye behold the matter thereof Certes the Doctours of Diuinitie will reiect the same as faultie Vnlesse sayth he the kyngdome of sinne be first vtterly cut of c. Truly I would not much stand with you here Osorius If you will first expresse vnto vs apely and distinctly what you meane by this worde kyngdome For whereas Deuines do agreé that there are two sortes of sinne whiche we call actuall sinne whiche also they doe distinguish two maners of wayes into Sinne reigning and Sinne rebelling you must teach vs whether of those two you meane For it is not all one thyng to suffer thy selfe to be carryed away with sinne to yeld thy selfe willingly captiue into his Tyranny as to be vanquished of sinne through weakenes For the first cōmeth of will the next of Infirmitie We are all many tymes ouercome of sinne neither liueth any in this flesh but offendeth sometymes sondry wayes Yet are we notwithstanding ouercome agaynst our willes and drawyng backe as it were The most chosen seruaunts of God are sondry tymes cast down through Sinne reigning in their mēbers But neuer yeld ouer wholy as subiectes to his kyngdome Uery well therfore doth S. Paule counsell vs Let not Sinne reigne in your fleshly bodies Rom. 6. And yet the same Paule did not alwayes bring to passe the good that he would But did worke many tymes the euill that he would not Not he now but Sinne dwellyng within him These thynges beyng thus opened Let vs search out the pythe of the Argument Hee denyeth that vertue hath any place there where the kyngdome of Sinne is not vtterly rooted out If Osorius do meane the kyngdome of Sinne as a kyng or a tyraunt doth reigne ouer his subiectes The Maior proposition is true but the Minor most false For Luther did neuer teache no not so much as dreame otherwise then that Sinne should bee suppressed as much as were possible But if his meanyng tende to this end That no man can enterprise any good worke vnlesse the tyranny of Sinne beyng first brought vnder yoke he haue so tamed the fleshe that no motion so much may bee felt to rebell within that may wounde or infect the conscience how can Osorius make proofe of that which he verifieth in his Maior or confute that which he doth obiect agaynst Luther in his Minor Or where shall he finde that conquerour of Sinne who hauyng throughly mortified Sinne and vtterly vanquished the ragyng Rebellion of naturall corruption dare promise rewarde of perfect righteousnesse vnto him selfe Iob a man of all other famous for his vprightenesse of lyfe was yet so displeasaunt with him selfe that hee seémed to stand in doubte of all his workes Esay doth condemne all his righteousnesse to be more lothsome then a menstruous cloute Who was more holy or more acceptable to God then Dauid And yet besides that he dare not presume to offer him selfe to Iudgement as beyng dismayed with feare of his secret conscience he doth not spare franckely to pronounce That no fleshe liuyng can bee founde righteous in the sight of God The greate Prophete Daniell doubted not to make his humble Confession together with the people saying That he had Sinned with his forefathers What shall I speake of Ionas and the other Prophetes And to let passe the other Apostles what shall I say of Paule and Peter S. Iohn declaryng That we all are Trespassours in many thinges doth not exempt him selfe out of the same number Next to the Apostles ensued the Age of auncient Antiquitie and learned Fathers who although with all their power might did valiauntly mainteyne cōtinuall battell agaynst the assaultes of sinne yet could they neuer so surely encampe gard them selues in so firme a grounde but they should be vndermined with the countermoyling of her outragious Pyoners that lyke dastardes mistrustyng their owne strēgth they should feéle them selues enforced sometymes to forsake their standyng and fleé for rescue to the onely mercy and forgeuenesse of God as to the onely vnpenetrable rocke of their Saluation And therfore S. Ierome in playne wordes doth note truly that though man did atteine to perfection hee should yet stand in neéde of Gods mercy and that mans full and perfect perfection did depend vpon grace and not vpon deseruynges c. No lesse effectually Augustine writyng to Boniface touchyng perfect righteousnesse or rather of the imperfection of our righteousnesse Uertue sayth he whiche is now in a righteous man is sayd to be so farreforth righteous as vnfayned acknowledgement and humble Confession of his owne imperfection doth admitte the same to bee perfect Agayne the same Augustine in an other place doth accompt that man to haue profited much in this life who by profityng doth feéle in him selfe how farre he is distaunt from true perfection And bycause the Latin Church shall not seéme to want the testimonies of the Greékes Let vs heare the wordes of Basile treatyng of mans righteousnesse This is full perfect reioysing in God when as a man is lifted vp not with any righteousnes of his own but knoweth him selfe empty and naked of true righteousnesse and so to be iustified by Faith Onely in Christ Iesu. Whereby Osorius may perceaue what estimate is to be made of our owne righteousnesse though it seéme neuer so beautyfull which Augustine him selfe adiudgeth worthy of execrable curse if it bee examined besides the mercy of God But bycause sayth he thou doest not narrowly sharpely searche our offences we doe hope assuredly that we shall obteyne some place for pardon in thy sight It is not neédefull to make a Register of all the testimonies of writers the matter especially beyng so euident and so strongly fenced with multitude of authorities whenas the consent and agreément of all writers is in no one thyng more generall and stedfast then in the abacyng of perfection of workes and humbly crauyng pardon of our owne imperfection Whereupon Augustine stand not in Iudgement sayth he agaynst thy seruaūt requiryng of me all thynges that thou hast taught and commaunded For if thou enter into Iudgement with me thou shalt finde me guilty I had neéde therfore of thy mercyes rather thē thy seuere Iudgement I demaunde now what you cōceaue of the wordes of Augustine Surely although I doe not thinke that the man was voyde of wonderfull willyng endeuour yet if he had bene of all partes endued with that integritie of vndefiled lyfe and had vtterly rooted out the whole kyngdome of Sinne with the
vnsearcheable will doth sometymes encline the willes of men to committe horrible mischiefes and after a certeine maner willeth Sinne. Ergo God may be iustly accused of vnrighteousnes iniquity Which Argument applyed in the behalfe of mans nature might seéme to be of some validitie perhappes in the opinion of men But to transpose the same from men to God It can not holde And why so bycause there is great difference betwixt thynges wherof God is the Authour and thynges wherof man is the doer For euen Sinnes them selues and wickednesse as they come frō God are scourges yea and that most righteous and whatsoeuer is decreéd either by his couered or discouered will it is in this respect both holy and righteous bycause the will of God ought alwayes to be accompted for the very foundatiō of all righteousness Upon which matter let vs heare what Augustine speaketh in his thyrd booke De Trinitate euen his owne wordes The will of God is the chief and principall cause of all kindes of actions and motions For there is nothyng done whiche proceedeth not frō that vnsearcheable and intelligible wisedome of the most mightie Emperour accordyng to his Iustice vnspeakeable for where doth not the almightie wisedome of the highest worke as it willeth which reacheth from one ende of the world to an other mightely and ordereth all thynges sweetely and doth not these thynges onely which beyng in dayly practise and by reason of common vse are not much marked or marueiled at but thynges also passing all vnderstandyng and capacitie and whiche for the rarenesse of vse and straungenesse of successe seeme marueilous as are Ecclipses of the Sunne and Moone earthquakes mōsters and vgly deformed vnnaturall shapes of creatures such like Of the which no one thyng commeth to passe without the will of God though it seeme to be otherwise in the Iudgement of many persons And therfore it seemed good to the phātasticall Philosophers to ascribe such vnkindely operations to other causes beyng not able to discerne the true cause thereof which in power surmounteth all other causes to witte the will of God wherefore besides the will of God there is none other principall cause of health sickenesse reward punishment of blessinges and recompences This is therfore the onely chief and principall cause from out the which do flow all thyngs whatsoeuer and is it selfe without beginnyng but endureth without endyng Let vs now gather the Argumēts of Augustine into a short abridgement If the will of God be the souereigne and principall cause of all motiōs what remayneth but that Osorius must either deny that Sinnes are motions or yeld vnto this of necessitie that the same motions are not done without the will of God which will neuerthelesse must be adiudged cleare from all reproche Moreouer if the same motions which are on our behalfe Sinnefull be punishementes for Sinne What should lette why that euē the selfe same sinnes should not seéme to proceéde after a certeine maner frō God without any preiudice of his Iustice at all none otherwise truely then when as God is accompted the creatour of monsters Ecclipses of the Sunne Moone vnpassable darkenes vntymely byrthes and yet notwithstandyng no ioate of his maiesty and integritie empayred But we are vrged here with an Obiection out of the Scriptures where it is sayd that God is not a God that willeth iniquitie Aunswere As though Luther did not perceaue this saying of the Prophet well enough or that he were so impudent at any tyme as that he would cōtrary to the Prophet deny that sinnes raunge immoderately agaynst Gods will We rehearsed a litle earst out of Augustine that somewhat may be done agaynst the will of God which neuerthelesse cā not happen without his will In the one part wherof the vnsearcheable wisedome of his Deuine counsell is playnly discernable in the other the thyng that is naturally wicked displeasaūt in Gods eyes So that the thing which is of it selfe in respect of it selfe naturally euill may become good in respect of Gods ordinaūce in respect of the end whereunto it is directed by God The worke of our redēption from sinne and death is a good worke of Gods mercy But man should neuer haue stoode in neéde of this redēptiō vnlesse death sinne had happened Therfore death and sinne could not execute their malice wtout the foreknowledge ordinaunce of God So also no lesse notable is the worke of Gods Iustice in executyng his iust wrath agaynst Sinners which seueritie of Iustice had neuerthelesse neuer expressed his wonderfull brightnesse if sinne had neuer bene committed But here I suppose Osorius will not deny that men rushe headlong into wickednesse and Sinne if not by Gods prouidence yet by his sufferaūce at the least For it may be that many thynges may happen by a mans permission in the which he that did permit them may be blamelesse notwithstandyng I heare you well aunswere to the same that it is not altogether nothyng that Osorius doth alledge in deéde and yet this allegation of his comprehendeth not all For first I demaunde what if Osorius beyng a Bishop do suffer Gods flocke committed to his charge to starue by defraudyng thē the necessary foode of the word whom of duety he ought to cherish with all diligēce and care What if the Shepheard doe willyngly suffer the maggotte to pester the sheépe or what if the Maister should suffer the seruaunt to perish whose perplexitie he might haue releued by puttyng his hand to in tyme may not we iustly accuse Osorius of fraude for not feédyng or can Osorius acquit him selfe by any slipper deuise of negligence in this behalfe If in cōmon cōuersation of lyfe the man that will not repell iniury when he may be adiudged in euery respect as blameworthy as if he offereth the iniury him selfe by what meanes can God whō you say doth permit sinnes to be done either deémed be excusable in respect of this sufferaunce onely or how can you charge vs as accusing him of iniustice bycause we say that he doth not onely permit but also will sinne after a certeine maner Which thyng Augustine doth very well declare If we suffer sayth August such as are vnder our correctiō to doe wickedly in our sight we must needes be adiudged accessaries to their wickednesse But God doth permitte Sinne to raunge without measure euen before his eyes wherein if he where not willyng surely he would not suffer it in any wise and yet is be righteous notwithstandyng c. Wherfore your allegation of bare Sufferaunce doth neither helpe your cause nor disaduantageth ours any thyng at all But go to let vs somewhat yeld to this word of yours Sufferaunce whereupō ye stād so stoughtely yet will ye not deny but that this Sufferaunce of God is either coupled together with his will or altogether sundered frō it If ye confesse the will and Sufferaunce be ioyned together how can God be
sayd then either to suffer the thyng whiche he willeth not or to will the thyng wherof him selfe is not after a certeine maner the cause but if you sunder will from Sufferaunce so that Gods Sufferaunce be made opposite to his will That is to say contrary to the determinate coūsell of God in bringyng any thyng to passe Surely this way your bare Sufferaūce will not be sufferable but foolishe false and ridiculous For neither can any thyng be done without Gods Sufferaunce but must be done by his will and agayne nothyng soundeth more agaynst the conuenience of reason that any thyng may be done with his will otherwise thē as him selfe hath decreéd it to be done But if so be that ye set Gods Sufferaunce opposite to his will namely to that will wherewith he vouch safeth and accepteth any thyng veryly it may so be that some one thyng may be executed by Gods Sufferaunce yet altogether agaynst his will so that we forget not in the meane space that this Sufferaunce is not idle fruitelesse but altogether effectuall not much vnlike the orderly proceédynges in Iudgementes whenas the Iudge deliuereth ouer the trespassour to be executed it is cōmonly seéne that the Sufferaunce of the Iudge doth worke more in the execution of the offendour thē the acte of the executioner yet the Iudge is not altogether exempt from beyng the cause of his death though he be cleare of all blame in that respect And therfore to make you conceaue our meanyng more effectually Osorius you may vnderstand by the premisses That the will of God is to be taken two maner of wayes either for that vnsearcheable will not manifested vnto vs wherewith thynges may happen accordyng to to the determined decreé of his purposed coūsell whereunto all thynges are directed And in this sense or signification we doe affirme that God doth will all thynges that are done and that nothyng at all is done in heauen or in earth that he would not haue to be done Or els how should he be called Omnipotent if the successes of thyngs be other then as he hath decreéd them Secundarely the will of God may be takē for that which by expresse word and commaundement he hath reuealed vnto vs and which beyng done he accompteth acceptable in his sight And in this sense The faythfull and godly onely do execute the will of God euen that will wherewith he can not will nor allow anythyng but pure good After this maner is that will fully disclosed and ensealed vnto vs in his Scriptures wherewith God is sayd to be a God that doth not will Sinne. Accordyng to that former will which is hidden from vs and is neuertheles alwayes iust and discouered vnto vs but in part by his word as there is nothing done without his prouidence foreknowledge so in this sense we do affirme that he willeth nothyng at all but that which is of all partes most pure and most righteous be it neuer so secrete For euen as it is hidden frō the knowledge of all men what shall come to passe by the purposed appointement of God so shall nothyng come to passe but that which he hath decreéd vpon before neither should any thyng at all be done if he were altogether vnwillyng thereunto Finally to conclude in few wordes all whatsoeuer concerneth this present discourse God can not be sayd to be properly truely the very cause of sinne accordyng to that will which he would haue to be reuealed vnto vs in his Scriptures And yet if the cōcurraūce of causes must be deriued from the first originall surely God ought not be excluded altogether from the orderyng appointmēt of sinne Frō whence if we respect the meane second causes it is vndoubted true that mākynde doth perish through his owne default For no man liuyng sinneth vnwillyngly But if we tourne our eyes to the first agent principall cause by the which all inferiour causes haue their mouyng Then is this allso true that all second and subordinate causes are subiect to the eternall prouidence and will of GOD. And therefore both these may be true That mans destructiō commeth through his owne default And yet that therein the prouidence of God beareth the sway without any preiudice at all to his Iustice. But this prouidence notwithstandyng is altogether vnslayned for albeit Gods euerlastyng purpose be sayd to be the cause of our sinnesiull actions yet are those Sinnes in respect of Gods acceptaunce meare righteousnesse For GOD in most vpright disposed order doth by Sinne punish Sinne. And therfore with those Sinnes in that they are scourges of Gods Iustice God doth worthely execute his iust Iudgement agaynst mē which although his pleasure be to vse otherwise accordyng to his vnsearcheable counsell either to execute his Iudgement vpō the reprobate or to manifest his mercy towardes his elect neither is he iniurious to the one in exactyng that which is due neither culpable in the other sorte in forgeuyng that which he might haue exacted These two thyngs therfore especially be to be beleued to be inseparable in God though mās capacitie cā scarsely atteine hereunto the first That there is no wickednes with God Secondly That God hath mercy of whom it pleaseth him to haue mercy and doth harden their hartes whō he willeth to be hardened Now that we haue spoken sufficiētly in the defence of Gods Iustice and acquited it cleare from all quarellsome accusation to retourne agayne to our former question If Osorius doe demaunde now if God bee the cause of Sinne Bycause I will protract no tyme I aunswere in two wordes That in seuerall and sundry respectes it is both the cause not the cause Now let vs seé how this will hang together First I call him the cause not bycause he distilleth new poyson into man as water or other liquour is powred into empty caskes from somewhere els for that neédeth not for euery man ouerfloweth more then enough already with faultynes naturall though no new flames of corruption be kyndeled a fresh but bycause hee forsaketh our old nature or bycause he withholdeth him selfe from renewyng vs with grace Bycause nature beyng not holpen waxeth dayly worse and worse of it selfe without measure and without end Whereupon Augustine debatyng of mans induration speaketh not vnfitly on this wise But as touchyng that whiche followeth Hee doth harden whom hee will Here the force of mans capacitie is ouerwhelmed with the straungenesse of the word But it must not be so taken as though God did beginne to harden mās hart which was not infected before For what is hardnesse els then resistaunce of Gods commaundementes which who so thinketh to be the worke of God bycause of this saying He doth harden whom hee will let him beholde the first beginnyng of mans corruption and marke well the commaundemēt of God the disobedience whereof made the hart to offende and let him truely confesse that whatsoeuer
doth lye in all his Bookes Hereof therefore canne not be denyed but that he writeth Bookes Or els how could he lye in his bookes if he wrote no bookes at all And yet neither did Luther in that Article affirme symply that the righteous man doth sinne in euery good worke But annexing thereunto an exception conditionall he doth qualifye the sharpenesse of the proposition expounding himselfe with the testimonies of Gregory and Augustine on this wise If God proceed in his iudgement sayth he straightly without all consideration of mercy Meaning hereby not that God should take good workes from righteous men but should despoyle works of that perfection which of it selfe were able to counteruayle the cleare iudgement of God so that the perfection of our righteousnes consist not now in doing well but in acknoledgement of our owne Imperfection and humble confessing the same For this do we heare Augustine speake Vertue sayth he wherewith man is now endued is so farre forth called perfect as the true and humble acknowledgement of mans owne imperfection ioyned with an vnfayned confession of the same doth make it to be accepted for perfect Now what poyson lurketh here I beseéch you worshippfull Syr Unlesse perhappes you thinke thus that because God doth not commaund impossibilities for this cause they that be regenerated may in this life accomplish the law of God fully and absolutely and that your selfe be of the number of them which in this life abcomplish all righteousnes throughly If you thinke thus of your selfe what better aūswere shal I make you then the same which Constantine the great did on a time nippingly to Acesius a Nouatian who denyed that such as were fallen could rise agayne by repentaunce Set vppe your Ladders quoth he and clymbe you vppe to heauen alone Acesius Furthermore where you are wont to obiect in this place impossibilitie of performing the law surely this doth not so much empaire Luthers assertion nor helpe your presumptuousnes sithence Augustine doth aunswere you sufficiently in Luthers behalfe All the cōmaūdemēts of God saith he are thē reputed to haue bene performed when whatsoeuer is left vndone is pardoned And in his booke de perfectione iustitiae debating this question whether the commaundements of God were possible to be kept he doth deny that they be possible to be kept But he affirmeth that neither in this life they be possible to be kept nor to keep them commeth of nature but of the heauenly grace But hereof hath sufficiently bene spoken already before so that it shall not beé needfull to do the thing that is done already It remayneth next now that we enter into the discourse of the holy ceremonyes decreés and ordinaunces of the Church because he complayneth for the suppressing of these also wherein what iust cause he hath to complayne shall hereby apeare If we consider duly and aright the auncient ordinaunces and determinations of the primitiue Church Amongest which auncient ordinaūces of the Church I suppose this was establshed That no man should be abridged from freédome to marry and from eating all kinde of meates fish or flesh as euery man foūd himselfe best disposed It was an auncient ordinaunce also that aswell the lay people as priestes without exception should communicate vnder both kindes the bread and the wine And that nothing should be redde in the Churches besides the scriptures Moreouer that the Scriptures should be read openly to all persons generally in their mother toūg that euery man myght vnderstād it The auncient ordinaūces of the church did neuer admit any more sacramentes then two nor widdowes vnder threéscore yeéres old nor vouchsafed any that were but newly entred into the profession to beare any rule in the congregation nor any els but such as were knowne both godly and prayseworthy aswell for the soundnesse of theyr doctrine as for the continuall course of their liues It was an especiall prouiso of the auntient discipline that no one person should haue any more Cures the◠one nor should receiue out of any Church any greater contribution then should seéme sufficient for necessaryes onely and not to mayntayne prodigality and lust It was also an auncient custome amongst the elders that the newly professed should be applied to reading of lessones and singinge onely And the Priestes in the meane time should apply preaching of the word Amongest other aūciēt ordinaūces that Canon of the counsell of Nyce seémeth worthy to be placed here which prouided that the ouersight of all other churches should beé committed to threé or foure patriarches equally in such wise as that no preheminence of superiority should be amongst them but all to be equall in dignity Adde vnto this the generall discipline of the church which did not hang vpon one mans sleéue onely but was exercised indifferently in all places agaynst all notorions offences without respect of persons Now therefore where Osorius complayneth that the ordinaunces of the auntient and primitiue Church are taken away abolished herein he doth not amisse So do many godly personages more beside Osorius complayne very bitterly of the same But in the meane space I do maruaile much what monstruous deuise this Byshoppe coyneth agaynst vs who neither liketh with the abolishing of the auncient customes of the primitiue Church nor can in any respect disgest those men which do endeuour and desire onely to haue a generall reformation For to saye the trueth whereunto tendeth all the endeuour of those men whome Osorius here wringeth vpon so sharpely but that those auntient decreés and ordinaunces wherewith the Church of Christ was endued at the first might recouer agayne theyr former dignity from which they haue bene lamentably reiected If they could bring this to passe by any meanes nothing coulde please them better But if their harty desires attayne not wished Successe no men are more to be blamed for it Osorius then you your selues who vnder a deceauable and craftie vysor of antiquity practize earnestly and busily alwayes that no Monumēt of auncient antiquitie may remaine but haue forged vs a certeine new face of an vpstart Church with certeine straunge and newfangled Decreés and Decretalles which the true and auncient antiquitie if were alyue agayne would neuer acknowledge otherwise then as misbegotten Bastardes But to proceéde this Rhetoricall amplificatiō waxeth more hotte yet in more choler Moreouer neither contēted sayth he with the lamentable desolatiō of these thynges ye haue dispoyled mā of all freedome of will and haue bounde fast with a certeine fatall and vnauoydable Necessitie all the actoins and imaginations of men be they good and godly or be the perillous and pernitious cōtrary to Nature Reason and the law of God c. Touchyng the freédome of mans will and that fatall necessitie as Osorius tearmeth it bycause aunswere sufficient is made already before It shall be neédelesse to protract the Reader with a new repetition of matters spoken already To be brief and
prayseworthy man that when her foresawe the ende of his lyfe to approche and that he was then Summoned to appeare before the Iudgement seate of the eternall God that he began to expresse a wonderfull fearefulnesse and to bee very much dismayed in his mynde whom as his frendes standyng about him would haue recomforted and encouraged to cheare him selfe with confidence of the good lyfe that hee had lead in deéde sayth he I perceaue I may seéme to bee in such estimation amongest you but I feare me least the Iudgement of God is farre vnlike the Iudgement of men Truely this was aptly remembred of Barnarde Who albeit knew it well enough before paraduenture yet as then beyng at the pointe of death he perceaued much more effectually Euen as we seé to haue chaunced to many others of this Popishe brood Who though they delite and flatter them selues neuer so much in the glory of their merites and vprightnesse of their workes yet when death knocketh at the doore of their consciences and willeth them to bidde adiew to the worlde then forthwith castyng away all trust of merites and as it were accordyng a recantation of the doctrine they shrowde them selues wholy in the death of Christ and hereupon fasten the chiefest shooteanker of sauety as it were in the most assured hauen of perfect blessednesse Whereby you may vnderstand ye Porting all Prelate how all that your frame of righteousnesse which you builded vpon the deseruynges of workes is vnioynted and shaken in peéces the force wherof was neuer yet of such efficacie and valew in any creature as could not onely not abyde the incomprehensible vnmeasurablenesse of Gods Iudgement but also bee so wholy appalled at the encouÌ„tryng of death that it can not endure the sight thereof but must neédes yelde as throughly vanquished Moreouer sithence this place offereth it selfe to debate of vertues I would wish you to coÌ„sider aduisedly with your selfe what that wellknowen saying of Augustine doth purporte and how farre it doth dissent from this your contentious quarell of righteousnesse whereas treatyng of vertue and charitie he speaketh in this wise Uertue sayth he is a kynde of charitie wherewith we loue that thing which ought to be beloued This charitie appeareth more in some in others lesse in some also nothyng at all But the fulnes thereof whiche can not be increased whiles man liueth in this world was neuer seéne in any for as loÌ„g as it may be encreased truely all what soeuer is lesse then ought to be will admitte a supply commeth of default through which default all flesh can not be Iustified in his sight wherein pause a whiles I pray you with me debate throughly with your selfe whether if that charitie whiche is in Christâ—ans though it be neuer so apparauntly discernable yea after their regeneration also be lame and defectiue what may be thought of them in whom scarse appeareth any meane resemblaunce thereof but what shal be iudged of your selfe Osorius chiefly amongest all other in whom not one sparcke so much of true charitie nor any iote so much of humanitie can be seéne in so much that who so shall read those Inuectiues of yours may easely coniecture that he heareth not the modestie of Osorius a Christian Byshop but rather some Tragicall Orestes furiously ragyng vpon some Stage But to returne to Augustine of whose iudgement in Diuinitie I know not how well Osorius will allow truely what small accoumpt he made of the worthynesse of our righteousnesse he could neuer haue more vehemeÌ„tly vttered then in these wordes wee be to the most vpright life of maÌ„ sayth he if God examine the same settyng mercy aside In like maner Gregory doth very litle varie from Augustine in wordes though nothyng in sence But altogether dissenteth from you Osorius where expoundyng the sayeng of Iob in their Chapter videl Man can not bee iustified beyng compared to God The holy man sayth hee doth perceaue that all the deseruynges of our best workes are faultie if they be wayed in the righteous ballaunce of the iust Iudge And by and by in the xi Chapter as it were redoublyng the selfe saying of Augustine Bycause sayth he if excludyng mercy workes be examined the lyfe of the most righteous wil be founde to folter and faynte vnder the burthen of Sinne. Hereunto may be annexed the consent of Barnarde of whom we made mention before worthy to be noted touchyng the same matter Who makyng a long discourse of the vnrighteousnesse of mans righteousnesse demaundeth a question at the last of what valew all our righteousnesse may be in the sight of God Shall it not be reputed filthy sayth he lyke vnto a foule menstruous clothe according to the saying of the Prophet and if strickte and narrow examination be made therof shall not all our righteousnesse be fouÌ„de vnrighteous nothyng worthe at the last as though the matter were confessed and without all coÌ„trouersie he coÌ„cludeth saying And what shall become then of sinne whenas righteousnesse it selfe hath nothyng to alledge for defence For as much therefore as it is so and that this doctrine is so manifold so manifest confirmed by so many and so famous Authours emprinted in holy writte allowed with so many inuincible testimonies of sacred Scripture published by the approued writynges of the best learned interpretour established with the vnuanquishable authoritie of the holy Ghost ratified with the common consent of the auncient primitiue Church finally so manifestly knowen by experience of all ages where is then that haynous crime that cruell offence that shameles trespasse and that intellerable facte as you say not to bee suffered in Luther Nay rather to speake as the truth is from wheÌ„ce or out of what puddle haue you sucked the shameles impudencie Osorius singular foolishnes vnmeasurable SycophaÌ„ticall rage frantique tragicall furye and so cruell and vnreasonable a custome of raylyng agaynst your Christian brethren without all cause or reason who haue rather deserued well theÌ„ euill at your handes I know not whether this proceéded from any cankred malice lurkyng within you or through corruption of your nature Sure I am that you neuer learned that insolencie out of holy Scriptures or out of the rules of the Gospell or by ensuyng the example of Christ and his Apostles or their mylde and curteous conuersation But perhaps Osorius hath determined with him selfe to leaue to the posteritie some especiall Iewell as a monument of his eloquence as Cicero did his Inuectiues called Phillipica c. Yea it had bene more coÌ„uenient for him to haue chosen some other Methode to treate vpon and farre more seémely to haue bent the rage of his penne agaynst some others rather then agaynst Luther Bucer and others the lyke For if he were willyng to confesse the truth simply what other doctrine doth Luther Bucer Haddon and all others who discourse vpon one selfe same Gospell teache then the very same matter that
feareth that if God behold his workes he shall finde more offences then merites and if he shall deale with vs accordyng to our desertes he shall finde nothyng in vs but damnable Ierome doth so call vs backe froÌ„ all confidence in our deédes that he boldly pronounceth that if we coÌ„sider them in their own nature we should vtterly dispayre What and may it not be lawfull for Luther to vtter his mynde with Christ with the godly Prophetes with the holy Apostles with the learned auncient Fathers Are they commeÌ„ded in the old Gospell for that they spake well and shall Luther Melancthon Bucer and Caluinâ— be reproched in scoffyng wise with a new fouÌ„de name of new Gospellers bycause they thinke and speake the selfe same thyng that they did If Luther were such a kynde of felow as would take part with Epicure and would practize to let louse the reynes to voluptuousnes turning mens myndes vpsidowne and carry them away quyte from vertuous endeuour from loue of godlynesse from their duetie and honest trade of godly lyfe to lust and licentiousnesse and would place all mans felicitie in this corruptible body and the vayne ticklyng delightes therof it were not altogether from the purpose that ye speake Osorius nor you should be much blamed for makyng him companion with Epicure neither would I refrayne my penne so Christ helpe me but would inueigh agaynst him with all my power as sharpely as your selfe But peruse now all Luthers bookes searche sift consider and ponder all Luthers writynges all his exhortations his doctrine his Lessons his Sermons and all his imaginations yea prye narrowly into his lyfe and conuersation if you can shewe out of all these I will not say one place or example but one worde or sillable so much which doth sounde agaynst the loue and practize of vertue which may seéme to rende the sinowes of righteousnesse and holynesse or breéde dislikyng to the embracyng therof or which doe bruyse the fruites of good workes weaken serious trauaile breake of honest industry or hinder godly enterprises from doyng well or by any maner of meanes doe extenuate the feare due to the lawes of God and man Finally where he may seéme to thinke lesse then may bee seéne a perfect Deuine or behaue him selfe more dissolutely in his maners theÌ„ he resembleth in honest iudgement Nay rather if he do not employ all the care possible to rayse vp all men in euery place to the dewe feare of Gods law to true obedience and to all honest conuersation and earnestly emprinte into the sight and myndes of all men the renowne dignitie and worthynesse of vertue picâ—e and godlynes you shall haue the Conquest But euen the same thyng say you Epicurus did I confesse that to be true Osorius which ye reporte of Epicurus and which you haue very finely pyked out of your M. Cicero Who doth deny in his thyrd booke of Tusculane questions That Epicurus was Authour of any voluptuous sentences and with all sayth that he vttered many and soudry notable sayinges seémely enough for a true Philosopher But what doe ye conclude hereof Epicurus doth commende vertue in some place Luther doth also the lyke Ergo Luther is an Epicurean Why doe ye not also conclude agaynst S. Paule that hee is an Epicurean bycause he doth also the selfe same thyng O rare and singular sharpe witted Chrisippus whiche if had not altogether beéne nooseled in his old Gospell could neuer haue knitte such knots together of meére particular propositioÌ„s neither would this woÌ„derfull Logician haue euer coupled Luther with Epicurus But bycause Osorius hath borowed this Argument out of Cicero we will open his iugglyng boxe in fewe wordes and first of all shew what Cicero speaketh next how west this CiceroniaÌ„ doth agreé with Cicero And first as concernyng Cicero Whenas he maketh meÌ„tion of Epicurus senteÌ„ces he doth not reprehend the quicknesse and nymblenes of his witte but rather prayseth him therfore onely he noteth the scope and end of his doctrine Neither doth he condeÌ„ne those senteÌ„ces which Epicurus spake well but bycause he did so define chief Felicitie as though it coÌ„sisted onely in voluptuousnes herein he founde fault with him and not without cause For Epicurus amongest other his sayinges wrate in this maner That mans lyfe could not be pleasaunt if it were not ioyned with vertue he denyed that fortune was of any such force as to apall the courage of a wise man That the meane lyfe of the poore was better then the riche He denyed also that there was any wise man but the same was also happy Truely all those sayings are worthely spoken by him as Tully him selfe reporteth Now let vs see what Argument our Ciceroes Ape will shape out of all this And Luther sayth hee doth offer the same order perhappes exhorte his Auditory in his writyngs and Sermons to the same dueties of lyfe c. If Luther doe so Osorius he doth very well What then will you finde fault with this No but as Epicurus disputyng sometymes gloriously of vertue did notwithstandyng with his preceptes vtterly wipe away vertue euen with lyke craftie conueyaunce Luther doth subuerte and ouerthrowe all dueties of vertue and godlynesse Speake out Parrotte in what place doth Luther subuerte the dueties of vertue Where doth hee blotte out honesty and godly carefulnesse of good men May this be tollerable in you with slauÌ„ders and lyes to deface the good name of a man that neuer deserued it who is also dead to condemne his writynges after you haue geuen him a most cruell wounde to be so voyde of all reason as to be vnable to alledge one Title one place one sillable so much of iust accusation wherfore ye should so do Nor make your slaunderous reproches to carry any shew of truth let vs throughly peruse the begynnynges of Luthers doctrine the proceédyng and dayly increasinges therof let vs sift out the ende and the whole course and purporte of his proceédyng what doth he forth with plucke vp the rootes of vertue which abateth the Affiaunce of mans workes and ascribeth all our saluation to the onely bountie and mercy of God Which doth likewise affirme that the workes of the Saintes in this world if they be examined to the vttermost pricke are not able to counteruaile Gods wrath nor satisfie his iudgement but preacheth that of all partes they neéde mercy directyng vs in the meane whiles to the true marke of assured Confidence is this man to be coupled with Epicurus as though hee should be Authour of the ouerthrow of all honesty or rather shal he be adiudged a good Phisition of the Soule as one that doth minister wholesome medicine agaynst poysoned errours But you will inueigh to the contrary That if that maner of doctrine be admitted wherof Luther is Authour then will all studious care of pietie decay and hauocke will bee made of all godly endeuour and licentious liberty will be
Onely fayth doth not Iustifie This conclusion is altogether false and the subteltie therof transposed frō that which is not the Cause to ȳe which ought to be the Cause In deéde the inheritaunce of heauē is geuen to them which doe good deédes but not in respect of those good deédes whiche they doe But there is a certeine other thyng whiche doth both Iustifie the persons the good workes of the persons also That is to say which doth make the persons and the workes good also And therfore you do confounde those thyngs very vnskilfully which ought of necessity haue bene distinguished If you will make this the grounde of the question to enquire of what behauiour those persons ought to be whiche are called to the inheritage of euerlastyng lyfe Luther will neuer deny but that they ought to be such as must be conuersaūt in this world godly holy vnblameable as much as may be possible But if the state of the question tende to this end to shew what maner of thyng amongest all the good giftes of God that one thyng is in vs whiche doth procure our Iustification in the sight of God Luther will boldly pronounce that is Fayth Onely yea and approue the same with inuincible testimonies of Gods scriptures Neither will Osorius deny it without great reproch of errour Afterwardes he proceédeth to his accustomed trade of lyeng Workes do follow fayth as the Lutherans say not bycause they prepare a way to saluation for they shall not of them selues be cyted to iudgement but bycause they are deriued from faith as by a certeine way of procreation for as the tree bryngeth forth fruite by force of nature so doth fayth of necessity engender good workes which both propositions are false Or els Osorius doth lye for that wanted to make vp the periode But go to let vs seé what those two false propositions be which the Lutheranes do teach The first is that workes do prepare no way for vs to obteine Saluatiō bycause of them selues they shall neuer be cited to Iudgemēt The second is That workes do follow fayth of necessitie none otherwise then as fruite by force of nature is engendred of the treé Upon these he hath geuen sentence that they are both false But what reason alledgeth hee thereto Forsooth bycause workes sayth he do either procure vnto vs Saluation or Damnatiō vndoubtedly And yet Osorius ceaseth not to keépe his old wōt to lye And hereof no mā ought to be in doubt but that our deedes shal be throughly examined apart by thē selues by Gods sharpe Iudgemēt Yea say you so Osorius What shall they stād apart by thē selues what naked vnclothed of all succour of Christ of the promise of mercy Go to what shal be come of fayth thē Shall she stād ◠the meanes whiles with her finger in a hole like a Mome in a corner vnprofitablye whiles mercy being banished mēs deéds shal by thē selues be arrained before gods iudgemēt seate If this be true why do we not rase scrape cleane out of all bookes that saying of S. Paule Not thorough the workes of righteousnesse which we haue done but according to the greatnes of his mercy hath he saued vs For if saluatiō be yet to be measured by the law of workes to be wayed after that Standard of Iudgemēt what place thē remayneth for fayth or for mercy And by what meanes is that hādwrityng of the law blotted out by the Crosse and bloudsheadyng of Iesu Christ if as yet we be holden fast yoaked vnder the curse of the law and not deliuered by grace for what doth the law elles if we dare beleue S. Paul but engēder wrath and procure to be accursed not bycause the law is of it selfe vneffectual if it might be accomplished but bycause we are all vnprofitable seruauntes vnable to performe the law And for your part doe ye thinke any mans workes to be of such valew as beyng throughly examined after the vttermost exaction of Gods Iustice can either endure the immeasurable horrour of Gods wrathfull indignatiō or by any meanes escape it Surely Dauid that godly Kyng and great Prophet perceauyng that there was no mortall creature but was ouerpaised and pressed downe with this heauy burden and weight of Iudgement beseécheth of God nothyng more earnestly then that he would not way his seruaūt in the ballaūce of his Iudgement And therfore in an other place he addeth If thou examine our iniquities Lord who abyde it Of this mynde was he euen then when he was a most trusty seruaunt of God As for Osorius I know not whose seruaunt he is neither am I hereof any thyng Inquisitiue but what Lord soeuer he serue I doe not a litle marueile at this in what place of heauen this Gentlemā shall stand whenas his wordes deédes yea all his thoughtes when so many his lyes slaūders errours blasphemies reprochfull speaches furies impieties whiche as it were to discharge his gorge he hath belched out in his bookes without measure or end shall come forth into brightnesse of Iudgement and shal be seuerely measured by the playne and streight squyer of Gods exact Iustice But let vs now ponder by the rules of the Scriptures the pretie reasons taken out of the same whereupon hee buildeth his defence And first of all that sentence offereth it selfe vouched out of the mysticall Psalmes where the holy Ghost doth witnesse that God will render to euery man accordyng to his workes This sentence I suppose is to be foūde in the 62. Psalme for Osorius had no leysure to note the place And I know not whether him selfe euer cited the same out of the very founteines them selues or rather scraped it out of the mustie Ambry of Hosius sinisterly applyed by him there and so this Marchaunt would wrest the same crookedly to fitte his owne drift After this S. Paule is vouched of a witnesse but no place noted where the Apostle doth affirme that all men generally and euery of vs particularely shal be summoned to Iudgement where euery one shall render accompt of the life that he hath lead and receaue reward accordyngly You shall finde this in the second Chap. to the Romaines Hereunto is annexed an other testimony of the same Paule All shall appeare and be arraygned before the Iudgement seate of Christ that euery man may receaue reward according to the deserte of his life and euery mans peculiar worke may bewayed and measured in the iust and vpright ballaūce of seuere Iudgement Where is this Osorius Thou must seéke for it Reader The place is extaūt in the second to the Corinth the v. Chap. Here withall is also coupled that faying of Christ with like vncited place They that haue done well sayth he shall come forth into resurrection of life but they that haue done euill to the resurrection of death He had many other places to this effect besides these saith he
if a Turke or Infidell should pleade before the same Christ his Iudge And why bycause the one is very much holpen by yeldyng his fayth to the promise the other hath none other ayde to trust vnto but the rigour of the law But let vs proceéde that we may come at the last to the pricke that is shot at I vnderstand therfore by these wordes of Christ what shal be betyed of thē at the last that haue liued well that vnto those that are founde such in the Iudgement shall geuen possession of eternall life I heare this well But I would fayne know at the length what the Cause should be why this mercyfull Iudge will vouchsafe to reward those workemen so highly For our controuersie consisteth not in this point that reward is geuen but in this for what Cause reward is geuen Whether of any desert or without all desert whether for the proper worthynesse of the workes them selues whiche you call good or rather for the Fayth of the person from whence those workes doe obteine both to bee called good and to bee esteémed for good You will say that the spring of this together working grace floweth vnto vs out of the founteine of Fayth from whence all abilitie to do good deédes is so aboundant within vs whiche being receiued afterwardes through the bountifulnesse of Christ fruites of holy workes do issue out from vs which do make vs worthy to be Iustified and to place vs in the possession of euerlastyng kyngdome I do aunswere that ye do neither speake as much as ye ought nor that altogether true that ye doe speake For albeit we confesse that all the good whatsoeuer we do proceédeth from the bountyfull gift of God yet this is farre wyde from the marke of our controuersie now in hand neither is this matter in handlyng now to know from whence the fruites of good workes do spryng but after they are come vnto vs the question is how much they do auayle vnto vs whether they them selues through their owne worthynesse do worke our Iustification before God or whether they stand destitute of any other ayde whereby they may be Iustified them selues whether doe ye thinke workes of their owne nature so effectuall as to bee able alone to endure the heauye burden of Gods Iudgement or that the operation of the Fayth of the beleuer rather thē of the worke doth present the persons together with their workes to Gods freé Imputation and so accomplish Iustification But I doe heare a continuall ianglyng of this Portingall Coockoe chatteryng alwayes one maner of laye in myne eares Not fayth but workes sayth hee wayed in the ballaūce of Gods Iudgement do purchase either Saluation or Damnatiō vnto vs. Where finde you this Out of the wordes of Christ And those that haue done well shall goe into euerlasting life but those that haue done euill into euerlasting destruction I aūswere it is most true that the Lord speaketh but most vntrue that Osorius concludeth hereof Christ comprehendyng the fruites of workes together with the whole treé and ioynyng the Causes together with the persons doth encourage them with the hope of eternall lyfe which do yeld their endeuour manfully to their vtterest abilitie to performe the rule of the Gospell not defiuyng what the proportion of their workes doe deserue but declaryng how bountyfully and manifoldly he will require their labours whiche haue suffered any kynde of afflictiō for his names sake Osorius framyng hereof meérely false propositions doth with his crafty conueyaunce wrest force those thynges to the workes them selues onely whiche the Lord doth apply to his faythfull that liue vertuously and so at length turnyng awry that is to say From the Concreto to the Abstractum to vse here the termes of Sophistry seueryng the persons from the thyngs doth conclude disorderly after this maner of false conclusion Faythfull and godly Christians liuing vertuously shal be rewarded with eternall lyfe Ergo Good workes by them selues wayed in the ballaunce of Gods Iudgement doe deserue eternall lyfe What cā be more falsely imagined or more foolishly cōcluded thē this lye In deéde workes are the fruites of Christiā fayth and tokens not causes of Saluation Euen as a treé that bringeth forth fruites if the treé be good it appeareth by the fruites not bycause the fruite maketh the treé good but bycause the treé maketh the fruite good In lyke maner the deédes of the godly haue nothyng in them selues that may enable them to stand vpright in Iudgemēt But if they finde any grace or reward the same may not bee ascribed to their owne merite but partly to Mercy partly to Imputatiō through the sonne that is the Redeémer to Mercy I say which doth forgeue our euill deédes to Imputation whiche accepteth our good workes though they be of them selues neuer so vnperfect as though they were perfect and doth reward them with a crowne of glory so that the glory hereof is not now to be ascribed to men but to God not to righteousnesse but to grace not to workes but to fayth not to Iudgement but to mercy For confirmation wherof if we seéke for authoritie who may require any one a more faythfull witnesse or of more approued authority then the Apostle who beyng sent vnto the Gentiles as to his proper peculiar charge what doth he preach vnto thē Not by the workes which we haue done sayth he but for his mercy sake he hath saued vs If wordes may obteine any credite with you what can bee spoken more playnely if the authoritie of the witnesse may preuayle what more assured testimony can be sought for then Paule that speaketh him selfe But Osorius lacketh not a shift of descante here thinkyng thereby to craze the force of veritie For whereas Paule affirmeth that we are saued for his mercyes sake he doth interprete this saying to be verified after this sort Bycause mercy doth endue vs with abilitie and power to worke that hereof those godly deedes of pietie doe ensue which may make vs vs righteous before God and that hereof likewise it commeth to passe that all whatsoeuer true righteousnesse appeareth in vs doth proceede from the mercy and bountie of God and not from our own nature Such is the doctrine that he scattereth abroad euery where in these bookes in those other also which he hath entituled De Iustitia followyng herein as it seémeth his forerunner Hosius who maskyng in the like maze doth affirme that life euerlastyng is geuē to men so farreforth through the grace of God as it is deliuered to mens merites which do issue out of the mercy and grace of God But Augustine will helpe to vnlose this knot easely so will also all the most famous and auncient interpretours of the Greeke Latine Churche who altogether with one voyce doe so ascribe all our saluatiō to the mercy of God not that which is obteined by doyng good deédes
concupiscence thereof and had obteined to be deémed prayse worthy in respect of absolute accomplishyng the Commaundementes of God his soule would neuer so humbly haue disclaymed from Gods Iudgement and submitted all comfort of pardon to the onely freé mercy of God Let vs annexe hereunto the same Aurel. August altogether disagreéyng from Osorius where hee setteth downe the same much more playnly in his booke De Spirit Liter I said quoth he that it was possible for a mā to be without Sinne if he haue a will thereunto Gods assistaunce withall but I neuer sayd that euer was or euer should be any one who in this lyfe could be so perfect except that one onely in whom all creatures shal be quickened c. Of what force therfore can this your wyndeshaken crooche be more then Catholicke which you haue scraped out of Hosius Roffensis or Cicero as I suppose where upon your lame cripled workes do rest so boldly namely that a man may so order his lyfe in this rottē Tabernacle of the flesh after the right squarier of righteousnesse by the assistaunce of God as hauyng throughly conquered the kyngdome of Sinne he may easely accomplish all the Cōmaundementes of the law And therfore to aunswere at a word for all what shall I speake els then as Ierome reported to Ctesiphon when he wrate agaynst the heresie of Pelagians So shall I set Augustine agaynst Osorius S. Ierome agaynst Syr Ierome Thou doest say that the Commaundements of God are easie sayth S. Ierome and yet thou canst name no one man which hath performed them all c. And so the same S. Ierome proceédyng foreward Utter no such blasphemy agaynst the heauens whereby thou mayst delude the myndes of simple folke with these wordes It is and it may be for who will graunt vnto theé that a man may do that which neuer man could doe And agayne the same Ierome what is our wisedome nay rather what ought our wisedome to be which are not perfect Our simple Confession that we are vnperfect and that we haue not yet atchieued or attayned full perfection This is the true wisedome of man to know him selfe to be vnperfect And I will be bold to speake it that the perfection of the best and most righteous whiles hee dwelleth in this fleshely doughill is altogether vnperfect c. What neéde I alledge any more in a matter so manifest of it selfe so throughly confirmed with Testimonies and so playnly and notably discernable by the dayly examples of mans life But amongest the rest of this innumerable ouerflowyng multitude of Sinners here shal be a Reply made I beleéue of the Deuine integritie of this one Gentleman Osorius of his wonderfull conuersation absolute holynes Angelike chastitie culuerlike simplicitie linked together with a more then Seraphicall humilitie and incomprehensible innocencie who alone amōgest the children of women hath beautified the whole world with such brightnesse of righteousnes who carrieth about him all vertues fast lockt in the sacred cheéste of his breste and dayly numbred them who hath so quenched the boylyng froathe of Originall Sinne hath so vtterly subdued and brought into bondage the whole empire therof euen at one pushe hath of all partes so absolutely fulfilled eche tittle of the Cōmaundemēts hath tamed the flesh and all the concupiscence thereof hath supressed his affections hath with so well disposed order addressed the whole course of his life and euen now haled up on hygh with a certeine out stretched reache of mynde beyonde the heauens and rapted now into the fraternitie of S. Frauncisce him selfe is enflamed with vnquencheable desire of Deuine zeale that hee will not once treade awrye so much nor wil be blotted with one spotte of crime or suspition of crime bee it neuer so litle will not yeld to any temptations of Sathan or infirmitie of the flesh will not be seéne with blemish or suspition of Sinne no not one Solecisme or Incongruitie no nor yet idle speache in all his wordes no disorder in his whole lyfe and conuersation out of whose mouth shall issue no idle word nor lye no I dare boldly say not one no erronious doctrine no cōtumelious cauill in his bookes no rascallike slaunder no Sycophāticall outrage but all thynges shal be founde within him so attempered and quallified with a certeine marueilous peacible modestie and lenitie that no defect may bee founde neédefull to be added to fill vp a full Bushell of perfect righteousnesse And bycause thou shalt not wonder Reader by what meanes this our most Reuerend Prelate hath climbed to this immesurable excellencie of generall righteousnes and with what Pillers he vnderproppeth the same and learne withall how auayleable and effectuall this most sacred Sacrament of Confession is vouchsafe I pray theé to heare Osori him selfe telling his owne tale I doe call to witnesse sayth he Iesu Christ my Lord and my God that by the meanes of this comfortable Confession sondry times frequented I haue escaped from infinite wickednesse wherfore if I haue at any tyme subdued lust if I haue forsaken voluptuous filthynesse if I haue bene desirous to embrace Chastitie If I haue bene enlightened with any sparckle of godly zeale I do wholy ascribe the effectuall operation therof to the same Sacrament through the whiche the holy Ghost hath emparted vnto me great store of his grace c. What a test is this If beyng first ouerwhelmed with innumerable iniquities hee haue attayned that righteousnesse at the length through the vertue of that most sacred Sacrament in so much as he hath shaken of the yoake of all concupiscence hath cut the throate and cut of the head of the kyngdome of Sinne what neéde hath he then to repeate his cōfessiōs so oft when the wounde is whoale what neéde any playster or further Surgery If all Sinne bee abolished to what purpose serueth dayly custome of Confessiō and to what end is absolution craued But if he feéle yet somewhat lurkyng within him that forceth him betwixt whiles to runne agayne so oft to Confession and to the drugges of absolution how is it that he affirmeth so boldly that the kyngdome of Sinne is wholy cōquered in vs so couragiously fightyng agaynst Luthers doctrine in wordes whereas in very life he agreeth altogether with Luther Finally if Osorius dare presume to stoutely vpon his owne conscience as hauyng vtterly crusht in peéces the kyngdome of Sinne that hee is now no more acquainted therewith what may preiudice him but he may forthwith frankely Iustifie him selfe with the Phariseé and say I thanke theé O Lord Heauēly Father that I am not as other men are nor like vnto this Publican Luther and those seély sheépish Bucerans I do fast twise in the Weéke I geue the tenth of all that I possesse yea besides all this I do also dayly enure my selfe to holy Cōfession c. But hereof enough Let vs proceéde to the remnaūt rable of his raked lyes as they follow
gift of election whereas before there was nothing in the Infantes beyng not yet borne that might eyther deserue to beé aduaunced or to be reiected If you respect the worthines of their workes what had the seély infantes done before they were borne but if this whole matter did depend vpon the determination of Gods vnsearcheable counsell what rewarde here doe mens workes deserue namely whereas God spake to Moyses in playnest maner of speach I will haue mercy on him on whō I will shew mercy and will haue cōpassion on him on whom I haue compassion Whereunto agreéth the testimony of Paule immediately vttered by the same spirite It is not of him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in GOD that sheweth mercy Againe alledging the example of Pharao with semblable reason cōfirmeth the same by the example of Gods seuerity that he debated before of his freémercy And this is the very order of the argument in Paules discourse which neyther Osorius himselfe will deny But it must be diligently considered to what ende Paule applyed those reasons for herein consisteth the whole pithe of our controuersie And whereas Luther Caluine Martyr and their companions bee of opinion that Paule vndertooke this Disputation for this end◠that by settyng downe examples of Gods liberalitie and seueritie he might make manifest that the onely freé mercy and eternall Election of God accordyng to the purpose of his good pleasure did make the true Israelites without any helpe or respect of workes or endeuours◠Osori doth very stoughtly withstand these felowes not denyeng meane whiles Gods Election nor Gods callyng ne yet his Grace as hee sayth but will not graunt this notwithstandyng that the Election of the faythfull consisteth in the freémercy of GOD without speciall respect of workes For this is the whole force of this Prelates Diuinitie Let vs heare his owne wordes as they be This therfore sayth he do we gather out of this place of Paule that neither dignitie of parentage nor worke nor yet the law doth make true Israelites but Gods Election his callyng and his Grace But let vs see whether this so notable mercy of God powred vpon vs without all our deseruynges is geauen vs without any respect of workes No it is not c. First bycause I do not sufficiently conceaue Osorius what you meane by this that you say mercy powred vpō vs with out desertes yet not geauen without respect of workes I would haue you open your meanyng more distinctly If God do powre out vpō his faythfull mercy without merites as you say what other choyse then doe ye want in those that are elect then the very same which cōsisteth of Gods meére mercy good will onely without merites But this you thinke not in any wise sufferable nor to be vttered for this reason as I suppose If Gods Election should consiste of mercy onely without any choyse of such as are chosen Gods Iudgement might be adiudged to be chaunceable and vnaduised Let vs ioyne hereunto the Minor But fortune and vnaduisednesse are not to be imputed to Gods Iudgement For we heare out of Paule Not by workes but of him that calleth who sayth that the elder shall serue the younger Let vs now conclude a Gods name Ergo Gods electiō standeth not by his mercy onely with out some choyse that is say without some especiall discrete regarde of some one thyng in the person that is elected which was not to bee founde in the person that was reiected For in this maner doth Osorius both define and conclude After sūdry ridiculous vayne glorious speaches of his Rhethoricall brauery and vnprofitable scoldyng least he might not seéme to be a Rhetoriciā onely or a leane Logiciā he hath now pyked somewhat out of the Rules of Sophistry wherein he behaueth hym selfe neuerthelesse none otherwise then an Owle amōgest Nightingales For the very principall speciall pointe of that Arte hee either atteyneth not aright or toucheth surely very coldly Which may be easily and playnly perceaued Osorius by this your owne forme of arguyng And I call it playnly your owne bycause no creature cā more nearely resemble his Sire wherein you do neither define rightly nor deuide orderly no lesse foolishly heapyng together false thynges in steéde of true thynges in your maner of arguyng proceédyng from the effectes to causes and as Crabbes crawle backeward so do you for the more part set the carte before the Hoarse First Wheras you say that this word Electiō doth signifie some speciall regard whereby some thyng may be iudged to be in the persons that are Elect that wanted in the reprobate If you define Election in this wise surely we can not allow of it For although no man ought to dought but that God accordyng to his incomprehēsible wisedome euen from the begynnyng was not ignoraunt of the contrary dispositious of all and euery thyng the differences betwixt the faithfull and the reprobate yet is not Election opened sufficiētly hetherto as yet accordyng to the nature of the word These be the effectes of Gods foreknowledge and doe follow Election but make not Election For euen as fire doth not therfore warme bycause it should be whote but bycause it is whote and as a wheéle doth not therfore runne roūde that it may be rounde but bycause it is rounde As August maketh mention euen so the faythfull were not therfore chosen bycause they were lyke to lyue vertuously but they were chosen in Christ bycause they should lyue vertuously beyng thereunto predestinate by God not for the worthynes of their workes that were for seéne should be in them before as Osorius doth dreame but accordyng to the good pleasure of his will If we list to geue credite more to Paule then to Osorius So hath hee chosen vs sayth Paule in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy not bycause we were holy and vnblameable c. What can be more playne then this And yet doth hee not stay there nor so expresse the last maner of Election Whereupon he addeth forthwith Accordyng to the good pleasure of his will to the prayse of the glory of his grace If Gods Election stād accordyng to the purpose of the freé will of God by what meanes will Osorius iustifie that Election cōmeth accordyng to his foreknowledge of workes to come As though Gods Election and foreknowledge did depende vpon our Actions and not rather our actions vpon his Election and foreknowledge Therfore Osorius doth deale falsely whereas he defineth the purpose of God to be a Iudgemēt preordinated before whereby God doth ordeyne some vnto glory and others some vnto destruction accordyng to the choyse of those thynges which he doth see will come to passe First in that he calleth it by the name of Iudgemēt I seé no reason at all why he should so do for as much as Iudgement is properly executed in sinnes
before committed but Purpose concerneth thyngs to come preuenteth them Agayne if we must speake after the proper phrase of speache whatsoeuer is done by Iudgement must neédes be cōfessed to be righteously done according to deserte not accordyng to Grace But whereas the Election Predestinatiō of God which I think Osor. would gladly expresse by this word Purpose for this word Predestinatiō he dare scarse meddle withall as not worthy the finesse of a Ciceronian proceédeth from grace and not from workes by what meanes may any sentence be geuen vpon workes that were neuer done or how will Osorius say that Election commeth by Iudgement geuen vpon workes which Paule affirmeth to be ascribed to Grace freé mercy onely all merite of workes beyng excluded Hee sayth that in the euerlasting counsell of God all things which are which haue bene and which shal be are all as if they were presently in the sight of God so that in executing his iudgement he needeth not to regard the thinges thēselues I do confesse that all thinges whatsoeuer are be open and present to the foresight of God as if they were presently and openly done but what will Osorius conclude hereof vnto vs forsooth he doth conclude hereupon that God hath already determined according to the diuersitie of mens actions foreseéne by him before after this manner To witte That whome God doth foresee will cōtemptuously despise his benefites those he hath excluded from Paradise contrariwise whom God doth foreknow will behaue themselues in this lyfe dutifully and vertuously those he hath mercifully chosen to euerlasting lyfe as worthy of his mercy To impugne this crafty cauillacion I perceaue I shal be pestered not with Osorius alone but with Pelagius and with the whole troupe of the Pelagians for this hereticall schoole chattereth not vpon anye one matter more then in maynteining this one heresie But Paule alone shall suffice at this present to refell all the rable of them The force of the Argument tendeth to this ende at the last The wonderfull quicksited mynd of God did throughly perceaue euen from the beginning what manner of lyfe euery person would leade as well as if the view thereof had bene layed presently open before him Ergo Gods purpose was applyed according to the proportion of euery mans workes and life forseene of God before to choose the good to saluation and to iudge the wicked to damnation This argument is altogether wicked and tending altogether to Pelagianisme And the conclusion meerely opposite to the doctrine of S. Paule For if the difference of eternall election reiection do depend vpon workes foreseéne before Then doth the Apostle Paule lye who affirmeth that election is of Grace not of Workes Rom. 11. and agayne in the 9. Chapter of the same Epistle That the purpose of God might remayne according to election not of workes but of him that calleth What and shameth not Osorius to affirme that which the Apostle doth deny If it were expedient for me to ruffle Rhetorically agayne with a Rhetoriciane You seé Osorius howe great and howe champaine a plaine lyeth open for me to triumph vpon you and such crauēs as you are with lyke force in farre more weighty matter What tragicall exclamations could I bray out here what quartaine feuers what outrages frensies madnes dronkennes impieties impudencies yea what whole Cartloades full of raylinges and reproches frequented by you and pretely pyked out of your Cicero could I now throw back agayne into your teeth and spitt euen into your owne face But away with these madd outragies of rayling and this cāckred botch of cursed speakyng worthy to bee rooted out not of mens maners onely but to be razed out of the writinges bookes also of christians the contagious custome wherof being frequented by you to the noysome example of the worlde I do verily thinke vnseemely for the dignity whereunto you are aduaunced neyther would I wish any man to enure himself vnto the like after your example namely in the debating of so sacred a cause where the controuersie tendeth not to the reuēgement of iniury but to the discouery of the truth where skirmishe must be mayntayned and conquest purchased by prowesse of knowledge and Gods sacred scriptures and not by outrage of rayling And therefore to returne our treatise to the right tracke of the Scriptures leauing all bypathes aside the Apostle doth deny that election springeth out of workes What aunswere you to the Apostle Osorius you will vouch that old rotten ragge worne out to the hard stumps by your schoolemen to witte that the workes that were foreseene are the cause of predestination not those whiche are done but which are to be done for so doe the schoolemen expound and distinguishe it but this will be proued many wayes both friuolous and false by sundry reasons First if this be true which you did earst confesse and whiche Pighius doth euery where inculcate that of all thinges whatsoeuer nothing is to come or past but is as it were present in the sight of God Agayn if there be no diuersitie of times with God because his knowledge comprehendeth as you say all thinges past present and to come as though they were present in view how can hys election or reiection spring out of workes then that are yet to be done If they bee present in what sence call you them to be done in after tyme but if they be to come and to bee done in after tyme how call you them present or how doe these thinges agree together that there is nothing to come in respect of the foreknowledge of God and yet that election must be beleued to issue frō out the foreknowledge of works to come 2. Agayne in what respect soeuer these workes are taken whether in respect of God or of men which your schoolemen do distinguishe into works done and works to be done they vauntage thē selues nothyng by this distinction but that the question will continue as intricate as at the first For whereas all good workes which either men worke or shall worke do proceéde frō God the question reboundeth backe agayne frō whence it came first to witte Why God accordyng to the same purpose should geue good workes more to one then to an other if the performaunce hereof did arise of foreseéne workes and not rather of the determined will of him that calleth whiche is not limited by any conditions of workyng 3. Whereas the Scripture doth manifestly declare that we are created elected to good workes it appeareth therfore that good workes are the effectes of Predestination But the effectes cānot be the cause of that wherof they were the effectes Ergo workes can not be the cause of Predestination But if they alledge that not workes but the foreknowledge of workes in the purpose of God be the cause out of the which the Grace of Election ensueth and is gouerned surely neither can this
Axe of the truth and vtterly rooted out with the vnuanquishable force of Gods scripture Therfore first Let vs heare what discourse he maketh of Gods Iustice and mercy against the Lutheranes For whereas Luther and all good men of Luthers opinion do professe that the regarde of merites is directly cōtrary to Gods libertie and power as touchyng his Election and Predestination Osorius on the cōtrary part doth enforce all his might possible to proue that it is not so vsing these Argumentes especially Whereas we were all wrapped vp in one brake of perdition so that beyng ones defiled with sinne we became all most worthy of euerlastyng destruction for our naturall hatred agaynst Gods law engraffed fast within the nature of our bodies subiect to the outrage of lust God in whō neither any rashnes not vnrighteousnes can fall beyng a most iust Iudge towardes all men indifferently could not of his vnuariable equitie with singular clemēcy so embrace some as he must hate others vnlesse there were some cause or reason to enduce him to extēde his mercy to some and to execute Iudgement agaynst other But God now doth perceaue the whole cause therof to consiste in the maner of liuing and workes not the workes which were already done but which God foresawe should be done For what is there that the wisedome of God in his infinite knowledge doth not comprehende euen as it were present though the same be to be done in the vttermost minute of ages And by this reason it may be that God accordyng to the seuerall conditions of men did of his clemency elect them to eternall life whō he foresawe would be obedient to his Cōmaūdementes And on the other side did exclude them from the fruitiō of his kyngdome which he foresaw would vnthankfully despise his heauenly benefites And by this meanes sayth he Gods Iustice may right well be defended all the defence whereof standeth vpon mercy which otherwise cā not by any meanes deliuered from due reproch What a mockery is this as though if God should follow his owne libertie and will in the order of Predestination without all workes foreseéne before his Iustice could not stand inuiolable nor garded safe enough from all slaunder or suspition of vnrighteousnesse I demaunde then what if God out of this huge lumpe hadd chosen no one man at all whiche he might lawfully haue done if him lysted what if he had duely Iudged to deserued damnation the whole masse of mankynde which did altogether deserue his indignation wrath to speake Augustines wordes could any man cōdemne him of iniustice Goe to May not he that oweth nothyng to any man of his owne meére liberalitie lawfully exempt vndeserued out of this corrupted loste masse whō him listeth or haue mercy on whō he will haue mercy could not hee indurate and reiect whom he would without respect of meritorious workes followyng whenas there was matter more then enough ministred by their former desertes to condemne all to destruction As for example Admitte that a mā haue two debtours whereof the one is indebted vnto him in an exceédyng great summe of money the other oweth not so much by a great deale and the bountyfull creditour vouchsafe to forgeue the greater summe to that first I pray you is there any iust cause here for the other to grudge agaynst the creditour If he doe shall not his mouth be forthwith stopped with that aunswere of Christ in the Gospell Is it not lawfull for me to doe as I will with myne owne is thyne eye euill bycause I am good The very same doth that place of Paule seéme in my simple capacitie to emply where treatyng of the Election of the yoūger and refusall of the elder and of hardenyng Pharaos hart withall he doth annexe immediatly vnto the same what shall we say then is God vnrighteous makyng this Obiection agaynst him selfe as vnder the person of Osorius after this maner If God did not worke after the proportion of foreseene workes and deseruynges Ergo God may seeme to be vnrighteous in his Election and should offend against Iustice distributiue This Argument the Apostle doth forthwith deny saying God forbyd and withall rendreth a reason of his illation negatiue namely that both propositions bee Iustifiable in God Both that God is not vnrighteous And also that God accordyng to the equitie of his Freewill doth take mercy on whom he will haue mercye not in respecte of anye mans deseruynges but of his owne freé bountyfulnesse benignitie and mercy And therfore for the better establishyng of this his defence he doth forthwith cite the same wordes that were spoken to Moyses I will haue compassion on whom I haue compassion and I will shew mercy to whom I do shew mercy So that hereby you seé good Syr that to the worke of Election and Predestinatiō the Apostle iudgeth Gods will onelye though there were no cause els matter sufficient to acquite his Iustice freé from all flaunder and reproch that in my Iudgement now the defence of Gods Iustice which you haue placed in Gods mercy seémeth more aptly applyed to his will For as he can will nothyng but that which is most righteous so nothyng is truly righteous in deéde but that whiche proceédeth from the will of GOD. So that now it shall not be neédefull at all to be inquisitiue accordyng to the coūsell of Augustine after any other principall causes besides Gods good will consideryng that no hygher cause can be founde of greater importaunce But what can be so well spoken but that some will be founde somewhat scrupulous without cause will not in most brightest Sunneshyne seé wtout a candle Therfore this cauillyng colcouerthwart creépeth yet foreward If it be true sayth hee that Gods Election is directed by his will onely in allowyng or makyng hardharted whom he will that no man cā resist his will It seemeth then that Pharao and others who of indurate contumacy of mynde are wicked whereas in that their wickednesse they do execute the will God that they are not the cause of their owne wickednesse nor that they can chuse but do the wickednesse whereunto they are violently thrust necessitie If it be so what iust quarell can God haue then agaynst those whom him selfe hath made to be stiffenecked wherefore he should condemne thē To be short The substaunce of the Obiection is for the most part knitte vp in this Argument If God do harden mens hartes then should not Pharao be the cause of his owne Sinne consideryng no man can resist the will of God Or to reduce this consequent into a Sillogisme No mā hath iust cause to blame him whom him selfe enforceth to offende God doth iustly finde fault with sinners Ergo God doth compell no mā to sinne nor doth make them endurate I do Aunswere First euen by the self same Obiections wh the Apostle vnder the person of the
Iudgement shall procure vs lyfe or death as Osorius writeth Pag. 145. Agayne if the righteousnesse onely which consisteth of well doyng doth purchase Gods fauour to mankynde Pag. 142. What soppe I pray you shal be left for mercy here to deale withall or what shall remayne at all wherein the Grace of God may be exercized If these be not your owne wordes Osorius deny them if you dare but if they be with what artificiall Argumēt will you persuade vs not to accōpt you for an enemy of Gods grace whiles ye sight so much vnder the banner of his Iustice Yet will not I be so captious a cōptoller of your wordes as to call you by the name of an enemy of Grace though in very deéde I dare scarsely thinke you to be in any respect a sownde frende thereunto hetherto veryly as yet haue you declared your selfe no better And the same euen your owne writings do more then sufficiently denounce agaynst you in that which it is a wonder to seé how lauish prodigall you be in the aduauncyng of the prayses of Iustice for the amplyfieng whereof you can scarse finde any end but in the meane tyme towardes the commendation of Mercy so sparyng a niggard and hardelaced that ye seéme either not to conceaue of the wonderfully Maiestie therof sufficiētly or els very vngratefully not to be acquainted therewith sauyng that ye begyn now at the lēgth to preach somewhat of the excellency therof also takyng occasion of these wordes of Paule What shall we say then Is there vnrighteousnesse with God God forbid for he sayth to Moyses I will haue mercy on him to whom I do shew mercy and I will haue compassion on him on whom I haue compassion In that which place say you Paule doth render a Reason Wherfore no man cā by any meanes accuse God of vnrighteousnesse And doe annexe hereunto a conclusion agreable enough to your defence For the defence of Iustice say you cōsisteth wholy in mercy And agayne But the mercy of God doth acquite his Iustice free from all reproche Whiche reason of yours Osori although perhaps might be allowed in some respect yet doth it not exactly and substauncially enough discusse the naturall meanyng of the Apostle nor sufficiently aūswere the Apostles question Which will euidently and playnly appeare either by the Apostle him selfe or by Augustine the Expositour of the Apostle if we will first note before the marke and state of the question diligently and truely The scope wherof Augustine affirmeth to be this That the Apostle may lay open before vs that the Grace of fayth ought to be preferred before workes not to the end he might seéme to abolish workes but to shew that workes do not goe before but follow grace and to make the same more apparaunt he alledgeth amongest others the example of Iacob Esau Who beyng not as yet borne into the world hauyng done nothyng worthy either to be fauored or to be hated but that equabilitie of estate had made eche of them equall with the other and betwixt whō was no difference of natures or deseruyngs which might procure aduaūcement of the one before the other Finally whenas by orderly course of byrthe and right of first byrthe the elder might haue challenged the prerogatiue of honour before the younger Almighty God vsing here his vnsearcheable Electiō did make this difference betwixt them whereas was no difference of workes or merites as that for sakyng Esau who by no merite after the rule of Iustice had deserued to bee reiected he gaue the preheminēce to the younger turnyng the common order of nature vpsidowne as it were that whereas the younger are wont to be subiect to the elder now contrary to kynde the elder should become seruaunt to the younger Whereupon whē the Apostle sawe what scrupule might arise in the imagination of the hearer or Reader therof he putteth a question vnder the person of one that might argue agaynst it whether God had done any thyng herein agaynst equitie and right or any thyng that he could not iustifie accordyng to Iustice distributiue whereunto him selfe aunsweryng immediately doth with wonderfull vehemency detest that slaunderous cauill and withall acquiteth God freé from all accusation and suspition of vnrighteousnes this not wtout lawfull authoritie of the Scripture What sayth he do we not read spokē vnto Moyses on this wise I will haue mercy on whō I do take mercy and I will haue cōpassion on whō I haue compassion Besides this also addyng forthwith the example of Pharao he doth conclude at the length on this wise Therfore he hath mercy on whom he will and whom he will he hardeneth But if our captious accuser will yet persiste in his obstinacie as though it sufficed not for God to do what it pleased him he doth cōfute him with a most manifest Argument of lyke comparison on this wise The Potter fashionyng his vesselles either vnto honour or to dishonour or to what purpose seémeth him best doth not offend at all And shall it be lesse lawfull or God to shew his power vpon his owne creatures then for the Potter vpon his Chalke or Clay Therfore whether God be willyng to haue mercy or to indurate any man he doth nothyng herein but that which is most lawfull and most agreable with equitie You perceaue therfore Gods Iustice sufficiently enough desended I suppose which in all his workes ought by good right be mightly defēded But how it is defēded is now to be seéen Osorius vrgeth stoughtly that Gods Iustice standeth not otherwise to be defended but onely in respect of his Mercy which albeit might be graunted after a sorte yet is not altogether simply and absolutely true and the reason therof is pyked out of Osorius credite rather then out of any Argument of S. Paule Whereas Paule seémeth to referre all this whole defence of Iustice not to mercy but to onely will of God Saying God taketh mercy on whom he will and hardeneth whom he will Albeit I will not in the meane whiles deny but that the Election of the faythfull doth consist vpon mercy alone yet surely the defense of Election is not vpholden but through the will of God onely Likewise also albeit the castyng away of the Reprobates do proceéde from the onely Iustice of God yet will no man say that the defence of this reiection consisteth in Mercy but in the onely will of God And therfore it is the onely will of God which doth defende Mercy in Election and Iustice in reiection For otherwise how could this come to passe that the onely Mercy of God should defēd his Iustice either in the Reprobate in whō scarse one sparckle of Mercy is discernable or els in the Predestination of the faithfull wherein appeareth no execution of Iustice therfore what is it then that may defend Iustice in these Mercy in those other but onely the purpose of Gods will onely wherof S. Paule maketh
Gods Electiō goyng before did depend vpō mens workes that follow after they do conclude vntruely For as the Potter in fashionyng his earthē Uessells hath no regard to the merite of the clay euen so the purpose of God in the rule of his Electiō is free frō all respect of workes And therfore Paule doth resemble the same of the power of the Potter But if they will trāslate the same to the punishments rewardes of workes in this respect we confesse they say true euen as mē behaue thēselues so shall they finde their Creator affectioned towardes them Yet in such sort neuertheles that if any vertue or cōmendation be in the Uessell that may moue to please the same confesse that it commeth not of it selfe but of the free liberality of the Potter on the contrary if it haue any thing worthy of punishment then to yelde that this proceedeth from themselues and not from the Potter For he made Nature at the beginning whole sound and vpright Afterwardes came in vgly deformitie wilfully and voluntarily defiled through originall sinne God hath no regard but to the poore and contrite in Spirite Ergo The Grace of God is not promised to any but to such as are prepared thereunto before True it is that none but humble in spirite are capable of Gods Grace But from whence commeth this Iowlines and humble reuerence towards God truely not from the Nature of our corrupted flesh which is wont alwayes to be the Mother of pryde but from the onely gift of the holy Ghost Whereupon if any man vrge that there ought to go some preparation in man before apt to receaue the grace of God neyther will the Lutheranes deny this but so that they also confesse with Augustine that the same commeth to passe not by the direction of our Freéwill but by reformation and renewing of the holy Ghost Forasmuch as the cause of all men is generall and the estate indifferent as the Lutheranes do say Ergo There is no cause not reason why God in the choise of man should preferre some before othersome and seperate some from othersome S. Paule rendereth this cause for vnreproueable I will haue mercy sayth he on whom I will haue mercy Aunswering as it were to this same obiection that thys commeth to passe not because God findeth any cause in man but for that he onely receaueth hym of hys owne mercy I will not the death of a sinner but rather that he be cōuerted in liue If this saying be referred to the secret will of Gods good pleasure how is it then that such will not be conuerted nor fleé from Damnation whom the almighty will of God both would haue to be saued and can make able also to be saued But if it be vnderstanded of hys reuealed will which is called Volunt as Signi what maruell is it if such will not be saued but perish besides the will of God which are left to the power of their owne Freéwill by the secret and vnsearcheable will of God What soeuer is voluntary may be auoyded Synne is voluntary Ergo Sinne nay be auoyded This is aūswered before out of Aug. The Maior were true if it be vnderstāded of nature beyng soūde but now nature is woūded defiled either bycause it doth not seé by reasō of her blyndnes or bycause it doth not performe by reasō of her weakenes God would not commaūde the thynges which he knew man could not do Augustine maketh aunswere And who is ignoraunt hereof but he doth therfore commaunded some thynges which we are not able bycause we may know what we ought to craue at his hāds Where Nature and Necessitie beare rule there is no iust crime in Sinnyng The Lutherans do teach that Sinne doth cleaue fast with in vs by nature and that of very Necessitie Ergo. Accordyng to the Lutheranes doctrine there shal be no iust crime in Synnyng And hereunto aunswere is made before In the Maior I do distinguish Nature and Necessitie If it haue relation to Nature that was sounde and Necessitie of coaction true it is that there is no accusation of iust crime of Sinne to be layed there But if it meane Nature corrupt and Necessitie of inuincible and vnchaungeable bondage it is false of which Necessitie Augustine speaketh But now faultynesse punishable ensuyng did make a Necessitie of Freédome There is no reason to make it Sinne where is no power to be able to auoyde it I do aūswere that it was true in Adam who cōmitted that whiles nature was sounde which he might haue eschued but in vs not so who in this corrupted and forsorne nature now whether we may auoyde it or not auoyde it yet doth Sinne follow vs of Necessitie For if will could eschue Sinne yet can it not cleare it selfe from sinne of her selfe and of her own abilitie but onely through the assistaunce of helpyng grace whereupon will deserueth no commendation though it can cleare it selfe but if it eschue not the sinne which it might eschue so much the more doth it aggrauate the trespasse And why commeth not forth any one such at the length which can or dare boldly professe that he hath euer eschued the sinne that these Iacke braggers boast so much may be auoyded on the contrary although will can not escape from Sinne yet doth it not therfore cease to be Sinne bycause it sucked this imbecillitie not from nature wherein it was created at the first but from him whiche might haue bene without Sinne if he had would No mā lacketh the Grace of God but he that will cowardly faynte of hym selfe True it is but to make mā not to be faynt harted in him self it is neédefull that the grace of God be present first without the which all our good will is vneffectuall Moreouer whoso beyng holpen with grace doth begyn to will well to endeuour well is not now altogether a coward crauen but he that is faynt harted is therfore faynte harted bycause he was not assisted with the effectuall Grace of God God doth constrayne no man forcibly I do graūt but that they may be made willyng he doth first of vnwilling make them willyng draweth such as are stiffe-necked to become inclinable creating new hartes within them renewyng a new Spirite within their bowels to make them tractable and willyng seruauntes for hym selfe But thou accordyng to the hardnesse of thy hart doest procure to thy selfe vengeaunce The Apostle speaketh here of the externall blessing or callyng of God which he exercizeth indifferently aswell towardes the good as towardes the euill and not of the spirituall Grace of Regeneration wherewith he doth peculiarly seale and establish his Elect vnto hym selfe The Grace of God is none otherwise effectuall then as we be not sluggish or retchelesse to vse his helpe offered vnto vs. Ergo It is in our power either to receaue
discrete man admitt any such person to be Iudge And yet I stand not so much vpon a Iudge herein This one thing doe I wishe onely that with the obiections of our aduersaryes our aunsweres may be heard with indifferency And I assure you if I could preuayle with wishing I would desire nothing more hartely then that the renowned king of Portingall Sebastian a prince of excellent Maiesty sith I suppose verely that the arbitriment detreminatiō iudgement of this cause doth concerne Christian Princes chiefly would vouchsafe of his singular clemēcy according to the aunciēt Lawes of Athens to geue eare indifferently to both cause and to lend his princely eares but euen a litle whiles not vnto me but to the cause it selfe whereof I shall entreate I would not doubt his highnes being iudge but that I would easely iustify that all whatsoeuer the Catholickes doe alledge at this day for their antiquitye are but bare bragges And that with vs remaineth nothing wherein they may iustly condemne vs of Nouelty And in this behalfe I can not wonder enough what came into Osorius minde to exact of vs a warrant of our Nouelty seing that of his owne Antiquitye he can yeald vs no manner of warrant at all But let vs harken a while to those notable reasons of our aduersaryes wherewith they doe defend their Antiquitye which being throughly confuted we will presently proceéde to the argumentes which they doe obiect agaynst our new masters of this new Gospell as they terme it There is a principle in the ciuill Lawe The lawes sayth they are fauorable to the party in possession in a title of prescription Yf prescription of fifty yeares doe cleane cut of all chalenge what shall be sayd then of them which affirme their continued possession in doctrine a thousand yeares and more By the same prescription of time say they the priestes of the old lawe did chalenge vnto themselues a lawfull right to sit in Moyses chayre Ergo Mans lawe doth adiudge no man a wrōgfull dissensor being able to prescribe fifty yeares possession Aunswere The priestes of the old lawe doe chalenge a right to sitt in Moyses chaire in respect of the continued prescription of time I doe confesse this to be true in deede And yet this prescription notwithstanding the Lord did call the very same priestes theéues and murtherers Agayne touching their allegation of the wrongfull disseisor by lawe and prescription of time I doe aunswere In the ciuill lawe this is true in deéd but not so in Gods lawe And yet there is also a rule in the ciuill lawe A wrōgfull disseisor shall not ohtayne though he prescribe neuer so long continuance of possession Agayne An ordinaunce begunne wickedly at the first is not sayd to be allowable for prescriptiō of tyme. But as concerning Gods lawe there be many notable testimonies of most worthy personages which disproue the same for an vntrueth Namely emongest all others the saying of Augustine chiefly The veritye being discouered custome must geue place to trueth let no man preferre custome before reason and trueth because reason and trueth doe alwayes exclude custome And Gregory Yf you pretend custome sayth he you must note what the Lord sayth I am the way the trueth and the lyfe He doth not say I am custome doughtles euery custome though neuer so auncient though neuer so generall must geue place to the trueth Emongest whome also heare what Cyprian doth say If Christ onely must be harkened vnto sayth he we may not regard what any other did thinke conuenient to be done before our time but what Christ hath done first who is aboue all other For we ought not to followe the custome of men but the trueth of God for as much as the Lord spake by the month of his Prophet Esay and sayd They worshippe me in vayne teaching the doctrines and tradicions of men Moreouer whereas themselues knowe this rule to be infallible that no custome shall prescribe agaynst the prince how much rather ought it be sayd no time or custome shall prescribe agaynst God Otherwise what shall we say of Antichrist which because he hath possessed his Seé more then an hundreth yeares shall he therfore not be accounted for Antichrist for his title of prescription Hitherto therefore the reasons wherewith the Catholickes do maintayne their Antiquitye are declared It remaineth now that we purge our selues of the cryme of Nouelty fasly obbraydid agaynst vs by Osorius especially sith Osorius doth vrge vs so earnestly thereunto wherein I would gladly conferre with that indifferent and vpright reader whome earst I spake of or with any other Catholicke man who hath any sparke of sound and vpright iudgement And I would enquire of him first his iudgement vpon this poynt of doctrine whereas we beleue and professe that our nature euen from our first creation is so vtterly lost and forlorne that in our selues remaineth no helpe at all to rise agayne without Christ agayne that Christ the sonne of God taking our nature vpon him hath made so perfect satisfaction for our sinnes that there remayneth nothing wherein his deseruings haue not sufficiently enough satisfied for all generall yea for the sinnes of the whole world Moreouer that these his merites are so by wonderfull dispensation spread abroad with ouerflowing plenty vppon all mankinde through the singuler and inestimable benefitte and mercy of God that a freé passage is made wide open for all miserable wretches penitent sinners being endued with fayth to haue freé accesse vnto Christ and so layd open as that freély through fayth without all merites of ours without all the works of the lawe they be pardoned and accepted vpon this poynt I say I would fayne heare the opinion of the godly and Catholicke Reader whether this Assertiō hane any maner of Nouelty in it which hath not proceéded from Christ himselfe from Saynt Paule frō the holy Ghost and from the sacred word of God I thinke no man will say so What meaneth this That where the same scripture doth teach vs to repose all our affyaunce not in workes but in Christ onely grounding our selues in the meane space assuredly vpon the infallible promise of God whereof we haue no mistrust but that he which promised freely the same will performe most faithfully not for any our sake but for hys Sonnes sake onely in whom we do beleue so that now there be no reason els of any our righteousnesse in the sight of God then through fayth onely Let the Godly and vpright Reader iudge here agayne with me what Nouelty or Sacriledge is in this manner of Doctrine If according to the authority of Tertullian that thing ought to be preferred that was first diliuered I will aske again of any indifferēt Reader whether this custome were receyued in the Church first namely that we should acknowledge one onely Aduocate and Mediator of God and men the man Christ Iesus Or
of the dead I do commend you But will you heare me agaye If the death of Christ were vndertaken for them that are in Purgatotory in the maner as you before sayd then is it a good consequēt hereupon that either your Purgatory was vtterly abolished by the death of Christ or els that Christ himselfe suffered death in vayne Aunswere either of them which you list Moreouer if this be true that your Diuinity doth inferr that Paule and manye others did dye as you say a satisfactory death for the cleansing of the dead and for the saluation of the whole world what difference then will you make betwixt the death of Christ and the death of those others Nay rather what neéde haue we of the death of Christ at all if Paule and many other did dye a satisfactory death for the saluation of the world as you say how thys your reason and communicatiō delighteth you and your Catholickes I know not in my iudgement surely it seémeth none other then as if any Turke or Iew had taken penn in hand and of sett purpose deuised to write agaynst Christ he could not haue written any thing more despightfully agaynst Christ nor more horribly agaynst the Catholicke fayth The Lord of his mercye open your eyes and endue you once at the length with a better minde if it may so please his heauenly Maiesty But I returne agayne to the course of your disputation wherein albeit I seé nothing worth the refuting yet because you bragg here so shamelesly that we be vtterly ouerthrowne with your most manifest Testimonies and that your argumentes are not resolued I thinke it conuenient to make manifest what maner of argumentes you haue sett downe and of what force the substaunce of your argumentes may seéme to be First touching the testimony of Saynt Paule in the 1. to the Corinthians the 15. Chapter before mentioned where Saynt Paule treateth of Baptisme and Resurrection You thinke to haue a great aduaūtadge here to build your Purgatory vpō And why so Because Baptisme is many times vsed in the Scriptures for Sacrifices and offeringes Where finde you that Forsooth where the Lord doth demaunde of the two brethren that were at strife betwixt them selues for the chiefe and highest seat in the kingdome of heauen whether they were able to be partakers of the same Baptisme In deéd the scripture vseth many times peculiar Tropes figures and I am not ignoraūt that amongest the latter Deuines Baptisme is deuided into threé sortes to witte Baptisme of water of Fire of Bloud Howbeit these two latter kindes haue not in them any proper nature of a Sacrament if you haue regard to the naturall propertyes of Baptisme to wit Matter Forme as they call them And therfore howsoeuer it pleaseth the new Deuines to ascribe vnto thē the matter of a Sacrament yet doe they not attribute vnto them a Sacrament no nor so much as the name of a Sacrament but acquiuoce But what doth this concerne this place of Paule cited by you where it is out of all controuersy that the wordes of the Apostle ought to be vnderstanded not of Blood nor of Fier but simply of that kind of Baptisme onely wherewith all Christians in generall without exception are washed through the foūtayne of regeneration into hope of rising agayne to life euerlasting Therfore I do here appeale to the Iudgement of the Reader how blockishly Osorius doth wrest this discourse of Paule to Martirdome yea much more Doltishly to Purgatory There is besides this an other place cited out of the same chap. where Paule as appeareth purposing to sanctify himselfe not onely for the dead but for the liuing also hath these wordes Why do we vndertake daūger euery houre I do dayly dye through the reioysing that I haue of you in Christ Iesu our Lord. And these forsooth be those substaunciall Testimonies wherewith we are ouerwhelmed a Gods name accordaunt to the matter nowe in question as iumpe as Germaynes lippes It remayneth now that we discusse the substaunce and pith of the Argumentes likewise deriued from the prayers and oblations of the Church You do mayntayne stiffely that Sacrifices offred for the saluation of the dead be very effectuall which forasmuch as are auaileable to none but such as be in Purgatory hereupon therefore you doe conclude that there must be a Purgatory of very necessity But what if I would deny all this vnto you euen by the same law and order as you haue propounded them For what reason is there to the contrary but that I may aswell deny at a word as you affirme at a word First as touching Prayers which you affirme that the Church is enured vnto for saluation of the dead If you meane here the true Apostolicke Church You say most vntruly If you note the vsage of your owne Babylonicall Tēple it forceth not of a rush what you do there Neither do I enqurie what you haue in hādling there but what you ought to looke vnto what duety doth exact of you and what you ought to do according to the prescript rule of the scripture Moreouer whereas you annexe afterwardes that these Supplications and Prayers made for the saluation of the dead are altogether vneffectuall and vnprofitable vnlesse they be applyed onely vnto them which are afflcted in Purgatory We would fayne learne first how you proue this Forsooth say you because the soules that be drowned in the deepe doungeon and euerlasting darcknesse of hell can be redeemed from thence with no prayers This is true and what hereof Agayne you say the Soules that are in heauen haue no need of those prayers neither am I displeased with this Rhetorical partition Goe to what is it that this Orators pertition will conclude at the last Behold reader now a conclusion more then logicall wonderfully wrought and called frō out the very braines of capacity it selfe wherby you may forth with note a very disciple of Theophrast Damned Soules being in hell sayth he are not eased by the prayers of the liuing And agayne the soules that are in heauen haue no need of any supplications It followeth therefore that there is some middle place betwixt heauen and hell which we are wont to call Purgatory As if the Argument were on this wise If there be no Purgatory the supplicatiōs of the church for the saluation of Soules are voyde and vneffectuall But the Supplications for the deadd are not voyde and vneffectuall Ergo It is concluded that there must be a Purgatory of very Necessitie We are come backe agayne now ad Petitionem Principij as the Logicians do tearme it Where one vncerteintie is confirmed by an other vncerteintie in all respectes as vncertein For I am as farre to seéke whether Prayers and Supplications for soules departed be vnprofitable as when Osorius doth affirme that there must neédes be a Purgatory And therfore in my conceipt you shall do very discretly Osorius bicause
fire c. or where he bryngeth vpon men inward griefes by the seruice of Sathan exequutioner of hys wrathe as famine of hys holy word ignoraunce blindenes of vnderstanding hardnes of hart as appeareth euidently by the Scriptures I pray you what meane you by that whiche you reade in the 9. of Iudges God did send hys euill spirite betwixt Abimilech and the people of Sychem c. When you reade in Moyses I will harden the hart of Pharao adding a cause to the same wherefore he would do it And agayn when you heare that the Lord did harden the hart of Syhon King of Hesbon When you read in Esay the Prophet Blunt the hartes of this people stopp their eares And agayne why doest thou make vs wander from thy wayes O Lord What is this in the 3. of the kings the 22. chap Behold the Lord hath geuen the Spirite of lyeng into the mouthes of all the Prophets c. and in Iob. 12. The Lord doth take away the hartes from them that rule ouer the people of the earth and he maketh them to goe astray c. of the same sence are the wordes of the Prophet Ezechiell If the Prophet be seduced and speake a word I the Lord haue seduced that Prophet And in Amos If there shal be any euill in the Citie that the Lord hath not done And agayne in the 2. to the Thessalonians the 2. chapter God shall send vpon them strong illusione to beleue lyes c. These and innumerable like vnto these who so shall heare euery where in the scriptures can he dought hereof that the sinnes of the wicked are not hidden vtterly from the decreed will of God or that any thing is done in any of all these by Gods Permission so as hys effectuall prouidence doth not worke also withall Now as concerning the inconuenience as though it were of Necessitie that Gods Iustice shold be therfore called in questiō and that it would by that meanes come to passe that wicked mē would hereof take occasion to excuse themselues as though they should not offend through their own default but by the compulsary constraynt of Gods will if so be those thinges be so taken according to the very purporte of the bare letter wherwith God is sayd to deliuer ouer into a Reprobate minde to make blynde to harden the hartes c. then is this also eche way as false Neyther doth the conclusion of hys argument thus shuffled vp hang together All thinges that God hath foreordayned shall come to passe do chaunce through absolute Necessiitie God did foreordayne that sinne should come to passe Ergo When sinnes do come to passe they are to be imputed aswell vnto man as beyng an instrument as vnto God hymself as beyng the Authour Nay rather the conclusion ought to haue bene framed on this wise Ergo God hath ordayned that sinnes should be which for the same cause cannot but be of very Necessitie And so in deede is the conclusion right and to be graunted also For it is without all controuersie that sinnes cannot come without the ordinaunce of Gods will which ordinaunce neuertheles hauing iust cause of defence ought to be acquited of all vnrighteousnes And to shew that it hath iust causes of defence Three reasons may be rendered First This seely earthly worme had skarse yet thrust hys nose out of the dyrte whenas he would needes make hymselfe equall with God hys creator farre aboue the reach and cōpasse of his creation presuming to attayne the knowledge of good and euil then came it to passe by the most iuste iudgement of God not by hys Permission but by hys prouidence also that Freewill beyng as then throughly furnished with vnderstanding and reason but destitute of Grace could not gouerne it selfe but must needes both agaynst hys owne knowledge and conscience stumble and fall downe withall And no meruayle For assoone as God had withdrawne hys light right spirite and helping hand whereupon issued lacke of well doyng blindenes and hardnes of hart it could not otherwise be but that the grace of God being withdrawne all abillitie to do well beyng taken away this proud presumptuous Uermine must fall to the ground both of very Iustice and of very Necessitye whereof the one is ascribed to God and not to man this other not to God but to man and to hys owne Freewill And hereupon aryseth that absolute and vnauoydeable Necessitie whereof we treat so much and withall the most iust defence of Gods Iustice. Then besides this Freewill there is yet an other reason that will playnly acquite the iust prouidence of God from fault though it worke in the sinnes of men together with men themselues As when he bryngeth vppon man eyther diseases of the body or blindnes of vnderstanding for sinnes already committed punishing sinne as it were by sinne Euen so Pharao that had vsed horrible tyranny before in drowning the suckling babes of the Hebrues was himselfe afterwardes most iustly hard harted by God and at the last miserably drowned in the read Sea Euen so likewise Esay and the other Prophetes did prophesye that the Iewes should be blinded for the wickednes whiche they had committed By the like Iudgement of God came it to passe that which was spoken of the Gentiles As they would not geue themselues to know God God did deliuer them ouer to the lustes of their owne hartes c. And in an other place writing to the Thes. For this cause sayth he God will send vpon thē strong illusion to beleue lyes c. Besides these most iust causes spoken of before there is yet a thyrd no lesse rightfull and iust which although be somewhat darke vnto vs yet seémeth not so darke to the vnderstādyng and knowledge of S. Paule where Gods Deuine prouidence doth wonderfully order and dispose his workes to witte by his Iudgemēt hidden in deéde but alwayes iust leadyng and directyng all thynges to that ende whereby he may make his Iustice or his power discernable to mankynde And to this end at a word do all the counsells of God and all the effectes of the same tende and be directed whether he do fashion the vessels of his wrath to destruction or prepare the vessels of his mercy to Glory or whether he be mercyfull to whom he will or whether he do harden the hartes of whom it pleaseth hym or whensoeuer it pleaseth him so to do or when he doth styrre vppe the myndes and endeuoures of men where unto him lysteth by the seruice of Sathan minister of his wrath or whether he do comfort and make glad the hartes of his chosen by the operatiō of the holy Ghost And yet is there no cause in the meane whiles why any man should complayne that the thynges are done iniuriously which are done by Gods secrete Iudgement or that God ought to be blamed in any of all these whenas whatsoeuer is
done by him we beleue assuredly is done either to expresse his power or to make his glory discernable or to commend his Iustice or els to discouer the wonderfull riches of his mercy Wherfore when Luther doth affirme that with GOD all thynges are done by an absolute Necessitie whether they come by destiny chaunce or any fortune at all why should not it be as lawfull for him to speake so as for Osorius to speake in the lyke phrase and in lyke titles of words That God is of Necessitie the best the most iust and the most wisest But I heare the sounde of an Argument from the Popish Diatriba They say that they abridge not God of his power no nor that they can do it neither would at any tyme otherwise then as him selfe hath abridged it Although there be nothyng but that the omnipotency of God can bryng to passe yet would he haue nothyng lawfull for him selfe to do that might be contrary to his Iustice. And bycause it is an horrible matter that any man should be damned without euill deseruynges and that it is not reason that good workes should be defrauded of their due reward therfore it must needes follow accordyng to the rule of Iustice that God should chuse thē whom he would haue to be saued for the good workes whiche he did forsee to be in them and condemne the other lykewise for their euill doynges For otherwise if he doe not regarde the workes then were not his Iustice constaunt and permanent This Obiection must be ouertaken after this maner It is one thyng to treate of Gods Election and an other thyng to treate of his Iudgement As concernyng the Iudgement of God it is euident that no man is damned vnlesse he haue deserued it for his wickednesse and that no man is saued vnlesse some matter be founde in him whereunto his saluation may be imputed It is farre otherwise in Election and Predestination which is accomplished accordyng to Gods Freé determination and coūsell without all respect of workes either goyng before or commyng after Or els how can that saying of the Apostle be true Not of workes but of him that calleth c. meanyng thereby the Free Election of GOD Whereupon let vs heare Augustine very aptly discoursing in his booke De Praedestin Grat. It is sayd not of workes but of him that calleth The elder shall serue the younger He doth not say of workes done before but when the Apostle spake generally not of workes here he would that men should vnderstand it both of workes done and already past and workes not as yet done that is to say workes past which were none at all and workes to be done which as yet were not done c. Workes therfore haue both their tyme and their place Certes in Electiō they haue neither tyme nor place Neither is any thyng here of any value but the onely will of God which neither dependeth vpon fayth nor vpon workes nor vpō the promises but workes fayth and the promises and whatsoeuer els doe all depend vppon it For neither are our deédes vnto him a rule to direct his Election by but our deédes are directed by his Election as the effectes do consequētly depend vpon the causes and not the causes vpō the effectes Neither doth God worke vnrighteously in the meane tyme in this if he take mercy on whō he will take mercy or if he harden whō he will harden And why so For sooth bycause he is indebted to no man For sithence we are all in generall euen from our mothers wombes ouerwhelmed drowned in this puddle of originall sinne he may accordyng to his good pleasure haue mercy on whom it pleaseth him and againe passe ouer whom soeuer hym lysteth and leaue them to them selues that is to say not take mercy vppon them Whereupon all men may easily perceaue aswell the Reprobates what it is whereof they may iustly accuse thē selues as also they that are chosen how much they are indebted to God for his great and exceédyng mercy Euen as if one man kill an other with a sworde no man doth therfore accuse the sword but he rather is knowen to be in faulte which did abuse the sword to murther with as good reason for asmuch as men are nothyng els but as instrumentes of wickednesse onely in Gods hand they that yeld of Necessitie are not so much in fault as he rather deserueth to be blamed that caused them to do wickedly If so be that men whom God hath created after his owne Image were such kynde of Instrumentes whiche lyke vnto a sword or sawe were driuen not of them selues and without any motion or consent of their owne or if God were such a Royster or hackster that would delight in the slaughter of men the similitude were not altogether to be mislyked Now to graunt vnto them that the wills of men are directed and are subiect to a stronger power then they are able to resiste yet do they not suffer onely as Instruments brutish and senselesse doing nothyng them selues in the meane whiles Men are drawen in deéde but with their owne wills as Augustine maketh mention Neither is any man euill but he that will him selfe And if man will be of his owne accord euill who ought to be blamed therfore but him selfe For where shall we say that sinne is but where a will is founde to committe Sinne But Osorius ceaseth not as yet frō his chatteryng They that doe affirme that God hath seuered out of all the vniuersall masse of mākynde some whō he would prepare to euerlastyng glory and some others whom he would appoint to euerlastyng destruction not for any other cause but bycause it so pleaseth him doe plucke Gods prouidence vppe by the rootes The Lutheranes do alledge none other reason of Gods Predestination besides his will onely Ergo The Lutheranes do foredoe and plucke the prouidence of Cod vppe by the rootes I beseéche you Osorius if as yet you haue not cast away all feélyng of an honest and sober Deuine vtterly returne to your selfe at the length In deéde say you so Do they foredoe Gods prouidence which say it is so for none other cause but bycause it pleaseth him c. What kynde of Argument doe I heare from you Cā God be pleased to do any thyng that is not most correspōdent to reason or cā any Reason be of all partes so absolutely perfect that can disagreé frō the chief and principall patterne of his will or do you seéme a reasonable man that doe talke so fondly But I beseéche you Syr. For as much as the will of God whether soeuer it bende and encline it selfe is nothyng els but a most perfect Reason of it selfe and of all partes most absolute and without blemishe and for as much also as Reason it selfe is nothyng els then the very rule of Gods will nay rather for as much as the will of God is the very essence