is wholy contained in them And surelie they be so tempered that anie man may as it were draw out of them that which may be sufficient for him if so be he come to read them deuoutlie and godlie as true religion requireth The Author of the booke vnder the name of S. Augustine de salutaribus documentis Cap. 38. GReat confusion belongeth to the soules of laie mē which say what dooth it pertaine to me to heare or learne by reading the bookes of Scriptures or to run vnto Priests and Churches of saints When I am a clergie man I will doo those things which clergie men should doo Bernardus ad sororem de modo bene viuendi Cap. 50. MOst déere sister if thou wilt alwaies be with God alwaies praie and alwaies read The reading of the holie Scriptures is verie necessarie for vs. For by reading we learne what we should doo what we should beware of and whither we should go Herevpon it is said Thy word is a light vnto my feete By reading our iudgement and vnderstanding is increased Reading instructeth prepareth vs to praier and to good works Reading frameth vs both to actiue and contemplatiue life Therefore it is said in the Psalme Blessed is the man that shall meditate in the law of the Lord day and night Reading and praier be weapons wherewith the diuell is vanquished and instruments whereby eternall blessednesse is obtained By praier reading vices be forsaken and vertues be norished in our soules Therfore beloued sister in Christ vse much to read and daylie to meditate in the law Reading with-holdeth our life from error draweth a man from the vanitie of the world by reading our vnderstanding iudgement doo increase For Reading teacheth thée what thou shouldest doo admonisheth thée what to auoid and sheweth thée whither thou shouldest go thou doost greatly profit when thou readest if thou doo the things which thou readest Iosephus in his second booke against Appion of the Iewes EVerie wéeke we assemble to heare the Law Euerie one of vs being asked of the Law can answere as easilie and readilie as his owne name For we learning them wholie from our tender yéeres and yoong age haue them as it were imprinted and grauen in our minds Erasmus Roterod. in paraclesi I Could wish that all women did read the Gospell and Paules Epistles and I would that they were translated into all languages of all nations that they might be read and knowne not onelie of Scottish and Irish men but also of Turkes and Saracens That the good Christian Reader may the better prooue and discerne the spirits which be of God and which not I haue thought good to set down a few sayings of Popish writers which let him compare with the former sayings of the holie Scriptures and faithfull fathers and consider how they agrée therewith Doctor Standish in a booke intituled A discourse wherein is debated whether it be expedient that the Scripture should be in English for all men to read that will Printed at London by Robert Ealie 1554. writeth thus WHereby we may easilie learne that all people should not haue the Scriptures in their owne handlings at their pleasure as they haue had these dosen yéeres past to their vtter spirituall destruction Againe THat which yée haue heard saith he in secret places shall be preached on the tops of the houses he said not it shall be written in your Churches as it hath béene Iewishlie vsed on late here in England nor written in Bibles to be read of euerie one in his mother toong and set vp for that purpose in euerie Church Againe I Cannot then but maruell that men to their owne confusion are so desirous to haue the Scripture in their mother toong Againe THrough the damnable libertie of hauing it in the vulgar toong haue not all holy mysteries béene dispised Haue they not thereby vtterly condemned all that hath not béene expressed in the letter of their English Bibles Againe WHerefore away with the English damnable translation and let them learne the mysteries of God reuerently by hart and learne to giue as much credit to that which is not expressed as to that which is expressed in Scripture knowing that in thrée points the authoritie of the Church is aboue the authoritie of the Scripture one is in fortifieng verities not written to be necessarie to saluation c. Againe THe vniuersall Church of Christ did neuer allow nor approoue the Scripture to be in the vulgar toong weighing the manifold inconueniences that haue issued therof but euer from time to time among other errors did tread that downe and suppresse it Againe IT is the occasion of many heresies to haue the Scripture in the vulgar toong A little after ANd yet then séeing the rude ignorant sort be euer prone peruersly to wrest the Scriptures we must thinke that to haue the Scripture in English is to minister occasion to the common sort to fall into errors Againe LIke as God appointed the old Law to be written in stone tables or books so did he appoint as Ieremie witnesseth the new to be written onely in the hart of man Why should the writing in books then be so highly regarded But this carnall this fleshly regarding by no meanes can be so well extenuate or rather quite taken away as by taking the Scripture foorth of the vulgar toong and foorth of the handling of the lewd ignorant Againe ANd finally séeing that by no meanes so soone as by the Scriptures in English heresies do both spring daily and be also maintained wherin should good men be more diligent than in the extirpation thereof These saiengs out of that beastly book of that doltish doctor I haue the more largely laid down that the Christian Reader may sée what doctrine in Quéene Maries daies was published and allowed for Catholike Wherevnto I will ad a saying of an other papist Alphonsus de Castro the Spanish frier writeth thus Tertia demum haeresium parens origo c. The third parent and beginning of heresies is the translating of the holie Scriptures into the vulgar toong by meanes whereof it commeth to passe that they be read of all men with respect or difference of persons Hitherto the papists Euerie man that doth euill hateth the light neither commeth to the light least his déeds should be reprooued But he that doth truth commeth to the light that his déeds may be made manifest that they are wrought according to God Tertullianus lib. de Trinitate SEd enim Scriptura diuina haereticorum fraudes furta facilè conuincit detegit that is But the holie Scripture doth easely conuince and discouer the deceits and robberies of heretikes Theophylactus in Luc. cap. 16. NVnc nihil tam vtile est vt Scripturarum diligens scrutatio c. that is Now there is nothing so profitable as the diligent searching of the Scriptures for the
vs circumspect in all our waies But if they do not vnfainedly repent this their rude railing and reuiling of Gods faithfull seruants let them be assured that they shall fall into the clawes of him that is indéed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a railer a slanderer and a false accuser of Gods Saints As touching my iudgement of the old translation of the new Testament I say as S. Hierom somtime said to such superstitious admirers of the old translation that then was as our Romish Papists be now Quòd si vetus eis tantum interpretatio placet quae mihi non displicet nihil extra recipiendum putant c. That is But if the old translation onely please them which displeaseth not me and they thinke nothing els to be receiued c. Euen so say I to them now that stand so much vpon the old translation I do not generally disallow it nor condemne it although some faults haue béen both by the translator committed and afterwards by negligence crept into it which are not malitiously to be railed at but charitably in the feare of God to be reformed But wheras you say Master Beza preferreth it before all the rest in his Preface before the Testament 1556. you do misreport him for he doth not in that Preface prefer it before all the rest whereof he maketh no comparison but onely defendeth it against Erasmus in some places which he thought that he found fault with it without sufficient cause You cannot be ignorant that Master Beza in that Preface affirmeth besides manifold faults crept in by the writers it doth often dissent from the Gréeke interpret many things obscurely adde some things and omit others And wheras you further alledge that in his Annotations vpon Luke he saith the old translator translated very religiously he did as I haue before declared reuerently thinke of him who no doubt was a godly man and tooke godly paines in setting foorth Gods holie word to the benefit of his Church Yet you know that euen in that very place Master Beza sheweth some imperfection in him For these be his words out of which you haue culled your testimonie Vetus autem interpres quamuis alioqui videatur summa religione sacros libros interpretatus tamen quae significatio sit horum vocabulorum non videtur cognouisse ne dum vt vim illorum intellexerit That is But the old interpretor although otherwise he may séeme very religiously to haue translated these holy bookes yet it appéereth that he did not know what is the signification of these words much lesse that he vnderstood the force and power of them And how iustly héere he findeth fault any that is indued with any knowledge in the toongs and not blinded with malice may plainly perceiue Therefore although Master Beza reuerently iudged of him yet he did not thinke him to be without his faults which are charitably to be corrected and reformed as he doth and not malitiously to be carped and reprooued as is our Iesuits and Greg. Martins maner It is not also to be thought but that most of those faults and corruptions which be now in the text were not committed at the first by the translator but haue crept in since either as S. Hierom saith by negligent writers and copiers out of the bookes or by presumptuous and ignorant correctors c. which are not to be imputed vnto him Lastly I say the question is not so much which is the best translation or whether it be better than the rest but whether it is to be preferred before the originall Gréeke which héereafter is to be discussed 9. Reason IN the rest there is such diuersitie and dissention and no end of reprehending one another and translating euerie man according to his fantasie that Luther said if the world should stand long time we must receiue againe which he thought absurd the decrees of Councels for preseruing the vnitie of faith bicause of so diuers interpretations of the Scripture And Beza in the place aboue mentioned noteth the itching ambition of his fellowe translators that had much rather disagree and dissent from the best than seeme themselues to haue said or written nothing And Bezas translation it selfe being so esteemed in our countrie that the Geneua English Testaments be translated according to the same yet sometime goeth so wide from the Greeke and from the meaning of the holie Ghost that themselues which protest to translate it dare not follow it For example Luc. 3. v. 36. they haue put these words The sonne of Cainan which he wittingly and wilfully left out And Act. 1.14 they say With the women agreeably to the vulgar Latin where he saith Cum vxoribus With their wiues Answer HEre in this 9. reason you complaine of the diuersitie and dissention of other translations by reason wherof we should for the preseruing of vnitie of faith if the world should long continue receiue the decrées of Councels as you imagine and make Luther to affirme Why may not vnitie of faith stand with diuersitie of translations There were in the primitiue Church fower seuerall Gréeke translations of the old Testament The first of the seuentie interpretors second of Simmachus third of Aquila fourth of Theodotion and yet there was vnitie of faith in the true Church or whatsoeuer diuersitie of doctrine there was I thinke you cannot prooue that it came of the diuersitie of translations There were in the Latin Church very many diuers translations as S. Augustine in these words sheweth Qui enim Scripturas ex Hebraea lingua in Graecam verterint numerari possunt Latini autem interpretes nullo modo That is For they that haue translated the Scriptures out of the Hebrew toong into the Gréeke may be numbred but the Latin translators cannot Héere you sée that S. Augustine affirmeth the Latin translators of the Scriptures to haue béene so many that they could not be numbred yet he was so far from our Rhemists opinion that they bred diuersitie of doctrine that he thought the same profitable especially for them which wanted the knowledge of the originall toongs forasmuch as that which is obscure in one may be made manifest by another And if there may be diuersitie of expositions of one place of Scripture without breach of vnitie of doctrine why may not some diuersitie of translations stand with vnitie of faith and doctrine Héerof S. Augustine writeth thus Quos necesse est etiamsi rectae atque vnius fidei fuerint varias parere in multorum locorum obscuritate sententias quamuis nequdquam ipsa varietas ab eiusdem fidei vnitate discordet sicut etiam vnus tractator secundum eandem fidem aliter atque aliter eundem locum potest exponere quia hoc eius obscuritas patitur That is Who must néedes although they be of one true faith bring foorth by reason of the obscuritie of many places diuers opinions and iudgements albeit the same diuersitie doth
command vs. But now let vs examine our Iesuits proofes for the confirming of this strange Paradoxe Rhemish Iesuits THe proofe heerof is euident bicause most of the ancient heretikes were Grecians and therefore the Scriptures in Greeke were more corrupted by them as the ancient fathers often complaine Answer LEt the good Christian Reader héere consider the desperate dealing of the Papists against the holy Worde of God First they haue with all carefulnes and diligence kept it vnder the bushell of a strange toong that the light thereof might not shine in the eies of the common people to the discouering of their errors Idolatries and mockeries But when through the great mercie of God this light hath béene taken from vnder this bushell and set vpon a candlestick to giue light to al that are in Gods house to the directing of their féete to walke in Gods waies then they haue fallen to raile on it and reprochfully to speake of it Iohn Ecchius calleth the Scripture Euangelium nigrum Theologiam atramentariam That is the blacke Gospell and Inken Diuinitie Albertus Pighius another patron of the Popes cause writeth thus Sunt Scripturae vt non minus verè quà m festiuè dixit quidam velut nasus cereus qui se horsum illorsum in quamcunque volueris partem trahi retrahi fingÃque facilè permittit That is The Scriptures be as one no lesse truly than pleasantly said like a nose of waxe which maybe drawen this way and that way be applied to whatsoeuer part a man will One Ludouicus a canon of the Laterane church in Rome thus spake in an oration in the late goodly Councell of Trident Ecclesia est viuum pectus Christi Scriptura autem est quasi mortuum atramentum That is the Church is the liuely brest of Christ but the Scripture is as it were dead inke How contemptuously writeth Cardinall Hosius of those comfortable and swéet Psalmes of Dauid which be a pretious part of the holy canonicall Scripture For whereas it was obiected for the proofe of kings and princes power in Ecclesiasticall causes that king Dauid did not onely deale in such causes for the restoring and planting of Gods true worship and seruice greatly decaied in the daies of king Saul a wicked hypocrite but also did write Psalmes which pertaine to the canon of the Scripture for the instruction and direction of Gods Church for euer Hosius answereth in these words Scripsit Dauid Psalmos aliquot si quid Athanasio credimus quinque tantùm Quid ni scriberet Ne nunc quidem regi prohibetur aut principi quominus aut rythmos aut Psalmos aut carmina scribat quibus Dei laudes celebret Scribimus indocti doctÃque poemata passim That is Dauid did write certaine Psalmes if we beléeue Athanasius but fiue onely Why might he not write Euen now a king or prince is not prohibited to write either rimes or Psalmes or verses wherewith he may praise God We write learned and vnlearned poems apace Thus contemptuously writeth that popish prelate and president in that Tridentine Conuenticle of the Psalmes comparing them with rimes and verses that kings may or do now write and thereunto disdainfully and blasphemously applying that verse of Horace the profane poet Besides this contemptuous speaking of the holy Scriptures our Papists be now procéeded a step further in accusing the originall texts of the Scriptures to be corrupted the old Testament by the Iewes and the New by Gréeke heretikes Is not this desperate dealing against the word of God First to suppresse it and kéepe it in a strange toong then reprochfully to speake of it and now lastly to accuse the original and autenticall copies thereof to be corrupted What can they do more vtterly to deface and discredit the word of God contained in the Scriptures the which may séeme to be the marke they shoote at that by pulling downe the credit of the holy Scriptures they may set vp their owne vaine inuentions and wicked traditions wherewith their religion doth much better agrée than with the Scriptures But now let vs more particularly come to the examination of this assertion The proofe heerof is euident say our Rhemish Iesuits bicause most of the ancient heretikes were Grecians c. I answer that the disproofe héerof is easie For this is not the complaint as you most falsely affirme of ancient fathers but a false slander of ancient wicked heretikes as by the ancient godly fathers doth most plainly appéere So did Heluidius as Saint Hierom sheweth whose words I may aptly apply vnto you which be these Ac nè fortè de exemplariorum veritate causeris quia tibi stultissimè persuasisti Graecos codices esse falsatos ad Ioannis Euangelium venio That is But least peraduenture you complaine of the truth of the copies bicause thou hast most foolishly persuaded thy selfe that the Gréeke bookes be falsified I come to the Gospel of Iohn In which words you may sée how that you who will be worshippers of the virgin Marie ioine héerin hand in hand with Heluidius whom otherwise you would séeme much to mislike for denying the perpetuall virginitie of hir And as Hierom said that Heluidius was most foolishly persuaded then that the Gréeke bookes of the Testament were corrupted Euen so may I say vnto you that this is an extreame folly thus to iudge now as did Heluidius then for what reason is it to thinke that the Gréeke heretikes could corrupt all the Gréeke copies in the world Or why shall not we thinke that the godly learned fathers were as carefull to kéepe them pure from corruption as the heretikes were to corrupt them And whereas there were as the Papists also do now that thought the Iewes had corrupted the Hebrew in the old Testament S. Augustine answereth thus Sed absit vt prudens quispiam vel Iudaeos cuiuslibet peruersitatis atque malitiae tantum potuisse credat in codicibus tam multis tam longè latéque dispersis vel septuaginta illos memorabiles viros hoc de inuidenda gentibus veritate vnum communicasse consilium That is But God forbid that any wise man should beléeue that the Iewes how peruerse or malitious soeuer they were could do so much as to corrupt so many copies and so far and wide dispersed abroad or that those woorthy men the seuentie interpretors did take this counsell togither to depriue the Gentils of the truth Vpon which words of S. Augustine Ludouicus Viues writeth thus Hoc idem responderi potest hijs qui falsatos corruptósque ab Hebraeis codices veteris instrumenti à Graecis noui obijciunt nè veritas sacrorum librorum ex illis fontibus petatur That is This same may be answered to them who do obiect vnto vs as our Rhemish Iesuits do now that the bookes of the old Testament were corrupted and falsified by the Iewes and the bookes of the new Testament by
thou wilt not once vouchsafe lightly to looke vpon them Take the booke into thy hands read the whole storie and kéeping in memorie the things which thou vnderstandest often reuolue and read ouer the things which be obscure and hard But if thou cannot by continuance of reading attaine to the sense and meaning of it come to a wise man go to a learned man and communicate with them the things which thou hast read shew them thy vehement desire and flagrant affection And if God do sée thée hauing so willing a minde and so desirous an affection he wil not neglect thy vigilancie and carefulnes But though no man should teach thée that which thou séekest he without doubt will open it to thée Remember the Quéene of Ethiopians chamberlaine who being a Barbarian and distracted with many cares on euery side troubled with sundry affaires although he did not vnderstād what he did read yet neuerthelesse he sitting in his chariot did read the diuine Scriptures If he shewed such diligēce laboring by the way cōsider what he would do being in his house If in his iourney he would not cease or abstaine from reading much lesse would he refraine being quiet in his house If so be whilest he was ignorant did not vnderstand yet notwithstanding did read and ceased not from reading much lesse would he cease after he was instructed and did vnderstand For that thou maiest know that he vnderstood not what he did read heare what Philip said to him Dost thou vnderstand what thou readest The which whē he heard he was not abashed nor ashamed but confessed his ignorance and said How can I vnlesse I haue an instructor whilest as yet he had none to teach him yet notwithstanding he did read and thereby quickly obtained an instructor God séeing his willing mind embraced his good affection and straight waies sent him a teacher And although Phillip be not now with vs yet the same spirit which moued Phillip is with vs. Dearely beloued let vs not neglect our saluation al these things were written to put vs in remembrance whom the ends of the world are come vpon The reading of the scriptures is a great defence and safegard against sin the ignorance of the Scriptures is a verie slippery meanes to fall into sinne and a great gulfe of sinne It is a great perdition and destruction to saluation to be ignorant of the diuine Scriptures this thing hath bred heresies brought in corrupt life and hath turned all things vpside downe It cannot be I say it cannot be that any man which giueth himselfe to the dayly and diligent reading of the Scriptures should depart without fruit Hitherto Chrysostom in that place Chrysostomus in Genes Homil. 21. LEt vs not pretend the gouernment of our house the care of wife and children that we should thinke the same sufficient to excuse our negligent and idle life Neither let vs alledge those cold and friuolous spéeches in saying I am a worldly man I haue a wife and care of children as many men vse to speake if at any time we exhort them to vertuous exercises or to bestow studie and diligence in reading the holy Scriptures Then they say That pertaineth not to me Haue I forsaken the world Am I a monke or a solitarie man What saiest thou O man Doth it onely pertaine to solitary men to please God He will haue all men to be saued and to come to the knowledge of the truth and that no man neglect vertue A little after I beséech you therefore let vs not deceiue our selues but the more we be intangled with such cares let vs the more diligently séek remedies by the reading of the holy Scriptures A little after WHerefore I beséech you let vs not lightly run ouer those things which be contained in the holie Scriptures but attentiuely let vs read them that attaining profit by them at the last we may giue our selues to vertue wherewith God is pleased Chrysostom in Genes Homil. 29. YOu haue séene how whatsoeuer calamitie afflicteth our humane nature we may take a conuenient remedie for the same out of the Scriptures and repell all the cares and griefes of this life and not be grieued with any that shall happen Therefore I beséech you that often times you would come hither and diligently harken to the reading of the holy Scripture and not onely when you come hither but also at home in your houses take the holy Bible into your hands and with earnest studie séeke to get the profit which is contained in it For from thence great gaine is gotten First by reading the toong and spéech is reformed Moreouer the soule getting thereby wings is lifted vp on hie and is lightened with the beames of the Sunne of righteousnes and during that time being deliuered from the inticements of filthy thoughts enioyeth great quietnes and tranquillity Moreouer that which sensible meat doth to the increasing of the strength of the body the same doth reading vnto the soule For it is a spirituall foode and maketh the soule strong and constant and giuen to the loue of wisedome not permitting it to be ouercome of absurde affections but making it light and by wings causeth it to flie as it is said into the verie heauen Therefore I pray you let vs not through negligence loose so great gaine and profite but euen in our houses let vs giue our selues to the reading of the holy Scriptures And when we be héere present let vs not spend the time in trifles and vnprofitable talke But to the ende that we be come togither let vs marke diligently those things that be read that hauing gotten great profit we may depart Chrysostom vpon Genes homil 35. BEloued the reading of the holie Scriptures is a great good thing For this maketh the soule endued with good maners this lifteth the minde into heauen this maketh a man thankfull This causeth vs not to looke vpon any thing that is present but to haue our minds alwaies vpon another life and that looking to the Lords reward we should do all things and chéerefully take in hand vertuous exercises Out of the Scriptures we may learne the prouidence of God quickly helping vs the valiantnes of iust men the goodnes of our Lord the greatnes of his rewards From hence we may be stirred to the imitation and following of the good life of godly men that we waxe not cold and careles in vertuous exercises and battels but euen before they come vpon vs to put our confidence in Gods promises Therefore let vs giue our selues with great diligence to the reading of the diuine Scriptures For so we get knowledge if we read continually the things which be there contained Neither can it be that he who with great studie feruent desire giueth himself to the reading of the holy Scriptures should be alwais neglected but albeit we want the instructiō of man the Lord himselfe from an high entring into our harts lighteneth our mind illuminateth
our vnderstanding reuealeth those things which be secret teacheth vs the things which we do not vnderstand if we of our selues will do our owne endeuor For you shall not saith he call any man master vpon earth Therefore when we take that spirituall booke into our hands all worldly care laid aside let vs kéepe our cogitations and restraining our minde that it be not caried away let vs with good deuotion and great attention giue our selues to reading that we may by the holie Ghost be lead vnto the vnderstanding of the things that be written and receiue great profit therby That Barbarian an eunuch to the Quéen of the Ethiopians who was in so great glorie and did ride in his coach yet in that time neglected not reading but hauing the prophet in his hand vsed great diligence and that not knowing what was contained therein yet he did his indeuor and vsed studie willingnes and attentiuenes Consider I pray you how diligent he was in not neglecting to read as he was trauelling in his iourney and especially sitting in his coach Let them heare and marke this example who cannot be perswaded to do this at home in their houses but thinke the reading of these things to be superfluous bicause they either liue in marriage or be appointed to warfare or haue care of children seruants and other affaires and therefore thinke that the reading of the holie Scriptures doth not appertaine vnto them Behold this Eunuch c. A little after WHerupon he did not speake those things which now manie men doo saieng I doo not vnderstand those things that be written and I cannot attaine to the profound déepenesse of the Scriptures Whie should I in vaine take paines and trouble my selfe I read and haue none to direct me That Eunuch did thinke no such thing being in toong a Barbarian but in mind a Philosopher But rather he thought he should not be neglected but helped with grace from aboue if he did his owne indeuour and vsed studie and diligence Therefore our gratious Lord séeing his desire did not forsake him neither did let him want his helpe but straightwaies sent a teacher vnto him A little after YOu sée what great profit the diligent reading of the holy Scriptures bringeth A little after LEt vs not therefore I beséech you neglect the reading of the Scriptures But whether we vnderstand the things therein contained or vnderstand them not neuerthelesse let vs be earnest in reading for continuall meditation doth not a little confirme the memorie neither seldome doth it come to passe that that which we reading could not to day find out to morrow reading the same ouer againe we doo quickly and plentifullie perceiue it God of his mercie secreatly inspiring it into our minds Chrysostom in his preface vpon the Epistle to the Romanes BVt this gréeueth me and euen tormenteth me and maketh me to mourne that all men doo not know this man Paul as they ought to doo but manie be so ignorant of him that they doo not well know the number of his Epistles And this commeth not by the fault of ignorance but bicause it liketh them not continuallie to talke with this blessed man A little after ANd you if you would giue your selues to reading with chéerefulnesse and attentiuenesse you should haue néed of no other teacher For the word of Christ is true when he saith séeke and you shall find knocke and it shall be opened vnto you A little after HEnce innumerable euils haue sprong in that men be ignorant of the Scriptures Hence hath come that great plague of heresies hence procéedeth dissolutnesse of life and vnprofitable labours For as they that be depriued of this outward light cannot walke rightlie so they that looke not to the beames of the holie Scripture must néeds often and much offend in that they walke in farre woorse darknesse the which that it happen not to vs let vs open our eies to the brightnesse of the Apostles words For his toong in cléerenesse excéeded the sunne and in the deliuerance of doctrine he excelled all others Infinit such other earnest exhortations for all men to read the holie Scriptures might be alledged out of Saint Chrysostom who of all other was most earnest and vehement in this point but these shall suffice both to stirre vp the godlie to this holie and fruitfull exercise and to conuince the vanitie of our Rhemists and their foolish cauillations who saie that he spake these things not as a teacher in schoole making exact and generall rules to be obserued in all places and times but as a pulpit man agréeable to that audience and his peoples default who were delicat dull worldlie much giuen to dice cards stage plaies and theaters c. What vaine cauils these be let the Christian reader indifferentlie iudge And séeing all the children of Adam through the corruption of their sinfull nature be subiect to the like vanities vices and maladies as that people of Constantinople were they stand in néed of the same remedies and preseruatiues of reading and knowing the holie Scriptures which Chrysostom as a good Phisition prescribed And for the further testifieng of this truth and conuincing of the vanitie and follie of our Rhemists I will ad a few moo places out of the other ancient and godlie fathers of Christs Church by the which the Christian reader may discerne who be their true children and faithfull successors we or the Papists The Canons ascribed by the Papists to the Apostles Canon 84. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Let all of you both Clerks and lay men haue the reuerend and holie Bible Irenaeus lib. 2. cap. 46. SEing all the Scriptures both propheticall and apostolical be plain and without ambiguitie and may alike be heard of all men Irenaeus lib. 3. cap. 12. THe ignorance of the Scriptures and of Gods disposition hath brought them into all these errors Irenaeus lib. 4. cap. 66. REad diligently the Gospell which is giuen vnto vs by the Apostles and read diligently the Prophets and you shall find all the actions doctrine and passion of our Lord preached in them Tertullianus de baptismo DOmini sermo non debet abscondi ab vllo that is The word of God ought not to be hid from any Tertullianus apolog aduers gentes cap. 39. WE assemble togither to heare the holie Scriptures as the qualitie of the present times inforceth vs either to forewarne or to call to memorie any thing Surely with those holie words we féed our faith we lift vp our hope we confirme our confidence yet neuertheles we confirme the discipline of holie precepts by vrgent exhortations A little after THey talke so as they that know that God doth heare them After washing and candles brought in euerie one is prouoked out of the holie Scriptures as he can to sing foorth vnto God c. Cyprianus de duplici martyrio IN like maner in other temptations obiect vnto the temptor the buckler of the
haue shut vp the gates of the truth by suppressing Gods holie word and keeping it from the knowledge of Gods people as Erasmus trulie affirmeth in these words Quis non intelligat istos sacras literas ideo velle paucis esse notas ne quid decedat ipsorum autoritati quaestuÃque That is Who knoweth not that these men meaning popish Priests Moonks would therefore haue the holie Scriptures known but to few least their authoritie and gaine should decaie And euen so it is certaine that if the holie scriptures had beene publikelie in the mother toong and in the hands and harts of the people they could neuer heretofore haue beene with the vsurped power of that pelting and powling Priest of Rome so astonied and amazed with images deceiued with pardons beguiled with fained forged reliques mocked with masses trentals and purgatorie spoiled with the hypocrisie of Moonks and such other locusts bewitched and manie mo waies miserablie abused as they were But they being vtterlie bereft and altogether depriued of this light of Gods word did sit in darknesse and in the shadow of death Walked in darknesse and wist not whither they went bicause the darknes had blinded their eies And whereas God of his great mercie beholding our miserie hath deliuered vs from this Aegyptiacall darknesse and caused the day star of his holie word to rise vnto vs to lead vs as did that other the wise men vnto Iesus Christ in him onely to seeke our saluation so that we which haue heeretofore walked in darknesse haue seene a great light to our vnspeakeable comfort these Lucifugae Scripturarum as Tertullian called some and I may truly terme these Popish owles haue howled and exclaimed against this light which by the holy Scriptures translated into our mother toong hath shined vnto vs. They haue written against it affirming that it ought not to be in the vulgar language calling it damnable libertie of so hauing it and saying that it is an occasion of Heresie and haue with all their might and maine gone about to extinguish it These their assertions how false and absurd they be contrarie to the word of God and the writings of the ancient godly fathers I will not lest I be too tedious vnto your Honor at this present further declare Notwithstanding all this their barking against hauing the holie Scriptures in the mother toong yet now our Rhemish and Romish Papists heerin differing from their fellowes playing the Apes in imitating vs as they haue doone also in setting foorth Catechismes which before they could neuer abide haue at the last published the new Testament in our English toong and haue promised the rest which notwithstanding they saie was long ago doone hath beene and I doubt will be long in performing This they haue doone not of a holie zeale and godlie desire to haue the holie Scripture knowne and read of all people but rather to keepe them especiallie their adherents fauorers from reading it translated set foorth by vs. In this their worke so long deferred and now published they haue committed two foule faults The one in falselie and foolishlie translating it by following the corrupt streame of the Latin translation and forsaking the fountaine of the Greeke wherein the holy spirit of God did indite the new Testament and the blessed Apostles of Christ our Sauior did write it The other in corrupting peruerting the sense and meaning of the holy Ghost by guilefull gloses and absurd Annotations Against the former of these faults I did either almost or altogether fiue yeers past write the first part of this little discourse vpon this occasion The right honorable and my verie good Lord the L. Saint Iohns of Blet so shortlie after the comming foorth of the said Testament did let me haue for the space of a month the vse of it The which I did verie egarly read and diligentlie confer And for that the booke was hard to come by I did write much out of it concerning the diuersitie superfluitie and want of the said translation in respect of the Greeke and also their 10. friuolous reasons in their preface which moued them to leaue the Greeke and translate the Latine with diuers other things Vnto the which 10. reasons I did then vpon a particular occasion for a priuat vse write this answere neuer intending as both some men do know and the long suppressing of it may shew to publish the same in print And the rather for that a full answere vnto the whole hath beene long looked for of manie and wished for of me The which I would right gladlie haue seene to the perpetuall suppressing of this as I first intended But when no such answere came foorth neither could I learne when anie would hauing of late a little recognised my answere that had lien long neglected by me and added thereunto a discouerie of sundrie corruptions committed in the said translation I haue beene mooued by some that haue seene it to let it passe in print The which although I was a long time vnwilling to doo yet for that it is thought the said translation and Annotations haue seduced some and confirmed others in error and manie doo not a little glory of them I haue yeelded to the putting foorth of this little treatise that as some haue alreadie in part discouered the absurditie of the Annotations so this I trust may sufficiently shew the weaknesse of those reasons and corruption of that translation This small and simple discourse although I confesse it to be vnworthie your worthinesse yet vpon your great curtesie I haue beene bold to offer it vnto your Honor to testifie thereby my dutifull mind and thankefull hart vnto your H. for your fauor shewed me which I haue found and felt Humblie beseeching your H. to accept this small mite in goodpart not weighing the quantitie or value of the gift but the sincere and hartie affection toward your H. of the giuer God in great mercie blesse your H. increase his graces and good gifts in you and long preserue you to the seruice safetie of hir Maiestie and the benefit of this Church and Commonwealth Amen At Woodhull the 9. of Aprill 1588. Your Honors most humble to command and vse EDWARD BVEKELEY AN ANSWER TO THE FRIVOLOVS and reasonlesse reasons of the Rhemish Iesuits for following and preferring the old Latin translation of the New Testament before the Greeke wherein Gods Spirit indited it and the holy Apostles did write it Which reasons be set downe in their Preface before the New Testament by them lately translated into English by E. B. The first reason of the Iesuits NOw to giue thee also intelligence in particular most gentle Reader of such things as it behoueth thee specially to know concerning our translation we translate the old vulgar Latin text nor the common Greeke text for these causes It is so ancient that it was vsed in the Church of
nothing at all differ from the vnitie of one faith as also one expounder agréeably to one faith may diuersly expound one place bicause that the hardnes thereof requireth the same So saith Chrysostom Talis enim Scripturae mos est vt in paucis verbis plurima saepè multitudo sensuum inueniatur That is Such is the maner of the Scripture that in few words a very great multitude of senses or expositions may be found And therefore as there may be diuers expositions of places of the Scriptures which may all agrée with the analogie and proportion of faith euen so may there be in translations diuersitie in words and phrases without dissention in doctrine or breach of faith I write not this that I allow the itching ambition of some of whom Master Beza doth iustly complaine who without sufficient knowledge in the toongs and sound iudgement take ouer rashly vpon them to translate that blessed booke of the holy Scriptures which ought not to be handled with vnwashen hands but with all reuerence and fidelitie in the feare of God ought to be dealt in Neither do I thinke but that it were very expedient and profitable for the Church of Christ that in euery toong there were one as exact and absolute translation as might be agréed vpon which should either onely or principally be followed The which if it cannot be procured I say that vnitie of faith may as well agrée with diuersitie of translations as there might and would be diuersitie of doctrine through the malice of Satan and weaknes of mans iudgement though there were but one onely translation And therfore I thinke you rather sucke that out of your owne fingers than find it in Luthers works in such sense and sort as you expresse it And thereupon haue noted no place in his writings where it is to be found but onely refer vs to a place of Coclaeus who being a professed and malitious enimie to Master Luther of what weight and force his report is to be accounted let the indifferent Reader iudge But whereas you charge Master Bezas translation so much estéemed of vs to go so wide from the Gréeke and meaning of the holy Ghost that we dare not as you say follow it I answer that as we reuerence the man for his great gifts of learning and woorthily estéeme his godly and learned labors in translating faithfully the Testament of Iesus Christ so neither he doth require nor we iudge our selues to be bound in all things absolutely without exception to follow him He is a man and may erre and as we thankfully to Gods glorie acknowledge that he hath euen hit the marke in many so we doubt not but he might misse it in some and peraduenture so hath done not in substance of doctrine but in some proprietie of words and phrases Howbeit whereas you so maliciously and falsely accuse him to haue gone so far from the Gréeke and meaning of the holy Ghost let vs sée your proofes You alledge héere but two places the one Luc. 3. v. 36. the leauing out of the name Cainan which we haue put in This is a great matter whereat you make such a tragicall exclamation in your marginall note vpon that place which is but the leauing out of one name whereas both in the old Latin and your owne new English there are left out not onely words but also sentences in at least an hundred places Thus you can straine a gnat and swallow a camell sée a mote in your brothers eie and not behold a great beame in your owne Touching the matter it selfe which concerneth neither faith nor doctrine Master Beza hath not without great and good cause omitted the said name of Cainan partly bicause it is not in the Hebrew Genes 11. nor in the booke of Chronicles where the same Genealogie is set out and partly for that it is not expressed but omitted in one most ancient Gréeke and Latin copie that of late yéeres came to his hands which he hath sent to the Vniuersitie of Cambridge there to be kept and is there reserued Whereupon Master Beza vpon good warrant hath omitted that name And if we had had intelligence of that ancient Gréeke and Latin copie we would not haue doubted to haue followed him But whether it be expressed or omitted it is a matter of no great moment and concerneth no point of doctrine Beda hauing shewed that in the veritie of the Hebrew the name of Cainan is in both those places of the old Testament left out and that S. Luke alledged it as he thought out of the Septuaginta interpretors standeth in a mammering at the matter and writeth thus Sed quid horum sit verius aut si vtrumque verum esse possit Deus nouerit That is But whether of these readings be the truer or whether both be true God knoweth The second place wherein you charge Master Beza with disagréeing from the Gréeke and vs with dissenting from him is Act. 1. v. 14. He translating Cum vxoribus With the wiues and we according to the old Latin With the women Wherein you do but cauill according to your accustomed maner and find a knot in a rush Doth not the Gréeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifie indifferently both a woman in respect of hir sex a wife in respect of hir calling S. Hierom can teach you this in these words Numquid non habemus potestatem mulieres vel vxores circumducendi quia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apud Graecos vtrumque significat sicut caeteri Apostoli Cephas c. That is Haue we not power to lead about women or wiues for the Gréeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signifie both as the other Apostles and Cephas c. Héere S. Hierom doth not only flatly affirme that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which S. Luke in this place which you alledge Act. 1.14 doth vse signifieth both a woman and wife but also sheweth that that place of S. Paul 1. Cor. 9.5 may be translated either women or wiues And in his booke against Heluidius he doth translate it wiues The which also S. Augustine doth affirme that som translated in that place Wiues Therefore I beséech you why may not this place in the Acts in like maner be translated either women or wiues without going so wide from the Gréeke and meaning of the holy Ghost as you complaine on Doth your old translator translating Act. 21.5 the very same two Gréeke words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which be héer in this place vsed Cum vxoribus and you with their wiues go so wide from the Gréeke Or doth Master Beza go wide from the Gréeke translating the same Gréeke words with the very same Latin words as the old interpretor doth and he néere vnto the same But you will say the sense of this place requireth to be translated Women and not wiues and the sense of the other Act. 21.5 Wiues and not women Then
it followeth by your owne confession that Master Beza hath not gone wide from the signification of the word howsoeuer he haue gone from the sense of the place and meaning of the matter But if you examine that with an indifferent eie there may as good reason be yéelded for the translating of it Wiues as Women as appéereth by the reasons which Erasmus and Beza do bring Erasmus in his Annotations saith it may be either way translated his words be these Accipi potest cum vxoribus propterea quòd separauit Mariam à mulieribus That is It may be taken and with their wiues bicause he did separate Marie from the women And euen so Master Beza saith in his Annotations that it may be translated either Wiues or Women but he preferred the former bicause the Apostles wiues were to be confirmed who partly should be companions of their trauels and partly should patiently abide their absence at home But whether it be translated Women or Wiues it maketh no matter the Gréeke word will indifferently beare both God be thanked that our Rhemish and Romish Iesuits can alledge no greater disagréement in Bezas and our translations from the Gréeke The which may be a good and sufficient testimonie euen to the simple and vnlearned of the soundnes and sinceritie of them But I am ashamed to persist any longer in confuting these friuolous follies and cauillations 10. Reason IT is not only better than al other translations but than the Greeke text it selfe in those places where they do disagree Answer THe tenth and last reason that hath mooued our Rhemish Runnagates to translate rather out of the olde Latin than the Gréeke is a very strange paradoxe that the vulgar Latin translation is not onely better than al other translations but than the Gréeke it selfe when they differ This I count and call a strange paradoxe bicause it is contrarie not onely to the generall iudgement of the ancient fathers and learned writers as héerafter shall appéere but also to the common course of all learning For whereas in all other authors and writings the originall languages wherein the authors did first write themselues are preferred before all translations as in Plato Aristotle Xenophon Demosthenes Homer Galen Euclyde c. and al translations are examined and reformed by the said originals now by our Iesuits new Diuinitie onely the Testament of Iesus Christ written in Gréeke by his blessed Apostles through the inspiration of Gods holie spirit must come behind the Latin translation translated we know not when nor by whom The Latin must not now be examined by the Gréeke as S. Hierom Erasmus and other learned men haue labored to do but the Gréeke by the Latin for it is they say the better and it is méete that the woorse be reformed by the better Now bicause héere is the principall controuersie in this matter and héereupon depend all the diuersities that be in the English translation of the Iesuits fetched from the Latin and ours deriued from the Gréeke for if the Gréeke wherin they cannot denie but the Apostles did write be generally to be preferred before that old Latin then ours is true and theirs false if otherwise the Latin be more sound and sincere than the Gréeke then is theirs true and ours false let vs therefore somewhat more exactly examine this matter and weigh our Rhemists reasons which mooue them to broach abrode this new doctrine and strange opinion And although that which I haue said may to any reasonable man séeme sufficient that it is contrarie to all reason and all learning yet bicause our Iesuits would séeme greatly to depend vpon the Doctors and to carrie all their annotations and guilefull gloses in this Testament vnder the visor of some father let vs sée what the Latin godly and ancient fathers say in this matter For to them in this point I must specially appeale and not to the Gréeke fathers who followed the fountaine of the Gréeke and medled not with translations as streames flowing from it And after I will come to other learned men and euen such as misliked not the Romish religion S. Hierom who was not onely excellently learned in the thrée learned languages but also greatly occupied in translating the whole Bible out of the Hebrew and Gréeke as before appéereth writeth thus Non necesse est nunc de exemplarium varietate tractare cùm omne veteris nouae Scripturae instrumentum in Latinum sermonem exinde translatum sit multò purior manare credenda sit fontis vnda quà m riui That is I néed not now to intreat of the varietie of the copies or examples meaning the Latin séeing that the whole instrument of the old and new Scripture was from thence translated into the Latin toong and the water of the fountaine is thought to flow more pure than that of the riuer or streame In these words S. Hierom doth not onely affirme the Latin to be translated dut of the Gréeke but also the Gréeke to be more pure than the Latin as the water of the fountaine is more cleane and swéete than that in the streame or riuer according to the old true saying Dulcius ex ipso fonte bibuntur aquae Againe the same Hierom saith Vt enim veterum librorū fides de Hebraeis examinanda est ita nouorū Graeci sermonis normam desiderat That is As the truth of the books of the old Testament is to be examined by the Hebrew so the bookes of the new Testament require the triall of the Gréeke Againe he writeth thus Sicut autem in nouo Testamento si quando apud Latinos quaestio exoritur est inter exemplaria varietas recurrimus ad fontem Graeci sermonis quo nouum scriptum est instrumentum ita in veteri Testamento si quando inter Graecos Latinósque diuersitas est ad Hebraicam recurrimus veritatem vt quicquid de fonte proficiscitur hoc quaeramus in riuulis That is As in the new Testament if there arise any questions among the Latins and there be varietie among the copies we returne vnto the fountaine of the Gréeke toong in the which the new Testament was written so in the old Testament if at any time there be diuersitie among the Greekes and Latins we returne vnto the Hebrew veritie that whatsoeuer floweth from the fountaine we may séeke the same in the streames Infinite such other places there be in S. Hierom both in his Prefaces Epistles and other works and those also which before I haue in the beginning set downe do plainly declare S. Hieroms iudgement héerin and that he thought it most absurd to prefer the Latin before the Gréeke as our Rhemish Iesuits are not ashamed for to do Now let vs heare what S. Augustines opinion was who although he were vtterly ignorant in the Hebrew and as it is thought had no great knowledge in the Gréeke writeth thus Ei linguae potius credatur
but we sée and perceiue such places to agrée with the most ancient Latin copies Therefore neither any other place ought to be suspected as corrupted by the common schoole of the Grecians Lastly the same Driedon writeth héerof thus Nam Scriptura sacra si sit iam olim in suo fonte suáque origine corrupta deprauata iam non erit vlla in illis canonica autoritas c. That is Now if the holy Scripture haue béene long ago corrupted and depraued in hir fountaine and originall language then there will be no canonicall authoritie in it neither shall it be néedfull for Latin men to returne to the fountaine of the Gréeke toong wherein the new Testament was written or of the Hebrew wherein the old Testament was set foorth Hitherto Driedon Whereby we may sée to what impudencie our Rhemists be growen who by this impudent assertion take all canonicall autoritie from the holy Scriptures I might shew what vnfaithfull kéepers of Gods holy records they haue béene who haue héertofore bragged that they haue kept the holie Scriptures and whence haue we had them but from them And yet now of their owne accord they confesse that they haue suffered the originall and autenticall copies of Christs Testament to be corrupted But omitting these things which might be more amplified I come to their particular proofe of this their strange paradoxe concerning the corruption of the Gréeke text Rhemish Iesuits TErtullian noteth the Greeke text which is at this day 1. Cor. 15.47 to be an old corruption of Marcion the heretike and the truth to be as in our vulgar Latin Secundus homo de coelo coelestis The second man is from heauen heauenlie So read other ancient fathers and Erasmus thinketh it must be so And Caluin himselfe followeth it Instit. lib. 2. cap. 13. par 2. Answer HEre as touching Tertullian vpon whom doth depend the speciall proofe of this pretended corruption to speake in plaine words you make one notorious lie For Tertullian doth not say that the truth of that text is as in the vulgar Latin translation neither he in his booke De resurrectione doth so alledge it as héereafter I will shew Indéed I grant that Marcion did mangle that place and corruptly cite it as Tertullian in these words sheweth Primus inquit homo de humo terrenus secundus Dominus de coelo That is The first man is of earth earthly the second is the Lord from heauen Héere Marcion denying the true manhood of Christ did leaue out this word Homo that is Man and so did mangle that place the which is not omitted but expressed in all Gréeke copies And therefore the Gréeke doth not agrée with Marcions corruption as Gregorie Martin and his fellowes corruptly iudge I grant also that it séemeth Tertullian thought that Marcion in the latter part did alledge this word Dominus that is Lord which ought not for his words after the text before alledged be these Quare secundus si non homo quod primus aut nunquid primus Dominus si secundus That is Why is he called the second if he be not man as the first Or is not the first Lord if the second be Héerby I say it séemeth that Marcions corruption of this place was partly in leauing out this word Homo which is expressed in the Gréeke and partly as it séemeth Tertullian supposed by putting in this word Dominus which our Gréek copies also haue Now whether he did corruptly alledge this word Dominus Lord that is the question First I sée no cause why this is to be accounted a corruption of Marcions for that it doth no more maintaine his blasphemous heresie in denying the true Humanitie of Christ than doth the Latin For how doth this The second man is the Lord from heauen séeme more to fauor Marcions false doctrine than the other The second man is from heauen heauenly Why might not Marcion haue abused this to prooue Christ to haue brought his bodie from heauen and not to haue taken flesh of the virgin Marie as well as the other And therefore if this had béene a corruption of Marcions he would no doubt haue otherwise corrupted it to the further furthering of his heresie Secondly I say that the Gréeke text doth not onelie as well agrée with all true doctrine as the Latin but also is more pregnant in sense and more agréeable to the meaning of the Apostle in that place containing a more excellent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and opposition betwéene Adam and Christ than doth the Latin as Master Beza learnedly sheweth Thirdly whereas Marcion did corrupt the 45. verse going before as most plainly appéereth by Tertullian in the same place and yet the same corruption is not in the Gréeke but it is pure and sincere as it ought to be it is not likely that this corruption should any more remaine than that Fourthly not onely all Gréeke copies both old and new so haue it expressing the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Lord but also the Syrian and Arabian translations which are very ancient do agrée with the Gréeke And how likely it is for such a corruption of Marcions to be in all Gréeke copies and in those very ancient Syrian and Arabian translations I leaue it to the iudgement of all men to consider And where you say that other ancient fathers haue read according to the vulgar Latin I grant that some Latin fathers following the old translation so do but Chrysostom Theophylactus the Gréeke Scholies Damascenus De orthodoxa fide lib. 3. cap. 12. who I trow were none of Marcions disciples agrée with the Gréeke And Tertullian your author alledgeth it thus Primus homo de terra choicus id est limaceus id est Adam secundus homo de coelo id est sermo Dei id est Christus differing from the Latin in leauing out this word Coelestis So readeth both Cyprian and Hilarius Primus homo de terrae limo secundus homo de coelo That is The first man of the slime of the earth the second man from heauen So that these thrée Latin fathers as they differ from the Gréeke in leauing out the word Dominus Lord so do they also dissent from the Latin in leauing out the word Coelestis Heauenly And yet whether either of these words or both of them be expressed or omitted it is not repugnant to any article of faith nor to the sense of the Apostle And therefore might Erasmus be of that opinion to thinke it should be as in the Latin especially hauing respect to the sound of the opposition of words betwéene of earth earthly and from heauen heauenly And M. Caluin might so alledge it And yet the Gréeke may be the true reading wherein the Apostle wrote as no doubt it is But if I should grant that this word Lord crept in either by Marcions means or any others which is vtterly vnlike as hath béene