thincke that the meaninge is that the life which goddes sonne giueth to creatures shulde be a light to men to shew thē goddes sonne Some take the worde life for goddes sonne himselfe as if S. Iohā shulde saie that goddes sonne who is verie life is the light of mē Some other gather this sentēce that the life that goddes sonne giueth to mē is adorned with vnderstādinge reason aduaūced thereunto where by they excelle al other erthlie creatures And these two later expositiōs though thei varie some what in expressinge the matter yet cōme to this ēde that goddes sōne is the autor of vndrestādinge reason in mē Which is a soūde a true sense maie be most certainly gathered out of the wordes folowīge namely these that was the true light that lighteneth euerie mā c. This much thā maie easely be drawē out of this sētēce that goddes sōne beīge the autor of vndrestādinge is verie god For the prophete Esaie in the 28. cha speakīge of the housbād mānes tillīge of the groūde of his cōnīge in threthīge for he thresheth not out his wheate cumīe fetches with one īstrumēt in the ēde vseth these wordes euē this proceded frō Iehoua tsebaoth And if none other but Iehoua Tsebaoth were author of that cōninge and discretion than he that is autor of all vnderstanding and reason must nedes be Iehoua Tsebaoth And that Gods word that is to say Gods wisdome is the autor and fountaine of vnderstanding we are also taught in Salomō in these wordes with me is counsel ANI BINA I am vnderstādīg c. that is I am the head sprīg of counsel and vnderstanding And the light shineth in darknes gods sonne geueth great and ample profes of his diuinite and sendeth forth the glorious shining beames of his heauēly maiestie but they light vpon blinde eyes mē see them not thoughe they be neuer so cleare and so bright Here. S. Iohn calleth mans vnderstandinge not onelye darke but very darknes as though there were no maner of light in it But how can that be so Shall we saye that there is no maner of light in mans witte and vnderstāding wherby so mani most wittie thīgs haue ben inuented What can bee more wittie than the bokes that heathen men haue left vs of logike phisicke arithmetike geometrie astronomie and of the nature of all thinges What can be more wittely deuised than they haue founde out of the fountayne head spring first causes of vertues of the diuision and description of them Was Plato voide of al light of vnderstanding whan he sayed that God made the worlde because he is good Was Aristotle drowned ī darknes whan he said that forasmuche as the superioure orbes ouer bodies doe moue there muste nedes be a first mouer Was Cicero starke blinde whan he saied that seing no one familie can continew with out otder and prouidence muche more the hole worlde must be gouerned maintained and continued by the prouidence of some heauenly minde What shall we saye of that heathen Philosopher that laboureth to proue Gods prouidence by this argument If God saieth he gouerne not the world by his prouidence it is ether because he can not or because he wil not If you saye he can not you abbrige his power If you say he wil not you abbrige his goodnes To this question than I answere that man hath so much licht of vnderstādinge as is sufficiēt to make him voide of al excuse but not so much as cā directe him to a profitable knowlege of God He knoweth in dede by the light of nature beside the knowlege that he hath of other natural thinges that there is a god but thā that God he forgeth'after his pleasure dreameth him to be not such as he is in dede but such as it liketh him to frame him And so setteth vp his awne imaginatiō his awne dreams his awne puppette in the stede of God So that whā we cōme to this questiō who is the true God of what sorte he is wil be towardes vs wherein cōsisteth the tru knowlege seruice of him mānes vnderstandinge as S. Iohā here truly writeth is mere darcknes And S. Paule agreeth hereunto writinge to the Cor. Psychicos anthropos that is a mā endued with a natural soule only not renued withe goddes spirite comprehēdeth not the thinges that pertaine to goddes spirite And therefore he praieth that God wil giue the Ephesiās the spirite of wisedom reuelatiō lightined eyes of the mīde that thei maie know what the hope of their callinge is the riches of his glorious inhaeritaūce in the Saintes what is the excedinge greatnes of his power towarde vs that beleue Now if thei colde haue attained to those thinges by natures force it had bē superfluous to haue praied for thē It is most tru thā that we ar verie darcknes and haue blinde eyes of vnderstādinge vntil they be lightned not touchinge euerie knowlege of thinges nor evie knowlege of God but touchinge the right tru profitable knowlege of God And yet this is also true that we haue more good vndrestādinge of God thā we haue good wil to obeie serue him as God And if our vndrestādinge be darcknes in effecte as it is indede yet is more thā our wil to serue him how far are we frō God godlines Let this cōsideratiō teache vs humilitee stirre vp in vs a cōtinual desire of Goddes merciful assistaūce aide And the darcknes cōprehēded it not The darcknes of mānes mīde vnderstādīge was so thicke grosse that though the beames of Goddes sōne shined euerie where filled the worlde with light yet that was fruttles For men seeing saw not As Moses teacheth in these wordes thy eyes haue seē great signes and wonders and god hath not geuen thee an heart to vnderstand nor eares to heare nor eyes to see Our seing then onles God geue new eyes to se is no seeing This is a plaine testimony that man neuer attaineth to the righte knowledge of God by nature For being darknes he beateth of the light and the light shineth vpon the outside and perceth not in Here we muste seke howe this darknes this blindnes of iudgement is in man whether he were firste made darke and blind in heart or whether darknes and blindnes came afterwarde vpon him For if he were first made blind thā there is no faute in him if he see not the great light that God sendeth forth For he was not made to see it What faute is there in the moale that she seeth not the sunne beames or in stones that they see not the starres sith they were so made as they shoulde not see The holy scripture teacheth that the firste man Adam was made after the image of God that is furnished with most excellent giftes knowledge vnderstanding and all maner of vertues He was not than made blinde But afterwarde through the enuye and
⧠AN EXPOSITION OF A PARTE OF S. Iohannes Gospel made in sondrie readinges in the English Congregation by Bartho Traheron and now published against the wicked entreprises of new sterte vp Arrians in Englande He that beleueth in me beleueth not in me but in him that sent me And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me Iohan. 12. ¶ Imprinted Anno. 1557. ✚ TO MY MOST DERE SISTER ELISABETH P. THINCKE not to much good sister what you haue had but considre what you haue remembre not what you haue ben some tymes in the worldes eies but what you be now in goddes eyes Lamente not that you lost but ioie in that you haue founde Whan you were high you were surely low now that you ar low you ar surely high Let this sincke in to your minde that if wordlye thinges had not ben taken from you you shuld shortely haue bē taken from them and perchaunce if they had not ben so drouned they wold haue drouned you before death had remoued you from them If no aduersite had assailed you you had ben a ded sea and the patiēce other singular vertues which now shine in you had ben quenched ether in your selfe vtterly or touchynge the knowlege of anie other vnfrutefully And therefore Seneca truly saide that that person is verye miserable who neuer felt anie miserie The world ment to impouerishe you but God hath enryched you The world wold depresse you but God hath aduaūced you The world thought to ouerwhelme you with heauines but God hath filled you with tru ioies The world labored to staine you with infamie but God hath made your name both cleare and pure and also to sende forth a pleasant odor amonge his saītes You haue not thā lost somuch as you haue founde Only beware for the tyme to cūme for more remaineth to be laied vpon you for a farther trial Yea I know that Circe the sorceresse hath al readie wil more here after allure you with hir enchaunted cuppe But let not the swetenes of the cuppes lippes and the pleasantnes of the poison begile you Rather chose to drinke the lordes cuppe which though it haue a bitter tast in the first draught yet in the ende purging corrupte and noisome humors it maketh a pure and cleane bodie You know that as goddes goodnes hath made you my natural sister so his wrath hath giuen to vs both and to the rest of our brethern and sistern an vnnatural stepmother How vnmercifully and cruelly she hath delt with vs and how sharpely she hath whipt vs you can remembre and if she beginne now to smile vpon you she meaneth the more mischeife Take hede good sister a stepmother wil euer be a stepmother Giue yourselfe ernestly to readinge of the holie scriptures Holde fast the doctryne that our holye brother and eldest saue one religiously mainteined whom our stepdame laboreth to deface I trust in vaine Flie aswel al idolatrical as al Anabaptistical straūge opinions To which ende I haue dedicated this my litle trauaile vnto you as to my derest sister whom I most desire to be preserued pure and spotles in euerye parte I am not ignorāt that the better you shal be sincerer in treu religiō the more you shal anger our stepdames testie harte and the les fauor you shal finde in your iust requestes But I haue more regarde to the welth of your soule thā to the welth of your bodye And therefore I haue sent you this preseruatiue which our stepdame if she were as she can pretende shuld take in good parte But so that she maye liue in hir babilonical whoredome and droncken lustes and swille in the wine of Aegyptes errors I perceaue she passeth not much how other thinges goe Lift you vp your mindes eyes and beholde the glorious face of the lorde Iesus while our stepmothers eyes ar daseld with the glisteringe vaine glorie of the world toteth al daye in the deceaueable painted face of a monstruous man triple in head and double in herte O that she might be made better but see that you in the meane while be nor made worsse by hyr Let the frute of my worste parte that is with you see the frute of my better parte Commende me to him whom lawes permitte you to love to whō god graūte in heauen that he seketh in erth The lorde Iesus guide you euer with his holie spirite my entierly biloued Your Bro. Bartho Traheron THE FIRST READING I HAVE chosen this parte of the holie scripture wherein to trauail with you at this time bicause thorough goddes great wrath against sinne and the most despiteful malice of Satan against the truth the olde hainous heresie of the vngodlie Arrians is renued in our coūtree and as it were raised vp againe from hel These cankerd old Arrians that you maie undrestāde their heresie spake blasphemously of the godhead of our Lorde Iesus For the first autor of it Arrius vttered erroniously vngodly in the scoles of Alexandria in Aegypte that there was a time whā goddes sonne was not By which wordes he ment that he was not of the same beinge and substāce that the father is of nor of the fame aeternitie and so not the natural sonne of God and verie God in dede but an excellent creature of God whereby God made al thinges as by ā instrumēt as he him selfe opened in farther declaration of his mīde For he graūted that the Lorde Iesus was the first and cheifest creature the beginninge of al other creatures and gaue him also the name of God Howbeit he thought not that he had his Godhed by nature but by borowinge For trial of this matter the most noble and godlie Emperor Constātine the great called a general concile at Nice of thre hundred and eightene bishoppes of whom manie for singular lerninge and eloquence manie for great holines of life were compted worthie of euerlastinge remēbrance In this famous cōcile it was cōcluded out of the holie scriptures that goddes sonne is of the same aeternitee of the same substance essence beinge that God the father is goddes natural sonne and coaequal with the father as it appeareth in the Crede communely called the Nicene Crede Whereunto the hole assemble agreed and subscribed sauinge these fiue Eusebius bishoppe of Nicomedia Theognis bishoppe of Nice Maris bishoppe of Calchedon Theognis bishoppe of Marmarike and Secundus bishoppe of Ptolemais Which fiue bishoppes for their vngodlines by the emperors commaundement were banished out of their coūtrees But sone after their exile Eusebius and Theognis repented that thei had don so vnaduisedly and sent a boke of repentance to the godlie bishoppes wherin they vsed these wordes We haue agreed to the faith and after we had made inquisition of the meaninge of this worde cōsubstantial we were throughly quieted And in dede we claue not to the haeresie yea we subscribed to the faith but we subscribed not to the excommunication Not that we reproue the faith but we
or the erth swallow thē vp Whereī though there be ov great superstitiō yet it appeareth ī how wōdreful reuerēce thei haue this name Thei calle it shē hāphorash nomē appositū bicause it expouneth declareth the nature of god asmuch as maie be cōprehēded by mā And if a mā did know it perfectly the Cabalistes saie that he might worcke miracles It cōmeth of haua which signifieth to be For god is of himselfe not of another he giueth beīge to al thīges that be The grekes haue a meruailous apte word to expresse this which I thīke none other toūge with like elegātie cā attaine ūto autousios as you wold saie a selfe beer And that god is of hīselfe the autor of al beinge and wil so be knowē he hīself teacheth vs in the boke of Exodus For whan Moses spake thus vnto him Lo I shal comme to the childrē of Israel saie vnto thē the God of your fathers hath senth me vnto you if thei shal saie aske what is his name what shal I saie God aunswered aeheieh asher aeheieh I wil be that wil be or I am that am For the hebrues vse the time to cōme in stede of the present time Which wordes Gerundēsis an hebrue thus expouneth God is that essence that hath not passed awaie ne shal passe awaie which neuer beganne neuer shal ende but passeth al maner of time who only cā saie I am For he is the foūtaine headspringe of al beinge life of whom al thinges haue this that thei be This name Iehoua was knowē euē to the heathen Italians for thei called their high and principal God louē And Pytagoras semeth to haue vndrestand the mysterie of the name For of him the heathē writte that his most solēne holie inuiolable othe was ne ton tetractyn by the quaterniō For he mēt this holie reuerēd name which bicause it consisteth of foure lettres is called tetragrāmatō as you wold saie foure lettred And that he mēt this name it appeareth by this also that he vsed the worde tetractys in the masculine gendre where after the grammatical rules of the greke tounge he shuld haue vsed it in the feminine if he had mēt nothinge but the nombre If you desire to know how this secrete name cāme amōge the heathen I thincke surely that Noes sonne Iapheth who was the father of those heathen that we speake of taught his childrē true religion that thei from hand to hand deliuered the some to their posteritee the heathē which though thei daily corrupted more and more the religion that thei receaued frō their fathers yet thei retained some remnaūtes amōge other thinges this reuerēd name as cheifely cōmēded vnto thē Other thinke that Abrahams name after the noble and famous victorie that God gaue him ouer the 5. kinges was celebrated renoumed thorough out al the world in so much that the heathen sent embassadors to him euē out of Italie entred in to a ligue with him whō he taught true religiō this most holie name As for Pothagoras I beleue he lerned of the aūciāt hebrues in Iurie the misterie significatiō of this name For Plinie writeth that the old Philosophers were great trauailers ī the east partes for lernīge it were easie to shew that the cheifest parte of Platoes diuine lerninge which the heathē haue in so great admiratiō is drawē out of the foūtaines of the hebrues That Hesiodus Ouide write of the creatiō of the world is stolē most plaīly out of the first cha of gensis Thei stole also the histories of the holie scripture put thē forth in their writinges alteringe certaine thīges chaūginge the names that their theft might not be espied For hauīge red the historie of Ionas thei mused on their matters sette forth in pleasāt sōges dities that Arion wast cast in to the sea that a dolphī which had heard his melodie before whā he was in the shippe came receaued hī on his backe caried hī to lāde And after this sorte thei vsurped manie other thīges hādled as thei thought good addīge diminishinge alterīge chaūgīge at their pleasure But I leaue thē and wil returne to my purpose shew you more of goddes names rehersed by goddes spirite in the scripture which though thei be hebrue yet I thinke good that al englishe mē shuld know thē their significatiōs aswel as anie other ēglish wordes For there is great pith great importāce liuelines in thē And it is a shame that ether we shuld be so nice as to disdaine or so slowthful as to refuse the labor to lerne halfe a dousē wordes beīge as it were great with childe with so manie cōmodities cōfortes The scripture hath another name of God like to Iehoua in signification to wit Iiah For it is deriued frō haiah which also signifieth to be This name is not al together straūge vnto vs. For we haue al heard halleluia soūde in tēples Dauid vseth it notably in the 68. psal Aduāce him that rideth vpō the heauēs beiah she mo in his name iah Vpō the which place the hebrues teache that by the name iah godeds power is signified whereby he made gaue beīge to al thinges God is also called adonai For he is lorde of al thinges visible and inuisible Al thinges ar subiecte to him serue him His power is mere vnmixte No mā putteth in fote with him he ruleth gouerneth alone far and wide thorough out al the erth heauē to Againe God is called el of strēght for he cā do what he wil. And he hath another name like vnto el to wit Elohim which signifieth his presence For he leaueth not his creatures seruātes destitute but is present with thē nigh at hand to helpe succurre preserue maīteine thē Here ye shal note that the scripture speakinge of the true God euer vseth this worde in the plural nōbre yet ioineth the same with verbes of the singular nōbre whereby lerned mē thinke pluralitee of persons vnitee of substāce to be noted in the godhead Now you haue 5. names of God Iehouah iah el elohim adonai whereof Asaph vseth three together in the beginninge of the 50. psal El Elohim Iehoua hath spokē There remaineth now another name of God Shadai For God speakinge to Abrahā in the .17 of genesis where he maketh his couenaūt with him saieth I am El Shadai which some Iues teach to signifie most strōge some necessarie Rabbi Moses saieth that it is compoūd of Sha who and dai sufficiēt as you wold saie God who is sufficiēt bicause he wāteth no thinge nedeth no thinge but hath al in him selfe and giueth to other al that thei nede These two wordes Iehoua Shadai ar notably mētioned together in the 6. of exod where God speaketh thus to Moses I am Iehoua I appeared to Abrahā to Isaac to Iacob in
and inestimable beautie Assuredly this can neuer be thought vpō this can neuer be wondred at inough ¶ AS RECEAVED They receaue him that acknowlege him to be Goddes son and that he became man in mannes nature died for the purgation and satisfaction of their sinnes breifely to receaue here signifieth to beleue as S. Iohan maketh the exposition him selfe in the wordes folowinge HE GAVE them power The idols men wringe this place to the maintenāce of free wil. For they vnderstande that choise hereby is giuen vs to be the children of God if we wil or to refuse the same But S. Iohan declareth forthwith in the wordes folowinge that Goddes children are not made by the wil of the flesh but whan they be begotten of God Goddes begettinge maketh vs Gōddes children and we ar not left to our choise with a power whereby to make our selues Goddes childrē but we ar Goddes children al readie whan he hath begottē vs. For he begetteth perfectly he begetteth not mōsters halfe childrē or a lūpe of matter where of childrē maie be made afterwarde And the greke worde that S. Io. vseth is not dynamis which signifieth power but exousia which signifieth dignitee auctoritee Here riseth a question if Goddes chosen were by predestination his childrē before the beginninge of the world how agreeth it that thā they ar made his childrē whā thei beleue For they were his children before beinge his chosen predestinate It is true that God made those his childrē that euer shulde be his childrē in his purpose thorough free electiō before the worlde was made But this thei fele nat vntil God by his holie spirite kendle faith in them and assure them of that that they were before And here also I wil giue you an other thinge to note S. Iohan saieth that as manie as beleue ar Goddes sonnes But none ar now Goddes sonnes that were not euer Goddes sonnes in his infallible purpose that is none ar Goddes sonnes but his chosen So thei that beleue in dede ar Goddes chosen therefore can neuer perishe For God can nether bē deceaued in his choosinge nor is a chaūgelinge to altre the thinge that he hath once purposed Nether hangeth he vpon mannes behauior suspendinge his determinatiō but al his purposes ar stablished to gether sure certaine thei stāde fast for euer beinge ōce for al decreed You wil graūte perchaūce that Goddes election is sure infallible but yet you can not be so one persuaded that al that beleue ar Goddes chosen For Simō Magus beleued and in the parable of the sower the lorde speaketh of some which haue faith for a time I aūswere that those such had neuer the faith of Goddes children But how shal we know wil you saie that we haue the faith of goddes childrē seīge there is another faith besides which maie begile vs. I aūswere that whā we haue such faith as brīgeth forth a felīge of the swetenes of goddes mercie in Christ Ies an vnfained loue towardes God we haue the faith of Goddes Children And ar and ar sealed vp by Goddes spirite and haue the sure and infallible ernest of euerlastinge life IN HIS NAME It is more liuelie and more ample and of greater maiestie whan it is said to them that beleue in his name than if it had ben saide to them that beleue in him The scole men in dede putte a difference betwene credere deum credere deo credere in deum Credere deum with them is to beleue that there is a God Credere deo is to beleue Goddes saiynges Credere in deum is to trust in God and to loue him And therefore S. Augustine saieth that to beleue in God is in beleuinge to loue him and in louinge to trust in him But the scripture obserueth not this distinction For in the 14. of Exod. we haue that whan the Israhelites saw the Aegyptiās ouerthrowen by Goddes power thei beleued BAIHOVA ou be Mosheh abdo i. in Iehoua and in Moses his seruant And againe in the .19 God saieth to Moses I wil cōme doūne to the in a thicke cloud that the people maye heare me speakinge with the and beleue ' BECHA that is in the c. But is neuer saide that anie beleued in the name of a mā For name to the hebrues signifieth power as whan S. Paule saieth that God gaue the lorde Iesus a name aboue al names he meaneth plaīly power aboue al power So to beleue in the name of Iesus importeth necessarely that he is God WHICHE neyther of bloude Some thincke that this is a figure called in greke pleonasmos wherby manye woordes are heaped together to signify one thīg For they saie that these wordes of bloudes of the wil of the flesh of the wil of mā signifie one thing namely carnal natiuitye generation so thei teache that mē beget carnall childrē onely God begetteth spiritual childrē And in deede mās generation makethe vs not Goddes childrē we muste be regēdred by God to be his childrē Other thincke that he numbreth vp by partes al that is excellēt in mā where in he maie seeme to haue some affiaunce to atteyne to the dignitie of Goddes sonne And that so he teacheth that by no auncitrie no priuilege of bloude by no holines of fore fathers nor anie maner of strēgth or faculte in mankinde mā atcheueth the place of Goddes sōnes Bothe expositiō is tēde to this end that we are not made holie by anie force of nature but by the grace and mercie of God regeneratinge and newe begettinge vs and that is plainely S. Iohās meaninge The wil of mā S. Iohā vsethe for the wil of anie mā for so the hebreus vse the word ish mā for euerie mā BEGOTTEN God begetteth vs whā accordinge to his aeternal purpose electiō he puttethe his spirite into vs and by his force plāteth faith in our hartes to embrace his worde reneweth our mindes frameth thē againe vnto true holines righteousnes God graūt that we maie al feele that we ar begotten of God that considering the high dignitie where vnto we are called we occupie not ourselues vnsemely in vile offices but trauaile al the daies of oure lyfe in suche thinges as aduaunce the glorie of our heauenlie father Amen ⧠The Fift READING VVith verie few but the same most pithie semelie apte wordes the Euāgelist hath declared vnto vs the diuine nature of the Lorde Iesus his power shewed forth sette abrode to the sight af al men by his most wondreful worckes For by this Godhead diuine nature of the Lorde Iesus bothe al thinges were first made of nothinge and now also al thinges ar preserued cōtinued in their state that they returne not to nothinge By it al thinges liue moue haue their beinge By it mā wherein he excelleth other liuinge creatures is furnished with the light of reason vndrestandinge which though thorough mānes faute it be
ben man only he could not haue ouercomme death nether shuld his satisfaction haue ben sufficient for the sinnes of al the world as we touched before yea scarcely for the sinnes of one man For the maiestie of God that is offended thorough sinne is infinite And therefore he must be no lesse that shal make satisfaction to that maiestie It was than of necessitee that God shuld becomme mā Another cause was that he might be made like to his brethern sinne only excepte For as S. Paule writeth it was semelie for him for whom by whom al thinges ar whā he wold bringe manie childrē to glorie to make the high capitaine of their saluation perfecte thorough suffringes For he that sanctifieth thei that be sanctifieed ar al of one For which cause he is not ashamed to cal them brethern saiynge I wil shew forth thy name to my brethern and againe I wil trust in him and againe lo I the childrē whom God hath giuē me Seinge than that the childrē were partakers of flesh blood he likewise became partaker of the same c. A thirde cause S. Paule reherseth that is that he might be merciful pitie the miserie of his people hauīge felt tētations him selfe that is to saie that we might be the better persuaded and certified that he wold pitie vs knowinge that he had experiēce and felinge of our miseries griefes in himselfe For we cā not thincke that anie shuld pitie vs so wel as he that feleth or hath felt the same grife smarte that we do To returne to S. Io. in thes his wordes the worde became flesh we haue a sīgular consolation in that I saie Goddes sonne hath takē flesh of our flesh bones of our bones For so haue we a nigh affinitee familiaritee with God And so that that was ours is made Goddes and that that was Goddes is made ours And we cā not doubte but that he wil do al thīges for vs who beinge God wold familiarly be ioigned to vs in our nature In tētations wrastlinges of cōscience let vs flie hereunto cōsidre this great goodnes excedinge loue frēdlines we shal be relieued preserued frō the baleful pit of despeare AND dwelt The greke worde escenosen is asmuch to saie as he made his tabernacle Whereby the Euāgelist signifieth that he was cōuersant amonge them as a verie mā that he shewed not him selfe the twincklinge of an eye so vanished awaie but had his abode cōtinued amōge thē longe time whereby thei might haue sure certaine experience of his godlie behauior of his singular vertues and of his wondreful worckes Some thincke that by this worde is signified that the lorde Iesus had no certaine dwellinge place in this world but was faine to flitte often and remoue For so do thei that dwel in tentes tabernacles In vs Chrysostome taketh in vs for in our flesh and vnderstandeth that the humanitee of Christ was a tabernacle to the diuinitee so frameth this argumēt against the haeretikes that affirmed the worde to be turned in to flesh The word dwelt in flesh ergo the worde was not turned in to flesh and made flesh only For nothinge dwelleth in it selfe It is also true that it is taken for amonge in manie places of the scripture One shal suffice for this purpose Act. 4. There was not one nedie enautois in them that is to saie amonge them The worde escenosen he made his tente or tabernacle fauoreth some what Chrysostomes vnderstandinge AND we haue seen Now the Euāgelist brīgeth his awne experiēe the experiēce of thother Apostles disciples which with their awne eyes saw such actes of the lorde Iesus as proued hī to be Goddes only begottē sonne The Latines haue a prouerbe that one eyed witnes is worth tē eared Of those thinges which we haue seen with our awne eyes we maye be faithful witnesses Thapostles bicause thei saw the thīges thē selues which thei witnessed to the worlde ar called in the holie scripture with a meruailous elegāt worde autoptai selfe seers epoptai inseers or onbeholders WE haue seen Where the Grekes haue sondrie wordes that signifie to see the Euāgelist vseth a special one etheasametha which signifieth to beholde a thinge diligētly leasurely We maie see thinges glaunsingly which sight is not so perfecte certaine as whā we beholde a thinge stedfastly leasurely The Grekes haue propre wordes for both kindes of seinge The thinges that thapostles saw thei so saw as they cold not be deceaued therefore they ar called peplerophoremena fully ascertained His glorie The diuinitee of the lorde Iesus shined out of his wordes dedes at al times in al places His uertuous innocēt life his miracles his resurrection his ascension sendinge of the holie gost did speake as it were crie out that he was Goddes sonne He gaue them also a tast of his diuinitee heauēlye maiestie whā he was most gloriously transfigured before them in the moūt But how do miracles proue the diuinitee of Christ seinge that mē haue don the like as Elias and Elizeus in the old testamēt and thapostles in the new You shal vndrestāde that the lorde Iesus did miracles by his awne power which the scripture obserueth diligētly teacheth plaīly where mē do thē by a borowed power Of the lorde worckīge miracles the scripture saieth I saie vnto the arise I charge the go out Of mē the lorde Iesus make the hole in the name of the lorde Iesus arise walke Man receaueth power to worcke miracles God giueth power But the scripture witnesseth that the lorde Iesus giueth also power to worcke miracles that in his awne name Whereby we easely see the differēce of the lordes worckinge of mēnes worckinge of miracles The glorie as of We behelde such glorie magnificēce as besemeth goddes only begottē sonne agreeth only to him The worde as some times signifieth not the thinge to be in dede but a likenes of it as whā we saie he speaketh holily as a good mā but he is an hypocrite Some times it noteth the truth of a matter a thinge truly to be don Walke as the childrē of light saieth Paule He biddeth thē not coūtrefaite the childrē of light but to shew them selues the childrē of light in dede After such sorte S. Iohā vseth the worde as for he meaneth that such vertue such power as he had declared him to be verely goddes natural sonne that such thinges as he did belonge to Goddes sonne only nether can be found in anie other As if we shulde saie of the most noble holie and blessed kinge Edwarde the sixte that he behaued himselfe as a kinges sonne our meaninge shuld not be that he was not a kinges sonne but shewed him selfe as though he had ben a kinges sonne but our meaninge shuld be that he shewed him selfe none other wise than his birth required
thens thorough faith sincere holines and true righteousnes and what so euer maie make vs amiable and acceptable in Goddes sight that we maie glorie in no maner of thinge saue in the lord Iesus alone our only sanctifier iustifier saueor redemptor and what so euer our nede requireth that he shulde be vnto vs. For what was impossible for the law to do in that it was weake thorow the flesh God hath perfirmed hauinge sent his sōne in the likenes of sinful flesh by sinne that is to saie by a sacrifice for sinne hath condemned sinne in the flesh This sonne of God is made vnto vs wisedome righteousnes sanctification and redēption This sonne of God hath raunsomed vs from the curse of the law This sonne of god is the ende of the law to iustifie al that beleue This sonne of God had giuen vs the spirite of adoption the spirite of Goddes childrē the spirite of fredom the spirite of alacritee good courage These thinges Io. Baptiste teacheth and so quaileth the Iueis vaine gloriynge in Moses their vaine gloriynge in their awne holines and righteousnes to the high aduancemēt of him to whom al glorie is due euen Iesus Christ our only lorde saueor No man hath seen God c. Now to confirme the thinge that he had signified touchinge Moses namely that he must sitte far beneth the lorde Iesus in this sentēce he giueth vs to vndrestāde that the verie knowlege of Goddes wil of the law that Moses had he receaued it from Goddes sonne For nether Moses nor anie other mā cold attaine to anie certaine knowlege of Goddes wil or shal euer attaine hereafter but by the reuelation of him that is in Goddes bosome So Moses whose passinge great knowlege they bosted so much was but the lord Iesus his scolar and therefore of dutie must giue place to his master The Iues Indede had euer in their mouthes that Moses had seen God and spoken with him mouth to mouth so that god had no secrete that he had not opened vnto him But the truth is that no mortal man can attaine to a ful knowlege of Goddes infinite maiestie and see his face as it is For whan Moses desired to see Goddes glorie and maiestie aunswer was made vnto him thou cāst not see my face for man shal not see me and liue Wherefore whan the scripture sayeth that Iacob saw God face to face and that Moses talked with him mouth to mouth the meaninge is that God opened him selfe more plainly talked with them more familiarly than with other men How beyt they saw not his awne verie face that is thei attayned not to a ful knowlege of the diuinitee For as Tertullian lernedly writeth mannes minde can not comprehende the thinges that be in God For God is greater than mannes minde nether can it be thought how great he is For if God cold be comprehended by thought than he shuld be lesse than mannes minde whereby he might be conceaued He is greater also than al speech nether can he be vttered with wordes For if he cold be vttered with wordes thā he shuld be lesse then mannes speech whereby he might be compassed But what so euer shal be thought of him shal be lesse thā he what soev shal be spokē of hī shal be lesse thā that that is aboute him For if thou shalt calle hī light thou shalt name a creature of his not expresse hī If thou shalt calle hī vtue thou shalt speake of his power and not vtter him If thou shalt calle him maiestie that shalt describe his honor and not himselfe Breifely what so euer thou shalt saie of him thou shalt rather declare a thinge of his than him selfe For what canst thou worthely speake or thincke of him who is greater than al wordes al vndrestādinge sainge that one waie we maie cōprehende in minde what God is if we shal thīcke him to be that that cā not cōme in to mānes ūdrestādinge or thought what maner a thinge and how great it is For as our eye sight is dulled in be holdinge the soume nether cā abide the glisteringe brightnes of the sunne beames so our minde suffreth the like thīge in thinckinge of God and the more it is bent to considre God so much the more it is dafeld blinded with light For what can we thinke worthely of hī that is higher than al highnes deper thā al depenes lighter thā al light brighter than al brightnes stronger than al strenght fairer than al fairenes truer than al truth greater than al greatnes richer thā al riches wiser than al wisdome better than al goodnes iuster than al iustice more merciful than al mercie so that it maie be truly said that God is such a thinge as where vnto nothinge can be compared For he is aboue al that can be spoken or thought And therefore whan Moses was admitted to a singular sight of the diuine maiestie God saide vnto hī thou shalt see my hinder partes my face thou shalt not see The sight of Goddes backe was a great knowlege surely of the diuinitee but not a ful knoulege so that it might be saide that he saw Goddes verie face And yet that knowlege also which he had of God he had by the instruction reuelation of Goddes sonne For God inhabiteth light that no mā cā approche vnto Goddes sōne ōly knoweth the father he ōly giueth al the knowlege of the father that euer anie mā had or shal haue For he only is of the fathers priuie coūsel he only is admitted in to his bosome GOD The greke word theos which S. Iohan vseth is made of thee in to rūne as Plato teacheth bicause the rude old mē seinge the ouer bodies so fast to moue thought that God ranne in thē therefore called god a rūner We maie thincke that he is called a rūner bicause he is spedely presēt to helpe in al nede Other deriue the word out of deos feare bicause he is most to be feared reuerēced The latines cal God deū as it semeth of the greke word theos or deos or as some thīcke a dādo of giuīge or quod nihil illi desit bicause he wāteth nothinge But though the names that the heathē vsed whereby to signifie the supreme aeternal mīde be verie good takē out of some proprietes effectes that thei vndrestode in god yet it shal be most fruteful cōfortable for vs to know what name the godlie haue vsed goddes spirite hath vttered in the holie scripture Now the most excellēt name of god expressed by godes spirites is Iehoua which the grekes cal tetragrāmatō bicause it cōsisteth of .4 spirital lettres The hebrues haue it in such reuerēce that thei thīke it is not to be vttered with mēnes lippes therefore in stede therof thei euer read adonai And to this daie if thei heare a christiā pronoūce it thei ar astonied seare left the skie shal fal