man 2. Thess 23. 4. of sinne and sonne of perdition an aduersary that exalteth him-selfe against or aboue all that is called God or that is worshipped sitting as God in the temple of God shewing him-selfe that he is God of whom S. Paul before prophecied in taking these things vnto himselfe which Gods spirit spake properly and peculiarly of Iesus Christ The place of Saint Peter 1. chap. 4. Loue or charity couereth the multitude of sinnes they expound in this sence that charity maketh sattisfaction for our sinnes and couereth and hideth our sinnes before God Iohn Fisher the Bishop Assert Luthe◠〈◊〉 cap 17. of Rochester writeth hereof thus Tertius modus est per vehementis charitatis affectum Nam vehemens vtique charitatis affectus peccatorum etiam expurgat reliquias quum dicat diuus Petrus Charitas operit multitudinem peccatorum i. The third meanes to purge away sinne is by the affection of vehement charity for surely the vehement affection of charity doth also purge out the remnants of sinnes for S. Peter saith Charitie hideth the multitude of sinnes That this is a priuat and false exposition a simple and meane man may see especially if he looke vpon the place in the Prouerbs chap. 10. 12. from the which Saint Peter doth alleage it and is commonly quoted in the margent Hatred stirreth vp contention but loue or charity couereth all trespasses Where Salomon sheweth that as enuy and hatred moueth men to contention and to blow abroad the faults of their bretheren to their infamie so loue and charitie should moue vs to couer and hide their faults and infirmities and rather seeke to amend them then to defame them and therefore these words are not ment of satisfying for out sinnes or couering them before God but of the â—â— Prouerb 10 couering of them before men And so doth D. Baine Bishop of Lichfield in Queene Maries daies expound them What should I shew how priuatly or rather falsly they expound the places of Gen. 14. 18. touching Melchisedeck bringing forth bread and wine and that of Malachy 1. 11. of the incense and pure offering which in euery place shall bee offered to GOD by which they seeke to maintine their Masse and the false forged sacrifice thereof I would haue passed these places ouer in silence but that D. Harding doth so hardly handle vs and so grieuously charge vs for them in these words The Scripture it selfe ministring euident proofe for the oblation of Christ to his father by the Priests of the new Testament in the institution of this holie Sacrament in the figure of Melchisedeck and in the prophesie of Malachy the Prophet the authorities of the Fathers needed not to be alleaged were not the same Scriptures by the ouertwhart and false interpretations of our aduersaries wrested and turned to a contrarie sense to the hereticall seducing of the vnlearned In his answere artic 17. These be Maister D. Hardings modest words Let it therefore be examined and tried who they bee that thus ouertwhart these places and turne them to a contrary sense As touching the first place out of Genesis they expound it that Melchisedeck offered bread and wine for hee was the Priest of the most high God and that was a tipe and figure of the sacrifice of the new Testament wherein Christ is offered vnto his father vnder the forme of bread and wine Pighius Controuers 5. Hosius Confess Petriconiensi cap. 41. Who saith that this is the opinion of all the holy Doctors of the Church that this bread and wine was offered for a sacrifice to God and not for a refection to Abraham But this both exposition and assertion is false for both Turtullian Contra Iudaeos and also Epiphanius Haeres 55. expound it Epiph. Hâ—ref 55. of his bringing forth of bread and wine to Abraham Epiphanius saith Abraham suit 88. aut 90. plus minos tunc Meâ—chisedec ipsi obuiam venit proposuit ipsi panem vinum i. Abraham was about 88. or 90. yeares old when Melchesedeck met him and brought forth bread and wine Ioseph antiq lib. 1. cap. 11. vnto him So doth Iosephus expound it Melchisedec milites Abrahamiâ—h spitaliter habuit nihil illis ad victum deesse passus simul ipsum adhibuit mensae Melchisedech vsed hospitalitie to Abrahams souldiers and suffered them to want no victualles and did take Abraham to his Table That this is the true sense it appeareth by the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which doth neuer signifie to offer and sacrifice but to bring forth and the force of truth forceth some of Caiet in Gen. cap. 14. their owne side to confesse this to be true Cardinal Caietanus vpon this place writeth thus Nihil scribitur hic de sacrificio seu oblatione sed de prolatione seu extractione quam Iosephus dicit factam ad refectionem victorum Quod autem in vulgata editione subditur vt causa oblationis erat enim sacerdos deâ— altissimi in Hebraeo non habetur vt causa sed vt separata clausula that is There is nothing here sayd of sacrifice or oblation but of bringing forth which Iosephus saith was done to the refection of them which had gotten the victorie And that which in the vulgar edition is put after as a cause for he was the priest of the most high God in the Hebrew is not set as a cause but as a clause seperated from it Andradius also the Iesuit doth herein forsake his friends and acknowledgeth this to bee the true exposition his words be these De offerendi autem vocabula non est Kemnici Andrad defensfidei Trident. lib. 4. quod digladeremur cum in correctioribus latinis examplaribus sanctis patribus qui locum hunc Eucharistiae accommodant extet proferens at que ego cum illis sen iam qui lassos Abrahae milites diuturna pugna fractos Melchisedecum pane vinoque refecisse aiunt that is We need not Kemnicius to striue aboutthe word of offering seeing that both in the best corrected Latine coppies and also in the holy Fathers which apply this place to the Eucharist it is proferens brought forth and I in iudgement agree with them which say that Melchisedech refreshed Abrahams souldiers wearied fainted with long fight Their exposition of the other place of Malachie is as absurd in applying it to the sacrifice of the Masse which is neither a pure sacrifice nor is offered in all places And the Fathers Tertullian Hierome and others expound it of the spiritual sacrifices of the faithfull which they offer in all places to God Tertullian in three places doth so expound it whereof I will set Lib. aduers iudaeos lib. 3. adâ—ers Marcionem lib. 4 downe but one Et in omni loco sacrificium nomini meo offeretur sacrificium mundum scilicet simplex oratio de conscientia pura and in euery place a sacrifice shall bee offered to my name
an Heretike for all Heretikes doe as much But Maister T. W. for I will not misname you by H. T. dic sodes tell vs in sooth and sadnesse Do Heretikes beleeue the scriptures I in my poore ignorance haue heretofore thought that Heretikes beleeued erronious and false doctrines repugnant and contrary to the scriptures and that therevpon this argument would haue holden water viz. that they which beleeue false doctrines doe not beleeue the holie Scriptures which containe nothing but new doctrine but Heretikes beleeue false doctrines ergo they beleeue not the holie Scriptures Tell vs also will Heretikes haue the sphere of their faith extended solie and wholie to the worde of GOD set downe in holy writ Then this saying of Tertullian which in my poore ignorance I haue thought that neuer any misliked vnlesse hee were an Heretike will not goe for currant Aufer deniquae haereticis c. Take away from Heretikes Tertul. deresurrect carnis whatsoeuer the Ethnikes haue thought and taught that they may trie their questions Onelie by the Scriptures and they cannot stand For how can this bee that they which beleeue the Scriptures cannot stand if their doctrines bee tried onely by the scriptures But you will say that Heretikes professe that they beleeue the scriptures But is this all one with you for Heretikes to profeâ—â—e the beleefe of the scriptures and in Tiâ— 1. 16. deede to beleeue them Saint Paul saith that some professe to know GOD and by workes do denie him Some also professed themselues to bee Iewes that is to say worshippers Apoca. 2. 9. of GOD as you doe now professe yourselues to bee Catholikes and some to bee of the societie of Iesus when both they were and you are the synagogue and of the societie of sathan Some professed themselues to bee Iohn 8. 39. 40. the Children of Abraham which did not the workes of Abraham but their faither was the diuell as our Sauiour Christ told them Euen so Heritikes may professe Psal 44. that they beleeue the Scriptures when indeede they beleeue them not but reiect the truth of them and beleeue false and damnable doctrines repugnant vnto them Heretikes bee theeues which endeuor to steale away the truth from the people of whom Saint Chrysostome saith Qâ—i sacra non vtitur scriptura sed ascendit aliunde Chrysost in Iorm hom 58. idest non concessa via fur est Hee is a theefe that vseth not the scripture hee saith not that beleeueth the scripture but clymeth into the sheepefold by an other way which is not allowed Of the true sense and exposition of the Scripture I haue intreated at large before Onely now I will ioyne this issue with you vpon these words of Saint Hierome recorded 24. Quaest 3. Haeâ—sis by Gratian in the decrees Quicunque aliter scripturam intelligit c. Whosoeuer expoundeth the scripture otherwaies then the sense of the Holie Ghost by whome it was written doth require although hee haue not departed from the Church yet hee may bee called an Heretike Let them with good will of vs and you that shall soundlie bee prooued to expound the Scriptures other-waies then the sense of the Holie Ghost requireth bee called accounted condemned and punnished Heritikes yea your Expositions bee so false and for ours true that some Papists and euen some of your sweete bretheren the Iesuites are forced by the euidence of Apa Cathel part 2 lib. 5. cap. 17. 18. 19. c. truth to forsake yours and to approoue ours as M. D. Morton hath learnedly and largely declared What you or any other Heretikes say of our Religion beleefe and expositions wee little regard as long as you cannot prooue them to bee hereticall and wee are by the worde of GOD well assured that they bee orthodoxall As touching the book of the Canticles of Sollomon we by the Scriptures doe beleeue that it is the worde of God Saint Paule speaking of the Scripture contained in the canonicall bookes of the old Testament and receiued by the Church of Israell saith that the whole Scripture is inspired of God But this booke of the Canticles was with the other books both of Sollomâ—n and of the rest of the old Testament receiued by the Church of Israell therefore by Saint Paules 2 Tim. 3. 16. iudgement it was inspired of God and so consequently the worde of God as well as others But if we did ioyne herein either with some wicked Anabaptistes now or with some old Hertikes heretofore who haue denied this book to be of the Canon of the Scripture as Phylastrius writeth some did whose opinion we abhorre yet from this particular Jn Catall cap. 133. you could not inferre the proofe of your article being generall that the Protestants know not what they beleeue But herein you do as soundly and substantially reason as Bellarmine and others of you do that because the Enuch did not vnderstand that obscure propheticall speech of Isaias which hee was reading when Philip came to him therefore hee vnderstood nothing in the Prophet Isaias Yea and that all the Scripture is so hard and obscure that it is not expedient for the lay people to read it Concerning the alteration of the Sabbath wee gather by the Scriptures and thereby do beleeue that it was made by the Apostles 1. Cor. 16. 2. Apoca. 1. 10. As your owne fellowes of Rhemes in their annotations vpon these places do confesse And therefore the Sabbath we now obserue is warranted by the Scriptures As for that idle speech of yours of generall and perticuler beleeuing thinges in the Scripture little pertinent to the proofe of your article I answer briefly that although neither all Protestants nor Papistes haue perfect and distinct knowldge of all the Scripture Yet God hath so manifestly expressed therein all thinges needfull to our saluation that it is a most perfect rule of faith and life as is before out of Beda alledged although some men blinded by sinne and mallice do not see them no more then men blinde in body see the cleare light of the Sunne nor doe rightly vse this right rule giuen of God vnto them Chrisostome saith Quaecunquâ— necessâ—ria sunt manifesta sunt Whatsoeuer In 2 Thess Hom. 3. thinges are necessary are manifest Againe Scripturae et seruâ— c. The Scriptures are easie to bee vnderstood both of seruants and misticall people of widdowes In Math. Hom. 1. and boyes and to him that is very Ignorant And whereas you would haue the Councels Doctors and Church the rule of our faith and life bring such like plaine places out of the Scriptures and Doctors for the proofe of it then we wil yeeld vnto you As touching the Apostles creed we acknowledge it to be a briefe abridgement of the especiall and principal points of Christian faith doctrine yet there bee some truthes which are not particularly expressed in the same But whereas you say or rather falsely slaunder that the
are Infidels The Maior cannot bee denied Because faith must he infallible and impossible to be erronius or changeable But faith which is builded vppon priuate exposition of Scripture is subiect to error and change and consequently vpon better aduice consideration may be altered The Minor I proue for either they build their faith vppon their owne priuat opinion in expounding of Scriptures the exposition of the Church the Fathers or Councels but not vppon these three Egro vpon their owne priuate exposition Some Protestants allow the Fathers and their expositions so far forth as they agree with Gods word no farther but this is nothing else but to delude the world for what meane they when they say they wil allow theÌ„ so far forth as they agree with the Scriptures Meane they perhaps that if the Fathers bring Scriptures to proue any point of Religion now in controuersie to allow that point as true If so why then reiect they S. Augustine Aug lib de â—ura Agen pro mortuis and other Fathers who bring Scripture to proue prayer for the dead yea and all controuersies almost in Religion the Fathers proue by Scripture when they dispute vpon them Or perhaps they mean to admit the Fathers wheÌ„ they alledge Scripture but in such matters as euery ProtestaÌ„t shal allow of or that they bee doubtfull or seeme in some sort or shew to be conformable to their fancies and fit their new coined Gospell and in this sense who seeth not that euery paltry companion will make himselfe not only expositor of Christs word but also will prefer his exposition before all ancient Fathers when they daunce not after his pipe and consent not with his heresies Answere HEre wee haue a syllogisme to the Maior or first proposition whereof I answer that they which vniuersaly in all maters and doctrines of saluation doe follow priuate and false expositions of the Scripture bee Infidels but in some places of Scripture a man may follow a priuate and false exposition of the Scripture and beleeue Hilarius in Matth cap. 16 Ambros in Luc lib. 10. the same to bee true and yet bee no Infidell Hilary followed a priuat and false exposition of the place Come behind mee Sathan and Ambrose of Peters deniall of Christ and Hierome in like manner of Peters dissembling with the Iewes Galat. 2. yea and all the Fathers haue in sundry places of Scripture followed priuat and vntrue expositions and haue beleeued the same to bee true and August de Doctri Christ lib. 1. cap. 36. yet they were no Infidels Saint Augustine saith well Quisquis igitur Scripturas diuinas c. Who-soeuer therefore doth thinke him-selfe to vnderstand the holy Scriptures or any part of them so that by that his vnderstanding hee doth not edifie and build this double loue of God and of his neighbour doth not yet vnderstand them But whosouer doth draw such a sense or exposition from them as may be profitable to the edifying of this loue and yet doth not deliuer that which he whome hee readeth shall be proued in that place to haue ment is not dangerously or wickedly deceiued neither doth hee at all lye And againe Ibidem Sed quisquis in Scripturis aliud sentit quam ille qui scripsit illis non mentientibus fallitur sed tamen vt dicere coeperam c. But whosoeuer in the Scriptures doth conceiue any other sense then he that did write it did meane he is deceiued although the Scriptures do not lye yet as I began to say if he be deceiued by that sence which doth edefie loue and charity which is the end of the commandement is so deceiued as if a man missing and leauing his way yet goeth by the field thither whither the way doth lead him Hereby you may perceiue that euery one which followeth a priuat or false exposition of some place of the Scripture is not an Infidell But to leaue this and to come to your Minor or second proposition I auouch the same to bee false and doe deny that we build our faith vpon priuat or false expositions of the Scripture We say with Saint Peter that no prophesie of 2. Tet. 1. 20 the Scripture is of any pruat interpretation But we are to take that sense which the holy Ghost intendeth and meaneth And we say that many things be most plaine and euident in the holy Scriptures so that the simplest may vnderstand them and get knowledge and comfort by them So Chrysostome saith An ista aliquam expositionem desiderant Chrisost ad Rom. Hom. 19. an non clara sunt etiam vehementer stupidis i. Doe these neede any exposition are they not cleere and manifest August in Euang. Ioannis tract 50. euen to those that be very dull So Saint Augustin saith Quaedam in Scripturis tam manifesta sunt vt potius auditorem quam expositorem desiderent i. There be some things in the Scriptures so manifest that they require rather a hearer then an expounder So saith Iustinus Martyr 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just. Martyr dialo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 page 68 edit Robert Stephan 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. Marke giue heed to those things which I shall recite out of the holy Scriptures which neede not to be expounded but onely to be heard And whereas we confesse that there be some things hard in the Scriptures wee say that the same are to bee vnderstoode and expounded by conferring them with other places of the Scriptures And that no forraine or priuat exposition is to bee brought to them but that which is gathered out of the Scriptures them-selues So Chrysostom saith Scriptura seipsam exponit lectorem errare Chryso in Gent homil 12. non sinit the Scripture expoundeth it selfe and suffereth not the reader to erre Againe Semper enim quando In 2. Cor. homil 9. quid obscurum loquitur seipsum iterum interpretatur Whensoeuer Paul doth speake any thing obscurely he doth alwaies expound him-selfe So saith Saint Augustine Magnifice August de doct Christi lib 2. cap. 6. igiter salubriter c. that is The holy Ghost hath so excellently and holesomely tempered the holy Scriptures that with plaine places hee doth put away hunger and with obscure places take away lothsomnesse For there is nothing gathered from those hard places which is not to be found most plainely vttered in others So Saint Basil saith Quae ambigua sunt tectè dicta esse in quibusdam diuinae Basil Quaest comp explic quaest 267. scripturae locis vide tur ea ab aliis locis manifestis declarantur that is What things be doubtfull or seeme to bee couertly spoken in some places of holy scripture the same are expouÌ„ded by other plaine places Againe Ecce nunc audi ipsam seipsam declarantem scripturam Behold now heare Idem Hexam homil 4. Irenaeus lib. 3. cap. 12. the Scripture expounding it selfe So saith Irenaeus Ostensiones quae
sunt in scripturis non possunt ostendi nisi ex scripturis The expositions which bee in the Scriptures cannot bee shewed but out of the Scriptures So Theodoretus saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theodor dia. log 1. Hilarius de trinitate lib. 9 i. Thou needest no strange exposition For the Euangelist expoundeth himself So Hilarius saith Dictorum intelligentia aut ex praepositis aut ex consequentibus expectetur The vnderstaÌ„ding of the sayings is to be looked for either of those things which go before or those that follow after So Clemens saith Ex ipsis scripturis sensum capere veritatis oportet From the scriptures themselues we must take the sense and Distinst 37. cap. Relatum exposition of truth Finally so Pope Pius the second Ab ipsa scriptura reciptendus est sensus veritatis The vnderstanding of the truth is to bee receiued from the scripture it selfe Aeneas Siluiâ—â— epist 130 Now how carefully and diligently wee endeuour to doe this that is to expound the holy Scriptures truely and sincerely by the Scriptures themselues God knoweth our writings sermons do shew and the consciences of those that reade and heare them can witnesse with vs. And this is also an argument hereof that you cannot bring forth any places of the Scriptures which wee falsely expound or seeke violently and wickedly to wrest from the true and simple sence of the holy Ghost contained in the holy scriptures The which this cauiller should haue done and thereby declare how wee build our faith vpon priuate and false expositions But let vs see and examine his proofe of his Minor which is that because wee build not our faith vpon the exposition of the Church the Fathers or Councells therefore wee build vpon our owne priuate exposition I answere that although we reuerence the iudgement of the true Church of God the holy Fathers and Councels yet by this that I haue before alledged it plainely appeareth that we are to fetch the sense and exposition of the Scriptures not from them but from the scriptures themselues And wheras you by the Church do meane the Romish Church I will shew hereafter that shee hath corrupted and falsely expounded the scriptures As touching the Doctors we are not bound vnto their expositions which sometimes be Card. Caietanus in praefatione in lib. 5. Mosis not sound and sometimes differ among themselues Yea Cardinall Caietanus plainely auoucheth this and doubteth not to bring sometimes senses and expositions to the scriptures which be not in all the Doctors His words be these Nullus itaque detestetur nouum sacrae scripturae sensum ex hoc quod dissonat a priscis doctoribus Sed scrutetur perspicacius textum ac contextum scripturae si quadrare inuenerit laudet Deum qui non alligauit expositionem scripturarum sacrarum pristorum doctorum sensibus c. that is Let no man hereupon detest or dislike a new exposition of the holy scripture because it dissenteth from the old Doctors But let him more sharpely search the text and Coherence of the scriptures and if hee finde it to agree therewith let him praise GOD who hath not bound the exposition of the holy Scriptures to the senses and expositions of the ancient Doctors Yea Bishippe Fisher a great patrone of the Popes doubteth not to affirme that many things in the Io. Roffens Assert Lutheran artic 18. fol. 206. Gospell and other scriptures bee now more exactly discussed and more plainely vnderstood then they were of old time of the Fathers and that there be yet many obscure and hard places which will be much better vnderstood of the posteritie Andradius also the Iesuite as he doth defend Caietane in the one so doth he ioyne with B. Fisher in the other as the learned may reade in his defence of the tridentine faith lib. 2. pag. 160. et 161. where by it appeareth that their iudgement was that the exposition of the scriptures is not to bee tied vnto the Fathers and then much lesse to the Councells which doe not expound in order the bookes of the scriptures as the Fathers did but onely examined some places and discussed some Doctrines which were in controuersie Moreouer whereas Saint Augustine in his foure bookes de doctrina christiana entreateth largely of the exposition of the Scriptures and giueth many good and learned lessons concerning the same and namely seauen rules of Ticonius the Donatist which hee commendeth and calleth them keyes to open the scripture neither he nor Ticonius doe make mention of these rules which the author of this pamphlet doth here set downe nor referre vs vnto them Therefore these bee new coined rules of your owne voyde of the testimony of antiquitie But that the Christian reader may see who they be that build their faith vpon priuate and false expositions of the scripture let vs come to the examination of some particular places of the scripture and see who they be that follow priuate and false expositions The wordes of our Math. 26. 27 Sauiour Christ drinke ye all of it they expound that Christ spake them onely to his Apostles which as they terme them were Priests and therefore this bindeth Priests to drinke of the Cup but not the lay people So saith Iohn Fisher Io. Rossens Assert Luther confut arti 16 the Bishop of Rochester Bibite ex eo omnes Quae verba procul-dubio solis erant dicta sacerdotibus quibus potestas tum fuerat collata conficiendi sacramenti nimirum hijs verbis hoc facite in meam commemorationem Drinke all of this which words without all doubt were spoken onely to Hosius de com sub vtraque specie Confess Petri. cap. 40. contr Brentium lib. 3 Doct. Hard. in his answere to M. Iewel arti 3 Andrad ortho explicat lib. 7 pag. 606. Aenas Syluius epist â—30 pag. 672. Priests to whom powre also was giuen to make the Sacrament that is by these words doe this in remembrance of me The same in effect wrote Cardinal Hosius Doctor Harding Andradeus Aeneas Siluius and others This exposition although peraduenture it will not bee counted priuate for that it is maintained by so many great men yet it is a very false and absurd exposition and easily to bee discerned by any simple man For if these words Drinke ye all of it were spoken onely to Priests then likewise these Take yee ate ye were spoken onely to Priests And so by your wise exposition as none but Priests by these words are bound to drinke of the Cup so none but Priests are bound to take and eate the bread as it was the manner and custome of Jo. Gerson tom 1. declar defect viro ecclesiast the common people in Liuonia not to receiue this Sacrament at all as Gerson writeth But if our Sauiour Christ did speake the one to all both Priests and people why not the other If the one doe binde all why not the other Moreouer Saint Paul