to the vvhich he subscribed decreeth Can. 24. That in the Sacraments of the body and bloud of Christ there be no more offered then our Lord him self deliuered that is bread and vvine mingled vvith vvater Vvhich the sixth general Councel of Constantinople repeating and confirming addeth If therfore any Bishop or Priest doe not according to the order giuen by the Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mingling vvater vvith vvine but offer an vnmingled sacrifice let him be deposed c. But of these speaches al Councels be full vvhere vve vvould gladly knovv of these nevv Translatours hovv Presbyter must be translated either an Elder or a Priest 18 Do not al the fathers speake after the same maner making alvvaies this distinction of Bishop and Priest as of the first and second degree Ep. 2. ad Trallianos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 S. Ignatius the Apostles scholer doth he not place Presbyterium as he calleth it and Presbyteros Priests or the College of Priests next after Bishops and Deacons in the third place repeating it no lesse then thrise in one Epistle commending the dignitie of all three vnto the people Comment in c. 7. Micheae doth not S. Hierom the very same saying Let vs honour a Bishop do reuerence to a Priest rise vp to a Deacon Ep. 85. ad Euagrium And vvhen he saith that as Aaron and his sonnes and the Leuites vvere in the Temple so are Bishops Priests Deacons in the Church for place and degree And in an other place speaking of the outrages done by the Vandals and such like Epitaph Nepotiani c. 9. Bishops vvere taken Priests slaine and diuers of other Ecclesiastical orders Churches ouerthrovven the altars of Christ made stables for horses the relikes of Martyrs digged vp c. Vvhen he saith of Nepotian fit Clericus per solitos gradus Presbyter ordinatur he becōmeth a man of the Clergie and by the accustomed degrees is made vvhat a Priest or an Elder vvhen he saith Mihi ante Presbyterum sedere non licet c. doth he meane he could not sit aboue an Elder or aboue a Priest him self as then being not Priest Vvhen he and Vincentius as S. Epiphanius vvriteth of reuerence to the degree Ep. 60 apud Hiero. ca. 1. vvere hardly induced to be made Presbyteri did they refuse the Eldership Vvhat vvas the matter that Iohn the B. of Hierusalem seemed to be so much offended vvith Epiphanius and S. Hierom Ep. 1 ad Heliod vvas it not because Epiphanius made Paulianus S. Hieroms brother Priest vvithin the said Iohns Diocese 19 Vvhen al antiquitie saith Hieronymus Presbyter Cecilius Presbyter Ruffinus Presbyter Philippus Iuuencus Hesychius Beda Presbyteri and vvhen S. Hierom so often in his Cataloge saith Such a man Presbyter is it not for distinction of a certaine order to signifie that they vvere Priests and not Bishops namely vvhen he saith of S. Chrysostom Ioannes Presbyter Antiochenus doth he not meane he vvas as then but a Priest of Antioche Vvould he haue said so if he had vvritten of him after he vvas Bishop of Constantinople 20 But of al other places vve vvould desire these gay trāslatours to trāslate this one place of S. Augustine speaking of him self a Bishop and S. Hierom a Priest Inter Epistolas Hiero. Ep. 97 in fine Quanquā enim secundum honorum vocabula quaeiam Ecclesia vsus obtinuit Episcopatus Presbyterio maior sit tamen in multis rebus Augustinus Hieronymo minor est Is not this the English thereof For although according to the titles or names of honour which now by vse of the Church haue preuailed the degree of Bishop be greater thē Priesthod yet in many things Augustine is lesse thē Hierom. or doth it like thē to trāslate it thus The degree of Bishop is greater then Eldership c Againe against Iulian the Heretike vvhen he hath brought many testimonies of the holy Doctors that vvere all Bishops as of SS Cyprian Ambrose Basil Nazianzene Chrysostom at length he cōmeth to S. Hierom vvho vvas no Bishop Lib. 1. ca. 2. in fine and saith Nec sanctum Hieronymum quia Presbyter fuit contemnendum arbitreris that is Neither must thou thinke that S. Hierom because he vvas but a Priest therfore is to be contemned vvhose diuine eloquence hath shined to vs from the East euen to the vvest like a lampe and so forth to his great cōmendation Here is a plaine distinction of an inferiour degree to a Bishop for the which the Heretike Iuliān did easily contemne him Is not S. Cyprian full of the like places is not al antiquitie so full that vvhiles I proue this me thinketh I proue nothing els but that snovv is vvhite 21 In al vvhich places if they vvil translate Elder and yet make the same a common name to all Ecclesiastical degrees Annot. in 1 Pet. 5. as Beza defineth it let the indifferent Reader consider the absurde cōfusion or rather the impossibilitie thereof if not but they vvill graunt in al these places it signifieth Priest and so is meant then vve must beate them vvith Bezaes rod of reprehension against Castaleon Bezaes vvordes in the place aboue alleaged that vve can not dissemble the boldnes of these mē vvhich vvould God it rested vvithin the custom of wordes onely and vvere not important matter concerning their Heresie These men therfore touching the vvord Priest though vsed of sacred vvriters in the mysterie of the nevv Testamēt and for so many yeres after by the secrete consent of al Churches consecrated to this one Sacrāment so that it is novv grovven to be the proper vulgar speach almost of al Nations Prete Prebstre Priest yet they dare presume rashly to change it and in place thereof to vse the vvord Elder delicate men forsooth yea vvorse a great deale because these do it for heresie not for delicacie vvhich neither are moued vvith the perpetual authoritie of so many ages nor by the daily custom of the vulgar speach can be brought to thinke that lavvful for Diuines vvhich all men graunt to other Maisters and Professors of artes that is to reteine and hold that as their ovvne vvhich by long vse and in good faith they haue truely possessed Neither may they pretend the authoritie of any auncient vvriter as that the old Latin Translatour saith Senior and Seniores for * Presbyter for a Priest Baptismus for the Sacrament of Baptisme that vvhich vvas to them as it vvere nevv to vs is old and euen then that the self same vvordes vvhich vve novv vse were more familiar to the Church it is euident because it is very seldom that they speake othervvise 22 Thus vve haue repeated Bezaes vvordes againe onely changing the vvord Baptisme into Priest because the case is all one so vn vvittingly Beza the successor of Caluin in Geneua hath giuen plaine sentence against our English Translatours in al such cases as they go from
also a great Hebrician did not reade as novv vve haue in the Hebrue Destruamus ponamus mittamus Nashchîtha but Nashitha or Nashlîcha Againe the Hebrue vvord that novv is doth so litle agree vvith the vvordes folovving that they cannot tel hovv to translate it as appeareth by the diuersitie and difference of their translations thereof before mentioned and transposing the vvordes in English othervvise then in the Hebrue neither of both their translations hauing any commodious sense or vnderstanding 20 But yet they vvil pretend that for the first vvord at the least they are not to be blamed because they folovv the Hebrue that novv is not considering that if this vvere a good excuse then might they as vvel folovv the Hebrue that novv is Psal 21. v. 18 and so vtterly suppresse and take out of the Scripture this notable prophecie They pearced my handes and my feete Vvhich yet they doe not neither can they doe it for shame if they vvil be counted Christians So that in deede to folovv the Hebrue sometime vvhere it is corrupt is no sufficient excuse for them though it may haue a pretence of true translation and vve promised in the preface in such cases not to call it heretical translation That vvater and vvine ought to be mingled in the chalice Pro. 9. 21 But concerning the B. Sacrament let vs see once more hovv truely they folovv the Hebrue The holy Ghost saith S. Cyprian ep 63 nu 2. by Salomon foresheweth a type of our Lordes sacrifice of the immolated host of bread and vvine saying Vvisedome hath killed her hostes SHE HATH MINGLED HER VVINE INTO the cuppe Come ye eate of my bread and drinke the vvine that I HAVE MINGLED for you Speaking of VVINE MINGLED saith this holy doctor he foreshevveth prophetically the cuppe of our Lord MINGLED VVITH VVATER AND VVINE So doth S. Hierom interprete this mixture or mingling of the vvine in the chalice so doth the author of the commentaries vpon this place among S. Hieroms vvorkes See S. Augustine de Ciuit Dei li. 17 c. 20. so doe the other fathers So that there is great importance in these prophetical vvordes of Salomon She hath mingled her vvine into the cuppe and the vvine vvhich I haue mingled as being a manifest prophecie of Christs mingling vvater and vvine in the Chalice at his last supper vvhich the Catholike Church obserueth at this day and vvhereof S. Cyprian vvriteth the foresaid long epistle 22 But the Protestants counting it an idle superstitious ceremonie here also frame their translation accordingly suppressing altogether this mixture or mingling and in steede thereof saying She hath dravven her vvine Bibl. 1579. and drinke the vvine that I haue dravven or as in other of their bibles She hath povvred out her vvine an 1577. and the vvine vvhich I haue povvred out neither trāslation agreing either vvith Greeke or Hebrue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 miscuit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 miscui not vvith the Greeke vvhich doth euidently signifie mingling and mixture as it is in the Latin as al the Greeke Church from the Apostles time hath vsed this vvord in this very case vvhereof vve novv speake of mingling vvater vvine in the chalice S. Iames and S. Basil in their Liturgies expresly testifying that Christ did so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as also S. Cyprian in the place alleaged S. Iustine in the end of his second apologie calling it of the same Greeke vvord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is according to Plutarche vvine mingled vvith vvater mixtus calix likevvise S. Ireneus in his fifth booke neere the beginning Conc. Constantinop 6. can 32. See the 6 general Councel most fully treating hereof and deducing it from the Apostles auncient fathers CHAP. 18. and interpreting this Greeke vvord by an other equiualent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and more plaine to signifie this mixture 23 Thus thē the Greeke is neither drawing of vvine nor povvring out thereof as they trāslate but mingling but the Hebrue perhaps signifieth both or at the least one of the tvvo either to dravv or to povver out Gentle reader if thou haue skill looke the Hebrue Lexicon of Pagnine esteemed the best if thou haue not skil aske 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and thou shalt vnderstand that there is no such signification of this vvord in al the bible but that it signifieth only mixture mingling A strange case that to auoide this mingling of the cuppe being a most certaine tradition of the Apostles they haue inuented tvvo other significations of this Hebrue vvord vvhich it neuer had before CHAP. XVIII Heretical translation against the honour of SAINCTS namely of our B. LADIE 1 LET vs passe from Gods holy Sacraments to his honorable Saincts in heauen and vve shal finde that these translations plucke from them also as much honour as they may In the Psalme 138 vvhere the Catholike Church al antiquitie readeth thus Psal 138. Nimis honorati sunt amici tui Deus c. Thy frendes ô God are become exceding honorable their princedom is excedingly strengthened vvhich verse is sung and said in the honour of the holy Apostles agreably to that in an other Psalme Ps 44. Constitues eos principes super omnem terram Thou shalt appoint them Princes ouer al the earth vvhat meane they in al their English Bibles to alter it thus Hovv deere are thy counsels or thoughtes to me ô God ô hovv great is the summe of them Doth not the Hebrue make more for the old receiued Latin translation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then for theirs because the Hebrue vvord is vsed more cōmonly for to signifie frendes then cogitations doth not S. Hierom so translate in his translation of the Psalmes according to the Hebrue doth not the great Rabbine R. Salomon Doth not the Greeke put it out of doubt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vvhich is altogether according to the said auncient Latin translation 2 And you my Maisters that translate othervvise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I beseeche you is it in Hebrue Hovv great is the summe of them not rather word for vvord most plainely hovv are the heads of them strengthened or their princedoms as in the Greeke also it is most manifest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vvhy do you then hunt after nouelties and forsake the troden pathe of the auncient and passe the boundes vvhich our holy forefathers haue set and appointed preferring your ovvne singularities and nevv deuises euen there vvhere you can not iustly pretend either the Hebrue or Greeke Epito Thesau Pagn an 1570. in radice Vvhen the Hebrue Lexicon hath giuen the common interpretation of this place and then saith Quidam exponunt Some expound it otherwise vvhy had you rather be of that lesser some that expound othervvise then of the great societie of al auncient interpreters 3 But this nevv fangled singulatitie of teaching and translating
the Septuaginta as false because it differeth froÌ„ the Hebrue Their perplexitie in defending both the hebrue text of the old Testament and Greeke text of the new Vvhich being reiected therevpon it folovveth againe that wheresoeuer those places so disagreing from the Hebrue are cited by Christ or the Euangelistes Apostles there also they must be reiected because they disagree from the Hebrue and so yet againe it folovveth that the Greeke text of the nevv Testament is not true because it is not according to the Hebrue verÃtie and consequently the wordes of our Sauiour and vvritings of hÃs Apostles must be reformed to say the lest because they speake according to the Septuaginta and not according to the Hebrue 21 Al which must needes folow if this be a good consequeÌ„ce I finde it not in Moyses nor in the Hebrue therfore I strooke it out as Beza doth and saith concerning the foresaid vvordes Qui fuit Cainan This consequence therfore let vs see hovv they vvil iustifie and vvithal let them tel vs vvhether they vvil discredite the nevv Testament because of the Septuaginta or credite the Septuaginta because of the nevv TestameÌ„t or hovv they caÌ„ credite one discredite the other vvhere both agree consent together or vvhether they vvil discredite both for credite of the Hebrue or rather whether there be not some other way to reconcile both Hebrue and Greeke better then Bezas impudent presumption Vvhich if they vvil not mainteine let them flatly confesse that he did vvickedly and not as they doe defend euery vvord and deede of their Maisters be it neuer so heinous or salue it at the least Hovv the fathers reconcile the said Hebrue and Greeke 22 Alas hovv far are these men from the modestie of the auncient fathers vvho seeke al other meanes to resolue difficulties rather then to doe violence to the sacred Scripture and vvhen they finde no vvay Li. 18. de Ciuit c. 43. 2 Lib. de Doct. Chr. c. 15. they leaue it to God S. Augustine concerning the difference of the Hebrue and the Greeke saith often to this effect that it pleased the holy Ghost to vtter by the one that vvhich he vvould not vtter by the other And S. Ambrose thus Hexam li. 3. cap. 6. Vve haue found many things not idly added of the 70 Greeke interpreters S. Hierom though an earnest patrone of the Hebrue not vvithout cause In Prooem li. Paralip being at that time perhaps the Hebrue veritie in deede yet giueth many reasons for the differences of the Septuaginta and concerning the foresaid places of S. Luke he doth giue a reason thereof CoÌ„ment in 28. Esa and in quaestion Hebrai both for the 70 and for the Euangelist that folovved them neither doubting of the truth thereof nor controuling them by the authoritie of Moyses as Beza speaketh that is by the Hebrue Others say concerning Cainan that Moyses might leaue him out in the Genealogie of Sem by the instinct of the same Spirit Mat. c. 1. that S. Matthevv left out three kings in the genealogie of our Sauiour Vvhere if a man vvould controule the Euangelist by the Hebrue of the old Testament that is read in the bookes of the kings he should be as vvise and as honest a man as Beza Praef. in Act. Apost Lastly Venerable Bede thinketh it sufficient in this very difficultie of Cainan to maruel at it reuerently rather then to searche it dangerously And thus far of picking quarels to the original text and their good vvil to alter and change it as they list if they might be suffered The 5. abuse of Scriptures Corrupt translation vvhich is the argumeÌ„t and purpose of this booke 23 Vvhich also may be proued by al their false translatÃons being the principal point I meane to speake of most euidently For as novv they translate falsely to their purpose because they can not alter the text so vvould they if it vvere possible haue the text agreable to their translation For example he that translateth ordinances vvhen it is in the original Greeke text iustifications and traditions he vvould rather that it vvere ordinances also in the Greeke but because he cannot bring that about he doth at the least vvhat he can to make the ignorant beleeue it is so by so translating it 24 And this of al other is the most fine and subtil treacherie against the Scriptures to deceiue the ignorant readers vvithal 2 Cor. 4. vvhich S. Paul calleth the secrete things of dishonestie and adulterating of the vvord of God as it vvere mingling vvater vvith vvine like false vinteners vvhen they giue them for Gods vvord vnder the name of Gods word their ovvne vvordes and not Gods forged and framed altered and changed according to differences of times and varietie of nevv opinions and diuersitie of humors and spirits diuersely and differently one Heretike not only correcting his fellovv euery day The Heretikes dissension about their translations but one egrely refuting and resolâ—ing an other * Dial. cont Melancth Lind. dubit pag. 84 96.98 Bucer and the Osiandrians and c See Zuingl resp 1. and Confess Tigurinorum Sacramentaries against Luther for false translations Luther against Munster Beza against Castaleo Castaleo against Beza Caluin against Seruetus Illyricus both against Caluin and Beza The Puritanes coÌ„troule the grosser Caluinistes of our Countrie yea the later translations of the self same Heretikes controule the former excedingly not only of ouersights but of vvilful falsifications as it is notorious in the * ibid. pag. 83.97 later editions of Luther and Beza and in our English Bibles set forth in diuers yeres from Tindal their first translatour vntil this day The nevv Test of the yere 1580. yea vvhich is more the English traÌ„slatours of Bezas nevv Testament controule him and his translation vvhich they protest to folovv * Luc. 3 36. being afraid sometime and ashamed to expresse in English his false translations in the Latin 25 But in this Catalogue of dissentions falsifiers and disagreing translatours Act. 1 14 2 23. Act. 3 21. I vvil not greatly rippe vp old faultes neither abrode nor at home I leaue Luthers false translations into the German tongue The GermaÌ„ Frenche and English corruptions of the nevv Testament to the credite of Staphylus Apolog. part 2. and Emserus praef Annot. in no. Test Luth. and other German vvriters of his ovvne time that savv them and readde them and reckened the nuÌ„ber of them in the nevv TestameÌ„t only about * See Lind. Dubit p. 84 85 c. 1400 heretical corruptions I leaue Caluins and Bezas frenche corruptions to so many vvorthie men as * Vigor and the rest haue noted them in their freÌ„che bookes against the said heretikes Tindals and his companions corruptioÌ„s in their first English bible to our learned couÌ„triemen of that age namely to the right Reuerend Father and Confessor Bishop Tonstal