Two Treatises Against the Papists, Book 1 · Chapter 4
That the manyfolde vvorkes and fructes of penaunce, vvhichwhich all godly men hauehave charged them selues vvith all, for their ovvne sinnes remitted, vvere in respect of Purgatory paines, and for the auoiding of Gods iudgement temporall as vvell as eternall in the next life.CAP. IIII.
1 THere be of the Epicures of our time, that seeing the vsuall practise of penaunce not onelyonly by the Churches prescription, but also by mans owne voluntary acceptation,Melancth. openly to tende towardes the trueth and proofe of Purgatory, hauehave boldely improued (not withstanding the expresse counsell of the Apostle, where he willeth vsus to iudge our selues) all chastisement of our bodies, as vnnaturall torments to the iniury of our owne person, and the excellencie of our nature.
CAP. IIII.
1 THat a detestable error may be defended with a shamelesse lye, he beginneth this chapter with a deuilish sclaunder. He reporteth that Melancthon (but sheweth no place where, lest his impudent lye might be euidently reproued) doth boldely improue all chastisement of our bodies as vnnaturall torments, to the iniury of our person, and the excellencye of our natu…e, and in a maner he is as bold with S. Paule whose expresse counsayle, he sayth is, that men should chastise their bodyes, where he willeth to iudge them selues. As though it were all one, for men to iudge them selues, and to chastise their bodies. In deede else where S. Paule cōmaundeth, and by his example commendeth christian chastisement of mens bodyes, by abstinence and fasting, and that not for feare of purgatory, but for daunger of eternal damnation. This doe I (sayth he) for the Gospells sake, that I may be made partaker of it, and agayne I chastise my body and bring it in subiection, lest while I preach to others, I my selfe should become a castaway. 1. Cor. 9. So that all godly men did not chastise their bodyes in respect of the auoyding of the temporall paynes of purgatory, as M. Allen affirmeth in the title of this chapter, but contrariwise all godly men that followed S. Paules doctrine and example, had also the same respect that he had. But to returne to Melancthon, it may be that in some place of his writinges, he improueth the immoderate exercise of bodily chastisement, by which some hauehave killed them selues, some made them selues leapers, some made them selues vnable to execute the office of ecclesiasticall administration, whereunto they were called by God. But in these cases he hath S. Paule for his warraunt, who forbiddeth Timothe the drinking of water, and willeth him to vse a litle wine, because of his stomacke and his often infirmities, assuring him that such bodily exercise profiteth but a litle. 1. Tim. 4. & 5. But that Melancthon improueth all godly chastisement of mens bodies, and for godly purposes, it will neuer be proued vntill M. Allen hauehave brought purgatory with all men in as great credit as euer it was with any man.
2 Against these corruptors of Christian condicions & vertuous life, though the examples of all faithful worshippers of God sence the worlde beganne, do clearely stande, yet the notable history of the Prophet Dauids repaire after his heuy faule because it hath an especiall warrant of his pardon, a plaine processe in penaunce, a goodly platte of due handeling the sores of our sinns after they be remitted, and conteineth a manifest feare of Purgatory, shall best serue our turne.
This Prophet then, though he was assured of his pardon, and afterwarde (as I saide before) by Gods owne hande punished, yet crieth out with abundant teares. Amplius laua me ab iniquitate mea, Psal. 50.& a peccatis meis munda me. More and more washe me from my iniquitie, and of my sinnes purge me cleane. Dauid offended (sayth S. Ambrose) as kinges commonly do, Cap. 4. apol. Dauid.but he did penaunce, he wept, he groned, as kinges lightly do not: he confessed his fault, he asked mercy, and throwing him selfe vponupon the harde grounde, bewailed his misery, fasted, praide, and so protested his sorow, that he left the testimony of his confessiō to all the world to come. VVhat moued this blessed man, by Gods owne mouth pardoned of his sinnes, so to torment him selfe? That happy awe and deepe feare of Gods iudgement in the next world, which the cursed security of this sweete poisoned doctrine of our dayes hath now taken awaye, euen that necessary feare of the thinges that might faule vntounto him in the next life, caussed this holy prince and prophet so to vexe and molest him selfe. It was hell, it was Purgatory that this penitent did beholde: either of which he knew his sinnes did well deserue. S. Augustine shall beare me witnesse, in wordes worthy of all memory. Yea the Prophets owne wordes vttered in a bitter prayer and a Psalme full of sorow, shall beare me witnesse: thus sayth S. Augustine. Haec iste grauiora formidans, excepta vita ista in cuius malis plangit & gemit, In Psal. 37.rogat & dicit: Domine ne in surore tuo arguas me, neque in ira tua corripias me: Non sum inter illos quibus dicturus es: ite in ignem aeternum qui praeparatus est diabolo & angelis eius: Neque in ira tua emendes me, vt in hac vita me purges, & ralem me reddas cui emendatorio igne opus nō sit. This man, besides the miseries of this life in which he was when he thus houleth & wepeth, further maketh sute and sayth, O Lorde rebuke me not in thy furie, let me not be one of them to whome thou shalt saye, awaye from me in to fier perpetuall, which is prouided for the Deuill and his aungels. Neither yet correct me in thy wrath, but so purge me in my life time and wholy frame me, that at length I may hauehave no neede of the Amē ding fier. So farre speaketh this doctor. By whome we may learne that Dauid after sharpe punishment taken first at Gods hande, and then in the middest of many miseries of this mortall life, did yet before hande beholde the horrible iudgements in the next worlde: the one for the damned soules and spirites, the other for the amendement of such as God loued and shall be saued: in the earnest memoriall of which assured paines, and for the auoiding thereof, he so afflicted him selfe as is before saide.
His heart was in heuines, his soule in sorow, his flesh in feare, and in his bones there was no rest before the face of his sinnes. Thinke you here a protestāt preacher with a mery mouth in Nathans steade, could hauehave driuen him from this course of penaūce, dissuaded him from the feare of Purgatory, eased him with only faith, & set him in securitie & perfect freedom from his offenses past? No no, Musica in luctu importuna narratio. Ecclesi. 22.Mirthe in mourning is euer out of season. Flagella & doctrina in omni tempore sapiētia. But roddes & discipline be alwayes wisedom. These delicate teachers had neuer roume but where sinne bare great rule. And it is no small licklyhood of Gods exceding wrath towardes vsus in these daies, that such soft phisitiōs please vsus in so dāgerous diseases. It was not the doctrine of this time that healed Nabuchodonosor: but this was his plaster.Daniel. 4. Peccata tua eleemosy nis redime, & iniquitates tuas misericordijs pauperū. Redeme thy sinns by almes, & thy iniquities, by mercy towards the poore. It was exceding fasting and many sorowfull sobbes, that bare of Gods hande from the Niniuites, It was the painefull workes of penaunce that Iohn the Baptist first preached. This was Paules rule, that if we would punish or iudge our selues, then would not God iudge vsus. In to whose handes it is a heuy case to faule. Horrendum est (sayth he) incidere in manus Dei viuentis. 1 Cor. 11. Haeb. 10. In cant. 55. Sermo.For he shall call to accompt and reckoning (as S. Bernarde supposeth) euen the very actes of the iuste, if they be not well and throughly iudged, and corrected to his handes:
The vndoubted knowledge of which strait accompt, moued our forefathers to require such earnest afflictions of the people, for satisfying for their sinnes.
2 Now let vsus heare what this bragger bringeth to proue that all godly men hauehave chastised their bodyes for feare of purgatory. First Dauid in the 51. Psalme, prayeth God to wash him throughly from his iniquitie, &c. ergo he was afrayd of purgatory. I might iustly refuse to aunswere this argument, lest I should deferre any thing vntounto it. But let Ambrose aunswere by M. Allen him selfe alleged. He so protested his harty repentaunce, that he left a testimony thereof to all the world to come. But because S. Ambrose is alleged, rather for the glorie of his name, then for the helpe of his authoritie in this place S. Augustine is annexed to supplie that wanted in S. Ambrose. But that you maie see what patching this proctor of Purgatory vseth of the doctors sentences, he allegeth not Augustine vponupon the very wordes of the 51. Psalme, which make nothing for his purpose, but vponupon an other Psalme, where the argument is nothing like. If Augustine coulde hauehave founde Purgatory out of Amplius laua me, he would hauehave vttered it there, where he expoundeth those wordes, whereby it appereth plainely that M. Allens argument standeth vponupon his owne inuention, and not vponupon Augustines authoritie. But yet Augustine speaketh of the amending fier in the place by him alledged. He doth so in deede: but I hauehave shewed before, and more will shew hereafter, that as Augustine had no ground of that fier, but in the cōmon error of his time, so sometimes he affirmeth that it is a matter, that may be doubted of sometimes that there is no third place at all. And that he hath no grounde of Scripture in that place of the 38. Psalme, is euident, because Dauid prayeth that God will not punish him in his fury, nor in his wrath, for when so euer he punisheth in his fury and plagueth in his wrath, they must needes perish eternally, he prayeth therefore, that that sicknes or other affliction; which God hath layd vponupon him, might be a mercifull chastisement of a father, and not a iust punishment of a iudge. But whereas the vnpure mouth of this. Allen is once agayne opened in rayling against the godly preachers of our Church as flatterers of men in daungerous diseases, I would he might heare the children of thunder, inueying with mighty power of Gods spirite against sinne and wickednes, and calling men to true & vnfayned repentaunce, peraduenture he might be moued to cease his sclaundering for shame of the worlde, if he did not forethinke him of his wickednes for feare of God. But Nabuchodonizer had a sore corrosiue playster applyed to him, that healed him, and that was almes & mercy toward the poore. He might hauehave alleged many examples, and none lesse fitte to shew what paynfull penaunce, (as he termeth it) was enioyned by godly prophets. For it was the easiest that could be enioyned to so rich a prince, for so great offences, to be liberall to the poore. Although Dauid in that place, cited by him, speaketh of no redemption of sinnes, as that corrupt & false translation which he followeth, doth seeme to talke of. But Daniel willed Nabuchodoniser to breake of thaccostomed course of his cruelty and tyranny, by almes and liberality. The Niniuites in deede by fasting and lamenting, but most of all by turning from their wicked wayes, shewed their harty repentaunce: and Iohn Baptist requireth the fruites of repentaunce, and what godly preacher doth not so? but where did Nathan, Daniel, Ionas, Iohn Baptist speake one word of purgatory? or of satisfying the iustice of God for their sinnes by such meanes.
3 And here gentle reader geue me leaue, though I be the longer, to geue thee a litle tast of the old doctors dealinges in the sinners case, that thou maist compare our late handeling of these matters, with their doinges: and so learne to loth these light marchauntes, that in so greuous plages deale so tenderly with our sores. And yet I intend not so to roue, but that the very course of our talke wel noted, shal be the necessary inducing of that trueth which we now defende concerning Purgatory. Especially if it be considered, that in all prescription of penaunce by the antiquity, the paine of satisfying was euer limited by the variety of the offense. And then that the very cause of all paine enioyned, was for the auoyding of Gods iudgemēt in the life to come. First auncient. Origen writeth thus. Beholde our mercifull Lorde ioyning alwaies clemencie with seueritie, Homil. 3. in lib. Iud.and weying the iust meane of our punishment in mercifull and rightuous balance. He geueth not the offenders ouer for euer: therefore consider how long thou hast strayed and continued in sinne, so long abase and humble thy selfe before God, and so satisfie him in Confession of penaunce. For if thou amende the matter and take punishment of thy selfe, then God is pitifull, & will remoue his reuengement from him, that by penaunce preuented his iudgement. Thus we see this father so to measure the paine and punishment of sinners, that he maketh his principall respect the auoyding of the sharpe sentence to come.
S. Cyprian the blessed martyr, noteth certeine conuersies in his dayes, who thought they had much wronge to be further burdened with penaunce for their fall, more thē the returne to God, againe he toucheth the maners of our time very neare, his words sounding thus: Before their sinnes fully purged, before the confession of their faulte made, Sermon de Lap…is.before their consciencies by the priest and sacrifice be cleansed, before the ire and indignation of God be pacified and past, they thinke all is well and make boast thereof. But he instructeth them in the same place better, as followeth: Confesse your selues brethren whilest ye are in this life, and whilest the remission and satisfaction by the priestes apointement is acceptable. Let vsus turne vntounto God with all our hartes expressing the penaūce for our sinnes, by singular griefe and sorow: let vsus call for mercy, let vsus prostrate our selues before God, let our heuinesse of hearte satisfie him, let vsus with fasting weeping and howling, appeace his wrath. Whome, for that he is our louing father, we acknowledge to be mercifull: and yet because he beareth the maiestie of a iudge, he is for iustice much to be feared. To a deepe and a greuous wounde a long and sharpe sauluing must be accepted. Exceding earnestly thou must pray: thou must passe ouer the remnaunt of thy time with lamentable complaintes, thou must for thy soft bedde take harde earth and ashes, and romble thy selfe in sackecloth, for the losse of Christes vesture refuse all apparell, after the receite of the Deuils food, chuese earnest fasting: and by diligent applying thy selfe to good workes and almes deedes, purge thy sinne and deliuer thy soule from death.
3 Here he asketh leaue of the Reader to be somwhat long in rehearsing the opinions of diuerse doctors, to confirme his former falshod, but he should rather hauehave asked leaue of the doctors them selues, to belye them so beastly, & to racke their sayings so violently farre from their purpose and meanings. And to beginne with Origen, what doth he in that place by him alleged? but exhort men vntounto harty and earnest repentaunce, by humbling them selues before God, and acknowledging their sinnes, which holy Scripture testifieth to be the way to preuent the wrath of God. And what his iudgement was concerning satisfaction for sinnes, he declareth sufficiently in his 3. booke vponupon the Epist. to the Rom. cap. 3. where often times he repeateth, that a man is iustified before God by faith onelyonly, affirming that in forgeuenes of sinnes, God respecteth no workes but faith onelyonly, as he proueth by the parable that our Sauiour vsed vntounto Simon the Pharise. Luke 7. and aunswereth also those obiections, which euen the Papistes at this day, make against vsus for teaching that faith only doth iustifie vsus in the sight of God. S. Cyprian (as I hauehave sufficiently shewed before) calleth such as had fallen in time of persecution from the profession of christianity, to harty repentaunce, and to testifie the same, by submitting them selues humbly, vntounto the discipline of the Church. But it is straunge to see, how vnconsideratly M. Allen allegeth his places, that oftentimes they conteine more playne matter against him, then apparant profe by violent wrasting can be wrōg out from them. I maruaile M. Allen either seeth not him selfe, or thinketh that other men can not espye, that Cyprian exhorteth men to confession of their offences in this life, where onelyonly satisfaction and remission made by the Priestes is acceptable vntounto the Lord. If men can not satisfie, nor Priest remit, but whilest men are in this life, then farewell satisfaction for the dead and purgatory.
Cap. 3. & 4. de poeuitē tiae medicina.4 So doth S. Augustine correct the error of such, as thinke the chaunge of life with out all cogitatiō or care of their offenses past, to be sufficient for mans perfect repaire and reconciliation to our Lorde againe. It is not sufficient (sayth he) to amende our maners and turne backe from, our mi…dedes, vnlesse we satisfie before God for them which we hauehave already committed, by dolour of penaūce, by humble sighes & grones, & by ye sacrifice of a cōtrite harte working with almes dedes.
And in this sense againe he vttoreth this comfortable rule. Sed neque de ipsis criminibus quamlibet magnis remittendis in Ecclesia, Ench. 65.Dei desperanda est misericordia, agentibus poenitentiam secundum modum sui cuiusque peccati. But we may not despaire of Gods mercy for the remission of sinnes in the Church, be they neuer so greuoi… ▪ I meane to all such as will do penaunce according to the quātity of their fault. So S. Ambrose writing to a religious woman that had broken her vowe of chastity (which in those dayes was reckened one ef the most deadly and greuous crimes that coulde be) warneth her thus. Grandi plagae alta & prolixa opus est medicina: grande scelus grandem necessariam habet satisfactionem. A greuous hurt must hauehave a deepe & long sauluing, a heinous offense requireth maruelous much satisfaction.This sinne is better boulstred novv a daies. Yea & as I take his words, he plainely admonisheth her, that she shall hauehave much a doe to satisfie fully for her sinne during her life: & therefore he seemeth to will her, not to looke for full remedy and release before she feele Gods iudgement. VVhichWhich he meaneth not by the generall day, but the particular accompt which followeth streight vpō mans death. But that I deceiue no man wittingly I wil report his owne wordes. Inhaere poenitētiae vsque ad extremum vitae, Cap. 8. ad virg. laps.nec tibi praesumas ab humano die posse veniā dari: quia decipit te qui hoc tibi polliceri voluerit: quae enim proprie in dominū peccasti, ab illo solo in die iudicij cōuenit expectare remediū. Cōtinue in penaunce to the last day thou hast to liue, and presume not ouer boldly of pardō to be obteined in mans day: for who so euer promiseth thee so, he deceiueth thee: for thou that hast offended directly against God him selfe, must at Gods hande onelyonly in the day of iudgement trust of mercy. If he meane by the last Iudgemēt, then the author supposeth that such horrible incest shall be punished till the day of the general resurrectiō, in purgatory: for after that day as Augustin affirmeth, there shal be no more any of the elect in paine. He meaneth thē surely nothing els,De ciuitate Dei cap. 13. lib. 21. but that there cā be no penaunce aunswerable fully in this life to so greuous a crime, and that the Church ordinarely pardoneth not the sinnes, which be not by some proportion of paine and punishment recompensed. And this is ordinary, though by the supreme power giuen to Gods ministers for the gouernement of the Church, the offender may in this case or the like, if his competent dolour of hearte and ze…e so require, wholy be acquieted through the merites of Christes death, and the happy fellowship of sainctes, in the communion of the common body: where the lacke of one membre is abundantly supplied by the residue. Mary it is a …arde matter to be so qualified, that a man may not be vnworthy of so singular a grace and vnestimable benefit. Therefore this prerogatiue perteining not to very many, excepted, for the residue that by the ordinary Sacrament be raised vp from their fall, eueryevery one must endeuour to do penaunce more or lesse, according to the quantity and circumstancies of the crime committed: so S. Augustine saide before, so doth S. Ambrose meane now, geuing this woman warning that her faulte was so horrible, that the penaunce done in this life coulde not properly and exactly make recompense therefore, and yet after punishment tolerated at Gods apointement in the next life, he doubteth not to assure her of pardon at the length, and release of all paine. Thus was sinne handeled in those dayes. And why it was so painefully riped vp to the very bottome, you see. Compare our dayes and dealing to theirs, and thou shalt wonder to see the diuersitie betwixt their maners, and ours: and to see the phisicions worke so diuersly, where the diseases be all one.
4 Now followeth the authority of S. Augustine, both right and counterfet, the counterfet Augustine, that writ the worke de poenitentia, &c. I vouchsafe not to aunswere, because I weigh not the authoritie, but detest the impudency of him that had patched vp such a peece a worke, to father vponupon S. Augustine, as no man of lesse learning then Augustine was, would abide to goe vnderunder his owne name. The other place in his Enchiridion sufficiently expoundeth it selfe, that it speaketh of remission of sinnes in the Church, which according to the discipline of that tyme, required satisfaction according to the quantity and quality of the offence. The wordes of S. Ambrose import none other thing, but that an heynous offence must be earnestly bewayled, if repentaunce be not counterfeted. And where as M. Allen is in a pecke of troubles, betwene that which he supposeth to be the opinion of Ambrose, and that which he allegeth out of Augustine, to proue that the paynes of purgatory shall not continue after the resurrection, it is not all worth the paynes he taketh about it. For that the sayd fallen virgine, shoulde not thinke she had bene penitent enough, if she obtayned absolution in the iudgement of men, he assureth her as Cyprian in his sermon de lapsis, doth the fallen men of his tyme, that forgeuenes of sinnes is proper vntounto God onelyonly, and followeth not of necessity the sentence of men, but the sentence of men ought to follow the iudgement of God. And those wordes, in die iudicij, about the meaning whereof, M. Allen vexeth him selfe, are to be vnderstoode by the opposite ab humano die, for thereby it is manifest, that the iudgement of God is set against ye iudgement of men. And that is the phrase of the scripture which S. Ambrose followeth, as when S. Paule sayth of the Corinthian, that his soule may be salfe in the day of the Lord Iesus Christ, he meaneth not that he should be punished in purgatory, though he repent vntounto ye generall day of iudgement, but as S. Peter Act. 3. affirmeth, that our sinnes are forgeuen against the comming of Christ to iudgement, signifying that then the full fruite of forgeuenes of sinnes shall appeare, when we shall thereby be discharged in the iudgement of God. But what S. Ambrose thinketh of that kinde of satisfaction, whereof M. Allen speaketh, is playne by those wordes which he vttereth of Peter in his exposition of S. Luke lib. 10. cap. 2. Lachrymas eius lego, satisfactionem non lego. I read of his teares, I read not of his satisfaction. But vntounto the other kinde of satisfaction, whereby the church is satisfied, our Sauiour Christ driueth Peter, when he causeth him to blot out the memory of his treble deniall, with a treble confession of his louelove: As Augustine also acknowledgeth: but if purgatory be so necessary to satisfie Gods iustice by temporall paynes of sinners, according to the tyme, &c. and purgatory shall cease at the day of iudgement, as you affirme out of Augustine, howe shall the same be satisfied in such as dye immediatly before the daye of iudgement, so that they hauehave not had tyme enough, there to be sufficiently purged, the like may be demaunded, of all them which in a moment shalbe chaunged from mortality to immortalitye, at the very comming of Iesus Christ to iudgement. These questions M. Allen wil trouble your head to aunswere and retayne your former principles, more then that whereof you make your doubt, and your determination as vncertayne as your doubt: whyle you are so cumbred, on the one side to vpholde purgatory, vppon colour of satisfying Gods iustice, on the other side, to maintayne the Popes pardon, without satisfying of Gods iustice, so that how so euer you satisfie your selfe in your owne fantasie, I promise you no reasonable man can be satisfied by your doubtfull disputations, and vnstedfast conclusions.
5 I might here well to my purpose repeate the singular praises, that S. Hierome gaue vntounto noble Paula: who (as he writeth of her) with fountaines of teares,In epitaph. Paulae. exceding lauish almes, & pitifull fasting, washed away such veniall and small offenses, as other men woulde scarsely do much more greuous crimes. And to seeke for what ende this holy matrone vexed her selfe and tormented her body, it were in a maner needelesse▪ for being not gilty of any greuous sinnes, she coulde hauehave no great feare of hell paines: then it must needes be, that she tooke punishment of her selfe to preuent Gods temporal scourge in the life to come.
She well cōsidered (for it was the doctrine of that holy time) that eueryevery sinne be it neuer so small or common,Note. doth indebt the offender vntounto God: and therefore the iustest person that liueth (excepting Christ, and for his honour his mother) as S. Augustine sayth must confesse debte, and crie for pardon by our maisters prayer: Dimitte nobis debita nostra: forgiue vsus our debtes, the which, because they be debt, must either be pardoned by prayer, or paide by paine. And therefore being not here remitted, or not satisfied by worthy punishmēt in this life, they must of iustice be purged after our departure, according to the numbre of them and the negligence of the offender. And this faith of Purgatory and respect of Gods iudgements to come, feared the holyest persons that euer were in Gods church. This droue many a blessed man to perpetuall penaunce: this brought Hierom him selfe into the wildernesse of Syria, there to lament the lapse of his fraile youth, euer in expectation of this call: Exi foras Hieronime, Come out Hierom: this filled the desertes with many a noble Hermite, this raised vp the cloisters and all the holy houses of mourning and prayers in the whole worlde, and hath in all ages appeared both in the wordes and workes of all Christen people, as we shall better anone declare.
5. Here, because you hauehave no likely matter out of S. Ieronyme to serue your turne, yet to make a shewe of his name, you must repeat that, which is nothing like to your matter. Paula was penitent for her sinnes, with prayers, almes, and fasting, and all for feare of purgatory. So sayth M. Allen. But Ieronyme sayth not so, M. Allen is here all the credit of the matter, beleue him as you list. But if any man had rather beleue Chrysostome speaking of such kind of workes, as M. Allen and his fellowes, count to be the chiefe workes of penaunce, whether they serue for satisfaction for our sinnes vntounto God, let him consider what he writeth, in his treatise de compunctione cordis, lib. 2. Non requirit Deus ciliciorum pondus, neque concludi inter angustias cellulae, ne que in obscuris antris & tencbrosis sedere iubet: hoc solum est quod exposcatur à nobis, vt semper recordemur mala nostra, &c. God requireth not the burden of heauy garments, not to be shut vp with the streights of a litle cell, neither doth he commaund vsus to sit in obscure and darke dungeons or dennes: this onelyonly is that which is required of vsus, that we should alwayes remember our euill life, &c. you see therefore by Chrysostoms iudgement, that neither the satisfaction of Gods righteousnes, nor any obedience of Gods commaundement, hath banished the Heremites, closed vp the Anachorets, and cloyed the world with cloysterers, but the superstitious and slauish feare of purgatory, & the blasphemous presumptuous pride of mens merites. I passe ouer, as not proper to your matter, that for the honour of Christ, you except his mother, from confessing her selfe to be indebted to God, and not to be in the numbre of those, by whome the Lordes prayer is to be sayd. Such honor neither doth God allowe her, nor she arrogate vntounto her selfe, but acknowledgeth her owne basenesse, and ioyfully accepteth Gods saluation. It is greater honor to Christ, to be sauiour of his mother, then to hauehave such a mother, as had no neede of his saluation. He him selfe more then once, is reade to hauehave reproued her, wherein he had done her wrong, if she had committed no trespasse. Luke. 2. Iohn. 2.
6 But list you see how this doctrine of penaunce liked Caluine? The shrew saw that by graunting of this satisfaction for sinne and the profitable vsage thereof in this life, that it might argue of necessitie the residue of some paines in the next if it were here omitted or not ended. And therefore I pray you see how substantially he aunswereth and how like him selfe, Parumme mouent (sayth he) quae in veterum scriptis de satisfactione passim occurrunt, video enim eorum nonnullos, In institut.dicam simpliciter, omnes fere quorum libri extant, aut in hac parte lapsos esse, aut nimis aspere & dure loquutos. I make small accompt of that which I often finde concerning Satisfaction in the auncient writers, for I perceiue diuers of them, shall I be plaine with you? in a maner eueryevery one that euer wrote till this daye, in this point to hauehave bene fouly deceiued, or spoken more roughly then they shoulde hauehave done. Is not this a fellow a lone? whether thinke you now our English bragger craking all the doctors to be on his parte, or this man confessing plainely that they be all against him, and yet setting not a butten by them all, whether thinke you is more arrogant? I am sure Caluine dealeth here more sincerely, and the other more deceitfully. If craking had bene a maisterie in sommer games as lying is, our man might hauehave wone of all the worlde, two games at a clappe. But there is no remedy he must yelde to the learned that hauehave opened his impudencie. Therefore I leaue him, and take the benefit of this his maisters confession for further confirmatiō of my cause, doubting nothing but that most wise men, seeing by the aduersaries graunt all learned fathers to be on our side, will accept it either as a full proofe, or no small presumption of that trueth which we defend.
6 But list you heare, how this presumptuousse pratler, can not conclude his chapter which he began with lying vponupon Melancthon, but by slaundering of Caluine. He faineth that Caluine in the wordes by him rehersed, confesseth all the doctors to be against him, and yet setteth not a butten for them all. The best reproofe of this calumniation, shalbe to sende them that be desirous to know the trueth, vntounto the whole discourse of Caluine, vponupon satisfaction Insti. lib. 3. cap. 4 which who so list to doe, shall plainely see, whether Allen doth him not here open wrong. But because eueryevery man either can not for the lacke of the booke, or will not for want of good affections towardes Caluine, take so much paines, as to peruse his owne writing. I will aunswere in a worde or two.
After that Caluine hath most substantially proued, both by authority of holy Scripture, and also by consent of auncient doctors, that their is no satisfaction vntounto God for our sinnes, but onelyonly the death of Christ, he cōmeth at length, to speake of the worde of satisfaction, which sayth he, as it is often vsed in the olde writers, so sometime hardely, as improperly (that M. Allen calleth roughly) or if any of them hauehave erred about satisfaction, it were not reason, that their error shoulde preuaile against the open trueth. And cleerely to conuicte M. Allen, of a loude lye, where he sayth that Caluine confesseth all the doctors to be against him, his wordes follow immediatly after those rehersed by M. Allen: Sed non credam eos ipsos adeo fuisse rudes & imperitos, vt eo sensu illa scripserint, quo à nouis istis satisfactionariis legū tur. That is, how soeuer they hauehave either erred, or spoken vnproprely of satisfaction, yet I will not graunt, that the same men were so rude and ignoraunt, that they did wright those thinges, in that sense, in which they are read by these new satisfactionaries. Then doth he bring forth diuers testimonies both out of Chrysostome and Augustine to shew what their iudgement was of satisfaction agreable to the Scriptures by which must be expounded, what so euer they hauehave vttered that seemeth either erroneus or at the lest vnproprely spoken. As for that reuerend father M. Iewell whome this arrogant Louanist, calleth the English bragger, how well he hath answered his challendge, his owne learned labors, do more cleerely testifie vntounto the worlde, then that it can be blemished by this sycophants braynlesse babling.