Confutation of Monstrous and Horrible Heresies, Part 3
¶A plaine proofe that the darke and obſcure forme of writing which H. N. vſeth, is an euident note of the Spirite of errour and deceite.
THe greate obſcuritie & darkenes of ſpeache, which H. N. vſeth in al his workes, bewraieth his doctrine & ſpirite ſuficiētly, if we had no other matter to charge him withal. For the truth is ſimple and plaine. Ethnickes could by the light of nature, ſufficiently ſee into ſuch things. One of them touching that matter ſaith thus. Veritatis ſermo eſt ſimplex, & apertus, nec variis indiget explicationibus & ambagibus: ſed iniuſta cauſa, cum per ſe ſit morbida, neceſſario indiget aſtutis pharmacis. The truth (ſayth he) is ſimple and plaine, & needeth not varietie of windlaces, and fetchinges of matters about the buſhe: but an euill cauſe, in that it is ſicke and diſeaſed, hath neede to hauehave a cunning plaiſter conueied vntounto it. An other of them hath theſe woordes: Simplex ſententia eſt communis ac omnibus vſitata, nihil admodum profundi, & aſtuté cogitati habens, aut etiam aliud quid celans. That phraſe and forme of ſpeaking hath ſimplicitie in it, which is common, and vſed of al, hauing in it nothing craftily deuiſed, neither cloking ſome other thing then is profeſſed. I leaue it to the iudgemēt of eueryevery indifferent man, whether H. N. his ſtile were able to abide euen this toucheſtone geuen vsus of the Ethnicks to trie the trueth withal: for what ſtrange words hath he deuiſed, frō that the ſcripture vſeth, to expreſſe the ſame thing by? And how doth he after once he hath begon a thing, by continual winding in of words, drawe a man ſo far frō the place wher he was, that hardly can he get home againe. Moreouer how craftily doth he vſe the worde and name of Chriſt, & for all that meane no other thing thereby, then that eſtate of perfection, which himſelf hath deuiſed? ſo that if heathen men, hauing no other euidence then that whiche the light of nature doeth geue them: might bee permitted to paſſe vponupon him, hee woulde vndoubtedly bee founde guiltie euen by them, of falſe and corrupt doctrine. In the worde of God, which is a rule of all righteouſneſſe vntounto vsus, the borowed ſpeaches which bee moſt obſcure, be taken from matters vſuall, and commonly falling out in the life & affaires of men. For who knoweth not what the Lorde his meaning is, when he calleth himſelfe eyther away, a doore or a vine? And if al the ſimilitudes, parables, and borowed ſpeaches in the Scriptures bee examined they ſhalbe founde to hauehave bene drawen and deriued from ſuch matters, as the people then were well acquainted withall. This ſimplicitie & plainneſſe of the woorde: which is a rule to al them that are guided by that ſpirite, which ſpake in the ſame: is very plainly proued out of the Prouerbes of Solomon vnderunder the perſon of wiſedome:Prou. 8. Al the wordes of my mouth are righteous, there is no lewdenes nor frowardneſſe in them: they are al plaine to him that wil vnderſtand, & ſtreight to him that would finde knowlege. Auguſtine ad voluſianum.Which thing alſo is confirmed in the laſt verſe of the Prophet O ſea: wherevnto accordeth Auguſtine, Diuinitus viſum eſt, vt ſacra oracula ſimplici & perſpicuo exararentur dictionis genere, ne praetendere quiſquā poſſit, nihil a ſe in illis intelligi. It was thought good vntounto almighty God, that the Scriptures ſhoulde be penned in a ſimple and plaine kinde of ſpeache, leaſt any man might pretende that hee coulde vnderſtande nothing in them. And in the ſame place hee ſpeaketh yet more playnely, vntounto the ſame ende, in theſe woordes: Modus ipſe dicendi quo ſacra Scriptura contexitur, ea quae aperta ſunt, quaſi amicus Familiaris ſine fuco ad cor loquitur indoctorum atque doctorum, ea vero quae in myſteriis occultat, nec ipſe eloquio ſuperbo eregit, quo non audeat accedere mens tardiuſcula, & inerudita, quaſi paupet ad diuitem: ſed inuitat omnes humili ſermone, quos non ſolum manifeſta paſcat, ſed etiam ſecreta exerceat veritate, hoc in promptis, quod in reconditis habens: ſed ne apertè faſtiderentur, eadem rurſus operta deſiderantur, deſiderata quodāmomodo renouantur, renouata ſuauiter intimantur. Auguſtine affirmeth in theſe woordes, that the fourme of ſpeaking with the Scripture vſeth, euen in the parables and darkeſt places thereof, creepeth ſo lowe vppon the grounde, that not onelyonly an vnlearned man, but euen a dull heade may reache vntounto it. And touching the matter conteyned in thoſe parables and darke ſpeaches, hee affirmeth it to be no other, then that which is in plaine wordes deliuered, elſewhere in the Scripture: neither hath the holie Ghoſt any other meaning, in ſpeaking that darkely and in parables, which before was deliuered in plaine ſpeache (as hee ſaith) but to keepe contempt from the woorde, which through our corruption, continuall plainneſſe and familiaritie caſteth vppon it: and that we might ſo bring a newe and freſh deſire and appetite vntounto the ſame thing, which in an other forme commeth (as it were) a newe and freſhe vntounto vsus.
Now as for H N. hee is farre from this lowe ſtile, that creepeth in the moſt difficult matters vponupon the grounde: for when hee is the loweſt & moſt neere vntounto vsus, he is at the leaſt ſoaring in the middle region of the ayre, and verie often a man ſhall not meete with him, no not if hee were rapte into the thirde heauen: ſo myſticall is his meaning. Whereby we may eaſily ſee and perceiue, that H.N. is not guided and conducted with that ſpirite, who hath penned the Scriptures: in ſo playne and ſimple a ſtile as inuiteth euen the ſimpleſt ſort to reſort thither.
As H.N. doth imitate ancient Heretiks in Allegories: ſo doeth he likewiſe in his darke and ſtraunge forme of ſpelaking. Marcitae (a kinde of Heretikes, whō Auguſtine maketh mencion of, in his booke of hereſies, who affirmed themſelues to be perfect, and wherein H. N. is a faithfull follower of them denied the reſurrection of the bodie) did with a darke and ſtraunge ſtile, ſo aſtonie the ſimple people, that woondering at the matter becauſe it was aboue their capacitie: they yeelded vntounto it as vntounto an oracle lately come from heauen. Touching the ſtile which the firſt Authour thereof one Marcus vſed, thus I finde it written. Obſcuriſſime & quibuſdam verborum tanquā myſteriorum inuolucris vtens loquebatur de Deo vt ſtuperent audientes homines, Danaeus in Ang, de haere.potius quam intelligerent Hebreae quoque linguae fuit peritus, itaque vocabulis Hebraeis, & Graecis hominibus exoticis deliria ſua tegebat. He did ſpeake darkely, and vſed ſuch a wrapping kinde of woordes, that the hearers were rather aſtonied with the ſtrangenes of the words, then edified with any vnderſtanding they had of the meaning therof: and his hereſies and doating dreames, he couered with Hebrue & Greeke words among thē who were ignorāt of of theſe tongues. Who ſeeth not here the playne picture of H. N. both in the darkeneſſe of his writing, and in the making of al his miſteries, wc are coyned by a certain fooliſh & doting deriuation of names from the Hebrues? The Libertines likewiſe, had a picked kinde of ſpeache, which one thing, that worthie inſtrument in Chriſt his Church Maſter Caluine did ſo miſlike of, (as being an infallible note of iugling, and craftie conueying) that hee willeth al men to cut them of here at the firſt, & eyther to hauehave them leaue their pedlars Frenche ſpeaking playnely, and ſimply as the Scripture doeth: or elſe to let them talke vntounto themſelues as men not meete to hauehave any audience, among thoſe ſchollers, who hauehave bene trayned vp, in the playne and ſimple teaching of the Scriptures
FINIS