An Answer to Blasphemous Cavillations by an Anabaptist, Section 21
THE ADVERSARIE.
Their fourth argument,The twētie one section. Hath not the potter power ouer the clay euen of the same lompe to make one vessel vntounto honor ād an other vntounto di…honor of this they inferre that God hath ordeined and made som to saluation and som to destruction and damnation But for the more perfect vnderstanding of this place afore thow go any further reade the xviii chapter of leremie, and thows…alt perceaue this to be the meanīg. As the Potter hath the clay in his hand, so hath God all men in his power: and as the potter breaketh the vessell, wherin is found an incurable faulte, so God destroieth the man in whom there is found obstinate wickednes which can not be amended. It is not the meaning of this place that God without any iust cause doeth make any man to destruction. for as the Potter maketh no vessel to breake, yet not withstanding he may, but he will not lose both his clay and his labor, but onelyonly breaketh such as will not frame to be good, notwithstā ding he made them to be good. As euerie good artificer wold his work were good, so God created no man to lose him, but onelyonly loseth them which will not be good whom he created to be good: as the Lord saieth, I planted the a noble vyne ā … a good roote, whose sede is all faithfull.Rom. 9. how art thow then turned into bitter, vnfrutefull, and strange grapes? God wold all men were good, and that all men should be saued, forasmuch as he is good himself, and all that he maketh is good, But as the Potter maketh of the same clay, som vessels to serue at the table, som in the kitchen or in the priuey: so God hath som men to be in the bodie of Christ, as eies, eares, and hands, as Princes, Prophetes, Apostles, som to be as fete and other secrete partes as laborers, and other of the inferior sorte, for whom he hath not bes…towed so many and so excellent gyftes: yet mus…t thow vnderstand that it is not all one thing to be made to be broken, and to be made to vnhonestvses, Euerie vessel which is e…ill is broken, whether it be made to honest or dishonest vses: yea thogh it were made of gold. And as it appereth plainely in Ieremie where the Lord saieth so, thogh Conias the son of Ioacim King of I…da were the signet of my right hand, yet will I pluk him of. ād therafter this mā Conias …halbe lyke an image robbed and torne in peces: hath a mā any thi…g appointed for a more honest vse, the… his signet? yet seest thow that if it becom noght, it shall be broken & distroied. Againe euerie good vessell whether it be made to honest or di…honest vses it is kept and not broken. As…e the Potter and he shall answer the, ihat he will be lothe to break any vessell, but if any chance to be naught, he sheweth his power in breaking of it. Ask the husbond man, and he shall answere the that he planted no frute tre to be barren, but if it chance to be barren, he cutteth it doune, and plāteth an other in stede of it. Ask the Magistrate, ād be shall answer the, that it is not his will to kill any of his subiectes, for he wold that they were all good, but if any becom a theif and murtherer, he sheweth his power euē ouer him in killing him, Euen so saieth God, I will not the death of the sinner, but rather that he conuerte and liue, I will not that any man be euill, and therefor I forbyd all euil, but if any man contrarie to my commandement and will, of his own fre chose and mynd refufe the good which he might hauehave accepted, and doeth the euill which he might hauehave left vndone, then do I shewe my power ouer him, in that I ca…t him away like the shardes of a naughtie Pott which serue…h to no good vse.
ANSWER.
Why for the more perfect vnderstanding of Paules mynd, any man should rather read the wordes of Ieremie writrē in the xviii. chapter of his prophecie then the wordes written in xlviii. chapter of the Prophete Isaiah, I se no iust cause. for plaine it is that the Prophete Ieremi… in that place hath no respect to gods eternall Election. he disputeth not why God hath appointed in his eternall coū sell …om to lief, and some to death, but reteineth him self within the limites and boundes of the mater,The p… ce of … ren…. which the… he intreated. Which was to assure the Iewes that God wold eie… them from that same land, which to Abraham he had promised and had giuen to his posteritie, and yet wold he preserue the… to be a people such as he thoght good. This doctrin was strange, and to many incredible. for it appereth to repugne to gods promes, who had pronoūced that to Abraha…, ād his sede he wold giuegive yt lād for euer. Much trooble ad cōtradiction (as may be sene) did ye Prophet suffer for the teaching and affirming this former doctrine. And therefor it pleased the merciemercy and wisdom of God by dyuers meanes to strengthen and confirme him in the same. Amōgest wc this was one, Vt cōmanding hī to go downe to a potters house, he promised to speak wt him there. That is, to giuegive vntounto hī further knowledge and reuelatiō of his will, who when he cam, found the potter as is writē making a clay pott vponupon his rote… and turning whele. which Pot in his presence did break, but the Potter immediatly gathering vp the Pot sherdes, did fashion and for me it a new, and made it a nother vessell, euen as best pleased him: And thē came the worde of ye Lord vpō ye Prophete saing, may I not do vntounto you ô house of Israel, euen as this Potter doeth. Behold ye are in my hand, ô house of Israel… euen …as the clay …is in the hand of the Potter. By which fact sene, and wordes after heard, was the Prophet more confirmed in that, which before he had taught. To witt, that God for iust causes wold destroy ad break downe the estate and policie of that common welthe, and yet neuertheles wold repair and build it vp againe to such an estate, as best pleased his wisdome, as the sequele did declare, for that great multitude corrupt with sin, he hrak downe dispersing and scattering them amongest diuerse nations, and yet after he did collect, & gather them togither, and so made them a people of whome, the head of all iustice, Christ Iesus did spring.
But what hath this to do with the eternall election of God by the which he hath elected som to lief euerlastīg,To proue this may be adduced the 31. Chap. of Ieremie. whom our Apostle calleth vessels of merciemercy, and hath left others in their own corruption and perpetuall condemnation. And so I say because that Ieremie intreateth one thing, that is a temporall punishment and the mutatiō which shortly should folowe in Ierusalem, a…d the Apostle intreath an other as before is said, the one can be no exposition to the other. but rather the Apostle hath respect, or at least alludeth to the saing of Isaiah, which thus speaketh: Wo to be to him that striueth with his maker, the vessel of clay with the Potter of clay,Isaiah. 45 Shall the clay say to his potter: what makest thow: In which wordes (as before we hauehave more largely spoken) the Prophete, and the Apostle folowing his phrase, represseth the pryde of man, who compared to God is much more inferior to his maiestie, thē clay compared to the Potter. For God hath created and made man when he was not, which thing the Potter did not to the clay, of which he maketh the diuersitie of pottes. and therefor of right hath God more power ouer man, then hath the potter ouer clay. This I doubt not to be the mynd of the holie Gost, in bothe the places. In which similitude, is further to be considered, that as the Potter doeth no iniurie to the clay, what forme soeuer he giueth it (for the matter and substance of it,God doeth̄ Wrong to none of his creatures, how soeuer he maketh them. he doeth not change) so doeth not God wrong to the verey reprobate, whom he prepareth to be vessels of wrath. for that are they of nature. Where that ye say, that it is not the meaning of this place, that God without all iust causes doeth make anie man to destruction: none of vsus doeth hold the contrarie for we affirme that the causes of reprobation are most iust, but yet we say, that they are incomprehensible to man.
That ye giuegive to God no greater power nor none other will, then to your good artificer, consider with your self, how vndiscretely ye matche his eternal God heade (whose power is infinite, and whose determined will, no creature can resist) with creatures that be but impotent, vnwise, a…d oftē dissapointed of their purpose and will. Trew it is that no artificer, willingly, wold lose his clay ād labore, but is compelled to break those that be faultie. But this procedeth partly frome his ignorāce, who did not before know and se the fault which was in the mater, and partly of his impotencie, who can not, at his will otherwies, remedie the faultie vessell, but onelyonly by breaking the same. But dare ye, or will ye impute vponupon God those imperfections? so ve seme to do, for this ye write: So God created no man to lose him, but onelyonly loseth them, that wold not be good, whom he created to be good, as the lord saieth: I planted the a noble vyne.
The cheif end of mannes creation,Answer. we hauehave before declared to be the glorie of God, which if you can not se sh…ne in the iust condemnation of the reprobate, accuse your blīdnes. That God created the reprobate, to the day of destruction, Salomon affirmeth, as often before is said. But that he was created, to be good, that will not the wordes of the Prophete,Another place of Ieremy explained. wc ye adduce proue. for in yt place, there is no me…tio… made of creatio… but of plātatiō, wc is a th…g far differēt frome creatiō. The substance wc was before is plāted, yt by manuring, ād trauale of the plāter, it may be better, but creatiō importeth the being of the substāce, wc before was not. And so the Prophete in this place, wc ye alledge to proue that God created all men to be good, meaneth no such thīg, but onelyonly rebuketh the Israelites, who lōg after their creatiō were pla…ted by the hād of God a…d were cōtinualy watered by his Prophetes, ād yet did they bri…g furth no better frute. How that God wold all mē were good, ād also that al me should be saued, we shal God willīg after speak. How that God remaining good for euer, ma his creature fel frome his original goodnes, I hauehave before spokē, a…d therefor will not now trooble the reader wt the repetitio… of the same. In the differece wc ye make betwext the vessels wc ye potter mak…th, some to serue ye table and some ye kitchi…g, or priuie, of wc he breaketh none, but such as be faultie, ye vtterly dissagre frō the mīd ād plaine wordes of the holie Gost. for S. Paul calleth not the vesselles of honor, prīces, or prophetes, and Apostles, and the vessels of dishonour, the laborers ād inferior sort of mē, but the one he calleth ye vessels of merciemercy, ād the other he calleth ye vessels of wrath.What S. Paul meaneth by vessels of honor and dishonor. The one he feareth not to affirme to be prepared ād ordeined to destructiō, yt the seuere iudgemēt of God agaīst sinne may appere in thē: the other to be prepared to glorie, yt the riches of his merciemercy may be praised for euer. This plaine simplicitie will not the Apostle recāt, neither yet thereof (God assisting vsus) wil we be ashamed, how so euer ye raige ād blaspheme the veritie. And this I say that your differēce betwext honest ād vnhonest vessels, ād betwext those that shalbe brokē, ād not be broken, is altogether besides the purpose of the Apostle. And so of Conyas son of loacī ye cā proue no more but yt God wold depriue hī frome his kingdome, ād frome yt seat of Dauid, in wc vnworthelie he did reigne. If he was the reprobate, thē althogh he was kīg, yet was he the vessell of dishonor for these wordes, althogh he were ye signet in my right hād, are not spokē to declare yt in verey dede he was the signet in the hād of God, but are spokē agaīst the foolish presūptiō of hi…, a…d of the Iewes, wc liuig most wickedly, did yet neuertheles brag, ād boast that God could not leaue the seat of Dauid voide: but yt one of his sede must for euer sit on it. And this is euidēt, if the text be wel marked. for where he saieth althogh he were the signet, he sufficietly declareth, yt so he was not, ād so I say yt those wordes proue nothīg of yor purpose. for first must ye proue yt because he was a king, therefor he was a vessell of honor, in such sēse, as S. Paul speaketh. And secōdarely, ye must proue yt he was elected to the lief euerlasting because it is said, that albeit he were a signet, in ye right hād of God, yet should he be plucked of: w…e by plaine scriptures to do, will be more then hard for you, how so euer that ye brag, that ye will proue all your purpose by scriptures. Where ye sēd vsus to ask of ye potter, of ye husbād mā, ād of ye Magistrate, if any of thē wold willīgly break his vessell, plāte a tre to be barren, or kil any of his subiects, we send you, as befor to ask coūsel at the plaine scriptures whether …in God there is not a greater knowledge, greater power, ād a iustice more perfect althogh it be incōprehēsible to or dulsēses, thē yt their is in ye potter, husbōd mā, or Magistrate.
How that God wil not the death of the sinner, but rather that he may conuerte and liue, we shall shortlie God wilīg after speak. And therefor omitting that which indigestly you heape togither, I procede to that which foloweth.