An Answer to Blasphemous Cavillations by an Anabaptist, Section 42
THE ADVERSARIES.
An other proofbring you of that which is written. 2. Reg. 24. God moued Dauid to nombre Israell & Iuda. To which I answer,The 6. Argument. that which is write 1. Parali xi. Sathan stood vp against Israel & prouoked Dauid to nombre the people,The 42 section. I am certen that if it were not for this manifest scripture you wold attribute, the wicked prouocatiō of the deuil to God. but here we may see agreat light to vnderstād many other places of the scriptures, which seme…h to affirm God to be the author of any euill, for by these two places we may see that God is called to be the author of the thing which he suffered. as because he suffered the obstinat resisting of Pharao he is called the author thereof. So because he left Semei to the lewdnes of his owne mynd & suffered him to curse Dauid, God is called the author of his cursing, so the partriarkes being left of God did sell their brother, ād here now Dauid being left of God to nōbre the people by the prouocation of the deuil, whereūto he was no more moued by God, thē whē he killed Vrias. to this you say: that we do but flatter God, whē we do assigne any difference betwene his w…l & his permissiō or his sufferāce, for God permitteth nothing (say you) but that which he will, if ye mēt so that God permitteth nothing, but that which he will permits, I would them holde your saying true. But for as much as you declare you meaning to be this, that what so euer God permitteth, he willethe it absoutly this is an erron…ouse saying▪ for God permitteth & suffereth all the wickednes which is donne vponupon the earths: and will you say, that God willeth absolutly all such wickednes? God for bid the people of God should be so persuaded to beleue such abomination. I say you are the Prop…etes of the deuill, which teache such filthie doctrine, and ye say ye be the prophetes of God, nowe of necesitie one of vsus lieth, for if you be the Pr… phets of God, then I lie, and if you be the Prophetes of the deuill, they do ye lie, and if God will vsus to say the trueth, he will not that we lie, for then he should will two contraries, which is impossible, yet one of vsus doeth lie which must be by the permissiō and suffring of God, & not by his will. wherof it foloweth, that there is difference betwext the suffering and the will of God. The Lord was angry with the careles heathen, because when God was a little angry with the Israelites, they did their best to destroye them. Then suffered God the heathan thus to punish his people more greuously, thē he willed them to do. wherfor there must be difference betwene the will of God and his suffering. Obed the Prophet…reproued the Israelites because … afflicted Iuda more greuously then God wold they should hauehave donne▪ … must the Israeli…es hauehave donne this by the permission of God & n…. …his will. The prodigall sonne wasted all his goods riatously if you say that so was his fathers will,Luk … 15. i… should be a great absurditie, wherfor it must nedes folowe that the father suffered that which he willed not. The fa…her willed both his sōnes to go ād, labor in his vineyarde ye… not bo…h but one of them did his fathers will, so the father sufferred the other which wēt not, against his will. Thus we may see a great difference betwene the will and the permission of God. a notable saying we hauehave in the prophecie of Ieremi… against this error which teache…h …ha… sinne is cōmitted not onelyonly by the permission of God, but also against his will, they hauehave (saieth he) builded▪ Iere, 32.high places for Baal to vowe their sonnes & daughters vntounto Molo…h which I neuer commāded …hem, neither came it euer in my …hoght to make Iuda sinne with such abomination. Here we se that Iuda committed that which was contrarie to gods reueled will. for I neuer commanded thē (saieth he) and against his secrete w…ll for i… came neuer in my thoght (saiteh h…). Thē did they sinne by the permissiō of God against his wil. Thy wayes & thy, thoghtes broght the to …his saieth the Lord. If it was the lord…s secrete wil that the Israelites should sinne. and it was also the Israelites thoghtes & will to sinne, thē were they bothe of one mynd. And as he … out wardly by the word willeth thē not to do euil, so they out wardl…e did promise to kepe gods law & wourshipped him with their lippes. By … … semed that both in wardlie ād out wardly they were cōforme to God af…er your opinō. wherfor he oght not to hau… bene offēded with thē. I am ashamed to write the abominable absurditeis which may be gathered of your poisoned doctr…ne. The lord shall raise vp the spirit of the king of the Medes which hath alredie a desire to destroy Babilō by what meanes … the lord stirre him vp to do any thing which alredie is bent to do it▪ but by su… fering him.Iere. 51. And yet is the Lord called the doer therof. And …here for it is written. Let one decea…full offender com against ano…her, and one destr…yer … me against an other▪ for what neded God to moue the wickd …o do … kindly which being giuen ouer of God, do imagine nothing bu… w…ck…dnesand his master the deuill stepeth neuer,Esai. 21, but is alwayes with him te…pting him with euill thoghtes, and promoking him to perfourm his w…ck…d imaginations.
ANSWER.
The more nie ye draw to the end, the lesse ye proue your purpose, but the more ye vtter your malice ād venim. No iust caus se we,To the 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. why that ye place of the bookes of the kings shall be explained by that which is written in the chronicles in such sorte as you require,2. Reg. 24. to wit, that nothing be left to God in that greuous offence of Dauid except an ydle and onelyonly permission. for the holie Gost feareth not to say:2. pa. 21 The wrath of the Lord God was yet moued against Israell, and stirred vp Dauid against them, that he said go and nombre Israell and Iuda. Here plain it is that the eternall God who was angrie against Israell dad stirre or moue Dauid to nombre them, not by an ydle permission, as you alledge, but by such motiō, as nothing repugneth to his iustice. Where ye say, the other place explaineth this: for it affirmeth that the deuil stood vp against Israel, and prouoked Dauid to nomber Israell, I answer as the one place repugneth nothing to the other, so doeth it not explaine the other in such sēse, as ye adduce for it repugneth not to say, that God, man, ād the deuil work in one fact & actiō, as in the histories of Iob, Achab, Semei, and Pharao is manifest. God for iust causes giueth his commandement and power to sathan (as to his instrumēt) be he neuer so wicked, to do what in his eternal cousel, was before decreed, Sathan of a wicked and rebellious mynd chooseth such instrumentes, and vseth such meanes as God likwies hath appointed. Men in al wicked actions, of their fre and voluntarie. motion, do folow their corrupt, and wicked affections in declaring their pride, vanitie, malice, or crueltie, which wicked affections in so farre as they are wicked, we confesse that God will not: for he can will no iniquitie. but yet that his eternal, & almightie power shall be iudged so ydle, that it doeth nothing in such actions but onelyonly suffer, we can not admitte for such reasons as we hauehave before alledged, wher that we did examine the differēce betwext gods wil, and his permission.
You retein your old nature (and iustly I might say the nature of the deuill) most maliciously affirming vsus,To the 4. to say that what so euer God permitteth he willeth it absolute…, and so that absolutely he willeth all wickd…ces. Which saying as ye be neuer able to proue vponupon vsus, so do we cōfesse, it not onelyonly erroneous, but also so blasphemous, that who so euer dare pronounce or affirme the same, deserueth death. for we most constantly in word and writing affirme, absolutley God willeth no iniquitie. for all his workes in so far as they procede frome his wisedom: ād infinite goodnes are holie and iust, and therfor do we make God author of no sinne, which onelyonly procedeth frome the fountaines that be corrupted, that is, from the deuil and frome man, as in diuers places, most euidently we hauehave declared.
Because I do perceaue that greatly ye delyte in your prignāt wittes (I will not say foolish vanitie)To ye 5 I will recicite your hole wordes by the which ye wold seme to proue contrarietie in God, except that we wold grante a difference betwext gods will and his permission. I say saieth the author of your book to vsus, that ye are the Prophetes if the deuill, which teach such fil…hie doctrine and ye say, be the Prophetes of God. Now of necessitie one of vsus lieth. for if ye be the Prophe…es of God I lie. And if ye be the Prophetes of the deuil ye lie. And if God will vsus to say the trueth he will not that we lie, for then he should will two contraries which is impossible, yet one of vsus lie, which must be by permission and suffering of God and not by his will. whereof it folowe…h that there is difference betwext the suffering and the will of God.
It appereth that in this description of persons in which ye oppose your selues to vsus,answer. ye wold more declare what is your iudgement and opinion of vsus, and what ye wold that we should be estemed of others, then that ye greatly do trauale to proue any contrarietie in gods wil by the same. for his eternall wisedom seeth the meanes how that his commandement, and his will are not contrarious the one to the other: albeit that he command one thing, and yet for iust causes, will wicked men to do the contrary. which kinde of cōtrarietie, and repugnance doeth so blind your eyes, that you can not se how God cā cōmand all men to speak trueth, and yet for iust causes before sene and determined in his counsell, that he wil ye deuil, ād his slaues to delite in lies. Albeit I say that the apperance of this contrarietie blinde you, yet will not gods trueth cease of be trueth, neither will the libertie of his eternall Godhead, be broght into bondage to your corrupt iudgement. His commandement, and his will, do nether debate, nether fight betwext them selues: but do agree in all thinges, euen as do his merciemercy his iustice, his wisedom, and his power, albeit oftener it is, that his iustice doth punish such, as vponupon whom he hath determined to hauehave merciemercy. Euen so he commandeth men to obeye his commandementes, whom he not onelyonly foresaw, to be disobediēt, but for most iust causes willeth his glory to appere euen in their vnrighteousnes, & lies. And this he doth without all contrarietie in his godly will, to the full knowledge wherof albeit ye can not atteine, yet more profitable it were for you to be ignorant of such thinges, as God reserueth to be reueled in the time appointed in his eternall counsell, then thus without all reuerence, and feare to trouble your foolish braines, in deuising such absurdities, as may seme to oppugne gods eternall veritie, which in the ende w…l triumphe to your destruction▪ shame, and confusion, if obstinatly you procede as you hauehave begonne. For albeit that he loueth trueth, and hateth lies, and albeit that he commandeth man to speak the trueth, and forbiddeth man to beare fals witnes, yet feareth he not to giuegive a commandement to that wicked spirite, to go forth & to be a lieng spiritte, in the mouthes of all Achabes fals prophetes. Yea forther he gaue him power to worke that in the fals prophetes, which he forbiddeth all men to do. For he commandeth that no man shall deceaue an other, and yet giueth he power to the deuill to be a lieng spiritte in the mouthes of the fals prophetes, and to them he giueth power to deceaue Achab. If ye list to lay contraritie to the charge of God, prepare your winges, and with Nabuchadnezer of Babylon,Isa. 14 saye, we will passe vp to the heauens, and shall establish our seates aboue the sterres of God, we shall passe vp vpō the hight of the clowdes, and we shall be like to the most highest, yea if thus ye will call his secrete counsels to examination, and triall, ye must be iudges and superiors to him. Thus iustly I might illude ād skoffe y or reasōs, as vanities most vnworthie to be answered. But yet hauīg respecte to the simple, I wil gather your argument, and forme it as strongly as your selues can, and I will answere so much of the same, as ye think nable to be answered, your argument is this.
God can not will two contraries, but to speake the …,The aduersaries argument. Answer. ād to lie are contraries. Therfor he can not will them both. But he permitteth men to lie, and willeth them to speake the trueth. There is therfor a difference betwene the will, and the permission.
God can not will two cōtraries, True it is in him selfe, in one respecte, and for one purpose, he who is author of cōcord, can not will contrarietie: but in consideration of his creatures, for diuers respectes, and sundrie purposes, thīges be not cōtraries, the one to ye other, which to our iudgementes, hauehave apperance of contrarietie. If you be so wel sene in your artes, as some of you pretēd ye cā not but vnderstand this answere to be sufficiet, to dissolue what so euer ye hauehave vnreuerently collected. But yet to make it more sēsible to the simple, I say yt in this proposition, God can not wil two contraries, and in the conclusion which you make vponupon the same, you oght to hauehave made a distinction betwene those thinges wc God simply (or as ye spake before, absolutely) will, and betwene those thinges, which he will for a certein end and purpose, which doeth not appere in the external actiōs. For certen thinges there be (as in an other place I hauehave entreated) which God will, euen for them selues, such as be merciemercy, iustice, temperance chastitie, and all other vertues, which he wil, hauehave to shyne in his elect and please him in Christ Iesus his Sonne. And yet neuertheles he also will crueltie, iniustice, excesse, filthie life, blindnes, & induration to be in others, as iust punishmētes of their sinnes, and causes of their condēnation. The last (I say) will God to be in the reprobate, not for the wicked actes sake, which do euer displease his Maiestie, but for such endes as his wisedom hath appointed. Let this be explained by examples, some natural, and some takē frō gods scriptures. There is no mā (except he be of a most cruel nature) that considering the incōmodities of warre, and of battell, doeth will it, for the selfe. And yet a godly prince persewed by externall ennemies, doeth not onelyonly will his soldiours to fight, and to mainteine the warre, but also he prouoketh, he encourageth, and exhorteth his subiectes to the same. And why is it? because yt warre or battell pleaseth him in the self, or for the self? No, but because with out such trauaill, such danger, and hasard, his subiectes can not lyue in quietnes, and the estate of his commō wealth can not be preserued. The same may I say of godlie magistrates punishing murtherers, adulterers, and blasphemers wt death, and yet nether willing the death of any mā, neither yet deliting in the sheding of their blood. In these similitudes I grāt somwhat to be vnlike: for gods power is not subiect to such incōmodities vnwillingly, as be the powers of men. But yet these similitudes suffice to explaine the chief purpose, wc is yt man may will two contraries, for diuers respectes, without any contrarietie in him self. For peace, and warre are cōtraries, to kill, & to saue the life, are likewise cōtraries, and yet one man, euen at one time may will both the one, and the other, for diuers respectes, and diuers endes. He may will peace, for the cōfortable quietnes, and felicitie yt ther of springeth, and at the same instāt without all cōtrarietie in him self, he may wil warre, to withstād the furie of the ennemie, yt wold oppresse his subiectes. And may not these thinges, wc we perceaue to be in creatures, be in God in greater perfectiō, althogh we perceaue not the causes? Let vsus trie the answere, both by the examples of gods seruātes, and last by the exāple of God him self: Lot, no doubte did agree with gods wil in that he loued chastitie, sobrietie and temperāce, and hated filthie life riotous chere, and excesse. For the holy Gost boareth him this record, that he was pure, and cleane both in eares, and eyes. But what will had he when he did offer his two daughters to be defloured, and abused by those vilanous persons? was it cōtrarie to his formar will? Did he now beginne to delyte in that execrable filthines? assured I am he did not. But being oppressed with the present necessitie, reteining the same louelove, wil, and minde to chastitie, and honest conuersation, soght ye next remedie that to him appered able to hauehave staied the rage of that furious multitude (vponupon God I grāt falleth no such necessitie). But let the chief scope be obserued, and we shall vnderstand (that for diuers respectes) to will two thinges, wherof the one, is contrarie to the other, is not to will contrarietie. But let vsus come to God him self. God willeth mercy, iustice, & all other vertues as before we hauehave said, and these, he will at all times, and before all times. But is it not possible therfor, that he can will crueltie oppression, blood sheding, murther, and death? Who then sent Nabuchadnezer, to destroy not onelyonly the Iewes, but also the Moabites, and other nations? Who pronounced this sentence: Cursed be he that doeth the Lordes worke negligently, and he that withdraweth his swerd from blood?Zae. … Who did create the smithes, with their hammers to break downe the hornes which had dispersed Israel? And finally, who gaue his owne sonne to the cruell death? Who hath subiected the deare spouse of Christe Iesus to afflictions, and temporall calamities? Dare you denie, but that it was and is, the eternall God, by whose good will all these thinges were appointed: and decreed, or were any of them, done agaīst his almightie will? I think you wil not so affirme. For the scripture witnesseth, that God gaue his Sonne to the world, euē of determined purpose, that he should dye, orels who could hauehave compelled his Maiestie therunto, if his will had bene repugnant? Peter affirmeth that blessed are we that suffre for ye name of Christe, adding this comfortable sentēce: By them (yt is by the persecuters) is ye name of God blasphemed, but by you it is glorified.1. Pet. 1. And therfor, let such saith he, as be afflicted by ye will of God, lay doune their soules in well doīg, as in the handes of a faithfull keper.Rom. 8. Paul witnesseth yt those whom God hath elected in Christe Iesu, he hath also predestinate, and before appointed, to be like fashioned to the image of his owne Sonne. Of which testimonies, it is plaine that the greuous destruction, the aboundance of the bloodshed amōg diuers natiōs, the cruell death of Christ Iesus, and the most fearefull afflictions of his dearely beloued Church, did procede from gods will, in so much as he did not onelyonly suffer them, but also, for most iust causes, respectes, and endes, which often before I hauehave recited, he did will and appoint them: and yet in God was there no contrarietie. For in the destruction of Ierusalem, ād of others, he had not respect simply to the ruine, and vastatiō of those places, but to his iust iudgementes, which were prouoked to take vengeance vponupon the multitude of their sinnes, which lōg he had suffered. When our Master Christe Iesus did suffre, he had no delite in the crueltie of those enraged dogges, who did crucifie him, which as he hated, so after he did most seuerely punish: but his pleasure ād delite was in the redēption of man, which by none other sacrifice could hauehave bene perfited. And this day, and from the beginning he hath had no pleasure in the blood which is shed, neither in the tyrānie which is vsed against his simple, and smal flock, but because he wil hauehave the members like ye head he doeth a strāge worke, that he may do his owne worke, that is: he trieth ād purgeth by fyre our faith frō all drosse, and corruption of earthlie affections. But in none of all these is there any contrarietie, neither in God, neither in his will, neither in his counsell. for all thinges be disposed in such ordre, such consent and so conueniently, that his glorie, and the perpetual cōfort of his electe, doth finally, and assuredly folowe. And euē so it is in the apperant contrarietie betwene you, and vsus, God, no doubt, will the one of vsus to affirme lies, to raile to blaspheme, ād most vniustly to accuse ye other: he will ye other to susteine ye cause of the trueth paciētly, to beare opprobrious wordes, and sclāderous reportes, referrīg iudgement vntounto him, who righteously, and in equitie shall iudge. Is there therefor any cōtrarietie in gods wil? none at al. For the diuers respectes, and endes being considered, the same consent shall now be found in this apperant contrarietie, which hath remained frō the encrease of gods Church. For in all ages hath God willed his true Prophetes with all boldnes, and cōstancie, to susteine the cause of his simple veritie, how odious that euer it was vntounto the world. And in their cōtrarie, he hath raised fals prophetes to whom he hath giuen the efficacie of errors (for contrarie purposes I grant) to witt that his people may be tried, his faithfull seruantes exercised, and humbled, and finally that such as delyte not in veritie, may be giuen ouer to beleue lies. Go to now and proue contrarieties.
In the wordes of Zacharie you shew your ignorāce, & in collecting the minde of Oded,To Ye 6. you plainely declare your accustomed falshode in farther stretching the minde of the Prophete, thē his wordes will beare. Which thing I will first shew by reciting the plaine wordes, and so returne to the Prophete Zacharie. There was in Samaria a Prophet of the Lordes (saith the historie) whose name was Oded, and he went oute before the hoste that came to Samaria, and said vntounto them:2. Pe…. 2… Behold becaus the Lorde God of your fathers is wroth with Iuda, he hath deliuered them into your hādes, and ye hauehave slaine thē in a rage that reacheth vp to heauen. And now ye purpose to kepe vnderunder the children of Iudah and Ierusalem, as seruants and had maides vntounto you: But are not you such that sinnes are wt you before ye Lord your God? These be his wordes in that mater, by the which if you be able to proue, that the Israelites did more, then God in his eternall counsell had appointed yt they should do against Iuda, and Ierusalam, we will patiently heare your probatiō, and reasons. If you say the Prophete reproued them of their crueltie, therfor they did more then God wold: y• doth not folow, for the iust will of God must not be measured, by the crueltie of their facte, but by his owne word, which doeth affirme, that God gaue ouer Iudah into, the handes of the king of Syria, & into the handes of the king of Israell, who did strike them with a great slaughter, and that for the sinnes, and abominable idolatrie, which they, & Achas their king, had committed. We heare, and see affirmed by the holy Gost, that God gaue them ouer into the handes of their ennemies, which thing he did willingly, and not by permission as you writte. Now to the place of Zachariah in which I say, you shew grosse, and wicked ignorance. For if your interpretation shoulde be receaued, thē of necessitie it should folow, yt in God their lacked power to impede, ād staye the furie of those cruell mē, who in their victorie did so insolētly rage. For if God wold onelyonly hauehave had ye Iewes gently corrected, & not to hauehave bene so seuerely, and rigorously destroyed: and yet, yt against al maner, & sorte of his wil, they were so cruelly entreated, it can not be denied, but yt the crueltie, and rage of the Babyloniās was greater, then God coulde impede or staye, how blasphemous, and fals this is, the godlie doeth vnderstād. O (say you) but so do the wordes of the text soūd, for they say: I am greatly angrie against the careles heathē. For I was but a litle angrie against Sion, but they hauehave helped forwarde the afflictiō. I answer, yt if ye were not more malicious then ignorant, ye might easily perceaue, yt those wordes were spokē, not to proue yt any thing was dōne against Israel, and Iudah, wc God had not appoīted, ād commanded, but to instruct the Prophete, yt the will, and cousell of God, in punishing of his people, was farre other, then was the wil, & connsell of those yt did destroy them: and yt their lōg bondage should hauehave an other end then either they thē selues, or their ennemies did vnderstād. That nothīg was dōne against yt people, wc the Lord had not appointed, yea and commanded, the same Prophete doeth affirme, saying: my wordes & my statutes (he meaneth the threatnings, & punishmentes) wc I hauehave cōmanded my seruātes the Prophetes, hauehave they not, apprehended y or fathers: in so much that they hauehave cōuerted, and said: Euen as the Lord of Hostes hath determined, & appointed to do vntounto vsus, accordīg to or wayes, and accordig to or imaginatiōs, so hath he donne to vsus. Except yt you will belie the holy Gost, you must cōfesse, yt God had cō māded, God had appointed, & determined so to punish his people. Yea Amos the Prophete feareth not to say: Shall there be euill in a citie (that is any punishment or plague) ād the Lord hath not dōne it? Why is he thē offended (say you) against the proud, and carelesse heathē? I answer. Because they neither had respect to gods will, counsell; nor cōmandement, but to their own priuat cō moditie, ād to the satisfying of their cruel appetites. For they did not destroye Ierusalē, willing, or minding to punish the offēses of the people cōmitted agaīst God: Neither yet did they carie thē to Babylon of purpose yt God might be glorified in their deliuerāce. No, they had determined the plaine contrary. To wit, yt Ierusalē should remaine desolate for euer: That Iudah should be y• inheritance of strange nations, ād so should gods promise be fals, ād vaine. And in very dede the Iewes them selues, in the extremitie of their trouble, yea, and when the tēple begā to be reedified, were not free from these tēptatios, and therfore doeth God assure his Prophetes, yt his louelove was great towares Siō: That he wold destroy, that natiō, wc intended their destruction: that he wold deliuer his people: that the warfare of Ierusalē was at an end, yt her iniquitie was remitted:Isa. 40. that she had receiued double punishment for all her sinnes, from the hand of the Lord, and yt therfore he wold take the dolourous cuppe of anguish, ād sorow out of her hād, and wold giuegive it into the handes of those, that did trouble her. By which (and many mo promises, and threatninges, God doeth not meane that any thing was done in Ierusalem, which he had not appointed. But by the one he did somwhat comfort the troubled heartes of his afflicted people: and by the other, he did shew the cause, why he wold punish those cruell murtherers, whose seruice before he did vse in punishing his people.Isa. 47. And this doeth God most plainely witnes in these wordes: I was wrath (saith ye Lord) with my people I hauehave polluted myn inheritance, and giuen them into thy hand (he speaketh vntounto Babylon) thou didest shewe thē no merciemercy, but didest lay thy very heauie yoke vponupon the anciēt: and thou saidest, I shalbe a Ladie for euer, so yt thou didest not set thy mynd to these thinges neither didest thou remēbre the latter end thereof. Therfor now heare thou that art giuē to pleasures and dwellest careles, She saith in her heart▪ I am ād none els: I shall not sitt as a widdow neither shall know the losse of children. Here of I say it is plaine, yt the punishmēt of gods people (as before I hauehave proued) is his owne appointement, and will. But because the punishers loke to another end, therfor are they criminall before gods iustice. In adducing both these exāples, that is, of Israel punishing Iuda, and of the Babylonians destroying Ierusalē, I finde you in another most grosse error, besides this wc I hauehave confuted. For you seme to affirme, that if y• Israelites, and Babyloniās had kept a measure, ād had not exceded the boundes, wc God had appointed, and cōmanded, they had not sinned. For (say you) he willed the one, but permitted the other. Thē in so farre as they did his will they sinned not, but in so far as they exceded his wil, and did more wc he wold not, but onelyonly did suffre it, they sinned. This is your profound diuinitie, ād godlie meditatiōs of God, of his iustice, iudgemētes, ād workes incomprehensible to mās reason. Are you able to proue that Nabuchadnezer came to Ierusalē, or that therin he spilt, or his captaines, and cruell souldioures, one droppe of blood which God (in his eternall coūsell) had not appointed, and willed. The testimonies of all Prophetes rebuke your vanitie.…lle. …1. Ezechiel saith: Thus saith the Lorde. Beholde I come against thee and will draw my swerd oute of his sheath, and cut of frome thee both the righteous, and the wicked. Seing then yt I will cut of frome y• bothe ye righteous and wicked, therfor shall my swerd go oute of his sheath against all fleshe from the South (meaning throw all the lād) to ye north, that al slesh may know, that I the Lorde hauehave drawē my swerd oute of his sheath, and it shall not return any more. Mark and consider how God attributeth all to him self, as after yet the Prophet more plainely speaketh sayīg: And he hath giuen it to be fourbished that he may handle it: this swerde is sharp, ād is fourbished yt he may giuegive it into ye hād of the slayer &c. And I wil powre oute myne indignatiō vpō the in the fyre of my wrath, and deliuer ye into the hand of beastly mē, and skilful to destroy. Thou shalt be in ye fyre to be deuoured thy blood shalbe in ye middes of the lād, ād thou shalt be no more remēbred, for I the Lorde hauehave spokē it. If these be the wordes of him yt onelyonly suffereth, and willeth not thinges to be done, let ye indifferent reader iudge. Why they did sinne notwithstā ding yt God in his coūsell had willed, and appointed this seuere punishment against his people, I hauehave before declared. To witte, because yt neither knew they gods will, coūsell, nor cōmandement, neither yet had they any respect to obey God, or to fulfill his will. That Nabuchadnezar was ignorāt of gods will, ād coūsell, is euidēt by yt wc is writtē in ye same Prophet, in ye place aboue expressed. For after he was come forth of his coūtrie, ād was wt his armye farre proceded in his iourney, he was vncerten whether he should go against Rabbath, y• strōg Citie of ye sonnes of Ammon, or against Ierusalē, and so cō mitting the mater to his sorcerers, ād diuines (ye lottes being cast) he taketh his iourneye, agaīst Iuda, ād Ierusalē. Wherof it is plaine yt he neither knew, nor vnderstode by ye motiō of gods holy spirite, his holy wil, neither yet cōmandemēt. And in destroieng the Citie, and punishing the people, who will say yt he or his seruātes hated sinne, Pride, Crueltie, Idololatrie and abommations wt ye wc he, and his hole realmes were replenished? And ye same do I say of ye Israelites, who did not onelyonly sinne, because they exceded measure in punishing Iuda, but because yt against gods law, & expresse cōmandement, they made vniust warre against their brethern. They nether loked, neither yet oght they to hauehave loked to gods secrete coūsell, but to his plaine law, wc cōmanded thē to louelove their brethern, not to murther, not to spoile, not to couet &c. Against the wc because they did offend, euē in ye first motiō, & purpose of their warr… in gods presence they were murtherers, theues oppressours, & couetous persons, before yt euer they set their foote forth of their houses. And so euen yt wc he in his eternall counsel willed thē to do, did no les displease hī, as touchīg their wicked mindes, thē did yt, wc you affirme he suffered. For eueryevery transgression of his law, is before his iustice odious, and sinfull. If this can not correct your iudgement, yet I am assured yt it shall declare your vanitie, who dare cōclude yt if the Israelites, & Babyloniās had kept measure in punishīg Iudah, yt thē they had not sinned. But the contrarie I affirm… and say, yt the first thoght, and purpose mouīg thē to make warre, was sinne before God. Touching ye permission of the father towardes his prodigal sonne, & touchīg ye … sonne, wc promised to go, ād to labor in his fathers vineyarde, & wēt not, I hauehave before answered, yt similitudes oght not further to be stretched, thē ye minde of the holie Gost is to teach in the same. And in these places it is euidēt, yt Christe teacheth not, how God is cōpelled to suffer many thinges wc he wil not, nether yet was it his mīde in those similitudes, to teach vsus what differēce there is betwene gods wil, & his permissiō, but in y• one he teacheth, yt in God there is merciemercy towardes the sinner, yea & towardes such a sinner, as vnthāckfully, and inobediētly hath departed from God, and yt there be some proude childrē, who by reasō of their cōtinuāce in their fathers house, become disdan…ful yt others shoulde de be preferred, or cōpared vntounto them. And therfor they grudge, they murmurre, ād they enuie the liberalitie of their father & his mercy shewed to the sonne, yt before appered l…st. To whom this might be applied, besides the Iewes, and the Gentiles, ye are not ignorant. The other similitude doth teach vsus, that many in mouth say Lord, Lord, I go, I go, whose heart did neuer fele what is the reuerence, and true obedience due to gods Maiestie.
We cōfesse no les then Ieremie doth write:To the 7. 8. 9 for we say, that God nether cōmanded such abhominations, as his people cōmitted, nether yet yt euer they did enter in to his heart, that is they did neuer delyte, nor please him nether yet did he euer will them for the actions them selues. But when you shalbe able to proue that it did not apperteine to his iust iudgementes to punishe those idolaters with such blindnes, that they became more cruel then brute beastes: then shall ye be more able to proue, that in no wise did God will that crueltie. God willed not those abhominations for the murther committed and blood that was shedde, for that he hated: & did punish: But he willed yt a testimonie should be left to the world in what blindnes man falleth, when he declineth from God, and from his true honor, of which fearfull example, you, and your sect oght to take hede.
The Israelites in killing their childrē,Ironia… no doubte did euen agre with gods will and were of one mynde with his iust iudgementes, as you declare your selues to be, in spewing forth these horrible blasphemies, agaīst his supreme Maiestie. For as they leauing the plaine will of God, declared in his law concerning their oblations, and making of sacrifice, in a blinde zeale to honor God as they pretended with sacrifices more precious, and acceptable, (because their children to them were more deare thē oxen, or bullockes) as they, I say in so doing leaue to vsus a fearefull example of gods iudgementes. So do you by these your horrible blasphemies, wc in furie iesting, & skoffing ye vomit furth against God, his eternall trueth, & against, the true professors of the same, and thus farre I cōfesse was gods most iust will fulfilled in thē, as also it is (& here after shalbe) fulfilled in you. That because they in ye vanitie of their imaginatiōs, d… clined frō gods will reueled, God of his iustice wolde make thē spectacles to all ages folowing, what were his…iudgementes (as I hauehave said) against idolaters. Euē so ye neither content yt God shal vse his creatures, as best serueth for his glory, nether yet that any iustice be in his eternall God head to the which your reason can not atteine, are giuen ouer by gods will into reprobate myndes, thus horribly to blaspheme his Maiestie: to admonish the generation present, and to come, that with greater sobrietie, more feare, and reuerēce they speake, ād thinke of those mysteries, that be incōprehensible vntounto mā.
I hauehave before declared that no man leauing the will of God reueled in his worde, doth ether obey him, ether yet please him, and so can he neuer be of one mynd wt God that committeth thinges forbiden by his word. But why that God forbiddeth iniquitie to all (which also in all men he hateth) and yet that betwext his vessels of merciemercy, and the vessels of wrath he maketh such difference, that to the one he giueth medicine and purgation against the natural venom, so effectually that it worketh their saluation in the ende: and to the other he denieth that grace,Rom. 9 he will not make you, nor any of your faction, further of counsell, then he hath expressed in these wordes: He hath merciemercy on whom he will hauehave mecie, and whom he will, him he maketh hard hearted.
That sathan hath so enraged you that vponupon that doctrine which the holy Gost most euidently doth teach,To the 9 ye dare gather this abhominable absurditie, that God and whicked idolaters are both of one mynde, that they both inwardly and owtwardly do obey him, ye hauehave iust cause not onelyonly to be ashamed, but also to quake, tremble, and feare, for that horrible blindnes wherinto you are fallen, and for those iust vēgeances, which your pride doth craue of gods iustice. Iust art thou o• Lord in all thy workes.To the IO Isa. 45 To your question, asking by what meanes should the Lord stirre vp the mynde of the king of the Medes to destroy Babylon, who had before a desyre ready bent to do the same, but by suffering, and permitting him. To this question (I say) doth …sai the Prophe… answer.Is…. 47 saying: Thus saith the Lord vntounto Cyrus his anointed, whose right hand I hauehave holden, to subdue nations before him: therefor will I weaken the loynes of kings, and open the doores before him, & the gates shall not be shut. I will go before thee and make the crooked streight, I will breake the brasen doores, and burst ye y…one barres. And I will giuegive ye treasures of darknes, and the thinges hidde in secrete places &c. If there be in you ether modestie or aptnes to learn, this is sufficient to instruct you, how God raysed vp his spirite, which before was redy bent to destroy Babylon, to witte, in giuing vntounto him so prosperous succes, that no impedimēt was able to resist, or withstād him. which thing God did not by and ydle permission, or sufferance as ye imagine, but by his power which did effectually worke in all that his iourney, as the Prophet here, & in many other places doth witnes. Which thing doth Cyrus him selfe also confesse,Ezra. 1 in these wordes. The Lord God of heauen, hath giuē me all the kingdomes of the earth, & he hath commanded me to build him an house in Ierusalem, which is in Iudah. And the holy Gost affirmeth, that ye Lord did stirre vp ye spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to cause this proclamation to be made. Dare you say that to giuegive all the kindomes of ye earth to one man, is nothing els but to suffre him to ryue, and posses them at his appetites?Dan. 2 Daniel affirmeth the cōtrary saying: The name of God be praised for euer and …uer: for wisedome and strength are his. And he changeth the tymes and seasons: he taketh away kings: he setteth vp kinges: he giueth wisedome to the wise, and vnderstanding to those that vnderstand &c. And Dauid also saith. he that raiseth the nedie oute of the dust and lifteth vp ye poore out of the dung, that he may sette him with the princes, euen with the princes of his people. And therefore, because the holy Gost giueth to gods prudence, and working power, that which you most wickedly attribute to his permission, or ydle sufferance, I feare not to say, that as God stirred vp Cyrus spirite effectualy mouing it to giuegive libertie, and commandement to his people to returne to Ierusalem, and to restore the temple, so did he also stirre vp his spirit in enterprising his first iourney against Babylon, in taking frō him all feare indewing him with an heroicall,Isa. 45 and bold spirite, (as God him selfe saith: I girded the thogh thou hast not knowen me) and giuing to him so fortunate succes, that all was subiecte to his empire. And therefor albeit, tenne thousand times ye will aske: What nedeth God to mou… the wicked to do wickedly, which, being giuen ouer of God, imagineth nothing but wickednes, & his master the deuill sl…peth neuer? Yet will I answere, that as to destroye Babylon, in so farre as it was gods worke, it was no wicked dede, but his most iust iudgement. So albeit Cyrus had neuer bene so much enraged against Chaldea, ether by his owne pride, ether yet by sathan, that nether of both could hauehave broght any thing to passe, except that the Lord had decreed to perfourme his worke in Babylon,I…r. 51 as he him selfe did threaten, saying: Behold, I come vntounto the o• thou destroying mountaine, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth, I will stretche oute myn hand vponupon thee and rolle the downe from the rockes, and will make the a burnt mountaine. They shall not take of the a stone for a corner, nor a stone for fundations, but thou shalt be destroyed for euer, saith the Lord &c. If you see nothing in these and other such threateninges of God, but a permission onelyonly, I can not cease to say that you are more then blinde. But now to that which folo weth in these wordes.