Admonition to the Germans, Preface
The Preface of Master Philip Melancton.
AS our sauior Iesus Christ ye sōne of God offered vp himselfe vponupon the crosse vntounto his eternall father for our sinnes (Marye & Iohn standing next vntounto him) immediatli before his death▪ he gaue to Iohn a special charge ouer his mother Mari▪ wherby he signified that he wold al men, and specially Rulers & gouernors to hauehave the care & charge of his pore church,The chief charge of officers. which suffreth in the world cōtempt, slander, & affliction: wherfor al men vponupon earth & specially the true members of Christes true church, frō ye beginning of the worlde vntounto the end, oughte to consider with them selues, & standing vnderunder the crosse of Christ, ther to behold & ponder this maruelous worke that the sōne of God shuld bear & suffre such terrible wrath of his eternal father for vsus, & embrace the syngular grace & mercy purchased therby vntounto vsus: & we al to shew our selues thankful therfore: knowing yt our hole life & death also oughte to be directed vntounto this ende, specially, that God may be praised: and aboue all, that ye true doctrine of this great and singular wor… might be preserued. And againe yt we ought to be thankful for this wōderful benifite of god. And therfor to maintayne & preserue that church of his which doth preach, teach and imbrace this true and sicere doctrine, & calleth vpō the very true God in the knolege of Christ, according vntounto ye sayeng of our sauiour Christ vntounto Peter wha… thou art cōuerted, confirme & strengthen thy brethren. Wherunto al men do applye and endeuour them selues (if they be not altogether rude & godles, but hauehave any sparkle of godlye knowledge and of the true faythe in their heartes) namely that mankynd should not lyue lyke a brute beast, sekyng onelyonly an easye lyfe for himselfe, but alwayes to labour, how the knoledge of God may best be furthered, and the true religion best maintained and preserued. And this is my ernest desyre, that all christian heartes inspired with the feare of God, woulde a… this present, consider and remember, what dutie and allegeaunce they owe vntounto God in these daungerous & troblesome dayes, and in this heuy time. For in asmuch as it is moost euident that the pope (the sworne enemies … al true Christians) doth al that he ca… possibly, to the entent to suppresse the true doctrine, & Religion, which hath bene preached, and maintained these certayn yeares, and to stablish and set vp againe his Idlatrous seruice and supersticious errours. It is he that seduceth kinges and princes. And vsing the crafty conueiaunce of wicked byshopes and priestes, moueth theim to murther and shedding of bloud, which by bringyng Aliens and straūgers sworne vntounto hym, into all Realmes▪ meaneth at lēgth to subuert, and abolyshe the auncient lawes, and whole state of noble and godly cōmon welthes, and so to work a general destruction for euer.
Nowe what eueryevery honest and true heart ought to do in such case, al godl… men indued with any godlye vnderstanding, may easly perseiue & consider
And fyrst thus muche are al menne bounde vntounto God,All men boūdē to geue no aid to the mayntenaunce of idola…rye. that thei minister no maner of ayde nor assistaūce wherby Idolatry or false religion myghte … strengthened or maintained, accor…g as it is writen. Thou shalt not ma…e thi self parta…er of other mēs sines
Item ii. Cori. vi. Ye shall not helpe the vnfaithful, or the vnbeleuers (vnderstand) to confyrme or stablyshe Idolatry. For howe can Christ and be…ial agree to gether? And what a comlye thyng is it, for the temple of God to be stuffed with Idols? Now are ye the temple of the liuing God, as God saith, I wil dwell in them, and walke in them, and I wil be theyr God and thei shalbe my people. Wherefore depart and seperate your selues a waye from them, saith the Lorde.
Euerye Christian oughte to open hys faythe to others.Secondarely, eueryevery one that dothe not vtterli cōtemne and despise God, is this much also boūd vntounto him, yt he mynde and desire to hauehave his fayth & beleife in God, knowne vntounto other. For thereunto is mankinde specially created, that we should know & praise God, and also witnes and testifie vntounto other of hī. And our sauiour Christ himselfe saith, he that denieth me before men, him wil I denie agayne before my heauenly father. And this cō fession must be made according to eueryevery mans callyng, state, and degree. Such as be preachers and ministers, must cōfesse him, by preaching of true doctrine. Suche as be rulers and gouernours, must confesse him, by abolishing, and subuertynge of Idolatry and supersticion, and by maintaining of true doctrine and religion. And all that can helpe, by any maner of meanes, either with body or goodes, to ye maintenaunce of the same, oughte to endeuour thē selues earnestly therunto, according to the saieng of S. Iohn i. Iohn. iii. Hereby do we knowe the true louelove, that, like as Christ bestowed his lyfe for vsus, euen so shoulde we bestowe our liues for the bretherne. Let euerye one consider, and ponder these and suche lyke aduertisementes by them selues, and hauyng alwayes an eye, and respect vntounto the same, let them than reade, and marke this treatise folowyng with diligence.
And specially for asmuch as al men are not of one mynde, but some take & esteme the true honour of God, the true inuocatiō, religion, and doctrine for the most special and most necessary thyng to be sought, and some not. And agayne some are more feruent & constant in the same than some other. Least thorow the euyl persuasions of ye worst sort, mani other which know not the matter, nor the daunger therof, might be seduced and led amysse, this admonition and aduertisemente therfor, shalbe very necessari and profitable. For let the enemies of God & of our coūtrey pretend what thei wil, that thei meane not to be of councel, nor to subuert our olde auncient lawes: whā thei hauehave once their purpose, we shal se that that was their speciall drifte.Fayre wordes ar trappes to catch foles …. For al their fayre wordes, and flatteryng perswasions are nothyng els, but traps to deceiue ye simple sort wt, till they hauehave wrought their feate.
Some of them pretēd, and say: tha… thei minde nothing lesse, than to establish the Supremacy of Antichrist the B. of Rome, but if it were wel sought it would appeare, that moost of theyr practises and fetches come frō Rome. And that a great part of these proceadinges hauehave not bene wroughte, nor practised without his aduise. What if vertuous and godlye princes, whiche hauehave set them selues against his kingdom, hauehave bene betraied and destroied, by the subtile practises of such impes of his, as hauehave borne swynge by their dissimulation about such vertuous princes. O howe many subtilties hath Sathā, to assaulte Christes kingdome with? I warrāt you it hath cost the b. of Rome mani a nightes watch, yea, many a pound, before these practises were brought to this passe, which are nowe abrewyng. Yet hath god left some holes open, wherby such as hauehave any vnderstandyng, maye spye theyr driftes. For why do they holde godly, vertuous, learned & most worthy councelours in prison, but onelyonly because thei feare, least thei wold hinder, and withstande some of theyr enterprises and procedings? Let al those therfore that beare true heartes towardes theyr countrey, suffre them selues to be admonished in time.
For if the Spanyardes do once enter into our country,What the cōming in of Spanyardes wyl grow to. and maye be suffred to nestle theim selues there, they wil not only at length crepe into the chiefe Dukedomes, Erledomes and lordships, and deale the same among them selues, but also wil establishe the Idol of Rome, and the whole cursed Papaci again: which al our countrey shal repent and rewe for euer.Priestes care not what become of ye Realme, so that theyr hooryshe kingdome floryshe. And yet that is the chiefe thyng, that the spiritual prelates (in geuyng theyr ayde and councel therunto) doo seke. They care not what becom of this whole noble nacion, nor what villany bee use… therin (as the Spaneyardes are most vyle and beastly people geuen to vice and brutishnes) so that they maye vphold and mayntaine theyr kingdome of Idolatry and supersticion, and may raigne again. The Lord of heauen disapoynt and subuert theyr enterprises▪ For whatsoeuer thei can alledge, or pretend, to charge those with, whiche hauehave imbraced, and setfurth the true religion, as many as hauehave any indifferent knowledge and vnderstandyng (if they wyll not speake against theyr own conscience) must nedes acknowledge and confesse, that diuers hyghe pointes, and necessary articles of christen religion, hauehave bene sincerely and purely taught, and declared by them. And diuers notable errours hauehave by them bene disclosed, which before wer taught, and preached openlye in Pulpets, wherby the people were pitefully seduced. And now such as hauehave truly and faithfully laboured,The rewarde of true preachers. and traueled, to setfurth the truth to abandon such Idolatry, and supersticion, as the people hath bene extremelye blynded with, to plant true, necessary and holesome doctrine, & to roote out al falshod & hipocrisie, thei are rewarded for their labour with imprisonment, depriuation of theyr liuynges and goodes, & with such like rewards. Other causes may wel be pretended of the persecutors, and common cutthrotes, as we may heare, but these are the very causes in dede. How long God (which is iust in al his workes) will suffre & vse them as his scourges (as Dauid saith the wicked manne is a scourge of the Lord) that let thē loke vntounto. For wher thei pretend, that much disorder, dissension, negligence, securitie, and offence did raigne amōg the professors of the true religion, without redresse or reformation, &c. It cannot be denied, nor they them selues wil not deny but yt al this is true in dede. And more ouer that they are laden with diuers infyrmities and sinnes, as wel priuate and secret, as open and manifest also, and that there hauehave bene many weedes among them (as euermore hauehave bene in the true church of God) which hauehave alwayes waxen, and sprong vp amonge good corne. As with Dauid▪ Nathan & other true mēbers of gods church in those dayes, sprang vp Absalon, Achitophel, and other vnprofitable wedes. But what than? Sholde the people of God, by reason of suche offences, or bycause of theyr owne or of other mēs infyrmities, vtterli hauehave denied, and reiected the true doctrine and religion, and yelde to Idolatry & supersticion: as our (yea rather Christes) aduersaries would hauehave vsus now to do? Why do not ye higher powers, the Ioly prelates, and the faut spiers labour to redresse, and refourme suche offences, as they se in any of thē, that hauehave professed the sincere Religiō? Or why at the least did they not labor to restore the true discipline of ye gospel, that therby such offēce giuers, might hauehave ben redressed, & brought to an open Christē penaūce, for the welth of theyr own soules, & a good exāple vntounto mani other▪ Why did thei not this I say? …hy? Mary because some of them feared, least they them selues might paraduenture, be the fyrst, vponupon whom the true discipline ought to be exercised. Let them fyrste examyne theyr owne consciences, and then tell me, whether I hauehave saide any thyng▪ …ut the truthe or no? No, no, the true discipline (if it myght hauehave bene frely restored) wolde not hauehave suffred suche offenses to hauehave raigned, neyther in high nor in lowe, neither in the spiritual nor yet in the lay sorte, as the aduersaries hauehave found faute with, and pretended for the onelyonly causes, which hauehave kept them from the same profession. The godly preachers hauehave testified sufficiently in their open exhortations, that such disorder, dissolutenes of lyfe, slaūderous exāples, mispēding of y• time, with vngodli & vnprofitable pastymes, as hauehave bene vsed of the gentlemen disars, and the lady cardeplaiers (as wel in the Court as in the countrey) wer not agreable to the professiō of Christes gospel. What could thei do more, but openly rebuke such enormities, seing thei wold neuer suffer theim, to exercice the true ordre of discipline, vponupon any transgressors? If this discipline (which hath long bene earnestly called for) mighte hauehave bene optained, a nombre of vnpreachyng prelates, of idle belly byshops, should not hauehave bene suffred, to loiter as thei did, and to spēd the patrimony of the Church vnprofitably. But nowe we may se, that thei plaied the dissēbling lurkers, gapyng, workyng and practisyng for a Day, wherin thei myght shew them selues, as thei wer, and as thei now appeare, wher as the ryght order of discipline wold hauehave brought them to the true profession of sincere Religion, and also to the practise therof, in theyr vocation. And so would it hauehave done also my Lordes, and gētlemen, scrap…alls, which vsed the Gospel for a cloke of theyr couetuousnes. In summa, we lacked nothing but discipline, to hauehave refourmed al the enormities wt, whatsoeuer they hauehave bene that our aduersaries hauehave found fau… with, in the profession of our true Religion. But let them lay al the faults, infirmities, and offenses, which they hauehave marked, & espied in ye professors of the gospel vponupon one heape, they al together (if ther wer a thousād mo of them) are farre inferior, and incomparabli lesse, then the manifold errours, impietie, and Idolatry of the Masse, of the latine seruice, of the inuocation of saintes, of the filthy and abhominable pretensed chastitie, that is of ye Sodomitical single life of priestes, and of such other hipocrisie and supersticion▪ as our aduersaries go about with fire and fagot, with tooth & naile, to maintaine, & to set vp for the seruice of god.
For notwithstanding that among the membres of the true church, and among the professors of the true religion, ther raigne mani and diuers infyrmities and enormities, which they espie daily in them selues, yet the true godly sort do conceiue true and harty repentaunce, for theyr weakenes, and thei remain nor continue not therin, as the spiritual professors of single life do, in theyr hordome and filthy abhomination. And what soeuer infyrmities thei hauehave otherwise. Yet this horrible vyce hauehave they not, (thankes be to God) to maintaine Idolatry, wyttingli to persecute ye truth, nor to murther the godly professours of the gospel. These detestable vices, murther, blasphemy and Idolatry, whiche are the most true and infallible tokens of the papistes and aduersaries of Christ are not to be found amōg them. For these workes are the speciall workes of the deuyl, whiche he practiseth and worketh in his membres, wherby he declareth and speweth out his poysō malice, and hatred agaynst God,Ihon. viii as it is written, Ye are of the deuil, whiche is a lyar and a murtherer.
These are synnes, whiche all men oughte specially to …lee, and dayly to pray earnestly vntounto God, that he wil preserue them, that thei fal not into any of these abhominations.
And he that loketh vponupon the life of the professors of the Gospel, and also of the papistes, And by reasō of the infirmities, which he seith in both theyr liues, standeth in dout to which of thē he may ioyne himselfe, he ought to remembre and to consider this, that he ought in no wyse to take parte wyth them which are Idolators, maintayners of blasphemies, persecutors, and murtherers of the true membres of Christ. And though they should venter their liues therupon, and goo the same way that Abell went. Yet hauehave they this notable comfort, that God heareth their praiers, and wil be merciful vntounto them. For all other synnes shal be forgeuē: but the manifest blaspheming of God by idolatry, that is to saye, he that either mainteineth, or helpeth to maintaine idolatry or false religion, & is a persecutor and a murtherer of the true professors, or a fautor of such murtherers, shall neuer be forgeuen. And God knoweth manye of the contrary part, which do refrain from persecuting of the true doctrine, for non other cause, but to thintent to auoide these .ii. pointes (blaspheming of God and murther) for Gods honor, & for theyr own saluations sake. And it is manyfest inough, yt dyuers of thē (thākes be to god) hauehave sought neither pleasure nor mony, nor dignitie, nor yet any other thyng, that the world estemeth, but rather hauehave suffered much sorow, misery & opprobrye. Now if such should spend theyr lyues as Abel did, and suffer death thervpō, such a death should be more acceptable vntounto them, then al the lyfe & pleasure of Cain, then all the pompe and riches of the Cardinals and bishops. For al mē are detters vntounto death not withstanding. But this must euerye one of vsus alwaies consider, howe we may stand (after this lyfe) before the iudgement of God, and of his whole churche, at the latter day euerlastinglye. And as we hauehave before our eyes the ensamples of Abel, Ieremy, Iohn the Baptist, Christ him selfe, Paule & other of the Apostles, how thei al wer murthered of tyrannes, euē so let thē be sufficient wytnesses vntounto vsus, that after thys lyfe, another euerlastyng iudgement shal be holden and kepte. And therfore let al men take it for an high honor, and for a singular grace to put theyr liues in ieopardy, for the confession of the true faith & religion of God: as Christ saith: Fear not thē which can do nothing but slea the body, as for the soule thei cānot slea. &c. And for asmuch as it mai wel appear that this is the scope & end of al practises of the Lords & Bishops by theyr procedings, to bring in the bishop of Rome again, & to establish his idolatry & errors, wherbi they mai raigne, and abuse the people agayne, as they hauehave done in times past, and to bring our countrey to a perpetuall destruction.Note wel. it is most certaine, that al honest and true hartes, may laufullye refuse to obey them, and ought in any wise refuse to helpe or to ayde them. And where as they wyl obiect, & saye that subiectes ought to obey al cōmaūdementes, & procedynges of theyr magistrates, although it may be briefely answered vntounto thē,Byshops ar not magistrates. that the Bishops & Prelates, which are the chiefe workers of this miserye, are not the Magistrates, whom the inferiour people are boūd to obey, yet let thys answer stay al mens consciences, that the regiment of the cōmon welthe,The Magistrate maye not passe hys boundes. is suche an ordinance of God, wherin the magistrate hath his apointed boundes, as wel as the subiect. And for asmuch as God is the hyghest Lorde, if the worldly magistrate attempteth, any thing against him, the inferiour sorte may laufully refuse to obeye him,Inferiors maye in thys case laufullye disobey. Abdias. iii. re. xviii alledging for thē selues, that thei cānot, nor may not disobey God, to obey & to serue thē. As for an exāple: Abdias did very wel in keping the prophetes priuely in dennes, & secret places, cō trary to the cōmaūdemēt of his king which cōmaūded thē all to be slayne. And in like maner the Armeniās dyd wel, & nothing but rightfully, in detē ding theyre church & theyr countrey against their Emperour Maximiane. Victorinus was a great prince, which in ye tyme of Gallienus, had ye Emperors autority, in ye gouernmēt at Coley, & did gouerne ther very laudabli, yet was he laufulli slain of his owne secretarie, which foūd him abusing his wife. Marius also a noble prince, did pardō a yong souldier, & set a crowne vpō his head, because he s…ew his captain (which captain, notwithstanding was Marius high frende) because he did it in his own defēse. Such factes in Christen mē ar right & lauful, & do please God wel. Yea they are speciall testimonies of ye iudgemēt of God, against vnlawfull violence, and intolerable pride, and presumpcion of Tyrannes.
And what is it els but tyrannye, to go about to set vp manifest idolatry, to separate godly mē from their lawful wiues, to bring in straūgers, whiche shal subuert the state of the cōmō welth and such like? For it is easy to perceiue, that if the Spaniardes, and theyr traine, maye once beare rule in the Cities, Dukedomes, & Lordshyps of our countrey (whiche God of hys mercy forbid that euer they shuld do) wher as hetherto, thorow gods mercifull prouidence, the auncient lawes and good ordinaunces of our cōmon welth, hauehave bene preserued, they wyll go about to abolish & to subuert thē ▪ and at length brede much inconuenience and misery in our natiō. Against the which inconueniences all godlye parentes, housholders with theyr wiues, childrē, and families, ought with most harty sighinges cal and cry vntounto god, that for the furtherance of his knowledge, and for the glorye of hys owne name, he wyl preserue his true religion amōg them, and that he will not suffer these churches and naciōs▪ wherin his truth hath bene confessed and preached, to decay nor to be subuerted. And that such praiers may be made the more earnestly, & with out let or hindraūce, we al ought to amēd our liues, in the feare of God, in true faith, and in al other vertues, remembryng the sayeng of the Lorde in the prophet: Turne vntounto me,Iere. xiii. and I wyll turne vntounto you. Doutles the matter is waighty, and (end how it will) ther is lyke to be a wonderfull alteracion in ye cōmon welth, and also in religiō,We fele i… alredy. that is most sure. And I wōder much, that wise mē, which know and se wel inough, what wil be the end of suche procedynges,Note wel▪ wyll notwythstanding seme to be workers, and furtherers of suche matters, as they do not allowe in theyr consciences. But surely it is no mans deuise nor working, but it is the diuils in hel, which rage and raue, because they wold gladly woorke an vniuersal destruction and miserye, in al Christēdome. Wherfor it wer best for such as be in authority, and of any power, not to be hasty in folowing & satisfieng ye lustes of princes, and the practises of wicked bishops and Prelates, Antichristes impes. For seyng the malice and spite of the Diuel; and of the idolatrous sort, is so feruēt and great, it wil minister occasiō to a wō derful alteracion; which paraduēture they them selues shall repent. But I besech al godly hartes, that they wyll earnestly pray vntounto God, that he wil graciously preserue the cōmonwelth, and auncient lawes of our countrey, and specially hys owne churche, that hys true worde and religion may cō tinually sound therin.
Last of al let al Christen harts bear this wel in rememberaunce, that eueryevery one in his degree, and to the vtterof his power, is bound to apply hys vttermost indeuour, towards the preseruation of Christes true religion, & likewise towards the defence of their coūtrey, and the auncient priuilegies of theyr naciō. That is the special end of our lyfe in this world, and no better thing can we do in thys lyfe. And forasmuche as the state of oure tym… nowe, is muche like vntounto the state of the Machabes, and euē the like practises and subtelties now pretended, & attempted, as were than: euerye one mai take good and profitable instructiōs out of the same bokes and story. Our Lorde Iesus, our onelye true shepherd, & head captain, defend hys Church against assaults which ye diuell, Antichrist and his impes nowe deuise, & practise ther against Amen.