Concerning the Truth of Christian Religion, Chapter 27
The xxvij. Chapter.
That the meane ordeyned of GOD for the welfare of mankind, hath bene reuealed alwayes to the people of Israel; which is the third marke of Religion.
… Ow remayneth the third marke of true Religion to be examined: which is, that it teache the true and only way ordeined of God for the saluation and recouery of mankind; without the which (as I hauehave shewed already) all Religion is vnauailable and vayne. Howbeit forasmuch as this Doctrine importeth the welfare of the world, and I hauehave interlaced many things by the way, which may dim the remembrance thereof: Let vsus here call ageine to mind how néedfull this marke is in religion. And soothly it will be one further marke of the heauenlynes of our Scriptures, if we find that they teache vsus the necessitie of that only meane, and also direct vsus to it from the beginning foorthon from tyme to tyme.The needefulnesse of this third marke. We hauehave read in the booke of Nature, that Man is immortall: that his happinesse is not here beneath, but in the endlesse lyfe: that the blessednesse of that endlesse lyfe, is to inioy God aboue: and that the meane to atteyne thereto, is to serue and honour him here beneath with all our heart. But the same booke hath taught vsus also, that by sinne we bée falne from our originall: that we be falne from Gods fauour into his wrath: that we be infinitely departed away both from seruing him and from sticking to him: and cōsequently that we be gone a…tray from the happinesse which we should seeke & cannot find elsewhere thā in him. What remayneth then for vsus, but vtter despayre? And whereto serueth the said endlesse lyfe, but to be turned into endlesse death? And the euerlasting happynesse wherevnto wee were created, but to our euerlasting grief? vnlesse some Boord be left vsus at hand to saue vsus from our shipwrecke: I meane vnlesse God doo make vsus some way, both to appease his wrath, and to come ageine into his fauour. In this extremitie therefore wee méete with Religion, which directeth vsus to the true God. But what els is that, than a sending of an offender to his Iudge? or a laying of Strawe to the fyre? considering yt God is infinitely good, that is to say, infinitely contrarie to euill, and if contrarie to euill, then also vntounto vsus, whose thoughts, sayings and dooings are altogether euill. The same Religion hath set vsus downe the Scriptures, wherein wee reade the will of our Creator: But what hauehave we yet found there? That mankind is corrupt from his roote, and as it were rotten at his Core: That all the imaginations of mans heart are alwayes vtterly euill: and yet notwithstanding, that God commaundeth vsus to louelove him with all our heart, and our neighbour as our selfe; behighting to them that doe it euerlasting lyfe, and to them that doe it not, euerlasting death. Which of vsus feeleth not a stryuing in all his members ageinst the will of God? And consequently who is hée that ought not too feele a very Hell, when he entereth into himselfe and into the scriptures, to reade his Arreignement and Condemnation? And so, what is Religion but vanitie, and what is the Scripture or Gods word but a harthyting, if wee find not there the Charters of grace and remission, which reconcyle vsus to God, and knit vsus ageine vntounto him, and by that vnyting doe restore vsus the happynesse wherevnto we were created? So falleth it out, that God cannot be disappoynted of his purpose, and that the Religion which hee hath graued so déepely in mans heart, cannot be in vayn. Néedes then must it be, that in the true religion and in the Scriptures we must find our grace and the meane thereof, which is the third and chief mark that we séeke.
Let vsus expresse this Doctrine yet playnlier, for it is the very knot and forme or inshape of all Religion. The happynesse of man is to be vnited vntounto God, and the way to be vnited vntounto him, is to sticke vntounto his will. The first man being created free and capable of good, disobeyed GOD, and by his disobedience became a bondslaue to sinne. So was hee farre remoued from God and from his owne welfare, and (had not grace stepped in) he had bin in extreme miserie, which we call Hell. Of this Rebell are we all borne, and his flesh hath begotten vsus both fleshly and bondslaues of sinne as he was. By Nature than we can looke for none other than the wages of sinne, which is death; neither can wee hauehave any other inheritance than our Fathers, who hath left vsus nothing els to inherit but damnation. Now let vsus see what we our selues hauehave brought to this decayed succession. In sted of discharging our Obligation, we ronne on further in arrerages: and lyking well thereof, we da… lie increase our debt. For none of vsus al dischargeth himself to Godward, of the things which he requireth of vsus iustly in his Law, and therefore wee continue still behind hand. Nay, there is none of vsus which offendeth not the Lord infinite waies daily in thought, word and deede, by meanes whereof we plundge our selues in euer déeper and déeper. Now then, though we found not our succession so decayed; yet doe wee our selues make it such by our excessiue debts and continuall offences; which in effect is all that wee can bring thereto. And against whom see wee these offences? Euen against God, against our father, against our maker; al which is a great aggrauating of our fault: namely, that the Child should rebell against his father, or that a thing of nothing should turne away from his creator; yea and (which worse is) take wages of the Deuill to fight against him. The crime is so out of al measure great, that it cannot nor ought not to bee inhaunced. But were there no further matter than this, that forasmuch as God is infinite, the offence is multiplyed according to the person against whom it is commited: our offence against GOD cannot but bee infinite, and consequently so must our punishment be too. Now therfore we poore wretches subiect to infinite paynes without number, which by our continuall misdeedes doe daily multiply the infinitenesse of our punishments still euen to the vttermost; hauehave néede of a remedie. And what shall that remedie be? Gods merciemercy? Nay, merciemercy may not be contrarie to his Iustice. What then? Gods Iustice? No, wee hauehave neede of merciemercy. By what meane may GOD execute his Iustice without disanulling his merciemercy; or exercise merciemercy without preiudice of his Iustice; so as both of them may be verified, as well that God is infinitely gracious, as that he infinitely hateth all euill, both together? If he shewe merciemercy absolutely to an infinite offence, where is his Iustice? Or where is his vniuersall gouernment, whereby he yéeldeth good to the good and euill to the euill? Yea, and where is our owne Iustice become, which is but a shadowe of Gods? Againe, if he execute mere Iustice, what shall become of Mankynd after this life? Or rather, why hath he mainteyned him euer since his first fal, that his Iustice hath not deuowred vsus of al this while, vsus I say in whom is not any thing which burneth not before his wrath? It remayneth then, that to appease his wrath and to make way to merciemercy, which wrath of his is nothing els but a iust intent to punish, and which merciemercy of his is likewise but a iust intent to forgiue: there must come some satisfaction betwene God and Man, without the which there would bee (as ye might terme it) an vtter Emptinesse in the world, whereunto nature it selfe cannot agree. But what a depth is here yet still, considering that the fault is infinite, and the punishment must be proportionable to the fault, and the satisfaction likewise to the punishment, that is to say, that satisfaction infinitely infinite is required at our hands? Let man offer the whole world vntounto God; and what offereth he but that which he hath receiued of GOD, and that which he hath lost by his disobedience? And sith GOD hath created this world of nothing; how should a thing of nothing multiply so infinitely, as to satisfie for an infinite offence? Let Man offer himselfe; what offereth he but vnthankfulnesse and disobedience, blasphemie and froward déedes? That is to say, what shall he els do but prouoke Gods wrath more and more against him? Nay, let the very Angels step in, the Creature to pacifie the Creator; the thing that is finite in goodnesse to couer an infinite euill; the indebted in all respects, to discharge another more indebted: and what els will this be, than a couering that (as the Prophet sayth) doth but halfe couer; and a plaister infinitely too little for the sore?One Mediator God & Man. Surely, let vsus say therefore that God himselfe must bée fayne to step in betwéene his Iustice and his merciemercy, and as he created vsus at the first, so to create vsus newe againe; and as he created vsus then in his fauour, so to acquit vsus now from his wrath; and as he vttered his wisedome then in creating vsus, so to imploye the same now againe in repayring vsus; and soothly so much the more (if more may bee) because that in our creation nothing resisted the goodnesse of the Creator, whereas in our reparation our naughtinesse withstandeth him as much as is possible. Out of one bottomlesse deepe wee goe still into another: but God bee praysed, they bee the deepes of his grace. Who then (say you) shall bee this Mediatour, God vntounto God, Infinite vntounto Infinite, and able both to discharge the bond, and to asswage the infinite punishmēt? Here let vsus bethinke vsus againe what hath bene sayd afore in the fifth and sixth Chapters. I hauehave declared there, both by reason and by record of all antiquitie, that in God there are three persons or Inbeings in vnitie of one essence, and that the same are coeternall and coequall in all respects: The Father as the ground and welspring; the Sonne, as the euerlasting word and wisedome of the Father; and the holy Ghost as the bond of kyndnesse and louelove, whereby the Father and the Sonne are linked together: and I pray the Reader that for the refreshing of his memorie, he will voutsafe to reade ouer those Chapters againe vponupon this poynt. Needes then I assure you must one of those three persons step in betwixt Gods wrath and our infinit Fault. And sith it is so, which of them should rather doe it than the wisedome, considering that the case standeth vppon the new creating of vsus againe, and that we were created by the same at the first? or than the Sonne, seeing wée bée to be adopted, that is to say, to bee admitted to an inheritance? Nay moreouer, it behoued this Mediatour to step in for euer. For inasmuch as the world was created for man, and man is falne away from God: neither the world nor man now after his fall, could hauehave abidden before God one moment of an hower. Behold, in the maner of this mediation, there is againe another incomprehensible Misterie, howbeit such a one, as when it is once reuealed vntounto vsus, wee deeme it vnpossible to hauehave bene otherwise. We hauehave God infinitly iust, and Man infinitely sinfull. The infinite Iustice due to so infinite offence, could not bee satisfied, but eyther by infinite punishment, or by an infinit reparation: and this infinite reparation could not proceede but from him that is infinite, that is to wit from God himselfe. It behoueth then that our Mediatour be God, and of his gracious goodnesse such a one hauehave we. But this infinite Godhead is not to recompence our disobedience otherwise than with obedience; nor our vndesert, otherwise than with desert; not our stubbornnesse otherwise than with lowlynesse: neither againe is he to purchace vsus grace, but by punishment; or life, but by death. And to the intent he may obey, he must abase himselfe; to deserue, he must serue; to become lowly, he must stoope downe beneath himselfe; to suffer, he must become weake; and to dye he must become mortall. Certesse we say therefore, that it is conuenient and behoofull, that our Mediatour should be both God and Man. Man, to bee borne vnderunder the Lawe; God, to performe the Lawe: Man, to serue; God, to set free: Man, to humble himselfe to the vttermost; God, to exalt himselfe aboue all things: Man, to suffer, God to ouercome: Man, to dye; and God to tryumph ouer death. Nay moreouer, forasmuch as he submitteth himselfe willingly to such things, for our sakes say I, and not for his owne: néedes must his obedience become a discharge for the disobedience; his desert a discharge of the vndesert, and his lowlinesse a satisfaction for the stubbornnesse of them that beleeue in him; yea and moreouer, a purchace of obedience, desert, and lowlynesse vntounto them; so that looke what is due to his obedience, that is to wit, louelove; to his desert, that is to wit, reward; to his humilitie, that is to wit, honor; to his sorowe, that is to wit, ioye; to his death, that is to wit, life; and to his victorie, that is to wit, Tryumph; the same is purchaced and giuen by him, and imputed and made due at Gods hand to all such as honor that great benefite, and call vponupon the father in his name. From this poynt we may proceede afterward to other conditions and circumstances requisite in the Mediatour God and Man, seeking him alwaies as may be most conuenient and agreeable, both to Gods Iustice, & to the office & dignitie of the Mediatour.Man borne without Corruption. It is necessarie for our welfare say I, yt the Mediator should be man to beare ye punishmēts of men, & to recōcile Mankynd. And if he were not a mā; then like as we should hauehave no part in him nor he in vsus: so should he not auayle vsus any whitte, neither in way of satisfaction, nor in way of desert. Méete it is therfore that he should be borne of our race, and that he should be flesh of our flesh & bone of our bone, to the intēt that as in Adam we be al become bondseruāts to sinne; so in him we may be deliuered and set frée from the reward of sinne, which is death. Ageine, forasmuch as he was to ouercome sinne, it behoued him to bee without sinne; and forasmuch as it was for him to make vsus cleane, it behoued him to be without vncleannesse. For we knowe that all of vsus are conceiued in iniquitie; and borne in vncleannesse and corruption; and therefore it behoueth him to be such a man, as is conceiued after an other maner than man is. And this after so many wonders ought not to be counted a wonder: for he that deriued woman out of man without helpe of woman, can also deriue man out of woman without helpe of man. To these particularities we shall come time enough hereafter, and if suffizeth at this tyme, that Gods Iustice and mans offence hauehave euen by humane reason directed vsus to a verie necessitie of a Mediator God and Man, able to discharge mā of euerlasting death ageinst God, and to purchase him the souerein felicitie of lyfe. And this is it that I meant in the beginning of the chapter; namely that this marke is so of the very substance and inshape of Religion, that Religion without that, should be vtterly vnauaylable and vayne. The Heathen séeme to hauehave perceyued this necessitie by many examples. They knewe that man was created to liue for euer,The opinion of the Heathē concerning the cleansing of Mankind. and that hee could not inioy that benefite, but by turning again vntounto God. But in this they fell short, that they considered not that from vsus to God the way is vnpossible to man, if God himself be not our way whereby to come thither. It may be that they hauehave heard, that it behoued a man to dye for the sinnes of the world. And therevpon the diuell did put in their heads to sacrifice men, and so to lay the sinnes of a whole Citie or countrie vponupon the backe of some one poore wretch. And looke who was the greatest offender of all others, and whom they had vowed to the gallowes for the multitude of his misdéedes; him did they put to the pacifying of Gods wrath towards them. Such are the accustomed Apish toyes of the Diuell. But how shall he that is in Gods displeasure, appease his displeasure? And what shall the worst doo, if the best can doo nothing? The Emperour Iulian could not tell how to rid his hands of this necessitie in his disputations ageinst the Christians. By reason whereof, perceiuing that there must néedes bee a meane betwéene God and man for the cleansing of mens Soules, hee bare himselfe on hand, that Esculapius the Sonne of Iupiter was manifested to the world by the lyuely ingendring of the Sonne, and that hee shewed him selfe first in Epidaurus, and afterward in diuers other places, to heale mens Bodies and to amend their Soules: Which is a proof, that the impossibilitie of the Incarnation of the Sonne of God, which is pretended by some, séemed not to him to be vnpossible, forasmuch as the Iucarnation of Esculapius the sonne of Iupiter, God (in the opion of Iulian,) and the sonne of God, seemed to him not onelyonly possible, but also come to passe. And in verie déede, why should it seeme strange that he which hath knit the Soule of man being a spirituall substance, vntounto his body being an earthly; should bee able to vnite himselfe vntounto man? But I hauehave shewed afore, that this Esculapius was a man; and that the spirit which abused his name, was a diuell, and that both of them were wicked creatures. And moreouer, who euer beléeued or setfoorth this Fable of Esculapius, but onelyonly Iulian? Nay verily, Porphyrius hath outgone all antiquitie in this behalfe.Saint Austin concerning the Citie of God. lib. 20. Cap. 9. & 23. & 32. For hauing laid this foundation, That the souereine welfare of the Soule is to sée God, That it cannot see hym vnlesse it be first cleansed from the silth thereof, and therefore that by Gods prouidence there must be some meane procured to cleanse mankind: whē he commeth to the seeking of it out, he saith, That the Artes and Sciences doo well cleare our wits in the knowledge of things, but they cannoth so cleanse vsus, that wee may come vntounto God. And wheras many men deceiued themselues in séeking this cleansing by Magik and Theurgie: he sayd that imagination and common sence might well bee helped thereby in the perceyuing of bodily things; but they atteyned not to the purging of the vnderstanding of the Soule, neyther could they make a man to see his GOD or the trueth it selfe. Againe, whereas some Philosophers sought this clensing in the Misteries of the Sonne, and of Iupiter, that is to say, in communicating (as they surmised) not with Deuils, but with such as were estéemed to be good Gods, he declareth that there was as small likelyhood thereof in their Misteries, as in the Misteries of the rest: and moreouer that those things extended but to very fewe men, whereas this clensing ought to be vniuersall to the benefite of all mankind. In the end, hauing reiected all other clensings; his conclusion is, that the Beginnings onelyonly and none others, can worke and bee the meane to worke this vniuersall Clensing. What he meaneth by the Beginnings, the Platonists can tell well enough: and I hauehave declared it by many sentences of his in my fifth and sixth Chapters; that is to wit, the persons or proprieties that are in God, whom Porphyrius calleth expressely the Father, the vnderstanding of the Father, and the Soule of the World. He could not almost hauehave come any néerer vsus, vnlesse he should hauehave met iumpe with vsus: and surely he seemeth to hauehave had this of the Chaldees, from whom he acknowledgeth himselfe to hauehave receyued many diuine Oracles concerning this matter. But it is enough for vsus that wee hauehave gayned these poynts of him, That there must of necessitie be some meane ordeyned of GOD for the clensing and sauing of mankynd: That none can worke that Cleannesse, except it bee some one of the Beginnings, that is to say, except it hee God himselfe; and that he neuer met yet with any Sect in all Philosophie that setteth foorth the meane thereof. Therefore it standeth vsus on hand to seeke it; not in Philosophie, but in our Scriptures. For seeing they bee of God, and are reuealed for the welfare of Man, they ought to direct vsus to the only meane of the Saluation which we long for. And like as Religion was bred and borne as soone as Man, as I hauehave sayd afore; so must it needes be, that the meane of Saluation was reuealed as soone as Religion, and set foorth in the holy Scriptures from tyme to tyme. And if we finde it so; it will be an vnfallible testimonie; both of our Religion, and of our Scriptures together.The Mediator promised in the Scriptures, from the one end of them to the other.
Let vsus then begin with the Creation of man. The Scripture sayeth that as soone as he was created, God gaue him this Lawe: If thou eate of the tree of the skill of good and euill; thou shalt dye the Death. That is to say, If thou turne away neuer so little from the obeying of me, thou shalt fall into my displeasure, and from my displeasure into endlesse death. Byandby after, man is seduced by the Serpent, that is to say by the diuel, and breaketh the Lawe of his Creator; by meane whereof he is in his displeasure, and by sinne is become subiect to endlesse damnation. Now seeing that this man was alone; and that the world was made for him; what should hauehave followed but the vtter destruction of the world out of hand, and the burning of man euerlastingly in Gods wrath? But see how Gods wisdome stepped in for the sauing of man, and for the preseruing of his owne woorke; and sinne was no sooner bred, but the scripture immediatly sheweth vsus the remedie thereof. I will set emnitie (sayeth the Lord to the diuell) betweene thy seede and the womans seede. Gen. 3.Hir seede shall crush thy head, and thou shalt byte it by the heele. That is to say, I will cause one to be borne of the womans seede, which shall subdew the diuell: and the diuell shal do his indeuer to trip vp his heeles by tempting him all maner of wayes; but he shall treade the diuell vnderunder his feete, and make him to yeeld vp his weapons, that is to wit, Sinne and death. Now, who seeth not that to ouercome the diuell, it behoueth him to be God; and that to be borne of a Woman, it behoueth him to be man, that is to say both God and man, as I hauehave sayd afore?Christ is a spirituall King, contrary to the opinion of the Iewes of our tyme. Here beginneth our controuersie ageinst the Iewes of these later tymes, who hold opinion that the Messias or Chryst, whom we vphold to be the Mediator betweene Gods Iustice and Mannes sinne; shalbe some greate Emperour that shall deliuer them from bodily oppression; whereunto I hauehave answered at large heretofore.Let the reader beare in mynd once for all, that the word Messias in Hebrewe, & the word Christ in Greek, signifie both one thing, namely the Lords Anoynted. Howbeit, they cannot denie, but that by the death which God threateneth to Adam for his transgression, Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon vnderstandeth a spirituall death, that is to wit, the death of the Soule wounded with sinne and forsaken of hir lyfe which is God: and that by the venoume of the Serpent, he meaneth sinne it self, which shall ceasse (sayeth he) vnderunder the Messias; and that the same is also the Interpretation of the auncient Cabalists: and lykewyse that the Sinagog of old time vnderstoode the sayd text to be ment of the Messias, as the Interpretation of the thréescore and ten Interpreters, and the auncient Translation of Hierusalem itself,The Thargūr of Hierusalem do giuegive vsus cause to beleeue. For (sayeth this Latter expresly) so long ô Serpent as the womans Children keepe the Lawe, they kill thee: and when they ceasse to doo so, thou stingest them in the Heele, and hast powre to hurt them much. But whereas for their harm there is a sure remedy, to heale it, for thyne there is none. For in the last dayes, they shal crushe thee al to peeces with their Heeles, by meanes of Christ their King. Now if the death bee spirituall, and the enemy spirituall, and his weapons spiritnall: how can it be denyed that the battell betweene him and the Messias who is to vanquish him, is lykewise spiritual, his power spiritual, and his Kingdome spirituall? Moreouer, what were Adam, Henoch, Noe, and Abraham benefited by this promise; if it extend no further than to temporall things? Which of vsus would indure here a thousand miseries, vnderunder pretence that certeine thousands of yeres hence, we should hauehave an Emperour borne which should he redouted euerywhere? Now lyke as the scripture beginneth with the promise of the Messias, that is to say of the deliuerer of our Soules: so doth it shewe euidently, that it aimeth not at any other mark than that. For leauing the great States of the world, and the breeding of Kingdomes and Principalities, which are things whereon Histories stand so curiousely; it leadeth vsus directly too the birth and ofspring of Abraham, whereof the Messias was to be borne. And vntounto the same Abraham doth God repe… promise often times; that in his seede al nations should be blessed; … is to say, that one should be borne of his seede, by whom Saluation should be profered to all nations of the Earth? And age in, that in Isaac the seede should be called vntounto him: which thing surely is not spoken of the Posteritie of his Sonne Ismael, notwithstanding that GOD told him that his fleshly posteritie should be verie florishing. But this preface which the Lord maketh, shall I hide any thing from my seruant Abraham &c. Sheweth euidently how it is a misterie that passeth al vnderstanding of man, and whereunto Abraham had no lesse ryght than his seede. From Abraham this promise passed by hand to Isaac, from Isaac to Iacob, and Iacob left it by his last will too his children with these woords; The Scepter shalnot be taken from Iuda, nor the lawgiuer from betweene his feete, vntil Silo come; and vntounto him shall the Nations resort. Which woords were spoken to Iuda by name, bycause the sayd holy seede was to come of his stocke. And that the same saying was ment of the Messias; the Thargum of Hierusalem and the Onkelos which are bookes of chéef anthoritie among the Iewes, do assure vsus. For they translate it thus, vntill Chryst or the Anoynted come; whereunto is added this; too whom the Kingdome belongeth. And the schoole of Rabbi Sila duplicate page duplicate page being demaunded in the Talmud, The Talmud in the Treatise intytled Sanhedrim, in the Chapter Melee.what should bee the name of the Messias; answereth, Silo is his name: for (say they) it is sayd, vntill Silo come. Albeit now that the sayd kingdome be other than a temporall Dominion; yet is the text formall in that place. For the Iewes wayt that the Messias or Christ should come of the Trybe of Iuda, and that at the tyme of his comming the Scepter and the Lawgiuer should both be taken from Iuda. Surely the thing that Israell looked for as then, was not to subdue other Nations, seeing that Israell himselfe was not to reigne at that tyme. And wretched had the hope of other Nations bene, which looked for him also, according to this text, if his comming should hauehave bene but to spoyle them and make hauocke of them. But he was to reigne, yea euen ouer all Nations, yea and to the benefite of all Nations. His reigning then shalbe according to the first promise, namely ouer mens Soules, the which he shall deliuer from the bondage of Sinne and the tyrannie of the Deuill. In the Lawe of Moyses, the Sacrifices and Ceremonies doe represent vntounto vsus ye satisfaction which Christ was to make for the sinnes of the people by the sacrificing of himselfe. But specially the Passouer Lambe, the Sacrifice of the red Cowe, the sending of the Scapegoate into the Wildernesse, and the raising vp of the brasen Serpent for the heali… of diseases, were all of them Memorialles for the people, to put them in mynd both of the comming of the Messias, and to what ende hee should come. For whereas wee reade that the doorepostes of the houses were besmeared with the blud of a Lamb, to the intent that the destroying Angell should not touch them: that the Ashes of a Cowe without spot were kept for the sinnes of the Congregation: That the Highpriest laying his hand vppon a Goates head, acknowledged the sinnes of the people ouer him, and the Goate went away with them into a place vninhabitable, to the intent (as ye would say) he might neuer be heard of any more: and that as many as beheld the brasen Serpent, were healed incontineutly of the stinging of Serpents: seeing that the things which were imployed to those purposes, could not of their owne nature serue there vntounto: we must néedes conclude, that they were signes; signes (say I) of spirituall and inward matters, like the Scripture it selfe, which is spirituall and serueth for the inward man: That is to wit, That the Deuill hath no power ouer those which are reconcyled to God by the Sacrifice of the Messias who is charged with their Sinnes: and that those which hauehave an eye vntounto him, are by and by healed of the Serpents deadly sting. And whereas some thinke it straunge that so great a thing, should bee figured by so vyle and base things: the figure is the more profitable, and the lesse daūgerous in that it is so. For had so high things bene figured … foretokened by things approching to their highnesse: men might hauehave bene deceyued by thē, and hauehave taken the figures for the things themselues, and so hauehave rested vponupon the gaynesse of the sheath, without looking into it. As for example, if in stead of the Goate, they should hauehave Sacrificed the man of greatest reputation in the Congregation: Men, béeing giuen to yéeld too much vntounto man, would hauehave mistaken him for the very Mediatour himselfe. But when the figure of our reconcilement vntounto God, and of the forgiuenesse of our sinnes, is taken at a brute beast which hath nothing sutable thereto, sauing that he is giltlesse and capable of death: wee bee taught that it is but a figure, and that it behoueth vsus to …ade into the thing it selfe: & that so much the more, because those Sacrifices are so solemnely and so expressely commaunded to posteritie, as things which for the welfare of mankynd, ought to be alwaies in remembrance, or rather present before mens eyes.
But yet the Hebrewes held opinion that Asar, Midrach Thehilim.Elcana and Abiasaph the three sonnes of Chore mentioned in the sixt Chapter of Exodus, A tradition of the Hebrewes.were authors of diuers of the Psalmes that are gathered into the second booke of Dauids Psalter, and so is Moyses also of some one or two in the third booke; whereby they comforted the Fathers in the wildernesse, assuring them of the cōming of Christ. Unto Dauid (who was of the Trybe of Iuda) God himselfe const…ieth the sayd promise,2. Sammuel. 7. 1. King. 5. 6. 1. Chron. 2v, Plal. 89. telling him that the blessed séed should come of him. I will rayse vp (saith he) thy seede after thee, which … come one of thy loynes; his kingdome will I stablish for euer; I will be to him for a Father, and he shall be to mee for a sonne, And although this may séeme to be ment of Salomon Dauids sonne, who was in déede but a figure of Christ; yet notwithstanding the often repeating of these words eternally, euerlastingly, and for euer, giueth vsus to vnderstand, that it cannot bee … but of the thing figured, that is to wit, of the eternall or euerlasting King. And in very deede Dauid sheweth well in his Psalmes, that hee hath looked further with the eyes of his mynde, than to his sonne Salomon. Psalm. …. & 45 & 47. & 67. & 72.For in the second Psalme, Thou art my sonne (saith the Euerlasting,) this day hauehave I begottē thee. I will giuegive thee the Gentyles for thyne inheritance, and the vtmost coastes of the earth for thy possession. And in the fiue and fortieth Psalme, speaking of the mariage of this Sonne, with an extraordinary preface, Thy Throne ô God (sayth he) is from euerlasting; and the Scepter of thy kingdome is a Scepter of righteousnes. And in the seauen and fortith, The princes of the Nations are assembled togither (sayth he) to be the people of the God of Abraham. And in the thréescore and seauenth; Thou shalt iudge folk righteously, Thy sauing health shalbe knowen to al Nations, and thou sha…t direct the Nations of the earth. And this later clause is shet vp with this worde Selah, which the Hebrewes are not wont to vse, but in some profound misterie. To be short, in the thréescore and twelfth Psalme, after he hath sayde. All Kings shall worship him, and all Nations shall serue him: Hée addeth, for he shall deliuer the poore that cry vntounto hym, and the distressed that hath no helpe. Yea and which more is, All Nations shall report themselues to be blessed in him, and they shall also blesse him. Dauid is full of such sentences, which shewe that he speaketh of a King, howbeit of another than Salomon his owne sonne. For Salomons kingdom extended not much further than his fathers, neither did the Nations méete togither vnderunder him; and as for his kingdome, it ended wich his beath, and within day or twayne after was rent in peeces. And therefore the auncient Synagog did alwayes vnderstand those texts to be ment of Christ, who was to be borne of the séede of Dauid, as we may perceyue by the Chaldee translation, which interpreteth them to be spoken concerning the same partie. Howbeit sith it is not said in any of the Psalmes, Reioyce thou Israel, for thou shalt reigne ouer the Gentiles; but, Reioyceye Gentyles, be glad ye Nations and Kings, for I will giuegive you a King: surely it is euident that the ioy which he reporteth to be so greate, is not for that they should hauehave a Iewe to be their king, for eueryevery Nation had leuer to hauehave one of their owne countrie; or for that this King should hauehave a souereine Monarke aboue them all to controll them, for eueryevery of them had leuer to reigne by himselfe alone: but rather because this King should bee of a farre other nature and qualitie than all other Kings, namely a King of soules, a deliuerer of men from the bondage of sinne, and a spirituall Monarke. Also the Song of Songs is an expresse poetrie cōceruing the vnion of Christ & his Church, and hath bene so vnderstoode of the Iewes, as it appeereth by the Chaldee Paraphrase therof which we hauehave. As for the Prophets, we find nothing els in them almost line by lyne, but foretellings of Christ to come, of ye Nature of his Kingdome, of the calling of the Gentiles, of the stablithing agein of godlynes, and such other matters; as wel to put ye people then present in remembrance of them, as to prepare the aftercommers to receiue them. Insomuch that if the Prophets speake of the returne from Babylon, of the stablishing ageine of the kingdome, of the building ageine of the Temple, and such other things? by and by within two or thrée verses, yee shal see them caried away to the spirituall kingdome of Christ, and to the true Temple which is the Church: as though they had ment to say vntounto vsus, that we must not rest vponupon these temporall things which are but shadowes; but remember that we be men, that is to say Soules; and that our welfare cōsisteth not in liuing, in gouerning, and in reigning heere, but in seruing God that we may be vnited vntounto him, & ruled by him, howbeit not so as we should reigne in the world, but that God should reigne in vsus by the Scepter of his word, and by the power of his spirit, and be obeyed of vsus. It shall come to passe (sayth Esay)Esay. 1. Micheas. that in the latter dayes the hill of the Lords house shalbe set vp vponupon the toppe of the mountaynes, and that all Nations shal come flocking to it, and many folke shall say, Come, let vsus goe vp to the Lords hill, and to the GOD of Iacobs house. This text is spoken manifestly of Christ and of his reigne, and of the blessing that was to be shed out vponupon all Nations by him. But let vsus reade further. He will teach vsus his wayes (sayth he) and we shall walke in his pathes. The Lawe shall come from out of Sion, and the world of the Lorde from Hierusalem. He shall iudge among the Heathen, and reproue the Nations. They shall turne their Swordes into Culters, & their Speares into Sythes. Here is no speaking of wars, of fighting or of force; but the Lawe of Gods worde, and of teaching. And in the fourth Chapter, At that day (sayth he)Esay. 4. shall the Lords braunch be m…ch made of, and glorious, and whosoeuer abydeth in Hierusalem shall be called holy. If this glorie were not expounded, some would thereby behight here a triumph. But at the same time (saith he) the Lord will wash away the filthynes of the daughters of Syon, and clense away the blud of Hierusalem from the middes thereof, by the spirit of iudgement and the spirit of burning. It is then a glory, yea and a true glorie, but yet a farre other glorie then the flesh vnderstandeth. Now the Iewes vnderstand this text of the Messias: for whereas the Hebrewe hath Braunch; the Chaldee Interpreter hath translated it the Lords Anoynted or Christ. Esay. 9.In his nineth Chapter he sayth that he shalbe called the Prince of peace; (and the Chaldee Paraphrast hath translated it the Christ or Anoynted of peace) and that his kingdome shalbe increased, and that there shall bee no end of his reigne, and that he shall execute Iustice vponupon the throne of Dauid for euer. If he shalbe a Prince of peace, where shal warre become?Esay. 11. And if there bee no warre, what shall this increase of his kingdome bee? That doth he shewe vsus apparantly in his eleuenth Chapter.He had said a fore, that the high Cedars should be cast downe, that is to say the great Princes. And against those Cedars he setteth expresly this litle brāch of the roote of Iesse, or Isay. This Iesse or Isay was Dauids father. A blossome shall spring (sayth he) out of the stocke of Isay, and a braunch shall growe out of his roote. The spirite of the Lord shall rest vponupon him, the spirite of wisedome and vnderstanding, the spirite of counsell and strength, the spirite of knowledge & of the feare of the Lord. He shal smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, & kill the wicked with the breath of his lippes. The Goate and the Lambe shall dwell together, and the Leopard with the Kid. The Earth shall bee full of the knowledge of the Lord as with an ouerflowing of the Sea, and the Gentiles shall inquire after the roote of Isay, which shal be set vp as a Standard for people to resort vntounto. The Conquests then of this Emperour shalbe of mens Soules; his tributes, their worshippings; his armour and weapons, the spirit of the Lord; his peace, the vniting of all folke together into one Church in the fauour of their Maker. Also in the fiue and twentie he … shall destroy death for euer, and take away the … at hydeth the face of all people. Esay. 25. 35. 42 49.And in the fiue and thirtie, The eyes of the blynd shall bee opened, and the eares of the deaffe shall be vnstopped. And in the two and fortie and the nine and fortie: He shalbe no outcryer nor loude of speech; his voyce shall not be heard in the streates. He shall set iudgement on … and the Iles shall wayt for him. He shal be a maker of leagues among people, and a light vntounto the Gentiles. Some shall come from the North, and some from the South; so as the land shall be to narrowe for them. The Kings themselues shalbe foster… fathers to my people, and Queenes shall bee their Nurces. Which of all these things can bee vnderstood otherwise than of a spirituall kingdome? On the contrary part, let vsus see how the same Prophet speaketh of Cyrus the great Emperour, which was to deliuer Israell by the force of armes out of the hands of the Chaldees. I hauehave taken thee by the right hand (sayth the Lord) to make Nations subiect vntounto thee, and to weaken the reynes of Kings; to set open the doores vntounto thee, and to vnlocke the gates against thee. I will breake open the gates of brasse, and burst asunder the barres of yron. I will giuegive thee the hoorded treasures, and the things that lye hid in secret places. What likenesse is there betweene this maner of speaking and the other, and consequently betwéene the deliuerances or the deliuerers them selues? But in the two and fiftie and three and fiftie,Esay. 52. 53. he taketh away all doubt. Behold (saith he) my seruant shall behaue himself happely, and be exalted and aduanced very high. As how? He shall bee despised of men (sayth the Prophet) and thrust out of their companie. A man full of sorowe and heauinesse shall he bee, and eueryevery bodie shall hide his face from him. He shall bee wounded for our misdeedes, and smitten for our sinnes. The chastisement of our peace shal lye vponupon him, and by his stripes shall wee bee healed. And he sayth afterward, Although there was not any vnrightuosnesse in him, yet was it the Lords will to breake him with sorowe. And because he shall giuegive his life for sinne, the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand, and he shall see the labour of his Soule, and inioy it. For by his knowledge he shall make many rightuous, and he shall take their iniquities vponupon him. Now this text is interpreted expresly of the Messias by the Chaldee Paraphrast.In the Talmud in the treatise intitled Sanhedrin in the Chapter Helec. And in the Talmud, Rabbi Iacob being asked the name of the Messias, sayth he shalbe called Leaprous; and there he bringeth in this text to proue it. By which reckoning his life should be but languishing and paine, sauing that he tryumphed ouer the Deuill and Death, and that we vnderstand it spiritually. To be short, in the fiue and fiftie he is called the Law giuer of the Gentiles: Esay. 55. 59. 61. 62.and in the nine and fiftie, The Redeemer: And in the thréescore and one, The Phisition of the helplesse, and the Proclaymer of the acceptable yere of the Lord: And in the thréescore and two, The Sauiour, & the League or Attonement which he bringeth to the people; not that he Lordeth it, but that he is holy; nor that he giueth lawes to other Nations of the earth, but that he hath the word of GOD in his owne mouth and in the mouthes of his seede; sauing that in the kingdome of his Christ, God will giuegive a better place to straungers then to them.
As for al the other Prophets, like as they shoote not at any other marke, so hauehave they not any other voyce. Neuerthelesse we will content ourselues with a feawe of their sayings, which shall giuegive credit to all the rest; and so much the more, bycause their wryting was comonly both at sundry times, and in sundry places. We hauehave seene how the Messias was promised to the issew of Dauid and to Dauid himself.…ere. 23. 30. 33. Thus therefore doth Ieremy speake thereof conformably to that which we hauehave sayd heretofore. I will rayse vp a braunch vntounto Dauid (sayeth the Lord), and hee shall reigne as King, and prosper, and execute Iustice and Iudgment vppon Earth. And if ye aske the Prophet what maner of prosperitie this shalbe: It is (sayeth he) that in his dayes Iuda shalbe safe, and Israel shal dwell without feare, and the name whereby he shalbe called, shalbe the Euerlasting, our Ryghtuousenes; that is to say the Iustifier of vsus. For (sayeth he) the Lord hath sayd it. Dauid shall neuer want a Successor sitting vppon his Throne, neither shall there euer want a Priest of the Priests the Leuites to offer sacrifice before me: Neither is it any more possible for you to breake this couenant; than to breake the couenant that I hauehave made with day and nyght. Now, the Iewes cannot denie, but that euen by the record of their owne Paraphrast, this text is ment of Christ, and yet notwithstanding, that there hath not wanted a Successor both to Dauid and to Leuie; and that both the Kingdome and the Preesthod are come to an end; and therefore that he speaketh here of another Kingdome and of another Preesthod: Likewyse sayeth Ezechiell, Ezcehiel. 34. 17.I will set a shepherd ouer my flocke, which shall feede them, namely my Seruant Dauid. I will bee their God, and he shalbe their Prince among them. I wil enter into a Couenant of peace with them, and make noysom beasts to ceasse from the earth. I will rayse them shortly a plant of Renowne, and they shall no more bee the iestingstock of the Gentyles. And if we aske, how? They shall nomore be defiled (sayeth he) with their Idolles, nor with their abhominations, nor with their misdeedes: but I will saue them from all their sinnes, and make them cleane, and they shalbe my people, and I wil be their God. And that this text also is ment of the Messias, the Iewes cannot deny. For in their very Talmud Talmud in the …reatise intytled, Sanhedrin, in the chapter Helec. Daniel. 2. 7. 9.they say that the Messias is called Dauid, bycause he was too be borne of Dauids race: and they alledge this present text and others for the same purpose. Daniel in his second and seuenth Chapters expounding Nabugodonozors Dreame, treateth of the fower greate Monarchies, which should rise vp in the world eueryevery one in his tyme: the which are betokened there, vnderunder these fower Metalls, Golde, Siluer, Brasse, and yron. But when the Dreame representeth vsus the stone heawen without hand, which stryketh the Images yron feete and breaketh them apeeces: it is as much as if it had told vsus, that the Kingdom of the Messias shall seeme to be of small stuffe, without stay and without force of man; and yet that it shall indure for euer, bycause it is set vp by God. And therefore whereas he addeth in another place, That all People, Nations and Toongs shal serue that Kingdome, it is to be vnderstoode of another kynd of seruice than the ordinarie. But in his fifth Chapter he sheweth wherein the same peculiarly consisteth. It is (sayeth he) in bringing disobedience to an end, and in sealing vp sinne, to clense away iniquitie, and to bring ryghtuousnes into the world; to close vp prophesying and visions, and to anoynt the holy of Holyes. Yea and it is so little ment that Hierusalem should be the seate of that kingdome, that it was to be destroyed anon after by the Romanes. The nomber of the Children of Israel (sayeth Ose Osec. 1. 2. 3.) shalbe as the sand. And where it hath bin sayd, you be not my People; there it shalbe sayd, ye be the people of the liuing God: which is as much to say as that many people should become Israelytes. And this shalbe done (sayth the Lord) not by bowe, nor by swoord, nor by battel: but bycause I will shewe mercy, and saue them by their Lord God, and marry them to me of my compassion. Iewry (sayth Ioel) shalbe inhabited, euerlastingly, and Hierusalem from generation to generation. Yet had they greate ouerthrowes afterward, yea euen in the Prophets owne tyme. But yet he addeth, I will wype away the blud from those whom I hauehave not yet cleansed, that is to wit, the Gentiles, and the Lord shall dwell in Syon. Then speaketh he of another Iewrie and of another Syon, that is to wit, of the spirituall one, which is the Church. To the same end tendeth Amos Amos. 9.when he sayth, I will set vp the Tabernacle of Dauid againe, and stop vp the breakes thereof, and amend the decayes, that he may possesse the remnant of Edom, and of all other nations. And Micheas Micheas.sayth that many Nations shall come to the Lords Hill, and talke there one with another, saying as followeth; namely, that the name of the Lord shall bee called vponupon ouer them, and that the Law shall come out of Syon and the word of the Lord out of Hierusalem, which shall teach them his waies. And to the intent wee should not thinke, that whereas Micheas sayth that the name of the Messias shall shortly bee magnified to the vttermost parts of the earth; Israell shall tryumph after the maner of the world: The Assyrians (sayth he) shall not ceasse to come into our Land, and to walke vp and downe in our Palaces. That is to say, the good and vertuous folke shall not ceasse to be persecuted for all that: but yet howsoeuer they fare, Idolatrie shalbe ouerthrowen, as he saith afterward, and the Anoynted shall reigne through the power of the Lord, and he shall be our peace. And Sophonie Sophonie. 2.foretelleth to the same effect, That God will starue all the Gods of the earth, so as eueryevery man shall worship in his owne place throughout all the Iles of the Gentiles: that is to say, That Hierusalem shall not bee the only place to worship in, but rather that God wil hauehave eueryevery place to bee a Hierusalem. In Zacharie Zacharie. 3. 6. 9. 13.the Lorde hauing sayd I will make my seruant Braunch to come; addeth immediatly, and I will wipe away the wickednes of this land in one day. And hauing sayd, He shall reigne vponupon his seate: He addeth foorthwith, that the Highpriest also shal sit there with him, That is to say, that Christ shalbe both King and Priest. He sayth in deede, Bee glad thou daughter Sion and triumph; For thy King commeth: But see here with what furniture; A righteous Sauiour & a lowly, sitting vponupon an Asse, euen vppon an Asses colt, which is the Chariot of Ephraim and the Horse of Hierusalem, & the bowe of warre. He shal speake myldly to all Nations, and yet shal he be obeyed from the oneside of the earth to the other. If there be no greater triumphe than this, what néedeth so great ioy? But he expoundeth himselfe in these words following. Thou shalt bee saued by the blud of thy couenant, and I hauehave let out thy prisoners from the waterlesse pit. Now, that this text is ment of Christ,In the treatise Sanhedrin: cap. Halec. it appeareth by Rabby Samuel and Rabby Ioseph in the Talmud. And Rabby Selmoh ben Iarchi (as great an enemy as he is to vsus,) expoundeth it not otherwise. Agein, In that day (saith he) a Welspring shalbe opened to the house of Dauid, and to the Inhabiters of Hierusalem, to wash away their sinne and their filth; & I will roote out the names of the remembrance of ydols from the earth sayth the Lord of Hostes. All this is nothing els but the clearing of men from their sinnes, and the abolishing of Sathans reigne. To bee short, Malachie telleth vsus of Christ, That he shall bring vsus an Attonement betwéene GOD and vsus. And of the Ambassadour whom GOD ment to send afore him to prepare his wayes, He sayth that hee shall turne the heartes of the Children to their Fathers, and the heartes of the Fathers to their children. By the preparation of the Ambassadour, we iudge of the Office of his Maister: namely that his comming is properly to reigne in our Soules, seeing his Ambassadour prepareth them for him, exhorting vsus to turne away from our sinnes. Now of this long but yet néedefull discourse, wee gather two things. The one against the Gentyles, which is, that the meane of cleansing mankind hath bin promised and preached euen from the fall of Adam, and that the same promise is from time to time brought to our remembrance by our scriptures: to wit that it is doone by Christ, who was to bée borne of the womans séede by Abraham, Iuda, Dauid and others. The other is against the Iewes of our tyme, who looke still for a Christ to come: which is, that the deliuerāce promised by him, is not ment of the tyranny of some earthly Prince ouer vsus; but of the Tyranny which the diuell exerciseth in our Soules by the vnrighteousnes of sinne, the rewarde whereof is euerlasting death. The Gentiles of old tyme yéelded vntounto these texts, when they had once imbraced the spirituall kingdome of Christ: and it may be that if we had to doo with the Iewes of elder tyme, the matter should soone bee dispatched.The Iewes of old tyme looked for a spirituall King. Misdrach Has…im. For all the forealledged Texts hauehave bene vnderstood of the Messias and of his reigne, both by the auncient Rabbines and by the Chaldee Paraphrasts. Moreouer it is very manifest, that ye Cabalists who wrate long tyme afore the Talmudistes, and who (as they say) doo pearce into the very Marowe of the Scriptures, wheras the Talmudists doe but grate vppon the barke of them: hauehave vnderstoode that the cleansing away of sinne and the heating of the contagious venome which the Serpent did shed into Adam, and by him into the whole ofspring of man: was to bee wrought by the Messias. Yet for all this, notwithstāding al ye forecasts of mans wit, we want not some euen of the newer sort of Writers, which hauehave vnderstoode it after the maner aforesaid.Ballet. Cap. 1. vers. 14. & cap. 4. vers. 4. The exposition of Salomons Balett vponupon these words, A Grape of Copher, makes this allusion; Eschcol Haccopher, That vntounto the Church, Christ is a man of full attonement, who shall be borne of the Children of Abraham, and shall make satisfaction for sinnes, in such sort as he may say to the measure of Iudgement, It is enough: that is to say, he may stay Gods wrath and punishment; and God (sayth he) will lay him to gage and deliuer him for those that are his. And vponupon the fourth Chapter where it is written thus, A thousand sheelds hang there, that is to say, in the Tower of Dauid, the sayde exposition hath these words: Often hauehave I (saith the Lord) taken my people in in protection, for the dezert of one that was to come after a thousand generatiōs, And I hauehave made them to succeede one after another, to bring the Sheeld at the last vntounto him, which is the onelyonly desyre of my Children, and shal defend them better then a thousand Sheelds. Also the Rabbines say, That the Creatures which are growen out of king by Adams fall, shall be set in their perfect state againe by the Sonne of Perets, and according to their accustomed fondnesse, for proofe thereof they bring in a Text of Ruth and another of Genesis, Rabbi, Barachias in his Bereschith. Rab ba Misdrach. Exod. 21.where this worde Toledoth is written very plainly, that is to wit, with two Vaus. And as thouching the sayd Sonne of Perets, eueryevery man knowes among them that it is the Messias, whom they looked for to come of Iuda by his sonne*We call him Phares. Perets. Concerning the calling of the Gentiles, the Talmud maketh this comparison, That the Horse shalbe set in the stall of the halting Oxe. Which wordes Rabbi Iacob and Rabbi Selomoh expound thus;Thalmud in the treatise Sā hedrin, cap Helec. namely that forasmuch as the Iewes shall hauehave forsaken the Lawe, God will put the Gentyles in their place, and yet not driue them away afterward, though the Iewes turne again vntounto him: which is a thing very farre of from the Monarchie which they imagin as oft as there is any speaking of the calling of the Gentiles. To bee short, the notablest of their Rabbines are ashamed of the feastings & extraordinarie pastimes, which the Iewes behight themselues at the comming of the Messias; and conclude with Rabbi Moyses ben Maimon, (of whom they report that since Moyses hymselfe vntill this Moyses there was none so like vntounto Moyses) that the felicities and pleasures of that tyme, ought to bee vnderstood according to this saying of Esayes, Esay. 11.That the earth shalbe as it were ouerflowed with ye knowledge of the Lord, and that eueryevery man shalbe occupyed in seeking and in knowing GOD. But Rabbi Hechadoseh sayth yet more plainly, That the Messias shall by his death saue Adams race, and deliuer mens Soules from Hell;Reasons against the Iewes of our daies. and therefore shall bee called Sauiour.
Let vsus yet further by reason ouercome the wilfull sort, if it bée possible.It is the 13. article of the beleef of the Iewes Rabbi Moyses ben Maimon. They hold it for an Article of their faith, both by Scripture and by tradition, that there shalbe a Messias. He that denyes that (say they) denyes the Lawe & the Prophetes, and is condemned to Helfyre. And therefore (say they) he that denyeth the comming of the Messias, cannot be saued. If he which is to reigne in Israell and to giuegive them prosperitie, bee a temporall King: what skilles it me greatly whether I knowe him and beleeue in him, or no? or what ioy can it bee to me, sith I cannot see him? Nay rather what a griefe is it to mee that I shal not see him, and what a peine is it to pyne away in wayting for him? Ageine, what goodnesse is it in GOD to hauehave foretold vsus it: if by beléeuing it we fare neuer the better, & yet must dye euerlastingly for not beléeuing it? In ye Articles of their faith, they beléeue in ye only one God. There is greate reward in beléeuing well. They beleeue a blessed lyfe. As it is the Soule that beleeueth; so doth the reward redound vntounto her. And euen so is it with all other things which are no Articles of fayth, furtherfoorth than a man hath benefite by beleeuing them. But as for this Article of the Messias, what booted it Abraham, Moyses, so many Kings, so many Prophetes, & such a nomber of people; if there were no further secret in it? Why was it foretold so carefully by the Prophetes? Why was it so oft repeated, no lesse in the prosperitie than in the aduersitie of that people, and no lesse vnderunder the good Kings than vnderunder the Tyrants? Nay, which more is; why was it more, yea farre more carefully repeated to those which were not at the tyme when he should come, than to those which were to be borne in his time; if the Messias be not certeinly more than simply a good King, and the prosperitie another maner of prosperitie than any is on earth, and the ioy another maner a ioy than is conceiued by the sences? And yet for all that, vntounto a Iewe it is an Article of fayth, and of the necessitie of saluation. We say therfore, that the Messias is not a King of temporall delightes, but the King of Saluation and welfare.
Agein, they beleeue that the Scriptures are of God, and that they teache them the way to Saluation. Now the ordinarie voyce of them is ageinst the Pompe, the brauery, and the vanitie of the world: saying that God will turne them into sorrowe, mourning and dung. Herewithall, the same Scriptures turne vsus away from all other delights, to talke of that, and from all honor and reputation, to the atteynement of that kingdome. Who seeth not therefore, that this ioy which the Scriptures doe so much commend, is of another kind, than the ioy which they discommend, and that the kingdom which they make vsus to couet, is to be possessed in heauen and not on earth? Be glad O Daughter Sion (say the Prophets) reioyce thou Hierusalem, sing ye nations a…d peoples. And wherfore? For certeine thousand yeres hence, there shall rise vp a great King in Israell. What greater fondnesse can there bee than this? He shall make a good peace say they: what passe I for that, if I my selfe be in Warre? He shall open the Prisons: what is that to mee, if I in the meane whyle doe rotte there? He shall triumph ouer al the Nations in the word. What am I ye better for that, if in the meane season other Nations trample me vnderunder their féete, and leade mee in triumphe ouer all the worlde with my hands bound behind mee? The father [say they] reioyceth for his Sonnes welfare: yet is that but a light and flightfull ioy, and who is hee that wilbe moued for the afterspring of his children that are long hence to come? And who would not count him a foole for reioycing thereat, and much more for beléeuing it? Surely, then doth this ioy extend farther, so as euen the foretellers thereof doe feele it themselues and are cheered therewith, and the hearers thereof doe taste of it and finde themselues comforted: and both of them in their Soules inioy the Fraunchises and Freedomes of that kingdome aforehand, ere the sayde King whom they looke for he borne into this world. Let vsus put the case farther, that they which shall attend vponupon the Messias, shalbe rewarded abundantly with all the pleasures of this lyfe: what shall become of him in the ende? Hee shall dye (say they) and his generation with him, and therevppon they keepe a sore contention how many yeeres hee shall liue. How farre of is this geere from that which the Prophetes speake of, concerning a ioy that shall neuer hauehave end? What if they passe a hundred yeres in all ioy? what is it but a long feast, which as soone as a man sleepeth is quite and cleane forgotten? And if ye dye altogether, what remayneth of it any more? And if ye liue out of the world, what remayneth thereof but greef? And what reason hauehave the Fathers to reioyce so much at that flash of Lightening, which passeth away in a momēt? Soothly much lesse thā for a Mariagefeast, at leastwise which is accompanied with the birth of some children. In very deede these things are toyes to laugh at, but yet among the Iewes they bee earnest matters, and they rest vppon them at this day lyke silly soules as they be, as though there were none other lyfe for man than this, or as though they should euer be babes still in this life. But some to shunne this absurditie, hauehave falne into another, namely that all they which hauehave hoped for the Messias, shal come to lyfe agayne as they were afore, yea and euen the wicked sort too, that they may burst for spight and sorrowe. They that be in the glorie of God shall come backe again to see the glorie of that man. They that are free from this Prison of sinne, shalbe shut vp againe in it to see this licentiousnes. They that liue euerlastingly in all felicitie aboue, shall come downe to eate of fat beastes. What is this but a tittletattle of Children, which in their conferences can go no higher than Tartes and Iunkets, nor conceiue any higher pleasures than those? And what els in effect is all this, than to ryse from Bed to Boord, and from Boorde to Bed ageine to sléepe? But if all this must be done in Palestine, so as all that are spoken of afore shall come thither: How will Palestine or Iewrie suffice to receiue them, or what Leuiathan The Iewes of our dayes say that this Leuiathan is a Whale powdred for the feast of the Messias.wil suffice to féede them? And if the Gentiles also shabe admitted thither, as they say: what maner a Temple shall there be? And if all men shall bring their Sacrifices thither, what shall Hierusalem be, but a continuall slaughterhouse of beastes, and all Iewrie an vniuersall streame of blud? Who seeth not then, that (as the Prophetes declare vntounto vsus) the Gentiles shall not in very deede bee gathered in Hierusalem, but Hierusalem shall be spred out among the Gentyles? And that they shall not come ronning from a farre to the Temple, but that they themselues shalbe the Temple, I meane their heartes, where God shalbe serued and worshipped: And seeing that GOD so greatly refuseth our sheadings of blud, our fat Muttons, and our perfumes: who can thinke that those shalbe the feast which he will prepare to chere vsus withall.