The Doctrine of King James, Doctrine 3 – Doctrine 4
THE DOCTRINE OF THE Catholicke Church concerning Election or Praedestination, taught by the Fathers, and subscribed by Doctors and Schoole-men.
NVm putatis (ô Viri) nos unquam haec in Scripturis Iustin Martyr Dial▪ cum Tryph. Iud.intelligere potuisse, &c. Doe you thinke (O men) that wee could euer hauehave vnderstood these things in the Scriptures, except wee had receiued grace by the will of God, who willed that wee should vnderstand these things? of which grace you being destitute (that is, the Iewes) hauehave vnderstood none of them, that it might be fulfilled, which is taught by Moses: They hauehave prouoked me by strange Gods, &c. And I will prouoke them by that which is no Nation. Dialog. cum Tryph.
Nos elegit Deus, &c. And againe, God Elected vsus, and was made manifest to them that sought him not. Behold, saith hee, I am the God of a Nation, which God anciently promised to Abraham, when hee told him that he should be the Father of many Nations.
Elegit Deus non natura, &c. God did Elect, not thoseIraneu… lib. …. cap. 34. that are better by nature, but those that are worse.Id. lib. 3. cap. 33.
Praedestina…it Deus, &c. God Predestinated the first naturall man, that he should be saued by the spirituall man: And hee proues his saluation to be necessaey. Cap. 38.
Ne que ad hoc pretijs aut ambitu, &c. Neither is thereCyprian … Mors. need of money, industry, and mans hand, that mans chiefest dignitie or power, should be gotten by some excellent worke, but it is the free and ready gift of God. As freely as the Sunne shineth, the Fountaine watereth, the showre moystneth, so doth the heauenly Spirit Powre it selfe into vsus.
Iacobus Apostolus docuis, &c. Iames the ApostleAthanaesius, Cent. Arrian. 4. hath taught: Of his owne will begate hee vsus by the word of truth: therefore of all the regenerate, yea, and of all that by creation were generated, it is the will of God by the word of God that doth create, and regenerate whatsoeuer pleaseth him.
Quoniam animarum Medicus, &c. Because the PhysitianHillary in Psal. 48. of soules came not to call the iust but sinners to repentance, therefore hee ORDAINED, that whatsoeuer was worst in eueryevery company, should bee soonest CALLED. The worst of all men that inhabite the earth, were the Heathen, and they are preferred first to be Called.
Non volentis, &c. Perseuerance is not in him thatAmbrose in Psal. 118. Serm. 10. willeth, nor in him that runneth. For it is not in the power of man, but in God that sheweth MercieMercy, that thou shouldst be able to accomplish, that which thou hast begun.
Et si longe est à peccatoribus salus: &c. And againe. Though saluation befarre from the wicked, yet let…. Serm. 20. no man despaire, because many bee the Mercies of God. Those that by their owne sinnes are perishing, by the MercieMercy of God are freed. I will hauehave merciemercy (saith he) on whom I will hauehave merciemercy. He hath appeared plainely to them that sought him not, he hath called those that fled from him.
Non eliguntur Paulus, &c. Paul and those which areHierrme ad Ruffin. lib. 1. like him are not Elected, because they were holy and vnspotted, but they are Elected and Praedestinated, that in their liues afterward in good-workes and vertues, they might be holy and vnspotted.
But though before this time the Fathers had not clearely discouered, nor deliuered the Doctrine of Praedestination, it ought to be no preiudice to the Doctrine. For
What need is there, that we should bee driuen toAustin. de praedest. Sanct. cap. 14. search the workes of those who before this Haerisie (viz. of Pelagius) arose, had no necessitie to busie themselues in this question, so difficult to bee resolued: which yet surely they would hauehave done, if they had beene enforced to answer this kinde of men.
Yet he also sheweth that this Doctrine was euer (at least impliedly) in the faith of the Church.
Let him say, that the Church had not at all timesDe bono perseuer. cap. 23. in her Faith, the truth of this Praedestination and Grace, which now with more diligent care is defended against the new Haeretickes; let him, I say, affirme this, that dares to say that shee did not at all times pray, or that she did not sincerely pray, both that vnbeleeuers might beleeue, or that beleeuers might perseuere.
His owne opinion is to be found in many of his works; wherefore I onelyonly produce one or two places for patternes.
De his quibus poenam seueritas iusta decreuerat, &c.
Out of those to whom the seueritie of Iustice adjudgethDe praedest & ▪ gra. cap. 13. punishment according to the vnexpressible Mercy of his secret dispensation, he chose out vessels which he might fit vntounto Honour, both deliuering some from wrath to come by a free calling, and leauing other to the sentence of Iustice.
Miseretur scilicet magna bonitate, &c. Hee hathEnchirid. al Laurent▪ cap. 99. MercieMercy with Goodnesse, hee hardneth without iniustice; so that he that is freed may not boast of his merits, neither he that is damned may complaine of any thing but his merits. For Grace alone differenceth the Redeemed from the Lost, whom one common cause deriued from the roote, had vnited together in one masse of destruction.
Praedestinationem Dei nullus Catholicus, &c. The PraedestinationProsper ad capit▪ Gall. capit. 1. of God no Catholicke doth deny.▪Now the faith of Praedestination is established by manifold authorities of the holy Scriptures, yet vntounto it, it is not lawfull to ascribe, any of the sinnes of men, who came to their pronenesse vntounto sinne, not by Gods creation, but by their first Fathers transgression. From the punishment whereof, no man is freed, but only by the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ; prepared and Praedestinated in the eternall counsell of God, before the foundation of the world.
Piâ constantique doctrinâ abundanter probauit, (Auggustinus)Id. ad excerpt. Genis. Resp. ad. Dub. 9. &c. Augustine by a godly and constant Doctrine abundantly proued, that Praedestination was to be preached to the Church, in which Praedestination is the preparation of Grace; and Grace is to be preached in which is the effect of Praedestination: and the fore-knowledge of God, wherein hee fore-knewe before all ages, on whom he would conferre his gifts. Of which preaching, whosoeuer is an impugner, he is a most open defender of Pelagian pride.
Imò nouerunt, non solùm Romanam, &c. They knowProsper ad Ruffin. that not only the Romane and Africane Church, and all the sonnes of promise, through all the parts of the world, doe agree with the Doctrine of this man (Augustine) as in the whole Faith, so in the confession of Grace.
In his Epistle to Possessor a bishop of Africke, seeking Homesda Bishop of Rome.counsell of him concerning the reading of the bookes of Faustus, That the Catholike Church doth maintaine the Doctrine of Saint Austine, and particularly name his writing to Hillarius and Prosper, in which the Doctrine of Free Praedestination is maintained and defended▪
Haec si ita sunt vt haeretici iactitant, &c. If thingsPetrus Diaconus de incar. & gra. Christi. goe so as the Heretickes boast, then hauehave they comprehended the vnsearchable, and incomprehensible iudgements of God, &c. And the Scriptures deceaues vsus which saith, that the iudgements of God are incomprehensible. But we beleeuing them to be incomprehensible doe affirme, that out of one masse of perdition, some are saued by the goodnesse and grace of God, and others are forsaken by his most iust and secret Iudgement.
Deus qui hominem condidit, &c. God who made man,Fulgentius de Incar. & gra. in fine. by his Praedestination fore-appointed to whom hee would giuegive the gift of illumination to beleeue; and the gift of perseuerance to profit and persist, and the gift of glorification to raigne, who no otherwayes performed in Deed, than he hath ordained in his vnchangeable Will. The truth of which Praedestination by which the Apostle witnesseth, that we are Praedestinated in Christ before the foundations of the world; if any man refuse to receaue with the beleife of the heart, or to speake with the confession of his mouth, if before the last day of this present life, hee doe not cast off the stubbornesse of his error, whereby he rebelleth against the true and liuing God, it is plaine that hee doth not pertaine to their number whom God in Christ freely chose, and Praedestinated before the foundation of the world.
Nemo ergo perscrutari appetat, &c. Let no man beeGregory the great. Moral. in Iob, lib. 29. cap. 15. earnest to search why one is chosen, when another is reiected, or why one is reiected when another is chosen: because the face of the deepe is couered, and Saint Paul himselfe witnesseth, that his iudgements are vnsearchable, and his wayes past finding out.
There is a two fold Praedestination, either of theIsidore. Hispalensis. Seut. lib. 2. cap. 6 Elect vntounto rest, or of the Reprobate vntounto death. Both are done by the iudgement of God; so that hee euer causeth the Elect to follow heauenly and inward things, and by forsaking the Reprobate, he suffereth them to follow earthly and outward things.
Beda expoundeth the ninth to the Romanes, in the sense and sentences of Saint Austin, and therefore concurreth in the same Doctrine of Praedestination.
Praedestinatio non solùm bo norum est, &c. PraedestinationAnselme. de Concor. praesc. & pradest. is not only of good, but it may be said also of euill, as God is said to doe the euill which hee doth not, because he permits it. For he is said to harden a man when he doth not soften him, and to lead into tentation when he doth not deliuer. Therefore it is not vnfit that hee should thus Praedestinate, while he doth not amend euill men, nor their euill deeds. But yet he is said more specially to foreknow good things; because in them, he makes that they be, and that they be good: but in the euill things he makes but their being, not the euill of their being.
Nonergo ideo misertus est Deus, &c. God did notIdem in Rom. 9. take merciemercy on Iacob, because hee willed and runned: but therefore Iacob willed and runned, because God had merciemercy on him. Let it be sufficient for thee who yet liuest by Faith, and not seeing perfectly, but knowing only in part, to know and beleeue that God doth saue none but by free MercieMercy, nor damne none but by most righteous Iustice. But why hee saues or not saues, this man rather than that man, let him search who will looke into the great depth of Gods iudgements, but withall let him take heed, that hee fall not downe head-long.
Ius meum voluntas est Iudicis. &c. My right is theBernard. in Cant. Ser…. 14. will of the Iudge. What more Iust for Merit? What more rich for reward? May not he doe what he will? MercieMercy indeed is shewed to me, but to thee is done no iniurie. Take that which is thine, and goe thy way. If he hauehave Decreed to saue me also, why wilt thou destroy me? Talke what thou wilt of thy Merits, extoll thy labours, the MercieMercy of God is better then life.P. Lombard o… Master of Sentences▪ lib. 1. Dist. 41▪ D.
Plegit eos quos voluit gratuitâ Misericordia, &c. God Elected whom he pleased by free MercieMercy, not because they would be faithfull, but that they might be faithfull. And hee gaue them grace, not because they were faithfull, but that they might bee. For the Apostle saith: (1 Cor. 7.) I obtained MercieMercy, that I might bee faithfull. He saith not, because I was faithfull. Grace is indeed giuen to the faithfull, but it is also giuen first that he may be faithfull. So also he reprobated whom he pleased, not for any future merits, yet by a most true Iustice, though hidden from our eyes.
Manifestum est, quòd id quod est gratiae, &c. It is manifestThomas Aquina…. part. 1. q. 23. art. 5. that Grace is an effect of Praedestination, and that cannot bee put as a cause of Praedestiuation, which is shut vp vnderunder Predestination. God would shew his goodnesse on some whom he Praedestinated in sparing them by way of MercieMercy; and on those whom hee Reprobateth in punishing by way of Iustice. And this is the reason why he chuseth some, and reprobateth others. But why hee chuseth these vntounto glory, and reprobateth those, there is no reason to be giuen but the will of God.
Non est talis causa prohibens, &c. There is no suchBradwarden the profound. De Causa Dei. lib. 1. cap. 39. cause, either forbidding the will of God, or causing it, by which an answer may be giuen, why hee loued this man, or hated that man.
Vocetur Praedestinatio bonorum, &c. Let the PraedestinationId▪ lib. 2. cap. 45. of the good bee absolutely called Praedestination; and the Praedestination of the euill, Reprobation. And then Praedestination may be thus described: Praedestination is an euerlasting fore▪ appointment of finall Grace in the way, and euerlasting happinesse in the Countrey (or home) to the reasonable creature, by the will of God.
Hic quart… concludit, quod vtramque, &c. Hee concludes,Gorran in Rom. 9. that both Election and Reprobation, dependeth on Gods good pleasure, saying, Therefore hee hath Mercy on whom he will, &c. Because freely hee hath loued Iacob, and reiected Esau, hee hath MercieMercy on whom hee will by giuing Grace; and hee hardneth whom hee will, not by imparting wickednesse, but by not giuing Grace. Whereupon Saint Austin: As the Sunne in departing farre from the earth, doth harden Ice, not by imparting coldnesse, but by not giuing heate.
Ago sum qui cunctos condidi Sanctos, &c. I am heeThomas Campensis de Imit. Christi. lib. 2. cap. 63. that made all Saints. I gaue them Grace. I bestowed glorie. I know all their good workes. I preuented them in the blessings of my sweetnesse. I fore knew my beloued before all ages. I Elected them out of the world, and they did not prae-elect mee. I called them by Grace. I drew them by Mercy. I led them through manifold tentations. I powred into them glorious consolations I gaue them perseuerance, &c. I am to be blessed and honoured in them all, whom I hauehave so highly glorified and Praedestinated without any foregoing good workes of their owne.
Gratia Praedestination is in divinis literis, &c. TheCassander end… in the end of this Doctrine. C…nsult. Art. 18. Grace of Praedestination is so greatly commended in the word of God, and Ecclesiasticall writers, That those who are indued with Faith in Christ, and with good workes springing from that Faith, may not ascribe these things to themselues, but vntounto God, and to the Grace of his diuine Praedestination, and Flection, and so may glory in the Lord, and not in themselues.
The Doctrine of King IAMES, concerning Free-Will, and effectuall Grace.
THe only way for enabling vsus to doe it (viz. the willMedit on the Lorde prayer. of God) is by our earnest prayer to God, that he will enable vsus to doe it, according to that of Saint Augustine, Da Domine quod iubes, & iube quod vis.
And lead vsus not into Tentation) the Arminians cannotIbid. but mislike the frame of this petition, for I am sure they would hauehave it, And suffer vsus not to be led into tentation, &c. Saint Augustine is the best decider of this question, to whom I remit me.
The Reader is referred in the margent to Saint Augustine thus:
Aug: de Praedestinatione Sanctorum, De dono perseuerantiae contra Pelagianos & passim alibi. Now Saint Augustines Doctrine of Free-will is shortly to follow.
Our next generall petition is, That his Kingdome mayIbid. come, &c. That in the meanetime, his will may bee done on earth, as it is in Heauen; The effect, which the Kingdome of Heauen in this Earth will produce.
The nature of man, through the transgression of ourDeclar. against Vorstius. first parents, hath lost Free-will, and retayneth not now any shadow thereof, sauing an inclination to euill, those only excepted whom God of his meere Grace hath sanctified, and purged from this Originall Leprosie.
It sufficeth vsus to know that Adam by his fall lost hisMeditation on the Lord▪ prayer. Free-will, both to himselfe, and all his posteritie, so as the best of vsus all hath not one good thought in him, except it come from God, who drawes by his effectuall Grace, out of that attaynted and corrupt masse, whom hee pleaseth, for the worke of his MercieMercy.