Commentary on Romans, Title page – Dedication
❧ Moſt learned and fruitfull Commentaries of D. Peter Martir Vermilius Florentine, Profeſſor of Diuinitie in the Schole of Tigure, vponupon the Epiſtle of S. Paul to the Romanes: wherin are diligently & moſt profitably entreated all ſuch matters and chiefe common places of religion touched in the ſame Epiſtle.
¶ With a table of all the common places and expoſitions vponupon diuers places of the ſcriptures, and alſo an Index to finde all the principall matters conteyned in the ſame. Lately trā ſlated out of Latine into Engliſhe, by H. B.
¶ IMPRINTED AT LONdon by Iohn Daye.
¶ Cum Gratia & Priuilegio Regiae Maiestatis per decennium.
❧ Theſe bookes are to be ſolde at the ſhop vnderunder the gate.
DIEV ET MON DRIO…
ARISE FOR IT IS DAY
TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE AND VVORTHY SIR ANTHONY COOKE KNIGHT, PETER MARTIR VERMILIVS OF FLORENCE, PROFESSER OF DIVINITIE IN THE SCHOLE OF TIGVRE, VVISHETH HEALTH.
WHen I oftentimes conſider with my ſelfe (right honourable Sir, whome for godlines and learning I reuerence) all thoſe things which happened all that whole time that I dwelt in England, it driueth into me a great and manifolde griefe. And in eſpeciall it is a grief vntounto me, that ſo great an hope of the goſpell of Ieſus Chriſte, and of pure doctrine in that Realme, geuen by the moſt mighty and moſt mercifull God, and confirmed by the great laboure, induſtry, and ſtudy of godly men, hath now in a maner vtterly peariſhed. It is a griefe vntounto me, to thinke that that moſt noble wit, moſt ſacred breſt, and incredible piety of that famous king Edwarde the .vj. of that name your moſt deare pupill, is ſo ſodainely taken from vsus. It is a griefe vntounto me that ſo many Engliſh men, being of great fame & renoum, as well for theyr piety as for theyr knowledge and nobility, are by voluntary exile for religion ſake, diſperſed throughout externe and ſtraunge countreys: and they which at home were counted moſte noble, and heroicall, doe now wander abrode as men obſcure, abiect, and in a manner vnknowne to all men. But it is well in that this happeneth not vntounto them for any wicked actes by them committed, or for filthy life, but only for the name and doctrine of oure Lord Ieſus Chriſt. It is alſo a griefe vntounto me, that ſo great a multitude of godly brethren are (as doubtles it is to often from euerye where ſignified vntounto vsus) moſte cruelly for theyr holy profeſſion put to the ſworde, fire, and tormentes: whome, for as much as they are our brethren, and hauehave to theyr head together with vsus one and the ſelfe ſame Chriſt, and are members of one and the ſelfe ſame body, and finally are euen oure owne bowels, when we heare to be entreated with ſo great cruelty and tyrāny, it is not poſſible, but that we alſo ſhould in minde be ſhaken with horror, and ſet on fire, euen as they are in body tormented and murthered. Theſe and a greate many moe things being vntounto me a great griefe, ſo that I am nowe in a maner hardened to any newe griefe, yet ceaſe I not to hauehave an eye hither and thither, to ſee if I might by any meanes gette ſome healthfull and profitable remedy bothe for my ſelfe and for ſuch like as I am: but now I hauehave long time had experience of, that it is in vaine to hope for mannes helpe, or for ayd at the worlds hand. And therefore I perſuade both my ſelfe & alſo others to withdraw their mindes from the aides of the fleſh, and to implore the heauenly and diuine helpe: which doubtles I ſee is offred vntounto vsus two wayes. One is, that we with prayers turning our ſelues vntounto Chriſt, ſhold ſay: How long Lord ſhall the wickednes and fury of Idolatry, of ſuperſticions, and of the ignorance of the ſcriptures range abroade on the earth? How long Lord ſhall thy holy Goſpell be troden vnderunder foote? We in dede hauehave ſinned, we hauehave ben rebellious againſt thee, and hauehave not harkened vntounto thy wordes, for which cauſe we are iuſtly, and for our euill deſerte, thus daily put …o confuſion and ſhame. But thou O Lord our God are moſt iuſt in all thy workes. But on the other ſide Lord, for as much as it belongeth to thy clemency and conſtancy, to hauehave mercye, to ſpare, and moſt faithfully to kepe thy couenauntes and promiſes, how long Lord? how long wilt thou be angry vntounto the end? Remember not our iniquities of olde. Wherefore we beſeeche thee, that for as much as in theſe laſte times, thou haſt by pouring abrode thy plenteous light, (and that being moſt mighty,) vouchſafed to make manifeſt vntounto men which lay in darknes, yea more then palpable darknes, the ſecretes of thy truth: thou woldeſt once at the length turne away thy wrath and fury from our ingrate mindes, and from the moſt greuous ſinnes, whereby we hauehave laid forth thy moſt holy name, and the pure doctrine which we profeſſe, to euil ſpeakings and to blaſphemies. And deliuer thy congregation from the contumelies and oppreſſions of the wicked, which doubtles light not only vponupon vsus, but alſo vppon the maieſty of thy name. Although thou of thyne owne nature be foreign, that is, vntouchable, and not able to be hurt. Illuminate O moſt louing Chriſt, thy face vponupon the Church redeamed with thy bloud, which is now in a manner vtterly lefte deſolate. Thy name only, and not any other mannes name, we call vponupon, not vndoubtedly truſting to any our own righteouſnes, but to thy goodnes only and mercy, that thou woldeſt either appoynt an end or meaſure of thoſe euils, and lenify the vexation wherwith we together with our brethren are afflicted, or that thou wouldeſt at the leaſt vouchſafe to geue vntounto the hearts of thine, ſuch faith and conſtancy, that they fall not away from the profeſſion of true piety, yea rather that they may ſo nobly and valiantly behaue them ſelues, that by their exile, empriſonment, pouertye, ignominy, ſworde, fire, and how cruell ſo euer kinde of death it be, the liuely knowledge of thy goſpell may more and more ſhine forth, and be made more manifeſt to the whole world. This kinde of ayde and remeady, (right honorable ſir,) is the firſt, which I ſee is to be ſought for at Gods hands againſt our euils, and which the holy Fathers, prophets, Apoſtles, and bleſſed cōfeſſors of the Chriſtian faith, with great fruit vſed in their afflictions. Wherfore ſeing that God heard them praying after this maner, or muche like therevnto, let vsus in no wiſe diſtruſt, but that he will alſo heare vsus when as we hauehave cōmon with them, one and the ſelfe ſame cauſe, and one and the ſelfe ſame God. Vndoubtedly if he heard them, he will not deſpiſe our prayers: but foraſmuch as he is alwayes like vntounto himſelfe, if he moſt louingly and with incredible facilitie receaued theyr prayers, he will alſo fil vsus making ſupplicatiō vntounto him, not with a ſmall but with a moſt ample conſolation. The ſecond helpe which is alſo brought vsus from God, and is eueryevery where offred vntounto vsus, are the holy ſcriptures, which we ought alwais to hauehave in our hands as a preſent remedy. For if we be enfected wt ignorāce, there ſhal we finde light to ſhake the ſame of: if we be diſturbed with ſundry perturbations, and languiſhing affectes of the mind, and if alſo we be vexed with the conſcience of moſt greuous ſinnes, in them are offred vntounto vsus remedies both eaſy & redy: if we be oppreſſed and in a maner ouerwhelmed with the troubles and greues of outward thinges, there ſhall we find ſound and firme conſolation: if we be ſometymes in a perplexitye, not knowinge in thinges doubtfull whiche way to turne our ſelues, we can in no other place better then there, finde good and faithfull counſell: if we be tempted, and be in daunger (as it oftentimes happeneth) of our ſaluation, there we hauehave a moſt ſtrong & moſt ſure place of refuge. And doubtles our latter Dauid, drue out from no els where, but out of this ſcrippe, moſt ſmall ſtones of the word of God, wherewith he ſmote the forehead of Goliah, and felled to the ground Sathan, by whome he was tempted in y• deſert. Wherfore the firſt Dauid, not without iuſt cauſe wrote that he conſidered wonderfull things touching the lawe, that is touching the ſcriptures of God, and that he had hidden in his hart the worde of God, to the ende he might not ſinne againſt him, and this word he confeſſed to be his conſolation in affliction, for that the wordes of GOD quickened him. What ſhould a man ſeke farther: here out doe flow the fountaines of our Sauiour, and we are all inuited, freelye to drawe water out of them, whereby our intollerable thirſte is quenched and ſatiſfied with a ſingular deſire to obtaine bleſſednes. Here hauehave we a ſtorehouſe of GOD full ſtuffed with the plenty of all good things, and ſet abrod wyde open for vsus, therout may eueryevery man prouide for his owne want. Here is layde for vsus a table moſt plentifullye furniſhed, where the wiſedome of God hath mingled for vsus moſt pleaſant wyne, wherewith eueryevery man may moſt penltifully refreſhe him. Here is ſet forth for eueryevery man a garden and paradiſe more pleaſant then the garden of Alcinoes & Salomon. Wherfore let vsus gather out of it things profitable & not hurtful. Let vsus rather imitate y• bees then y• ſpiders, in ſucking out the moſt ſweete iuyce, and not the deadly poyſon. We vſe commonly with an incredible ſtudy to embrace bookes ſet forth by any induſtry of man, whereout yet we attayne nothing els, but a meane how either to defend or to recouer health, or a way to encreaſe thinges domeſticall, or rules to gouern a commonwealth, or inſtitutions of huſbandry or of other artes, or ſome entiſements to pleaſures: how much more is it profitable for vsus with our whole hart to apply our ſelues to the reading of the holy ſcriptures? Foraſmuch as in them ſpeaketh not vntounto vsus humane wiſedom, but God himſelfe, vntounto whome vndoubtedly if we harken & geue hede we ſhall receaue a ſingular alacrity and chearfulnes of mynd, we ſhall driue away heauy cogitacions, we ſhalbe eaſed and lightened with a moſt ſweete conſolation, and ſhall put on ſtrength aboue mans reach, we ſhall now thinke nothing hard or difficill, we ſhall thinke the yoke of the Lord and his croſſe to be thinges moſt light, and ſhall offer our ſelues moſt redy for his name ſake to ſuffer any thing, yea and being inſtructed with heauenly eloquence, we ſhall talke vntounto men not with the wordes of men, but with the wordes of God himſelfe. Doubtles I know that there are many, which beleue not theſe thinges, and that there are not a few which deride them and thinke that we are out of our wits, but I would gladly deſire theſe men to voucheſafe once to make a profe, & beſech them not to diſdayne to reade. I dare ſweare, and that vponupon my greate perill, that they ſhall at one tyme or other be taken. They ſhal at the length feale how much theſe thinges diuine differ from humane thinges. They ſhall feale I ſay, if they reade attentiuely & diligently, that at the length thorough the mercy of God theſe ſcourges of feare and ſhame are encreaſed in their ſences: they ſhall feale them ſelues to be effectually perſwaded, once at the length to dye vntounto death, that they may liue to life: they ſhall feele alſo themſelues ſmitten with an horror of their ſinnes and pleaſures paſt, when as before in them they thought themſelues bleſſed, & happy. They ſhal feele that the whole miſery of this carnall life, is heaped vp before their eyes, and they being tormented with the bitter feeling therof, it will cauſe to burſt forth out of their eyes greate ſhowers, and mighty floods of teares, for the oracles and words of GOD, when they are earneſtly read, and deapely cōſidered, do not ſlightly nippe the mind, but do moſt deapely digge into the hart with moſt ſharpe prickes, and therout after a ſort plucking vp by the rootes vices, & wicked actes, do in their place plant peace of conſcience and ſpirituall ioye: they ſhal alſo at the length fele kindled in them the wonderfull and moſt pleaſant louelove of the ſwetenes & goodnes of God. Wherefore they being thus vtterly changed, ſhalbe compelled to ſay that which Dauid excellently well recordeth: How ſwete are thy words made to my iawes, they were ſweter vntounto my mouth then hony. But of ſuch an helpe, then which can nothing be found more diuine and more heathfull, are thoſe men depriued, whiche other will not read Gods bokes at all, or els reade them with a certayne diſdayne, lotheſommes and contempt, ſo that they hauehave no zeale to the wordes of God, but thorough theyr owne proper deuiſes, their mind is vtterly caried to other matters. Of which impiety and wickednes God in y• Prophet Oſea the 8. chapiter greauouſly accuſeth Iſraell ſaying, I hauehave written to them the greate things of my law, but they were coūted as a ſtrange thing. Doubtles thoſe children are to much degenerated, which count that voyce wherewith theyr moſt louing parent calleth vponupon them to liue godly and vertuouſly; for a ſtrange voyce: and contrariwiſe do folow as theyr owne and proper voyce that which is in very dede a ſtrang voyce: and ſo it commeth to paſſe, that after the maner of betels they refuſe ſwete ſauors, and go to ſtinking donghils. Wherefore it is not to be meruailed at, if they waxe rottē in the filthy puddle of worldly pleaſures, if they be burnt vp wyth vnwoorthy and filthy cares, If they diſpayre in aduerſities, and if at the laſte they periſhe in ſinnes, and in a lyfe altogether corrupted. In ſumme as touching the holy ſcriptures, I may iuſtly pronounce (although ſomewhat inuerted) that which Demoſtenes affirmed of money, namely, that with the word of God ought al things to be done, and with out the ſame can be done nothing that is good. But what go I about? Do I take vponupon me to ſet forth the commendacions and prayſes of ye holy ſcripture? This doubtles is not my purpoſe, but hauing mencioned a part many thinges, which both engender & encreaſe my ſorow & griefe, I thought good to adde remedies which I ſaw were geuē of God agaynſt the ſame griefe: namely, holy prayers, & reading of ye holy ſcriptueres. Theſe things, as they are the weapōs of Chriſtians, eſpecially in thoſe troubleſome times of theyrs, ſo (right honorable & worthy ſir) there was no nede that you ſhould with many wordes be by me admoniſhed of them: when as I am not ignorant, what your piety and learning is, and how redy and well in vre you are in either kind of thoſe actions. Wherfore it may ſeme that I ought rather to hauehave ſhewed this, how you thorough theſe moſt excellent aydes, hauehave bene holpen euen to this time hytherto, and that not only thereby you ſuſteyne your ſelfe, but alſo become eueryevery day better, wiſer, and ſtronger. Howbeit this feared me away from doing ſo, for that I thought it not good to moleſt your eares, for I know that it is much agaynſt your will to heare your owne prayſes. Neither doubtles is it nedefull to ſet forth your vertues chiefely of this kind, when as it is well knowen and vnderſtanded of all men, that with out ſuch aydes you had neuer ben able to reach to yt excellency of Chriſtian vertue, of the knowledge of things diuine and humane, of holy conuerſation and of notable valiantnes and perſeuerance in the confeſſion of the true fayth. To what purpoſe then hauehave I written theſe thinges. To this end vndoubtedly, that writing vntounto you touching thē, I might inſtruct, teach, and comfort others which ſhould read them, and ther withall ſet forth vntounto them a man, which continually vſing the aydes before ſet forth, doth both offer vntounto God moſt acceptable ſacrifices, and alſo comforteth and ſtrengthneth himſelfe in the Lord, and moreouer geueth a ſingular example to others for the wel ordering of thinges in the pure and ſincere religion of Chriſt. I for my part doubtles hauehave euen ſince the time that I dwelt in England, borne a ſingular louelove, and no ſmal or vulgar affection towards you, both for your ſingular piety and learning, and alſo for the worthy office, which you faythfully & with great renoune executed in the chriſtiā publike wealth, in inſtructing Edward, that moſt holy king and moſt worthy to be beloued, whoſe wit, goodnes, religion, and eyther vertues heroical, yea rather Chriſtian, may indede be touched, but can neuer be prayſed according to theyr deſert. Wherefore whē in that realme, and in that office I began to louelove you (right honorable ſit) and afterward God by his ſinguler prouidence which he vſeth in the gouernment and adminiſtration of things pertayning to his, ſo wrought, that I ſaw you againe in Germanie, and knew you to be euen the ſelfe ſame man you were before, I was ſo affected y• where as before I did indede louelove you, yet now I do moſt feruently louelove. Wherfore I oftentimes thought with my ſelfe, how I might once in ſome thing if it were poſſible, ſignifie and teſtifie, both how much I eſteeme your vertues, and how gratefull I am towardes you, for the benefites which you ſomtymes hauehave beſtowed vponupon me: but to accōpliſh this I had for a long ceaſon no occaſion offred vntounto me. I happened afterward to come to Tigure, but ſince my departure from you, that ſelfe ſame cogitatiō neuer went out of my minde. Yea rather I always thought it my part once at the length to pay vntounto your honour, that whiche vnwitting vntounto you I had in my minde with a good will promiſed vntounto it. Wherfore mynding now to put abroade my commentaries vponupon the Epiſtle of Paul to the Romanes, I thought it good to ſet them forth vnderunder the protection of your name: and fully perſuade my ſelf that you will take it in good part. Although at the firſt you can not but wonder, and peraduenture take it ill, for thinges which are not loked for, and which happen beſides expectation, do commonly cauſe admiration. And we ſee that a light gift, and ſuch a gift which turneth rather to a burthen, then to honour, is many tymes not ſo wel accepted. Wherfore I hartely beſeche your honour to pardon my boldnes, which I cannot tel whether others wil call raſhnes. And I thynke that that thyng which I hauehave beſides your knowledge thought vponupon, came from the ſpirite of God, which gouerneth our hartes: and receiue this booke dedicated of me vntounto you with the ſame fauour, wherewith that your moſt worthy and deare pupill Edward king of England not long ſince receiued my other Commentaries vponupon the firſt epiſtle to the Corinthians: and conceaue that my minde was by this dedication (how meane ſoeuer it be) to ioyne you a ſcholemaiſter of much renowne, wt aſcholer of moſt excellency. Doubtles by the authoritie of the king I taught at Oxford in his laſt tyme, thoſe thinges which you ſhall here read, and when it was not onelyonly required, but alſo vrged at my handes to put abroade this worke, I yelded thereto. But conſidering that it was due to ſome man of the Engliſhe nation, I thought you a mā moſt mete, to whom it might be geuen in the ſtede of the king now dead. Wherfore I earneſtly deſire you to take that which I hauehave done not in ill part, but in good, neither thinke that I ment to burthen or to charge you, but rather after aſort to couple you together with my king and yours, and in ſome part to anſwere vntounto your deſerts both towardes religion, and towardes my ſelfe. I know doubtles that the thinges which are here taught of me, will not make you either much ler neder, or much better: for you both know them alredy, and alſo as much as the ſtate of this fleſh will ſuffer do expreſſe them in your maners and life. But foraſmuch as all are not come ſo farre, I deſire and beſech God the father of our Lord Ieſus, that the thinges white are put abrode vnderunder your name, may at the leaſt be profitable vntounto others, though you your ſelfe litle nede them, and that they may enioy the fruite hoped for. For my earneſt deſire is that theſe my writinges may ſerue to the vſe of the Church of Chriſt: My deſire is to confirme, to amplifie and to illuſtrate ye Goſpel of the ſonne of God: My deſire is to eſtabliſh the weake in fayth, and playnly to enſtruct the vnlerned. And that I may attayne to theſe thinges, I moſt earneſtly require of you, by your moſt faythfull ſupplications and prayers at Gods hand to obteyne them: but I am aferd leſt you or ſome other, ſhould aſke me: what neded you at this time to take ſuch great paynes in the interpreting of this epiſtle? Did you thinke that we wāted expoſitors either old or new? Doubtles you were not ignorāt of thē; whē as you ſo often in your commentary alledge both Greke and latine Fathers: neither can you diſſemble that you hauehave not ſene the latter writers for inſome places you ſo follow and treade theyr ſteps, that it playnly appeareth that they are after a ſort red in your writinges. To theſe thinges firſt I anſwere, that I did not at the firſt take in hand this charge to write an expoſition vponupon this epiſtle, for I knew right well that the Fathers both Grekes and lattines hauehave with great labour and fruite exerciſed themſelues herein. Neither was I ignorāt that there are of the latter writers, which hauehave done the ſame. Firſt Phillip Melancthon, a notable man, who elegantly and with an exquiſite methode hath more then once explaned this epiſtle. Afterward Martin Bucer, a man not onelyonly endued with ſingular pietie and incomparable learning, but alſo ſo long as he liued coupled with me in moſt deare frendſhip, ſet forth vponupon the ſelfe ſame epiſtle a large and learned commentary. And I had red alſo two other moſt ſhining lightes of the church, Bullinger, I ſay, and Caluine, both moſt faithfull paſtors, the one of the church of Tigure, the other of the church of Genena, ether of which men hath with great trauaile to the great profite of the flocke of Chriſt ſet forth moſt excellent and moſt learned commentaries vponupon all the epiſtles of the apoſtle: but it is not my entent in thys place to collect and celebrate the prayſes and vertues of all theſe men. And I knew that there hauehave bene others and that not a few whoſe learned trauailes vponupon this epiſtle of Paul hauehave bene ſet abrode, and therfore there was no cauſe (as I ſaid) why I ſhoulde take vponupon me the trauaile to frame a new interpretation, when as other men had in this kind of ſpeaking ſufficiently and aboundantly trauayled. But thus ſtoode the caſe, when in England, during the time of the Goſpell I was appointed to teach at Oxford: I publikely enterpreted the firſt epiſtle to the Corinthians, and alſo this epiſtle to the Romanes, & as the maner is, I priuately collected thoſe interpretacions yt I dayly vſed, which afterward, by the earneſt ſute of others I was compelled to put abrode, and to make common to all men thoſe thinges which I had noted for my ſelfe alone or a few of my frendes: wherefore that whiche I tooke not in hand to any ſuch purpoſe rather to the contrary, firſt God, and then y• inſtant deſires of men, hauehave brought to this point: namely, y• thoſe things which were at the beginning deſtinied to be familiar and priuate ſchrolles, ſhouldbe turned into commentaries. Neither do I profeſſe my ſelfe to hauehave bene y• only author & finder out of all thoſe things which I hauehave vpō this epiſtle written. For I hauehave ben in many things excellētly wel holpē by the old writers in eſpecial, and alſo no leſſe by the new, ſuch as I hauehave before mencioned, vntounto whome yet though I hauehave not bene eueryevery way and in all thinges agreeable, yet hauehave I not done that either of a corrupt affect of the mind, or of a deſire to gayneſay, or of a luſt to reproue any man: but for that I iudged otherwiſe of ſome certayne thinges then they did: which I doubt not ſeing it was done with a good mind, ſhall alſo be taken in good part, when as by this meanes is not broken the vnity of the Church, neither is any part of my good will & reuerence towardes thē thereby empayred or diminiſhed. Secondly this I thinke to helpe to the defence of this my edition, for that the fruitfulnes of the holy ſcriptures is ſo great, that it can not all whole be drawen out of any man, thoughe he be neuer ſo wiſe, learned, wittie, and induſtrious. Wherefore this is earneſtly to be wiſhed for, that all men might propheſie, to the end that thoſe vnmeaſurable riches which ſtill lye hidden in the mines of y• word God, and in the hidden vaines of the holy booke, may with great ſtudy be digged out. Which thing as I to my power hauehave taken vponupon me to do, ſo I beſech the ſonne of God, that others may ſurcede, which may pricke out gold and ſiluer much more pure then mine, that vppon Chriſte the only foundation of our fayth may be built moſt perfect doctrine to the commoditie of the Church. Now ſhould reſt for me ſomewhat to ſpeake of the worthines, commodities, and entent of this epiſtle: but I thinke it good at this time to leue the matter vntouched, partly for that theſe thinges are in a maner knowen to all men: and partly for that in the preface we hauehave ſpoke ſo much as we thought ſufficient touching this matter, and touching a few other thynges pertayning to the ſame. Wherefore omitting them at this preſent, this agayne I deſire and require at your handes (right honorable and worthy ſir) that you would vouchſafe to accept my ſmall gift, as a moſte certaine pledge of my louelove and affection towardes you, neither take it in ill part, that with my bolde offer, I preſume to trouble your honour.
¶ Fare you well, and God ſend you as you hauehave beg…n long to liue to our Lord Ieſus Chriſt the ſonne of God and redemer of manking.
Written in my ſtudy at Tigure the Kalēdes of August. 1558.