A Scourge for a Railer, Treatise · Part 12
The 12. Imputation, of the pretended corruption of Scriptures.12. Imputation.
The accusation.
1. Because Ecclesiastic. 19. 10. the Replyer leaueth out these words,2. b. p. 70. & confidens esto, and be sure.
2. In the place, Gen. 37. 31. these words are omitted: Ruben moreouer said vntounto them.2. b. p. 123.
3. In that place, Act. 2. v. 31. you falsifie the Syrian Translators words in mistranslating them: the Latine Translator you abuse in like manner.2. b. p. 160.
4. These words, (which had seased vponupon him) are not in that place,2. b. p. 139. Act. 2. 24. as you pretend them.
5. You falsifie the word of God it selfe: for in that place of Exodus c. 22. 23. the word (nephesh) is and ought to be translated (life,)2. b. p. 143. not (soule.)
6. For, the soules that went downe with Iaakob into Egypt; you make the Scripture to say, their soules went downe into Egypt.2. b. p. 144.
7. The place to the Coloss. 2. 15. (triumphing ouer them in the same) is falsly translated: our authorised translatour readeth (in himselfe.)2. b. p. 186.
8. So, Psal. 88. 10, 11. is mangled, and corrupted: patching two distinct verses in one: see afterward, recriminat. 6.3. b. p. 26.
9. You falsifie the Scripture it selfe, in translating foreign, to hold fast, Mark. 7. 8. whereas our Church Bibles read, (yee obserue the traditions.) 3. b. p. 31.3. b. p. 31.
10. Limbom. inverteth the text, Act. 2. 31. to serue his turne. 3. b. p. 37.3. b. p. 37.
11. You cōmit a double fault in your translation of S. Peters words: the one in confounding hell with the graue, which is heathenish; the other in burying the soule of Christ in it, which is impious.3. b. p. 38.
12. You falsifie the prophesie, in leauing out the words (in hell,) wherein the maine of the controuersie consisteth. Act. 2. 31.3. b. p. 42.
13. This is your dalying with the word of God in this place: where hauing translated it, (thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell) you interpret it cleane contrarie, (thou wilt not leaue my life in graue.) 3. b. p. 44.3. b. p. 44.
14. You cut off the wordes (of sanctification) which are annexed to the word spirit,3. b. p. 57. &c.
15. The word (by) is violently intruded by you, 1. Pet. 3. 19.3. b. p. 59. (by which spirit.)
16. The words are not, as you cite them, 1. Pet. 2. 18. he hath suffered for our sinnes: but (Christ hath also suffered for vsus.)3. b. p. 63.
17. Where Peter saith it was Christ that preached, you say it was Noe,3. b. p. 70. and so make him a lyar.
18. When you say, you know no ende of Christs preaching to the disobedient in hell, but for their comfort and deliuerance, you contradict the Scriptures, which teach, that the ministerie of the word consisteth as well in denouncing retention in sinne to the obstinate, as in pronouncing remission of sinnes to the penitent.3. b. p. 77.
19. Those words (that speaketh in you) though they be added in S. Matthew, are not here expressed by S. Marke. 3. b. p. 104.3. b. p. 104.
20. The wordes of the Euangelist are not as you report them, (when the doores shut vp,) but when the doores were shut.3. b. p. 118.
21. Neither is the text, (no man ascendeth,) but (no man hath ascended.)3. b. p. 172.
22. Psal. 139. 13. foreign,3. b. p. 183. is ignorantly left out by you.
23. Because the Replyer alleadgeth those words of S. Paul, 1. Cor. 15. 31. I die daily, vnderstanding them, of inward afflictions: the Confuter taketh a double exception, both, that some of the words are omitted: As by our reioycing, which I hauehave in Christ Iesus our Lord: and that the Scripture is misinterpreted: which Chrysostome expoundeth of the readines and promp… of minde, that he was eueryevery day more and more readie to suffer death, &c. 3. b. p. 64.3. b. p. 64. And therefore he crieth out, that dishonour is offered to the Apostle, and contumelie to the spirit of God, to say, that Paul died the death of the soule: whereas contrariwise, that which you call (inward afflictions) was thorough inward ioy, and consolation in the holy Ghost, &c. p. 65.
The iustification.
1. THe whole sentence is this: if thou hast heard a word, let it die with thee, and (be sure) it will not burst thee: the Replyer abridging this sentence, keeping the sense, did not take himselfe tied to repeate eueryevery word, seeing he bringeth it not in as a testimonie, specially out of Scripture, but hath reference vntounto it by way of allusion, quoting no place. But it is a greater fault in him, to adde vntounto the text: if thou hast a word (against thy neighbour,) which words enclosed, though retained in the English translation, yet are not in the originall. Beside, he himselfe clippeth off many words: citing the beginning onelyonly of the 13. and 17. v. reprooue thy friend, reprooue thy neighbour, leauing out all the rest. 2. b. p. 71. in marg.
2. Those words, moreouer Ruben said, were not materiall, or pertinent to the Replyers purpose, and therefore he omitted them.
3. The Syrian Translator: I meane he which translated the Syrian text, readeth thus; quod non sit derelictus in sepulchro, that he was not left in graue: is here any mistranslation? And the Latine translator is not alleadged for the word infernus, but because in stead of his soule, as it is in the originall, he readeth, neque derelictus est, he was not left: the Replyer then is here no Corrupter, but the Confuter is a Trifler.
4. These words, which had seazed of him, the Replyer alleadgeth not as the words of the text: but onelyonly these, he loosed the sorrowes, Act. 2. 24. Here then he is charged with a plaine vntruth.
5. Then the Latine interpreter, Montanus, Pagnine, Vatablus: all these falsifie the word of God, which translate there, not vitam, life, but animam, soule: and the Septuag. also, which read, foreign, shall giuegive soule for soule.
6. The Replyers words are these: as in like sense it is said,Synops. p. 105…. Gen. 46. 26. the soules that went with Iakob into Egypt: is he not ashamed therefore so notoriously to charge him with an vntruth. But he himselfe corrupteth the text in that place, reading the soules, that went downe, &c. whereas the word is, habiah, which signifieth onelyonly comming or going.
7. Beza so readeth, following Origenes reading, hom. 4. in Exod. hom. 17. in Numer. and hom. 9. in Iosua.
8. Call you this patching, to put two verses of Scripture together? what thinke you of S. Paul, which doth the same, Rom. 3. 10, 11. ioyning together, a part of the 1. and a part of the 2. v. Psal. 14. as the Reader may see by comparing the places together: you had best count him a patcher of Scripture.
9. Say also that the Latine translator, and Beza, which in that place readeth, tenetis, you hold: and the Syrian interpreter, retinetis, you hold fast: Montanus, that readeth, prehenditis, you lay hold, &c. that all these doe falsifie Scripture: and is he indeed so ignorant, as he maketh himselfe, that foreign doth not signifie to hold fast: how else will he interpret that place, Heb. 4. 14. foreign, let vsus hold fast the profession: as both our English translations read.
10. The Replyer inuerteth not the text, but the Confuter peruerteth his wordes: for he alleadgeth the text right, Act. 2. 31. He spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soule should not be left (in hell) or the graue: whereupon the Replyer reasoneth thus; the Prophet speaketh here of Christs resurrection, but the descending of Christs soule to hell, belongeth not to his resurrection, but the not leauing of his soule in graue implieth the resurrection: Ergo: vntounto this, the pitifull Confuter maketh this answer: your reason should hauehave beene this; Dauid spake of the resurrection of Christ, &c. but not leauing of Christs soule in hell, doth no way belong to his resurrection, &c. therefore, &c. here the minor is apparantly false,The idle Confuter as slender a Logician. &c. Contra. This poore Logician is much to be pitied: 1. doth he not see, that the conclusion of his argument must be this: therefore Dauid speaketh not of the not leauing, &c. which is cleane contrarie to the text. 2. If he in deede might make the Replyers argument for him, he would make him as sensles and absurd as himselfe. 3. He grossely mistaketh the Replyers argument: which was this, the descending of Christs soule to hell belongeth not to his resurrection, but the not leauing of his soule belongeth: ergo the not leauing, &c. prooueth not the descension. This argument though he inuert and peruert at his pleasure, he is not able to euert with all the skill he hath.
11. The Replyer confoundeth not hell and the graue, (which is more heathenish in him so to imagine, then in the other so to write) but ioyneth together two vsuall acceptions of the word sheol, neither doth he burie his soule, but his life thereby signified in the graue. And yet to take infernum for the temporall death, and graue, is neither heathenish nor absurd: vnlesse you will count Augustine heathenish, who expoundeth that place, Psalm. 88. 3. My life draweth neare to hell, by those words of our Sauiour, My soule is heauie vntounto death: August in Psal. 87.Quod enim aijt, tristis est anima, &c. For that he saith my soule is heauie vntounto death, this is the same that is said, my soule is filled with euill: and that which followeth, vntounto death, the same is said, my life draweth neare to hell, &c.
12. These words (in hell) are not expressed, because the Replyer groundeth no argument vponupon them: but onelyonly by setting downe the first words, hath reference to the whole prophesie there contained: for in other places, where there was cause, he omitteth them not, as Limbom. p. 74.
13. Though the Hebrew word sheol, is indifferently taken sometime for hell, sometime for the graue: yet in this place, Act. 2. 27. the Replyer contendeth thoroughout that whole discourse, that it signifieth the graue: and therefore to say, he translateth it hell, is according to his vsuall manner, to fitten and forge of him.
14. The Replyer citeth not the words of the text, Rom. 1. 3. but onelyonly sheweth, that there is an opposition betweene the flesh and the spirit: and therefore there was no cause to adde those words (of sanctification) no more then other words of the text.
15. As though it be not an vsuall phrase in Scripture, to say, foreign, in spiritu; when it must be vnderstood, by or through the spirit: as Eph. 2. 22. In whome ye also are built together, to be the habitation of God (by the spirit:) so road, not Beza onelyonly, but Vatablus, the Syrian interpreter, the Geneva, and the authorized English translation: let him accuse these also of violent intrusion.
16. But the Apostle also saith in an other place, that Christ once suffered for sinnes, 1. Pet. 3. 18. the figure 2. might easily be mistaken for 3.
17. Christ by Noah preached: the one as the author, the other as the Minister: so both may wel stand together, S. Peters text that speaketh of Christ, and the interpretation, that applieth it to Noah. If any make the Apostle a lyar, it is himselfe that corrupteth his sense by a false interpretation: and maketh him to speake that, which he neuer intended.
18. Though the preaching of the word vntounto vnbeleeuers is thorough the hardnes of their heart, the sauour of death vntounto death: yet the principall and onelyonly ende in respect of God, is the comfort and conuersion of men: the hardening of the heart is effected accidentally by the word, and is not the proper ende thereof. This is euident by that prophesie of Isai of Christ;Isa. 61. 1. The spirit of God is vponupon me, &c. he hath sent me to preach good tidings to the poore. Epist. 99.And this is Augustines reason, that if there be preaching in hell, some may be conuerted and beleeue in hell: to say therefore, to what purpose should Christ be thought to preach to the spirits in hell, &c. then for their comfort and deliuerance, is no contradicting of the Scriptures, but a manifesting of his ignorance, that knoweth it not.
19. And is it not sufficient if one Euangelist hauehave those words? and is it not lawfull, what is wanting in one, to supplie out of an other? But it can hauehave no excuse, to clippe the Euangelists words as he doth: whatsoeuer is giuen vntounto you at the same time, that speake, saith Saint Marke: but he citeth the place thus: that which shall be giuen you, 3. b. p. 105.that speake.
20. And is he so captious, that he could not, or would not see, that the omission of this word (were,) was a meere ouersight in the setter, and therefore the Replyer hath amended it among the Errata before Limbomastix. And this (poore-blinde pryer) might hauehave obserued the like scape in his owne blotted lines: where he thus writeth; where the soules of sinners wont to be tortured, for, were wont, 2. b. p. 35.&c.
21. This is a small exception to the Geneva translation, to take the present tence for the preterperfect: especially, seeing the Apostle so readeth, foreign, ascending, Eph. 4. 8. and the same tence with the Hebrewes, serueth both for the present, and time past: as Psal. 68. 19. from whence S. Paul borroweth that testimony.
22. These words foreign, are englished in the translation: but the words in Greeke it was not pertinent to repeate; because all the force lieth in the other words, foreign.
23. 1. The Replyer citing those words of the Apostle, to prooue the inward afflictions, had no cause to repeat the rest, which speake of his glorying and reioycing in Christ: but onelyonly so much, as was to the purpose. 2. Hee refuseth not Chrysostoms exposition, though byaSee before Imput. 11. Recrim. 3. Chrysost. him much mis-alleadged; neither doth it make against him: for that inward resolution and preparation of the minde, daily beeing in expectation of death, was it not an inward affliction and temptation? to suffer death, I hope hee will not deny to be an affliction: then the daiely expectation of death, being inward, must be an inward affliction. 3. Neither are those words cited, to prooue that Saint Paul died the death of the soule, but for the similitude of the phrase. Hee might else-where hauehave further seene the Replyers meaning,Synops. p. 978. expressed in this manner: As the body is not said onelyonly to die, when the soule departeth from it, but when it is pressed with deepe and dangerous afflictions, which threaten death: as Paul saith, I die daily: so the soule may be said after a sort to die, not only when it is finally separated frō God, but perplexed with the horror and feeling of Gods, wrath. 4. It followeth not, because Paul had inward ioy and consolation, therefore he had not inward afflictions: for speaking of terrors within, 2. Cor. 7. 6.he addeth, God which comforted the abiect, comforted vsus, &c. His inward afflictions, and terrors, were tempered with inward ioy and comfort also: here is neither dishonour done to Paul, nor contumely to the spirit, vnlesse it bee by his contumelious and slaunderous mouth.
Such are this Cauillers exceptions, to the Replyers allegations of Scripture, as we hauehave seene; wherein I doubt not, but that hee hath rather shewed himselfe a wrangler, then the other a corrupter: for although in the citing of other forraine testimonies, greater liberty may bee vsed; as Hierom saith hee did in interpreting of Greeke Authors,Hierom. Pammach. de optim gener. interpretand. Non verbū de verbo, sed sensum exprimere de sensu: not to expresse eueryevery word, but the sense by the sense: yet in alleadging Scripture, we must hold vsus to the very words: where, as he againe saith, Verberum or do & mysterium est: there both order and mysterie is in the words. But had hee beene sincere himselfe in alleadging of Scripture, hee would not hauehave beene so suspicious of another; according to that saying, foreign: A wit free from euill, is slowest to suspect euill. Now then it followeth to shew, what a pregnant wit, and ready facility he himselfe hath in corrupting of Scripture.
The Recrimination.
1. That place,2. b. p. 56. 2. Timoth. 2. 5. he citeth thus: foreign: no man is crowned, vnlesse he striue lawfully: whereas these are the Apostles words; foreign, &c. If any man striue, hee is not crowned, except he striue lawfully: where for any man, he putteth no man.
2. For foreign:2. b. p. 83. perrils among false brethren: he readeth, foreign, false brotherhood: beside, he quoteth 2. Cor. 12. 26. for 11. 26.
3. Hee thus vnreuerently speaketh of the Scripture: 2. b. p. 158.which shewes your state wholly dependeth vponupon shifting; first from the newe Testament to the olde, from the olde to the newe, and from the new to the olde againe: thus he profanely calleth the comparing of the newe Testament with the old, shifting.
4. He corrupteth the sense of the Apostle,2. b. p. 202. vnderstanding his words,2. Pet. 1. 4. of beeing partakers of the diuine nature, of participating with his godhead: which is onelyonly meant of a similitude and likenesse vntounto God, not in substance, but in qualitie, in flying the corruption of the world, as the words following shew: which thing was well expressed by Iustinus Philosophus, that the end which a Philosopher propoundeth to himselfe,foreign. is to be like vntounto God, as neere as may be.
5. Christ saith, Where I am, there shall also my seruant be, Iohn. 12. 26. he thus addeth vntounto it; where I am (now) there shall my seruant be (hereafter.)3. b. p. 3.
6. I goe to prepare a place for you, (and though I goe to prepare a place for you) I will come againe, Iohn 14. 2. 3. all this inclosed he leaueth out; 3. b. p. 4.and here he ioyneth himselfe two verses together, which he before called patching: Accusat. 8.
7. Ye shall lie downe in sorrow, Isay, 50. 11. hee readeth, ye shall sleepe in affliction and sorrow.3. b. p. 138.
8. Saint Peter saith thus, searching, when, or what time the spirit, which testified before of Christ, which was in them, should declare the sufferings (which should come) vntounto Christ, &c. 1. Pet. 1. 11. he clippeth the text, saying, the spirit prophecied before of the afflictions of Christ.3. b. p. 93.
9. For, wisdome calleth or preacheth in the high waies, Prou. 1. 21. he readeth, wisdome is preached, &c. see before Imput. 5. Ac. 3.3. b. p. 107.
10. This Iesus hath God raised vp, whereof we are all witnesses, Act. 2. 32. he corruptly addeth to the text, this is that Iesus, whom God hath raised vp (from death, and hell) whereof we are all witnesses.3. b. p. 180.
11. He quoteth for that place before recited, Act. 1. 9. where there is no such thing.3. b. p. 180.
12. Lest I sleepe in death, Psal. 13. 4. lest at (any time) I sleepe in death,3. b. p. 138. saith he: where he addeth, at any time.
13. Thou art Lord alone, thou hast made heauen, and the heauen of heauens, Nehem. 9. 6. but he readeth, Thou Lord,3. b. p. 86. hast made heauen, and the heauen of heauens.
14. Againe, in the same place, thou preseruest them all, and the host of heauen worshippeth thee:3. b. p. 86. but he addeth, thou preseruest them all (in their beeing,) and hee leaueth out that which followeth.
15. Hee profanely scoffeth at Scripture; whereas that place of Peter is alleadged, Noe the preacher of iustice: hee scoffingly inferreth, Noe is no sooner formed a Carpenter, but he is presently a reformed preacher.3. b. p. 108.
16. Whereas Saint Peter saith, Noe the eight, a preacher of righteousnesse, 2. Pet. 2. 5. hee clippeth the words, Noe the preacher of iustice.3. b. p. 108. ibid.
17. He shall not preserue the vngodly, Iob. 36. 5. but hee readeth thus, thou wilt not preserue: changing the tence. 3. b. p. 86.3. b. p. 86.
18. Saint Iames thus writeth, to receiue with meekenes, the word, that is graffed in you, which is able to saue your soules: Iam. 1. 21. he audaciously changeth the person, reading thus; to receiue with meekenesse, the word engraffed in them,3. b. p. 87. which is able to saue their soules.
19. Againe the same Apostle: Let him knowe, that hee which hath conuerted a sinner, from the error of his way, shall saue a soule, &c. Iam. 5. 20. but he thus mangleth this place, He that conuerteth a sinner, from the way wherein he erreth, shall saue his soule, &c. In this one place, he clippeth off the first clause, Let him know: hee changeth the tence, conuerteth, for hath conuerted: and addeth these wordes, (wherein) and (his.)3. b. p. 88.
20. Our Sauiours words are, when they lead you, and deliuer you vp, take ye no thought afore, neither premeditate what ye shall say, but whatsoeuer shall be giuen vntounto you, &c. Mark. 13. 11. he thus boldly corrupteth the text, Foule corrupting of Scripture.when yee shall be lead, & deliuered vp into their hāds, take no thought what to speake, but that which shall be giuen, &c. 3. b. p. 104.3. b. p. 104. where he both changeth the actiue for the passiue: for they shall lead, and deliuer: he readeth, shall be lead and deliuered: he addeth (into their hands) and clippeth away (neither premeditate.)
21. Reproouing the Obiecter, for leauing out the word mourning, in citing that place, Gen. 35. 37. he himselfe committeth the very same fault: the text truly alleadged (saith he) is this, I will goe downe, &c. to my sonne mourning: 1. b. p. 12.where he leaueth out, into the graue.
22. Exod. 1. 22. the text is, Pharaoh charged all his people: he readeth, all the people: leauing out (his.) 1. b. p. 30.1. b. p. 30.
23. Esech. 13. 19. the text is, will yee pellute me among my people (for handfuls of barlie,1. b. p. 30. and pe…ces of bread?) &c. where he leaueth out all the last enclosed clause.
24. Esech. 18. 27. the text is, when the wicked turneth away from his wickednesse (which he hath … ) and doth that which is lawfull and right: hee in alleadging this Scripture, leaueth out (which he hath committed.) ibid.
25. Numb. 22. 33. the Angel saith thus, And the Asse saw me, and turned from me now three times or else if shee had not (turned from me) surely I had …, &c. he clippeth the text thus; There … turned from mee now the third time, and if shee had not, I had surely slaine thee, &c. where these words enclosed (turned from me) in the second place, 1. b. p. 30.are omitted: and he putteth the (third time) for (three times.) ibid.
26. Beside, all these places are falsly quoted: as Esech. 13. 18. for 19. Esech. 18. 72. for 27. Psal 41. 12. for 41. 2. Numb. 22. 32. for 33.
Now concerning this vnfaithfull and fraudulent handling of Scripture, I will not giuegive such an harsh sentence, as Ambrose doth vponupon some:Epistol. 4. Qui Scriptur … fidem destr…t, destruitur ipse: hee that destroyeth the faith of Scripture shall be destroyed himselfe: as it is said, hee that rem… ueth an hedge, a serpent shall … him. or as hee …ureth them that had rased out certaine words of Scripture:Lib. 3. de spirit▪ cap. 11. Illa litura de libro vitae nomina vestra delet: that blot doth blot your names out of the booke of life. But yet that saying of Epiphanius may be applyed vntounto him non it a interpretantur vt scripta sunt, sed id volunt significare, quod ipsi sentiunt: they do not so interprete (Scripture) as it is written, but they will hauehave it to signifie, as they imagine: Of this number is the Confuter, who by this time may perceiue his owne fault, which he hath not healed, by supposing another to bee like faultie with himselfe: for it is a good saying, foreign: that no man healeth one euill by another: neither is one mans fault redressed by anothers.
But it is nowe high time to leaue weeding anothers ground; time is better spent in setting of good plants, then in weeding of thistles:Prou. 24. 31. I passed (saith the wise man) by the field of the slouthfull, and by the vineyard of the man destitute of vnderstanding, and l…e, it was all growen ouer with thornes, &c. I looked vponupon it, and receiued instruction. And this instruction may we receiue, by viewing this thornie field, wherein this simple workeman hath solaced himselfe, that such badde tillage sheweth the husbandman not to be very good: It is odious and a thanklesse office, still to be scoring out mens faults; therefore I say with Tullie, against Sallust. finem dicendi faciā, saepius enim vidi grauius eos offendere animos aeuditorum, qui aliena vitia apertè dixerunt, quā eos, qui crimen cōmiserunt: mihi ratio habēda est, non quid (Sallustius) merito debeat audire, sed vt ea dicam, si qua ego honeste effari possum: I wil make an ende of speaking, for I hauehave often seene, those more grieuously to offend the hearers minds, which openly told of others faults, then they which committed them: therefore I must hauehave regard, not what hee is worthy to heare, but what I may with credit speake. Diogenes beeing reprooued for going into an vncleane place, made answere, foreign: that the sunne doth enter likewise into such, but is not defiled. But I dare not say so: I feare rather, lest by raking long in a stinking puddle, some euil sauour should remaine. Hitherto I thought it needfull to shape a wrangler an answer, that he might know himselfe, and reforme his error; not to that ende, as Sallust said to Tullie, Si quam volupatem maledie endo caepisti, eam male audiendo amittas: that if you hauehave taken any delight in speaking euill, you may loose it againe in hearing euill: for my care hath beene, not, in reproouing him, to commit that my selfe, which I note in him worthy of reproofe, his owne tearmes I might returne, and quicke and tart speech differeth from rayling: but I wish vntounto him the like sober mind that Gennadius noteth to hauehave beene in one Seuerus, Gennad. catol. script.who beeing seduced by the Pelagians, Agnoscens loquacitatis culpam, silentium vsus que ad mortem tenuit, vt quod loquendo contraxerat, tacendo penitus emendaret: did acknowledge his talkatiue fault, and held his peace till he died; that what he had committed in speaking, hee might amend in keeping silence. But if he finding himselfe netled shall begin to stirre, and beeing rubbed on the galled backe, fling out his heeles againe, I will rather choose, by silence to set him vp as a tired hackney, in his owne durtie stable; then to play the iade, in kicking at him▪ I hauehave lost too much time already, from other more profitable studies, though I spend no more so: yet if he minde still to brabble, and contend about words;1. Cor. 11. 16. I say with the Apostle, If any man list to be contentious, we hauehave no such custome, nor the Churches of God. He shall plaie his prizes alone for mee, and mooue laughter vponupon his stage of vanity; for if the Replyer should set his foote to his, and take vp the gauntles vponupon eueryevery rawe fencers challenge; it might be said of them both, as Demonactes Cynicus of two wrangling disputers: Alter …ulget hircum, alter supponit cribrum: the one milkes an he goat, the other putteth vnderunder a siue. The truth needeth no defence, and as our blessed Sauiour best answered Pilate with silence, so hee knoweth how to grace the truth in his members, that louelove the truth, euen when they hold their peace:Ambr. serm. 49. and so I say with Ambr. Ambiat defendi, qui metuit super ar…: let him seek defence, which is afraid to be ouercom: Melior est causa, quae non defenditur, & probatur: the cause is so much the better, which is not defended, and yet approoued. And so to conclude, if he be disposed yet to busie himselfe further,Epist. Epiph. ad Synod. Constantin. 5. act. 1. I send him that sentence of Epiphanius for a posie, This is naturally graft in such as are giuen to error, vt contra eos pugnent, qui ipsos redarguunt: to fight against those which doe reprooue them.
FINIS.
Soli Deo honos & gloria.
foreign:
Let God be true, and eueryevery man a lier:
Rom. 3. 4.