Harmony of the Gospels, Preface 2
The Commentarie of Iohn Caluine, vponupon the Gospel after Iohn.
The Preface.
¶To the right honorable Lordes, the Syndiques and Senate of Geneua, his right reuerende Lordes Iohn Caluine wisheth from the Lorde, the spirit of wisdome and strength, and prosperous successe of gouernement.
AS often as I call to mynde that saying of Christe, wherin he maketh so great accoūt of that dutie of humanitie which is bestowed vponupon the gathering together of strangers, that he maketh account of it as done to him: I do therewithall remember vntounto how great honour hee hath vouchsafed to promote you, who hath made your Citie a place not for one or a few to dwell in, but a common Inne for his Church to lodge in, Hospitalitie hath not only been cōmended amongst the Heathen, but it hath also bin accounted one of the chiefest vertues: and therfore in whomsoeuer they wold condemne extreeme barbarisme and manner altogether vnciuill, they called them axenous, or men which were not giuen to hospitalitie. But farre more excellent is your praise, bicause the Lord hath appointed you in these troublesome & miserable times, to be those vntounto whose tuition the godly might cōmit thēselues, & vnderunder whose feathers the innocent might be shrouded, whom the tyrannie of Antichrist, being no lesse sauage then sacriligious, doth chase & driue away out of their own countries & natiue soyle. And this is not all, but he hath also dedicated an holy house amongest you vntounto his owne name, where he may be worshipped sincerely. Whosoeuer he be that indeuoureth either publikelie to cut off, or priuilie to take away the least part of these two, he doth not only goe about to disfigure your Citie beeing spoyled of her principal ornaments, but also he maliciously enuieth the helth therof. For althogh those godly good turnes which are here done vntounto Christ & his dispearsed members doe cause the wicked like dogs to bark against you, yet ought this one recōpence to suffice you yt the angels frō heauen & the childrē of God out of all partes of the worlde doe blesse you: so that you may freely despise their rotten railing, who make no more conscience, neither are more ashamed to spue out whatsoeuer, against God himself, thē against you: & which, going about to slander you, doe begin first to blaspheme God. Althogh this self same occasion doth inflame ye hatred of many against you, yet ought you to be no whit afraid therfore, so long as he wil assist you against their fury, who hath promised yt he will faithfully keepe those cities, wherin the doctrine of his gospel is preached, and any resting place is prepared for those godly mē whō the world cānot away with. I omit to speak of this, that you neede not to care for pacifying of this kinde of enemies, seeing that there is no mā who hateth you for the gospels sake, who wold not either hauehave you destroied or oppressed. But admit we graunt that the sworn enimies of soūd doctrine do hate you for no other cause saue this, because they see you defend the same: yet setting light by their practises & threatnings, you must valiantly maintain these two inuincible fortresses, ye worship of pure religiō, & the godly care to nourish the Church, which Christ hath cōmitted to you, that you may broude the same vnderunder your wings. As touching those railinges wherwith the pope his meritorious brawlers doe molest vsus, yt we are fallē away frō the Church, because we dissent frō the Sea of Rome: would to God we could testifie with full cōfidēce, before God & his angels, that wee are most far distāt frō that pollutiō, as we can acquit our selues of y• crime which they vse to lay to our charge. They make their boast of the catholike church, who hauehave left no part of al the doctrine of the law & the gospel free from filthy corruptions, who hauehave prophaned the whole worship of God with the stink of superstition, who hauehave not been afraid to corrupt all god his decrees with their inuētions. Yea, the multitude of errors wherwith they hauehave subuerted al religiō is so vniuersal, that they are sufficiēt to ouerwhelme & destroy the church an 100. times. Therfore we cā neuer extol so highly as it deserueth, the infinit goodnes of God, wherby it is come to passe, that wee escaping myraculously out of that deadly gulf, hauehave the anchor of our faith firmly fixed in the soūd & eternal truth of god. And truly this one Cōmentarie shall sufficiētly testifie (as I hope) that papistrie is nothing els but a monster composed of innumerable errors of Satā, & that that church which they obiect vntounto vsus is more confused thē Babylō. In the mean season I wil freely cōfes ye truth: that we are not far enough distāt from the filth of that pit, whose contagion doth spread it self too far. Antichrist doth cōplayne that we are slipt away from him: but we are compelled to mourne, for that too too many of his vices, wherwith he hath infected the world, do remaine amongst vsus. VntoUnto vsus is restored the sincere puritie of doctrine, perfect religion, the simple worship of God, the right order of the sacramēts, which was deliuered by Christ. But the chifest cause why there is not amongst vsus such reformatiō of maners & amēdment of life as there ought to be, is this, because a great part being as yet mindful of that vnbrideled libertie, wherewith the Papistes doe freely waxe wā ton against God, cannot accustome thēselues to Christes yoke. Therefore whereas our aduersaries (to the ende they may cause the vnskilful vniustly to hate vsus) do contemptuously crie out that we hauehave broken all good order & discipline, their false slander is refuted sufficiently with this one thynge (though wee doe hold our peace,) in that there is nothyng, aboute whiche wee hauehave greater contention amongest our selues, then this: namely, our rigour, which, as some men thynke, is immoderate. But seeinge that you are able verye well to witnesse with mee, and those who are my fellowes in office, that wee are no more seuere or straite then the necessitie of our office doeth require, and also inforce vsus to bee as we doe rest safely in the iudgement of your cō scicience, so on the otherside you may easily iudge, as though the matter were before you, how ridiculous the impudencie of our aduersaries is on this behalfe,
Now (that I may speake somewhat particularly of my selfe) although I am persuaded that all the worlde doeth know how I hauehave instructed this church with many of my writings, yet I thoght it would be worth ye paines if there should some monumēt therof be extant, which should be dedicated vntounto you. For it skilleth much that that kinde of doctrine be set before all men, which you know, I hauehave taught. And although I hauehave endeuoured to profite you & the people which is cōmitted vntounto you euen after my death, in those bookes which I hauehave hitherto published, & it is not meete that that doctrine, whiche hath flowed out of your Citie vntounto other nations far & wyde shoulde bring foorth fruit pentifully, & be neglected in her owne place: yet I hope that this cōmentarie which is peculiarly cōsecrated vntounto your name, wil take deeper root in your memory. And that this thing may com to passe, I beseech the liuing God so deeply to write the same in your harts, that it may not bee blotted out by any subtile sleight of Satā. For it is in his hands to giuegive successe vntounto my labors who hath of late giuen mee this minde, to desire nothing more, thē faithfully to care for the saluatiō of you al. Furthermore, as I profes before the world, that I am far frō that diligēce of a good shepheard, which is exacted, & frō other vertues which the greatnes & excellēcy of mine office do require, & do cōtinually before god bewaile mine estate, for that I am troubled with so many vices whiche do hinder my course: so I dare prot…st that I wāt no faithfulnes & good will. And if in the meane while the wicked do not cease to repine & speak against me, as it is my dutie by well doing to refute their slanders, so it shalbe your part to suppresse the same by that holy authoritie wherin you excell. Farewell my right honorable Lordes, whom I ought to reuerence in Christ, vntounto whose tuition I commit you. At Geneua the first of Ianuary, 1553.