The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 3 · Chapter 19
The .xix. Chapter. Of Christian libertie.
NOw we must entreate of Christian libertie: the declaration whereof he must not omitt whose purpose is to comprehēd in an abridgment the summe of the doctrine of the Gospel. For it is a thing principally necessarie, & without ye knoweledg wherof conscience dare in a māner enterprise nothing without doubting, thei stumble and start back in many things, thei alway stagger & tremble: but specially it is an appendant of iustification, and auaileth not a little to the vnderstanding of the strength thereof. Yea thei that earnestly feare God, shal hereby receiue an incomparable frute of that doctrine which the wicked & Lucianicall men do pleasantly taunt with their scoffes,Lucian, a godlesse man. bicause in ye spiritual darkenesse wherwyth thei be taken, eueryevery wanton railing is lawful for them. Wherfore it shal now come forth in fi…t season: & it was profitable to differ to thys place ye plainer discoursing of it, (for we hauehave already in diuers places lightly touched it) bicause so sone as any mention is brought in of Christian libertie, then either filthy lustes do boyle, or mad motions do arise, vnlesse these wanton wittes be timely met withall, whiche doe otherwise most naughtily corrupte the veste thinges. For, some men by pretense of this libertie, shake of all obedience of God, and breake forthe into an vnbridled licentiousnesse: and some men disdaine it, thinking that by yt all moderation, ordre and choise of thinges is taken awaie. What shold we here do, beinge compassed in suche narrowe streightes? Shall wee bidde Christian libertie farewell, and so cutt of all fitt occasion for suche periles? But, as we hauehave saide, vnlesse yt be fast holden, neither Christ, nor the truthe of the Gospel, nor the inward peace of the soule is rightly knowen. Rather we must endeuoure that so necessarie a part of doctrine be not suppressed, and yet that in the meane time those fonde obiections may be mette withall whiche are wont to rise therevpon.
Christian libertie (as I think) consisteth in three partes. The firste, that the consciences of the faithful, when the affiance of their iustification before God is to be sought, may raise & aduaunce thēselues aboue the law, and forget the whole righteousnesse of the lawe For sithe the lawe (as we hauehave already in an other place declared) leaueth no man righteous: either we are excluded frō all hope of iustificatiō, or we muste be loosed from the lawe, and so that there be no regarde at al hadde of workes. For whos… …hinketh that he must bring somwhat be it neuer so little of good workes to obteine righteousnesse, he can not apointe any ende or measure of them, butte maketh him selfe detter to the whole law. Therfore taking away al mention of the law, and layinge aside al thinking vponupon workes, we must embrace the onelyonly mercye of God, when we entreate of iustification: and turning away our sighte from our selues, we must behold Christ alone. For ther the question is not how we be righteous: but how although we be vnrighteous and vnworthy, we be taken for worthy. Of which thinge if consciences wyll atteine any certaintie, thei must geue no place to ye lawe. Neither can any man hereby gather that the law is superfluous to the faithfull, whom it doth not therfore ceasse to teache and exhorte, and pricke forwarde to goodnesse, although before the iudgment seate of God it hath no place in their consciences. For these two thinges, as they are most diuerse, so must be wel and diligently distinguished of vsus. The whole life of Christians ought to be a certaine meditation of godlinesse,Eph. i.iiii. i. …hes. …ii… v. bycause they are called into sanctification. Herein standeth the offyce of the law, yt by putting them in mind of their duetie, it shold stir them vp to the endeuor of holynesse & innocēcie. But when cōsciēces are carefull how they may hauehave God mercifull, what they shall answer, & vponupon what affiance they shall stand if they be called to his iudgement, there is not to be reckened what ye law requireth, but onelyonly Christ must be set forth for righteousnesse, whiche passeth all perfection of the …awe.
Upon this point hangeth almost al the argumēt of the Epistle to the Galathians. For, that thei be fond expositers which teach that Paule there cōtendeth only for the libertie of ceremonies, may be proued by the places of the argumēts.Gala. iii.xiii. & v.i. Of which sort are these. That Christ was made a curse for vsus, that he might redeme vsus frō the curse of the law. Againe, Stand fast in the libertie wherewith Christ hath made you free, & be not againe entangled with the yoke of bondage. Beholde, I Paule say, if ye be circumcised, Christ shal nothing profit you. And he which is circumcised is deitor of the whole law. Christ is made idle to you whosoeuer ye be yt are iustified by the law: ye are fallē away frō grace. Wherin truely is conteyned some hier thing than the libertie of ceremonies. I graūt in deede yt Paul there entreareth of ceremonies, bicause he cōtendeth with ye false Apostles, which wēt about to bring againe into the Christian Church ye old shadowes of law which were abolished by ye cōming of Christ. But for the discussing of this questiō, there were hier places to be disputed, in which the whole controuersie stoode. First bicause by those Iewish shadowes ye brightnesse or ye gospel was darkened, he sheweth that we hauehave in Christ a fu… geuing in de…de of al those thinges whiche were shadowed by the ceremonies of Moses. Secondly, bicause these deceiuers filled ye people with a most noughty opiniō, namely yt this obediēce auailed to deserue ye fauor of God: Here he standeth much vpō this point, that the faithful shold not think yt thei cā by any workes of the law, much lesse by those litle principles, obteine righteousnesse before God.Gal. iix…, xxx. And therwithal he teacheth, yt thei are by the crosse of Christ free frō the dānatiō of the law, which otherwise hangeth ouer al men, y• they shold with ful assurednesse rest in Christ alone. Which place proprely perteineth to this purpose. Last of al he mainteineth to the cōsciences of the faithful their libertie, that they should not be bound with any religion in thinges not necessarie.
The second part, which hangeth vponupon that former part, is that cō sciences duplicate page duplicate page obey the law, not as compelled by the necessitie of the law: but beyng free frō the yoke of the law it self, of their owne accord thei obey the wil of God. For, bicause they abide in perpetual terrors, so long as they be vnderunder the dominiō of the law, thei shal neuer be with chereful redinesse framed to ye obediēce of God, vnlesse thei first hauehave this libertie geuen thē. By an exāple we shal both more briefly & more plainely perceiue what these things meane.Deut. vi.v The cōmaundemēt of the law is, yt we louelove our God wt al our heart, with al our soule, wt al our strēgths. That this may be done, our soule must first be made voide of all other sense & thought, our heart must be cleāsed of al desires, al our strēgths must be gathered vp & drawē together to this only purpose. Thei which hauehave gone most far before other in the way of the Lord, are yet very far from this marke. For though they louelove God with their minde, and with sincere affection of heart, yet they hauehave still a great part of their heart and soule possessed with the desires of the fleshe, by which they are drawen back and stayed from goyng forward with hasty course to God. They do in deede trauayle forward with great endeuor: but the fleshe partly febleth their strengthes, and partly draweth them to it self. What shall they here do, when they fele that thei do nothing lesse thā performe the law? They wil, thei couet, they endeuor, but nothing with such perfection as ought to be. If they loke vponupon the law, they see that whatsoeuer worke they attēpt or purpose, is accursed. Neyther is there any cause why any man should deceiue himself with gathering that the worke is therefore not altogether euell, bycause it is vnperfect: and therfore that God doth neuerthelesse accept that good which is in it. For, the law requiring perfect louelove, condēneth al imperfectiō, vnlesse y rigor of it be mitigated. Therefore his workes should fal to nought which he wold hauehave to seme partly good: & he shal finde yt it is a transgression of the law, euen in this bicause it is vnperfect.
Loe, how al our workes are subiect to the curse of the law, if thei be measured by ye rule of ye law. But how shold thē vnhappy soules cherefully applie thēselues to work, for which thei might not trust that they colde get any thing but curse? On the otherside, if beyng deliuered frō this seuere exacting of the lawe, or rather from the whole rigor of the lawe, thei heare that they be called of God with fatherly gentlenesse: thei wil merily & with great cherefulnesse answer his calling & folow his guiding. In a summe, they which are boūd to the yoke of ye law, ar like to vn̄dseruāts, to whō are apointed by their lordes certain taskes of work for eueryevery day. These seruāts thinke yt thei hauehave done nothing, nor dare come into ye sight of their lordes, vnlesse they hauehave performed the ful taske of their workes. But childrē, which are more liberally & more freemālike handled of their fathers, stick not to present to them their begonne & half vnperfect workes, yea & those hauing some fault. trusting yt they wil accept their obedience & willingnesse of minde, Although thei hauehave not exactly done so much as their good wil was to do. So must we be as may hauehave sure affiāce, yt our obediēces shalbe allowed of our most kinde father, how little soeuer, & how rude & vnperfect soeuer thei be. As also he assureth to vsus by ye prophet: I wil spare thē (saith he) as ye father is wont to spare his sonne yt serueth him.Mala. iii.xvii. Where this word Spare, is set for to beare wt al, or gētly to winke at faultes, forasmuch as he also maketh mention of seruice. And this affiance is not a litle necessarie for vsus, without which we shall go about all thinges in vaine. For God accompteth himselfe to be worshipped with no worke of ours but which is truely done of vsus for the worshipping of him. But how can that be done among these terrors, where it is douted whether God be offended or worshipped with oure worke?
And that is the cause why the author of the Epistle to the Hebrues, referreth all the good workes yt are red of in the holy fathers,Rom. xi.i… to faith, and weyeth thē only by fayth.Ro. vi.…ii▪ Touching this libertie there is a place in the Epistle to the Romaines, where Paule resoneth yt some oughte not to hauehave dominion ouer vsus, bicause we are not vnderunder the lawe, but vnderunder grace. For when he had exhorted the faithfull that sinne should not reygne in their mortal bodie, and that they should not geue theyr members to be weapons of wickednesse to sinne, but shoulde dedicate them selues to God, as they that are alyue from the deade, and theyr members, weapons of righteousnes to God: and whereas they might on the other side obiect that they do yet carry with them the fleshe full of lustes, and that sinne dwelleth in them, he adioyneth that comforte by the libertie of the law, as if he shold say. Though they doo not yet throughly fele sin destroyed & ye righteousnes yet liueth not in thē, yet ther is no cause why they shold feare & be discouraged as though they had ben alwaidispleased wt thē for the remnantes of sin, forasmuch as they ar by grace made free from the law, that theyr workes shuld not be examined by the rule of the law. As for them that gather yt we may sinne because we ar not vnderunder the law, let thē know that this libertie perteineth nothing to them, the ende wherof is to encourage to God.
The third part is, that we be bound with no conscience before God of outward thinges which are by them selues indifferent, but that we may indifferently sometime vse thē, and sometime leaue them vnused. And the knowledge of this libertie also is very necessary for vsus: for if it shalbe absent, there shalbe no quiet to our consciences, no ende of superstitions. Many at this daye do thinke vsus fonde to moue disputation about the free eating of fleshe, about the free vse of dayes, and garmentes and suche other smale trifles as they in dede thinke them: but there is more weight in them than is commonlye thoughte. For when consciences hauehave ones cast thē selues into the snare, they entre into a long and combersome waye, from whence they can afterwarde finde no easy way to get oute. If a man beginne to doubt whether he maye occupye linnen in shetes, shertes, hankercheifes, and napkines. neither wil he be out of doubt whether he may vse hempe, and at the last he wil also fal in doubt of maters, for he will waye with himselfe whether he can not suppe without napkins, whether he maye not be without handkerchifes. If any man thinke deyntye meate to be vnlawful, at length he shal not with quietnesse before the Lorde eate either brounebreade or common meates, when he remembreth that he may yet susteine his body with bacer fode. If he doute of pleasaunte wyne, afterwarde he will not drinke deade wine with good peace of conscience, last of al he wyl not be so bolde to touche sweter and cleaner water than other. Finally at the length he wil come to this point, to thinke it vnlawfull (as the common sayinge is) to treade vppon a strawe lying a crosse. For here is begonne no lyghte stryfe, but this is in question, whether God will hauehave vsus to vse these or those thinges, whose will ought to guide al our counsels and doynges. Hereby some must needes be carried with desperatiō into a confuse deuouryng pit: some must, despising God, and casting away his feare, make thēselues away through destruction when they hauehave no redy way. For whosoeuer are entangled with such doubting, which way soeuer they turne themselues, they see eueryevery where present offense of conscience.
I know (sayth Paule) that nothyng is cōmon (meaning by cōmon, vnholy) but who so thinketh any thing cōmon,Ro. xiiii.xiiij. to him it is cōmon. In which wordes he maketh al outward thinges subiect to our libertie, prouided alway yt our mindes hauehave the assurance of ye libertie before god. But if any superstitious opiniō cast into vsus any dout, those things which of their own nature were cleane, are defiled to vsus. Wherfore he addeth: Blessed is he ye iudgeth not himself in yt which he alloweth. But he yt iudgeth, if he eate, is condēned, bicause he eateth not of faith. And yt which is not of faith, is sinne. Amōg such narrow streightes, who so neuerthelesse wt carelesly venturing on al things shew thēselues bolder, do thei not asmuch turne thēselues away frō god? But thei which are throughly pearced wt some feare of God, when thei thēselues also are cōpelled to do many things against their cōsciēce, are discouraged & do fal downe wt feare. Al that are such, do receiue none of ye giftes of God with thākesgeuing, by which aboue yet Paule testifieth yt thei al are sanctified to our vse. I meane the thankesgeuing yt procedeth frō a heart yt acknowlegeth ye liberalitie & goodnesse of God in his giftes. For, many of them in deede do vnderstād that those are ye benefites of God which they vse, & thei prayse God in his workes: but sith thei are not persuaded that thei are geuen to thēselues, how shold thei thank God as ye geuer of them? Thus in a summe we see, whereto this libertie tendeth, namely that we shold vse the giftes of God to such vse as he hath geuē thē vntounto vsus, without any scruple of cōsciēce, without any trouble of minde: by whiche confidence our soules maye both hauehave peace wt him & acknowlege his liberalitie toward vsus. For here are cō prehēded al ceremonies yt are at libertie to be obserued, yt our cōsciences shold not be bound wt any necessitie to kepe thē, but shold remēber ye she vse of thē is by Gods benefit subiect to thēselues vntounto edification.
But it is diligently to be …oted, that Christian libertie is in all the partes of it a spiritual thing, yt whole strēgth whereof cōsisteth in appeasing fearful consciences before God, if either they be vnquieted or careful for ye forgeuenesse of sinnes, or if thei be pensiue whether our imperfect workes & defiled with ye faultes of our flesh do please God, or if thei be troubled about the vse of indifferēt things. Wherfore thei do wrōgfully expoūd it, which either do make it a cloke for their own desires, yt thei may abuse the giftes of God to their own lust, or which do thinke that there is no libertie but that which is vsed before men, & therfore in vsing it hauehave no regard of the weake brethrē. In the first kinde, men do at this day much offend. There is almost no mā which may by his abilitie of wealth be sumptuous, which deliteth not in excessiue gorgiousnesse in furniture of banbets, in apparel of body, in bilding of houses, which hath not a wil to excel other in al kinde of statelinesse: whiche doth not maruellously flatter himself in his finenesse. And al these things ar defended vnderunder ye pretense of Christiā libertie. They say that they are thinges indifferent: I graūt, so that a man indifferently vse them. But when they are to gredily coueted, whē they are proudely bosted, whē they are wastefully spent, it is certaine that those thinges which otherwise were of thēselues lawful, are by these faultes defiled. This sayeng of Paule doth very wel put differēce betwene thinges indifferent: All things are cleane to ye cleane: but to the defiled & vnbeleuing,Tit. i.xxv, nothing is cleane, bicause their minde & cōsciēce is defiled. For why are accursed the riche men, they which hauehave their cōfort,Luke. vi.xxiiii. Amos. vi. Esa. v.vii… which are satisfied wt meate, which do now laugh, whiche slepe in beds of iuory, whiche ioyne land to land, whose bankets hauehave lute, harp, taber & wyne? Uerily both iuorie, & golde, & richesse, are the good creatures of God, permitted yea & apointed by the prouidence of God for men to vse. Neither is it any where forbiddē eyther to laugh, or to be satisfied with meate, or to ioyne new possessions to their owne olde possessions or of their aūcesters, or to be delited with musical melodie, or to drynke wine. This is true in deede. But when they hauehave plentie of thinges, to wallow in delites, to glut thēselues, to make their wit & minde dronke with present pleasures & alway to gape for newe, these doynges are most far frō the lawfull vse of ye giftes of God. Therfore let them take away immeasurable desire, let them take away immeasurable wasting, let them take away vanitie & arrogance, yt they may with a pure conscience purely vse the giftes of God. When the minde shalbe framed to this sobrietie, they shall hauehave a rule of ye lawfull vse. On the other side let this moderation be wanting, euen base and common delicates are to much. For this is truely sayd, that oftentimes in frise and course cloth dwelleth a purple heart, and somtime vnderunder silk and purple, lieth simple humilitie: Let eueryevery man in his degree so liue eyther poorely,Phil. iii… ▪ or meanely, or plentifully, that they al remember that they are fed of God to liue, not to be riotous: & let them thynke, yt this is the lawe of Christian libertie, if they hauehave learned with Paule to be contented with those thinges whiche they presently hauehave: if they can skill bothe to be humble and to excell: yf they be taught in all places and in all thinges to be both full and hungry, to hauehave plentie and to suffre want.
Herin also many men do erre, bycause as though their libertie shold not bee sounde and safe vnlesse it had men witnesses of it, thei do vn…scretly & vnwisely vse it. By which vnseasonable vsing thei many times offend the weake brothren. You may see at this day some, whiche thinke that theyr libertie can not stande, vnlesse thei take possession of it by eating of fleshe on fryday. I blame not that they eate: butte this false opinion muste be dryuen out of their myndes. For thei oughte to thynke that by theyr lybertie they obteyne no newe thing in the sight of menne but before God, and that it standeth as well in absteinynge as in vsynge. If they vnderstande that yt maketh no matter before God, whether they eate fleshe or egges, whether thei weare redde or blacke garments, that is enough. The cōscience is nowe free, to whyche the benefite of suche lybertie was due. Therefore althoughe they do afterward absteine al theyr life long from flesh, & weare alway but one colore, yet thei are no lesse free. Yea therefore bicause thei are free, thei do with a free cōscience absteine. But thei do most hurtfully offend bicause they nothyng regard the weakenesse of their brethren, which we ought so to beare with, that we rashly cōmit nothing with offense of them. But somtime also it behoueth that our libertie be set forth before men. And this I graunt. But there is a measure most heedefully to be kept, that we cast not away the care of the weake of whome the Lord hath so earnestly geuen vsus charge.
I will in this place therefore speake somewhat of offenses, in what differēce thei are to be takē, which are to be auoided, & which to be neglected: wherupō we may afterward determine what place there is for our libertie among men. I like well that cōmon diuision, whiche teacheth yt there is of offenses one sort geuē, an other takē: for asmuch as it both hath a plaine testimonie of the Scripture, & doth not vnfitly expresse that which it meaneth. If thou do any thing by vnseasonable lightnesse, or wantonnesse, or rashnesse, not in order, nor in fit place, whereby the ignorāt & weake are be offended, yt same may be called an offense geuē by thee: bicause it came to passe by thy fault yt such offense was stirred vp. And it is alway called an offense geuen in any thing, ye fault wherof came from ye doer of yt thing it self. It is called an offense taken, whē a thing which is otherwise not euelly done nor out of time is by euell will or by some wrōgfull maliciousnesse of minde drawē to occasion of offense. For in this case was not offense geuen, but these wrongfull construers do without cause take one. With ye first kinde of offense none are offended but the weake: but with this .ii. kinde sowre natures & Pharisaical scorneful heads are offēded. Wherfore we shal cal ye one, the offense of the weake: the other of the Pharisees: & we shal so tēper the vse of our libertie, that it ought to geue place to the ignorance of the weake brethrē, but in no wise to ye rigorousnesse of ye Pharisees. For, what is to be yelded to weaknesse, Paule sheweth in very many places.Ro. xiiij.i. & xiij. Beare (sayth he) the weake in faith. Againe, Let vsus not herafter iudge one an other: but this rather, let there not be laied before our brother any offense or occasiō of falling: & many other sayengs to ye same entent, which are more fit to be red in ye place it self, thā to be here rehearsed. The summe is, yt we which are strōg shold beare with ye weakenesses of our brethrē, & not please our selues, but eueryevery one of vsus please his neighbor vntounto good for edifieng.i. Cor. viij ix. i. Cor. x.xxv. In an other place, But see yt your libertie be not in any wise an offense to thē yt are weake. Againe, Eate ye al things yt are sold in the shābles, asking no questiō for conscience: of your conscience (I say) not an other mans. Finally be ye such, that ye geue no offense, neither to the Iewes, nor to the Grekes, nor to ye Church of God.Gal. v.xiii Also in an other place, ye are called, brethrē, into libertie: only geue not your libertie to be an occasion to the flesh, but by charitie serue ye one an other. Thus it is. Our libertie is not geuē toward our weake neighbours, whose seruātes charitie maketh vsus in al thinges: but rather, that hauing peace wt God in our mindes, we may also liue peaceably among men. As for the offense of the Pharisees, how much it is to be regarded, we learne by the wordes of the Lord, wherby he biddeth them to be let alone, bicause they are blinde, & guides of the blinde.Matt. xv.xiiii. The disciples had warned him, that ye Pharisees were offended with his sayenges: he answered that they were to be neglected, and the offendyng of them not to be cared for.
But yet stil the matter hangeth doutfull, vnlesse we know who are to be taken for weake, & whoe for Pharisees: which difference beyng taken away, I see not amōg offenses what vse at al of libertie remaineth, which might neuer be vsed without great danger. But it semeth to me that Paule hath moste playnely declared both by doctrine & by examples, how far our libertie is either to be tempered, or to be defended though with offenses.Act. xvi.iij. Gal. ….iij. When he toke Timothee into his cōpanie, he circumcised him: but he could not be brought to circumcise Titus. Here were diuerse doynges, & no change of purpose nor of minde: namely in circumcising Timothee, when he was free from all men, he made himself seruaunt to all men▪ and he was made to the Iewes,i. Cor. ….xix. & xx…. as a Iew, that he might winne the Iewes: to them that were vnderunder the law, as if he himself were vnderunder the law, that he might winne them which were vnderunder the law: al things to al mē, yt he might saue many, as he writeth in an other place. Thus we hauehave a right moderation of libertie, if it may be indifferētly restrained with some profit. What he had respect vntounto when he stoutely refused to circumcise Titus, he himself testifieth,Gal. ii.iiii writing thus, But neither was Titus▪ whiche was with me, although he was a Grecian, cōpelled to be circūcised, bicause of the false brethren which were com in by the way, whiche had priu…y crept in to espie our libertie which we hauehave in Christ Iesus, … might bring vsus into bōdage, to whom we gaue not place by su…e…ō so much as for a time, yt the truth of ye gospel might … with y…. There is also a time when we must of necessitie defend our libertie, if the same be in weake consciences endāgered by the vniust exa…nges of false Apostles. We must in eueryevery thing studie to preserue charitie, & hauehave regard to the edifieng of our neighbour.i. …or. ….xx.…. Al thin… (sayth he) are lawful for me, but not al things are expedi…t al things are lawful for me but not al things do edifie. Let no mā seke yt which is his own, but yt which is an others. There is nothing now plainer by this rule, thā yt we must vse our libertie, if it may turne to the edifieng of our neighbor: but if it be not so expediēt for our neighbor, then we must …o…beare it. There be some which counterfait ye wisedom of Paul in forbearing of libertie, while they do nothing lesse thā applie same to ye duties of charitie. For, so yt they may prouide for their owne quietnesse, they wish al mētion of libertie to be buried, wheras it is no lesse behoueful for our neighbors, somtime to vse libertie for their benefit & edificaciō, than in fit place to restraine it for their cōmoditie. But it is the parte of a godly man to thinke, that free power in outward things is therfore graūted him, that he may be the freer to all duties of charitie.
But whatsoeuer I hauehave spokē of auoiding of offenses, my meaning is yt it be referred to meane & indifferent thinges. For, those things yt are necessarie to be done, are not to be left vndone for feare of any offense. For as our libertie is to be submitted to charitie▪ so charitie it self likewise ought to be vnderunder the purenesse of faith. Uerily here also ought to be had regarde of charitie, but so far as to ye altars yt is that for our neyghbours sake we offende not God. Their intemperance is not to bee allowed, whyche doe nothyng but with troublesome turmoylyng, and whiche had rather rashely to ren… all thinges, than leysurely to rippe them. Ney…her yet are they to be harkened to, which when they be leaders of men into a thousand sortes of vngodlinesse, yet doe faine that they must behaue themselues so that thei be no offense to their neighbours. As though they do not in the meane edifie the consciences of their neighbors to euell, specially wheras thei sticke fast in the same myre without any hope of gettyng out. And the pleasant mē forsothe, whether their neighbor be to be instructed with doctrine or example of life, say that he must be fed with milke, whome they fill with most euell and poisonous opiniōs. Paule reporteth that he fed the Corinthiās with drinking of milke:i Cor. iij.ij but if the popish Masse had then ben among them, would he hauehave sacrificed to geue them the drinke of milke? But milke is not poison. Therfore they lie in sayeng that they feede them whome vnderunder a shew of flattering alluremētes they cruelly kill. But, grauntyng that such dissemblyng is for a time to be allowed, how long yet will they feede their children with milke? For if they neuer growe bigger, that they maye at the least be able to beare some light meate, it is certaine that they were neuer brought vp with milke. There are two reasons that moue me why I doe not nowe more sharpely contend with them: first, bicause their follies are scarcely worthy to be confuted, sithe they worthily seme filthy in the sight of all men that hauehave their sounde wit: secondly, bicause I hauehave sufficiētly done it in peculiar bokes, I will not now do a thing already done. Only let the readers remēber this, that with whatsoeuer offenses Satan and the worlde goe about to turne vsus awaye from the ordinances of God or to stay vsus from folowyng that which he apointeth yet we must neuerthelesse goe earnestly forward: and then, that whatsoeuer daungers hange vponupon it, yet it is not at our libertie to swarue one heare bredth from the commaūdement of the same God, neyther is it lawefull by any pretense to attempt any thyng but that whiche he geueth vsus leaue.
Now therefore sithe faithfull consciences hauyng receyued suche prerogatiue of libertie as we hauehave aboue set forth, hauehave by the benefit of Christ obteined this that they be not entangled with any snares of obseruations in those thinges in whiche the Lord willed that they should be at libertie: we conclude that they are exempt from al power of men. For it is vnmete, that either Christ should lose the thāke of his so great liberalitie, or consciences their profit. Neyther ought we to thinke it a slight matter, which we see to hauehave cost Christ so deare: namely whiche he valued not with golde or siluer,i. Pet. i.…. Gal. v.i.…ii…. but with his owne bloud: so that Paule sticketh not to say, that his death is made voide, yf we yeld our selues into subiection to men. For he trauaileth about nothing els in certaine chapters of the Epistle to the Galathians, but to shew that Christ is darkened or rather destroyed to vsus, vnlesse our consciences stand fast in their libertie, whiche verily they hauehave loste if they maye at the will of men be snared with the bondes of lawes and ordinances. But, as it is a thyng most worthy to be knowen, so it nedeth a longer and plainer declaration. For so sone as any word is spoken of the abrogating of the ordināces of men, by and by great troubles are raysed vp partly by seditious men, partly by sclaunderers, as though the whole obedience of men were at ones taken away and ouerthrowen.
Therefore, that none of vsus maye stumble at this stone, first let vsus cōsider, that there are two sortes of gouernement in man: the one spirituall, whereby the conscience is framed to godlinesse & to the worship of God: the other ciuile, whereby man is trayned to the duties of humanitie and ciuilitie whiche are to be kept among men. They are commonly by not vnfit names called the Spirituall and Temporall iurisdiction, whereby is signified, that the first of these two formes of gouernement perteyneth to the life of the soule, and the later is occupied in the thinges of this present life: not only in fedyng and clothing, but in setting forth of lawes whereby a man may spend his life amōg men holyly, honestly, and soberly. For, that first kinde hath place in the inward minde, this later kinde ordereth only ye outward behauiours. The one we may cal the Spirituall kingdome: the other, the Ciuile kingdome. But these two, as we hauehave diuided them must be eyther of them alway seuerally considered by themselues: and when the one is in consideryng, we must withdraw and turne away our mindes from thinking vpō the other. For there are in man as it were two worldes, whiche both diuerse Kinges and diuerse lawes may gouerne. By this putting of difference shall come to passe, that that whiche the Gospell teacheth of the spirituall libertie, we shall not wrongfully draw to the ciuile order, as though Christians were accordyng to the outward gouernement lesse subiect to the lawes of men, bicause their consciences are at libertie before God: as though they were therefore exempt from all bondage of the fleshe, bycause they are free accordyng to the Spirit. Againe, bicause euen in those ordinances whiche seme to pertaine to the spirituall kingdome, there maye be some errour: we must also put difference betwene these, whiche are to be taken for lawfull as agreable to the worde of God, and on the other side whiche ought not to hauehave place amonge the godly. Of the ciuile gouernement there shalbe els where place to speake. Also of the Ecclesiastical lawes I omit to speake at this time, bicause a more full entreating of it shal be fit for the Fowerth booke, where we shall speake of the power of the Church. But of this discourse, let this be the conclusion. The question beyng (as I hauehave sayd) of it selfe not very darke or entangled doth for this cause accōbre many, bicause thei do not suttelly enough put difference betwene the outward court as they call it, and the court of conscience. Moreouer this encreaseth the difficultie,Rom. xiij.i. & v. that Paule teacheth yt the Magistrate ought to be obeyed, not only for feare of punishmēt, but for conscience. Wherupon foloweth that cōsciences are also boūd by the ciuile lawes. If it were so, all should come to naught which we both hauehave spoken and shall speake of the spirituall gouernement. For the losyng of this knot, firste it is good to knowe what is conscience. And the definition therof is to be fetched from the propre deriuatiō of the word. For, as when men do with minde and vnderstandyng conceyue the knowledge of thinges, they are thereby sayd (Scire) to know, wherupon also is deriued the name of science, knowlege: so when thei hauehave a felyng of the iudgemēt of God, as a witnesse ioyned with them whiche doth not suffer them to hide their sinnes but yt they be drawen accused to the iudgemēt seate of God, that same felyng is called Conscience. For it is a certayne meane betwene God and man, bicause it suffreth not man to suppresse in himselfe that whiche he knoweth, but pursueth him so farre till it bryng him to giltinesse. This is it whiche Paule meaneth,Rom. ij.xv where he sayth that cōscience doth together witnesse with mē, whē their thoughtes do accuse or acquite them in the iudgement of God. A simple knowledge might remaine as enclosed within man. Therefore this felyng whiche presenteth man to the iudgement of God, is as it were a keper ioyned to man, to marke and espie al his secretes, that nothing may remaine buried in darknesse. Whereupon also cōmeth that olde Prouerbe, Conscience is a thousand witnesses. And for the same reason Peter hath set the examination of a good cō science for quietnesse of minde,…. Pet. iij.x…i. when beyng persuaded of the grace of Christ,Heb. x.ii. we do without feare present our selues before God. And the author of the Epistle to the Hebrues, setteth to hauehave no more conscience of sinne, in stede of to be deliuered or acquited that sinne may no more accuse vsus.
Therefore as workes hauehave respect to men, so cōscience is referred to God, so that a good Consciēce is nothing els but the inward purenesse of the heart.ii. Tim. i.v. In whiche sense Paule writeth that charitie is the fulfillyng of the law out of a pure conscience and faith not fained. Afterwarde also in the same chapter he sheweth howe muche it differeth from vnderstanding, sayeng that some had suffred shipwreck frō the faith, bicause thei had forsakē good Consciēce. For in these wordes he signifieth that it is a liuely affection to worship God, & a sincere endeuor to liue holyly and godlyly. Somtime in deede it extendeth also to men,Act. xxiiii.xvi. as in Luke where the same Paule protesteth that he endeuored himselfe to walke with a good conscience toward God and men. But this was therfore sayd, bicause the frutes of good cōscience do flowe and come euen to men. But in speakynge properly, it hath respect to God only, as I hauehave already sayd. Hereby it cōmeth to passe that the law is sayd to binde the conscience, which simply bindeth a mā without respect of men, or without hauing any consideration of them. As for example. God cōmaundeth not only to kepe the minde chaste and pure from al lust, but also forbiddeth al māner of filthinesse of wordes & outward wantonnesse whatsoeuer it be. To the kepyng of this law my cōscience is subiect although there liued not one mā in the world. So he that behaueth himself intemperantly, not only sinneth in this yt he geueth an euel exāple to the brethren, but also hath his consciēce bound with giltinesse before God. In thinges that are of themselues meane, there is an other consideratiō. For we ought to absteine from them if they brede any offense, but the conscience still beyng free. So Paule speaketh of flesh consecrate to Idoles.i. Cor. x.xxviii. If any (sayth he) moue any dout, touch it not for cōsciēces sake: I say for consciēce, not thine but the others. A faithfull mā should sinne, which beyng first warned should neuerthelesse eate such fleshe. But howsoeuer in respect of his brother, it is necessarie for him to absteine as it is prescribed of God, yet he cesseth not to kepe still ye libertie of cōscience. Thus we see how this law bindyng the outward worke, leaueth the cōscience vnbound.