A Stay Against Straying, Part 2 · Section 13
SECT. 13.
THE 13. Objection is laid downe in this manner: The Lords forbids Iudah going to Gilgal, or to Bethel. Hoſ. 4. 15. 16.
Treat: The meaning is plaine, & the words expreſſe, that they were not to goe thither to offend and play the Harlot, in joyning to idols, Ver. 15. 16. This I grant‡Nos qui Chriſtiano nomine gaudemus dicemus nos abjicere Deos alienos, & verum colere, cum pars idola defendat, adoret, colat, breviter divinis honoribus pro ſequatur. Lavar. in Joſh. c. 24 Hom. 71. p fol. 81. is to be done in no place. But deny any ſuch thing to be done in the hearing by mee pleaded for; The Scriptures every where forbid the going, or comming to ſuch places, or perſons, as in, by, or with them ſome evill is done, to wit, for the doing of any thing evill, or unlawfull in, or with them. This is all a primo ad ultimum.
Anſvv. When Children find any hard words in their Leſſon; They wilbe ſure to paſſe them quickly over; Hoping thereby to ſave themſelves. I muſt needs ſay, the Treat. met here with a ſtrong argument; And therefore it is no wonder, though he ſhew us a Scholers tricke: To wit, leave that ſpeedilie, the which hee knew not how to anſwer*See the like anſwer to our 1. Object. It is Antonies precept in Tullie, if men be troubled about a hard queſtion, to ſay nothing to it. De Orat. l. 2.. If the Reader doe not ſee the weaknes of it (to ſay the beſt of it) I will ſet before him a glaſſe to vew it in.
For 1. He makes himſelfe here an Oppoſite to ſcience. 2. To Conſcience. 3. To the truth; And laſtly, to himſelfe. And firſt of the firſt: They vvere nor (ſayth he) to goe thither to offend. J profeſſe in all good conſcience, my deſire is not to pervert his meaning, but to underſtand it; But how to underſtand it, J know not; For his ſpeach is much like the anſwer, which Pythius the Preiſt gave to Pyrrhus the King Epire.aCicer. de divin.
Ajo te Ae…cida Romanos vincere poſse. An anſwer ſo dubious & diſcrepant, as it cannot be gathered from it, whether He, or the Romanes ſhould overcome. The Treat: anſwer is of the like ambiguitie and darknes; It is an foreign, as the Philoſopher bAriſt. 1 Seph. 4., ſpeakes; For you cannot directly ſay, whether hee intends that Iudah might Law…ully heare Ieroboams Preiſts at Dan and Bethell, or not. You may take it either way, or no way; For it is (utroque nutans ſententia) a ſpeach like an Echo, and will ſay whatſoever you will ſay before it.
But it is no marvaile,Hoc neque prophetae predicaverunt, neque Dominus docuit neque Apoſtoli tradiderunt. Iren. l. 1. c. 1. though hee leaves the matter thus in a doubtfull ſence. For I beleeve what Auguſtine cLiberius improbare non audio. ad Ian. Epiſt. 119.ſayth of himſelfe, was here true in the Treat: hee durst not freely speake his judgement.
But in the meane time, this ſheweth a wretched cauſe; For whoſoever ſees his cauſe to be good, hee will ſearch and weigh rather what ſhould be ſaid plainly and to the full: then what may be ſaid darkly and coulorable, and ſo to put it off with a ſhift.
2. If he meant to ſay any thing, his meaning then muſt needes be: that it was lawfull for Judah to heare the Doctrines of the Law Preached at Dan and Bethell by Ieroboams Preiſts. The which expoſitiō is an unſufferable perverting of the Text*Sua ſi docere velint, nolite audire, nolite facire; certe enim tales ſua quaerunt, non quae Ieſu Chriſti. Auguſt. in Iohan: Tract. 46., & leads unto great impietie; For to diſtinguiſh things in ſuch a ſort, is for all the World, as if one ſhould ſay, the Law of God forbids adulterie; True, but how? To ſatisfy luſt, not to begit Children, as Sejanus diddTacit. Annal: Lib. 4..
Againe, the Law of God forbids perjurie, as how? As it tends to the ſhedding of innocent blood, but not to accommodate a freind, as Cicero merrily ſpeakes of Clunius ePro Q. Raſſio Comaed.. I could multiplie inſtances this way of the ſame nature with his expoſition: The Lord ſayth expreſly, goe not to Gilgal. But how ſay our Oppoſites; As to Offer Sacrifices; but not to goe thither to heare the Doctrines of the Law preached by the Preiſts of Jeroboam. Is not this horrible preſumption to contradict*Sua ſi docere velint, nolite audire, nolite facire; certe enim tales ſua quaerunt, non quae Ieſu Chriſti. Auguſt. in Iohan: Tract. 46. the plaine Word of God?
For to eſtabliſh their owne inventions: What Hereſie held by any Heretick, may not by ſuch bold diſtinctions be juſtified. I may ſay as a Learned man ſaythfVerba ſine crimimine ſunt, ſenſus in crimine.: The words are without fault, the ſence is in fault.
Of this corrupt handeling of the Scriptures, BucergImpium eſſe, verba Christi ultra propoſitum materiam extrahere. de regno Chriſti, l. 2. c. 29. p. 149. writes judiciouſly, Hilari: de Trinit: lib. 2.and ſhewes what a wicked thing it is, to applie the Word of God, beyond the propoſed matter. If it be an unjuſt thing (ſaith he) to streatch the Doctrines and anſwers of a wiſe and pruaent man, beyond the matter and queſtion unto which they are given; But specially to apply them to the thing which he intendeth not, neither doth it agree withall; Then much more is it, a vile thing to abuſe the Doctrines and precepts of Christ in ſuch a manner, &c.
Of ſuch as doe ſo, that fitly may be ſaid, what Hierom hRhetius eloquens quidem eſt, ſed ineptus interpres. Hieren. ad Marcellam:ſaith of one Rheticius, they may be wiſe men, but are fooliſh interpreters.
3. If the Prophets had ſo meant (as the Treat: cloſely inſinuates, but durſt not, it ſeemes ſpeake it out,) viz. that the Hearing of the Word preached by Ieroboams Preiſts at Bethell, Dan and G…lgal, (able to open and applie the Doctrines of fayth by that Church profeſſed) both Lawfull, and in caſes neceſſarie for all, &c. They could eaſily have expreſſed itiWe ought not ſo much, as to know the things, which the Booke of the Law conteyneth not. Hilai: in Pſal. 132. The Scripture denyeth it what it noteth not. Tertull. Lib, de Monog.; For they were filled with Spirit of God in all wiſedome and Spirituall underſtanding; But the truth is, in plaine expreſſions, they ſpeake the contrarie. And unleſſe mens mindes be overcaſt in like ſort, as were the eyes of Elymas, they cannot but ſee it.
But to preſſe them downe with authority, for the preventing of errour in the ſimple, and for caveling in ſuch as deſire to contend. We will here ſet downe the judgement of the moſt Learned, touching this thing. The Prophet (ſaith ZanchykComment. in Hoſ: 4, 15. p. 82.) ſayth not Sacrifice not at Bethel and Gilgal, but ſimply and plainly com ye not thither, noting that they were interdicted not onelyonly from ſacrificing there; BVT JNDEED THAT THEY SHOVLD NOT THITHER COME AT ALL. Rivetus lIn Hoſ. 4. p. 156.underſtands it of ſuch a keeping away: As that they might not be bodily preſent at any ſpirituall exerciſe there performed. So Calvin mPraelect. in Hoſ. 4. p. 52.Pareus nIn Hoſ. 4. v. 14. p. 504. Tom. 4., Oecolampadius oIn Eſa. 2. l. 1. fol. 20., Lyra pIn Amo. 4. 4., Brocardus qIn Levit. 10. pag. 69., Luther rIn Amo. 4., Brentius sIn Amo. 4., Fabritius tIn Hoſ. 4., Mollerus uIn Hoſ. 4., Oſorius xIn Hoſ. 4., Shaddaeus yIn Amo. 4., Sedelius aIn Amo. 4., Cramerus bIn Hoſ. 4. 15., and others.
Moreover, of the ſame judgement are the Iew Rabbines, as Mercer cibid:noteth. He that deſires to ſee more, let him read what the Lovaniſts dAnnot. in August. Brevic. Collat. cum Donatist: Collat. dici. 3. c. 9. And Annot. in August: Poſt: Collation: ad Donatist: c. 20., have written about it.
4. Jf we may not come, to ſuch places, or perſons, for the doing of any evill and unlawfull thing with them, then I conclude from his owne mouth, that the practice he pleads for, is ſinfull; And ſo I have alreadie manifeſted unto all men, except ſome men will contend without cauſe, and againſt reaſon, out of a Spirit of contention and contradiction.