Confutation of Unwritten Verities, Chapter 2
¶That the writinges of the olde fathers / without the written woorde of god / are not able to proue anye doctryne in religion.
¶The .ii. Chapter.
IReneus libro .ii. Cap. 46.Doctrine in religion, must be groū ded vpō the scriptures only. To le… ̄e to the scriptures of god (whych is the certayne and vndouted trueth) is to buylde a mans house vpō a suer and stronge rock: But to leaue that / and leaue to ani other doctrins (what so euer they be) is to builde a curious house vponupon the …hatteringe grauell / whereof the ouerthrowe is easye.
IDem in Epistola .72.we maye not build our faith vpō mēs tradiciōs Happy is he that soweth vponupon the wat…r… where the Oxe and the Asse treadeth / that is / vponupon that people whych onelyonly foloweth the doctrine of both the testamentes / and not vponupon the vayne tradycions of men.
TErtulliane in the prescryptiōs of heretykes. pa. 95. It is not lawfull for vsus to fauoure any doctryne at oure pleasure / nor yet to chose what any manne hath brought in of his owne mynde.
We hauehave the Apostles of the Lorde for oure authors / whyche dyd not electe anye thynge (that they woulde brynge in) of their owne heades:The Apostles taught nothing but that, whyche they learned of. but taught / faythfullye to all nacyons / that doctryne / that they had receaued of Chryste.
Therefore althoughe an Aungell from heauen / shoulde preache any other thynge / lette vsus holde hym accursed.Christe.
ANd a litle after he sayeth.The first point of belefe is, that after the gospell none other thīg is to be beleued. There is no certē ty in that the scripture defineth not. The law, the Prophetes, and the gospell, are the first doctrines, ct therfore true. We nede to vse no curiositie after Iesus Chryste / nor make further searche after the gospell: for whē we beleue / we desier to beleue no more For first we beleue this / that there is nothyng els / that we ought to beleue.
IDem of the fleshe of Chryst pa. 20. agaynst Apelles / whyche saied that the Angels had a bodely substanc… / which thei toke of the …tres. Tertallian answereth / that there is no certenty in thys matter / because the scripture declareth it not.
THe sae to Praxeas. Let thys be a generall rule / indifferently determyned before hande agaynst all heresyes / that that is true / what so euer is first: & that to bee forged / what soeuer cōmeth after. pa. 418.
ORigen in his first homily vponupon Ieremy. Vle must nedes cal the holye scriptures to wytnes: for our iudgements and exposicious / with out these witnesses / are worthye no credite.Our wordes, with out gods wordes, are not to be beleued.
IDem vponupon Leuiticus / in his fyfte homilye. If the holy scripture doe not determine any thing / we ought not to admitte any other wrytyng for the stablyshinge of our doctryne:That, which cā not be proued by the scripture, leaue to god. but as for the rest / let vsus leaue it to god.
THe same vponupon the thirde chapter to the Romanes. After these as his custome is (meanynge by sainct Paul) he doth confirme / that he had sayd by the scriptures, geuing also an example to the preachers of the churche / that those thynges / whyche they speake to the people / should be armed and mayntained by the holi scriptures / and not spoken oute of theyr own iudgements.If Paul thought his aucthorite For if he / being such and so great an Apostle / thoughte not the aucthorite of hys owne wordes to be sufficiente / excepte be teache those thynges, which he saieth / to be wrytten in the law and the prophets: ho… much more ought we litle ones to take heade / that when we teache / we vtter not our own mindes, but the sentences of the holy gost.
THe same vponupon Mathew / in his 26. homily no man ought (for the stablyshing of doctryne) to vse any bokes / that be withoute the canonicall scriptures.
CIprian in the exposicion of the Crede / after that he hath rehearsed the canonical bokes of the Bible / he sayeth.Al bokes which be not in the Canon of the Bible, are called Apocrypha, and are not sufficient to proue any Articles of our sayth. These be they / whiche oure fathers hauehave included within the Canon / out of the whyche our fathers woulde the doctryne of our fayth to be certaine: neuertheles there be other bokes / which of our elders / were not called canonycall / but Ecclesiastical: as the boke of wisdōe / the bokes of Sirach / Tobie / Iudyth / Machabees / and other. All whyche bokes / they would hauehave to be redde in th… churche / but not alleged as of aucthoritie to confirme any article of our fayth. Al other writinges thei called Ap…crypha / whiche they would in no wyse to be redde in the churche.
AThanasius against the gentyles. The holy Scriptures / being in spired from god / are sufficiente to all instruction of the trueth.
BAsilius in his boke of Ethikes / of his short definitions the. 26. EueryEvery worde and dede / that maketh for the certentye and suertye of good men / and the confusion of them that be euill / must be confirmed by the testimony of Goddes scriptures. And those thinges / which either in our nature / or in the custome and maner of our life / are manifestly knowen / must we vse / to confirme those thynges / which we doe and say.
THe same in his short definitiōs the first questiō. Whether it bee lawful or expedient for a man to permit himselfe to do what he thinketh good / without the testimonie of the holy scriptures▪ … aunswere. Seyng that our sauiour sayth of the holy gost: he shall not speake of hymselfe, but what soeuer he hath heard / that shall he speake: And of himself he sayeth the sonne can dooe nothynge of himselfe: And agayne / I hauehave not spoken of my selfe / but he whiche sent me gaue me commaundemente / what I shoulde say / and what I shold speake / and I knowe that hys commaundemente is eternall lyfe: therefore those thynges / that I speake I speake as the father sayd vntounto me: who is he then / that wil runne into suche madnesse / that he dare once thynke onelye anye thyng of himselfe / seeing that he hath nede of the holy ghoste for his ayde / so that both in mynde / word and worke / he may be gided in the way of trueth / and that he must nedes walke in darknes / excepte he bee lightened with the sonne of righteousnes / oure lorde Iesus Chryste / whiche shineth vponupon vsus with hys cōmaundementes / as with bright beames? For the commaundement of the lorde is cleare / and geueth lyght to the eyes. For of those thinges that are done / and commonly vsed among vsus, some are by gods commaū dement determined / and playnlye set forth in the holyscriptures / and some not expressed.No man can dispence with goddes law. Of those that be expressed by the scriptures / there is vtterlye no power geuen to any man (what so euer he be in the hole worlde) either to doe any thyng of those that be forbidden / or els to leaue vndone any thyng of them that be commaunded:Things, that be not commaūded, be indifferent to be vsed, or not vsed: but yet as charite requireth. seeynge that the lord hath once commaunded & sayd, whatsoeuer I cōmaunde you / that take heade ye doe &c. But of those thinges that are not expressed / the Apostle Paul hath geuen vsus a rule / sayinge: I maye dooe all thinges / but all thynges are not expedient. I may doe all thinges / but all thynges edyfye not.
ISychius vponupon Leuiticus. lib. 5. cap. 16.Searche no further then the gospell. Let vsus / which woulde hauehave any thyng obserued of god, searche no more but that / whiche the gospell doth geue vntounto vsus.
CHrysostome vponupon the. 24. cap. of Math. Homilia. 49. When you shall set the abominable desolacion stande in the holye place (that is) when you shall see vngodlye heresye (which is the armye of Antichrist) stande in the holy places of the churche:In time of here…ie, there is no meanes to trye the truth and the true church of Christe from Antichrists churche, but only by the scripturs in that tyme let th… / whiche are in Iury …ye vntounto the hilles (that is) let them / that be in Christendome / resort vntounto the scriptures. For like as the true Iewe i… a Christian (as the Apostle sayth / he is not a Iewe / which is outward &c.) in lyke maner the very Iurie is Christianitie / the hilles ar the scriptures of the Apostles and prophetes. And why doth he commaunde all Chrystians at that tyme to resort… to the scriptures? for in thys time / sīce heresy hath preuayled in the churche / there can be none other profe of true Christianite / neyther can there be any other refuge for Christen men / (wyllyng to know the truth of the ryghte fayth) but onelyonly vntounto the holye scriptures. Beefore tyme / it was shewed by many other meanes / whiche was the true church of Chryste, & whiche Gentilite: but now there is no waye to knowe it. And why? for all those thynges / which pertayne to Chryst in dede / hauehave the heretiks in their Schisme: likewise churches / likewise the scriptures of god / likewise Bishops / and other orders of clarkes / and lykewyse Baptisme / and the Sacrament of thankes geuinge / and (to conclude) Chryst hym selfe. Wherfore / he that will knowe whiche is the true church of Chryste in thys so great a confusiō of thinges beyng so lyke: how shal he know it but only by the scriptures? It was also knowen / which was the true churche of Chryste / by their maners / when the conuersacion of Chrysten men (either of all or many / was holy / whyche was not amonge the heathen.An heauy sayīg but ala… to true.
But nowe CHRISTEN menne are beecome lyke / or worse then the gentiles or heret…kes: yea and there is more continencye founde amongest them / then amongest Chrystyans. Therefore he / that wil knowe whiche is the true church of Chryst / wherby shal he knowe it / but onelye by the scriptures? The lord therfore / knowyng that so great a confusion of thyngs shold come in the later tyme / commaundeth that Chrysten men / that be willinge to knowe the ryghte fayth / shold flie to none other thīges / but onelyonly to the scriptures. For if the… loke vponupon any other thyng but onelyonly the scriptures / they shalbe offended & perishe / not perceauing whych is the true churche: and so fall into the abominable desolacyon / whiche standeth in the holy places of the churche.
THe same in the vnperfect worke▪ Hath. cap. 7.Prechers most neyther adde nor take … frō gods lawe. Euerye preacher is a seruaunte of the lawe / which may neyther adde any thynge abou… the law of hys own mynd / nor wythdrawe any thyng after his ow…e vnderstanding: but preache that thing only / that is had in the law / as Salomon sateth / thou shalt adde nothy…ge to the worde of god / nor take aughte therefrom.
THe same of the holy gost / tom.They, that host thēselues of the holy goste with out scripture, be voide of the holy goste. 3 If you see any man saying that I hauehave the holy gost / and not spekyng the gospel / but his own: that mā speaketh of himselfe / and the holi gost is not in hym. And after. If any of thē therfore / which sayeth he hath the holy gost / and speaketh any thyng of him selfe / and not forth of the gospel / say: folowe my counsell / beleue hym not.
THe same in the. 7. of Math. Homily. 19. VponUpon this texte: by their fruites ye shal knowe them. The fruites of man is the confession of his fayth / and the workes of his conuersacion. If thou / therefore▪ shalt see a Christen man / forth wyth consider if his confession agree wyth the scriptures / he is a true Christian: but if not / he is (as Chryste sayd) false. For so Iohn / whan he wrote his Epistell of the heretikes / sayd: not if anye come vntounto you / not hauing the name of Chryst / bydde him not God spede: but if any bryng not thys doctryne.
THe same in the same place / the. 22. Cap. and▪ 42. Homilie.Heretiks oughte first to be cōuinced by the scripturs and after by reasō. Let vsus first alledge the aucthorite of the scriptures to the false forgers / afterwarde let vsus shewe them reasons: and to them / that aske for any maner of purpose / fyrste let vsus declare vntounto them the reason / and afterwarde the aucthorite / that we maye pacifie them with reason / and stablish them with aucthorite. For we oughte to confute false interpreters / and instruct them that searche.
THe same vponupon the last of the Romanes / vponupon thys texte.To prech ani thing besydes goddes worde, is to sow sediciō and heresie. I beseche you brethren. He saith that dissensions and slaunders / that is to saye / heresyes / are broughte in of those / whiche brynge any thyng be… sydes the doctrine and learnyng of the Apostles.
THe same vponupon the latter Epistle to Timothe / the. 3. Cap.Al things may be determined by the scripture. There is nothyng that can not be determined by the scriptures / to reproue / if it be to bee reproued (that is to saye) lyes: to correcte / and to teache in righteousnes. If it be nedeful (saith he) that any thyng should be corrected or instructed / that is to be made contynent and sober vntounto righteousnesse / & to execute those thinges that be iuste: al that shall be geuen by the scripture / that the man of god maye be perfecte: the amendment (sayeth he) is prepared by the scriptures / that nothyng maye be lacking to that man / that walketh after god.The holi scripture cōteineth all thinges nedefull for our saluaciō
THe same vpō math. 22. Cap. Homilie. 4. Whatso euer is required for our saluaciō / is already cōtamed in the holi scriptures. He that is ignorāt / shal find ther what he may learne. He that is stubburne & a sīner / may finde there scourges of the iudgementes to come / the whiche he maye feare: he / that is troubled / maye fynde there the ioyes and promyses of euerlastynge lyfe / through the beholdynge of the whyche / he maye bee styrred to good workes.
THe same vpō the. 2. of the Thessalo. 2. cap. Al things be plaine and cleare in the scriptures / & what things so euer be nedeful / be manyfest there.
THe same vponupon the. 2. to Timo…the. 3. ch. If there be any thīg nedefull to be knowen / or not to be knowen / we shal learne it by the holy scriptures: if we shal nede to reproue a falsed / we shal fetche it from thēce: if to be corrected / to be chastned / to be exhorted / or cōforted / to be short / if aught lacke that ought to be taught or learned / we shall also learne it out of the same scriptures.
The same / Homily. 1. Titum. Like as the bedell cryeth openly to al thē that be in the court / so due we preache openly:A preacher must speake nothyng but out of gods mouthe. but on that condicion / that we adde nothynge / but preache only that thing / that we hauehave hearde. For the office of a cryar is to speake out those thynges that be committed to him / and not to adde / chaūge or take away any thyng.
THe same vponupon the latter Epistle to Timothe / the. 3. cap.Beleue him not, that speaketh without the scripture. Therefore / neither ought ther to be beleued at all / excepte they speake those thyngs which be agreable to the scriptures.
THe same vponupon the. 20. cap. of Iohn Homilia. 89.He, that beleueth the gospel written, nedeth beleue nomore. But why did not the Apostles wryte all thyngs? Chefely / because of the multytude of them. More ouer they dyd cō syder / that he / which would not beleue these / woulde not beeleue more: but he that beseueth these / nede no more to attayne fayth.
THe same vponupon Genesis the. 12. Homilie. The holye scripture expoundeth it selfe / and suffereth not the hearer to erre.
THe same in the same boke / the 21. Homilie.Not mās wisdome but the holi gost is the true expositor of the scripture Neither hath the scripture of God any nede of mans wisdome that it may be vnderstande / but the reuelacion of the holy gost: that / the true meaning beyng sucked thereout / great aduantage maye growe to vsus therby.
HIeronymus in the prologe of the bible to Paulme.nothing is of lyke aucthoritie wyth the holy scripture After he had recited the bookes of the new testament and the olde / he saith: I pray thee dere brother / among these lyue / muse vponupon these / know nothing els / seke for none other thyng.
AGayne vponupon the bokes of the olde and new testament: These writīges be holye / these bokes be soūde both in nomber and aucthoritie / ther is none other to be compared to these / whatsoeuer is besides these may in no wise be receued amōg these holy thīgs.Goddes word cutteth of al tradiciōs apostolik as they cal them, which be beside the same worde. we ought not to alowe ani mans doctryne wythout gods worde. the Apostles groū ded all their doctrine vpō the law and Prophetes.
AGayne vponupon the firste. Cap. of Agge. All other thynges which they seke oute / and inuente at their own pleasure without the aucthorite & testimonie of the scriptures / (as thoughe they were the tradicions of the Apostles) the sweord of god cutteth of.
AGayne in his litell commentaryes to the Galathians / vponupon this place: condescend to no mā / this perswasion is not of god / which hath called you: thus he īterpreteth it: ye ought neither to consente to them / nor to me / without the worde of god.
AGaine vpō Math. the. 13. cap. vpō thys place: eueryevery learned scribe. What so euer the Apostles preached / they cōfirmed it by the Oracles of the lawe and prophetes.
THe same to Minerius & Alexander.To build vponupon any doctours saying without scripture or reason agreing to scripture, were to folow Pithagoras, rather then Christe. Not accordinge to Pithagoras disciples / the opinion / geuen sentence vpō afore hand by the doctours / but the reason of the doctrine is to be wayed: but if any man / that is of a cō trary secte / doe murmure why I read their exposiciōs / vntounto whose doctrīes I doe not cōsente: let hym know / that I willingly heare this of the Apostle: proue all thinges / but cleane to that which is good / and the wordes of our sauyour / saieng: be ye tryed bankers / and if any mony be counterfayted / & hauehave not the Emporours stāpe / nor be currante mony / refuse it / but that / that sheweth the face of Chryst in the cleare lyghte bestowe it in the purse of your hart.
THe same vponupon Math. 23 cap. That whiche hath none aucthoritie of the scriptures / may as easely be reiected / as proued.
THe same in the Psalme. 98. All …hat euer we speake / we ought to proue it by the scriptures.
THe same in the Psalme. 86.Be a mā neuer so holy, and neuer so learned after the apostles, yet his wordes, without gods word, are of none aucthorite. The lord shal speak in the scriptures of the people &c. & howe shal he speake / not wyth words / but wyth scriptures of those princes that wer in it / that is / of the Apostles and Euangelistes. And marke what he saieth: of those princes that were in it / & not whiche are. So that (the Apostles except) what soeuer shalbe spoken afterward / let it be cut of / and hauehave none aucthorite. Be a mā threfore neuer so holy / be he neuer so wel learned / after the Apostles he hath none aucthorite: for the Lord speaketh in the scriptures of those princes / that were in it.
AMbrosius of virgins lib. 3. ca. 1 We iustly do condemne al new thynges / whiche Chryste hathTo teach that, as nedefull to saluacion which C…yst …ath not taught, is dān…le. not taught: for Chryste is the waye to the faythfull. If therefore we oure selues preache any thyng / that Chryst hath not taught / iudge that abominable.
THe same in the psalme. 118. The worde of god is the liuely meat of our soules / with the which it is norished / fedde and gouerned:the soule liueth only by the worde of god. neyther is there any thynge els / that maketh a reasonable soule to liue, but the worde of god.
THe same in his boke of Paradise / Cap. 12. By that / whych Eua added to the word of god (thou shalt not touche &c) we do learn how much this present lesson putteth vsus in rememberaunce / that we ought to adde nothyng to the worde of god / yea though it bee for a good purpose.nothing is to be added to the word of god althoughe it be for a good purpose. For if thou put to / or take awaye any thing / it appeareth to bee a trāsgressiō of the cōmaūdemēt: for there ought nothīg to be added / although it sēe good.
THe same in the Epistle to the Galathians. Capit. i.As well, who precheth beside the gospel as against it is accursed. Neyther (sayth the Apostle) if thei preach contrary: but if thei preach any thing besides that / that we hauehave preached / that is / if they adde any thing to it at al / …olde them accursed. Neyther doe I except my selfe / if I put to any thīg besyde that / which was preched afore.
THe same / in the same place.Euen the Apostles preching besides the gospel ar not to be beleued. He doth affirme the gospel / whiche he had preached vntounto them / to be so firme and true: that althoughe it should chaunce themselues (that is to say / the Apostles) beeinge chaunged / to preache any other thinge / he teacheth that they oughte not to be heard.
AVgustine of the cōsēt of the Euāgelistes.Christe made all to be written, that he wold we should reade. He that sēt the Prophets before his incarnaciō / the same sēt also his Apostles after his ascēsiō / yea & by that māhod / whych he toke vpō him / he is the head of all his discipls / which ar mēbers of his bodi: therfore forasmuch as thei wrot those thīgs / which he shewed & taught thē / it ought not to be sayed that he wrote them not / seynge that hys members wrote that / which they knew by their head teaching them.we are as wel boūd to beleue that, which the Apostles wrote: as thoughe Chryst had written it with hys own hād For what so euer he would hauehave vsus to read / both of his dedes and wordes / that commaunded he them to write / as his handes of his body. Whoso euer doth perceaue this felowship of vnite and agremente of members / ministering vnderunder one head in diuerse offices: he shall none other waies take that / that he readeth in the gospel (the disciples declaryng it) then if he had sene the very hād of the lord / which he bare in his own body / wryting it.
THe same to Vincēt against the Donatistes the .6. tom. pag. 116. Epistola. 48.The church is knowen by the scripture We therefore for this cause are certayne and suer / that no man ought to wythdraw himselfe frō the communion of al mē. And let none of vsus seke the churche in our own righteousnes / but in the holy scripture.
THe same to the Mandarens Epistle. 42.Al that concerneth true relygion, is contained in the scripture. Al that euer oure elders made mencion of to be dōe towardes mankinde in times past / and delyuered to vsus: all thynges also which we see / and delyuer to our posterite / whiche dooe appertayne to getting and maintaining of true relygion / the scripture of god did not passe with silence.
AGayne to the brethren in the wildernes.The worde written is inoughe for oure saluacion Reade the holy scripture / wherin ye shal finde fulli what is to be folowed / and what to be auoyded.
THe same of nature and grace. lib. 1. Cap. 61. I owe my consente to the Canonicall scryptures / wythout any refusal.
THe same vponupon Iohn .49. treatyse. Cap. 11. Not all thynges that the Lorde Iesus dyd / are writtē / as the same Euangelist witnesseth: for the lord both did and saied many thinges / that are not wrytten: but thynges were chosen oute to bee written / whiche semed sufficiente for the saluacion of the beleuers.
THe same againste Faustus the 23. lib. ca. 9.No man is bound to beleue farther then the holi scriptures teache. That whych Faustꝰ putteth forth vpō the byrth of mary / that she had a certayne priest to her father of the tribe of Leuye named Ioachim: because it is not canonicall / it doeth not binde me.
THe same of Baptisme againste the Anabaptistes. li. 2. cap. 6. Let vsus not bryng deceytfull balances / wherin we may weighe what we wil after our owne pleasure / saying this is heuy / this is light:The balance to trye the trueth is the holy scripture but lette vsus bring the diuine balances of the holy scriptures / as of the treasurs of the lord / and in it let vsus weigh what is heuy / yea let vsus not weigh / but rather acknowledge the things / that ar… weighed of the lord.
AGayne vponupon Iohn the .46. treates.Thei that sit on moses seate, and teach their own doctrine, are not to be beleued. Sitting vpō the chaier of Moses / they teache the lawe of god: therfore god teacheth by them. But if they wil teach their own / hear thē not / do not after thē: for truli such men searche their own / but not these thinges / which are of Iesus Chryste.
AGayne in the .3. lib of the Christen doctrine. Cap. Vlt. Howe much lesse the aboundaunce of golde / siluer / and clothynge / whyche that people brought with them for the of Egipt / is in comparison of the riches / whiche afterwarde they had at Hierusalem / whiche aboue all other was shewed in kyng Salomon: so let al knowledge (which is in dede profytably gathered out of the bokes of the Gentils) be such / if it be compared to the knowledge of gods scripturs.Al euil is condemned by the scripture, and all good thynges are there founde. For what soeuer man learneth without them / if it bee euil / there it is condemned: if it be profitable / there it is foūd. And seinge then euerye manne shall fynde all thynges there / whiche he hath profytably learned other where: much more aboundantly shal he find those thinges there / whiche canne no where at all els be learned / but onelyonly in the meruelous dep…es / and wonderfull humilite of those scriptures.
THe same in his boke of nature and Grace / the 61. Cap.We may lawefulli dissēt frō all doctrine, except the scryptures onlye. We may lawefully sometyme dissente from other learnynge: but to the Catholyke learnyng eueryevery man must geue place / eueryevery man must subscribe / whether he be laye mannne / Priest / King / or Emperour.
THe same in his .2. lib. of the Christian doctrīe the .9. Cap. After that he hath nombered the Canonicall bookes / he sayeth thus. In al these bokes they / that feare god and are tamed through godlynes / do search the wil of god. The first note of which laboure and trauayle (as we sayd) is to knowe these bokes / and if as yet we cā not vnderstande them / yet lette vsus by readyng get them in memory / or not to bee altogether ignoraunt in them.al things that concerne fayth, hope, louelove, and good maners: are cōtained in the scripture Further more those thinges whiche be plainly contayned therein / whether they be preceptes of lyuyng / or els of beleuinge / are earnestly and diligentely to be searched: whiche / howe many the more eueryevery man fyndeth / so much the more is he apte in his vnderstandyng. In these therfore / whych are euydently contayned in the scripture / are founde all thynges / whyche contayne fayth / maners of liuinge / hope and louelove.
THe same of the vnite of the church .3. cap.not what we say, but what the lord, that must be heard. Let vsus not hear: I say / thou sayest: but lette vsus heare: thus sayeth the Lorde. There are / out of doubte / the Lordes bokes / to the aucthoritie whereof we both consent / we both beleue / we both serue.The church is knowen by the scriptures Let vsus search the church there / let vsus discusse our cause there.
AGaine in his seconde booke of Baptisme / againste the Donatists the .3. Ca. Who is he / that knoweth not / that the scripture canonical is so contayned within his certaine bondes of the newe and olde testament / and is so to bee preferred aboue al latter wrytynges of Byshops / that a man mai not at al either doubt or dispute of it / whether any thynge be true or right / that he is suer is written in it:We may doubt of all mens doctrine but not of holye scripturs. but the leters of al other Bishops / whiche are / or shalbe hereafter written besides the Canonicall scryptures / already confirmed / may be reproued / eyther by more graue aucthoritie of other Bishops or learned mē / and by the wordes of eueryevery man / that is better sene in the matter.
AGaine in his seconde booke of the merites and forgeuenesse of synnes. ca. Vlt. tom. 7.If gods scripturs can not discusse a matter in doubt let man neuer go about to discusse it Where disputacion is had of a doubtful matter / if the certayne and cleare doctrīe of the scriptures of god do not help i…: mans reason ought to staye it selfe / no thing leanīg to eyther part. For thogh I know not how to expresse eueri one of these thīgs: yet I beleue suerli / that the scriptures of god should be moste plaine herein / if a man mighte not be ignoraunt herof wythout the losse of that saluacion / that is promised hym.
AGaine in his boke of pastors.Who fedeth with the scriptures, fedeth safely. Other therfore with vnwritten verites fede vntrulye. He apoīted the hilles of Israell the authors of the scrypturs of god / fede there that you maye fede safely. What so euer you hear out of that / lette it sauoure well to you / what so euer is besyds that / refuse it / leste you wander into cloudes.
Get you to the hilles of the Scriptures / there bee the pleasures of your hartes / there is no noysōe / hurtful or venemous thinges / no inconuenyente thynges / there be most plentifull pastures.
AGaine of Christian doctryne. 2. lib. Cap. 9.In the scripture are all thinges necessary for faith and good lyfe, which two suffice for saluacion In these thyngs that be plainly set furth in the scriptures / are founde all thynges / that contayne fayth and maners of liuing / that is to wit / hope and charite. Then after a certaine familiarite had wyth the speche of the scripture of god / we must goe to expounde / and discus those thinges that be darke / that (to geue lyghte to darke speaches) examples may be taken out of the more playne places / and some testymonies of places / beyng certayne / maye take a way the doute of the vncertayne sentences.
AGaine of the Christian doctrīe the .3. lib. Cap. 26. Dark places are to be expounded by plainer places. That is the surest way / to expound one scripture by another.
AGayne to Vincente the Donatist Epistola .48. This kinde of learning (speakynge of the olde wryters doinges) is not to bee redde with necessitie of beliefe / but with libertye of iudgemēt. And after. There (that is) in the holy scrypturs / it is not lawfull to saye / the author of this boke perceaued not the truth:If any mans saying or writinge cannot be proued by plaine scripture or good reason, gathered of the sāe a mā mai alowe or refuse it, as him liketh. but eyther that the boke is false / or the interpreter hath erred / or thou vnderstā dest it not. But in the workes of all them that come after / (which be contayned in īnumerable bokes / yet in no wyse to be compared to the most holy excellencye of the Canonicall scryptures) although in some of them bee founde the same trueth / yet the aucthorite is farre vnlike.
Therfore / if it fortune any thynge in them to be thoughte to dissente from the trueth / because they are not so vnderstād as they be spoken: yet the reader or hearer / hath his free iudgemēt / so that eyther he maye alowe that / that pleaseth hym / or reiecte that / whiche offendeth him. And therefor… al such like (except they may be defended either by good reason / or by thē canonicall aucthorite / that it maye bee proued that they are so in dede / or may be so / because either it is ther disputed / or declared) if it displease anye man / or if he wil not beleue it / he is not to be blamed therfore.
THe same in the same place Epistola. 48. Gather not (my brother) against so many / so cleare / & so vndoubted witnesses of the scriptures / sentences misunderstanded / oute of the writinges of Bishoppes / either of ours / or of Hilarie / or Ciprian Bishop and martyr of the church: for we must put a diuersitie betwixte this kinde of writing and the Canonical scriptures.The olde writers are not of suche aucthoritie, but that we may deni them, if they dissent frō the holy scripturs. For these are not so to be red / as though a wytnes might be alledged oute of them so / that no manne myghte thynke otherwise / if they fortune to iudge otherwise / then the trueth requireth.
THe same to Ierome. I hauehave learned to geue thys reuerēce and honoure to those onelye writers / which be now called Canonicall / that I dare be bold to beleue / that none of them dyd erre any thyng at al in wrytynge? But if I fynde any thīg in those Scryptures / that semeth contrarye to the trueth: I doubt not / but that eyther the boke is false / or the interpreter dyd not attayne the thynge that was spoken / or els I vnderstande it not.
But all other authours / (be they neuer so excellente both in vertue and learnynge) I dooe so reade them / nor that I thynke it true that they wrot / beecause they thoughte so:We may not think al, that the old fathers did write, to be true. but beecause they coulde perswade me eyther by other Canonycall Scryptures / or by some probable reasons / a thyng not altogether abhorring frō the trueth.
THe same againste Cresconium agramarien. lib. 2. Capit. 32.Al mens writings ought to be weyghed by the canonical scriptures. I am not bounde to his aucthorite. For I doe not accoumpte Ciprians writinges as Canonicall / but weygh… them by the Canonicall scriptures: & that in them / which agreeth with the Canonicall scriptures / I alow to hys prayse / but that / that agreeth not / by hys fauor I refuse.
THe same to Vincent Victor.He confesseth many errours in his owne bokes … others also. I cannot / nor ought not to denye / that lyke as in myne elders / so also in my so many bokes / bee manye thynges: that by iuste iudgemente / (wythoute rashnes) maye bee reproued.
THe same in the prologe of hys booke of the Trinite.Beleue not his writings except thou be suer of them by the scriptures. Be not bounde to my writynges / as to the Canonical scriptures: but if thou fynde any thyng in them / which thou diddest not beleue / strayghte way beleue it: in these that thou art not suer of / excepte thou certaynly vnderstand it / beleue it not certaynly.
THe same to Fortunate Epistola. 198.we ought not to esteme mans writinges further, then thei agree with the scripturs: but may refuse thē at our pleasures. Neyther ought we to alow the reasoninges of anye menne / what soeuer they bee / (although ther be Catholyke and laudable men) as the canonical scriptures / so that it shal not be lawfull for vsus (sauinge the reuerence that is due to those men) to reproue / and refuse any thynge in their writinges / if it chaunce that thei hauehave iudged otherwise then truethe is: the same trueth / by goddes helpe / beeynge vnderstande eyther of other men / or of vsus. For I am euen suche an one in other mens wrytynges / as I woulde men should be in myne.
THe same in the same place. Let vsus seke no further / thē is written of god our sauiour / leste a man would know more / then the scriptures witnesse.
CIrille lib. 6.Vnderstande the word written, for they that learn of it, learne of god. VponUpon Leuitie…s. There be two offices of a Byshoppe / to learne the scriptures of god / and by ofte readyng to digeste the same / or els to teache / the people: but let him teach those things which he hath learned of god / and not of his own hart or by mans vnderstanding / but those thynges which the holy gost teacheth.
THe same in Iohn. Cap. 6. He sayeth / by this we learne / that onelyonly Chryste oughte to be folowed as a master / and we must clene vntounto him onelyonly.
THe same in Iohn. cap. 20.al things perteining to doctrine and good maners, are in the worde written, which is sufficiēte Not al thyngs / that the lord did / ar written: but those thyngs that the writers thought sufficient / as wel to good maners as to doctryne / that we / shining with a constaunte faythe / good workes and vertues / may come to the kyngdome of heauen.
FVlgence in his sermon of the confessors. In the worde of god is plentye for the stronge man to eate / there is inoughe for the child to sucke / there is also milke to drīke / wherewith the tender infancye of the faythfull may be nourished / and strōg meate / wherewith the lus…ye youth of them / that be perfect / may receaue the spirituall encresment of holy vertue.Note this holy fathers wordes, and print them in your hartes for euer. There / prouision is made for the saluacion of al men / whom the lord doth vouchesafe to saue: there is that / that is agreable to all ages: there is also that / which is mete for al states. Ther we learne the commaundementes / which we ought to do: there we know the rewardes / which we hope for.
GRegory in Iob. lib. 16. Cap. 28. He that prepareth himself to the office of a true precher / must neds fetchè the foundacion of his maters out of the holy scriptures.If preachers ought so then so ought all others: for they al are prepared to come to one ende by one ordinary rule. So that al that he sayeth / he muste reduce it to the firste beginning of goddes aucthorite / and in that staye the effecte of his sayinges. For as I hauehave sayd many times afore: heretikes when they studye to maintayne theyr frowarde doctrīe suerly they bryng forth those thinges / that are not cōtayned in the holy scriptures.
THeophilactus vponupon this place of Paule / the laste to the Romaynes: I beseche you brethrē / marke them whiche cause diuision & geue occasion of euil / contrary to the doctrine whych you hauehave learned and auoyde them: for they that are suche serue not the Lorde Iesus christ / but their own bellies / and with swete prechinges and flattering wordes deceue the harts of the innocents: Here saith Theophilactus that they bryng in di-uisions and occasions of euill / whiche bryng forth any thyng besyde the doctryne and learnynge of the Apostles.
DAmascenus. lib. 1. cap. 1. Al that euer was deliuered bi the law / the Prophets / the Apostles and the Euangelistes: we receiue / acknowledge / and geue reuerence vntounto them / searchyng nothyng besides them.
BRuno the in secōd to Timothe doutlesse the holy Scryptures are able to instruct thee to saluation. For eueryevery scripture beeyng inspired from god / that is to saye / spiritually vnderstande after the wil of God / is profytable to teache them that be ignoraunte / to reproue (that is) to conuince them that speake agaynste the fayth / to correct synners / suche as denye not them selues to bee synners:The scriptures only are sufficiēt for matter of saluaciō. to instructe those that be yet rude and sī ple / to instruct (I say) in righteousnes / that they maye be made righteous by puttyng awaye their former instructions of infidelite (I say) that he may be so taught / that / as muche as in the teacher lyeth / he / that is taught / maye be the perfect man of god: so perfecte / that he maye be instruct to doe euerye good worke.
BEda in the. 1. Epistle of Peter. Cap. 5. If any man speake / lette him speake as the words of god / fearyng least he say or commaunde any thing besides the wil of god / or besides that / whiche is manifestly commaunded in the holye scriptures / and be founde as a false witnes of god / or acommitter of sacriledge / or a bringer in of any straunge thynge from the Lordes doctrine / or els leaue oute or passe ouer anye thynge that pleaseth god / seeing that Chryste most playnly commaundeth the preachers of the trueth / concernyng them whom they had taughte / sayinge:If any mā speak, let him speake accordinge to the worde of god: excepte he wil be called by these names here expressed. teache them to kepe all thyngs / that I hauehave commaū ded you. Yea euen the same / whych he had commaunded and none other / and he commaunded hys preachers to cō maunde their hearers to kepe not sōe of these / but all.
ANselmus Bishop in his booke of virginitie. 24. Cap.We may not beleue the generall faith, excepte the same agre with goddes worde. Goddes lawe forbyddeth to folowe the steppes of the Catholyke or vniuersal faith any more / then the iudgemente of the canonicall trueth cōmaundeth to beleue. And all other Apocryphall lies / the good policies of the best learned fathers / hauehave stablished in their decrees / vtterly to reiecte and to banishe them cleane / as horrible thoundrīges of wordes.
LYra…e vponupon the laste Ca. of the Prouerbes. Like as in a marchauntes shyppe are caryed dyuerse thynges / necessarye for mannes lyfe: so in the scripture are conteined all thynges / nedefull to saluacyon.
THomas of Aquine. The holye Scripture is the rule of oure fayth / wherevnto it is neyther lawfull to adde / nor take any thyng away.the truth of our fayth is conteyned in the worde written. But the trueth of oure fayth is contayned in the holy scryptures diffusely and diuerse wayes / in some places darklye / and to trye oute the trueth of oure fayth by the scryptures / is required long study and exercise: to the which al they cannot come / that nede to knowe the trueth of the fayth / the more part wherof / beeynge occupyed wyth other busines / cannot attende to study. And therfore it was nedefull out of the sentences of holy scripture to gather some thyng into a shorte some / which should be set forth for all men to beleue / whiche is not added to the scriptures / but rather takē out of the scriptures.
SCotus in the prologe of sentences que. 2. Question. Whether knowledge about nature / sufficient for a man in this lyfe / be sufficientlye sette forth in the holy scripture. The Question is not whether any thynges bee true that are not written / or whether god / sence the creacion and redemption of the worlde / hath done or sayd any thyng / that is not wrytten / and receyued of the Churche for the holye scripture: but thys is the questyon / whether the worde of god wrytten be sufficient for our saluaciō: or whether a Christen man be bounde to beleue any thyng / that cannot he proued bi the holy scripture. And thys graūted / that all thynges that may be gathered out of the scripture / and eueryevery thyng that vponupon any trueth graunted maye b… proued by a good argumēt of the scripture / doth pertayne to the holy scripture: this graunted I say / he concludeth that all thynges / necessarye for our saluacion / are fully conteyned in the holy scripture. ¶The schole authors call the staye of our faith / the trueth shewed of God / and conteyned in the Canon of the Bible.