An Answer to Six Reasons of Thomas Pound, Part 3
The third Reaſon.
THe thirde Reaſon that mooueth you to thinke, that the Scriptures are to be iudged by the Church: is, for that S. Peter hath written,2. Pet. 1. That no Scripture is to be taken after any priuate interpretation. &c.
This Reaſon I hauehave called Fooliſhe, for that fooliſhly you doo ruſhe into the Epiſtle of Saint Peter, and report his wordes otherwiſe then he wrote them: and then you your ſelfe doo make a priuate interpretation of them, contrarie to the decrée made in the Councell of Trent: whereof you would ſéeme to make greateſt accoumpt.
The words of Saint Peter, as they doo ſtande in that tranſlation that the Coūcell of Trent hath allowed, are theſe. Hoc primùm intelligentes, quód omnis prophaetia ſcripturae, propria interpretatione non fit. Vnderſtanding this thing firſt: that no propheſie of the ſcripture, is made by priuate interpretation. I meruayle howe you (being ſuch a Catholique as you profeſſe to be) durſt ſet downe Peters wordes, otherwiſe then you finde them in that tranſlation. For I am ſure, you are not ignoraunt of the penaltie that the Councell hathSeſsio. 4. appointed for ſuch doinges.
But this is not all your miſdemeanour in this behalfe. For you make a priuate Interpretation, contrarie, bothe to the decrée, and alſo to this thyrde Reaſon of yours. For, to make a priuate interpretation, is to make ſuch a one as differeth from the auncient wryters, and is not allowed of the Church. But where can you ſhewe me any auncient writer, that hath interpreted thoſe wordes of Peter, as you doo?
Saint Austine medleth not with them. No more dooth S. Ierome, S. Ambroſe, S. Gregorie, nor Chryſostome, nor any other of that tyme, that I hauehave ſéene, or can heare of.
Nicholaus Lyranus, writing vponupon theſe wordes of S. Peter, ſayth that the meaning of S. Peter, was to teach: that no propheticall Scripture hath begynning in, or dooth ſpring out of humane ſenſe, or mannes meaning. For thus he wryteth. Propria interpretatione non fit, id eſt, Lyranus in. 2. Epi. Peter.non fit ſenſu humano: ideo ſubditur. Non enim voluntate humana allata eſt aliquando prophetia, ſed ſpiritu ſancto inſpirati. &c. It is not made (ſayth he) by any mans owne interpretatiō (that is to ſay) it is not made by humane ſenſe: and therefore, this ſaying is ſet immediatly after. Prophecie hath not at any tyme been brought in, by mans wyll: but men inſpired with the holy Ghoſt. &c.
I thinke your Fathers of the Councell of Trent, will allowe Lyranus for a Catholique wryter: wherefore, I thinke alſo that they wyll not diſpenſe with you, for diſſenting from him, in the interpreting of S. Peters wordes.
But nowe, if ye wyll giuegive me leaue, I wyll tell you what I thinke to be the meaning of S. Peter in theſe words. Firſt I thinke, that you doo know, that S. Peter wrote in Greeke. And then you muſt knowe, that the wordes which in the allowed tranſlation, are Priuata interpretatione: are in the Greeke, foreign. And they that hauehave any ſkyll in the Greeke tongue, will tell you that foreign dooth ſignifie Impulſus, as well as Interpretatio. And may we not tranſlate the wordes of S. Peter thus? Omnis prophetica ſcriptura, non fit proprij impulſus. Euerie propheticall Scripture, is not made of, or by priuate, or proper impulſion. Or to tranſlate it more Engliſh lyke: No propheticall Scripture is made of, or by priuate or proper impulſion.
It ſéemeth to me, that bothe the wordes that goe before, and alſo the wordes that followe, doo enforce this to be the meaning of Saint Peter. For he ſayth thus. We hauehave a firme and ſure propheticall ſpéeche: and you doo well in that you doo giuegive good héede thereto, as vntounto a Candle that appeareth in a darke place, vntyl the day may waxe cleare, and the day ſtarre may aryſe in your heartes. But yet ſo, that you doo firſt knowe, that no propheticall Scripture, is made by priuate or proper impulſion. For propheſie hath not at any tyme bene brought vntounto vsus by the wyll of men, but the holy men of God hauehave ſpoken, as by the ſpirite of God, they hauehave bene driuen, or vehementlie mooued to ſpeake.
Let your fréendes conſider of this, and tell you whether this may be allowed for Catholique or not. I do… not write this, as one that doo not thinke that ſaying of yours (No Scripture is to be taken after any priuate interpretation) to be true: or as one that dooth allowe the raſhneſſe of ſuch as wyll ruſhe into the Scriptures, without ſuch reuerance as is ſéemely, and take vppon them to make interpretations after their owne fantaſies. I know that all that we can doo, and all the helpes that we can hauehave, are lyttle enough, and therefore I thinke it méete, for all men, to follow the rules that S. Austine preſcribeth, writing, De Doctrina Chriſtiana. And thus much may ſuffiſe to be ſayde, to your thirde Reaſon, which by good Reaſon, and for iuſt cauſe (as I thinke) I hauehave called Fooliſhe.