A Treatise of Justification, Book 6 · Chapter 9
CHAP. IX. Testimonies of the Ancient Fathers, and of others in all ages, for justification by faith alone.
§. I.
NOw that this Doctrine is no novelty, but that which in all ages hath been the received Doctrine of the Christian Churches, I will prove by the Testimony of the Christian Writers in all ages, but chiefly of the ancient Fathers.
I. Iustin Martyr, aAdDiogNetum.foreign. To see Iustin. Martyr. Ann. Dom 160.God, it is granted men, by faith alone. And by what alone wee see God, by that alone wee are justified. Againe, bIbid.what other thing could cover our sinnes, but his righteousnesse? In whom could we being sinners and impious bee justified, but in the onelyonly Sonne of God. By the righteousnesse therefore of Christ onelyonly, which is received and put on by faith onelyonly, are our sinnes covered. In Christ alone those, that are sinners in themselves, are justified; therefore not by righteousnesse inherent, but onelyonly by the righteousnesse of faith.
II. Irenaeus, whom I finde cited and approved by Augustine, cAdvers. Iulian. lib. 1. c. 2.Men Irenaeus. An. 180 lib. 4. ca. 5.can no otherwise be saved from the stroke of the old serpent, but by beleeving in Christ: Even as the Israelites, who were bitten by the fiery serpents, could no otherwise be healed, but by looking on the brasen serpent.Clemens Alex. An. 200.
III. Clemens Alex. dPaedag. l. 1. c. 6.foreign. Faith alone is the Catholike salvation of mankinde. Againe, eStromat. l. 5.the power of God alone without demonstrations is able to save foreign by faith alone.Origen. An. 230
IV. Origen more plainely: fIn Rom. 3. l. 3.The Apostle saith that the justification which is by faith alone, is sufficient: so that a man beleeving only, is justified, and instanceth in the examples of the penitent theefe, Luk. 23. and of the penitent woman, Luk. 7. both which were justified by faith alone. And in that place, as hath beene observed by others, Origen useth the exclusive particle sola seven times. Bellarmine answereth, gDe justif. lib. 1. cap. 25.that Origen only excludeth externall workes, when power and occasion is wanting, as in the theefe upon the crosse. Repl. But it evident, that as S. Paul, so also Origen speaketh of workes in generall, and that in the penitent theese, and in that penitent woman good workes were not wanting. For the thee…e hLuk. 23. 40, 41, 42.repro…eth his fellow, confesseth his sinne, acknowledgeth Christs innocencie, professeth Christ in his most despicable e…ate, when his owne Disciples …ed, prayeth unto Christ to remember him, when he should come to his Kingdome. The woman iLuk. 7. 37.brought an Alabaster box of ointment, stood behinde Christ weeping, washed his fee… with her teares, wiped them with the haires of her head, kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment; by which actions shee t…tified her faith in Christ, her repentance for her …innes, her love to her Saviour, acknowledged by Christ himselfe to have beene great. Yet not by these good workes, but onelyonly by their faith, were those two persons justified. And no marvell. For even Abraham himselfe, though he abounded with good workes, yet he was not justified by them, but by faith onelyonly. Yea, but saith Bellarmine, Origen doth not exclude love and repen…nce. Repl. No m…re doe we from the subject, that is, the partie justified, but from the act of justification. For, although they doe not concurre with faith to the act of justification, as any cause thereof: yet they must eoncurre in the subject, that is, the partie justified, as necessary fruits of faith, and unseparable companions of justification.Cyprian. An. 250
V. Cyprian: kAd Quirinum. l. 3. c. 42.Fidem tantùm prodesse, or, as Pamelius will have it, i… …, faith onelyonly or wh…lly profitet….
VI. Eusebius Casariensis. lDe eccl. Theol. l. 1. ca. 12.foreign, wherefore that faith doth suffice us to salvation which maketh us to know God the Father Almighty, and to subscribe or assent that his onelyonly begotten Sonne is the Saviour.
VII. Hilari…: it … mHilar. An. 360the Scribes, that sinne should be forgiven by a man (for they saw no more in Christ but a man) and that toIn Mat. can. 8. bee remitted by him, which the law could not release: for faith onelyonly justifieth. And againe, nCan. 21.Q…ia … sola justificat: and yet againe, oDe Trinit. li. 6.Hac sola fides confess… Christum Dei filium omnium beatitudin…m gl…riam mer…it in Petr…. This faith alone confessed, that Christ is the Sonne of God, obtained in Peter the glory of all blessednesse. To the first B…llarmine answereth, that the particle (alone) excludeth onelyonly the law, which … hath no place in the other two. But if the law be excluded, which i… the rule of all inherent righteousnesse, it proveth justification only by faith. For if men be justified either by the legall righteousnesse, or by th… Evangelicall, and a third cannot be named; then it followeth, that if men have not, nor can have remission of sinnes and justification by the law, that is by inherent righteousnesse, which is prescribed in the law; th…n they must have it according to the Gospell, that is by the righteousnesse of Christ received by faith onelyonly: but the former is true, Act. 13. 38, 39. therefore the latter.Basil. An. 370.
VIII. S. …asill: This is perfect pSerm. De humilita…e.and entire glorying in God, when a m…n being not lifted up for his own… righteousnesse, knoweth indeed himselfe to want true justice, foreign, but to bee justified by faith alon… in Christ. … answereth, that Basil excludeth onelyonly workes done without faith, or the grace▪ of God. Reply. But Basill mentioneth not workes going before Grace, but speaketh of a man already justified, who then doth intirely glory in God, when being not lifted up with a conceit of that righteousnesse which is in himselfe, but being conscious to himselfe of his defectivenesse in respect of inherent righteousnesse, acknowledgeth himselfe to be justified onelyonly by faith in Christ.
IX. Gregory Nazianzene speaking qforeign. A…brosc. A. 370.of those words, Rom. 10. 9. 10.Greg. Nazianz. A. 370. foreign for it is righteousnesse to beleeve onelyonly.
X. Saint Ambrose, or whosoever else (as ancient as he) was the Authour of the Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul, whom the Papists use to cite under the name of Saint Ambrose, and of Bishop Ambr…se when they meet with any thing that seemeth to make for them. Six…us Senensis, rB…bliothec lib. 4.doth not only acknowledge them to be Ambrose his Commentaries, but also commendeth them, as being breves quidem in verbis, sed sententiarum pondere graves. He in very many places ascribeth justification to faith alone. …ellarmine saith, he excludeth the workes of the cerem… niall Law, or the necessity of externall workes: which may serve perhaps for a poore shift, to avoid some few places, but not the most.
As first, in Rom. 3. 24. They are justified saith he, gratis, that is, freely, because nihil operantes, neque vicem redentes sola fide justificati sunt don… Dei, that is, without workes either going before or following after, they are, through the gift of God, justified by faith only.
Secondly, In Rom. 4. how can the Iewes, who looke to be justified by the workes of the Law, thinke, that they are justified with the justification of Abraham, cum videant Abraham non ex operibus legis, sed sola fide justificatum, when they see Abraham to have beene justified, not by the workes of the Law, but onelyonly by faith. Non erg… …pus est lege, quando impius per solam fidem justificatur apud Deum. There is no need therefore of the Law; seeing a sinner is justified before God by faith alone.
Thirdly, and on those words of th… fifth … according to the Latine, secundum propositum …] sic dec…etum dicit à Deo ut cessante lege solam fidem … Dei p…sceret ad sal…tem.
Fourthly, He pronounceth them blessed whom God hath ordained that without any labour or observation sol… fide justificantur apud De…; they should be justified before God by faith alone.
Fifthly, There being nothing required of them, but onelyonly that th…y beleeve.
Sixthly, In Rom. 9. Sola fides posita est ad salutem.
Seventhly, in Rom. 10. Nullum opus dicit legis, sed solam fidem … in causa Chr…sti.
Eighthly, In 1 Cor. 1, this is ordained of God that whosoever beleeveth in Christ, be safe or saved sine oper… sol… fide gratis recipiens remissionem peccatorum, without worke receiving freely remission of sins by faith alone.
Ninthly, In 2 Cor. 3. hac lex (scil. spiritus) d…t libertatem, solam fidem poscens, the Law of the Spirit (which is the covenant of grace) giveth …liberty, requiring faith onelyonly.
Tenthly. In Gal. 3. 18. he noteth the improvident presumption of the Iewes, who thought that men cannot be justified without the workes of the Law cum sciant Abraham qui forma ejus rei est, sine operibus legis per solam fidem, justificatum, when themselves know that Abraham who is the patterne or samplar of that matter, to have been justified by faith alone without the workes of the Law.
Eleventhly, In Gal. 3. 22. that hee comming who was promised to Abraham fidem solam ab ijs posceret should require of them faith onelyonly.
Twelfthly, In his fortie five sermon, which by some is attributed to Maximus who lived after him forty yeares; to the penetent thiefe it sufficeth ad innocentiam, Domino credidisse to make him innocent, that he beleeved in the Lord.De consecrat. dist. 4. c. 99.
Thirteenthly, Another testimony of Ambrose recorded by Gratian: that the grace of God in baptisme requireth neither mourning nor any worke, sed solam fidem & omnia gratis condonat, but faith alone and forgiveth all freely.
XI. Hierome, or what other Writer no lesse ancient, was the AuthourHieronymus▪ A. 380. of the commentaries on Paul's Epistles, in very many places teacheth justification by faith alone. Bellarmin… sDe scriptorib. in Hieronymo.saith, that Pelagius was the Authour of those Commentaries. But this appeareth to be false by those places which S. Augustine citeth out of the commentaries of Pelagius in his three first chapters of his third booke, De peccatorum meritis & remissione. I deny not, but that divers sentences are found in those Commentaries rankely savouring of the Pelegian heresie, as well as in the writings of other ancient Fathers, either because before the Pelagian her…sie was spred, they wrote more caresly of those points; or rather because the Pelagian hereticks did corrupt their writings: which Possevin himselfe suspecteth might have happened to this author. These Commentaries doe seeme to have been in great account in the Church, above 1100 yeares agoe, in that Sed…lius in his Collectanea, and sometimes by name tAlit…r ut Hieronymus exponi….as 1 Cor. 7. 37. And Primasius in his Commentaries on the Epistles were not ashamed to borrow store of annotations out of these Commentaries, as in other points, so in this, which I have in hand; as may appeare by collation of those, which I shall cite out of them. The Author of the ordinary glosse, who lived eight hundred yeers ago, every where citeth them under the name of Hierome. For my part I suspect, that B…llarmine and other Papists doe not so much distaste this Writer for comming too neere the Pelagians, as for his too much departing from themselves; I meane especially in this question of justification freely by the grace of God through faith alone in Christ, to which purpose there are more frequent and more pregnant testimonies in these Commentaries than in any other work of the like quantity of any ancient writer whatsoever: and although these Commentaries have beene interpolated by the Pelagian hereticks, yet those testimonies which I shall alleage for Iustification by faith alone, the Papists themselves will free from suspicion of Pelagianisme. Thus therefore he writeth.
First, in Ro. 1. 16. on those words, Iudaeo &c.] sive quod justum fuerit, ut quomodo Abraham credens ex Gentib. per solam primum fidem salvatus est, ita caeteri credentes salvarentur. Sedulius hath the same, but leaveth out the word, primum.
Secondly, In Rom. 4. 3: Tam magna fuit fides Abrahae ut & pristina…i peccata donarentur, & sola pro omni justitia doceretur accepta.
Thirdly, in Rom. 4. 5. Convertentem impium per solam fidem justificat D…us. And upon those words, which are there sound in the Latine edition, secundum propositum gratiae Dei.
Fourthly, Qui proposuit gratis per solam fidem peccata dimittere.
Fifthly, In Rom. 4. 11. Vt omnes qui ex Gentibus credunt filii sint Abrahae, dum & illis sola fides ad justitiam reputatur.
Sixthly, In Rom. 5. 1. Ostendit quod fides faciat filios Abrahae, qui ex sola prima fide justificatus est.
Seventhly, In Rom. 8. 28. secundum propositum] secundum quod proposuit sola fide salvare quos praesciverat credituros.
Eighthly, In Rom. 10. 3. Ignorantes quòd Deus ex sola fide justificat, & justos se ex legis operibus quam non custodiunt esse putantes, noluerunt se remissioni subjicere peccatorum, ne peccatores fuisse viderentur. Et in Roman. 10. 5.
Ninthly, Moses distinxit in Levitico inter utramque justitiam fidei scillicet atque factorum, quòd altera operibus; altera, sola fidei credulitate accedente fiat.
Tenthly, In Rom. 10. 10. Ergo si fides sufficit ad justitiam & confessio ad salutem, inter Iudaeum & Gentilem credentes nulla discretio est.
11. In 2 Cor. 5. 19. Non reputans illis delicta ipsorum, hoc est per solam fidem cognoscens, read ignoscens, or as Primasius, indulgens.
12. In Gal. 1. 12. Neque a me confinxi, neque ab ullo homine accepi, quòd Gentes sola fide salvarentur.
13. In Gal. 2. 14. Non ex operibus legis, sed sola fide sicut Gentes vitam in Christo invenisse te nosti.
14. In Gal. 2. 17. Si enim Gentes fides sola non salvat, nec nos: quia ex operibus n…mo justificatur.
15. In Gal. 2. 20. In fide viva filii Dei] in sola fide, quia nihil debe… legi antiquae.
16. In Gal. 3. 6. Abraham credidit Deo, & reputatum est illi adjustitiam] ita & vobis ad justitiam sola sufficit Fides: unto justice Faith only sufficeth.
17. In Gal. 3. 11. In lege… nemo justificatur] quia nemo illam serval (Let the Papists note that point of Pelagianisme) ideo dictum est, quòd sola fide justificandi essent.
18. In Gal. 3. 14. Vt sola fide Gentes benedicerentur in Christo, sicut pr… missum fuerat Abrahae.
19. In Gal. 3. 26. Aequaliter & Iudaei & Gentes per solam fidem filii Dei estis, quia credidistis Christ….
20. In Eph. 2. 8. Gratia estis salvati per fidem] non meritis prioris vitae, sed sola fide.
21. In Eph. 2. 15. Per solam fidem justificans.
22. In Phil. 3. 9. Non habens meam justitiam] hoc est, meo labore quae sitam, sed illam quae ex fide, &c.] sed illam quae à Deo propriè & sola fide collata est Christianis.
XII. Chrysostome, In Rom. 1. 17. thou obtainest righteousnesse, notChrysostome. A. 390. by sweat and labour, but receivest it by gift from above uHomil. 2.foreign, bringing one thing onelyonly from within, viz. to beleeve, nothing therefore in us doth concurre to the act of justification, but onelyonly faith.
Secondly, In Rom. 3. 27. *Homil. 7.What is the Law of faith? to save by grace: here he sheweth the power of God, that he hath not onelyonly saved, but also justified, and brought into glorying, foreign and that, not requiring workes, but seeking faith onelyonly.
Thirdly, In Rom. 4. 1. xHomil. 8.foreign: it is not possible to be saved otherwise than by faith.
Fourthly, In Rom. 8. 24. yHomil. 14.This one gift have wee brought to God, foreign to beleeve him promising things to come: foreign and by this onelyonly way we are saved.
Fifthly, In Gal. 3. 6. foreign faith sufficed Abraham to righteousnesse.
Sixthly, In Gal. 3. 8. They (the justitiaries) said, he that adhereth to faith alone is accursed, but Paul sheweth, foreign that he which adhereth to faith alone is blessed.
Seventhly, In Ephes. 2. 15. foreign by faith alone hee saved.
Eightly, In Col. 1. 27. zHomil 5.For at once to bring men more senselesse than stones to the dignity of Angels simply by bare words foreign and by faith alone, without aforeign.all difficulty, it is indeed the glory and riches of the mystery.
Ninthly, In Tit. 1. 13. bHomil. 3.For if thou doest give credit to thy faith, why doest thou bring in other things foreign as if faith were not sufficient to justifie? Bellarmine by other things understandeth the ceremonies of the Law. When Chrysostome indeed rejecteth al other things, because faith it selfe is sufficient to justifie.
Tenthly, There is a notable testimony cited by Bishop cIn Rom. 3. 28.Iustinian out of Chrysostome in Psal. 14. which doth not only conclude this question against the Papists: but also putteth a manifest difference betwixt sanctification, which consisteth of many virtues, and justification, unto which faith onelyonly is required. Iustitia conflatur ex multis virtutibus & …na virtus activa non facit justitia… quemadmodum nec una tabula perficit navigium, nec unus lapis domum. Vna sola virtus justificat fides, quae est virtutum fastigium, Righteousnesse is compounded of many virtues, and one active virtue maketh not righteousnesse. Even as one planke doth not make a ship nor one stone an house, onelyonly virtue justifieth namely faith which is the top of all virtues.
11. Serm. de fide & lege naturae. dTom. 6. p. 838.Without faith no man hath a…tained to life, foreign, but the thiefe on the Crosse beleeving onelyonly, was justified and afterwards twice he affirmeth that foreign: faith by it selfe saved. Bellarmine answereth that Chrysostome teacheth, that sometimes faith alone, that is without externall workes doth suffice: which cannot be applyed to the penitent thiefe, who, as I shewed before, wanted not for the time externall workes; and yet not by them, but by faith alone he was justified.
XIII. Hesychius in Leviticum: cLib. 4. …n c. 14.Grace is given out of merciemercy andHesycbiusa. 400 compassion and is apprehended by faith alone & fide comprehenditur sol…, not out of works, as the Apostle saith, for then grace shall not be grace.
XIV. Augustine. fDe civit. D.Nam sine bonorum operum meritis per sidem justificatur August. an. 400.impius & quidem solam. For without the merits of good workes a sinner is justified, and that by faith alone.
2. Apud Gratianum: gGrat de poeniten…iâ dist. c. 14.this is the faith which worketh by love, huic duntaxat remissio delictorum promittitur to this onelyonly remission of sins is promised—cui soli venia promitoitu:, to which alone par…on is promised,—quâ solâ peccata relaxantur by which alone sinnes are released.
3 In Psal. 88. conc. 2. sola fides Christi mundat. The faith of Christ doth cleanse alone.
4. Serm de tempore 68, hInitio.Abraham beleeved God, and it was accounted to him for righteousnesse. Ecce sine opere justificatur exfide, & quicquid illi legali posset observatione conferri, totum credulitas sola d…navit. Behold, without workes he is justified by faith, and whatsoever might bee conferred upon him by the observation of the Law, all that faith alone bestowed.
5. In Ioan. 8. iTract. 42.On those words, you heare not, because you are not of God: this was spoken to them who where not onelyonly vicious by sinne, but also foreknowne, that they were not to beleeve ea fide, qua solâ possent à peccatorum obligatione liberari, with that faith by which alone they might be delivered from the bond of their sinnes.
6. Out of his sermons De verbis Domini, this testimony is usually cited. Medicina animae omnium vulnerum, & una propitiatio pro delict…s credere in Christum. The medicine for all wounds of the soule and the onelyonly propitiation for all sinnes, is to beleeve in Christ.
7. Ad duas Epistolas Pelag. kLib. 1. cap. 21.quantaelibet fuisse virtutis …ntiquos praedices justos, non eos salvos fecit nisi fides mediatoris. qui in remissionem peccatorum sanguine fudit, Bellarmi…e answereth, that in this place are excluded onelyonly Nature and the Law of Moses. Reply, But the place is plaine, that though the virtue of the ancient Fathers were never so great, yet neither it, nor any thing else could save them, but onelyonly faith in Christ.
8. Lib. 83. quaest. lQu…st. 76.If any when hee hath beleeved, shall presently depart out of this life, the justification of faith abideth with him, neither for his precedent good workes, because not by merit but by grace hee came unto it; nor for the subsequent, because he is not suffered to remaine in this life. And therefore, say we, by faith alone. To this B…llrrmine answereth, that Augustine speaketh of a lively faith (as though wee spake of any other) for Augustine there saith, that a man is justified without workes, going before faith, but that justifying faith is such a faith as worketh by love. Bellarmine then confesseth that a lively faith, which worketh by love, doth justifie alone. As for that which is not lively, nor accompanied with charity; we teach, that it justifieth neither alone, nor at all. Thus hath hee indevoured in vaine to answere some allegations out of six of the Fathers. The rest, either of the same Authors, or of others, either before named, or now to bee cited, remaine unanswered, saving foure others, which because he would have men thinke we want Testimonies of Antiquity, hee hath afforded us out of his owne store. Which wee will examine in their due place. And in stead of the first which hee cit…th out of XV Cyrill of Alexandria, min …oan. l. 10. c. 18.being to no purpose,Cyrill. Alexandr. An. 430. and yet falsified by him (for Cyrill doth not say, hominem per solam fidem inhaerere Christo, as Bellarmine citeth him) and being also false, in that sense, for which indeed our prevaricator doth alleadge him, that a man may abide in Christ by faith, and yet want love and perish: But in stead of this I will requite him with another of the same Authour, in the same Commentaries upon Iohn, on those words, Ioh. 14. 1. nLib. 9. c. 30.Ye beleeve in God, beleeve also in me, per fidem namque, saith he, non aliter servamur, by faith we are saved, and not otherwise, that is, by faith alone.
XVI. To Cyrill we adjoyne oSedulius in Collectanes.Sedulius, as being of the same time, as Bellarmine, following Trithemius, supposeth hee wrote saith Bellarmine an explanation upon all the Epistles of Saint Paul, taken out of Origen, Ambrose, Hierome, and Augustine, meaning those Commentaries of Ambrose and Hierome, which before I cited. Whereby it may appeare that those Commentaries in the time of Sedulius were of good esteeme: for out of those very Commentaries of Hierome, he hath collected many briefe passages, as in other matters, so in this particular. As Hierome therefore had said in Rom. 1. 16. so saith hee almost in the same words: justi…ia Dei est, pin Rom. i. 17.quod justum fuerat, ut quomodo Abraham credens ex Gentib. per solam fidem justificatus est, ita caeteri fidem ejus imitantes salvarentur.
2. In Rom. 4. 5. Convertentem impium per solam fidem justificat Deus. And on those words of the Latine Edition secundum propositam gratiam. that is, saith he, as Hierome had said before, quo gratis proposuit per solam fidem dimittere peccata.
3. In Rom. 4. 6. the blessednesse of man he calleth remission of sins by faith. It is a great blessednesse without the labour of the Law and penitence to obtaine the Grace of God by faith alone. Which words are in part taken out of S. Ierome on the same place.
4. In Rom. 8. 28. On those words secundum propositum, secundum quod proposuit salvare sola fide, according to which he purposed to save by faith alone those whom he foreknew should beleeve, whom also he freely called to salvation: Which word for word are taken out of Ierome.
5. In Rom. 10. 5. Moses put a difference betweene either justice, to wit, of faith and of workes: because the one, by workes; the other, sola credulitate justificet accedentem, by faith alone justifieth him that commeth: and so Ierome on the same place, out of whom also hee reciteth word for word, that which before I cited out of him in Rom. 10. 16. Ergo si fides sufficit adjustitiam, &c.
7. In Gal. 2. 20. In fide vero filii Dei] i. in sola fide, quia nihil debeo legi: so Ierome.
8. In Gal. 3. 14. ex fide. i. ut sola fide salvarentur credentes, &c.
XVII. Theodoret in Rom. 3. 24. sola enim fide allata peccatorum remissionem Theod…ret An. 430.accepimus. We have received remission of sinnes, having brought faith onelyonly.
2. In Rom. 3. 25. Our Lord Christ, is both God, and the propitiatory, and the high Priest, and the Lambe, and by his bloud he procured our salvation, Solam à nobis fidem exigens, requiring of us faith alone.
3. In Eph. 2. 8. By grace, &c. for we brought onelyonly faith. Neither did we of our owne accord beleeve, but being called we came, and when we were come hee did not exact of us the purity and innocencie of life, sed sola fide suscepta condona vit peccata, but hee forgave our sinnes accepting of our faith alone.
4. And in the seventh of his qDe Curand. Grac, affectib. lib. 7.Therapeutickes, after he had cited that of Esai. 45. 23. I blot out your iniquities, &c. he addeth, for not by any praise-worthy workes of ours, foreign but by faith alone wee have obtained the mysticall or spirituall good things.
XVIII. Prosper Aquitanicus in his Epigrammes. rEpigram. 8. De doctrina Evangelica.rIn Gen. lib. 3.Inde (i. ex doctrina Apostolica) capit (quisque) vitam, quam parit una fides. From the DoctrineProsper. An. 440. of the Apostles a man receiveth life, which faith alone doth beget or procure.
XIX. Claudius Marius Victor s—At ille (Abraham)Cl. Mar. Victor.
Credidit, & nuda fidei confessio sola
Plenam adjustitiae et meriti reputata coronam est.
XX. Petrus Chrysologus: tPet. Chrys. An 440. s…rm. 34.Christus mulieris (haemarrhoissae) docuit exemplo, quàm fides sola totam proficiat ad salutem.
The Testimonies which Bellarmine in the second place out of his owne store produceth for us out of Leo, are impertinent, for they speak of the work of faith, not in justifying but in sanctifying of us.
XXI. Primasius in Rom. 4. 3. Tam magna fuit don… Dei fides Abrah… Primisius, An. 440.ut & pristina ei peccata donarentur, & sola ei pro omni justitia duceretur accepto. The same had Ierome, saving that here is a divers reading: for that which we reade in Ierome, prae omni justitia doceretur accepta.— & reputatum est illi ad justitiam] compensatum: sola fides.
2. In Rom. 4. 5. Imp…um per solam fidem justificat, non per opera, quae non habuit; si enim secundum opera, puniend…s est, non liberandus.
3. In Rom. 4. 12. ut omnes qui ex Gentib. credunt secundum fidem filii sint Abrahae, dum & illis sola fides adjustitiam repetatur, the very same had Ierome.
4. In Rom. 5. 1. Fides facit filios Abrahae, qui ante circum…isionem exsola credulitate justificat… est.
5. In Rom. 8. 28. Propositum Dei est, ut sine …peribus Legis, vel quibuscunque aliis meritis, per fidem solam justificaret impios.
6. In … Cor. 5. 19. Non reputans illis delicta ipsorum, h. e. indulgens per solam fidem quae gratis donata est.
7. In Gal. 1. 3. Sola fide salvati est is per gratiam Dei.
8. In Gal. 2. 14. Non ex operib. sed sola fide per gratiam vitam habere te nosti. Hierome.
9. In Gal. 2. 17. Si enim gentes fides sola non salvavit, nec nos: quia ex operibus nemo justificabitur. Hierome.
10. In Gal. 2. 20. In fide verò Filii Dei] in sola fide. Hier.
11. In Gal. 3. 6. Abraham credidit Deo, &c. ita & vobis fides sola sufficit adjustitiam. Hier.
12. In Gal. 3. 14. Vt in Ge…tib. benedictio Abrahae fieret in Christo Iesu] ut sola fide Gentes benedicerentur in Christo, sicut promissum fuerat Abrahae. Hierome. ut pollicitationem Spiritus accipiamus per fidem] solam.
13. In Gal. 3. 22. Vt necesse esset sola fide per gratiam salvari credentes.
14. In Gal. 3. 26. Omnes enim Filii Dei estis per fidem in Christo Iesu] …nes enim …qualiter & Iudai & Gentes per fidem solam, quae … Dei creditis Christo. Hierome.
XXII. Theodulus Caelo-Syriae presbyter, in Rom. 4. 13. Lex ob quam Theodulus. Gennadius A. 490.gloriaris nihil profuit adpromissiones ipsi Abraham factas, sed sola fides.
2. In Rom. 5. 2. ad i…narrabilia dona & beneficia Dei in nos collata, nos foreign… pr…er fidem attulimus.
XXIII. Gen…dius apud Oecumen. in Rom. 3. 24. freely, that is without any good workes of thine thou art saved. And againe, as having brought with thee nothing but faith—Wherefore all that beleeve in Christ are justified freely, bringing with them onelyonly to beleeve.
XXIV. Venantius Fortunatus, in expos-symboli, in artic. de remissione peccatorum: Nobis in hoc sermone sola cred…litas sufficit.
XXV. Venerabilis Beda in Psa. 77. 7. per justitiam factorum nullus salvabitur, sed per solam justitiam fidei.Venantius
XXVI. Haymo in Gal. 3. 12. Lex non complebatur fide sed opere: A. 570. Beda. A. 720. Haymo. A. 840.Evangelium …utem completur fide magis quàm operibus quia sola fides salvat.
2. In Rom. 1. Pluribus modis ostendit Paulus justitiam & salutem non esse per legem, sed per fidem in Christum, ut a lege abducat, & in sola fide Christi eos constituat.
3. In Ev…ngel. de circumcisione Christi, sola tantummodo fide salvabuntur (gent…s) siout scriptum est, justus exfide vivet.
XXVII. Photius apud Occumenium in Rom. 4. 1. speaking of Abraham, Photius, A. 860you see that he hath not so much as any footstep of works, unto so great gifts from God, whence then was he vouchsafed them? foreign of faith alone.
2. In Gal. 3. 21. foreign wherefore by faith alone they are able to obtaine the promises.
XXVIII. Smaragdus In Gal. 3. Necesse est sola fide Christi salvari Smaragdus A. 950.credentes.
XXIX. Oecumenius in Gal. 3. 11. Because the righteous shall liveOecumenius A. 1050. by faith, foreign for there is but one way saith hee to justifie, and that is by faith.
2. In Col. 2. 14. foreign, for it is fufficient, saith he, to beleeve onelyonly.
XXX. Theophylact in Rom. 4. 5. Doth he that is to be justified bringTh…ophylact. A. 1070. any thing? Faith onelyonly.
2. In Rom. 9. ult. Fides itaque sola est: faith therefore is alone, and not workes with it, it worketh all things, and it justifyeth.
3. In Gal. 3. 11. Now hee doth plainely demonstrate, that faith it selfe alone hath in it the power of justifying. Bellarmine answereth, for this is the third place which hee would seeme to afford us out of his owne store, that his meaning is, that without faith nothing doth just…fie. But the meaning is plaine, not, that other things cannot justifie without faith, but that faith alone without the helpe of other things is able to justifie.
4. In 2 Thes. 2. 17. that God pro sola fide, for faith alone will give yea those eternall good things.
XXXI. Anselmus Cantuariensis in Rom. 4. 5. but to him that doth notAnselmus A. 1080. the workes of the Law, but without any precedent worke doth come to faith, sufficit ipsa fides adjustitiam, faith it selfe sufficeth unto righteousnesse.
2. In 1 Cor. 1. 4. For grace is given in Christ, because this is ordained of God, that he which beleeveth in Christ should be saved without worke, sola fide & gratis by faith alone and freely receiving remission of sinnes.
XXXII. Rupertus Tuitiensis lib. 2. in libros Regum cap. 39. The obstinateRupertus an▪ 1120. Iew persisteth in contention and contemning the faith of Christ, qua sola justificare potest, which alone can justifie, arrogateth to himselfe numerous justice out of his workes.
XXXIII. Bernard, out of whom Bellarmine in the fourth placeBernard an. 1130. produceth a twofold testimony in our behalfe the former in Canticles, serm. 22. Whosoever hauing compunction for his sinnes doth hunger and thirst after righteousnesse, let him beleeve in Thee who dost justifie the sinner, & solam justificatus per fidem, and being justified by faith alone, he shall have peace with thee.
2. The other Epist. 77. speaking of Mark. 16. 16. Courteously he did not repeate, but he that is not baptized, shall bee condemned: but onelyonly, he that beleeveth not, intimating; that faith sometimes alone is sufficient to salvation, but without it nothing doth suffice.
To the former hee answereth that Bernard speaketh de viva fide of a lively faith, &c. as though we spake of any other. If hee confesse, that a lively faith doth justifie alone, it is all that wee seeke. For as for the dead faith, wee confesse, that it justifieth neither alone nor at all. And therfore attribute lesse unto it, than the Papists themselves.
To the other hee answereth, that the word solam, excludeth onelyonly the necessity of Baptisme in the case of necessity. Reply, if sometimes it doth suffice alone to salvation, then much more to justification, and if baptisme which is manus dantis bee excluded then by the like reason all other things which are in us are excluded from the act of justification.
XXXIV. Thomas Aquinas in 1 Tim. 1. lect. 3. there is not thereforeTho Aquinas. an. 1209. any hope in the morall precepts sed in sola fide, but in faith alone.
2. In Gal. 3. 26. Sola fides faith alone maketh men the adoptive sons of God. Now that which alone maketh men the sonnes of God by adoption, that alone doth justifie them.
XXXV. Bo…aventure in 4. Sent. dist. 15. part. 1. q. 1. because manBonaventure, an. 1260. could not satisfie for so great offence, therefore God gave unto him a Mediatour, who should satisfie for the offenee, whereupon in sola fide in the only faith of his passion all fault is remitted, and without faith therof none is justified.Nic. Gorrham.
XXXVI. Nicholas Gorrham in Rom. 4. If hee beleeve onelyonly in Christ, though he doe not worke his faith alone is reputed for sufficient justice.
XXXVII. Couradus Clingius loc. commun. lib. 5. cap. 42. Deu… justos nos Cour. Clingius.reputat propter solum fidem in Christum, and in the old edition, cap. 117. sola fides bene sufficit adjustificationem.
XXXVIII. The judgement of Cardinall Contarenus we heard before,Car. Contarenus …n. 1541. that wee are justified by the righteousnesse of Christ imputed to those that beleeve: whereupon it necessarily followeth, that in us nothing is required unto justification before God, but onelyonly faith.
Thus in all ages of the Church justification by faith alone was a received Doctrine, untill the accursed Councell of Trent which denounceth a uSess. 6. Can. 9.curse against all those, who shall say, that a man is justified by faith alone. And yet even since that Councell the force of this truth hath expressed from the professed enemies of the Gospell a confession thereof.
Ben. Iustinianus in his paraphrase on Gal. 2. 16. hee rendreth it thus. And yet wee are not ignorant that a man is not justified by the workes of the Law, sed per unum Iesu Christi fidem but by the only faith in Christ and in his explanation he giveth this sence, because we who are by nature Iewes cannot be justified by the Law sed per solam fidem but by faith alone, it followeth that no mortall man can obtaine righteousnesse by the workes of the Law, sed sol…m ex Iesu Christi fide, but only by the faith of Iesus Christ. Yea, Bellarmine himselfe, *De Sacrament lib. 2. cap. 3. in fine.saith, that to us the merits of Christ are applyed by the Sacraments; Hebr…is per solum fidem, to the Hebrewes by faith alone. But the faithfull among the Hebrewes were justified no otherwise than Abraham was justified. And as Abraham xRom. 4. 23, 24.the Father of all the faithfull yAmbrose in Gal. 3. 18. qui sorma jus rei est.who was the forme, and samplar of this thing was justified, so are wee. But Abraham was justified by faith alone, therefore wee also are justified by faith onelyonly.
Neither is the justification by Sacraments repugnant to justification by faith alone, the meaning of our assertion being this, that in us nothing concurreth to the act of justification, as any cause thereof, but faith onelyonly. For being justified by faith alone, as Abraham was, the Sacraments are added, as circumcision was to him, as seales zRom. 4. 11of that righteousnesse which we have by faith. So that faith onelyonly justifieth before God as the hand of the receiver: but the Sacraments serve to justifie the faithfull in the court of their Conscience by sealing and assuring unto them their justification.