The By-Way, Treatise · Section 3
SECT. III. The Scripture, according to the Iudgment of the ancient Fathers, is the ſole Iudge of Controuerſies, and Interpreter of it ſelfe.
BVſaeus the Ieſuite, knowing that the Scriptures were not ſuch euident teſtimonies of the Roman faith,Si non potes effugere vel diſputationē, vel collationē de rebus fidei cū haeretico (cui tamē de doctrinâ inferiorem non eſſe exiſtimas) primū ab eo percū ctare vnde argumenta ſuav lit depromere cō trà fidē Catholicam, ſi reſpondeat vt ſolent ex ſcripturis diuinis, oppone illi, nul lāvel incertā ex Scripturis ſperari victoria, niſi prius conſtet veri ſint poſſeſſores ſcripturae illi an nos? & vbi ſit vera fides et poteſtas exponēdi ſcripturas. Buſaeus in Panatio Tit. Haereſ. as his fellowes pretended; by way of preuention giues this caueat to his diſciples; If you cannot auoyd diſputation with an heretique, touching poynts of faith; although you finde you are able to match him, yet firſt demand of him, from whence hee will deriue his arguments against the Catholique faith; if he anſwere, as commonly they doe, Out of the ſacred Scriptures: tell him, there is no victory, at least but vncertaine, to be hoped for from them, vnleſſe it may appeare who hath best right to the Scriptures, and to whom belongs authoritie to expound them. By this Ieſuites confeſſion, the poynts in controuerſie, are ſub judice in queſtion, to which ſide the right of Scriptures doe belong, and to whom authoritie to expound them; and ſooth to ſay, the controuerſies of this age, are now brought to this narrow iſſue, that our aduerſaries are well content, to trie their cauſe by Scriptures, if the Reformed Churches would graunt them but this one poore requeſt, That they may be ſole Iudges and Interpreters of the Scripture.
A requeſt no doubt, which in moſt mens vnderſtanding, will ſeeme vnreaſonable, that Chriſt and his Apoſtles ſhould bee iudged by man, or that a man ſhould bee Plaintiffe, and Iudge in his owne cauſe. It was the conſtant profeſſion of Saint Austen; Auguſt lib. Confeſſ. 13. c. 23.Men ſpirituall, whether they rule or bee ruled, iudge according to the Spirit, but they iudge not of the ſpirituall knowledge, which ſhineth in the firmament (of the Scriptures,) for it is not lawfull for any man to judge ouer ſo high authoritie: for bee the man neuer ſo ſpirituall, yet must hee be a doer, not a Iudge of the Law. And in the concluſion of the Chapter, hee giues his ſpeciall reaſon for it: There a man is ſaid to bee Iudge, where he hath power and authority to correct. He therefore who ſhall firſt dare to correct the ſcripture, let that man by S Auſtens rule aſſume authoritie to iudge them: and as touching that Tenet, that a man ſhould be Plaintiffe, and Iudge in his owne cauſe, it was a doctrine ſo different from the Primitiue Church, that in the midſt of hereſies; I ſay, in the firſt and beſt ages, wherin Saint Austen and Epiphanius mention aboue foureſcore hereſies; euen then when the Fathers had greateſt reaſon to ſtand vponupon the priuiledge of their Church, they neuer made anſwere (like the Romaniſts) You muſt heare the Church, and our Church is that Catholique Church that is the ſole Iudge of controuerſies, and according to our Interpretation (whoſe right it is to iudge of the Scriptures) it is ſo and ſo; but on the contrary, they made the Scriptures ſole Iudges of their cauſe, and withall profeſſed, the Text of Scripture was the trueſt Gloſſe in expounding of it ſelfe.
I ſpeake not this, as if our reueren'd Diuines did make the Scriptures ſole Iudges of our cauſe, excluding the teſtimonie of the Church: for we hauehave a church as wel as they, we hauehave churchmen as well verſd in Scriptures, and Fathers as themſelues: neither doe wee denie the authoritie of the Fathers, which ioyntly agree in poynts of faith, for the right expounding of the Scriptures; onelyonly wee ſay, the Authour of the Word who beſt knew his owne meaning, was beſt able to expound himſelfe: and in this manner the ancient Fathers, as they grounded their Church vponupon the Scriptures, ſo likewiſe they referred backe the meaning of the Scriptures vntounto the Authour of them, as if hee that was Iudge of all men, ſhould bee iudged of none, and ſuch wee know is the wiſdome and goodneſſe of God,Eaverò quae in myſteriis occultat, nec ipſa eloquio ſuperbo erigit quo non audeat accedere mens cardiuſcula et in erudita, quaſi pauper ad diuitem, ſed inuitat omnes humili ſermone, quos nō ſolū manifeſtâ paſcat ſed etiā ſecretâ exerceat veritate hoc in promptis qd …reconditis habens. Aug. Ep. 3. that hee hath oftentimes hidde theſe things from the wiſe and learned, which he hath reuealed vntounto babes and ſucklings; and, as for thoſe things which it hideth in miſeries (ſaith Auſten) it lifteth them vp, not with ſtately ſpeech, whereby an vnlearned minde ſhould not preſume to approach as a poore man to a rich, but with a lowly ſpeech inuiteth all men, that it might not only feed them with manifest, but alſo exerciſe with obſcure trueth, hauing that in manifest, that it hath in obſcure places: and as concerning obſcure places, the ſame holy Father tells vsus,Illi verò qui ea quae in diuinislibris obſcura ſunt intueri nequiuerint, arbitrentur ſe digitum quidē meū ineuers poſse ſydera verò quibꝰ demō ſtrandis intenditur videre no poſse et illi ergo et iſto me reprohēdere deſinant et lumen oculorum diuinitùs ſibi praeberi depreceantur. Aug. de doct. Chriſ. l. 1. Prolog. that, if they cannot ſee the things which are obſcure and dark in the Scriptures, the fault is in themſelues, not in the precepts, as if I ſhould poynt with my finger at a ſtarre, which they would gladly ſee, and their eye-ſight were ſo weake, that although they did ſee my finger, yet they could not ſee the ſtarre, at which I poynt: let them ceaſe to blame me, and let them pray to God, that hee will giuegive them eye-ſight. And in his foure Books of Christian Doctrine, where he purpoſely treateth of expounding the Scriptures, he plainely prooueth, that the meaning of the Word, is learned out of the Word, and the obſcure places are expounded by the manifeſt: and heerein hee toucheth the freehold of the Romane Church:Magnificè et ſalubritèr ſpiritꝰ ſanctꝰ ita Scripturas ſanctas modiſi auit vt locis apertioribus fami occurreret, obſcurioribus autem faſtidia detergeret. Nihil enim fere de illis obſcuritatibus eruitur, qd…on planiſsimè dictū alibi reperitur. Aug. de doct. Chriſ. lib. 2. …a. 6. for (ſaith hee) In this great plentie of Scriptures, wee are fed with plaine things, and exerciſed with obſcure, thoſe driue away hunger, theſe contempt, the holy Ghoſt hauing tempred them ſo of purpoſe: and then he concludeth with the Tenet of our church; There is ſcarce any thing drawn out of theſe obſcure places, which hath not been ſpoken, (quod non planiſsimè) moſt plainely ſome other where. Neither was this the opinion of this learned Father only, but it was the confeſſion of S Ambroſe, Multa obſcuritas in Scripturis propheticis, …d ſi… anu …ā mē … …ā … … a ſcr… tu…arū, …ā …e… qua ſunt occulta diligentèr examines, paulatim incipies rationē colligere dictorū et operietur tibi, Non ab alio ſed à verbo Dei. Amb. in Pſal. 118. Serm. 8.There is much obſcurity in the Scriptures, but withall, if thou knocke at the doore with the hand of thy vnderſtanding, thou ſhalt gather by little and little the reaſon of that which is there ſpoken, and the doore ſhall bee opened vntounto thee, (non ab alio, ſed à verbo Dei) and that by no other but by the Word of God it ſelfe. And with theſe Doctors of the Latin Church, agreeth the Greeke Fathers. Behold (ſaith Baſil) and heare the Scripture expounding it ſelfe, Baſil. Hexā. Hom. 4.Yea (ſaith he) what things be or ſeeme to bee couertly ſpoken in ſome places of holy Scripture, Quae ambigua ſunt & tectè dicta eſſe in quibuſdā diuinae ſcripturae locis, videntu…, ab aliis locis manifeſtis declarātur. Idē. quaeſt. cōp. Expl. quaeſt. 267. Ad ipſū diuina Script. ſcopū incedamus quaeſeipſam interpretatur, quāuis ſacra Scriptura cum nos tale quiddā docere vult, ſeipſā exponit et auditorē errare non ſinit. Chryſ Hō. 13. in Gen. Chryſ. in 1. Theſ. Hō 7. Siquidē empturꝰ veſtē, quāuis artis Textoriae imperitꝰ ſis, haec verba non dicis. Neſcio emere illudunt mihi, ſed facis omnia vt diſcas — fac illa quae facienda et rectâ ratione quaere à Deo et ille tibi omnino reue…abit. Idē Homil. 33. in Act.the ſame are expounded by other plaine places elſewhere. And (ſaith Chryſoſtome) Let vsus follow the ſcope of the holy Scripture in interpreting of it ſelfe, when it teacheth ſome hard thing, it expoundeth it ſelfe, and ſuffereth not the hearer to erre. Let vsus not feare therefore (ſaith hee) to put our ſelues with full ſaile into the ſea of Scriptures, becauſe wee ſhall be ſure to find the Word of God for our Pilot. And laſtly, as it were foreſtalling that Popiſh opinion; (that the Scriptures are obſcure, and therefore not to be read by the vulgar people) hee elegantly incites a Gentile to the reading of the Scripture, by a familiar and common reaſon; When thou buyeſt a garment, though thou hauehave no skill in weauing, yet thou ſayest not, I cannot buy it, they will deceiue mee: but thou doſt vſe all meanes to learne how to know it: doe therefore thoſe things which are to bee done, ſeeke all thoſe things of God, and hee altogether will reaueale it vntounto thee: So that if any doubt or difference happened in the Primitiue church amongſt the true beleeuing Chriſtians, they referred the determination of it to the Inqueſt of Chriſt & his 12 Apoſtles, and they onelyonly were made the ſole Iudges of the queſtion. And that wee might know this Proteſtant doctrine continued for many ages in the Church, Pope Clement the firſt almoſt ſixe hundred yeeres ſince, profeſſed it for the Catholike doctrine of his time,Integra & firma regula veritatis ex Scripturis. Diſt. 37. cap 14. that a man muſt take the ſenſe of truth from the Scripture it ſelfe, ſeeing that eueryevery man may hauehave the full and firme rule of faith and truth in the Scriptures. If we deſcend frō the Pope to the great Councell of Baſil, it was the general vote of many B. and Cardinalls, and confirmed likewiſe by the Pope himſelfe. The Diuine Law, (or holy Scripture) the practiſe of Christ, of his Apoſtles, Lex diuina, praxu Chriſti, Apoſtolica, et Eccleſia primitina vnâ cum Cōciliis Doctoribuſque fundantibꝰ ſe veracitèr in eadē, pro veriſsimo et indifferente Iudice in hoc Baſilienſi Conſilia admittatur Conc. Baſil. Seſſ. 4.and the Primitiue Church, together with Councels and Doctors, grounding themſelues truely vponupon the Scriptures, ſhall bee admitted, for the moſt true and indifferent Iudge in the Councell of Baſil. The reſolution of the ancient Father Optatus, in the queſtion betwixt the Catholiques and the heretiques, whether one ſhould bee twiſe baptized, may ſerue for a proofe, and a full concluſion of the premiſſes; You ſay it is lawfull, wee ſay it is not lawfull, (betweene yours it is lawfull, and ours it is not lawfull) the peoples ſoules doe doubt and wauer, De coelo quaerendus eſt Index, ſed vt quid pulſamus ad coelum, cum habemus in Euangelio Teſtamentum. Opt. lib. 5. contr. Parmen. Donat.let none beleeue you nor vsus, wee are all contending parties, Iudges muſt be ſought for: if Chriſtians, they cannot be giuen on both ſides, (for truth is hindred by affections.) A Iudge without muſt bee ſought for; if a Paynim, hee cannot know the Christian myſteries; if a Iew, hee is an enemie to Christian Baptiſme: no iudgement therfore of this matter can bee found on earth, a Iudge in heauen must bee ſought for. But why knocke we at heauen, when wee hauehave the Testament of Christ in the Goſpell. And thus I hauehave briefly ſhewed you the deputed Iudges, and Interpreters of the Scripture in the Primitiue Church: now let vsus obſerue by what Rule the Scriptures are expounded in the Roman Church.