Twenty-One Sermons on Amos 2, Collection of lectures · Lecture 10
THE X. LECTVRE.
AMOS 2.7.
And a man and his father will goe in vntounto the same maid to prophane my holy name.
THey who hauehave begun to goe beyond the lines, and the limits prefined vntounto them in the word of God, doe by little and little proceed from euill to worse, from one wickednesse to another. This you hauehave seene verified in these Israelites. You hauehave seene their crueltie, their couetousnesse, their oppressions, their calumnies. They were cruell; they sold the righteous, they sold the poore, ver. 6. They were couetous; they sold the righteous for siluer: they sold the poore for a paire of shoes, in the same verse. They were oppressours; they panted after the dust of the earth on the head of the poore, vers. 7. They were calumniators; false accusers of their needie brethren; they turned aside, they peruerted the way of the meeke, in the same verse. Now are the barres and bounds of all shame broken; now are the raines of all modestie let loose; giuen vp to their vile affections, they feare not to commit detestable Inc…st. For
A man and his father, will goe in vntounto the same maide, to prophane my holy name.
Before we enter into a particular discourse of that abhominable sinne, wherewith the people of Israell are in this text charged, it will not be amisse to take a briefe view of the words as here they lie.
A man and his Father] that is, A sonne and his Father; The originall word foreign signifieth a man; for it the Septuagint read foreign, and the vulgar Latin, Filius; A sonne. A sonne and his Father—will goe in.] The vulgar Interpreter hath Iêrunt, hauehave gone; the Septuagint foreign, did goe in. The Hebrew is foreign will goe. It is very familiar with the Hebrewes to put one tense for another; the future for the present; the time to come, for the time that is instant. An instance hereof we hauehave, Psal. 1.2. There its spoken of the blessed man; He aforeignshall meditate in the law of the Lord day and night. He shall meditate, so goeth the text: the meaning is; he doth meditate: Blessed is the man that doth meditate in the Law of the Lord day and night. In Psal. 2.1. it is spoken of Christs enemies; theybforeign shall imagine a vaine thing. They shall imagine; so goeth the text: the meaning is; they doe imagine. Why doe the Heathen rage, and the people imagine a vaine thing? In Psal. 5.3. The Prophet Dauid earnest and vehement in Prayer, thus speaketh of himselfe; In the morning will I pray vntounto thee. cforeignI will pray vntounto thee; so goeth the text: the meaning is; I doe pray vntounto thee. My voyce shalt thou heare in the morning, O Lord; in the morning doe I direct my prayer vntounto thee. It is the very Hebraisme, that we hauehave in my text; A man and his fatherdforeign will goe in vntounto a maid, to prophane my holy name. They will goe in; it is the letter of my text: the meaning is, that resolutely without shame, without feare; They goe in, or they vse to goe in. Doe they vse to go in? Then may each reading be admitted: they hauehave gone in, they did goe in, they doe goe in, they will goe in.
A man and his father will goe in foreign vntounto a maide] What maid? any maide? No. But a knowne maid, a certaine maide. So much is implyed by the Hebrew Article foreign, which here is connotatiue, or discretiue. The Greekes say distinctly foreign, to the same maide. Our now English so readeth it; and well. For so the sense of this place requireth.
A man and his Father will goe in vntounto the same maide.] By this maide S. Hierome vnderstandeth the sonnes wife, or the fathers wife; so doe others also, as Ribera obserueth. Mercer, of late the Kings professour of the Hebrew tongue, in the Vniuersitie of Paris; by this maide vnderstandeth, one, that is affianced, or betrothed to either, the sonne, or the father. Of like minde is Arias Montanus. By this maide (saith he) we vnderstand non meretricem, not a common strumpet, one that makes gaine by the prostitution and abuse of her bodie; sed viro sponsam, but one that is betrothed to a man, aut certè nubilem, or at lest, one that is marriageable and is in her fathers house appointed for wedlocke. Some are of opinion, that by this maide, you may vnderstand, any maide; the daughter of any other man, to whom yet this man and his father vse to resort to satisfie their lusts.
Now, if we will collect, as Montanus doth, the Father knew his owne daughter, his sonne knew the same, though she were to him, his sister: or the father knew his sonnes wife, his daughter in law: or the sonne knew his fathers wife, his mother in law: or both, the father and the sonne were naught with some other mans daughter: or all these wickednesses were in that corrupt state of Israell vsually acted. Of that state we may say with Brentius: Qualis pater, talis filius: pater fornicatur, filius scortatar, pater adulterium committit, filius incestum; pater libidinem exercet prohibitam, filius turpem sequitur luxum. It is a fathers part, by his example of chast liuing, to invite his sonne to chastitie. With these Israelites there was no rule, so good obserued. Here was like father, like sonne: the father a fornicator, the sonne a drabber: the father an adulterer, the sonne incestuous: the father delighting in vnlawfull lust, the sonne wallowing in sensualitie: yea the father and the sonne did oftentimes fasten their impure and vnchast louelove vponupon the same maide: which is the very thing avowed in my text: A man and his father will goe in vntounto the same maide. It followeth,
To profane my holy Name.] What? Did this man and his father goe in vntounto the same maide, with a minde to prophane Gods holy Name? was this their end? No doubtlesse, it was not their end. Their end was to enioy their carnall pleasures. And yet its here expressely said; they did it, to profane Gods holy Name.
For the remoouing of this scruple, that old Canon of an auncienteChrysostom. Father, will serue. It is proper to the Scripture, to put that for a cause, which indeed belongeth to the event. Ribera thus explicats it: It is the manner of the Scripture sometime so to speake as if it considered onelyonly, what a man doth, and not at all, with what mind he doth it: as if it onelyonly considered what men doe vulgarly and vsually collect and iudge of any action by the event therof. For the Scripture many times speaketh as the custome of the common people is.
This rule the Iesuite fTom. 4. p. 654.Pererius in his Comment vponupon Genes. chap. 43.6. thus plainely deliuereth. When vponupon the deed of any one, any thing falleth out besides the purpose and will of the doer, it is commonly beleeued, and said to be done, as if the doer had of purpose willed it. Will you hauehave this rule made plaine by examples? Then thus. A man sinneth. His sinne draweth vponupon him the losse & destruction of his owne soule. Now he that sinneth doth not intend any such matter; hee intends not the losse, or destruction of his owne soule. Yet because he doth that, from whence followeth, the losse and destruction of his soule, he is said to will and seeke the perdition of his owne soule.
This Canon rightly vnderstood, much helpeth for the explanation of diuers Scripture places. IngHebr. Psal. 11. Psal. 10.6. according to the vulgar Latin, we read, Qui diligit iniquitatem, odit aniniam suam; he that loueth iniquitie, hateth his owne soule. Did euer man hate his owne soule? We may not imagine it. Yet because he that loueth iniquitie, liueth for the most part as if he little cared for his soules health, it is there absolutely said: Hee that loueth iniquitie, hateth his owne soule.
In Genes. 43.6. the vulgar Interpreter makes Israel thus to speake to Iudah, and other his sonnes, In meam hoc fecistis miseriam, vt indicaretis ei, & alium vos habere fratrem; you hauehave done it to my miserie, that ye told the man, that you had another brother. Its true: Iacobs ten sonnes, when they were in Egypt to buy corne, told Ioseph (whom then they knew not to be Ioseph) that their yongest brother was liuing. But did they doe it with a mind to bring misery vponupon their aged father Iacob: Iacob himselfe could not thinke so, and the storie cleares them from that imputation. Yet because by that their deed, miserie might hauehave fallen vponupon their father Iacob, Iacob saith vntounto them after a vulgar custome of speech, In meam hoc fecistis miseriam, you hauehave done this to make me miserable.
In 2. King. 4.16. the good woman of Shunem, that was by Elisha promised a sonne, notwithstanding her selfe was by nature barren, and her husband also old, said vntounto Elisha: Nay my Lord, thou man of God, doe not lie vntounto thine handmaide. Doe not lie! What! Elisha a Prophet, a man of God, could he, or would he lye? No; it beseemed him not. Yet because he promised, what was not in mans power to performe, (a sonne to a woman that was naturally barren, and her husband also old) some might thinke, that he went about to deceiue the woman. The woman therefore after the common kinde of speech, saith vntounto him; Nay my Lord, thou man of God, doe not lye vntounto thine handmaide.
Other like instances I might alledge for the further explanation of the Canon or rule which euen now I proposed, But I need not. The kind of speech is familiar in our English tongue. If you see a sicke man intemperate, or refusing to follow the aduise of his learned Physitian, you wil straight way say, this man seekes his owne death; hee will kill himselfe; When your meaning is, not that he hath a purpose to seeke his owne death, or to kill himselfe; but, that if he continue intemperate, and will not follow his Physitians wholesome counsaile, death will soone lay him in the pit.
Now let this rule be laid vntounto my text, and the scruple, whereof I but now spake, is gone. A man and his father will goe in vntounto the same maide to profane my holy name: they are the words of my text; and the Lord in the mouth of his Prophet Amos hath spoken them. But he speaketh after our manner; as we vse to speake: His meaning is, that with the Israelites it was an ordinarie matter for a man and his father, to commit filthinesse with the same maide, and that by their so doing, (though themselues had no such purpose in so doing) the holy name of God was prophaned. This prophanation of Gods holy name was not the finall cause, it was not the end, why such filthinesse was committed in Israell. It was rather the event, or consequent of it. Filthinesse was acted in Israel, and thereof followed the prophanation of the holy name of God. A man and his father, &c.
To prophane my holy name] My holy name. The Hebrew hath, the name of my holinesse: where the substantiue is put for the adiectiue, the Abstract for the Concrete: which in that holy tongue is very vsuall. In the 3. of Exod. ver. 5. The Lord sayth to Moses: Put of thy shoes from of thy feete for the place, whereon thou standest, is ground of Holinesse. Its ground of Holinesse, that is, its holy ground. In the 12. of Exod. vers. 16. Moses and Aaron are charged to say vntounto the people of Israel: In the seauenth day there shall be a conuocation of holinesse vntounto you. A conuocation of holinesse, that is, a holy conuocation. In the 22. of Exod. ver. 31. The Lord sayth vntounto the same people of Israel: Yee shall be men of Holinesse vntounto me. Men of Holinesse, that is, Holy men.
Were it needfull I could shew vntounto you, that theaEsai 63 11. Spirit of Gods holinesse, thebEsai. 52.10. arme of his holinesse, thecPsal. 3.5. mountaine of his holinesse, thedPsal. 11.4. temple of his holinesse, theeDeut 26.15. habitation of his holinesse, are put for his holy Spirit; his holy arme, his holy mountaine, his holy temple, his holy habitation. I could yet shew vntounto you; thatfExod 24.4. garments of holinesse, gNum. 3.51.vessels of holinesse, hLamen. 4.1.stones of holinesse, i1. Sam. 21.4.bread of holinesse, kIerem. 11.15.flesh of holinesse, andlNum. 35.25. oyle of holinesse, are in the holy Bible, put for holy garments, holy vessels, holy stones, holy bread, holy flesh, holy oyle. But I hauehave said enough, to shew what I intended, namely, that vsually in the Holy tongue, the Abstract is put for the Concrete, as holinesse, for holy: as in this my text. A man and his father will goe in to the same maide, to profane the name of my holinesse; that is, to prophane my holy name.
Can Gods holy name be prophaned by men? Why not, sith it may be sanctified by men? That the name of God may be sanctified by men, its out of doubt, Caput votorum, the very first petition, which wee are taught to poure forth vntounto God, is, that his name may be sanctified, Hallowed be thy name: The name of God is holy in it selfe, it needs not to be hallowed by vsus; its impossible for vsus to adde vntounto it any purity or holinesse, which it had not before. YetmScala coeli. Serm. 9. Caput votorum, the first petition of our prayer is, Hallowed bee thy name. Our desire therein is, that Gods name which is holy of it selfe, may bee so accounted off by vsus, may bee holily vsed by vsus, and may, by our holy vsage of it, bee manifested to the world, that it is holy.
Now then, as the name of God is Hallowed, when for our holy and vnstained liues, men blesse the name of God, and praise him: so when for our impure and spotted liues, men blaspheme the name of God, and dishonour him, the name of God is prophaned. Well then, doth our Prophet Amos heere charge the people of Israel with prophanation of Gods holy name, for asmuch as their liues were very impure and much spotted. It was with them no strange matter, for a man and his father to commit filthinesse with the same Mayde.
Thus hauehave you the words of my text expounded.
A man and his father] A sonne and his father, will goe in vntounto the same mayde] do ordinarily, without feare or shame, commit filthinesse with the same young woman, and so doing, doe prophane my holy name] they cause my name to bee blasphemed, and ill spoken of.
Two things are heerein remarkable. One is, the sinne heere obiected to the Israelites: the other is, the consequent of this sinne. The sinne is poynted at in these words, A man and his father will goe in vntounto the same mayde: the consequent in these, to prophane my holy name. The sinne is vnlawfull pleasure, taken either in incest, or in adultery, or in fornication, or in any other vncleannesse: the consequent is, the prophaning of the holy name of God.
The doctrine arising from both, I deliuer in this one position.
Incestuous persons, adulterers, fornicators, & otherwise shamelesse sinners, are oftentimes the cause of prophaning the holy name of God.
Incestuous persons, adulterers and fornicators, all are starke naught: but the first are the worst. Incest, adultery and fornication, each of them is a sinne, that throweth the sinner into the euer-burning lake; yet the most greeuous of them is incest. Incest! It is one of the grossest vices of lust. EueryEvery mixture of man and woman of the same kinred, within the degrees forbidden by the law of God, is Incest. It is forbidden in the seuenth Commandement, wherein, although adulterie be onelyonly mentioned, yet vnderunder that kinde of vncleannesse, are comprehended and noted, Sodomitrie, incest, rape, simple fornication, all the rest, together with their causes, occasions, effects, antecedents, and consequents.
But more precisely is incest forbidden, in the eighteenth of Leuiticus, from the sixth verse to the eighteenth. In the sixth verse, the inhibition is generall: None of you shall approach to any that is neere of kinne to him, to vncouer their nakednesse: I am the Lord. It is then the Lord that speaketh to you: None of you shall come neere to any of your kinne, to vncouer their shame. But what kinred meaneth hee? There is a kinred by society of bloud; it is called consanguinity: there is also a kinred by marriage; it is called Affinitie. And to both these kinreds will the Lord hauehave his inhibition to extend: You shall not approch to any that is neere of kinne to you, to vncouer their nakednesse, that is, you may not marry with, or otherwise lustfully abuse any of your kinred, be they of your kinred, either by Consanguinity, or by Affinity.
Now to treat of all these degrees, that are in the eighteenth of Leuiticus forbidden, were needlesse at this time. One aboue the rest will fit my text. Its that in the eighth verse. The nakednesse of thy fathers wife thou shalt not vncouer. Thy fathers wise, that is, thy step-mother, not thine owne mother. Her nakednesse, though shee bee but thy moth…r in law, thou shalt not vncouer. This might hauehave beene the sin of these Israelites in my text. Heere you see, A sonne and his father went in vntounto the same maide. If this maide were wife vntounto the father, then was shee stepmother to the sonne, and the sonne was incestuous.
This vncleannesse the very Heathen hauehave detested. S. Paul acknowledgeth as much, 1. Cor. 5.1. It is reported commonly, that there is fornication among you, and such fornication, as is not so much as named amongst the Gentiles, that one should hauehave his fathers wife. Not so much as named amongst the Gentiles? What? doe not Heathen histories yeeld examples of this vncleannesse? They doe.
They giuegive vsus to vnderstand ofnPlutarch. in Demetrio. Antiochus sonne of Seleucus; how he burning with the incestuous louelove of his mother in law Stratonice, got her by his Fathers assent to be his wife: They tell vsus ofoPlutarch. in Artaxerxes. Darius, sonne of Artaxerxes, how he obtained of his father by request, that he might take to wife, his mother in law, Aspasia. They relate vntounto vsus, howpAelius Spartianus in Antonino Caracalla. Peretius in Mellificio historico parte 2. pag. 202. Antoninus Caracalla Emperour tooke to wife his mother in law Iulia. Antoninus bewitched with her beautie, and desiring to marrie her, with sighes said vntounto her, Vellem, si liceret, Mother, if it were lawfull I would make you my wife. Shee; monster as she was, shamefully replyed: Si libet, licet; Annescis te Imperatorem esse, & leges dare, non accipere. Sonne, you hauehave called me mother; if you list to make me your wife, you may. Know you not that you are Emperour? you giuegive lawes, you take none: With this her answere Antoninus inflamed, matrem duxit vxorem, he married his mother.
Other examples of this vncleannesse Heathen histories hauehave affoorded vsus. How then is it, that S. Paul in the but now-alledged place, saith; that this vncleannesse, is such as is not so much as named among the Gentiles?
We need not fly to an Hyperbole to excuse the Apostles assertion. His meaning is, that though such vncleannesse were sometime practised among the Gentiles, yet that among the very Gentiles lawes were made against it: and that the better sort of the Gentiles did detest it, as a filthie, strange, and monstrous villanie.
Was this vncleannesse held in such detestation by the Gentiles, who were guided onelyonly by natures light? No maruaile then is it, if the Lord, here in my text, do so sharply reproue Israel for this vncleannesse among them. Israel! They were the people of the Lord, they were his inheritance, they had the lampe of the word of God to be their guide. Yet Israel, rebellious and disobedient Israel, hath played the harlot: A man and his father went in vntounto the same maide. VnderUnder this one kinde of incest are comprehended all the rest; And not incest onelyonly, but adulterie also, yea, and fornication too. So that indeed the Israelites are here reproued in generall for their filthie lusts. They were so inordinately vicious, and so disolute, that they blushed not once, to pollute themselues with fornication, with adulterie, with incest, with all manner of filthinesse: and hereby was the holy name of God prophaned.
It is true. Peccatorum turpitudine violatur nomen Dei sanctum: such is the filthinesse of sinne, that through it, the holy name of God is often violated. It was violated by Dauids sinne. Dauid the man after Gods owne heart, yet conuicted of murther, and adultery. Of murther, forq2. Sam. 12.9. killing Vriah the Hittite with the sword; and of adulterie, for taking to wife the wife of Vriah, is by the Prophet Nathan reprooued for prophaning the name of the Lord. In 2. Sam. 12.14 they are the expresse words of Nathan vntounto Dauid, By this deed thou hast giuen great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. Dauid (you see) was the sinner; others thereby tooke occasion to blaspheme the name of God.
The name of God was likewise blasphemed for the sinnes of the Israelites. The Israelites rEzech. 37.23.defiling themselues with the Idols of the Heathen, with their abhominations, with their iniquities, are in the Bookes of the Prophets reprooued for prophaning the name of the Lord. It is the complaint of the Lord himselfe, Esai 52.5. My name continually eueryevery day is blasphemed: and Ezech. 36.20.22.23. The Israelites liuing among the Heathen hauehave prophaned my Holy name. The Heathen there could say: Hi; populus Iehovae these are the people of the Lord; these are come out of the land of the Lord. A holy people sure. The Israelites, you see, sinned: the Heathen thereby tooke occasion to blaspheme the name of the Lord.
The name of the Lord was likewise blasphemed through the sinnes of the Iewes in S. Paules time. The then-Iewes, notwithstanding they made their sRom. 2.17.boast of God, andtVers. 18. knew his will, and wereuVers. 19. confident, that they were guides of the blind, the light of them which were in darkenesse, xVers. 20.instructors of the foolish, teachers of babes, that they had the forme of knowledge, and of the truth in the law; yet forasmuch as they were spotted with theft, with adultery, with sacriledge, with other enormities; they are by S. Paul reprooued, for prophaning the name of the Lord.
The reproofe is, Rom. 2.21. &c. Thou which teachest another, teachest thou not thy selfe? Thou that preachest, a man should not steale, doest thou steale? Thou that sayest, a man should not commit adulterie, doest thou commit adulterie? Thou that abhorrest Idols, doest thou commit sacriledge? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking of the law dishonourest thou God? It followeth, vers. 24. For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you. The Iewes, you see, were the sinners: The Gentiles thereby tooke occasion to blaspheme the name of God.
Thus is my doctrine confirmed vntounto you: Incestuous persons, adulterers, fornicators, and other vncleane sinners, are oftentimes the cause of prophaning the holy Name of God.
Let vsus now a while consider, what Vse wee may make hereof vntounto our selues.
Is it true? Incestuous persons, adulterers, fornicators, and other vncleane sinners, are they oftentimes the cause of prophaning the holy name of God? Then (dearely beloued) let vsus from hence be admonished, so to spend the remainder of our pilgrimage in this present world, in all holy conuersation, that no boyling, inordinate or vnruly motions, no vicious or vnchast affections, no act of vncleannesse, may so far hauehave dominion ouer vsus, as to cause the holy name of GOD through vsus to be prophaned. S. Austine Enarrat. in Psal. 146. speaketh plainely: Cum blasphematur Deus de malo opere tuo, opere tuo blasphemas Deum: that is, When God for any euill worke is blasphemed, thou by thine euill worke blasphemest God. To the same purpose sayth the same Father, Tract. 27. in Iohan. Rarò iam inuenivntur, qui linguâ blasphemant Deum; sed multi, qui vitâ: Seldome now adayes doe we finde any that with their tongue blaspheme God, but many that blaspheme him with their life. Such were they in S. Pauls time, of whom the blessed Apostle, Tit. 1.16. sayth: They professe that they know God, but in workes they denie him. And will we be such? Farre be it from vsus.
We professe that we know God, we professe our selues his seruants; walke we therefore worthie of our profession, as it becommeth the seruants of God. And how shall wee so walke? We so walke if we walke in holinesse. For (as St Paul speaketh) this is the will of God, euen your sanctification, that yee should absteine from fornication, that eueryevery one of you should know how to possesse his vessell in sanctification and honor, not in the lust of concupiscence, euen as the Gentiles which know not God. For God hath not called vsus vntounto vncleannesse, but vntounto holinesse. And therefore as the same Apostle aduiseth the Ephesians, Chap. 5.3. so aduise I you: Fornication and vncleannesse let them not be once named amongst you, as it becommeth Saints. Not once named! How then is it that the Apostle nameth them? How is it, that in this exercise I hauehave named vntounto you incest▪ adultery, fornication, and other sinnes of vncleannesse? Yes beloued; you may name them; but it must be out of detestation to shunne them; and not out of delight to nourish them.
From hence may you make this Collection: If I may not once name fornication, but with detestation, then may I not commit it. If I may not commit fornication, much lesse may I commit adulterie; much lesse incest; much lesse some other sinnes of vncleannesse: sinnes against nature; monstrous and prodigious sinnes. Now that we may not commit fornication, it is euident by these reasons.
First, it is vnlawfull by the law of Nature. The very Heathen, who hold no other light for their guide, but the glimmering light of Nature, hauehave so accounted of it. Memorable is the saying of Demosthenes, concerning theyDimi…ium talent…m vnius pretium noctis. great price that was set him, by the notorious strumpet Lais: zMacr…b. Saturnal. lib. 2. c. 2.foreign, I like not to buy Repentance so deare. Doth he not thereby intimate, that dishonest pleasure, & the vnbridled desires of the flesh, hauehave euermore for their companion, Repentance? Diogenes, the Cynicke, resembledaLaertius lib. 6. in vitâ Diogenis. beautifull harlots to sweete wine, tempered with deadly poyson. What else doth he thereby intimate, but that vnchast lusts, howsoeuer to a carnall man, they may at first seeme sweete, they are notwithstanding full of bitternesse, and are attended with perpetuall sorrow? Crates, the Philosopher, beholding at Delphi, the golden image of the harlot Phryne brake forth into this exclamation,bPlutarch. de fortuna Alexandri lib. 2. The like Laertius reporteth of Drogenes lib. 6. …it. Diog. foreign: this is the trophie, the monument of the loose lines of the Greekes. Doth he not thereby intimate, that incontinencie is euen by Natures law vnlawfull? I might here produce many goodly sentences, many notable examples of Ethnickes, and Pagans, to shew vntounto you the iust punishment, which for the most part followeth this detestable vice hard at the heeles; which might also stirre vsus vp to hate it, and to flie from it with all our might. But its time that I returne to the Booke of God.
Therein also doe we finde, that this filthy sinne, the sinne of fornication, is reputed vnlawfull by the very law of Nature. In Rom. 1.29. it is expressely named among the sins of the Gentiles, who were meerely naturall men. And Leuit. 18.24. it is layd to the charge of the Cananites, Gentiles too, that with such vncleannesse themselues were defiled, and the land, wherein they liued was defiled: and therefore are they in that place threatned, that the land should spew them out. You hauehave now the first reason, why we may not commit fornication. The reason is, because it is vnlawfull by the law of Nature.
Secondly, it is forbidden in holy Scripture. In Ephes. 5 3. And in 1. Thes. 4.3. In the latter place we are commanded to abstaine from c1. Cor. 6.18.fornication, and in the former, not once to name it.
Thirdly, it is malum lubricum, a sinne full of great danger: So meaneth Salomon, Prou. 23.27. where he sayth, A whore is a deepe ditch, and a strange woman is a narrow dProu. 22.14.pitt. The comparison is plaine; A Harlot to a deepe ditch, and to a narrow pit. The meaning of the holy Ghost is: As a man that falleth into a deepe ditch, or, into a narrow pit, breaketh either an arme, or a legge, and with much adoe getteth out againe: so is it with them, that are ouertaken with this vile sinne of fornication: the woman cEccl…s. 26.7.whose heart is as snares and nets, and her hands as bands, will bee to them more bitter then death; with much adoe shall they escape from her.
Fourthly, it stoppeth the passage into Heauen. S. Paul affirmeth it, 1. Cor. 6.9. Fornicators shall not inherite the kingdome of God; and againe, Ephes. 5.5. No whoremonger hath any inheritance in the kingdome of Christ. S. Iohn, Reuel. 21.18. sayth as plainely: Whoremongers shall hauehave their part in that lake, which burneth with fire and brimstone.
Thus hauehave you, of many, foure reasons, why wee may not commit fornication.
1. It is vnlawfull by the law of Nature.
2. It is forbidden by the law of God.
3. It is full of great danger.
4. It stoppeth the passage into Heauen.
Now see the validitie of my former inference. We may not commit fornication, for the reasons now specified; much lesse may we commit adulterie; much lesse incest; much lesse other sinnes of vncleannesse, sinnes against Nature, monstrous and prodigious sinnes. All these S. Paul, 1. Cor. 6. hath euen chayned together, to cast them into Hell. And that you may take notice of it, he hath a foreign for you vers. 9. foreign, Be not deceiued. Neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, nor abusers of themselues with mankinde, shall inherit the kingdome of God. Thus farre hath the first vse of my doctrine led mee. The second followeth.
My doctrine was, Incestuous persons, adulterers, fornicators, and other vncleane sinners, are oftentimes the cause of profaning the holy name of God. This in the second place serueth for the reproofe of such as suffer themselues to be kindled with the burning fire of luxuriousnes, or carnall lusts. And hereby are all incestuous marriages condemned.fCaietan. in Aquin. 2. 2. qu. 154 Art. 9. §. Respondeo. Emanuell King of Portugall married his wiues sister:gCaietan. ibid. Ferdinand the younger King of Sicilie married his fathershJoannam. sister: Philip the second King of Spaine married his sistersiAnnam. daughter: Henry the eight King of England married his brotherskCatharinam. wife. All these were incestuous marriages, and are by this doctrine condemned.
But some may say; these marriages were not concluded, but by the Popes dispensation. Why then say I, they are condemned? I say so; because they are precisely against the law of God written, Levit. 18. But may not the Pope dispense against that law? What! Dispense against the law of God!
We are not ignorant, that the chiefe patrons of the Pontificiall law, howsoeuer they grantlIn cap. Mennā. 2. q. 5. Annotat. marg. Papam quandoque nimiùm papaliter dispensare, that the Pope sometimes dispenseth too much Pope-like; doe notwithstanding expresly affirme,mGloss. in Cap. Post translationem Extra, de Renuntiatione. & 25. qu. 1. Cap. Sunt quidam. Papam bene dispensare contra Apostolum; that the Pope well dispenseth against the Apostle. nRainold. Thes. 5. pag. 141.Neither do they grant vntounto the Pope this power of dispensing, only in causes perteining to the positiue law of man, (with which colour they now paint ouer that same flagitious glosse of dispensing against the Apostle) but also in matters ratified by the law of God.
I could here tell you of many wicked dispensations, that hauehave bin granted by the Pope; as thatoCap. ad Apostolicae in Sexto de Sentent. & reiudicat. Bulla Pij 5. contra Reginam Angliae. subiects may be discharged of their oath and fealtie, and may be licenced to withdraw their allegiance from their Prince, yea, to take armes against him, yea to lay violent hands on him; thatpConcil. Constans. Sess 19. Cap. Quòd non obstantibus s…luis conductibus. promise may be broken, with God and man; that most horribleqRainold. Thes. 5. § 41. pag. 188. abominations, may be committed; that all things, diuine and humane, may be peruerted; right and wrong, Heauen and earth, lawfull and vnlawfull may be confounded togither. But I may not so far digresse from my present purpose. Let it suffice for this time, that you see the impietie of the Popes dispensations, (or rather dissipations, asrDe Cons…. ad …u… …n. lib. 3. c. 4. S. Bernard calleth them) in his allowing of incestuous mariages, that a man may marry his wiues sister, or his fathers sister, or his sisters daughter, or his brothers wife: all precisely against the law of God.
Here might we stand amased and wonder, that such irregular and shamelesse dispensations, should passe with the app…obation of the Pope, who beares a face, as if he were most holy, yea Holinesse it selfe. Speake we to him, or write to him, our compellation must be Pater Sanctissime, most holy Father; and Sanctitas Tua, your Holinesse. But knowing him to be that s2. Thess. 2 3.man of sinne, that sonne of perdition, that grand Antichrist, who according to the prophecies of the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures, was to be reuealed in these latter times, we need not wonder though he dispenseth with all the most horrible and abominable impieties, that may be. Can wetMatth. 7.16. gather grapes of thornes, or figs of thistles? can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit? Can we expect that the Pope, whou2. Thess. 2.4. opposeth himselfe against God, and exalteth himselfe aboue all that is called God, should either himselfe liue, or cause others to liue, according to the holy law of God?
For the Popes themselues (would the time and your patience permit) I could rip vp their liues, and shew vntounto you how they hauehave bin stained and defiled with all manner of fearefull, notorious, and abhominable sinnes. But my text will not suffer me so fa…re to range. The sinnes of vncleanenesse, wherein those holy fathers hauehave, to the astonishment of the wo…ld, wallowed, are the sinnes in my present text and doctrine smitten at.
What shall I tell you of the incest committed by many of them? by Iohn the 13. with Stephana, his fathers concubine? by Iohn the xAliâs the 24.23. with his brothers wife? by Paul the 3. with two of his Nieces? by Pius the 5. with his owne sister, byyJoan. Iovian. Pontan. Alexander the 6. with his owne daughter.
I could make true report vntounto you of many of them very infamous for their beastly Sodomie, for their filthy adulterie, for other their vncleane lust. So holy were those holy Fathers. Neither were they themselues alone giuen ouer to such filthinesse, but they also tooke order to hauehave others like vntounto them. They could not alone be wicked.zSzeged. Spec. Pontif. Alexander the sixt gaue leaue to Cardinall Mendoza to abuse his owne bastard sonne in incestuous Sodomie. aDownam de Antich. lib. 1. cap. 6. O…m…rod Pict. Pap. Sz…ged. spec. Pont. Vescel Kroning Tractat. de Indulgentijs.Sixtus the fourth gaue licence to the Cardinall of S. Lucie, and to all his familie, that they might in the three hot moneths of the yeare freely vse Sodomie. Iohannes a Casa a Florentine, Archbishop of Beneventum, Legat for Iulius 3. at Venice, set forth a booke in Italian Metre in commendation of this Diana of the Papists, this abominable sinne of Sodomie. Will you heare more of Sixtus the fourth? He to incite and incourage others to be as filthy as himselfe, built in Rome a famous stewes, not onelyonly of women, but also of males. The femall stewes, how aduantagious it hath bin to the Pope, and gainefull to his coffers, may from hence appeare, that the Pope hath receiued from them a yearely pension, amounting sometimes to three thousand, sometimes to foure thousand Ducates. It is said of Paulus the third, that in his tables he had the names of 45000 Curtizans, which paid vntounto him a monethly tribute.
Now that the Pope neede not to loose so great a reuenew; some hauehave bestirred themselues to patronize his stewes by argument and by autoritie. Their chiefe reason is: that common Curtizans in hot countries are a necessarie euill.
Harding Confut. Apol. Iewelli par. 4. cap. 1. thus speaketh of it, It is common in all great Cities in hot countries, not to banish from among them, the filthy generation of harlots for the auoyding of a greater mischiefe.
Dr Bishop in his second part of the Reformation of a Catholicke deformed, in the treatise of repentance, saith, The stewes in some hot Countries, are tolerated to auoyd a greater mischiefe.
The cheife autoritie they bring is S. Austines, out of his second booke de ordine cap. 4. Aufer meretrices de rebus humanis, turbaveris omnia libedinibus: Take harlots from among men, yee shall disturbe all things with leacherous lusts.
To their reason, that Curtezans in hot Countries are a necessarie euill: we say, that the heat of a countrey is no sufficient warrant for the popish stewes. The land of Israel is a hotter climate, then that of Italie, yet saith God vntounto the Iewes, Deut. 23.17. There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a whore-keeper of the sonnes of Israel.
For S. Austines autoritie, wee acknowledge it to bee great and reuerend. But withall we say, that S. Austine, when he wrote those words, was not S. Austine. When he wrote that tract of Order, himselfe then liued in disorder; a yong gallant, a novice in the faith, not well instructed, not yet baptised in the name of Christ; himselfe then kept a concubine, and liued in whoredome.
But the same Saint Austine, afterward fully instructed and baptised, said thus: Istam, in vsu scortatorum, terrena civi…as licitam fecit turpitudinem. The words are De Ciuit. Dei lib. 14. cap. 18. The citie of the world, not the Church of God hath made this filthinesse of harlots to bee lawfull. So doth not Saint Austines autoritie hold vp the stewes. Saint Paul beates them downe flat, Rom. 3.8. they who say, L…t vsus doe euill that good may come thereof; their damnation is iust. In a word, the toleration of the stewes, is an occasion of vncleanenesse to many a yong man and woman, that otherwise would absteine from all such kinde of filthinesse.
What an abomination is it, for a brother and his brother, a father and his sonne, a nephew and his vncle, to come to one and the same harlot, one before or after the other? Is it not the very abomination, which the Lord reproueth in my text: A man and his father will goe in to the same maide, to profane my holy name? I hauehave held you too long. May it please you to remember my doctrine. It was, Incestuous persons, adulterers, fornicators, and other vncleane sinners, are oftentimes the cause of profaning the holy name of God.
A twofold Vse I made of it. One was; to stirre vp our selues to a holy conversation. The other, to reproue such as are giuen ouer to vncleanenesse. I conclude with that exhortation of Saint Peter, 1. Epist. chap. 2.11. Dearely beloued, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, absteine from fleshly lusts. They may seeme vntounto you a Paradise to your desires; but they will proue a Purgatorie to your purses, and a Hell to your soules. Doe you louelove your bodies? Abstaine from fleshly lusts; for they are rottennesse to your bones. Doe you louelove your soules? Abstaine from fleshly lusts; for they warre against your soules. Doe you louelove your credits? Abstaine from fleshly lusts; for they are dishonourable. The heate of carnall lusts, what is it but an infernall fire, whose fuell is fullnesse of bread, and aboundance of idlenesse; whose sparkes are euill communication, whose smoake is infamie, whose ashes are pollution, whose end is Hell.
Dearely beloued, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstaine from fleshly lusts; hauehave your conuersation honest among all men, that they beholding your good works, may glorifie God in the day of visitation.
Now gracious Father, so worke in vsus, thou and thy power, thou and thy mercy, so bring it to passe, that we may so spend the remainder of our dayes here in all holy conversation, that after this life ended, we may hauehave our inheritance in thy kingdome. Grant this for thy sonne Christ Iesus sake. To whom with thee &c.