The Third Decade of Sermons, Written by Henry Bullinger. Of the Fourth Precept of the Second Table, Which Is in Order the Eighth of the Ten Com-mandments, Thou Shalt Not Steal. Of the Owning and Possessing of Proper Goods, and of the Right and Law-ful Getting of the Same; Against Sundry Kinds; of Theft. The First Sermon
For the sustaining and nourishing of our lives and families, we men have need of earthly riches. Next therefore after the commandments touching the preservation of man’s life, and the holy keeping of wedlock’s knot, in this fourth commandment a law is given for the true getting, possessing, using and bestowing of wealth and worldly substance; to the end that we should not get them by theft or evil means, that we should not possess them unjustly, nor use or spend them unlawfully. Justice requireth to use riches well, and to give to every man that which is his: now, since the laws of God be the laws of justice, they do very necessarily by way of commandment say, “Thou shalt not steal.” These words, again, in number are few; but in sense, of ample signification. For in this precept theft itself is utterly forbidden; all shifting subtilties are flatly prohibited; deceit and guile is banished; all cozening fetches are clean cut off; covetousness, idleness, prodigality, or lavish spending, and all unjust dealing, is debarred: moreover, charge is here given for mainof justice, and that especially in contracts and bargains. Wonderful turmoils, verily, are raised up and begun among men of this world about the getting, possessing, and spending of temporal riches: it was expedient therefore, that God in
his law, which he ordaineth for the health, commodity, and peace of us men, should appoint a state, and prescribe an order, for earthly goods: as in this law he hath most excellently done. And that ye may the better understand itI will at this present, by the help of God’s Holy Spirit, discourse upon the proper owning and upright getting of worldly riches: in which treatise the whole consideration of theft in all his kinds shall be plainly declared.:
For the proper owning and possessing of goods is not by this precept prohibited; but we are forbidden to get them unjustly, to possess them unlawfully, and to spend them wickedly: yea, by this commandment the proper owning of peculiar substance is lawfully ordained and firmly established. The Lord forbiddeth theft; therefore he ordaineth and confirmeth the proper owning of worldly riches. For what canst thou steal, if all things be common to all men? For thou hast stolen thine own, and not another man’s, if thou takest from another that which he hath. But God forbiddeth theft; and therefore, by the making of this law, he confirmeth the proper possession of peculiar goods. But because there is no small number of that furious sect of Anabaptists, which deny this propriety of several! possessions? I will by some evident testimonies of scripture declare that it is both allowed and Tatified of old. Of Abraham, who in the scripture is called the father of faith, Eliazer, his servant, saith: “God hath blessed my master marvellously, that he is become great; and hath given him sheep and oxen, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, camels and asses; and to his son hath he given all that he hath.” Lo then, Abraham was wealthy, and did possess by the right of propriety all those things which God had given him; and he left them all, by the title of inheritance, as peculiar and proper goods unto his son Isaac. Isaac therefore and Jacob possessed their own and proper goods. Moreover God, by the hand of Moses, brought the Israelites, his people, into the land of promise, the grounds whereof he did by lot divide unto the tribes of [ several: separate, particular.)
[3 See Articles of Religion, Art. xxxvi. and Bullinger adversus a” Lib. 1. cap. 9, p. 22, and Lib. 1v. cap. 9, p. 143, Tigur.
> camels and asses, not in original Lat. of Bullinger.
Josue his servant, appointing to every one a particular portion to possess; and did by laws provide that those inheritances should not be mingled and confounded together. In Salomon and the prophets there are very many precepts and sentences tending to this purpose.
But I know very well that these troublesome wranglers do make this objection, and say: That christian men are not bound to these proofs, that are fetched out of the old Testa-. ment And although I could confute that objection, and prove that those places out of the old Testament do in this case bind us to mark and follow them; yet will I rather, for sake, allege some proofs out of the scriptures of the new Testament, to stop their mouths withal. Our Lord Jesus Christ doth greatly commend in his disciples the works of mercy, which do consist in feeding the hungry, in giving drink to the thirsty, in clothing the naked, in visiting prisoners and those that be sick, and in harbouring strangers and banished men. He therefore granteth to his disciples a propriety and possession of peculiar goods, wherewith they may frankly do good unto other, and help the needy and the man in misery. But, the proper owning of several goods being once taken away, good deeds and alms must of necessity be utterly lacking: for if all things be common, then dost thou give nothing of that which is thine, but all that thou spendest is of the common riches. Yet Paul the apostle, in his epistle to the Corinthians, biddeth every one to lay up alms by himself, which he might receive when he came to Corinth. He hath also commanded every one to bestow so much as he can find in his heart willingly to give, and according to thes) quantity that every one possesseth, not according to that which he possesseth not; and yet not to bestow it so, that they to whom it is given should have more than enough, and they which give should be pinched with penury and lack of necessary. The same apostle saith: “We beseech brethren, that you study to be quiet, and to do your ες [8 per Josue, Lat; by Joshua.]
[5 inter abominandos Anabaptistas eos statuimus, qui vetus testa=]
[5 mentum rejiciunt, qui testimonia que ex illo adducuntur ad declaranda]
[Ἷ οὐ confirmanda dogmata Christiane fidei, aut ad errores et falsa dog-]
[mata refutanda, non recipiunt, &c.—Bullinger adv. Anabap. Lib. τι.]
[cap. 15, p. 74.]]
own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you: that you may walk honestly to them that be withiv. out, and that ye may have lack of nothing.” I could, out of other his! epistles, allege many more proofs of this same sort: but these are enough to declare sufficiently, that propriety of goods is in both the Testaments permitted to christian men. the In the Acts of the Apostles we read? that among them of the primitive and apostolic church all things were common; but that which followeth in the same book doth declare what kind of communion that was which they had: for Luke saith, “None of them said that any thing was his of that which he possessed.” Lo here, the first Christians possessed houses, grounds, and other riches, by the right of propriety; and yet they possessed them not as their own goods, but as the goods of other men, and as it were in common, so notwithstanding that the right of propriety did still remain in possessors’ own hands: and if so be at any time necessity so required, they sold their lands and houses, and helped the need of them that lacked. If they sold, then that which they sold was undoubtedly their own: for no good man doth sell another man’s substance, but that which is his own, or that which he hath taken in hand to husband as his own. Moreover, St Peter,
3. 4.1 compounding all this controversy, saith to Ananias, “Whiles the land remained, was it not thine own? and when it was sold, was it not in thy power? How is it then, that thou liest to the Holy Ghost, and keepest back part of the price of the land, and makest, notwithstanding, as though thou hadst brought the whole price unto us?” It was in Ananias his power not to have sold the land; and, when it was sold, to have kept to himself the whole sum of money: and yet for that deed he should not have been excluded from the church of the faithful. It was free therefore at that time, even as at this day also it is, either to sell, or not to sell, their? lands and possessions, and to bestow it commonly for the relieving of the poor. Therefore that place in the Acts of the Apostles doth not take away the right of propriety, nor command such a communion of every man’s goods as our mad-headed Anabaptists go about to ordain.
[[Π his, not in original Lat.] (? sane, Lat. omitted: indeed.] [ their, not in original Lat.]]
Ε΄. 1.7 THE EIGHTH PRECEPT OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 21 And for because I perceive that some do very stiffly stick to the letter, and urge that communion of substance, it shall not be tedious to recite unto you, dearly beloved, other men’s judgments touching this point; I mean, the opinions of them which by conference of scriptures have made this matter most plain and manifest.
Whereas we read in the second chapter of the Acts, that all which believed were joined in one it must not so be understood as though they, like monks, forsaking every one his proper house, did dwell together in common, all in one house; but that they, as it is immediately after added, continued daily in the temple with one accord: not that they left off every man to eat in his own house and to provide things necessarily required of nature, or that every one sold the. house that he had; since there is afterward added, “breaking bread from house to house.” If they brake bread from house to house, let these Anabaptists answer, in what houses the Christians at Jerusalem did break their bread. In the houses of unbelievers? I think, nay. Therefore they brake bread and ate meat in the houses of the faithful. How therefore did they all sell or forsake their lands and houses? How did they live together like cloisterers? Whereas Luke saith therefore, that “” so many as believed were joined in one,” that is to be understood, that they did oftentimes assemble in the temple: so then that communicating of goods among the Christians was nothing else but a sale, which the wealthier sort made of their lands and houses, to the end that by bestowing that money the poor might be relieved, lest they, being compelled by penury and famine, should turn from Christianity to Judaism again. Moreover, we read in many places of the Acts, that Christians kept to themselves the use of their houses and ordering of their substance; as in the ninth of the Acts we find of Tabitha, who was full of good works, making coats and clothing for widows and poor people. In the twelfth of the Acts we read that Peter the apostle, being brought out of prison, came to the house of Mary, the
[[ Most of the ensuing arguments from scripture occur in Melanc-]
[thon’s Epist. adv. Anabap. Corp. Ref. Tom. 1. col. 970—3, and Calvin’s]
[Instruct. adv. Libertinos, cap. 21, p. 393, Tom. vir. Amstel. 1667. See]
[also Bullinger, adv. Anabapt. Lib. 1v. cap. 9.] [6 Acts ii. 44, erant conjuncti, Erasmus’ rendering. ]]
mother of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together to pray:” he saith not, to dwell, but to pray; whereby thou mayest understand that the congregation was assembled in that house to pray. Again, in the ninth chapter, Peter stayeth many days in the house of Simon the tanner, which was a christian man, and dwelt in his own house. And in the eleventh chapter, ‘ the disciples, according to every one’s ability, sent help to the brethren which dwelt in Jury.” Lo here, “as every one,” saith he, “was of ability.” But what ability could any of them have had, unless they had somewhat of their own in possession? In the sixteenth chapter, Lydia, the woman that sold purple, when she was baptized, did say, “If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there.” Why said she not, sell my house; but, come into my house:” but for because she did so possess her house after she believed, as that she made it common to the apostles? In the twentieth chapter, Paul doth glory that he hath not desired any man’s gold, silver, or precious clothes. But what sense or reason could be in these words, unless it were lawful for christian men to keep the possession of that which is theirs? And in the twenty-first chapter, Philip had at Caesarea a house and four daughters: why sold he not his house? Philemon [Phe 16 also, Paul’s host, had both a house and a servant too. It is therefore most plain and evident, that the Holy Ghost’s meaning is not to have such an order of life observed, as these people do devise; but that every man should govern well his own house and family, and relieve the brethren’s necessity, according as his ability will suffer and bear. To this end also do other places belong; 1 Timothy v., Titus ii., 1 Thess. iv., 2 Thess. iii. And when in all his Epistles almost he prescribeth to parents and children, to husbands and wives, to masters and servants, their office and duties; what doth he else, but teach how to order our houses and families? Thus much thus far,
What may be said of that, moreover, that many wealthy men in the gospel are reported to have been worshippers of God? Joseph of Arimathea, which buried the Lord after he was crucified, is said to have been a wealthy man, and a disciple of Christ also. The women were wealthy, which followed the Lord from Galilee, and ministered to him and
his disciples of their goods and substance. The eunuch! treasurer of Queen Candace was a wealthy man. Tabitha of Joppa, whom Peter raised from death to life, was rich, and spent her substance freely upon poor and needy people. Lydia, the seller of purple, was wealthy too; and innumerable more, who were both godly and faithful people. Whereas the Lord therefore did say to the young man, “If thou wilt be perfect, go, and sell that which thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me;” that is no general law, or simple doctrine belonging to all men; but is a demonstration only, to shew that the young man to whom he spake had not yet so perfectly fulfilled the law, as he thought verily that he had done: for he thought he had done all, and that nothing was wanting. For the young man set more by his goods than he did by God and the voice of God’s commandment: for he departed sadly, and did not as the Lord had bidden him; and thereby declared that he had not yet fulfilled the law. Moreover, we may out of other places gather that the Lord did not cast down his disciples to misery and beggary. Neither was Paul the apostle ashamed to make laws for rich men, and to prescribe an order how they ought to behave themselves. “To them that be rich,” saith he, “in this world, give charge that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, which giveth us abundantly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to give, glad to distribute, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold upon eternal life.” Hereunto belong the admonitions of our Saviour, who saith: “Ye cannot serve God and mammon at once.” Again, “Riches are thorns that choke the seed of the word of God.” And again, “Verily, I say unto you, a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” And as the minds of wealthy men are not utterly to be discouraged and driven to desperation, as though it were impossible for them to be saved; so are they to be admonished of the imminent perils, lest peradventure they sleep securely [! Substituted for another word used by the translator.)
over their riches, being seduced by Satan to abuse their wealth, when as indeed they ought rather to use it after the rule of the Apostle, which I did even now recite. The Gangresian synod, a very ancient council, verily condemned them which taught, “that faithful rich men could have no hope to be saved by the Lord, unless they did renounce and forsake all the good that they did possess.” St Augustine enrolleth and reckoneth the Apostolics in his catalogue, or bead-row, of heretics: “They, taking arrogantly this name to themselves, did not admit into their company any of them which used the fellowship of their own wives, or had in possession any proper substance.” After that he addeth: “They therefore are heretics, because, separating themselves from the church, they think that they have no hope to be saved which use and enjoy the things that they themselves lack. They are like unto the Encratites, and are called also by the name of Apotactites” Touching riches, they of themselves verily are not evil, but the good gifts of God; it is the abuse that makes them evil. But for the use of them, I will speak hereafter.
Here followeth now the treatise of the getting of wealth and riches, which be necessary for the maintenance of our lives and families. Touching the getting whereof there is a large discourse among our lawyers: for they say, that goods are gotten by the law of nations, and by the peculiar law of every particular country: by the law of nations; as by prevention in possession, by captivity, by finding, by birth, by casting up of water, by changing the kind, by increase in bondage, by mixture, by building, planting, sowing, tilling in
[The Synod of Gangra in Paphlagonia was held after that of Nice,]
[but before that of Antioch, i.e. between A.p. 325 and 341; but the]
[exact year is not known. ] [3 — τῶν χρημάτα ἐχόντων, καὶ μὴ ἀναχωρούντων αὐτῶν, κατεγίνωσκον]
[(οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἑὐστάθιον) —kara τούτων οὖν ἱεροὶ ἀθροισθέντες πατέρες κα-]
[νόνας ἐξέθεντο. Zonaras in Can. Apost. ὅζο. Lutet. Paris. 1618. p- 310.] [ Apostolici, qui se isto nomine arrogantissime vocaverunt, eo]
[quod in suam communionem non reciperent utentes conjugibus et res]
[proprias possidentes.. Ideo isti haretici sunt, quoniam se ab ecclesia]
[separantes nullam spem putant eos habere, qui utuntur his rebus]
[quibus ipsi carent. Encratitis isti similes sunt; nam et Apotactitee]
[appellantur.— August. Opp. Par. 1531, Tom. v1. p. 4, col. 3.—“Eykpa-]
[τῖται, continents; ἀποτακτικοὶ, separatists. See Vol. I. p. 432, n. 3.]]
a ground free from possession, and by delivery: by the peculiar law of every particular country; as by continuance of possession, by prescription, by giving, by will, by legacy, by fiefment, by succession, by challenge, by purchases Of all which particularly to speak, it would be a labour too tedious, and for you to hear, dearly beloved, little profitable. That therefore which we are to say we will frame to the manners and customs of our age; and we will utter that which shall tend to our avail. Principally, and before all things, we must close and shut up an evil eye, lest we be carried away with too much concupiscence and desire. “The light of the body,” saith our Saviour Christ in the Gospel, “is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thine whole body shall be lightened: but if thine eye be evil, thy body shall be all dark.” The mind of man, being endued with faith and not infected with concupiscences and naughty lusts, doth give light to all things that he shall take in hand, go about, and do: but if his mind be corrupt and unclean, then shall his deeds savour also of corruption and uncleanness. Wherefore faith and upright conscience must subdue and beat down too much concupiscence and covetousness, which take their original and roots from distrust, making unholy and unclean all the counsels of man, all his thoughts, all his words and deeds. And that we may be able and of force sufficient to captivate and bring them into subjection, necessary it is, that the grace of Christ assist us; which every godly-minded man and woman doth ask of God with godly and faithful prayers.
Behoveful it is that we always set before our eyes, and have deeply graven in our hearts, the doctrine of our Sa- ο΄ viour Christ touching these, and the instruction also of his holy apostles; which is not so much but it may be well borne away. We will, therefore, rehearse unto you, dearly beloved, three several places, two of them out of the Gospel,
[τ; [4 Jure gentium, et jure civili.. Occupatione, captivitate, inven-]
[tione, nativitate, alluvione, specificatione, accessione, confusione, sedifi-]
[catione, plantatione, satione, cultura, traditione. Usucapione, prze-]
[scriptione, donatione, testamento, legato, fidei commisso, successione,]
[arrogatione, adjectione.—Corp. Jur. Civil. Digest. Lib. xvt. Tit. i. col.]
[1447, &c. Tom. 1. Par. 1628.—All these terms of the civil law are very]
[fairly explained in the translation.)]
and the third out of Saint Paul: in which places, as it were in a perfect abridgement, you may have comprised what things soever can be required of such as worship God in truth. In the Gospel according to St Matthew thus saith our Lord and Saviour: “Hoard not up for yourselves treasures in earth, where the rust and moth doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up treasure for you in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your hearts also be. No man can serve two masters: for either he shall hate the one, and love the other; or else he shall lean to the one, and despise the other: ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, be not careful for your life, what ye shall eat or drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on: is not the life more worthy than meat, and the body more worth than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor carry into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them: are not ye much better than they? Which of you, by taking careful thought, can add one cubit to his stature? And why care ye for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they labour not, neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you, that even Salomon in all his royalty was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which, though it stand to day, is to-morrow cast into the furnace; shall he not much more do the same for you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat, or, What shall we drink, or, Wherewith shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek: for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God’, and all these things shall be added unto you. Care not then for to-morrow; for the morrow shall care for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Thus saith the Lord in the sixth of Matthew’s Gospel.
Again, in the twelfth chapter of St Luke’s gospel he? saith: “Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for no man’s
[1 et justitiam ejus, Lat.; omitted by the translator: and his right-]
[eousness. [2 idem Dominus noster, Lat.; the same our Lord.)]
life standeth in the abundance of things which he possesseth:” that is, the life hath no need of superfluity, or, no man’s life hath need of more than enough. “And he put forth a similitude, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth fruits plentifully; and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do; I will pull down my barns, and build greater, and therein will I gather all my fruits and my goods; and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up in store for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night do they require thy soul again from thee: then whose shall these things be which thou hast provided? So is he that gathereth riches to himself, and is not rich to God-wards.” Paul, the vessel of election, following in all things his teacher and master, crieth out, and saith: “Godliness is a great lucre, if a man be content with that he hath: for we brought nothing into the world, and it is certain that we may carry nought away; but, having food and raiment, we must therewith be content. For they that will be rich fall into temptations and snares, and into many foolish and noisome lusts, which drown men in perdition and destruction. For covetousness, and the love of money, is the root of all evil; which while some have lusted after, they erred from the faith, and wrapped themselves in many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness, &ec.”
Whosoever, therefore, meaneth by bodily labour or any kind of traffic to get a living and things necessary for himself and his family, let him take these godly precepts instead of. treacle and other wholesome medicines, to strengthen his mind against the envenomed force of poisoned greediness, and the infecting plague of covetousness. And when he hath with this medicine against poison, compounded of the doctrine of the evangelists and apostles, fortified his mind against the
[3 animam tuam repetunt abs te, Lat. So the Vulgate and Erasmus.]
[The original is, τὴν ψυχήν σου ἀπαιτοῦσιν amd σοῦ. See the marginal]
[reading of our authorised version. ] [4 theriaca, Lat.; a compound medicine against the bites of poi-]
[sonous animals; treacle. Facciolati Tot. Lat. Lex. in voc.)]
plague, then let him immediately bend himself to some labour and kind of occupation. But let every one pick out and choose an honest and profitable occupation, not a needless art, or a science hurtful to any other man. And finally, let all men fly idleness, as a plague or contagious disease. And now again let us in this case hear the heavenly words of that i, holy apostle Paul, who saith: “We charge you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that liveth inordinately, and not after the institution! which he received of us. For when we were with you, this we warned you of, that if any would not work, the same should not eat. For we hear say, that there are some which walk among you inordinately, working not at all, but be busy-bodies. Them that are such we command and exhort, by our Lord Jesus Christ, that thopsgorking in quietness, eat their own bread.” fs 5
In all ages, and among all honest men, both idleness and needless occupations have been always condemned. Hesiodus said:
Both gods and men abhor the lazy hand-inbosom’d lout2, That works not in a common weal, but lurks, and lives without Pains-taking; like the idle drone, That lives upon the spoil of that, for which the busy bees Do tire themselves with toil
And Sophocles said:
Where idleness doth sit a~brood, There’s never good egg hatch’d3
For God doth not assist slothful persons and idle slowbacks. Now 1 call those needless occupations, which idle and ill-disposed people do use, thereby to be troublesome to their neighbours, and to deceive other men; exercising,
[[! institutionem, Lat.; Erasmus’ rendering. See Fulke’s Defence]
[of Translations of the Bible, Parker Soc. ed. pp. 151, 166.] [2 to bosom, to conceal in privacy. Johnson’s Dict.; lout, to bow,]
[bend, or do obeisance; and hence a clown or rustic was so called.]
[Toone’s Glossary. Lond. 1834.] [5 Hesiodi “Epy. καὶ “Hp. 301. Sophocl. Iphig. apud Stobeei Floril.]
[Tit. xxx. ed. Gaisford, Vol. π. p. 30.]]
I confess, an occupation, but such an one as is utterly unlawful and unprofitable to all men, themselves only excepted, to whom it brings in excessive gains: of which sort are usurers, engrossers, hucksters4, and other moe, that have many arts to frank themselves with an idle shew of business, like a swine shut up to be fatted in a sty’. As for them whose wealth is come to them, not by their own labour, or their own industry, but by inheritance of their ancestors’ leaving, let them consider with themselves by what means the riches were gotten, which now by inheritance are fallen to their lot: and, if they perceive that they be heirs of unjust-gotten goods, let them be liberal, and make amends for them?, not doubling the evil in possessing unjustly, and more wickedly digesting the thing that before was naughtily come by. Let them put no trust or confidence in their ill-gotten riches, neither let them give themselves to idleness, but still be busy in some honest thing. But yet most commonly it cometh to pass, that ill-gotten goods are spent very lewdly. The best way therefore is, either to be heir to a good, just, and liberal man; or else to seek means, by their own toil and travail, to have of thine own wherewithal to sustain both thine own life and the lives of thy family.
But many men make a doubt here, and call it into question: first, whether bargaining, and buying and selling, be lawful or no; and then, what one occupation it is, among all other, that doth best beseem a godly man. Them which stick upon these doubts I wish to consider these reasons that follow. First, it is manifest, that contracts are for the most part voluntary, and that bargains are made with the mutual consent of the buyer and seller; so that each one may take. deliberation, and make choice of that which he would have, to see whether it be best for his purpose or no. Of this sort Ἶ are the exchange of things, suretyship, letting, hiring, mortgaging, borrowing, lending, covenanting, buying, selling, and
[[ monopola et propole, Lat.] [5 negotioso otio se saginantes, Lat. ] [6 negotiatione mqua, Lat.; by fair trading.) [7 and make amends for them; not in the original Latin. ] [ male partum male dilabatur, Lat. See Erasmi Adag. Chiliad,]
[p- 727, Hanov. 1617.] [9 negotiatione justa, Lat.)]
other moe like unto these. These things, as experience doth prove, even the holiest men cannot be without, so long as they live in this frail world. Neither doth the Lord of the law in any place forbid these kind of contracts, but planteth them rather in his commonweal of Israel, that the people might know and acknowledge them to be the ordinances of God: the abuse, deceit, guile, and confidence in them is flatly forbidden by the word of the Lord. If, therefore, any man do use them moderately, not staying himself upon them, nor reposing his trust in them, in so using them he sinneth not. And here again let us hear the words of the apostle, who saith: “Let them which have wives be as though they had none; them which weep, as though they wept not; and them which rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and them which buy, as though they possessed not; and them which use this world, as though they used it not’: for the fashion of this world doth pass away.” In like manner, we do in no place read that just and lawful gains have been at any time forbidden: yea, the Lord doth bless the labour and travail of his servants, which love him, that even as in virtue, so also they may increase in riches and substance. This do the examples of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob evidently tes- τι, 8, tify. And the very apostles bid us not? to look after no gain, but charge us only to keep ourselves from gaping after filthy gain. kinds There are among men many and divers occupations; and the state and conditions, wherein men are, do stand in need of many and sundry things. There is an occupation or grosser kind of labour, which is put in practice by force of hand and strength of body rather than by art, although it wanteth not altogether wit and discretion. There is also a more fine and subtile labour of the wit, which, although it be not done without the body and strength of man, is yet, notwithstanding, accomplished by the wit rather than by the bodily force of him which laboureth. Of the first sort are all those occupations or sciences which are commonly called handicrafts; and in that number we reckon also merchandising, husbandry, and
[[! So Tyndale, 1534, and Cranmer, 1539; and the Vulgate and]
[Erasmus agree with Bullinger’s text, tanquam non utantur. ] (2 non jubent nos nullum sperare lucrum, Lat. So 1577; not, is]
[wanting in 1587.]]
grazing of cattle. Of the latter sort are the study of tongues, of physic, of law, of divinity especially, and of philosophy, and lastly, the governing of a commonweal. The patriarchs, verily, ~ who were most innocent and excellent men, did, for the most part, either exercise husbandry, or else breed and feed up cattle to increase. There are many examples, of Abel, Noe, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job, and other more. The Levites and prophets lived by their study and ecclesiastical ministry. The feat? of merchandising is nowhere condemned throughout the holy scriptures; but those merchants are condemned, which neither fear nor seek after God, but use odd shifts and subtile sleights to deceive and cozen their brethren and neighbours. For James, the apostle of Christ our Lord, saith: “Go to now, ye that say, To-day, and to-morrow, let us go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy, and sell, and win: and yet cannot tell what shall happen on the morrow; for what is your life? it is even a vapour, that continueth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, and if we live, let us do this or that.” Neither is Lydia, the seller of purple, found fault withal, in the Acts of the Apostles, for that she did sell purple: for Salomon, where he setteth forth the praise of a good housewife, doth commend her greatly for exercising merchandise. All notable kings have lived by governing of their commonwealths; even as Joseph, the preserver of Egypt, and Daniel, the chief next to the king in Babylon and Media, did in like sort. For as in man’s body there are many members, and sundry uses whereunto they are applied, when as notwithstanding they do all agree in one, and tend together to the preservation and safeguard of the body; even so God hath ordained divers arts and occupations for men to labour in, so yet nevertheless, that he would have them all to serve to the commonweal’s commodity.
But now it is not for me definitively to pronounce which of all these occupations a godly man ought chiefly first to choose, and then to put in practice. Let every man weigh with himself the things that hitherto I have alleged; then let him search and make trial of himself, to what kind of life and [8 feat: employment.]
[ So Tyndale, 1534, and Cranmer, 1539; and the Vulgate and Erasmus, as Bullinger, et si vixerimus.]
occupation his mind is most willing, and whereunto he himself is most fit and profitable: let him also have a diligent regard to consider, what arts they are that be most simple and agreeable to nature; and what occupations have least need of craft and deceit; and lastly, what sciences do least of all draw us from God and just dealing. And when this is scanned, then let every man choose to himself that which he taketh to be best convenient, and most wholesome both for his soul and also his body. We cannot all of us manure the ground, neither are all heads apt to take learning; a few among many do govern the common-weal; and all are not fit to be handicrafts-men. Every one hath his sundry disposition; every one is inspired by God; every one hath the aid and counsel of his friends and well-willers; every one hath sundry occasions; and every one hath the rule of God’s word: let him be content with and stay himself upon them, so yet that God’s commandments may still have the pre-eminence. of But for him that laboureth and taketh pains in his occupation, these rules of admonition which follow are as necessary as those which are already rehearsed. For first of all, every one must take heed of prodigality or riot, in meat, drink, apparel, nice pranking of the body, and gorgeous buildings; needless expenses must always be spared. For the Lord’s will is, that every man should keep, and not lash out, the wealth that he hath, where no need requireth it: for the Lord doth hate and detest riot and needless cost to maintain pride withal. Moreover the man, that is prodigal of that which is his own, is for the most part desirous of other men’s goods; from whence arise innumerable mischiefs, threats, conspiracies, downright deceit, shameless shifts, murders, and seditions. Secondarily, let him which laboureth in his vocation be prompt and active; let him be watchful and able to abide labour; he must be no lither-back, unapt, or slothful fellow. Whatsoever he doth, that let him do with faith and diligence. Sloth and sluggishness do displease God utterly. The Lord mislikes the yawning mouth and folded arms, the signs of sleep, which commonly follow the careless man, who doth neglect the state and condition of
[[ lither, lazy, idle, slothful. (North-country word.) Grose’s Pro-]
[vincial Glossary. Lond. 1787.] [2 fideliter, Lat.)]
Re ae TE -
1.1 THE EIGHTH PRECEPT OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 33 his house and family. But on the other side, the scripture commendeth highly faithful labourers, and good and painful people in work. Let us hear, I beseech you, the golden words of Solomon, the wisest among all men; who, where he blameth sluggards, saith: “Go to the emmet, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and learn to be wise. She hath no guide, nor overseer, nor ruler; and yet in the summer she provideth her meat, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, thou sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yea, sleep on still a little, slumber a little, fold thine hands together yet a little, and take thine ease: and in the meanwhile shall poverty come upon thee like a traveller, and necessity like a weaponed man.” Again, David in the psalms crieth, saying: “The labours of thine hands shalt thou eat: O well is thee, and happy shalt thou be.” What may be thought of that moreover, that the Lord God would not have Adam to live idly in paradise, that happy place for his state and condition? for he enjoined him the tending and dressing of that goodly garden. Idle people, therefore, are the most unhappy of all mortal men; and slothful drowsy-heads are nothing else but an unprofitable lump of unoccupied earth’. Lastly, let the artificer have a regard, that he hurt no man by his art or occupation. And let this be the rule for him to keep his eye upon in all business and affairs of his science: ‘ Whatsoever thou wouldest have done to thyself, the same do thou to another; and whatsoever thou wouldest not have done to thyself, that do not thou to another.” Moreover, thou doest hurt to another man two sundry ways; that is, by keeping back, and taking away: as for example, if thou withholdest that which thou owest and is not thine own; or if thou takest away that which is another man’s, and that which he doth not owe unto thee. But of the hurt done in withholding and taking away, I will at this present speak somewhat [ This whole sentence is a paraphrase of the Latin; displicet (Deo) supina rei familiaris negligentia.]
[ Beati omnes qui timent Dominum, qui ambulant in viis ejus, Lat. omitted by the translator; Blessed are all they that fear the Lord, and walk in his ways. Psal. exxviii. Prayer Book Version.]
[δ telluris inutile pondus, Lat. See Erasmi Adag. Chiliad. p. 138, Hanov. 1617.]
[6 See Vol 1. p. 197.]
[Bullinger, 1
largely, that thereby ye may the better understand the Lord’s commandment, Thou shalt not steal,” and more perfectly perceive what kinds and sorts of theft there be.
Theft, they say, is a deceitful fingering of another man’s goods, moveable and bodily, which is done against the owner’s will, to the intent to make gain either of the thing itself, or of the use of the thing, or of the possession of the same. Therefore they say, that a mad man doth not commit theft; because in him there can no endeavour of craft or deceit be possibly found. Neither can, say they, that man be argued of? theft, which by mistaking, and not of set malice, did take away another man’s good instead of his own. But he alone is not called a deceitful fingerer, which layeth hand upon the thing; but he who by any manner of means conveyeth it from the possession of the true owner. Now they say, that it is done against the owner’s will, not only if it be perforce and violently taken from him: but also if he know not of the taking it away; or if he do know, yet if he cannot forbid them; or, if he can forbid them, yet if for some certain causes he will not. Neither is it added without a cause, that theft is committed for gain and profit’s sake. For if one in jest, or for some other honest cause, take any thing away, he doth not thereby deserve to be called a thief. But of theft they make two sorts: the manifest theft, as that wherewith the thief is taken; and the theft not manifest, as when, after the deed, one is convinced of theft. Of these there is a large discourse, Digestorum Lib. xvLvin tit. 22. Let us return to the further opening of our present proposition. sorts Thy withholding doth hurt another man, when thou in. img. PUYING and selling dost use false measure or false weights. To this rule is referred unjust and false exchange?; I mean, exchange of money in bank? Touching these points we will recite the commandments and sentences only of the ὅδ, Lord our God, who in Leviticus setteth this for a law: Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight,
[1 be argued of: be convicted of, found fault with for.] [2 The foregoing definitions of the Civil Law are collected in Jul.]
[Pacii Isagog. in Instit. &c. p. 395, Traject. ad Rhen. 1680.] [3 Collybus, Lat.] [4 Collybus autem, ait Pollux, est permutatio pecunize, Lat. omitted]
[by the translator. Cf. Schleusneri Lex. N. T. sub voc. κολλυβιστής.]]
a 1.1 the Eighth Precept of the Ten Commandments. 85
or in measure: true balances, true weights, a true ephah,” (that is, a bushel, or a peck in measure, of dry things,) “and a true hin,” (that is, in measure of liquid things a pint and an half, or the twelfth part of a pint and an half,%) shall ye have. I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.” In Deuteronomy we read: “Thou shalt not have in thy bag two manner of weights, a great and small. Neither shalt thou have in thy house divers measures, a great and a small,” (to the end, that in receiving or buying thou mayest use the greater, and in laying out or selling thou mayest use the lesser,) “but thou shalt have a just and a right weight, and a just and right measure shalt thou have; that thy days may be prolonged upon the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee. For all that do such things, and all that do unrightly, are abominable unto the Lord thy God.” Hereunto appertaineth that sentence of Salomon in the Proverbs, where he saith: “Two manner of weights, and two manner of measures, both these are abominable unto the Lord.” But what can be heard, or thought of, more grievous and horrible, than a man to be abominable in the sight of his God? In the sixth chapter of Micheas also the Lord doth threaten divers and grievous punishments, which he mindeth to lay upon the necks of them that use not justice in weights and measures. Why therefore do we not rather fly from doing wrong and unrighteousness, choosing sooner to be happy than unhappy; and hearken unto the Lord, who saith, “Good measure, and pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall they give into your bosom; for with the same measure that ye mete to other, shall other mete to you again?” Let us be throughly persuaded therethat riches gotten by craft and theft can neither flourish long, nor yet be for our health to enjoy.
Again, other men are endamaged by the withholding of which possess inheritances due unto other: which break promise, and deceive men in contracts, bargains, and covenants: which make a face, as though they gave the thing,
[6 modium vel quartale, Lat. The ephah is generally reckoned to]
[i have been nearly equal to 6} gallons of our dry measure. Horne’s]
[Ls Introd. Vol. πι. p. 534, Lond. 1828.] [6 sextarium vel cyathus, Lat. The hin was 1 gallon, 2 pints, Eng-]
[i lish. Ibid.]]
[13 3—2]
which they do either change, or retain to themselves by some coloured shift, or else do give it, when they themselves have marred, or utterly destroyed it. Both the one and the other, verily, is fraud and guile and flat deceit. But now, by the way, mark this manifest and usual point of God’s just judgment; that wrongful possessors of other men’s heritages are both short-lived, and the unfortunatest men of all other people.
2. & Touching these wrongful withholders. Salomon pronounceth, 1 that they shall find no gain. For gain unjustly gotten, how great soever it be, deserveth rather to be called a loss more truly than a gain.
To this precept do things that are found belong, which thou deniest to the demander, as though thou either hast not found them, or else dost challenge them to be thine own by law. Hereunto appertaineth the pledge, or pawn, which thou withholdest. A man that taketh a journey into a far country hath put thee in trust with certain silver plate, and a pound weight of gold, to keep for him against his return, because he had hope that thou wouldest keep them safely; but at his coming back, when he demandeth them, thou deniest the thing: in so doing thou hast stolen it from him, and cracked the credit that thy friend had in thee, and, last of all, thou hast doubled the sin. Α poor man hath guaged! to thee some precious thing, that he setteth-muelbys which 9 ~ when he claimeth again, with ready money.in-hand-to.pay “sum whith he-borrewed=upon it, thou deniest-him the pledge, thou quarrellest with him, and usest subtilty to defraud (him of ΚΞ ῬΑ: ii 6 doing thou stealest it from him. Moreover, the Lord gave to his people other laws to this end and effect, touching the taking of pledges or guages. xxiv. For in Deuteronomy he saith, “No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge: for he hath laid his life to pledge to thee.” For it is all one, as if he had said: Thou shalt not take that at thy neighbour’s hand instead of a pledge, wherewith he getteth his living and doth maintain his family: for thereby thou shouldest take from him both life and living. And immediately after he saith: “When thou lendest thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch a pledge from thence; but thou shalt stand without, that he which borrowed it of thee may bring it out
[1 gaged: impawned, Johnson.]
of doors to thee.” The Lord forbiddeth cruelty, and would not have rich men to be too sharp in ransacking poor men’s houses, nor over curious in taking of pledges at poor men’s hands. For he addeth afterward: “And if it be a poor body, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge; but deliver him the pledge when as the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee; and that shall be imputed for righteousness unto thee before the Lord thy God.
Lastly, they do most of all endamage their neighbours, which do withhold the labourer’s wages. The labourer’s hire is withheld two sundry ways: for thou dost either never pay it; or else thou payest it with grudging and grunting, thou dost delay the payment too long, or otherwise diminishest some part of his hire. But mark now, that the name of hirelings is of ample signification, and is extended to all kinds of artificers. The common sort of wealthy men have a cast now-a-days to use the help of handicrafts-men, and bid them keep a reckoning of their hire and wages in books of accounts: in the mean while, though they perceive that these poor men lack money, yet will they not pay so much as one penny; yea, when they require the debt that is due, they take them up with bitter words, and send them empty away, till they themselves be disposed to pay. And so these foolish and wicked wealthy men do not cease to lash out in riot prodigally the things that are not clearly their own, but which they withhold from other poor men. Let us hear therefore the laws and judgments of the Lord our God touching this horrible abuse and detestable fault. In Deuteronomy we read: “Thou shalt not deny, nor withhold, the wages of an hired servant, that is needy and poor, whether he be of thy brethren, or of the strangers that are in thy land and within thy gates; but shalt give him his hire the same day, and let not the sun go down thereon, for he is needy, and by the hire he holdeth his life?,” (that is, he layeth the hope of his life therein, as he that looks to live thereby,) “lest he cry unto the Lord, and it be turned unto sin to thee.” With this law of the Lord do the words of James the apostle most fitly agree, where he saith: “Behold, the hire of labourers, which have reaped down your fields, which hire is of you kept back by fraud, crieth; and the cries of them
[2 mercedem tollit animum suum, Lat
which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbothl.” What can be more terrible to the hearer’s ears? The labourer’s hire, which is withheld, doth ery, and crieth even up into heaven; and, that which is most of all, doth enter into the ears of the most just, severe, and mighty God. What now may these defrauders look for at God’s hand, but heavy punishment to light upon their cursed heads? Tobie therefore most rightly and briefly concludeth this matter, and giveth excellent counsel to all sorts of people, saying: “Whosoever worketh any thing for thee, give him his hire immediately, and let not thy hired servant’s wages remain with thee at all. For in so doing, and fearing God, thou shalt have thanks.” that Now followeth the second member or part of detriment, away. which doth consist in taking away another man’s goods. And this taking away also is of sundry sorts. Now, the first place of these sorts is attributed to theft itself (of which we have spoken somewhat before); which theft is committed, not in taking away of money only, but in wares also, and wrongful dealing in other men’s grounds, in removing landmarks or mere-stones?; and whatsoever is translated, denied, or clean taken away, against all right; or is maliciously, against all conscience and consent of the other party, that is, of the true owner, delayed, or foaded off3, till a longer time than it ought to be. For in the nineteenth of Leviticus the Lord setteth this down for a law, and saith: “Ye shall not steal, ye shall not lie; no man shall deal with his neighbour deceitfully.” And Paul to the Ephesians saith: “Laying lies aside, speak ye every one the truth to his brother; for we are members one of another. Let him which stole steal no more; but rather labour with his hands in working the thing that is good, that he may give to him that hath need.” This may we extend almost to all the offices and duties of men. For whosoever denieth the debt and duty which of right he oweth, the same doth sin against this commandment:
[1 James v. 4, Sabaoth, Lat. In Cranmer’s Bible, 1539, it is Sab-]
[baoth; and in the Geneva New Testament, 1557, “the Lord of]
[Armies.”] [3 mere: a boundary, Johnson.] [5 To fode out, or fode forth, with words: to keep in attention and]
[expectation, to feed with words. Nares’ Glossary in voe. ]]
as for example, if the householder deny the duty that he oweth to his family; again, if the family consume the householder’s substance, and do deceive the good man, whose care is bent to maintain his charge, and are set to undo him by prodigal spending his money and goods, which they filch from him privily. Again, if the lord, or master, (although this point may well be referred to the title of damage that is done by withholding) be too rough to his hinds, or husbandmen“: or if the ploughfolks do idly waste their master’s substance, or slackly look to their tillage and business, or spend in riot his wealth and riches. So then, the servant offendeth against this commandment, if he doth not seek all the means that he may to have a diligent care for his master’s affairs, and faithfully augment his wealth and possessions. And in like manner do maidservants, in the duties which they owe, offend against their mistresses. And therefore Paul, having an eye to this precept, giveth Titus in charge, and saith: “Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them in all things; not answering again, nor pickers, but shewing all good faithfulness, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.” And like unto this is that which the same apostle repeateth in the sixth chapter to the Ephesians, the third to the Colossians, and the first to Timothy, the sixth chapter: for in this commandment his doctrine of the duties of masters and servants hath a fit place (so far as concerneth the householder’s riches), and whatsoever else is like unto this.
To this precept also robbery and deceit do fully belong, both which extend far, and contain many kinds. Fraud is infinite: for the iniquity of men is bottomless, their crafts are diverse, and of so many sorts that no one man can number them all. And robbery is not always armed with force and weapons, but is sometimes furnished with sleights and coloured words: neither do robbers lurk and lay wait in woods and wide open fields alone, but are conversant also in the thickest throngs of every good city. Thou takest away thy neighbour’s goods under the false title and pretence of law; thou robbest him, I say, while by thy suit, thy gifts, or other fetches, thou dost extort from the judges corrupted hinds or husbandmen, colonis suis, Lat.; hind, a servant, Johnson; a peasant or rustic. Toone’s Glossary.]
sentence, to maintain thy wrongful claim. Some there are which, under the title of a deed of gift, stick not to wrest whole heritages from legitimate heirs. These and other shifts, or cozenings like unto these, are contained partly under robbery, partly under deceit, but altogether and flatly under plain thievery. and Although at dice players do give their mutual consent 0 fall to gaming: yet, for because each one’s desire is greedily set to get the other’s money, and that they make blind fortune (1 mean, the dice or cards) to be the divider of their goods betwixt them; therefore are the dice and cards worthily condemned of all good divines. And Justinian the emperor, as it is extant, Cod. Lib. mm. tit. ultimo, having a regard to his subjects’ commodity, decreed, that it should be lawful for no man, either in public or in private houses, to play at dice. For although dice-play hath been used of great antiquity, yet hath it ended and burst out into tears. For many, having lost all the substance that they have, do at the last in play break forth to the cursing and blaspheming of God. Otherwise there is none so ignorant but knoweth well enough, that such exercises of the wit or body as are free from the poisoned desire of the filthy gain, whereon neither the hurt of our neighbour nor ourself doth depend, are lawful enough to be used of Christians, _ Usury? is, when thou grantest to another the use of thy goods, as of land, houses, money, or any thing else, whereof thou receivest some yearly commodity. For thou hast a manor, a farm, lands, meadows, pastures, vineyards, houses, and money, which thou dost let out to hire unto another man upon a certain covenant of gain to return to
[1 Imp. Justinianus A. Joanni P. P. xv. Alearum usus antiqua res]
[est, et extra opera pugnatoria concessa: verum pro tempore prodiit in]
[lacrymas, extranearum multa nationum suscipiens. Quidam enim lu-]
[dentes, nec ludum scientes, sed numeratione tantum, proprias sub-]
[stantias perdiderunt, die noctuque ludendo argento, apparatu, lapidibus,]
[et auro: consequenter autem ex hac inordinatione blasphemare Deum]
[conantur, et instrumenta conficiunt. Commodis igitur subjectorum]
[prospicientes, hac generali lege decernimus, ut nulli liceat in publicis]
[vel privatis domibus ludere, neque inspicere, &c.—Codex Justin. Lugd.]
[1551, Tom. 1. p. 515, Lib. 1m. tit. 43.] [3 See Jul. Pacii Isagog. in Digest. Lib. xx. tit. 1. pp. 189—200,]
[Traject. ad Rhen. 1680.)]
thee for the use thereof. This bargain, this covenant, is not of itself unlawful, nor yet condemiied in the holy scriptiFes. the abuse thereof hath made it unhonest, so that not without. a μυὸς TE 15 τοῖς dy etuniod of ail mor For the scripture condemnéd, so far as it 15 joined with iniquity and the destruction of our brother or neighbour. For who will forbid to let out the use of our lands, houses, or money to hire, that thereby we may receive some just and lawful commodity? For buying, setting to hire, and such like contracts are lawfully allowed us. And as the part of him that giveth is to do good; so is it the duty of him that taketh not to use a good turn without all manner of recompence, to the hurt and hinderance of him that giveth it. In bestowing of mere benefits there is another consideration, whereof we read in the sixth of Luke: “If ye lend to them, of whom ye hope to receive again,” &c. And the lawyers did discuss this matter thus: that it is no usury, when the debtor giveth a pension, and some yearly fee, in_recompenc of the money -whielr Ns hath Borrowed, saving the principal sum which δ᾽ hath borrowed Whole, by a covenant that was SRI LY haar JTS TOT S cease to be lent, which 1s so granted to another man’s use, that, unless the debtor will, the creditor cannot claim the thing so long as the debtor payeth his pension; for the assured payment whereof he hath put himself in bond: for such a crediting is a flat contract of buying. They say therefore, that usury is committed in lending alone (which ought to be without hire), and not in other contracts or bargains. Let them therefore, which deal in these kind of trades, have this always before their eyes, as a rule to be led by: “Whatsoever thou wouldest have done to thyself, that do thou to another: and whatsoever “thou wouldest not have done to thyself, that do.not thou to another” Ando, let them think of those words of the apostle: Let no man beguile his brother in bargaining.” I know very well, that touching money they are wont to allege, that it endureth not as lands and vineyards, but is consumed and made less with use and tossing from man to man; and that therefore
no commodity ought to be taken for the use thereof. But if a man put money into another man’s hand, wherewith he buyeth himself a farm, a manor, lands, or vineyards, or otherwise occupieth it to his gain and profit, I see no cause why a good Christian and an honest man may not reap some lawful commodity of the hire of his money, as well as of the letting or leasing of his land. It is in the power of him which so letteth out his money, with that money to buy a farm, and so to take the whole gain to himself; but now we see that, in letting the other have it, he granteth him the use of his money, whereby he is a very great gainer. This fellow, to whom this sum is lent, or otherwise given upon covenants of contract, doth with the money get some stay of living, with the revenue whereof he nourisheth all his family, paying to his creditor the portion agreed on; of which when he hath once made a full restitution, he maketh the living his own for ever, and acquitteth himself from the yearly pension. In this kind of covenanting no man, I think, will say, that the poor is oppressed, when the thing itself doth rather ery, that by such usury the poor is greatly helped. Usury therefore is forbidden in the word of God, J. so far forth as it biteth (for-here T-use the Very term of the soriptures?)-his-neighbour,-while.it_hindereth him, or otherwise undoeth-him. For thus saith the Lord in Leviticus: thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay?, whether he be a stranger or indweller, relieve him, that he may live with thee. Thou shalt take no usury of him, or more than right; but fear the Lord, that thy brother may live with thee. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase. I am the Lord your [’ Nec vero arguta illa ratio Aristotelis consistit, foenus esse preter naturam, quia pecunia sterilis est, nec pecuniam parit, &c.—Calvin. Comment. in quat. libr. Mosis. ed. Amstel. 1671, Tom. 1. p. 528.]
[2 TW) interest (from TW) momordit) from its involving an in- jurious, biting, system. Lee’s Lexicon in voe. and Calvin. Comment: Tom. 1. p. 527, col. 2.]
[ nutaveritque manus ejus tecum, Lat. (and his hand faileth with thee. Auth. Vers. Marg. reading;) id est, si facultas ejus apud te deficere inceperit, Lat., omitted by the translator: that is, if his means with thee begin to fail. ]
[ ad nimium, sive excessum, sive superabundantiam, Lat.; for too large, or for excess and superabundance of, increase. ]
God.” _ Therefore the Lord misliketh all arts of covetous and deceitful men, wherewith=t6y do not only. _meaand substance to hire, that by that occasion they may-wipe their debtors-of ll that-they-have.
No man, I think, can in few words express all the wicked fetches of subtile usurers; they invent such new ones every day. I will therefore recite here the judgment of the Lord against a few wicked arts and detestable deeds of usurers, in lending, letting, and selling; to the end that, these being once considered, all men may judge and take heed of the like. The prophet Amos in the eighth chapter saith: “Hear this, O ye that swallow up the poor, and make the needy of the land to fail, saying: After a month we will sell corn, and at the week’s end we will set forth wheat, we will make the ephah small, and the sicle great, and falsify the weights by deceit; that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for shoes, and sell the refuse of the wheat. The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works. Shall not the land tremble for this? shall not every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood,” &ec. Wherefore, that the wrath of God may be turned away from falling upon commonweals and kingdoms for unjust extortion in usury and detestable usurers it is the part of a holy magistrate to bridle usurers with upright laws; and, according to the quality of times, places, states, and persons, to appoint a lawful, just, and honest lucre, that usurers may not, in lending, letting, buying, and selling, oppress the poor people, but that equity and justice may be kept in all things. Of this duty of his the magistrate hath a notable example in Nehemias, suppressing the covetousness, cruelty, and extreme injury of usurers, and other oppressors of his Jewish commonalty. It is at large set down in the fifth chapter of the history of Nehemias. In this therefore, which I have hitherto alleged, I mean not to father or defend unjust occupiers, usurers, or their insatiable covetousness; but I affirm
[5 The authorised Version has “the new moon;” but in the margin]
[“month.”] [6 So Coverdale’s Bible, 1535, has “sycle,” from the Latin, siclum,]
[shekel. See Becon’s Works, Parker Soe. ed. Vol. 11. p. 109.]]
flatly, that they live of the blood and bowels of their brethren and countrymen, and that they shall be undoubtedly damned, unless they repent them of their sin and extortion. The very law of nature doth make greatly against them, which I object here, and say unto them: Whatsoever thou wouldest not have done to thyself, that do not thou to ano- 22 ther.” “The publicans also came to John, that they might be baptized of him, and said, Master, what shall we do? To whom he said: Exact no more than is appointed for you.” These publicans were such as lived upon the public toll and customs, which they had farmed at the Romans’ hands for a certain sum of ready money. Now, he bade not these publicans to leave off their toll-gathering, but willed them to be content with their appointed duty. In like manner I urge the same sentence, and say to all usurers and occupiers: “Exact no more than is appointed for you.” But if ye want a certain constitution and ordinance, set down by the magistrate, for the gain of your money in every several trade; then let equity, humanity, and charity prevail in your minds, and let the common law sink into your hearts, which saith: “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, the same do ye to them.” “If thine eye,” saith the Lord, “be single, all thy body is lightsome; but if the light that is in thee be darkness, how great then is that darkness!”
Sacrilege is the spoiling of holy things which are consecrated to God and the use of the church. For the church of God hath hallowed goods and riches, wherewith it doth partly maintain sincere doctrine and the holy ministry of the church; and partly relieve the needy saints and impotent brethren. The church also hath goods and possessions, to keep the places of prayer, spiritual houses’, and hospitals? in due reparations; and lastly, for the public help of all people in common calamities and grievous afflictions. They therefore are church-robbers, which do convert the churchgoods from the lawful and holy purpose, for which they were ordained, into a profane and godless use; spending them prodigally in hunting, gay clothing, superstition, whorehunting, dicing, drinking, and excessive banqueting: in which things bishops and magistrates of these days do greatly
[1 sedium sacerdotalium, Lat.] [3 xenodochiorum aut hospitalium, Lat.]
offend. And it cannot otherwise be, but that some great misfortune, and more calamities than one, must needs follow that foul abuse of ecclesiastical riches and spiritual goods. For as Christ our Lord, the very Son of God, is spoiled and defrauded in the poor and needy; so doctrine and godliness come to an end, honest studies do utterly decay, the sheep of Christ are altogether destitute of good and faithful shepherds, and are left for a prey to ravening wolves and merciless robbers. But yet we must have a regard not to account in the number of church-robbers such heads and overseers of holy religion, as some kings of Juda were, but Ezechias especially, and many other bishops and pastors of the primitive church, who, in many troublesome broils, when either wars did waste their countries and commonweals, or else when hunger or some other public calamity did oppress and pinch their silly countrymen, did not stick to bestow the church-goods liberally, and to empty the treasure of the hallowed money, that thereby they might do the poor oppressed some good: but they had undoubtedly been wrongful churchrobbers, if they, to spare money and other vessels which are without life, would not have redeemed living creatures, their countrymen, from death and penury. There is an excellent place of this matter in St Ambrose, Oficiorum, Lib. 11. cap. 285, There are also notable examples hereof in the ecclesiastical history.
Moreover, in the number of church-robbers divines account Simoniacs, that is, merchants’, I mean, buyers and
[[ See Seckendorf. Comm. de Luth. Lib. mr. Sect. 21. ὁ Lxxvi.]
[Add. 1.] [4 silly, see Vol. 1. pp. 189, 351.] [5 The title of this chapter, in the treatise de Oficiis Ministrorum,]
[is: Misericordiam etiam cum invidia propria largius exercendam: ad]
[quod refertur memorabilis vasorum sacrorum in captivorum redem-]
[tionem ab Ambrosio fractorum historia, et pulcherrima de auri et ar-]
[genti quee ecclesia possidet legitimo usu preecipiuntur, &c.—Ambrosii]
[Opp. Tom. 11. col. 102, Par. 1690.] [6 In his treatise, De Episcoporum Instit. et Funct. Bullinger in-]
[stances such an example of Achatius, Tripart. Hist. Lib. 11. cap. 16,]
[and of Cyril, ibid. Lib. v. cap. 37. He alleges also the examples and]
[words of Ambrose, Laurentius, Exuperius, Jerome, and Augustine:]
[cap. 9. fol. 117, Tigur. 1538.] [7 Chananei, Lat. See Hos. xii. 7.]]
sellers of spiritual and ecclesiastical dignities. For such an
16. One is Simon Magus, their grand patriarch, reported to have been in the Acts of the Apostles. In the civil law, whosoever went about with privy gifts to buy the voice of any man to speak on his side, when public offices were for to be bestowed, he was guilty of ambition; and, beside the shame and open infamy, was compelled to pay an hundred crowns for his offence!. But, because this belongs not to sacrilege, we let it pass, and return to our matter.
They are church-robbers, whosoever either do not pay at all, or else do pay unwillingly, the goods that are due to the church; I mean, their tithes and yearly revenues. It is to be seen in the scriptures, how terribly the prophets do threaten church-robbers. Haggeus testified, that the ground brought forth so ill and little fruit for nothing else, but for because the people did not truly pay that which of 10 duty they ought to the temple. - In Malachy, God promiseth the people to make their ground fruitful, if they will pay liberally the stipends and tributes due to the temple. Now the ministers of the churches may use those revenues, or stipends, by as good law and right as they that use the profit of the ground, which they themselves have husbanded. For so doth the Lord expressly teach them in the eighteenth of the Book of Numbers; wherewithal Paul’s saying agreeth in the ninth chapter of his First Epistle to the Corinthians. And the Lord Jesus himself also gave alms to the poor of the stipend which he had, as it is to be seen in the thirteenth chapter of St John’s Gospel.
Moreover, beggars commit sacrilege, who abuse the name of Christ, and make their poverty a cloak to keep them v.s, idle still. The apostle commandeth Timothy not to cherish such idle hypocrites and wandering vagabonds with the alms and expenses of the church goods.
But now the greatest sacrilege of all is, if a man translate the glory of God, the Creator, unto a creature.
There is a kind of theft called Peculatus, which is committed in filching the common treasure, or purloining away the prince’s substance? This kind of robbery breedeth every
[[ See Jul. Pacii Isagog. in Digest. Lib. xuvur tit. 14. p. 422, and]
[Smith’s Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, sub voc. Ambitus.] [2 See Jul. Pacii Isagog. in Digest. Lib. xnvmm tit. 13. p. 421.]]
hour new exactions, and giveth wicked magistrates good cause and fit opportunity to poll the poor commonalty. Of this sort of robbers did Cato happily speak, when he said: Private thieves do lead their lives in chains and fetters, but public thieves in gold and purple.” Under this title of robbery are all those contained, that either do not pay at all, or else pay with ill-will, the tributes and taxes that are due to their magistrates. Lastly, all they are counted faulty γ in this kind of thievery, whosoever do abuse the public wealth or treasure of the commonweal.
Other some there are, that take up children, whom they know very well, and sell them to other, thereby to get advantage; or else do steal away other men’s servants. This kind of theft the lawyers call Plagium. And of this offence are those people guilty, which, by evil whispering, persuasion, and seditious doctrine, do draw servants and handmaids from obedience to their masters, and children from doing reverence and duty to their parents. And when captains, that are hired of strange princes to serve for money in foreign wars, do, against the parents’ will and knowledge, carry away whole bands of silly young men, whom they entice with many fair promises, and entrap with sundry sleights, leading them to wars wherein they perish and never return to their friends again; such captains, I say, are to be reckoned in the number of men-stealers”. This offence of old was punished by death,
[2 poll: plunder.] [4 happily, or haply; Lat. forte.] [6 Sed enim Μ, Cato in oratione, quam de preeda militibus divi-]
[denda scripsit, vehementibus et illustribus verbis de impunitate pecu-]
[latus atque licentia conqueritur. Ea verba, quoniam nobis impense]
[placuerunt, adscripsimus: Fures, inquit, privatorum furtorum in nervo]
[atque in compedibus statem agunt; fures publici in auro atque in]
[purpura.—A. Gell. Noct. Attic. Lib. x1. cap. 18. See also Becon’s]
[Works, Parker Soc. ed. Vol. π. p. 600; and Calvin. Comment. Tom. I.]
[Ρ. 531. col. ii. Amstel. 1671. [6 See Jul, Pacii Isagog. in Digest. Lib. xvLvmr. tit. 15. p. 422,]
[Γ and Smith’s Dict. sub voc. plagium.] [7 “By a law no less politic than humane, established among the]
[cantons (of Switzerland), their troops were not hired out by public]
[authority to both the contending parties in any war. This law the]
[love of gain had sometimes eluded, and private persons had been]
[allowed to enlist in what service they pleased, though not under the]
[public banners, but under those of their officers.”—Robertson’s]
[Hist. of Charles V. book π. Vol. π. p. 189, Lond. 1782.]]
as it is evident in the twenty-first of Exodus, and in the law of Constantine, which is to be seen Cod. Lib. 1x. tit. 201,
Another sort of thieves there is, which we call felons; and those be they which steal and drive away other men’s cattle. In this order of thieves are those people placed, which do misuse the cattle that is lent them; and they also, which, when they may, will not help another man’s cattle that is in jeopardy: for the Lord in the law commanded καῇ, to bring back that which goeth astray, and to restore it to the right owner.
Thus much hitherto have I spoken, my brethren, touching the sundry kinds of theft, of the just and lawful getting of goods, and also of the proper owning of peculiar riches. OF THE. LAWEUL.USE.OF.EARTHLY GOODS; THAT IS, ~ HOW WE MAY RIGHTLY POSSESS, AND LAWFULLY
Spend, the Wealth that Is Rightly And
Justly Gotten: Of Restitution, the Second Sermon
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