led captive by concupiscence, which, as a root envenomed with poison, infecteth all that is in man, and doth incline, draw on, and drive men to things carnal, forbidden, and contrary to God, to the end that he may greedily pursue them, put all his delight in them, and content himself with them. Moreover there is in us no power or ability to do any good: for we are slow, sluggish, and heavy to goodness; but lively, quick, and ready enough to any evil or naughtiness. And, that I may at last conclude, and briefly express the whole force and signification of our hereditary depravation and corruption; I say, that this depravation of our nature is nothing else but the blotting of God’s image in us. There was in our out father Adam before his fall the very image and likeness of God; which image, as the apostle expoundeth it, was a conformity and participation of God’s wisdom, justice, holiness, truth, integrity, innocency, immortality, and eternal felicity. Therefore what else can the blotting or wiping out of this image be but original sin; that is, the hatred of God, the ignorance of God, foolishness, distrustfulness, desperation, selflove, unrighteousness, uncleanness, lying, hypocrisy, vanity, corruption, violent injury, wickedness, mortality, and eternal infelicity? This corrupt image and likeness is by propagation derived into us all, according to that saying in the fifth of Genesis: “Adam begat a son in his own similitude and likeness,” Therefore as our father Adam was himself corrupted, depraved, and full of calamities, so hath he begotten us his sons corrupt, depraved, and full of miseries!: so that all we which do descend of his unpure seed are born infected with the contagious poison of sin. For of a rotten root do spring as rotten branches, which in like manner put over their rottenness into the little twigs that shoot out and grow upon them. sin And this evil verily, this corruption and this sin, although “it lie hid in infants, and by reason of their tender age doth not break forth into any deed-doing, yet notwithstanding it is a sin; and such a sin verily as maketh them endangered unto God’s wrath, and separateth them from the fellowship of God. For with the most holy God, who “is a consuming fire,” no man can abide but he that is unspotted and clean from the filthiness of sins. And Paul saith: All have sinned,
[1 corrupt—miseries, the translator’s addition
and are destitute, or have need, of the glory of God.” This glory of God is the very image of God: whereof because they are destitute, they being corrupted with original sin are worthily excluded from the fellowship of God. To this place doth belong the whole treatise of concupiscence in the fourth sermon of this third Decade: where I taught you, that bare concupiscence, which is not yet burst forth to the deed-doing, is a sin; and that too such a sin as maketh all men subject to the curse of God. For it is written: Cursed be every one which abideth not in all things that are written in the book of this law.” Therefore the first effect of original sin is this, that it bringeth wrath, death, and damnation upon very infants, and so consequently upon all mankind: whereof, that it may the more firmly be settled in every man’s mind without all scruple of doubting, I will by some store of testimonies out of the scripture make manifest proof unto you, not by repeating those places again which I have already cited in this sermon, and in the fourth sermon of this third Decade.
The Lord in the gospel saith to Nicodemus: “Verily, Isay unto thee, unless a man be born from above? he cannot see the kingdom of God.” And again3: Unless a man be born of water and of the Holy Ghost%, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” In these words are comprehended two things worthy to be remembered, and very consonant to our present argument. First, none enter into the kingdom of heaven but those that be regenerate from above by the Holy Ghost: therefore our first birth tendeth to death, and not to life; for in our first nativity we are born to death. The latter is, “That which is born of flesh is flesh:” therefore in our first nativity we are all born flesh. But touching the disposition of the flesh and the force thereof, the apostle saith: “The fleshly mind is enmity against God: for it is not obedient to the law of God, neither can be.” Therefore that fleshly birth engendereth us, not the friends and sons, but the enemies, of God; and so consequently doth make us endangered to the wrath of God.
[2 So margin of Auth. Ver.] [3 Amen dico tibi, Lat. omitted; Verily, I say unto thee.] [6 et spiritu, Lat.] [5 e ceelo, Lat.)]
Paul in his second chapter to the Ephesians saith: “We were by nature the sons of wrath, even as other.” In which words he pronounceth that all men are damned. For all those that are damned, or are worthy of eternal death, and all such with whom God hath good cause to be offended, he calleth the sons of wrath, after the proper phrase of the Hebrew speech. For the wrath of God doth signify the punishment which is by the just judgment of God laid upon us men. And he is called the child of death, which is adjudged or appointed to be killed. So is also the son of perdition, &e. Now mark, that he calleth us all the sons of wrath, that is, the subjects of pain and damnation, even by nature, in birth, from our mother’s womb. But whatsoever is naturally in all men, that is original: therefore original sin maketh us the sons of wrath; that is, we are all for our original corruption made subject to death and utter damnation. This place of Paul for the proof of this argument is worthy to be remembered.
The same apostle in the first to the Colossians saith: “God hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” Now if we be translated into the kingdom of the Son of God, then were we once in the kingdom of the devil. And to this place belong very many testimonies of the same apostle in the fifth chapter of his Epistle to the Romans: “By one man’s sin many are dead.” Again; “By one that sinned came death; for judgment came by one unto condemnation.” Again; “For the sin of one death reigned by the means of one.” And again; “By the sin of one sin came upon all men? unto condemnation.” Finally, original sin is by David and Paul expressly called sin: therefore death is due to original sin; for the reward of sin is death.” sin We do therefore conclude, that infants do bring dampation with them into this world even from their mothers’ wombs; because they bring with them a corrupt nature: and therefore they perish not by any others’, but by their own, fault and naughtiness. For although St Augustine doth 1 in one place seem to call this sin Peccatum alienum, that is, anothers sin, (that thereby he may shew how it is by
[1 valde est insignis, Lat.] h [2 propagatum est malum, Lat. and Erasmus.]]
propagation derived from other into us,) yet doth he confess that it is in very deed and truly proper to all and every several one of us. And although it be so, that for lack of age in a new-born babe this disease hath not already brought forth the fruit of his iniquity; yet notwithstanding the very whole nature of the babe is nothing but filthy corruption, and a certain seed of sin and wickedness, which cannot choose but be abominable unto the Lord: for God doth hate all manner of uncleanness.
With this agreeth that sentence of Paul, where he saith:
“Where no law is, there is no transgression.” For the apostle doth not absolutely say that the sin or transgression (which is sin in very deed in the sight of God) is no sin; but he respecteth the estimation of men, how they do repute it. For men, before sin doth appear and is opened unto them by the law, do not so repute or think of sin as it ought in very deed to be esteemed. The same Paul in another place saith: “Sin without the law was once dead:” and, “J once lived without law; but when the law came, sin revived.” If so be now that sin revived, then did it live before the law, afore it was stirred up by the law, although it did not so rifely then, as now, shew forth the strength and force of itself. To this also is to be added that saying of Paul: “Sin was in the world even to the law; but sin is not imputed when there is no law.” Lo here, sin was in the world before the law, but it was not imputed; not because God did not impute it, but because men do not impute it to themselves. Under cinders doth fire lie hid; which is very fire indeed, but, because it casteth out no flame or light of itself, it is not thought to be fire. And for that cause the learned and godly man of famous memory, Ulderick Zuinglius’, [83 Nec sic dicuntur ista aliena peccata, tanquam omnino ad parvulos
[non pertineant…Sed dicuntur aliena, quia nondum ipsi agebant vitas]
[proprias, sed quicquid erat in futura propagine vita unius hominis]
[δ continebat.—August. Marcellino de Baptism. Parv. Epist. 16. Opp.]
[Tom. 11. fol. 180. col. 3. Par. 1531.] [ This paragraph is borrowed almost literally from Calvin, Instit.]
[Lib. 11. cap. 1. 8.] [5 His nihil repugnat, Lat.] [9 Peccatum bifariam in evangelica doctrina accipitur: primum,]
[pro morbo isto, quem ex generis auctore contrahimus, quo amori nostri]
[addictis suum… Eum morbum intelligit Paulus Rom. vii. quum dicit,]
did diligently distinguish betwixt sin and disease or infirmity, when once he had occasion to dispute of original sin, which he chose rather to call a disease than sin: because by the name of sin all men do understand the naughty act committed by our own consent and will against the law of God; but by the name of disease or sickness they understand a certain corruption and depravation of the nature that was created good, and the miserable condition of bondage whereinto it is brought: even as also we read! before, that Augustine did call this original sin peccatum alienum, another’s sin, that thereby he might give us to understand that it is hereditary, and doth descend from others into us; and yet he denied not but it is proper to every several one of us. - In like manner Zuinglius denied not original sin, as some did falsely slander him: he thought not that by itself it is unhurtful to infants, but so far forth as it is by the grace of God, through the blood of Jesus Christ, in the virtue of God’s promise and covenant, made harmless unto them2 His mind was to make an exquisite difference betwixt the actual and original sins. For in rendering an account of his faith in the council held at
[Jam non ego operor illud, sed inhabitans in me peccatum.. Secundo]
[loco accipitur peccatum pro eo quod contra legem fit; ut, per legem]
[cognitio peccati. Rom. vii. Actio ergo quaecunque tandem, quae contra]
[legem fit, peccatum appellatur.—Zuingl. de Vera et Falsa Relig. Com-]
[ment. p. 116. Tiguri. 1525.] [1 audivimus, Lat.; heard, ed. 1577.] {2 Vitium hoc et morbus homini, quoad bonum et malum non]
[discernit, pro peccato et culpa imputari nequit, utcunque gravis sit et]
[pestifer. Unde colligimus peccatum originale morbum quidem esse,]
[qui tamen per se culpabilis non est, nec damnationis peenam inferre]
[potest,… donec homo contagione hac corruptus legem Domini trans-]
[greditur; quod tum demum fieri consuevit, cum legem sibi positam]
[videt et intelligit… Peccatum ergo originale damnationem non me-]
[retur, si modo quis parentes fideles nactus fuerit. Queecunque enim]
[hoe loco de originali infantium vel parvulorum peccato loquimur, ad]
[fidelium duntaxat infantes referri debent, et de solis illis intelligi,—]
[14 De Baptismo. Tom. 11. pp. 90, 89.] [ Diximus originalem contagionem morbum esse, non peccatum,]
[quod peccatum cum culpa conjunctum est; culpa vero ex commisso]
[vel admisso ejus nascitur qui facinus designavit. Morbus ergo iste]
[ac vitium, primi parentis culpa inflictus, infecit sobolem, non soboles ἢ]
[seipsam. Cum ergo peccatum appellatur in scripturis, per denomina-]
[tionem hoc fieri constare jam satis arbitror.—Id. De Pecc. Orig. ad]
[Urban. Rheg. Tom. 11. p. 116.]]
Augusta?, the year of our Lord 1530, he said: “I acknowledge that original sin is by condition and contagion born in and with all them that are begotten by the act of a man and a woman: and I know that we are the sons of wrath. Neither am I any- Ϊ thing against it, that this disease and condition should, as Paul termeth it, be called sin: yea, it is such a sin, as that they, whosoever are born in it, are the enemies and adversaries of God Almighty. For hither doth the condition of their birth draw them, and not the committing of wickedness, except it be so far forth as our first parent committed it. The very true cause therefore of our disloyalty and death is the crime and wickedness which Adam committed; and that in very deed is sin: and this sin which cleaveth to us is in very deed a disease and condition, yea, it is a necessity of dying” And so forth as followeth; for hitherto I have rehearsed his very words.
There is now remaining the other effect of original sin for me to expound. It breaketh out and bringeth forth in us those works that the scriptures call the works of the flesh; even like as when an oven set on fire doth cast out flames and sparkles; or as a fountain that ever springeth doth pour out water<in great abundance. There is no quietness in the nature of man: for covetousness with filthy lust ariseth in it, ambition cleaveth to if, anger invadeth it, pride puffeth it up and causeth it to swell, drunkenness delighteth it, and envy torments both thyself and others. Therefore the Lord in the gospel saith: “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, whoredoms, thefts, false-witness-bearings, and evil speakings.,” Again, Paul in the fifth chapter to the
[2 Augsburg. See Sleidan. Comment. de Statu Relig. Lib. vir] [6 Originale peccatum per conditionem et contagionem agnasci]
[omnibus, qui ex adfectu maris et foeminee gignuntur, agnosco, et nos]
[esse natura filios ire scio.. Quanquam nihil moror hunc morbum et]
[conditionem, juxta Pauli morem, appellari peccatum. Imo tale est]
[peccatum, ut quicunque in eo nascuntur hostes et adversarii Dei sunt.]
[Huc enim trahit illos nativitatis conditio, non sceleris perpetratio, nisi]
[quantum hoc semel perpetravit primus parens. Vera igitur perdu-]
[ellionis et mortis causa est perpetratum ab Adam crimen ac nefas;]
[atque hoc vere est peccatum: at peccatum istud, quod nobis adhwrescit,]
[et vere morbus et conditio, imo necessitas est moriendi.—Id. ad Carol.]
[Rom. Imp. Fidei ratio. Tom. 11. p. 539.] [6 aut scaturigo aquam perenniter profundit, Lat.]]
rE Ἐ 400 THE THIRD DECADE. [serM. Galatians doth reckon up no small number of the works of the flesh; even as he doth the like also in the first and third chapters of his epistle to the Romans. In the fourth to the Ephesians he doth very properly! describe those works of the flesh, which spring out of the natural corruption of all them? which are not regenerate by the Holy Ghost. “This I say,” saith he, “and testify unto you?, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in vanity of their mind; darkened in cogitation, being alienated from the life of God by the ignorance that is in them, by the blindness of their hearts: which being past feeling have given themselves over unto wantonness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.” This, though it be but little, shall suffice for this place; for I will more largely prosecute it in the treatise of actual sin: to the handling whereof I will presently pass, so soon as I have by the way admonished you, that I have not without good cause thus far in many words spoken of the cause of original sin, that is, of man’s depravation and the corruption of all his strength. For as in these are opened the veins of pure doctrine, so in them are placed the foundations of our faith and whole belief. For if there be no original sin, then is there no grace: or if there be any, yet shall it have nothing to work in us. If our own strength is whole and sound, then have we no need of any physician. In vain therefore came the Son of God into the world; for then shall men be saved by their own strength and ability: and so shall the foundation of our faith be quite turned upside down. Therefore St Augustine is very vehement in this cause; whose golden words I will recite unto you, dearly beloved, out of his second book De Originali Peccato contra Pelagium et Celestium. In the twenty-third and twenty-fourth chapters I find written as followeth: “There is great diversity in these questions, which are thought to be beside the articles of faith, and those wherein (keeping sound the faith whereby we are Christians) it is either not known what is true, and so the sentence definitive is suspended; or else it is otherwise guessed at by human and unassured suspicion than the thing itself in very deed is: as for example, when it is demanded of what sort and where
[1 graphice, Lat.] [ in omnibus, Lat.] i [8 per Dominum, Lat. omitted; by the Lord.] [4 missus, Lat, omitted; being sent.]]
paradise is, where God placed man whom he had made of the dust of the earth, when as notwithstanding christian faith doubteth not but that there is a paradise.” And after the recital of a few more such questions, at last he saith: “Who may not perceive in these and such like sundry and innumerable questions, appertaining either to the most secret works of God, or the most dark and intricate places of the holy scriptures, which it is hard to comprehend or define in any -certain order, both that many things are unknown without the peril of christian faith, and also that in some points men do err without any crime of heretical doctrine? But concerning the two men; by the one of whom we are sold under sin, by the other redeemed from sin; by one we are cast headlong into death, by the other we are made free unto life; because that man did in himself destroy us by doing his own will and not the will of him that made him, but this man hath in himself saved us by doing not his own will but the will of him that sent him; therefore, in the consideration of these two men christian faith doth properly consist. For there is one God and one Mediator of God and man, the man Christ Jesus; because there is none other name under heaven given unto men in which they must be saved; and in him hath God appointed all men.to trust, raising him up from death to life. Therefore christian verity doubteth not but that without this faith, that is, without the faith of the only Mediator of God and man, the man Christ Jesus; without the belief, I say, of his resurrection, which God hath prescribed to men, which cannot be truly believed without the belief of his incarnation and death; without the faith therefore of the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Christ, none of the ancient just men could be cleansed and justified of God from their sins: whether they were in the number of those just men whom the holy scripture mentioneth; or in the number of those just men whom the scripture nameth [not], and yet are to be believed to have been either before the deluge, or betwixt the deluge and the law, or in the very time of the law; not only among the children of Israel, as the prophets were, but also without that people, as Job was. For even their hearts were cleansed by the same faith of the Mediator, and charity was poured into them by the same Holy Spirit, which breatheth where he listeth, not following after merits, but even working the very merits 26
[Bullinger, IL]
themselves. For God’s grace will not be by any means, unless it be free by all means. Although therefore death reigned from Adam unto Moses, because the law given by Moses could not overcome it; for there was no such law given as could quicken, but such a law as whose office was to shew, that the dead, to the quickening of whom grace was necessary, were not only overthrown by the propagation and dominion of sin, but were also condemned by the hidden! transgression of the very law itself; not that every one should perish that did then understand it in the mercy of God, but that every one, being through the dominion of death appointed unto punishment and detected to himself by the transgression of the law, should seek for the help of God; that where sin abounded, grace might more abound, which alone doth deliver from the body of this death. Although therefore the law given by Moses could not rid any man from the kingdom of death, yet in the very time of the law were the men of God not under the terrifying, convincing, and punishing law, but under the delectable, saving, and delivering grace. There were among them some which said, In iniquity was I conceived, and in sin hath my mother fed me in her womb2’” And so forth; for hitherto I have cited the very words of St Augustine.
[1 The translator read abdita for addita.] [2 Longe aliter se habent queestiones iste, quas esse preter fidem]
[arbitratur, quam sunt ills, in quibus, salva fide qua Christiani sumus,]
[aut ignoratur quid verum sit et sententia definitiva suspenditur, aut]
[aliter quam est humana et infirma suspicione conjicitur: veluti cum]
[queeritur qualis vel ubi sit paradisus, ubi constituit Deus hominem]
[quem formavit ex pulvere, cum tamen esse illum paradisum fides]
[christiana non dubitet. Quis enim non sentiat in his atque hujus-]
[modi variis et innumerabilibus queestionibus, sive ad obscurissima]
[opera Dei sive ad scripturarum abditissimas latebras pertinentibus,]
[quas certo aliquo genere complecti ac definire difficile est, et multa]
[ignorari salva christiana fide, et alicubi errari sine aliquo heeretici]
[dogmatis crimine? Sed in causa duorum hominum, quorum per]
[unum venundati sumus sub peccato, per alterum redimimur a pec-]
[catis; per unum preecipitati sumus in mortem, per alterum liberamur]
[ad vitam; quoniam ille nos in se perdidit faciendo voluntatem suam,]
[non ejus a quo factus est, iste nos in se salvos fecit non faciendo vo-]
[luntatem suam, sed ejus a quo missus est; in horum ergo duorum]
[hominum causa proprie fides christiana consistit. Unus est enim]
[Deus, et unus mediator Dei et hominum, homo Christus Jesus: quo-]
[niam non est aliud nomen sub ccelo datum hominibus, in quo oporteat]
I have thus far spoken of original sin, of the native and hereditary corruption of our nature, which is the first part in the definition of sin. Here followeth now the latter part; to wit, the very action which ariseth of that corruption, the actual sin, I say, which is so called ab actu, that is, an act or a deeddoing. For insomuch as that corruption which is born together with and is hereditary in us doth not always lie hid, but worketh outwardly and sheweth forth itself, and doth at last bring forth an imp of her own kind and nature, which imp is actual sin; therefore we define actual sin to be an action, or work, or fruit, of our corrupt and naughty nature, expressing itself in thoughts, words, and works against the law of God, and thereby deserving the wrath of God.
[nos salvos fieri, et in illo definivit Deus file omnibus, suscitans illum]
[a mortuis. Itaque sine ista fide, hoc est, sine fide unius mediatoris]
[Dei et hominum, hominis Christi Jesu; sine fide, inquam, resurrectionis]
[ejus, quam Deus hominibus definivit, que utique sine incarnatione]
[ejus ac morte non potest veraciter credi; sine fide ergo incarnationis]
[et mortis et resurrectionis Christi, nec antiquos justos, ut justi essent]
[a peccatis, potuisse mundari et Dei gratia justificari, veritas christiana]
[non dubitat; sive in eis justis quos sancta scriptura commemorat,]
[give in eis justis quos quidem illa non commemorat, sed tamen fuisse]
[credendi sunt vel ante diluvium, vel inde usque ad datam legem, vel]
[ipsius legis tempore, non solum in filiis Israel, sicut fuerunt prophetze,]
[sed etiam extra eundem populum, sicut fuit Job. Et ipsorum enim]
[corda eadem mundabantur mediatoris fide, et diffundebatur in eis]
[caritas per Spiritum sanctum, qui ubi vult spirat, non merita sequens,]
[sed etiam ipsa merita faciens. Non enim Dei gratia gratia erit ullo]
[modo, nisi gratuita fuerit omni modo. Quamvis ergo mors regnaverit]
[ab Adam usque ad Moysen, quia non eam potuit vincere nec lex data]
[per Moysen, non enim data est que posset vivificare, sed quze mortuos,]
[quibus vivificandis esset gratia necessaria, non solum peccati propa-]
[gatione et dominatione prostratos, verum etiam ipsius legis addita pree-]
[varicatione convictos, deberet ostendere, non ut periret quisquis hoe]
[in Dei misericordia etiam tunc intelligeret, sed ut per regnum mortis]
[ad supplicium destinatus etiam sibi ipsi per prewevaricationem legis]
[manifestatus Dei queereret adjutorium, ut ubi abundavit peccatum su-]
[perabundaret gratia, que sola liberat a corpore mortis hujus. Quamvis]
[ergo nec lex per Moysen data potuerit a quoquam homine regnum]
[mortis auferre, erant tamen et legis tempore homines Dei, non sub]
[lege terrente, convincente, puniente, sed sub gratia delectante, sanante,]
[liberante: erant qui dicerent, Ego in iniquitatibus conceptus sum, et]
[in peccatis mater mea in utero me aluit.—August. Opp. Par. 1531.]
[Tom. vir. fol. 164. col. 2. 3. de Pecec. Orig. contra Pelag. et Celest.]
[Lib. 11. capp. 23, 24, 25.] 26—2]
of So then by this the cause of actual sin is known to be the very corruption of mankind, which sheweth forth itself through concupiscence and evil affections: affections entice the will; and will, being helped with the other faculties in man that work together with it, doth finish actual sin. And that ye may more clearly perceive that which I say, I wish you to note, that our mind hath two parts: the understanding, or reason, or judgment; and the will or appetite. In the reason are the laws of nature, whereunto must be added the preaching, or reading, or knowledge of God’s word. And now, as of good works in man there are two especial causes, to wit, sound judgment well framed by the word of God, and a will consenting and obeying thereunto, (and yet notwithstanding there is principally to be required the coming to of the Holy Ghost from heaven!, to illuminate the mind and move forward the will;) even so we may most properly say that actual sin is finished, when any thing is of set purpose, with advised judgment and the consent of our will, committed against the law of God. And yet to these there do many times happen other outward causes both visible and invisible; for evil spirits move men, and evil men? move men, and other infinite examples of corruption that are in the world. Hope, fear, and weakness, do also move men. Augustine, Quest. in Exodum xxix. saith: “The beginning of vice is in the will of man: but the hearts of men are moved by sundry accidental causes, now this, now that; sometimes the causes are all one; the difference is in the manner and order, according to every one’s proper qualities, which do arise of every several will%.” Again in the seventy-ninth psalm he saith: “Two things there are that work all sins in mortal men, desire and fear. Consider, examine, and ask your hearts, search your consciences, and see, if any sins can be but by desiring, or else by fearing. Thou art promised, if thou wilt sin, to have such a reward given thee as thou dost delight in; and for desire of the gift thou crackest thy conscience, and dost commit sin. And again on
[[ extrinsecus aut ccelitus accedens, Lat.] [2 homines, Lat.; not evil men.] [3 In voluntate quippe hominis est origo vitiorum; moventur au-]
[tem causis corda hominum, alia sic, alia vero sic; etiam non diversis]
[causis, szepe diverso modo secundum proprias qualitates que ex vo-]
[luntatibus veniunt.— August. Opp. Tom. 1v. fol. 29. col. 2.]]
the other side, though peradventure thou wilt not be seduced with gifts, yet being terrified with threatenings thou dost, for dread of that which thou fearest, commit the iniquity that otherwise thou wouldest not. As for example, some one man or other would with gifts corrupt thee to bear false witness. Thou presently hast turned thyself to God, and hast said in thy heart, What doth it advantage a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul?” I will not be hired with gifts to lose my soul for the gain of money. Thereupon he, which before enticed thee, doth now turn himself to terrify thee; and for because his gifts did fail to hire thee, he beginneth to threaten unto thee damage, banishment, wounds, and death. In such a case now if greediness could not, yet fear perhaps might cause thee to sin‘.” The same Augustine again, in his book De Sermone Domini in Monte, saith: “Three things there be by which sin is accomplished, suggestion, delectation, and consent. Suggestion, whether it be wrought by the memory, or senses of the body; as when we see, hear, smell, taste, or touch any thing. Now if we be delighted to have it, that unlawful delight must be restrained: as for example, when we fast, if at the sight of meat our appetite do arise, it is not done without delectation: but we must not give our consent to that delectation, but suppress it with the power of reason; for if the consent be given, then is the sin accomplished. These three things are correspondent to the circumstances of the history that is written in Genesis: so that of the serpent was made that suggestion; in the carnal appetite, as in Eva, was the delectation; and in reason, as in Adam, did the full consent appear: which being finished,
[4 Omnia peccata dus res faciunt in homine, cupiditas et timor.]
[Cogitate, discutite, interrogate corda vestra, perscrutamini conscientias;]
[videte utrum possint esse peccata, nisi aut cupiendo aut timendo.]
[Proponitur tibi premium, ut pecces; id est, quod te delectet: facis]
[propter quod cupis. Sed forte non induceris donis, terreris minis:]
[facis propter quod times. Corrumpere te vult aliquis ut dicas, verbi]
[gratia, falsum testimonium. Attendisti tu Deum, et dixisti in animo]
[tuo, Quid prodest homini, si totum mundum lucretur, anime autem]
[suze detrimentum patiatur? Non adducor premio ut perdam animam]
[meam pro lucro pecuniz. Convertit ille se ad incutiendum metum,]
[qui premio corrumpere non valuit; incipit minari damnum, et expul-]
[sionem, ceedes, fortassis mortem. Ibi jam si cupiditas non valuit,]
[forte timor valebit ut pecces.——Id. Tom. vir. fol, 188. col. 4.]]
man is expelled as it were out of paradise, that is, out of the blessed light of righteousness into death and damnation.” Thus much saith Augustine touching the cause of sin.
But here we must especially note in the definition of God. actual sin the very property or difference, whereby this action is discerned from all other actions, and whereby the most proper note of sin is made manifest. This action therefore, even as all sins else do, doth directly tend against God’s law. But what the law of God is, I have in my former A sermons at large declared. Verily, it is none other but the very will of God. Now the will of God is, that man should be like unto his? image, that is, that he should be holy, innocent, and so consequently saved.
This will of his did God express, first by the law of nature, then by the law which he writ in two tables of stone, and lastly by the preaching of the holy gospel. Now those three tend all to one end, to wit, that man should be holy, innocent, and so consequently saved. And whatsoever things are done of men, either in thought, word, or deed, against that holy law of God, they both are, and are called, actual sins. Therefore in the judging or esteeming of men’s sins, the law of God must be only looked unto; for the things that are not contrary to God’s law are not sins: neither hath any man authority to make new? laws, for the transgressing whereof men should be counted sinners. That glory belong-
4.1 eth to God alone, to whom David crieth: “To thee alone have I sinned, and against thee have I wrought wickedness.” Neither is it any part of our office to take upon us by our own [} Nam tria sunt quibus impletur peccatum; suggestione, delectatione, et consensione. Suggestio, sive per memoriam fit, sive per corporis sensus, cum aliquid videmus aut audimus, vel olfacimus, vel gustamus, vel tangimus. Quo si frui delectaverit, delectatio illicita refreenanda est: velut cum jejunamus, et, visis cibis, palati appetitus assurgit, non fit nisi delectatione; sed huic tamen non consentimus, gi eam dominantis rationis jure cohibemus. Si autem consensio facta fuerit, plenum peccatum erit. Tria ergo hac, ut dicere cceperam, similia sunt illi gestee rei, quee in Genesi scripta est, ut quasi a serpente fiat suggestio et queedam suasio; in appetitu autem carnali, tanquam in Eva, delectatio; in ratione vero, tanquam in viro, consensio: quibus peractis, tanquam de paradiso, hoc est, de beatissima luce justitiee in mortem homo expellitur.—Id. Tom. 1v. fol. 248. col. 3, 4.]
[2 id est divine, Lat. omitted; that is, to the divine.)
[3 new, not in Lat.]
judgments to determine which be the smallest and which the greatest sins. For which of us would think, that it were sin to say to his brother, “Thou fool?” And yet the Lord in the gospel pronounceth it to be sin: who in the same gospel also affirmeth, that we “shall give account for every idle word at the latter day of judgment.” Very rightly therefore saith St Augustine in his second book De Bapt. contra Donatistas, capit. 6: “In esteeming of sins let us not bring in deceitful balances, wherein to weigh both what we list and as we list, after our own mind and phantasy, saying, This is heavy, and that is light: but let us bring in the weights of God’s holy scriptures, as out of the secret treasuries of the Lord, and thereby let us weigh what is heavy, and what is light; nay rather, let not us weigh them, but acknowledge and so accept them as they are weighed by the Lord.”
And although this might seem to be sufficient, as that which hath sufficiently declared the nature of actual sin; yet will we more at large consider the sundry sorts or kinds and differences of sins. The Stoics were of opinion that all sins were equal: whom perhaps Jovinian following (as the patriarchs of heresies are by Tertullian said to be philosophers) is written to have affirmed the very same with them, as is extant in St Augustine’s catalogue of heretics. The holy scripture teacheth us that God is just: whereupon we do conclude, that all sins therefore are not equal; for we see that God, as he is a just judge, doth punish some sins more sharply than other some. For in his gospel the Lord saith:
[[ Non afferamus stateras dolosas, ubi appendamus quod volumus]
[et quomodo volumus, pro arbitrio nostro dicentes, Hoc grave, hoc leve]
[est: sed afferamus stateram divinam de scripturis sanctis, tanquam de]
[thesauris Dominicis, et in illa quid sit gravius appendamus; imo]
[non appendamus, sed a Domino appensa recognoscamus.—August.]
[Opp. Tom. vir. fol. 80. col. 3. Par. 1531.) [6 Sane et sibi preestitit aliquid Materia, ut et ipsa cum Deo possit]
[agnosci, coequalis Deo, imo et adjutrix: nisi quod solus eam Her-]
[mogenes cognovit, et heereticorum patriarchs philosophi.—Tertull.]
[adv. Hermog. cap. 8. Tom. 11. p. 68. ed. Semler. Hal. Mag. 1828. Also]
[de Anim. cap. 3. Tom. 1v. p. 185.] [6 A Joviniano quodam monacho ista heeresis orta est state nostra,]
[cum adhuc juvenes essemnus. Hie omnia peccata, sicut Stoici philo-]
[sophi, paria esse dicebat, &c.—Aug. de Heres. No. 82. Tom, ΥἹ. fol. 7.]
[col. 1.]]
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! which devour widows’ houses under the pretence of long prayer: therefore shall you receive the greater damnation.” And
15. again; “” It shall be easier,” saith the Lord, “for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for the city” that rejecteth the preaching of the gospel. Likewise in the eleventh of Matthew he saith: “It shall be easier for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment, than for you” To Pilate also he sald: “The man that delivered me to thee hath the more sin.” Again: “The servant that knew his master’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes.”
To proceed now, sins do arise by steps, and increase by circumstances, For first, there is a hidden sin, contained in the very affection or desire of man. But I have already told you, that affections and desires are of two sorts; to wit, natural affections, which are not repugnant to the law of God; of which sort are the love of children, parents, and wife, and the desire of meat, drink, and sleep: although I know and do not deny but that sometimes those affections are defiled with the original spot. Again, there are carnal desires or affections in men, directly contrary to the will of God. Those affections are nourished and do increase by vain thoughts and carnal delights increasing in thy bosom; and at last they break out into the sin of the mouth, yea, after that, to the deed-doing, or actual sin itself. As for example: Thou lustest after another man’s wife, and settlest the lust in the bottom of thy heart, still delighting thyself with vain cogitations, while thou callest to mind her passing beauty and lineaments of body, and dost by thy often and vehement imagination both delight and set thyself on fire; and not being content herewithal alone, thou ceasest not to lie at! her, whom thou lovest, with words and writings to spot her chastity; and, if occasion serve thee, thou dost by thy deed-doing defile her, and also dost reiterate the sin which thou hast once committed; and lastly, laying aside the fear of God’s plague and the shame of the world, thou dost daily frequent it, and openly use it. Seest thou here, by this example, how one and the same sin
[1 solicitas, Lat.)
Ν x.] OF SIN, AND THE KINDS THEREOF, 409 doth increase by degrees, and doth still require a sharper punishment, according to the greatness and enormity of the crime? Verily, the Lord in the gospel after St Matthew confirmeth this, and saith: “Ye have heard how it was said to them of old, Thou shalt not kill: Whosoever killeth shall be in danger of judgment. But I say unto you, That whoso is angry with his brother unadvisedly? shall be in danger of judgment: and whosoever shall say unto his brother, Racha, shall be in danger of a council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hellfire.” In these words of the Lord’s thou hearest first the differences of sins, as anger, the tokens of angry minds, and open scoldings, which do for the most part end in open fightings; and then thou hearest that, as the sin increaseth, so the greatness and sharpness of the punishment is still augmented. It was therefore no unapt or silly distinction that they made in actual sin which said, that there is one sin of the thought, another of the mouth, and another of the deed; which they did again divide into certain kinds and sorts: reducing them again partly into Scelera, and partly into Delicta.
Scelera are those heinous crimes which are conceived «πὰ οὐππηπισα οἵ τοῖ Purpose and ρτοίοπας malice of which “sort are-these—especially Which are called the crying sins, a8 murder, usury, oppression of the fatherless and widows, sodomy, and the Withheld Hire of the needy labourer——+For touching murder, the voice of “thehord-in-Genesis-saith: “The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me.” And in the twenty-second of Exodus he saith: “If ye vex the fatherless and widows, and they cry to me, I will hear them and slay you.” The word of God doth with bitter quips bate usury and utterly condemn it. THe sim of-the—Sodomite ascended up to ResToRFOUIFg vengeance to light upon the villanous beasts’. And James the apostle saith: Behold, the hire of the labourers which have reaped down your fields, which hire of you is kept back by fraud, crieth; and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.” To these sins other men do also annex those seven principal vices, pride or vain-glory, Sigat. ey sloth, covetousness, gluttony, and lechery. Yea, they make Those-1he soos mT rst boghmimpor aif ss and wickedness,
[3 unadvisedly, not in Lat.] [8 to light—beasts, not in Lat.)]
and therefore do they call them the principal sins; as is to be seen in the Sentences of Peter Lombard?
Moreover they call those sins delicta, which are committed of infirmity or unwittingly; to wit, when the good is forsaken, and duty to God or man neglected, by a certain sin, kind of idle sluggishness; where peradventure are to be num- here the sin of ignorance, the sin called alienum, and the sin of unwillingness: although even they also are oftentimes made both heinous crimes and detestable offences. or Ignorance is said to be of two sorts: the one is natural and very ignorance, which springeth of original sin; the other is affected or counterfeit, which riseth of a set purpose and pretended malice. The natural ignorance is a disease, a fault, and a sin; because it springeth of a poisoned original, and is a work of darkness, as it appeared above by the testimony of the apostle St Paul2. Verily St Augustine in his third book “De Libero Arbitrio, cap. 19, saith: “That which every one by ignorance doth not rightly, and that which he cannot do though he willeth rightly, are therefore called sins, because they have their beginning of the sin of free-will. For that precedent did deserve to have such consequents. For as we give the name of tongue, not to that member only which moveth in the mouth while we speak; but even to that also which followeth upon the moving of that member, to wit, the form and tenour of words which the tongue doth utter; according to which phrase of speech we say, that in one man there are divers tongues, meaning the Greek and the Latin tongues; even so we do not only call that sin which is properly called sin (for it is committed of a free will wittingly), but that also which followeth upon the punishment of the same;” of which I have said somewhat before.
[[} Preeterea sciendum est septem esse vitia capitalia vel principalia,]
[ut Greg. super Exod. ait: scilicet, Inanem gloriam, Iram, Invidiam,]
[Acidiam vel Tristitiam, Avaritiam, Gastrimargiam, Luxuriam.—Lom-]
[bard. lib. Sent. Lib. 11. distinct. 42. fol. 221. Par. 1575.) [2 See page 394.] [3 Nam illud quod ignorans quisque non recte facit, et quod recte]
[volens facere non potest, ideo dicuntur peccata, quia de peccato illo]
[liberee voluntatis originem ducunt. Illud enim preecedens meruit ista]
[sequentia. Nam sicut linguam dicimus non ΒΟ] πὶ membrum, quod]
[movemus in ore dum loquimur, sed etiam illud quod hujus membri]
[motum consequitur, id est, formam tenoremque verborum, secundum]
Other do cloak their ignorance with that saying of the Lord in the gospel: “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had wherewithal to cloak their sin,” or they should have had no sin. For hereupon they infer: Therefore they to whom nothing hath been preached are free from blame and accusation of sin. But the Lord said not so. For first, he spake of their pretended colour?, and not of their innocency; and every pretence is not just and lawful. He said, I confess, “they should have had no sin:” but he addeth presently, “Now have they nothing to cloak their sin withal.” Secondarily, he doth not universally acquit the ignorant from all kind of sin, but from the sin of rebellion only: for St Augustine upon John saith: “They have an excuse not for every sin; but for this only, that they believed not in Christ, because he came not unto them. For all, which neither have heard nor do hear, may have this excuse, but they cannot escape condemnation. For they that have sinned without law, shall perish without law.” And Paul also, in the first to Timothy, the first chapter, saith: “I thank him because he hath counted me faithful, putting me into the ministery; who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and an oppressor: but yet I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly, in unbelief.” Lo, here the apostle saith that he obtained mercy because he sinned through ignorance: this ignorance he deriveth of unbelief, and attributeth to it most filthy fruits.
Furthermore we call that false and counterfeit ignorance, which is of very malice feigned by obstinate and stubborn
[quem modum dicitur alia lingua Grzeca, alia Latina; sic nen solum]
[peccatum illud dicimus, quod proprie vocatur peccatum, libera enim]
[voluntate et ab sciente committitur; sed etiam illud quod jam de]
[hujus supplicio consequatur necesse est.—August. Opp. Tom. 1. fol.]
[145 col. 3. Par. 1531.] [ preetextu, Lat.] [> Domino donante respondeo, Habere illos excusationem, non de]
[omni peccato suo, sed de hoc peccato, quo in Christum non credide-]
[runt, ad quos non venit, et quibus non est locutus… Restat inquirere,]
[utrum hi qui priusquam Christus veniret in ecclesiam ad gentes, et]
[priusquam evangelium ejus audirent, vite hujus fine preeventi sunt]
[seu preeveniuntur, possunt habere hanc excusationem? Possunt plane,]
[sed non ideo possunt effugere damnationem. Quicunque enim sine]
[lege peccaverunt, sine lege peribunt.—Id. Expos. in Evang. Joan,]
[Tract. Lxxxix. Tom. 1x. fol. 94. col. 3, 4.]]
people: as if thou, when a thing displeaseth thee!, shouldest say, that thou dost not understand it; or if, when thou mayest, thou wilt not understand it. Such is the ignorance that was in the Jews, the professed enemies of God’s grace in Christ?
8. For Paul saith: “I bear them witness that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to set up their own, they were not subject to the righteousness of God.” For the Lord in the gospel said to the Pharisees, when they demanded if
40. they were blinded also; “If ye were blind, ye should have… no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin abideth.” The sins called aliena are not those which we ourselves sins. commit, but those which other men do, yet not without us; to wit, while we allow, help forward, persuade, command, wink at, give occasion, or do not resist or gainsay them, when we may. The apostle Paul forbiddeth Timothy to lay hands on any man hastily, nor to communicate with other men’s sins. Therefore to give an unfit man orders, and to place him in the ecclesiastical ministery, is that kind of sin which we do call another’s sin: for to thee is worthily imputed what unseemliness soever is committed against God and his church by the ignorance of the man whom thou hast so ordained. They sin another’s sin, which offer violence, and do by torments and to threatenings compel men to deny the truth, or to commit one some. heinous offence. For the denial of the truth is peccatum alienwm, another’s sin, to him which compelleth the denier to me renounce it; and therewithal to the same man his own sin, in respect of himself, is impiety, tyranny, sacrilege, and murder, for causing the other to renounce the truth.
Where, by the way, we are well admonished, that of sins some are wilful, and some unwilful or enforced.
They call that the unwilful sin, which is committed either by another man’s enforcing, or else by our own ignorance. Therefore that which is done neither by compulsion, nor by ignorance, is concluded to be the voluntary or wilful sin.
Again, of enforced sin they make two sorts; whereof they call one absolute, the other conditional. Now they think that the absolute violent sin is, when it lieth not in us either to do or not to do, but when it cometh from some other man,
[1 thee, not in Lat.] [2 in Christ, not in Lat.]]
without the consent of him to whom the violence is offered: even as if the wind should drive us to any place unlooked for; or if the king’s officers do perforce compel thy hands to offer incense to idols, while thou to thy power resistest, and dost deny it so far as thou canst. In such a case they acquit the man, so compelled, from all blame, punishment, and reproach? Now touching the second kind of violent sin, which they call conditional, they think that it riseth upon sundry causes. But that we may not stick too long upon this point, we do simply say: the unwilful or violent sin either hath, or hath not, the consent of him which is compelled. If he give his consent, as for example, either to the renouncing of the evangelical truth which he hath hitherto professed, or to the committing of other grievous and horrible crimes, then is not the man compelled void of blame. For neither can the fear of death, nor torments, be an excuse for him. Choose death rather than to deny the truth, to commit any heinous crime, or to be compelled to consent to a wicked and horrible sin. 1 thou shalt rather choose to die than to do a filthy deed, the tyrant shall not enforce or compel thee against thy will. He may indeed kill thee: but to compel thee to do evil against thy will he is not able; for by dying thou confessest the truth, and by dying thou declarest that thou wilt not do that which, while thou livest, they do exact of thee. And by that means they neither overcome nor compel thee; but are themselves overcome and compelled to see and have trial of that which grieveth them full sore. Antiochus Epiphanes did what he might to have polluted the holy bodies of the Maccabees with the use of unclean and forbidden meat: but they, choosing rather to die than by living to be defiled, did by dying overcome the tyrant, and could not be compelled. And verily it is a thing received and approved among all professors of sound religion, that death and all extremities whatsoever must sooner be tasted than any thing committed which is by nature filthy and repugnant to religion.
To proceed now; if consent be not given, but mere and unavoidable violence is offered to a godly man, (for here we make a difference betwixt him that upon compulsion doth
[3 laude et vituperatione, Lat.; praise and blame. ] [4 Aug. de Mend. ad Consentium, 9. and 10. Tom. 1v. fol. 3.]
[col. 4. and fol. 4. col. 1, 2.]]
yield to do wickedness, and him which by compulsion cannot be brought unto it!;) that violence spotteth not his uncorrupt and holy mind. As for example; if a godly man, having his feet bound and arms fast pinioned, be perforce brought into an idol temple, and there compelled to be present at their detestable sacrifice; or if an unspotted virgin or honest matron be in the wars or barbarous broils villanously abused, without their consent to the deed-doing, and cannot have leave rather to die untouched than so to be undecently handled, she is, assure yourselves, unspotted before the face of God. For very wisely said St Augustine: “Not to suffer unjustly, but to do unjustly, is sin before God%” Lib. de Libero Arbitrio, mr. cap. 16. Again, De Mendacio ad Consentium, cap. 7, he saith: “That which the body, where lust went not before, doth violently suffer ought rather to be called vexation than corruption. Or if all vexation be corruption, yet all corruption is not filthy; but that corruption only which lust hath procured, or whereunto lust hath consented.” Again, in his first book De Civitate Det, capit. 18, he saith: “Where the purpose of the mind remaineth constant, by which the body is sanctified, there the offered violence of another’s lust taketh not from the body the purposed holiness, which the constant perseverance of the party’s own chastity doth still retain” Much more like to this hath he in the same place, and also in the sixteenth, nineteenth, and twenty-eighth chapters of the same book, &e.
So also we must think the best of the unwilful death of and men beside their wits, that in their madness kill themselves. For otherwise it cannot be found in the canonical books of holy scripture, that God did either give leave or command.
ment to us mortal men to kill ourselves, thereby the sooner
[1 discernimus hic inter eum qui coactus malum facit, et qui]
[patitur, Lat. ] [2 Non enim injuste aliquid pati, sed injuste aliquid facere, pecca-]
[tum est.—August. Opp. Tom. 1. fol. 144. col. 4. Par. 1531.] [8 Quod enim violenter non precedente libidine patitur corpus,]
[vexatio potius quam corruptio nominanda est. Aut si omnis vexatio]
[corruptio est, non omnis corruptio turpis est, sed quam libido procu-]
[raverit, aut cui libido consenserit.—Id. Tom. 1v. fol. 3. col. 3.] [6 Proposito animi permanente, per quod etiam corpus sanctificari]
[meruit, nec ipsi corpori aufert sanctitatem violentia libidinis alienze,]
[quam servat perseverantia continentiee suse.—Id. Tom. v. fol. 8. col. 4.]]
to obtain immortality, or to avoid imminent evil. For it must be understood that we are forbidden so to do by the law which saith, “Thou shalt not kill:” namely since he addeth not, “(ΠΥ neighbour;” as he did in another precept, where he forbiddeth to bear false witness. (For because he nameth not thy neighbour, he doth in that precept include thyself also.) Therefore is the doctrine of Seneca to be utterly condemned, which counselleth men in misery to despatch themselves, that by death their misery may be ended’. And St Augustine, disputing against them that do therefore murder themselves because they will not be subject to other men’s filthy lusts?, doth say: “If it be a detestable crime and a damnable sin for a man to murder himself, as the truth doth manifestly ery that it is; who is so mad to say, Let us sin now, lest peradventure hereafter we happen to sin; let us now commit murder, lest hereafter perhaps we fall into adultery? If iniquity have so far the upper hand, that not innocency but mischief is most set by, is it not better by living to hazard the chance of an uncertain defloweration in time to come, than by dying to commit a certain murder in the time present? Is it not far better in such extreme times of calamity to commit such a fault as by repentance may be forgiven, than to do such a sin whereby no time is left to repent in? This have I said because of those wilful men and women, which, to avoid not others’ but their own sin, lest perhaps under another’s lust they should consent to their own being stirred up, do think that they ought to rid themselves from it by shortening their lives. But far be it from a christian mind, which trusteth in our God and with a settled hope doth stay on him as on his surest aid; far be it, I say, from such a mind to yield to any pleasures of the flesh unto the consenting to filthiness. But if the concupiscential disobedience, which dwelleth yet in our mortal members, is against the law of our will stirred up or moved by a law of her own; how much rather is it without blame in the body of him that consenteth not, if it be without blame in the body of him that
[6 This explanation is the translator’s.] [6 Si pugnare non vultis, licet fugere.—Senec. de Provident. cap.]
[6 In his Comment. in Matth. chap. xvi. 25. Lib. vir. p. 613, Bul-]
[linger’s reference on this topic is to Senec. ad Lucil. Ep. 71.] [7 et peccent, Lat. omitted; and commit sin. ]]
sleepeth!!” Thus much out of Augustine: now do we return to our purpose again.
But the most vulgar and apt distinction of actual sin, which doth in a manner contain in itself all the other kinds and parts thereof, is that wherein it is called either mortal or venial sin. They think that mortal sin is every sin which is committed of an unfaithful person; and that venial sin is [! Veruntamen si detestabile facinus et damnabile scelus est etiam seipsum hominem occidere, sicut veritas manifesta proclamat; quis ita desipiat, ut dicat, Jam nunc peccemus ne postea forte peccemus; jam nunc perpetremus homicidium, ne forte postea incidamus in adulterium? Nonne, si tantum dominatur iniquitas, ut non innocentia sed potius peccata eligantur, satius est incertum de futuro adulterium quam certum de presenti homicidium? Nonne satius est flagitium committere, quod peenitendo sanetur, quam tale facinus ubi locus salubris peenitentiee non relinquitur? Heec dixi propter eos vel eas, quee non alieni sed proprii peccati devitandi causa, ne sub alterius libidine etiam excitatee suze forte consentiant, vim sibi qua moriantur inferendam putant. Ceterum absit a mente christiana, que in Deo suo fidit, in eoque spe posita ejus adjutorio nititur; absit, inquam, ut mens talis quibuslibet carnis voluptatibus ad consensum turpitudinis cedat. Quod si illa concupiscentialis inobedientia, que adhuc in membris moribundis habitat, preter nostree voluntatis legem, quasi lege sua, movetur; quanto magis absque culpa est in corpore non consentientis, si absque culpa est in corpore dormientis!-——August. de Civ. Dei, Lib. 1. cap. 25. Opp. Tom. v. fol.11. col. 2, 3.]
{2 Et heec (i. e. publica) quidem sunt graviora, illa autem (i. 6. privata) leviora, quod videlicet attinet homines et multorum offensionem, Lat. ]
[3 Aquinat. prim. sec. par. Summe. quest. 88. fol. 148, &c. Par. 1615.]
every sin that is done of a faithful man. I do simply and according to the scriptures suppose, that all the sins of men are mortal; for they are done against the law or will of God. But death is due to sins; for the prophet crieth: “The soul that sinneth shall die itself;” and the apostle saith: “The reward of sin is death.” Yea, and deadly sins do take the name of death. To this now do belong these testimonies of the apostle: “This ye know, that every fornicator, or unclean person, or covetous person, which is a worshipper of idols, hath none inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” The same sentence, being again rehearsed? in the fifth to the Ephesians, is again to be found in the fifth to the Galatians, and the fifth and sixth chapters of the first to the Corinthians.
But the sins which are of their own nature mortal are through grace in the faith of Jesus Christ made venial; because they are through Christ forgiven by God’s great favour and mercy. And therefore the apostle in the sixth chapter to the Romans did not say, Let not sin be in your mortal body;” but, “Let not sin reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey to it through the lusts thereof.” And again; There is therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, which walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.” And again; “Brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to walk after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if by the spirit ye shall mortify the deeds of the flesh, ye shall live.” Therefore there is sin in our body always so long as we live; but by grace it is not imputed unto death: and they to whom it is not imputed, do by all means endeavour to walk after the spirit, and not after the flesh: and yet they do very oftentimes slip and fall; which falls and slippings nevertheless, together with that infirmity of mortal men, are counted sins,—I mean sins pardonable and not to be punished eternally.
Now to mortal sins is that sin especially to be referred, which is called the sin against the Holy Ghost; which some do not without a cause suppose to be most properly called mortal sin: of which I will speak, when first I have somewhat briefly answered to certain questions that do depend upon this argument.
First of all here is demanded, Whether that sin or disease, which after baptism remaineth in infants, be sin in very [4 edita, Lat.; being rehearsed. ] [5 cum morbo illo sontico, Lat. ] 27
[Bullinger, 11.]
aftr deed? Now it is manifest, that concupiscence remaineth in - them that are baptized; and that concupiseence is sin; and therefore that sin remaineth in them that are baptized: which sin, notwithstanding, is through the grace of God in the merit of Jesus Christ not imputed unto them. So did St Augustine resolve this knot in the first book De Peccatorum Meritis et Remissione, cap. 39, where he saith: In infants verily it is so wrought by the grace of God, through the baptism of him that came in the likeness of sinful flesh, that the flesh of sin should be made void. And yet it is made void so, not that the concupiscence which is spread and bred in the flesh, while it liveth, should of a sudden be consumed, vanish away, and not be; but that it should not hurt him now being dead, in whom it was even at his birth. For it is not given in baptism to them of more years, that the law of sin which is in their members contrary to the law of their mind should utterly be extinguished and not be at all; but that all the evil, whatsoever is said, done, or thought of man, when with his captive mind he served that concupiscence, should be utterly wiped out, and so reputed as though it never had been done!” Thus much hath Augustine.
Another question is, Whether those works, that the Gen-the tiles do, which have a shew of virtue and goodness, are sins, op else good works? It is assuredly true, that God even among the Gentiles also had his elect. Now so many such as were among them were not without the Holy Ghost and faith. Therefore their works which were wrought by faith were good works, and not sins. For in the Acts of the Apostles mention is made, that the prayers and alms-deeds of Cornelius the centurion were had in remembrance before God; and the same Cornelius is said to have been a devout man and fearing God: whereupon I infer that he was faithful; whose faith afterward is made fully perfect, and upon whom
[1 In parvulis certe, gratia Dei, per baptismum ejus qui venit in]
[similitudine carnis peccati, id agitur, ut evacuetur caro peccati. Eva-]
[cuatur autem, non ut in ipsa vivente carne concupiscentia conspersa]
[et innata repente absumatur et non sit; sed ne obsit mortuo qu in-]
[erat nato. Nam nec grandibus hoc praestatur in baptismo.. ut lex]
[peccati que inest in membris, repugnans legi mentis, penitus extin-]
[guatur et non sit; sed ut quicquid mali ab homine factum, dictum,]
[cogitatum est, cum eidem concupiscentize subjecta mente serviret,]
[totum aboleatur, ac velut factum non fuerit habeatur.—August. Opp.]
[Tom. vir. fol. 141. col. 3.]]
the gift of the Holy Ghost is more plenteously bestowed. Moreover the worthy deeds of the heathens are not to be despised nor utterly contemned; for as they were not altogether done without God, so did they much avail to the preserving and restoring of the tranquillity of kingdoms and commonweals. And therefore did the most just Lord enrich certain excellent men and commonweals with many and ample temporal gifts; for upon the Greeks and many Roman princes he bestowed riches, victories, and abundant glory: and verily, civil justice and public tranquillity was in great estimation among many of them. Other received infinite rewards, because they did constantly and manfully execute the just judgments of God upon the wicked rebels and enemies to God. Neither is it to be doubted but that the Lord granted that invincible power to the Roman empire under Octavius Augustus and other Roman princes, to the end that by their strength he might break and bring down the invincible malice of the Jewish people, and so by the Romans revenge the blood of his Son, his holy prophets, and blessed apostles, which had been shed by those furious and blasphemous beasts. Note here, that? immediately after the subversion of Hierusalem the Roman empire began to decline. Now let us return to the matter again.
Lastly they do demand, Whether the good works of the saints and faithful ones be sins or no? Verily, if thou respectest our corruption and infirmity, then all our works are sins, because they be the works of us which are ourselves not without filthy spots; and therefore the works which be wrought by us cannot be so perfect as otherwise they ought to be in the sight of God. And yet the very same works, for the faith’s sake in us and because we are received into the grace of God, and that therefore they are wrought of us which are now by grace the sons of God, both are indeed and also called good3, For to this end tendeth that saying of the apostle: “With the mind the same I, or even I, do serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” Lo here, one and the same apostle, even being regenerate, doth retain in himself two sundry dispositions; so that his very work, working in divers respects, is both sin and a good work also. For inasmuch as in mind he serveth God, so far forth he doth a good work; but insomuch as he again did serve the law of [2 Certe, Lat.; unquestionably.] [3 and also called, not in Lat.] 27—2
the flesh, therein his work is not without a spot. For he himself a little before in the same seventh chapter said: “I find, when I would do good, that evil (παράκειται, that is to say) is present with, by, and in me!:” which evil undoubtedly, making always a shew of itself in all our words, works, and thoughts, doth cause that the work which is done of wus, when we are regenerate, cannot be so pure as God’s justice doth look that it should be. By the grace therefore and the mercy of God it is reputed and esteemed as pure.
Hereunto now doth that sentence of our Lord in the gospel after St John belong, where he saith: “He that is washed hath no need save to wash his feet, but he is clean every whit.” For if he be clean every whit, what need hath the clean to wash his feet? But if his feet must be washed, how then is he clean every whit? And yet these sayings are not repugnant betwixt themselves; even as also that saying is not, where we say that good works? are sins. For according to the plentifulness and imputation of God’s grace and mercy we are clean every whit, being throughly purged from all our sins, so that they shall not condemn us; and yet, for because there is always in us the law of sin which sheweth itself in 85 so long as we live, therefore our feet, that is, those evil motions and naughty lusts of ours, must be resisted and to our power repressed. Finally, we must acknowledge that we ourselves? and our very works are never without an imperfection; and therefore consequently, that all our works and we do stand in need of the grace of God. These questions being thus resolved, we are now come to expound the sin against the Holy Ghost.
The sin against the Holy Ghost is a perpetual blaspheming of the revealed and known truth; to wit, when we against our conscience falsely revolting from the known truth do without intermission both inveigh and rail against it. For blasphemy is the evil speech or despiteful taunts wherewith we inveigh against or slander any man, by casting forth wicked and detestable speeches against him, whereby his credit and estimation is either cracked or utterly disgraced. We do therefore blaspheme the magistrates, our elders, and other good men, when we do not only withdraw our obedience
[1 insideat, vel adjaceat, aut inheereat ac insitum sit, Lat.] [2 opera fidelium bona, Lat.] [3 in membris nostris, Lat.] [ ex nobis ipsis, Lat.] [ὃ agnite, Lat.] [6 parentes, Lat.]]
and the honour due unto them, but do also with reproachful words bait them, not ceasing to call them tyrants, bloodsuckers, wicked heads, and odible guides”: but we do especially blaspheme God, when we detract his glory, gainsay his grace, and of set purpose do stubbornly contemn and dispraise his truth revealed unto us and his evident works declared to all the world.
Every sin verily is not blasphemy, but all blasphemy is sin; for because it tendeth against God and his will, it is sin: but therewithal this property more and singularity it hath, that it doth also despise God and speak reproachfully against his works. Many do sin against the doctrine of the truth, because they do either neglect and not receive the truth; or else because, when they have received it, they do not reverence and set it forth: but these kind of men, though they be sinners, do yet not deserve to be called blasphemers. But if they begin once with taunts and quips to mock the doctrine which they neglect, calling it heretical, schismatical, seditious, and devilish, then may they rightly be termed blasphemers.
Wherefore the property of the sin against the Holy Ghost is, not only to revolt from the truth, but also against all conscience to speak against the truth, and with flouts incessantly to overwhelm both the very work and most evident revelation of the Lord. For the conscience, being by the evidence of the revelation or work of the Holy Ghost convinced, suggesteth or telleth them that they ought not only to temper themselves from reproachful speeches, but that they ought to do another thing too, that is, that they ought to yield to the truth and give to God his due honour and glory. But now, to exclude this inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to reject and overwhelm it with stubborn falsehood, flat apostasy, wicked contradiction, and perpetual contempt, is flatly to commit sin against the Holy Ghost. And this verily taketh beginning of original sin, and is nourished and set forward by devilish suggestions, our perverse affections, by indignations, envy, hope or fear, by stubborn and self-wilful malice, and lastly by contumacy and rebellion.
But now the course of the matter requireth to hear what the Lord said in the gospel concerning this sin. In the twelfth [7 execrandos, Lat.; guides is the translator’s addition. ]
[8 ornant, Lat.]
of Matthew he saith: “Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come.” The same sentence of our Saviour is thus expressed in the third chapter of St Mark’s gospel:! “All sins shall be forgiven unto the children of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever 4 they shall blaspheme: but he that speaketh blasphemy against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.” In the twelfth chapter after St Luke these words in a manner are uttered thus: “Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but unto him that blasphemeth the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.” In these words of the Lord we have here mention made of blasphemy against the Son of man, and of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost: of which that against the Holy Ghost is utterly unpardonable, but that against the Son of man is altogether venial. Blasphemy against the Son of man is committed of the ignorant, which are not yet enlightened; and doth tend against Christ, whom the blasphemer doth think to be a seducer, because he knoweth him not. Such blasphemers the word of the Lord doth manifestly testify that Paul himsglf before his conversion and a great part of the Jews were; for upon the cross the Lord prayed, crying: Father, forgive them; for they wot not what they τ. 81 do: and the apostle Paul saith: “If they had known the Lord of glory, they would not have crucified him.” Whereupon St Peter in the Acts, speaking to the Jews, saith: I know that ye did it through ignorance; now therefore turn you, and repent, that your sins may be wiped out.” Acts iii. But the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is said to be a continual fault-finding or reproach against the Holy Spirit of God; that 1s, against the inspiration, illumination, and works of the Spirit. For when he doth so evidently work in the minds of men that they can neither gainsay it nor yet pretend ignorance, and that for all this they do resist, mock, despise, and continually snap at the truth?, which they in their
[ω [1 Amen, dico vobis, Lat. omitted. Verily, I say unto you.] [2 revelationem aut operationem illam Spiritus, Lat.; that revela-]
[tion or working of the Spirit. ]]
consciences do know to be most wholesome and true4; in so doing they do blaspheme the Holy Spirit and power? of God. As for example: the Pharisees, being by most evident reasons and unreprovable miracles convinced in their own minds, could i not deny but that the doctrine and works of our Lord Jesus Christ were the truth and miracles of the very God; and yet, against the testimony of their own consciences, they did of mere envy, rebellious doggedness, and false apostasy, continually cavil that Christ did all by the means and inspiration of Beelzebub’, the devil. And little or nothing better than the Pharisees are those which, when they have in these days once understood that the very truth and assured salvation are most simply and purely set forth in Christ, do notwithstanding forsake it, and allow of the contrary doctrine, condemning and with mocks? railing upon the sound and manifest truth; yea, and that more is, they cease not to clap their hands and hiss at it, as a damnable heresy.
As this sin is of all other the filthiest, so is it not venial, but utterly unpardonable; for in the gospel the Lord hath expressly said: “It shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come.” Which sentence in St Mark is thus pronounced: “ΗΘ hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.” The cause is manifest. For it is unpossible without faith to please God; without faith there is no remission of sins; without faith there is no entrance into the kingdom of God. But the sin against the Holy Ghost is mere apostasy and flat rebellion against the true faith which the Holy Ghost by his illumination doth pour into our hearts: which illumination these untoward apostates do incessantly call darkness; they name it a mere seduction, and do with taunts blaspheme it openly. Therefore this sin is never forgiven them; for they tread under foot the grace of God, and do despise and make a mock of the way which leadeth to
[[ optimam, Lat. omitted; the best.] [ contra conscientiam propriam, Lat. omitted; against their own]
[conscience. ] [5 and power, not in Latin.] [6 divina esse, Lat.; were divine.] [7 Beelzebub, not in Latin.] [ evangelica doctrina, Lat. omitted; by the preaching of the]
[gospel. ] [9 contra animi sui sententiam, Lat. omitted; against the judgment]
[of their mind. ] [10 perstans, Lat.; obstinate. ]]
salvation!. Wherefore St Paul in the tenth to the Hebrews saith: “If we sin willingly after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a fearful looking for of judgment and violent fire, which shall devour the adversaries.” Now, I pray you, what is it to sin willingly? Forsooth, to sin willingly is not to sin through infirmity, or oftentimes to fall into one and the same sin: but to sin willingly is with a most stubborn contempt to sin; as they are wont to do, which wittingly and willingly do reject and spurn at the grace of God, not ceasing to make a mock of the cross and death of Christ, as though it were foolish and ~~ not sufficiently effectual to the purging of all our sins: for to such there is prepared none other sacrifice for sins, And such the apostle calleth the adversaries, that is, the contemners and enemies of God. And therefore the same apostle in the sixth chapter of the same epistle saith: “It cannot be that they which were once lighted, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were become partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted of the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, and they fall away, should be renewed again into repentance; crucifying to themselves the Son of God afresh, and making a mock of him.” He speaketh not here of every fall of the faithful; but of wilful and stubborn apostasy. For Peter fell and was restored again through repentance: which happeneth to more than Peter alone; for all sinners are through repentance daily restored. But unrepentant Judas is not restored, because he was a wilful? apostate. Mockers and blaspemers are not restored through repentance, because they do obstinately stand against the known verity, and cease not to blaspheme the way by which alone they are to be led unto eternal life. Therefore those places of St Paul do make never a whit for the Novatians3, but do expound to us the nature and envenomed force of the sin against the Holy Ghost.
St John the apostle and evangelist, disputing of this sin in floc his canonical epistle, saith: “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin
[1 ad gratiam, Lat.] [2 pertinax, Lat.] [3 Their peculiarity was, that they would not receive into the]
[church persons who after being baptized fell into the greater sins.]
[They did not, however, exclude them from all hopes of eternal sal-]
[vation.—Mosheim, Eccles. Hist. Book 1. Cent. 3. Part 2. ch. 5. 18.]]
unto death; I say not that thou shouldest pray for its. ΑἹ] unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death. We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that evil toucheth him not.” St John here maketh mention of two sorts of sins: the one unto death, that is, mortal and unpardonable, for which we must not pray, that is to say, prayers cannot obtain pardon for it. That sin is contumelious reproach against the Holy Ghost, revolting apostasy, and incessant mocking of the gospel of Christ; for in the gospel after St John we read: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my sayings, he shall not see death for ever;” and again: “If ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins.” And apostasy in very deed is iniquity, and a purposed and perpetual sin; for what is more sinful or unjust than to strive against’, and make a mock οἵδ the known verity? The other sin is venial, not unto death; the which, of what sort it is, St John declareth when he addeth: “We know that every one which is born of God sinneth not.” Now that saying must not be so absolutely taken, as though he sinned not at all: but we must understand, that he sinned not to death; for otherwise the very saints are sinners, as it is evident by the first chapter of this epistle. Furthermore, that which doth immediately follow in John maketh manifest that which went before: “He that is begotten of God,” saith he, “keepeth himself;” that is, he standeth stedfastly in the known truth, and taketh heed to himself, that that evil? touch him not; that is, that he entrap him not, stir him up against God, nor retain him in rebellion. Thus much have I hitherto said touching the sin against the Holy Ghost, which Augustine did in one place call final impenitency, which doth follow upon apostasy, blasphemy, and contempt of the Holy Ghost, or of the word of truth revealed by the Holy Ghost.
[[ ut roges, Lat.; and Erasmus. ] [6 indesinenter, Lat. omitted: without ceasing.] [6 medium ostendere digitum, is the proverb which Bullinger uses.] [7 malus ille, Lat.] [8 Peccatum in Spiritum Sanctum est finalis impcenitentia: de qua]
[dicit Aug.—Gratian. Decret. Par. 11. caus. 1. quest. 1. cap. 81. p. 73.]
[Par. 1583. The treatise De Ver. et Fals. Pcenitent. in which occur the]
[words,—Soli peccant in Spiritum Sanctum, qui impcenitentes existunt]
[usque ad mortem,—is considered to be spurious. ]]
And although I have already, in the handling of original sin and sin against the Holy Ghost, partly touched the effects of sin; yet to conclude this treatise withal, I will briefly shew you somewhat touching the just and assured punishment that shall be laid upon sinners. For in the definition of sin I said, that sin brought upon us the wrath of God with death and sundry punishments: of which in this place I mean to speak. It is as manifest, as what is most manifest, by the scriptures, that God doth punish the sins of men, yea, that he punisheth sinners for their sins. For many places in the scriptures declare, that God is angry and grievously offended at the sins of mortal men. David crieth: “The Lord loveth the just; as for the wicked and violent, his soul doth hate them. Upon the ungodly he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, storm and tempest; this shall be their portion to drink. For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness: with his countenance he doth behold the thing that is just.” In like mannner Paul saith:
1.18.) “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and uncleanness of men, which withhold! the truth in unrighteousness.” And what may be thought of that moreover, that the wrath of God for the sins of us men would be by no means appeased? but by the death of the Son of God? Wherein verily the excellency of the great price of our redemption doth argue the greatness and filthiness of our sin. To all which we may add, that the good Lord, who loveth mankind so well, would not have overwhelmed us with so many pains and exceeding calamities, had not our sin been passing horrible in the sight of his eyes. For who can make a full beadrow of all the calamities of miserable sinners? The Lord for our sins absenteth himself from us. But if the sun be out of the earth, how great are the mists and cloudy darkness in it? If God be away from us, how great is the horror in minds of men? Here therefore, as punishments due to sinners, are reckoned the tyranny of Satan, a thousand torments of conscience, the death of the soul, dreadful fear, utter desperation’, innumerable calamities of body and of our
[1 detinent, Lat.; withhold, Tyndale 1525, and Cranmer 1539.]]
[2 peccata mortalium non potuerunt expiari, Lat. ]]
[3 genus humanum, Lat. ]]
[4 paucis et in transcursu, Lat. omitted; in few words and by the way.] [ὅ peccatorum peenas, Lat.] [6 alienatur, Lat.]]
[7 et infandi dolores, Lat. omitted; and griefs not to be described. ]]
other faculties, which Moses the servant of God doth at large rehearse in the twenty-sixth of Leviticus and the twentyeighth chapter of Deuteronomy. And now, since new sins are daily scourged with new kinds of punishments, what end, I pray, is any man able to make, if he should go about to reckon them all?
It is not to be doubted, verily, but that the Lord doth punish sinners justly; for he is himself a most just Judge. And for because it is a mad man’s part to doubt of the justice,” omnipotency, and wisdom of God; it followeth therefore consequently, that all religious and godly men do hold for a certainty that the punishments, which God doth lay upon men, are laid upon them by most just judgment.
But how great and what kind of punishment is due to every fault and several transgression, belongeth rather to God’s judgment to determine, than for mortal men too curiously to inquire. Whereupon St Augustine, 7racta. in Joan. 89, saith: “There is a great diversity of punishments, as of sins; which how it is ordained, the wisdom of God doth more deeply declare, than man’s conjectures can possibly seek out, or utter in words!” He verily which in his law given to men gave this for a rule, “According to the measure of the sin, so shall the measure of the punishment be!!;”” being himself most equal and just, doth not in judgment exceed measure. Abraham, in the notable communication had with God which is reported in the eighteenth of Genesis, doth among other things say: “Wilt thou destroy the just with the wicked? That be far from thee, that thou shouldest do such a thing, and slay the righteous with the wicked, and that the righteous should be as the wicked. That is not thy part, that judgest all the earth: thou shalt not make such judgment!” Hereunto also belongeth that notable demonstration, which the Lord useth toward! Jonas being angry
[8 quis, oro, peenarum finis,aut quis genera omnia commemoret? Lat. ] [9 imo compertissimo, Lat. omitted; yea, for a most assured cer-]
[tainty. ] [190 Tanta est autem suppliciorum, quanta diversitas peccatorum;]
[que quomodo sese habeat, altius indicat sapientia divina quam con-]
[jectura scrutatur aut effatur humana.— August. Opp. Tom. 1x. fol. 94.]
[col. 4. Par. 1531.) [11 Deut. xxv. 2. ef. Vol. 1. page 356, note 4.] [12 Gen. xviii. 23, 25. Vulgat.] [18 prophetam, Lat. omitted; the prophet.]]
with the Lord because of his judgments: for he sheweth that he hath justly a care of the infants, yea, and of the cattle in Ninive. The place is extant! in the fourth chapter of the prophecy of Jonas. Let us therefore stedfastly hold, that the Lord, when he punisheth, doth injury to no creature which he hath made. Here therefore the disputations and questions come to an end, wherein men are wont to demand, Why the Lord doth sometimes use so sharp torments towards infants or sucklings? or why he rewardeth temporal offences i with eternal punishments? “For the Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.” As David did most truly witness, where as in another place he saith: “Thou art xix. just, O Lord, and thy judgment is right.” Blessed is he that stumbleth not here, and doth not murmur against the Lord.
But if it so happen that the Lord at any time do somewhat long defer the judgment and punishment, we must not therefore think that he is unjust, because he spareth the wicked, and sharply correcteth? his friends and their vices. Let us rather lay before our eyes the evangelical parable of the rich glutton and poor silly Lazarus: for Lazarus, though he was the friend of God, did notwithstanding die for want of food: the other, though he was God’s enemy, did spend his life in dainty fare and pleasures, and felt none ill. But hearken after this life what their judgment was. Abraham saith to the rich glutton: “My son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good, and Lazarus likewise received evil: but now he rejoiceth, and thou art tormented.” Therefore if the godly be at any time afflicted in this present life, they shall be abundantly rewarded for it in the life to come: but if the wicked be spared in this world, they are more grievously punished in the world to come: for God is just, and3 rewardeth every man according to his merit.
If hereafter therefore thou shalt chance to see the wicked live in prosperity, think not thou by and by that God is unjust: suppose not that his power is abated; and say not that he sleepeth, and seeth them not. For that saying of the prophet, which is also used by the apostle Peter,
[1 notus est, Lat.; is well known. ] [2 interim, Lat. omitted; in the mean season.] [3 ergo, Lat.; and therefore.] [ Noli putare Deum esse ficulneum, Lat. See Erasmi Adag. Chi-]
[liad. p. 95. col. 2. auailium infirmum.)]
is assuredly true: “The eyes of the Lord are upon the just, and his ears open unto their prayers;” again: “The eyes of the Lord are upon them that do wickedness.” We must in such a case fortify our minds with the just examples of God’s judgments, gathered together out of the holy scriptures. Let us consider that the world was destroyed with the general deluge, when God had in vain a long time looked after repentance. Let us remember that Sodom, Gomorrha, and the cities adjacent thereabout, were burnt with fire sent down from heaven. Let us think upon Egypt, how it was stricken with divers plagues, and the inhabitants drowned in the Red sea. Let us call to mind the things that happened by the holy and just judgment of God to the Amorhites, the Chanaanites, the Amalechites, and the very Israelites, first under their judges, then under their kings. Their measure at last was fully filled. Neither did they at any time despise God and his word, but were at the last paid home for their labour. They never sinned and went scot-free long. The history of Paulus Orosius, yea, the universal history of all the world, do minister unto us innumerable examples like unto these, declaring the certainty of God’s judgment’. Let us think that God doth not therefore allow of sins, because he is slack in punishing them; but let us persuade ourselves, that he by the prolonging of punishment doth of his unmeasurable goodness both look and stay for the repentance and conversion of miserable sinners. For in the gospel the Lord biddeth not to cut down the barren fig-tree, because he looked to see if it would bring any fruit the next year following. The apostle Paul saith: Despisest thou the riches of his goodness and patience and long-sufferance; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But thou, after thy stubbornness and heart that cannot repent, heapest unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and declaration of the righteous judgment of God, which will reward every man according to his deeds: to them which by continuing in well-doing seek for glory, and honour, and immortality, eternal life; but unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness, shall come indig-
[6 primum—deinde, Lat. omitted; first, and then.] [6 Cf. above, pages 6—13.] (7 justi judicii, Lat.; the justice of God’s judgment. ] [8 preterea, Lat. omitted; besides.]]
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