صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

and divine a judgment; that although none should be freed from thence, no man could rightly blame the justice of God: and such as were freed, must so have been freed, that by those many which were not freed, but left in their most just condemnation, it might be shewed what the whole lump had deserved; that the due judgment of God should have condemned even those that are justified, unless mercy had relieved them from that which was due: that so all the mouths of them, which would glory of their merits, might be stopped; and he that glorieth, might glory in the Lord."

66

They further taught, as St. Augustine did, that " Man using ill his free will, lost both himself and it;" that, as one by living is able to kill himself, but by killing himself is not able to live, nor hath power to raise up himself when he hath killed himself; so when sin had been committed by free will, sin being the conquerer, free will also was lost; forasmuch as of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he also brought in bondage; that unto a man thus brought in bondage and sold, there is no liberty left to do well, unless he redeem him, whose saying is this: If the Son make you free, ye shall be free indeed." That "the" mind of men from their very youth is set upon evil: there being not a man which sinneth not;" that a man hathi nothing from himself, but sin;" that "God is the author

[ocr errors]

e Libero arbitrio male utens homo, et se perdidit, et ipsum. Sicut enim qui se occidit, utique vivendo se occidit, sed se occidendo non vivit, neque seipsum poterit resuscitare cum occiderit: ita cum libero arbitrio peccaretur, victore peccato amissum est et liberum arbitrium; a quo enim quis devictus est, huic et servus addictus est; sed ad bene faciendum ista libertas unde erit homini addicto et vendito, nisi redimat, cujus illa vox est; Si vos Filius liberaverit, vere liberi eritis? Id. ibid.

f 2 Pet. cap. 2. ver. 19.

Joh. cap. 8. ver. 36.

n Quod ab adolescentia mens hominum apposita sit ad malitiam: non est enim homo qui non peccet. Id. in Ephes. cap. 2.

iQuid habes ex teipso nisi peccatum? Id. in 1 Cor. cap. 4.

* Deus author est omnium bonorum, hoc est, et naturæ bonæ, et voluntatis bonæ ; quam nisi Deus in illo operetur, non facit homo, quia præparatur voluntas a Domino in homine bona; ut faciat Deo donante, quod a seipso facere non poterat per liberi arbitrii voluntatem. Claud. lib. 1. in Matt.

VOL. IV.

S

of all good things, that is to say, both of good nature, and of good will; which unless God do work in him, man cannot do, because this good will is prepared by the Lord in man; that by the gift of God he may do that which of himself he could not do by his own free will;" that "the' good will of man goeth before many gifts of God, but not all and of those which it doth not go before, itself is one. For both of these is read in the holy Scriptures: His mercy shall go before me, and, His mercy shall follow me: it preventeth him that is unwilling that he may will, and it followeth him that is willing, that he will not in vain." And that therefore " we are admonished to ask that we may receive; to the end, that what we do will may be effected by him, by whom it was effected that we did so will."

They taught also, that "them law was not given, that it might take away sin, but that it might shut up all under sin:" to the end that men, being "by this means humbled, might understand that their salvation was not in their own hand, but in the hand of a Mediator:" that by the law cometh, "neither" the remission nor the removal, but the knowledge of sins:" that it "taketh° not away diseases, but discovereth them; forgiveth not sins, but condemneth them;" that "the Lord God did impose it,

Præcedit bona voluntas hominis multa Dei dona, sed non omnia: quæ autem non præcedit ipsa, in eis est et ipsa. Nam utrumque legitur in sanctis eloquiis; et misericordia ejus præveniet me, et misericordia ejus subsequetur me nolentem prævenit ut velit, volentem subsequitur, ne frustra velit. Cur enim admonemur petere ut accipiamus; nisi ut ab illo fiat quod volumus, a quo factum est ut velimus? Sedul. in Rom. cap. 9.

m Non ergo lex data est, ut peccatum auferret, sed ut sub peccato omnia concluderet. Lex enim ostendebat esse peccatum, quod illi per consuetudinem cæcati possent putare justitiam : ut hoc modo humiliati cognoscerent non in sua manu esse salutem suam, sed in manu mediatoris. Id. in Gal. cap. 3.

n Non remissio, nec ablatio peccatorum, sed cognitio. Id. in Rom. cap. 3. • Lex quæ per Moysen data est, tantum peccata ostendit, non abstulit. Claud. in Gal. cap. 2. Perque illam legem morbos ostendentem non auferentem, etiam prævaricationis crimine contrita superbia est. Id. in Gal. cap. 3.

r Lex non donat peccata, sed damnat. Sedul. in Rom. cap. 4.

q Dominus Deus imposuerat non justitiæ servientibus sed peccato: justam scilicet legem injustis hominibus dando, ad demonstranda peccata eorum, non

not upon those that served righteousness, but sin; namely, by giving a just law to unjust men, to manifest their sins, and not to take them away: forasmuch as nothing taketh away sins but the grace of faith which worketh by love." That our "sins' are freely forgiven us, without the merit of our works:" that " through grace we are saved, by faith, and not by works ;" and that therefore we are to rejoice, "not" in our own righteousness, or learning, but in the faith of the Cross, by which all our sins are forgiven us." That " grace" is abject and vain, if it alone do not suffice us:" and that we "esteem" basely of Christ, when we think that he is not sufficient for us to salvation."

That "God hath so ordered it, that he will be gracious to mankind, if they do believe that they shall be freed by the blood" of Christ; that, as "the soul is the life of the body, so faith is the life of the soul :" and that we live by faith only, as owing nothing to the law;" that "he who believeth in Christ, hath the perfection of

"

auferenda. Non enim aufert peccata nisi gratia fidei quæ per dilectionem operatur. Claud. in argument. epist. ad Gal.

* Gratis nobis donantur peccata. Sedul. in Gal. cap. 1. A morte redemptis gratis peccata dimittuntur. Id. in Ephes. cap. 1.

• Absque operum merito, et peccata nobis concessa sunt pristina, et pax indulta post veniam. Claud. in Gal. cap. 1.

Gratia estis salvati per fidem, id est, non per opera. Sedul. in Ephes.

cap. 2.

u Non in propria justitia, vel doctrina, sed in fide crucis, per quam mihi omnia peccata dimissa sunt. Sedul. et Claud. in Gal. cap. 6.

▾ Abjecta et irrita gratia est, si mihi sola non sufficit. Sedul. in Gal. cap. 2. w Christum vilem habetis, dum putatis eum vobis non sufficere ad salutem. Id. in Gal. cap. 3.

* Disposuit Deus propitium se futurum esse humano generi, si credant in sanguine ejus se esse liberandos. Id. in Rom. cap. 3.

y Vita corporis anima, vita animæ fides est. Id. in Heb. cap. 10.

z In fide vivo filii Dei, id est, in sola fide, qui nihil debeo legi. Id. in Gal.

cap. 2.

a Perfectionem legis habet, qui credit in Christo. Cum enim nullus justificaretur ex lege, quia nemo implebat legem, nisi qui speraret in promissionem Christi fides posita est, quæ cederet pro perfectione legis; ut in omnibus prætermissis fides satisfaceret pro tota lege. Id. in Rom. cap. 10.

66

the law. For whereas none might be justified by the law, because none did fulfil the law, but only he which did trust in the promise of Christ: faith was appointed, which should be accepted for the perfection of the law, that in all things which were omitted faith might satisfy for the whole law." That this righteousness therefore is "not ours, nor in us, but in Christ;" in whom we are considered as members in the head." That "faith", procuring the remission of sins by grace, maketh all believers the children of Abraham:" and that "itd was just, that as Abraham was justified by faith only, so also the rest that followed his faith should be saved" after the same manner. That "through adoption we are made the sons of God, by believing in the Son of God:" and that this is" af testimony of our adoption, that we have the spirit, by which we pray, and cry Abba Father; forasmuch as none can receive so great a pledge as this, but such as be sons only." That " Moses himself made a distinction betwixt both the justices, to wit, of faith and of deeds: that the one did by works justify him that came, the other by believing only;" that "the" patriarchs and the prophets were not justified by the works of the law, but by faith;" that "the custom of sin hath so prevailed, that none can fulfil the law: as the apostle Peter saith,

b Non nostra, non in nobis, sed in Christo, quasi membra in capite. Id. in 2 Cor. cap. 5.

c Fides, dimissis per gratiam peccatis, omnes credentes filios efficit Abrahæ. Id. in Rom. cap. 4.

Justum fuerat, ut quo modo Abraham credens ex gentibus per solam fidem justificatus est; ita cæteri fidem ejus imitantes salvarentur. Id. in Rom. cap. 1. e Per adoptionem efficimur filii Dei, credendo in Filium Dei. Claud. lib. 1. in Matt.

f Testimonium adoptionis, quod habemus spiritum, per quem ita oramus: tantam enim arrham non poterant, nisi filii accipere. Sed. in Rom. cap. 8.

* Ipse Moses distinxit inter utramque justitiam, fidei scilicet atque factorum : quia altera operibus, altera sola credulitate justificet accedentem. Id. in Rom. cap. 10.

h Patriarchæ et prophetæ non ex operibus legis, sed ex fide justificati sunt. Id. in Gal. cap. 2.

Ita prævaluit consuetudo peccandi, ut nemo jam perficiat legem: sicut Petrus apostolus ait; Quod neque nos neque patres nostri portare potuimus. Si

Which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear. but if there were any righteous men which did escape the curse, it was not by the works of the law, but for their faith's sake that they were saved."

Thus did Sedulius and Claudius, two of our most famous divines, deliver the doctrine of free will and grace, faith and works, the Law and the Gospel, justification and adoption; no less agreeably to the faith which is at this day professed in the reformed churches, than to that which they themselves received from the more ancient doctors, whom they did follow therein. Neither do we in our judgment one whit differ from them, when they teach that "faith alone is not sufficient to life." For when it is said, that faith alone justifieth; this word alone may be conceived to have relation either to the former part of the sentence, which in the schools they term the subject; or to the latter, which they call the predicate. Being referred to the former, the meaning will be, that such a faith as is alone, that is to say, not accompanied with other virtues, doth justify: and in this sense we utterly disclaim the assertion. But being referred to the latter, it maketh this sense, that faith is it which alone or only justifieth, and in this meaning only do we defend that proposition; understanding still by faith, not a dead carcass thereof (for how should the just be able to live by a dead faith,) but a true and lively faith, "which" worketh by love." For, as it is a certain truth, that among all the members of the body, the eye is the only instrument whereby we see; and yet it is as true also, that the eye being alone, and separated from the rest of the members, is dead, and for that cause doth neither see only, nor see

qui vero justi non erant maledicti; non ex operibus legis, sed fidei gratia salvati sunt. Id. in Gal. cap. 3.

kAct. cap. 15. ver. 10.

Hoc contra illos agit, qui solam fidem posse sufficere dicunt. Sedul. in Ephes. cap. 5. Non ergo sola ad vitam sufficit fides. Claud. in Gal. cap. 5. bis. Hæc sententia illos revincit, qui solam fidem ad salutem animarum suarum sufficere arbitrantur. Id. ibid. in fine.

m Gal. cap. 5. ver. 6.

« السابقةمتابعة »