Deuout contemplations expressed in two and fortie sermons vpon all ye quadragesimall Gospells written in Spanish by Fr. Ch. de Fonseca Englished by. I. M. of Magdalen Colledge in Oxford

Haec mulier modo deprehensa est in adulterio.

This woman was taken in adulterie in the verie act, &c.* 1.1 All these words carrie w••th them a kind of emphasis which indeere the aggrauation of the Accusation, Haec mulier: For howbeit the sin of adulterie may be greater perhaps in the hus∣band, by giuing by his little respect and his bad example, occasion to his wife to play the Whore. [For as Thomas saith, He that treateth with another mans wife, se & suam discrimini exponi••, exposeth himselfe and his own wife to a great deale of hazard▪ because he soweth bitternesse in the marriage bed, contrarie to that rule of Saint Paul, Husbands loue your wiues, and be not bitter vnto them. For which cause they tooke out the gall from that beast which was sacrificed by married men vnto Iuno, for that the Head (which is the man) ought to be obliged to more continency, to more vertue, to more wisedome, & more fortitude, as Saint Augu∣stine tells vs] yet notwithstanding, this fault is held fouler in the woman. Eccle∣••iasticu•• treating of an Adulteresse, saith, ••he getteth shame to her selfe, and her re∣proch

shall neuer be blotted out. I know not whence it comes to passe, that the re∣membrance thereof is so soone blotted out in man, and that it should sticke by a woman all the dayes of her life.

* 1.2She was taken now. Now, euen in the nick: it is not a sin of any antient standing, it cannot plead prescription, that it was so many yeares since, or time as they say out of mind: for time doth either couer or lessen the offence; or it may be plea∣ded, that it was formerly punished. But this is not a quarter of an houre old, now, euen now did we take her in the manner, In adulterio, in the verie act of adulte∣rie. And here notifying the same vnto our Sauiour Christ, they fall a aggraua∣ting the heinousnesse of the offence; and this is prooued vnto vs by foure forci∣ble arguments.

The first, That there were punishments ordained against Adulterers by all Nations whatsoeuer.

Some did burne them aliue, if we may beleeue Lucian; so the Philistines bur∣ned Sampsons Spouse; and so Iudah gaue order to haue his daughter in law T••mar burned.

Some againe did vse to quarter them; and Euclides makes mention of a King that executed this law vpon his owne sonne.

Others pluckt out their eyes, as Valerius reporteth it.

And others did whip them and cut off their noses, as Siculus stories it of the Aegyptians.

Others (saith Caelius) did hang them.

Others did stone them to death, and that was Moses his Law.

Others did tie them to two trees, which beeing bowed downe by violence, letting them suddenly goe, did with a jerke rent one limbe from another, &c.

Hence may bee argued Gods chasticement; Per me Legum conditores iusta de∣cernunt.* 1.3 Salomon saith, That as it is not possible that a man should carrie fire in his bosome, and his cloathes not be burnt, or goe vpon coles, and his feet not be burnt; no more is it possible, that a man should lie with another mans wife, and that the justice of God should not take hold of him. And therefore it is sayd, Non erit mundus cum tetigerit ••am, He that goeth in to his Neighbors wife shal not be innocent, whosoeuer toucheth her: The Hebrew letter hath it, Innocent, in∣demnis: The Septuagint render it, Insons, impunitus. So that for other our sins, it may be God will let vs escape vnpunished; but in matter of adulterie, let no man expect the like fauour. And therefore hee commaunded, That in the Sa∣crifice of the Adulteresse they should haue no Oyle; to signifie, that it was a fault that deserued little or no mercie.

* 1.4The second Argument of aggrauation is, that many of the Saints haue giuen to Adulterie the name of the greatest and foulest offence. Philon sayth of it, Ad••••∣terium malificiorum maximum, Of all wickednesse Adulterie is the worst. Cornelius Tacitus affirmeth the like in his Annals. Pope Clement reporteth, That Saint Pe∣ter was often woont to say, Quid in omnibus peccatis Adulterio grauius? That amongst all the sinnes there was not any more heinous than Adulterie. Iob by way of hyperbole breatheth out this,* 1.5 If I haue sought to betray my friend, and haue layd wait at the dore of my neighbor, let my wife grind vnto another man, and let other men bow downe vpon her. In the Booke of Iudges it is called Magnum nefa••, ••••••∣quam tantum piaculum factum est in Israel,* 1.6 A villenie, the like was neuer committed in Israell. And a little before, Adulterie is sayd to bee Iniquitas maxima. And a great proofe of this truth is, the comparing of it with other ••innes, and the hey∣nousnesse wherewith they qualifie it aboue the rest. The murdering of 〈◊〉〈◊〉

seemed a lesse sinne to Dauid than his adulterie with Bersheba. And Saint Chry∣sostome prooues this out of that act of Abrahams, who intreated Saraah to giue out, that she was his sister; for if it should be knowne that she was his wife, ma∣king lighter of murder than adulterie, they would not sticke to kill him.* 1.7 Susan∣na esteemed lesse of death, than the dishonour to her selfe and her house. Ho∣mer stories it of Vlysses, That when he was absent from his wife Penelope, hee was solicited and earnestly layd at by Circes the Sorceresse, who promised to make him immortall: and howbeit hee did verily beleeue that shee was able to make good her word, yet did he lesse reckon of immortalitie, than of committing adulterie. Salomon proues, That theeuing is a lesse offence; for many men steale meerely out of pure hunger, vt esurientem impleant animam, that their hungrie soules may be satisfied. But the Adulterer hath no excuse at all; the Theefe may make satisfaction, Reddet septuplum, He shall restore seuen fold; the Law requires no more of him: but the Adulterer, with all that hee hath, is not able to make satisfaction; all the wealth and lands that a man hath, cannot ballance (bee they neuer so heauie) the wrong that is done by an Adulterer. In a word, The sinne of Adulterie is without all question of all other sinnes the greatest. Summus saeculi reatus, Tertullian calls it. Saint Cyprian, Summum delictum. And yet the Scrip∣ture confounds these two, and stiles Idolatrie, Adulterie: As in that of Hosea, Omnes adulterantur, quasi clibanus succensus, They ha••e all committed adulterie,* 1.8 they haue runne a whoring after strange gods, and are all as hot as an ouen. Saint Hierome vnderstanding here vpon this place, The Idolaters, &c.

The third argument is, The harme which insues vpon this sinne: Clemens A∣lexandrinus termes Adulterie, Pestem maximam. Iob, a fire that sweeps all away, makes hauocke and ruine both of root and tree, and euerie branch thereof, om∣nia eradicans germina, Rooting out all the Plants, euen to the children and nephews.* 1.9 Such adulterated Plants (saith Wisedome) though they take deepe rooting, and spread abroad their branches, yet shall they not inioy any stabilitie or firmnesse. The Roman Emperours made good proofe hereof, for such as were giuen to Adulteries, neuer saw any succession of their owne. The like did Herod, who robbed his brother Abimileck of his wife: and so diuers others. Filij tui sicut n••••ellae Oliuarum, which are neuer ingraffed into any other Tree. And the Church, though she be so cockering and indulgent a mother, doth disfauour them and reprooue them.

The fourth & last is, Natures dislike therof,* 1.10 which thinks her selfe extreamly wronged and iniured thereby; Which seemeth much to aggrauate the qualitie of the offence.

First, In the men; who perhaps though they doe not come thereby to bee infamous, yet they are not able with all that they haue, to recompence this so foule an affront; so saith Salomon. Alexander writing to his mother Olympias,* 1.11 stiles himselfe the sonne of Iupiter; but therein he exceedingly wronged his mo∣ther, in making her an Adulteresse, though it were by the greatest Deitie of Heauen.

Secondly, In the beasts, in whom there is a resentment of ••his wrong. In which kind, Plinie, Aeli••••, and diuers other Historians tell strange tales.

But aboue all, God holds himselfe therein greatly offended; especially this sinne being committed by Christians.

First, Because Matrimonie is a Mysterie, which represents the vnion of the marriage of God with his Church. And for this cause God calls them both but one flesh; They are 〈◊〉〈◊〉 more twaine, but one flesh, let not man therefore put ••sunder

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that which God hath coupled together. Where if you note it, hee speakes in the sin∣gular; for o••herwise they would not conueniently represent so strict a vnion.

Secondly, Because God is the authour of marriage; God created man and woman, and being wedded each to other, he said, For this cause shall man lea••e father and mother, and cleaue vnto his wife. And for Dauid his adulterie, the Lord said vnto him,* 1.12 The Sword shall neuer depart from thy house, because thou hast despised me, and taken the wife of Vriah the Hittite to be thy wife; it was not Vriah, but I th•••• was despised. Where I would haue thee to weigh well the word Me, who in the beginning of the world did authorise marriage; Me, who in the Law of Grace was personally present at my friends marriage, and there vnfolded the sailes of my Omnipotencie, working there and at that wedding my first miracle. S. Paul saith, If the husband be of the houshold of the Faithfull, and the wife of the Vnfaithfull, non dimittat illam, let him not forsake her: but if she shall be vn∣faithfull to her husband,* 1.13 he may lawfully then leaue her. So that God seemeth to be more offended, that she should not keep her faith toher husband, than that she should not professe the Faith of Christ.

But this they said to tempt him. They put on a shew of zeale, and feigned a dissembled desire of knowledge, and to be satisfied concerning this point: but the truth was, that they went a fishing, to see if they could catch our Sauiour in some answer that he should giue them contrarie to the Law, to the end that they might accuse him as a Transgressour. The Scribes they were jealous of their Law, the Pharisees of their Religion; the one sought to picke a hole in his coat vpon some quirke and quiller of the Law; the other, for the wronging of their Religion: and therefore they said vnto him, Seeing thou art a Master, to whom it belongeth to expound our Lawes, and that thou takest vpon thee at euerie bout to vnfold Moses his meaning; Moses law commandeth, That such should bee stoned;* 1.14 What sayst thou therefore? Euthimius saith, That they tooke our Saui∣our Christ to be so mercifull a minded man, that they did well hope that hee would wrest and wind the Law which way he listed, if not vtterly ouerthrow it. And they did ground these their suspitions vpon some Sermons of his which he had preached, wherein he had deliuered to the People, That it was lawfull to cure the Sicke on the Sabboth day; which was a new kind of doctrine in their Law. Saint Gregorie and Saint Ambrose doe both affirme, That they did verily persuade themselues, That our Sauiour Christ could not chuse but ••e caught in the trap, and necessarily fall into an errour, one while by pardoning contrarie to the Law; another while by condemning, contrarie to Grace.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Mans disre∣spect is oft an occasion of the womans fall.
• * 1.2

  Adultery how punished in former times.
• * 1.3

  Prou. 6.
• * 1.4

  The foulnesse of this sin, and how heinou∣sly the Saints haue thought of it.
• * 1.5

  Iob. 31.
• * 1.6

  Iud. 20.6.
• * 1.7

  Dan. 13.
• * 1.8

  Osee 7.
• * 1.9

  Iob. 3••.
• * 1.10

  Adulterie dis∣alowed euen by Nature.
• * 1.11

  Prou. 6.35.
• * 1.12

  2. Reg. 2.
• * 1.13

  1. Cor. 7.
• * 1.14

  Leuit. 20. Deut. 22.