A defense of the sincere and true translations of the holie Scriptures into the English tong against the manifolde cauils, friuolous quarels, and impudent slaunders of Gregorie Martin, one of the readers of popish diuinitie in the trayterous Seminarie of Rhemes. By William Fvlke D. in Diuinitie, and M. of Pembroke haule in Cambridge. Wherevnto is added a briefe confutation of all such quarrels & cauils, as haue bene of late vttered by diuerse papistes in their English pamphlets, against the writings of the saide William Fvlke.

FVLK. 7. The translation you reprehend, I graunt is not proper for the words, and therefore is reformed in the later translations, yet in sense it is all one: for salua∣tion lyeth not in the will, or running of man, but in the mercie of God:

euen as S. Iohn saith, the children of God are not made of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but they are borne of God.

But thus you reason a∣gainst it. We are not saued, except we will, and runne, er∣go, saluation lyeth in willing and running. I denye your argument, which is as good as this; we are not saued from sinne, except we haue committed sinne, ergo, salua∣tion from sinne, lyeth in committing sinne. The famous place of Augustine, is a famous corruption of Papistes, to establish the strēgth of free will, cleane cōtrary to S. Au∣gustines minde, where a point interrogatiue is chaunged into a periode: for in auncient written copies, it is redde with interrogation. Qui ergo fecit te sine te, non te iustifica•• sine te? He therefore that made thee without thee, doth he not iustifie thee without thee? And the whole dis∣course of that father, both before and after, requireth that reading.

For thus he writeth. Si hominem te fecit De∣us, & iustum tu te facis, melius aliquid facis, quam fecit Deus, sed sine te fecit Deus. Non enim adhibuisti aliquem consensum, vt te faceret Deus. Quo modo consentiebas qui non eras. Qui ergo fecit te sine te, non te iustificat sine te? Ergo fecit nescientem, iustificat volentem. tamen ipse iustificat, ne su iustitia tua. If God haue made thee a man, and thou makest thy selfe a iust man, thou makest some better thing than God hath made: but God made thee with∣out thee. for thou gauest no consent, that God shoulde make thee? howe diddest thou consent which wast not. He therefore that made thee without thee, doth he not iustifie thee without thee? Therefore he hath made thee not knowing, but he iustifieth thee being willing, yet it is he, that doth iustifie thee, that it should not be thy iustice.

The meaning of Saint Augustine is, that we haue no

more free will to be iustified, before we be preuented by the grace of God, than we had will to be created. For it is Gods grace, that maketh vs willing to be iustified, and saued, not the strength of mans free will, as he pro∣ueth at large throughout the whole Homilie. Nowe to the textes of Scripture, which you cite, I aunswere, there is not one, that proueth any strength or swaye of mans free will, towarde the true goodnesse, before, of an vngodlye man, and enimie of God, he be reconci∣led by the grace and mercie of God, and made an obe∣dient childe in some parte, willing to doe the will of his father. First, those textes of fighting, and running, proue, that fighting and running is necessary for them, that are exhorted thereto, but not that fighting or run∣ning are in the free will of man, or that saluation ly∣eth in them. Eating and drinking are necessarie for the life of man, yet the life of man lyeth not in eating and drinking. Where the Apostle sayth, the doers of the lawe shall be iustified, he meaneth them that full∣fill the lawe, and doth our Sauiour Christ, aunswe∣ring to the question of him that asked, what she should doe to obtaine life, declare, that there is no way to en∣ter into life by doing, but onely by doing of Gods commaundements. For the man that doth them shall liue by them. But if he were asked which is the way to eternall life, as he was by Thomas, he will aunswer, I* 1.1 am the way, the truth, and the life. Those textes ther∣fore declare not, howe a man, that is a transgressor of the lawe, may be saued, but that to obtayne saluation by workes, it is necessary for a man to keepe the whole lawe and commaundements of God, or else he is ac∣cursed.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Ioh. 14.