Page 134
¶Of Predestination and Freewill.
LVther affirmeth that freewill is a thyng in name onely,* 1.1 or a Name without substaunce: That mā is the patiēt and not the agent: That he is drawen, and doth not purpose or Deli∣berate any thyng: That man is an instrument onely, and as it were a Sawe, or Axe whiche God doth frame and force whether he will, and whereun∣to him pleaseth: and that mā hath no power nor strēgth re∣serued him either to doe good, or to cōmit wickednesse: in so much that we are not able not onely not to do good or euill: but also not to thinke any thought by any meanes of our selues. Moreouer when I name Luther, I vnderstād al∣so withall Melancthon, Bucer, Caluin and the rest of your Iolly fellowes: whose opinions and writynges tend to this effect at the length. That no difference at all may seeme to be betwixt man, and any other toole or instrument.
In uery good tyme Syr, blessed bee this houre, wherein we are come now at the length to the most combersome and crabby treatie of Freéwill, which beyng heretofore so oft tost to an fro in common Schooles, in assemblies, and disputations of Deui∣nes, after so many combates & turmoyles, hath now at the last founde out a champion (hope I) through whose onely force and actiuitie beyng defended, and shrowded (as it were vnder the Target of Aiax) she shall be able to endure and withstād all the assaultes, and coūtermoyles of all heretiques whatsoeuer. For whereas heretofore this vnsearcheable gulfe hath encombred & entangled the wittes, and studies of so many notable Clerkes, Cardinalles, Byshops, and Priestes: the bottome and depth whereof could notwithstandyng neuer yet bee attayned vnto: I suppose the onely let thereof hitherto hath bene, for that our O∣sorius was not hatched as then, nor produced to be Proctour in this cause. But now sithence this vpstarte wrestler is skipt o∣uer the old barriers, and hath catcht the collers in hand, may a∣ny man doubt but that (the whole force of the Enemy beyng vt∣terly discomsited and compelled to fleé the field, the Maiestie of Freéwill hauyng bene long tyme wounded and weakened with greéuous maladie, yea and through feéblenesse euen yeldyng vp