A treatise of the vvritten VVord of God. Composed in Latin, by the Reuerend Father Iames Gordon Huntley of Scotland, Doctour of Diuinity, of the Society of Iesus. And translated into English, by I. L. of the same Society. The first part of the first controuersy

CHAP. XIIII. (Book 14)

That our Aduersaries vse many sleightes in corrupting the Word of God. (Book 14)

OVR Aduersaries often require vs to proue all that which we say out of the written Word of God, but when we cite the same in

expresse tearmes they haue many wayes by which they depraue it. Wherfore be∣fore I make an end of this Controuersy concerning the written Word, it shall not be from the purpose briefly to detect such their corruptions; partly to the end that no man be deceaued by them, and partly that euery man may vnderstand nothing to be so plainely and clearely set downe in the written VVord, which by the Commentaries of crafty and subtile wittes may not be weakned and made of little force, if no regard be had to the authority and iudgment of the Church. And that no man may thinke that I herin calumniate them or deale lesse sincerely with them, I will set downe out of their owne writings some one or two exāpls of each manner of corrupting, wherof many exāples will occure in each Controuersy.

2. The first manner of shifting of places alleadged out of the written Word is, to say, that the originall text is corru∣pted, and what is alleadged crept out of the margent into the text, whereof see many examples in the 12. and 18. Chapter of the Latin Edition of this Cōtrouersy.

3. Their second shift is to reiect the vulgar translation and instead thereof to cite some new and corrupt translation of their owne. It is euident inough,

that Luther in his first version of the new Testament into the Germane tongue,* 1.1 set forth in the yeare 1522. hath more then a thou∣sād errors, as many haue obserued, amōgst which, neyther the last, nor the least is his presuming to ad to the text of S. Paul the 3. Chapter and 28. verse, the particle alone, thereby the stronglier to establish his doctrine, that Fayth alone iustifieth, for this place of the Apostle, VVe thinke a man is iustifyed by fayth, he trāslateth by fayth alone: & when a certaine friend of his to whome the same was obiected by a Catholike asked the cause why he so translated it,* 1.2 he no lesse ridiculously then proudly an∣swereth, in a certayne little booke set forth by him in the yeare 1530. vnder this title: A certaine information or an∣swere made to two questions proposed by a certayne good friend concerning the translation of Scripture, and the inuoca∣tion of Saints.* 1.3 In which he aduiseth his friend to answere the Catholikes obie∣ction after this manner. D. Martin Luther will haue it so, and sa••••h, that a Papist and an Asse is all one thing: so I will, so I command, let my will stand for a reason, for we will not be the Papists schollers, but their Iudges. Luther will haue it so, & he saith, that he is a Doctor aboue all the Popes Do∣ctors. So Luther, concluding at last that the word (alone) shal remayne in his new Testa∣ment,

though it should make all his Aduer∣saries mad: and he addeth further, that he is only sory, that he had not added two wordes more to the text, and translated it after this manner▪ we are ius••ifyed by only faith without any workes of any law.

4. Zwinglius also who first in our age endeauored to perswade many, that the body of Christ is not really contayned in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the better to establish this his error, goeth about to proue that those words of Christ, this is my body, are very well translated thus, this signifi∣eth my body,* 1.4 & with this his new translation he is so rauished, as if he had receaued the same from heauen, for these are his word••: So therefore hath Luke, with whome we content our selues, without citing any other Euan∣gelist. And hauing taken bread he gaue thankes, brake it, and gaue it them, saying, this signifyeth my body which is giuen for you, do this in remem∣brance of me. Thou seest O faithfull soule, but yet wrapped in absurd opinions, how all thinges heere agree, and nothing inviolently eyther taken away or added, so as thou hast cause to wonder, that thou hast not byn alwayes of this opinion, and much more that any dare so boldly teare and rent the body of this speach so well ioyned togeather. So Zwinglius in the praise of his new translation, wherein he arrogates more authority to himselfe, thē is due, so as that of Cicero in his booke

de diuinatione may well be applyed to him, I neuer saw any man arrogate greater authority to himselfe, and in the end say iust nothing.

5. Moreouer concerning Caluins and Bezas errors in translating or rather per∣uerting the holy Scriptures,* 1.5 whole books are extant, as also of the corruptions of the Geneua Bylles, which are euery yeare increased, but this shall much more com∣modiously be declared heerafter in the par∣ticuler Cōtrouersies.* 1.6 We will only heere set downe one example of a corruption to be found in Caluins,* 1.7 Bezas, and all the Geneua Bybles. And this corruption is for∣ged a purpose by them to confirme a new and notable blasphemy against Christ and himselfe, by some apparent testimony of Scripture, for they reach in many places that Christ when he praied in the Garden was seized with an extreme feare,* 1.8 least God being angry with him for our sinnes, for which he had taken vpon him to satisfy, should inflict vpon him eternall damnation, neyther did Christ feare with∣out cause,* 1.9 for they say he suffered vpon the Crosse the paynes of a damned person, & the tor∣ments of hell; for these are the impions words of Caluin: Christ suffered in his soule the torments of a forlorne, and damned man: and Beza sayth, at what tyme Christ hang vpon the Crosse, he was in the middest euen of the tor∣ments

of hell, which is as much, as to say, that God himselfe was not only afraid of the torments of hell, but that he suffered and endured them, for it is euident that Christ was true God. But against these ab∣surd paradoxes we are to dispute heer∣after. It shall suffice heere to shew, that they haue depraued the holy Scripture, to 〈◊〉〈◊〉 this their impious assertion, for wheras it is written in the fifth to the He∣brewes,* 1.10 and 7. v. that Christ was heard of God for his reuerence, Caluin first, and after Beza, and all the Geneua Bybles, make the text to say, Christ was heard by reason of his feare, or because he was afraid, but that in the last Edition Beza hath added more words to the text,* 1.11 making it sound thus: His prayers being heard he was deliuered frō this feare. Moreouer Caluin in his commen∣taris and Beza in his annotations seeke to proue out of this text, that Christ fea∣red eternall damnation, & that he was deliue∣red out of this feare by his prayers which he offered with teares: true it is that in the French Bybles lately printed at Geneua, the yeare 1••05. they haue put in the mar∣gent, vel pro sua reuerentia, where inforced by truth they manifestly contradict Caluin and Beza, who plainly deny that this place is so to be trāslated, yet least their in∣constancy should be noted, they leaue

the former words in the text (ayant esté exaucé 〈◊〉〈◊〉 qu'il craignoit) that is in latin, exauditus est eo, vel in eo, quod timuit.

6. But all others as well Catholikes as their Aduersaries who haue written before Caluin, translate prosua reuerentia, vel propietate sua, as Erasmus, Bucer, the Tiguriues in their bibles of the yeare 1542. Nay Seba∣stian Castalio for this cause sharply repre∣hendeth Beza,* 1.12 who glorieth that Caluin was the first that found out this new ex∣plication, in a note of his vpon this 7. v. se his editions of the yeare 1560. & 1565.

7. The third shift is, their false ex∣position of the text though neuer so truly translated, for by diuers commentaries and little notes in the margent, they goe about to perswade the Readers the cleane contrary to that which is expressely in the text: see examples hereof in this Chapter in the latin edition.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Ioannes Coclaus de actis Lu∣ther. ann. 1522.
• * 1.2

  Rom. 3 v. 28.
• * 1.3

  Luth. To. 4. Germ. excuso VVi••emb. anno 1551. fol. 475. pag. 2.
• * 1.4

  Zuingl. de vera & falsa relig. c. de Eu••b. par. 262. in lib. excuso Tuguri. 1555.
• * 1.5

  Calu. l. ••. insti••. c. 16. à sect. 10 ad ••3. & in c. 26. Matt. v. 39. & in c. 27.
• * 1.6

  Matth. v. 46. Item i•• Catech Domi. 10.
• * 1.7

  Beza in c. ••. ad Heb. v. 7. & in 〈◊〉〈◊〉 mai••ore Catech sm. Calu. c. 16. ••it. sect. 10 in ••ine.
• * 1.8

  Beza in maiori Ca∣techis. Vol. ••. tract. Theol.
• * 1.9

  pag. 657. ••uxta edit. Geneuens. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 1582. apud. Eu∣••tathium Vignon.
• * 1.10

  Heb. 5. v. 7.
• * 1.11

  Beza an∣not. ann•• 1598.
• * 1.12

  Castal. in de••en. suae translati∣ones ••ibli. in ••ine.