The seconde tome or volume of the Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the Newe Testament conteynyng the epistles of S. Paul, and other the Apostles : wherunto is added a paraphrase vpon the reuelacion of S. John.

The texte.

God (in tyme past) diuersly and many wayes spake vnto the fathers by Prophetes: but in these laste dayes he hath spoken vnto vs by his owne soune, whome he hath made he••••e of all thynges: by whome also he made the worlde. Whiche sonne (being the bryghtenes of hys glory, and the very ymage of hys substaunce, rulynge all thynges with the worde of hys power) hath by hys owne persone pourged ou••e synnes, and sytteth on the ryghte hande of the maiesty on bye: beyng so muche more excellent then the Angels, as he hath by in heritaunce obtayned a more excellent name then they.

WHere as in tymes past almyghtie God, desyrous, for the tender loue he bare towardes vs, to prouyde for the health and saluacion of mankynd spake ofterymes diuerslye, and many wayes by his Prophetes, vnto whome he appeared and shewed hym selfe somtimes in a clowde, somtymes in fire, otherwhiles in a softe whistling winde, nowe vnder one likenesse, and nowe vnder an other, somewhiles by Angels, somewhiles by secrete inspiracion of mynde: at the length in these laste dayes, because he would more manyfestly declare his charitie towardes vs, and put vs in more assuraunce, he dayned to speake vnto vs, not by Angell, nor yet by a man Prphete, but by hys onely sonne Iesus Christ, whome he hath by his eternall appoyntmente and determinacion made heyre and Lorde, not alonely of the Iewyshe nacion, but of the whole worlde, as hym that is his true & only sonne, who is the Lord of all thinges that are made in hea∣uen & in earth, according as the father promised before in y^• psalmēs. Nei∣ther is it any merueyle if he would haue the seignory of the whole world commen betwene hys sonne and hym, syth that by him he made the same. By worde he made the worlde, and the sonne is the eternal worde of the euerlastyng father: neither made he the worlde by hys sonne, as by an in∣strument, or seruaunte, but all thynges were so wrought in the creacion therof, that there was one, & the selfe same power of the father creating it, and the some. For Iesus Christ is not so the sonne of God, as godly men are oftetymes called the children of God, because they obey gods commaundementes, but because he was begottē God of God the father, and so begotten, that he is of the same nature with the father. And where as he was the euerlasting bryghtnesse of the fathers glory, as light proce∣dyng from light, and the very image and resemblaunce of hys substaunce lyke in all poyntes and equall vnto him of whome he was be gotten: and where he is not alonely the maker of all creatures, but also gouerneth and turneth aboute all thinges that are made and created with his becke and almyghty commaundement together with almighty God the father: yet marke whitherto he abased him selfe for our cause.

He toke vpō him mans nature subiecte to al the iniuries of our wretched state and conditiō: and dying, offred vp him selfe a sacryfice for our sinnes in the aulter of the crosse: & wheras before the priest of Moses lawe was woonte to pourge synnes by the offryng of a beastes bloude, he purged the offences of all mankynd by shedyng of his owne holy bloude, and by this abasyng and humblyng of hymselfe gate so greate glory, that after he was reliued, and retourned into heauen, he sate on the ryght side of the maiestie of God the father, wherin he was alwayes egall vnto hym as touching his diuyne nature. But his maiestie more plainly appeared vn∣to the worlde thorowe his humilitie, in somuche that he, who semed be∣fore more lowe and abiecte then the loweste, is nowe greater, and so takē, not only then the prophetes, but also then the Angels selfes: and so much the greater, as the name of a sonne hath in it more dignitie then the name of a seruaunt. For this worde angell is a vocable or worde signifying a ministre, and is a name agreyng to an inferio••re. Vndoubtedly high and great is the dignitie of aungels, for that they alwayes assyste the father, and beholde hys visage. And amonge them there are some that excell the rest in dignytie.