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.

Wherfore I also (after that I heard of the faith which ye haue in the Lord Iesu, and lo•••• vnto all the sainctes) cease not to geue thankes for you, making menciō of you in my praie•••• that the God of our Lord Iesue Christ, the father of glory, maye geue vnto you the spiryte o•• wisdō & reuela••ō by the knowlage of him selfe, & lightē the eyes of pour myndes, y^• ye may know what the hope is, wherunto he hath called you, and how riche the glory is ••t his inhe∣rytaunce vpon the sainctes, and what is the excedyng greatenes of his power to vs••••••e, which beleue accordig to the working of that his mightie power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised hym from the dead; and set him on his right hand in heauenly thinges, about all rule, and power, and myght and domymon, and aboue euery name y^• is named not in this worlde onely, but also in the world to come: and hath pur all thinges vnder his f••••e, and hath made hym aboue all thinges, the head of the congregacion, whiche is his bodye, and the ful∣nes of him, that sylleth all in all.

For this cōsideraciō, I passe not whether you be circūcised or not, whā I see∣uident tokens in you of euāgelical saluaciō, first in that you haue reposed your whole trust in the lord Iesu, thā in that you declare your Christian charitie to∣wardes al Saintes the mēbers of Christ. For this cause I ceasse not to geue thākes for you. For Euāgelicall sincerite is of suche efficacie, y^• it causeth vs to be glad of other mennes cōmodities, no lesse thā of our owne. And I make al∣waies mēcion of you in my prayers, wher w^t I daily call vpon God for y^• ad∣uaūcement of the gospels businesse, y^• he, which is god of al sortes of people in∣differentile, & of Iesu Christ also after his humaine nature, of whō also Christ hath to be god (vnto whō, as vnto the autor & foūtaine of al goodnes, the s••••••e* 1.1 of al glory doth wholy belōg) may geue vnto you, more & more y^• ernest when of I haue spokē, his spirite, to inspire into your mindes this heauenly wisedō, and the knowlage of this mysterie: that you maye knowe hym, that is thouly autor of all healthe, & that you may behold hym in the meane while, as it were, with iyes, not with bodily eiyes but with the iyes of the harte and mynde, that see through the light of faithe, wherewith the thynges are also seen, that are to come, whiche cannot be seene with the grosse bodily iyes: whereby you maye knowe that, which no humayne philosophie teacheth, how blissed the enheri∣taunce is, whiche he hath called vs to truste vpon: and how excellent y^• dignitie

of this most plēteous enheritaūce is, which the saynctes shal receyue, & howe great the largenesse, and how excedyng the greatnesse of his power is, which he declareth euē now in vs: the which also (as it were with a certain secrete en∣forcement y^• cannot be expressed w^t tongue) hath transformed & al••red vs frō our olde trade, after such sorte, that we contēne al other thiges, & trust onely to him, & cōtēning those thinges which wese, we hope after such thinges of him,* 1.2 as we se not, & such as he hath openly declared before in our head Christ: whō of his mightie power hauing raised from death to life immortal, he hath exal∣ted vnto so high honor, that he hath set him on his owne right hand in y^• king∣dō of heauen, & geuen him autoritie ouer al other rule, potestate, power & lord∣ship, and euery other name of dignitie or power, how excellent so euer it be a∣boue these afore rehearsed, eyther in this worlde or in the worlde to come, that he may be lorde not onely ouer bodely and earthly thinges, but also ouer spiri∣tuall and heauenly thynges. So ferre hath he subdued al thinges without ex∣cepcion vnder his feete. And to make our hope more stedfast and certayn, that* 1.3 we shall also come to the felowship of the same glorye, for asmuche as he hath made Christe lorde ouer all thinges, his pleasure was also that he shoulde be the head vnto al the whole flocke of the beleuing, that cleaue so fast to Christe, as the whole body is coupled to the head, that the one can not be disceuered frō the other. Finally the glory of the head is common to the rest of the members, wherunto the head is so set about, that it powreth his good nourishment into euery one of them. The bodye is not perfit, onlēs the head be at it: and the head wanteth sum what, if the body be not set to perfitly consummate in all his mē∣bres: wherunto Christ doeth seuerally powre his excellent giftes in such wise, that by himselfe he fulfilleth all thīges, and liueth and reigneth now whole and entierely perfit, hauing his members vnited vnto himselfe.

Notes

• * 1.1

  May geue vnto you y^• spirite of ••••sedome.
• * 1.2

  He hath wrought in Christe. &c.
• * 1.3

  And hath made him a∣boue all thinges the head.