The safegarde from ship-wracke, or Heauens hauen compiled by I.P. priest.

The Catholicke translation acknovvledged for the best.

BEza saith of S. Hierome.g (The old interpreter (saith he) seemeth to haue intetpreted the holy bookes with marueilous sincerity and religion. And in another place:h the vulgar translation I doe for the most part imbrace and preferre before all others.

(M. D. Humfrey saith also of S. Hierome:i The old interpreter (saith he) seemeth sufficiētly bent to follow the proprietie of wordes, and he doth it in deed to ca∣refully, which notwithstanding I suppose him to haue done, not of ignorance, but out of religion and con∣science:k) Which is no fault as M. Humfrey himselfe te∣stifieth in the same place saying. (In Prophane writin∣ges a man may rainge more freely and depart from the wordes, in Canonicall Scripture no such licence is tolerable, for it is not lawfull for man to alter the ton∣gue of God.) These hee.

(Carolus Molinausl professeth to preferre the vulgar translation or edition before Erasmus, Bucer, Bullinger Brentius, the Tigurine translation, also before Iohn Caluin and all others.

That famous Protestant writer, Conradus Pelicanus, saith. (m Wee find the vulgar edition of such excel∣lencie, learning, and to agree with the Hebrew truth touching the sense, that I doe not doubt, but the greeke

and Latin interpreter were most learned, yea most pi∣ous, and of a true Propheticall spirit.

M. Whit••ker hauing changed his former vehement stile else where against S. Hieromes translation saith in his answere to M. Reynoldes:n S. Hierome I reuerēce, Da∣masus (the Pope) I commend, and the worke I cōfesse to be godlie and profitable to the Church.

M. D. Cauell saith: (the vulgar translation was vsed in the Church one thousand and three hundreth yea∣res since, and doubteth not to preferre it before all o∣thers. In so much that wheras the English translations are manie and among themselues disagreeing, he con∣cludeth, that of all those,o the appoued translation, authorized by the Church of England, is that which commeth nearest to the vulgar, & is commonly cal∣led the Bishops Bible: o truth, most strong, Sacred, and inuiolable?p more forceable (as S Austine ob∣serueth) to wringe out confessiō then any rack or tor∣ment.

To conclude therfore, although wee should graunt them to haue agreed vpon some one translation, yet their disagreement in the sense therof is farre greater, And asq (M. D. Reynoldes saith in his cōference with M. Hart, It is not the shew, but the sense of wordes (of Scripture) that must decide controuersies.

And S Hierome saith:r (The Ghospell is not in the word, but in the sense, not in the Barke but in the sappe: not in the leaues of the wordes but in the roote of the meaning.

Notes

• g

  in cap. 1. S. Lucae v. 1.
• h

  Praef. noui test. anni 1556.
• i

  de ratione interpre∣tat lib. 1. pag. 74.
• k

  pag. 179.
• l

  in Luc. 17.
• m

  in prae∣fat. in psal∣terium an∣ni 15••4.
• n

  pag. 214,
• in his ans∣were to M B••uges &c pag. 94
• o

  pag 91.
• p

  Austin co•••• Don••tist. po•• Col∣lat cap. 24.
• q

  pag 5••.
• r

  in Epist. ad Talat.