A replye to an ansvvere made of M. Doctor VVhitgifte Against the admonition to the Parliament. By T.C.

Answere till the Admonition / from the beginning of the 30. page.

VNto the places of Deuteronomic / whych proue that nothyng oughte to be done in the churche / but that whych God commaundeth / and that nothyng should be added nor diminished. First you answere / that that was a precept geuen to the Iewes for that time / whych had all things euen the least prescribed vnto them. I see it is true whych is sayd / that one absurditie graūted / a hundred follow. For to make good / that things ought to be done besides the scripture and worde of God / you are driuen to runne into parte of the error of the Manichees / whych say / that the olde Testament pertaineth not vnto vs / nor bindeth not vs. For what is it else / then to say that these two places serued for the Iewes time / and vnder the lawe? For surely / if these two places agree not vnto vs in time of the gospell / I knowe none in all the olde Testament / whych doe agree / and I praye you what is heere sayde / whych S. Iohn in the * Apocalipse saythe not / where he shutteth vp the newe Testament in thys sorte. I protest vnto euery * 1.1 mā whych heareth the prophecie of thys boke / that whosoeuer addeth any thing to it / the Lorde shall adde vnto him the plagues whych are wrytten in it: and

whosoeuer taketh away any thing from it / the Lord shall take away his portion out of the boke of life / and out of the things that are wrytten in it? which admo∣nition if you say pertaineth to that boke of the Apocalipse only / yet you must re∣member / that the same may be as truely sayd of any other boke of the scripture.

Then you are driuen to saye / that the Iewes vnder the lawe / had a more certaine direction / and consequently a readyer waye / then we haue in the time of the gospell / of the whych time the Prophet sayeth / that then a man shoulde not * 1.2 teache his neighbor / they shalbe so taught of God: as if he should say / that they that liue vnder the gospel / should be all in comparison of that whych were vnder the lawe Doctors. And Esay sayth / that in the dayes of the gospell / the people shall not stande in the outward courtes but he will bring them into the sanctua∣rie * 1.3 that is to say / that they shoulde be all / for their knowledge as learned as the Leuites and Priestes / whych only had entraunce into it.

Now if the Iewes had precepts of euery the least action / whych told them precisely how they should walke: how is not their case in that poynt better then oures / whych because we haue in many things but generall rules / are to seeke oftentimes / what is the will of God whych we should follow? But let vs exa∣mine their lawes / and compare them with oures in the matters pertaining to the church: for whereas y^e question is of the gouernment of the church it is very im∣pertinent / that you speake of the iudicialies / as though you had not yet learned / to distinguishe betweene the Church and common wealth.

To the ordering and gouerning of the church / they had only the moral and ceremoniall law: we haue the same morall that they had: what speciall direction therfore they enioy by the benefite of that / we haue. We haue no ceremonies but two / the ceremonies or sacraments of Baptisme and of the Lords supper / & we haue as certaine a direction to celebrate them / as they had / to celebrate their ce∣remonies / and fewer and les difficulties can rise of oures / then of theirs: and we haue more plaine and expres doctrine to decide our cōtrouersies then they had for theirs. What houre had they for their ordinarie and daily sacrifices: was it not left to the order of the church? what places were apointed in their seuerall dwel∣lings to heare the woorde of God preached continually / when they came not to Ierusalem? the word was commaunded to be preached / but no mention made / what manner of place they should haue: where was pulpittes commaunded / or chaires? and yet they had both. Where any forme of buriall in the law? and yet it is a thing pertaining to the church / that the deade be after a comely sorte buried. Where / any order or forme of mariage? and yet it is knowne they had. It was (whych is more) in the discretion of that churche / vppon occasion of dearthe / or warre / plagues / or any other common calamitie / to proclaime a faste.

I wil not be long / where as you say / that they had nothing but was deter∣mined by the law: and we haue many things vndetermined and left to the order of the churche / I will offer for one that you shall bring / that we haue left to the order of the church / to shew you that they had twentie whych were vndecided of by the expres word of God. For as their ceremonies and sacraments are multi∣plied aboue oures / so grewe the nomber of those cases whych were not determi∣ned by any expres worde / and therefore▪ I will conclude / that for so muche as we haue the same lawes to directe vs in the seruice of God / whych they had / beside that / a noble addition of the newe Testament to make things more manifest / and to bring greater light vnto the olde Testament / we haue also precise direction of our religion as they had / and therfore those places of Deuter. stand in as greate force nowe touching the gouernment of the church / as they did then.

And as for the iudiciall lawe / for as muche as there are some of them made in regarde of the region where they were geuen / and of the people to whom they were giuen / the Prince and Magistrate keping the substance & equitie of them

(as it were the marrow) may chaunge the circumstances of them / as the times / and places / and manners of the people shall require. But to say that any magi∣strate can saue the life of blasphemers / contemptuous and stubborne Idolaters / murderers / adulterers / incestuous persons / and suche like / whych God by hys iudiciall lawe hath commaunded to be put to death / I doe vtterly denye / and am ready to proue / if that pertained to thys question. And therfore althoughe the iu∣diciall lawes are permitted to the discretion of the prince and magistrate / yet not so generally as you seeme to affirme / and as I haue oftentimes sayde / that not only it must not be done against the word / but according to the worde and by it.

After you define what is it to take from / & put to the word of God / wher∣in not to speake of your wonderfull dexteritie in defining / whych can define two things / and those contrary (putting to and taking fro) with one differēce (which zeno him selfe could neuer do) you leaue out that whych Moses especially meant to comprehend / whych is / not to do more / nor to do les / thē he hath cōmaunded. And as for your deuision / it hath as euil succes here / as in other places / for when it is a great fault in deuiding / to haue eyther too muche or too little / you faulte in bothe / for whereas you say / they adde / whych teache or decree. &c. besides that you leaue out whych Moses ment / you forget also that whych your selfe hadde sayd / which had placed adding to / not only in teaching and decreeing / but in thin∣king or beleeuing. And wheras you make foure partes of your deuision / y^e three last are found to be all vnder the first member / whych is to make things of fayth and ceremonies / contrary to the worde / and so your deuision is not only faultye / but no diuision at all. The whych thing I could haue easely forgeuen you / and passed by as a thing not very commendable to trauaile to shewe the pouertye of those things / whych doe sufficiently of them selues (as it were) proclaime their owne shame: but that it greeued me to see a boke lengthened wyth first / second / thirde / last / as thoughe euery one of them contained some notable newe matter / whych needed an Oyes before it / to stirre vp the attention of the reader / when there is nothing but a many of words wythout matter / as it were a sort of faire emptie Apothecaries boxes / wythout any stuffe in them. And for that you are so hard wyth other men for their Logike / I will desire the reader to pardone me / if I pursue these things more narowlyer then some peraduenture will lyke of / or I my selfe delight in. And so for any definition or diuision that I cā perceiue / it standeth fast / that nothing is to be done in the church of God / but by hys com∣maundement and worde directing the same. It is true in deede / if they be not a∣gainst the word of God / and be profitable for the church / they are to be receiued / as those thyngs / whych God by the church dothe commaunde / and as grounded of the word of God: but there is the question / and therefore you taking this as a thyng graunted alwayes / do alwayes fal into that whych you charge other with of the fallation of petitio principii.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Apoca. 22. 18.
• * 1.2

  Ier. 31. 34.
• * 1.3

  Esay. 56. 5.