Two bokes of the noble doctor and B. S. Augustine thone entiteled of the predestiuacion [sic] of saintes, thother of perseueraunce vnto thende, whervnto are annexed the determinaciouns of two auncient generall councelles, confermyng the doctrine taught in these bokes by s. Aug. all faythfully translated out of Laten into Englyshe by Iohn Scory the late B. of Chichester, very necessary for al tymes ...

Cap. i.

VVe knowe that the A∣postle haue sayd in his Epistle to the Philippi∣ans:* 1.1 It greueth me not to write one thinge to you. For to you it is a sure thynge. Notwithstandyng the same wry∣tinge

to the Galathians, when he sawe that he had sufficiently wrou¦ght that thynge amonge them, which he perceyued to be necessary for them, by the ministery of his doctrine, he sayd: Frō hence forth let no mā put me to busines: or (as it is red in many bokes) let no mā trouble me.* 1.2 But I, altho I do con∣fesse, that I am greued that ther is no place geuen, to so many & ma∣nifest authorites of Goddes word, wherby the grace of God is cōmen¦ded (which is vtterly no grace yf it be geuen for our merites) yet your diligence and brotherly loue most deare sonnes Prosper and Hilari,* 1.3 that wolde not haue these men so fondly erre (insomoch that after so many bokes and epistles made of this matter, yet agayne you desyre me to wryte of the same) I do so muche loue, as I am not able to ex¦presse: but that I loue it so muche as I ought, I dare not afferme.

Wherfore lo I wryte vnto you a∣gayne, and althoo I am not nowe present with you, yet by your mea¦nes I take in hande agayne that thynge, whyche I thought that I

had sufficiently entreated already. For when I had consydred youre letters, me thought those brethren for whome ye are so Christeanlye carefull, lest they should folowe the sayeng of the Poete, which is, let euery man trust to hym selfe (and should fal into that which was not spokē by the Poete, but by the Pro∣phete. Cursed is euery one that put¦teth hys trust in man) ought to be handeled after that maner,* 1.4 as tha∣postel handeled them to whome he sayd: and yf you be otherwyse myn¦ded, God shall open euen the same vnto you, For they are yet deceiued in the question touchyng the prede¦stinaciō of saintes. But they haue, wherby (yf they be otherwyse myn¦ded in thys matter) God may reue¦le thys also vnto them, yf they wal¦ke in that wherunto they are come Wherfore thapostell when he had sayd, yf you be otherwyse mynded God shal open euen the same vnto you: notwithstandyng (sayeth he) let vs procede in that, wher vnto we are come.

But these our brethren for whō your godly charite is so careful are

come vnto this point, that they be∣leue with the Churche of Christe, that mankynd is borne subiecte to the synne of the fyrst man: and that no mā can be delyuered from this euel, but only by the ryghteousnes of the seconde man. They are also come vnto thys, that they acknow∣lege that the wyl of mā is preuen∣ted by god his grace, & that no mā is able of himselfe either to begin, or to finishe any good worke. The∣se thinges therfore whervnto they are come beyng retayned, do sepe∣rate them farre from the Pelagiās error. Wherfore yf they shall pro∣cede in these,* 1.5 and call vpon hym that geueth vnderstandynge, (yf they haue a wronge iugement of Predestinaciō) God wil reuele also that matter vnto them: notwithstā¦dyng let vs also bestowe suche affe¦ction of loue and ministery of the worde as he whome we call vpon doth giue: that we may in these bo∣kes speake those thinges that may be mete and profitable for them.

For howe do we knowe whether parauenture our God by this our seruice (wherby we serue them in

the fre charitie of Christ) wil bring thys thynge to passe?

Notes

• * 1.1

  Philip. 3.
• * 1.2

  Gala. 6.
• * 1.3

  Grace is no grace yf it be ge¦uen for merites.
• * 1.4

  Iere. 17. Cursed is he that trusteth in man. Phi. 3.
• * 1.5

  By what meanes a ma mai attaine to the true knoulege of al mat∣ters in re¦ligion, y^e come in to contro¦uersye.