all inspired of God, given to the church for the building up thereof in truth, and for the avoiding of fables and heresies. But the papists, arrogating to their pope authority to allow or refuse any book of holy scripture, and affirming that no scripture hath authority but as it is approved by their church, do bring all books of the holy scripture into doubting and uncertainty with such as will depend upon their pope and popish church's authority, which they affirm to be above the holy scriptures, saying they might as well receive the gospel of Nicodemus as of St Mark, and by the same authority reject the gospel of St Matthew, as they have done the gospel of St Bartholomew. These blasphemous assertions although some of them would colour or mitigate with gentle interpretations, yet there is no reasonable man but seeth into what discredit and uncertainty they must needs bring the authority of the canonical books of holy scripture with the simple and ignorant. 3. Voluntary every one's heresy. Martin. Another way is, to expound the scriptures after their own MARTIN, 3. private conceit and fantasy, not according to the approved sense of the expositions holy ancient fathers and catholic church. So did Theodorus Mopsues- according to tites (Act. Synod 5.) affirm of all the books of the prophets, and of the fancy or Psalms, that they spake not evidently of Christ; but that the ancient fathers did voluntarily draw those sayings unto Christ, which were spoken of other matters. So did all heretics, that would seem to ground their heresies upon scriptures, and to avouch them by scriptures expounded according to their own sense and imagination. Fulke. We expound not the scriptures after our own FULKE, 3. private conceit and fantasy; but, as near as God giveth us grace, according to the plain and natural sense of the same, agreeable unto the rule or proportion of faith, which being approved by the ancient fathers, and catholic church of Christ, in all matters necessary to eternal salvation: not bringing a new and strange sense, which is without the scriptures, to seek confirmation thereof in the scriptures (as the manner of heretics is rightly noted by Clemens'); but out of the scriptures themselves seek we the exposition of such obscure places as we find in them, being persuaded with St Augus [* Οἱ δὲ ἡδοναῖς σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ἐκδεδωκότες βιάζονται πρὸς τὰς ἐπιOvμías Tηv ypaýv. Clem. Alexandr. Stromatum vii. p. 890. Ed. Potter. Venet. 1757.] tine', that nothing in a manner is found out of those obscure and dark places, which may not be found to be most plainly spoken in other places. And as for the approved sense of the holy ancient fathers, and catholic church of the eldest and purest times, if the papists durst stand unto it for the deciding of many of the most weighty controversies that are between us, there is no doubt but they should soon and easily be determined, as hath been shewed in divers and many treatises, written against them. In which if any thing be brought so plainly expounding the scripture against their popish heresies, as nothing can be more express nor clear, then they are driven to seek new and monstrous expositions of those fathers' interpretations; or else they answer, "They are but those fathers' private expositions;" appealing to the catholic church's interpretation, which is nothing else but their own private conceit and fancy, having no record to prove that catholic church's interpretation but the present heretical opinions of this late degenerated antichristian congregation. And when they have discoursed never so much of the catholic church's interpretation, they reduce and submit all men's judgments to the determination of their councils, and the decrees of the councils to the approbation of their pope; which, as he is oftentimes a wicked man of life, so is he ignorant and unlearned in the scriptures; to whose most private censure the holy scriptures themselves, and all sense and exposition of them, is made subject, under colour that Christ, praying for Peter that his faith should not fail in temptation, gave all popes such a prerogative, that they could not err in faith; though they were wicked of life, void of learning, ignorant in the scriptures, [1 Deinde illa quæ in eis aperte posita sunt, vel precepta vivendi, vel regulæ credendi, sollertius diligentiusque investiganda sunt, quæ tanto quisque plura invenit, quanto est intelligentia capacior. In iis enim quæ aperte in scripturis posita sunt, inveniuntur illa omnia quæ continent fidem moresque vivendi, spem scilicet atque caritatem, de quibus libro superiore tractavimus. Tum vero facta quadam familiaritate cum ipsa lingua divinarum scripturarum, in ea quæ obscura sunt aperienda et discutienda pergendum est, ut ad obscuriores locutiones illustrandas de manifestioribus sumantur exempla, et quædam certarum sententiarum testimonia dubitationem incertis auferant. — Augustinus de Doctrina Christiana. Lib. I. 14. Opera. Vol. 1. p. 24. edit. Benedict. Paris. 1696. Ubi autem apertius ponuntur, ibi discendum est quomodo in locis intelligantur obscuris.—Ibid. Lib. 111. 37. p. 56.] destitute of the Spirit of God; as is proved most invincibly by example of divers popes that have been heretics, and maintainers of such errors as are not now in controversy between us (lest they should say we beg the principle), but of the sect of the Arians, Monothelites, Eutychians, Saducees, and such other. some words of the very Martin. Another way is, to alter the very original text of the holy MARTIN, 4. scripture, by adding, taking away, or changing it here and there for 4. Changing their purpose. So did the Arians in sundry places, and the Nestorians or sentences in the first epistle of St John, and especially Marcion, who was there- original text. fore called Mus Ponticus, the mouse of Pontus, because he had gnawn Marcio. lib. (as it were) certain places with his corruptions, whereof some are said Tertul. lib. 5. to remain in the Greek text until this day. Tertul. cont. 1. in princ. Fulke. The original text of the holy scripture we alter FULKE, 4. not, either by adding, taking away, or changing of any letter or syllable, for any private purpose; which were not only a thing most wicked and sacrilegious, but also vain and impossible. For, seeing not only so many ancient copies of the original text are extant in divers places of the world, which we cannot, if we would, corrupt, and that the same are multiplied, by printing, into so many thousand examples; we should be rather mad than foolish, if we did but once attempt such a matter, for maintenance of any of our opinions. As also it is incredible that Marcion, the mouse of Pontus, could corrupt all the Greek copies in the world, (as Lindanus, of whom you borrowed that conceit, imagineth,) in those places in which he is charged by Tertullian. For Marcion's heresy was not so generally received by the Greek church, that all men would yield unto him; neither was Tertullian so sound of judgment in the Latin church, that whatsoever he judged to be a corruption in Marcion, must of necessity be so taken. But if adding and detracting from the scripture be proper notes of heretics, who can purge Stephen Gardiner and Gregory Martin ?—the one, for adding unto a verse of the psalm this pronoun se, himself, to prove the carnal presence, citing it thus, Escam se dedit timentibus eum, "He gave himself to be meat to them that fear him;" whereas [ William Lindanus, born in 1525, at Dordrecht, a polemical writer of the Romish Church, who has left many works of erudition written in a pure style, but disfigured by the faults common to authors of that age.] the words of the prophet, according to the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, are no more but, Escam dedit, "He hath given meat1," &c.-the other, in his fond book of schism", citing this text out of 1 Cor. x. as many papists do against the certainty of faith, Qui stat, videat ne cadat, "He that standeth, let him take heed he fall not;" whereas not only the truth of the Greek, but even the vulgar Latin translation hath, Qui se existimat stare, "He that thinketh or supposeth that he standeth, let him take heed that he fall not." But of such additions and detractions, used by the Romish rats, far worse than the mice of Pontus, we shall have more occasion to speak hereafter. Martin. Another way is, to make false translations of the scriptures, for the maintenance of error and heresy. So did the Arians (as St Jerome noteth in xxvi. Esa.) read and translate Proverb viii. Dominus creavit me in initio viarum suarum, that is, "The Lord created me in the beginning of his ways," so to make Christ, the wisdom of God, a mere creature. St Augustine also, Lib. V. cont. Julian. c. 2, noteth it as the interpretation of some Pelagian, Gen. iii. Fecerunt sibi vestimenta, for perizomata, or campestria, that is, "They made themselves garments;" whereas the word of the scripture is, breeches or aprons, proper and peculiar to cover the secret parts. Again, the selfsame heretics did read falsely, Rom. v. Regnavit mors ab Adam usque ad Moysen etiam in eos qui peccaverunt in similitudinem prævaricationis Ada; that is, "Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even on them that sinned after the similitude of the prevarication of Adam;" to maintain their heresy against original sin, that none were infected therewith, or subject to death and damnation, but by sinning actually, as Adam did. Thus did the old heretics. Fulke. As touching false and heretical translations, which is the chief argument of this book, I doubt not but, by the grace of God, to clear our English translators from any wilful corruptions for the maintenance of any error or heresy; such ["Wherein (in the sacrament of the altar) God instituted memoriam mirabilium suorum, et escam se dedit timentibus eum; that is to say, 'a memory of his marvels, and gave himself meat to them that lovingly fear him'." Gardiner's "Detection of the Devil's Sophistrie, wherein he robbeth the unlearned people of the true belief in the most blessed Sacrament of the aulter." London, 1546. fol. 69. b. See Psal. cxi. 4, 5.] [ Martin's "Treatise of Schism, shewing that all Catholics ought in any wise to abstain altogether from heretical Conventicles, viz. their Prayers, Sermons, &c." Douay, 1578.] as were those of the Arians and Pelagians, which Gregory Martin, as though he uttered some great piece of skill, doth so diligently express. I shall have occasion also to shew, that the papists themselves of our times, maintaining their corrupt vulgar translation against the truth of the original texts of Greek and Hebrew, are most guilty of such corruption and falsification; whereof although they be not the first authors, yet, by obstinate defending of such errors, they may prove worse than they which did first commit them. For the authors of that vulgar translation might be deceived, either for lack of exact knowledge of the tongues, or by some corrupt and untrue copies which they followed, or else perhaps that which they had rightly translated, by fault of the writers and negligence of the times might be perverted: but these men frowardly justifying all errors of that translation, howsoever they have been brought in, do give plain testimony, that they are not led with any conscience of God's truth, but wilfully carried with purpose of maintaining their own errors; lest, if they did acknowledge the error of the Romish church in that one point, they should not be able to defend any one iota of their heresy, whose chief colour is the credit and authority of that particular and false church, rather than any reason or argument out of the holy scriptures, or testimony of the most ancient christian and catholic church. Martin. What these of our days? Is it credible that being so MARTIN, 6. well warned by the condemnation and detestation of them, they also would be as mad and as impious as those? Heretics, gentle reader, be always like heretics; and howsoever they differ in opinions or names, yet in this point they agree, to abuse the scriptures for their purpose by all means possibly. I will but touch four points of the five before mentioned, because my purpose is to stay upon the last only, and to decipher their corrupt translations. But if I would stand upon the other also, were it not easy to shew the manner of their proceeding against protestants the scriptures to have been thus: to deny some whole books and parts ists use the of books, to call other some into question, to expound the rest at means of defacing the their pleasure, to pick quarrels to the very original and canonical text, scriptures. to fester and infect the whole body of the bible with cankered translations? That the and Calvin foresaid five Fulke. It is very true, that so many heretics as pretend FULKE, 6. the authority of the holy scriptures, abuse the same to their own destruction; and no heretics worse than the antichristians or papists: as partly hath been seen already in every |