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tion from the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, till he had seen Christ". And so did the Prophetess Anna, who served God, with fasting and prayer, day and night. Omnis sexus et ætas13, both sexes, and all ages testified of him; and he gives examples of all, as it was easy for him to do. Now after all these testimonies, from himself, from the Father, from the angel, from the star, from the wise men, from Simeon, from Anna, from all, what needed the testimony of John? All those witnesses had been thirty years before John was cited for a witness, to come from the wilderness and preach. And in thirty years, by reason of his obscure and retired life, in his father Joseph's house, all those personal testimonies of Christ might be forgotten; and, for the most part, those witnesses only testified that he was born, that he was come into the world, but for all their testimony, he might have been gone out of the world long. Before this, he might have perished in the general flood, in that flood of innocent blood, in which Herod drowned all the young children of that country. When therefore Christ came forth to preach, when he came to call apostles, when he came to settle a church, to establish means for our ordinary salvation, (by which he is the light of our text, the essential light shining out in his church, by the supernatural light of faith and grace) then he admitted, then he required Testimonium ab homine, Testimony from man. And so, for our conformity to him, in using and applying those means, which convey this light to us, in the church, we must do so too; we must have the seal of faith, and of the Spirit, but this must be in the testimony of men; still there must be that done by us, which must make men testify for us.

Every Christian is a state, a commonwealth to himself, and in him, the Scripture is his law, and the conscience is his judge. And though the Scripture be inspired from God, and the conscience be illumined and rectified by the Holy Ghost immediately, yet, both the Scriptures and the conscience admit human arguments. First, the Scriptures do, in all these three respects; first that there are certain Scriptures, that are the revealed will of God. Secondly, that these books which we call canonical, are those Scriptures. And lastly, that this and this is the true sense

18 Luke ii. 25.

13 Ambrose.

and meaning of such and such a place of Scripture. First, that there is a manifestation of the will of God in certain Scriptures, if we who have not power to infuse faith into men, (for that is the work of the Holy Ghost only) but must deal upon the reason of men, and satisfy that, if we might not proceed, per testimonia ab homine, by human arguments, and argue, and infer thus, that if God will save man for worshipping him, and damn him for not worshipping him, so as he will be worshipped, certainly God hath revealed to man, how he will be worshipped, and that in some visible, in some permanent manner in writing, and that that writing is Scripture, if we had not these testimonies, these necessary consequences derived even from the natural reason of man to convince men, how should we convince them, since our way is not to create faith, but to satisfy reason? And therefore let us rest in this testimony of men, that all Christian men, nay Jews and Turks too, have ever believed, that there are certain Scriptures, which are the revealed will of God, and that God hath manifested to us, in those Scriptures, all that he requires at our hands for faith or manners. Now, which are those Scriptures?

As for the whole body entirely together, so for the particular limbs and members of this body, the several books of the Bible, we must accept testimonium ab homine, human arguments, and the testimony of men. At first, the Jews were the depositaries of God's oracles; and therefore the first Christians were to ask the Jews, which books were those Scriptures. Since the church of God is the master of those rolls, no doubt but the church hath testimonium à Deo, the Spirit of God to direct her, in declaring what books make up the Scripture; but yet even the church, which is to deal upon men, proceedeth. also per testimonium ab homine, by human arguments, such as may work upon the reason of man, in declaring the Scriptures of God. For the New Testament, there is no question made of any book, but in conventicles of Anabaptists; and for the Old, it is testimony enough that we receive all that the Jews received. This is but the testimony of man, but such as prevails upon every man. It is somewhat boldly said, (not to permit to ourselves any severer, or more bitter animadversion upon him) by a great man in the Roman

church, that perchance the Book of Enoch, which St. Jude cites in his epistle, was not an apocryphal book, but canonical Scripture in the time of the Jews. As though the Holy Ghost were a time-server, and would sometimes issue some things, for present satisfaction, which he would not avow nor stand to after; as though the Holy Ghost had but a lease for certain years, a determinable estate in the Scriptures, which might expire, and he be put from his evidence; that that book might become none of his, which was his before. We therefore, in receiving these books for canonical, which we do, and in post-posing the apocryphal, into an inferior place, have testimonium ab homine, testimony from the people of God, who were, and are the most competent, and unreproachable witnesses herein and we have testimonium ab inimico, testimony from our adversary himself, Perniciosius est ecclesiæ librum recipere pro sacro, qui non est, quam sacrum rejicere, It is a more pernicious danger to the church, to admit a book for canonical, which is not so, than to reject one that is So. And therefore, Ne turberis novitie, (saith another great author of theirs1) Let no young student in divinity be troubled, Si alicubi repererit, libros istos supputari inter canonicos, if he find at any time, any of these books reckoned amongst the canonical, Nam ad Hieronymi limam, verba doctorum et conciliorum reducenda, For saith he, Hierome's file must pass over the doctors, and over the councils too, and they must be understood, and interpreted according to St. Hierome. Now this is but testimonium ab homine, St. Hierome's testimony, that prevailed upon Cajetan, and it was but testimonium ab homine, the testimony of the Jews, that prevailed upon St. Hierome himself.

It is so for the whole body, the Bible; it is so for all the limbs of this body, every particular book of the Bible; and it is so for the soul of this body, the true sense of every place, of every book thereof; for, for that, (the sense of the place) we must have testimonium ab homine, the testimony, that is, the interpretation of other men. Thou must not rest upon thyself, nor upon any private man. John was a witness that had witnesses, the prophets had prophesied of John Baptist. The men from whom we 15 Idem ex Aquin.

14 Melchilanus (qu. Melchior Canus ?-ED.)
16 Cajetan.

are to receive testimony of the sense of the Scriptures, must be men that have witnesses, that is, a visible and outward calling in the church of God. That no sense be ever admitted, that derogateth ftom God, that makes him a false, or an impotent, or a cruel God, that every contradiction, and departing from the analogy of faith, doth derogate from God, and divers such grounds, and such inferences, as every man confesses, and acknowledges to be naturally and necessarily consequent, these are testimonia ab homine, testimonies that pass like current money, from man to man, obvious to every man, suspicious to none. Thus it is in the general; but then, when it is deduced to a more particular trial, (what is the sense of such or such a place) when Christ saith, Scrutamini Scripturas", Search the Scriptures, Non mittit ad simplicem lectionem, sed ad scrutationem exquisitam, It is not a bare reading, but a diligent searching, that is enjoined us. Now they that will search, must have a warrant to search; they upon whom thou must rely for the sense of the Scriptures, must be sent of God by his church. Thou art robbed of all, divested of all, if the Scriptures be taken from thee; thou hast nowhere to search; bless God therefore, that hath kept thee in possession of that sacred treasure, the Scriptures; and then, if any part of that treasure lie out of thy reach, or lie in the dark, so as that thou understandest not the place, search, that is, apply thyself to them that have warrant to search, and thou shalt lack no light necessary for thee. Either thou shalt understand that place, or the not understanding of it shall not be imputed to thee, nor thy salvation hindered by that ignorance.

It is but to a woman that St. Hierome saith, Ama Scripturas, et amabit te Sapientia, Love the Scriptures, and Wisdom will love thee the weakness of her sex must not avert her from reading the Scriptures. It is instruction for a child, and for a girl, that the same father giveth, Septem annorum discat memoriter Psalterium, As soon as she is seven years old, let her learn all the Psalms without book; the tenderness of her age, must not avert her from the Scriptures. It is to the whole congregation, consisting of all sorts and sexes, that St. Chrysostom saith, Hortor, et hortari non desinam, I always do, and always will

17 John v. 39.

exhort you, ut cum domi fueritis, assidua lectioni Scripturarum cacetis, that at home, in your own houses, you accustom yourselves to a daily reading of the Scriptures. And after, to such men as found, or forced excuses for reading them, he saith with compassion, and indignation too, O homo, non est tuum Scripturas evolvere, quia innumeris curis distraheris? Busy man, belongeth it not to thee to study the Scriptures, because thou art oppressed with worldly business? Imo magis tuum est, saith he, therefore thou hadst the more need to study the Scriptures; Illi non tam egent, &c., They that are not disquieted, nor disordered in their passions, with the cares of this world, do not so much need that supply from the Scriptures, as you that are, do. It is an author that lived in the obedience of the Roman church, that saith, the Council of Nice did decree, That every man should have the Bible in his house. But another author in that church saith now, Consilium Chrysostomi ecclesia nunc non arridet; The church doth not now like Chrysostom's counsel, for this general reading of the Scriptures, Quia etsi illi locutus ad plebem, plebs tunc non erat hæretica; Though St. Chrysostom spoke that to the people, the people in his time were not an heretical people: and are the people in the Roman church now an heretical people? If not, why may not they pursue St. Chrysostom's counsel, and read the Scriptures? Because they are dark? It is true, in some places they are dark; purposely left so by the Holy Ghost, ne semel lectas fastidiremus, lest we should think we had done when we had read them once; so saith St. Gregory too, In plain places, fami occurrit, he presents meat for every stomach; in hard and dark places, fastidia detergit, he sharpens the appetite: Margarita est, et undique perforari potest; The Scripture is a pearl, and might be bored through everywhere. Not everywhere by thyself; there may be many places, which thou of thyself canst not understand; not everywhere by any other man; no not by them, who have warrant to search, commission from God, by their calling, to interpret the Scriptures, not everywhere by the whole church, God hath reserved the understanding of some places of Scripture, till the time come for the fulfilling of those

18 Corn. Agrip.
20 Augustine..

19 Escalante.

21 Hierome.

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