What to teach seruants. 3 If any teach against the doctrine of the Church obstinately, he doth
it of pride and for lucre. 11 But the Catholike Bishop must follow vertue, hauing his eye alwaies
to life euerlasting and to the comming of Christ. 17. What to command the rich. 20 Finally, to
keep most carefully the Catholike Churches doctrine, without mutation.
1. WHOSOEVER are seruants vnder yoke, let them count their Masters worthie of al honour;
lest the name of our Lord and his doctrine be blasphemed.
2. But they that haue faithful Masters, let them not contemne them because they are
Brethren, but serue the rather, because they be faithful and beloued, which are partakers of the
benefit. These things teach and exhort.
3. If any man
✟
ἑτεϱοδιδασκαλεῖ.
See the annotation before cap. 1, 3. 4.
teach otherwise, and consent not to the sound words of our Lord
Iᴇꜱᴠꜱ Christ, and to that doctrine which is according to pietie,
4. he is proud, knowing nothing, but
Languishing.
Euen these be the good disputes of our nevv Sect-maisters, and the vvorld hath to long
proued these inconueniences here named, to be the fruites of such endles altercations
in religion as these vnhappie sectes haue brought forth.
languishing about questions and strife of words:
of which rise enuies, contentions, blasphemies, euil suspicions,
5. conflicts of men corrupted in their mind, and that are depriued of the truth, that
esteem gaine to be pietie.
6. But
⋮
The epistle for S. Alexius, Iul. 17.
pietie with sufficiencie is great gaine.
7. For we
*
Iob. 1,21.
brought nothing into this world: doubtlesse, neither can we take away
any thing.
8. But
*
Mat. 6,25.
hauing food, and wherwith to be couered, with these we are content.
9. For they that wil be made rich, fal into tentation and the snare of the Diuel, and
many desires vnprofitable and hurtful, which drowne men into destruction and perdition.
10. For the root of al euils is couetousenes;
✟
As in the 1. chap. lacke of faith and good conscience, so here couetousenes or
desire of these temporal things, and in the end of this chap. presumption and
boasting of knowledge, are causes of falling from the faith: heresie often being
the punishment of former sinnes.
which certaine desiring haue erred form
the faith, and haue intangled themselues in many sorrowes.
11. But thou, ô man of God, fly these things; and
⋮
The epistle for S. Timothee. Ian. 24.
pursue iustice, pietie, faith,
charitie, patience, mildnes.
12. Fight the good fight of faith: apprehend eternal life, wherein thou art called and
hast confessed a good confession before many witnesses.
13. I command thee before God who quickneth al things, and Christ Iᴇꜱᴠꜱ who
*
Io. 18,37.
gaue testimonie vnder Pontius Pilate a good confession,
14. that thou keep the commandement without spot, blamelesse vnto the comming of our
Lord Iᴇꜱᴠꜱ Christ.
15. Which in due times the Blessed and only Mightie wil shew, the
*
Apoc. 17,14. 19,16.
King of kings and
Lord of lords,
16. who only hath immortalitie, and inhabiteth light not accessible,
*
Io. 1,18.
whom no man
hath seen, yea neither can see, to whom be honour and empire euerlasting. Amen.
17. Command the rich of this world not the be high minded, nor to trust in the
vncertaintie of riches, but in the liuing God (who giueth vs al things aboundantly to enioy)
18. to doe wel, to become rich in good workes, to giue easily, to communicate,
19. to heap vnto themselues a good
✟
Almes deedes and good workes laid for a foundation and ground to attaine
euerlasting life. So say the Doctours vpon this place.
foundation for the time to come, that they
may apprehend the true life.
20. O Timothee, keep the
Depositum.
Depositum, is the Catholike truth descending from the Apostles by succession of
Bishops, euen vnto the end.
The vvhole doctrine of our Christianitie being taught by the Apostles, and deliuered to
their successors, and comming dovvne from one Bishop to an other, is called the
Depositum, as it vvere a thing laid into their hands, and committed vnto them to keepe.
Vvhich because it passeth from hand to hand, from age to age, from Bishop to Bishop vvithout
corruption, change, or alteration, is al one vvith Tradition, and is the truth giuen vnto
the holy Bishops to keepe, and not to lay men. See the notable discourse of Vincentius
Lirincusis vpon this text. li. cont. profan. hær. Nouationes. And it is for this great,
old, and knovven treasure committed to the Bishops custodie, that S. Irenæus calleth the
Catholike Church Depositorium diues, the rich treasurie of truth. li. 3 c. 4. And as
Clemens Alexandrinus vvriteth li. 2 Strom. this place maketh so much against al Heretikes
vvho do al change this Depositum, that for it onely, such men in his daies denied this
Epistle.
The Protestansts can shew no such depositum.
The Heretikes of our daies chalenge also the truth, and say it is the old truth.
but they leape 14 or 15 hundreth yeres for it ouer mens heads to the Apostles. But vve call
for the Depositum, and aske them in vvhose hands that truth vvhich they pretend, vvas
laid vp, and hovv it came dovvne to them. for it can not be Apostolical, vnles it vvere
Depositum in some Timothees hand, so to continevv from one Bishop to an other vntil
our time and to the end.
depositum, auoiding the
Profane nouelties.
Non dixit antiquitates (saith Vincentius Lirinensis) non dixit vetustates, sed
prophanas nouitates. Nam si vitanda est nouitas, tenenda est antiquitas: si prophana est
nouitas, sacrata est vetustas. that is, He said not, Antiqvities: he said
not, Avncientnes: but profane novelties. For if noueltie is to be auoided,
antiquitie is to be kept: if noueltie be profane. auncientnes is holy and sacred. See
his vvhole booke against the profane nouelties of heresies.
Prophane nouelties of words how to be tried and examined.
Vve may not measure the nevvnes or oldnes of wordes and termes of speaking in religion, by holy
Scriptures only: as though all those or only those were new and to be reiected, that are not
expresly found in holy vvrite: but vve must esteeme them by the agreablenes or disagreablenes
they haue to the true sense of Scriptures, to the forme of Catholike faith and doctrine, to the
phrase of the old Christians, to the Apostolike vse of speache come vnto vs by tradition of all
ages and Churches, and to the prescription of holy Councels and Schooles of the Christian world:
vvhich haue giuen out (according to the time and questions raised by heretikes and contentious
persons) very fit, artificiall, and significant vvordes, to discerne and defend the truth by,
against falshod.
Catholike termes not expresly in the Scriptures, but in sense, are no such nouelties of
vvordes.
These termes, Catholike, Trinitie, Person, Sacrament, Incarnation, Masse, and many moe, are
not (in that sense vvherein the Church vseth them) in the Scriptures at all, and diuers of them
were spoken by the Apostles before any part of the nevv Testament vvas vvritten, some of them
taken vp straight after the Apostles daies in the vvrittings and preachings of holy Doctors, and
in the speach of all faithfull people, and therfore can not be counted Nouelties of vvordes.
Others beside these, as, Consubstantial, Deipara, Transsubstantiation, and the like, vvhich
are neither in expresse termes found in Scriptures, nor yet in sense (if vve should folovv the
iudgement of the speciall sectes against vvhich the said vvordes were first inuented, the Arians
crying out against Nicene Councel, for the first: the Nestorians against the Ephesine Councel,
for the second: the Lutherans & Caluinists against the Lateran and the later Councels, for the
third) these vvordes also notwithstanding, by the iudgement of holy Church and Councels
approued to be consonant to Gods vvord, and made authenticall among the faithfull, are sound and
true vvordes, and not of those kinde vvhich the Apostle calleth Nouelties.
Heretical nouelties of vvordes.
The vvordes then here forbidden, are the new prophane termes and speaches inuented or specially
vsed by heretikes, such as S. Irenee recordeth the Valentinians had a number most monstruous: as
the Manichees had also diuers, as may be seene in S. Augustine: The Arians had their *Similis
substantia, and Christ to be ex non existentibus: the other heretikes after those daies
had their **Christiparam, and such like, agreable to their sectes.
ομοιούσιον.
χϱιςοῖοκον.
The Protestants prophane nouelties of words.
But the Protestants passe in this kinde, as they excede most heretikes in the number of new
opinions: as their Seruum arbitrium, their sole faith, their siduce, their
apprehension of Christes iustice. their imputatiue righteousnes: their horrible
termes of terrors, anguishes, distresses, distrust, feares and feeling of hell paines in the soule
of our Sauiour to expresse their blasphemous fiction of his temporall damnation, vvhich they call
his descending to hell: Their markes, tokens, and badges Sacramentall, their
Companation, Impanation, Circumpanation, to auoid the true conuersion in the Eucharist:
their presence in figure, in faith, signe, spirit, pleadge, effect, to auoid the reall
presence of Christes body. These and such like innumerable vvhich they occupie in euery part of
their false doctrine, are in the sense that they vse them, all false, captious and deceitfull
vvordes, and are nouitates vocum here forbidden.
And though some of the said termes haue been by some occasion obiter vvithout il meaning
spoken by Catholikes before these Heretikes arose, yet now knovving them to be the propre
speaches of Heretikes, Christian men are bound to auoid them. Wherein the Church of God
hath euer been as diligent to resist Nouelties of vvordes, as her Aduersaries are busy to inuent
them. for vvhich cause she vvil not haue vs communicate vvith them, nor folow their fashion
and phrase nevvly inuented, though in the nature of the vvordes sometime there be no harme.
Catholikes must abhorre from heretical phrases and vvordes.
In S. Augustines daies vvhen Christian men had any good befallen them, or entered into
any mans house, or met any frind by the vvay, they vsed alvvaies to say, Deo gratias. The
Donatistes and Circumcellions of that time being nevvfangled, forsooke the old phrase and vvould
alvvaies say, Laus Deo: from vvhich the Catholike men did so abhorre (as the said Doctor
vvriteth) that they had as leefe mette a theefe as one that said to them, Laus Deo, in steede
of Deo gratias. As novv vve Catholikes must not say, The Lord, but, Our Lord:
as vve say, Our Lady, for his mother, not, The Lady. Let vs keepe our forefathers
vvordes, and vve shal easily keepe our old and true faith that vve had of the first Christians. Let
them say, Amendement, abstinence, the Lordes Supper, the Communion table, Elders, Ministers,
Superintendent, Congregation, so be it, praise ye the Lord, Morning-Praier, Euening-praier, and
the rest, as they vvill: Let vs auoid those Nouelties of vvordes, according to the Apostles
prescript, and keepe the old termes, Penance, Fasting, Priest, Church, Bishop, Masse, Mattins,
Euensong, the B. Sacrament, Altar, Oblation, Host, Sacrifice, Alleluia, Amen, Lent, Palme-Sunday,
Christmas, & the very vvordes vvil bring vs to the faith of our first Apostles, and condemne
these nevv apostataes nevv faith and phrases.
In Ps. 132.
profane
✟
καινοφωνίας.
S. Chrysostom.
nouelties of voices,
and oppositions of
Falsely called knowledge.
Heretikes arrogate knowledge falsely so called.
It is the propertie of al Heretikes to arrogate to them selues great knovvledge, and to
condemne the simplicitie of their fathers the holy Doctors and the Church. but the
Apostle calleth their pretended skill, a knovvledge falsely so called, being in truth high
and deepe blindnes. Such (saith S. Irenæus li. 5 c. 17.) as forsake the
preaching of the Church, argue the holy Priests of vnskilfulnes, not considering hovv far
more vvorth a religious idiote is, then a blasphemous and impudent sophister, such as al
Heretikes be. And againe Vincentius Litinensis speaking in the person of Heretikes
saith, Come ô ye folish and miserable men, that are commonly called Catholikes, and
learne the true faith vvhich hath been hid many ages heretofore, but is reuealed and
shevved of late. &c. See his vvhole booke concerning these matters.
falsely called knowledge.
21. Which certaine promising, haue erred about the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.