Ch. xviii. 2,3. 62 Preaching was not found among the Heathen. BOOK V. fect virtue groweth from us, is a right opinion touching things divine; this kind of knowledge we may justly set down for the first and chiefest thing which God imparteth unto his people, and our duty of receiving this at his merciful hands for the first of those religious offices wherewith we publicly honour him on earth. For the instruction therefore of all sorts of men to eternal life it is necessary, that the sacred and saving truth of God be openly published unto them. Which open publication of heavenly mysteries, is by an excellency termed Preaching. For otherwise there is not any thing publicly notified, but we may in that respect, rightly and properly say it is "preached 37" So that when the school of God doth use it as a word of art, we are accordingly to understand it with restraint to such special matter as that school is accustomed to publish. [2.] We find not in the world any people that have lived altogether without religion. And yet this duty of religion, which provideth that publicly all sorts of men may be instructed in the fear of God, is to the Church of God and hath been always so peculiar, that none of the heathens, how curious soever in searching out all kinds of outward ceremonies like to ours 38, could ever once so much as endeavour to resemble herein the Church's care for the endless good of her children 39. [3] Ways of teaching there have been sundry always usual in God's Church. For the first introduction of youth to the knowledge of God, the Jews even till this day have their Catechisms 40. With religion it fareth as with other sciences. see Greg. Naz. Orat. iii. t. i. 101. D.] 40 The Jews' Catechism, called Lekach Tob. [Or, "The Book of good Doctrine;" (alluding to Prov. iv. 2.) Venice, 1595. The author was Rabbi Abraham Ben Hananiah Jaghel, of Montfelice near Padua. It appears to be the work of an elegant and pious mind: containing an account of the thirteen articles of the Jewish faith, and many moral and devout precepts, lucidly arranged in a dialogue between a Rabbin and his disciple. It is satisfactory to know that the writer became Catechising, the first sort of Preaching. 63 Ch. xviii. 3. The first delivery of the elements thereof must, for like BOOK V. consideration 11, be framed according to the weak and slender capacity of young beginners: unto which manner of teaching principles in Christianity, the Apostle in the sixth to the Hebrews is himself understood to allude. For this cause therefore, as the Decalogue of Moses declareth summarily those things which we ought to do; the prayer of our Lord whatsoever we should request or desire: either by the Apostles 42, or at the leastwise out of their writings, we have the substance of Christian belief compendiously drawn into few and short articles, to the end that the weakness of no man's wit might either hinder altogether the knowledge, or excuse the utter ignorance of needful things. SO Such as were trained up in these rudiments, and were so made fit to be afterwards by Baptism received into the Church, 41" Incipientibus brevius ac sim“ plicius tradi praecepta magis con"venit. Aut enim difficultate in"stitutionis tam numerosæ atque "perplexæ deterreri solent, aut eo “ tempore, quo praecipue alenda ingenia atque indulgentia quadam "enutrienda sunt, asperiorum rerum “tractatu atteruntur." Fab. [Quintil.] lib. viii. procm. "Incipienti"bus nobis exponere jura populi "Romani, ita videntur posse tradi "commodissime, si primo levi ac "simplici via, post deinde diligen"tissima atque exactissima inter"pretatione singula tradantur. Ali"oqui si statim ab initio rudem "adhuc et infirmum animum stu"diosi multitudine ac varietate "rerum oneraverimus, duorum al"terum, aut desertorem studiorum "efficiemus, aut cum magno labore "ejus, sæpe etiam cum diffidentia 42 Vide Ruff. in Symb. [p. 17. ad calc. Cypr. ed. Fell. Tradunt majores nostri quod post ascen"sionem Domini, cum per adventum Sancti Spiritus super singulos 66 66 “ 66 quosque Apostolos igneæ linguæ "sedissent; . præceptum eis a “Domino datum, ob prædicandum "Dei verbum, ad singulas quemque proficisci nationes. Discessuri itaque ad invicem normam prius futura sibi praedicationis in commune constituunt....Omnes ergo "in unum positi, et Spiritu Sancto “ repleti, breve istud futurae sibi, ut “ diximus, praedicationis indicium, "conferendo in unum quod sentie"bat unusquisque, componunt, atque hanc credentibus dandam esse regulam statuunt. . . . Hæc non scribi chartulis atque membranis, sed retineri cordibus tradiderunt, ut certum esset, neminem hæc ex lectione, quæ interdum pervenire etiam ad infideles solet, "sed ex Apostolorum traditione "didicisse."] 66 66 66 66 64 Public Reading of Holy Writ, is Preaching. BOOK V. the Fathers usually in their writings do term Hearers 42, as Ch. xix. I. having no farther communion or fellowship with the Church than only this, that they were admitted to hear the principles of Christian faith made plain unto them. Of preaching, by read the books of ture; and concerning supposed untruths in those translations of Scripture which we Catechising may be in schools, it may be in private families. But when we make it a kind of preaching, we mean always the public performance thereof in the open hearing of men, because things are preached not in that they are taught, but in that they are published. XIX. Moses and the Prophets, Christ and his Apostles, ing publicly were in their times all preachers of God's truth; some by holy Scrip- word, some by writing, some by both 43. This they did partly as faithful Witnesses, making mere relation what God himself had revealed unto them; and partly as careful Expounders, teachers, persuaders thereof. The Church in like case preacheth still, first publishing by way of Testimony or relation the read; as also truth which from them she hath received, even in such sort as it was received, written in the sacred volumes of Scripture; secondly by way of Explication, discovering the mysteries which lie hid therein. The Church as a witness preacheth his mere revealed truth by reading publicly the sacred Scripture. So that a second kind of preaching 44 is the reading of Holy Writ. allow to be of the choice which we make in reading. For thus we may the boldlier speak, being strengthened 45 with the example of so reverend a prelate as saith, that Moses from the time of ancient generations and ages long since past had amongst the cities of the very Gentiles them. that preached him, in that he was read every sabbath day. For so of necessity it must be meant, in as much as we know that the Jews have always had their weekly readings of the Our Version of Scripture blamed: e. g. Psalm cv. 28. Ch. xix. 2, 3. Law of Moses; but that they always had in like manner their BOOK V. weekly sermons upon some part of the Law of Moses we nowhere find. [2.] Howbeit still we must here remember, that the Church by her public reading of the book of God preacheth only as a witness. Now the principal thing required in a witness is fidelity. Wherefore as we cannot excuse that church, which either through corrupt translations of Scripture delivereth instead of divine speeches any thing repugnant unto that which God speaketh; or, through falsified additions, proposeth that to the people of God as scripture which is in truth no scripture: so the blame, which in both these respects hath been laid upon the church of England, is surely altogether without cause. Touching translations of holy Scripture, albeit we may not disallow of their painful travels herein, who strictly have tied themselves to the very original letter; yet the judgment of the Church, as we see by the practice of all nations, Greeks, Latins, Persians, Syrians, Æthiopians, Arabians, hath been ever that the fittest for public audience are such as following a middle course between the rigour of literal translators and the liberty of paraphrasts, do with greatest shortness and plainness deliver the meaning of the Holy Ghost. Which being a labour of so great difficulty, the exact performance thereof we may rather wish than look for. So that, except between the words of translation and the mind of the Scripture itself there be contradiction, every little difference should not seem an intolerable blemish necessarily to be spunged out. [3] Whereas therefore the 46 [See Strype, Whitg. i. 490. "One Dr. Sparks is brought in" (by Martin Marprelate in one of his libels)" as being too hard for the Archbishop and some other Bishops, and putting them to a "nonplus in some conference with "them; and that before some no"blemen. It was about the sup"posed wrong reading of the 28th "verse of the cv. Psalm. . . To this "the Archbishop said, that their "honours that were present could " and would, he was sure, answer HOOKER, VOL. 11. prophet David 46 in a certain 66 "for the Bishops for this untruth. 66 F Ch. xix. 3. 66 Fault found with our Version of Psalm cv. 28. BOOK V. Psalm doth say concerning Moses and Aaron, that they were obedient to the word of God, and in the selfsame place our allowed translation saith they were not obedient; we are for this cause challenged as manifest gainsayers of scripture, even in that which we read for scripture unto the people. But for as much as words are resemblances of that which the mind of the speaker conceiveth, and conceits are images representing that which is spoken of, it followeth that they who will judge of words, should have recourse to the things themselves from whence they rise. "But if of the signs and wonders 66 Ægyptii, Moses et Aaron: qui "duo proxime præcedunt, et de ipsis commode intelligitur: qui quamvis arduum et periculi ple 66 Barlow's Account of the Confer- a new translation of the Bible, "because those which were allowed 66 were corrupt. For example, "Ps. cv. 28," with two more. "To "which motion there was, at the ... present, no gainsaying: the objections being trivial and old, and "already in print often answered." In Saravia's.collected works is an Epistle to an anonymous friend, who had published certain Articles of exception to the Canons of 1603: the second of which Articles is, "Fieri potuit ut in iis quæ publice leguntur non pauca Scripturis 66 וְלֹא מָרוּ .Resp cum Et pa' et non "rebellarunt verbis ejus." Pii inter- 66 ,מָרוּ 66 num esset adire tyrannum...non "fuerunt tamen Deo inobedientes ".... Potest etiam non absurde 'interpretari locus de Mose et et de Israelitis vel de Ægyptiis Prynne supposed the error a mere misprint obedient, for disobedient, |