An Answer to a Great Number of Blasphemous Cavillations

Thus sayeth he, dependeth the perdition of the reprobate,¹ upon the predestination of God, that the cause and the matter is altogether found in them, the first man fell, because the eternal judged it expedient, why he judged it, we know not, yet certain it is that he so judged it not, but that he saw the glory of his name thereby, to be illustrate. when that thou doest hear the mention of gods glory, there also remember thou justice to be: for of necessity it is, that just must it be, which deserveth praise. Man therefore falleth (gods providence so ordaining) but yet he falleth by his own fault. for God of short time before had pronounced that all, which he had made were very good. from, whence then came such wickedness to man, that he so traitorously declined from his God? Lest that it might have been, through that, that it proceeded from the creation, God approved by his own commendation, wha• so ever he had made. Therefore did man corrupt by his own malice, that pure and clean nature, which from God he had received. and by his fall he drew his hole posterity to perdition. Therefore let us rather behold the evident cause of damnation in the corrupt nature of mankind: then that we shall pretend to search it being his and utterly incomprehensible in the predestination of God. neither yet let us be ashamed, so far to subject the capacity of our understanding to the incomprehensible wisdom of God, that in many of his mysteries we acknowledge and confess our selves to be ignorant. for learned and blessed is the ignorant of those things, which to understand and know is neither lawful neither yet possible in this life. The appearance of knowledge in such things, is a kind of madness. These be the words of this most godly writer. from whose judgement none of us doeth dissent in this matter. For from ⟨p. 154⟩him we must confess, except that we would in concealing the trueth declare our selves to be unthankful, that we all have received comfort, light and erudition, as from gods good instrument. who yet thus further proceedeth There be three things (saith he) in this matter to be considered, first that the eternal predestination of God by the which he had decreed what should become of all mankind, (yea and of every man) even before that Adam fell, was sure and appointed: