An Answer to a Great Number of Blasphemous Cavillations

Where upon these words of the Apostle: doest thou despise the riches of gods goodness, not knowing that the kindness of God leadeth the to repentance, ye infer, that the cause why God suffereth with long patience is that we should repent and amend. If you understand that God suffered his elect, even in the time of their blindness, yea and after their horrible falls and offences with great lenity and gentleness, to the end that afterward they may repent, I do agree with you. for so he did with David, Manasseh, Paul, and many others, who after their conversion did not despise gods lenity, but did magnify and praise the same, as in all their confessions may be red. But if you understand Pauls words so, that God hath none other end in that his long suffering, but that the reprobate shall repent ⟨p. 180⟩and amend their wickedness, because the holy Ghost assigneth other causes (as before we have declared) I must prefer his judgement and sentence to yours. To your unreverent bold and furious question, in which ye a•k to what purpose did God suffer them with long patience,¹ whom before he knew should never repent nor amend, I can answer none other ways, then I have done before, except that this I add: that if ye be not content that gods just wrath and great power shall aswell be manifested, both in this world, and in the life to come, upon the vessels of wrath, as that his mercy, & the riches of his glory shall be praised and extolled in the vessels of mercy, that experience (which the common proverb calleth mistress to fools) shall teach you, that it nothing profited the Giants, of whom the poets do speak, to heap up mountain upon mountain, of purpose to besiege Jupiter in the heavens. To use the words of scripture, if be times ye cease not, so unreverently to question with God, you shall feel for ever, what torment is prepared, for such as with humility, can not be subject to his judgements incomprehensible, for if ye shall constrain his Majesty to give you a reason, which ye may understand and apprehend, what do you else then go about to spoil him of his Godhead?

Where vpon these wordes of the Apostle: doest thow dispyse the riches of gods goodnes, not knowing that the kyndnes of God leadeth the to repentance, ye inferre, that the cause why God suffereth with long pacience is that we should repent and amend. If you vnderstand that God suffered his elect, euen in the tyme of their blyndnes, yea and after their horrible falles and offenses with great lenitie and gentlenes, to the end that afterward they may repent, I do aggre with you. for so he did with Dauid, Manasses, Paule, and many others, who after their conuersion did not dispyse gods lenitie, but did magnifie and praise the same, as in all their confessions may be red. But if you vnderstand Paules wordes so, that God hath none other end in that his long suffering, but that the reprobate shal repent