The Institution of Christian Religion

Among the ecclesiastical writers, all be it there have ben none that did not acknowledge both that the soundness of reason in man §4hath been sore wounded by sin, and his will exceedingly entangled with perverse desires, yet many of them have to much assented to the Philosophers: of which the ancient, as I think, did so much advance the strength of man, upon this consideration lest if they should have expressly confessed his weakness, first they should have made the Philosophers, with whom they then contended, to laugh at them: & then least they should give to the flesh, which of it self was dull to goodness, a new occasion of slothfulness. Therefore, because they would not teach any thing that were an absurdity in the common judgement of men, their study was to make the doctrine of the Scripture half to agree with the teachings of the Philosophers. But that they principally regarded that second point, not to make place for slothfulness, appeareth by their own words.¹ Chrysostom hath in one place: Because God hath put both good and evil things in our own power, he hath given us Freedom of election, and he withholdeth not the unwilling,² but embraceth the willing. Again, Oftentimes he that is evil, if he will, is turned into good, and he that is good by slothfulness falleth and becometh evil, because God made our nature to have free will,³ and he layeth not necessity upon us, but giving convenient remedies, suffereth all to lye in the mind of the patient. Again, As unless we be holpen by the grace of God, we can never do any thing well: so unless we bring that which is our own, we can not obtain the favour of god. And he had said before, that it should not be all of gods help, but we must also bring somewhat. And this is commonly a familiar word with him, let us bring that which is ours, god will supply the rest.⁴ Wherewith agreeth that which Hieremye saith, that it is our part to begin, but gods to make an end: our part to offer what we can, his to fulfil what we can not. You see now that in these sayings they gave to man toward the study of virtue more than was meet, because they thought that they could not otherwise awake the dullness that was naturally in us, but if they did prove that in it only we sinned.