A little book of John Calvins concerning offences whereby at this day divers are…A little booke of Iohn Caluines concernynge offences whereby at this daye diuers are…

& partly also convicted by experience, they find that their wisdom staggereth, and that their power and righteousness halteth. And yet they cannot by any means be persuaded to believe, that they are utterly destitute of all wisdom & righteousness. And what other thing is this, than as it were by composition to part stake with God? Now the Gospel pronounceth that light which we imagine our selves to have, to be utter darkness: and it in such sort leaveth unto us no drop at all of righteousness, that is pronounceth it to be stinking filthiness before God, what so ⟨p. 16⟩ever we bring of our selves. Hereat the worldly wise men begin to chafe, & the hypocrites become mad. And this was the chief cause, why at the beginning of Christs kingdom, all the sects of the Philosophers, together with all the politic governors, did set themselves so earnestly against the Gospel. For they might not endure to have their own wisdom defaced, which they themselves honoured as an Idol, & for the which they knew themselves to be had in great reputation. Would God the ancient Doctors had made less courtesy to offend such kind of men. For while they studied to make medicines to assuage their malady, they left unto us a waterish and unkindly piece of divinity. Origen, Tertullian, Cyprian, Basil, Chrysostom, and the rest of that order, would never have spoken so of their own free motion: but whiles they sought a mitigation to appease the worldly wise men, or to avoid their displeasure, they confounded heaven and earth together. To bring man altogether under foot, was a hateful thing, & repugnant to common reason: & therefore they seek a mitigation approaching nearer to the fleshly understanding: ⟨image 28⟩but in the mean time, the pureness of the doctrine is profaned. Nothing then had been better, than to have crushed the bile hard, to the intent judgement might be given by the filthiness of the matter. But nothing is more evident, than that men have always been stirred up with outrageous pride, to make ado against the Gospel. The same cause also moved the Jews to that beastly rage, wherewith the Evangelists, & specially Luke and Paul, do witness them to have ben carried. For they strove in defence of their righteousness, which was nothing else than smoke, and yet it seemed to them more precious than Christ.

& partly also conuicted by experience, they finde that their wisedome stackereth, and that their power and rightuousnesse halteth. And yet they cannot by any meanes be perswaded to beléeue, that they are vtterly destitute of al wisedome & rightuousnes. And what other thinge is this, than as it were by composition to parte stake with God? Now the Gospell pronounceth that light whiche we imagine our selues to haue, to be vtter darknesse: and it in such sorte leaueth vnto vs no droppe at all of rightuousnes, that is pronoūceth it to be stinkinge filthinesse before God, what so