Sin theoni en christoni the answer to the preface of the Rhemish Testament. By…Syn theōi en christōi the ansvvere to the preface of the Rhemish Testament. By…

And if the Jesuits tarry to hear, where Jerome himself useth this liberty in translating the Scriptures: we send¹ them to another Epistle of his, where they shall find him defending himself in his liberty of translating Naschqu Bar ⟨p. 83⟩which being word for word, kiss the son, he translated adore the son: least² (as he saith) if he had turned otherwise, he should have turned it evil favoredlie. Which we write, rather to show how far Jeromes judgement in translating, differed from these apish Jesuits, then that we esteem that th'other translation which he shunned, was so hard or rough, as he judged it. And therefore it was elegantly said of the Emperor, I hate alike as departing equally from the mean, both Antiquitaries ³and affectors of novelties. The first place recited out of Augustine, maketh nothing to the purpose. For as the stile of the Scripture, as it were the garments and habit thereof, is neither new fangled, nor exquisitely laboured by persuasible words of mans wisdom: so is it not foul & sluttish; but it is arrayed from top to toe as an honest and chaste matron, avoiding aswell barbarousness and rusticalnes of th'one side, as curiosity and affectation of th'other. In th'other place there is no such thing found as they talk ⟨p. 84⟩of, albeit that also should make as little to the purpose as th' other. And if the old writers speaking and writing unto their people, did speak and write barbarously, that they might be the better understood of them: what is that, to make it a rule in translating. If Jerome in correcting th' old translation, so tempered his pen that amending it, where it changed the sense of the text, he left the rest to remain as they were: It followeth not because he suffered them to stand, that therefore he allowed of them throughout: considering that a man vvill not use that boldness in correcting another mans work, which he would do in his own, nor put out every phrase, and every manner of speech, which he himself could better. Besides that it is a harder matter then you are ever able to perform, to show that this old translation wherein these venerable barbarisms & solecisms are found, is the same that Jerome corrected. In none of th' other places alleged out of Augustine, is there any thing to maintain this babishnes