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and also lay before your Majesty a Confession, from which you may learn what the doctrine is that so inflames the rage of those madmen who are this day,
The cause which I plead is the common cause of all the godly, and therefore the very cause of Christ-a
Your duty, most serene Prince,
The characteristic of a true sovereign is, to acknowledge that, in the administration of his kingdom, he is a minister of God. He who does not make his reign subservient to the divine glory, acts the part not of a king, but a robber.
in the presence of God we are miserable sinners, and in the sight of men most despised-we
For what accords better and more aptly with faith than to acknowledge ourselves divested of all virtue that we may be clothed by God, devoid of all goodness that we may be filled by Him, the slaves of sin that he may give us freedom, blind that he may enlighten, lame that he may cure, and feeble that he may sustain us; to strip ourselves of all ground of glorying that he alone may shine forth glorious, and we be glorified in him?
mass, purgatory, pilgrimage, and similar follies, with such fierceness and acerbity, that though they cannot prove one of them from the word of God,
retain the very one the truth of which is confirmed by all the miracles which Christ and the apostles ever wrought.
the mark of sound doctrine given by our Saviour himself is its tendency to promote the glory not of men, but of God
The Mark of sound doctrine
The Church of Christ assuredly has lived, and will live, as long as Christ shall reign at the right hand of the Father.
the Church may exist without any apparent form, and, moreover, that the form is not ascertained by that external splendour which they foolishly admire, but by a very different mark, namely, by the pure preaching of the word of God, and the due administration of the sacraments.
Marks of the church
he allowed them, when blinded by sense, both to be deluded by lying vanities and plunged in thick darkness, so that no face of a true Church appeared.
their doctrine-the very doctrine to which they say it is owing that they are the Church-is a deadly murderer of souls, the firebrand, ruin, and destruction of the Church.
that my object in this work was to prepare and train students of theology for the study of the sacred volume, so that they might both have an easy introduction to it, and be able to proceed in it, with unfaltering step, seeing I have endeavoured to give such a summary of religion in all its parts,
it is the duty of those who have received from God more light than others to assist the simple in this matter, and, as it were, lend them their hand to guide and assist them in finding the sum of what God has been pleased to teach us in his word.
double benefit-i.e., that of gratuitous righteousness, which he imputes to us, and regeneration, which he begins in us by giving us repentance.
ourselves.
Ref. 1.15.1
Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.
True wisdom 1.1.1
we cannot aspire to Him in earnest until we have begun to be displeased with ourselves.
man never attains to a true self-knowledge until he have previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such contemplation to look into himself. For (such is our innate pride) we always seem to ourselves just, and upright, and wise, and holy, until we are convinced, by clear evidence, of our injustice, vileness, folly, and impurity.
since we are all naturally prone to hypocrisy, any empty semblance of righteousness is quite enough to satisfy us instead of righteousness itself.
So long as we do not look beyond the earth, we are quite pleased with our own righteousness, wisdom, and virtue; we address ourselves in the most flattering terms, and seem only less than demigods.
men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God.
we cannot say that God is known where there is no religion or piety.
By piety I mean that union of reverence and love to God which the knowledge of his benefits inspires.
unless they place their entire happiness in him, they will never yield up their whole selves to him in truth and sincerity.
of what use is it to join Epicurus in acknowledging some God who has cast off the care of the world, and only delights himself in ease?
Proto-deism
it is not the mere fear of punishment that restrains him from sin. Loving and revering God as his father, honouring and obeying him as his master, although there were no hell, he would revolt at the very idea of offending
Such is pure and genuine religion, namely, confidence in God coupled with serious fear-fear, which both includes in it willing reverence, and brings along with it such legitimate worship as is prescribed by the law.
Pure religion
sense
Sensus divinitatis
All men of sound judgment will therefore hold, that a sense of Deity is indelibly engraven on the human heart.
is not a doctrine which is first learned at school, but one as to which every man is, from the womb, his own master; one which nature herself allows no individual to forget, though many, with all their might, strive to do so.
But though experience testifies that a seed of religion is divinely sown in all, scarcely one in a hundred is found who cherishes it in his heart,
Nothing being less accordant with the nature of God than to cast off the government of the world, leaving it to chance, and so to wink at the crimes of men that they may wanton with impunity in evil courses;
true religion must be conformable to the will of God as its unerring standard;
No religion is genuine that is not in accordance with truth.
For while the whole life ought to be one perpetual course of obedience, they rebel without fear in almost all their actions,
sense of Deity is naturally engraven on the human heart, in the fact, that the very reprobate are forced to acknowledge it.
daily place himself in our view, that we cannot open our eyes without being compelled to behold him.
on each of his works his glory is engraven in characters so bright, so distinct, and so illustrious, that none, however dull and illiterate, can plead ignorance as their excuse.
Still, none who have the use of their eyes can be ignorant of the divine skill manifested so conspicuously in the endless variety, yet distinct and well-ordered array, of the heavenly host; and, therefore, it is plain that the Lord has furnished every man with abundant proofs of his wisdom.
No one, indeed, will voluntarily and willingly devote himself to the service of God unless he has previously tasted his paternal love, and been thereby allured to love and reverence Him.
Can anything be more detestable than this madness in man, who, finding God a hundred times both in his body and his soul, makes his excellence in this respect a pretext for denying that there is a God?
What shall we say but that man bears about with him a stamp of immortality which can never be effaced?
Nothing, indeed, can be more preposterous than to enjoy those noble endowments which bespeak the divine presence within us, and to neglect him who, of his own good pleasure, bestows them upon us.
From the power of God we are naturally led to consider his eternity, since that from which all other things derive their origin must necessarily be self-existent and eternal.
in seeking God, the most direct path and the fittest method is, not to attempt with presumptuous curiosity to pry into his essence, which is rather to be adored than minutely discussed, but to contemplate him in his works, by which he draws near, becomes familiar, and in a manner communicates himself to us.
Augustine expresses it (in Psalm cxliv.), since we are unable to comprehend Him, and are, as it were, overpowered by his greatness, our proper course is to contemplate his works, and so refresh ourselves with his goodness.
Were all sin now visited with open punishment, it might be thought that nothing was reserved for the final judgment; and, on the other hand, were no sin now openly punished, it might be supposed there was no divine providence.
