Que ( }ions and Aiifweres .7. :Command. into amifliking ofthc ordinance ofGod againfi incontinency, and into an oucr great opinion of tingle life. Then from a thing commendable in all men ,itwa ±brought at la(1 to be a thing neccffary in rote men, and fo grew more and more daily. Then di d neceffity to obietue what infirmity could not obferue , caufe touch fecret and very often, euen vnnacurall and fearefull pollution, wherbyìt fell out , that by this fubtill flight of his, to extol] chaftity, and to place it oncly infnglelife, fathan brought as great an harucfì into hell,as before with his othernamed tucanes. £uefl. Thu, then by this foryI fee how this opinion beganoffrgle life, And how fiod- tilly Sathan transformed hem felfe into an Angell°flight , bur) et I fee nothing whyPing le let e it not better than matrimony. AY: fw. That is firangc, fecingby the flory it is apparant, that during the time of the olde Teflament , the,e was neuer fuch a thought amonglt the children of God, but cues the quite contrary, and fccondly euenvnder the Gofpell it !prong from fuels teachers as Marcion, Montanua,T : sea, and other heretikes. But yet if we would more fully be feticd,let vs duely weigh what the fcripture faith of godly matrimony, and then fhall we fee whether chatiitie be only,in tingle life, or whether we can fince any greater praife of it and acceptance before-God than ofmariage or no. Firft then I pray you, let vs confider what in the Gofpell is Paid immat imony r to wit, that rhafc Matth,i,. whonecGod. hathioyn-ed together roman ought to put afcnd er. Surely ifGodtoinethem, then is the life accepted,and notvnchaft before hito. Againe,cucry man bath hispro- 1.Cor.7. der gift faith the Apollle (peaking ofthismatter,fome to marrie,and fome to hue vn- maried.Wheaeofwc may truely conciude,that i:fto marrie be the gift ofGod as well as continencie is,then is it as Vel accepted ofhins,& no ay cao it be vnholy.Againe, Vert t4. in the fame place it is laid, that the vn6cleeuing hut bandis far tïifitdby the deiceuing wife, and contrarivvife.But that could not be,ifrnacrinionyvvere either impute fimply or in comparifon to tingle Iite.In theplace about namectto the Theffaloniant, it was gene_ rally laid vnto allmen ,.and not only to vnmarticd men , that they /houldepo feffè their 1.Thel? 4. veffehinholixfe and honour, and not in the concupifcenceof the felb . Therefore mariage is holines and notvncleanne fle before Goçipnyiot more than tingle life is. In the r,Tim,4. cpitlle to Timothy the forbidding ofmariage is called a do&rine of the diuell, which could not be iftt were a ftaine to Chriftian manor woman. And art thou bound to a s.Cor.7. wife? faith the Apol1le,fec enettobeloofed. liJhich would neuer haue laid, um ft felfe the Gnglc life hadbeene more holy and goodb`cfore God than.the married. VW knowe alto what the Pfalme faith, for a bleff ngg ihall befall to him that feareth God, namely this : Hie wife jliall be like .s f , oit full vine vpon the wallet of his houfe,d,c.W h erby very cuident it is how e the Lord ahloweth wedlocke when he vouchfafèth fo to bleffe it and fpeake of it. How thep,darewe fay that to bemarried is to be vnchatl,or any way to difpleafe the Lord ? Mow dare we lay the Logic life in it (elfe is better, or more holle ? What tuer findww.ejothe worde of God more letting downe the praife offngle life , than thele haue doçB,the true commendation of godly matrimony ? le is noted of many cue. vndcr theg;fofpell , that theywere married , but not in all the world doe I remember either mauat »»vom an noted as liked the better lora fingir life. Therefore to cue off this difcgulifeyvhieh might very greatly be increafed, apparant it is that Of thofe two çllates.thpre4,no preheminence ofinerit or holineffe of either a- boue the other, but botheifsistankgood and allowed of God in thole perlons for whome they arc expedient.Qnd isls allo manifefl, that albeit the commanded venue in this. commandement be chaflity,yet is not that in tingle life onely fituatcd or in the body sifone, but both in body and minde,both in lingue caste and double,and afwell in the one as in the other.For both of them arc capeable ofthe fume. nuefl. ret am itrotebted fill with the¡peechet ofPaul two or three in one chapter together, which euidently fame to preferre Tingle life before mariage. Tonknowe the places i um fare, and therefore 1 name them not,but expeblyour anfwere to them. ainfw. Why,it is very true,and I deny it not that Paul in that Chapter dothptefer 3 tingle life before mariage , but how I pray you? As more godly,more holy, ormore meritorious before God than it . No 1 warrant you.And yet this is the queftion. Quell.
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