AD PIUM LECTOREM.

IC liber est sacer, divini dogmata verbi

HI

Continet, ipse pius nocte dieque legas.

Hic disces Christum, pater hunc tibi misit ut esset Justitia, et vitæ regula certa tuæ.

Hic tibi tot lucent stellæ, tot sidera fulgent,

Haud secus ac si sit gemmea tota domus. Hunc tu viperea caveas percellere lingua: Neve Theonino rodere dente velis. Laudatur merito, multis qui maxima præstat Commoda, sed detur gloria tota deo.

IOHNE BE THE MERCIE OF GOD

E

ARCHBISCHOP OF SANCT ANDROUS, METRAPOLITAN AND
PRIMAT OF THE HAIL KIRK OF SCOTLAND, AND OF
THE SEIT APOSTOLYCK LEGATNAIT, TILL ALL AND
SINDRY PERSONIS, VICARS AND CURATTIS,
SPECIALLY WITHIN OUR AWIN DIOCYE,

AND GENERALLY WITHIN THE BOUNDIS

OF AL OUR HAIL PRIMACIE OF

SCOTLAND, DESYRIS GRACE

AND PEACE IN CHRIST

JESU OUR SALVIOUR.

FTER that the divine providence of God had promovit

us to the office of ane Archbischop and general primacie of this kirk of Scotland, we thocht oft tymes, that na thing culd be to God mair plesand, to the christin pepil mair expedient, and to our office mair convenient and consonant, than with all diligence to provide, that the christin pepil (of quhome we have spiritual cure under God) mycht be instruckit in the faith and law of God, with ane uniforme and concordant doctrine of Christis religioun, aggreabil in all pointis to the catholyk veritie of halie kirk. For sen swa it is (as S. Paule sais) that we ar all regenerat in Christ with ane baptyme, all oblissit to have ane faith, all redemit with ane blud and dede of our mediatour Jesus Christ, all levand in ane hoip of the eternal glore, all subjeckit to the service of ane lord, all gydit with the directioun of the haly spreit, quhilk is ane daily techeour and governour of the hail universal kirk. Quhat can be mair convenient, ye mair necessarie: than that we al baith prelatis and subjeckis, superiours and inferiouris, alwais agre and concord togeddir in the unite of ane catholik doctrine, concerning al pointis belangand to our christin religioun ? Quhat uthir thing requirit S. Paule of his Corinthianis (quhen he so ernestly maid supplicatioun to thame) sayand thus: Ob- 1 Cor. i. secro vos fratres, per nomen domini nostri Jesu Christi, ut idipsum

Rom. xv.

dicatis omnes, et non sint in vobis scismata, sitis autem perfecti in eodem sensu et eadem sententia. Brether, I beseik yow for the reverence that ye aucht to our Lord Jesus Christ, that all ye say ane thing, and lat na scismes, discord or divisioun be amangis yow, bot be ye perfite in ane mynd and in ane sentence. In thir wordis ye may plainly understand quhow I Cor. xiv. luffingly and tendirly the Apostil exhortis his Corinthianis, and in thame us all, to keip uniformitie and concord in setting furth to the people the doctrine of our christian faith and religioun, quhen he sais: All ye say ane thing. As he mycht say plainely. In all materis that concernis our catholyk faith and christin maneris, se that ye be uniforme, se that ye agre togidder in the confessioun of our faith, se that ye concord ane with ane uthir in the forme of teching the trew word of God, that as the samyn Apostil writtis to the Romanis: Unanimes uno ore honorificetis deum. Al ye beand of ane mynd may with ane mouth honour God. And as he exhortis to concord in doctrine, swa he plainly forbiddis al scismes and discord in teching, sayand: Let na scismes be among yow. Quhat trew christin hart will nocht be discontent, lament and sorrow, to se sa mony sectis of doctrine, sa gret diversitie of opiniouns, sa mekil contentioun, and sa detestabil heresis as we se daily amangis the christin people? swa that now S. Paule may Philip. iii. trewly say: Videte canes, videte malos operarios, videte concisionem. Behald the doggis, behald ewil workeris, behald contentioun and divisioun. As he mycht say plainely, quha sa ar gevin to contention and stryif in materis of our christin religioun, ar mair lik to doggis than to trew christin men, of Actuum iv. quhom it is writtin: Multitudinis credentium erat cor unum et anima una. The multitude of thame that belevit in Christ Jesu was all of ane hart and of ane mynd. It is undoutand ane synfull and ane damnabil thing to varie and discord in materis of our faith seing that S. Paule sais: God (sais he) is I Cor. xiv. nocht God of discentioun, but he is God of pece. Quhairfor it followis that all gud men and wemen that wald be the trew servandis of God, suld labour with all diligence to eschew and put away all variance and discentioun, that occurris or may apperandly occure, in the materis of our faith, and to be (as he sais) perfite in the sam mynd, and in the samyn sentence. To that effect we have exhibet to yow this present Catechisme;

lxxix.

Ante

quhairin is contenit brevely and trewly, the sowmme of our christian doctrin, agreand in all pointis to the wordis of halye scripture, trew expositioun of the auld and catholyk doctouris, and in materis of contraversie, agreand to the decisiouns and determinatiouns of general counsallis, lauchfully gaderit in the halye spreit for the corroboratioun of our faith. Quhairfor first we exhort yow, ye also requiris yow as ye will answeir to us afore God, that ye use this present buke to your awin eruditioun, and als mekil as ye may be the grace of God, to your awin spiritual edificatioun in Christ Jesu our salviour. For trewly to us and yow the wordis ar spokin, writtin in haly scripture: Nolite negligere, vos enim elegit deus ut stetis coram 2 Par. eo. Be nocht negligent in doing your office, for God hes chosin yow to stand afore him, that is to say, to mak ministratioun to his majestie for the salvatioun of the pepil. And suppose negligence is to be reprevit in all man and woman, yit trewly maist of all it is to be reprevit in to thame that hes cure of christin pepil, according as S. Augustine sais Ad Vale- Dist. 40. rium: Nihil in hac vita facilius, levius et acceptabilius hominibus omnia. episcopi, presbyteri aut diaconi officio. Sed si perfunctorie id est negligenter res agatur, nihil apud deum miserius, tristius atque damnabilius. Nathing in this life apperis to warldy men mair facil, mair esie and mair acceptabil than the office of ane bischop, preist or dekin, bot and the samyn office be done negligently, thair is na thing afore God mair miserabil, mair hevy and mair damnabil. Heirfor it is to yow expedient to use this present Catechisme, first to your awin instruction, remembring quhat is writtin: Ignorantia mater cunctorum errorum Dist. 38. maxime in sacerdotibus vitanda est, qui officium docendi in populo Ignorantia. susceperunt. Ignorance the mother of al errours suld maist of al be eschewit in preistis, quhilk hes ressavit the office of teching amang the christin pepil. Secundly, according to the decreit maid in our provincial counsale, our will is that ye reid the samyn Catechisme diligently, distinctly and plainly ilk ane of yow to your awin parochianaris, for thair common instructioun and spiritual edificatioun in the word of God, necessarie of thame to be knawin. For as ane scholar quhilk is to leir ony special science, man first leir the beginning or rudimentis of that science, and swa procede or ascend to the mair perfit understanding of the samyn science. Sa we have

thocht it expedient to teche the christin pepil committit to our cure, the begynning or rudimentis of our christin doctrine, contenit schortly, trewly and plainly in this present buke, that thai being sufficiently instruckit in the samyn, may mair esely cum to the understanding of hiear doctrine, contenit in the evangels and epistils usit to be proponit and declarit to thame be precheouris of the word of God.

Exhortand also all thame that is to reid or heir this common instructioun to follow the counsale quhilk the Wisman Eccle. iii. gevis thame, sayand thus: Altiora te ne quæsieris et fortiora te, ne scrutatus fueris, sed quæ præcepit tibi deus illa cogita semper et in pluribus operibus ejus ne fueris curiosus. Seik nocht to understand thai thingis that is abone thi intelligence, seik nocht to ken thai thingis quhilk ar abone thi capacitie, bot evirmair remembre of thai thingis that God hes commandit the to do, and be nocht curious to understand the werkis of God quhilk is nocht necessarie or profitabil to the to knaw for thi salvatioun. Remembre quhat Salomon sais in his Prov. xxv. Proverbis: Perscrutator majestatis opprimetur a gloria. He that inquiris ouir hiely thai thingis that belangis to the majestie of God, sall be oppressit be the glore, that is to say, as ane man that lukis directly apon the cleir schinand sonne ony lang tyme, hurtis and makis dym the powar of his corporal sycht, sa he that hiely sekis to knaw the haly misteris and secretis of God, hurtis and dullis his intelligence and powar of understanding. Thairfor we request all man and woman to keip the rewil that S. Paule gevis to the Rom. xii. Romanis, sayand: Dico enim per gratiam quæ data est mihi

omnibus qui sunt inter vos non plus sapere quam oportet sapere, sed sapere ad sobrietatem: et unicuique sicut deus divisit mensuram fidei. Be that grace of God that is gevin to me, I say till all that is amang yow, that na man seik mair than it behoiffis him to seik, bot to inqueir thai thingis that ar sufficient for him to knaw and evirilk man as God hes gevin ane mesour of faith or ane gift of grace, sa use it to the glore of God and the edificatioun of him self and of his nychtbouris, that in all thingis God may be honourit.

And to be schort and plaine with yow all that ar spiritual curattis under us, our hail intentioun is (as God we tak to our witnes) to help als mekil as lyis in us the christin people