in The Chief Promises of God unto Man (God's Promises) — Bale, John
Metadata
Play
The Chief Promises of God unto Man (God's Promises)
Author
Bale, John
Year (catalogued)
1547
First performance
1538
Decade
1540s
Genre
Biblical
Play type
Interlude
Speech prefix(es)
Baleus prolocutor
Words
285
Characters
1596
Typicality
0.24 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A02906
BritDrama no.
59
Cluster
Cluster 7 — Pedants, satyrs & Latin wit
Important excerpts
No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).
Full speech
I F profyght may grow, most Christ ̄ audye ̄ ce. By knowledge of things, which are , And here for a time. Of Much more Aduau ̄ tage might Spring, by the sir ses heavenly. As those matters are, that the Gospel specyfye. Without whose knowledge, no man to the truth Nor ever attain, to the life perpetual. For he that knoweth not, the living God eater The father, the son, and also the holy Ghost, And what Christ suffered, for redemption of us all What he commanded, and taught in every coost. And what he forboden. That man must needs be lost. And clean secluded, from the faithful chosen sort. In the heavens above, to his most high dysconfo You therefore (good Friends) I louyngel To way such matters, as will be uttered h Of whom you may lo e, to have no tryfelin In fantasies feigned, nor such life gaudying, But the things that shall, your inward stoma To rejoice in God, for your iustyfycacyon, And alone in Christ, to hope for your salvation. Yea, first you shall have, the eternal generation. Of Christ like as Johan, in his first chapt wryght And consequently, of man the first creation, The abuse and fallen, through his first ouersyght, And the raise again, through Gods high grace & myg By promises first, which shall be declared all, Then by his own son, the worker principal. After that Adam, bywayleth here his fallen, God will show mercy, to every generation. And to his kingdom, of his great goodness call, His elected spouse, or faithful congregation, shall apere, by open protestation, from Christ's birth, shall to his death conclude. ne that thereof, will show the certytude,
Plot summary
Plot — The Chief Promises of God unto Man (God's Promises)
Though mankind is sinful and deserves death, God promises life through his Son. He curses Adam for his disobedience, but Adam’s repentance persuades him to promise the chance of salvation. But mankind proves a disappointment, and God plans to annihilate his creation with a flood. Noah pleads for the human race and is saved; God promises never again to seek mankind’s destruction in this way, and confirms it with the covenant of the rainbow. Mankind persists in sin, and God plans further reprisals: having promised not to use water, he chooses fire as his weapon to destroy the Sodomites. Abraham, who honours God and is therefore to be spared, asks his maker not to destroy the righteous people in Sodom along with the wicked. God agrees to spare the city if it is found to contain 50 righteous people, and Abraham talks him down to 10. God makes his third promise: Abraham will be the father of a blessed race; the sign of the covenant is circumcision. Man does not improve, so plague is to be God’s next instrument of judgement. Moses pleads for mercy: God has spared his people from the plagues of Egypt, helped them to escape from bondage, and kept them alive in the wilderness. But they are ungrateful: while Moses has been talking with God, they have erected a golden idol. God makes his fourth promise: a prophet will arise from the Jewish people; the sign of the covenant is the Passover lamb. Given the promised land, the Israelites persist in their ingratitude to God, and resume idolatry, so God plagues them with war. He is angry that David, whom he made King and a victorious war leader, has committed adultery and murder. He allows David to choose his punishment: seven years’ famine, three months’ exile, or three days’ plague. David leaves the decision up to God, who picks the plague epidemic; but David asks for the penalty to be visited on him alone. His contrition impresses God, who promises that his descendant will establish an everlasting kingdom on earth. Isaiah speaks against the proliferation of sin, and asks God to send the people a prophet. God seems to despair: whatever authority he places over his people, they always disobey it! Isaiah points to the successes of the present king, Hezekiah, and asks God to send the people comfort. He responds with his sixth promise: the coming of a messiah born of a virgin. The time has come: God is to make his word flesh. John the Baptist reminds him of the good in mankind. God appoints John as his messenger and gives…