The Rheims New Testament (1582) — The Summe of the New Testament

The summary of the whole New Testament that the Rheims edition of 1582 prints before the Gospels, with its summary of the four Gospels, complete.

THE SVMME OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

THAT which was the ſumme of the Old Teſtament, to wit, Chriſt and his Church, as S. Auguſtine ſaith catechizing the ignorant: the very ſame is the ſumme of the New Teſtament alſo. For (as the ſame S. Auguſtine ſaith againe) In the Old Teſtament there is the occultation of the New: and in the New Teſtament there is the manifeſtation of the Old. And in another place: In the Old doth the New lye hidden, and in the New doth the Old lye open. And thervpon our Sauiour ſaid: I am not come to breake the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them. For aſſuredly I ſay vnto you, til heauen and earth paſſe, one iote or one title ſhall not paſſe of the Law, till all be fulfilled. In vvhich vvordes he ſhevveth plainely, that the nevv Teſtament is nothing els but the fulfilling of the old. [Margin: Aug. de cat. rud. cap. 3. 4. · Super Exod. q. 73. · Mat. 5.]

Therfore to come to the partes: The Goſpels doe tell of Chriſt himſelfe (of vvhom the Old Teſtamēt did foretell) and that euen from his coming into the vvorld, vnto his going out therof againe. The Actes of the Apoſtles doe tell of his Church beginning at Hieruſalem the headcitie of the Ievves, and of the propagation therof to the Gentiles and their headcitie Rome. And, the Apocalypſe doth prophecie of it, euen to the conſummation therof, which ſhal be in the end of the world. The Epiſtles of the Apoſtles do treat partly of ſuch queſtions as at that time were moued, partly of good life and good order.

The Summe of the 4 Goſpels.

THe Goſpels doe tell hiſtorically the life of our Lord Ieſus, ſhevving plainely, that he is Chriſt or the king of the Ievves, vvhom vntil then, al the time of the Old Teſtament, they had expected: and vvithal, that they of their ovvne mere malice and blindnes (the iniquitie beginning of the Seniors, but at the length the multitude alſo conſenting) vvould not receaue him, but euer ſought his death: vvhich for the Redemption of the vvorld, he at length permitted them to compaſſe, they deſeruing thereby moſt iuſtely to be refuſed of him, and ſo his Kingdom or Church to be taken avvay from them, and giuen to the Gentils. For the gathering of vvhich Church after him, he chooſeth Tvvelue, and appointeth one of them to be the cheefe of al, vvith inſtructions both to them and him accordingly. [Margin: * Io. 20, 31.]

The ſtorie hereof is vvritten by foure: vvho in Ezechiel and in the Apocalypſe are likened to foure liuing creatures, euery one according as his booke beginneth. S. Matthevv to a Man, becauſe he beginneth vvith the pedegree of Chriſt as he is man. S. Marke to a Lion, becauſe he beginneth vvith the preaching of S. Iohn Baptiſt, as it vvere the roaring of a lion in the vvildernes. S. Luke to a Calfe, becauſe he beginneth vvith a prieſt of the Old Teſtament (to vvit, Zacharie the father of S. Iohn Baptiſt) vvhich Prieſthood vvas to ſacrifice calues to God. S. Iohn to an Egle, becauſe he beginneth vvith the Diuinitie of Chriſt, flying ſo high as more is not poſsible. [Margin: Eze. 1. · Apoc. 4.]

The firſt three do report at large vvhat Chriſt did in Galilee, after the impriſonment of S. Iohn Bapiſt. Vvherefore S. Iohn the Euangeliſt vvriting after them all, doth omit his doinges in Galilee (ſaue onely one, vvhich they had not vvritten of, the vvonderful bread vvhich he told the Capharnaites he could and vvould giue, Io. 6.) and reporteth firſt, vvhat he did vvhiles Iohn Baptiſt as yet vvas preaching and baptizing: then, after Iohns impriſoning, vvhat he did in Iurie euery yere about Eaſter. But of his Paſsion all foure do vvrite at large.

Vvhere it is to be noted, that from his baptizing (vvhich is thought to haue been vpon Tvvelfthday, vvhat time he was beginning to be about 30 yere old, Luk. 3.) vnto his paſsion, are numbred three monethes and three yeres, in vvhich there vvere alſo 4 Eaſters.

Colophon

Printed edition: The Nevv Testament of Iesus Christ, translated faithfully into English, out of the authentical Latin … in the English College of Rhemes (Rhemes: Iohn Fogny, 1582; STC 2884, ESTC S102491), the Catholic New Testament translated from the Latin Vulgate chiefly by Gregory Martin. Copy transcribed: the Eton College Library copy, as filmed for Early English Books Online (image set 2646).

Transcription: Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership (EEBO-TCP), Phase I text A16049 (keyed 2005–06, proofread and released 2006), placed in the public domain under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal. Converted for the Good Works Library in October 2026.

What was done: the spelling, punctuation and capitals of the transcription are kept exactly, including u/v, i/j, "vv" for w, long s (ſ), the abbreviation stroke (as in "vpō") and the edition's own marks (″ for an annotated word, ⸬ and * for marginal references, ⊢ for the end of a liturgical Gospel or Epistle; ▪ is the transcribers' sign for a punctuation mark they could not identify). Removed as apparatus: the TEI markup, page breaks, line-end hyphenation, and the small cross ✝ that the edition sets at the beginning of each verse beside the verse number in the margin; the number is given here instead. Marginal notes are gathered after each chapter, keyed to their verse; the annotations follow as the edition prints them. Words the transcribers could not read are shown as ⟨illegible⟩; words printed in Greek or other non-Latin letters, which the transcription did not key, are shown as ⟨non-Latin script⟩. No gap has been filled or guessed.

On this page no place is marked ⟨illegible⟩.

This is an archival transcription of a historic English Bible. It is not a Good Works Translation.

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