the Crosse will not this his faith in Jesus Christ alone his onely high Priest and Mediator and the assurance hee hath of the vertue and al-sufficiency of that his Sacrifice once offered to God eternally save his scule and bring him to life and happinesse Take heed Master Montague what you say For if you affirme the contrary you blaspheme and overthrow not onely the whole worke of our redemption but indeed deny the faith and destroy all Christian Religion Againe Master Montague I desire you further to resolve me what you thinke of the condition of such a Christian as shall peremptorily living and dying believe that there are no reall Priests now upon earth after the order of Melchisedeck appointed daily to offer up the body and blood of Jesus Christ to God the Father a propitiatory Sacrifice for the living and the dead and that there are no other Mediators in Heaven in whose Name and by whose intercession wee may put up our prayers supplications and thanksgivings unto God the Father besides Jesus Christ and shall not onely constantly believe all this but shall also confidently affirme that to bring into the Church of God any other reall Priests after the order of Melchisedeck besides Jesus Christ or any other propitiatory Sacrifice besides the Sacrifice that he once offered to God the Father upon the Crosse or to appoint any other Mediator in Heaven besides Jesus Christ are all the doctrines of high blasphemy as derogatory to the honour and dignity of Christ Jesus the onely high-Priest and sole Mediator of the everlasting covenant and destructive and prejudiciall to the salvation of mankind as teaching them another way to Heaven then by the meritorious death and passion of Jesus Christ by whose precious blood alone and not by any fading things wee have redemption and remission of our sins Ephes 1. v. 7. Col. 1. v. 14. 1 Peter chap. 1. v. 18. Heb. 1.3 13.12 1 John chap. 1. ver 7. Tell me I say Master Montague if any Christian shall peremptorily unto the last houre of his life persevere and continue in this faith and beliefe and will by no art of perswasion be induced to believe any of those horrid and pernicious doctrines which you of the Church of Rome suggest and impose upon the poore people to their eternall destruction will I pray you this his so believing and living and dying in this faith deprive him of happinesse or any waies hinder the eternall salvation of his soule or shall hee by this his stedfast faith and resolution doe any thing displeasing unto God or sinne in so believing If you shall affirme that it will you must shew what Law of God hee transgresseth in so believing for where there is no transgression of a Law of God there is no sinne Now what Law of God I beseech you is there in all the holy Scripture that maketh it a sinne to believe that there is no other reall Priest of the new Testament no other Mediator of the everlasting covenant but Jesus Christ no other propitiatory Sacrifice but that which hee once offered upon the Crosse no other way of redemption and of obtaining remission of our sinnes but by the blood of Jesus Christ Untill Master Montague you can make it appeare that thus to believe is a sinne you can never evince and prove any man guilty of transgression by abhorring and rejecting all your impious doctrines of the Church of Rome concerning your blasphemous Priests and propitiatory Sacrifices and new found out Mediators and novell waies of obtaining remission of sinnes Truely Master Montague I dare undertake to make it appeare to all men that there is never a tenent the Church of Rome holdeth more then wee believe in the Church of England but it is either blasphemous impious or at least superfluous so that a man may die either in the ignorance or contempt of it without any prejudice to his eternall salvation and that by the confession of the very Romanists themselves that have not resigned their reason or abjured all understanding I writ once about this very thing to one Siniones a Jesuit a fellow-prisoner with me in the Gatehouse which you if you please may read in my Flagello Pontificis of the last edition which is yet unanswered But now Master Montague to returne to the businesse in hand and to speake yet a word or two of your diabolicall Sacrifice of the Masse which you call a Propitiatory Sacrifice for the living and the dead but in truth the most abominable Idoll that ever the world yet saw being indeed that poysoned Wine in a goulden Cup that hath made drunk the Nations of the Earth that are under the power and Dominion of the whore of Babylon and that that bringeth in an other way of salvation than by the death and sacrifice of Jesus Christ by which onely wee have redemption the remission of our sinnes the impieties of the which Mr. Montague I shall desire you a little to consider and then I will conclude and leave you to your meditations and soliloquies But it will not be amisse to set downe what both the Church of England believeth concerning the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ and what the Church of Rome teacheth concerning that That so our opinions on both sides being truly weighed every one may judge which of their beliefes is most sound and withall may the better perceive the detestable impiety of the sacrifice of the Masse The Church of England believeth that Jesus Christ is the sole high-Priest and onely reall Priest of the new Testament and that his sacrifice once offered upon the crosse is that onely reall and externall sacrifice in the Christian Church and that that sacrifice is the onely propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of mankind and that there is no other The Church of Rome believeth that in that action they call the sacrifice of the Masse there is a true reall and externall sacrifice in the which their Priests whom they blasphemously tearme Priests after the order of Melchisedech do dayly offer up unto God the Father the very body and the very bloud of Iesus Christ under the species and formes of Bread and Wine and affirme that this is a propitiatory sacrifice for the living and for the dead and that Christ himselfe is here really present in the hands of their Priests and upon their Altars and offered up by them to God the Father and that it is the same Sacrifice that Christ offered upon the crosse and injoyne all the people to put their trust in it for salvation and to give the same Divine worship unto it under paine of death that is to be given to Christ himselfe the Saviour of the World This Mr. Montague you know to be the Doctrine of the Church of Rome than the which nothing can be more blasphemously or idolatrically taught and believed or be more fraught with impieties or more contrary to all both faith and reason or more pernicious
to the salvation of the sonnes of men But I will not now Mr. Montague discover all the errors and abominations of this Idoll onely I shall desire you to take notice of the great impiety and absurdities of this your doctrine The Church of Rome affirmeth Mr. Montague that the sacrifice of this idoll Masse is the very same sacrifice that Christ himselfe offered upon the crosse Against which I thus argue That Sacrifice which differeth from the Sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ both in the efficient materiall formall and finall cause that is not the same sacrifice that Christ offered upon the crosse but the sacrifice of the Masse differeth from the sacrifice of the Lord Iesus Christ both in the efficient materiall formall and finall cause Ergo it is not the same sacrifice but a detestable Idoll For the Major Mr. Montague no man will deny it for that that doth re ratione dissentire from any thing that is not the same as all men know The Minor I will prove with its severall parts And thus I dispute The sacrifice of the crosse was offered up by that high-Priest who is the eternall Sonne of the eternall Father who is holy harmlesse undifiled separate from sinners and made higher than the Heavens Heb. 7. vers 28. Who through the eternall Spirit offered himselfe without spot to God Heb. 9 vers 14. But the Sacrifice of the masse is not offered up by this Priest nor through the eternall Spirit but by a most polluted Priest and through the Spirit of Antichrist Ergo the sacrifice of the Masse is not the same sacrifice of Iesus Christ it differing from it in the efficient cause but a most detestable Idoll The Major of this Syllogisme you cannot deny Mr. Montague neither will any man gainsay or deny the Minor and you know then the conclusion necessarily followeth that the Sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Masse are not one and the same Sacrifice and therefore to give that honour to the Masse that is onely due to Christ himselfe is the most abominable Idolatry that the World ever heard of for it giveth the same honour to a creature of mans making that is due to the Creator blessed for ever And that shall suffice to have spoke of the first difference and now I come to speake of the second discrepancy in respect of the matteriall cause The matter of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was the humane nature very man that that was borne of the Virgin Mary that was of the seede of Abraham of the Tribe of Judah that suffered under Pontius Pilate that was crucified dead and buried and is now at the right Hand of God and made higher than the Heavens But the matter of the sacrifice of the Masse is not the humane nature very man and that that was borne of the Virgin Mary that was of the seede of Abraham of the Tribe of Judah that suffered under Pontius Pilate that was crucified dead and buried and is now at the right hand of God and made higher than the Heavens Ergo the sacrifice of the Masse is not the same sacrifice of Iesus Christ that was offered upon the Crosse but a most prodigious Idoll that ought of all men to be abominated For the Major Mr. Montague you cannot deny it and for the Minor no man unlesse he be bereaved of his senses will deny it and unlesse he be unable to distinguish a peece of Bread from the humane nature for Christ retaines his humane nature still wheresoever hee is and he bade Thomas for the confirmation of his weake faith to put his fingers into his side and to prove the reality of his Resurrection and that hee was not a Spirit hee said unto his Disciples Luke 24. vers 39. Behold my hands and my Feete for it is I my selfe handle mee and see for a Spirit hath not flesh and bones as yee see mee have So that Mr. Montague except a man have lost all his senses hee will easily perceive the Sacrifice of the Masse and the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ are two different things for the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ had Flesh Bloud and Bones the Sacrifice of the Masse is neither flesh nor fish nor good read Herring it is neither Man nor Beast I pray Mr. Montague answer mee ingenuously do you really and indeed believe that that Breaden Wafer the Priest holdeth up in his hands or that lieth upon the Altar that Dagon of Ginger-bread is the very Christ the Saviour of the World who is now at the right Hand of God doe you believe a peece of Bread to be God-man doe you I say believe that which is betweene the Priests hands ever to have beene in the wombe of the Virgin to be of the seede of Abraham of the Tribe of Iudah and to have suffered under Pontius Pilate I am confident your conscience telleth you the contrary when you know that it is a meere peece of dow How then dare you Master Montague give that honour to a peece of bread that is due to the Lord of life Was there ever in the world a more unheard of Idolatry And yet this Master Montague is the dayly service of the Church of Rome which is worse than the worshiping of Molecke Rimmon or the God of Ekron and exceedeth all either heathenish or Iewish superstition But now I come to shew the difference betweene them in respect of the formall cause The Sacrifice of Iesus Christ was the giving up of his Spirit into the hands of God his Father the laying down of his life the separation of the humane soule from his body and the effusion of his bloud and the wounding and piercing of his glorious Body but in the sacrifice of the Masse there is none of all this you your selves calling it an unbloudy sacrifice and by virtue of your concomitancy as you tearme it you joyne flesh and bloud soule and body together and make that whole which on the Crosse was in all respects separated Ergo the Sacrifice of the Masse is not the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ but a monster to be abominated of all men as that that robs Christ the Lord of his due honour and all the adorers and worshippers of it of eternall happinesse who worship a peece of Bread for very God and in that perpetrate the greatest Idolatry that ever was committed And so exclude themselves out of Heaven for no Idolater shall enter into the Kingdome of Heaven Revel 21. vers 8. But the Fearfull and Vnbelievers and Idolaters shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and which is the second death And therefore M. Montague it highly concerneth you to looke about you and to consider well what you do when you goe to Masse But now I come to the last cause of difference The Sacrifice of Jesus Christ was of that virtue and efficacy and offered up to this very end that it might be a ransome for all believers 1 Tim. chap. 2. vers 6. And Heb. 10.14 For by once offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified But the sacrifice of the Masse is neither of any power or efficacy nor never yet perfected any and by the confession of the Papists themselves must many times be reiterated to bring one poore soule out of their fained Purgatory therefore in regard also of the end it is not the same but differeth from the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and ought to be cast out of the World as a beastly Idoll and an abomination and as a thing of no efficacy and power to save any man from misery but all-sufficient to damn soules and send them to perdition and to bring downe the judgements of God upon the Nations and Kingdomes where it is set up as all Idolatry doth for the Lord will judge those Nations with all manner of plagues that provoke him by their Idolatries and after cast them into the lake that burneth with Fire and Brimstone which is the second death Which that Mr. Montague you and all men may shun it deeply concerneth you to consult what a fearfull condition you yet are in and all those that are of the Faith and Religion of the Church of Rome which is the Mother of all abomination and duly also to weigh the haynousnesse of your offence who causlesly so separated your selfe from your Mother the Church of England whom I have as I conceive sufficiently in my foregoing discourse proved to be a true Church and built upon the foundation of Peter the ground and Pillar of Truth Mr. Montague That which I have now to say unto you is this God hath given you excellent parts and bestowed many mercies and favours on you and his long suffering and patience towards you has beene great in all respects who have hitherto imployed your gifts to wrong your own soule and mislead others let it be enough that you have gone so farre and have hither so abused Gods loving kindnesse towards you knowing that the goodnesse of God leadeth you to Repentance and therefore take heâ—d lest persevering in these erroneous and damnable Idolatries and sacrilegious impious opinions you treature not up unto your selfe wrath against the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgement of God which that you may not do it shall ever be the Prayer of him that wisheth no lesse happinesse to your soule and body than to himselfe and who shall alwayes remaine Sir Yours in the Lord JOHN BASTVVICK FINIS
the regulating of our Faith and manners and ought to be the onely square and rule of all our thoughts words actions and of our faith and doctrines unto the end of the world and that there is no need of any humane traditions for the compleating of them and making of them perfect and intire and that all doctrines that are not either grounded upon the expresse words of the Scriptures or evidently and by good consequence deduced from thence ought to be rejected and to be abandoned I pray Master Montague what thinke you of the state and condition of such a man living and dying in this faith Can this his so believing any way prejudice his eternall salvation though he never heareth of any of your traditions or unwritten verities which you notwithstanding affirm are to be entertained with equall beliefe that the holy Scriptures are by us received and imbraced I say if he never heare so much as of the name of your Traditions and of your Councels Canons or Inâ—unctions will not his faith in the holy Scriptures alone imbracing the doctrine revealed in them and believing that they containe all things in them necessary to salvation save him eternally If you shall affirme the contrary you will not fight against mee but against God himselfe and give the Spirit of God the lie who hath so often declared that believing those things that are writ in the holy Scriptures it will save our soules Againe Master Montague I demand of you what you thinke of the condition of that Christian that shall peremptorily believe that all those Traditions of Purgatory and humane satisfactions of Will-worship and Image-worship of Self-merits and workes of Supererogation of Indulgences and Pilgrimages of praying to Saints and Angels and all the other bundles of your Traditions thrust upon the poore people as the service of God and the meanes by which they may please God are detestable abominations as being things full of blasphemy placing our redemption in other meanes than in the bloodshed and meritorious death and passion of Jesus Christ and denying the perfection of the holy Scriptures and equalizing or rather preferring the Traditions and Inventions of the Pope the enemy of the Lord Jesus before the authority of the written Word which was dictated by the Spirit of Christ himselfe the onely and sole Prophet of his Church whom wee are commanded onely to heare and obey in all things that he hath declared in his blessed Word which is for ever to be the rule of our faith Doe you conceive Master Montague that any Christian so believing and persevering in this his beliefe unto the last houre of his death it can any way prejudice his salvation If you say it may give me I beseech you your reason for sinne onely excludeth men out of Heaven shew me therefore what Law of God any Christian transgresseth in believing Christ to be the onely Prophet of his Church and that he hath fully revealed the Will of God his Father concerning the redemption of man-kind and that this his Will and good pleasure is as much as is necessary to the salvation of the Church is fully set downe and contained in the holy Scriptures and that the written Word of God is compleat in it selfe without any humane Traditions and that we are bound to make that onely the rule of our faith and manners and to reject all doctrines whatsoever are not grounded upon the written Word and much more all such doctrines as lead us from Christ and teach us another way to Heaven than he hath taught us who is our onely Prophet and another way of serving God than he hath appointed I pray Master Montague is the obedience of any man to Christ our Prophets command a sinne or transgression of his holy Law If you say so then you make that a sinne which God accounteth of as a vertue and obedience to his blessed Will and Word and so by your traditions breake the Commandements of God and our glorious Prophet Christ Jesus and by that as by all your other damnable doctrines proclaime your selves open transgressours of his holy Lawes which without speedy and hearty repentance will bring you to eternall perdition Againe Master Montague I intreat you candidly to tell me what you thinke of the condition of such a man as shall believe that Christ Jesus is the onely and sole Priest of the new Testament and that hee by his obedience death and passion and by the Sacrifice of himselfe once offered upon the Crosse when he was made sinne for us who knew no sinne hath reconciled God the Father unto us and made for ever our atonement with him and laid downe a sufficient ransome for our redemption by the which we are freed from both the guilt and punishment due to our sinnes and transgressions and that the vertue of this his sacrifice as it is ineffable and everlastingly able to save all such as believe in him so it is never to be reiterated but to be applyed unto the soule and hearts of men by such meanes onely as God himselfe hath appointed viz. by the vertue and powerfull working and operation of the holy Ghost by the preaching of the Gospell by the administration of the holy Sacraments by faith and prayer and that hee is our onely high Priest and Mediator both of satisfaction and intercession by whom alone wee have continually accesse to the Throne of grace and that in his Name onely and through his mediation wee are to put up all our prayers supplications and thanksgivings unto God the Father and that there are now no reall Priests on earth for the offering up of any propitiatory Sacrifice for the reconciling of God unto us or any other Mediators in Heaven between God and us that can make God propitious unto us but the man Christ Jesus Tell me Master Montague sincerely what you thinke of the state and condition of such a man living and dying in this faith Can this his beliefe any way prejudice his salvation though he never heare of your Romish Priests whom you affirme to be reall Priests after the order of Melchisedeck and assert that they offer up the body and blood of Jesus Christ daily a propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead Can this his faith I say prejudice the salvation of any man though he never heareth such doctrines as these be or can this his faith prejudice his eternall happinesse though hee never heareth of any other Mediator of the new Testament but Jesus Christ alone or never prayeth to Saint or Angell to entreat their mediation for him with God the Father but onely putteth up all his prayers and praises in the Name of Christ alone I beseech you Master Montague tell me if hee never heard so much as the name of any reall Priests besides Christ or of any other Mediator but of Jesus Christ or of any other propitiatory Sacrifice but of that onely which Christ offered to God the Father upon