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A90866 Theos anthrōpophoros. Or, God incarnate. Shewing, that Jesus Christ is the onely, and the most high God· In four books. Wherein also are contained a few animadversions upon a late namelesse and blasphemous commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrewes, published under the capital letters, G.M. anno Dom. 1647. In these four books the great mystery of man's redemption and salvation, and the wayes and means thereof used by God are evidently held out to the capacity of humane reason, even ordinary understandings. The sin against the Holy Ghost is plainly described; with the cases and reasons of the unpardonablenesse, or pardonablenesse thereof. Anabaptisme, is by Scripture, and the judgment of the fathers shewed to be an heinous sin, and exceedingly injurious to the Passion, and blood of Christ. / By Edm. Porter, B.D. sometimes fellow of St. John's Colledge in Cambridge, and prebend of Norwich. Porter, Edmund, 1595-1670.; Downame, John, d. 1652. 1655 (1655) Wing P2985; Thomason E1596_1; ESTC R203199 270,338 411

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〈◊〉 afterwards called 〈◊〉 about the year of our Lord 197. S●v●●us being Emperour and 〈◊〉 Bishop of Rome This Theod●●us was a Currier b 〈◊〉 or Tanne● by Trade and in time of Persecution for fear of death had denyed Christ and for very shame left his own City and went to Rome and there being upbraided for his denial answered c Epiphan haer 54. Hominem negavi non D●um i. e. that he den●●d him that was onely a man and not God as Epiphanius w●it●th and afterwards he gathered a great Sect joyning in this doctrine that Christ was a m●e● m●n These associates made an ag●eement to set up a Bishop to be the Prelate and head of the faction and so laying their moneys together they hired one Natalis a Priest to take that office upon him and indented to give him monethly 150 d●na●i● for a sala●y upon th●se terms Natalis set upon the work stoutly and became the Prelate of that doct●ine then God warned him in visions and that divers times to forbear not withstanding for Covetousnesse he slighted the vi●ons and still continued in his wicked course at length God having compassion on him who formerly had b●en a Confessor and suffered much for Christ in time of Pe●secution God sent him a more sharp and terrible warning for he was most grievously scourged by Angels all night l●ng so that in the morning he arose and having b●sprinkled his body with ashes he went to Z●ph●rinus the then Bishop of that place and fell down flat before him confessing and bewailing his crime and shewing the * Not of the Ang●ls str●pes but of the persecutors p●int of the stripes in his body so at length the Church re-admitted him into their Communion and so the heresie ceased for a time Afterward about the Year of our Lord 269. the same heresie was again revived by one Paulus who was Bishop of A●tio●● but because he was born at a place called Samosata therefore he is commonly called Paulus Samos●tenus but now the heresie lasted not long for a Council was gathered against this Paulus wherein he was sentenced to be deprived of his Bishoprick and he refusing to to obey the s●n●ence Au●e●ia the Emperour though an 〈…〉 at ther● quest of he Council by f●rce expelled h●m both from his Church and house thereunto belonging and so this heresie was again for a time consopired Afterwards in the dayes of the Emperour Constantine the Gre●t and about the Year of our Lord 317. the same heresie was awaked again by one Arius an African and a Priest of the Church of Alexandria and now it spread and grew so vehemently that St. Hierome long after complained that the whole world was turn'd Arian for Arianisme so troubled the Church for some hundreds of yeares and caused so much persecution and blood-●hed that d Athanal ad solit vitam agentes n. 9. Athanasius called that heresie one of the daughters of the blood-sucking horsleach and e Basil Epist 71. n. 38. St. hasil call'd it Bellum d●●bo icum i. e. a was raised by the Devil against the Church for it filled all places with vexations and deprived many of their estates and bereaved the Church of most of her worthy and learned Pastors and prevailed so much that the most eminent Cities of the World were infested with it as in the East Constantinople in Africk Alexanaria in Europe Millane and Rom● it self insomuch that even Liberius the Bishop of Rome in the dayes of the Emperour Constantius was expelled from his Bishoprick because he refused to subscribe to an Arian Creed as f Socr. l. 2. c. 29. Socrates testifieth yea our own Countrey Britain was amongst the rest in the same Emperours dayes troubled with this heresie as our own Histories report Nor hath it been free since the first Reformation for if we may believe Mr. Fox some that were imprisoned in Q. Marie's dayes for Religion yet there g Act. Mon. n. 93. denied the God-head of Christ In Q. Elizabe h's time two men were burnt in this City of Norwich one whose name was Hemant in the Year 1579. he was burnt for saying that Christ was a me●r man and the other whose name was F. K●tt was burnt in the Year 1588. for saying that Christ was not God and this some alive do remember and our Vulgar Chronicles record Also in the Reign of King James one Lega●● was burnt in Smithfield for the same heresie and to the unspeakable sorrow of all well-willers to our Church and Countrey even at this day two Ministers I think of this Kingdom whereof one is of this Diocesse of Norwich have publickly in books printed impugned two persons of the most sacred and glorious Trinity * John Bi●dle one blaspheming the Holy Ghost and the other the Son of God severally denying them both to be God the one publickly declaring his own name in Print h Juvena Sat. ● Et magis ingenuè Peribomius But the other more subtilly concealing his own name and procuring onely G. M. being the Capital Letters of another mans name to be subscribed to the Preface It is well enough known who this G. M. is and that he is a man of good credit and was ever accounted honest and religious a Citizen and Merchant prudent in his way but yet no man that knowes him will believe that he is the authour either of the Commentary or of the Preface being no way bred to meddle in such high controversies of Religion nor was ever known to be a favourer of any heretical Sect in former times and his friends are yet in good hope that although the Writer hath inveigled him to set out this blasphemous book yet that he was not Conscious of the secret poyson contained in it for so did i Hil. Cont. Arian n. 7. St. Hilary most charitably judge in the like case of the L●●●ks who were of the A●ian Congregations Arian●s populus rectè credit de Filio quia haec non audivit ab Arianis santiiores sunt aures pl●bis quam cor sace do●is i. e. The A●ian people believed rightly in the Son of God for they did not hear of the heresie of the Arian Priests so that the cares of the people were more religious then the heart of their Priest and yet he may rightly say of you the namelesse Author as St. Basil said of the Arian Priests k Basil de Spir. c. 7. n. 26. Blessed are the cares which never heard you yea blessed is his heart if he never believed you and I doubt not but when by Gods mercy he shall discover in what a damning doctrine you have engaged him he will discharge you as it is reported Cornelius Agrippa did a familiar spirit which attended on him in the shape of a dog saying before his death Abi à me perdita bestia quae me miserum perdi●isti i. e. Avoid reprobate beak who hast even destroyed me a miserable man CHAP.
and therefore they thought that true baptisme could not their be ministred whereupon such Seperatists as departed from the Catholicks and joyned with those Hereticks were entertained by receiving a new baptisme which yet those Hereticks would not confess to be a second baptisme but a baptisme accounting the baptisme formerly received in the Church Catholick to be void and null And in this very case it was that the religious Bishop and holy Martyr Saint Cyprian erred and his African Councell with him For because the Novatians rebaptized the Catholicks therefore Cyprian caused the Novatians which forsook the schisme and joyned with the Church to be received by a new baptisme when they had been before baptized by the Novatians Excepting onely such who had formerly been baptized in the Church Catholick For he also thought that the Novatians being Hereticks and divided from the Church had not power to confer baptisme and that such baptismes as were by them conferred were but pseudobapbaptismes and therefore void and null although they had used the same form of Baptisme which Christ prescribed And this was much pressed by Cyprian not onely upon the reason before alledged but also in a prudentiall consideration for saith he If the Catholick Cyp. de haer bapt n. 85 Church should admit of and acknowledge the baptisme administred by Hereticks to be a true baptisme then none of those Hereticks would be perswaded to return to the Church But this Allegation hath more of policy then of Christianitie And indeed it appeared that the Novatians also did therefore rebaptize the Apostate Catholicks not because they did seriously think their former baptisme void but craftily they so pretended that thereby they might gain Proselytes and to magnifie their own congregations For we find that Novatus himself or Novatianus as Saint Cyprian calls him Novatianus ipse Cyp. de haer bapt p 323. qui alios transfugas ab Ecclesia rebaptizabat tamen ipse non era● rebaptizatus i. Novatian who rebaptized others who had revolted from the Church yet himself a revolter also was not rebaptized Eusebius relateth Eus hist l. 6. ● 33. the Story more largely thus Novatus in his youth was possessed by an unclean spirit and so committed to the Exorcists then falling into a dangerous sicknesse when he dispaired of recovery he was baptized in his sick bed where all the rites of baptisme use not to be administred yet after his recovery his baptisme was never compleated yet this hypocrite whose own baptisme was hardly perfect though he forsook the Church and forced others to be rebaptized himself never was so rebaptized Upon the like reasons the Anabaptists at this day will not acknowledge themselves to be Anabaptists or rebaptized or take upon them professedly to administer a second Baptisme But they say that Infants are not capable of Baptisme and therefore such as were so sprinkled by the Church before they had the use of reason their Baptismes are to be accounted void and null although those Infants were baptized In the Name of the Father c. as Christ commanded So in outward profession neither the Novations nor Donatist nor our Anabaptists do require or maintain any second Baptisme but they say their own Baptisme is the onely Baptisme The Ecclesiasticall History reporteth the like case in a differing matter which fell in a passage of discourse between two Bishops who were both at the same time Bishops of Constantinople the one was Iohn Chrysostome who was Bishop of the Catholick Church the other was Sisinnius a very learned in ingenicus Bishop of the Novatian Congregations For in those dayes all Catharists whether Novatians or Donatists liked well of Bishops these two met and Chrysostoms first said It is against the Canon of the Church that one Citie should Ruff. in can 10 l. 1. c 6. Soc. l. 6. c. 20. have two Bishops Sisinnius answered that it was true but withall that he knew but one Bishop in the City of Constantenople His meaning was that the Catharists did not acknowledge Chrysostome to be a Bishop nor did the Catholicks acknowledge Sisinnius to be one so in effect neither partie could say there were two Bishops In like manner Saint Cyprian and his partie accounted the Baptismes of Hereticks to be void and the Hereticks accounted theirs to be void so neither party would acknowledge more then one Baptisme and yet both sides erred for the Baptisme administred by the Church was a true Baptisme and so was that which the Novatians ministred as was confessed by other Church-men then living as namely by Corneleus the famous Bishop of Rome a learned man and a glorious Martyr who at that very time signified his dissent Euseb hist l. 6. c 36. from Cyprian in that opinion of rebaptizing the Novatians as Eusebius testifieth The principall reasons besides policy which on both sides were pretended for rebaptization were these two First they said that baptisme was void and null which had been administred by a person who was not fitly qualified or that had no authoritie to baptize So Saint Cyprian alleadgeth in defence of rebaptization Nemo rite baptizatur nisi ab ●o qui licentiam baptizand Cyp. lib. 1. ●pist 6. n. 67. habet i None can be said to be rightly baptized except they were baptized by one who had a licence and faculty to Baptize And addeth further that Schismaticks who have seperated themselves from the communion of the Church can have no authority to administer that Sacrament which belongeth to the Church to confer neither may the members of the Church receive baptisme from Hereticks with whom it was not lawfull so much as to eat and drink Thus he on the other side the Seperatists confessed that baptisme might not be renewed if it had once been administred Bene well but they would not grant that the Catholicks could administer it well The second Allegation was that the Baptisme which 2. had been administred to a person who was not qualified so as to be a subject capable of Baptisme was to be accounted void This is the reason which at this day is urged by our Anabaptists against praedobaptisme because Infants cannot be taught therefore they may not be baptized To these Allegations the answers in brief are First 1. Resp the unworthinesse or unfitnesse of the Baptizer cannot nullifie the baptisme because as Optatus answereth Opt. lib. 5. the Donatists i Caeleste munus credenti non ab homiste sed à Trinitate consertur i. The Heavenly gift of baptismall grace is not conferred by the person baptizing but by the Trinitie and of the water of Opt. ib. Baptisme he saith Aqu● vera illa est quae non de loco non de persona sed de Trinitate condita est That is true baptizmall water which is sanctified by the Trinity and not by any unworthinesse either of the place or of the person baptizing And whereas the Donatists confessed that when baptisme was administred well
in Cron. as Prosper writeth yet the Manichees did not more deprave the Passion of Christ then you have done and therefore your book cannot expect a better fate then its fore-runners for of all the great Volumes which former hereticks writ there is little or nothing at this day to be found except such fragments as remain in the Fathers who confuted them and a few Creeds and Ep stola fundamenti in St. f Aug. Con● Epist fund 10. 6. c. 5. Austin and nothing else of Controversie considerable and yet I must tell you that the books of the Arians were written with far greater art and learning then your loose writings shew and I assure you that many Judicious Divines have said that they find nothing in your book fi● to be observed but onely the errours and heresies and yet those are so poorly proved that I may truly say of your book as Austin did of the books of Faustus the Manichee g Aug. Cont. Faust lib. 16. c. 26. Faustus scribit tanquam libellus ejus surdos auditores vel caecos lectores esset habiturus O hominem dictorem alium non cogitantem contradictorem i. Surely you imagined that your Readers and bearer should be deaf or blind and that none would contradict you but all acquiesce in your opinion yet your writings are so blasphemous as if they had been written by him that was the Author of that Libel which Mr. Fox calls h Acts Mon. n. 40. Lucifers Letter and so insipid as if they had been i Erasm f. 359. Suibus Scripti as Erasmus said of such kind of Writers in his time I wish they had been dedicated to Vulcan or strangled with a spunge in their birth because I see that they are like the fry of Serpents and other Vermin and are by you made onely to do mischief untill they be catcht and then the height of their preferment will be as Martial merrily writes of his own Poems k Mart. l. 3. ep 2. Libelle Festina tibi vindicem parare Ne nigram citò raptus in culinam Cordyllas madida ●egas papyro Vel thuris piperisque sis Cucullas Make haste and get a Patron pretty book Before the Black guard or the Master-Cook Snatch thee as waste-paper for his Kitchin To put Spice Sprats Frankincense or Pitch in But if they misse this yet they will not fail of such an end as Arius himself came to or of the fate of Volusius his Annals in Catullus Pleni ruris inficetiarum Catul. car 37. Mart. lib. 12. p. 62. Annales Volusi c. carm 37. So I leave them for present to be put into the Black Bill at Cambridge or the black Catalogue of the late Gangrana CHAP. IV. The Commenters temporizing in unsainting the Apostles in condemning Tombs and in short hair THe next thing to be observed in you and your Comment is your great Compliance with the tender Consciences of these Times which they that formerly observed your very zealous conformity with the then garb must needs judge that you intended this new change onely as a bait to invite the brethren more chearfully to swallow your deadly hook First you will not afford the title of Saint to the holy Apostles but they are plain John Peter Paul only James is beholding to you for Sainting him if not an erratum of the Printer Is not this to shew your conformity with the Plague-bill of London and yet there is the title Allhallowes though not the word Saint and there the word Saint is withdrawn but from places and Churches but you will not allow it to the persons of Apostles the Bill had some colour for it self for it was once ordered in a Council a Concil Constantinop sub Const 5. An. Domini 755. That Churches should not have the appellation of Saint because of the great abuse in Image-worship and because people did then give the title of Saint to those places not because the Churches were so named in their dedications but because the Images of Saints were set up in Churches and the name of the Saint was painted on the Image So that when men said Let us go to St. Peters they meant it of the image when perhaps the Church was not so named but it was never ordered by any Christian Council that the title Saint should be denyed to the persons of the holy Apostles and Evangelists you see the Scriptures give that ●itle to whole Companies of people professing Christ b 1 Cor. 14. 33. who were much inferiour to the high Office and sanctity of the Apostles I think you would be offended with him that should not stile you Doctor and yet the Apostles have a better title to Saint then you to your Doctorship And because some are offended with Images of men lately set upon Tombs as they have as just cause perhaps to find fault with them as to be offended with the memories of Apostles and Martyrs in glasse-windowes if all imagery in Churches be unlawful you more zealously condemn all Tombs built for memory of men departed though they deserved well of us and therein you condemn the practice of holy men in Scripture in preserving the Sepul●h●● of David even the accursed Jews did adorn the Tombs of the Prophets whom Matth. 23. 29. their fathers slew yea and all Christian Churches in all ages did allow and with great cost set up Tombs of holy men and Martyrs and called them Memorias Martyrum i. e. the Memories of Martyrs the Sepulcher of Christ was much esteemed by Constantine the Great and a fair Church built over it as we read in Eusebius and that for the memories of twelve Apostles Euseb de vit Const l. 3. lib. 4. Hier. Epist 53. c. 3. n. 17. Aug. de Civ l. 22. c. 8. he built twelve several Tombs in one Church as Constantinople and in St. Hieromes time the Tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul were of great esteem in Rome In St. Austin's time and in his Church at Hippo was the Tomb of St. Stephen set up though far remote from the place of his stoning and we find a Tomb set up or the blessed Virgin Mary in Judaea as some in Di●nysius and St. Hierome tell us Nonna the holy woman Vid. Dionys vit Hier. to 9. P. 39. and Mother of Greg. Nazianzen devoted the whole estate which her son Caesarius left to build a costly Monument for his memory as her own son Nazian in his Funeral Oration to her great praise reporteth Naz. Orat. 10. and in the Canons of the Primitive Church recorded by St. Basil The violaters of the Tombs of the dead are Basil ad Amphil c. 64. n. 36. ordered to stand excommunicate the space of eleven yeares even as long as adulterers were This Commenter surely hath an higher conceit of his own wisdome then any other men have discovered to be in him that presumeth to controul the Practice of
afterwards Is not this the Carpenters son Matth. 13. 55. disparaging him for his mean parentage this is the Exposition of St. Amb●ose a Ambr. de Spirit l. 1. c. 3. In Filium Hominis p●ccare est remissius sentire de carne Christi c. To sin against the Son of Man is to conceive too basely of the flesh of Christ and they that so sin are not utterly excluded from pardon 2. The Jewes blasphemed him now in his Godhead by denying it and ascribing the miracle to confederacy with Beelzebub and of this blasphemy which doth take away the very foundation of remission of sins it is said It shall not be forgiven 5. I may adde hereunto that those unbaptized Pharisees in probability did not intend any obloquy or blasphemy against the Person of the holy Spirit as it is the third Person of which they had never been instructed neither had they so much Christianity as those disciples at Ephesus who though they had been baptized unto Iohns baptisme yet they had not so much as heard whether there be an holy Ghost Act. 19. 2. Thus having shewed that in Scripture and in the writings of the Fathers and later Divines the Godhead of Christ is called a Spirit and holy and also an holy Spirit and that in St. Matthew those words holy Spirit are to be understood of the Godhead of Christ which is for ever united to and residing in the Holy Temple of his most sacr●d Body and Soul I now reassume my former Conclusion That the denying Christ to be God is the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost which is there said to be unpardonable Now that in a Doctrine of so great moment and concernment the Reader may understand that I do not obtrude any novell and private opinion of mine own upon him I will he●e lay down the judgement of so●e of the Fathers in this very question and first of Athanasius one of the most profound and godly Divines that since the Apostles dayes the Church ever had who in his book De Communi essentia Patris c. aith b Arha to 3. p. 625. It is hard to conjecture what our Saviour means by those words He that speaketh against the Sod of Man shall be forgiven but he that speaketh against the holy Ghost shall not be so given So that the Son may seem ●o he inf●riour to the Spirit and yet the So saith The Father and I are one If he that saith to his brother Thou fool shall be cast into h●ll ●n quam gehennà gehennarum conjiri●tur is qui ●ss●rit Deum creatu am ●sse Into what Hell of Hells will he be cast who calleth him that is God a Creature and a Servant and a Minister onely And a little after he saith D●i●at●m V●rbi ipse Christus Spiri●um Sanctum voc●t humanitatem suam Filium Hominis n●minavit i. Our Saviour called his own Godhead the holy Ghost and his own Manhood he called the Son of Man and of those that blaspheme his holy Spirit by blaspheming his Godhead is this sentence to be understood It shall not be forgiven him neither in this world nor in the world to come This is the judgement of Athanasius To him I adde the Opinion of St. Hil●r● who was contemporary with Atha●asius who in his Exposition of that Text Matth. 12. 32. saith c Hil. in Mat. Can. 12. p. 731. Si negetur D●us in Christo caret omni mis●ricordia i. If a Man deny God to be in Christ that man shall finde no mercy And again he saith d Hil. ib. Can. 31. p. 426. Blasphemia in Spiritum ●st Christum Deum ●sse negare i The blasphemy against the Spirit is to deny Christ to be God The same Father in the place last quoted speaking of Saint Peters deniall of Christ saith Because to deny Christ to be God is that sinne which shall never be forgiven therefore Peter denied thus I know not the Man because a word spoken against the Son of Man may be forgiven The very same conceit hath Saint Chrysostome also in his Sermon of Peters deniall and upon these words I k●ow not the Man e Chrys to 6 p. 631. Non dixit non no●i Deum Verbum sic enim peccasset in Spi●itum Sanctum i. Peter said not I know him not to be God for so he had sinned against the holy Ghost but I know not the Man Now whether Saint Peter meant so as these two Fathers conjectured I cannot affirm for certain but by this I finde that the judgement of these two great Doctours was that the denying of the Godhead of Christ is indeed that great unpardonable sinne To this I adde the testimony of Saint Basil who deserved to be called the Great He in that excell●nt Book De Spiritu Sancto saith f Basil de Spirit c. 7. Testificer omni Homini Christum profi●en●i sed ●um neganti Deum ●sse quod Christus nihil ●i proderi● i. I testifie to every Man who professeth himself to be a Christian and yet de●●ieth Christ to be God Christ shall nothing at all profit that man And if Christ do not profit us in the remission of our sinnes I am sure our sinnes shall never be forgiven in this world or in the world to come CHAP. V. The Opinions of later Divines concerning the unpardonable sin A brief Narration of the life and death of Arius and of Julian the Apostate TO the above-named Ancients I subjoyn the opinions of our later Divines who in their Expositions and Tractats where they inquire what particular sin this is although they do not agree therein yet when they inquire what persons have sinned this sin they do commonly affirm for one that Arius in his Heresie did s●n thus and this is the opinion of Polanus and also of Bucanus and others Now the Polan synt p. 340. Bucan Lo. Com. p 174. onely noted heresie of Arius was the denying the Godhead of Jesus Christ saying that he was not from everlasting and that he was but preferred to be a God Just as our Commenter would have him onely exalted and deisied This Arius was born in Africk and was a Presbyter or Priest of the Cathedrall Church of Alexandria in Egypt In that City in the dayes of the Emperour Constantine the Great there were ten Churches besides Epiph. haer 69. the Cathedrall Just such as we now call Paraecial or Parish-Churches wherein ten of the Presbyters of the Cathedrall Church were the incumbents and Preachers of these ten Arius was one and was more esteemed and followed then any of his brethren It fell out that the Bishop of Alexandria died Arius gaped for the place but mist it for one Alexander was elected then Arius raised a faction and revived the former Heresie of Paulus Samosatenus preaching this damnable doctrine that Christ was not God When Bishop Alexander was informed of this he convented Arius and upon examination discovering his
heri licuit i. after Opt. ibid. that day it became unlawfull which the day before was lawfull But how shall it appeare that these Eph●sians were not baptized either by S. Iohn himself or else by his Iohannists till after the death of Christ and after he had prescribed this new forme of baptisme I answer thus probably first they confess they were baptized to Iohn's Baptisme they say not by Iohn Secondly Iohn never was at Ephesus for ought can appear Thirdly Iohn had bin dead at least 14 yeares before this time and passage some say 19. yeares It was 12 years after Christs resurrection and ascention before S. Paule took that journie to Ephesus Fourthly before Christs resurrection his Commission given to teach and baptize all nations the Gospel might not be taught and preach't to the Gentiles as Mat. 10. 5. these Eph●sians were for the Apostles were forbidden to goe to the Gentiles or even to the Samaritans who dwelt in that land and were partlie of the I●wish religion and the Seaventie went not out of the land as appeareth Luc. 10. 1. No more then Christ did therfore in all likelihood these Eph●si●ns were neither taught nor baptized till after the new law of baptisme Fiftly had they bin Iewes of Ephesus and had bin timelie baptized with in the Holie Land by Iohns baptisme S. Paul would not have caused them more then others to be rebaptized nor would God so have countenanced rebaptization as to give them the Holie ghost at imposition of hands Now whereas some late Expositors denie that those Eph●sian disciples were againe baptized by S. Paules direction and this they doe because they are unwilling to give such a countenance to Anabaptisme the truth is that they were indeed then baptized as that narration doth cleerly shew and yet that act doth not at all warrant any re baptization properlie so called Origen saith Refertur in actis quod baptizati a ●rig in Rom. ●● 5. n. 50. Johanne rebaptizati sunt in nomine Iesu quia Johannis baptisma ●rat baptisma in lege non in Christo i It is related in the Acts that those were rebaptized who had formerlic bin baptized to Iohns baptisme because Iohn's baptisme then was no better then the legal washing and was not a baptisme in Christ For it could not be accounted an Evangelical baptisme because it was not so performed as Christ had prescribed S. Cyprian cleerly affirmeth Baptizatos a Paulo eos qui jam baptismo Joannes Cyp. de haer Baptiz prope fin n. 85. i the Ephesians were baptized by Paul who had bin before baptized with Iohn's baptism and yet that this act doth not warrant two several Baptismes S. Ambrose sheweth Baptizati baptismo Joannis Act. 19. Amb. de Spirit l. 1. c. 3. revera baptizati sunt postea nec itera●um est baptisma sed non erat ptenum baptisma i Those Ephesians were indeed baptized by Paul and yet it was no re baptization because that baptisme of Iohn was an imperfect baptisme Finally the Iewes in our time may as well justifie their Circumcision which unto this day they use Sacramentallie because they beleive that the promised seed of circumcised Abraham is yet to come yet we know their circumcision is mortiferous and S. Paule hath said Gal. 5. 2. If ye be ●ircumcised Christ shall profit you nothing that is if you be therefore circumcised as beleeving that Christ is yet to come in the flesh Even so the baptisme of Iohn Sacramentallie used was an ingagement to beleeve on Messiah to come which baptisme if it be so used after Christ is come and gone how is it any better then the now lewish circumcision seing both are upon the same reasons quite expired and out of date and are moreover a denying that Iesus is the Christ All this while I find no warrant or lawful president of a Second baptisme for when a true baptisme succeedeth a pseudobaptisme it must not be called a re baphization but a baptisme Thus much of the lawfulnes of a ture baptisme after a pseudo baptisme CHAP. X. Of true Christian baptisme that it may not be twice ministred No heretick maintained two baptismes but only Marcion what Marcion was and his reasons for multiplying baptisme why the Novatians Donatists and our new Anabaptists doe re baptize Cyprian's error and Athanasius his ludicrous baptisme IN the next place we are to inquire whether those who have bin truly baptized according to that forme rule law and precept which our saviour prescribed for baptisme after his resurrection Math. 28. 19. May in any case be rebaptized for our Christian religion would be a very pleasant easie religion if those that fall into any grand and enormous sins after one baptisme may be affoiled and wholy acquitted totiès quotièt as oft as they fall by new baptismes But surelie renuing by a new baptisme is that renuing which our Apostle tels us is Impossible One true Baptisme is indeed a renuing to repentance and so S. Paule called Iohn's baptisme Act. 19. 4. Iohn verily baptized with the baptisme of repentance and so is our Christian baptisme but after this one renuing by baptisme to repentance it is impossible to be renued by a Second baptisme to repentance Amongst all the old and new Anabaptists since the birth of Christ I find none that ●ver asserted and taught a second baptisme to be lawfull and usefull after one baptisme which they thought and confessed to be a true and lawfull baptisme except only Marcion But lately amongst us some teach that Baptisme may be iterated as well as the Lords Supper who was a most odious and despicable Heretick he indeed permitted three severall su●cessive Baptismes and accounted them all lawfull though in truth not one of them was so the reason which moved him hereunto is related by Epiphanius Thus Ma●cion saith he was born in Pontus Epiph. haer 42. and was the sonne of an Orthodoxe Bishop and lived a c●asle single life a good while at length he deflowred a Virgine and was therefore by his own venerable Father ejected out of that Church then he travelled to Rome and there petitioned to be vestored to the Church but could not obtain it hereupon he began a new Sect and among other impieties he ordained that a man might be thrice Baptized if he sell so oft into sin and this he did because himself so fell And because he could not obtain absolution from the Church by pennance therefore he would have it by a new Baptisme Epiphanius addeth further that this Narcion permitted women to baptize as he had good reason that so the same persons might release with whom the sinne was committed A second kind of Re-baptization was practised by the Catharists or Novatians and also after them by the Donatists both of them African monsters but theirs was upon this reason They had seperated themselves from the Church Catholick upon pretence that it was not a true Church