number of those wherein because wee all know many things but in part wee may vary in iudgement and yet the foundation of orthodoxall Faith stand safe But you take it I meane de adultis and as I haue said you doe not mistake mee and therefore you deny my Minor which when you say I proue by an instance and six reasons it seemes you passed ouer my reasons perfunctorily and without attention or cared not to let drop of your pen at aduenture whatsoeuer came next to head For I proue the Minor by one instance onely and the arguments following are no more but fiue and conclude not the Minor but the maine Question to wit that Assurance doth not iustify The instance is this Treatise I instance in those our Brethren of Germany who hold that Faith may totally and finally fall away and consequently that there can bee no certainty of Saluation whom yet the Church of God calleth and counteth Brethren and it were vncharitable to censure of them otherwise Therefore or at leastwise probable Faith is not an Assurance N. B. Whatsoeuer our Brethren of Germany hold is true but they hold that a man may be saued without this Faith Therefore this position is true O hominis acumen argumentum lepidum What mood and figure I pray you was this Syllogisme borne in But proue your Maior for we haue learned Christ otherwise then to tie our Faith vnto the opinions of any one particular Church Yea this argument sauoureth mightily of Popery which I thought you had beene as far from as I know you are in this point from Christs verity and Christian vnity For why I pray you might I reason thus as you doe to proue that works doe iustify a man before God and merit eternall life The Church of Rome holdeth so Ergo the Position is true Ob. But you will say they are no Brethren A. I answer they bee the Church of God if wee belieue M. Caluin and M. Bunny citing this place Antichrist sitteth in the temple of God Ep. Tract of Pacif But hee sitteth at Rome Therefore Rome is the temple of God But I pray you let vs not bee bound to defend the errors of our Brethren neither too hasty to discouer them And that this opinion is an error let the whole course of the Scripture declare Darij Darij Whosoeuer liueth byaboue4 Faithaboue5 liuethaboue3 foraboue1 eueraboue2 But the Saints of God liue for euer Therefore they liue by Faith for euer All the gifts of God be without repentance Faith is the gift of God Therefore without repentance That which continueth vnto the end and is made perfect cannot finally fall alway Perficiet vsque ad finem bonum Phil. 2. Fides est opus Dei Ioh. 6. Ambr. 2. Cor. 6. Aug. in Ioh. Tract 106. col 513. But Faith continueth vnto the end and is made perfect Therefore it cannot finally fall away See what the Fathers say Neque fides vera est si non sit perpetua sed possit deficere Neither is Faith true Faith except it bee perpetuall and cannot fall away Credere verè est credere inconcussè firmè stabiliter fortiter To belieue truly is to belieue without wauering firmely stedfastly and strongly I. D. There is a little triobolar pamphlet commonly called Baxters Logicke the Authour whereof I thinke you esteeme as skilfull in that Art as euer was Zeno or Aristotle himselfe Though I could neuer find in my heart to loose an houre or twaine in perusing it yet I perswade my selfe no man can better resolue you in what mood and figure this Syllogisme was borne But if not satisfied herewith you will needs know my opinion also thus I thinke without all figure it was borne in a peeuish mood For it is farre from my thought and purpose to maintaine that Whatsoeuer our Brethren of Germany hold is true or that Faith once infused can either finally or totally fall away and if you were not either desperately impudent or brutishly ignorant you would not so haue forced my words and obtruded such vnreasonable reasons vpon mee For thus I argue Our Brethren of Germany may bee saued yet they haue not this Assurance Ergo some that haue not this Assurance may bee saued The Maior is grounded vpon the iudgement of Charity and the censure of Gods Church calling and counting them Brethren Such is the iudgement of Beza Sadeel Iewel Epist 2. ad Dudith Posnan Assert conf in notà vnitatis In Apol. and Defence of Apol. De Eccles q. 5. c. 8. In thesi 5. On the Creed Whitaker Reinolds Perkins and whosoeuer is borne within the temperate zone of Christian loue and not vnder the burning region of intemperate zeale or frozen climate of vncharitablenesse The Minor is thus proued because they hold that Faith may finally and totally fall away For whether this Position bee true or false is not materiall in this place onely if they hold so as questionlesse they doe then can they not bee assured which is my Assumption For to bee certaine of Saluation and in possibility of damnation are incompatible and cannot stand together These things being so to what end take you so much paines to shew that it is not alwayes true which some one Church holdeth troubling the Reader with your needlesse Obs and Sols and why doe you alledge so many Scriptures to proue that Faith cannot faile a truth I neuer doubted of For herein you doe but plow the Sea-shore and let flie at Sempronius when it was Titius that strake you Neither is it a matter of any hardnesse or difficulty to refell the most of your arguments if I would spend time and oyle about it for like a bungling work-man you haue marred a good cause with ill handling For example to giue you a little tast of your weaknes this way that wee are not to tie our Faith vnto the opinions of any particular Church you proue because the contrary sauoureth mightily of Popery And yet Popery teacheth not that a particular Church cannot erre nay doth not define that the particular Church of Rome cannot erre but only alloweth that priuiledge vnto the Catholicke or Vniuersall Church Againe to proue that Faith cannot finally or totally fall away thus you reason Whosoeuer liueth for euer liueth by Faith But the Saints of God liue for euer Therefore they liue by Faith for euer May I not now in requitall of your scoffing exclamation crie out O hominem obtusum argumentum stupidum For first you conclude that the Saints liue by Faith which is not the point in question Secondly you haue one tearme in the Conclusion not found in the premisses namely liue by Faith for euer and so your Syllogisme is a meere Paralogisme Lastly if to perfect vp the Syllogisme you vnderstand the Maior Proposition thus Whosoeuer liueth for euer liueth by Faith for euer then doe I flatly deny it for they that liue for euer liue onely in this life by Faith
his goodnesse eftsoones to reduce you Two grounds you say there are whereon you haue built your Separation the first whereof you lay downe in these tearmes That the Hierarchie and Ministrie of Arch-bishops Lord Bishops c. and Priests may not bee set ouer the Church of Christ nor retained therein From whence as I vnderstand it you would argue and conclude thus Where are such Church Officers as may not bee set ouer nor retained in the Church there is no true visible Church and consequently Separation must bee made from it But here in England are such Church Officers as Arch-bishops Bishops c. and Priests Ergo here in England is no true visible Church and consequently Separation must bee made from it To this argument thus formed I answer first by denying the Maior Proposition which in that you goe not about to proue you commit that fault in reasoning which Logicians call Petitionem Principij taking that for granted which is most questioned For suppose that Archbishops Bishops and Priests were superfluous officers yet it is not euery superfluity in a Church that takes away the nature and essence thereof and euen they who mislike the present Church gouernement doe not all of them as you Separatists doe inferre thereupon a nullity but onely a corruption or aberration in the Church It would haue beene much more to the purpose if you could haue demonstrated that the Church of England is defectiue in such officers as are essentiall and without which a Church cannot be Here therefore I must entreat you either to acknowledge your rashnesse or else to bestow a little more paines in the proofe of that which without euidence of reason will neuer be yeelded you Againe I deny the Minor Proposition affirming contrarily that Archbishops Bishops and Priests are lawfull Church-Officers and may bee both set ouer and retained in the Church For I hope you vnderstand these tearmes not cauillingly and equiuocally but according to the meaning and definition of the Church of England Otherwise you shall but iangle about words and bewray that you haue more desire to picke quarels then ability to iustify your Separation But you endeauour to fortify your Minor by twelue reasons supplying in the tale if ought bee wanting in the weight Let vs examine them seuerally The first is this 1 No Antichristian ministrie may bee set ouer the Church of Christ nor retained therein 2. Thes 2.3.4.11.12 Ro. 14.9 10. with Ex. 4.5 Deut. 7.26 Ps 119.21.128 But the Ministrie of Arch-bishops Lord-Bishops Priests is Antichristian because the Churches of Antichrist cannot bee compleate if they haue not this Prelacy as appeareth by the Popes Canons and Pontificall and by their Church-Constitution Therefore they are not to bee set ouer the Church of Christ nor retained therein What meane you by the word Antichristian For although I know well what properly it signifies yet I doubt much what you vnderstand thereby it being your manner either through negligence or ignorance too often to speake improperly If you vnderstand it properly and as you ought for that which is against Christ and his ordinance or as your men sometimes expresse themselues which is a speciall part of Antichrists apostasie then I yeeld you your Maior and confesse that no such Ministrie may bee set ouer the Church nor retained therein But if you meane thereby either that which was first instituted and deuized by Antichrist or that which being formerly instituted is vsed and approued in the Church of Antichrist then I deny the Maior For first euery thing by Antichrist ordained is not presently vnlawfull and Antichristian no more then euery act of a tyrant is vniust and tyrannous How many good and wholesome lawes were enacted vnder the raigne of Richard the third who yet was a most bloody and cruell tyrant Neither were they afterward repealed by succeeding Kings but stand still in force notwithstanding his tyranny for they proceeded from him non quà tyrannus not as hee was a tyrant but as hee was a wise and politicke gouernour In like manner not euery thing ordained by Antichrist is foorthwith to bee reiected but onely that which hee doth quà Antichristus as hee is Antichrist and is meerely Antichristian It is a great folly to refuse good counsell because it is giuen by an euill man Wise men will consider non quis sed quid not so much who doth a thing as what is done For as truth is Gods in whose mouth soeuer it bee found so is good also whosoeuer bee the Author thereof Againe if those things whereof Antichrist is the first founder bee not therefore by and by vnlawfull much lesse are those things so which being of a former institution are onely vsed and obserued by him Were it otherwise how many ordinances of God himselfe and wholesome constitutions of the primitiue Church would proue vnlawfull being still retained in Popery This Maior you endeauour to fortify with sundry passages of Scripture But as Cassius of old was wont to say Cui bono to what end For if you would proue it in the sense granted you they are alledged needlesly if in the sense denied friuolously and to speake the truth euery way vainely and impertinently as the very reading of them will manifest to any one that will but take the paines to peruse them But this is the manner of your men to paint your margents with multitude of quotations nothing to the purpose whereas one allegation directly concluding is more then a hundred demonstrations as being the words of the first and infallible verity What you intend hereby I wot not whether to amuse the Reader and ouerwhelme him with your numbers or to win you credit and estimation with the vulgar as if you were the onely skilfull Text-men But sure I am that such sleighting of Scripture is no lesse then the taking of Gods Name in vaine which whosoeuer doth the Lord professeth he will not hold him guiltlesse Scripture is not made nor appointed for pompe and shew but for conquest and victory To the Minor Proposition I answer negatiuely The ministrie of Arch-bishops Lord-Bishops and Priests is not Antichristian whether you vnderstand it as first inuented by Antichrist or against Christ That it is not of Antichrists inuention is as cleere as the Sunne For first Priests are of diuine institution being no other then those Presbyters or Pastors to whom the administration of the Word and Sacraments is committed and who are ordained by Christ for the building vp of his Church vnto the end of the world The Priests of the Church of Rome indeed are of Antichrists founding whose office is to sacrifice and offer vp Christ himselfe in the Masse vnto his Father both for the quicke and the dead But our Priests haue nothing common with them saue the name onely their idolatry wee detest and abhorre although wee retaine the name Theirs are Masse-Priests ours are Preaching or Ministring Priests Neither let the name offend you for
your platforme and I am sure all orthodoxall Churches haue euer beene gouerned by the same officers that ours is Whence it followeth that if for want of such a Politie and such Officers as you dreame of we haue in England no true Church neither hath there beene for certaine hundred of yeares aboue a thousand any true Church through the whole world Which how it can agree with the word of God affirming that of his kingdome there shall be none end I cannot conceiue For by your reckoning the kingdome of Christ ceased soone after the departure of the Apostles and suffered an interruption of about fourteen hundred yeares vntill Browne and Barrow began to play the Schismatickes The second Proposition I acknowledge also to be true but withall denie that we haue set ouer our selues any Antichristian or forraigne Officers For as we haue aboue both sayd and shewed Archbishops Bishops Priests are of diuine institution and now I further adde that they were first bred in the kingdome of Christ and not taken from any other kingdome your assertion to the contrary without due proofe argues that you build to your selfe castles in the aire and haue no ground for your presumption Your fift argument followeth 5. Because the Church being Christs spouse kingdome and body must haue his Ministrie set and kept in it and no other And if no man can make a finger or the least member of a naturall humane body or adde any other limme thereto without deformity then God hath created and can much lesse giue life to any such counterfait member of his owne making how is it possible that he can set vp another Ministrie 1. Cor. 12.12.20 27.28 The argument is thus to bee formed The Ministrie of Christ and no other is to be set ouer and kept in the Church The Ministrie of Archbishops Bishops and Priests is not Christs Ergo it is not to be set ouer nor kept in the Church The Maior I grant confessing that no office may bee allowed in the Church but that which is from Christ eyther immediately or mediatly that is from those vnto whose wisdome and discretion hee hath delegated some part of his authority to order many things in the Church For as the Church may not alter that Ministry which Christ hath setled to continue for euer so may shee by vertue of her delegate authority ordaine such offices as are not forbidden and tend to edification And being so ordeined they are though not immediatly yet mediately from Christ Neither yet doth the Church so doing presume to make as you say either a finger or any other member or limme that is essentiall vnto the body much lesse to giue life thereunto but onely to prouide a gloue as it were for the finger or a sute of apparell for the body the better to preserue it in life The Minor that the Ministrie of Archbishops Bishops and Priests is not of Christ I deny affirming the cleane contrary that they are those Pastors and Angels authorized and allowed by Christ in his word It is the greatest vanity and idlenesse that can bee in disputing onely with boldnesse to affirme that which is denied and neuer to endeauour the proofe thereof which yet is your solemne fault almost in euery argument Your sixt reason 6 Because Christians are the Temples of the Holy Ghost 1. Cor. 3.16.17 2. Cor. 6.16 2. Thes 2.4 Col. 2.18 Act. 20.17.28 and their consciences wrought vpon by Ministrie in the Church and therefore may not be defiled by the Hierarchie of Arch-bishops c. whom the Holy Ghost neuer made Ouerseers The argument in forme stands thus Those offices that defile the Temples of the Holy Ghost and consciences of men may not bee set ouer nor retained in the Church But the Hierarchie of Arch-bishops Bishops and Priests defiles the Temples of the Holy Ghost and consciences of men Ergo the Hierarchie of Arch-bishops Bishops and Priests may not bee set ouer nor retained in the Church The Maior wee readily yeeld you but how proue you the Minor that these Officers defile the Conscience Forsooth because the Holy Ghost hath not made them Ouerseers And how proue you this againe Because the Pastors of Ephesus were made such Ouerseers An Herculean argument I promise you For what letteth but that hee that made the Pastors of Ephesus Ouerseers hath made the Pastors of England Ouerseers also Alas alas that vpon such friuolous and toying reasons so dangerous and offensiue Schismes should be made And take heed how you quench or grieue the Spirit of God who if you haue in you any measure of knowledge or sparke of grace hath wrought it in you by our Ministrie For preaching which is the ordinary meanes to beget faith I suppose you haue not had elsewhere and it is no lesse then blasphemie to call the working of Gods Spirit by his Holy Word vpon the soules of men the defiling of the Conscience The seuenth argument 7 Because Christ alone is the Head of the Church in whom all fulnesse of power dwelleth Eph. 1.22.23.4.11.16 Col. 1.18.19.2.8.9.10.18.19.1 Cor. 12.4.5.6.12.27.28 1. Tim. 3. 5.8.6.13.14 Rev. 11.13.18.8.14.8.17 18. 19. and from whom alone the Church receiueth her life and power so as none may bee subiect to any power or head in Religion saue onely to him And therefore no Ministers or Officers in the Church are to bee set vp or retained who deriue not their power and functions from Christ which the former doe not and therefore they are not c. but to bee abandoned as enemies of Christs soueraigne authority and making their hearers and submitters to them guilty of high treason against our Lord Christ Iesus It is true there is but one Head of the Church from whom shee receiueth life and Power yet are there also vnder Christ gouernors in the Church who by vertue of that power which they haue receiued from him may ordaine many things touching the well gouernment thereof and to submit our selues thereunto is not to bee subiect to another power or head but to the ordinance of Christ himselfe But it is false that Bishops deriue not their power and function from Christ as we haue already manifestly proued If you haue any thing to the contrary I hope wee shall heare of it another time for hitherto you haue onely said but shewed nothing As for those words that Bishops are to bee abandoned as enemies of Christs soueraigne authority c. they sauour more of passion then reason and deserue rather to bee pitied then answered The eigth argument 1. Cor. 18.27.28 Eph. 4.11.12.13 8 Because God onely must haue this preeminence to dispose the members euery one of them in the body of the Church at his owne pleasure so as either it must bee shewed that God hath placed the Hierarchie of Arch-bishops Bishops Priests or they are not to bee set vp or retained or approued We haue satisfyed you in this already if happily you will bee
Saints with your niceties and falsities any longer for thus you reason No historicall Faith hath any interest in the matter of Iustification But firmely to belieue the truth of Gods Word and specially the Gospell is historicall Faith Therefore firmely to belieue the truth of Gods Word and specially the Gospell hath no interest in the matter of Iustification Good Sir I deny your Maior which you thus endeuour to proue ab absurdo enumeratione partium No generall knowledge shall haue any stroke in the matter of Iustification All historicall Faith is a generall knowledge Therefore no historicall Faith hath any interest in the matter of iustification Proue your Minor which I denie telling you moreouer that firmely to consent to the truth of Gods Word in genere and the Gospell in Specie is not a Generall knowledge but a Speciall knowledge and therefore I argue Such a speciall knowledge of the Gospell is the beginning of Faith Iustifying Mat. 13.11 Ioh. 17.3 Mat. 16.17 But firmely to consent to the truth of Gods Word and the Gospell is such a speciall knowledge ex confesso Therfore firmely to consent to the truth of Gods Word and especially the Gospell is the beginning of Iustifying Faith I. D. If you were as farre from hood-winking your owne eyes as I am from blearing the eies of others you might easily perceiue that now I deale against our common aduersaries the Papists and ouerthrow the iustification of their Historicall Faith by the chiefest arguments which Protestants vse But you after the manner of those Gladiators called Andabatae nor see nor care whom or what you strike and so mildly affected are you towards mee that so you may make some probable shew of endammaging or disaduantaging mee you reck not though through my sides you reach and wound the best Diuines of our Church yea and the common truth which wee all maintaine Neither doe I vse such circumguagues nor wiredraw my arguments into such a length as you beare vs in hand but hauing nakedly and plainely defined what Historicall Faith is I proue by two reasons that Faith so defined doth not iustifie the first whereof is this because it is absurd that so generall a Knowledge should iustifie So that your Ferio Syllogisme deserues a Ferula and vtterly to bee cashed as being no creature of mine but an idle figment of your owne and the next in Celarent for so you forme it although indeed it bee also in Ferio the Minor proposition and Conclusion notwithstanding your generall notes being but particular enuntiations is the onely Syllogisme intended by mee and including my first argument The Maior whereof it seemes you grant saying nothing vnto it and the Minor only you deny which I cannot but wonder at seeing both the Minor and Conclusion are vniuersally vouched by all the Diuines of our side The Conclusion is that Historicall Faith iustifies not So saith Hyperius De fide Hom. iustificandi There is a certaine Historicall Faith whereby those things which are propounded in holy writ are simply beleeued but yet is not applyed vnto Christ and the matter of our Saluation Loco de Fide The Minor is that Historicall Faith is a generall Knowledge So sayth Kemnitius There is a certaine generall Faith which vsually is tearmed Historicall and againe Historicall Faith is a generall assent holding in generall that the promise of the Gospell is true And M. Perkins Ser. caus c. 36. A generall Faith whereby they giue assent vnto the Gospell Neither doe I know any one of our Diuines that either in the Conclusion or the Minor doth gainsay them So that by the iudgement of these men both consenting to Gods Word in generall and to the Gospell in speciall is not a Speciall but Generall Knowledge and if the Speciality of the Gospell being but a part of the whole Scripture did specify Faith it would follow thereupon that there are as many Speciall Faiths as there are seuerall Articles of the Creed which were vnreasonable to imagine For that Faith which assenteth vnto the Gospell is no other then that which assenteth vnto the rest of holy Scripture and although it may principally respect that part of diuine truth yet doth it not only respect it nor is limited thereunto as vnto the proper adequate obiect thereof but vniuersally extendeth it selfe vnto all supernaturall reuealed verities whatsoeuer As for that Faith which our Diuines call Speciall is to be vnderstood of Faith of Promises wherby the Saints apply and appropriate them vnto themselues particularly and indiuidually assuring themselues of their present iustification and future saluation And the ignorance hereof as I ween is the cause why you turne generall into speciall and write of this matter so wildly and confusedly This notwithstanding very peremptorily you pronounce that Historiall Faith is a speciall Knowledge and thereupon Syllogistically inferre that it is the Beginning of Iustifying Faith to what end I wot not well vnlesse it bee to proue that it doth iustify because as you conclude it is the beginning of that Faith But whatsoeuer your intent bee your argument I answer by distinguishing of the word Beginning For if you vnderstand thereby a Pre-requisite or Preparatiue vnto iustifying Faith you doe but fight with a shadow for in that sence I grant the Conclusion neither doth such a beginning of Iustifying Faith iustify If you meane thereby that it is Iustifying Faith inchoat and in a remisser degree then I deny your Maior and say that such a knowledge call it as you please generall or speciall is not the beginning of iustifying Faith If it were then Diuels and Reprobates hauing it should haue iustifying Faith which Gods Word attributes vnto the Elect onely Tit. 1.1 And if it bee true that Faith of person is the consummation of Iustifying Faith as in the former section you say it cannot bee that such a knowledge should bee the Beginning thereof vnlesse you will say that Accidents may passe from one Subiect to another which is against all Philosophy For Historicall Faith is in the Vnderstanding and Faith of Person is in the Will and therefore Faith of Story beginning in the Mind can haue no subsistence elsewhere and iustifying Faith being perfected in the Will cannot bee begunne in any other Subiect The passages quoted in the margent though you should rack them till they rent asunder yet will they not confesse what you alledge them for For how I pray you hang these things together To you it is giuen to know the mysteries of the Kingdome of heauen This is life euerlasting to know thee Flesh and Bloud hath not reuealed this vnto thee but my Father Ergo Such a knowledge is iustifying Faith begun This is too violent astraining of Scripture and as Volusian speaketh is not a sucking of milke but drawing of bloud from the dugs of the Church Ep. 1. ad Nic. 1. As for the Minor I haue already sufficiently demonstrated the falshood thereof only
satisfied For wee haue shewed first that the Ministrie of Arch-bishops Bishops and Priests is of diuine and Apostolicall institution and secondly if the superiority of Bishops bee not immediatly from God yet being not forbidden and tending to edification the Church vnder God hath power to ordaine them Hereunto wee expect your answer The ninth argument Mat. 22.25.26 Ep. 4.8.11.12 Ps 68.18 Ro. 14.23 Heb. 11.16 9 Because none can of Faith ioyne vnto the Hierarchie aforesaid because they are not warranted by the Word being not from Heauen but from the earth The Ministrie aforesaid is warranted by Gods Word as wee haue oftentimes said and so is from Heauen not from earth and therefore you may of Faith ioyne vnto it Had it not been a plant of Gods owne setting doubtlesse it would haue beene rooted out of the Church long since and not haue continued fifteen hundred yeeres together The tenth argument 10 Because none can submit vnto or haue spirituall communion with the Hierarchie and Ministrie aforesaid Rev. 14.9.10.11 but hee shall worship the Beast and his image spoken of in the Reuelation and receiue his marke in his forehead or hand and so make himselfe subiect to the wrath of God This argument though differing in words yet in sence and meaning is all one with the first For how can it bee conceiued that they who submit themselues vnto our Ministrie worship as you say the Beast and his Image vnlesse it be for that it is Antichristian For auoiding of Tautologie therefore I referre you vnto the answer of that argument where I plainely demonstrate that it is Christian not Antichristian so that in communicating with it there can bee no danger either of worshipping the Beasts-image or receiuing his marke or incurring the wrath of God But whereas you talke of worshipping the Beast you much mistake the matter For by the Beast is vnderstood not Antichrist but the Roman Empire whereof the State of Antichrist is the image Neither can you shew Rev. 18.4.5.6 2. Cor. 16.17.18 Ioh. 10.5 Num. 16.1.26.40.18.4.5 Ezeh 44.7.18.4.5 Mat. 15.13 Es 11.4 13. 14. Ier. 15. 50. 51.2 Thes 2.3.4.8 Rev. 14.6.7.8 17. 18. 19. if our Ministrie were Antichristian how by retaining it wee should worship the Roman Empire The eleuenth argument 11 Because all are straitly bound and charged by the Lord to depart from and witnesse against the aforesaid Prelacy and Priest-hood being a strange Ministrie and such as is opposed against and exalted aboue the holy ordinance and Ministrie of Christ and shall be abolished by him appearing in the light and power of the Gospell Our Ministrie neither is a strange Ministrie nor opposed or exalted aboue Christs Ministrie but Christs owne Ministrie as now once againe I tell you and therefore no man is charged either to depart from it or to witnesse against it But you are a strange disputer who so peremptorily affirme that which hath euer beene denied and neuer goe about to proue it As for that you say our Ministrie shall bee abolished by Christ appearing in the light and power of the Gospell it bewrayes what you desire should bee but is no certaine Oracle of what indeed shall be Sure I am our Ministrie hath subsisted this fifteen hundred yeeres and the light and power of the Gospell hitherto hath not abolished it but it hath still published and propagated the Gospell Happily when the Church shall cease to be militant and Christ shall deliuer vp the Kingdome to his Father that God may be all in all this ministrie shall haue an end But till then Credat Iudaeus Apella Non ego let Brownists and Barowists belieue it not I. Your obstinate begging of the principall matter in question conuinceth you to bee but a bad disputant and this rash and vnaduised prediction now dubbeth you for a false Prophet also The last argument 2. King 23.5 Ps 101. Pro. 16.10.11.12.25.2 5 Rev. 17.16 Deu. 17.18.19.20 Ro. 12.7.8 Eph. 4.11.12.13 1. Tim. 3. 5.9.17.6.13.14 12 Because it is the dutie and in the power of Princes to suppresse and root out of their dominions all false Ministries and therefore these as well â—s Abbots Friers Nuns Cardinals c. Whereas it is not in their power or of any vnder Heauen to abolish the offices giuen by Christ to his Church Here againe you take for granted that our Ministrie is but a false Ministrie and that Arch-bishops Bishops and Priests are no lesse Antichristian then Abbots Friers Nuns Cardinals which is euer denied but neuer confirmed by you Vaine man proue our Ministrie to bee false and wee will grant it is to be rooted out otherwise outfacing and desperate asseueration will not serue the turne And thus haue I briefly examined all your twelue reasons whereby you goe about to proue the Minor of your principall Syllogisme namely that our Church-officers Arch-bishops Bishops and Priests are not to be set ouer nor retained in the Church Whereupon I inferre seeing your Maior is barely affirmed being vntrue and your Minor so weakly and insufficiently proued you haue not as yet soundly concluded the lawfulnesse and necessity of your separation Let vs proceed to the second ground which you coÌ„ceiue in these words A true visible Church is a company of people called and separated from the world by the Word of God Act. 2.39.19.9 Ro. 1.6.7.10.14.15.16 Iob. 17.14.20 Ezek. 36.38 Phil. 1.5 Act. 2.41 42.47.11.21.24.13.4.34 Ro. 12.5 2. Cor. 9.13 Ps 110.13 Es. 14.1.44.5.60.8 Zach. 4.6.8.21.22.23 and ioyned together by voluntary profession of the Faith of Christ in the Fellowship of the Gospell Out of which if I mistake not you would conclude the iustnes of your separation thus Where there is not a company of people called and separated from the world and ioyned together as aboue there is not a true visible Church and consequently Separation ought to be made from it But in England there is not a company of people so called and separated from the world and so ioined together Ergo in England there is not a true visible Church and consequently separation ought to bee made from it I distinguish of the middle tearme Called for there is a double calling the one is Gratiae oblatae where by God onely inuites men vnto Christ and offers them Grace the other Gratiae inditae infusae whereby hee not only offers but infuseth grace also into them The former Calling maketh not a man of the Church for hee that is no otherwise called answereth not by Faith nor commeth vnto Christ but remaineth still in infidelity and so is vtterly excluded out of the Church Of the latter Calling I distinguish againe for it is either that whereby hee bestoweth vpon man Faith of Doctrine or that whereby ouer and aboue hee giues them Iustification together with true Sanctification Faith of Doctrine is either a Partiall or an Entire Faith a Partiall Faith whereby part onely of the Christian verity is held or an
that they euer remained more then conquerors And now as they haue left behind them a pretious name among the Saints so wee doubt not but their soules are bound vp in the bundle of life and enioy the blessed making vision of God for euermore Such books of theirs as are come to our hands we esteeme as rich treasures and value them aboue gold Them doe wee search and peruse with all diligence bee it spoken without offence no Papists more Yet can wee not throughout them meet with those terrible Bugbears you so much complain of rather wee wonder how you could misse all those good Angels so frequently appearing in them to comfirme and settle you in your first Faith For I wil bee bold to say notwithstanding all the brags and crakes of that side that the Fathers are ours not yours or if they bee yours in any thing it is in the pettiest and smallest matters for in the maine and great questions controuerted between vs they are expresly for vs and against you as hereafter God willing shall in part appeare Vpon confidence whereof whensoeuer wee were summond and called vnto the Fathers by you wee neuer refused their triall but euer haue beene ready to aduenture all vpon their verdict The chalenge of that famous Prelate Ser. at Pauls Crosse Doctor Iewell Bishop of Salisbury is yet fresh in memory that if any learned man of our aduersaries or if all the learned men that bee aliue be able to bring any one sufficient sentence out of any old Catholicke Doctor or Father or out of any old generall Councell or out of the holy Scriptures of God or any one example of the Primitiue Church whereby it may clearly and plainly be proued that there was any priuate Masse in the whole world at that time for the space of sixe hundred yeares after Christ and so foorth in seuen and twenty seuerall articles hee would bee content to yeeld and to subscribe Reply to Hardings Ans This chalenge as that renowned Bishop in his life-time made good himselfe against his aduersary Master Harding so was it neuer yet retracted by any of vs but hath stoutly beene maintained by sundry succeeding champions Heare one for all That sayth worthy Whitaker Con. Camp tat 5. which Iewell most truly and constantly vttered that day when hee appealed to the antiquity of sixe hundred yeeres and offered vnto you that if you could bring foorth but one sentence cleere and euident out of any Father or Councell he would not refuse to yeeld the victory vnto you the same doe we all professe we all promise the same we will not shrinke from our word Thus you see how wee reiect not the Fathers as you would beare the world in hand but triumph rather in the testimony they giue vs and in our Apologies and Defences alledge them plentifully against you Howbeit neither doe wee nor dare wee make Gods of them or equall them with the holy Apostles as if they were infallible and could not erre Clouen tongues neuer sate vpon them as they did vpon these neither did the Spirit of God so guide and direct their pens but that sometimes they might faile and write amisse Had they had infallibility of iudgement safely might wee build our Faith vpon them but this they vtterly disclaime acknowledging it to bee the peculiar priuiledge of the Apostles And so far are they from making themselues Masters of our Faith that they require vs to iudge and censure of their writings by the Scripture which is the rule of Faith Neither would they haue vs to tie our selues vnto their authority more then they tyed themselues vnto the authority of others but freely to accept or refuse as wee see iust cause Hom. 13. in 2. Cor. I pray and beseech you all saith Chrysostome that leauing this and that mans opinion you will search all these things out of the Scripture In Euseb hist l. 7. c. 24. Let it bee commended saith Dionysius of Alexandria and without enuy assented vnto which is rightly spoken but if any thing bee vnsoundly written let that bee looked into and corrected Epist 62. I know I my selfe saith Hierome esteeme of the Apostles in one sort and of other Writers in another that the first alwayes speake truth and the latter as men doe in some things erre De Trinit l. 3. c. 1. In all my writings saith Saint Augustin I desire not only a godly Reader but also a free corrector yet as I would haue the Reader addicted vnto mee so neither would I haue a corrector addicted to himselfe De lib. arb l. 2. c. 32. And againe I am not bound to the authority of this man meaning Cyprian but I examine his saying by the authority of Scripture and what agreeth therewith I receiue with his commendation what agreeth not by his leaue I refuse And yet againe Epist 111. ad Fortunat. Neither are wee to esteeme the disputations of any men although Catholicke and praise worthy as the Canonicall Scriptures that wee may not sauing the honour which is due to those men dislike and reiect something in their writings if happily wee find them to haue thought otherwise then the truth either by others or our selues through Gods help vnderstood Such am I in the writings of others and such would I haue the vnderstanders of mine to bee Epist 19. ad Hieron Finally I saith the same Saint Augustin confesse vnto your charity that I haue learned to yeeld vnto those books of Scripture alone which now are called Canonicall this reuerence and honor that I most firmely belieue no Author of them to haue erred any thing in writing And if I find any thing in their writings which seemeth contrary to truth I will not sticke to say that either the copie is faulty or the translator apprehended not what is spoken or I vnderstand it not But others I so read that how much soeuer they excell in holynesse and learning I thinke it not therefore true because they thought so but because either by those Canonicall Authors or by probable reason not abhorring from truth they were able to perswade mee Thus the Fathers whose steps if wee tread in and whose counsell if wee follow and not taking vp euery thing vpon trust but examining them by the touchstone of truth I hope wee are rather to bee commended then blamed And reason for neither were the Fathers more then men neither are wee of this age lesse then men And I wonder why we may not iudge of the sayings of those who are but men as well as our selues What haue wee not reasonable soules as well as they are we not endued with the same faculty of vnderstanding and discoursing haue wee not still the same helps both of nature and art which they had Or when they died did the Holy Ghost also giue vp the ghost with them or doth hee deny to assist these latter times with his enlightning grace as hee
Ecclesiasticall Hierarchy should bee this Denys In Act. 17. Erasmus further reporteth that one William Groâ—in an incomparable man both in Diuinity and all other humane learning beginning his Lectures in Pauls Church in London vpon the books of the Heauenly Hierarchy maintained with great vehemence that it was the worke of Denys the Arâ—opagite wondring at the impudence of them that denied it But before he had past halfe way into the worke he grew to be of another opinion and freely confessed that it seemed to bee none of this Denysses Finally Biblioth l. 2. L. 6. a. 22.9 Sixtus Senensis although hee professe himselfe to thinke otherwise yet hee acknowledgeth that not onely Cajetan but diuers others also doubt much whether those books bee his whose name they beare And thus hâ—ue I at length fully disengaged my selfe as touching this Dionysius hauing with many vnanswerable arguments maintained the Negatiue I vndertooke against you which if reason may preuaile with you are I am sure sufficient to conuince you if not yet sufficient to make you stagger But let vs returne into the lists againe and resume the argument which we began to vrge Many Counterfaits there are passing vp and downe and masking themselues vnder the names of ancient Fathers This is confessed of all hands I demaund then what infallible rule you haue whereby to discerne and that without mistaking which of them are spurious and which legitimate Neither blame mee for demaunding so much seeing your selues are not afraid to aske vs how we discerne the Gospell of S. Matthew to be Canonicall rather then that of Nicodemus Whereunto if I should answer with you that the Church hath resolued vpon the Canon of Scripture can you returne the like answer vnto my demand that the Church hath agreed vpon a Canon for the Fathers also If you cannot as I know you neither can nor will what further security I pray haue you Is it your owne iudgement But I haue already shewed you both in Dionysius Areopagita and Athanasius how much that hath deceiued you And not to flatter you I suppose you haue not so throughly attended and studied this point but that many other of these Counterfaits by bearing the name of the Fathers may bee entertained by you as the very Fathers themselues Is it then the iudgement of other learned men Alas they are distracted among themselues and one admitteth him whom another reiecteth For example the Constitutions of Clemens De author Le. l. 2. c. 11. Hist tom 2. p. 15. Enchir. tract de Euch. De Euchar. l. 2. c. 9. In 1. Tim. 3. De Euchar. l. 2. c. 14. Of Purg. l. 9. L. 4. in Hier. saith Stapleton is a booke full of of Apostolicall spirit yet saith Baronius it is reckoned among these that are Apocryphall Againe Echius voucheth Cypriâ—â—ide Caena Domâ—ni for Transubstantiaâ—â—on but Bellarmine denieth that booke to bee Cyprians The Iesuites of Rhenes also cite the Commentaries of Ambrose vpon the Epistles for the Popes supremacie yet Bellarmine holdeth it was neither written by Ambrose nor any Catholicke Cardinall Allen alledgeth Hierome on the Prouerbs for Purgatory but Sixtus Senensis denies those Commentaries to be Hieromes Tom. 4. d. 45. S. 1. n. 30. Finally for I will only giue you a tast Snares quoteth Augustin ad fratres in erome for Suffrages but the Censors of Louan tell him plainely that it is a counterfait booke Besides this if you will needs trust the iudgement of others herein perhaps when you thinke you heare a Father speake you may bee pitifully deceiued For whether it bee out of ignorance or retchlesnesse or set purpose to beguile I cannot tell but sure I am it is most vsuall and ordinary in all Popish writers to quote for Fathers those that are not Fathers and of ancient credit but I know not what Foundlings and Changelings borne in Fairie land and yesterday or three dayes agoe brought amongst vs. What adooe keepeth Master Harding with his Amphilochius Abdias Leontius Martialis Hippolytus Simeon Metaphrastes and other such knights of the poste What a rumble doe others make with the Epistles of Clemens Euaristus Telesphorus Hyginus Anicetus Soter Calixtus Vrbanus Pontianus Anterus Fabianus and the like the barbarousnesse of whose stile bewrayes that they were written rather by some illeterate clerke then learned Bishop But aboue all I cannot sufficiently wonder at Doctor Bristow and the whole Colledge of Rhemes Def. of Allen. Purg. In Pref. in Ioh. 10.29 Heb. 10.26 who knowing that of the twelue books which Cyril of Alexandria wrote vpon Iohn foure are perished namely the fift sixt seuenth and eigth and that one Iodocus Clichtoueus a mushrom of yesternight supplied them out of his owne braine yet cite these books of Clichtoueus againe and againe and that vnder the name of Saint Cyril himselfe And this you may please to bee aduertised of by way of Caueat also because as it seemed in our Conference you often read Saint Cyril and peruse him To vrge this point no further I conclude seeing you are not any way infallibly certaine which are the writings of the Fathers which not and the ground of Faith must be that which is infallibly certaine you cannot safely build vpon consent of Fathers vnlesse you will build vpon vncertainty But suppose there were no doubt at all of their writings which they bee yet you cannot with any security rest vpon them vnlesse you are in like manner certaine that after so many ages they still retaine their natiue purity and are come to your hands without any corruption But such certainty you can haue none for all the world knowes how shamefully the Fathers haue beene abused and how intolerably corrupted and that both of old and of late also Cap. 23. De Christo l. 1. c. 10. L. 4. tit Orig. Vincentius Lirinensis saith that diuers of the ancients thought the works of Origen had beene miserably depraued Bellarmine sayth it is very credible many blasphemies were inserted into them by Hereticks And Sixtus Senensis that they had defiled all his works with innumerable Heresies Id. ib. tit Leo. Pope Leo much grieued that his Epistles had beene polluted with the vnwashen hands of Hereticks And the Recognitions of Clemens were by them also corrupted Id. tit Clem. Id. ibid. l. 2. sayth Ruffin It is manifest also saith Sixtus Senensis that the Canons of the Apostles were contaminated by the Nicolaitans Tit. Iohan. Chrysost And the imperfect worke of Chrysostome vpon Mathew abounds with sundry strange monsters of Heretiks The same Sixtus further sayth Praefat. in l. 5. that Pamphilus Martyr Eusebius Caesariens Didymus and Ruffinus much complained that very many writings not only of Clemens Dionysius Origen and Athanasius but of other noble Doctors also were pitifully handled by Heretiks Pref in Basil de Sp. S. Erasmus not onely complaines that many things were foysted in by others into the middle of treatises as namely of Athanasius
authority of Basil surnamed the Great Blessed Athanasius Methodius and their followers for it If any shall say it was the opinion onely of Iohn B. of Thessalonica and not of the whole Councell I answer that what Iohn said Tharasius Patriarch of Constantinople forthwith confirmed and the whole Synod immediatly answered So it is my Lord. And this is so cleere that Bartholmew Carranza notes it as an errour in them Epit. Conc. ad cum loc Ep. 215. De Eccl. dog c. 11. 12. and contrary vnto the Lateran Councell yet addes withall that Saint Augustin was of the same mind But leauing other their errors I come without further delay to discharge that obligation wherein I stand bound to proue that the Fathers for a time generally held it necessary for all euen young Infants to bee partakers of the Eucharist Conc. Trid. Sess 5. can 4. or they could not bee saued which you know the Church of Rome alloweth not but condemneth as an error Eccl. hier c. 2. p. 3. First your Denys hee that goeth vnder the name of Areopagita after hee hath recited other ceremonies in the administration of Baptisme at length saith hee the Priest cals the partie Baptized to the most holy Eucharist and giues the Communion vnto him And lest you should vnderstand this of them that are baptized being Adulti Id. 7. c. 3. elsewhere he speaketh more plainely thus That children who cannot yet vnderstand diuine things should bee made partakers of holy Baptisme and of the mysticall signes of the most holy Communion may perhaps seeme ridiculous to profane men De lapsis if the Auditors when Bishops teach such Heauenly things bee not fit Saint Cyprian reports a story of a certaine Infant mayde who had not yet age enough to tell what wrong another had done her how when the Deacon had offered the holy chalice vnto her and shee refused hee powred it into her mouth Ibid. And a little after Will not those Infants saith hee when the day of iudgement shall come say wee haue done nothing neither forsaking the meat and cup of the Lord haue wee of our owne accord hastned to these profane contagions the perfidiousnesse of others hath ouerthrowne vs our Parents are our murtherers Innocent the first B. of Rome Ep. ad Patr. conc Milou That which your Brotherhood saith hee affirmeth them to preach namely that little ones may obtaine the reward of eternall life without the grace of Baptisme is very foolish for vnlesse they eat the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his blood they cannot haue life in them Con. Iul. Pel. l. 1. c. 2. Of this Innocentius S. Augustin saith how hee defined that little ones vnlesse they did eat the flesh of the Sonne of man they could by no meanes haue life in them Now I beseech you durst any man at that time hold otherwise then the head of the Church for so you count the Pope to bee had defined But let vs heare Saint Augustin himselfe Verily Con. duas Ep. Pel. l. 1. c. 22. saith he Christ is the Sauiour of little ones also and vnlesse they bee redeemed by him they must perish because without his flesh and blood they cannot haue life And againe Wherefore they also as I haue said Ad vital Ep. 107. if they die in that tender age shall certainly bee iudged according to the things they haue done by the Body namely during that time while they liued in the body when by the heart and mouth of them that bare them they belieued or not belieued when they were baptized or not baptized when they ate the flesh of Christ or not ate it when also they dranke his bloud or not dranke it according to these things I say which they haue done by the body not those which they would haue done had they liued longer here shall they bee iudged And yet againe De pec mer. remiss l. 1. c. 20. Away therefore now with doubting Let vs heare the Lord and not the suspicions and coniectures of men let vs I say heare the Lord speaking this not of the Sacrament of Baptisme but of the Sacrament of his holy Table to which none lawfully approcheth but hee that is Baptized Vnlesse you eat my Flesh and drinke my Blood you shall haue no life in you What seeke wee further What will they bee able to answer hereunto vnlesse obstinacy doe stretch their striuing sinewes against the constancy of euident truth Will any dare to say this also that this saying belongs not vnto little ones or that they may haue life in them without the participation of this Body and Blood because hee saith not hee that eateth not as of Baptisme hee that is not borne againe but thus If yee eat not as speaking to them who were able to heare and vnderstand which certainly little ones cannot But hee that saith so marketh not that vnlesse this saying hold all that they cannot haue life without the Body and Blood of the Sonne of Man euen the elder age also will make little reckoning of it And yet once more againe Ib. c. 24. The Carthaginian Christians excellently call Baptisme no other then Saluation and the Sacrament of the Body of Christ no other then Life Whence but from an ancient and as J thinke Apostolicall tradition by which the Churches of Christ hold as ingrafied into them that without Baptisme and the participation of the Lords Table no man can come not onely to the Kingdome of God but neither to saluation nor life eternall And this being thus proued by and by he concludes If therefore as so many and so pregnant diuine testimonies witnesse with ioint consent no man may hope either for saluation or eternall life without Baptisme and the Body and Blood of the Lord in vaine doe they promise it to little ones without them Thus Augustin where by the way obserue how hee affirmeth this his opinion to bee the Tenet of all the Churches of Christ To whom I adde lastly the eleuenth Councell of Toledo Can. 11. If any faithfull man being constrained by any ineuitable infirmity shall cast vp the Eucharist which hee hath receiued let him in no case bee subiect to Ecclesiasticall condemnation Likewise let not the censure of any condemne them who either in the time of their infancy shall doe the same or in the alienation of their mind seeming to bee ignorant of what they doe In Ioh. 6.53 In Tertull. de cor mill This error touching the necessity of the Eucharist to Infants continued in the Church a long time euen about sixe hundred yeeres as your Maldonat saith And Beatus Rhenanus obserueth out of the Rituall books called Agendae that the custome of ministring the Communion to Infants was still in vse vnto the times of Ludouicus Pius and Lotharius that is towards nine hundred yeeres after Christ Against all this I know not what can be said vnlesse perhaps that
shall dictate vnto you you are safe and cannot miscarry Now among simple and vnlettered Papists who is this Iudge but some Priest or Iesuite for other Iudge I am sure they meet with none A plausible course I confesse to many specially those that are idle and loth to take paines or weake and dare not trust their owne iudgement or superstitious and thinke they merit much by their blind obedience vnto their teachers But how plausible soeuer it may seeme to flesh and blood sure I am it is too broad to bee the narrow way that leadeth vnto life and the Kingdome of Heauen will neuer be attained vnlesse it suffer more violence then so I adde further it is too presumptuous to tie Diuine Prouidence vnto humane policy and for man first to deuise what in his wisdome seemeth fittest and then to resolue that therefore God hath ordered it so Yet this is the course your side ordinarily holdeth you loue rather to giue lawes vnto God then to take lawes from him and in this particular to prescribe what meanes God should appoint to settle vs in the knowledge of his truth rather then to vse the meanes which hee himselfe hath to that end appointed If you thinke this too hard a censure be it knowne vnto you that Bellarmine the Prince of Iesuits reasoneth so God saith hee De verb. Dei l. 3. c. 9. was not ignorant that many difficulties concerning the Faith would rise vp in the Church hee ought therefore to prouide some Iudge for the Church What Iudge Such a one doubtlesse as by his sole authority and sentence must bee able to resolue all difficulties Which for as much as neither Scripture noâ— any secular Prince can doe therefore it must needs bee the Prince of Ecclesiasticall that is the Pope See I beseech you how peruersly and preposterously they deale with you first they take vpon them to direct God whâ—â— what he should doe or else forsooth he shall not be prouident and discreet enough and then thrust their owne fancy vpon you as a point of Faith that God hath done it But to answer this yet a little more fully I affirme three things First that holy Scripture knowes not secondly that the ancient Fathers acknowledge not thirdly that as long as wee haue the Scripture there needs not any such standing humane Iudge in the Church as you dreame of As touching the first if you know any passage of Scripture wherein God hath authorized such a Iudge as you dreame of I require you to shew it for my part I know none Expresse Scripture I am sure you cannot shew deductions and consequences by your owne rule I haue no reason to admit For example if for proofe hereof you vrge that of our Sauiour to S. Peter I haue prayed for thee that thy Faith faile not Luc. 22.32 I would demand who shall bee iudge of the meaning of these words for I heare that Christ hath prayed for Saint Peter but I heare not that hee hath prayed for the Pope that his Faith fayle not and I know Saint Peter was firme and constant in the faith vnto his liues end but it seemes by Ecclesiasticall Hystory that sundry Popes haue made shipwracke of the Faith and become Hereticks If there be no Iudge to determine this doubt why doe you thrust such a Iudge vpon vs If there bee who is hee you will say the Pope Then thus you reason Christ prayed for S. Peter that his Faith might not faile by S. Peter the Pope also is vnderstood and this appeares because the Pope saith so therefore neither can the Popes Faith faile and consequently he is the ordinary infallible Iudge of the Church More briefly thus the Pope is that Iudge because the Pope will haue it so Nominate what other Iudge soeuer you list and what other Text besides you please and the argument is still the same too weake to persuade what you intend vnlesse by some new priuiledge out of any premisses you may conclude what you will In a word search the Scriptures throughout and you shall finde the Ministery and seruice of men established to bring vs to the Faith but an infallible humane magistery and Lordship to command Faith it knowes none That prerogatiue Royall it reserues onely vnto Christ himselfe Neither doe the ancient Fathers acknowledge any such Iudge which is the second point If they doe point I pray to the place for hitherto it hath beene vnknowne Many and sharp bickerings had those ancients with diuers and sundry Heretiks as Arius Macedonius Eutyches Nestorius and the like yet neuer did they either obiect vnto them that they wanted an infallible Iudge as you doe vnto vs or conuent them before the tribunall of such a Iudge which doubtlesse had beene a readier way then disputation to stop their mouths had there been such a soueraigne Officer in the Church Sundry and manifold are the writings of the ancient Fathers touching the Christian Faith of which some also were purposely written to instruct vs in all the doctrines of our religion and is it not strange that such men in such books remembring carefully all other points should forget so maine and principall a point as this is Nay more then this Tertullian long agoe wrote a booke of Prescriptions or Fore-pleadings against Hereticks Saint Augustin also wrote foure books of Christian Doctrine wherein his direct intent is to prescribe rules how to vnderstand and interpret Scripture And Vincentius Litinensis also hath written a short Commonitory for the Antiquity and Verity of the Catholike Faith against the profane nouelties of all Heresies If these Fathers had acknowledged this your imaginary Iudge how commeth it to passe that they no where mention him in these books For certainly here was the proper place and they could not without extreame supinity and negligence omit him had they knowne such a one such a one I say as vpon whom the security of Faith and vnity of the Church dependeth But this deep silence of theirs and that in so due a place and of matter so important euidently argues that they neuer were acquainted therewith and that it is but an Idole of these latter times Now if neither Scripture nor Fathers know such a Iudge I hope I may bee bold to inferre that the Church needs him not which is the third point For I trow this is both a safer and sounder kind of reasoning then that of yours Such a Iudge wee conceiue to bee necessary Therefore such a one hath God ordained But to cleere this point also I affirme that the Scriptures by themselues through Gods blessing vpon our endeauour is a sufficient outward meanes to bring vs to saluation and therefore there is no necessity of your externall Iudge The Consequence is plaine and euident the Antecedent thus I proue because all whatsoeuer is necessary to saluation is so cleerely and manifestly deliuered in them euen to the capacity of vulgar and ordinary men that if they
purchased vnto vs Rom. 14.14.20 Tit. 1.15 Gal. 5.1 who vnto the cleane as the Apostle saith hath made all things cleane 6 In this Liberty so deerely bought we are commanded to stand fast and not to suffer our selues againe to be entangled with the yoke of bondage We entangle our selues if now we place any holynes or religion in abstinence from some kind of meats or if we abstaine to the end wee may satisfy for our sins or thereby merit vnto our selues euerlasting life 1. Cor. 8.8 For Meat as S. Paul saith maketh vs not acceptable vnto God and againe The Kingdome of God is not meate or drinke but righteousnes and peace and ioy in the holy Ghost Rom. 14.17 Heb. 13.9 And yet againe It is a good thing that the hart bee stablished with grace and not with meats which haue not profited them that haue beene occupied therein 7. The Church of Rome therefore commanding abstinence from some kinds of meats to the same ends and as a part of diuine worship is guilty of horrible sacriledge and cruell tyranny For she robbeth the Church of her Liberty and imposeth vpon her that heauy yoke which Christ himselfe had taken off her necke To what end hath Christ freed our consciences if Rome may againe enthrall them and how easie a matter is it to auoid punishment and to win heauen if abstinence from flesh and egges will worke it 8. As wee must stand fast in this libertie so must we take heed that we abuse not our Liberty making it as S. Peter speaketh a cloake for our naughtines or 2. Pet. 2.16 Gal. 5.13 1. Cor. 10.23 as S. Paul saith vsing it as an occasion to the flesh For though all things that is all indifferent things bee lawfull yet are they not alwayes expedient and therefore are not alwayes indifferently to bee vsed or not vsed but as they are conuenient and wee find them tend either to edification or destruction 9. They are conuenient and destroy not when they are regulated and guided by Charity Temperance Piety and Loyalty First by Charity 1. Cor. 8.9 Rom. 14.15 V. 20.21 For wee may not by eating giue occasion of falling to them that are weake So doing wee should not walke charitably but destroy with our meats him for whom Christ died Though all things be pure yet is it euill to eat with offence When wee so sin against the Brethren and wound their weake conscience we sinne against Christ 1. Cor. 8.13.14 Wherefore S. Paul resolued rather then by eating he would offend his brother he would not eat flesh while the world standeth 10. Secondly by Temperance and Sobriety For repletion and fulnesse nourish in vs our inordinate lusts and make vs like pampered horses grow head-strong and vnruly Rom. 13.13 Wee may not therefore abuse our liberty vnto surfetting and drunkennesse yea if wee find that some meats or drinks though not excessiuely taken doe inflame our lusts wee must abstaine And this was the cause 2. Cor. 6.6 as I suppose why the Apostle Saint Paul knits these two together in Fasting in Chastity For according to the old saying Sine Cerere Baccho friget Venus without bread and wine venery and lust waxeth cold 11. And here I cannot but wonder at the vanity and peruersnesse of Romanists who for the subduing and taming of the flesh at times forbid the eating of flesh but in the meane season giue leaue to feed on all sorts of fishes marmelades and conserues and to drinke the strongest and choicest wines which without question prouoke and stirre vp lust as well as flesh As if to eat a bit of course flesh vpon a prohibited day were gluttony but to cram our selues with all other delicates were abstinence and fasting O blindnesse O stupidity 12 Thirdly by Piety and Religion For although Abstinence as Hierome saith bee not in it selfe a vertue nor any part of Diuine worship yet is it an instrument help and furtherance thereunto And therefore if wee would humble ourselues by repentance or pray vnto God with feruency for the auerting of dangers imminent or calamities incumbent vpon vs we are then by fasting to testify our humiliation and to quicken our deuotion as wee read the faithfull both vnder the Law and Gospell were euer wont to doe 13. Lastly by Loialtie and Dutifull subiection For if the Magistrate either for a publick ciuill good shall at times forbid the vse of some meats as of flesh on fridayes saturdayes emberweeks lent and the like or for the pacifying of Gods wrath in the common calamity of the state shall command a generall Fast wee are accordingly to abstaine Rom. 13.6 and to yeeld obedience vnto the Magistrate not only for feare but also for Conscience sake 14. Thus then first you haue Libertie by Christ to eate of all kind of meats secondly you are bound to stand fast in your Liberty and not to put your selfe vnder bondage againe thirdly you may not wantonlie abuse you liberty by doing such things as are inconuenient and hurt rather then edifie lastly our vse thereof must be moderated and directed by Charity Temperance Piety and Loyalty This if you know and thus if you doe you cannot erre nor doe amisse 15. Which that you may both know and doe you are to pray him that is the donor and giuer of all good things to make you both wise and prudent Wise in the knowledge and practice of whatsoeuer is of absolute nenessity vnto saluation prudent in the discretion and right vse of things indifferent This God grant you for his Christs sake Amen AN ANSWER VNTO CERTAINE REASONS FOR SEPARATION I Could haue wished withall my hart that in this particular I might haue proued a false prophet and that my feares concerning you though they were not without cause yet might haue been without effect But now I plainly perceiue that my words were no lesse then oracle and what I feared is accordingly come to passe For as I foretold you from strayning at gnats you are fallen to swallowing of Camels that is from scrupulousnes and nicenes in Kneeling at the Communion and other such like indifferent ceremonies you haue head-longly cast your selfe into the gulfe of Schisme and Separation In regard whereof hauing heretofore in the matter of Kneeling bestowed my labour in vaine vpon you I feare now that you are thus farre proceeded and setled as it were on your lees I shall much lesse preuayle with you Neuertheles because it pleased you to send me in writing the reasons of your Separation promising to returne with all speed if they were sufficiently answered I may not vnlesse I will betray the truth and faile in the duties of Charity refuse to take a little further paines with you Here therefore I send you this short and as I conceiue full answer the perusall whereof I leaue vnto you the censure vnto Gods Church and the issue vnto God himselfe Whom I humbly beseech of
Againe may not I with as good reason as you argue thus The state and Kingdome of Antichrist cannot be compleate without the authority of Ciuill Magistrates Ergo Ciuill Magistrates are Antichristian If this kinde of reasoning bee not good neither is yours for they are both of one mould Lastly Antichristianity being a Mysterie and not an Heathnish or Turkish opposition vnto Christ it cannot be compleate except it retaine many of Christs ordinances which therefore I trust you will not say to bee Antichristian A lie cannot subsist but vpon truth nor euill but in good nor Antichrists hypocrisie but vpon the Religion and discipline of Christ And thus haue I fully answered your first argument whereon I haue been the longer because it is the Basis and ground as it were of all the rest and the answer thereunto will in a manner serue them all or the most part of them Your second argument is this 2 Because it cannot be approued by the testament of Christ as the Ministrie had in his Church may and ought to bee * Eph. 4.11.12 1. Cor. 12.4.5.6.28.29 Ro. 12.7.8 1. Tim. 3. 5.3.9.17 6.13.14 And if such as could not proue by their genealogie that they were of Aaron were deposed from their Ministrie under Moses Law * Ezr. 2.62.63 Heb. 3.2.3 2.1.2.3 12.25 much more should such bee now deposed as haue not their offices warranted by Christs Testament If wee reduce your argument into forme it is this That Ministrie which cannot bee approued by the Testament of Christ is not to bee allowed in the Church But the Ministrie of the Church of England cannot bee approued by the Testament of Christ Ergo it is not to bee allowed in the Church The Minor which you might be sure we would deny you haue left naked to the wide world without proofe the Maior which you saw wee could not well deny you endeauour to fortifie with a double reason Let it be supposed then that it is denied how proue you it First The Ministerie had in the Church may and ought to bee so approued How doth this appeare By the places quoted in the margent Nothing lesse They approue indeed certaine officers in the Church but affirme not that euery officer ought to bee so approued Secondly if say you such as could not deriue their genealogy from Aaron were deposed much more are they to be deposed who cannot warrant their offices by Christs Testament A poore argument God wot For in the law there was an expresse commandment that none might execute the Priests office but hee that was of the linage of Aaron but that no office might bee admitted nor retained in the Church vnlesse it were so commanded I find no where in Scripture Wherefore to argue thus Nothing that is against Gods Word may bee allowed Ergo nor any thing that is not commanded is a plaine Non sequitur and it followes not Thus you see if a man were so disposed how easie it is to quarell with your Maior which yet simply I deny not Briefly therefore to cleare all I distinguish of these tearmes Approued and Warranted by the Word A thing may bee said to bee warranted or approued by the Word two wayes both when it is commanded and when it is not forbidden for things neither commanded nor forbidden are indifferent and subiect vnto the Churches power Hereupon thus I answer if you meane it in the former sence only then proue your Maior that what is not by commandment approued is vnlawfull if in the latter then I grant you the Maior that whatsoeuer is forbidden is vnlawfull But withall I deny the Minor that Archbishops Bishops Priests are forbidden requiring you to proue it which I know you can neuer doe For as touching so much of their dutie as is common to them all to wit the preaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments they are all Pastors and Teachers and so warranted in the Texts by you quoted but in regard of preeminence and superiority one aboue another Bishops are no other then were the Angels of the seuen Churches as wee haue aboue demonstrated Howsoeuer if Bishops bee not commanded yet are they not forbidden and their office making not against edification but for it rather it cannot being ordained by the Church but be lawfull Your third argument 3 Because the Church is the Spouse Kingdome and Body of Christ and therefore may not haue Antichrists Hierarchie and ministrie set ouer it or retained in it For what concord hath Christ with Beliall Antichrists Hierarchie and Ministrie may not beset ouer the Church nor retained in it Archbishops Bishops Priests are Antichrists Hierarchie and Ministrie Ergo Archbishops Bishops Priests may not bee set ouer the Church nor retained in it The Maior of this Syllogisme you are very carefull to maintaine because the Church is the Spouse the Kingdome the Body of Christ as also because there can bee no concord betwixt Christ and Belial But to what end all this and with such a stirre to proue that which no man gainsayes for wee confesse Christs Kingdome may not be gouerned by Antichrists policie You should rather haue laboured to strengthen the Minor that Archbishops Bishops and Priests are Antichrists Hierarchie and Ministrie for you might be well assured wee would neuer yeeld you that vnlesse by strength of reason you constrained vs. Here therefore against the rule of Logicke againe you beg the principall matter in question taking for granted that those offices are meerely Antichristian But you must proue it and not looke that whatsoeuer you fancie to be true others vpon your bare word must presently belieue and take to bee true See the answer to the first argument I proceed to the fourth 4 If when a King substituteth Iudges Iustices c. no subiects may either refuse to bee gouerned by these or set ouer themselues officers of other Kingdomes as the Roman tribunes c. how can it be lawfull for any Christians c. It is an old saying that Symbolical diuinitie is no argumēt of proofe and that Similitudes serue rather to illustrate and cleare a mans meaning then to proue and conuince the vnderstanding In regard whereof if I had so pleased I might well haue sleighted this fourth reason and not haue vouchsafed it any answere at all For what is it other then a bare and naked Similitude neuertheles for further satisfaction let vs trie the strength thereof Two things you auouch first that Christians may not refuse to bee gouerned by those officers which Christ hath set ouer them secondly that Christians may not set ouer themselues officers of Antichrists kingdome The former I confesse is true but nothing to the purpose For we reiect not the officers ordained by Christ nor refuse to be gouerned by them If we doe so haue all Churches also done downe from S. Iohns time vnto this present age within which compasse you cānot name any one Church at any time moulded after
goodnesse either grant vs the Gift or sanctifie the meanes vnto vs that keeping our selues cleane both in body and soule wee may bee presented vnto thee as pure and vnspotted Virgins in the last day Amen A LETTER INsteed of a few words which I promised to write you I haue here sent this little treatise which if you diligently read and peruse it will more fully informe and resolue you then I should haue done Neuerthelesse that I may in some sort discharge my promise and not altogether faile your expectation in few words thus I would wish you diligently to remember that to bee grieued and troubled for sinne is a necessary duty and that it ought to be so For as in the poole of Bethesda there could bee no cure wrought vntill the Angell had troubled the water so neither is there any remission of sinnes and healing of the soule vntill by the worke of Gods Spirit the heart bee bruzed and broken When such an Angell as Peter was shall by his powerfull preaching haue pricked the Conscience and made men both to see their sinne and to feele the misery thereof then and not before doe they crie out Men and Brethren what shall wee doe Sorrow for sinne is a blessed sorrow A broken and contrite spirit God neuer yet despised Those and those alone who feele the heauy loade and burden of their sinnes doth Christ inuite vnto him and vnto them doth hee promise refreshment Hee that oftentimes watered his couch with his teares and as oftentasted the sweet consolations of Gods blessed Spirit hath out of his experience seriously affirmed that whosoeuer soweth in teares shall surely reap in ioy and a day of reioycing shall euer succeed the night of mourning And to speake the truth sorrow was made for nothing but for sinne A potion is made onely for that disease which it is able to cure and sorrow for that onely which it is able to remedie Losse of friends health wealth and the like were neuer yet recouered with weeping but the teares of true repentance haue euer cleansed the soule from sinne and purchased both pardon and fauour from God Sorrow therefore was made onely for sinne Mourne then in Gods name for your sinnes but yet take heed you mourne not as those that are without hope You cannot doe a greater wrong vnto the infinite mercy of God and the inualuable merits of Christ your Sauiour then to thinke them lesse then your sinnes or demerits If Satan suggest any such thing vnto you spare him not but tell him hee lies for Gods goodnes cannot bee outreached by mans wickednesse and where sinne doth abound grace doth much more abound If your sinnes were as red as scarlet yet vpon your true repentance God both can and will make you as white as snow And of your repentance you cannot well make doubt there being in you as you haue confessed vnto mee both hearty sorrow for sinnes past and vnfained resolution of amendement for the time to come which are the two essentiall parts of true repentance Yea but you haue committed that sinne which is vnto death and can neuer bee forgiuen nor in this nor in the next world If so to what end doe you seeke vnto mee for comfort And why doe I wast paper in writing vnto you But vpon what ground haue you entertayned this conceit Forsooth you haue often sworne and forsworne against your knowledge I will not extenuate your sin it is I confesse grieuous and fearefull neither would I willingly hinder you from a long pennance in sackcloth and ashes for the same Howbeit I would aduise you to steere right betweene these two dangerous gulfes for as you must not make mole-hils of mountaines nor frailties of furies so neither must you of euery sinne though otherwise heinous and enormious make that vnpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost It is not often swearing or cursing no nor forswearing or periury and the like which God neither can nor will forgiue For then what should become of that worthy Apostle Saint Peter who forswore his Lord and Sauiour euen against his Conscience and that not once but thrice with most horrible execration and cursing you haue not sinned in so high a nature as Peter did neuerthelesse now that Christ looketh backe vpon you as hee did on him touching your heart with consideration of what you haue done I giue you good leaue to goe foorth with him and to weep as bitterly as you can But despaire not of pardon nor count it the sinne against the Holy Ghost for so did not hee That sinne is no lesse then a wilfull malicious and obstinate denying of the foundation namely that Iesus is the Mediator and Redeemer of the world It is a totall apostasie from the Faith when the whole man reuolteth from the whole Christian Religion wholly with an obstinate resolution neuer to returne to it any more This sinne I know you are farre from and you dare not say you haue committed it Neither is it possible for him that is guilty thereof to doe as you now a long time haue done that is to mourne and lament for his sinnes His stubborne and reprobate heart is not so tender but being past all sorrow and feeling rather reioyceth in his desperate and malicious obstinacy More I might write but let this little booke I send you bee insteed thereof It remayneth that henceforward you play the valiant souldier of Christ and suffer not your selfe any longer to be led by passion but onely by the rules and directions of Gods blessed Word For my part I will not cease to pray vnto the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ for you that this pricke may be eftsoones taken from you or if for you further exercise and triall hee delay you a little longer that yet your Faith may settle and rest vpon that answer which God gaue vnto Paul being in the like case My grace is sufficient for thee Farewell THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY IS TRVLY Deipara the Mother of GOD. THIS Proposition either in expresse or equiualent tearmes hath euer been held by all Orthodoxe writers both ancient and moderne specially those who haue liued since Nestorius broached the contrary heresie This Nestorius about foure hundred yeeres after Christ was Patriarch of Constantinople who when his Chaplaine Anastasius had publickly taught that the blessed Virgin Mary ought not to bee called the Mother of God was so farre saith Socrates from checking in him these blasphemies against Christ L. 7. c. 32. that hee maintained him in it and reiected himselfe the word Deipara Euagr. l. 1. c. 7. or Mother of God Wherefore hee was banished into the I le Oasis where hee died miserably hauing his accursed tongue eaten out with wormes But as I say the Church of God hath euer held and defended the contrary which I proue by vnanswerable reasons And. Can. 1. First by generall Councels In the Councell of Ephesus it was thus decreed Whosoeuer confesseth not the