it vnto them and they to others all of them call it our Lords Body Finally against their true and reall receiuing of Christ by faith I say Either the soule ascendeth to heauen there to feed on Christ by fayth which Caluin confesseth or els Christ descendeth to earth to feed the same Not the first for so the vnglorified soule of man should be in two places at once which yet they deny euen to the glorified body of Iesus-Christ Not the second for so Christ should be in two places at once whom yet they say that the Heauens must contayne till the day of iudgement Acts 3. ¶ See Fathers that affirme the same S. Ignat. in ep ad Smyr S. Iustin Apol. 2. ad Antoninum S. Cyprian serm 4. de lapsis S. Amb. lib 4. de Sacram. saith It is bread before the words of the Sacrament but after c. of bread it is made the flesh of Christ S. Remigius saith The flesh which the Word of God tooke in the Virgins wombe and the bread consecrated in the Church are one body XL. That we ought to receiue vnder both kindes and that one alone sufficeth not COntrary to the expresse wordes of their owne Bible Iohn 6.51 If any man eate of this bread he shall liue for euer and the bread which I will giue is my flesh Loe euerlasting life is attributed by our Lord himselfe to the eating only vnder ohe kind Therfore one alone doth suffice Luc. 24.30.8.35 Christ at Emaus communicated his two Disciples vnder one kind Both S. Augustine and Theophilact expound this place of the B. Sacrament lib. de consens euang cap. 35. S. Chrysost hom 17. operis imperfecti S. Thomas of Aquin and many others But they will alleadge to the contrary that of S. Iohn Vnles you eate the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his bloud you shall not haue life in you The answere hereto is very easy which is that the coniunction and is there taken disiunctiuely insteed of or as is learnedly obserued by Doctor Kellison in his Reply to M. Sutclisse pag. 189. Againe Christ in those words teacheth vs the precept and not the manner of the precept that is to say he commandeth vs to receiue his body and his bloud without determining whether vnder one kind or vnder both as the Councell of Trent declareth For he that said Vnles you eate the flesp of the Sonne of man and drinke his bloud you shal not haue life in you hath also said If any one eate of this bread he shall liue for euer And he that said He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud hath life euerlasting hath also said The bread which I will giue is my flesh for the life of the world He that said Who so eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud dwelleth in me and I in him hath likewise said He that eateth this bread shall liue foreuer Therefore one alone doth suffice See more Act. 2.42 XLI That there is not in the Church a true and proper Sacrifice and that the Masse is not this Sacrifice COntrary to the expresse wordes of their owne Bible Malachy 1.11 From the rising of the sunne euen to the going downe of the same my Name shall be great among the Gentils and in euery place Incense shall be offered to my Name and a pure offering But this Sacrifice or pure Offering cannot be vnderstood of Christ vpon the Crosse as they would haue it which was offered only once and in once place and then also not among the Gentils nor yet can be euer iterated therfore neither is nor can be other then the dayly Sacrifice of the Masse Psal 110. we 109. 4. The Lord hath sworne and will not repent Thou art a Priest foreuer after the order of Melchisedech But Melchisedechs Sacrifice was made in bread and wine therefote it must either be granted that our Sauiour doth now sacrifice yea and euer shall in bread and wine aboue in Heauen which were absurd to say or els that this is meant of the Sacrifice of the Masse wheron the Eternity of his Priesthood doth depend on earth Nor can this be in a spirituall sort only for that would not make him a Priest of any certaine order as Melchisedech was Luc. 22.19 This is my body which is giuen for you Which wordes do plainly proue not only that Christs body is truly present but withall so present as that it is giuen offered or sacrificed for vs. For Christ sayth not which is giuen to you broken to you or shed to you but for you Which clearly sheweth it to be a sacrifice it being euident that one would neuer say of the Sacrament in the quality of a Sacrament that it is giuen for man but to man that it to say that a man receiueth it and contrary wise of a Sacrifice that it is offered not to man but for man See more Heb. 7.15.16.17 Heb. 8.1.3 Heb. 9.11 ¶ The Fathers that affirme the same are S. Clement Apost const lib. 6. cap. 23. who calleth it A reasonable vnblouly and mysticall Sacrifice S. Aug. A singular or most excellent sacrifice lib. 1. cont aduers leg and prophet cap. 18.19 S. Chrysost hom in Psal 95. The mysticall table a pure and vnbloudy host a heauenly and most reuerend Sacrifice Isichius in Leuit cap. 4. sayth that Christ preuenting his enemies first sacrificed himselfe in his mysticall supper and afterwards on the Crosse S. Greg. Nissen orat 4. de Resurrectione prouing that our Sauiour gaue his body and bloud in sacrifice for vs in his last supper sayth excellently That a man cannot eate the sheepe vnles the slaughter goe before and yet auerreth this to haue been done by Christ in his last supper XLII That Sacrament all Vnction is not to be vsed to the sicke COntrary to the expresse words of their owne Bible Iames 5.14 Is any sick among you Let him call for the Elders of the Churth and let them pray ouer him anointing him with oyle in the name of the Lord and the prayer of faith shall saue the sick and the Lord shall rayse him vp and if he haue committed sinnes they shall be forgiuen him Hardly is there any Sacrament wherof the matter the minister and the effect are more expresly specified in all the Scripture then of this The forme is the prayer Let them pray ouer him The matter the oyle Anoynting him with oyle The minister a Priest or Elder of the Church Let him call for the Elders of the Church The primary effect is the forgiuenes of sinnes and the secondary the easing of the sick in body saying And the Lord shall raise him vp and if he haue committed sinnes they shal be forgiuen him Therfore Sacramentall Vnction is to be vsed to the sicke Marc. 6.13 And they annointed with oyle many that were sicke and healed them Where it is cleare that the Apostles themselues put in practice this holy vnctiō Which Beza confesseth in his Annotations saying that
Elias talking with them Therfore Saints deceased haue afterwards appeared to some on earth Matt. 27.52 And the graues were opened and many bodies of Saints which slept arose and came out of the graues after his resurrection and went into the holy Citty and appeared vnto many c. 2. Mac. 15.12 Onias the High Priest after he was dead appeared to Iudas Machabaeus aliue The like did Samuel vnto Saul What shall we say then to those that will deny a truth to cleere For some such my selfe haue met withall See more Luc. Luc. 16.27.28 Ioan. 11.44 Luc. 7.15 23. Mat. 9.25 Marc. 5.42 ¶ See S. Bede l. 5. cap. 13. hist of England S. Gregory in his booke of Morals in sundry places XXXI That the Saints deceased know not what passeth heere on earth COntrary to the expresse words of their owne Bible Luc. 16. 29. Where Abraham knew that there were Moyses and the Prophets Books heere on earth which he himselfe had neuer seene when he was aliue as S. Aug. witnesseth lib. de cura pro mortuis cap. 14. Therefore the Saints deceased know what passeth here on earth Iohn 5.45 Doe not thinke that I wil accuse you to the Father there is one that accuseth you euen Moyses in whome we trust But how could Moyses dead two thousand yeares before accuse those that were then liuing if the Saints deceased know not what passeth heere on earth Like vnto this is that Reuel 12.10 And I heard a loud voyce saying in heauen c. The accuser of our brethren is cast downe which accuseth them before our God day and night Now she diuels cannot accuse men day and night before God but they must first know wherof who then will for shame deny that vnto Saints and Angels which must needes be granted to the very deuill 2. Kings 6.12 we 4. Kings O King Elisha the Prophet that is in Israel telleth the King the of Israel words that thou speakest in thy bed-chamber Hence I thus argue If the light of Prophecy could extend it selfe so far as to make knowne see and vnderstand things so secret yea euen to inward thoughts who can with reason deny that the light of glory can do the same in the soules of the blessed The like is proued out of many other places of holy Scripture as 2. Reg. 5.26 where the Prophet Elizeus being a far of saw all that passed betwixt Naaman and Giesi his seruant S. Paul was rapt into the third Heauen and saw that which was not to be tould to man 1. Cor. 12. S. Stephen saw from earth Christ sitting at the right hand of his Father Act. 7. The Rich-glutton saw from hell to heauen as Protestants confesse how then say they that the Saints cannot know or see from heauen to earth And without some reciprocall knowledge there could be no communion at all betweene the Saints in Heauen and the faythful on earth the which is an article of our creed which notwithstanding the continuall passage of soules thither doth conuince See more Matt. 19.28 Reuel 2.26 Luc. 22.30 Acts. 5.3.1 Kinges 28.14 Eccles 4.6.23 ¶ See Eusebius serm de Annunt S. Hier. in epitaph Paulae S. Maximus serm de S. Agnete XXXII That the Saints pray not for vs. COntrary to the expresse wordes of their owne Bible Reuelat 5.8 The foure and twenty Elders fell downe before the Lambe hauing euery one of them harpes and golden vialls full of odours which are the prayers of Saints Lo how among so many diuine and vnsearchable mysteries set downe in holy Writ without exposition it pleased God that the Apostle himselfe should cleerly open this point vnto vs saying which odours are the prayers of Saints that so our Aduersaries may haue no excuse of their errour Therfore the Saints pray for vs. 2. Machab. 15.14 Then Onias answered saying This is a louer of the brethren who prayeth much for the people and for the holy Citty to wit Ieremias the Prophet of God Ancient Origen hom 18. in Ioan. saith It appeareth that Saints departed from this life haue care of the people as it is writen in the actes of the Machabees many yeares after the death of Ieremy Ierem. 15.1 Though Moyses and Samuel stood before me yet my mind could not be towards this people Hence S. Hierom. in his Commentaries and S. Greg. lib. 9. of his Moralls cap. 12. do gather that Moyses and Samuel after their death both could and did sometimes pray for the same people for otherwise it should be absurd to say Though Moyses and Samuel stood before me c. Baruch 3.4 O Lord almighty thou God of Israel heare now the prayers of the dead Israëlites we read of the dead of Israël And Theodoret paraphrasing vpon the Prophet Baruch interpreteth this place as Catholiques do Therfore the dead of Israel prayed for the liuing Reuel 2.26.27 And he that ouercommeth keepeth my works vnto the end to him will I giue power ouer the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron Since Iesus-Christ therfore imparteth his power vnto them vpon nations therfore they may with Iesus-Christ pray for those ouer whom they are thus established So S. Augustine expoundeth the same writing vpon the 2. Psalme We read also in the 16. of S. Luc. that the Rich-glutton in hell prayed for his brethren that were on earth If therefore the Saints in heauen pray not for vs their brethren on earth then we may say that greater is the Charity of the damned then of the saued But this were too absurd to say A conclusion which S. Aug. draweth from this very place ¶ See S Aug. serm 15. de verbis Apost S. Hilar. in Psalm 129. S. Damascen lib. 4. de fide cap. 16. with many others XXXIII That we ought not to beseech God to graunt our prayers in fauour of the Saints or their Merits nor do we receiue any benefit therby TWo wayes there are of praying by the mediation of the blessed Saints The one by beseeching God to grant our desires in fauour of them and their merits The other by expresly praying them to intercede and pray to God for vs. Both being impugned by our Reformers we will proue them our of their owne Bible The proofe of the first is contrary to the expresse words of their owne text Exod. 32.13 Remember Abraham Isaac and Israell thy seruants to whom thou swarest by thine owne selfe and saidst vnto them I will multiply your seed as the starres of heauen c. And our Lord repented we read was pacified of the euill which he thought to do vnto his people Loe how plainly Moyses prayed to God by the meditation of the holy Patriarches A forme of prayer so pleasing to him as hauing said a litle before that for their sinne of Idolatry he would consume them the memory of his holy Seruants being but laid before him he presently pardoned them Therfore we may beseech God to grant vs our prayers in fauour of them Theod.
quaest 67. in Exod. writeth that Moyses not thinking himselfe sufficient to appease God by himselfe added the intercession of the holy Patriarkes And the like doth S. Aug. quaest 149. in Exod. 2. Chron. 6.16 Now therfore O Lord my God of Israel keep with thy seruant Dauid that which thou hast promised him And Psal 132. we 131. Lord remember Dauid and all his afflictions Loe againe the faith of the ancient Church of God before the comming of Iesus-Christ and how seruent they were in this deuotion still alleadging the memories and merits of their Saints deceased thereby to mooue Gods mercy towards them So prayed Salomon 2. Chron. 1.9 So prayed Isay 63.17 So prayed Hester 13.14 So prayed Dauid 1. Chron. 29.18 naming Abraham Isaac and Iacob for his intercessors Who euer heard a Protestant to say Lord remember thine owne mother and all her afflictions or Peter and Paul and their persecutions Nay they desire the Papists to hould them blameles for feare forsooth least they should blaspheme Exod. 20.5 I the Lord thy God am a iealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers vpon the children vnto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me and shewing mercy vnto thousands of them that loue me and keep my commandements Heere againe God threatneth to punish the demerits of wicked men deceased vnto the fourth generation of their children aliue and to reward the merits of good men deceased vnto the thousand generation of their children aliue Therfore we at this very day receiue benefits by meanes of our godly Auncestors deceased a thousand generations agoe Thus much for the proofe of the first point and now to passe vnto the second XXXIV That we ought not expressely to pray them to pray or intercede to God for vs. COntrary to the expresse wordes of their owne Bible Luc. 16.24 Father Abraham haue mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his fingar in water and coole my tongue for I am tormented in this flame Loe two Saints are prayed vnto and besought in one verse and yet our Reformers vsually bid vs shew them so much as one place in all the Bible for proofe hereof Where then for Gods sake are their eyes But they will reply and say that this is a parable and not a Prayer which we deny offering to be tryed by the voice often renowned and Ancient Fathers all affirming this to be a true history not a Parable as Theophilact Tertullian Clemens Alex. S. Chrysostome S. Irenaeus S. Ambrose S. Augustine S. Gregory Euthymius and our owne Contreyman Venerable Bede But grant it to be a Parable what doth this make either for them or against vs For euery Parable is either true in it selfe in the persons named or at least is or may be true in some other or else it were a flat lye or at least a fiction or fable which I presume they will neuer deny Wherupon I thus conclude as S. Aug. did a litle before vpon the selfe same history If the rich Glutton in Hell prayed to Abraham who as our Reformers say was in heauen why may not we who are in earth pray to them who are in heauen Iob 5.1 Call now if there be any that will answere thee and to which of the Saints wilt thou turne we read and turne to some of the Saints Now if it had not bene the custome in the time of Iob to inuocate the holy Saints it had bene friuolous for Eliphas to haue asked Iob to which of the Saints he would turne him Whereto I adde that S. August expoundeth this very place in his annotations vpon Iob in the same sense that Catholikes do yea and long before him the seauenty Interpreters See more 2. Pet. 1.15 Dan. 3. 28. Hester 13.14 1. Chron. 29.18 Luc. 16.9 15.10 ¶ The Fathers that affirme the same are S. Dionysius cap. 7. Eccles Hier. S. Athanasius serm de Annunt S. Basil orat in 40. Mart. S. Chrysost hom 66. ad popul Finally S. Hierome prayed to S. Paula in Epitaph S. Paulae S. Maximus to S. Agnes serm de S. Agnete S. Bernard to our B. Lady and the like XXXV That the Bones or Reliks of Saints are not to be kept or reserued no vertue proceeding from them after they be once dead COntrary to the expresse words of their owne Bible 2. Kinges we 4. 13.22 where it is written that the Bones of Eliseus being touched by one that was dead they did reuiue him But this could not be had not some vertue proceeded from them Acts 5.14.15 And belieuers were the more added to the Lord multitudes both of men and women in so much that they brought forth the sick into the streetes and layd them on beds and couches that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might ouershadow some of them It followeth in ours and that they all might be deliuered from their infirmities which is quite left out in the later English Bibles though those set forth in the beginning of Q. Elizabeths raygne haue it as ours in particuler that of anno 1560. Wherupon S. Aug. ser 39. de Sanctis saith If the shadow of S. Peters body could help then how much more now the fulnes of his power Wherin he supposeth two thinges The one that the shadow of his body being heere on earth did both help and heale infirmities which the late English Bibles all leaue out as I said and I know no reason for it The other that being in heauen he can still help vs by his power Act. 19.11.12 And God wrought speciall miracles by the handes of Paul so that from his body were brought vnto the sick hand-kerchers or approns and the diseases departed from them and the euill spirits went out of them S. Chrysostome tom 5. cont Gentiles Quod Christus sit Deus in a whole booke proueth hereby and by the like vertue of other Saints and their Reliques that Christ their Lord and Maister is God whose seruants shadowes and napkins could do such wonders See more Exod. 13.19.2 Reg. 2.8.14 Iohn 1.27 where S. Iohn had a reuerend esteeme of the very latchet of our Sauiours sho as of a Relique which he was not worthy to vnbuckle or touch with his hand And the woman with the bloudy flux of the hemme of his holy garment ¶ See the ancient Fathers that affirme the same Euseb lib. 7. hist cap. 15. S. Athanasius in vita S. Antonij S. Basil in Psal 115. S. Chrysost serm de sanctis Iuuentio Maximo And S. Ambrose sayth But if you aske me what I honour in flesh dissolued I honour in the martyrs flesh his woundes receiued for Christs name And I honour his ashes made holy by the confession of Christ XXXVI That creatures cannot be sanctified or made more holy then they are already of their owne nature COntrary to the expresse words of their owne Bible 1. Tim. 4.4 For euery creature of God is good and nothing to be
by S. Aug. haeres 53. Mat. 17.21 Howbeit this kind of deuills goeth not out but by prayer and fasting Loe the great force of prayer and fasting able to expell the very deuill Therfore it causeth great spirituall good See more Ioel. 2.12 Mat. 6.16 Mat. 9.15.29 Toby 12.8 Luc. 2.37 Act. 14.22 2. Cor. 11.27 2. Cor. 6.5 Numb 30.14 1. Tim. 4.3 ¶ And the Fathers S. Ignat. ad Philip. S. Basil orat de Ieiunio S. Chrysost orat in sanct Lauacrum hom 1. in Gen. S. Amb. ser 4. S. Hier. in cap. 18. Isa and many others XLVI That Iesus-Christ descended not into hell nor deliuered thence the soules of the Fathers COntrary to the expresse words of their owne Bible 1. Ephes 4.8 When he ascended vpon high he led Captiuity captiue in their margent or a multitude of captiues and gaue gifts vnto men Now that he ascended what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth These freed Captiues to be the soules of the glorified no man in his right wits will say Nor the soules of the damned for so the deuils should be brought againe into heauen therefore they were the soules of the Fathers which Christ deliuered out of Limbus Actes 2.27 Because thou wilt not leaue my soule in hell neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption These very wordes S. Aug. applieth to the proofe of a third place and saith Who but an Infided will deny Christ to haue descended into Hell Epist 99. ad Euod 1. Pet. 3.18.19 Being put to death in the flesh but quickned by the spirit by which also he went and preached vnto the spirits in prison Now to vnderstand by the word prison heauen there is no sense sith it is called the seate of God and not the prison of God To vnderstand it of the wicked Caluin himselfe opposeth this opinion and maintayneth that S. Peter speaketh of the good which were knowne from the dayes of Noe. Adde heerto that this doctrine destroyeth an article of our Creed Therefore Christ descended into hell Heb. 11.38.39.40 And these all hauing obtained a good testimony through faith receiued not the promise to wit of Heauen God hauing prouided some better thing for vs that they without vs should not be made perfect to wit in their perfect complete glory Whence it followeth necessarily that they must needes grant another place distinct as well from the Heauen of the saued as from the Hell of the damned wherin these holy soules were detayned Mat. 12.40 For as Ionas was three dayes and three nights in the Whales belly so shall the Sonne of man be three dayes three nights in the hart of the earth But how I pray is this Figure fulfilled if Christ were not as many dayes and nightes in the heart of the earth as Ionas was who was not in the whales belly in body only but also in soule Whence it followeth that either Christs holy soule was three dayes and three nights in the hart of the earth as well as his body or that this place of Scripture is either false or vnfulfilled But this were most absurd to say Mat. 27.52.53 And the graues were opend and many bodies of Saints which slept arose and came out of the graues after his resurrection and went into the holy Citty and appeared vnto many Vnderstood by S. Ignatius Bishop of Antioch of Limbus Patrum writing to the Cittizens of Trallis thus Many arose with our Lord for the Scripture saith that many of the bodies that slept arose with our Lord. He descended alone but returned with a multitude Zachary 9.11 As for thee also by the bloud of thy Couenant I haue sent we read let forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherin is no water Both S. Hierome and S. Cyril vnderstand this pit to be meant of Limbus Patrum And with very great reason for how absurd were it to say that the damned haue their share in the bloud of the Couenant Or that they are let forth of their infernall pit Or that they may be said to be thy prisoners that is Christs but rather the prisoners of the diuell Yea where I pray to speake properly hath Christ had any prisoners at all which he hath let forth if not out of this place Therfore either Christ let forth prisoners our of Limbus Patrum or this place likewise as the former is either false or not yet fulfilled Like vnto this is that of 1. Samuel 2.6 The Lord killeth and maketh aliue he bringeth downe to the graue we read hell and bringeth vp we read back againe Loe how plaine and conforme the faith of that old Church was is to this of ours bringeth downe to hell and bringeth backe againe which hardly in any cleare sense can be auerred if Limbus Patrum be denyed As for the word Graue which they erroneously haue added insteed of Hell to diminish the force of so plaine a place why do they not aswell foist the same into their Creed insteed of Hell as heere they haue done and say Was crucified dead and buried he descended into the graue How absurd this is who doth not see See more Osee 6.3 Psal 16.10.2 Pet. 3.19 Zach. 9.11 Rō 10.6 Eccles 24.45 Ps 23.7 Genes 37.35 ¶ See also the Fathers that affirme the same S. Hier. in 4. ad Ephes S. Greg. lib. 13. Moral cap. 20. S. Aug. in Psal 37. v. 1. The place beginneth Futurū est enim XLVII That there is no Purgatory fire or other prison wher in sinnes may be satisfied for after this life COntrary to the expresse wordes of their owne Bible 1. Cor. 3.13.15 The fire shall try euery mans worke of what sort it is If any mans worke shal be burnt he shall suffer losse but he himselfe shall be saued yet so as by fire S. Augustine writing vpon the 37. Psalme and drawing these very wordes of the Apostle into his discourse sayth Because it is said he himselfe shall be safe that fire is therfore contemned Yea verily though safe by fire yet that fire shall be more grieuous then whatsoeuer a man can suffer in this life Thus he Therfore there is a Purgatory fire wherein sinnes may be satisfied for after his life Iohn 11.22 But I know that euen now whatsoeuer thou wilt aske of God God will giue it thee S. Martha the sister of S. Mary Magdalen belieued that our Lord whom then she held only for a holy man or Prophet and not for the Sonne of God could obtaine of God something profitable to her brother Lazarus who was deceased For hauing said Lord if thou hadst bene heere my brother had not bene dead she presently added But I know that euen now whatsoeuer thou wilt aske of God God will giue it thee Which speach she could neuer haue vsed in any good sense if she had not learned this doctrine of the Sinagogue who offered sacrifices almes and prayers for the departed and vnles she had
Mat. 7.21.22 Mat. 5.21 Mat. 19.17 and 11.16 Mat. 12.33 Mat. 16.16 Gal. 3.12 1 Tim. 5.8 1. Ioan. 2.4 1. Ioan. 3.22 Rom. 3.31 Philip. 2.12 ¶ The Fathers that affirme this are Origen in 5. Rom. S. Hilar. cap. 7. in Matt. And S. Ambr. in 4. ad Heb. sayth Fayth alone sufficeth not S. Aug. de fide and operibus cap. 15. sayth I see not why Christ should say If thou wilt haue life euerlasting keep the cōmaundements if without obseruing of them by only fayth one might be saued XXII That no good Workes an meritorious COntrary to the expresse wordes of their owne Bible Matt. 16.27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his Angells and then he shall reward euery man according to his workes He sayth not that he shall reward euery man according to his mercy or their fayth but according to their workes So S. August de verbis Apost serm 35. doth interprete Matt. 5.12 Reioyce and be glad for great is your reward in heauen The word Reward in latin and greeke signifyeth wages and hyre due for workes and so presupposeth a meritorious deed as the Rhemish Testament noteth vpon this place Agayne Matt. 10.42 Whosoeuer shall giue to drinke a cup of cold water only in the name of a Disciple verily I say vnto you he shall in no wise loose his reward Therefore good workes are meritorious 1. Cor. 5.10 For we must all appeare before the iudgment seat of Christ that euery one may receiue the thinges in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or had Wordes most cleere that heauen is as well the reward of good workes as Hell the stipend of euill works howsoeuer the enemies of all good life and workes do teach the contrary See more 1. Cor. 9.17 18. 25. Heb. 11.26 Psal 18.20 1. Cor. 4.5 3.8.2 Esdras 15.19 Apoc. 22.12 Apoc. 16.6 Apoc. 3. 4. 22.12 Rom. 2.6 Eccles 12. 2. Colos 3.23 Luc. 16.9 6.38 Gen. 15. 1. Ierem. 31.16 Sap. 5.16 1. Tim. 4.8 2. Thes 1. Rom. 11.21 ¶ The holy Fathers affirme the same S. Amb. de apolog Dauid ca. 6. S. Hier. l. 3. cont Pelag. S. Aug. de spiritu lit cap. vlt. and others XXIII That Fayth once had cannot possibly be lost COntrary to expresse words of their owne Bible Luc. 8.13 They on the rocke are they which when they heare receiue the word with ioy which for a while belieue and in time of tentation fall away Therfore fayth once had may afterwards be lost 1. Tim. 1.18.19 This charge I commit vnto thee sonne Timothy according to the prophesies which went before on thee that thou by them mightest warre a good warfare holding faith and a good conscience which some hauing put away concerning faith haue made shipwrack Both which places do plainly reproue this false doctrine That no man can fall from the faith which he once truly had 2. Tim. 2.16 c. Shun prophane and vaine bablinges for they wil increase vnto more vngodlines And their word will eate as doth a canker of whom is Hymeneus and Philetus who concerning be truth haue erred saying that the resurrection is past already and ouerthrow the faith of some If faith once had could not be lost this saying of the Apostle should be false See more 1. Tim. 6.20 Reuelat. 2.5 Luc. 19.24 Mat. 25.8 c. Rom. 11.20 ¶ The Fathers affirme the same frequently and among the rest S. Aug. de gratia lib. arbit de correp gratia ad articulos falso impositos Concil Trid. sess 6. cap. 9.12.13 and others They maintayne XXIV That God by his will and ineuitable decree hath ordained from all eternity who shall be damned and who saued COntrary to the expresse words of their owne Bible 1. Tim. 2. 3.4 God our Sauiour who will haue all men to be saued and to come to the knowledge of the truth meaning by his conditionall will that is to say if men will themselues by accepting doing or hauing done all thinges requisite by Gods law for God vseth not his absolute will or power towards vs in this case therfore he hath not willed incuitably decreed any at all to be damned as our Aduersaries hold 2. Pet. 3.9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise c. not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance Therfore he is far off from euer making any such decree as our Aduersaries would perswade vs. Wisedome 1.13 For God made not death neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the liuing The reasons which conclude this truth are manifest for we must assure nothing of those thinges which depend vpon the only will of God without cleere and euident reuelation But predestination is such Therfore c. See more Ose 13.9 Ezech. 18. 32. Wis 11.24 Ioan. 3.16 Rom. 11.20.32 Prou. 20.9 28.14 Phil. 2.12 1. Cor. 4.4 9.27 10.12 Eccles 5.5 Iob. 9 21. Ioel 2.14 Ionas 3.9 Acts 8.20 Ierem. 17.9 2. Ioan. 1.8 ¶ See the Fathers that affirme the same in particular S. Aug. l. 1. Ciuit. Tertul. orat ca. 8. S. Cypr. l. 4. epist 2. And S. Amb. lib. 2. de Cain Abel will not that we refer vnto God the preuarication of Adam or the treason of Iudas though he knew the sinne before it was committed Moreouer they hould XXV That euery one ought infallibly to assure himselfe of his Saluation and to belieue that he is of the number of the Predestinate COntrary to the expresse words of their owne Bible 1. Cor. 9.27 I keepe vnder my body and bring it into subiection least that by any meanes when I haue preached to others I my selfe should be a cast-away A man would thinke that S. Paul might be as sure and as confident of Gods grace and saluation as any one of our Protestants be and yet you see he durst not adhere vnto their presumptuous and vnhappy security Rom. 11.20.21 Thou standest by faith be not high-minded but feare for if God spared not the naturall branches take heed least he also spare not thee Behould therfore the goodnes and seuerity of God on them which fell seuerity but towards thee goodnes if thou continue in his goodnes otherwise thou also shalt be cut off And Philip. 1.12 Worke out your owne saluation with feare trembling Most plaine and forcible places against the vayne security of saluation See more Pro. 28.14 Eccles 9. 1.2.2 Tim. 2.15.2 Pet. 1.10 Tob. 12.2.13 Pro. 20.9 Eccles 5.5 Iob. 9.20 Psal 18.13 1. Cor. 4. 4. Deut. 4.29.2 Cor. 10.18.1 Pet. 1.17 ¶ See S. Amb. ser 5. in Psal 118. S. Basil in constit monast cap. 2. S. Hieron l. 2. aduers Pelagianos l. 3. in Ierem. cap. 13. S. Chrysost hom 87. in Ioan. And S. Aug. in Psal 40. sayth I know full well that the Iustice of my God remaineth Whether my owne iustice remaine or no I know not for the Apostle
refused if it be receiued with thanks giuing for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer Yea it was a common vse in the primitiue Church to bring Bread to the priests to be hallowed Author oper imp hom 14. in Mat. and being blessed to sēd it for sacred presents from one Christian to another as S. Aug. witnesseth ep 31 34.35.36 Mat. 23.17 Yee fooles blind whether is greater the gold or the temple that sanctifieth the gold Mat. 23.19 Yee fooles and blind whether is greater the gift or the Altar that sanctifieth the gift Lo how plainly our Lord affirmeth in both these places that the Temple sanctifieth the Gold and Altar the Gift generally all creatures seuered from common and profane vse to religion and worship of God are therby made sacred and holy Are not they therfore much to be blamed who keep such a scoffing at holy water holy ashes and the like See more 2. Reg. 2. we 4.2 where the Prophet Eliseus applied salt to the healing and purifying of the waters Toby 6.8 where the Angell Raphaell vsed the liuer of a fish to driue away the diuel 1. Samuel we 1. Kinges 16. where Dauids Harpe and Psalmody kept the euill spirit away from Saul ¶ See S. Greg. l. 1. dial cap. 4. S. Aug. lib. 18. de ciuit Dei S. Hierom. in the life of Hilarion post medium S. Bede lib. 1. cap. 30. hist Anglic. XXXVII That children may be saued by their Parents fayth without the Sacrament of holy Baptisme COntrary to the expresse wordes both of truth it selfe and also of their owne Bible Iohn 3. 5. Verily verily I say vnto thee except a man be borne of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdome of God Therfore they cannot be saued without Baptisme Titus 3.5 Not by workes of righteousnes which we haue done but according to his mercy he saued vs by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the holy Ghost Marc. 16.16 He that belieueth and is baptized shall be saued but he that belieueth not shall be damned Seing infants therfore cannot belieue they must at the least be baptized or els they cannot be saued Heere they will obiect against vs that of S. Paul 1. Cor. 7.14 That the children of the faythful are sanctified But if they vnderstand by their sanctification that they are borne without sinnes they do directly oppugne S. Paul who affirmeth Ephes 1. that we are all borne the sonnes of wrath Yea S. Paul in the selfe same place sayth the vnbelieuing woman is sanctified by the belieuing man and yet I hope they will not say that she obtaines therby the full remission of her sinnes Gen. 17.14 The vncircumcised man-child whose flesh of his fore-skin is not circumcised that soule shal be cut off from his people But Circumcision was not more necessary to the Israelites then Baptisme to the Christians Therefore c. ¶ See S. Aug. lib. 1. de peccat merit and remiss cap. 30. and epist 90.92 S. Leo. epist 80. ad Episcop Campaniae S. Irenaeus lib. 3. cap. 19 S. Cyp. lib. 3. ep 8. ad Fidum XXXVIII That the Sacrament of Confirmation is not necessary nor to be vsed COntrary to the expresse wordes of their owne Bible Acts 8.14 Peter and Iohn prayed for them that they might receiue the holy Ghost for as yet he was fallen vpon none of them only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Iesus Then laid they their handes on them and they receiued the holy Ghost Lo the holy Ghost is giuen in Confirmation which was not giuen in Baptisme how then is it not necessary nor to be vsed Heb. 6.1 Therfore leauing the principles of the doctrine of Christ let vs goe on vnto perfection not laying againe the foundation of repentance from dead workes and of fayth towards God of the doctrine of Baptisme and of laying on of handes Lo Confirmation is heere called one of the Principles of the doctrine of Christ and a foundation of repentance How then not necessary nor to be vsed ¶ See the Fathers that affirme the same Tertul. lib. de Resur carnis S. Pacianus lib. de Baptismo S. Ambr. lib. de Sacram. S. Hierom contra Lucifer And lastly S. Cypr. lib. 2. epist 1. speaking both of Baptisme and Confirmation sayth Then they may be sanctifyed and be the sonnes of God if they be borne in both Sacramēts XXXIX That the bread of the supper of our Lord was but a figure or remembrāce of the body of Christ receiued by fayth and not his true and very body COntrary both to the expresse wordes and truth of their owne Bible Luc. 22.15 With desire I haue desired to eate this pass-ouer with you before I suffer Now to refer these wordes to a figuratiue eating only by fayth were most absurd for we cannot say that Iesus Christ could receyue or eate himselfe in this sense sith all Diuinity forbids vs to admit fayth in the Son of God Therefore that Pasche which he so greatly desired to eate with his Disciples before he suffered was the Pasche of his owne true body Luc 22.16 For I say vnto you I wil not any more drinke of the fruite of the vine vntill it be fulfilled in the Kingdome of God Wordes of wonderfull force and which cannot be vnderstood figuratiuely no more then the former it being a thing as cleare as the Sunne that of material bread and drinke there is no vse at all aboue in heauen Iohn 6.51 I am the liuing bread which came downe from heauen if any man eate of this bread he shall liue for euer And the bread that I wil giue is my flesh which I will giue for the life of the world Beza is very angry when we ask him If the bread that came downe from heauen be liuing or life-giuing bread He willingly granteth vs the later but cannot endure to heare tell of the former and therefore translateth life-giuing insteed of liuing But this is absurd or the Sunne is life-giuing but is not liuing and being granted to be liuing what else is it then his body And note withall that thus our Lord spake of this blessed bread before he gaue it Mat. 26.26 Take eate this is my body And Luc. 22.19 This is my body which is giuin for you What I pray can be spoken more plaine Notwithstanding they wil needes mantaine and affirme that what he gaue and they receiued was nothing else but bare bread Note also that our Lord spake this at the very giuing thereof 1. Cor. 10.16 The cup of blessing which we blesse is it not the communion of the bloud of Christ The bread which we breake is it not the communion of the body of Christ And 1. Cor. 11. he addeth He that eateth and drinketh vnworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himselfe not discerning the Lords body Loe how both before our Lord gaue it at the very giuing of it and his Apostles and disciples after he had giuen