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A08326	An antidote or treatise of thirty controuersies vvith a large discourse of the Church. In which the soueraigne truth of Catholike doctrine, is faythfully deliuered: against the pestiferous writinges of all English sectaryes. And in particuler, against D. Whitaker, D. Fulke, D. Reynolds, D. Bilson, D. Robert Abbot, D. Sparkes, and D. Field, the chiefe vpholders, some of Protestancy, some of puritanisme, some of both. Deuided into three partes. By S.N. Doctour of Diuinity. The first part.; Antidote or soveraigne remedie against the pestiferous writings of all English sectaries	S. N. (Sylvester Norris), 1572-1630.	1622 (1622)	STC 18658; ESTC S113275	554,179	704

pride or any other then loue so it is impossible the staynes of those sinnefull actions should be intermixed in the act it selfe of loue Doth it proceed from some other fleshly motion or rebellious inclination But the The corrupt motions of the flesh infect not the work e of the spirit motions of the flesh do not a whit defile the operations of the spirit they are distinct and seuerall actions and these without consent do not partake of their infection What is the spot then of vncleanes what is the muddy water this christall riuer of loue hath drawen from our foule attainted nature Is it nothing els then the defect and want of greater perfection which might be in that act But thus the loue of many Saints and Angells in heauen should be stayned with impurity because none of the inferiour or lower orders arriue to the burning flames or loue of the highest Thus the sinnefull spots should not grow from any casuall and accidentall necessity but from the substance it selfe of the act and make the act of loue as it is substantially lesse perfect so substātially euill substantially naught both which M. Abbot notwithstanding stoutly gainesayeth 6. Besides these spots which destayne our good workes what be they sinnes you graunt but what sins veniall or mortall Veniall you vtterly reiect in so much VVhitak cont ● q. 6. c. 3. fol. 582. 583. as M. Whitaker sayth that they who allow them do not only euert a true but endeauour to set vp a false fundamentall point Mortall then they are deadly crymes howsoeuer you seeke to extenuate them with diminitiue words they be transgressions of the precepts preuarications of the law of God or Nature for euery deadly sinne is a breach of the Law Then I pose you whether these transgressions be actions distinct from the good workes which they defile or not distinct Say they be distinct and you cannot say they be spots intermixed with our good actions you cannot say our pious workes are besprinkled with them seeing their morall bonity is good and commendable deuided both in nature obiect quality and action from the deformity of these transgressions Say they be not distinct but that the same worke which is good is spotted with deadly trespasses then all good workes be the neuer so excellent are deadly sinnes al formal breaches transgressions of the law From whence that manifestly followeth with which many heertofore haue rightly attached and endited your Synagogue That euery one is bouud to auoyd all good workes vnder payne of damnation Secondly Protestāts are bound to eschew all good works because they are damnable crimes by the force of their doctrine it followeth that M. Abbot hath wronged his Reader and abused Doctour Bishop in disgracing his Syllogisme concerning this matter as consisting of foure termes wheras it consisteth only of three For a worke to be a mortal sinne and stayned with mortal sinne is one the same terme How beit least he should cauill with me as he hath done with him I will frame my argument in the same mood and figure he himselfe requireth thus No mortal sinne is to be done vnder payne ofdānation But all good workes are mortall sinnes Therefore no good worke is to be done vnder paine of damnation M. Abbot denyeth the Minor proposition and answereth Though good workes haue some aspersion or touch of our Abbot c. 4. sect 46. corruption yet do not thereby become sinnes But I proue the contrary for either that aspersion is a deadly offence morally separable from the good action as with our infirmity in this life it is acheiued or altogeather inseparable if morally separable we may sometyme exercise good workes pure and vnspotted without that sinnefull aspersion if altogeather inseparable the action which is done stayned as you to soften the fault daintily speake with the touch of corruption defiled as I demonstrate with the contagion of deadly guilt must needes be a mortall and deadly crime For if the actions of stealing killing many others which may be done sometyme without default as by fooles or madmen are notwithstanding alwayes grieuous and horrible offences when to their positiue Entity or Physicall substance which is good and to which God himselfe concurreth any mortall deformity or deadly infection is adioyned by what forrain circumstance or casuall accident soeuer it be how much more those actions which can neuer be wrought without mortall foule and deadly default as all our good workes according to Protestants how much more are they mortall foule and deadly trespasses 7. In fine D. Whitaker D. Abbot and all my adsaryes Abbot in his defence c. 4. c. 2. Feild in his 3. booke of the Church c. 26. VVhitak l. 8. aduer Duraum acknowledge that our good works sprinkled with the spot of impurity haue not all things necessary vnder sinne to satisfy the law but by reason of our weaknes and infirmity swarue and decline from the fullnes thereof Secondly they acknowledge that all swaruings all declinings from the full prescript of the law are of their owne nature damnable and mortall crimes Therefore by their owne acknowledgment all our good workes are heynous and damnable sinnes But all men are obliged vnder forfeite of saluation to fly and detest all grieuous sinnes therefore all men are obliged by this hellish doctrine to fly and detest al good workes Yea euery one is bound to auoyd the very duties thēselues he is bound to do For we al bound to performe our duties in obseruing the lawes cōmandments of the Decalogue but euery duety we accomplish is weake raw defectiue euery defectiue and imperfect duty a deuiation Abbot c. 4 sect 46. fol. 588. falling away from the perfectiō of the law euery falling away euery deuiation a mortall sinne euery mortal sinne we are bound to auoyde therfore we are bound to auoyde euery duty which we are bound to performe M. Abbot agayne denyeth my consequence because the VVbitak Abbot vbi supra sinne is not implyed in the duety but ariseth by casuall and accidentall necessity from the condition of the man I perceaue the dint of this weapon pricketh you to the quicke it draweth bloud and forceth you to giue ground at euery blow First all our actions were sinnes if seuerely scanned then our good workes are not sinnefull but sinne is intermixed in them And Abbot in his defence c. 4. sect 43. 44. Fulke in c. 1. Luc. sect 7. in 14. Ioan. sect 1. VVhitak l. 8. aduers Duraeum are they now neyther sinnes nor sinnefull nor is any sin implyed in our duty Well I am glad to see you recant so it be sincerely done and from your hart For if sinne be not infolded in this duety then the duety no doubt is conformable to the law it satisfyeth the tye and obligation thereof whereinsoeuer it bindeth vnder the penalty of any blamable default yea quoth he Fulke and Whitaker

be also inherent and acceptable vnto him 12. Lastly why are the faythfull outwardly accepted only as iust not inwardly inuested with the garment of Iustice It is because God will not honour them so much whome he most dearly loueth for his Sonnes sake This cannot be It derogaterh from the riches of his infinite goodnes Or because Christ with his bitter Passion hath not made so great a purchase This were to debase the treasure of his incomparable merits Is it because God cannot endow a fraile creature with so rich a rayment But thus you blaspheme the Maiesty and power of God What then Doth it plant humility Doth it enkinkle in our harts the loue of God As though the smoak of pride the ordure of hatred the contagion of sinne abyding in our souls were apter fuell to nourish vertue then the seeds of grace the ofspring of Iustice the habits of Charity Meeknes Piety and the like Or lastly doth it tend to the greater glory of God and renowne of Christ Not so for it is far more honourable to God to haue all his seruants suited in the liuery of his beloued Sonne far more for the crowne and dignity of Christ that we be all clad in his Courtely robes all shine with the inward beames of his righteousnes then that apparelled in the raggs of our own miseryes we seeme to be cloathed with the couerture of his Iustice Is it not more stately and magnifical for a Prince to be rich welthy and valiant himselfe and without any impouerishing or diminution to his owne estate to endow his subiects with the like qualityes and store of riches receiued from him and still continued by the benefit of his fauour then he in all his pompe to be attended on by beggarly ignorant and cowardly vassals Is it not more credit for a Maister to be deeply learned to make his Schollers also florish with learning then for them deuoyd of all good literature meerly to vaunt of their Maisters skill So it is more glory to God more honour to Christ for him to abound with such an Ocean of grace or welspring of iustice as without any losse hinderance or diminution Dionys l. de diuinis nomin c. 4. S. Thom. 1. part q. ● he may deriue the riuers of true Iustice to others then if he alone should swimme in all aboundance and leaue his followers dry barraine and wholy destitute of that celestiall dew Chiefly sith it is the nature soueraigne property of goodnes according to S. Dionysius and all Deuines to diffuse and communicate it selfe to others and therefore as the bounty wisedome beauty and other Aug. l. 1. de peccat mer. c. 9. 10 Aug. in psal 98. Ipsam iustitiam ipse in nobis fecit qua illi pla●eamus Cyril l. 6. de Trinit Hieron l. 1. 3. aduers Pelag Basil l. 1. de Bapt. c. 2. Amb. l. 6. exam c. 8. Vener Beda in c. 11. Matth. attributes of God are made more glorious by imparting them to men in some inferiour degree why should not the Iustice of Christ become more illustrious by communicating it in some conuenient measure to the faithfull of his flocke Which according to my custome I will now corroborate with the authorityes of Fathers 13. S. Augustine They are iustifyed in Christ that belieue in him through the secret communication and inspiration of spiritualgrace whereby euery one leaneth to our Lord. Againe We are impious he the iustifyer when as he hath created in vs that iustice it selfe by which we may please him Behould we are not only sanctifyed but iustifyed also through the secret communication and inspiration of grace and that grace the iustice it selfe created in vs by which we please God S. Cyril The spirit is a heat who as soone as he hath infused charity into vs and hath with the fire of it inflamed our mindes we haue euen then obtayned Iustice. The like hath S. Hierome S. Basil S. Ambrose and Venerable Bede houldeth it to be a sinne against the Holy Ghost to deny his grace by which sins are remitted to be giuen in Baptisme Eucharist and the rest of the Sacraments I cyte not Origen because the Centurists reprehend him That he doth with open mouth declaime Cent. 3. ● 4. Column 78. Idem Column 82. Cent. 2. c. 4. Colum. 58. Cent. 4. c. 10. Col. ● 49. Luth. in commen S. Petri. Calu. l. 3. instit c. 1● §. 15 Kemnitius in 1. part examinat Concil Trident. Patribus non mouemus litem Kemnitius ibid. paul● post of the Iustice of Iob nor S. Cyprian whome they also blame for saying The baptizing person imparteth the holy Ghost and inwardly sanctifyeth the baptized nor Clemens Alexandrinus of whom they report That in all his writings it appeareth he neuer knew the force of Originall sinne or the inherent malady thereof Likewise touching S. Hierome they approue that saying of Luther This point which in Christian doctrine is to be vndoubtely established that in Saints sinne abydeth was neuer by Hierome vnderstood And why did neither Hierome nor Clement vnderstand it but only because they teach with vs the infection of Originall sinne to be wholy extinguished by the inhabitant grace or Iustice of our soules Moreouer Caluin of S. Augustine touching this point sayth The very sentence of Augustine or at least his manner of speaking is not altogeather to be receaued And Kemnitius of many other Fathers writeth We sue not processe against the Fathers albeit they commonly take the word to iustify for the renewing therby the workes of righteousnes are wrought in vs. Againe I am not ignorant that the Fathers do often vse the word iustify in this signification namely to make inherently iust Thus you haue the sentence of S. Augustine the doctrine of S. Cyprian of Origen of S. Hierome of S. Clemens Alexandrinus and the common current of the Fathers speach running on our side by the partiall iudgment of no meane Protestants VVhitak in his answere to 8. reason of M. Campian fol. 231. Abbot in his defence c. 4. sect 5. 2. Cor. 5. v. 19. Psal 3● v. 1. 14. Howbeit from these testimonyes of Fathers and deposition of their owne associates Whitaker and M. Abbot make their appeale once againe to the Tribunall of holy Scripture and to those places by name wherein our sinnes are sayd to be couered not imputed hidden c. As God was in Christ reconciling the world vnto himselfe not imputing to them their sinnes And blessed is the man whose iniquityes be forgiuen and whose sinnes are hidden or couered Likewise blessed is he to whome the Lord imputeth no sinne To which I haue answered in the former Controuersy now I add that three seuerall wayes a thing may be couered First we couer things to preserue them as sweet oyntments or perfumes least they loose their sent fragrant odour Secondly to hide and conceale them from our eyes by reasō of their loathsomnes which we cannot otherwise

Ioan. 2. v. 5. Ibid. c. 4. v. 11. Charity whereof you haue the rash verdict of Protestants that it can neuer be perfect wil you now heare the iudgmēt of S. Iohn He that keepeth his word to wit the commādment of our Lord in him in very deed the Charity of God is perfected If we loue one another God abydeth in vs and his Charity in vs is perfected Will you heare the sentence of Christ Greater loue then this no man hath that a man yield his life for his friendes But this hath beene acomplished by innumerable Martyrs Ioan. 15. v. 13. of our Roman Church they then haue arriued to the highest pich or degree of Charity After this sort S. Augustine teacheth that not only the Charity of Christ but the Charity also August tract 5. 6. in 1. Ioā c. 3. Item l. de perf iust tom 3. ex sent sent 311. despir lit c. 5. vlt. l. de doct Chri. cap. 39. l. 1. de pec mer 23. remis c. Hiero. l. 2. comm in lament Ierem haec de Hier. Cent. 4. c. 10. col 1250. of S. Steuen the charity of S. Paul was perfect in this life accordingly in his booke of the perfection of Iustice and els where very often But most perspicuously S. Hierom He is truly and not in part perfect who disgesteth in the wildernes the discomfort of solitude and in the Couent or Monastery the infirmities of the brethren with equall magnanimity Which sentence because the Madgeburgian Protestants could not with any dawbing besmeare but that the beauty thereof would discouer it selfe they sprinkle it with the aspersion of an vn●itting or bastardly kind of speach and so cassiere it amōg other of his errours But these reproachfull censures of such an eminently learned Saint rebound back with disgrace of the censurers honour of the censured and our acknowledged triumph with which I go on to establish it further with a Theologicall proofe 4. It is a strong grounded opinion among Deuines that the actuall and supernaturall loue of some feruent zealous persons heere vpon earth exceedeth in essentiall perfection the burning charity of sundry inferiour Saints in heauen whose Charity notwithstanding Protestants graunt to be perfect for as the habituall grace and Charity of such as haue exercised many acts of loue often receaued the sacraments and augmented their inward habit surpasseth the grace and renouation of Baptisme which infants dying before the vse of reason haue only obtayned So their actuall charity which is often answerable to the habituall and by the help and supply of Gods speciall concurrence may sometyme be greater surmounteth also the actuall loue of young children who now reioyce and triumph in the Court of blisse such was the loue of our B. Lady of S. Iohn Baptist S. Peter and S. Paul 5. To this Argument of the Schoolemen I find no reply in any of our Reformers writings but to the aforesayd passages of Scripture they commonly answere that VVhitak in his answere to the 8. reason of M. Campi● fol. 251. VVher in are the marginall nots out of his reply so Duraeus the workes of the faythfull are perfect and pleasing to God by acceptation They please him quoth Whitaker as if they were entiere and pure because he looketh vpon our persons he doth not make search into the worth and merit of the worke Verily in this later clause you say most truly he maketh not search into the worth merit of your workes whch you denounce to haue no merit in them which you proclayme to be mingled with the corruption of sinne yet your persons perdy because you are Protestants are so amiable in the eyes of that supreme Monarch that the things you do delight and content him as entiere and pure howsoeuer they be in themselues impure And whereas the Publicans humility Mary Magdelens teares the Chananeans fayth S. Peters sorrow endeared them to Act. c. 10 v. 35. God wheras all other good persons are accepted to him by reason of their workes He that feareth God and worketh iustice is acceptable vnto him only Protestants are such darlings as their works are not regarded by reason of their persons He that sayd to Abraham Because thou hast done Gen. 21. v. 16. 17. Sophon 1. v. 12. this things and hast not spared c. I will blesse thee blesseth them without reference to their doings He that searcheth Hierusalem with lamps that is diligently sifteth his holyest Saints maketh no such narrow scrutiny into his Protetestant fauourites he with whome there is no acception of persons accepteth the persons of Protestants without any exception Go you and vaunt of this extraordinary fauour and passe yee without search or examination to your peculiar heauen God grant that we and our workes being weighed in the ballance of Gods iust triall be not found too light as Baltassars were or fayling in any duty Abbot c. 4. sect 45. August de spir lit c. 35. Aug. de temp serm 49. Hier. l. 1. aduers Pe●ag l. 3. de Fulg. l. 1. ad Mon. Orig. ad Rom. c. 6. we are bound to accomplish Against which M. Abbot declameth as a thing impossible because S. Augustine telleth vs That there is no example of perfect righteousnes among men That this is the perfection of man to find himselfe not to be perfect To whome he also addeth the authorityes of S. Hierome of Origen calling our righteousnes in this life vnperfect wanting of perfection and an image or shadow of vertu● Likewise of the Apostles tearming himselfe according to S. Augustine vnperfect a trauailler to perfection not as one that was come vnto it Thus he not vnlike the Stoickes whome S. Hierome and S. Augustine reprehend for their doting phrenzy in cauilling that he who profiteth in wisedome cannot be sayd to haue any wisedome vntill he come to be perfect therein 6. But as concerning the matter in hand I briefly reply with our Angelicall Doctour S. Thomas and with August co●t ● ep Pelag. l. 3. 6. 7. Augu. de spir lit c. 36. Hier. l. ● cont Pela Aug. ep 26. S. Thom. q. 24. art 8. Ba●nes Lor. ●lij in eum articul all other Deuines commenting vpon him That there is a threefold degree of perfection The first is of them who are so firmely rooted in charity as they detest all thinges contrary repugnant to the law of God that is al mortall and deadly crymes by which charity is extinguished this degree all the iust who are in the fauour of God attayne vnto The second is that which excludeth not only euery grieuous sinne but as much as our humane frailty with Gods grace can do euery little imperfection euery superfluous care let or impediment which diuerteth our minds or withdraweth our harts from the loue of soueraigne goodnes to this not all the iust but some religious and zealous persons by continuall mortification and abnegation of

ep 29. iudged be found vniust and scant For vniust it is meted with the iustice which is wholy infinit scant in comparison of that Likewise when he sayth That our iustice is right but not pure c. for how can it be pure iustice where fault as yet cannot be wanting he denyeth it to be pure he sayth fault cannot be wanting because it is most commonly conioyned with veniall defaults which although they hinder not the true nature and perfection of iustice yet they darken the luster and brightnes thereof and are lyable to the seuerity of Gods heauy punishment Whereupon S. Augustine Wo be to the laudable life of a man if it be examined without mercy To the other passage of this renowned Doctour where he affirmeth most perfect charity which cannot be increased is to be found in no man in this life we grant it to be true This clause which followeth And as long as it may be increased that which is lesse then it tought to be is of vice of which vice it proceedeth that there is no man who doth good and doth not sinne is to be vnderstood not of formall vice or faulty sinne but of that which is an infirmity weaknes and defect of nature from whence it groweth that there is no man who doth alwayes good and neuer sinneth at least venially sometyme Thus S. Augustine interpreteth August ibid. himselfe a litle before saying Who therefore is without some vice that is without some fomite or as it were root of sinne After which manner I haue shewed aboue in the second Chapter of Concupiscence that not only he but Vlpianus Aug. in l. de perfect iusti● c. 15. Pliny and Cicero vse the name vitium vice for any defect either in nature or act In the same sense S. Augustine taketh the word peccatum in his booke of the perfection of iustice where he hath these wordes It is a sinne when eyther that Charity is not which ought to be or lesse then it ought to be Otherwise August de spir lit c. vlt. he would haue crossed and contradicted what he auouched before in his booke de spiritu litera That if our loue of God in this life be not so great as is due to his full and perfect knowledg it is not culpae deputandum to be imputed to any fault By sinne then in the former place S. Augustine meaneth a defect only or falling from the brimme of perfection yet no culpable sin So also many prophane writers vse the Plautus in Baceb Si vnam peccauisses syllabam Tull. 2. Tusc Quod in eo ipso peccet cuius profitetur scientiam 1. Ioan. 1. v. 8. Iac. 3. v. 3. August tract 1. epist Ioan. l. de nat gra a. c. 36 38. word peccare to sin for erring and doing amisse in any act or faculty as Plautus sayth If thou hadst fayled in one sillable and Tully If a Grammarian shall speake rudely or he that would be counted a Musitiā sing out of tune he is the more to be blamed quod in eo ipso peccet that he erreth or cōmitteth a banger in the thing it selfe whereof he professeth the skill To Origen to S. Hierome and to the rest of S. Augustine and S. Bernard which Protestants obiect I neede not frame any particuler reply The three last generall answers to the Texts of Scripture sweep all the dust away which they deceiptfully gather out of these or any other of the Fathers writings 4. Lastly it is obiected If we shall say that we haue no sinne we seduce our selues and the truth is not in vs. Likewise In many things we offend all I answere both these places are vnderstood of veniall sinnes as S. Augustine expoundeth them which often creep into the purest actions we do and from which we are seldome or neuer wholy free yet they distayne not the purity of our vertuous actions they are not intermingled with the morall bonity therof but extrinsecally accompany it abating the cleare beames of our soule without defyling the pure action whose adherents they are an assertion manifest amongst Deuines August ep 29. 50. l. de virg cap. 48. 49. l. 4. cont 2. ep Pelag. c. 10. Bonau 3. distinct 3. part dub 1. which Protestants conceauing not run into diuers and those pernicious absurdityes Secondly S. Iohn is interpreted also by S. Augustine of the fomite of sinne which euery man hath how perfect soeuer he be yet he doth not meane that that fomite is properly sinne but materially or the effect or cause of sinne which interpretation of S. Iohns words S. Bonauenture imbraceth and addeth a third exposition that S. Iohn doth not teach no man to be at any tyme without sinne but that no man can say to wit assuredly affirme without reuelatiō that he hath no sinne wherein Lyranus and Hugo Cardinalis agree with him but Caietam vnderstandeth S. Iohn of no sinne neyther actually committed nor originally contracted heertofore This no man the Virgin Mary only excepted as hath beene els where declared can auouch without seduction of his hart without he make God a lyar who sent his beloued Sonne into the world to cleanse vs from our sinnes 5. I proceed therefore to the third Caluinian dotage that all first motions or prouocations to euill are truly sinnes albeit we vanquish them which I haue heere refuted in the Controuersy and second Chapter of Originall sinne and somewhat touched in the Controuersy of Free-wil where I haue shewed that S. Augustine accounteth it a meere madnes and such a barbarical phrensy Seneca l. de mor. Aug. tom 7. l. de na gra ● 67. that man assaulted with temptations should sinne against his will as he sayth the very Poets sheepheards learned and vnlearned yea al the world doth witnes it to be false Seneca a heathen could write Away with all excuse no man sinneth against his will And It deserueth no prayse not to do which do thou caust not But S. Augustine agayne shal decide this matter with a sentence able to seale vp the mouths of Protestant Ministers and quyet the harts of all faythful Christians Whatsoeuer cause quoth he there be of the will impelling it to offend if it cannot be resisted it is yielded vnto Idem tom 4. in expos quarun propos prop. 17. Tom. 7. cont Pela l. 2. circa finem Chry. cited by S. Iohn Damas q. 2. phrall c. 27. Eccles 5. v. 2. c. 18. v. 30. without sin but if it may let it not be yielded vnto there shal be no sinnne committed What doth it perchance deceaue a man vnawars Let him therefore be wary that he may not be deceaued or is the deceit so great as it cannot be auoyded If it be so the sinnes therefore are none for who doth sinne in that which can by no meanes be escaped Likewise not in the euill desire it selfe but in our consent do we sinne Moreouer In as

Lord without blame Scan I pray these foure things First that they walked not in any one only but in all the commandments Secondly that they were iustifications which made them iust Thirdly before God Fourhly without blame viz. without any vicious defect or culpable imperfection which might eyther stayne the splendour of their iustice or hinder their ful complete obseruation of the law which God required at their hands 4. Lastly the keeping of the commandments is the sole marke and true cognizance of a beleeuing Christian Ioan. 14. v. 15. v. 21. ● Ioan. 2. v. 3. 4. If you loue me keepe my commandments He that hath my commandments and keepeth them he it is that loueth me And In this we know that we haue knowne him if we obserue his commandments He that sayth he knoweth him and keepeth not his commandments is a lyar and the truth is not in him Wherefore if Protestants cannot obserue the Commandments they are not Abbot c. 4. sect 43. fol. 566. 568. VVbitak l. 8 aduers Duraeum Fulke in c. 1. Luc. sect 7. Ioan. 14. sect 1. Perkins in the 4. cha of bis reform Cath. louers nor knowers of God or if they challenge his loue and boast of his knowledge not fullfilling his law they are lyars blasphemers and the truth is not in them Their Ministers stinged with this sharpe censure begin to startle and perswade their fauourits that they keep the law correspondently to the proportion of their loue and knowledge that is haltingly weakly imperfectly as their loue is halting their knowledge imperfect Are these the new Apostles diuine lightned Reformers who sit in the sun-shine of their Ghospell and rise to illuminate the world with their radiant beames And do they confesse their beames of truth to be dimmed with clouds their flames of loue frozen with cold with such misty clouds with such nipping frost as violate the precept of knowing the commandment of louing God For as their raw and imperfect obseruations which hath been demonstrated before in the precedent Controuersy are of their owne nature true breaches of the law so their lame knowledge their imperfect loue is a transgression of the precept of loue a preuarication of the commandment of beliefe which is the supernaturall knowledge of God whereof S. Iohn speaketh But if they violate the precept of fayth as often as they beleeue with what conscience can they exercise an act of beliefe who are charged neuer to infringe the will of God With what hart can they iudge that precept imposed when neyther in this life nor in the next for then fayth ceaseth and vanisheth away it can be euer accomplished With what tongue can they bragge of true beliefe for this is commāded wheras theirs transgresseth the commandment of God With that false stringed tongue with that hollow hart with that seared conscience with which they presume to auerre that the Father of heauen doth esteeme and account their breaches obseruations their violations accomplishments of what Isa 5. v. ●0 he commandeth forcing him to vnder go for the loue of their persons that heauy curse he threatneth to others Wo be vnto you that call euill good and good euill esteeming darknes light and light darknes accounting bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter 5. Yet on the other side if abhorring these blasphemyes they dare pronounce their knowledge or beliefe such as it fulfilleth the precept of fayth as far as it ought thence we argue that they may likewise obserue the precept Rom. 13. v. 10. of charity as far forth as they ought and by consequence wholy obserue and fulfill the law For Charity is the fulnes of the law the summe or knot of perfection on which the Concil Arausic c. vlti Hilar. in Psal 118 whole law and Prophets depend Hence it is defined in the secōd Arausican Councell That all the Christned hauing receaued grace by Baptisme Christ ayding and cooperating may and ought if they will diligently labour to fullfill all things which belong to saluation S. Hilary saity It is not hard if the will be prompt to obey the precept of our Lord. S. Hierome No man doubteth of this but that God hath commanded things possible S. Augustine Neyther Hier. l. 3. cont Pela Aug. ser 61. 191. de tempo Aug. lib. de natur gratia cap. 43. Cent. 2. 4. col 58. Author respon ad quaest 130. Cent. 2. c. 4. col 61. Ibidem col 61. Obedientiam legalem re●atis omnino possi bilem esse magno errore iudicauit Cent. 3. c. 4. col 78. Orig. hom ● super Exod. Videtur asseuerare quòd baptizati per omnia possint legem implere Cypr. ser de Baps. Christ. God who is iust can command things impossible nor condenme man who is pious for that which he could not auoyd And agayne Thinges impossible God commandeth not but by cōmanding warneth thee both to doe what thou art able and to aske what thou art not able and he helpeth thee that thou mayest be able Yet because Protestants will strayne their wits to bow these sayings to some crooked sense I will stand to the iudgement of such as their owne fellow Protestans furnish me withall and whome they iudge to hold with vs without exception 6. For the Century-writers affime that the authour of Replyes extant among the workes or Iustin with full mouth breaketh into these words What is all the iustice of the law to loue God more then himselfe and his neighbour as himselfe which truely is not impossible to men that are willing Of Clemens Alexandrinus mayster to Origen they auouch He with great errour iudged the legall obedience to be altogeather possible to the regenerate Then passing to the three hundred years of Christ thus they deliuer their generall verdict of the Fathers of that age They held concerning the law very exhorbitant opinions as Tertullian in his booke against the Iewes disputeth that the Saints in the old testament as Noë Abraham Melchisedech others were iust by the iustice of the natural law Hence with the like error I vse the Centurists phrase Origen heer and there inculcateth many things of the possibility of the law as in his eyght homily vpon Exodus where expounding the Decalogue he seemeth to asseuere that the baptized may according to all things fulfil the law The same sayth the Authour of homilyes vpon the Canticle The diuine word is not mis-shapen or without order neyther doth it command things impossible And Cyprian because sayth he we know that which is to be done and can do that which we know thou conimandest me o Lord that I loue thee this both I can and ought to do Hitherto the Centurists producing witnesses against themselues THE SECOND CHAPTER IN WHICH The possibility of keeping the Law is maintayned by other reasons and obiections answered FIRST it were no lesse then tyranny to punish men euerlastingly for not keeping the Commandments if it be not

1. Instit. c. 17. §. 11 cap. 18. lit 2. cap. 4. lib. 3. c. 23. God to hate vndeseruedly the workes of his handes who link his diuine Maiesty I dread to report it in the same lease with sinners who giue him the sterne to direct and commaund their naughty proiects whiles they as Oar-men row at his pleasure who faigne him to pursue and intend their sinfull ruine in giuing them ouer to a reprobate sense And thou O bound lesse piety O immeasureable bounty to whose vnstayned breast no thought of sinne or cogitation ascendeth thou who neuer permittest any euill but to turne it vnto good neuer omittest any good which may be strayned out of euill strayne I beseech thee out of the euill weeds of my deere Countrimen the good of their conuersion turne their stubborne harts bend their froward wills to loue imbrace thee the center of ioy and seate of true repose that they may at length beleeue and confesse with vs how farr thy mercifull hart and sacred will hath euer bin from working their obduration or contriuing their blindnes who with long patience expectest with great lenity sustainest with sweet callinge often inuitest with many teares and groanes of thy beloued sonne earnestly intreatest both them and all rebellious sinners to returne vnto thee THE XXX CONTROVERSY IN WHICH The Merit of Good VVorkes is supported Against Doctour Abbot and Doctour Fulke CHAP. I. GREAT is the slaunder and intollerable the reproach with which our opponents as in many other so likewise Abot in his defence c. 4 5. Fulk and al other Protestants in this controuersy are wont to vprayd vs. viz. That we pull downe the merites of Christ to vp our owne debase his honour to glory in the dignity of our owne desertes that we make our owne workes of themselues worthy of reward gratefull of themselues and pleasing to God Whereas we neuer affoard them any such priuiledge as they are deriued from our veines of earth but as they take hea● and are conueyed from the springes of heauen For we hold three things necessary to eleuate and aduance them to the excellency of merit all flowing from the celestiall and deified streames of our Redeemers bloud The first is that no worke of man can truly merit or deserue reward vnles being wrought with ayde from aboue it also proceed from inherent grace from the spirit of adoption inhabitant in our soules The second is that God adioyne the seale of his promise and oblige himselfe to remunerate the worke For although it be not dignified by the vertue of his promise or benigne acceptatiō as some conceaue but by the prerogatiue of Grace from whence it springeth yet his promise is requisite that he be engaged to recompense our labours who cannot be otherwise indebted to his creatures The third is that all meritorious deedes be freely and sincerely done freely from the necessity or violence of compulsion sincerely from the nakednes of sinister intention These things presupposed we constātly mainteyne with the thrice holy and Oecumenical Councell Concil Trident. Sess 6. c. 16. of Trent against M. Fulke D. Abbot and all the Sectaries of our time a true worthines dignity in all such actions as shal be accompanied graced and enobled with the three forementioned conditions not that these conditions enhaunce them to the perfect value Arithmatical equality with the promised reward which in rigour of iustice one shilling for example hath with another or the corne sold in the market hath with the common taxed price thereof but that they infuse virtuall equality and due proportion thereunto as the seed sowed in the ground hath vertuall proportion to the statelines of the tree and accidental qualities are sufficient and equiualent dispositions to the introduction of a substantiall forme Such equiualent proportion or dignity of merit the holy Scriptures Fathers acknowledge in our workes achieued by the helpe and inspiration of the holy Ghost as Apoc. 3. v. 4. Sap. 3. v. 5. ad Coloss 1. v. 12. 2. ad Thess 1. v. 11. appeareth first by these places of holy Writ where our good deedes and patient sufferinges are expressely sayd to be worthy of God worthily to deserue the fruition of his sight as They shall walke with me in whites because they are worthy God hath tempted them and found them worthy of himselfe Giuing thankes to God and the Father who hath made vs worthy vnto the part of the lot of the Saintes in the light We pray alwayes Fulk in ca. 1. 2. ad Thess sect 1. Fulk in Ep. 2. ad Thess c. 1. sect 1. I● c. 1. ad Coloss sect 3. Abbot in his defence c. 5. sect 7. 8. 14. for you that our God make you worthy of his vocation so in the auncient Protestant translatiō it is That our God would make you worthy which errour escaped them as Fulke acknowledgeth saying I confesse it is an imperfection in our translations Therfore it is since corrected in the renewed Bible by his Maiesty to bolster the euasion by which M. Fulke D. Abbot and their fellowes seeke to delude the former textes Their euasion is That we be counted worthy through Gods free acceptation by grace imputation of Christs iustice Not of the merit of our constancy 2. But neyther will the wordes beare that violent raking nor God endure so great a wrong that he should account those worthy call them worthy who haue no worthines in them Then S. Paul there writeth of the Thessalonians who were counted worthy by true beliefe and imputation of Christes worthines long before Therefore it had beene lost labour for him alwayes to pray for that which they had obtayned and could not by Protestants Sophismes euer loose or be further perfected and enriched therewith It was the increase of inherent Godlines and holy conuersation for which he offered his prayers that profiting heerein from day to day they might be made Ad Heb. 1● v. 16. Primas in e●m locum worthy of the creation and society of Saintes to which they were called as many other Textes euidētly perswade which ascribe vnto our workes the dignity it selfe and worthines of merit S. Paul to the Hebrewes Beneficence and communication do not forget For with such hostes God is promerited So Primasius scholler to S. Augustine By such sacrifices Chrysostō Oecumen Theophil Erasm in eum locū and giftes of almes Deus promeretur adipisci God is promerited or vouchsafed to be gayned The greeke hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God is well pleased The Syriake scaphar pulchrescit that is God waxeth faire he becometh more amiable louing and fauourable vnto them S. Chrysostome Oecumenius Theophilact and Erasmus read God is pacified reconciled by meanes of these workes which could not be vnles they had some thing in them that procured his fauour In Genesis also where our Translation hath in latin and English I am inferiour Gen. 32.