mans disobedience many were made sinners By which words we are taught that as in Adam all men universally sinned so in Adam all men universally received the reward of sin that is to say became moâ—tâ—l and subject unto 〈…〉 themselves nothing 〈…〉 tion both of body and soul c. Had it been any marvel if mankinde had been utterly driven to desperation being thus fallen from life to death from salvation to destruction from Heaven to Hell But behold the great goodness and tender mercy of God in this behalf albeit mans wickedness and sinful behaviour was such that it deserved not in any part to be forgiven yet to the intent he might not be clean destitute of all hope and comfort in time to come he ordained a new Covenant and made a sure promise thereof namely that he would send a Mediator or Messias into the world which should make intercession and put himself as a stay between both parties to pacifie the wrath and indignation conceived against sin and to deliver man out of the miserable curse and cursed misery whereunto he was fallen head-long by disobeying the Will and Commandment of the onely Lord and Maker ' 4. Which ground thus laid we will proceed unto the Doctrine of Predestination according to the sense and meaning of the Church of England which teacheth us according to the general current of the ancient Authors before Augustines time that God from all Eternity intending to demonstrate his power and goodness designed the Creation of the World the making of man after his own image and leaving him so made in a perfect liberty to do or not to do what he was commanded and that fore-knowing from all Eternity the man abusing this liberty would plung himself and his posterity into a gulf of miseries he graciously resolved to provide them such a Saviour who should redeem them from their sins to elect all those to life eternal who laid hold upon him leaving the rest in the same state in which he found them for their incredulity And this I take to be the method of Election unto life Eternal through Jesus Christ our Lord according to the Doctrine of the Church of England For although there be neither prius nor posterius in the will of God who sees all things at once together and willeth at the first sight without more delay yet to apply his acts unto our capacitie as were the acts of God in their right production so were they primitively in his intention But Creation without p 〈…〉 did forego the fall and the disease or death which ensued upon it was of necessity to be before there could be a course taken to prescribe the care and the prescribing of the care must first be finished before it could be offered to particular persons Of which and of the whole Doctrine of Predestination as before declared we cannot have an happier illustration then that of Agilmond and Lamistus in the Longobardiaâ— story of Paul the Deacon In which it is reported That Agilmond the second King of Lombard riding by a fish-pond saw seven young children sprawling in it whom their unnatural mothers as the Author thinketh had thrown into it not long before Amazed whereat he put his hunting spear amongst them and stiâ—â—ed them gently up and down which one of them laying hold on was drawn to land called Lamistus from the word Lama which is the language of that people and signifies a fish-pond Trained up in that Kings Court and finally made his Successor in the Kingdom Granting that Agilmond being forewarned in a vision that he should finde such children sprawling for life in the midst of that pond might thereupon take a resolution within himself to put his hunting â—pear amongst them and the which of them soever should lay hold upon it should be gently drawn out of the water adopted for his son and made heir of his Kingdom no Humane story can afford us the like parallel case to Gods proceeding in the great work of Predestination to Eternal life according to the Doctrine of the ancient Fathers and the Church of Rome as also of the Lutheran Churches and those of the Arminian party in the Belgick Provinces 5. Now that this was the Doctrine also of the Church of England will easily appear upon a due search into the Monuments and Records thereof as they stand backed by those learned religious men who had a principal hand in carrying on the great work of the Reformation Among which those of the Calvinian party would fain hook in Wicklif together with Fryth Barns and Tyndal which can by no means be brought under that account though some of them deserved well of the Churches for the times they lived in They that desire to hook in Wicklif do first confess that he stands accused by those of the Church of Rome for bringing in Fatal Necessity and making God the Author of sin and then conclude that therefore it may be made a probable guess that there was no disagreement between him and Calvin The cause of which Argument stands thus That there being an agreement in these points betwixt Wicklif and Calvin and the Reformers of our Church embracing the Doctrines of Wicklif therefore they must embrace the Doctrines of Calvin also But first it cannot be made good that our Reformers embraced the Doctrines of Wicklif or had any eye upon the man who though he held many points against those of Rom yet had his field more tares then wheat his books more Hetrodoxies then sound Catholick Doctrine And secondly admitting this Argument to be of any force in the present case it will as warrantably serve for all the Sects and Heresies which now swarm amongst us as well as for that of Calvin Wicklif affording them the grounds of their several dotages though possibly they are not so well studied in their own concernments For they who consult the works of Thomas Waldensis or the Historia Wicklifiana writ by Hartsfield will tell us that Wicklif amongst many other errours maintained these that follow 1. That the Sacrament of the Altar is nothing else but a piece of Bread 2. That Priests have no more Authority to minister Sacraments then Lay-men havâ— 3. That all things ought to be common 4. That it is as lawful to Christen a childe in a Tub of water at home or in a Ditch by the way as in a Font-stone in the Churches 5. That it is as lawful at all times to confess unto a Lay-man as to a Priest 6. That it is not necessary or profitable to have any Church or Chappel to pray in or to do any Divine Service in 7. That burying in Church-yards is unprofitable and in vain 8. That Holy Days ordained and instituted by the Church and taking the Lords Day in for one are not to be observâ—d and kept in reverencâ— inasmuch as all days are alike 9. That it is sufficient and enough to believe though a man do no good works at all 10.
which they cannot avoid sin that is to say by imputing to them the transgression of their Father Adam And 2. In that he leaves them irrecoverably plunged and involved in it without affording them power or ability to rise again to newness of life In which case that of Tertullian seems to have been fitly alledged Viz. In cujus manu est ne quid fiat eideputatur cum jam sit That is to say In whose power it is that a thing be not done to him it is imputed when it is done as a Pilot may be sayd to be the cause of the loss of that Ship when it is broken by a violent Tempest to the saving whereof he would not lend a helping hand when he might have done it They Object thirdly That this doctrine is inconsistent with the mercy of God so highly signified in the Scriptures in making him to take such a small and speedy occasion to punish the greater part of men forever and for one sin once committed to shut them up under an invincible necessity of sin and damnation For proof whereof they alledge this Saying out of Prosper Viz. Qui dicit quod non omnes homines velit Deus salvos fieri sed certum numerum praedestinatorum durius loquitur quam loquutum est de altitudine inscrutabilis gratiae Dei That is to sayâ— He which sayth that God would not have all men to be saved but a certain set number of predestinate persons only he speaketh more harshly then he should of the light of Gods unsearchable Grace 4. It is affirmed to be incompatible with the Justice of God who is sayd in Scripture to be Righteous in all his waies according unto weight and measure that the far greatest part of man-kinde should be left remedilesly in a state of damnation for the sin of their first Father only that under pain of damnation he should require faith in Christ of those to whom he hath precisely in his absolute purpose denied both a power to believe and a Christ to believe in or that he should punish men for the omission of an Act which is made impossible for them by his own decree by which he purposed that they should partake with Adam in his sin and be stript of all the supernatural power which they had in him before he fell And fifthly It is sayd to be destructive of Gods sincerity in calling them to repentance and to the knowledge of the faith in Jesus Christ that they may be saved to whom he doth not really intend the salvation offered whereby they are conceived to make God so to deal with men as if a Creditor should resolve upon no terms to forgive his Debtor the very least part of his debt and yet make him offers to remit the whole upon some conditions and binde the same with many solemn Oaths in a publick Auditory The like to be affirmed also in reference to Gods passionate wishes that those men might repent which repent not as also to those terrible threatnings which he thundreth against all those that convert not to him all which together with the whole course of the Ministry are by this doctrine made to be but so many Acts of deep Hypocrisie in Almighty God though none of the Maintainers of it have the ingenuity to confess the same but Piscator only in his Necesse est ut sanctam aliquam si mutationem statuamus in Deo which is plain and home X. And finally it is alledged that this doctrine of the Sublapsarians is contrary to the ends by God proposed in the Word and Sacraments to many of Gods excellent Gifts to the Sons of men to all endeavours unto holiness and godly living which is sayd to be much hindered by it and tend to those grounds of comfort by which a Conscience in distress should be relieved And thereupon it is concluded that if it be a doctrine which discourageth Piety if it maketh Ministers by its natural importment to be negligent in their Preaching Praying and other Services which are ordained of God for the eternal good of their people if it maketh the people careless in hearing reading praying instructing their Families examining their Consciences fasting and mourning for their sins and all other godly Exercises as they say it doth it cannot be a true and a wholsome doctrine as they say 't is not This they illustrate by a passage in Suetonius relating to Tyberius Caesar of whom the Historian gives this note Circa Deos Religiones negligentior erat quippe addictus mathematicae persuasionisque plenus omnia fato agi That is to say That he was the more negligent in matters of Religion and about the Gods because he was so much addicted to Astrologers fully perswaded in his own minde that all things were governed by the Destinies And they evince by the miseserable example of the Landgrave of Turinng of whom it is reported by Heistibachius that being by his Friends admonished of his vitious Conversation and dangerous condition he made them this Answer Viz. Si praedestinatus sum nulla peccata poterint mihi regnum coelorum auferre si praescitus nulla opera mihi illud valebunt conferre That is to say If I be elected no sins can possibly bereave me of the Kingdom of Heaven if reprobated no good Deeds can advance me to it An Objection not more old then common but such I must confess to which I never found a satisfactory Answer from the Pen of Supralapsarian or Sublapsarian within the small compass of my reading CHAP. V. The Doctrine of the Remonstrants and the Story of them untill their finall Condemnation in the Synod of Dort I. The Doctrine of the Remonstrants ancienter then Calvinism in the Belgick Churches and who they were that stood up for it before Arminius II. The first undertakings of Arminins his preferment to the Divinity Chair at Leiden his Commendations and Death III. The occasion of the Name Remonstrants and Contra Remonstrants the Controversie reduced to Five Points and those disputed at the Hague in a publick Conference IV. The sayd five Points according to their severall Heads first tendred at the Hague and after at the Synod at Dort V. The Remonstrants persecuted by their Opposites put themselves under the protection of Barnevelt and by his means obtained a collection of their Doctrine Barnevelt seised and put to death by the Prince of Orange VI. The Calling of the Synod of Dort the parallel betwixt it and the Councel at Trent both in the conduct of the business against their Adversaries and the differences amongst themselves VII The breaking out of the differences in the Synod in open Quarrels between Martinius one of the Divines of Breeme and some of the Divines of Holland and on what occasions VIII A Copy of the Letter from Dr. Belconyvel to S. Dudly Carlaton his Majesties Resident at the Hague working the violent prosecutions of those Quarrels by
aforementioned ' That our Saviour Christ according to the will of his Eternal Father when the time thereof was fully accomplished taking our nature upon him came into this World from the high Throne of his Father to declare unto miserable sinners the Goodness c. To shew that the time of Grace and Mercy was come to give light to them that were in darkness and in the shadow of death and to preach and give Pardon and full Remission of sin to all his Elected And to perform the same he made a Sacrifice and Oblation of his body upon the Cross which was a full Redemption Satisfaction and Propitiation for the sins of the whole world ' More briefly Bishop Latimer thus ' The Evangelist saith When Jesus was born c. What is Jesus Jesus is an Hebrew word which signifieth in our English Tongue a Saviour and Redeemer of all Mankinde born into the World This Title and Name To save appertaineth properly and principally unto him for he saved us else had we been lost for ever ' Bishop Hoâ—per in more words to the same effect ' That as the sins of Adam without Priviledge or Exemption extended and appertained unto all and every of Adams Posterity so did this Promise of Grace generally appertain as well to every and singular of Adams Posterity as to Adam as it is more plainly expressed where God promiseth to bless in the seed of Abraham all the people of the world ' 8. Next for the point of Universel Vocation and the extent of the Promises touching life Eternal Besides what was observed before from the Publique Liturgie we finde some Testimonies and Authorities also in the Book of Homilies In one whereof it is declared That God received the learned and unlearned and casteth away none but is indifferent unto all And in another place more largely that the imperfection or natural sickness taken in Adam excludeth not that person from the promise of God in Christ except we transgress the limits and bounds of this Original sin by our own folly and malice If we have Christ then have we with him and by him all good things whatsoever we can in our hearts wish or desire as victory over death sin hell c. The truth hereof is more clearly evidenced in the writings of the godly Martyrs so often mentioned as first of Bishop Latimer who discourseth thus ' We learn saith he by this sentence that multi sunt vocati that many are called c. that the preaching of the Gospel is universal that it appertaineth to all mankinde that it is written in omnem terram exivit soâ—us eorum through the whole world their sound is heard Now seeing that the Gospel is universal it appeareth that he would have all mankinde be saved that the fault is not in him if they be damned for it is written thus Deus vult omnes homines salvos fieri God would have all mankinde saved his Salvation is sufficient to save all mankinde Thus also in another place That the promises of Christ our Saviour are general they appertain to all mankinde He made a general Proclamation saying Qui credit in me habet vitam aeternam whosoever believeth me hath eternal life ' And not long after in the same Sermon ' That we must â— consider wisely what he saith with his own mouth Venite ad me omnes c. Mark here he saith mark here he saith Come all ye wherefore should any body despaiâ— or shut out himself from the promises of Christ which be general and appertain to the whole world ' The like saith Bishop Hooper also telling us ' There was no diversity in Christ of Jew or Gentile that it was never forbid but that all sorts of people and every progeny of the world to be made partakers of the Jews Religion ' And then again in the example of the Ninivites ' Thou hast saith he good Christian Reader the mercy of God and general promise of salvation performed in Christ for whose sake onely God and man were set at one ' 9. The less assistance we had from Bishop Hooper in the former points the more we shall receive in this touching the causes why this great benefit is not made effectual unto all alike Concerning which he lets us know ' That to the obtaining the first end of his justice he allureth as many as be not utterly wicked and may be helped partly with threatnings and partly with promises and so provoketh them unto amendment or life c. and would have all men to be saved therefore provoketh now by fair means now by foul that the sinner should satisfie his just and righteous pleasure not that the promises of God appertain to such as will not repent or his threatnings unto him that doth repent but these means he useth to save his creature this way useth he to nurture us until such time as the Holy Spirit worketh such a perfection in us that we will obey him though there were neither pain nor joy mentioned at all ' And in another place more briefly ' That if either out of a contempt or hate of Gods Word we fall into sin and transform our selves into the image of the Devil then we exclude our selves by this means from the promises and merits of Christ ' Bishop Latimer to the same point also ' His Salvation is sufficient to satisfie for all the world as concerning it self but as concerning us he saveth no more than such as put their trust in him and as many as believe in him shall be saved the other shall be cast out as Infidels into everlasting damnation not for lack of salvation but for infidelity and lack of faith which is the onely cause of their damnation ' One word more out of Bishop Hooper to conclude thiâ— point which in fine is this 'To the Objection saith he touching that S. Peter speaketh of such as shall perish for their false doctrine c. this the Scripture answereth that the promise of grace appertaineth to every sort of men in the world and comprehendeth them all howbeit within certain limits and bounds the which if men neglect to pass over they exclude themselves from the promise of Christ ' CHAP. XI Of the Heavenly influences of Gods grace in the Conversion of a sinner and mans co-operation with those heavenly influences 1. I The Doctrine of Deserving Grace ex congruo maintained in the Roman Schools before the Council of Trent rejected by our ancient Martyrs and the Book of Articles 2. The judgement of Dr. Barns and Mr. Tyndall touching the necessary workings of Gods grace on the will of man not different from that of the Church of England 3. Universal grace maintained by Bishop Hooper and proved by some passages in the Liturgie and Book of Homilies 4. The offer of Universal grace made ineffectual to some for want of faith and to others for want of repentance according
threatnings of God as well believe the Law as the Gospel as well that there is an hell and everlasting fire as there is an heaven and everlasting joy as well they should believe damnation to be threatned to the wicked and evil doers as salvation to be promised to the faithful in Word and Works as well they should believe God to be true in the one as the other ' And for sinners that continue in this wicked living they ought to think that the promises of Gods mercy and the Gospel pertain not unto them being in that state but only the Law and those Scriptures which contain the wrath and indignation of God and his threatnings which should certifie them that as they do over boldly presume of Gods mercy and live dissolutely so doth God still more and more withdraw his mercy from them as he is so provoked thereby to wrath at length that he destroyeth such presumers many times suddenly for of such Saint Paul said thus When they shall say it is peace there is no danger then shall sudden destruction come upon them let us beware therefore of such naughty boldness to sin for God which hath promised his mercy to them that be truly penitent although it be at the latter end hath not promised to the presumptuous sinner either that he shall have long life or that he shall have true Repentance at the last end But for that purpose hath he made every mans death uncertain that he should not put his hope in the end and in the mean season to Gods high displeasure live ungodlily Wherefore let us follow the counsel of the Wise man let us make no sarrying to turn unto the Lord let us not put off from day to day for suddenly his wrath comes and in time of vengeance he will destroy the wicked let us therefore turn betimes and when we turn let us pray to God as Hosea teached saying Forgive all our sins receive us graciously And if we turn to him with an humble and a very penitent heart he will receive us to his favour and grace for his holy Names sake for his Promise sake for his Truth and Mercies sake promised to all faithful believers in Jesus Christ his only natural Son To whom the only Saviour of the world with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour glory and power world without end Amen ' 3. These are the very words of the second Homily touching falling from God in which we have many evident proofs not only that there is a falling and a frequent falling but also a total yea a final falling from the grace of God according to the Doctrine of the Church of England And hereunto I must needs say that I never met with any satisfactory and sufficient Answer how much soever some have slighted the authority of it or the strength rather of the Argument which is taken from it for Mr. Yates of Ipswitch from whose candle most of them that followed borrow all their light in his book intituled Ibis ad Caesarem writ against Montagues Appeal can finde no better answers to it or evasions from it then they four that follow viz. 1. That the Homily speaks of the visible Church and therefore is not to be construed in the same sense of all whereas the Homily speaketh of Gods chosen people his chosen Vineyard are the words and consequently not only of the mixed multitude in a visible Church He answers secondly That it speaks with limitation and distinction some beholding the face of Gods mercy aright others not as they ought to do the one of which may fall quite away the other being transformed can never be wholly deformed by Satan But this is such a pitiful shift as could not save the man from the scorn of laughter had he been dealt with in his kind the Homily speaking largely of those men which having beheld Gods face of mercy in Jesus Christ as they ought to do do afterwards neglect the same prove unthankful to him and order not their lives according to his Example and Doctrine c. for which consult the place at large in the former Church He answers thirdly that the Homily speaks conditionally if they afterwards c. that is to say if afterwards they neglect the same prove unthankful to him and order not their lives according to his Example and Doctrine c. and so concludes nothing positively and determinately which is a sorrier shift than that which you had before for if such conditional Propositions conclude nothing positively what will become of all those Propositions in the Scriptures by which we are assured That if a sinner do repent him of his sins and wickednesses he shall find mercy from the Lord Do they conclude nothing positively neither most miserable were the state of man if these conditional Propositions should conclude nothing to the comfort of a troubled conscience And finally he answereth thus that the Homily speaks of Gods dreadful countenance appearing in plagues sword famine and such like temporal punishments wherewith the Elect may be chastened as well as others that they may not for ever be condemned with the wicked the first part of which Allegation I confess to be true Gods judgements falling promiscuously on all sotts of people but the addition is unknown and is not to be found in the words of the Homily And secondly the Homily speaks not only of Gods temporal judgements with which the Elect be chastened as well as others that they may not for ever be condemned with the wicked but positively and determinately of taking from them his Kingdom and holy word as in the former so that they shall be no longer of his Kingdom governed no longer by his holy Spirit put from the Grace and benefit which they had c. 4. But Master Yates intends not so to leave the matter we must first see that he is as good at raising an Objection as at the making of an Answer and he objecteth out of another of the Homilies that though the godly do fall yet they walk not on purposely in sinne they stand not still to continue and tarry in sinne they sit not down like carelesse men without all fear of Gods just punishment for sinne through Gods great grace and infinite mercy they rise again and fight against sinne c. But first it may be hoped that Master Yates could not be ignorant how great a difference there is betwixt such passages as fall occasionally and on the by from the pen of a Writer discoursing on another Argument and those which do occur in such Discourses Sermons and other Tractates as purposely are made and fitted to the point in hand And secondly though it be affirmed in the said Homily that the godly man which shall adde sinne to sinne by Gods great grace and infinite mercy may arise again and fight against sinne Yet can it not be gathered thence that it is so at all times
the wise c. Mat. 11. why to the unwise the simple abjects and out-casts of the world of whom speaketh Saint Paul 1 Cor. 1 You see your calling my brethren why not many of you c. Why to the sinners and not to the just why the beggars by the high-wayes were called and the bidden guests excluded We can ascribe no other cause but to Gods purpose and Election and say with Christ our Saviour quia Pater sic complacitum est ante te ye Father for that it seemed good in thy sight Luk. 10. And so it is for justification likewise if the question be asked why the Publican was justified and not the Pharisee Luk. 18. Why Mary the sinner and not Simon the inviter Luke 11. Why Harlots and Publicans go before the Scribes and Pharisees in the Kingdome Mat. 21. why the sonne of the Free-woman was received and the bond-womans Son being his elder rejected Gen. 21. why Israel which so long sought for righteousnesse found it not and the Gentiles which sought it not found it Rom. 9. We have no other cause hereof to render but to say with Saint Paul because they sought for it by works of the Law and not by faith which faith as it cometh not by mans will as the Papists falsely pretendeth but onely by the election and free gift of God so it is onely the immediate cause whereto the promise of our salvation is annexed according as we read And therefore of faith is the inheritance given as after grace that the promise might stand sure to every side Rom. 4. and in the same Chapter Faith believing in him that justifieth the wicked is imputed to righteousnesse And this concerning the causes of our salvation you you see how faith in Christ immediately and without condition doth justifie us being solicited with Gods mercy and election that wheresoever election goeth before faith in Christ must needs follow after And again whosoever believeth in Christ Jesus through the vocation of God he must needs be partaker of Gods election whereupon resulteth the third note or consideration which is to consider whither a man in this life may be certaine of his election To answer to which question this first is to be understood that although our election and vocation simply indeed be known to God onely in himselfe a priore yet notwithstanding it may be known to every particular faithful man a Posteriore that is by means which means is faith in Christ Jesus crucified For as much as by faith in Christ a man is justified and thereby made the childe of salvation reason must needs lead the same to be then the childe of election chosen of God to everlasting life For how can a man be saved but by consequence it followeth that he must also be elected And therefore of election it is truly said de electione judicandum est a posteriore that is to say we must judge of election by that which cometh after that is by our faith and belief in Christ which faith although in time it followeth after election yet this the proper immediate cause assigned by the Scripture which not onely justifieth us but also certifieth us of this election of God whereunto likewise well agreeth this present Letter of Mr. Bradford wherein he saith Election albeit in God it be the first yet to us it is the last opened And therefore beginning first saith he with Creation I come from thence to Redemption and justification by faith so to election not that faith is the cause efficient of election being rather the effect thereof but is to us the cause certificatory or the cause of our certification whereby we are brought to the feeling and knowledge of our election in Christ For albeit the election first be certain in the knowledge of God yet in our knowledge faith only that we have in Christ is the thing that giveth to us our certificate and comfort of this election Wherefore whosoever desireth to be assured that he is one of the Elect number of God let him not climbe up to heaven to know but let him descend into himself and there search his faith in Christ the Son of God which if he find in him not feigned by the working of Gods Spirit accordingly thereupon let him stay and so wrap himself wholly both body and foul under Gods general promise and cumber his head with no further speculations knowing this that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish John 3. shall not be confounded Rom. 9. shall not see death John 8. shall not enter into judgement John 5. shall have everlasting life John 3. 7. shall be saved Mat. 28. Acts 16. shall have remission of all his sins Act. 10. shall be justified Rom. 3. Cal. 2. shall have floods flowing out of him of the water of life Joh. 7. shall never die John 11. shall be raised at the last day John 6. shall finde rest in his soul and be refreshed Mat. 11 c. 4. Such is the judgement and opinion of our Martyrologist in the great point of Predestination unto life the residue thereof touching justification being here purposely cut off with an c. as nothing pertinent to the businesse which we have in hand But between the Comment and the Text there is a great deal of difference the Comment laying the foundation of Election on the Will of God according to the Zuinglian or Calvinian way but the Text laying it wholly upon faith in Christ whom God the Father hath Predestinate in Christ unto eternal life according to the doctrine of the Church of England The Text first presupposeth an estate of sin and misery into which man was fallen a ransom paid by Christ for man and his whole Posterity a freedome left in man thus ransomed either to take or finally to refuse the benefit of so great mercy and then fixing or appropriating the benefit of so great a mercy as Christ and all his merits do amount to upon such only as believe But the Comment takes no notice of the fall of man grounding both Reprobation and Election on Gods â—bsolute pleasure without relation to mans sin or our Saviours sufferings or any acceptation or refusal of his mercies in them As great a difference there is between the Authour of the Comment and Bishop Hooper as between the Comment and the Text Bishop Hooper telling us cap. 10. num 2. that Saul was no more excluded from the promise of Christ then David Esau then Jacob Judas then Peter c. if they had not excluded themselves quite contrary to that of our present Authour who having asked the question why Jacob was chosen and not Esau why David accepted and Saul refused c. makes answer that it cannot otherwise be answered then that so was the good Will of God 5. And this being said I would faine know upon what authority the Authour hath placed Nachor amongst the reprobates in the same Ranck with Esau Pharaoh and Saul all
have compassion on him that shall deserve it de congruo but Of him of whom I will have compassion ' Now as he followeth the Dominicans or rigid Lutherans in laying down the grounds and method of Predestination so he draws more to them also and the Zuinglians also touching Gods workings on the will then possibly may be capable of a good construction ' God saith he of his Infinite power letteth nothing to be exempted from him but all things to be subject unto his action and nothing can be done by them but by his principal motion So that he worketh in all manner of things that be either good or bad not changing their nature but onely moving them to work after their natures So that good worketh good and evil worketh evil and God useth them both as instruments and yet doth he nothing evil but evil is done alone through the will of man God working by him but not evil as by an instrument ' Which last Position notwithstanding all the subtilty in the close thereof how far it is from making God to be the Author of sin I leave to be determined by men of more Scholastical and Metaphysical heads then my simplicity can pretend to 8. For Tyndal next though I shall not derogate in any thing from his great pains in translating the Bible nor from the glory of his suffering in defence of those truths for which he dyed yet there were so many Heterodoxes in the most of his writings as render them no fit rule for a Reformat on no more then those of Wicklif before remembred the number and particulars whereof I had rather the Reader should look for in the Acts and Monuments where they are mustered up together about the latter end of the Reign of King Henry the eighth then expect them here That which occureth in him touching Predestinat on is no more then this 1. ' Grace saith he is properly Gods favour benevolence or kinde minde which of his own self without our deservings he reacheth to us whereby he was moved and inclined to give Christ unto us with all other gifts of Grace ' Which having told us in his Preface to St. Pauls Epistle to the Romans he telleth us not long after that in the 9 10 11. Chapters of the Epistle the Apostle teacheth us of Gods Predestination ' From whence it springeth altogether whether we shall believe or not believe be loosed from sin or not be loosed By which Predestination our Justifying and Salvation are clear taken out of our hands and put into the hands of God onely which thing is most necessary of all for we are so weak and so uncertain that if it stood in us there would of truth no man be saved the Devil no doubt would deceive him but now God is sure of his Predestination neither can any man withstand or let him else why do we hope and sigh against sin ' Discoursing in another place of the act the will hath on the understanding he telleth us ' that the will of man followeth the wit that as the wit erreth so doth the will and as the wit is in captivity so is the will neither is it possible that the will should be free when the wit is in bondage c. as I erre in my wit so I erre in my will when I judge that to be evil which is good then indeed do I hate that which is good and then when I perceive that which is good to be evil then indeed do I love the evil ' Finally in the heats of his Disputation with Sir Thomas Moor who had affirmed That men were to endeavour themselves and captivate their understandings if they would believe He first crys out ' How Beetle-blinde is fleshly reason and then subjoyns that the will hath no operation at all in the working of faith in my soul no more then the childe hath in begetting of his father for saith Paul it is the gift of God and not of us my wit must conclude good or bad yet my will can leave or take my wit must shew me a true or an apparent cause why yet my will have any working at all ' 9. I had almost forgot John Frith and if I had it had been no great loss to our rigid Calvinists who not content to guide themselves in these disputes by Gods will revealed have too audaciously pried into the Ark of Gods Secret Counsels of which spirit I conceive this Frith to be not that I finde him such in any of his writings extant with the other two but that he is affirmed for such in a letter of Tyndalls directed to him under the borrowed name of Jacob For in the collection of his pieces neither the Index nor the Margent direct us unto any thing which concerns this Argument though to the writings of the others they give a clearer sense howsoever made then in favour of the Calvinian party then the books themselves or possibly was ever meant by the men that made them * Now Tyndals Letter is as followeth Dearly beloved Jacob my hearts desire in our Saviours Jesus is That you arm your self with patience and be bold sober wise and circumspect and that you keep you a low by the ground avoiding high questions that pass the common capacity but expound the Law truly and open the Rule of Moses to condemn all flâ—sh and prove all men sinners and all deeds under the Law before mercy hath taken away the condemnation thereof to be sin and damnable And then as a faithful Minister sâ—t abroach the mercy of our Lord Jesus and let the wounded consciences drink of the water of life And then shalt your preaching be with power not as the Doctrine of Hypocrites and the Spirit of God shall work with you and all consciences shall bear record unto you and feel that it is so And all doctrine that casteth a mist on these two to shadow and hide them I mean the Law of God and mercy of Christ that resist you with all your power Of him it is or of such high Climers as he was who we finde Tyn-speaking in another place ' But here saith he we must set a mark upon those unquiet busie and high-climing wits how far they shall go which first of all bring hither their high reasons and pregnant wits and begin first from on high to search the bottomless secrets of Gods Predestination whether they be predestinated or no These must needs either cast themselves headlong down into desperation or else commit themselves to free chance careless But follow thou the order of this Epistle and nuzzel thy self with Christ and learn to understand the Law and the Gospel means and the office of both that thou mayest in the one know thy self and how thou hast of thy self no strength but to sin and in the other the grace of Christ and then see thou fight against sin and the flesh as the seven first Chapters teach
him are of the same Book and so are chosen to everlasting life for onely those are ordained that believe ' Nor stays that godly Bishop here but proceeds after some intervening passages towards this Conclusion ' Here is now taught you saith he how to try your Election namely in Christ For Christ is the Accompting Book and Register of God and even in the same Book that is Christ are witten all the names of the Elect therefore we cannot finde our Election in our selves neither yet the high Council of God for inscrutabilia suâ—t judicia Altissimi Where then shall I finde my Election in the Compting Book of God which is Christ c. ' Agreeable whereunto we finde Bishop Hooper speaking thus ' The cause of our Election is the mercy of God in Christ howbeit he that will be partaker of this Election must receive the promise in Christ by faith for therefore we be elected because afterwards we are made the members of Christ So we judge of Election by the event or success that hapneth in the life of man those onely to be elected ' that by faith apprehend the mercy promised in Christ To the same purpose also but not so clearly and perspicuously speaks the Book of Homilies where we finde it thus viz. ' That of our selves as in our selves we finde nothing whereby we may be delivered from this miserable captivity in which we were cast through the envy of the Devil by breaking Gods Commandment in our first Parent Adam It is the Lord with whom is plenteous Redemption he is the God which of his own mercy saveth us c. not for our own deserts merits or good deeds c. but of his meer mercy freely and for whose sake truly for Christ Jesus sake the pure and undesiled Lamb of God c. for whose sake God is fully pacified satisfied and set at one with man Such is the Doctrine of the Church in the matter of Predestination unto life according to the judgement of these learned men and godly Martyrs who were of such Authority in the Reformation ' 8. Proceed we next to one of an inferiour Order the testimony of John Bradford Martyr a man in very high esteem with Martin Bucer made one of the Prebends of S. Pauls Church by Bishop Ridley and one who glorified God in the midst of the flames with as great courage as his Patron of whom we finde a Letter extant in the Acts and Monuments directed to his friends N. S. and R. â— being at that time not thorowly instructed in the Doctrine of Gods Election The words of which Letter are as followeth ' I wish to you my good Brethren the same grace of God in Christ which I wish and pray the Father of mercies to give me for his holy names sake amen Your Letter though I have not read my self because I would not alienate my minde from conceived things to write to others yet I have heard the sum of it that it is of Gods Election wherein I will briefly relate to you my faith and how far I think it good and meet for a Christian to wade in I believe That man made after the image of God did fall from that pleased estate to the condemnation of him and all his posterity I believe that Christ for man being then fallen did oppose himself to the judgement of God as a Mediator paying the ransome and price of Redemption for Adam and his whole posterity that refuse it not finally I believe that all that believe I speak of such as be of years of discretion are partakers of Christ and all his merits I believe that faith and belief in Christ is the work and gift of God given to no other then to those which be his children that is to those whom God the Father before the beginning of the world hath Predestinated in Christ unto Eternal life Thus do I wade in Predestination in such sort as God hath patefied and opened it Though to God it be the first yet to us it is the last opened and therefore I begin with Creation from whence I come to Redemption so to Justification so to Election On this sort I am sure that warily and wisely a man may walk it easily by the light of Gods Spirit in and by his Word seeing this faith is not to be given to all men 2 Thess 3. but to such as are born of God Predestinated before the world was made after the purpose and good will of God c. ' Which judgement of this holy man comes up so close to that of the former Martyrs and is so plainly cross to that of the Calvinistical party that Mr. Fox was fain to make soom Scholia's on it to reconcile a gloss like that of Orleance which corrupts the Text and therefore to have no place here however it may be disposed of at another time But besides the Epistle above mentioned there is extant a Discourse of the said godly Martyr entituled The sum of the Doctrine of Predestination and Reprobation in which is affirmed That our own wilfulness sin and contemning of Christ are the cause of Reprobation as is confessed by the Author of the Anti-Arminianism p. 103. though afterwards he puts such a gloss upon it as he doth also on the like passages in Bishop Hooper as makes the sin of man to be the cause onely of the execution and not of the decree of Reprobation 9. But it is said That any one that reads the Common-Prayer Book with an unprejudiced minde cannot chuse but observe divers passages that make for a Personal Eternal Election So it is said of late and till of late never so said by any that ever I heard of the whose frame and fabrick of the Publique Liturgie being directly opposite to this new conceit For in the general Confession we beseech the Lord to spare them that confess their faults and restore them that be penitent according to his promises declared unto mankinde in Christ Jesus our Lord In the Te Deum it is said that Christ our Saviour having overcome the sharpness of death did open the Kingdâ—m of heaven to all believers In the Prayer for the first day of Lent That God hateth nothing which he hath made but doth forgive the sins of all them that be penitent In the Prayer at the end of the Commination That God hath compassion of all men that he hateth nothing which he hath made that he would not the death of a sinner but rather that he should turn from sin and repent In the Absolution before the Communion That God of his great mercy hath promised forgiveness of sins to all them which with hearty repentance and truâ— faith turn unto him Can any one which comes with an unprejudiced minde to the Common-Prayer Book observe any thing that savoureth of a Personal Election in all these passages or can he hope to finde them in any other Look then upon the last Exhortation
the rest before that is to say the reconciliation of all men to Almighty God the universal redemption of Man-kinde by the death of Christ expresly justfied and maintained by the Church of England For though one in our late undertaking seem exceeding confident that the granting of universal redemption will draw no inconvenience with it as to the absoluteness of Gods decrees or to the insuperability of converting Grace or to the certain infallible perseverance of Gods elect after conversion Yet I dare say he will not be so confident in affirming this That if Christ did so far dye for all as to procure a salvation for all under the condition of faith and repentance as his own words are there can be any room for such an absolute decree of reprobation 〈…〉 and precedent to the death of Christ as his great masters in the school of Calvin have been pleased to teach him Now for the Doctrine of this Church in that particular it is exprest so clearly in the second article of the five before laid down that nothing needs be added either in way of explication or of confirmation howsoever for avoiding of all doubt and Haesitancy we will first add some farther testimonies touching the Doctrine of this Church in the point of universal redemption And secondly touching the applying of so great a benefit by universal vocation and finally we shall shew the causes why the benefit is not effectual unto all alike 5. And first as for the Doctrine of universal redemption it may be further proved by those words in the publick Carechism where the Childe is taught to say that he believeth in God the Son who redeemed with him all mankinde in that clause of the publique Letany where God the Son is called the Redeemer of the world in the passages of the latter Exhortation before the Communion where it is said That the Oblation of Christ once offered was a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD in the proper Preface appointed for the Communion on Easter-Day in which he is said to be the very Paschal Lamb that was offered for us and taketh away the sins of the world repeated in the greater Catechism to the same effect And finally in the Prayer of Conservation viz. Almighty God our heavenly Father which of thy tender mercies didst give thine onely Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for our Redemption who made there by his own Oblation of himself once offered a firm and perfect and sufficient Sacrifice Oblation and Satisfaction for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD To this purpose it is said in the Book of Homilies That the World being wrapt up in sin by the breaking of Gods Law God sent his onely Son our Saviour Christ into this world to fulfil the Law for us and by shedding of his most precious blood to make a Sacrifice and Satisfaction or as it may be called amends to his Father for our sins to asswage his wrath and indignation conceived against us for the same Out of which words it may be very well concluded That the world being wrapt up in sin the Recompence and Satisfaction which was made to God must be made to him for the sins of the world or else the plaister had not been commensurate to the sore nor so much to the magnifying of Gods wonderful mercies in the offered means of Reconcilement betwixt God and man the Homily must else fall short of that which is taught in the Articles In which besides what was before delivered from the second and 31. concerning the Redemption of the world by the death of Christ it is affirmed in the 15 as plain as may be That Christ came to be a Lamb without spot who by the Sacrifice of himself once made should take away the sins of the world Then which there can be nothing more conducible to the point in hand 6. And to this purpose also when Christ our Saviour was pleased to Authorize his Holy Apostles to preach the Good Tidings of Salvation he gave them both a Command and a Commission To go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every Creature Mark 16. 15. So that there was no part of the world nor any Creature in the same that is to say no Rational Creature which seems to be excluded from a possibility of obtaining Salvation by the Preaching of the Gospel to them if with a faith unfeigned they believed the same Which the Church further teacheth us in this following Prayer appointed to be used in the Ordering of such as are called unto the Office of the Holy Priesthood viz. ' Almighty God and Heavenly Father which of thine Infinite Love and Goodness toward us hast given to us thy Only and Most Dear Beloved Son Jesus Christ to be our Redeemer and Author of Everlasting Life who after he had made perfect our Redemption by his Death and was ascended into Heaven sent forth abroad into the world his Apostles Prophets Evangelists Doctors and Pastors by whose Labour and Ministry he gathered together a great Frock in all the Parts of the World to set forth the Eternal Praise of his Holy Name For these so great Benefits of thy Eternal Goodness and for that thou hast vouchsafed to call thy Servant here present to the same Office and Ministry of Salvation of Mankind we render unto thee most hearty thinks and we worship preise thee and we humbly beseech thee by the same thy Son to grant unto all which either here or elsewhere call upon thy name that we may shew our selves thankful to thee for these and all other thy benefits and that we may daily encrease and go forward in the knowledge and faith of thee and thy Son by the Holy Spirit So that as well by these thy Ministers as by them to whom they shall be appointed Ministers thy Holy Name may be always glorified and thy Blessed Kingdom enlarged through the same thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ who liveth and reigneth with thee in the Unity of the same Holy Spirit world without end Amen ' Which Form in Ordering and Consecrating Bishops Priests and Deacons I note this onely by the way being drawn up by those which had the making of the first Liturgie of King Edward the sixth and confirmed by Act of Parliament in the fifth and sixth of the said King was afterwards also ratified by Act of Parliament in the eighth year of Queen Elizabeth and ever since hath had its place amongst the Publique Monuments and Records of the Church of England 7. To these I shall onely adde one single testimony out of the Writings of each of the three godly Martyrs before remembred the point being so clearly stated by some of our Divines commonly called Calvinists though not by the Outlandish also that any longer insisting on it may be thought unnecessary First then Bishop Cranmer tells us in the Preface to his Book against Gardiner of Winchester
enter into life keep the Commandments Which undoubtedly should be said in vaine unlesse there were some faculty or power left in man whereby he may by the help and grace of God if he will receive it when it is offered him understand his Commandments and freely consent unto and obey them which thing of the Catholick Fathers is called Free-will which if we will describe we may call it conveniently in all men A certain power of the Will joyned with Reason wherby a reasonable creature without constraint in things of Reason discerneth and willeth good and evil but it willeth not the good which is acceptable to God except it be holpen with Grace but that which is ill it willeth of it self And therefore other men define Free-will in this wise Free-will is a power and Reason of Will by which good is chosen by the assistance of Grace as evil is chosen without the assistance of the same Howbeit the state and condition of Free-will was otherwise in our first Parents before they sinned than it was either in them or their Posterity after they had sinned For our first Parents Adam and Eve untill they wounded and overthrew themselves by sinne had so in possession the said power of Free-will by the most liberal gift and grace of God their Maker that not only they might eschew all manner of sinne but also know God and love him and fulfill all things appertaining to their felicity and welfare For they were made righteous and to the image and similitude of God having power of Free-will as Chrysostome saith to obey or disobey so that by obedience they might live and by disobedience they should worthily deserve to die For the wise man affirmeth of them that the state of them was of this sort in the beginning saying thus God in the beginning did create man and left him in the hands of his own counsel he gave unto him his precepts and commandments saying If thou wilt keep these Commandments they shall preserve thee He hath set before thee fire and water put forth thine hands to whither thou wilt before man is life and death good and evil what him listeth that shall he have From this most happy estate our first Parents falling by disobedience most grievously hurted themselves and their posterity for besides many other evils that came by that transgression the high power of mans Reason and Freedome of will were wounded and corrupted and all men thereby brought into such blindnesse and infirmity that they cannot eschew sin except they be made free and illuminated by an especial grace that is say by a supernatural help and working of the holy Ghost which although the goodnesse of God offers to all men yet they only enjoy it which by their Free-will do accept and embrace the same Nor they also that be holpen by the said grace can accomplish and performe things that be for their wealth but with much labour and endeavour So great is in our nature the corruption of the first sinne and the heavy burden bearing us down to evil For truly albeit the light of Reason doth abide yet is it much darkned and with much difficulty doth discerne things that be inferiour and pertain to this present life but to understand and perceive things that be spiritual and pertain to that everlasting life it is of it self unable And so likewise there remains a certain freedome of the will in those things which do pertain unto the desires and works of this present life yet to performe spiritual and heavenly things Free-will of it self is unsufficient and therefore the power of mans Free-will being thus wounded and decayed hath need of a Physitian to heal it and one help to repaire it that it may receive light and strength whereby it may be so and have power to do those godly and spiritual things which before the fall of Adam it was able and might have done To this blindnesse and infirmity of mans nature proceeding of Original sinne the Prophet David hath regard when he desired his eyes to be lightened of Almighty God that he might consider the marvellous things that be in his Law And also the Prophet Jeremy saying Heal me O Lord and I shall be made whole Augustine also plainly declareth the same saying We conclude that Free-will is in man after his fall which thing who so denieth is not a Catholick man but in spiritual desires and works to please God it is so weak and feeble that it cannot either begin or performe them unlesse by the Grace and help of God it be prevented and holpen And hereby it appeareth that mans strength and Will in all things which be helpful to the soul and shall please God hath need of the graces of the holy Ghost by which such things be inspired to men and strength and constancy given to performe them if we do not wilfully refuse the said Grace offered to them And likewise as many things be in the Scripture which do shew Free-will to be in man so there be now fewer places in Scripture which declare the Grace of God to be so necessary that if by it Free-will be not prevented and holpen it neither can do nor will any thing good and godly of which sort be these Scriptures following Without me you can do nothing no man cometh to me except it be given him of my Father We be not sufficient of our selves as of our selves to think any good thing According unto which Scriptures and such other like it followeth That Free-will before it may will or think any godly thing must be holpen with the grace of Christ and by his Spirit be prevented and inspired that it may be able thereunto And being so made able may from thenceforth work together with grace and by the same sustained holpen and maintained may doth accomplish good works and avoid sinne and persevere also and encrease in grace It is true of the grace of God only that first we are inspired and moved to any good thing but to resist temptations and to persist in goodnesse and go forward it is both of the Grace of God and our Free-will and endeavour And finally after we have persevered unto the end to be crowned with glory therefore is the gift and mercy of God who of his bountiful goodnesse hath ordained that reward to be given after this life according to such good works as be done in this life by his Grace Therefore men ought with much diligence and gratitude of minde to consider and regard the inspiration wholsome motions of the holy Ghost and to embrace the Grace of God which is offered to them in Christ and moveth them â—o work good things And furthermore to go about by all means to shew themselves such as unto whom the Grace of God is not given in vaine And when they do settle that notwithstanding their diligence yet through their infirmity they be not able to do that they desire then
Zurick and Calvins Neighbourhood 7. The Judgement of Erasmus according as it is delivered in his Paraphrases on the four Evangelists proposed first in the general view and after more particularly in every of the Points disputed SEâ—urâ— de salute de gloria corteâ—â—s Having shewed the cause by so many pregnant Evidences derived from the Articles and Homilies and back't by the consenting Testimonies of learned Men and godly Martyrs it would adde something at the least in point of Reputation if not of glory also to gain Bishop Poinet to the side of whom as to his personal capacity we have spoke already and must now look back upon him in relation to a Chatechism of his setting forth Printed by Wolfe in Latine and by Day in English Anno 1553. being the next year after the Articles were agreed upon in the Convocation a Catechisme which comes commended to us with these advantages that it was put forth by the Authority of King Edward the sixth to be taught by all Schoolmasters in the Kingdome By another of the same perswasion ' that the King committed the perusal of it to certain Bishops and other learned men whom he much esteemed by whom it was certified to be agreeable to the Scripture and Statutes of the Realm that thereupon he prefixt his Epistle before it in which he commands and charges all Schoolmasters whatsoever within his Dominions as they did reverence his Authority and as they would avoid his Royal displeasure to teach this Catechism diligently and carefully in all and every their Schools that so the youth of the Kingdome might be setled in the grounds of true Religion and furthered in Gods worship ' The Church Historian seems to give it some further countenance by making it of the same extraction with the Book of Articles telling us that by the Bishops and Learned men before mentioned â—e are to understand the Convocation and that it was not commanded by his Majesties Letters Patents to all Schoolmasters only but by him commended to the rest of the Subjects which cost these several Authors have bestowed upon it out of an hope of gaining some greater matter by it towards the countenancing and advancing of the Calvinian Doctrine Predestination as the true genuine and ancient Doctrine of this Church certain I am that both Mr. Prin and his Shadow so declare themselves the one affirming that all these passages are directly for them and punctually opposite to their Arminian Antagonists the other crying out with some admiration How do the Master and Scholar plainly declare themselves to be no friends to the Tenents which the English Arminians now concend for but notwithstanding all this â—ry I fear we shall get but little wool when we come to consider of those passages in Poynets Catechisme which are most relyed on and which here follow as I finde them in the Anti-arminianismâ— without alteration of the words or syllables though with some alteration in the method of the Collection Now the passages collected out of Poynets Catechisme are these that follow viz. 2. ' The Image of God in â—â—â— by original sin and evil custome was so obscured in the beginning and the natural judgement so corrupted that man himself could not sufficiently understand the difference between good and bad between just and unjust c. As for the sacrificings cleansings washings and other Ceremonies of the Law they were Shadows Types Images and Figures of the tâ—â—â— and eternal sacrifice that Jesus Christ made upon the Cross by whose benefit alone all the sins of all believers from the beginning of the world are pardoned by the sole mercy of God and not by any merit of their own Assoon as ever Adam and Eve had eaten of the forbidden fruit they both dyed that is that they were not only liable to the death of the body but likewise lost the life of the soul which is righteousness and forthwith the Divine Image was obscured in them and those lineaments of Righteousness Holiness Truth and Knowledge of God exceeding comely were disordered and almost obliterated the terene Image only remained coupled with unighteousness fraud carnal affections and great ignorance of Divine and heavenly things from thence also proceeded the infirmity of our flesh from thence corruption and confusion of affections and desires hence that plague hence that seminary and nutriment of sin wherewith all mankind iâ— infected which is called Original sin Moreover nature is so depraved and cast down that unless the goodness and mercy of Almighty God had helped us by the medicine of grace as in body we were thrust down into all the miseries of death so it was necessary that all men of all sorts should be cast into eternal torments and fire which cannot be quenched Those things which are spiritual are not seen but by the eye of the Spirit he therefore that will see the Divinity of Christ on earth let him open the eyes not of the body but of the mind and of Faith and he shall see him present whom the eye doth not see he shall see him present in the midst of them Wheresoever two or three are gathered together in his Name he shall see him present with us to the end of the end of the world What have I said he shall see Christ present yea he shall both see and feel him dwelling in himself no otherwise then his own soul for he doth dwell and reside in the soul and in the heart of him who doth place all his confidence in him ' 3. ' Above all things this cannot be concealed that the benefits which are brought unto us by the death the Resurrection and Ascention of Christ were so great and ample that no tongue either of men and Angels can express it c. From these and from other Actions of Christ two benefits do accrew unto us One that whatsoever he did he did it all for our profit and commodity so that they are as much ours if we cleave fast to them with a firm and lively Faith as if we our selves had done them He verily was nailed to the Cross and we are crucified with him and our sins are punished in him He died and was buried we likewise with our sins are dead and buried and that so as that all the memory of our sins is utterly abolished he rose again and we also are risen with him being made partakers of his resurrection and life that henceforth death might no more domineere in us for there is the same Spirit in us that raised Jesus from the dead Lastly as he ascended into celestial glory so we are exalted together with him The Holy Ghost is called holy not only for his own holiness but because the Elect of God and the Members of Christ are made holy by him The Church is the company of them who are called to eternal life by the holy Ghost by whom she is guided and governed which time
In which last point it is affirmed that he amongst some others of the Protestant Doctors assented to the Doctrine of the Church of Rome at the Dyet at Ratisbone And it is more then probable that Peter Martyr was not Peter Martyr I mean that he was not the same man as the Zuinglian and Calvinian Doctrine is and his espousing the same being here as he was after his departure when he had spent some further time amongst the Suitzers and was thereby grown a nearer neighbour unto Calvin then he was in England For whereas his Book of Common-places and his Commentary to St. Pauls Epistle to the Romans are most insisted on for the proof of his Calvinisme it appeares plainly by his Epistle to Sir Anthony Coke that the last was not published till the year 1558. which was more then five yeares after his leaving of this Kingdom And as for his Book of Common Places although it was printed first at London yet it received afterwards two impressions more the one at Zurick and the other at Basil before the last Edition of it by Massonius after his decease An. 1576. By which Edition being that which is in Oxon Library and probably remaining only in the hands of Students or in the private Libraries of Colledges it will be hard if not impossible to judge of his opinion in these points when he lived in England 7. And now I am fallen amongst these strangers it will not be amiss to consult the Paraphrases of Erasmus in the English tongue which certainly had never been commended to the reading both of Priest People as well by the injunctions of Queen Eliz. as K. Edw. 6. if they had contained in them any other Doctrine then what is consonant to the Articles the Homilies and the publick Liturgie of this Church Now in his Paraphrase on the third chap. of St. Joh. v. 16. we shall find it thus Who saith he would have believed the charity of God to have been so great towards the world being rebelli us aegainst him and guilty of so many great faults that not only he did net revenge the ungracious acts that had been committed therein but also sent down his only Son from heaven unto earth and delivered him to suffer death yea even the most shameful death of the Crosse to the intent that what man soever would believe in him were he Jew Grecian or never so barbarous should not perish but obtain eternal life through the saith of the Gospel For albeit that in time to come the Father should judge the universal world by his son at his last coming yet at this time which is appointed for mercy God hath not sent his Son to condemn the world for the wicked deeds thereof but by his death to give free salvation to the world through faith And least any body perishing wilfully should have whereby to exercise his own malice there is given to all folks an easie entry to salvation For satisfaction oâ— the faults committed before is not required Neither yet obseration of the Law nor circumcision only he that believeth in him shall not be condemned for as much as he hath embraced that thing by which eternal salvation is given to all folk be they never so much buâ—dened with sins so that the same person after he hath professed the Gospel do abstain from the evil deeds of his former life and labour â—o go forward to perfect holiness according to the doctrine of him whose name he hath professed But whosoever condemning so great charity of God towards him and putting from himself the salvation that was freely offered doth not believe the Gospel he hath no need to be judged of any body for as much as he doth openly condemn himself and rejecting the thing whereby he might obtain everlasting life maketh himself guilty of eternal pain 8. By which passages and the rest that follow on this Text of Scripture we may have a plain view of the judgement of this learned man in the points disputed as to the designation of eternal life to all that do believe in Christ the universality of Redemption by his death and passion the general offer of the benefit and effect thereof to all sorts of people the freedom of mans will in co-operating with the grace of God or in rejecting and refusing it when it is so offered and relapsing from the same when it is so offered and relapsing from the same when it is received All which we finde in many other passages of those Paraphrases as occasion is presented to him But more particularly it appears first that he groundeth our election to eternal life on the eternal and divine prescience of Almighty God telling us in his Explication of the 25. ch of St. Matthews Gospel that the inheritance of the heavenly Kingdom was prepared by the providence and determination of God the fore-knower of all things before the world was made Secondly of universal Redemption in his glosse on the 1. chap. of St. John he telleth us thus This Lamb saith he is so far from being subject to any kind of sin that he alone is able to take away all the sins of the whole world He is so well beloved of God that he only may turn his wrath into mercy He is also so gentle and so desirous of mans salvation that he is ready to suffer pains for the sins of all men and to take upon him our evils because he would bestow upon us his good things Thirdly of the manner of the working of Gods grace he speaks as plainly in his Explication of the 6. chap. of the same Evangelist where he telleth us that of a truth whosoever cometh unto Christ shall obtain eternal life that by faith must men come to him and that faith cometh not at all aventures but is had by the inspiration of God the Father who like as he draweth to him mens mindes by his Son in such wise that through the operation of both joyntly together men come to them both the Father not giving this so great gift but to them that be willing and desirous to have it so that who with a ready will and godly diligence deserves to be drawn of the father he shall obtaine everlasting life by the Son No violent drawing in these words but such as may be capable of resistance on the part of man as appears by his descant on that plain song of our Saviour in Mat. 23. in which he makes him speaking in this manner unto those of Hierusalem viz. Nothing is let passe on my behalf whereby thou mightest be saved but contrariwise thou hast done what thou canst to bring destruction upon thy self and to exclude salvation from thee But to whom Free-will is once given he cannot be saved against his will Your will ought to be agreeable to my Will But behold as miserable calamity c. More plainly thus in the like descant on the same words in St. Lukes
and in all such cases that is to say that neither the great grace nor his infinite mercy shall be wanting at any time unto such as are fallen from God or that man shall not be wanting to himself in making a right use of it to his rising again And then this passage in the Homily will affirme no more to this purpose than the Article doth where it is said that after we have received the holy Ghost we may depart from grace given and fall into sinne and by the grace of God we may arise again and amend our lives 5. Now to these testimonies from the Homilies the publick Liturgy and the writings of the learned men and godly Martyrs before remembred it will not be amisse to adde one more that is to say Master Lancelot Ridley Arch-Deacon of Cantenbury who by his name seemes to have had relation to Doctor Nicholas Ridley Bishop of London and by his office to Doctor Cranmer Arch-bishop of Canterbury the two chief Agents in the work of the Reformation This man had published some Expositions on Saint Pauls Epistles to the Ephesians and Philippians as he did afterwards on that to the Collossians also which last was printed by Richard Grafton 1548. At which time both the first Liturgy and the first Book of Homilies were in force and practice and therefore was not like to containe any point of Doctrine repugnant unto either of them And if we look upon him in his Comment upon the Epistle we shall finde him thus declare himself in the points disputed which I will lay all together according to the method formerly observed in setting down the Articles or points themselves For first in reference to Election unto life eternal he telleth us ' That all fulnesse of the Father is called to dwell in Christ that all men should know all the goodnesse they have to come of God by Christ to them that all that believe in Christ should not perish but be saved and should have life everlasting by Christ with the Father ' And afterwards speaking on those vertues which Saint Paul commends in the Elect he tells us ' that those vertues do shew unto us who be elected of God and who not as farre as man can judge of outward things and that those men may be concluded to be elected of God who hate all vice and sinne that love vertue and godly living and in it do walk all their life-time by true faith and works of the spirit ' 2. More plainly doth he speak in the second place of Universal Redemption telling us that ' all men which either for their Original sinne or for their Actual sinne were out of Gods favour and had offended God should by Christ only be reconciled to Gods favour and have remission of their sinnes and he made partakers of everlasting life that Christs death was a full and sufficient satisfaction for the sinnes of the whole world and for all them that shall be sanctified and saved that Christ by his death once for all hath fully and perfecty satisfied for the sinnes of all men and finally that therefore this is an undoubted truth ever to be believed of all Christians that Christ by his Passion and and Death hath taken away all the sinnes of the world ' 6. In the next place he puts the question with reference to the application of so great a benefit for what causes God would not have his Word preached unto the Gentiles till Christs time and makes this answer thereunto First ' that it is a point not to be too curiously searched or enquired after Secondly that it is enough for us to know that it was so ordered by Gods Will and for his glory But thirdly that it might yet be done either because by their sins they had deserved their blindnesse and damnation as indeed they had or that God saw their hard hearts or their stiff necks and that they would not have received it before Christs coming if the Gospel had been preached unto them or finally that God reserved that mystery unto the coming of our Saviour Christ that by him all goodnesse should be known to come to us c. ' As for the necessary influences of Gods Grace and mans co-working with the same he telleth us briefly ' that no man ought to ascribe the good works that he doth to himself or to his own might and power but to God the Author of all goodnesse but then withall that it is not enough for men to have knowledge of Christ and his benefits but that they must encrease in the knowledge of God which knowlege cometh by Gods Word And finally as to the point of falling away he gives us first the example of Demas who as long as all things were prosperous with S. Paul was a faithful minister to him and a faithful Disciple of Christ but when he saw Paul cast into prison he forsook Paul and his Doctrine and followed the world then he inferreth that many such there be in the world c. ' of whom speaketh Christ Matâ—h 13. ' Many for a time do believe but in time of tribulations they shrink away And finally he concludes with this advice that he that standeth should look that he did not fall and that he do not trust too much to his own might and power for if he did he should deceive himself and have a fall as Demas had ' And so much for the judgment and opinion of Master L. Ridley in the points disputed who being Arch-deacon of Canterbury as before was said may be presum'd to be one of those who concurred in Convocation to the making of the Articles of K. Edwards Book 1552. to finde the true and natural meaning of which Articles we have took this pains CHAP. XV. Of the Author and Authority of King Edwards Chatechisme as also of the Judgement of Martin Bucer and Peter Martyr in the Points disputed 1. THE Catechisme published by the Authority of King Edward the sixth Anno 1553. affirmed to have been writ by Bishop Poinet and countenanced by the rest of the Bishops and Clergy 2. Several passages collected out of that Catechisme to prove that the Calvinian Doctrines were the true genuine and ancient Doctrines of the Church of England 3. With a discovery of the weakness and impertinency of the Allegation 4. What may most probably be conceived to have been the judgement of Bishop Poinet in most of the Controverted Points 5. An Answer to another Objection derived from Mr. Bucer and Peter Martyr and the influence with their Auditors and Disciples are supposed to have had in the Reformation 6. That Bucer was a man of moderate Counsels approving the first Liturgy of King Edward the sixth assenting to the Papists at the Dyet of Ratisbone in the possibility of falling from grace and that probably Peter Martyr had not so far espoused the Calvinian quarrels when he lived in Oxon as after his return to