malarum cogitationum ordinator est tamen malarum voluntatum de malo opere cuiuslibet mali non desinit ipse botum operari 1. Although God be not the author of euill cogitations yet is hee the orderer of euill wils and of the euill worke of euery euill man he ceaseth not to worke a good worke Therefore these wonderfull workes of God whose iudgements are vnsearchable and waies past finding out are not curiously to be discussed but reuerently to be adored For O man what art thou that pleadest against God In the probation of his minor he first vntruly according to his custome saith that wee deride Gods permission the which is false for we neither deride no deny Gods permission God said to Abimelech I kept thee also that thou shouldest not sinne against me Non permisi te vt tangeres eam therefore I haue not permitted thee to touch her Againe God permitted him not to hurt me But we say first that God permitteth not sinne inuitus against his will but of his will for els he were not omnipotent Secondly that he doth not onely permit sinnes but also by his infinite wisedome and almightie power draweth good out of them and directeth them to his glorie So S. Augustine saith Hoc quippe ipso quod contra Dei voluntatem fecerunt de ipsis facta est voluntas eius c. In that thing which they haue done against the will of God the will of God is done in them Therefore the workes of the Lord are great and are to be sought out of them that loue them So that by a wonderfull and vnspeakeable manner that is not done without his will which is done against his will because it could not be done vnlesse he did permit it nec vtique nolens sinit sed volens neither doth he permit it against his will but with his will Neither would he being good permit euill to be done vnlesse hee being omnipotent could also of euill doe good S. Hierome saith Dicā quicquam sine te fieri ô Domine Deus te nolente tantum posse impium Hoc sentire blasphemum est Quum itaque tu sis vniuersitatis rector Dominus tu necesse est facias quod sine te fieri non potest i. Shall I say that any thing is done without thee O Lord God and that the wicked can doe so much thou being vnwilling To thinke this is blasphemous Seeing therefore thou art the ruler and Lord of the world thou must needs doe that which cannot be done without thee Wee say indeede that Gods workes be energeticall and effectuall not onely in the faithfull but also in the wicked and reprobate whose hearts he hardeneth and eyes blindeth whom he giueth vp to a reprobate minde and to whom hee sendeth a strong delusion to beleeue lies These be Gods iust iudgements wherby he punisheth the wicked who yet are not impelled or coacted of God to these sinnes but willingly harden their owne hearts by the deceit of sinne shut their eyes that they may not see giue vp their members seruants to vncleannes and iniquitie and delight in delusions and in beleeuing lies as Papists now doe We doe not desperatly auerre but you doe falsely and impudently affirme that we teach that Pauls conuersion and Dauids adulterie were in like manner the workes of God This shamelesse saying you haue picked out of Campians reasons out of which you haue like a goodly Rapsodist gleaned a great part of this lying Libel but you cannot shew it in the writing of any Protestant This is calumniari non ratiocinare to slaunder and not rightly to reason But you know your friends and fauourers will beleeue you though it be neuer so false And you haue learned that lesson Audacter calumniare semper aliquid adhaeret We say that Pauls conuersion was a worke of Gods mercie agreeable to his will reuealed in his word Dauids sinne of adulterie was a work which he hateth and repugnant to his said will God wrought mightily in Paul by his holy spirit in conuerting his heart in drawing him out of darknes and in making him of a persecuter a preacher of his Gospell and a minister of his mercie God did not so work at that time in Dauid but left him to himselfe to be tempted drawne away and ouercome of his owne corrupt concupilcence yet wee say that God did draw good out of that sinne of Dauid in making him a patterne of true repentance and example of Gods mercie in forgiuing his sinnes and thereby teaching vs to walke warily and flee carnall securitie For if so excellent a man that was according to Gods heart did so fouly and fearefully fall what may fall vnto vs if we walke not circumspectly and pray not feruently to God to vphold vs with his hand and to guide vs with his holy spirit Touching Gods permission you write as though you neither did know what we teach nor regard what your selfe doe write Doe we teach that God elected some to glorie before the preuision of workes and reiected some from glorie before the preuision of sinnes You shall find this false assertion in our bookes when you finde the former shameles slaunder We do not teach that God elected any to glorie before he did foresee their workes For from euerlasting he to whom all things be present did foresee both the good workes of his elect and the wicked workes of the reprobate But this we say that the foundation and cause of Gods election and reprobation is not his prescience and foreseeing of the good workes of the one and the wicked workes of the other but his owne purpose will and pleasure and that good workes be not causes of Gods election but fruits and effects of it Saint Paul saith Before the Children were borne and when they had neither done good nor euill that the purpose of God might remaine according to election not by workes but by him that calleth It was said to her The elder shall serue the younger At it is written I haue loued Iacob and haue hated Esau Againe As he hath chosen vs in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in loue Who hath predestinate vs to be adopted through Iesus Christ in himselfe according to the good pleasure of his will in whom also we are chosen when we were predestinate according to the purpose of him which worketh all things after the counsell of his owne will Againe God hath saued vs and called vs with an holy calling not according to our workes but according to his owne purpose and grace which was giuen to vs through Christ Iesus before the world was Where we may see that the foundation and cause of Gods election is his owne will pleasure and purpose and not the foreseeing of our workes Saint Augustine saith Quod si futuros
the mother of vs all which is the holy Catholike Church that we beleeue Hereunto I will adde a few sayings of the Fathers to them which I haue before alleaged Saint Augustine saith Corpus huius capitis Ecclesia est non quae hoc loco est sed quae hoc loco per totum orbem terrarum nec illa quae hoc tempore sed ab ipso Abel vsque ad eos qui nascituri sunt vsque in finem credituri in Christū totus populus sanctorum ad vnam ciuitatem pertinentium quae ciuitas corpus est Christi cui caputest Christus that is The bodie of this head is the Church not which is in this place onely but that which is in this place and through the whole world neither that Church which is at this time but that of them which from Abel shall be borne vnto the end and shall beleeue in Christ euen the whole companie of Saints pertaining to one citie which citie is the bodie of Christ whereof Christ is the head And in another place Ille caput est nos membra sumus tota ecclesia quae vbique diffusa est corpus ipsius est cuius est ipse caput Non solum autem fideles qui modo sunt sed qui fuerunt ante nos qui post nos futuri sunt vsque in finem seculi omnes ad corpus eius pertinent cuius corporis ipse caput est qui ascendit in coelum He is the head wee are his members the whole Church which is dispersed euery where is his bodie whereof he is the head And not onely the faithfull which be now but also they which haue been before vs and which shall be after vs vnto the end of the world all pertaine to his bodie of which bodie hee which hath ascended into heauen is the head Againe Caelestis Hierusalem ciues sunt omnes sanctificati homines qui fuet unt qui sunt qui futuri sunt that is All sanctified men which haue been which are and which shall be citizens of the heauenly Ierusalem Cyprian saith Ecclesia nunquam à Christo discedit ijsunt ecclesia qui in domo Dei permanent that is The Church neuer departeth from Christ and they be the Church which continue in the house of God Againe Adulterari non potest sponsa Christi incorrupta est pudica vnam domum nouit vnius cubiculi sanctitatem casto pudore custodit Haec nos Deo seruat haec filios regno quos generauit assignat that is The spouse cannot be defiled she is vncorrupt and chast she knoweth one house and keepeth with chast shamefastnes the holines of one chamber she keepeth vs to God she assigneth the children whom she hath borne vnto his kingdome Saint Hierome saith Ipsa ecclesia quae est Sanctorum omnium congregatio pro aeterna sibi in Domino stabilitate columna fundamentum dicitur veritatis The Church which is the congregation of all Saints by reason of her eternall stedfastnes in God is called the pillar and ground of truth Chrysostome saith Ecclesia est tabernaculū à Deo fixum non ab homine ab vno loco in aliū fugit sednon à pietate ad impietatē fugit that is The Church is the tabernacle which God hath pight and not man she flieth from one place to another but she neuer flieth from godlines to impietie and wickednes Ambrose Apostolus omnem ecclesiam dicens summatim totum comprebendit quod in coelo est interra that is The Apostle meaning all the Church briefly comprehendeth the whole which is both in heauen and in earth Bernard saith Electi Dei sunt ecclesia Dei The elect of God be the Church of God So saith Clemens Alexandrinus as I haue before alleaged Non nunc locum sed electorum congregationem appello ecclesiam I call not now the place the Church but the congregation of the elect Yea Frier Lyra saith Ex quo patet quod ecclesia non consistat in hominibus ratione potestatis vel dignitatis ecclesiasticae vel secularis quia multi principes summi pontifices alij inferiores inuenti sunt apostatasse à fide propter quod ecclesia consistit in illis personis in quibus est notitia vera confessio fides veritatis that is Whereby it appeareth that the Church consisteth not in men in respect of their ecclesiasticall or secular power or dignitie for many Princes and Popes and others of lower degree haue bin found to haue bin Apostates and to haue fallen away from the faith Wherefore the Church consisteth in those persons in whom is true knowledge and the confession of faith and truth This is that holy Catholike Church which we in the Creede confesse and beleeue euen the whole number of them whom God hath elected and chosen to eternall life whom God hath had in all ages and of all nations of which Church euery true and faithfull man and woman must beleeue himselfe to be a true and liuely member whereof he may be assured if he finde and feele that God hath lightened his minde with the knowledge of his truth hath wrought in his heart an vnfained faith to trust in his mercies and to beleeue that his sinnes be forgiuen him for Christs names sake and that God hath sanctified his soule and bodie to hate sinne and to haue a care and conscience to serue him in true holines and righteousnes all the daies of his life This being our confession and beliefe with what conscience and truth can this man say that the Church which the Protestants beleeue hath been interrupted all the ages betwixt the Apostles and Luther and in very deede was neuer seene before Luthers daies or that wee imagine the same to be comprehended within the narrow bounds of England I can say nomore but that a false witnes shall not be vnpunished and he that speaketh lyes shall not escape But now let vs see what this man and his fellowes hold beleeue and call the Catholike Church forsooth the companie of all them that receiue and professe the religion and doctrine of the Church of Rome and submit themselues to be ruled and gouerned by the Bishop and Pope of Rome They that doe not this be Heretikes Schismatikes out of Noahs Arke and out of the Catholike Church And hereupon it followeth that the Christians in Graecia Muscouia Armenia Aethiopia c. where Christianitie hath continued vnto this day and among whom no doubt but some haue been of Gods elect and chosen people yet be they no Catholikes nor of the Catholike Church nor in the state of salnation And why because they neither haue been nor be subiect to the Pope of Rome For so it is with many words solemnely defined and determined by that holy and vertuous Pope Boniface the 8. Subesse Romano pontifici omni humanae creaturae
was Bernards iudgement concerning our keeping of Gods commandements and fulfilling of the law Ferus also a late Frier but yet a man of better iudgement in many matters then many others were or be hereof writeth thus Per Christum implenda erat omnis iustitia per quem solum lex poterat impleri nam maledicta erat natura humana legemque implere non potuit iuxta illud neque nos neque patres onus hoc portare potuimus that is All righteousnes was to be fulfilled by Christ by whom onely the law could be fulfilled For mans nature was accursed and could not fulfill the law according to that saying neither we nor our Fathers were able to beare this burden Againe the same Ferus saith Si nemo potest gloriari se á peccato immunem nec quisquam gloriari potest se legem seruasse cum peccatum nihil aliud sit quà m transgressio legis that is If no man can glorie that hee is free from sinne neither can any man glorie that he hath fulfilled the law seeing that sinne is nothing else but the transgression of the law Hence from it followeth that zealous Protestants want neither a liuely faith in Gods mercies nor true obedience to Gods commaundements although they vnfainedly confesse their manifold imperfections and sinnes by which they bee farre from perfectly fulfilling the law of God And now pro coronide I will requite you with another Syllogisme They that thinke they can fulfill the law of God be proud Hypocrits and Pharisees but the Papists thinke that they can fulfill the law of God yea can doe superarrogant workes I should say workes of Supererogation aboue them that the law requireth Ergo the Papists be proud Hypocrites and Pharisees The Pamphlet The most points wherein the Protestants dissent from the Catholikes tend to loosenes of life and carnall libertie 4. Article His article may be proued by a generall induction in all such matters as now the Protestants call in question First say they that man hath not free will to doe good but all goodnesse proceedeth so from grace that it lyeth not in his power neither to haue it nor resist it but of necessitie it must haue effect To what other ende tendeth this senceles doctrine and fatall fancie but to make men negligent in disposing and preparing their soules to receiue Gods grace and to rouse it vp and put it in execution after they haue it making man not much vnlike a sicke asse who neither can dispose nor prepare himselfe to seeke for his medicine but of necessitis must expect till his master thrusteth it into his throate neither after hee hath drunke it can cause it cure his disease but carelesly letteth it worke as it will Secondly they defend that men be iustified by faith alone the which solifidian portion ouerthroweth flatly true repentance sorrow for sinnes mortification of passions and all other vertues which tend to perfect reconciliation of the soule with God causing men only to procure a certaine false fantastical apprehension of Christs death and passion the which faith although they erroniously auerre cannot be seuered from charitis vertues and good workes yet both experience teacheth that it may for also few or none haue faith because few or none of them haue these workes and the Scriptures plainely proue that all faith yea and the most noble faith which hath force to remoue mountaines may be without charitie Thirdly they assure vs that faith once had can neuer be lost the which vaine securitie openeth the gap to all libertine sensualitie for if a man be certaine that he hath true faith if it be impossible he should lose it if he be secured that by it alone he shall be saued why may be not wallow in all licencious pleasures in this life and neuer doubt of glorie in the other could euer Epicurus haue found a better ground to plant his Epicurisme could euer Heliogabalus haue better patronized his sensualitie could Bacchus or Venus euer haue forged better reasons to enlarge their dominion Fourthly they say a man cannot keepe all the commaundements for what other cause I pray you but thereby to make men negligent in keeping of them to pretend an excuse of impossibilitie whensoeuer they transgresse them Fiftly why deny they the Sacrament of penance but to make men careles how they liue and neuer regard the auoyding of sinnes as though they were neuer to render an account of them to hinder that shame and blushing which men conceiue in discouering their sinnes the which are most excellent meanes to deter them from sinning another time to shuffle vp restitution and satisfaction of iniuries committed against our neighbours to draw men from remorse of conscience by burying their sinnes in eternall obliuion the sores whereof confession rubbeth and causeth Sixtly why exclude they the true and reall body of Christ from the blessed Sacrament of the altar but for that they perceiued how by the presence thereof they were deterred from sinne and wickednes for they knew well that sinfull liues consorted not with those sacred mysteries and therefore they rather resolued to banish Christ from the Sacrament then sinnes from their soules Finally for what other cause haue they ioyned a new negatiue religion wholy standing vpon negation of Sacraments ceremonies rites lawes customes and other practicall points of the catholike Church but for fasting to bring in feasting for praying playing for deuotion dissolution for religious feare of God vaine securitie for zeale and mortification a number of vaine verball sermons and to conclude for a positiue working a flat deniall almost of all points of faith and religion Answere COncerning this article I will first answere these cauils which this cauiller obiecteth to the slaundering of our doctrine as tending to loosenes of life and carnall libertie Secondly I will shew to what loosenes and wickednes of life the doctrine of the Church of Rome tendeth and what fruites or rather weeds of wickednes it hath brought fourth euen in Popes their clergie and namely in Rome that holy Citie where that holy Father resideth and whereupon he especially breatheth and blesseth He beginneth with free will wherein he neither setteth downe truely our doctrine nor the state of the controuersie which is a vsuall customewith his companions to peruert and alter the state of the question as Doctor Whitakers sheweth that Bellarmine vseth to do I wil therefore lay downe our doctrine truely as we teach concerning this matter wee beleeue that although in worldly matters concerning this life man haue wit reason and vnderstanding to know and will for the choise of good and euill iust and vniust yet in spirituall matters pertayning to eternall life and the worship of God we beleeue that mans reason is so darkened and will so corrupted that he can neither truely know loue nor couet much lesse doe and performe those things which be agreeable to Gods will and acceptable vnto his Maiestie vntill God
Hereof S. Paul speaketh Refuse the younger widowes for when they haue begun to waxe wanton against Christ they will marrie hauing damnation because they haue broken the first faith The which is to be vnderstood of the first profession of faith in Baptisme and not of the latter vow of single life as the Papists falsely and foolishly expound it From this faith all they doe fall which turne either on the right hand to false doctrine or on the left hand to wicked life Many other waies faith is taken but this question is of that true liuely and iustifying faith which is the faith of Gods elect whereby Christ dwelleth in their hearts and they receiue nourishment and life from him This faith may be couered by temptations and falles as fire in the night with ashes but neuer vtterly extinguished For they in whom this true faith is are like a tree planted by the riuers of waters that will bring forth her fruite in due season whose leafe shall not fade And they that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Sion which cannot bee moued but remaineth for euer They that by this faith are built vpō the rocki Iesus Christ hell gates shall neuer ouercome them Christ saith He that beleeueth in the Sonne of God hath euerlasting life He that heareth my word beleeueth in him that sent me hath euerlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but hath passed from death to life He that beleeueth in me shall neuer thirst Saint Paul saith Wherein after ye beleeued ye were sealed with the holy spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance for the redemption of that libertie purchased vnto the praise of his glorie These places sufficiently shew that that faith which is common to all Gods elect and proper onely to the elect can neuer perish nor be vtterly lost in them And this true comfortable doctrine bringeth no vaine securitie nor openeth the gap to any libertine sensualitie For they that by this faith haue tasted how sweete the Lord is cannot but loue and feare God and greatly delight in his commaundements And that faith which swimmeth in mens lips but is not printed in their hearts nor shineth by godlines and good workes in their liues is a dead faith and is no more that true faith whereby we liue vnto God then a dead man is a man To conclude this matter although we distinguish betweene iustification and sanctification yet we acknowledge that they be inseparable and the one doth necessarily follow the other For whosoeuer are iustified by Gods grace and mercie through faith in Christ Iesus be also sanctified with Gods holy spirit to abhorre that which is euill and to cleaue to that which is good and to serue God in true holines and righteousnes all the daies of their life And therefore we teach that they which without repentance persist in sinne wallow in wickednes and commit vngodlines with greedines haue no faith nor haue any assurance of the remission of their sins but may be assured that the wrath of God hangeth ouer them and if they doe not truly repent and bring foorth fruites worthie amendement of life will fearefully fall vpon them So that you might haue spared your vaine and foolish exclamations concerning Epicures Heliogabalus Bacchus and Venus which are more honoured in Rome as hereafter I will shew then allowed of vs. For of whom did Mantuan the Italian Carmelite Frier an 100. yeeres past write this but of your Popes and his fauourers Neglecto superum cultu spretoque tonantis imperio Baccho indulgent Venerique ministrant that is Neglecting the worship of God they serue Bacchus and Venus Concerning the fourth point of doctrine of keeping Gods commaundements I haue spoken sufficiently before Onely now I say that our doctrine tendeth hereunto to shew vs our miserie by transgressing of them that wee may thereby bee moued to hunger for Gods mercie in Christ and although we cannot perfectly fulfill them for in many things wee sinne all yet wee ought according to the measure of Gods grace giuen to vs haue a care and conscience to walke in them and to frame our liues to the obedience of them Whereas fiftly you charge vs that wee deny the Sacrament of Penance thereby to make men careles how they liue I answer that although we deny your penance to be a Sacrament because it hath no outward visible signe and reiect your clancular confession your absurd absolution and your superstitious or rather blasphemous satisfaction thereby to answere Gods iustice and discharge your sins yet we truly teach y e doctrine of repentance as it is deliuered vnto vs in the word of God We teach men to come to the knowledge of their sins by y e law of God which is the glasse to shew vs our spots and the first step to repentance then to lament their sinnes whereby they haue offended their gracious God and mercifull father to confesse their sinnes with remorse of conscience both to God and men whom they haue offended and especially wee call vpon men for amendement of life in bringing forth fruits worthie of repentance without the which there is no repentance One part of which amendement is satisfaction to our brethren for iniuries committed and restitution of goods vnlawfully and vngodly gotten As touching our iniuries against God we plead not our owne satisfaction but craue Gods mercie in Christ Iesus who is our only satisfaction and by whom only we seeke to haue remission of them Whereas you say that your confession rubbeth the sores of sinne and causeth remembrance of them I say that this more truly and effectually is wrought by the preaching of Gods word whereby sinne is more shewed and the wrath and iudgements of God against sinne are more threatned and thereby the conscience more pricked and wounded then by your confession So Dauid was brought to repentance for his foule sinnes of adulterie and murther by Nathans preaching and thundring Gods iudgements against him and not by his secret confessing So the people hauing heard Peter preach the word of God were pricked in their hearts and said vnto Peter and the other Apostles Men and brethren what shall we doe This is Gods holy ordinance the other a plant which God hath neuer planted but an inuention of man as euen your own Canonists against your Schoolemen do confesse And what wickednes hath come of it the ecclesiasticall historie partly sheweth and God who seeth al secrets knoweth To your sixt accusation I answer that we exclude and banish our Sauiour Christ neither from the Sacrament of his supper nor from the hearts of the faithfull but acknowledge that as by faith he dwelleth in the one so by the same he is receiued of the godly in the other Your false and grosse doctrine of Transsubstantiation which the Greeke Church neuer beleeued and the Latine Church lately defined as
righteousnes by whose stripes we are healed The blood of Iesus Christ his sonne clenseth vs from all sinne Hee hath loued vs and washed vs from our sinnes in his blood and made vs Kings and Priests vnto God his father As these places attribute our iustification and saluation onely to Iesus Christ and his merits so others doe detract and take the same from our workes and deseruings To him that worketh not but beleeueth in him that iustifieth the vngodly his faith is counted for righteousnes If it be of grace it is no more of workes or else were grace no more grace but if it be of workes it is no more grace or else were worke no more worke By grace ye are saued through faith and that not of your selues It is the gift of God not of workes least any man should glorie Who hath saued vs and called vs with an holy calling not according to our workes but according to his purspose and grace c. Not by the workes of righteousnes which we had done but according to his mercie he saued vs. Although this which I haue said may seeme sufficient to answere this article yet I will say something to this syllogisme To the Maior or first proposition I answere that with men wages is giuen for workes but with God whose thoughts are not as our thoughts nor waies as our waies it is otherwaies Man may do labour and seruice to man which may merit and deserue by equitie and iustice wages and reward For that there may be a proportion betweene the seruice and reward and also a benefit and commoditie commeth to him to whom the seruice is done As in this example here alleaged the Lord Deputie or some other may doe some such singular seruice in Ireland that if her Maiestie should bestow vpon him 1000. pound a yeere he might in some proportion deserue it and her Maiestie may receiue double benefit by it But can wee doe any workes that can either merit and deserue the kingdome of God or bring any benefit vnto God Dauid saith My weldoing extendeth not to thee And as S. Paul saith that all the afflictions of this present life are not worthie of the glorie that shall be shewed vnto vs so may I say that all our imperfect and stained workes are not worthie of the kingdome of God which we haue not deserued but Iesus Christ by his death and passion hath purchased for vs. Can a bond seruant by any seruices looke to deserue an earthly kingdome and can we which are bond seruants to God in respect both of creation and of redemption looke to deserue the kingdome of God Christ our Sauiour saith Doth he thanke that seruant because hee did that which was commaunded vnto him I trow not So likewise ye when ye haue done all things which are commaunded you say we are vnprofitable seruants we haue done that which was our dutie to doe If he that hath done all things which were commaunded must confesse himselfe to be an vnprofitable seruant how much more must wee confesse our selues to be vnprofitable seruants who haue both omitted many things commaunded and committed many great and grieuous sinnes prohibited So saith Hierome Si inutilis est qui fecit omnia quid de illo dicendum est qui explere non potuit .i. If hee be vnprofitable that hath done all what is to be said of him that could not fulfill all Therefore wee are not to trust in our owne merits but in Gods mercie which importeth our miserie and not worthines But for the proofe of your Minor you alleage the saying of our Sauiour Christ Call the labourers and giue them their wages I graunt that God doth giue to them that labour in his vineyard a reward which is called wages because it followeth pietie and good workes as outward wages followeth labour But that this heauenly wages is not deserued by our workes as that other is by our labour it euidently appeareth by that parable where they that had wrought but one houre receiued as much as they did which had borne the burden and heate of the day Which sheweth that this reward came of grace and not of merit and so S. Ambrose doth expound it Non labori praemium soluens sed diuitias bonitatis suae in eos quos sine operibus eligit effundens vt etiam hij qui in multo labore sudarunt nec amplius quam nouissimi acceperunt intelligant donum se gratiae non operum accepisse mercedem i. Not paying a reward vnto our labour but powring foorth the riches of his goodnes vpō them whom he hath chosen without works that they also which in great labour haue toyled and haue receiued no more then the last may know that they haue receiued a gift of grace and not a wages of workes To your other places Apocal. 20. 12. and 1. Cor. 3. 8. I say with S. Paul that God will reward euery man according to his workes but not for the merite and desert of their workes To them that continuing in well doing seeke glorie honour and immortalitie hee will giue euerlasting life and vnto them that are contentious and disobey the truth and obey vnrighteousnesse shall be indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish vpon the soule of euery man that doth euill But you will say why is not euerlasting life the wages of good workes as euerlasting death is of euill workes and sinnes I answere that our euill workes be simply euill and being transgressions of Gods righteous law offend his infinit maiestie prouoke his infinit wrath and deserue infinit paine and punishment But our workes are not simply and perfectly good but be imperfect and are stained with the corruption of our finfull nature as I haue before declared and therefore cannot satisfie Gods infinit iustice nor pacifie his infinit anger nor deserue his infinit glorie but rather require Gods great mercie as hath been shewed And therefore Saint Paul in the sixt to the Romanes hauing said that the wages of sinne is death doth not say which had been most meete to haue been said if this pharisaicall doctrine were true the wages of good workes is eternall life but hee saith the gift of God is eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord as also Oecumenius doth wel obserue You confidently affirme that the Protestants who are enemies to merits shall neuer attaine to the kingdome of Heauen which is purchased by good workes and merits Where first I would aduise you to take heede that you be not brethren to those old heretikes called Hieraclitae to whom Saint Augustine doth ascribe this as an heresie that they denied infants to appertaine to the kingdome of Heauen because they had no merits His words bee these Hieraclitae ad regnum coelorum non pertinere paruulos dicunt quia non sunt eis vlla merita certaminis quo vitia superentur i. The Hieraclites say that infants
AN APOLOGIE FOR RELIGION Or AN ANSWERE TO AN VNLEARNED and slanderous Pamphlet intituled Certaine Articles or forcible Reasons discouering the palpable absurdities and most notorious errors of the Protestants religion pretended to be printed at Antwerpe 1600. By EDVVARD BVLKLEY Doctor of Diuinitie Prouerb 14. 15. The foolish will beleeue euery thing but the prudent will consider his waies Lamenta 3. 40. Let vs search and trie our waies and turne againe vnto the Lord. Chrysost in Genes Hom. 5. Quocirca diuinae Scripturae vestigia sequamur neque seramus eos qui temerè quiduis blaterant i. Let vs follow the steps of the holy Scripture and not endure or abide them that rashly babble euery thing AT LONDON Printed by Felix Kingston for Arthur Iohnson and are to be sold at his shop in Paules Churchyard at the signe of the Flower de-luce and Crowne 1602. TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE SIR THOMAS EGERTON KNIGHT LORD Keeper of the great Seale of England Chamberlaine of the Countie Palatine of Chester and one of her Maiesties most honourable priuie Councell grace and peace be multiplied WHen I consider Right Honourable the estate of England in these our daies I cannot better compare it then with the estate of the kingdome of Iudah vnder K. Iosias expressed shortly yet effectually by Sophonie the Prophet who liued and preached in that time For as then God gaue to that people that worthy and godly King who zealously rooted out Idolatrie and planted Gods true worship agreeable to his law so God in great mercy hath giuen vs our most gracious Queene Elizabeth by whose godly meanes Idolatrie hath been abolished Gods true religion and seruice restored his holy word truly and sincerely preached and peace and tranquilitie among vs long maintained And as in those daies vnder King Iosias notwithstanding that godly and zealous reformation there was great wickednes among the people as the said Sophonias sheweth For there were then which worshipped vpon the rouffes of their houses the host of heauen and which worshipped and sware by the true and onely God Iehoua and by Malcham their Idoll and such as were turned backe from after the true God and sought him not nor inquired after him and that did weare strange apparell and others that filled their masters houses with robberie and deceite and such as were frozen in their dregges and said in their hearts the Lord will neither doe good nor euill And Ierusalem was then a filthie and spoyling citie which heard not Gods voyce receiued not instruction trusted not in the Lord and drew not neere vnto her God c. Euen so how these sinnes abound at this time in this land I thinke there are but few but doe see and none that truly feareth God but doth lament To omit other sinnes here mentioned as then there were which worshipped Iehoua the onely true God and Malcham their Idoll euen so there be now not a few which to please the Prince and State pretend outwardly to like of religion established and yet inwardly in their hearts fauour Idolatrie and wicked worshippings repugnant to the same And as then many were turned backe from after God and sought him not nor inquired after him euen so now there are many which be reuolted from Gods holy worship agreeable to his word and vtterly forsake the holy assemblies where Gods word is truly preached the Sacraments are according to Christs institution rightly ministred and Gods holy name faithfully called vpon These with Lots wife looke backe vnto Sodome and are with the Israelites in heart turned backe into Egypt desiring rather to eate onions and garlike there then to feed vpon the heauenly Manna of Gods blessed word Of these thus turned backe from seeking after God they be most dangerous which being deceiued themselues endeuour by all meanes both by speaking and writing to seduce and deceiue others Such be the Seminarie Priests and Iesuites who although they be at this present time at leastwise in outward apparance at deadly fewd among themselues writing most bitterly one against another yet they all agree in resisting Gods truth seducing the simple and in labouring most earnestly to set vp againe their Dagon of the Masse fallen downe before the Arke of Christs Gospell To this end they write lewd lying and slaunderous Pamphlets wherein they traduce the truth and faithfull fauourers thereof deceiue the ignorant and confirme in error their ouer affectioned fauourers who without triall or examination ouer rashly receiue and ouer lightly beleeue whatsoeuer is broached by them Of these lying Libels there came one to my hands a yeere past and more pretended to be printed at Antwerpe 1600. wherein is boldly affirmed but faintly proued that we haue no faith nor religion that of vs both the learned and ignorant of the Greeke and Latine tongues be Infidels that wee know not what wee beleeue that we are bound in conscience both neuer to aske forgiuenes of our sinnes and also to auoide all good workes that wee make God the author of sinne and worse then the diuell These and such other shameles assertions and false slaunders when I read it came into my heart that Master Thomas Wright with whose spirit I had been acquainted was the venter of this ware In which opinion I was afterward confirmed for that both some of his fauourers could not denie it and in a written copie therof taken in a search in Shropshire and sent vnto me these two letters T.W. were set in the end of it This lewd Libell although in respect of the matter voide both of truth and learning deformed rather to be despised then earnestly answered yet because the author of it thinketh so highly of himself and so basely and contemptuously of vs giuing out in certaine written conferences which he hath dispersed abroad in this land and some faithfull men haue seene that wee be vnlearned and so giuen to worldly affaires that we bestow no time or but little in studie I although the meanest and vnmeetest of many was moued to write this answere thereby to confute these calumnies to cleere the truth to confirme the faithfull and if by Gods gracious blessing it might be to reclaime and reforme the ignorant and seduced Whereof I haue the lesse hope for that as they imitate those wicked Israelites which refused to hearken turned away their shoulder stopped their eares that they might not heare and made their hearts as an Adamant stone least they should heare the law and the words which the Lord of hosts sent in his spirit by his Prophets So they doe fully follow the peruerse Pagans which most obstinately refused to reade godlie bookes written by Christians as that ancient eloquent Christian Lactantius in these eloquent words declareth Non est apud me dubium Constantine Imperator Maxime quin hoc opus nostrum quo singularis ille rerum conditor huius immensi operis rector asseritur si quis attigerit ex
Church of England did hold himselfe to the matter and how vnlike he was to Doctor Harding in his long discourses and digressions who in his booke intituled A detection of lyes c. discoursed two hundred and sixe whole sides of paper onely in preambles and prefaces before he once stept into his matter as Maister Iewel truly told him let the vpright reader indifferently iudge The like I may say of that worthie man of famous memorie Doctor Whitakers who how briefely soundly and learnedly he hath answered Campion Saunders Duree Stapleton William Reynolds and Bellarmine any man that hath an incorrupt eye may see and discerne And if T. W. be the author of this pamphlet as I nothing doubt but he is he may remember that one which had conference with him did write a briefe epistle vnto him and did therein set downe short syllogismes concerning the controuersies of prayer to Saints and the sacrifice of the Masse and required to haue the like short syllogismes set downe of him for the defence of his assertions and could not receiue one but a long tedious discourse concerning prayer to Saints which was confuted and neuer defended But whether answers be briefe or long it maketh no matter so that they be learned sound and true to the effectuall confuting of the errour and satisfying of the reader Now as touching certaintie which you say but do not shew that our religon lacketh I answere and auonch that out Religion is farre more certaine consonant and agreeable to it selfe then the doctrine of the Church of Rome is the which if I do not effectually proue hereafter in place more conuenient I will not require any man to vse your owne words to accept or affect it But with what forehead can this man charge our doctrine with want of perspicuitie seeing he cannot be ignorant how obscure darke and intricate the popish religion and doctrine is as may appeere by their manisold both turious questions and intricate distinctions which be their chiefe shifts to elude the plaine truth And if any would see how darke the doctrine and writings of Papists are let him looke into the Schoolemen Tho Aquine Io. Scotus Alexander de Hales Gabriel Biel and many such other amongst whom he may finde as much certaintie vnitie and perspicuitie of doctrine as he may in holl But how we study for perspicuitie and seeke to make all matters plaine both in our preachings and in our writings auoyding all curious questions and intricate and needles distinctions we appeale to the consciences of all that reade and heare vs. As touching your method concerning errours in doctrine and inordinate affections in maners if you can prooue that our wits be inueigled with them and our liues stained with these more then we can prooue euen your holy Fathers the Popes forsooth Peters successors and Christes vicars haue been you shall winne the victorie You seeme to attribute too much to our very naturall faculties to the iudging and discerning of truth proposed not considering the corruption of our naturall faculties by sinne how both the minde is blinded and the will peruerted Our Sauiour Christ saith The light shineth in darknes and the darkenes comprehendeth it not Saint Paul saith that animalis homo the naturall man perceiueth not the things of the spirit of God for they are foolishnes vnto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discorned But of this I forbeare to speake any more and also will leaue the other wait words in your letter and do come vnto your articles of faith The Pamphlet The first article concerning knowledge and faith The Protestants haue no faith nor neligion THe Protestants haue no faith no hope no charitic no repentance no justification no Church no altar no sacrefice no Priest no Religion no Christ the reason is for if they haue then the world was without them for a thousand yeeres as they themselves must needs confesse vid elicet all the time their Church was eclipsed and 1500. as we will proue by all records of antiquitie as Histories Councels monuments of ancient Fathers Whereby it plainely appeaneth that the synagogue of the Iewes was more constant in continuance and more ample for place then the Church of Christ For they haue had their sâ—nagogue visible in diâ—ers countries eâ—en since Christ's death and passion euen vntill his day which is the very path to lead man into Atheisme as though Christ were not as yet come into the world whose admirable promises are not accomplisheds whose assistance hath failed in preseruing his Church vnto the worlds end whose presence 〈◊〉 absent many hundred years before the finall consummation and consequently they open the gap to all Machiuillians who say that our Sauiour was one of the deceiuere of the world promising so much concerning his Church and performing so little Answere LOoking in this first article to haue found a syllogisme which this worthie writer vseth in some articles following but heere for want of a good medium as it may seeme to frame one by hath omitted I found a false assertion and a foolish probation The assertion that we haue no faith Haue we no faith The Deuils haue some faith Saint Iames saith The Deuils beleeue and tremble and haue we no faith we are much beholden vnto you for your charitable opinion of vs. You are by the doctrine of Saint Paule not to thinke so euill but to hope the best of them that professe Iesus Christ and his holy Gospell But to this your false and slaunderous assertion I will oppose a true affirmation and confession We beleeue all that God hath deliuered to vs by Moses the Prophets and Apostles in the old and new Testament yea we beleeue the contents of the Creeds of the Apostles Nicene and Athanasius and yet haue we no faith We hope to passe hereafter from death vnto life and to be partakers of that kingdome of glory which God hath promised and Iesus Christ hath purchased for all those that truly beleeue in him We trust that we haue charitie and loue both towards God and man although we confesse not in such full and perfect measure as we ought to haue we with Saint Iohn say He that loueth not his brother abideth in death We acknowledge repentance to be one of those chiefe heads wherein the summe of Christianitie is comprised Saint Marke setting forth the summe and substance of Christes doctrine comprehendeth it in these two Repent and beleeue the Gospell so did Saint Paule witnessing both to the Iewes and to the Grecians the repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Iesus Christ We beleeue to be iustified not by our owne works of righteousnes which we vnprofitable seruants and prodigall children haue done nor by the merits of any Saints in heauen or in earth but by the mercies of God purchased vnto vs by the blessed and bloudy merits of Iesus
Christ and applied vnto our soules by the hand of faith by the which Christ doth dwell in our harts and is made ours We beleeue that we are true members of that holy Catholike Church which is Christes mysticall body and whereof he is the head which is his spouse and he the bridegroome which is his flock and he the shepheard which is the heauenly Hierusalem the Mother of vs all finally which is the number of Gods elect and chosen people that shall rest with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the Kingdome of Heauen And we know that we haue perticular and visible Churches wherein Gods word is more truly preached the Sacraments seales of the word are more purely ministred and Gods name more faithfully inuocated and called vpon then in any or all the Romish Synagogues Indeede we haue no Idolatrous altars to offer either carnall or externall sacrifices vpon as though Christs sweete smelling sacrifice were not yet offered but we haue Mensam Domini the Lords Table whereupon we minister the Supper of Christ which is a holy Sacrament of Christs body and bloud giuen for vs a memoriall of his death and passion and a pledge of our redemption and saluation purchased thereby We haue that sweete smelling and sufficient sacrifice which Iesus Christ by his eternall spirit offered without fault vnto God to purge our consciences from dead workes to serue the liuing God As for the sacrifice of the masse as being iniurious to the said sacrifice of Iesus Christ which he once for all and for euer offered vpon the Altar of the Crosse we deny and defie We haue no thauen nor greased priests to offer the said false and forged sacrifice of the Masse but we haue priests pastours or ministers howsoeuer we terme them according to the ordinance of Christ to preach his holy Gospell and to administer his sacraments to his Church We haue and vse that religion which hath the testimonie of the law prophets and wherein the true worship and seruice of God according to his will reuealed in his holy word is contained your 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and superstition we flee and forsake Finally we haue that Christ which came into this world to saue sinners and which is that Lambe of God that taketh away the sinne of the world whom we acknowledge more soundly to be our onely high prophet to instruct vs in the will of his father whose onely voyce we must heare our onely high priest with the sacrifice of his body and bloud once offered to redeeme vs and reconcile vs vnto God our onely mediator and intercessorto sit for euer at the right hand of God to make intercession for vs and our onely high king to deliuer vs out of the hands of our enemies to giue lawes vnto our consciences and to rule vs with the scepter of his holy word then the Pope and all his adherents doe This our true confession whereunto God and our consciences be witnesses we oppose to your false and slaunderous obtrectation and accusation saying with Saint Paul We passe very little to be iudged of you or of mans iudgement and with him also exhort you not to iudge before the time vntill the Lord come who will lighten things that are hid in darkenes and make the counsels of the harts manifest and then shall euery man haue praise of God Further I doe exhort you that take vpon you so seuerely to censure and iudge others carefully to take heede to your selues that you haue not a false faith grounded not vpon Gods promises contained in his word but vpon mans deuises and traditions which as Epiphanius saith as worse then no faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that you be not voyde of true hope by teaching the doctrine of doubting whereof I shall speake hereafter and by fearing to be after death throwne into the firie torments of purgatorie and that you want not true charitie in iudging so falsely and maliciously and persecuting vs so cruelly as you vse to doe when time and power serueth you and that you haue no true repentance nor remorse of conscience for sinne in persisting so obstinately in damnable doctrine and abominable idolatrie and that by leaning to your owne righteousnes and the merites of other men which were sinners themselues you lose not that true iustification which is the righteousnes of God by the faith of Iesus Christ vnto all and vpon all that beleeue which is onely able to stand and discharge vs before the iudgement seate of Iesus Christ and is the onely strong staffe to leane vpon to leap ouer the ditch of damnation and beware I say that you leaning vpon the weake reede of your owne merites and others fall not into the middest thereof from which there is norising take heede you be not of the malignant Church which heareth not the voyce of Christ and wherein that man of sinne and sonne of perdition sitteth and raigneth and that you haue not such Idolatrous altars as Ieneboam had against which the man of God cried and vpon which the like iudgement of God fell as hath done vpon yours now And that you haue not a false forged sacrifice which appeaseth not but daily prouoketh Gods wrath against you and that you be not without priests to teach the law of God truely but haue swarmes of such priests as say not where is the Lord and know not God but prophesie in Baal which haue gone out of the way and haue caused many to fall by the law c. Beware that you be not without religion remembring the saying of Lactantius Quare non est dubium quin veligio nulla sit vbicunque simulachrum est that is wherefore there is no doubt but that there is no religion wheresoeuer an Image is Finally I say againe and againe beware that you forsake not the true Christ and worship Antichrist sitting in the westerne Babylon built vpon seuen hilles which in the dayes of Saint Iohn raigned ouer the Kings of the earth wherefore be not so rash in iudging so hardly and vncharitably of others but examine and iudge your selues that you be not iudged of the Lord. But I now come to your pithie probation of this your vncharitable and shameles assertion The reason you say is For if they haue then the world was without them for a thousand yeares as they themselues must needes confesse videl all the time their Church was eclipsed and for 1500. as we will proue by the testimonie of all records of antiquitie c. Whereunto I answere that if we take the world in that sense which the scripture sometimes doth for the multitude and societie of them whereof the Diuell is prince which hateth Christ and his true disciples which is set vpon wickednes for the which our Sauiour Christ refused to pray saying I pray not for the world and where