shall dictate vnto you you are safe and cannot miscarry Now among simple and vnlettered Papists who is this Iudge but some Priest or Iesuite for other Iudge I am sure they meet with none A plausible course I confesse to many specially those that are idle and loth to take paines or weake and dare not trust their owne iudgement or superstitious and thinke they merit much by their blind obedience vnto their teachers But how plausible soeuer it may seeme to flesh and blood sure I am it is too broad to bee the narrow way that leadeth vnto life and the Kingdome of Heauen will neuer be attained vnlesse it suffer more violence then so I adde further it is too presumptuous to tie Diuine Prouidence vnto humane policy and for man first to deuise what in his wisdome seemeth fittest and then to resolue that therefore God hath ordered it so Yet this is the course your side ordinarily holdeth you loue rather to giue lawes vnto God then to take lawes from him and in this particular to prescribe what meanes God should appoint to settle vs in the knowledge of his truth rather then to vse the meanes which hee himselfe hath to that end appointed If you thinke this too hard a censure be it knowne vnto you that Bellarmine the Prince of Iesuits reasoneth so God saith hee De verb. Dei l. 3. c. 9. was not ignorant that many difficulties concerning the Faith would rise vp in the Church hee ought therefore to prouide some Iudge for the Church What Iudge Such a one doubtlesse as by his sole authority and sentence must bee able to resolue all difficulties Which for as much as neither Scripture noâ— any secular Prince can doe therefore it must needs bee the Prince of Ecclesiasticall that is the Pope See I beseech you how peruersly and preposterously they deale with you first they take vpon them to direct God whâ—â— what he should doe or else forsooth he shall not be prouident and discreet enough and then thrust their owne fancy vpon you as a point of Faith that God hath done it But to answer this yet a little more fully I affirme three things First that holy Scripture knowes not secondly that the ancient Fathers acknowledge not thirdly that as long as wee haue the Scripture there needs not any such standing humane Iudge in the Church as you dreame of As touching the first if you know any passage of Scripture wherein God hath authorized such a Iudge as you dreame of I require you to shew it for my part I know none Expresse Scripture I am sure you cannot shew deductions and consequences by your owne rule I haue no reason to admit For example if for proofe hereof you vrge that of our Sauiour to S. Peter I haue prayed for thee that thy Faith faile not Luc. 22.32 I would demand who shall bee iudge of the meaning of these words for I heare that Christ hath prayed for Saint Peter but I heare not that hee hath prayed for the Pope that his Faith fayle not and I know Saint Peter was firme and constant in the faith vnto his liues end but it seemes by Ecclesiasticall Hystory that sundry Popes haue made shipwracke of the Faith and become Hereticks If there be no Iudge to determine this doubt why doe you thrust such a Iudge vpon vs If there bee who is hee you will say the Pope Then thus you reason Christ prayed for S. Peter that his Faith might not faile by S. Peter the Pope also is vnderstood and this appeares because the Pope saith so therefore neither can the Popes Faith faile and consequently he is the ordinary infallible Iudge of the Church More briefly thus the Pope is that Iudge because the Pope will haue it so Nominate what other Iudge soeuer you list and what other Text besides you please and the argument is still the same too weake to persuade what you intend vnlesse by some new priuiledge out of any premisses you may conclude what you will In a word search the Scriptures throughout and you shall finde the Ministery and seruice of men established to bring vs to the Faith but an infallible humane magistery and Lordship to command Faith it knowes none That prerogatiue Royall it reserues onely vnto Christ himselfe Neither doe the ancient Fathers acknowledge any such Iudge which is the second point If they doe point I pray to the place for hitherto it hath beene vnknowne Many and sharp bickerings had those ancients with diuers and sundry Heretiks as Arius Macedonius Eutyches Nestorius and the like yet neuer did they either obiect vnto them that they wanted an infallible Iudge as you doe vnto vs or conuent them before the tribunall of such a Iudge which doubtlesse had beene a readier way then disputation to stop their mouths had there been such a soueraigne Officer in the Church Sundry and manifold are the writings of the ancient Fathers touching the Christian Faith of which some also were purposely written to instruct vs in all the doctrines of our religion and is it not strange that such men in such books remembring carefully all other points should forget so maine and principall a point as this is Nay more then this Tertullian long agoe wrote a booke of Prescriptions or Fore-pleadings against Hereticks Saint Augustin also wrote foure books of Christian Doctrine wherein his direct intent is to prescribe rules how to vnderstand and interpret Scripture And Vincentius Litinensis also hath written a short Commonitory for the Antiquity and Verity of the Catholike Faith against the profane nouelties of all Heresies If these Fathers had acknowledged this your imaginary Iudge how commeth it to passe that they no where mention him in these books For certainly here was the proper place and they could not without extreame supinity and negligence omit him had they knowne such a one such a one I say as vpon whom the security of Faith and vnity of the Church dependeth But this deep silence of theirs and that in so due a place and of matter so important euidently argues that they neuer were acquainted therewith and that it is but an Idole of these latter times Now if neither Scripture nor Fathers know such a Iudge I hope I may bee bold to inferre that the Church needs him not which is the third point For I trow this is both a safer and sounder kind of reasoning then that of yours Such a Iudge wee conceiue to bee necessary Therefore such a one hath God ordained But to cleere this point also I affirme that the Scriptures by themselues through Gods blessing vpon our endeauour is a sufficient outward meanes to bring vs to saluation and therefore there is no necessity of your externall Iudge The Consequence is plaine and euident the Antecedent thus I proue because all whatsoeuer is necessary to saluation is so cleerely and manifestly deliuered in them euen to the capacity of vulgar and ordinary men that if they
it but that it is the onely lawfull gesture it cannot possibly prooue If it could by the same reason it would follow that the Eucharist is only to bee administred at euening and after supper because Christ then administred it For they are both circumstances and not essentiall idem jus Titio quod Sejo there is the same reason of both You will yet happily demand why wee make not Christs gesture a precedent for ours are we wiser then Christ And I againe demand of you why you lie not on your beds as Christ did know you what is conuenient better then he your answer I suppose will be that Christs gesture was that which ordinarily they then vsed at meales and Sitting is that which ordinarily they now vse And I answer because wee receiue not the Sacrament with our meales as Christ and his Apostles first did therefore do we not vse the gesture of meales The cause of the gesture being taken away the gesture it selfe may bee changed also The Iewes at the first are the Passeouer standing as wee haue shewed to signifie their hastie departure out of Egypt but being now safely escaped thence they alter that gesture Cap. â—8 Cap. 74. and our Sauiour by his practice approues their so doeing The Councels of Laodicea and of Trullo forbidding Agapas that is the loue feasts with which they were wont to receive the Communion forbad also accubitus sternere to lie any more in the Churches vpon their beds So that in the wisdome of the Churches of both Testaments such circumstances may iustly bee varied as the causes or reasons of them doe vary And thus of your arguments for sitting now let vs take a view also of your reasons against Kneeling They are in number foure all as you thinke demonstratiue and out of necessary premisses concluding that we may at no hand Kneele The first is this 1 If Kneeling ought to bee vsed then it is conuenient But it is not conuenient 2 Chron. 6.13 Dan. 6.11 Ergo it is not to be vsed The Maior of this Syllogisme is Hypotheticall or Conditionall the Consequence whereof is grounded vpon this Categoricall or simple Proposition Nothing ought to be vsed but that which is conuenient Rom. 3.8 Whereunto I answer first as we may not doe euill that good may come of it so neither may we forbeare that good which is coÌ„manded vs for any euill or inconuenience that may follow thereof Secondly in things indifferent which are neither good nor euill if they bee not ordered by authority but are still arbitrary and left vnto our choice then as wee may vse them because they are lawfull so may wee not vse them when they proue inexpedient The rule of charity must ouerrule vs in this case But if once they bee ordered by publicke authority then necessity is laid vpon vs and wee must conforme our selues vnto order notwithstanding any pretended inconuenience The rule of loyalty must sway with vs in this case Bee it then that Kneeling is inconuenient it was the fault of our superiors to command iâ— Now it is commanded and it is our duty to obey them If it bee inconuenient to Kneele it is more inconuenient to disobey and for not Kneeling to bee barred from the Sacrament The sequele therefore of your Maior is not good and I require you to proue it The Assumption is Kneeling is not conuenient I deny it You proue it by two places of Scripture which testify that Salomon Daniel kneeled when they prayed The weaknesse of which proofe that you may the more readily perceiue I reduce it into forme thus That gesture which is vsed in prayer is not conuenient at the Sacrament But Kneeling is a gesture vsed in Prayer Ergo it is inconuenient at the Sacrament The Minor whereof I grant but I deny the Maior as being too palpably absurd For first neuer man yet dreamed that Kneeling is proper quarto modo vnto it and may not bee vsed in any other action Secondly then may wee neither sit nor stand at the Sacrament 1 King 19.4 because Elias prayed sitting and the Publican standing Luc. 18.13 yea happily no gesture is left for the Sacrament seeing Prayer hath ingrost them all before hand Lastly for as much as at the time of receiuing our affections are to bee aduanced and lifted vp vnto God in prayer and thankesgiuing it must needs be by your owne rule that Kneeling is a gesture euery way conuenient for it Your second argument is 2 No will-worship may bee vsed Mat. 15.9 Kneeling is will-worship for Pope Honorius first devised it Acts Mon. pag. 1390. Ergo Kneeling may not bee vsed To yeeld vnto God that Worship which he himselfe hath reuealed and prescribed is an Act of true Religion but to obtrude and thrust vpon him a Worship forged and deuised of our selues is meere superstition The one hee rigourously exacteth of vs the other hee expresly forbiddeth Ex. 15.38.39 In the law God commandeth the Iewes to make them fringes in the borders of their garments and to put a blew ribband vpon it throughout their generations that yee may looke vpon it saith he and remember all the Commandements of the Lord to doe them and that yee seeke not after your owne heart and your owne eyes after which yee vse to goe a whoaring In the Prophets he oftentimes vpbraideth them with their owne inuentions and disdainfully saith vnto them Who hath required these things at your hands And in the new Testament our Sauiour in the place by you quoted Mat. 15.9 Col. 2.23 seuerely taxeth the Pharisees for teaching their owne fantasies and placing the worship of God in the obseruation of mens precepts and Saint Paul to the Colossians in plaine tearmes condemneth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wil-worship notwithstaÌ„ding whatsoeuer shew of Wisdome or humility it carry with it All which considered I yeeld you your Maior as true No Wil-worship may be vsed Your Assumption that Kneeling is Wil-worship I deny telling you further that you doe intolerable wrong vnto the Church of England charging her with so grosse a Superstition For the world knoweth and you must needs be a great stranger in Israel if you be ignorant that the Gouernors of our Church presse not their ceremonies vpon the consciences of men as if they were in themselues necessary and not indifferent neither place any part of Religion or diuine worship in them This they leaue vnto that Man of sin who challengeth power vnto himselfe as to create new articles of faith so to prescribe new formes of Worship also That their intent is not Wil-worship but order vniformity they haue oftentimes published if I may so say with sound of trumpet which if you haue not heard it is extreme deafenes if you haue heard and yet will not bee satisfied to say no more it proceeds of meere wilfulnes and frowardnesse Howbeit to proue your Minor you affirme that Pope Honorius first deuised it Cap.
same Father is so sacrilegious as to say there are three Substances in the Trinity It is not therefore so much to bee marked whence a word is deriued as what it is vsed to signifie and if it signifie many things as Faith doth then must wee inquire in what sense it is to be taken in the present question that so wee may build our doctrines not in the aëry sound of words but in the vertue of the things signified as Basil speaketh Contra Eunom lib. 2. Againe words as Logicians teach vs haue their originations sundry wayes and among the rest from the Effects Not to seeke far for an instance The third argument in a Syllogisme whereby the Conclusion is proued is by the Grecians called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Faith a word as you say deriued from a verbe signifying to bee perswaded and yet I thinke your selfe will acknowledge that here it hath the name from the Effect not because it is Perswasion but for that it doth beget Perswasion Whereupon it followeth likewise that Faith in our Question flowing from the same fountaine is not necessarily to signifie Assurance but may well be called so because by it euery true beleeuer may gather and conclude vnto himselfe Assurance Lastly although the Greeke and Hebrew words whence Faith commeth signifie to bee perswaded yet they doe not only signifie so For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Rabbi Kimhi saith implies Affiance and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the middle voice imports as much whence commeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Confidence and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word growing vpon the same root that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth construed with the Preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth to trust rest rely on Wherefore the originall words in either language being indifferently affected vnto both what reason can be rendred why faith in those languages should not as well beare the signification of Affiance as Assurance These reasons considered you see at length the weaknesse of your Achillean argument and how insufficient it is to perswade that Faith is a Perswasion Withall you may perceiue that if I would I might haue beene Philologos without any hazard vnto the definition of Faith which I maintaine and that there is no cause why either you should vpbraid mee with the odious name of Antipistos or I feare incurring infamie for any thing hitherto I haue said or written Howsoeuer sure I am my Theologie agreeth better with true Philologie then these virulent speeches with the rule of Charity or to shew by the way what a skilfull Pedant you are your preposterous deduction of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Primitiue from the Deriuatiue with the precepts of Grammer Treatise Bee not offended if I handle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and giue new tearmes to old matters N. B. Aristoph in Ran. Lucian in Pseudosophistâ You are no Constable neither haue you put on the Lions skinne to subdue vs to your commaund I tell you Master Downe wee are offended that you giue new tearmes to old Positions and handle them not onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which in this point you cannot bee permitted to doe but also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is vtterly intolerable I will therefore say vnto you With S. Hierom Ep. ad Pammach Ocean Cur post quadringintos annos docere nos niteris quod ante nesciuimus How cōmeth it to passe that thou after 400. yeeres space goest about to teach vs that before we knew not And so to you how dare you deale after a new manner in so waightie a thing as is Faith opposing your iudgement to the iudgement of all the Church for these 1600. yeeres In Praescript Alas saith Tertullian qui estis vos vnde quando who are you whence are you and of what continuance In Gen. hom 3. lib. 3. ad Licent But suo ipsius iudicio perijt sorex By shewing your selfe you perish as saith Origen and Augustin of others Now perceiue wee that the iudgement of the whole Church cannot content you but still you must haue one inkhorne tearme or other of your owne to shew your itching eares Would not or could not all the learned men of the world define iustifying Faith and contenting themselues with the Genus and Difference satisfie you but that you would not onely dispute pro formâ against them which might bee in a Scholler for triall of wit tolerable but also publikely preach against their iudgements and proclaime them erronious only allowing your owne for true I. D. Indeed M. Baxter it is true I am no Constable if I were I thinke I should finde it a very troublesome office to haue such a turbulent spirit within my iurisdiction as you are And as for the Lions skin as you say I haue not put it on it is you that haue ietted vp and downe along time in it to the great scarring and affrighting of simple people Aesop But because your vntimely braying and the vnlucky appearance of your eares now bewray that it growes not to your backe you must be content to bee stript of it and to walke hereafter as you are in your owne hide You are offended you say that I giue new tearmes to old positions and handle them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after a new manner An offence not giuen but taken and therefore little to bee regarded For the Philosopher Categ c. 7. §. 16. though he would haue the common vse of speech to bee retained in familiar conuersation yet Artists sayth he haue liberty to inuent new tearmes so as they bee proper determined and adequated to the thing signified Simplic super Praedicam qual Academ Quaest lib. 1. In regard whereof himselfe doubted not first to vse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for that which formerly in the Concrete was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 neither was Cicero afraid with out former example to call that Qualitas which the Grecians tearmed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In a word how many tearmes are there now frequently vsed in schooles which vnto the ancients were vncouth and neuer heard of It cannot therefore bee a sufficient exception to say the tearme is new vnlesse with all you shew it is not proper enough to expresse the thing signified which here you cannot doe as by and by will appeare This I thinke you saw and thereupon very restrictiuely you say that in this point I cannot bee permitted so to doe And why I pray you not in this point as well as in others For it hath alwayes beene the custome of the Church of God euen in the highest points of Religion partly for the clearing of those parts that are obscure and darke in them partly for the preseruation of them against the innouations of heretiks to deuise new tearmes and as Athanasius speaketh In disp cum Ario coram Probo Gentili iudice things vnchangeably remayning to change the names of
definition this Relying vpon Christ is Iustifying Faith but that this Resting vpon Christ is vnto Faith as the fruite is to the tree proue it sufficiently and in Gods Name take the victory But you must not thinke that affirming is prouing or facing arguing and very meanely doe you conceiue of your Readers iudgement if you thinke that your weake asseuerations can more preuaile with them then the strength of my reasons For if by Rest you vnderstand as you should not Quiet and peace of Conscience which I confesse is not complete without Assurance but that Affiance by which wee stay our selues vpon Christ accepting him to bee our Mediator in such sort as is aboue described I haue both plainely and soundly demonstrated that Faith is such a Rest and such a Rest Faith and not the fruite of Faith N. B. And to be plaine with you when you say Iustifying Faith is not a Knowledge or an Assurance Tom. 3. de Iustif ca. 7. you speake pure Bellarmine as appeareth in his Booke de iustificatione I pray you therefore though you mislike M. Perkins turne not pure Papist I. D. And to bee plaine with you also if your kind of reasoning may passe for currant when you say Iustifying Faith is not a Rest or Affiance you speake pure Bellarmine Cap. 5.6.9 for in the same Booke by you quoted as hee denieth Faith to bee Assurance so hee denieth it also to be Affiance I pray you therefore though you mislike my Definition yet turne not pure Papist But Master Baxter you mistake the matter very much if you thinke all is Popish or erronious whatsoeuer either a member of the Church of Rome or the whole Church of Rome holdeth for by this rule wee should with the Arrians of Poleland renounce the very Faith of the Trinity as a branch of Antichrists Religion of whom it is reported that therefore and for this reason specially they hold the Pope to bee the misticall beast spoken of in the Reuelation and his triple Crowne a visible marke thereof because hee maintaineth the doctrine of the Trinity As therefore erewhile you said vnto mee Let vs not be bound to defend the errors of our Brethren so say I now vnto you Let vs not bee bound to reiect the truths of our aduersaries For truth is Gods wheresoeuer it bee found though it were in the mouth of him who is the father of lies and if Ticonius the Donatist speake with better reason then Cyprian an orthodox father Retract lib. 2. ca. 18. S. Augustin will not sticke therein to preferre the Hereticke before him that is Catholike But notwithstanding all this I would haue you to know that all the agreement betweene mee and Bellarmine is onely in this what Faith is not for in question what it is we differ the whole heauen one from another he defining it by Assent vnto diuine truths I by Affiance on the person of Christ N. B. Now Master Downe to make an end and returne to my other affaires from whence you haue vnkindly drawne mee I pray you read a few Positions to the which oppose what you can I. D. What your affaires are I am not well acquainted withall but what they should bee I wot full well Among the rest maintenance of Gods truth and conuincing of contrary errors are both by the rule of Christianity in generall and the office of the Ministry which you haue taken vpon you in particular required of you Wherein if you bee sure that all this while you haue beene employed you discredit your action exceedingly when you say you are vnkindly drawne from your other affaires vnto it Plut. Apophth Remember you not what the woman replied vnto Philip of Macedon denying to heare her sute because he was not at leisure Hast thou not quoth shee leisure to bee a King So say I vnto you either doe the worke if you will bee a Minister of Christs Gospell or else bee no Minister if you bee vnwilling to doe the worke To what end you should offer vnto me these Positions following requiring mee to oppose what I can against them I cannot well coniecture for what stuffe haue you here brought vs besides that which either is already sufficiently answered or whereof there is no question at all betwixt vs And therefore I see no cause why I should vouchsafe to bestow any time or labour about them Neuertheles to satisfy your request a word or two touching them N. B. True Iustifying Faith defined 1. Iustifying Faith is an assured knowledge or knowing assurance by the which euery one of the elected relieth vpon the Promises of the mercy of God in Christ Iesus firmely holding that Christ and eternall life together with all the merits of Christ are giuen to him to righteousnesse and eternall saluation Fides vnica indiuidua specie Haec Fides differt numero gradu 2. There is but one onely speciall iustifying Faith 3. This Faith differeth in number and degree 4. It is manifest there bee so many seuerall Faiths in number as there bee seuerall persons elected 5. One man is not saued by another mans Faith Mat. 26.74.75 17.17 Mat. 9.24 6. This Faith differeth in degrees small in one man and mighty in another Mat. 13.23 14.31 Act. 2.8 ca. 4. Mat. 15.28 Fides imperfecta Ad resistendum tamen diabolo sufficiens quare 7. The greatest Faith in this life is imperfect 1 Cor. 13.9 12. 8. Though it bee small and infirme yet it is sufficient to resist the Diuell by reason of the prayers and promises of Christ. 2 Cor. 5.1 Esa 53.11 Causa efficiens material 9. This Knowledge or Faith for they bee conuertible Ioh. 17.3 passeth all vnderstanding Eph. 3.14 c. 10. The Efficient cause of this Faith is the Spirit of God 11. The instrumentall ordinary cause is the preaching sincerely of the Word of God 12. God may worke extraordinarily Faith in the Elect without preaching by his Spirit Obiectum Fidei in genere specie 13. The obiect of Faith in generality is the whole Word of God in speciality the promises of God in Christ and his Merits 14. The formall cause is a confident relation to all the Word of God and certainty of saluation Formalis 15. The finall cause subordinate Finis subordinatus summus is the saluation of the Elect the chiefest end is the celebration of the mercy and iustice of God 16. The effects are concerning God our selues Effecta our neighbour God in truly seruing him our selues in wholy resting vpon him our neighbour in truly louing him 17. The subiect where Faith resteth is the heart Subiectum in quo residet Fides Adiuncta duo the vnderstanding and the will of man 18. The properties are two first that Faith bee aliue and not dead secondly that it bee perpetuall I. D. The first the thirteenth and the foureteenth I wholly and absolutely deny hauing fully
and to vpbraid error in man is to reproch euen mortality in selfe Which if you had seriously and duly considered either you would not with such petulancy haue beene caried against the errors you imagine to be in mee or at least you would haue remembred your selfe also to be a man But seeing you count your selfe the only wise-man and others as the Poet speaketh Homer to fly about like shadowes you may not thinke it hard if being both ignorant and insolent you be admonished of the one and chastised for the other OF THE FAITH OF INFANTS AND HOW THEY ARE Iustified and Saued By the late Reuerend and Learned Diuine Master Iohn Downe Bachelour of Diuinity and sometimes Fellow of Emanuell Colledge in Cambridge OXFORD Prinred by IOHN LICHFIELD for EDWARD FORREST Anno Domini M.DC.XXXV OF THE FAITH OF INFANTS AND HOW THEY ARE Iustified and Saued THat Christian Infants haue a particular Faith of their owne is generally affirmed both by Papists and Lutherans yet with some difference De Bapt. l. 1. c. 10. as Bellarmine writeth For Papists hold that they haue onely Habituall Faith and that it together with Hope and Charity is infused into them in the Sacrament of Baptisme but the Lutherans saith he attribute vnto them Actuall Faith or something like thereunto Wherein it may be the Cardinall doth them some wrong Field Append. part 2. §. 1. For it is obserued by some Diuines that they constantly deny Children to haue any actuall apprehension of Gods mercies or that they feele in themselues any such motions of Faith Whereupon it must needs follow that their meaning is not to attribute vnto them Actuall Faith but a kind of Habituall Faith onely or that seed root and Habit whence Actuall motions in due time doe flow But bee their opinion herein whatsoeuer it will bee sure I am that both Lutheran and Papist agree in this that Infants haue a particular Faith of their owne The principall reasons that they alledge for proofe hereof are these Heb. 11.6 Infants please God but without Faith it is impossible to please him Mat. 19.14 The Kingdome of God belongs vnto them Which yet the Scriptures say cannot be attained without Faith The Word of God euery where maketh particular Faith a necessary meanes vnto Iustification and Saluation as where the Prophet saith The iust man shall liue by his Faith Hab. 2.4 but Infants are iustified before God and being iustified cannot but bee saued Matt 18.6 Mar. 9.36 Luc. 1.41 Nay Christ himselfe expresly saith that they doe belieue And Iohn the Baptist in the very wombe of his Mother was filled with the Holy Ghost and sprang at the salutation of the Blessed Virgin Other arguments they vse but they are all of the like nature and notwithstanding them all I cannot bee perswaded that Infants while they are such haue any Faith of their owne either Actuall or Habituall And these among sundry others are my chiefest reasons Deut. 1.39 First the Scripture in plaine tearmes affirmeth that they haue no knowledge at all either of good or euill and that they cannot so much as discerne betweene the right and the left hand If so Ion. 4.11 how can they who conceiue not of things naturall vnderstand those things that are heauenly and aboue the pitch of nature To this effect Saint Augustin Epist 57. Scire diuina paruulos qui nec humana adhuc norint si verbis velimus ostendere vereorne ipsis sensibus nostris facere videamur iniurià m quando iâ—â—loquendo fuadere studemus vbi omnes vires officiumque sermonis superet euidentia veritatis that is If wee should goe about to demonstrate with words that Children know the things of God who as yet know not the things of men I feare wee should offer wrong euen to our very senses endeuouring to perswade by speech that the euidence of the truth whereof far exceeds all power and office of speech Secondly when Infants are presented at the holy Font and either sprinkled with the water of Baptisme or dipped therein how chanceth it that they so much dislike thereof testifying their dislike by their crying and other motion of the body Certainly had they actuall Faith they would endure all with much patience and cheerefulnesse and neuer bewray so much aduersenesse and discontent But if in doing so they goe against their knowledge the Sacrament must needs bee so fâ—rre from auailing them to the washing away of Originall guilt that by their reluctation they rather contract a further guilt of Actuall sinne which I suppose none except he be too too vncharitable will imagine of them Thirdly if they haue Faith why are they not after their initiation by Baptisme forthwith admitted vnto holy Communion In the time of Saint Augustin and Innocent the first it was the practice of the Church so to doe and it continued as some write for the space of sixe hundred yeeres downe vnto the times of Ludouicus Pius and Lotharius But why is that custome now growne out of vse and why are Children barred from the Eucharist if they belieue as well as elder people Nay why are they not rather admitted then those of riper yeeres For Infants haue not so much as euill thoughts in them but these by reason of their longer life haue made themselues guilty of many euill deeds besides Fourthly Faith as Saint Paul witnesseth commeth by hearing and hearing by the Word of God preached But Infants heare not neither by the eare nor by any other way proportionable thereunto or if they doe yet they vnderstand not what they heare For did they vnderstand I presume they would harken more attentiuely vnto what is said then we see they doe Wherefore not hearing neither doe they belieue If you say they belieue by an inward Hearing then is that Faith wrought either by Ordinary or Extraordinary meanes Not by Extraordinary meanes for it is done euery day and houre By Ordinary therefore If so then haue wee a double manner of working Faith and both of them Ordinary the one by Inward Hearing in Infants only the other by Inward and Outward also in those that are Adulti which is a meere nouelty in the Church of God Fiftly how commeth it to passe if Children haue Faith that among so many millions of them as haue beene in the world not so much as one of them when they come to riper yeares giueth any testimony of his Faith vntill hee bee farther taught and informed If a child borne of Christian parents and entred into the visible Church by Baptisme shall afterwards while hee is yet in his tender yeeres fall into the hands of Infidels or Turks as the more the pitie many thousands of them haue done and the whole band of Ianizars they say consists of no other doth hee not readily receiue that religion which is first instilled into him without once dreaming of the Christian Faith Which yet how it should bee hauing from his
sinne of their owne Neither doth God thinke it agreeable with his iustice to exact of them a proper and particular Faith of their owne Infants then are holpen by anothers Faith Whose Faith will you say The Faith of the Parents as also of the Church who is the common mother of vs all and in whose wombe as it were they are conceiued borne This of old was Saint Augustins sentence and this all sound Diuines haue agreeably with the Scripture euer held Onely it may be demanded how and in what sort the Parents Faith auaileth them Whereunto I answer not by particular applying of Christs merits and obedience vnto them for this is done onely by a mans owne Faith vnto himselfe but by bringing them within the compasse of the Couenant of Grace Thus The Couenant was made not with Abraham onely Gen. 17.19 Act. 2.39 but with his seed also and the Promise saith Saint Peter was giuen both to the Parents and to the Children The Parents therefore by Faith apprehending this Promise and Couenant by their Faith interest their Children also thereunto For as it is in ciuill negotiations the bargaine that the Father maketh for himselfe his Children is firme and good although the Children bee not present at the bargaine-making nor vnderstand what is done euen so in this spirituall Couenant and contract with God the Parents Act is sufficient force to confederate their Children also and to giue them a right vnto all the benefits of the Couenant And as I conceiue this is imputed vnto them in lieu of all those Acts and Habits which otherwise are required in those that are Adulti How farther the Holy Ghost worketh in them is a deepe and inscrutable secret Et de occultis non iudicat Ecclesia the Church is no iudge of things that are hidden Onely I affirme that by the Faith of the Parents the Children are made a holy seed and members of Christs body But what if one of the Parents bee an Infidell What if either of them or both be notorious hypocrites or openly sinnefull hauing not in them true Iustifying Faith are the Children therefore without the compasse of the Couenant and vniustified before God I answer No For first if but one of the Parents belieue yet are the Children holy 1. Cor. 7.14 So saith Saint Paul The vnbelieuing husband is sanctified by the belieuing wife and the vnbelieuing wife is sanctified by the husband else were your Children vncleane but now are they holy Againe though neither of the Parents belieue with iustifying Faith yet being in the Church by the profession of Christian Religion their Children are within the Couenant For first the Soule that sinneth it shall die Ezech. 18.20 the sonne shall not beare the iniquity of the Father neither shall the Father beare the iniquity of the Sonne So that the impiety of the Parents preiudiceth not the Child that is borne in the Church Secondly by Parents are to bee vnderstood not those alone of whom Children are immediatly begotten and borne but their Progenitors and Ancestors also who feared God and liued in the Church though many generations before For God made not his Couenant with Abraham and his immediate seed onely but with all his seed after them in their generations Gen. 17.7 Ex. 20. and promiseth to shew mercy to the thousandth generation of them that loue him and keep his Commandments Whence it followeth that these are as it were a root vnto all their posterity borne in the Church and therefore Rom. 11.16 if the root be holy so are the branches also saith Saint Paul Lastly bee the next Parents whatsoeuer they will bee yet their Children being borne in the Church the Church is their Mother and the Faith and piety of the Church interesteth all such as are borne in her vnto the Couenant And thus you see how Children are iustified and Saued by anothers Faith If Children may not those that are Adulti so bee iustified and saued also No verily For as the Prophet saith The iust man shall liue suâ fide not by anothers Hab. 2.4 but by his owne Faith And hence is it that in the Lords prayer we are taught to say Our Father but in the Creed I belieue because Prayer is an Act of Charity extending it selfe vnto the good of others also but Belieuing is an Act of Faith onely benefiting a mans selfe Can the cloths that another weares warme mee or the meat another eates nourish mee or the potion another receiues cure mee or the soule that is in another man quicken mee Nor more can the Faith of another man iustify or saue mee As one man shall not beare anothers fault sed anima quae peccat ipsa morietur the soule that sinneth it shall die so shall not one man bee acquitted for anothers Faith sed anima quae credit ipsa saluabitur the soule that belieueth it shall bee saued Saluation euery where in Scripture is promised to him who himselfe belieueth and damnation is euery where threatned to him that belieueth not so And he belieueth not so who hath not a Faith of his owne Yea but if Adams sinne bee imputed vnto vs for Condemnation and the Obedience of Christ for Iustification why may not anothers Faith also bee imputed for Saluation The case is not alike for they were publicke persons and stood in our steed but so doe not others In the Couenant of works Adam was our Head and therefore his sinne is counted the common act of all those that were in his loines In the Couenant of Grace Christ is our Head and therefore his Obedience is esteemed the common Obedience of all those who are vnited vnto him by Faith Others are not our Heads nor represent our persons in regard whereof neither can their Act bee accounted ours It will further bee obiected that Christ forgaue the palsie-sicke man his sinnes for the Faith of them that brought him Luc. 5.20 and so as Thomas saith both Ambrose and one Iohn a Bishop vnderstand it Caten in cum loc But Saint Chrysostome otherwise and that more rightly vnderstanding it both of the sicke mans Faith and theirs who brought him For our Sauiour intending to bestow a double benefit vpon him namely the cure both of body and soule this could not bee effected but by the interuention of his owne Faith but the other might by the Faith of those that presented him So wee read that the Centurions seruant Mat. 8.13 15.28 and the woman of Canaans daughter were healed the one for his Masters the other for her Mothers Faith And who knowes not that vnbelieuers oftentimes temporally fare the better for the sake of the Faithfull Saint Ambrose therefore imputing the remission of sinnes vnto the Faith of others must bee vnderstood with a graine of Salt as they say that one mans Faith may obtaine Faith vnto another and so consequently by the interuention thereof Iustification also as did the
2. Quia perfecta est Psal 19. Respondeo 1. Primum illud non sequi Non enim quod ab Infinito est id continuò est Infinitum A finito nil nisi finitum procedit ab infinito vtrumque finitum infinitum Alioqui mundus hic immò puluisculus quilibet aut atomus cum à Deo sit infinitus esset 2. Neque Secundum si vox illa Persecta vniuocè intelligatur Distinguo ergò Perfectum vel absolutè dici vel in suo genere Absolutè cui nihil deest quod in aliquo genere perfectum est sic solus Deus Perfectus est in quo vno omnes omnium perfectiones eminentissimo modo aggregantor proptereaque etiam solus simpliciter proprie Infinitus est In suo genere cui nihil deest quod ad suum genus pertinet sic quidem Lex Perfecta est nec quicquam in eâ desideratur quod ad Legis naturam ingenium spectat At interim quod sic Perfectum est non simpliciter propriè infinitum est 2. Poena Peccati est Infinita Ergò Peccatum ipsum Nisi enim Poena Peccato analoga sit Deus iniustus est quod horrendum dictu Respondeo 1. Si Poena Peccati sit infinita perperà m docent Theologi Deum vt vltrà Condignum remuneratur ita punire citrà condignum 2. Paena non est infinita tum quia Creatura diuinaeque irae extrinsecum effectum tum quia non omnes pares ideoque nec omnes infinitae Replicatur Aeterna est Ergò Infinitae Respondeo 1. Non disputari de infinitate Durationis sed grauitatis quare nihil hoc ad Andromacham 2. Nego propriè aeternam esse sed aeuiternam incepisse enim quamuis desitura non sit ideoque nec propriè infinitam 3. Peccatum in Electis ne paenas quidem aeuiternas lucre quare saltem in illis peccata non esse infinita In reprobis iustum est ut nunquam careant supplicio quia nunquam voluerunt carere peccato 3 Passio Christi vtroque modo infinita est mole duratione Ergò peccatum cuius paenas Christus pro nobis luit Respondeo 1. Non sequi maioris enim illa meriti propter dignitatem personae quà m mille peccatorum myriades demeriti 2. Passio Christi mole finita fuit creatura enim creatura etiam natura quâ patiebatur 3. Nego duratione aeuiternam nedum aeternam fuisse Quî pote Nisi fortè triginta quatuor plà s minùs anni in quibus solis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fuit pro totâ aeternitate censeri possint Replicatur At propter dignitatem Personae aeternae Paena fuit etiam aeterna Respondetur 1. Verba perplexa nequid grauiùs dicam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quorum si haec mens sententia sit Passionem Christi temporalem propter dignitatem personae aeternae passioni nostrae aeternae etiam ad assem aquiualere tria dico 1. Aliter dictum oportuisse nec enim hunc sensum verba praese ferre 2. Hinc sequi Paenant Christi temporalem duntaxat non aeternam fuisse 3. Ideo Christum paenas aeternas non passum quia peccata Electorum pro quibus passus est non futura erant aeterna quippe per gratiam diuinam interpellanda interrumpenda 2. Siquid aliud haec verba sibi volunt quaeratur Sibyllae aut somniorum coniector aliquis Mihi diuinari nec libet nec vacat 4. At quid frequentius in sacris concionibus scriptisque Theologicis quà m Peccatum infinitum Panam infinitam c. Respondeo 1. Non omnia ab omnibus propriè dici praesertim in demegorijs homilijs ad populum sed pleraque tropicè 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 adrei magnitudinem indicandam 2. Intelligendi sunt de Peccato non formaliter sed materialiter obiectiuè loqui vt suprà dictum est quia Peccato Maiestas infinita violatur 3. Distinguo Rem omnem considerari vel vt quiddam Ens vel secundum propriam suam rationem Vt Ens finita est res omnis creata Secundum rationem suam propriam infinita dici potest si quicquid ad se pertinere ullo modo potest non limitata nec secundùm mensuram habeat Sic lucem Solis infinitam dicimus non quidem secundùm suum Esse sed secundùm rationem lucis quia habet quicquid ad communem rationem lucis pertinere potest Pari ratione Peccatum Poena Passio priori modo proculdubiò finita sunt infinita secundo si vllo modo infinita sunt hoc est secundùm quid non propriè simpliciter quod in thesi affirmatur Quod etiam non de omni Peccato aut Paenâ intelligendum est sed fortasse de Peccato in Spiritum Sanctum aut saltem illo Diaboli deque paenâ Gehennae intensissimâ OF CHOICE OF MEATS AND ABSTINENCE I Will endeauour to satisfy your demaund the best I can and to resolue you in the question of choice of Meats and Abstinence but briefly and in few words It may please you therefore to remember 1. That all Meats in regard of their nature and creation are good For of euery thing that was created God himselfe singularly and seuerally auoucheth that it was good Gen. 1.4.10.12.18.21.25.31 2. Tim. 4.3.4 and of all iointly and collectiuely that they were exceeding good In particular of Meats S. Paul affirmeth that they are good and created to bee receiued with thankesgiuing 2. 2. Tim. 4.1 They that say the contrary are charged by Saint Paul to hold a doctrine of Diuels And iustly were the Manichaeans Tatiani and Encratitae for maintaining that some Meats are of a polluted and vncleane nature euer accounted and condemned as Heretiks in the Church of God 3. God who is the Creator of Meats and soueraigne Lord of all things hath full and absolute power ouer the Meats and may restraine the vse of any kind of them at his pleasure Which when it appeareth he hath done the Conscience is â—ou◠〈◊〉 â—â—â—ute obedience and abstinence from meats so 〈◊〉 Leuit. 11. 4 While therefore the Câ—â—â—â—niall part of the law remained in force wherein 〈◊〉 â—â—nds of Meats were interdicted vnto the Iewes partly to distinguish them thereby from other nations partly to figure out the Churches election and separation from the rest of the world it had beene a breach of Religion and a great sin to put no difference between meat and meat but to haue vsed them all indifferently 5 By the comming of Christ the shadowes of the law are vanished and the distinction of meats is vtterly abolished and taken away as appeareth by the vision of the Sheet shewed vnto Peter and the voice that said vnto him Act. 10.11.15 The things that God hath purified pollute thou not And the free vse or non-vse of them is a part of that Christian liberty which Christ by his blood hath
purchased vnto vs Rom. 14.14.20 Tit. 1.15 Gal. 5.1 who vnto the cleane as the Apostle saith hath made all things cleane 6 In this Liberty so deerely bought we are commanded to stand fast and not to suffer our selues againe to be entangled with the yoke of bondage We entangle our selues if now we place any holynes or religion in abstinence from some kind of meats or if we abstaine to the end wee may satisfy for our sins or thereby merit vnto our selues euerlasting life 1. Cor. 8.8 For Meat as S. Paul saith maketh vs not acceptable vnto God and againe The Kingdome of God is not meate or drinke but righteousnes and peace and ioy in the holy Ghost Rom. 14.17 Heb. 13.9 And yet againe It is a good thing that the hart bee stablished with grace and not with meats which haue not profited them that haue beene occupied therein 7. The Church of Rome therefore commanding abstinence from some kinds of meats to the same ends and as a part of diuine worship is guilty of horrible sacriledge and cruell tyranny For she robbeth the Church of her Liberty and imposeth vpon her that heauy yoke which Christ himselfe had taken off her necke To what end hath Christ freed our consciences if Rome may againe enthrall them and how easie a matter is it to auoid punishment and to win heauen if abstinence from flesh and egges will worke it 8. As wee must stand fast in this libertie so must we take heed that we abuse not our Liberty making it as S. Peter speaketh a cloake for our naughtines or 2. Pet. 2.16 Gal. 5.13 1. Cor. 10.23 as S. Paul saith vsing it as an occasion to the flesh For though all things that is all indifferent things bee lawfull yet are they not alwayes expedient and therefore are not alwayes indifferently to bee vsed or not vsed but as they are conuenient and wee find them tend either to edification or destruction 9. They are conuenient and destroy not when they are regulated and guided by Charity Temperance Piety and Loyalty First by Charity 1. Cor. 8.9 Rom. 14.15 V. 20.21 For wee may not by eating giue occasion of falling to them that are weake So doing wee should not walke charitably but destroy with our meats him for whom Christ died Though all things be pure yet is it euill to eat with offence When wee so sin against the Brethren and wound their weake conscience we sinne against Christ 1. Cor. 8.13.14 Wherefore S. Paul resolued rather then by eating he would offend his brother he would not eat flesh while the world standeth 10. Secondly by Temperance and Sobriety For repletion and fulnesse nourish in vs our inordinate lusts and make vs like pampered horses grow head-strong and vnruly Rom. 13.13 Wee may not therefore abuse our liberty vnto surfetting and drunkennesse yea if wee find that some meats or drinks though not excessiuely taken doe inflame our lusts wee must abstaine And this was the cause 2. Cor. 6.6 as I suppose why the Apostle Saint Paul knits these two together in Fasting in Chastity For according to the old saying Sine Cerere Baccho friget Venus without bread and wine venery and lust waxeth cold 11. And here I cannot but wonder at the vanity and peruersnesse of Romanists who for the subduing and taming of the flesh at times forbid the eating of flesh but in the meane season giue leaue to feed on all sorts of fishes marmelades and conserues and to drinke the strongest and choicest wines which without question prouoke and stirre vp lust as well as flesh As if to eat a bit of course flesh vpon a prohibited day were gluttony but to cram our selues with all other delicates were abstinence and fasting O blindnesse O stupidity 12 Thirdly by Piety and Religion For although Abstinence as Hierome saith bee not in it selfe a vertue nor any part of Diuine worship yet is it an instrument help and furtherance thereunto And therefore if wee would humble ourselues by repentance or pray vnto God with feruency for the auerting of dangers imminent or calamities incumbent vpon vs we are then by fasting to testify our humiliation and to quicken our deuotion as wee read the faithfull both vnder the Law and Gospell were euer wont to doe 13. Lastly by Loialtie and Dutifull subiection For if the Magistrate either for a publick ciuill good shall at times forbid the vse of some meats as of flesh on fridayes saturdayes emberweeks lent and the like or for the pacifying of Gods wrath in the common calamity of the state shall command a generall Fast wee are accordingly to abstaine Rom. 13.6 and to yeeld obedience vnto the Magistrate not only for feare but also for Conscience sake 14. Thus then first you haue Libertie by Christ to eate of all kind of meats secondly you are bound to stand fast in your Liberty and not to put your selfe vnder bondage againe thirdly you may not wantonlie abuse you liberty by doing such things as are inconuenient and hurt rather then edifie lastly our vse thereof must be moderated and directed by Charity Temperance Piety and Loyalty This if you know and thus if you doe you cannot erre nor doe amisse 15. Which that you may both know and doe you are to pray him that is the donor and giuer of all good things to make you both wise and prudent Wise in the knowledge and practice of whatsoeuer is of absolute nenessity vnto saluation prudent in the discretion and right vse of things indifferent This God grant you for his Christs sake Amen AN ANSWER VNTO CERTAINE REASONS FOR SEPARATION I Could haue wished withall my hart that in this particular I might haue proued a false prophet and that my feares concerning you though they were not without cause yet might haue been without effect But now I plainly perceiue that my words were no lesse then oracle and what I feared is accordingly come to passe For as I foretold you from strayning at gnats you are fallen to swallowing of Camels that is from scrupulousnes and nicenes in Kneeling at the Communion and other such like indifferent ceremonies you haue head-longly cast your selfe into the gulfe of Schisme and Separation In regard whereof hauing heretofore in the matter of Kneeling bestowed my labour in vaine vpon you I feare now that you are thus farre proceeded and setled as it were on your lees I shall much lesse preuayle with you Neuertheles because it pleased you to send me in writing the reasons of your Separation promising to returne with all speed if they were sufficiently answered I may not vnlesse I will betray the truth and faile in the duties of Charity refuse to take a little further paines with you Here therefore I send you this short and as I conceiue full answer the perusall whereof I leaue vnto you the censure vnto Gods Church and the issue vnto God himselfe Whom I humbly beseech of
your platforme and I am sure all orthodoxall Churches haue euer beene gouerned by the same officers that ours is Whence it followeth that if for want of such a Politie and such Officers as you dreame of we haue in England no true Church neither hath there beene for certaine hundred of yeares aboue a thousand any true Church through the whole world Which how it can agree with the word of God affirming that of his kingdome there shall be none end I cannot conceiue For by your reckoning the kingdome of Christ ceased soone after the departure of the Apostles and suffered an interruption of about fourteen hundred yeares vntill Browne and Barrow began to play the Schismatickes The second Proposition I acknowledge also to be true but withall denie that we haue set ouer our selues any Antichristian or forraigne Officers For as we haue aboue both sayd and shewed Archbishops Bishops Priests are of diuine institution and now I further adde that they were first bred in the kingdome of Christ and not taken from any other kingdome your assertion to the contrary without due proofe argues that you build to your selfe castles in the aire and haue no ground for your presumption Your fift argument followeth 5. Because the Church being Christs spouse kingdome and body must haue his Ministrie set and kept in it and no other And if no man can make a finger or the least member of a naturall humane body or adde any other limme thereto without deformity then God hath created and can much lesse giue life to any such counterfait member of his owne making how is it possible that he can set vp another Ministrie 1. Cor. 12.12.20 27.28 The argument is thus to bee formed The Ministrie of Christ and no other is to be set ouer and kept in the Church The Ministrie of Archbishops Bishops and Priests is not Christs Ergo it is not to be set ouer nor kept in the Church The Maior I grant confessing that no office may bee allowed in the Church but that which is from Christ eyther immediately or mediatly that is from those vnto whose wisdome and discretion hee hath delegated some part of his authority to order many things in the Church For as the Church may not alter that Ministry which Christ hath setled to continue for euer so may shee by vertue of her delegate authority ordaine such offices as are not forbidden and tend to edification And being so ordeined they are though not immediatly yet mediately from Christ Neither yet doth the Church so doing presume to make as you say either a finger or any other member or limme that is essentiall vnto the body much lesse to giue life thereunto but onely to prouide a gloue as it were for the finger or a sute of apparell for the body the better to preserue it in life The Minor that the Ministrie of Archbishops Bishops and Priests is not of Christ I deny affirming the cleane contrary that they are those Pastors and Angels authorized and allowed by Christ in his word It is the greatest vanity and idlenesse that can bee in disputing onely with boldnesse to affirme that which is denied and neuer to endeauour the proofe thereof which yet is your solemne fault almost in euery argument Your sixt reason 6 Because Christians are the Temples of the Holy Ghost 1. Cor. 3.16.17 2. Cor. 6.16 2. Thes 2.4 Col. 2.18 Act. 20.17.28 and their consciences wrought vpon by Ministrie in the Church and therefore may not be defiled by the Hierarchie of Arch-bishops c. whom the Holy Ghost neuer made Ouerseers The argument in forme stands thus Those offices that defile the Temples of the Holy Ghost and consciences of men may not bee set ouer nor retained in the Church But the Hierarchie of Arch-bishops Bishops and Priests defiles the Temples of the Holy Ghost and consciences of men Ergo the Hierarchie of Arch-bishops Bishops and Priests may not bee set ouer nor retained in the Church The Maior wee readily yeeld you but how proue you the Minor that these Officers defile the Conscience Forsooth because the Holy Ghost hath not made them Ouerseers And how proue you this againe Because the Pastors of Ephesus were made such Ouerseers An Herculean argument I promise you For what letteth but that hee that made the Pastors of Ephesus Ouerseers hath made the Pastors of England Ouerseers also Alas alas that vpon such friuolous and toying reasons so dangerous and offensiue Schismes should be made And take heed how you quench or grieue the Spirit of God who if you haue in you any measure of knowledge or sparke of grace hath wrought it in you by our Ministrie For preaching which is the ordinary meanes to beget faith I suppose you haue not had elsewhere and it is no lesse then blasphemie to call the working of Gods Spirit by his Holy Word vpon the soules of men the defiling of the Conscience The seuenth argument 7 Because Christ alone is the Head of the Church in whom all fulnesse of power dwelleth Eph. 1.22.23.4.11.16 Col. 1.18.19.2.8.9.10.18.19.1 Cor. 12.4.5.6.12.27.28 1. Tim. 3. 5.8.6.13.14 Rev. 11.13.18.8.14.8.17 18. 19. and from whom alone the Church receiueth her life and power so as none may bee subiect to any power or head in Religion saue onely to him And therefore no Ministers or Officers in the Church are to bee set vp or retained who deriue not their power and functions from Christ which the former doe not and therefore they are not c. but to bee abandoned as enemies of Christs soueraigne authority and making their hearers and submitters to them guilty of high treason against our Lord Christ Iesus It is true there is but one Head of the Church from whom shee receiueth life and Power yet are there also vnder Christ gouernors in the Church who by vertue of that power which they haue receiued from him may ordaine many things touching the well gouernment thereof and to submit our selues thereunto is not to bee subiect to another power or head but to the ordinance of Christ himselfe But it is false that Bishops deriue not their power and function from Christ as we haue already manifestly proued If you haue any thing to the contrary I hope wee shall heare of it another time for hitherto you haue onely said but shewed nothing As for those words that Bishops are to bee abandoned as enemies of Christs soueraigne authority c. they sauour more of passion then reason and deserue rather to bee pitied then answered The eigth argument 1. Cor. 18.27.28 Eph. 4.11.12.13 8 Because God onely must haue this preeminence to dispose the members euery one of them in the body of the Church at his owne pleasure so as either it must bee shewed that God hath placed the Hierarchie of Arch-bishops Bishops Priests or they are not to bee set vp or retained or approued We haue satisfyed you in this already if happily you will bee
Entire Faith by which the whole sauing truth is belieued and professed And this againe either in Vnity or in Schisme in Vnity with other Churches of God or in Schisme with Separation from them Now all these and eueryone of them are of the Christian Church for they are neither Gentiles nor Iewes nor Turks being by the calling of grace brought to the profession of the Christian Religion But yet among them there is exceeding great difference for they that hold the entire truth of Christ are of that Christian Church which is called Oxthodoxall they that hold it in part onely are of that Christian Church which is Hereticall They that entirely hold the truth in Vnity with other Churches of God are of that Christian Orthodoxall Church which is Catholicke they that hold the same whole truth in Separation from them are of that Christian Orthodoxall Church which is Schismaticall And such is the Church of Brownists to which you haue adioyned your selfe But they who hold the whole truth of Christ not onely in Vnity but also in Sincerity being truly iustified by Faith and Sanctified in the lauour of Regeneration they I say are of that Christian Orthodoxall Catholicke Church which is Inuisible and knowne only vnto God For although both the persons and profession of those that are thus called be visible and may by outward sense bee discerned whereby in the eye of Charity they are to bee counted Gods elect people yet the inward truth and sincerity of the heart is to vs inuisible and seene of none but onely him who trieth the heart and raines and so alone knoweth who are his These distinctions thus promised I come at length to answer your Syllogisme and demand of you which of these Callings it is that you meane If the last whereby wee haue receiued entirely to belieue the whole truth of Christ and that not onely in Vnity but also in Sincerity and with a sanctified heart then I deny the Maior for it is not the Visible but the Inuisible Church alone that cōsists of such members Neither can such a Visible Church bee found vpon the face of the earth for here corne and cockle chaffe and wheat Saints and hypochrits are mingled together neither can you affirme other of that Church whereunto now you associate your selfe If you meane any other of the Callings aboue mentioned or all of them besides this last then I deny your Minor For here in England wee are a company of people to whom not onely grace hath beene offered but who also haue receiued grace to belieue the truth of Christ and therefore are not Infidels but of the Church of Christ Againe we haue receiued to belieue the whole truth and therefore are an Oxthodoxall not an Hereticall Church Lastly wee hold the whole truth of God in Unity with other Churches and amongst vs there are thousands also who professe the same with sincere and sanctified hearts and therefore wee are not a Schismaticall as you are but a true Catholicke Church This Minor thus denied you goe not about to strengthen with so much as one argument and yet hither should you haue bent all your forces About the Maior you bestow a little more paines endeuouring to fortify it with sixe reasons which although they bee to little purpose yet to giue you the more satisfaction let vs briefly examine them And first that which is in order first 1. Cor. 12.27 Exod. 19.5.6 1. Cor. 14.33 1. Tim. 3.15 Mat. 13.24.31 Psal 46.4.5.80.1 1. Pet. 2.5.9 Rev. 1.11.12.13.20 1. Because a true visible Church is the body of Christ a Kingdome of Priests a Church of Saints the houshold of God the Kingdome of heauen the Citie of God the sheep of the Lord a chosen generation a golden Candlestick c. These titles properly belong vnto the inuisible Church consisting of those who are effectually called by sauing grace And when they are said affirmed of any visible Church you must vnderstand that the denomination is in regard of the better part thereof namely those Saints who haue receiued the spirit of adoption the earnest penny of their euerlasting inheritance not that no euill men are mixed with them In Corinth and Galatia as there were many holy and faithfull seruants of God so were there many lewd and vngodly men also for it is well knowen that they were much pestered both with error in doctrine and corruption in manners And yet the Apostle S. Paul neuer sticketh at it to acknowledge them visible Churches which I am sure he would not haue done had he thought that the mixture of bad and good in the same society did nullify a Church Nay rather if he had beene of your humour he would haue aduized a separation 1. How should it els haue Christ for the Prophet Priest Heb. 3.1.2.3 5 6.9 12.28 Mat. 28.18.19.20 Ps 110.1.4.1 Pet. 2.4.5.25 Act. 2.41.47 Eph. 1.22.23.2.19.22 King thereof or how should men know where to ioine and become members of the body of Christ with assurance to haue him their head c. It is the Inuisible Church the Church of the first borne as S. Paul calleth it whose names are enrolled in heauen Heb. 12.23 vnto which Christ properly and vniuocally is a Prophet Priest and King For he is a Head in such manner vnto those only who are knit together with him in the same mysticall body by the vnity of the same spirit and to whom hee communicateth from himselfe the sweet influence of life sense motion euen grace for grace Ioh. 1.16 as S. Iohn speaketh Is he not then a Head also of the visible Church yes as it is a Church it is a Church equiuocally and so is Christ the Head thereof For hypocrits and wicked men mingled with the good are not members of Christ as Ambrose saith but of the diuell and therefore Christ properly is not their Head Head and Body being Correlatiues Who are Elected and by true Iustifying Faith are ingrafted into Christs body you may charitably iudge but cannot certenly know for God only knoweth who are his Neuertheles where you see a Society of men professing entirely and in vnity the truth of Christ ioine your selfe vnto them knowing that they are a Christian orthodoxall Catholick Church And assure your selfe that there are among them sundry who are the deare Saints of God and professe the truth in sincerity and vprightnes of heart also which if you shall do together with them you need not doubt but you shall haue Christ to be your head Mat. 28.18.19.20 2. Cor. 6.17.18 Lev. 26.11.12 Ps 46.4.5 Es 59.20.21 Ez. 37.27.28 48.35 3. How should it els haue assurance of the promises seales of Gods Couenant presence and blessing to belong and appertaine vnto them The promises of Christ are proclaimed in such mixed companies vnto all on condition of faith repentance though actually performed vnto those only who actually haue performed the condition by repenting and