mercy and fauour vnto thousands for ones sake that keepeth his Commandements we gather that God in regard of his Saints who so holily obserued his Commandements doth grant vnto vs many fauours and graces also that the satisfaction of one may serue for another for else God would not punish children vnto the third and fourth generation for the offence of their great grand-father vnlesse their punishment serued to satisfie for their ancestors offence hence also we gather that some men do keepe Gods coÌ„mandements otherwise God did in vaine promise to fauour thousands for their sakes that keepe the Commandements if he knew well that there should be none such Therefore most vngodly is that position of the Protestants that it is impossible to keepe the Commandements and which alone ouerthroweth all the ten Commandements For as all men skilfull in the true nature of lawes doe hold there can bee no iust law that is impossible to be kept by the greater part of them to whom the law is giuen because lawes are both to direct our actions and do also binde euery man to obserue them Now what reasonable law-maker will beat his braine to direct a man to do that which he knoweth before hand not to lie in the mans power to doe and as tyrannicall should he be esteemed that would binde a man vnder a great penaltie to doe that which he know to be impossible for him to doe Which two points S. Augustine doth in one sentence confirme Defid cont Manich. cap. 9. saying Who doth not crie out that it is folly to giue him Commandements in whose power it is not to performe them who doth not say that it is vniust to condemne him for not doing iust things when hee could not doe them The Protestants therefore affirming the Commandements not to be possible to be performed doe make them no lawes at all and so they at one blow do beate down all the ten Commandements But let vs come to the particulars R. ABBOT M. Bishops head is old and therefore hee thinketh our doctrine to be new If his head and heart were renued a Rom. 1.5 to the obedience of faith hee would easily see our doctrine to be old euen that b Ier. 6.16 old way which is the good way wherein they that walke shall finde rest for their soules Sure wee are that Poperie is not the old way because they haue taught vs nothing of it who of old declared the right way But yet he heere taketh vpon him to shew that our doctrine crosseth and maketh void the Commandements of God And how I pray First in that he promiseth mercy and fauour to thousands for ones sake that keepeth his Commandements we ga-gather saith he that God in regard of his Saints who so holily obserued his Commandements doth grant vnto vs manie fauours and graces But what Saints doth he meane for shall we say or doth the Commandement say that to euery man God sheweth mercy for euery mans sake that keepeth his Commandements If so then wee must also say that God to the third and fourth generation punisheth euery man for euery mans sake that hateth him If hee had spoken more distinctly wee could easily haue told in what sort to answer him But because he speaketh at randon I answer him in generall that God indeed sheweth fauour to one man for anothers sake but so as that the Commandement saith he sheweth mercy on both sides and therfore that it is his mercy that taketh occasion and not mans meâ—t that giueth cause of doing whatsoeuer hee doth His second collection is most ridiculous and absurd No satisfaction of one man for another that the satisfaction of one may serue for another For how come wee heere to satisfaction Marry God would not punish children to the third and fourth generation for the offence of their great grandfather vnlesse their punishment serued to satisfie for their ancestours offence O admirable deuice But yet tell vs M. Bishop what if neither the fathers nor the children be in the state of grace for then c Of Satisfaction sect 11.12 by your owne doctrine neither are the fathers capable of satisfaction to bee done for theÌ„ neither are the children capable of the doing of it And such it seemeth the Commandement intendeth because it nameth them that hate God Yea and of the Babylonians God saith d Es 14.21 Prepare a slaughter for the children for the iniquitie of their fathers where both the fathers and the children were infidels and idolaters and wholly estranged from the grace of God How then shall we vnderstand that any satisfaction is heere intended or how may wee not thinke this man to be drunke and senselesse that setteth foorth such paradoxes that can no way stand with their owne grounds God teacheth no satisfaction there but proclaimeth the terrour of his iudgement wrath which being once kindled is not easily quenched that both the parents may dread to offend God for the safegard of their children and the children may beware of following the euill example of their fathers The keeping of Gods coÌ„mandements not denied knowing that how much they ad to their fathers sins so much they adde to their owne plagues Thirdly he gathereth from hence that some men doe keepe Gods commandements And we also gather the same and doe say further with S. Iohn e 1. Ioh. 2.4 He that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandements is a liar and the truth is not in him Therefore wee doe not say that it is impossible to keepe Gods Commandements but that it is impossible in this mortalitie and frailtie to keepe Gods Commandements perfectly so as to bee iustified thereby But the residue of this tale I leaue as being but babling of course whereof he hath sundry times receiued ample and full answer which he cannot gainsay only like the cariers horse he is acquainted with a way and out of that he will not goe I referre him to that that hath beene said heereof before both in the former parts of this worke and in the answer to his Preface of this booke and further vouchsafe him no answer but with that dictate of Solomon f Pro. 27.22 Though thou shouldest bray a foole in a morter as wheat is braied with a pestell yet will not his foolishnesse depart from him 24. W. BISHOP 1 The first Commandement as it forbiddeth vs to worship false Gods so doth it also include a commandement to worship aright the onely true God which is done principally by Faith Hope Charitie and Religion The Protestants by their peruerting of many articles of our beliefe as hath beene shewed haue lost the true Faith and by their new certaintie of Faith leaue no place for Hope for they are past hope of saluation 1. Epist 5. v. 3. that make themselues so assured of it as they doe And as for Charitie which S. Iohn defineth to bee the keeping of Gods Commandements they must
the Prophet complaineth c Esa 29.13 Their feare towards me is taught by the precepts of men His excuse of these carnall rites and ceremonies is false for contrary to that that he saith they are infinite in number and a great number of them apish and rediculous in vse not fit to stirre vp and cherish deuotion but rather to busie and intangle the senses of the body and thereby to sequester and extinguish the deuotion of the mind S. Austine complained in his time that d Aug. ep 119. Tam multis praesumptionib sic plena sunt omnia c. Quamuis nequâ— hoc inueniri possit quomodo contra fidem veniant ipsam tamen religionem quam paucissimis manifestissimis celebrationum sacramentis miserecordia dei liberam esse voluit seruilibus oneribus premunt vt tolerabilior sit conditio Iudaeorum qui etiamsi tempus libertatis non agnouerint tamen legalibus sarcinis non humanis praesumptionibus subijciuntur all was so full of humane presumptions and that albeit it could not be found how they were against the faith yet the religion which the mercy of God would haue free with a very few and those most manifest mysteries and Sacraments was thereby clogged with seruile burdens so that the condition of the Iewes was more tolerable who though they knew not the time of liberty yet were subiect not to the presumptions of men but to the burdens of Gods law What would he say if he were now aliue to see Durands Rationale diuinorum and those infinite presumptions wherewith Popish superstition hath clogged and oppressed the Church Of which some are preposterous imitations of the Leuiticall and Iewish ceremonies other taken from the abhominations of heathenish Idoll-seruice a thing so plaine as that M. Bishop denieth not but that they vsed some such like indeed the same onely he setteth vpon them a false colour of being deuised by the inspiration of the holy Ghost not knowing Chrysostomes rule that e Chrysost de sanct orando spiritu Ex quo non legit haec scripta sed ex se ipso loquitur manifestum est quòd non habet sp sanct because they read not these things written but speake of themselues it is manifest that they haue not the holy Ghost We be no spirits he saith but yet he should know that the true worshippers leauing f Gal. 4.9 beggerly rudiments g Heb 9.10 carnall rites should h Ioh. 4.24 worship the Father inspirit and truth Whereas he alleageth that the life and vertue of bodily ceremonies proceedeth from the spirit he saith nothing but what was true and necessarily required in the Iewish seruice and therefore may as well be pleaded for the continuance of their ceremonies as for the excusing of others deuised in steed of them To that that M. Perkins saith that they giue the same worship to Saints that they doe to God he answereth that that is a stale iest which long since hath lost all his grace but he should haue told vs that they themselues haue long since lost all grace by mainteining such filtherie and abhomination in the Church Bodin telleth vs that i Bodin method h. c. 5. A plerisque in Italia Gallia Narbonensi ardentiore voto certe maiore metu colitur D. Antonius quà m deus immortâ—lis in Italy and a part of France that which is called Narbonensis S. Antony is commonly worshipped with greater deuotion and feare then almighty God Lud. Viâ—es saith that k Lud. Viues in Aug. de ciu dei l. 8. ca. 27. Multi Christiani diuos diuasque non alitèr venerantur quà m deum nec video in multis quod sit disâ—iâ—men inter eorâ—â—opinionem de sanctis id qâ—od gentiles putabant de suis dijs many Christians he was loth to say how many doe no otherwise worship the Saints then as God himselfe and in many saith he I see not what difference there is betweene their opinion of the Saints and that which the heathens deemed of their Gods Yea Bellarmine confesseth that l Bellarm. de sanct beatitud lib. 1. cap. 12. Omnes ferè actus exteriores communes sunt omni adorationi in a maner all their outward worshippes he might haue said their inward also are common both to the one and to the other And so we see they pray to the one they pray to the other they kneele to the one they kneele to the other they offer they vow they fast they build Churches and Altars they keepe holy daies they professe trust and confidence both to the one and to the other only forsooth we must thinke that they retaine m Ibid. Latria inclinatio voluntatis cum apprehensione dei c. Dulia inclinatio voluntatis cum apprehensione excellentiae plus quam humanae minùs quà m diuinae an apprehensiue and intellectuall difference betwixt the one and the other As if aman giuing the crowne and roiall honour of the king to a subiect should thinke to discharge himselfe by saying that in his mind for al that he retained a farre higher opinion of the king then of the subiect Which if it acquit not with men surely we should know that the infinite excellency of God aboue all his creatures should be a reason to withhold vs from daring to ioine any creature in any part of communion or felowship with him Your idolatry M. Bishop in this behalfe is so stale as that it is growen extreamely sower and the time will come when you shall see it will be taken for no iest As for your confutations and your answers you should haue made them good before you had boasted of them A wise man would not haue written a latter booke before he had made it appeare that he could defend the former 6. W. BISHOP And for that this crime of Atheisme is the most heynous that can be as contrariwise the true opinion of the God-head and the sincere worship thereof is the most sweete and beautifull flower of religion let vs therefore heere to hold due correspondence with Master PERKINS examine the Protestants dostrine concerning the nature of God and their worship of him that the indifferent Reader comparing iudiciously our two opinions thereof together may embrace that for most pure and true that carrieth the most reuerent and holy conceit thereof For out of all doubt there can be no greater motiue to any deuout soule to like of a religion then to see that it doth deliuer a most sacred doctrine of the Soueraigne Lord of heauen and earth and doth withall most religiously adore and serue him Whereas on the other side there is not a more forcible perswasion to forsake a religion before professed then to be giueÌ„ to vnderstand that the Masters of that religion teach many absurde things concerning the Godhead it selfe and do as coldly and as slightly worship God almightie as may be Marke therfore I beseech thee gentle Reader for thy owne soules
saluationem tametsi erroneam hominem posse mereri per fidem erroneam etsi contingat vt adoret diabolū that the faith of a lay man worshipping an Host that is not consecrated though it be an erroneous faith yet sufficeth to saluation and that a man by an erroneous faith may merit although it fall out that he worship the diuell This speech is strange but yet M. Bishop now by his distinction teacheth vs how it may very wel stand because though a man materially worship the diuell yet by his intention hee doth formally worship God Now what ill happe had Ieroboam that he was not acquainted with these Romish schoole-trickes for he might well haue answered both for himself and for the people that though materially they errēd in the Calues yet their intention was pure and holy to worship the true God and therefore formally they were true worshippers Yea this distinction wil serue to cleere a great part of the idolatries of the Gentiles and Pagans because albeit the diuels did present themselues at their idols and images to receiue the sacrifices deuotions that were there performed as in Popery they haue also done yet this hindred not but that formally they were true worshippers because though they were materially mistaken as before was said in taking the diuell for God yet their formall meaning and intention was to doe seruice to the onely true and immortall God Thus shall they be excused of whom Christ saith d Ioh. 16.2 The time will come that whosoeuer killeth you will thinke that he doth God seruice Which many vndoubtedly thought in the crucifying of Christ being formally e Act. 22.3 zealous towards God but f Luk. 23.34 not knowing materially what they did So S. Austin saith of the Donatists g Aug. epist 48. Arbitrabantur se pro ecclesiae dei facere quicquid inquieta temeritate faciebant Whatsoeuer they did in their turbulent rashnesse and furie they thought they did it in behalfe of the Church of God The same we say of all schismes and heresies that the followers thereof at least many of them are formally true worshippers of Christ because they haue an vnfained intention and purpose to serue the Lord Iesus Christ howsoeuer materially they be mistaken in some things Thus doth M. Bishop make a hotch-potch and mixture of all religions and by his distinction of materialitèr and formalitèr a man may in any religion bee a true worshipper of God because hee may haue a zealous intention to serue God But if his learning and vnderstanding did not faile him he would remember that h Ioh. 4.23 the true worshippers doe worship God not onely formally in spirit but also materially in truth It was the religion of the Samaritanes i Ibid. vers 22. to worship they knew not what but the religion of the true Iewes of whom was saluation was to know what they did worship Our Sauiour would thereby instruct vs that there is no saluation where men worship they know not what God hath reueiled vnto vs the knowledge of himselfe and of his will that thereby we may be directed to serue him In this k Ioh. 17.3 knowledge is eternall life but l Os◠4.6 in the want of knowledge is perdition and destruction Intention zeale is good and in the seruice of God necessarily required but yet our intention and zeale is no other but furie and madnesse and fighting against God if it haue not knowledge to guide it materially in the way of God Now if it be idolatrie to worship that for God which is no God and yet it followeth not that God is heereby stiled an Idoll then surely it is likewise Idolatrie to worship the Sacrament vnder the name of the body of Christ when it is not the bodie of Christ and yet we doe not thereby stile our Sauiour Iesus Christ an idoll as hee fondly obiecteth against vs for blasphemie in the highest degree 19. W. BISHOP His third obiection is out of the fourth Commandement which as he saith giueth a libertie to worke six daies in the ordinarie affaires of our calling which libertie saith be cannot bee repealed by any creature the Church of Rome therefore erreth in that it prescribeth other set and ordinary festiuall daies to be obserued as straightly and with as much solemnitie as the Sabbath of the Lord. Answ Doth not the Church of England also prescribe the Natiuitie of our Sauiour and of S. Iohn Baptist the feasts of the Apostles and many others to be kept holy and command that no man worke in the affaires of their calling those daies doth their owne church also erre therein How say you then to the church of the Israelites which kept the feasts of Easter Whitsontide and of the Tabernacles as straightly and with as much solemnitie as they kept the Lords Sabbath was it also mis-led to the breach of Gods commandements or must we not rather thereby learne that six daies in the weeke were at the first left vs free to labour in but yet so that by the decree and commandement of our spirituall Gouernours any of them might vpon iust occasion be made festiuall and thereupon euery good christian bound to keepe them by their obedience vnto their Gouernours to thinke the contrarie is a high point of Puritanisme R. ABBOT M. Festiuall daies lawfully prescribed by the church Perkins intendeth nothing against the authoritie of the Church for the prescribing of some solemne and festiuall daies but condemneth the church of Rome iustly for prescribing such daies to be obserued as straitly and with as much solemntie he should haue said more straitly and with much more conscience and solemnitie than the Lords Sabbath day Yea it is a thing impious in the Bishop of Rome that hee taketh vpon him to make such daies in themselues a Bellar. de cultu sanct l. 3. ca. 10. Sunt dies festi verè alijs fanctiores sacratiores pars quaedam diuini cultus more sacred and holy than other daies and a part of the very true worship and seruice of God Whereas M. Perkins saith that it is not in the power of any creature to repeale the liberty of working six daies he saith rightly if we vnderstand it of the libertie of conscience for no creature may binde the conscience from the acknowledgement of a lawfulnesse with God to worke all and euery of the six daies in the affaires of our callings but yet in charitie and obedience we yeeld to our gouernours and to our brethren somewhat vpon occasion to refraine our libertie and to forbeare the doing of those things of which notwithstanding we know and are perswaded that in conscience and with God they are free and lawfull to be done 20. W. BISHOP Fourthly saith M. PER. the fift Commandement enioineth children to obey father and mother in all things specially in matters of moment as in their Marriages and choice of their calling
bloud of our redeemer IESVS Christ Secondly of seauen Sacraments instituted by our Sauiour both to exhibite honour to God and to sanctifie our soules they doe flatly reiect fiue of them And do further as much as in them lieth extinguish the vertue and efficacy of the other two For they hold Baptisme not to be the true instrument all cause of remission of our sinnes and of the infusion of grace in our soules but only to bee the signe and seale thereof And in steade of Christs sacred body really giuen to all Catholikes in the Sacrament of the Altar to their exceeding comfort and dignity the Protestants must be content to take vp with a bitte of bread and with a sup of wine a most pittifull exchange for so heauenly a banquet They doe daily feele and I would to God they had grace to vnderstand what a want they haue of the Sacrament of Confession which is the most soueraigne salue of the world to cure all the deadly and dangerous woundes of the soule Ah how carelesly doe they daily heape sinne vpon sin and suffer them to lie festring in their breasts euen till death for lacke of launcing them inseason by true and due confession Besides at the point of death when the Diuell is most busie to assault vs labouring then to make vs his owne for euer there is amongst them no anointing of the sicke with holy oile in the name of our Lord as S. Cap. 5. vers 14. Iames prescribeth joyned with the Priests praier which should saue the sicke and by meanes whereof his sinnes should be forgiuen and he lifted vp by our Lord and inwardly both greatly comforted and strengthned these heauenly helpes I say many others which our Catholike religion affords vnto all persons and by which rightly administred God is highly magnified are quite banished out of the Protestant territories and consequently their religion for want of them is mightily maymed They haue yet remaining some poore short praiers to be said twise a weeke for fearing belike to make their Ministers surfet of ouer much praying they will not tie them to any daily praiers Mattins Euensong and other set houres they leaue to the Priests sauing that on the Sabboath they solemnely meet together at the Church to say their seruice which is a certain mingle-mangle translated out of the old portaise and Masse booke patched vp together with some few of their owne inuention And though it be but short yet it is the Lord he knowes performed by most of them so slightly that an indifferent beholder would rather iudge them to come thither to gaze one vpon another or to common of worldly businesse than reuerently there to serue God Now as concerning the place where their diuine seruice is said if goodly stately Churches had not beene by men of our religion built to their handes in what simple cotes trow you would their key-cold deuotion haue beene content to serue their Lord if one Church or great steeple by any mishap fall into vtter ruine a collection throughout all England for many yeeres together will not serue to build it vp againe which maketh men of iudgement to perceiue that their religion is exceeding cold in the setting forward of good workes and that it rather tendeth to destruction than to edification Againe whereas our Churches are furnished with many goodly Altars trimmed vp decently and garnished with sundry faire and religious pictures to strike into the beholders a reuerent respect of that place and to draw them to heauenly meditations theirs haue ordinarily bare wals hanged with cob-webs except some of the better sort which are daubed like Ale-houses which some broken sentences of Scripture Besides the ancient custom of Christās being to pray with their faces toward the Sunne-rising to shew the hope they haue of a good resurrection and that by tradition receiued euen from the Apostles as witnesseth Saint Basil their Ministers in their highest mysteries De Spiritu sancto 27. looke ouer their Communiontable into the South to signifie perhaps that their spirituall estate is now at the highest and that in their religion there is no hope of rising towards heauen but assurance of declining R. ABBOT Our Diuine seruice and worship of God is not such as the Church of Rome and the followers thereof would haue it but it is sufficient for vs that it is such as God himselfe hath commanded Of true reall and externall sacrifice I haue answered him before both in the confutation of his a Sect. 27. Epistle more at large and briefly heere in the b Sect. 3. answer of this Preface Here I answer him againe in a word with the words of Iustin Martyr that c Iustin Mart. Dialog cum Tryph. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prayers and thanksgiuings are the onely perfect and acceptable sacrifices to God and that Christians haue learned to doe these onely euen in the memoriall of their dry and moist foode the bread of the Eucharist and the cup of the Eucharist as hee hath before called it in which is the remembrance of the passion which God by God himselfe suffered for vs. So then we doe not denie all sacrifice but we say as we haue beene taught by the Apostle S. Peter according to the ancient doctrine of the Church of Rome d 1. Pet. 2 5. We are made a spirituall house a holy priesthood to offer vp spirituall sacrifices the sacrifice e Psal 4.5 of righteousnesse the sacrifice f Ps 50.14.23 Heb. 13.15 of praise and thankesgiuing the sacrifice g Psal 51.17 of a broken and contrite heart the sacrifice h Phil. 4.18 of almes the sacrifice i Rom. 12.1 of our own bodies acceptable to God by Iesus Christ By these sacrifices we doe all loialtie and seruice to God and we doe not doubt but that we please God therein If we please not that wiser sort of which M. Bishop speaketh the reason is because they take vpon them to bee wiser than God For that propitiatory sacrifice which he driueth at is beyond Gods deuice God neuer taught it Christ neuer ordeined it the Primitiue Church neuer intended it there is no reason at al for it because the bloud of Christ once shed for vs is a sufficient propitiation and attonement for all our sinnes And because by k Heb. 1.3 10.14 once offering of himselfe hee hath purged our sinnes and made vs perfect for euer therefore it is no despight to Gods true worship but a iust assertion thereof to hold that the pretence of any further sacrifice for sinne is an impious and blasphemous derogation to the crosse of Christ As for his seuen Sacraments Seuen Sacraments a late deuice if he can prooue them to bee as he saith instituted by our Sauiour we are very readie to acknowledge the same But it is worthy to be noted that l Bellarm. de effect sacram cap. 25. Bellarmine standing vpon the proofe thereof
Thirdly we make no Images to expresse the nature of God which is a spirit and cannot be represented by lines and colours but onely allow of some such pictures as set out some apparitions of God recorded in the Bible not doubting but that such workes of God may aswell be expressed in colours to our eies as they are by words to our eares and vnderstanding Lastly touching religious worship to bee done to Saints or pictures Analogâ—n the Heretikes cauilling consisteth principally in the diuers taking of the word religious For it is ambiguous and principally signifieth the worship onely due to God in which sense to giue it to any creature were Idolatrie but it is also with the best authors taken some other time to signifie a worship due to creatures for some supernaturall vertue or quality in them and in this sense to tearme it detestable Idolatry is either detestable malice or damnable ignorance And whereas he saith that common reason teacheth that they who adore God in Images do binde God his hearing of vs to certaine things and places I say the contrarie that God may be worshipped in all places but we rather chuse to worship him in Churches and before Images than in other places because the sight of such holy things doe breed more reuerence and deuotion in vs and better keepe our mindes from wandring vpon vaine matters If we taught that God could bee worshipped no where els or by no other meanes then he had not lied so loudly R. ABBOT M. All Images generally forbidden to be worshipped Perkins concludeth indeed that the images of God are forbidden in the commandement but neither saith nor meaneth that only the Images of God are there forbidden and therefore hee vseth no euill conscience in vrging the commandement against the images of Saints but M. Bishop with euill conscience defendeth the images of Saints against the commandement And whereas hee saith that thogh God do forbid to worship images yet he doth not therfore forbid vs to worship God in or at Images hee doth but frame himselfe to the guise and woont of all the masters of idolatry it being the common pretence of them al as hath been a Of Images sect 5. before shewed that they doe not worship the Image it selfe which they know to be but mettall or wood or stone but that in the Image or at the Image they worship the diuine essence which they beleeue to bee immateriall and immortall Yea and by what reason M. Bishop heere defendeth the worshipping of God in or at Images for at God is euery where so may he be worshipped in all places and as well at or before an Image as in the Church or before the communion table by the same did Ieroboam perswade the Israelites to worship God at or before or in his golden Calues at Dan and Bethel b Ioseph Ant. Iudaic. l. 8. c. 3. See of Images sect 5. because no place is void of God neither is he included any where and therefore they might as wel worship him neerer hand before those calues as in the temple and before the sanctuary at Ierusalem But as Ieroboam committed damnable idolatrie in worshipping God before the Calues so doth M. Bishop also in worshipping God in or before an image commit idolatry against God who will not be mocked nor can abide to haue honour done to an idoll by pretence of his name His third exception that they make no Images to expresse the nature of God but onely to set foorth some apparitions of God recorded in the Bible how vaine it is hath beene also fully declared in c Of Images sect 4. 7. the handling of that question And very strange it is that M. Bishop should make those apparitions a colour for their idoll-images of God when God himselfe affirmeth that therefore hee did forbeare in the day when hee gaue the Law d Deu. 4.12.15 to appeere in any image or likenesse because he would not haue them to make any image of him Whereas he saith that such works of God may aswell be expressed in colours to our eies as they are by words to our eares and vnderstanding he should vnderstand that it is one thing to speake of the works of God another thing to speake of the person of God Wee question not the expressing of the workes of God but wee condemne the expressing of the person of God And if the expressing of those apparitions by words to our eares and vnderstanding be a reason why we may expresse the same by pictures to our eies then nothing hindereth but that the nature of God also may bee expressed by colours and pictures to our eies because the same is by words according to our capacitie expressed to our eares and vnderstanding But God hath commanded himselfe to be preached to the eare and vnderstanding he hath not commanded nay hee hath forbidden himselfe to be painted to the eie and therefore the one is lawfull and godly the other wicked and vnlawfull His distinction of religious worship is most ridiculous and absurd The verie name of religion as Austin and Lactantius do deriue it impotteth the e Aug. de vera relig ca. 55. Ad vnum deum tendentes eâ— vni religantes animas nostras vnde religio dicta creditur Lactant. Instit li. 4 cap. 28. Hoc vinculo pietatis obstricti deo religati sumus vnde ipsa religio nomen accepit obliging and tying of our soules to God onely and if to God onely then it cannot be truely called religion that is performed to any other Therefore Lactantius saith againe that f Lactan. Instit l. 1. c. 20. Religio ac veneratio nulla alia nisi vnius dei tenenda est there is no other religion to be holden but towards God onely So saith Austin that g Aug. cont 2. ep Pelag. lib. 3. c. 4. Debent obseruari Christiani vt vni deo religionis obsequio seruiatur Christians are with dutie of religion to serue God only and that h Idem cont Faust Manich. lib. 14. cap. 11. Apostolus creaturam laudat ei tamen cultum religionis exhiberi vetat the Apostle forbiddeth worship of religion to be giuen to any creature Hee telleth vs that l IdeÌ„ de eiu dei l. 5. c. 15. Pietas vera non exhibet seruitutem religionis quam latriam Graeci vocant nisi vni vero deo seruice of religion is that which the Greekes call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which true piety yeeldeth to God onely Therefore hee saith that k Idem de vera relig cap. 55. Non sit nobis religio cultus hominum mortuorum Honorandi sunt propter imitationem non adorandipropter religionem we are not to make a religion of the worship of dead men and that wee are to honour them for imitation not to worship them for religion Now all these so expresse and peremptorie resolutions M. Bishop at once
ouerthroweth with a distinction taken as he saith from the best authours but hee saith it very falsly and vnhonestly not being able to bring one good authour for the approouing of it The word religious saith he is ambiguous and principally signifieth the worship onely due to God but it is taken some other time to signifie a worship due to creatures And as well he may say that the word mariage is ambiguous and principally signifieth the bond that is betwixt the husband and the wife but yet is with the best authours taken some other time for that affiance that is betwixt the fornicatour and the harlot so that lawfully may the one enioy the other because there is betwixt them a bond of mariage We are told that religion in Ecclesiasticall vse belongeth onely to God and that no seruice of religion is to be done to creatures and he telleth vs that religion belongeth principally to God but that there is religion also belonging to creatures yea euen to vile and abominable idols And what maruell is this whenas wee see the Valentian Iesuit distinguish in like sort of idolatry that because S. Peter nameth l 1. Pet. 4.3 abominable idolatries therefore we should vnderstand that there are idolatries which are not abominable and that m Greg. de Valent de idolat lib. 2. c. 7. Quid attinebat ita determinatè cultus simulachrorum illicitos notare si omninò nullos simulachrorum cultus licitos esse censuisset some idolatrie is lawfull Surely religious worship giuen to creatures is no other but idolatrie but yet forsooth wee must not condemne it because all kinde of idolatrie is not to bee thought vnlawfull These are men of sharpe wits and can if yee will put them to it distinguish God out of heauen and Christ out of the Creed or by a distinction can bring a great number of gods into heauen and a great many Christs into the Creed As for vs wee take the fathers before alleaged to be herein ingenuous and honest as we are and that they did not intend with one breath to appropriate religion vnto God and to blow it from him with another Albeit not onely vnder the name of religion but vnder the name of worship also they haue affirmed the same to belong to God onely as namely u Cypria de exhort martyr ca. 2. Quod Deus solus coiēdus sit that God onely is to bee worshipped o Origen cont Cels lib. 1. Cultus adoratio nulli creaturae concedi potest absque diuinitatis iniuria that worship and adoration can bee giuen to no creature without iniurie and wrong to God p Hieron◠aed Ripar adu Vigilant Ne solem quidem Lunam non angelos non archangelos non Cherubim non Seraphim omne nomen quod nominatur in praesenti seculo in futuro colimus adoramus that we worship neither Sunne nor Moone neither Angels nor Archangels neither Cherubim nor Seraphim nor any other name of any creature that is named either in this world or in the world to come Therefore of the Virgin Marie Epiphanius saith q Epiphan haer 79. Collyrid Sit in honore Maria Pater Filius Sp. Sact adoretur Mariā nemo adoret Let Mary be in in honour elt the Father Sonne and holy Ghost bee worshipped but her let no man worship and Ambrose r Ambros de Sp. Sancto l. 3. cap. 12. Maria erat templum Dei non Deus templi ideo ille solus adorādus qui operabatur in tēplo Marie was the temple of God but not God of the temple and therefore he onely is to be worshipped who wrought in the temple Thus the fathers knew no religion they knew in religion no worship but what belongeth to God alone and M. Bishops distinction both in the one and in the other was wholly vnknowen vnto them But it is woorth the while to note how the said distinction such as it is is applied by him to pictures and images Religious worship saith he doth sometimes signifie a worship due to creatures for some supernaturall vertue or qualitie in them But good Sir tell vs what supernaturall vertue or qualitie is there in your images and pictures If any religious worship be due vnto them you tell vs that it must befor some supernaturall vertue or qualitie in them If there bee no such then how shall religious worship bee due vnto them May we not thinke that you haue sent vs a very naturall distinction that giueth supernaturall vertue and qualitie to stocks and stones But if supernaturall vertue qualitie doe yeeld a title of religious worship how is it that ſ Reu. 19.10 the Angell refused to be worshipped of S. Iohn and t Act. 10.25 the Apostle Peter of Cornelius seeing it cannot bee doubted but that there was a supernaturall vertue and qualitie in them Well hee will tell vs that the next time in the meane while he giueth vs leaue to thinke their Romish fauorites to be very naturally affected that conceiue so supernaturally of the deuisers of such blinde and witlesse tales As for that he saith that they doe not binde God and his hearing of vs to certaine things and places because they hold that God may be worshipped in all places hee saith no more than Ieroboam hath in effect said before for the setting vp of his idols no more than the Pagans and Heathens conceiued that their gods were in heauen and therefore that in all places they might pray and sacrifice vnto them Notwithstanding as they thought that to pray before their Images was a more speciall and solemne deuotion and they had there the heauenly powers more neerely present vnto them so haue they beene affected in Poperie and haue thought those praiers to bee most effectuall which they haue made in the presence of filthy idols and to that end haue taken great paines to goe long iourneies and pilgrimages vnto them But saith M. Bishop the sight of such holy things doth breed more reuerence and deuotion in vs and better keepe our mindes from wandering vpon vaine matters He should haue said if hee would haue spoken as the truth is that they breed superstition and errour rather than reuerence and deuotion that they cause God and his Saints to bee contemned in that stoliditie and blockishnesse of dumbe idols or at leastwise doe hold the minde so intangled heere vpon the earth as that it hath not power and libertie of affection to ascend to heauen as hath beene u Of Images sect 5.8 before sufficiently declared and needeth not heere to bee repeated His coupling of Churches and Images is like x Deut. 22.10 the yoaking of an oxe and an asse because Churches haue their vse for yeelding conueniencie of place and assemblie for praier for hearing of Gods word and ministration of his Sacraments for which vses onely it is that they are holie but Images haue no vse at all to
these purposes or any other yea they serue to set the minde a wandring and to withdraw it from that stedfastnesse and deuotion which these spirituall offices and exercises doe require of vs. In a word Lactantius maketh it y Lactant. Inst l. 2. c. 19. Non est dubium quin religio nulla sit vbicunque simulachrum est a thing vndoubted that where Images are there is no religion and therefore very iustly do we affirme that the Popish vse and defence of Images is no furtherance as M. Bishop would perswade but the very bane and ouerthrow of all true religion 18. W. BISHOP But let vs heare the end of his discourse thus he argueth They that worship they know not what worship an Idol This exposition is false vnlesse they worship it with diuine honor But goe on the Papists worship they know not what I prooue it thus To the consecration of the Host there is required the intention of the Priest but they cannot haue any certainty of the Priests intention wherfore they are not certaine whether it be bread or the body of Christ ergo worshipping of it they worship they know not what Answ First heere is leaping from the Commandements to the Sacraments which is out of order secondly I returne his argument vpon himselfe To their seruice and in the administration of the Lords Supper the Ministers intention is required for if he intend to serue the Diuell and by giuing them the cōmunion to binde them the faster to him then do they in saying Amen to his praiers and receiuing the communion at his hands ioine with him in the Diuels seruice Now they haue no more certaintie of their Ministers meaning than wee haue of our Priests intention yea much lesse of many of them who are mad-merry fellowes and care not greatly whereabout they go nor what they intend must they therefore flie from their diuince seruice and holy communion because they be not certaine of their Ministers intention therein Surely they should if his reason were ought woorth But in such cases we must perswade our selues that Gods Ministers doe their dutie vnlesse we see great cause to the contrarie and thereupon are we bold to doe our dutie to the blessed Sacrament If he should faile in his yet our intention being pure to adore Christs holy bodie onely and nothing else there we should formally be the true worshippers of Christ though materially we were mistaken in that host which to tearme Idolatrie is to stile our Sauiour Iesus Christ an Idoll and therefore blasphemy in the highest degree R. ABBOT They that worship they know not what The Papists worship they know not not what saith M. Perkins do worship an idoll M. Bishop saith that this is false vnlesse they worship it with diuine honor But that worship wherof M. Perkins speaketh is no other but diuine honour and in the subiect whereto he maketh application of this rule which is the Sacrament M. Bishop himselfe doth no otherwise vnderstand it and therefore his exception is verie idle Neither is there heere any vnorderly leaping as he speaketh from the Commandements to the Sacraments but verie orderly and direct proceeding when as hauing in hand to set foorth their breaches of the Commandement he exemplifieth the same by their idolatrie committed in the Sacrament For proofe whereof M. Perkins vseth this argument They that worship they know not what doe worship an idoll This M. Bishop acknowledgeth if they worship it with diuine honor But the Papists in worshipping the Sacrament doe worship with diuine honour they know not what Therefore they worship an idoll That they know not what they worship it is euident and plaine because they cannot know whether it be bread or the bodie of Christ For they confesse that it is not the body of Christ a Bellarm. de Sacra in Gen. ca 27. sententia Catholicorum est requirs intentionem faciendi quod facit Ecclesia without the Priests intention in consecration to doe that which the Church doth But how can any man tell whether the Priest haue this intention or not who can looke into his heart to be assured of his meaning when as it is God onely that knoweth the heart If no man can search into the Priests heart to know his intention then can no man know whether the Sacrament be the body of Christ or not and therefore in the worshipping of it they worship they know not what which is no other but idolatrie With this argument M. Bishop is cruelly pinched and knoweth not which way to auoid the absurditie that is thereby cast vpon them and yet somewhat hee must say howsoeuer little helpe hee receiue by it First hee would returne the argument against vs as touching the intention of our Ministers but dealeth therein childishly and vainly because hee knoweth well that we hang not the Sacrament or any power thereof vpon the intention of the Minister but wholly vpon the word of Christ It may be that some Ministers be as the greatest number of their Priests haue beene woont to bee madde merry-fellowes that care not greatly whereabout they goe but this hindreth vs nothing who by the words of Christ himselfe by them deliuered do firmely apprehend that which Christ hath promised But to salue the matter the best he can he telleth vs that we must perswade our selues that Gods Ministers doe their dutie vnlesse wee see great cause to the contrarie Where hee should remember that the matter heere vrged is not determined by our perswasion but by the Priests intention We may be in charitie well perswaded but in our being well perswaded wee may be deceiued and therefore doe not yet know but that we commit idolatrie in that which M. Bishop calleth duty to the blessed Sacrament and the rather for that he himselfe b Sect. 63. afterwards confesseth that it is idolatrie in the Sacrament to worship for Christ that which is not Christ But now welfare a distinction to helpe at a pinch for if the Priest in his intention faile yet our intention being pure saith he to adore Christs holy body onely and nothing else we shall be formally the true worshippers of Christ though materially we be mistaken in that host Let him speake plaine English and tell vs that formally we shall be true worshippers of Christ but materially we shall be idolaters and then let him resolue vs how in one and the same act it may be iustified that wee are both true worshippers and idolaters what shal become of the formally true worshipper when for being materially an idolater he shal be adiudged to hel I haue wondered at a saying which I haue read cited out of the great Schooleman Robert Holcot thinking it to be more absurd than that any Christian man would vtter it namely c Humphred de vita obitu Iuelit pa. 120. ex Holcot Asserit fidem laici adorantis hostiam non consecratam sufficere illi ad
now stand to contend thereabout But wheras Watson the Proctor for the Priests against the Iesuits hath particularly set downe great value of goods gotten by the Iesuits through meere collusion and fraud let him acquaint vs that they haue made restitution hereof and then I will giue him further answer 31. W. BISHOP 8. The eight prohibiteth vs to beare false witnesse against our neighbour and yet do Ministers the master Procestants in their pulpit where truth should onely be taught most commonly beare such false witnesse against Catholikes that the very stones may be astonished at their most impudent slanders to wit that Papists beleeue in stockes and stones that they will not be saued by Christ and his passion but by their owne works that they rob God of his honour and giue it to Saints and a hundreth such like most notorious and palpable lies Wherefore as the Preachers bee guilty of bearing false witnesse so the auditors deserue to be seduced by them who hearing them to lie so shamelesly in some things will neuerthelesse beleeue them in others R. ABBOT Papists beleeue in stocks and stones The very stones if they could speake would iustifie the Protestants in this behalfe and cry out against the idolatry and abomination of the Papists Whether Papists beleeue in stockes and stones and teach men so to do let it appeare by Thomas Aquinas who propounding the question a Tho. Aquin. sum p. 3 q. 25. art 4. See before of Images sect 14 whether the crosse of Christ be to be worshipped with the worship of Latria determineth the matter in this sort We giue the worship of Latria to that wherein we put the hope of our saluation But we put the hope of our saluation in the Crosse for the Church singeth All-haile O Crosse our only hope at this time of the passion To the godly increase righteousnesse and to the guilty grant forgiuenesse Therefore the Crosse is to bâ—e worshipped with Latria Let M. Bishop now tell vs whether they trust in stocks and stones who place the hope of their saluation in that Crosse to which they say All-haile O Crosse c. that is in a Crosse of wood or stone Yea and Polydore Virgil acknowledgeth of their rude people that b Polyd. Virgil. de inuent rerum l. 6. c. 13. his imaginibus magis fidunt quam Christe vel alijs diuis quibus dicatae sunt Papists wil be saued by their own works not by the passion of Christ they put more trust in their images than they doe in Christ or in the Saints whose images they are He spake gently of it being loth to touch the sore too hard for feare of offence but it is well known how the common people haue been affected with these delusions and still are where their abominable idolatry holdeth still it former strenth The second point that Papists will not be saued by the passion of Christ but by their own workes is made plaine to vs by the Spanish Inquisitours in their c Index Expur Hispan Ex libro qui inscribitur Ordo baptizandi cum Modo visitandi impresso venetijs ann 1575. Index Expurgatorius who finding in an Order for visiting the sicke imprinted at Venice these questions to be asked of the sicke man d Deieantur illa verba Credis non proprijs meritis sed passionis domini nostri Iesu Christi virtute ac merito ad gloriam peruenire Credis quòd dominus noster Iesus Christus pro nestra salute mortuus sit quòd ex proprijs meritis vel alio modo nullus possit saluari nisi in merito passionis ipsius Beleeuest thou not by thine own merits but by the power and merit of the passion of Christ to come to glory Beleeuest thou that our Lord Iesus Christ died for our saluation and that none can be saued by his own merits or by any other meanes but by the merit of his passion with comfort giuen that e Deleantur illa verba Non erit desperandum vel dubitandum de salute illius qui suprapositas petitiones corde crediderit ore confessus fuerit there is no doubt to be made of the saluation of him who thus beleeueth with the heart and confesseth with the mouth haue defaced all these words and appointed them in new impressions to be wholly left out The third point also is manifest for sith worship and deuotion of religion belongeth to God only as hath been f Supra sect 17 before shewed surely the Papists in giuing religious worship to Saints doe rob God of his honour and giue it vnto the Saints These things M. Bishop are cleere and plaine they are not our notorious and palpable and shamelesse lies but they are your notorious and palpable and shamelesse heresies We know you daube these things and set colours vpon them as heretiques haue been wont to doe vpon their false and wicked opinions but your colours with vs are soone washed off and where you are in your owne kingdome there we know how you appeare in your own likenesse As for our auditors thanks be to God they are not like yours Yours are like g 1. Cor. 12.2 the Gentiles of old caried away to dumbe Idols euen as they are led They must follow you blindfolded without seeing which way they go They must search nothing they must know nothing but take what you tell them But our hearers thanks be to God haue the liberty of Gods word wherin they see with their own eies and whereby they plainly vnderstand that wee seduce them not because we teach them nothing but what they find there that God hath taught And you they therby learne to hate and detest as seducers and deceiuers because you go about to teach them those things which they see God hath not taught you 32. W. BISHOP 9. and 10. Of the ninth and tenth I haue spoken already wherein they erre grieuously in teaching euery man to sinne damnably by hauing any euill motion cast into his minde by the Diuell albeit he resisteth it presently and foorthwith chase it away In which conflict and ouercomming of temptation the grace and power of God is perfited as S. Paul witnesseth and S. Iames calleth the allurement of concupiscence temptation only and then first sinne when it conceiueth that is getteth some liking of the party R. ABBOT Where the mind is free from sinne the Diuell can cast no euill motion into the minde Euery euill motion is sin If the Diuell cast euill motions into the mind it is a token that hee findeth there a mould wherein he casteth them and a mine whence hee diggeth the matter of them From the habitual corruption of our nature all euill motions flow which both in the spring and in the streame both in the roote and in the branch is before iustified to bee sinne Wee resist it he saith and chase it away but therefore we resist it and chase it away because it