Christian Faith is only a probable assent he must affirme that it doth not necessarily require the peculiar supernaturall assistance of the Holy Ghost But why do J vse any proofe since we haue his owne express words in the same Pag. 37. n 9. Some experience makes me feare that considering and discoursing men being possessed vvith this false principle that it is in vaine to belieue the Gospell of Christ vvith such a kind or degree of assent as they yeeld to other matters of tradition And finding that their faith of it is to them vndiscernable from the beliefe they giue to the truth of other storyes are in danger not to belieue at all or else to cast themselues into wretched agonyes and perplexityes as fearing they haue not that without which it is impossible to please God and obtaine eternall happiness Do not these words declare that faith sufficient to please God and obtain eternall happiness is of the same kind and degree of assent as men yeeld to other matters of Tradïtion and truth of other storyes for the beliefe of which no man did euer say that a speciall motion or grace of the Holy Ghost was always necessary And it is to be obserued that he speakes of considering and discoursing mē as still reducing Faith to Reason wheras contralily experience teacheth that oftentymes simple persons belieue with humility and deuotion when the wisest mè of the world turne fooles in matters belonging to God or if they embrace the Faith of Christ they doe it not always with such strength of beliefe as many vnlearned people doe which shewes that Faith relies on some more high and diuine foundation then the only forces of naturall Reason XVIII To this we may add what he teacheth Pag. 62. n. 24. That our assurance that the Scripture hath bene preserued from any materiall alteration and that any other booke is incorrupted is of the same kind and condition both morall assurances And Pag. 141. No 27. For the incorruption of Scripture I know no other rationall assurance we can have of it then such as we haue of the incorruption of otherr ancient bookes such I meane for the kind though it be far greater for the degree of it And if the spirit of God giue any mā any othe assurāce here of this is not rationall and discoursiue but supernaturall and infused Marke how still he requires as necessary only a rationall discourse for the incorruption and preseruation of Scripture from any materiall alteration and yet Protestants acknowledging Scripture to be the only rule of Faith and beliefe of all Christian Mysteryes can be no more certaine of such mysteryes then they are assured of Scripture it selfe and still speakes of supernaturall infusea assurance as of an extraordinary thing And yet further Pag. 116 N o 159. he sayth We haue I belieue as great reason to belieue there was such a man as Henry the eight King of England as that Iesus Christ suffered vnder Pontius Pilate I suppose he will not say that a speciall grace of the Holy Ghost is necessary to belieue that there was such a man as Henry the eight Therfor he will and must say the same of the Article of our Faith that Iesus Christ suffered vnder Pontius Pilate since he saith there is as much reason for the one as the other Which yet is made more apparent by what he sayth Pag. 327. N o 5. in these words Men may talke their pleasure of an absolute and most infallible certainty but did they generally belieue that obedience to Christ were the only way to present and eternall felicity but as much as Caesars Commentaryes or the History of Salust I belieue the liues of most men both Papists and Protestants would be better then they are By which words it is cleare that either most Papists and Protestants want true Faith necessary to saluation or that Faith sufficiēt to saluation need be no greater concerning the Mysteryes of Christiā Faith then the belief we yeld to profane Hystoryes and certainly this requires no speciall Grace or motion of the Holy Ghost To conclude since he professes that Christiā Faith is of the same kind with rationall discourse and belief of other matters of Tradition and humane Historyes it clearly followes that it is in its essence naturall and in kinde different from supernaturall and therfor cannot vniuersally require the particular motion and assistance of diuine Grace XIX But les vs confute this proud Heresie by Holy Scripture S. Ihon. C. 6. V. 29. saith This is the worke of God that you beleeue in him whom he hath sent V. 44. No man cā come vnto me except the Father that sent me draw him and afterward he expourds what it is to come vnto him namely to belieue V. 64.65 There be certaine of you that beleeue not Therfor did I say that no man can come vnto me vnles it be giuen him of my Father V. 45. Euery one that hath heard of the Father and hath learned commeth to me Mat. 11.25.26 Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast reuealed them to little ones Yea Father for so hath it well pleased thee And C. 16. V. 17. Blessed art thou Simon Barjona because flesh and bloud hath not revealed it to thee but my Father which is in Heauē Which Text must be vnderstood of internall Grace and not only of the externall Reuelation or Proposition of the Object which was made to the wise and prudēt as well as to little ones and to many other beside S. Peter who yet were not therfor blessed as S. Peter was declared to be Isai 54.12 All thy children taught of our Lord. Act. 13.48 There belieued as many as were preordinated to life euerlasting And Act. 16.14.15 A certain woman called Lidia a seller of purple of the citty of the Thyatirians one that worshipped God did heare whose hart our Lord opened to atted to those thinghs which were sayd of Paul And when she was babtized c. Rom. 5.2 By whom Christ also we haue access through faith into the grace wherin we stand and glorie in the hope of the glorie of the sonnes of God If by faith we haue access to the hope of glory which is supernaturall Faith it selfe must also be supernaturall and require the speciall motion of the Holy Ghost Rom. 8.26 The spirit helpeth our infirmity For what we should pray as we ought we know not but the spirit himselfe requesteth for vs with groanings vnspeakeable Rom. 12.3 To euery one as God hath diuided the measure of faith 1. Cor. 12.3 No man can say our Lord Iesus but in the Holy Ghost V. 9. To anoter faith in the same spirit 2. Cor. 3. Not that we be sufficiēt to thinke any thing of our selues as of our selues but our sufficiency is of God 2. Cor. 4.6 Because God that hath cōmanded light to shine of darknes he hath shined in our harts to the illumination of the knowledge of the
Charitie vvhich by the Apostle is preferrd before those other two vertues 1. Cor. 13.13 Now there remayne Faith Hope Charity these three but the greater of these is Charity Besides Charity being the fulfilling of the law if we cannot keepe the commandements without grace as we will proue in the next Section it followes that without grace we cannot Loue as we ought for attaining saluation But yet let vs alledge some places of Scripture wherin this truth is set downe 1. Ioan 4.7 Charity is of God and euery one that loueth is borne of God aÌ„d knoweth God Ioan. 14.23.24 If any loue me he will keepe my word and my Father will loue him and vve vvill come to him and will make aboad with him He that loueth me not keepeth not my words Who dare ascribe to a loue acquired by humane forces these priuiledges of keeping Gods word in so supernaturall a way as that the B. Trinitie will come and remaine vvith him Rom. 5.5 The charity of God is powred forth in our harts by the holy Ghost vvhich is giuen vs. Rom. 13.8 He that loueth his neighbour hath fulfilled the lavv V. 10. Loue therfor is the fulness of the lavv Galat. 5.22 The fruite of the spirit is charitie Ephes 6.23.24 Peace to the brethreÌ„ and charitie vvith faith from God the father and our Lord Iesus Christ Grace with all that loue our Lord Iesus Christ in incorruption XXIV Euen Chilling Pag. 20. saith what can hinder but that the consideration of Gods most infinite Goodness to them Protestants and their owne almost infinite wickedness against him Gods spirit cooperating with them may raise them to a true and syncere and a cordiall loue of God In vvhich vvords he may seeme to require the particular grace of the holy Ghost for exercising an Act of loue or charitie I say he may seeme because it is no nevves for him to dissemble or disguise his true meaning vnder some shew of words vsed by good Christians though it cost him a contradiction vvith himselfe and his ovvne Grounds Hovvsoeuer it be at least his manner of speach shevves hovv christians must not deny this truth SECTION V. The Necessity of Grace for keeping the Commandements and ouercoming temptations XXV THis point giues me againe iust occasion to obserue how they who deny a liuing jnfallible iudge of controuersies cannot auoyd running into pernitious extremes Some hold that Christians are not bound in conscience to keepe the Commandements a Vide Bellarm de justificatione l. 4. Cap. 1. in somuch as Luther is not afraid nor ashamed to say b In Commentario ad Cap 2 ad Galatas When it is taught that indeed faith in Christ iustifies but yet so as we ought to keepe the commandements because it is writteÌ„ if thou wilt enter into life keepe the coÌ„mandemeÌ„ts there Christ is instantly denyed aÌ„d faith abolished And elswhere c In Sermone de nouo Testamento siâ—e de Mâ—ssa Let vs take heed of sinnes but much more of lawes and good works Let vs attend only to the promise of God and faith I wonder how a man can take heed of sinne and ioyntly take heed of good workes Shall he be still doing and yet doe neither good nor badd Some teach that it is impossible to keepe the commandements euen with the assistance of diuine grace Others that they may be kept by the force of nature and that the assistance of Gods grace is not necessary except only to keepe them with greater ease or facility XXVI The true Catholike doctrine is that we may keepe the commandements and ouercome temptations by the grace of God not by our owne naturall forces which is manifestly declared in Holy Scripture EZechiel 36.26 I will giue you a new hart and put a new spirit in middest of you and I will take away the stony hart out of your flesh aÌ„d will giue you a fleshie hart And I will put my spirit in the middest of you and I will make that you walk in my precepts and keepe my iudgments and doe them 1. Ioan. 5.3 This is the charity of God that we keepe his commandements Ioan. 14.23.24 If any loue me he will keepe my word and my father will loue him and we will come to him and will make abode with him He that loueth me not keepeth not my words Behold louing or not louing keeping or not keeping the commandements goe togeather But we haue proued that Grace is necessary to loue God it is therfor necessary to keepe his commandements Rom. 8.3 For that which was impossible to the law in that it was weakned by the flesh God sending his son in the flesh of sinne euen of sinne damnes sinne in the flesh That the iustification of the Law might be fulfilled in vs. 1. Cor. 7.7 The Apostle teaches that not only the continency of virgins and widdowes but maried people also is the gift of God saying Euery one hath a proper guift of God one so and another so Sap. 8.21 And as I knew that I could not otherwise be continent vnless God gaue it this very thing also was wisdom to know whose this gift was I went to our Lord and besought him Rom. 2.13 Not the hearers of the Law are iust with God but the doers of the Law shall be iustifyed And yet the same Apostle sayth Galat 2 21. If iustice by the Law then Christ dyed in vaine And we may say in the same manner If iustice by nature and not by Grace Christ died in vaine S. Iames 3.8 The tong no man can tame Rom. 5.20.21 The Law entered in that sinne might abound and where sinne abounded grace did more abound that as sinne raigned to death so also grace may raigne by iustice to life euerlasting through Iesus Christ our Lord. Which words declare that grace is so necessary for fulfilling the Law that without it the Law was occasion of death by reason of humane frailty and corruption Rom. 4.15 The Law worketh wrath Rom. 7. V. 23.24.25 I see another Law in my members repugning to the law of my mynd and captiuing me in the law of sinne that is in my members Vnhappy man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death The grace of God by Iesus Christ our Lord. 1. Cor. 15.56 57. The power of sinne is the law But thankes be to God that hath giuen vs victory by our Lord Iesus Christ 1. Cor. 10.13 God is faithfull who will not suffer you to be tempted aboue that which you are able but will make also with teÌ„ptation issue that you may be able to sustaine Psalm 17.30 In thee I shall be deliuered from teÌ„ptation Psa 26.9 Be thou my helper forsake me not Psalm 29.7.8 I sayd in my aboundance I will not be moued for euer Thou hast turned away thy face from me and I became troubled Psalm 117.13 Being thrust I was ouerturned to fall and our Lord receyued me 1. Pet. 5. V. 8.9 Be sober
his fourth Chapter Pag 788. Chap 14. The answer to his fifth Chapter about Schisme Pag 846. Chap 15. The answer to his sixth Chapter about Heresy Pag 884. Chap 16. The answer to his seaventh Chapter that Protestants are not bound by the Charity which they owe to themselves to reunite themselves to the Roman Church Pag 932. Touching the necessity of diuine Grace for all vvorkes of Christian Piety I. THe necessity I find of premisinge this Introduction giues me iust cause to begin with those sad passages of the Prophet Ieremy c. 9.1 VVho will giue water to my head and to myne eyes a fountayne of teares and v. 18. Let our eyes shed teares and our eye liddes runne downe with waters And c. 13. v. 17. My soule shall weepe because of the pride a S. Aug. l. 2. de peccatorum meritis remiss cap. 18. saieth Ipsa ratio quemlibet nostrum quaetentem vehementer angustat ne â—ic defendamus gratiam vt liberum arbitrium auferre videamur rurlus ne liberum sic asseramus arbittium vt SVPERBA IMPIETATE ingrati Dei gratiae indicemur O England what greater pride then to make humane reason the measure of Christian faith and to beleeue Faith to be only a probable assent because Reason cannot with euidency comprehend how it should be infallibly true O soules deny not the satisfaction of Christ our Lord for our sinnes and his Merit of supernaturall Grace to enable our nature towards workes of Piety Be not eleuated Jerem 13.16.17 but Giue you glory to our Lord your God before it wax darke and before your feet stumble at the darke mountaynes Otherwise you shall looke for light and he will turne it into the shaddow of death and into darknes But if you will not heare this in secret my soule shall weepe because of the pride b S. Anselmus ad illud 1. Cor. 4. Quid habes quod non accepisti sayth Fecit Deus vt esses tu fecisti vt bonus esses absit Si enim Deus dedit vt esses alius tibi dare potuit ut bonus esses melior est ille qui dedit ut bònus esses quam ille qui dedit ut esses Sed nullus Deo melior igÃtur à Deo accepisti esse bonum esse Thus sayth our Lord let not the wise man glory in his wisdome but he that gloryeth let him glory in this because I am the Lord that doe mercy For it is not Rom. 9.16 of the willer nor of the runner but of God that sheweth Mercy by freely offeringe Pardon Grace and Glory Let vs not ô let vs not make vaine the Life Sufferings Death Satisfaction and Merit of God incarnate by setting vp an idol of reason but let vs say with the Apostole Galat. 2.21 I cast not away the Grace of God For if iustice by the Lawe of Mòyses if Faith by reason then Christ dyed in vaine II. But heere some will not faile to aske the reason why I should treate this seeming farre fetchd matter in this occasion The Answer to this demand cannot be so fitly and fully deliuered by me in this place as it will of it selfe appeare in severall occasions through this whole worke For the present I say that the necessity of supernaturall grace being once established the most substantiall parts of M. Chillingworths booke will remaine confuted For jf Divine faith be the Gift of God infused into our soules and that we cannot exercise any one Act therof without the particular grace and motion of the Holy Ghost it followes immediatly and clearly against his fundamentall and capitall heresie that Christian Faith must be infallible and exempt from all possibility of errour or falshood It being an evident and certaine truth that the supreme and Prime Ueritie cannot by his speciall supernaturall motion inspire a falshood S. Iohns aduise 1. Ioan 4.1 is Beleeue not euery spirit but proue the spirits if they be of God But if we find our spirit to be of God and yet maintayne that it may be stayned with errour what further triall can we make must we raise vp the spirit of man and rely on the strength of reason to trye and so perhaps to check and reject the spirit of God though knowne and acknowledged to be his spirit We reade in holy Scripture Deuter c. 18.21.22 If in secret cogitation thou answer How shall I vnderstand the word that our Lord spake not This signe thou shalt haue That which the same Prophet foretelleth in the name of the Lord and cometh not to passe that our Lord hath not spoken but by the arrogancy of his mynd the Prophet hath forged it Which yet were no good or infallible signe if the spirit of God who spoke by the Prophets could inspire a falshood III. This truth is granted even by sectaryes themselues who will not deny to be true what Caluin Jnstit l. 1. c. 7. saith Testimonium spiritus omni ratione praestantius esse respondeo I answer that the testimony of the spirit is to be preferred before all reason And even Chillingworth Pag. 145 n. 33. saieth that Potter ascribes to the Apostles the Spirits guidance and consequently infallibility in a more high and absolute manner then any since them Where we see he proportionates infallibility to the guidance of the Spirit IV. Besides if the Theologicall vertues of Hope and Charity be the Gifts of God and their Acts require supernaturall assistance Faith also by which they are directed must be supernaturall and require Gods particular Grace which excludes all falshood Jf Faith Hope and Charity be Gifts infused by God not acquired by Acts proceeding from our naturall forces and for that reason we can not be assured of their presence by sensible experience as we may be of acquired naturall Habits Jf they be Powers to enable not meere Habits to facilitate vs in order to Actions of Piety we must inferre that they are not to be increas'd or diminishd lost conserved or acquired or measured according to the rate of naturall Habits Which truth being once granted his doctrine that Repentance consists in the rooting out of all vicious habits That Charity may consist with deadly sinne and Faith with heresy and the like Tenets instantly fall to the ground their whole foundation being an imaginary paritie or rather identity of infused and naturall Habits or Gifts as will appeare when such particular points shall offer themselues to be examined V. Heere I cannot forbeare to reflect in what manner they who haue once withdrawne their beleife and obedience from Gods Church and an jnfallible living judge in matters belonging to Faith do runne into extremes Some of them to maintayne the necessity of Grace denie freewill others in direct opposition to these giue all to free-will and denie the necessity of Grace Some reject inherent Justice though infused by God yea they teach that the guilt of sinne still remaining doth stayne all our actions
demonstrate the Doctrine of Catholiques concerning the necessity of God's Grace to belieue Hope Loue God Keepe his commandements Merit Repent Ouercome temptations and perseuer to the end All which is not inconsistent with free-will which is assisted and elevated not hindered or impeached by grace as it is wont to be sayd Grace doth not destroy but perfit nature Our adversaryes grant that Adam in the state of innocency was indued with freewill and yet grace was then necessary for the exercise of every supernaturall Act with which humane nature can haue no sufficient proportion otherwise supernaturall were not supernaturall but naturall or due to nature and therfore it is cleare that the necessity and concurrence of God's grace agrees very well with mans freewill Thus all difficultyes are clear'd and Holy Scripture declared not to imply any contradiction while it teaches both the freedome of our will and the necessity of Grace X. By this occasion I cannot chuse but begg of all who are desirous to know what Catholiques teach not to heare and trust the clamors and calumnyes of their Preachers Ministers or other either misinformed or disaffected or passionate or partially interessed persons but that they would for the good of their owne soules and loue to truth reade the Councell of Trent to which all Catholiques in matters of Faith subscribe and I dare confidently promise they will obserue such grauity in the stile such piety in the matter such grounds from Scripture such consonancy with Antiquity such clearnesse and reasonablenesse in the Definitions that they shall never repent themselues of a few howers spent in that search but will find to be true what I haue alwayes thought and often spoken that to set downe our Doctrines as they are beleeved by vs and not as our Aduersaryes falsify or disguise them or rightly to state the Question would be a sufficient defense of our Assertions and confutation of all the contraty Objections XI But I returne to the matter it selfe intendinge to proue out of expresse words of holy Scripture the necessity of grace First for all works of pietie in generall 2. For Faith 3. For Hope 4. For Charitie 5. For keepinge the commandements and ouercoming temptations 6. For repentance 7. For perseuerance These heades for better method we will distinguish into seuerall Sections SECTION I. The necessity of Grace for all actions of Christian Piety in generall XII THe Necessity of Grace appeares sufficiently by the diuers wayes and metaphors vnder which holy Scripture labours jf so I may say to declare it vnto vs as some Diuines haue well observed as by a metaphor taken from him who knocks at the dore Apoc. 3. Behold I stand at the dore and knocke Of one who awakes vs from sleepe Ephes 5. Arise thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and Christ will illuminate thee of a calling Matth. 20. Many are called and few are chosen of Light Iob 29. when his lampe shined ouer my head and I walked by his light in darknesse of Preuentinge and having mercy on vs Psalm 58. His mercy shall preuent me Other expressions of the same Grace will appeare in the places which shall be alleadged out of Holy Scripture In the Concell of Trent as we haue seene aboue Grace is declared vnder diuers names as of Vocation Illumination Inspiration Excitation Touchinge and Motion XIII Let vs now alledge particular Texts of Holy Scripture Ps 58. His mercy shall prevent me Ezech. c. 36.2.26 I will giue you a new hart and put a new spirit in the middest of you and I will take away the stony hart out of your Flesh and will giue you a fleshy hart and I will put my spirit in the middest of you and I will make that you walke in my precepts and keepe my judgements and doe them Chap. 18.31 Make to your selues a new hart and a new spirit Behold in these Texts the possibility of keeping the Commandements the Necessity of Grace and the consistency of Grace with freewill which are three principall doctrines beleeved by Catholicques Isaiae 54.13 All thy children taught of out Lord. Matt. 20. v. 16 Many be called but few elect Ioan. 15. v. 5. Without me you can doe nothinge Rom. 8. v. 26. The spirit helpeth our infirmity For what we should pray as we ought wee know not but the spirit him selfe requesteth for vs with groanings vnspeakable Rom. 3. v. 24. Justifyed gratis by his Grace by the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus Rom 9. v. 16. It is not of the willer nor of the runner but God that sheweth mercy Rom 11. v. 6. If by Grace not of works otherwise Grace now is not Grace And v. 35. Who hath first giuen to him and retribution shall be made him 1. Cor. 4. v. 7. Who discerneth thee or what hast thou that thou hast not receaved 1. Cor. 15. v. 10. By the Grace of God Iam that I am and his Grace in me hath not bin voyd but I have laboured more aboundantly then all they yet not I but the Grace of God with me v. 57. Thankes be to God that hath given to vs the victory by our Lord Iesus Christ 2. Cor. 3. v. 5. Not that we be sufficient to thinke any thing of our selves as of our selves but our sufficiency is of God Epehs 1. v. 6.7 Vnto the prayse of the glory of his Grace wherin he hath gratifyed vs in his beloved son in whom we haue redemption by his bloud the remission of sinnes according to the riches of his Grace Philip. v. 6. He which hath begun in you a good worke will perfit it vnto the day of Christ Iesus Philip 2. v. 13. For it is God that worketh in you both to will and to accomplish accordinge to his good vvill Apoc. 3. v. 20. Behold I stand at the dore and knock if any man shall heare my voyce and open to me the gate I will enter in to him and vvill sup with him and he with me Behold agayne the force of Grace in knockinge at the dore and the cooperation of freevvill in hearing the voyce of God and opening to him the gate XIV I need add no more Texts of Holy Scripture for this poynt of the Necessity of Grace to all vvorks of Piety in generall since the same vvill also be proued by demonstrating the Necessity therof for the particulars of Beleeuing Hoping c. As also vvhat vve haue proued in generall infers the Necessity for the same particulars of Fayth Hope c Yea vvhile vve proue the Necessity of Grace for any particular for example Fayth the same remaynes proved for all other poynts belonging to Piety by reason of the same ground and parity for all And indeed since eternall Blisse in Heaven to vvhich men are ordained is supernaturalâ— it is cleare of it selfe rhat it cannot be attained by the forces of nature but by the particular Grace and assistance of Gods Holy Spirit This Necessity of Grace is so fundamentall a
glory of God in the face of Christ Iesus Galat. 5.22.23 The fruit of the spirit is Faith Ephes 1.16.17.18 I cease not to giue thankes for you making a memory of you in my prayers That God of our Lord Iesus Christ the Father of glory giue you the spirit of wisdom and of reuelation in the knowledg of him the eyes of your hart illuminated that you may know what the hope is of his vocation and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints Ephes 2.8 For by Grace you are saued with Faith and that not of yourselves for it is the gist of God Ephes 6.23 Peace to the Brethren and charity with faith from God the father and our Lord Iesus Christ Philipp 1.29 To you it is giuen for Christ not only that you belieue in him but also that you suffer for him Colos 1.2 Giuing thanks to God the Father who hath made vs worthy vnto the part of the lot of the Saints in the light 2. Pet. 1.21 The holy men of God spake inspired with the Holy Ghost XX More Texts of Scripture might be alledged but it is needles since euē all Sectaryes except Pelagius and such as follow him belieue Grace to be necessary for faith and in particular D. Potter to whom Chilling is in this mayne poynt directly opposit as is euident by these his expresse words Pag. 135. Faith is sayd to be diuine and supernaturall in regard of the author or efficient cause of the act and habit of diuine faith which is the speciall grace of God preparing enabling and assisting the soule to belieue For faith is the gist of God alone 1. Cor. 12.34 2. In regard of the object or things belieued which are aboue Philipp 1.29 the reach and comprehēsion of meere nature and reason Philip. 1.29 Thus D. Potter and adds that of these two respects there is no controuersie he meanes betweene Catholiques and Protestāts For by the euēt it is cleare that there is a controuersy betweene him and the Socinians and in particular with Chilling worth his champion But necessity hath no law Charity Maintayned could not with any shew be answered in the grounds of Protestants who therfor chose rather to destroy their owne grounds and the doctrine of all good Christians then to confesse the truth of our Catholik faith though conuicted by euident reasons Besides Pag. 140. D. Potter sayth Humane authority consent and proofe may produce an humane or acquired faith but the assent of diuine faith is absolutly diuine in which words he distinguisheth acquired faith from diuine and consequently holds that this is not acquired but infused Pag. 141. That Scripture is of diuine authority the belieuer sees by many internall arguments found in the letter it selfe though found by the helpe and direction of the Church without and of grace within Mark how besides the externall proposition of the object by the Church he requires internall grace Pag. 142. There is in the Scripture it selfe light sufficient which the eye of reason cleared by grace and assisted by the many motiues which the Church vseth for enforcing of her instructions may discouer to be diuine descended from the father and fountain of light Pag. 143. he teaches that by the ministery of the church in preaching and expounding the Holy Ghost begets a diuine faith in vs. And in the same place he tearmeth the act of faith supernaturall as also we haue heard him tearme it so pag. 135. and it is a plaine contradiction that it should be supernaturall or aboue nature and yet be produced by the forces of nature which were to make it aboue and not aboue nature XXI By the way it is to be noted that D. Potter deliuers a very vntrue doctrine in saying in this pag. 135. that the efficient cause of the act and habit of diuine faith is the speciall grace of God For the speciall actuall grace of God is not the efficient cause of the habit of our faith which is infused by God alone as our naturall acts of vnderstanding or willing do not produce the Powers of our vnderstanding or will and supernaturall Habits of Faith Hope c. are giuen vs not to facilitate but to enable vs to exercise Acts of Faith Hope c For which cause they are compared to supernaturall Acts as the naturall faculties or Powers of our soule are compared to their naturall Acts which they produce and are not produced by them I omit his vnproper speach that the speciall grace of God is the author of an act of faith SECTION III. The necessity of Grace to Hope as vve ought for saluation XXII IF Grace be necessary for euery worke of Christian Pietie and in particular for faith as we haue proued it will be needles to stand long vpon prouing that it is necessary for hoping which is a work of Pietie proceeding from a Theologicall Vertue to which Faith is referrd and of which mortall men considering the sublimity of eternall Happynes and guiltynes of their owne meanes frailty and sinnes stand in need for raising vp their soules towards so supernaturall an Object and preseruing them from dejection pusilanimity and despaire yet we will not omit to alledge some particular Texts of Scripture in proofe of this Truth Rom 5.2 By whom Christ we haue access through Faith into this Grace wherin we stand and glorie in the hope of the glorie of the sonnes of God Where it is cleare that the Apostle placeth hope amongst the gifts of the children of God which we receaue by Christ Chap. 15. V. 4.5 That by the patience and consolation of the Scriptures we may haue hope and the God of patience giue you to be of one mynd Which words declare that God is the author of those gifts 1. Cor. 13.13 And now there remayne Faith Hope Charity Where it appeares that these three Vertues are specially numbred togeather as belonging to the same rank and order Psalm 18.49 Be myndefull of thy word to thy seruant wherin thou hast giuen me hope Thessa◠5.8 But we that are of the day are sober hauing on the brest plate of faith and charity and a helmet the hope of saluation Where wee see the apostle ioynes Hope with Faith and Charity and V. 9.10 declares that it is given for Christ and is ordaynd and conduces to a supernaturall end saying for God hath not appointed vs vnto wrath but vnto the purchasing of saluation by our Lord Iesus Christ who died for vs. 1. Pet. 3.4.5 Blessed be God and the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ who according to his great mercie hath regenerated vs vnto a liuely hope by the resurrection of Iesus Christ from the dead vnto an inheritance incorruptible and incontaminate and that cannot fade conserued in the heauens in you who in the vertue of God are kept by faith vnto saluation SECTION IV. Grace necessary for Charity XXIII IF Grace be necessary for faith and hope much more is it necessary for
nor of the will of man but of God are borne Ephes 1.4 As he chose vs in him before the constitution of the world that we should be holy and immaculate in his sight in charity and V. 13.14 In whom you also when you had heard the word of truth the Gospel of your saluation in which also belieuing you were signed with the holy Spirit of promise which is the pledge of our inheritance This promise is made to vs and so we being the Creditours the pledge must remaine with vs and signed signifyeth a thing both permanent and intrinsecall Like to this we reade Ephes 4.23.24 Be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man which according to God is created in justice and holyness of the truth and V. 30. contristate not the holy spirit of God in which you are signed vnto the day of redemption And 2. Cor 1.21 He that annoynted vs God who also hath sealed vs given the pledge of spirit in our harts Rom. 6.23 The stipends of sinne death but the grace of God life euerlasting in Christ Iesus our Lord. Rom. 8.14 Whosoeuer are led by the spirit of God are the sonnes of God 1. Cor 3.16.17 Know you not that you are the temple of God and the spirit of God dwelleth in you The temple of God is holy which you are 2. Cor 6.16 You are the temple of the liuing God as God sayth because I will dwell and walke in them Ephes 2.21.22 In whom all building framed togeather groweth into a holy Temple in our Lord in whom you also are built togeather into an habitation of God in the Holy Ghost 2. Timoth 1.14 Keepe the good depositum by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in vs. Ioan 6.57 As the liuing Father hath sent me and I liue by the Father and he that eateth me the same shall liue by me Who can deny but that life signifyes an intrinsecall permanent thing XLIV To these authorityes of holy Scripture which clearly proue that just men are such by a gift inherent and not due to nature but supernaturall we might add conuincing Reasons grounded in principles of faith if it were my purpose to treat this matter at large But I will content my selfe with one taken from the many Texts of holy Scripture which we haue alledged and many more might be brought in this manner God concurres to certaine Actions v. g. Belieuing hoping c. with a particular influence aboue the naturall exigence of humane nature therfore such Actions are both Good and Supernaturall Good because it were impiety to say that God doth or can by speciall motion produce an ill and sinfull Action Supernaturall because no naturall cause alone can produce them nor hath any naturall exigence that they be produced by some more high and powerfull cause as though our soule cannot be produced by any naturall Cause or Agent yet there is an exigence in nature that it be created by God when sufficient dispositions are preexistent in the Body Now it being once granted that there are good and supernaturall Actions it followes that there must be in our soule some supernaturall powers or facultyes as connaturall Principles or Causes of such Actions therfor such Powers must be grāted as in thēselues are supernaturall and absolutely good without any tincture or staine or inclination to sinfulness Which sequeles are so cleare that protestants not deny them but grant at least the supernaturall Habits of the three Theologicall Vertues Faith Hope and Charity which is sufficient for our present purpose though I know not any generall ground or doctrine of theirs for which they doe or must deny the supernaturall infused Habits of Morall Vertues but they denie that either by these or any other quality or Gift we are just in such manner as that we do not still remayne stayned with habituall deadly sinne which heresy is clearly confuted by the Elogiums of the Fathers and Texts of Scripture alledged in this and the former Sections XLV For if deadly sinne still remaine how doth Grace take away the rust of sinne make the soule resplendent whiten it enlighten and make vs like to God is it the beauty and brightnesse of our mynd the picture and image of God the garment of heauenly beauty purity derived from Christ the first stole the riches of the diuine essence the marke of God since deadly sinne is of a direct opposite nature and produces contrary effects XLVI How shall holy Scripture be verifyed in saying that as by the disobedience of one man many were made sinners so by the obedience of one many shall be made just if we remaine truly sinners by the disobedience of Adam but not truly just by the obedience of Christ who merited for vs iustice and grace How is it true that if in the offence of one Death raigned by one much more they that receiue the aboundance of grace and of donation and of justice shall raigne in life by one Iesus Christ For if sinne remaine Death also remaines with which Life cannot raigne How can the holy Ghost be giuē vs while we persist in sinne How can he abide in God and God in him in whom sinne and satan abides How can Faith worke by charity in him who is voluntarily possesd by deadly sinne than which nothing is more repugnant to charity whose inseparable effect is effectually to detest all mortall sinne how is he a new creature who is in state of sinne which alone makes one a child of Adam or the old man not of Christ How doth he cleaue to God and is one spirit with him who cleaueth to sinne and is one spirit with it vnles men haue a mynd to blaspheme and say that the spirit of sinne and the spirit of God is all one how can he who abides in God and God in him beare much fruite if ioyntly he abide in sinne and sinne in him Yea for this very cause that sinne still abides in man these heretikes teach that all our workes or fruites are deadly sinnes so farr are they from being fruites of Gods abiding in vs And how doth this agree with that saying 1. Ioan. 3.9 Euery one that is borne of God committeth not sinne because his seed abideth in him seing sinne the seed of the serpent abides in him Or how doth the continuall breach of Gods commandements agree with what is sayd V. 24. He that keepeth his commandements abideth in him How can regeneration and renouation of the holy Ghost powred vpon vs aboundantly stand with deadly sinne which is directy opposite to regeneration and renouation How is the seale and pledge of spirit in our harts togeather with the seale and pledge of the diuell How can the vnction which we haue receiued from him abide in vs in company of deadly sinne How are men partakers of the Diuine nature while they remayne in sinne which is most opposite to God and all the Diuine perfections How cā we be called frendes being deadly
make vs evidently see what we belieue yet they evidently convince that in true wisdome and prudence the Articles of it deserue credit and ought to be accepted as things revealed by God and therfor say I with an Assent more certaine than can proceed from humane Authority or meere Arguments of Credibility 3. Divers great Philosophers hold that Accidents are not only dispositions to the substantiall Forme but reall causes therof immediatly producing it as they are instruments of the Principall substantiall Agents and make vp as it were one totall Cause with them According to this Philosophy your instances make against your selfe and do confirme the Doctrine of some grave Diuines that if we consider the Arguments of Credibility not as they are mere inducements precedent and disposing to Faith only shewing the object therof but as they integrate the Formall object or Divine Revelation we must say that they are elevated and raised vp to be part of the object and immediately causes of the Assent of Faith not of their owne force or taken alone but joyned with and conveying to our vnderstanding the Divine Revelation wherby they grow to be the voyce and testimony or as it were reall letters of God speaking to men by them For which cause S. Paule Heb 2.4 affirmes miracles to be a certaine speach of God saying God withall witnessing by signes and wonders where Theodoretus sayth that God by miracles giues a testimony to preaching Miracles therfor are in some manner the very voyce of God Whence S. Austine Ep 49. Quaest 6. absolutely sayeth God speakes by wonderfull workes And Marc vlt it is God cooperating and by signes confirming what they spoke And Ioan 10. Christ our Lord sayd concerning his owne workes They give testimony of me Therfor say these Divines Arguments of Credibility may be raised above themselues And so your examples and instances make nothing against vs but do confute your selfe Which contradicting of your selfe as in many other occasions so heere also forces me to stay yet a little in observing a couple of your contraryetyes or contradictions 81. The one is in these words Pag 329. and 330. If you speake of an acquired rationall discursive faith these Reasons which make the object seeme credible must be the cause of it If you speake of a supernaturall infused faith then you either suppose it infused by the former meanes and then that which was sayd must be sayd againe c Do not these words distroy themselues Or what sense can they beare An acquired rationall discursive faith caused by Reasons which make the object credible and a supernaturall infused faith infused by the former meanes that is by the Reasons which make the object seeme credible If an acquired rationall discursive faith be caused by the Reasons which make the Object credible and a supernaturall infused faith be caused by the same meanes and Reasons how do you distinguish a faith so acquired from a faith in the same manner infused Or rather how can it be a supernaturall infused Faith if it be caused by the same meanes by which an acquired discursive faith is caused In a word how is the same faith acquired and supernaturally infused 82. Your other contradiction I fynd Pag 36. and 37. N. 9. And Pag 112. N. 154. in both which places you grant to some a certainty of adherence beyond a certainty of evidence and yet in the former places you say of such men that the spirit of obsignation or confirmation makes them know what they did but believe Now if they know that they did but believe how is their certainty of adherence beyond their certainty of evidence seing you put such a knowledg as is more than Faith which implyes obscurity and consequently such a knowledg is indued with evidence and yourselfe Pag 325. N. 2. saie He that doth barely and meerly believe doth never know and that science and knowledg are synonymous termes Therfor you speak of an evident knowledg and then I say how comes their certainty of adhesion to be beyond their certainty of evidence Or how can you speake of a certainty of adhesion beyond the certainty of evidence Who Pag 330. N. 7. say That power which infuseth into the vnderstanding assent must also infuse Evidence into the object and looke what degree of assent is infused into the vnderstanding at least the same degree of evidence must be infused into the object If at least the same degree of evidence must be infused into the object which is in the Assent how can the Assent be beyond the evidence of the object 83. To these your contradictions I add your saying Pag 37. N. 9. What God gives as a reward to believers is one thing and what he requires of all men as their duty is an other and what he will accept of out of grace and favour is yet an other To those that believe and live according to their faith he gives by degrees the spirit of Obsignation and confirmation which makes them know though how they know not what they did but believe He requires of all that their faith should be proportionable to the Motives and Reasons enforcing to it he will accept of the weakest and lowest degree of faith if it be living and effectuall vnto true obedience In which words you distinguish three sorts of persons which yet according to your owne words must fall to be the same First of them who believe and live according to their faith 2. of those who performe what is required of them as their duty and 3. of them whose faith God will accept out of grace and favour For to believe and live according to their faith to have a faith effectuall to obedience and working by love is required of all as their duty such a faith I say is required and will be accepted by the law which God hath prescribed Matt 19. V. 17. If thou wilt enter into life keepe the Commandements and no less will be accepted out of Grace and Favour Otherwise it should be and not be required and so your triple distinction of persons destroyes it selfe and ends in one only sort 84. I would gladly go forward to your other Objections but first you must give me leave to confute and turne against your self a saying which hath too much of the insolent and injourious against true Christian Faith in these words Pag. 329. N. 7. Your Faith if you please to have it so let it be a free necessitated certaine vncertaine evident obscure prudent and folish naturall and supernaturall vnnaturall assent 85. All this groundless insulting I will retort against your self eveÌ„ out of your owne grounds aÌ„d joyntly will shew that it belongs nothing at all to our Faith First your Faith is free and necessitated Free if you will stand to your owne express words Pag 329. N. 7. that there is obedience in it which you say can hardly haue place where there is no possibility of disâ—bâ—dience as there is not where
I confute as I haue done your other errours For if the Apostles somtyme deliver things as the dictates of humane Reason and prudence we cannot belieue with certainty any thing they deliver vnless you con giue vs a certaine Rule how to discerne when they vtter such things and when they deliver Divine Revelations Yea according to your Principles who must proue all by Scripture alone you must giue vs such a certaine Rule out of some evident Text of Scripture As you teach that God may permit true Miracles to be wrought to delude men much more may you say that he may permit the Apostles to write their owne dictamen and judgment without declaring whether they write only such dictamens or els deliver divine Revelations 38. S. Paul in this seaventh Chapter which you cite V. 39 40. even according to the Protestant English Translation Anni 1622. sayth the wife is bound by the Law as long as her husband liveth but if her husband be dead she is at liberty to be marryed to whom she will only in the Lord. But she i◠happyer if she so abide after my judgment and I think also that I haue the spirit of God Now consider I pray you that S. Paul in these words advises a thing for widdowes which God hath not commanded and so might haue sayd in this place I speake not our Lord and then when he adds I thinke also that I haue the spirit of God I aske whether he speake these words out of humane prudence or by divine Revelation and inspiration If he speake by divine Revelation you haue no reason to say that he delivers not a divine Revelation whē 12. he sayes To the rest speake I not our Lord. But if S. Paul in these words I think also that I haue the spirit of God speake not out of divine inspiration but only out of a probable hope or perswasion that he had the spirit of God how can we belieue by divine infallible Faith that his writings are true in any Point Especially if you consider that he teaches widdowes would be more blessed if they remayned so for this very Reason that he advises it and that he thinks himself to haue the spirit of God which proofe supposes that he was indued with an vniversall infallibility and that therfor his counsell in this particular matter was best And this word I thinke might with greater shew of reason make men belieue that S. Paul was not certaine that he had the spirit of God then the reason which you alledg that he spoke out of humane prudence For what consequence is this Our Lord hath commanded nothing in this particular but I giue this advise or Counsell as the best Therfor S. Paul speakes not by divine inspiration Or thus by inspiration I say God hath not commanded therfore I speake not by inspiration in that which I Counsell as if God could not inspire both parts of this speach that is both his saying that God did command and yet that the thing not commanded was better than the contrary seing both those Propositions are true and so one excluds not the other but both may be inspired by the author of Truth Nay if you say he spoke by inspiration for one part that there was no command it is very inconsequent to affirme that be spoke not by the like inspiration in the other I judge it the better and if he spoke by inspiration in both he spoke only out of humane prudence in neither In those words I haue not a Command of our Lord for Virgins but I giue Counsell doth S. Paul say any more than that virginity is not commanded or necessary to salvation which I hope you will say is a revealed Truth but only I counsell it And by what art can you persvvade men that he spoke the first I haue not a command of our Lord by Revelation and not the second considering that S. Paul makes no such difference in his act of belief or as I may say ex parte subjecti but only in the Object for not being commanded but only counselled both vvhich as I sayd being true both might be vtterd by divine inspiration as indeed they vvere And those other vvords speake I not our Lord shevv only that our B. Saviour left povver to the Apostles and their Successours to advise Counsell ordaine or command some things as severall occasions might require vvhich he himself had not commanded in particular Which is a most certaine Truth and the ground of Obedience and subordination to Lavvfull Pastors in Gods Church and cannot be denyed by protestants themselves and therfor it is not only a dictate of humane prudence 39. All this will appeare more manifest if we ponder S. Paules words as they lye He sayth V. 5. Defraud not one another except perhaps by consent for a tyme that you may giue yourselves to prayer and returne againe togeather least Satan tempt you for your incontinency Where we may consider how in the first part of this Verse there is a command of God defraud not one another except perhaps by consent for a tyme that you may giue yourselves to prayer in the greeke and to fasting which is not a command but a counsell ād thirdly returne againe togeather which is neither a command nor a counsell but a permissiō or indulgēce to avoyd ā evill ād not as a thing which he judged to be best which he declares in the next Uerse 6. But I say this by indulgence not by commandement and then V. 7. declaring what he judged to be the best he sayth For I would all men to be as my self and V. 8. But I say to the vnmarryed and to widdowes it is good for them if they so abide even as I also Behold then a Command a Counsell a Permission Now I aske whether in all these S. Paul spoke by Revelation or only out of humane prudence Or how can you without any least reason imagine that in some of them he spoke one way in others another And if you say so you will only clearly confirme what I sayd that we can haue no certainty when he vtters things revealed or only his owne judgment For although in the words rehearsed he say not expressly not I but our Lord nor not our Lord but I yet he might haue sayd so seing he declared both a Commandement of God and so might haue saied not I but our Lord and a Conunsell and might haue saied not our Lord but I And therfor when he sayth V. 10. and 11. But to them that be joyned in matrimony not I giue commandment but our Lord that the wife depart not from her husband and if she depart to remayne vnmarryed or to be reconciled to her husband And let not the husband put away his wife And V. 12. For to the rest I say and not our Lord you cannot infer that he speakes by another spirit or motion then in the precedent verses where he might haue vsed
the same words not our Lord but I and not I but our Lord and therfor he must be vnderstood to speak by divine inspiration in all or none 40 But I pray you in any part of this Chapter or in any part of all S. Paules Writings doth he ever say in this God inspires me to speake and I speak not of my self in this other God doth not inspire me to speak but I speak of my self Is it all one to say God commands not I and to say God inspires and I speak not of my self Or I command not God that is I advise of my self not inspired by God Command or counsell are words of verie different significations from inspired or not inspired neither can any man precisely infer one from another as you would make vs belieue that S. Paul was inspired when he sayd God commands and not inspired when he sayd I Counsell And if you say S. Paul spoke not by inspiration when he sayd I giue Counsell with what certainty can you say that even his setting downe in writing the Command of God and his owne counsell proceeded from inspiration And so we can haue no certainty of S. Paules writings vnless we belieue that he spoke by inspiration as well when he gaue advise and Counsell as when he declared a Divine Command And therfor after he had sayd V. 40. of widdowes more blessed shall she be if she so remaine according to my counsell he adds presently and I thinke that I also haue the spirit of God least any should thinke he spoke and advised only out of humane prudence and not by Divine inspiration as if the Holy Ghost had forseene that there would not want such blasphemers as you are S. Chrysostome Hom. 19. in Cap. 7.1 Cor. speaking of the words of S. Paul Ego non ego I and not I sayth that they signify the Precept of God and the judgment of S. Paul as I sayd and then adds Least you should thinke those things to be humane therfore he added and I think that I haue also the spirit of God And the same Holy Father apud Salmeronem Tom. 14. Disp 12. Pag 94. sayth For that cause he S. Paul sayd not our Lord but I not meaning to signify therby that that was a humane saying for how can that be But that Christ had not delivered that precept to his Disciples while he was vpon earth but doth now deliver it by him And afterward feare not for I sayd so because that I haue Christ speaking in me neither do thou suspect that that speach is in any part humane And Theodoret. ap Salm ib. writes vpon these words in this manner this I say which signifyes I haue not found this Law written in the Gospells but now I ordaine it And that the Lawes of the Apostle are the Lawes of God is manifest to those who are instructed in Divine Matters For it is his voyce seeke you an experiment of him that speaketh in me Christ And S. Austine Tract 37. in Joan. hath these words Somtyme men of those things of which they are certaine seeme by way of reprehension to doubt that is they vse a word of doubting when indeed in their hart they doubt not as if thou be angry with thy servant and say thou contemnests me consider perhaps I am thy master Hence it is that the Apostle sayth to some who did despise him just as you doe and I think that I also haue the spirit of God He that sayes I thinke seemes to doubt but he did reprehend and not doubt And Christ our Lord reprehending the future infidelity of mankind saith Luc 18. V. 8. The sonne of man comming shall he find think you Faith in the earth Thus S. Austine If then S Paul did speak with certainty in a thing not commanded by our Saviour who dare deny but that he did it by inspiration and it is cleare S. Paul speaks this And I think that I also haue the spirit of God not of any command of God but of a Counsell which he gaue for widdowes to abstaine from marriage in which therfor those his words not our Lord but I haue place And indeed as S. Paul if he had spoken only the dictates of humane reason and bene subject to errour when he sayd V. 10.11 To them that be joyned in matrimony not I giue commandment but our Lord that the wife depart not from her husband and let not the husband put away his wife had put a great command vpon Christians for which he had no certainty or warrant so also counselling perpetuall chastity as the best if it be not so indeed as he might erre if he spoke only by humane prudence he had much diminished the naturall freedom which people haue to marry or perpetually liue chast For though he did not command it yet to persons of timorous consciences and desirous to do what they are taught to be most perfect such a counsell from such a person could not but much moue and as I may say more than eâ—cline them therto For the Corinthians in those Questions which they proposed and S. Paul answers in this Chapter had recourse to Him not as to a wise man only or as a private person for dictates of humane reason but as to an Apostle from whom they expected vndoubted answers by Revelation from God vpon which they might securely build their Christian Faith in matters of so great moment and as they believed him speaking of our Saviours command against divorce so they believed him advising chastity and supposed they might doe it as safely in both as in one for Point of S. Paules being inspired And this consideration vrges so much the more as the Corinthians were like to fynd greater difficulty in those Points for Virgins to remaine alwayes such and for widdowes to abstaine from a second marriage in regard they were much given to sensuall delights as Writers haue observed and appeares out of S. Paul in divers places and therfor to exhort them in those beginnings to perpetuall chastity had bene both burthen some and dangerous to them and not safe for S. Paul himselfe if he had done it without certainty communicated by divine inspiration 41. Thus we see that he having V. 35. counselled virginity preseÌ„tly V. 36 addes aÌ„d this I speak to your profit not to cast a snare vppon you as like wise having sayd V. 27. Art thou loose from a wife Seeke not a wife he adds V. 18. but if thou take a wife thou hast not sinned and is it not a very preposterous conceipt to say that in the first part seeke not a wife which is a counsell he vtters only a dictate of prudence and in the second if thou take a wife thou hast not sinned which implyes a matter of Faith he speakes by inspiration What is this but to bring all the writings of S. Paul to an vncertainty And as I sayd aboue by the like occasion to make holy scripture
and fancyfull opinion hath engaged them vpon so great mistake as without doubt is hath yet the will hath nothing in it but what is a great enemy to idolatry Et nihil ardet in inferno nisi propria voluntas 66. Having thus answered and retorted the Objections wherin you seeme to triumph it is tyme to goe forward in proving the necessity of a Living infallible Judg. 67. Fourthly then I resume the Argument of Charity Maintayned Part 1. Chap 2. N. 23. Pag 67. There was no Scripture for about two thousand yeares from Adam to Moyses And againe for about two thousand yeares more from Moyses to Christ our Lord Holy Scripture was only among the people of Israël and yet there were Gentils indued with divine Faith as appeares in Job and his frends Wherfore during so many ages the Church alone was the instructor of the faithfull by meanes of Tradition The Church also of Christ was before the Scriptures of the New Testament which were not written instantly nor all at one tyme but successively vpon severall occasions and some after the decease of most of the Apostles And after they were written they were not presently knowne to all Churches and afterwardes some were doubted of c 68. To this Argument Pag 100. N. 123. You answer that it is just as if I should say Yorke is not in my way from Oxford to London therfor Bristell is Or a dog is not a horse Therfor he is a man As if God had no other wayes of revealing himself to men but only Scripture and an infallible Church wheras S. Paul telleth vs that men may know God by his workes and that they had the Law written in their harts Either of these ways might make some faithfull men without either necessity of Scripture or Church To this purpose you cite also S. Chrysostome Isid Pelus and S. Paul Heb 1.1 69. You could not but see the weakness of this your Answer since you know that we speake not of extraordinary cases or concurrence but of the ordinary Meanes which God in his Holy Providence is wont to vse helping one man by the ministery of another in governing teaching preaching and the like and making good that truth of the Apostle sides ex auditu Faith comes by hearing Which only way of teaching and Tradition could serue to beget Faith for that tyme wherin no Scripture either of the Old or new Law was written Will you take vp the Apostle for saying Fides ex auditu and tell him that there be other Meanes beside hearing to beget Faith as the Law written in mens harts ād consideration of Gods creatures If this be not the state of the Question to what purpose do you through your whole Booke seeke to establish the sufficiency of Scripture alone and to destroy the necessity of the Churches Declarations and Traditions Since when all is done you may be told in your owne words That without necessity of Scripture or Church there are other Meanes to produce Faith and so all your Arguments will be like this Yorke is not in my way c A dog is not a horse c By this Meanes one may with the Old Heretikes Manichees Valentinians Cerdonists Marcionists and the new Libertines reject Scripture and not be subject to the letter but that they ought to follow the Spirit that quickeneth As likwise the Swenckfeldians rejected the wtitten word as the letter that killed contenting themselves with internall Spirit and might with you alledg that men had the Law written in their harts Yourself say Pag 15◠N. 38. The Churche is though not a certaine Foundation of proofe of my Faith yet a necessary Introduction to it Which you must vnderstand in the Ordinary way Vnless you haue a mynde to contradict your self and say That absolutely there are no other possible meanes to attaine Divine Faith than by the Seripture and the Church as a necessary introduction to it Yourself therfor must answer your owne slighting Instances For if in the ordinary course and as I may say without a kind of Miracle it were true that the way from Oxford to Londō were either Yorke or Bristoll or that a dog must be either a horse or aman were not these consequēces very Good But Yorke is not therfor Bristoll is But a dogg is not a horse therfor he is a man Now the Ordinary necessary meanes to produce Faith being either Scripture or the Church if we subsume But it is not Scripture which is evident for that tyme when there was no Scripture it clearly followes Therfor it is the Church which I Hope you will not deny to haue bene infallible in the Apostles tyme before Scripture was written and so your examples proue against none but yourself 70. We must still remember that Faith being the Gift of God we cannot belieue except in cases wherin God by his Eternall Providence hath decreed to affoard vs his particular Grace for that end which he is not wont to doe vnless the conditions by Him prescribed be performed Since therfor the Church hath bene appointed as the ordinary Meanes to attaine Faith we ought not to promise ourselves the particular assistance of Grace necessary for exercising an Act of true Faith except vnder condition of hearing and submitting to that Church and not by consideration only of Gods creatures or by the Law written in our harts or by extraordinary enthusiasmes private spirits and the like If it had bene Gods holy pleasure to require of men to belieue only that God is and that he is a Rewarder of those that seeke Him or some other few Articles he would haue affoarded his sufficient supernaturall Grace to belieue those Points as also to loue Him repent of our sins and attaine salvation by believing those Pointes only for as much as would belong to Faith But de facto it falls out otherwise and we are to belieue many other Points as yourself pretend to teach Pag 133. N. 13. where you say That they who should belieue the sayd Article That God is and that he is a rewarder of them that seeke him Heb 6.11 might be rewarded not with bringing them immediatly to salvation without Christ but with bringing them first to Faith in Christ and so to salvation Which you endeavour to proue by the story of Cornelius Act 10. of whom you say Pag 134. If he had refused to bel euein Christ after the sufficient Revelation of the Gospell to him and Gods will to haue him belieue it he that was accepted before would not haue continued accepted still because one of the conditions which Christ requires for remission of sins and salvation from him is that we belieue what he has revealed when it is sufficiently declared to haue bene revealed by him This confirmes what I sayd that God doth not giue Grace to Belieue Hope and Loue except vpon those conditions which he appoints and requires which now is not only to belieue some one Article or to
of this Introduction LIII Let vs now come to handle the matter it selfe for which I know and acknowledge the necessity of grace and therfore renouncing all confidence in humane reason and force of nature with profoundest humility begge of the Eternall Father for the Merits of his only son Christ Iesus true God and true Man the assistance of the holy Ghost and his diuine spirit of Wisdome Vnderstanding Counsell Strength Knowledge Piety and aboue all the spirit of the Feare of our Lord mouing and assisting me willingly to suffer death rather than wittingly vtter any least falshood or conceale any truth in matters concerning Faith and Religion and so prostrate in soule and body I pray with the Wiseman Sap. 9 4.10 O Lord of mercy giue me wisdome the assistant of thy seates send her from thy holy Heauens and from the seate of thy greatness that she may be with me and may labour with me that so my labours of themselues most weake may by Grace tend first to the Glory of the most blessed Trinity and next to the eternall good of soules CHAP I. CHRISTIAN FAITH NECESSARY TO SALVATION IS INFALLIBLY TRVE 1. AS all Catholiques haue reason to grieue that we were necessitated to proue the necessity of Gods grace against our moderne Pelagians so euery Christian yea euery one who professes any Faith Religion or worship of a God may wonder that dealing with one who pretends to the name of Christian I should be forced to proue the Certainty and Infallibility of Christian Faith which M. Chillingworth not only denies but deepely censures Pag. 328 N o 6. as a Doctrine most presumptuous and vnchariatble and Pag. 325. N. 3. as a great errour and of dangerous and pernitious consequence and takes much paines to proue the contraay that is the fallibility of Christian Faith A strang vndertaking wherby he is sure to loose by winning and by all his Arguments to gaine only this Conclusion that his Faith in Christ of Scripture and all the mysteryes contained therin may proue fabulous and false And yet I confesse it to be a thing very certaine and euident that the deniall of jnfallibility in Gods Church for deciding controuersyes of Faith must ineuitably cast mē Vpon this desperate vnchristian and Antichristian doctrine and while Protestants mayntaine the Church to be fallible they cannot auoide this sequele that theire doctrine may be false since without jnfallibility in the Church they cannot be absolutely certaine that Scripture is the word of God O what a scandall doe these men cast on Christian Religion by either directly acknowledging or laying grounds from which they must yeild Christian Faith not to be jnfallibly true while Iewes Turks Pagās and all who professe any religion hold their belief to bee jnfallible and may justly vpbraide vs that euen Christians confess themselues not to be certaine that they are in the right and haue with approbation of greatest men in a famous Uniuersity published to the world such their sense and belief In the meane tyme in this occasion as in diuerse others I cannot but observe that Heretiques alwayes walke in extreams This man teacheth Christian Faith in generall and the very grounds therof not to be infallibly certaine Others affirme Faith to be certaine euen as it is applyed to particular persons whom they hold to be justifyed by an absolute certaine beliefe that they are just 2. But now let vs come to proue this truth Christian Faith is absolutely and infallibly true and not subject to any least falshood wherin although I maintayne the cause of all Christians and of all men and mankind who by the very instinct of nature conceiue the true Religion to signify a thing certaine as proceeding from God and vpon which men may and ought securely to rely without possibility of being deceiued and that for this reason the whole world ought to joyne with me against a common adversarie yet even for this very reason I knowe not whether to esteeme it a more dissicile taske or lamentable necessity that we are in a matter of this moment and quality to proue Principles or a Truth which ought to be no less certaine then any Argument that can be brought to prove it as hitherto all good Christians haue believed nothing to be more certainly belieued by Christian Faith than that it selfe is most certaine Yet confiding in his Grace whose Gift we acknowledg Faith to be I will endeauour to proue and defend this most Christian and fundamental truth against the pride of humane witt and all presumption vpon naturall forces 3. Our first reason may be taken from that which we haue touched already of the joynt conceypt vnanimous concent and inbred sense of men who conceyue Diuine Faith and Religion to imply a certainty of Truth and if they did once entertayne a contrary perswasion they would sooner be carryed to embrace no religion at all than weary their thoughtes in election of one rather than another being prepossessed that the best can bring with it no absolute certainty Thus by the vniversall agreement of men we proue that there is a God and from thence conclude that the beliefe of a Deity proceeds from the light of nature which also assures vs that God hath a prouidence ouer all things and cannot want meanes to communicate himselfe with reasonable creatures by way of some light ād knowledg exempt from feare or possibility of fraude or falshood especially since Rationall nature is of it selfe 〈…〉 truth and Religion or worship of a God This consideration is excellently pondered and deliuered by S. Austin de vtilitate credendi Cap. 16. in these words Authority alone is that which incites ignorant persons that they make hast to wisdome Till we can of our selues vnderstand the truth it is a miserable thing to be deceyved by Authority yet more miserable it is not to be moued therwith For if the Divine prouidence do not command humane thinges no care is to be taken of Religion But if the beauty of all things which without doubt we are to belieue to flow from some fountayne of most true pulcritude by a certaine internall feeling doth publikly and priuatly exhort all best soules to seeke and serue God We cannot despaire that by the same God there is appointed some Authority on which we relying as vpon an infallible stepp may be eleuated to God Behold a meanes to attaine certainty in belief by some infallible authority appointed by God which can be none but the Church from which we are most certaine what is the writtē or vnwrittē word of God 4. M. Chillingworth professes to receiue Scripture from the vniuersall Tradition of all Churches though yet there is scarcely any booke of Scripture which hath not beene questioned or rejected by some much more therfore ought all Christian to belieue Christian Faith to be jnfallible as beinge the most vniversall judgment and Tradition of all Christians for their Christians beliefe and of all men for their
seuerall Professions in poynt of Religion And as men ought not to be remooued from belieuing that there is a God though to our weake vndestandings there be presented Arguments touching his Nature Freedom of will Prouidence Preuision and the like of farr greater difficulty to be answered than can be objected against the jnfallibility of Faith so ought we not to deny the jnfallible Truth of Christian Faith notwithstanding those poore objections which this man and his Associates with equall impiety and boldness make against it And therfore both in the beliefe of a God and certainty of Faith Religion and worship of him we are to follow the certaine instinct of Nature and conduct of Piety not the vncertainty of our weake vnderstanding or liberty of will 5. For this cause as I sayd not only all Catholiques with a most Unanimous consent belieue profess and proclaime this truth in somuch as S. BouaueÌ„ture in 3. Dist 24. Art â— Q. 1. auoucheth Faith to be as jnfallible as the Prescience of God and Hâ—â—ensis 3. P. Q. 68. memb 7. affirmeth that Faith can be no more subject to falshood than the Prime Uerity but Protestants also and in particular D. Potter who Pag. 143. speakes clearly thus The chiefe principle or ground on which Faith rests and for which it firmely assents vnto those truths which the Church propounds is diuine Reuelation made in the Scripture Nothing less than this nothing but this can erect or qualify an act of supernaturall Faith which must be absolutely vndoubted and certaine and without this Faith is but opinion or at the most an acquired humane belief And Pag. 140. Humane authority consent and proofe may produce an humane or acquired Faith and infallibly in some sort assure the mynd of the truth of that which is so witnessed but the assent of diuine Faith is absolutely diuine which requires an object and motiue so infallibly true as that it neither hath nor can possibly admit of any mixture of errour or falshood Behold how he affirmes that Christian Faith doth more than only in some sort assure vs of the truth as Chillingworth will say it doth by an assent highly probable but that it must be absolutely diuine which he contradistinguishes from humane Faith making this not that absolutely certaine And indeed to litle purpose should Potter and all other Diuines require an Objest and Motiue jnfallibly true if likewise our assent to it be not jnfallible What auayles it that Diuine Authority be certaine and jnfallible in it selfe if in the meane tyme it remayme vncertaine whether such a Divine and jnfallible Authority interpose it selfe or witness any thing 6. But nothing can be imagined more effectuall and express against Chillingworth who Pag. 325. N. 3. saith That there is required of vs a knowledg of the Articles of our Faith and adherence to them as certaine as that of sense or science is a great errour and of dangerous and pernitious consequence Nothing I saie can be more cleare against this pernitious doctrine of Chillingworth than these words of Potter Pag. 199. Though the assent of Faith be more certaine if it be possible than that of sense or science or demonstration because it rests on diuine Authority which cannot possibly deceiue yet it is also an assent ineuident and obscure both in regard of the object which are thinges that do not appeare Hebr. 11.1 And in respect of the subject the eye of Faith in this state of mortality being dimme and apprehending heauenly things as through a glass darkly 1. Cor. 13.12 What could haue beene spoken more directly of the certainty and yet ineuidency of Faith against Chillingworth who both denyes that Faith is absolutely certaine and that certainty caÌ„ be without euidency as may be seene Pag. 330. N. 7. D Lawd Pag. 227. saith As for morall certainty that 's not stroÌ„g enough in points of Faith and Pag. 360. he directly affirmes that an jnfallible certainty is necessary for that one faith which is necessary to saluation which is the very same with our Title of this Chapter And Pag. 142. he saith That falshood may be the subject of the Catholike Faith were no lesse then blasphemy to affirme and yet Mr. Chillingworths Booke where in this blasphemy is purposely taught is expresly approud as agreable to the Doctrine of the Church of England by euery one of the three Approbators who can best giue account by whose Authority they were induced to so pernicious and foule a fact 7. But why do I alledg particular Persons This of the fallibility of faith is opposd by all Protestants and particularly they who teach that we know the Scripture to be the word of God by the spirit or instinct of the Holy Ghost hold Faith to be infallibly true Thus Caluin Lib. 1. jnstit C. 7. Sect. 4. saith Petenda est haec persuasio ab arcano spiritus testimonio This belief that Scripture is the word of God is taken from a secret testimony of the spirit And afterwards Testimonium spiritus omni ratione praestantius esse respondeo I answer that the testimony of the spirit is to be preferrd before all reason 8. And here is to be obserued that Chillingworth disagreeing from Protestants in this maine generall transcendentall point differs from them for euery particular in an essentiall attribute or perfection of Faith seing an assent only probable is essentially distinguished from an assent absolutely and infallibly certaine and so he opposes them in a higher degree then if he did contradict them in one or more chiefest particular Articles of faith or rather he cuts of at one blowe all the true belief of Christians by making it not certaine wherby men become no Christians as not belieuing in Christ with diuine certaine faith His tenet Pag. 367. N 49. that he who disbelieues one Article may yet belieue an other with true diuine faith is in no wise to be approoud but this his doctrine that Faith is fallible is farr worse as disbelieuing all and positiuely denying that certainty which is essentiall to diuine Faith and distinguisheth it from Opinyon or humane beliefe 9. This fundamentall truth that faith is absolutely certaine is very clearly deliuered in Holy Scripture S. Paule saith Hebr. 11.1 Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for the argument of things not appearing or as the Protestants English translation hath The substance and in the margine the ground or confidence of things hoped for the euidence of things not seene All which signifyes a firme certaine and as I may say substantiall faith stronger than any assent only probable Thus holy S. Bernard Ep. 190. disputing against Abailardus who taught that Faith was but Opinion saith Audis substantiam non licet tibi in fide putare vel disputare pro libitu c Doest thou heare the name of substance it is not lawfull for thee in Faith to thinke or dispute at thy pleasure nor wander hither and thither through the emptynes
Albeit vve see not this vvith our eyes nor vvith our hart as long as vve are clensed by Faith yet doe vve belieue it by faith most rightly and most strongly Surely this signifyes more than to belieue only with probability Richardus de S. Victore 1. de Trinit Cap. 2. As many of vs as are truly faithfull hold nothing vvith more certainty than that vvhich vve belieue by faith 11. What vve haue proued by Authority vve now will conuince by Theologicall Reasons and Arguments First vve haue demonstrated out of holy Scripture that Faith is an especiall Gift of God and that the Act or Assent therof proceeds from a particular Grace Motion Preuention and Supernaturall assistance of the Holy Ghost Therfore it cannot be but true othervvise vve might distrust the Truth of Scriptures and the predictions of the Prophets though we did belieue those to haue bene written and these to haue bene spokē by the direction and instinct of God himselfe And vvhat more satisfying assurance can there be giuen to any Christian yea to any reasonable creature than this God leades me this vvay therfore it cannot be but right neither can I erre in follovving it and euery vvay contrary to this must be wrong and erroneous Chilling Pag. 258. N. 16. confesseth that a thing vntrue cannot be foreseene by the Prophets Which he could not affirme if God could moue men to belieue a falshood And Pag. 36. N. 8. he says We cannot possibly by naturall meanes be more certaine of the conclusion than of the weaker of the Premises which supposes that by supernaturall meanes we may be more certaine And N. 9. he doubts not but that the spirit of God may and will aduance his seruants and giue them a certainty of adherence beyond their certainty of euidence Since therfore euery Act of Faith proceeds from the particular motion and spirit of God we must say that his supposition concerning some is actuated in all who belieue by a true Act of Christian Faith that is we must say that euen according to Chillingworth all true Christians belieue with absolute certainty and vvith an assent higher than that which we yield to probable premises 12. And out of this most certaine and Christian truth that Faith is the gift of God and requires his particular assistance aboue the force of nature it follows also by euidence of Reason that it must be an Assent aboue all Probabilityes or Arguments of Credibility For abstracting from some accidentall impediment or temptation our Vnderstanding is able of it selfe to draw a probable Conclusion from euident probable premises And therfore seing wee can neuer by naturall forces exercise an Act of true Christian Faith it followes clearly that it must be an Assent more than probable and raysed aboue all arguments of credibility Chilling saith Pag. 116. N. 159. We haue I belieue as great reason to belieue there was such a man as Henry the eight King of England as that Iesus Christ suffered vnder Pontius Pilate But as I noted aboue no man in his witts wil say that we cannot by naturall forces of humane reason belieue that there was such a man as Henry the eight Therfore no man ought to say that with the same forces of humane Reason we cannot belieue that Iesus Christ suffered vnder Pontius Pilate if Faith be only such a probable Assent 13. Beside if Faith do not excèede the force of nature seing Faith is the first beginning of Obediēce Merit and Saluation the beginning of all these should be attributed to nature and not to Grace yea if one can belieue by the force of nature so also he may Hope and Loue and attaine Beatitude by the same And how shall Beatitude it selfe be Supernaturall if the meanes to attaine it be naturall Thus the maine ground of Chilling That Faith is a Conclusion or Assent drawen from probable Premises and proportioned to them being ouerthrovvue all his Reasons relying on this ground vanish into nothing But yet let vs more and more proue this truth and turne the vveapons of our Aduersaryes agaynst themselues by demonstrating that Christian Faith must raise vs aboue the Arguments of Credibility vvhich I doe in this manner 14. If Faith exceede not the assent vvhich we giue to the probable motiues of Credibility there could be no captiuating of our vnderstanding nor Obedience or Freedom of will in belieuing the Articles of Faith But we are to captiuate our vnderstanding and exercise free obedience of our will in belieuing the Articles of Faith Therfor Faith must raise vs aboue the Arguments of Credibility The maior is cleare For where there is euidence and necessity to assent there is no place for captiuating or submitting our vnderstanding or free and voluntary obedience of our will which Chilling confesses Pag. 329. N. 7. wher speaking of obedience in Faith he saith which can hardly haue place where there is no possibility of disobedience as there is not where the vtderstanding does all and the will nothing Neither can it auaile him to say as he sayth in the same place that the Faith of Protestants implies an act of obedience because it is not pretended to haue the absolute euidēce of sence or demōstration For this is nothing to the purpose as long as he belieues the Articles of Faith with no higher thā a probable assēt proportionable to probable Arguments and rises not to a certainty of sense demonstration or any other aboue these probable Motiues because his fallible and only probable faith hath the certanty and euidence of demonstration for such a degree of probability it being no more certaine and euident that a Conclusion drawen from necessary Premises is necessary than that a Conclusion rightly deduced from probable Premises is probable which is all he requires for an assent of faith as he expressly affirmes Pag. 36. N. 8. saying God desires only that we belieue the Conclusion as much as the Premises deserue and N. 9. God requires of all that their faith should be proportionable to the motiues enforcing to it mark enforcing and Pag. 112. N 154. Neither God doth nor man may require of vs as our duty obserue what obedience and duty he requires to giue a greater assent to the Conclusion than the Premises deserue And finally this is his maine ground to proue that Christian Faith is not infallible but only probable that is such only as he holds the Premises and Arguments of Credibility to be wherby it is euident that in his way there is left no place for captiuating our vnderstanding by a voluntary free submission and obedience to Christ and his doctrine 15. Which yet to be necessary as I assumed in my Minor proposition cannot be denyed by any who belieues Holy Scripture as appeares 2. Cor. 10.5 B ringing into captiuity all vnderstanding vnto the obedience of Christ Rom. 1.5 By whom Iesus Christ we receyued grace and Apostleship for obedience to the Faith in all nations for the name of
any thing contrary to any Verity reuealed in the Word of God though neuer so improhable or incomprehensible to Naturall Reason For if his Faith be to his vnderstanding only probable how can he in prudence prefer it before the contrary therof which to his vnderstanding seemes euident and certaine Or how can an assent which I judge to be only probable enable me to belieue that which I judg to be euidently improbable And it is in vayne for him to tell vs of the certainty of Gods Reuelation since we do not compare Naturall Reason with Gods Reuelation but with those Motiues for which we belieue the diuine Reuelation which being to him only probable and esteemed such and no more must yeald to appearance of certainty of the contrary and therfor he must either confess that he contradicts him selfe or yield that Faith is infallible ād more certaine thā naturall reasō 30. To speake truth if we consider well this Socinian Faith can haue no other vse or effect except only to damne men by contenting themselues with a faith of probability when they may and ought to attaine a certainty He himselfe Pag. 36. N. 9. doubts not but that the spirit of God being implored by deuout and humble prayer and sincere obedience may and will by degrees aduance his seruants higher and giue them a certainty of adherence beyond theyr certainty of euidence And those that belieue and liue according to their faith he giues by degree the spirit of obsignation and confirmation which makes them know though how they know not what they did but belieue And to be as fully and resolutely assured of the Gospell of Christ as those which heard it from Christ himselfe with their eares which looked vpon it and whose hands handled the word of life Now if some men may arriue to so absolute an assurance why may not others why must not all Are not all bound to liue according to their Faith and to obserue the lawes of charity and obedience which doing you say they shall arriue to a full and resolute assurance euen aboue that which you call faith You say Pag. 227. N. 61. Gods assistance is alwayes ready to promote the Church farther on condition she does implore it And Pag. 175. N. 75. You grant the spirit of truth shall be giuen and will abide with those that loue God and keepe his Commandements Yea since true Faith is alwayes the Gift of God raysing vs vp by Grace aboue the strength of nature And that euery one is obliged ro haue true Christian Faith it is consequent that de facto all are bound to beleiue with a Faith produced by Grace aboue the forces of nature and consequently infallibly certaine For heere that excellent saying of S. Leo Serm. 16. de Pass Domini hath place Iustè Deus instat praecepto quia praecurrit auxilio He may well exact of vs an infallible Act of Faith seing he giues vs sufficient Grace to performe what he exacts And Pag. 34. N 6. you say The essentiall character of Charity is to judg and hope the best by which you are obliged to judg and hope vnless the contrary be manifest that euery one liues according to his belief by obseruing the Commandements and so in fact is arriued to a certaine and infallible Faith Since therfore you grant that the faith of those who liue according to their Belief is not to be regulated by the Lawes of Logicke and formes of Syllogismes with what shaddow of reason would you make men belieue that the Faith of all Christians necessary to saluation which is a speciall infused Gift of God must be subject to such Rules as if it were a meere Conclusion following only the weaker of the Premises and not measured by the speciall Grace and Motion of the Holy Ghost aboue all Logick Thus all your Objections against the infallible Faith of Christians must be answered by your self as false and sophisticall and consequently all Christians may and ought in despight of such paralogismes to assert and belieue the necessity of an infallible Faith And as I sayd the contrary doctrine can serue only to delude and damne those vnhappy soules who will be harkninge to such noueltyes I say to damne soules euen though it were falsely supposed that his doctrine were true For all Christians beside this man and such as hee sirmely belieuing Christian Faith necessary to saluation to be infallibly true and he acknowledging all poynts of Christian Faith to be but probable and surely he will not be so shamlesse as to say he belieues this particular fancy wherin he disagrees both from Catholiques and Protestants to be more certaine than all other Articles of Faith it cannot be denyed but that men are bound to belieue with an infallible Assent because as I sayd◠in matters absolutely necessary to saluation we are bound by the Law of God and Charity to our selues to embrace the safer way by meanes of an infallible Faith which he confesses may be obtained by prayer and obedience to Gods commandements And so vpon one account or other all are obliged vnder payne of damnation to belieue with an infallible Faith 31. As it is very true that there is no greater nor more foolish sinne than the sinne of Desperation irreuocably bringing damnation which might haue been auoided by Hope for which Gods Grace is neuer wanting if we cooperate so we may say that this fallible Faith infallibly dispatches men to Hell which mischief all may auoide by endeauouring to rayse their faith to certainty as he confesses they may doe by obeying and praying which endeauours the Grace of God puts in their power and will and if they reject it to none more justly then to this infortunate man and his fellowes may be applyd these words of the Prophet Ezechiel C. 18. V. 31.32 Why will yee dy returne and liue Which that they may doe either with more ease or become inexcusable if they doe it not we will more and more confute that Ground on which he doth in a manner wholy relie That the Conclusion following the weaker of the Premises one of which is in our case but probable the Conclusion can be no more than probable 32. For First I would for disputation sake aske of him whether he meane that the Conclusion doth so follow the weaker of the Premises that it receyues no strength or perfection from the fellowship of a better Premise than it selfe is If he answer that it receyues no strength then one will infer that one Premise contayning the Testimony or Reuelation of God an other the testimony of men could produce no stronger conclusion than if both Premises did containe only the testimony of men and so he must confess that de facto he belieues the Articles of Christian Faith no more than if by probable arguments they were proued to be testifyed by men alone If he answer that rhe stronger Premise may eleuate the weaker to produce a Conclusion stronger than
other such qualityes and know in scientificall Demonstrations and belieue in Hope and Charity Is not the same truth knowne with more euidence and consequently with more certainty according to his grounds by a perspicatious vnderstanding than by one more dull Which argues that there are degrees in certainty What is more knowne than that Axiom of Aristotle Propter quod vnumquodque tale illud magis tale That for which euery thing is such is it self much more such Chilling himself Pag. 377. N. 59. Saith we must be surer of the proofe then of the thing proued otherwise it is no proof If then the conclusion be certaine by vertue of the Proof or Premises these must be more certaine which supposes different degrees of perfection euen in certaine and infallible acts of our vnderstanding and then why not in Faith though it be certaine and infallible And his objection that according to vs all true Faith must be most certaine and the most perfect that is cannot be more than most certaine hath no more strength than it receyues from ignorance For when Faith is sayd to be most certaine the comparison goes not betweene different degrees of graduall perfection in Faith it selfe but betweene Faith and naturall knowledg Or els Faith is sayd to be most certaine for its essence because with euery degree of true Faith we must belieue articles reuealed with an assent super omnia aboue all essentially excluding all doubt or dissent from such articles as Hope relyes Vpon God super omnia aboue all and essentially refuses to admitt any voluntary act of desperation and Charity essentially loues God aboue all things appretiatine choosing to loose all things rather than to offend God and therfor effectually moueing vs not to consent vnto any deadly sinne In these essentiall perfections there is an indivisibility and a most or greatest perfection which being taken away the Vertue is destroyed but it passeth not so in Graduall perfections of Faith Hope Charity and other Vertues either infused or acquired 45. What knowledg is so certaine euident and perfect as the Beatificall Vision which may truly be called most perfect but how In respect of other knowledg terminated only to created Objects but in respect to it selfe in order to Graduall perfection it consists not in an indiuisible poynt because one Angell or Saint beholds God intuitiuè with more perfection than another Thus euen your probable Faith must essentially exclude all Doubt Taken in the most proper sense that is not as it signifyes formidinem oppositi some feare least the contrary be true but as it is taken for a suspension of our assent to either side which cannot possibly consist with a probable possitiue assent to one part and in this essentiall notion of excluding all such Doubt all probable judgments must agree and yet you will not deny but there are different Graduall degrees in probable assents and in particular in your probable Faith which you proue to be but probable that so you may as you pretend agree with Scripture mentioning different degrees of Faith 46. Not in this instance only but in others also I conuince you by your owne assertions Pag. 36. N. 9. you say The spirit of God being implored by deuout and humble prayers and sincere obedience may and will by degrees aduance his seruants higher and giue them a certainty of adherence beyend their certainty of euidence And To those that belieue and liue accordingly to their faith he giues by degrees the spirit of obsignation and confirmation which makes them know though how they know not what they did but belieue And be as fully and resolutely assured of the Gospell of Christ as those which heard it from Christ himselfe with their eares which saw it with their eyes which looked vpon it and whose hands handled the Word of life Heere you speake of certaine persons arriuing by degrees to an absolute certainty and I hope you will not deny but that there might be disserent degrees of perfection among them according to the degrees of their deuout and humble prayers and sincere obedience and that the same man might by degrees be aduanced aboue himself as also that they might pray for such increase Therfore there are degres in certainty for attaining of which one may praye as in your objection you alledg the Apostles prâ—ing to Christ to increase their Faith which is directly for vs against your selfe For Pag. 329. N. 7. you teach that the Apostles for some points had absolute certainty in their faith or an assent which was not pure and proper and meere faith but somwhat more an assent containing faith but superadding to it Therfore certainty may be increased and this increase may be prayed for as the Apostles did and among the Apostles who doubts but that one might belieue with more certainty than an other Surely you will be content that S. Paule enter into the number of those who liuing as they belieue attaine an absolute certainty and yet he made progress in charity as himselfe witnesseth 1. Tim 4. V. 6.7.8 I am euen now to be sacrificed and the tyme of my resolution is at and. I haue fought a good fight I haue consummate my course I haue kept the Faith Concerning the rest there is layd vp for me a crowne of justice which our Lord will render to me in that day a just judge You see this blessed Apostle not long before his death speakes of a crowne due for his Faith and good workes or Charity without exception of any tyme wherin his Faith was fallible which indeed was alwayes most certaine and infallible by the particular appearing of our Sauiour to him and most express reuelation which certainty had bene no favour but a great harme if it had depriued him of all increase in charity notwithstanding his continuall exercise of heroicall good workes and a death glorious by martyrdome the highest pitch of Charity and perfection and yet he sayd Phil. 3.12 Non quod jam perfectus sim not that I now am perfect And the like might I say of all the Apostles and other Saints who liued as they belieued and were eminent in Prayer Obedience and all sanctity 47. But this is not all that may be alledged against you out of your owne doctrine Pag. 330. N. 8. You say that we are to belieue the Religion of Christ we are and may be infallibly certaine and this you endeauour to proue by some arguments which you stile certaine and then conclude from all these premises this conclusion euidently followes that it is infallibly certaine that we are firmely to belieue the truth of Christian ReligoÌ„ Now it cannot be denyed but that in this assent It is infallibly certaine that we are firmily to belieue the truth of Christian Religion there may be degrees of certainty or perfection both in different persons at the same tyme and in the same person at different tymes as he may more and more ponder the Reasons which
doth this proue that Faith common to all Christians is sufficient to saluation though it be but probable and not certaine I beseech you consider what you say In the matter of which the Apostle speakes the comparison was not betweene a strong and weake faith or belief of the same thing as our case goes but the question was of contrary perswasions one part judging that to be lawfull which the other held to be vnlawfull And therfor if you will haue your Objection rightly applyed or not to be clearly impertinent a man weake in Faith must be he who belieues Christian Faith not to be true nor the practise of it lawfull And doe you belieue such a weake Faith to be sufficient to saluation or that the Apostle will haue vs receyue them who are weake in Faith in that sense that is who belieue errours contrary to Christian Faith Your passing from Faith necessary to saluation to Faith of Miracles was an inpertinency but this your substituting to Christian Faith errours contrary to it hath too much of the Impious 51. Object 3. Pag. 326. N. 4. You goe forward in impugning the infallibility of Faith in this manner If this doctrine were true then seing not any the least doubting can consist with a most infallible certainty it will follow that euery least doubting in any matter of Faith though resisted and inuoluntary is a damnable sinne absolu tely destructiue so long as it lasts of all true and sauing Faith which you are so farr from granting that you make it no sinne at all but only an occasion of merit 52. Answer First Your selfe must answer this objection In those whom Pag. 36. N. 9. you say Gods spirit may and will aduance beyond the certainty of euidence to the spirit of obsignation and confirmation which makes them know what they did not belieue And to be as fully and resolutely assured of the Gospell of Christ as those which heard it from Christ him selfe with their eares c. In the Apostles to whom you grant P. 329. N. 7. an absolute Certainty in respect of the things of which they were eye-witnesses In those who belieue as you Pag. 330. N. 8. pretend to do that it is infallibly Certaine that we are firmety to belieue the truth of Christian Religion In those who haue an absolute Certainty of this Thesis All which God reueales for truth is true which Pag. 36. N. 8. You say is a proposition euidently demonstrable or rather euident of it selfe In those who denying Christian Faith to be certaine yet pretend to be certaine that it is probable as you and your fellowe Socinians doe In all these Certaintyes I say you must answer what you object against vs. For seing as you say not any the least doubting can consist with Certainty it will follow that euery least doubting in the rehearsed truthes all which concerne matter of Faith though resisted and involuntary is a damnable sinne absolutely destructiue so long as it lasts of the belief of the Gospell and particularly of that part of which the Apostles were eye-witnesses of the certainty that it is infallibly certaine that we are firmiâ—y to belieue the truth of Christan Religion of the assent to this truth All which God reueales for truth is true which is a most fundamentall article of Faith of certainty that Christian Religion is probable all which I conceyue you will be farr from granting seing that euen according to the Doctrine of Socinians there can be no actuall sinnes meerly involuntary 53. But this is not all It must follow by your argument that euery Doubt taken properly though resisted and involuntary is a damnable sinne absolutely destructiue so long as it lasts euen of the Probability of Christian Faith which being destroyed there remaynes no belief at all either certaine or probable of Christian Religion I sayd every doubt taken properly which is when our vnderstanding finding not sufficient reason to belieue one side more than another can only doubt of both without a positive assent to either as contrarily it happens in a probableact which assents determinatly to one part though not without feare that the contrary is true For it is cleare that such a doubt which abstracts from a positiue assent to either part is absolutely incompossible with a probable perswasion which positiuely determines to one side it being a manifest contradiction for the same act to abstract from both parts and yet to determine vs to one and so every such Doubt must be as you sayd against vs a Deadly sinne But why do I seeke after other instances than this most obvious and common to all Christians euen to Socinians You pretend to belieue that Christian Religion is true and consequently cannot judg at the same tyme that it is false Therfor this judgment Christian Religion is false though resisted and involuntary is a damnable sinne absolutely destructiue so long as it lasts of all faith where by you belieue Christian Religion to be true And so in vaine you sayd no least Doubt could consist with the contrary certainty as if your objection did touch only our infallibility of Faith wheras it ouerthrowes euen your belief that Christian Faith is true I do therfore end as I began and say you yea all Christians must answer your objection 54. Secondly directly to your Objection of a doubt resisted and involuntary and yet destructiue of infallible Faith because any the least Doubting caÌ„not consist with certainty I answer If he who doubts conceiue his doubt to be against that which he belieues by Faith and yet doth not resist such a doubt is voluntary and destroyes true Faith but makes nothing for your purpose who speake of a doubt resisted and not voluntary If he resist then he rejects the Doubt and so doubts not but retaines his former vndoubted assent with advantage of a new victory against the temptation to doubt and it is non-sense or implicatio in adjecto to talke of doubting and resisting at the same tyme. For if it be resisted it is not accepted nor is it a doubtfull assent or secunda operatio intellectus which affirmes or denyes by way of judgment but is a meere apprehensio or prima operatio of our vnderstanding representing to our mynd a doubt which by resistance is stopt from passing to a judgment as when Dauid sayd Psalm 52.1 The foolish man sayd in his hart there is no God these words there is no God affirmed by the foolish man were in respect of the Prophet represented only by way of apprehension and not of judgment or affirmation that it was so And Aristotle teaches that men may perhaps think they belieue express contradictions when indeed they only apprehend them without any assent or belief How easy then is it to conceyue that a doubt offered but resisted neither is nor can be destructiue of infallible Faith seing the resistance is cause that we do not doubt But now if we suppose that such a doubt
particular motion of Grace which irresistably drawes it Therfor from certainty of Faith we cannot inferr a necessary cooperation of the will or perfection of Charity You preâ—â—â—d to belieue or know wit◠〈…〉 to be obayed in all things and coâ—â—â—equently that the woâ—â—d 〈…〉 ouercome you may know with certainty that the morall 〈…〉 â—ments forbidding Actions repugnant to the light and law of naturaâ—â—eason are to be kept You cannot but know certainly in generall that all sinne is to be auoyded You teach that men euen by euidence of reason are to belieue with infallible certainty that they are firmely to belieue the truth of Christian Religion and consequently that all the commands of that Religion are to be obserued These things I say you belieue or know with certainty and yet I hope you will not grant that you cannot but obey God in all things and so ouercome the world that you cannot but keepe all the morall commandements that you cannot but auoyde all sinne that you cannot but obserue what is commanded in Christian Religion Therfore you must yield that certainty in the vnderstanding doth not inferr a necessity in the will and so still be forced to answer your owne argument 65. In the meane tyme I cannot but note how many damnable Heresyes you here ioyne togeather though contrary one to an other and euen to your selfe For example of Pelagianisme that the will may performe whatsoeuer the vnderstanding certainly iudgeth ought to be done which takes away the necessity of Grace or motion of the Holy Ghost I sayd that the will may performe but wheras you teach further that it must of necessity do so you fall from Pelagianisme to a contrary extreme by taking away Freewill which the very Socinians defend so farr that to make men free they make themselues sacrilegious in denying that God can see the future free Acts of our will 〈◊〉 you take it away in a worse manner than Caluinists doe who conceaue it to be taken away by supernaturall efficacious Grace or by infused justifying Faith but your doctrine must take it away by euery certaine knowledg though it be but naturall or by Historicall fallible Faith and historicall Faith according to Caluinists is common to all Christians And yet in another respect you fall into the very quintessence of Caluinisme and puritanisme that Faith once had can neuer be lost which is against moderate Protestants and yourselfe with Socinians For if Faith necessarily giue vs perfect Charity and the victory ouer the world and sinne Faith it selfe which cannot be lost without sinne is absolutely secured 66. Neither can you answer that your Objection goes not against all Faith but only impugneth an infallible Faith For you grant certainty of faith to diuerse as we haue obserued aboue concerning them who are aduanced to certainty and spirit of obsignation or Confirmation which are as many according to you who liue as they belieue as also 〈…〉 â—postles and those who heard our Sauiour preaching or 〈…〉 miracles yea whosoeuer only belieues or knowes with certainty that there is a God and that he is to be obeyed must of necessity worke according to his knowledg which if he doe he cannot loose the belief of God nor euer become an Atheist which I feare is too much against experieÌ„ce You must also agree with Calvinists in their Doctrine that only Faith justifyes seing as they so you teach that it necessarily brings with it charity and good works And to this same purpose I still vrge your owne assertio concerning those to whom you granta Certainty in Faith and I suppose you will not grant that such men are justifyed by faith only and other Christians by some other meanes V. g. justifyng inherent Grace or with Faith Hope and Charity and therfor you must deny that perfect Charity must necessarily flow from an fallible Faith 67. Sixtly you speake very imperfectly in saying Charing is the effect of Faith if therfor the cause Were terfect the effect would be perfect For the Habit of Charity being infused immediatly by the Holy Ghost is not the effect of Faith or of any Acts of our will no nor of the Acts of Charity it selfe But if you speake of the Acts of Charity they proceede from the Habit of Charity from the particular helpe and assistance of the Holy Ghost and from our will eleuated by such assistance which is freely offered by God and freely accepted by the will but in no wise proceeds necessarily from Faith whose office is only to direct and shew the object without any necessitating influence S. Paule sayth 1. Cor 13.13 The greater of these is Charity and who euer heard that the effect can be more perfect than the cause Or if you say that Faith is not the totall but only a partiall cause of Charity which therfor may be more noble than Faith it selfe then by what logike can you infer that Charity must be perfect because it is the effect of a partiall cause lesse perfect than it selfe Rather according to your discourse joyned with the words of S. Paule that Faith is less perfect than Chatity we must say thus Charity is the effect of Faith and therfor feing the cause is imperfect the effect must be imperfect which is directly opposite to your inference and intent Besides from what Philosophy can you learne that when some cause or condition concurrs to the production of an effect not by it selfe but necessarily requires the company and cooperation of other causes that such a cause or condition can by it selfe alone produce such an effect But let vs suppose Faith to be the cause of Charity and by it selfe alone sufficient for mouing our will to Acts of Charity doth it follow that it must do so irresistibly and in such manner as that it remaine not in the power of our will either to exercise no act at all or to produce a more or lesse perfect one Remember your owne distinction and words to Char Maintayned in your Pag 172. N. 71. That a man mâ—y fall into some errour euen contrary to the truth which is taught him if it be taught him only sufficiently and not irr-sistibly so that he may learne it if be will not so that he must and shall vhâ—ther he will or no. Nâ—w who can a sertaine me that the spirits teaching is not of this nature Or how can you poâ—â—â—y 〈…〉 it with your dâ—â—trâ—ne of free wâ—ll in betiâ—uing if it be â—ot of 〈◊〉 nature And you hauing endeauoured to proue this out of diuerse places of Scripture conclude God may teach and the Church not learne God may lead and the Church be resrachry and not follow 68. Now I retort this Argument and aske why a man may not fall into some errour contrary to the truth which he was taught and which once he belieued and committ some sinne which Faith dictates not to be committed if Faith teach him only sufficiently and not irresistibly and who can
assertaine me that the direction of Faith is not of this nature and so faith may teach and lead and man be refractory and not follow and faith remaine without perfect Charity 69. Seuenthly you say Pag 329. N. 7. that the Apostles belieued with certainty and P. 37. N. 9. you grant that they who liue as they belieue will be advanced to as great a certainty as those which heard the Gospell from Christ himselfe which saw with their eyes c and yet I suppose you will not deny but that the Apostles and those other might encrease in Charity and that Faith in their vnderstaning did not impeach the freedom of their will without which there can be no obedience which as your selfe teach Pag. 329. N. 7. can hardly haue place where there is not possibility of disboedience as there is not when the vnstandin does all and the will nothing Therfor certainty of belief stands well with freedom to exercise Acts of Charity with great or little perfection or to committ deliberate sinnes 70. But let vs suppose that Certainty in Faith brings with it a necessity of Charity what will follow but that such necessitated acts shall not be capable of prayse or reprehension which can only belong to free Actions and then how can Charity heere be perfect if vpon just account and due consideration it be not so much as laudable Or how can any be commended for not committing a deliberate sinne which he cannot committ I sind in holy Scripture prayse giuen and eternall glory assured to him who could transgress and did not transgress doe euill and did it not Eccli 31. V. 9.10 but who will commend one qui non potuit transgredi non est transgressus non potuit facere mala non fecit Who could not transgress and did not transgress could not committ evill and did not committ it From whence followes that your Assertion if faith were infallible Charity must needs be perfect is so farr from being true that it should not be so much as laudable that is the Habit of Charity could not produce any Actions capable of prayse or if such Actions be free then it is in the power of the will to exercise perfect or remisse ones or to reject Gods Grace and abstayne from all such Acts and so Charity shall not necessarily be perfect Thus your Principles and sequels plainly destroy themselues 71. Eightly you teach That if faith were infallible it should be impossible for any true beâ—â—euer to committ any dâ—â—ikerate sinne and that in such a man Charity must be perfect and as we make no degrees in faith so there would be none in Charity and so none could possibly make any progress in it but all true belieuer's should be equally in Charity In which words I find such a connection as in true language should be called a manifold contradiction First in saying that such a man could not committ any deliberate sinne you seeme to suppose that he may committ indeliberate sinnes which being sinnes must be voluntary and free though not always so perfectly voluntary as those which are commited with full deliberation or reflection and worthly of blame and punishment and he who committs them in that respect loues God with lesse perfection than an other who is more vigilant and committs such sinnes more seldome and so all true belieuers should not be equall in Charity 2. If infallible faith take away freewill it depriues men of power or possibility to committ any sinne at all though neuer so indeliberate Or if it leaue them with freewill they may committ deliberate sinnes Therfor the difference in this place of deliberate and indeliberate sinnes is destructiue of it selfe 3. Wheras you say that as we make no degrees in faith so there would be none in Charity I answer you should haue sayd the direct contrary namely that seing you are not ignorant of our Doctrine that there be degrees in Charity it must follow that we also belieue that there are degrees in faith the Habit wherof is encreased by euery Act of of Charity as you also Pag 37. N. 9. teach that faith is encreased by devout and humble prayer and sincere obedience But this poynt puts me vpon a demonstratiue Argument against you in this manner You teach that if one liue as he belieues the spirit of God will advance him to a certainty in faith Now let vs propose two persons thâ—one indued with infallible Faith who according to your Objection must therfore be so perfect in Charity that he can make no progress therin nor committ any deliberate sinne thâ—other with your probable fallible faith who yet by humble and deuout prayers and sincere obedience makes continuall progress in Faith and Charity and therfor will at length arriue to a degree of Faith and Charity equall to him whom we at first supposed to be indued with infallible Faith and perfect Charity which being not insinite the other by dayly improuement of faith and Charity may and must at length arriue to the same degree of perfection And then all your Objections against vs for our infallible Faith do instantly fall heauy vpon your selfe who will be demanded whether such a man can committ any deliberate sinne or make any progress in Charity If he cannot do either of these why do you inferâ— as absured in vs the very same sequele which your self must grant If he can do both these things that is committ deliberate sinnes and make progress in Charity why do you say that he cannot doe so I do not see how you can auoyd this Dilemma and contradiction with your selfe 72. Ninthly you say Whosoeuer fynds in himselfe any true faith must presently perswade himselfe that he is perfect in Charity and whosoeuer discouers in his Charity any imperfection must not belieue that he hath any true faith But these or like sequeles follow from your owne not from any doctrine of ours For seing on the one side you teach that by Prayer progress in Charity and obedience men will arriue to the spirit of obsignation and perfect faith and on the other that faith is the cause and measure of Charity it followes that whosoeuer fynds in himselfe such a perfect faith which he must haue because he is obliged to liue as he belieues must presently perswade himselfe that he is perfect in Charity and whosoeuer discouers in his Charity any imperfection must not belieue that he hath such a faith as he should haue Euery one therfor is obliged to haue a perfect faith both because he is obliged to liue as he belieues and to make progresse in Charity which will be the cause of a perfect faith as also because Faith according to you is the cause of Charity and so because we are bound to keepe the commandements and to haue Charity which is the effect we must haue faith which is the cause and so vpon a double account we are obliged to a perfect faith both as Charity
or liuing as we ought is the cause of faith and as faith is the cause of Charity to which all being obliged they are by consequence obliged to procure the cause therof which you say is faith Wherfor vpon the whole matter your probable faith remaines only to such as keepe not the Commandements nor liue as they belieue which if they did God would rayse them higher to a certainty For thus you say Pag 37. N. 9. God will accept of the weakest and lowest degree of faith if it be truing and effectuall to true obedience and rhat for sincere obedience God may and will rayse men higher to a Certainty Therfor a primo ad vltimum the weakest Faith if it be effectuall to obedience will bring men to certainty Therfore none de facto want such a certainty except they whose faith is not liuing nor effectuall to obedience And further seing you confess yours not to be certaine it must follow that it is not effectuall to true obedience otherwise it would be improued to a Certainty 73. But this is not all that occurrs to be sayd in this poynt Remember your doctrine Pag 379. N. 70. and elswhere that repentance necessary to saluation requires effectuall dereliction and mortification of all viâ—es and the effectuall practise of all Christian vâ—rtues which whosoever performes exercises very perfect obedience and shall not fayle of being raysed higher to a Certainty of faith Therfor your fallible faith will remaine only in sinners For if one either giue himselfe to sincere obedience and so fall not into great sinne or truly repent by your kind of repentance he must passe to a certainty of Faith and so all in state of saluation both Saints that is who haue not sinned mortally and repentant sinners cannot want the spirit of Obsignation as you call it and certaine Faith Why then do you deceiue the world and delude poore soules with a fallible faith or perswasion and not absolutely proclaime to the world that infallible Faith is necessary since euen according to your grounds it is necessary for all sorts of people 74. Now all your Objections and my Answers being vnpartially considered let any man judge whether your Arguments deserue such epithetons as you giue them of demonstratiue conuincing inuincible cleare and the like and what reason you had to say P. 326. N. 4. These you see are strang and portentuous consequences and yet the deduction of them from your doctrine is cleare and apparent which shewes this doctrine of yours which you would fame haue true that there might be some necessity of your Churches infallibility to be indeed plainly repugnant not only to Truth but euen to all Religion and Piety sit for nothing but to make men negligent of making any progress in faith or Charity And therfor I must intreat and adjure you either to discouer vnto me which I take God to witness I cannot perceaue some fallacy in my reasons against it or neuer herafter to open your mouth in defence of it 75. I answer S. Paule had good reason to say Scientia inflat 1. Cor 8.1 Knowledg puffeth vp it is a poysonous quality making the person swell his Arguments and all that he does or sayes swell and emptyness appeare greatness it is a multiplying glasse that stirrs vp in mens fancyes strang and huge apparitions from nothing But Sir remeber that your ObjectioÌ„s make no more against Vs Catholikes than PictestaÌ„ts who profess ChristiaÌ„ Religion to be infallible and I belieue will not belieue your bare word that these consequences are cleare Christian Historicall Faith is infallibly true Therfor it must be lost by any least doubting though resisted that is by a no-doubt as I haue shewed it must be incompatible with any deliberate sinne it must bring with it Charity so perfect that we can make no progress therin For my part I do in no wise vnderstand such deductions nor how any man of vnderstanding should take them for good as I haue shewed more than sufficiently though yet I must add that though the consequences which you pretend to deduce from our doctrine be strange and portentuous in themselues yet to you they ought not to seeme so or at least ought not to be publikly avouched by you for such For besides that the very same consequences which you deduce from our doctrine follow from your owne assertions as I haue proued answer I beseech you these few Demands 1. Whether it be more convenient that true Diuine Faith should be inconsistent with an involuntary Doubt which you inferr against vs as a great absurdity or that it should be compatible with a voluntary sinfull damnable not only Doubt but positiue assertive Errour as you teach Pag. 368. N. 49. and call the contrary doctrine a vaine and groundless fancy as I observed aboue or that it may stand with an assent that probably it may be false or with a preparation of mynd to forsake it if seeming better reasons offer themselves against it thaÌ„ you conceive your selfe to haue for it which for ought you know may happen as I shewed above 2. Whether it be worse that all should of necessity be perfect in charity by an Infallible Faith or that none can be perfect as it ineuitably followes out of your Tenets put togeather That Faith is only probable and fallible and yet that the measure of our victory over the world and of our charity must be taken from Faith which you say is the cause of charity and the effect cannot be more perfect than the cause Besides your brethren the Calvinists believe that men are justifyed by a sirme and certaine Faith that they are just and that charity and good works are inseparable from such a Faith and then seing according to your owne words if the cause be perfect the effect must be perfect and that the cause of charity is in their opinion perfect that is a sirme and certaine Faith it followes that their charity must of necessity be perfect and that no just man can make any progress therin 3. Whether it be more absurd to hold an impossibility of committing any deliberate sinne or to belieue that all our best actions are deadly sinnes Or whether it be worse to teach that one cannot breake the commandements which you against all truth impute to vs Or that he cannot keepe them euen with the assistance of Gods grace which is the common doctrine of Protestants Thus then it is not our doctrine but the errours of you and your brethren that must in many respects make men negligent of making any progress in Faith or charity And what a Paradoxe is this A weake and fallible Faith makes men diligent in making Progress in charity and a strong infallible Faith is fit for nothing but to make men negligent of making any progress in Faith or Charity as yon are pleased strangly to speake directly against the admonition of S. Peter 1. Pet 5. cui resistite fortes in Fide whom
resist strong in Faith Not weake in Faith as he should haue spoken according to your portentuous Divinity Morover since you object against vs that if Faith be infallible men cannot increase in charity and yet yourselfe Pag. 36. N 9. Teach that the spirit of God being implored by devout and humble prayer and sincere obedience may and will by degrees advance his servants higher and give them a certainty of adherence beyond their certainty of evidence and make them know what they did but believe Which certainty according to your Objection against vs must be cause that they cannot increase in charity what will follow but that men will be not only careless but fearfull to pray to be obedieÌ„t and exercise acts of charity least by degrees they be advanced to a certainty of knowledg and losse of freewill and a period in charity and be as it were settled in termino while they are in via or without possibility to grow better by any endeavour of their owne or exhortations or others And thus their obedience and charity being cause of such a certainty in Faith and this certainty hindring all progress in charity we must inferr a primo ad vltimum that charity is most prejudiciall and pernicious to charity itselfe These are the fruites of your Doctrine and consequences of your Objections against vs. 76. Object 5. To prove that Faith cannot be certaine if it be obscure you spend many words Pag. 329. N. 7. but bring no reason besides a meere resolute assirmation that it is so And Pag 330 N 7. you say Looke what degree of assent is infused into the vnderstanding at least the same degree of evidence must be infused into the object And for you to require a strength of credit beyond the appearance of the objectes credibility is all one as if you should require me to goe ten myles an houre vpon a horse that will goe but five to discerne a man certainty through a mist or cloud that makes him not certainly discernable to heare a sound more clearly than it is andible to vnderstand a thing more fully than it is intelligibâ—e and be that doth so I may well expect that his next injunction will be that I must see somthing that is invisible heare somthing mandible vnderstand something that is â—holly vnintelligible And That I should believe the truth of any thing the truth wherof cannot be made evident with an evidence proportionable to the degree of Faith requirea of me this I say far any man to be bound to is vnjust and vnreasonable because to doe it is impossible And N. 8. I deny that it is required of vs to be certaine in the highest degree infallibly certaine of the truth of the things which we believe for this were to know and not believe neither is it tessible vnless our evidence of it be it naturall or supernaturall were of the highest degree And Pag. 371 N. 51. The evidence of the thing assented to be it more or lesie is the reason and cause of the assent in the vnderstanding Heere you see what he affirmes without so much as offering to giue any reason or proofe And therfor 77. I Answer as you object by meerly affirming so I might answer by simply denying But I will alledge a proofe aboue all exception which is your owne doctrine delivered more thaÌ„ once Pag 36. 37. N. 9. The spirit of God may and will advance his servants higher and giue them a certainty of adherence beyond their certainty of evidence And P. 112 N. 154. Gods spirit if he please may worke more a certainty of adherence beyond a certainty of euidence Behold a certainty of adherence beyond the certainty of evidence And Pag. 37. N. 9. To those that believe and liue according to their Faith God gives by degrees the spirit of obsignation and confirmation which makes them know though how they know not what they did but belieue If these men know though how they know not why do you impugne divine Faith which is the Gift of Gods Spirit and all good Christians believe and in a manner feele to be infallible because you do not vnderstand or know the how or manner therof Why do you not say I believe infallibly and though I know not how yet it is sufficient that I know my Faith is from God who by his particular Grace can doe more than I can comprehend Why are you not as reasonable to the old infallible Faith taught and believed by all Christians as you are to your new proselytes who you say will be advanced to a certainty above evidence And wheras you say that this were to require you to goe ten miles vpon a horse that will goe but sive to heare a sound more clearly then it is audible to vnderstand a thing more fully than it is intelligible in stead of proving you do but begg the question and suppose that nothing is certainly intelligible or credible vnless it be evident which is the very poynt controverted and we affirme that our vnderstanding may in this sense go ten miles though in darke may intellectually heare a found which is audible and vnderstand a thing intelligible though not evident And in this manner your selfe must say and answer for those who you believe may attaine a certainty beyond euidence and yet you will not yield that they vnderstand a thing more fully than it is intelligible And then you must retract what you sayd that to believe a thing the truth wherof cannot be made evident with an evidence proportionable to the degree of Faith required of me is vnjust because to do it is impossible S. Paule defines Faith to be Argumentum non apparentium an Argument of things which appeare not Therfor thinges not evident must be believed and to say that they cannot be believed with certainty though they do not appeare with evidence is injurious to Gods Power as if he could not by his speciall supernaturall Grace and motion which is required to every Act of Faith supply the want of evidence Neither can there be shewed any such essentiall conjunction betweene evidence and certainty that this may not consist without that There may at first sight appeare some shew of repugnance betweene evidence and obscurity certainty which seemes to exclude all possibility of feare that the contrary be true and probability which of it selfe excludes not such feare and yet your selfe say pag 25. N. 29. whether knowledg and Opinion touching the same thinge may stand together is made a Question in the schooles and it is very commonly held that they may stand togeather in the same vnderstanding neither are there wanting very learned men who thinke they may be consistent in the same Act. If then evidence and obscurity certainty and probability may stand togeather what ground can you bring to prove an incompatibility between Certainty and Obscurity which carry no shew of repugnance in any kind of those Oppositions which Logicians haue set downe
the Apostles doubtiess delivered by Tradition Covell in his Answer to Iohn Burges Pag 139. affirmes the moderate vse of the Crosse to be an Apostolicall Constitution and in his Examination against the Plea of the innocent Cap. 9 Pag. 104. referreth the termes of Archishops vnto Apostolicall Ordination And VVhitgift in his Defence c affirmeth and proveth the Apostles Tradition of Easter And Oecolampadiuâ— affirms the Baptisme of infants not to be taught in scripture in liâ— Epiâ—tolarum Zuâ—nglâ—i Occolampaâ—â— Pag 101. and 363. and so likewise doth Zuinglius To 1. Lib de Bapt. Fol. 96. These men therefore must either confess the authority of Gods church and her infallible Traditions or yield to the pernicious Doctrine of Anabaptists Dr. Taylor in is Defence of Episcopacy is so full to our purpose for the necessity of Traditions that I thought sit to transcribe his words as they ly § 19. which are these Pag 100. Although we had not proved the immediate Divine institution of Episcopall power over Presbyters and the whole flock yet Episcopacy is not lesse then an Apostolicall ordinance and delivered to vs by the same authority that the observation of the Lords day is For for that in the new Testament we haue no precept and nothing but the example of the Primitiue Disciples meeting in their Synaxes vpon that day and so also they did on the saturday in the Jewish Synagogues but yet however that at Geneva they were once in meditation to haue changed it into a Thursday meeting to haue showne their Christian liberty we should thinke strangely of those men that called the Sunday Festivall lesse then an Aposticall ordinance and necessary now to be kept holy with such observances as the Church hath appointed Baptisme of infants is most certainly a holy and charitable ordinance and of ordinary necessity to all that ever cryed and yet the Church hath founded this rite vpon the tradition of the Apostles and wise men do easily obserue that the Anabaptists can by the same probability of scripture inforce a necessity of communicating infants vpon vs as we doe of baptizing infants vpon them if we speak of immediate Divine institution or of practise Apostolicall recorded in scripture and therfore a great Master of Geneva in a book he writ against the Anabaptists was forced to fly to Apostolicall traditiue ordination and therfor the institution of Bishops must be served first as having fairer plea and clearer evidence in scripture then the baptizing of infants and yet they that deny this are by the just anathema of the Catholick Church confidently condemned for Hereticks Of the same consideration are diverse other things in Christianity as the Presbyters consecrating the Eucharist for if the Apostles in the first institution did represent the whole Church Clergy and Laity when Christ sayd Hoc facite Doe this then why may not every Christian man there represented doe that which the Apostles in the name of all were commanded to doe If the Apostles did not represent the whole Church why then doe all communicate Or what place or intimation of Christes saying is there in all the foure Gospells limiting Hoc facite id est benedicite to the Clergy and extending Hoc facite id est accipite manducate to the Laity This also rests vpon the practise Apostolicall and traditive interpretation of H Church and yet cannot be denyed that so it ought to be by any man that would not haue his Christendome suspected To these I adde the Communion of Women the distinction of bookes Apocryphall from Canonicall that such books were written by such Evangelists and Apostles the whole tradition of scripture it selfe the Apostles Creed the feast of Easter which amongst all men that cry vp the Sunday-Festivall for a Divine institution must needs prevaile as Caput institutionis it being that for which the Sunday is commemorated These and diverse others of greater consequence which I dare not specify for feare of being misunderstood rely but vpon equall faith with this of Episcopacy though I should waue all the arguments for immediate Divine ordinance and therfore it is but reasonable it should be ranked amongst the Credenda of Christianity which the Church hath entertained vpon the confidence of that which we call the Faith of a Christian whose Master is truth it selfe Thus farr the Doctour in whom beside other divers points for our purpose it is remarkable that he affirmes the deniall of the baptizing of infants to be an Heresy and yet that the contrary truth is not contained in scripture which therfore cannot be sayd to containe all necessary points of Faith 43. Seaventhly it is a prodigious kind of thing that Protestants would make men belieue that all necessary poynts are evident in scripture and yet for vnderstanding scripture prescribe certaine necessary Rules or Meanes which it is evident few can possibly obserue and no lesse evident by the confession of our adversaryes that being observed they are not sufficient and consequently even by those Meanes assigned for vnderstanding scripture we know that scripture is not evident in all necessary things which is a poynt well to be noted Sanchius de sacra scriptura Col 409. saith The Holy scripture in those things which are necessary to be knowne for salvation is so cleare that it may easily he vnderstood of all those who are indued with Gods spirit and who reade it attentively and dayly and vnderstand the words and phrases therof Easily Doth not this contradict all the former words which require knowledg hard to be gotten and paynes not easy to be taken The scripture sayth this Protestant is cleare in all necessary poynts to all that are indued with the spirit of God But if they be indued with the spirit of God they are presupposed to haue true Faith for points necessary to be knowen and then I aske fromwhence had they that Faith without which scripture is not cleare Not from scripture because it is prerequired to the vnderstanding of scripture Therfore from some other meanes which certainly can be no other but the Church and tradition Besides this that is beside the spirit of God yea aÌ„d true Faith they must reade scripture daily and attentively and must penetrate the words and phrases which is so farr from being easy to be done that he assignes no fewer thaÌ„ nineteene Rules for doeing it wherof one is that we interpret scripture juxta analogiam Fidei and by the Scriptures themselves by diligent conferring of places like to one an other Is this easy And yet we must not forget that he speaks of poynts necessary to de believed Scharphius assignes twenty Rules in cursu Theologico de scrip controvers 8. Pag 44. which vnless they be kept we cannot but erre But perhaps all these Rules are easy Iudg of the rest by these To know originall languages also to discusse the words phrases and Hebraismes to conferr the places which are like and vnlike to one another to aske advise
and didst eate with them And accordingly S. Chrysostome Hom. 24. in Act. Cap. 11. saith Those who were of the circumcision not the Apostles did contend They were offended saith the scripture not a litle and marke vpon what pretense They sayd not why hast thou preacht But why hast thou eaten Neither did they object that of preaching for they knew that it was the gift of God According to which saying even the converted Jewes were not offended with S. Peter for preaching to but for eating with Gentils That before the conversion of Cornelius other Gentils were become Christians Cornel. a Lapide in Act. Cap. 10. post versum 48. affirmes and proves by divers arguments and therfor S. Peter was not ignorant that he and the other Apostles were to preach to the Gentils but he did abstaine from preaching publikly and as it were solemnly to avoide the offence of Jewes converted to Christ till by this heavenly vision he might sweetly aÌ„d effectually perswade them that such was the will of God Thus S. John Chrys Hom 22. in Act Cap 10 saith Because it was so to fall out that they would all accuse Peter as a breaker of the law which was very common with them he sayd necessarily and opportunely I haue never eaten Did he himself feare God forbid But Gods spirit did so direct him that he might haue in readynes a defense against those who would reprehend him c Not ô Lord because I haue never eaten any common or vncleane thing And a voyce came to him That which God hath purifyed do not thou call common This seemed to be spoken to him but indeed it was wholy directed to the Jewes for if the maister S. Peter be blamed much more they that is the Jewes for thinking that it was vnlawfull to eate with Gentils It appeares then that neither S. Peter nor the other Apostles did feare to deale and preach to the Gentils but the Holy Ghost spiritus moderabatur as S. Chrysostome speakes and ordained all for the satisfaction of others 35. But for better vnderstanding this whole matter we are to reflect on three things For we may consider first the eating of Jewes with Gentils 2. Eating meates forbidden to the Jewes 3. preaching to them Now S. Chrysostome as we haue seene observes that the Jewes were offended with S. Peter for eating with Gentils and if we consider as I may say the letter or the most immediate literall sense of the vision made to S. Peter it had respect to the Law of the Jewes to whom certaine meates were forbidden and esteemed vncleane as appeares Chap 10. V. 12. Where in were all fourfooted beasts and that creepe on the earth and foules of the aire and accordingly S. Peter sayd V. 14. I haue never eaten any common or vncleane thing And there is not any thing sayd directly and precisely of preaching to Gentils but at most by consequence because the Apostles could not commonly and constantly preach to them but that they should haue occasion to eate with them or els by way of signification or that vncleane meates in generall did also signify Gentils whom the Jewes esteemed as it were vncleane and irreligious persons Yet preaching and Eating are of their nature different as we may deale with an excommunicate person for his conversion though ordinarily we may not eate with him This being so you cannot affirme that the Apostles did thinke it vnlawfull to preach to the Gentils vnless you do also belieue that they judged Christians converted from Judaisme to be obliged to obserue the whole Law of the Jewes in conformity to the vision presented to S. Peter of all sorts of beasts or meates which the Jewes could not lawfully eate Will you grant this Will you ranke the Apostles with that faction of Pharisees converted to Christ which troubled the most primitiue Church by preaching that the Jewish Law was necessary to salvation even for converted Gentils S. Paul sayth If you be circumfised Christ shall profit you nothing Gal 5. N. 2. And do you thinke that the Apostles were in an errour which must draw vpon them so heauy a doome A Councell was gathered about this matter not that the Apostles could doubt therof but for satisfaction and quiet of Christians and in like manner that vision was shewed to S. Peter not for rectifying any errour of his owne about preaching to Gentils but for pacifying and setling the mynds of Jewes converted to Christianity Haue we not heard you say Pag. 101. N. 127. That it is cleare in Scripture that the observation of the Mosaicall Law is not necessary And therfor it cannot be imagined that the Apostles for whose authority we belieue the scripture could doubt therof Or if you thinke the Apostles might erre about the necessity of observing the Mosaicall Law what certainty can we haue notwithstanding the Definition of that first Councell but that still we may thinke the keeping of Moyses his Law to be necessary you see how much you did exaggerate in saying that the Apostles them selves for a tyme continued in an errour repugnant to a revealed Truth is vnanswerably evident from the story of the acts of the Apostles seing this Story as you will needs vnderstand it doth either proue nothing for your purpose or more than you will grant or is true in itself and so by proving too much you come to proue nothing at all and this only remaynes true That although scripture did containe all necessary truths yet we could not belieue them for such a scripture as you offer vs which certainly could be no Rule of Faith at all 36. Your Third errour for I am willing to reduce them to as small a number as I can though in those which I haue layd togeather in gross many particulars distinct from one another are involved as for example every one of the conditions which you require for infallibility of the writings of the Apostles be so many severall errours Your third errour I say is set downe in the same Pag 144. in the next Number 32. in these words For those things which they profess to deliver as the dictates of humane reason and prudence and not as Divine Revelations why we should take them to be Divine Revelations I see no reason nor how we can do so and not contradict the Apostles and God himself Therfor when S. Paul sayes 1. Epist to the Cor 7.12 To the rest speake I not the Lord And againe concerning Virgins I haue no commandment of the Lord but I deliver my judgment If we wâ—ll pretend that the Lord did certainly speake what S. Paul spake and that his judgment was Gods commandment shall we not plainly contradict S. Paul and that Spirit by which he wrote Which moved him to write as in other places Divine Revelations which he certainly knew to be such so in this place his owne judgment touching some things which God had not particularly revealed vnto him 37. This your doctrine
haue it a necessary introduction to Faith I do not see how you can say this seing you profess to disallow S. Austines saying as we haue seene a little before That Whatsoever was practised or held by the vniversall Church of his tyme must needs haue come from the Apostles and how can that be a necessary introduction to Faith which either contaynes a falshood or is confessedly subject to errour as de facto you Protestants proclaime that the whole Church before Luther was fallen into grosse and as you speake damnable errours and you also say Pag 148. N. 36. An Authority subject to errour can be no firme or stable foundation of my belief in any thing and if it were in any thing then this Authority being one and the same in all proposalls I should haue the same reason to belieue all that I haue to belieue one and therfore must either doe vnreasonably in believing any one thing vpon the sole warrant of this Authority or vnreasonably in not believing all things equally warranted by it And therfor you expressly conclude in these words we belieue Canonicall Books not vpon the Authority of the present Church but vpon vniversall Traditiō But then how is that true which we haue heard you say The Church is though not ā certaine Foundation and proofe of my Faith yet a necessary introduction to it For seing Scripture is the certaine foundation and proofe of your Faith and that you belieue the Scripture not for the private spirit or other criteria as some Protestants doe nor vpon the Authority of the present Church but vpon vniversall Tradition it followes evidently that Vniversall Tradition of the Church is the certain Foundation and proofe of your Faith And this you cannot deny if you remember your owne Doctrine That men may belieue and be saved without Scripture but not without the Church according to your owne saying I must learne of the Church or of some part of the Church or I cannot know any thing Fundamentall or not Fundamentall and in particular that the Scripture is the Word of God Therfor say I the Church is a more necessary not only introduction to Faith but also Foundation and proofe of it then Scripture can be but if you will persist in this your Assertion that the Church as you take it for a fallible aggregation of men is not the Foundation of Faith and that Scripture both in truth and according to your owne Principles must be receyved from the Church what remaynes but that the Church must be infallibly assisted by the Holy Ghost in all matters belonging to Religion 91. Lastly to ptoue how easily men may be deceyved vnless they rely vpon some infallible Authority may appeare by what happened to myself who some yeares agoe falling vpon a wicked Book vnder a false name of Dominicus Lopez Societatis Jesu about the Authority of Scripture and as printed in a Catholique cittie it came to my minde that in tyme the Book might come to be accepted for such as the title professes My thoughts proved Propheticall For since that tyme a Catholique learned Writer cites it for such though vpon better information he declares afterward in the same Work that the Book was written by an Heretique and printed among Heretiques 92. And here I will end this Chapter having proved divers wayes that according to severall Doctrines of yours Scripture cannot be any Rule of Faith and much less a perfect one although we should falsely suppose that it did contayne evidently and in particular all Points necessary to be believed Wherfor it remaynes that seing Scripture alone cannot be a sufficient and totall Rule of Faith we declare what that Meanes is Which we will endeavour to performe in the next Chapter CHAPTER IV. A LIUING INFALLIBLE IVDG IS NECESSARY FOR DECIDING CONTROVERSYES IN MATTERS OF FAITH THE Premises set downe in the precedent Chapters did Virtually and implicitely containe and leaue it easy for Vs to infer explicitely and expressly as a conclusion the Title of this Chapter For since Christian Faith is the Gift of God and infallible since Scripture alone doth not evidently containe all necessary Points of Faith since your particular way of receiving Scripture as the word of God cannot be sufficient to erect an Act of infallible Faith no nor can be any Rule of Faith and much less a perfect Rule it followes necessarily that there must alwayes be extant a Living Uisible Judg which can be no other but the Church of God against which our B. Saviour promised that the gates of Hell should not prevaile This Deduction is so cleare that you are forced to acknowledg it Pag 326. N. 4. Where you affirme That Catholikes would faine haue the Doctrine of the infallibility of Christian Faith true that there might be necessity of our Churches infallibility Seing then both Catholikes and Protestants and al Christians firmely belieue Christian Faith to be infallible and that this cannot be defended without believing the infallibility of the church it followes that we must either acknowledg in Her such an infallibility or tell Christians that for ought they know all that they belieue of God of Christ of Scripture of the Resurrection of the Dead of Heaven of Hell of all the Articles of Christian Religion may proue no better than a dreame or an imposture or fiction Blessed be the infinite Wisdome and Goodness of God who destroyes the Wisdom of the Wise and the prudence of the prudent 1. Cor. 1.19 This Man was picked out among all the men in England to impugne the Roman Church his Book was approved by three chiefest men of an University and was excessively cryed vp by his friends neither did any Writer ever shew greater malice against the Roman Church than hee But with what success No other but this That Protestants must either deny with this man all Certainty of Scripture and Christianity or els acknowledg not the Scripture but the Church to be Judg of Controversyes in matters cōcerning religiō that is they must either renoūce Christianity by denying the infallibility of Christian Faith or abandon Protestancy by condēning their capitall doctrine of the fallibility of the Church and sufficiency of Scripture alone and so must returne to belieue and obey the Decrees and Definitions of Generall Councells and with them condemne the Heresyes which now themselves maintayne This then may be my first Argument to proue the infallibility of Gods Church and indeed this alone might suffice with Christians yet 2. 2. This Truth of the necessity of an infallible Judg appeares also by what hath bene sayd about Translations Additions Detractions Corruptions and loss of some Scriptures which would leaue vs in doubt and perplexity vnless we believed an infallible Authority able to supply all such defects and provide for all events 3. 3. Out of Charity Maintayned Part 1. Pag 64. N. 19. There must be some Judg fit for all sorts of Persons learned and vnlearned which the ignorant may
will serue for an Answer to this very Objection of resistibility or irresistibility which you make against vs who defend the infallibility of the Church and absolute certaine Assistance that she shall never erre in matters belonging to Faith and Religion But to returne 80. Seing the Church cannot perish she cannot faile in Fundamentall Points and seing also you confess that it is impossible to determine in particular what Poynts be Fundamentall and we see other Protestants could never yet agree in giving a Catalogue of such Points we must either belieue that she can faile in no Points at all or else we cannot be sure that she failes not in Fundamentall Articles This granted I go a step further and say that seing in the ordinary course of Gods Providence we are not taught by immediate Revelations Enthusiasmes or the like but by the Ministery of the Church it followes that God hath indued and adorned her with such Prerogatives and Notes that all who will cooperate with Gods Grace may attaine the knowledg of Her and be able to joyne themselves to Her Communion and abandon all other false Synagogues or Congregations Otherwise it is all one to make the true Church invisible or vndiscernable from other Communityes and to say there is no true Church at all in order to any fruit which faithfull people can take or receiue from Her and infallibility in Fundamentall Points which even Protestants grant Her will serue to no purpose at all It is your owne saying Pag 105. N. 139. No Church can possibly be fit to be a Gaide but only a Church of some certaine denomination And what comfort can it be to our soules as Whitaker sayd That Christs Church never shall faile if we cannot know where that Church is nor that there be Meanes and Notes to shew her vnto vs Neither can any be obliged to obey her Commands follow her Doctrine heare her preachers frequent her Sacraments c vnless they can be sure to find her Rom 10. Vers 14.15 How shall they belieue him whom they haue not heard And how shall they heare without a Preacher But how shall they preach vnless they be sent Behold preaching in the ordinary course necessary to Faith and lawfull Mission necessary to Preaching All which can belong only to the visible true Church For this cause Ephes 4. There must be in the Church Pastors to governe and Doctors to teach And Esay 62.6 We reade vpon thy walles Jerusalem I haue appointed watchmen all the day and all the night for ever they shall not hold their peace If they hold not their peace they must haue auditours who must be knowne and these must know where their Preachers are to be found Even Calvin Lib 4. Inst Chap 1. Sect 4. Saith that the knowledg of the visible Church is not only profitable but necessary for vs and that we are to be kept vnder her custody and government all the dayes of our life our weakness requiring that we be her Disciples through the whole course of our life And having Sect 5. alledged the words Eph 4.11 He adds We see that God who could make men perfect in a moment yet will not do it but by the education of the Church God inspires Faith but by Meanes of the Gospell as Paul tell vs Rom 10.17 That Faith comes by hearing Although the Power of God be not tyed to outward meanes yet he hath tyed vs to the ordinary way of teaching Wherby we see that even those who talke so much of the private Spirit yet profess that it is not given without the Ministery of the Church as I saied above Fulk also in his Answer to the counterfaite Catholike Pag 100. sayes of Preachers Truth cannot be continued in the world but by their Ministery And in Propositions and Principles disputed in the vniversity of Geneva Pag 845. The Ministery is an esseÌ„tiall mark of the true Church Mr. Deering in his Reading vpon the Epistle to the Hebrewes Chap 3. Lecture 15. sayth Salvation springeth in preaching of the Gospell and is shut vp againe with the ceasing of it And Ibid Lectur 16. fine Take away preaching you take away Faith Cartwright in his second Reply Part 1. Pag 381. circa medium maintayneth that the people perish where there be no preachers although there be Readers And that by bare reading ordinarily there is no salvation no Faith Let Protestants marke this If Scripture were of itself evident in all Points of Faith it were sufficient to reade it and people need not perish for want of preaching but Faith and salvation might be had without it by only reading Scripture 81. Out of what hath bene sayd these important Corollaryes are manifestly deduced First That the true Church which all ought to seeke and may find if they indeavour aÌ„d be not waÌ„ting to Gods Grace is a visible Congregation which may be distinguished from all other aÌ„d so come to be of one denominatioÌ„ For it is evideÌ„t our Saviour sayd not of false pastours aÌ„d prelates he that heares you heares me Luc 10.16 nor were false Preachers sent by him nor did he appoynt Pastours Doctors c. to be followed in a false Church nor did he appoynt watchmen c. in Babylon but in Jerusalem nor can the sayings of Protesâ—nts which I haue â—ited aboue be vnderstood either of a false Church or of a true Church as it were in generall and in abstracto without being possible to be knowen in particular But they must be vnderstood of a true Church with relation to vs and the salvation of particular persons for which end our B Saviour did constitute and doth preserue Her What els â—â—n Calvins words signify That it is necessary for vs to know her That the keepes and defends vs That we must be her Discrples That our of her â—osome no remission of sins can be hoped That although God could yet he will not bring Vs to perfection but by the education of the Church That he inspires Faith by the instrument of the Gospell and Meanes of hearing and that God hath tyed vs to this ordinary way And what els can Fulk and other Protestants meane For it were but foolery to say That an vnknowne Ministery is an essentiall Mark of the true Church Or that salvation springeth in a preaching not known where to be found and is shut vp with ceasing of it Or that truth cannot be continued in the world without the ministery of Preachers Or of any such sayings 82. Secondly It followes that seing there must alwayes be a knowne particular Church which cannot perish that is in your Principles cannot erre in Fundamentall Points that knowen Church must be infallible absolutely in all Points Fundamentall and not Fundamentall For if we did conceiue she could erre in any one Point of Faith we could not rely on her Authority in any other which you also grant as we haue lately shewed and Pag 105. N. 139. you speake directly to our present
Fundamentall Points but that Particular Churches ād Persons may But in your doctrine there cā be no such distinction The vniversall Church with you is infallible because if she erre Fundamentally she ceases to be a Church as also Particular Churches if they erre Fundamentally cease to be Churches and the same I say of particular Persons and so particular Churches and Persons shall be no less infallible than the vniversall Church which is contrary to the doctrine of other Protestants and to your owne words also Pag 106. N. 140. We yield vnto you that there shall be a Church which never erreth in some Points because as we conceaue God hath promised so much Now you will not say that God hath promised so much to particular Churches and Persons and therfor you must put a difference between the vniversall and particular Churches which difference cannot stand with this your speculation that the Church is only in fallible in some points because if she erre in them she ceases to be a Church which exoticall kind of infallibility agrees to all particular Churches and persons 87. Hence it is that Protestants ground the Perpetuily of the vniverfall Church not vpon a probable belief or hope that it shall be so or vpon Her actuall not erring Fundamentally as you do but vpon some antecedent Principle namely the Promises of our Saviour Christ and Assistance of the Holy Ghost Dr. Potter in particular whom you vndertooke to defend speakes very clearly to this purpose Pag 105. in these words The whole Militant Church that is all the members of it cannot possibly erre either in the whole Faith or any necessary Article of it For such an errour must needs disvnite all the Members from Christ the Head and so dissolue the Body and leaue Him no Church which is impossible Mark that he sayth not as you doe The Church cannot erre in any necessary Article because therby she should cease to be a Church but contrarily seing it is impossible that she can cease to be a Church and leaue Christ no Church she cannot possibly erre in the whole Faith or any necessary Article of it With what modesty or conscience do you alledg here Dr. Potter as if he did not disagree from you The contrary wherof will appeare more by his words Pag 153.154.155 The Church saith he Vniversall is ever in such manner assisted by the good spirit that it never totally failes or falls of from Christ For it is so firmely founded on the Rocke Matth 16.18 that is on Christ the only Fundation Cor 3.11 that the gates of Hell whether by temptation or persecution shall not prevaile against it And that you may see how far he was from dreaming of your Chimericall infallibility he cites Bellarmine de Eccles Lib 3. Cap 13. saying That the Church cannot erre is proved out of Scripture Matth 16. vpon this rocke I will build my Church and then goes on in these words The whole Church cannot so erre as to be destroyed For then our Lords promise here Matth 16.18 of Her stable edification should be of no value Obserue this And what he hath afterward in these words The Church vniversall hath not the like assurance from Christ that she shall not erre in vnnecessary additions as she hath for her not erring in taking away from the Faith what is Fundamentall and necessary It is comfort enough for the Church that the Lord in mercy will secure her from all capitall dangers and conserue her on earth against all enemyes But she may not hope to triumph over all sinne and error That the Church be never robbed of any truth necessary to the being of the Church the promises of Christ assure vs. Behold First The Church may erre in not Fundamentall but cannot erre in Fundamentall Ponts wheras you say she may erre in both 2. That the reason why she canot erre in Fundamentall Points is because she is firmely founded on the rocke and if she did faile our Lords promise of her stableedification should be of no value And therfore the Lord will even secure her from all capitall dangers and of this the promises of Christ assure vs. And this as I sayd is the common doctrine of Protestants Wherby it appeares that the Church is not sayd to be infallible in Fundamentall Points because she should perish by every such Error but contrarily because she is assisted by the Holy Ghost never to erre in such Points she shall never be destroyed in direct opposition to you who say that she may erre and by erring be destroyed What a kind of Syllogisme must be framed out of this your Doctrine in this manner The Church is infallible or cannot erre in Fundamentall Points because if she did so erre she should cease to be a Church But she may cease to be a Church Therfore she is infallible and cannot erre in Fundamentalls You should in ferr the direct contrary Therfore she may erre and is not infallible I beseech you of what value should our Saviours promises be according to your doctrine That the Church should not erre at least in Fundamentall Poynts of Faith No. You say she can erre in such Points In what then Only in this admirable worke that if she did erre she should be sure to pay for it by perishing For say you To say the Church while it is the Church may erre in Fundamentalls implyes contradiction and is all one as to say the Church while it is the Church may not be the Church This then is the effect of Gods Promises that that shall be which implyes contradiction to be otherwise that is Gods Power and Promise shall only effect that two contradictions be not true as that if some Living sensible creature be a beast he shall not be a man Is not this to be sacrilegiously impious against God and his holy Promises and Providence Is the Church so built vpon a Rocke assisted by the Holy Ghost that the gates of Hell shall not prevaile against Her only to this effect that if she erre she shall perish that is the Gates of Hell shall in the most prevalent way that can be imagined prevaile against her What foolish impietyes are these Let vs therfore inferr out of these Premises That there must be alwayes a true visible Church knowen and discernable from all false ones and therfore of one denomination That even according to Protestants this true Church must be infallible in all Fundamentall Points That if she be infallible in Fundamentall Points we must belieue Her to be infallible in all even according to your owne grant as I haue shewed out of your owne words And so finally we must conclude that there must be alwayes a visible Church of one denomination and infallible in all Points of Faith as well Fundamentall as not Fundamentall 88. And by what hath bene sayd I confute and retort your saying Pag 150. N. 39. A man that were destitute of all meanes of communicating his thoughts to
is sufficient that it is nothing to the purpose Belike if it had been to the purpose that is against you you would not haue let me say even so much Truth togeather 9. In your N. 48. you speake to Charity Maintayned in these words Out of liberality you will suppose that Scripture like to a corporall light is by it selfe alone able to determine and moue our vnderstanding to assent Yet not withstanding this supposall Faith still you say must goe before Scripture because as the light is visible only to those that haue eyes So the Scripture only to those that haue the eye of Faith Thus you But it is reason that the words of Charity Maintayned should be set downe as they are and not lamely and imperfectly as you giue them These are his words Part 1. Chap 1. N. 12. Pag 52. Let us suppose not grant that Scripture is like to corporall light by it selfe alone able to determine and moue our vnder standing to assent yet the similitude proves against themselves Protestants for light is not visible except to such as haue eyes which are not made by the light but must be presupposed as produced by some other cause And therfore to hold the similitude Scripture can be cleare only to those who are endued with the eye of Faith or as Potter sayth Pag 141. To all that haue eyes to discerne the shinning beames therof that is To the believer as immediatly after he speakes Faith then must not originally proceed from Scripture but is to be presupposed before we can see the light therof and consequently there must be some other-meanes precedent to Scripture to beget faith which can be no other than the Church 10 This is the discourse of Charity Maintayned and you must not contradict it vnless you will proclaime your selfe a Pelagian that we are able by our naturall forces or vnderstanding to belieue as we ought in order to Eternall Happynesse as the Eye of our Body can by the naturall abilitie thereof see colours For as I shewed in the Introduction we being not able of our selves to produce any one Act of supernaturall Divine Faith need the Assistance of the infused Habit of Faith which is a Theologicall Vertue or somthing equivalent to it to enable our vnderstanding for the exercise of every such Act and therfore the aggregatum of our vnderstanding and that Helpe is for the believing of Scripture as our corporall eye is for seeing of light or colours And then Scripture will correspond to light our vnderstanding with that supernaturall Helpe to our eye and the Act of believing to the Act of Seeing This being premised it will be found that either your Objections vanish into nothing or that you must be guilty of Pelagianisme as Christianity Maintayned sayd Pag 70. You say If Scripture do moue and determine our vnderstanding to assent then the Scripture and its moving must be before this assent as the cause must be before its owne effect now this very assent is nothing els but Faith and Faith nothing els than the vnderstandings assent And therfore vpon this supposall Faith doth and must originally proceed from Scripture as the effect from its proper cause and the influence and efficacy of Scripture is to be presupposed before the assent of Faith vnto which it moves and determines and consequently if this supposition of yours were true there should need no other meanes precedent to Scripture to beget Faith Scripture itselfe being able as here you suppose to determine and moue the vnderstanding to assent that is to belieue them and the verityes contained in them 11. This is your Objection which goes vpon a false ground and doth not distinguish between the Act and Habit of Faith or somthing eqvivalent to it in actu primo enabling our vnderstanding to exercise supernaturall Acts of believing For Scripture doth moue and determine our vnderstanding only to the Actus secundus or an Act of Faith but not to the Habit of Faith or somewhat equivalent to it which must answer to our corporall eye which cannot be produced by Scripture If you had considered this Truth you would not haue gone forward and sayd neither is this to say that the Eyes with which we see are made by the light by which we see For you are mistaken much if you conceiue that in this comparison faith Answers to the Eye But if you will not peruert it the Analogy must stand thus Scripture must Answer to light The eye of the soule that is the vnderstanding or the faculty of assenting to the bodily eye and lastly assenting or believing to the Act of seeing For I haue told you that our vnderstanding in order to Acts of Faith alone cannot be compared to our corporall eye which by its owne naturall force can see a proportionate object and so your whole Analogy is made voide and all that you ground vpon it Thus we haue heard even Potter saying That Scripture is of Divine Authority the Believer sees by that glorious beame of light that shines in Scripture I would know of what Beliefe the Doctour speakes Of Faith in Act or in Habit If of beliefe in Habit then they are Believers before they see that glorious beame of light which shines in Scripture If he meane the Act of Faith then by that Act he sees that glorious beame which Act must therfore be the Eye wherby he saith the Believer is sayd to see And he speakes yet more clearly in these words following The Church is the watchman that holdeth out the light in open View and presenteth the shining beames therof to all that haue eyes to discerne it Therfore he supposes eyes to which the Scripture is represented which eyes being not only the naturall Power of our vnderstanding must be somthing els And the Protestant Amesius de Circulo after he had spoken much of the light of Scripture comes to say Tantùm fide vt oculo opus esse statuimus quae in spiritum resolvitur tanquam in causam Where you see he compares Faith to an Eye and we may aske him whether he meane of habituall or Actuall Faith and apply to his Answer whatsoever it be the same reflection which I made even now concerning Potters words The like difficulty and Argument may be made against the private spirit which if it be a particular Revelation that Scripture is the word of God distinct from the Revelations contained in Scripture it followes that Scripture doth not containe all Divine Revelations and that our vnderstanding with that Revelation must be the eye wherby Scripture is seene and not be produced by Scripture If it be not a Divine Revelation it must be tryed by the Beliefe of Scripture and so that Beliefe must be an eye precedent to the private spirit and consequently be an eye to itselfe and both come before and follow itselfe yea whatsoever that spirit be certaine or vncertaine a Revelation or not a Revelation yet it must serue for
be infallible only in Fundamentall Points if she erre not in such Points she performes as much as our Saviour exacts at her hands seing he exacts no more than that which may bring her to salvation and it is not necessary that God assist her for more than salvation Or if he absolutely exact more than is necessary men are bound to doe more than is necessary and so more shall be necessary than is necessary because it is necessary to doe what we are bound to doe 30. You say to Ch. Ma The ground of your errour here is your not distinguishing betweene Actuall certainty and Absolute infallibility But in this you speake either against your owne conscience or against manifest truth For if you say the meaning of Cha. ma. to be that whosoever is actually certaine of one thing must haue an absolute infallibility in all other matters your Conscience cannot but tell you that He could haue no such meaning as if because I am actually certaine what I am doing at this instant I must therfore be infallible and know certainly what every one is doing in the Indyes But if you meane that it is an errour in Ch Ma to say that if one haue actuall certainty of a thing he must be infallible both in that ād all other for which he hath the same or like grounds to make him certaine then you erre against manifest truth it being evident that if I clearly see my selfe to haue an vndoubted Ground to belieue a thing it is impossible that I should erre in any other for which I also evidētly see that I haue the same certaine ground This is our case If I be actually certaine by evidence of Scripture of the truth of one thing I am certaine that I cannot erre in any other Point for which I haue the like evidence of Scripture as he who actually assents to a demonstration knowne to be such can neither erre in it nor in any other knowne to haue the like certainty This being supposed your examples proue against yourselfe as I shewed in an other like occasion 31. I haue already particularly and at large answered your N. 27.28.29 In your N. 30 33.34 you impugne Ch Ma. whose words I wish you had set downe as you found them in Him and not as you collect and offer them to the Reader whom therfore I must intreate to peruse the Author himselfe Ch. Ma. N. 13. saith That to limite the generall promises of our Saviour for his Church to Points Fundamentall as namely that the gates of Hell shall not prevaile against Her and that the Holy Ghost shall lead them into all truth c. is to destroy all Faith For by this manner of interpreting and limiting words whatsoever is delivered in Scripture concerning the infallibility of the Apostles or of Scripture it selfe may be restrained to infallibility in Fundamentall Points And in this Ch. Ma. hath reason For seing you haue no certaine Rule of Faith but Scripture whatsoever you cannot proue by evident Scripture cannot be to you certaine or a Point of Faith Let vs then take these words Matth. 16.18 The gates of Hell shall not prevaile c. Which our B. Saviour pronounced of the Church and those other Jo 16. V. 13.14.16 The spirit shall lead you into all truth and shall abide with you for ever which promise Potter saith Pag 153. was made directly and primarily to the Apostles who had the spirits guidance in a more high and absolute manner than any since them yet it was made to them for the behoofe of the Church and is verifyed in the Church vniversall The first words The gates of Hell shall not prevaile against Her Potter Pag. 153. limites they shall not prevaile so far as to sever it from the foundation that is that She shall not erre in Fundamentall Points Now I beseech you produce some evident Text of Scripture declaring that those words are not to be vnderstood as they sound that the Church shall be secure from all errours against Faith even in Points not Fundamentall which errours are gates that leade to hell seing they are as you often confesse damnable in themselves and so lead to hell and damnation but with this limitation that she shall be secured for Points Fundamentall Produce I say some such evident Text of Scripture and not topicall discourses of your owne In the meane tyme while you are busy about that impossible taske of producing some such Text 32. I will ponder the second place The spirit shall lead you into all truth and shall abide with you for ever which Potter saith is vnderstood of the Apostles and of the vniversall Church but so as being referred to the Apostles it signifyes all truths Fundamentall and not Fundamentall Points which is a harder explanation than that of the former words out of S. Matthew The gates of hell c. because you are engaged to alledge some evident Text of Scripture to proue that the very selfsame as I may saie indivisible Text which is acknowledged to speake both of the Apostles and of the Church must be forced and as it were racked to speake one thing of the Apostles and another of the Church All truth for the Apostles not all but only Fundamentall truth for the Church Bring I say some such evident Text of Scripture But it seemes you did easily perceiue that no such place could be pretended and therfore in stead of Scripture or the Word of God you offer only your owne conceits discourses and seeming congruences which are far beneath that certainty which is required for an act of divine Faith There is not say you N. 30. the same reason for the Churches absolute Infallibility as for the Apostles and Scriptures For if the Church fall into errour it may be reformed by comparing it with the Rule of the Apostles doctrine and Scripture But if the Apostles erred in delivering the Doctrine of Christianity to whom shall we haue recourse for the discovering and correcting their errour 33. Answer I haue often sayd that in matters knowne by revelation only and depending on the free will or decree of Almighty God we are not to proue by humane reason what he hath decreed Protestants grant that both the Apostles and the Church are infallible for Fundamentall Points If then one should make vse of your reason and say There is not the same reason for the Churches infallibility in Fundamentall Points as for the Apostles For if the Church fall into such errours it may be reformed by comparing it with the Rule of the Apostles doctrine and Scripture But if the Apostles haue erred in delivering the doctrine of Christianity to whom shall we haue recourse for the discovering and correcting their errour What would you answer Would you grant that the Church is not infallible in Fundamentall Articles because there is not the same reason for Her infallibility in Fundamentall Points as there is for the Apostles That were to deny the
errour and the same Heaven cannot containe them both wherby your Question why should any errour exclude any from the Churches Communion which will not depriue him of eternall salvation Is clearly inverted and retorted by saying Why should not any errour exclude any man from the Churches communion which will depriue him of eternall salvation The Arguments which you bring in this Number and N. 41.42.43 to proue that every one of the foure Gospells containes all points necessary to be believed haue been confuted at large hertofore 19. To your N. 44. and 45. I answer that Dr. Vshers words are as vniversall as can be whÌ„ he speakes of Propositions which without all controversie are vniversally receaved in the whole Christian world And if you will needs haue his other words the sevrrall professions of Christianity that hath any large spread in any part of the world to be a Limitation of those other which you haue now cited I am content vpon condition that you confesse it to be also a contradiction to those former words of his As for the thing itselfe Cha Ma names places of large extent in which the Antitrinitarians are rife and I feare he might haue added too many in England Holland and other places wher Heresy raignes and even Dr. Porter cites Hooker and Morton teaching that the deniall of our Saviours Divinity is not a Fundamentall heresy destructiue of a true Church neither doth the Doctor disproue them Paulus Ueridicus I grant names the B. Trinity among coinopista not as if Dr. Vsher had affirmed it to be such but as in Truth it is necessary for all or rather indeed he affirmes nothing but only as they say exempligratia by way of supposition which abstracts from the Truth of the thing itselfe For thus you cite his words To consider your coinopista or communiter credenda Articles as you call them vniversally believed by these severall professions of Christianity which haue any large spread in the world These Articles for example may be the vnity of the Godhead the Trinity of Persons the Immortality of the soule c Where you see he speakes only exempli gratia or by a may be according to the Doctrine of Catholiks without regarding whether or no in the opinion of Dr. Vsher the denyall of the Trinity exclude salvation But it is both ridiculous and vnjust in you to call this the greatest objection of Charity Maintayned which he touched only by the way and in order to Dr. Vâ—shers words For concerning the thing itselfe Protestants who deny the infallibility of Gods Church will not I feare hold the denyall of the Trinity to be a fuÌ„dameÌ„tall errour seing so many old heretiques haue denied the Truth of that Article and you with your Socinian brethren doe the same at this day and pretend many texts â—f Scripture for your Heresy If 〈◊〉 had at hand Paulus Ueridiâ—us perhaps I could discover somewhâ—t more against you For I remember he shewes how according to Dr. Vshers discourse and grounds divers Articles of Christian Faith may be cassiered and cast out of the Church and he finds so much matter against the Doctor as it is no wonder if he in his short examination tooke no notice of the contradiction which Charity Maintayned touches as he Charity Maintayned takes not notice of all the advantages or other contradictions which perhaps he might haue found and which Paulus Ueridicus observes but that was not the ayme of Ch Ma in his answer to Potter 20. In your N. 46. you say There is no contradiction that the same man at the same time should belieue contradictions Which N. 47. you declare or temper in this manner Indeed that men should not assent to contradictions and that it is vnreasonable to doe soe I willingly grant But to say it is impossible to be done is against every mans experience and almost as vnreasonable as to doe the thing which is saied to be impossible For though perhaps it may be very difficult for a man in his right wits to belieue a contradiction expressed in termes especially if he belieue it to be a contradiction yet for men being cowed and awed by superstition to perswade themselves vpon slight and triviall grounds that these or these though they seeme contradictions yet indeed are not so and so to belieue them or if the plaine repugnance of them be veiled and disguised a little with some empty vnintelligible non-sense distinction or if it be not exprest but implyed not direct but by consequence so that the parties to whose Faith the propositions are offered are either innocently or perhaps affectedly ignorant of the contrariety of them for men in such cases easily to swallow and digest contradictions he that denies it possible must be a meer stranger in the world Thus you after your fashion involuing things in obscurity that one cannot penetrate what you would say but that you may haue an evasion against whatsoever may be obsected As for the thing it selfe There is no doubt but that men may belieue things which in themselves are contradictions wherof we need no other proofe then to shew that it happeneth so to yourselfe if you belieue what you affirme even in this matter wherin I shall demonstrate to be implied plaine contradiction But when men say with one voyce that we cannot assent to contradictions it is to be vnderstood if they be apprehended as such and therfore it might seeme needlesse to spend many words in confutation of this heresie as I may call it against the first principle of Reason Yet because your reasons may perhaps seeme to some to proue more since even in your explication or modification you saie only perhaps and may be of that which all the world holds for certaine and for the ground of all certainty in humane Reason and because if they be well considered they strike at the sublime mysteries of Christian Religion and in regard this is an age of Academiks and Sceptiks who willingly put all things to dispute wherby vnder pretence of freedome in Reason they take liberty against Religion as also to shew how little reason you had to take this vaine occasion of a fond flourish to shew a Socinian wit and lastly because by this occasion I may examine some other points I will both confute your reasons and shew that you contradict yourselfe 21. Only I cannot for beare to reflect how he who resolves Faith into Reason so much extold by him that he relyes theron as Catholiks doe vpon the infallibility of Gods Church or Calvinists vpon the private spirit or on the Grace of God which both Catholiks and Protestants against Pelagius belieue to be necessary for every Act of Divine Faith how I say this man doth now so extenvate Reason that if it indeed were so miserable and foolish as he makes it we might better belieue our dreames than our reason wherby he destroies all that himselfe builds vpon Reason and consequently Faith it selfe which in
fault it was in yielding too much For indeed Protestants doe not agree even in that fundamentall point that Christ is our Saviour or in Faith in Iesus Christ the Sonne of God and Saviour of the world Seing I haue shewed in divers occasions that they differ toto genere in their explication and beliefe of those Articles and accordingly Morton teaches that the Churches of Arians who denied our Saviour Christ to be God are to be accounted the Church of God because they doe hold the foundation of the Ghospell which is Faith in Iesus Christ the Sone of God and Saviour of the world as may be seene in Ch Ma Part. 1. Chap. 3. Pag. 103. and since the beliefe of those Articles is required to the consticuting of the very essence of a Church in the Lowest degree and they doe not agree in them it followes that they doe not agree in the very essence of a Church in the lowest degree As for Divine Precepts and Divine Promises which you say are clearly delivered in Scripture they belong to Agenda and not to Credenda according to your distinction and so men may agree in them and disagree in points of simple belief 38. Lastly If you had a minde to defend Protestants you should not alledg their agreement in such Points as they haue received from vs but in those wherin Luther and his fellowes forsooke the Faith of our Church with which all true Christian Churches did clearly agee and in those Protestants are so farre from agreement among themselves that in the chiefest matters divers of the most learned of them stand for vs against their pretended Brethren and vniversally it is most true that their agreement is only actuall and meerely accidentall in regard that they acknowledg no living infallible Judge of Controversyes to make them agree in case they should chance to doubt of those points wherin they casually agree and so still in actu primo they are in a disposition to disagree whereas Catholiques believing an infallible Judge are in a continuall disposition or a virtuall and potentiall agreement even in those things wherin particular persons may happen not to agree yea those many millions of Truths which you say are contayned in Scripture could not for ought Protestants know be so much as one if your doctrine were true that Scripture is not a materiall object of Faith which men are obliged to belieue And yet such is your inconstancy and spirit of contradicting yourself you say heere is it not manifest to all the world that Christians of all Professions do agree with one consent in the belief of all those Bookes of Scripture which were not doubted in the ancient Church without danger of damnation Nay is it not apparent that no man at this time can without hypocrisy pretend to belieue in Christ but of necessity he must do so Seeing he can haue no reason to belieue in Christ but he must haue the same to believe the Scripture Sr. If all Christians consent in the belief of Scripture how is not Scripture believed And if it be believed how is it not a materiall object of our belief or the thing which we belieue Nay you say no man at this tyme can pretend to belieue in Christ but of necessity he must belieue the Bookes of Scripture and so you declare that if Christ be a materiall object of our Faith the Scripture must also be such 39. But there remaines yet an other contradiction no less manifest and more strange than this which I now mentioned Heere you say expresly no man can pretend to belieue in Christ but of necessity he must belieue Scripture and you proue this your Assertion because he can haue no reason to belieue in Christ but he must haue the same to belieue the Scripture which proof to be of any force must suppose that there is alwaies an equall necessity for the belief of those things for the belief whereof there is an equall Reason Otherwise one might haue the same reason to belieue in Scripture which he hath to belieue in Christ and yet be obliged to belieue in Christ and not be obliged nor haue an equall necessity to belieue the Scripture vnder danger of damnation Is not all this cleare Now I beseech you remember what you write Pag. 116. N. 159. where you treate of this very matter that is of the belief of Scripture and of the belief of the contents thereof that is among other Points of our belief in Christ and you endeavour to proue that God requires of vs vnder pain of damnation only to belieue the verities therein contained and not the Divine Authority of the Bookes wherein they are contained Behold your Assertion contrary to that which we haue heard you say that the vndoubted Bookes of Scripture were not doubted of without danger of damnation But let vs see whether as you contradict yourself in your Assertions you doe not the same in the reason you giue for them You goe forward in the saied Pag. 116. N. 159. and say Not but that it were now very strang and vnreasonable if a man should belieue the matters of these Bookes and not the Authority of the Bookes and therefore if a man should professe the not believing of these I should haue reason to feare he did not belieue that But there is not alwaies an equall necessity for the belief whereof there is an equall reason No Is there not alwaies an equall necessity for the beliefe of c. How then did you proue that men cannot without danger of damnation doubt of the Bookes of Scripture as he cannot doubt of Christ because he can haue no reason to belieue in Christ but of necessity he must do so that is belieue the Scripture 40. Yet this is not all that heere offers itself about your Contradictions You say we haue the same reason to belieue the vndoubted Bookes of Scripture which we haue for our belief in Christ I suppose you meane vniversall Tradition for which you profess to receiue the Scripture How then were you obliged to belieue in Christ and teach that Christ is a materiall object of our Faith and yet that Scripture is not such an object If vniversall Tradition be sufficient to declare an Object to be revealed by God and the same vniversall Tr. dition deliver to vs Christ and Scripture it is a Contradiction to say the one is revealed and consequently is a materiall object of our Faith and not the other Or if one be revealed and not the other than you contradict your owne saying that there is the same reason for believing them both seing the one hath the Formall reason or Motiue of Faith namely divine Revelation which the other must want if you will needs deny it to be a Materiall Object of Faith And I hope to be revealed and not revealed are very different and not the same things or Reasons 41. In your N. 50. you fall Heavy vpon Cha. Ma. for saying
answer with Ch. Ma. that the Apostles set downe those Points Fundamentall and not Fundamentall which the Holy Ghost inspired them to deliver as you say they were inspired to set downe Credenda and not Agenda though these be of no lesse importance and necessity then those and you still begg the Question N. 75. that the end which the Apostles proposed was to set downe all necessary points of Faith The reasons which you giue N. 76. why some mysteries were omitted and others set downe can only be congruences of that which is done de facto and not arguments convincing that they could not haue done otherwise thē they did ād if they had set downe others and not these there could not haue wanted reasons for their so doing That the three Sages who came to adore our Saviour were also Kings is no new invention of Ch. Ma. but the judgment of the Ancient as may be seene in Cornelius a Lapide in Matth. Chap. 2. citing by name the Saints Ciprian Basil Chrisostom Hierom Hilary and Tertullian Isidore Beda Idacius The words which you cited out of Gordonius Huntlaeus Contr 2. Cap. 10. N. 10. that the Apostles were not so forgetfull after the receiving of the holy Ghost as to leaue out any prime ād Principall Foundation of Faith make nothing for your purpos seing we dispute not whether any prime or principall foundation of Faith be left out for we acknowledge that the Creed expresses the Creator of all things and Redeemer of mankinde as also the Blessed Trinity Resurrection Catholique Church Remission of sinnes and life everlasting which of themselves are prime and principall foundations of our Faith if they be vnderstood according to the interpretation and tradition of the Church but whether any necessary though not prime and principall be left out and that may well be necessary which is not prime and principall as many parts are necessary to make a house which are not the prime and principall parts therof Yet indeed Gordonius in that 10. Chapter assignes the properties of the foundation of Faith that is of that Authority vpon which our Faith relies which he proves Chap. 11. not to be Scripture alone and C. 12. not to be the private spirit but Chap 13. to be the Church and he saieth the Apostles could not leaue out of their Creed in quo continentur omnia prima fundamenta Fidei this primum praencipuum Fidei fundamentum Where you see he speakes of the First foundations of Faith and more things may be necessary than the First foundations Besides we deny not but all necessary points are contained in the Creed in some of those senses which I haue declared hertofore which being well cōsidered particularly that Article of the Catholick Church will demonstrate that the Creed togeather with those means which are affoarded vs by tradition c for the true vnderstanding therof and vndoubted supplying of what is not contained in it is of no lesse vse and profit then if all points had been exprest which indeed had been to little purpos yea would haue proved noxious by the malice of men without the declaration of the Church for the Orthodox sense and meaning of them 62. You doe not well in saying that Charity Maintayned denyes this consequence of Dr. Potter That as well nay better they might haue given no Article but that of the Church and sent vs to the Church for all the rest For in setting downe others besides that and not all they make vs belieue we haue all when we haue not all and neither gives reason against it nor satisfies his reason for it For Charity Maintayned performes both those things neither of which you say he performes as every one may see who reads his N. 29. to say nothing that in good Logick the defendent is not obliged to giue a reason why he denyes a consequence it being reason sufficiēt that the opponent or disputant proves it not though yet indeed Charity Maintayned doth shew the insufficiency of the Doctors inference by giving the like consequences which confessedly cannot be good and yourselfe endeavour to answer the reasons of Charity Maintayned which he brought against the sayd inference of Potter You say If our doctrine were true this short Creed I belieue the Roman Church to be infallible would haue been better that is more effectuall to keepe the believers of it from heresie and in the true Faith then this Creed which now we haue a proposition so evident that I cannot see how either you or any of your religion or indeed any sensible man can from his hart deny it Yet because you make shew of doing so or else which I rather hope doe not rightly aprehende the force of the Reason I will endeavour briefly to add some light and strength to it by comparing the effects of those sever all supposed Creeds 63. Answer perhaps I shall say in the beginning that which will make your endeavour proue vaine You say If our doctrine were true this short Creed I belieue the Roman Church to be infallible would haue been botter that is more effectuall to keepe the believes of it from heresie and in the true Faith then this Creed which now we haue But this ground of yours is evidently false For the effect or Fruit or Goodnesse or Betternesse so to speake of the Creed is not sufficiently explicated by being more effectuall to keepe men from heresy and in the true Faith but it implies also som particular articles which are to be believed in the beliefe of which that we may not erre the infallibility of the Church directs ād secures vs which office she might and would haue performed although this Article I belieue the Catholick Church directs ād secures vs had not beene exprest in the Creed yea that article ād the whole Creed supposes the infallibility of the Church to haue been proved ād believed antecedēter to thē that so we may be assured all the contēts therof to be infallibly true Now by the precise beliefe of that Creed which you propose taken alone we could not belieue any particular article of Faith because this precise act I belieue the Church to be infallible terminates in that one object of the infallibility of the Church from which I grant the beliefe of other particular objects may be derived when the Church shall propose thē but thē ipso facto we should begin to beleeue other particular objects and so haue an other Creed and not that little one of which you speake and besides which we are obliged to belieue other particular revealed Truths and therfor we must still haue some other Creed or Catechisme or what you would haue it called besides that one article of the Catholick Church as Charity Maintayned observes Pag 144. and consequently though that article of the Church haue that great and necessary effect of keeping vs from heresy and in the true Faith yet it wants that other property of a Creed
than words even that Maximianus who succeeded your wicked great Grandfather Nestorius in the Sea of Constantinople was a monk and a holy man and farre from being a parasite and an Embassage was sent to Rome from him the Emperour and people in congratulation of the victory gotten chiefly by meanes of Pope Caelestinus against Nestorius all which declared the Authority of the Roman Church 1200 yeares agoe though you tell vs you cannot beleeue it aÌ„d though you take notice of Maximianus who succeeded Nestorius yet you thought fit to dissemble this Embassage c. Whereof more may be seene in Baronius Ann 431.432 Your answer given N. 37. to the Anthority cited by Ch. Ma. out of John Patriarch of Constantinople cannot satisfy any who reads his words and your answer which is so evident that I need say no more 34. For answer to your N. 38.39.40.41 if in any occasion particularly in this I must intreate the Reader not to trust your summing vp the Discourse of Ch Ma N. 20.21.22.23 but to trust only his owne eyes which if he doe I am sure he will finde all that you object against vs in the saied Numbers to be answered already when we proved that Faith is the Gift of God and that in the ordinary course of Gods Providence it is exauditu by the preaching of Pastors Prelats Doctors c. And the necessity of a perpetuall succession of Bishops in the true Church besides what hath bene saied heretofore appeares by the confession of the best learned Protestants as may be seene in Brereley Tract 2. Sect 6. and Tract 2. Cap 3. Sect 4. and Tract 2. Cap 2. Sect 3. Subdivis 2. No man can doubt but that God may teach vs in what manner he pleases but seing de facto he will haue men to be taught by men aÌ„d that Faith is his Gift as we proved in the Introduction we shall be sure never to attaine this inward gift otherwise than by those outward meanes nor can we belieue the Doctrine of Christ without the Introduction of Teachers appointed and taught by his Holy Spirit Neither doth if follow that by this meanes one should be necessitated to be an Heretique because that there should haue bene a perpe â—uall Succession of believers in all points Orthodox is not a thing which is in our power as you argue most weakely and seing Protestants teach that Heresie is a deviation from Scripture and that it is not in the power of man to conserue Scripture incorrupted Protestants may be Heretiques whether they will or no if your objection were of any force And why do you not make this argument Men cannot sinne vnles they exist and be in their right witts But that a man be in his right witts or exist is not in his Power for who can be his owne creator Therefore sinning or not sinning depends not on these things As therefore men may be Heretiques and sinners because de facto God conserves Scripture and preserves men in their being so seing he hath promised to conserue his Church without errour against Faith and gives every one sufficient grace to follow her Directions if they refuse to doe so they become Heretiques by their owne free-will not by any necessity Your saying By this reason you should say as well that no man can be a good Bishop or Pastour or King or Magistrate or Father that succeeds a bad one is manifestly impertinent seing the Direction of Faith is not the personall life but the publik Definition and doctrine of such as God hath appointed to be our Guides and whom he hath commanded vs to obey 36. Seing your N. 39. containes only a heap or rabble of demands without telling vs what you hold I were much to blame If I would spend time about theÌ„ especially I having proved out of Fathers and learned Protestants that the true Church cannot subsist without a succession of Bishops which is the point you desire should be proved before you answer the argument of Ch. Ma. and your owne demands whereof I must tell you in generall some are ridiculous some dangerous and tending to confusion some begg the Question some containe shrewd insinuations against the necessity of Bishops some are evidently fals and all of no force against vs. You ask whether Ch Ma in saying the Donatists Sect was confined to Africa do not forget himself and contradict what he saied N 17. that they had some of their Sect residing in Rome But this is a poore contradiction For even D. Potter Pag 125. cites S. Austine affirming that the Donatists held the Church to haue perished through the whole world except in their Sect in Africa and Pag 126. the Doctor denies not but they had some of their Sect in Rome and you expresly affirme it yet because they were so few as could not make any considerable number it may well be saied that their Sect de facto was confined to Africa as they were wont to say and as Ch Ma must speake in their sense concerning them and he is expresly warranted by S. Optatus Lib 2. saying that the Donatists Bishop in Rome was Episcopus sine populo Non enim grex aut populus appellandi fuerant pauci qui inter quadraginta quod excurrit basilicas locum vbi colligerent non habebant 37. All that is materiall in your N 40. hath bene answered heretofore to your small credit You haue no reason to alter the Translation of Ch. Ma. of the words of Tertullian How is it likely that so many and so great Churches should erre in one Faith Quid vetisimile est vt tot ac tantae in vnam Fidem erraverint Which you say should be translated should erre into one Faith For it is certaine that your obscure expression should erre into one Faith must signifie that it is not likely so many different Churches agreeing should erre in that Faith in which they agree which is according to the cleare expression of Ch Ma And it is cleare that the reason why they could not erre into one Faith must be because error could not consist with one Faith for if it could they might erre into one Faith and so your Translation if it be good must be beholding to his expression You say in the Pag 362. that the Roman Church is Catholique to herself alone and Hereticall to all the rest of Christian Churches and in this Pag 332. N. 11. you say It is not Heresy to oppose any Truth propounded by the Church but only such a Truth as is an essentiall part of the Gospell of Christ Which sentences put together conclude the Roman Church to want what is essentiall to a Church and yet you expresly teach in other parts of your Book that she errs not in essentiall or fundameÌ„tall points How will you saue yourself from a contradiction in this As also in your saying that it is not Heresy to oppose any truth but only such a truth as in an essentiall part
Nonne Deo subjecta erit anima mea which entire submission and subjection is evidently more necessary in Faith than in Charity against which some sinnes may be veniall whereas every errour against any truth sufficiently propounded as revealed by God is a deadly sinne nor can be excused ob parvitatem materiae 50. You conclude and say to Ch. Ma. Your Corollaries drawen from it the Doctrine of S. Thomas That every errour against Faith involves opposition against Gods testimony That Protestants haue no Faith no certainty and that you haue all Faith must together with it fall to the ground Which words are either non-sense or evidently false For who ever denied not your self excepted that every errour against Faith involves an opposition against Gods testimony which is the very essence of errour against Faith that is of Heresy 51. Your N. 50.51.52 haue bene answered heretofore and are answered by this one consideration That your Faith is not raised aboue the probable motives or Arguments of Credibility which being evident your kind of Faith must be evident but our Catholique Faith is an assent aboue the saied motives and is certaine though not evident as I haue declared els where and by this meanes your imitation of the Argument of Ch Ma to proue that the pretended faith of Protestants implied not obscurity falls to the ground because we belieue with a greater certainty than is derived from the sole motives of credibility so that your Faith must haue evidence but cannot haue certainty The Faith of Protestants who pretended to be assured what Bookes be Canonicall by the private spirit must be certaine and evident and consequently not obscure and therefor Calvin Lib Institut Cap 7. Sect 2. saieth that by the spirit men may discerne true Scripture as we discerne lucem à tenebris album à nigro suaue ab amaro light from darkness white from black sweete from sower And so the Faith of Catholiques only remaines both certaine and obscure as Christian Faith ought to be 52. Your N. 53.54.55 haue bene either answered already or els containe meere sayings without any proofe That the Jewes before our Saviours tyme conserved the Scripture is no wonder since at that tyme they were the true Church and afterward it was not in their power to corrupt it at their pleasure in regard the Apostles and other converted to Christian Religion could manifestly haue convinced them as shameless falsaries But what hath this to doe with that Church which was the vniversall Church of Christ before Luther and if it be fallible and so could haue bene permitted to corrupt Scripture you can at this tyme haue no certainty of the Bible That Luther opposed the Roman Church appeares by what I sayd heretofore and is demonstrated by Ch Ma Part 1. Chap 5. N. 29. and yourself N. 73. describe the man in such manner as makes the matter credible of it self 53. You tell vs N. 56. that the Bible only is the Religion of Protestants Of this we haue saied enough heretofore Now I will only put you in minde First that this cannot agree with your Doctrine that Scripture is not a materiall object of Faith nor which men are obliged to belieue For if it only be the Religion and Faith of Protestants and yet be not a point or object of Faith which you are bound to belieue it followes that Protestants haue no Religion or Point of Faith at all Secondly We haue heard you say Pag 287. N. 82. that some Protestants tooke for the model or Idaea of their Reformation not Scripture only but also the Decrees of Councells and the Writings of the Fathers of the first fiue Ages Thirdly you say Whatsoever els they Protestants belieue besides Scripture and the plain irrefragable indubitable consequences of it well may they hold it as a matter of Opinion but as matter of Faith and Religion neither can they with coherence to their owne grounds belieue it themselves nor require the belief of it of others without most high and most Schismaticall presumption It is strang that the Approbators of your Book and other Protestants did not see a thing verie evident That in these words you declare Protestant pretended Bishops and the Church of England to haue bene guilty of most high and most Schismaticall presumption for requiring the belief of the 39. Articles some of which you belieue neither to be contained in Scripture nor to be the plain irrefragable indubitable consequences of it but to be fals and repugnant to it So that we haue reason more and more to be even amazed that such a Book could at such a tyme be published 54. Your N. 57 and the rest till your N. 72. inclusiuè haue bene answered in different occasions respectiuè Vnfortunate man Who will not compassionate your disorder of minde and pen when N. 66. you are not ashamed to say of Catholiques It is too too apparent that your Church hath got and still maintaines her authority over mens consciences by counterfeiting false stories by obtruding on the world supposititious writings by corrupting the monuments of former times and defacing out of them all which any way makes against you by warres by perfecutions by Massacres by Treasons by Rebellions in short by all manner of carnall meanes whether violent or fraudulent If Luther found the Roman Church and such as were vnited with her that is all Orthodox Christian Churches in such a state as you describe what a scandall must it needs haue bene to Jewes Turks Pagans and all the enemies of Christian Religion 55. Whosoever reads your N 73. will find that you abandon Luther and that you grant very much in favour of the Roman Church as will appeare by reading Ch Ma heere N. 32. and I obserue that you confess with Luther that in the Papacy are many good things that haue come from them to vs and then why do you alwaies deny that you receiue Scripture from vs which is one of those many good things that haue come from vs to you as Luther expressly confesses 56. In your N. 74. you involue and make things seeme obscure which are very cleare You cite Ch. Ma. as if he saied in generall certainty and prudence are certaine grounds of supernaturality which is evidently fals it being manifest that some naturall knowledg may be certaine and prudent You say also that Ch Ma makes perswasion and opinion all one And why because he saieth the Faith of Protestants is but an human perswasion or opinion as if you should haue saied when you say this or that we make this and that all one or in saying such a one studied in Oxford or Cambridg we make Oxford or Cambridg all one The truth is Ch. Ma. neither intended to make them all one or different it being sufficient for his purpose that the Faith of Protestants was not a certaine divine assent call it otherwise what you please You ask how we can assure you that our Faith is not our