vseth his owne election siue ad instituendas siue ad suscipiendas haereses whether it be to be an authour of Heresy or a follower as Tertullian speaketh in the place before cyted and all this he doth according to his owne iudgment and fancy ascribing litle or rather nothing at all to the authority of the Church in any thing that misliketh his owne iudgment so that in conclusion these two men are most opposite the one to the other 11. The first cleare knowledg that euer the Church had of this peculiar and Ecclesiasticall appropriation of these two words Catholicke Hereticke was from the holy Ghost inspirer of all truth as hath byn formerly noted and to beginne first with the last the very first intimation giuen of that odious and pestiferous appellation of Heresy or Hereticke was by the Apostles theÌ„selues as namely S. Paul to the Corinth There must be heresies that those who be approued may be manifested amongst you which manifestation Tertull. saith is meant aswel of those tam qui in persecutionibê° steterint quaÌ„ quiad haereses exorbitauerint who haue remained constaÌ„t in persecutions as they who haue not declined out of the right path to follow heresies So he Secondly the same Apostle in his Epistle to Titus writeth thus Auoid an Hereticall man after one or two reprehensioÌ„s knowing that such a one is subuerted and sinneth as daÌ„ned by his owne proper iudgement Id non tam infirmitate ac ignorantia quà m spontanea malitia de obstinata industria peccat For so I may well expound it that is he sinneth not so much of infirmity and ignorance as he doth of voluntary malice and obstinate industry or els eligit sibi in quo damnatur as Tertullian giueth the sense his owne election maketh good his owne daÌ„nation And as S. Paul inueighed thus against Heresy Hereticks so did S. Peter as you shall read 2. Pet. 2. branding them for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 damnable heresies and the teachers of them for such as brought vpon themselues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 swift damnation or as it is rendred in another place immediatly following 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and their damnation sleepeth not Can any thing be spoken more terrible to forwarne vs of heresy and hereticks then this Excellent therefore is the counsaile of Tertullian wishing vs to auoid an hereticke post vnam correptionem non post disputationem adeo interdixit disputationem correptionem designans causam haeretici conueniendi hoc vnam scilicet quia non est christianus ne more Christiani semel iterum sub duobus aut tribus testibus castigandus videretur cum ob hoc sit castigandus propter quod non sit cum illo disputandum After one reprehension and not after a disputation for that the Apostle did therefore forbid disputation because the speaking with an Heretick should be for his reprehension and this onely once because he is no Christian least after the manner of a Christian he should seeme to be chastised once and againe and that by two or three witnesses when for this cause he is to be chastised because there is no disputation to be had with such a one 12. And although the word Heresy be vsed two or three times in the Actes of the Apostles where the sectes of the Scribes and Pharisies be called Heresies and though S. Paul himselfe speaking out of the opinion of the Iewes most willingly vndergoeth the imputation where Christian Religion was branded with the termes of Sect or Heresy yet was not the word taken in such a heynous signification here in these places as in the other places of the Apostles before mentioned for that of no kind of sin or sinner did they euer pronounce so grieuous a sentence as namely that he was to be fled from as subuerted and damned by his owne iudgment that they brought in daÌ„nable Heresies that they brought vpon themselues swift damnation and that their damnation slept not which they feared not to pronounce nay they bouldly pronounced of an hereticall man they bring vpon themselues swift damnation Here is nothing but damnation and all to giue vs a terrible admonition to beware them and auoid them And thus much I thought good to say of this dreadfull name for stirring vp my former brethren of the Ministry to beware therof but much more to decline the cause and occasion of the same 13. As for the word Catholick it came from heauen and was first reuealed from the holy Ghost by the mouth of all the Apostles in their common Creed For being assembled togeather to compose a perfect platforme of true and sauing-beliefe and to keepe out Heresy whilest they dispersed themselues abroad to sow the sacred seed of EuaÌ„gelicall verity they being at this time and for this purpose assembled and their tongues being the pennes of a ready writer when they came vnto that article which concerned the Church they by the instinct of the neuer-erring spirit laid downe the forme thus Credo in Spiritum Sanctum SanctaÌ„ Ecclesiam Catholicam I beleeue in the holy Ghost the holy Catholicke Church where they did not thinke it sufficieÌ„t to say they belieued the holy ChristiaÌ„ Church but they thought the word Catholicke to be more eminent significant and effectuall for the purpose Neither could this be done without the singuler care prouideÌ„ce wisdome of that all-seing spirit that vndoubtedly inspired theÌ„ guided theÌ„ For as Tertull. obserueth that S. Paul forseeing that heresies would afterwardes spring vp in the Church as the weedes vsually do amongst the purest and rankest corne foretold and forewarned them to come yea pointeth out as it were with the finger to some heresies particulerly euen so the Apostles foreseeing that all heresies were to shroud themselues vnder the names of Christian Churches Assemblies and Congregations they thought it most conuenient for preseruation of vnity and verity to set this remarkable stamp of Catholick vpon the Church for the more manifest conuincing and detecting of all heresy which badge or cognisance being once set vpon the sleeue of the Church impossible it was that any Hereticke that euer was is or hereafter shall be can euer fasten vpon this title And since it is more then apparant that the genuine description of Catholicke requireth more particulers and more easie to be discouered then doth the name of Christian in generall most pertinent if not necessary is the imposition of this name vpon Christes Church for the better excluding and keeping forth of all hereticall and particuler Sectaries whatsoeuer 14. From these two fountaines then of sacred Scripture and common Creed originally flowed the knowledge and vse of these two wordes of Catholick and Heretick both of them came from heauen both were particulerly inspired by the holy Ghost breathed into the Church for her better preseruation as hath beene formerly noted the very consideration wherof
Religion To this I answere in generall that the Diuell and all Heretickes had their Scriptures as well as they as many and more then they but the truth is sheeps clothing belongeth not to wolues nor Scriptures to them their possession of thē is meer intrusiō into thē therfore according to that excellent prescription of Tertullian first they should prooue their right of possession of them before they so bouldly aduentured vpon the interpretation of them which since they could neuer yet do it is apparant and out of questiō that they haue no more right vnto the Scriptures then the Diuell himselfe and all former Heretickes haue had vnto them 37. Yf besides the Scripture they plead the spirit for this is their other ground and these two be all the groūds that euer I could perceyue they had for their Protestāticall Religion I answere this spirit is a spirit of priuate interpretation their owne proper inuention and election it is not the spirit of the Church it is not the spirit of the holy Ghost that breathed these Scriptures and therefore it is the spirit of the Diuell the spirit of all their Grādprogenitors ancient Hereticks And now to cut of with one blow the heades of all pryuate spirits let S. Bernard himselfe speake for me and strike for me Nonnulli adesse putant spiritū cùmnon adest suumque sensum prosensu spiritus sequūtur deuiantes Many thinke they haue the spirit when they haue it not and fall into error following their own sense for the sense of the holy Ghost Dare any man hereafter vaunt of his priuate spirit All this and much more is implied in the heauenly admonition of our Sauiour Beware of false prophets and which was my first place of Scripture against Hereticks I come to the second which followeth thus 38. The Apostle S. Paul that trumpet of the Apostles Preacher of the world and discloser of heauenly mysteries thundereth out a terrible commination against an Hereticke whereby he insinuateth to leaue a premonition to all succeeding posterity to be ware of heresy And albeit I haue touched the place somwhat in the former Consideration in disclosing the nature of heresy yet here I must returne to the same againe for better laying forth the miserable effectes therof and the care the said Apostle had to haue it eschued Auoid saith he an hereticall man after the first or second reprehension knowing that he that is such a one is peruerted and sinneth as damned by his owne iudgment Vpon which place S. Hierome writeth thus Haeretici sententiam in seipsos ferunt suo arbitrio ab Ecclesia recedenies quae recessio propriae conscientiae videtur esse damnatio Heretickes giue sentence vpon themselues and are damned vpon their owne iudgment for that they depart from the Church euen out of their owne selfe will and this departure seemeth to be the damnation of their owne conscience expressely mentioned by S. Paul So S. Hierome And can there be any thing more terrible or dreadfull then this Againe Auoid an Hereticke propter periculum propter consortium propter poenam so S. Thomas vpon this place First auoid them in regard of the perill of infection serma enim illorum serpit vt cancer Secondly auoid them in regard of their fellowship and communion that you be not wrapped and intangled in their sinne whilest you seeme by your familiarity with them to consent vnto the same Lastly auoid them propter poenam euen for feare of the punishment of condemnation which hangeth ouer their heads and yet moneatur let him be admonished to see whether he will amend If he amend not after once or twice admonition auoyd him si curari poterit non est vitandus si non dimittend us est If he can be healed of his heresie he is not to be auoided If he cannot be cured he is to be shunned Hitherto S. Thomas 39. My third place is out of S. Iude conteining a very dreadfull description of Hereticks yea so terrible that the very consideration therof were able to make a man to treamble lest he should be any way intangled and infected with this fearefull sinne of heresie either in being an Hereticke himselfe obstinate and malicious or in beleeuing them as being seduced by them For after the Apostle had premised the salutation togeather with the motiue of his Epistle which was to beseech them Supercertare semel iraditae Sanctis fidei to stand fast and fight for the faith once deliuered vnto the Saintes which were the first Christians presently he giueth a most serious warning to all sorts of Christians of the approach and intrusion of Heretickes Subintroierunt enim quidam homines c. There haue crept in certaine men saith he prescribed or prepared from the beginning vnto this terrible iudgment wicked men who haue turned the grace of God into wantonnes c. And then he thundreth out a terrible commination against them sāying VVoe be vnto them that haue gone in the way of Cain and haue for reward powred out themselues with the errour of Balaam and haue perished in the contradiction of Chore. So he And that this contradiction of Chore against Moyses Aaron for which he his conspirators were by Gods iust wrath swallowed quicke vp into hell the earth opening her mouth deuouring thē represented the contradictiō of all Hereticks against the Catholicke Church and Gouernours thereof no man that hath any insight into Deuinity can deny and therfore our Apostle S. Iude who alludeth and compareth betwixt them denounceth Gods vengeance yet further against them Quibus procella tenebrarum seruata est in aternum for whom a tempest of darknes or of torments in darknes is reserued for all eternity And this being so will any one call another hereticke in iest Or is there any cry me so dreadfull as this 40. But if we passe from the Apostles and Scriptures them selues vnto the succeeding Primitiue Church and withall hould their iudgment sense and feeling concerning Heresy we shall find that all of thē without exception of any one had this very spirit of detesting anathematizing flying and auoiding Heretickes aboue all other sinners and malefactors vpon earth yea wheras towardes others neuer so great greieuous and heyncus offendours wee are exhorted willed and ioyned to be benigne sweet meeke compassionate and the like the cleane contrary is counsailed vnto vs against Heretickes to witt not to salute them not to eat or drinke with them not to receiue them into our houses not to conuerse with them but to fly them abhorre them detest and auoid them as pests and plagues and poysoned serpents infecting vs with the inuenomed poyson of hell as damned soules already vpon earth damned by the guilt of their owne conscience and by the irreuokable sentence of diuine Iustice as before we haue signifyed And that which is most worthy our obseruation such seruantes of God as were otherwise
great doubt that then arose in the Church to wit whether the obseruation of the ould law of Moyses should be ioyned necessary with the new law of Christ and because they would leaue a patterne for all succeeding ages to follow they determined the matter and thēselues I meane the Apostles and Prelates of that first age decided the doubt by those high wordes of authority taken from the foresaid commission of our Sauiour Visum est spiritui Sāto Nobis it seemeth good vnto the holy Ghost and vs for the Church and the true spirit of the holy Ghost go inseparably togeather in regard of Christ his promise made vnto the Church so that the holy Ghost euer keepeth his residence in her guideth her gouerneth her directeth her and sitteth as President in all her consultations and assēblyes and therefore this vmpiring and determining forme of speach hath euer since beene vsed in the lawfull succession of the said visible Church vntill our daies will be frequented still especially in generall Councels euen vnto the worlds end to put a firme period and full conclusion vnto all controuersies that come in question And the reason is for that the same authority and assistance of the holy Ghost which that first Church had for directing of mens soules vnto their saluation the very self same and none other hath the visible Catholicke Church of our age and hath had in all ages and shall haue in all to come Verum enim non variat It is an ancient prescription and no more ancient then true Gods giftes and graces conferred vpon his Church are without repētance the holy Ghost is euer one and the selfe same spirit of truth in Patriarkes Prophets Apostles Martyrs and other succeding Pastours and Doctors and Christ his promise was not for one age only he shed not his pretious bloud for those of his age alone but for all all were alike neere vnto him all were alike deare vnto him he tooke our nature in generall to saue mankind in generall and therfore the care he had for one age of the Church the same he had for all succeeding ages of the same as well for the last as for the first and this care of his continueth so long as the sunne and the moone endureth 60. This remittance then and reference vnto the Authority of the Church originally proceeded from the Apostles themselues was continually perpetuated by all succeeding ages of the Catholicke Church and therfore as S. Paul in a controuersy of lesser importance writing to the Corinthians about women being veyled in the Church saith to shut vp the dore to all further cōtention that If any man will seeme to be contentious we haue no such custome nor yet the Church of God repressing the contentious man as you see with the Authority and Custome of the Church so did all subsequent Fathers of the orthodox Church whether it were in the priuat writings or in the worlds grand Parlament in Generall Councells in all their conflicts with Hereticks they euer vsed to repell and represse them by one and the selfe same meanes and that was with the authority of the knowne Catholicke Church And looke what sentence they pronounced against thē for their contumacy see what censure they inflicted vpon them for their heresy it remayned good against them and irreuocable it was ratyfied as the law of the Medes and Persians which could not be altered their authority was grounded immediatly vpon those wordes of Verity VVhat soeuer you bynd on earth shall be bound in heauen and the Tribunall of heauen confirmed the authority of the Church vpon earth nay standeth expecting what is done by it vpon earth such is the mysticall dependency betwixt the one and the other such is the mutuall correspondency betwixt the head and his members Christ and his Church Dare then any man hereafter oppose his priuate spirit against the authority of this Church Or will he impudently presume to preferre his owne conceipt and opinion before her publicke tradition 61. Ancient S. Irenaeus who was in manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apostolorum for he liued in the very next age after them writing against the heresies of his dayes and hauing first declared how the primitiue Church was visibly planted by Christ and his Apostles and how it was continued to his time doth then pourtraict out vnto vs discourse at large of the authority sufficiency treasury tradition and absolute perfection of this Church for the repelling of all heresy and deliuering of all truth his wordes are these Tantae igitur ostensiones cùm haec sint c. Wheras these thinges which I haue said are so great demonstrations of the truth we must not yet seeke the truth from others which is easely taken from the Church wheras the Apostles did most fully lay vp in her all thinges belonging to the truth as in a certaine rich treasure-house so as euery man that will may take from thence the liquor or sustenance of life for that is the intrance vnto life euerlasting to belieue the Church all others that flie this way are theeues and murtherers and therfore we must auoid them that are such but with great diligence we must affect those things that are of the Church and from her take the tradition of truth And truly if our contention were but about some small question in Religion yet ought not we to haue recourse vnto the most ancient Churches wherin the Apostles had once bene conuersant and so take from them that which is certaine and cleere for deciding of the question And what if the Apostles had left vnto vs no Scriptures at all had it not bene needfull notwithstanding to follow the order of tradition which they haue left vnto vs to whome they to wit the Apostles had committed those Churches 62. Thus farre S. Irenaeus which I haue of purpose chosen to cite more at large for that it is sufficient alone to disclose his iudgement and the Iudgment of that first age next after the Apostles how farre the authority of the visible vniuersall Church then stretched and was esteemed for especially for clearing soluing and deciding of all doubtes that possibly could arise in religion And the reason there rendred by the same Father is this She is the store-house wherein Christs merits and the Churches treasure is laid vp She is the way of life whereby we may come to eternall life and escape euerlasting death that all are theeues yea murtherers of soules that doe impugne her or seeke other wayes of tryall then her and her tradition from hand to hand That this tradition is sufficient though there were no Scripture That from her and her alone the truth is to be taken and not els where That by her and her authority alone all doubts and questions are to be so ued and decided Can any thing be spoken more effectuall then this Or is there any more playne easy euident
proue that this Catholicke visible Church doth not consist of the good and elect only which is another erroneous position of Protestant Religion and proued largely by S. Augustine to haue bene the heresy of the Donatists and Pelagians their bretheren but of good and bad togeather vnto the worlds end and for confirmation thereof he doth produce interpret those Parables vsed by our Sauiour Matth. 3. to wit of the good corne and chaffe in the floore and of the net cast into the sea that brought vp both good and bad fish and lastly of the weedes and good corne commaunded to be permitted to grow togeather Vpon which place S. Leo the first giueth the glosse thus In extremo iudicio sunt quaedam vrenda flammis sunt alia condenda horreis In the last iudgement some things are to be burned with the flames of dānation other thinges are to be gathered into Gods granary All these places and many more both S. Augustine S. Leo many of the Fathers do interprete of the good and bad that are promiscuously mixed in the Church togeather Do our Protestants follow these expositions 57. Thirdly my foresaid Authour goeth yet further for prouing of a third assertion as contrary to the Protestants as they are opposite vnto truth to wit that this publike and visible Church granted once by Protestants themselues to haue bene the true Church could neuer faile or euer fall away to the worlds end For prouing of which assertion he alleageth sundry passages of holy Writ farre different for interpretation from the Protestants sense His wordes be That Church saith he that was once of all Nations he meaneth the Catholicke is it not now Hath it perished They say so that are not in her O impudent voice Is not she because thou art not in her This abominable and detestable voice full of presumption and falsity susteined by no truth illuminated by no wisedome seasoned with no salt vaine temerarious precipitate and pernicious is preuented and refuted by the holy Ghost c. And then doth he cyte seuerall places of Scripture to proue that notwithstanding all exposition and contradiction of Hereticks that the said visible Church bring once collected of all Nations and placed vpon the open hill and mount of this world and conspicuous vnto the eyes of al could neuer possibly vanish away againe or fall frō Christ as Protestants do falsely charge the Mother Romā Church and consequently they would neuer agree to expound these Scriptures as S. Augustine did But whom shall we rather belieue VVhether is a Luther or a Caluin or S. Augustine to be followed Or which Church his or this of the Protestants is likest to go neare the truth and to light vpon the true meaning of the holy Ghost in expoūding these Scriptures For certaine I am their expositions vary and are repugnant one to the other 58. And in this manner might I proceed in disclosing this great Doctor and famous pillar of the Church S. Austine his iudgement for the exposition of Scriptures concerning all controuersies or the most of them betweene the Catholickes and the Protestants at this day wherein the sayd Father is no lesse perspicuous and copious then as if being an eye-witnesse and an eare-witnesse of all poynts now controuerted he had written in these very dayes of sirife amongst vs. And eyther this is or I know not what can be a manifest demonstration that the holy Ghost guided the pen of this worthy Doctor to taxe and prescribe against the manifould heresies of our times As for example touching the doctrine of Purgatory whome Doctor Field out of a fanaticall spirit and spirit of heresie surchargeth and falsely traduceth of heresy what writer of this time can deliuer and set downe his opinion more resolutely then he doth his prouing the same irrefragably both by the allegation and exposition of sundry passages of holy Scripture as namely by those wordes of our Sauiour Matth. 12. It shall not be remitted vnto him eyther in this life or in the next Whereupon this great Doctor inferreth that some sinnes are remitted in the next consequently there must be a Purgatory And so that place of S. Paul 1. Cor. 3. Euery mans worke shal be tryed by the fire of what sort it is S. Augustine doth also apply to proue the same purging fire to remaine for some sinnes or bad workes in the next life And these expositions of Scripture confirming Purgatory deliuered by S. Augustine and oftentimes reiterated in his workes were neuer reprehended by any as false nor the Father taxed as teaching any erroneous doctrine dissonant from the doctrine and beliefe of the Catholicke Church which doubtlesse he could neuer haue escaped had his assertion of Purgatory bene erroneous liuing in the age of S. Ambrose S. Hierome and other learned Fathers who wanted neyther learning nor zeale to haue both matched him and confuted him had he swarued in ought from sound faith and the doctrine of their present Church and consequently Purgatory was then held for no errour or heresy And the like I might aboundantly proue in many other pointes both out of S. Augustine and sundry other of like antiquity learning and sanctity 59. Finally the conclusion of all this mayne Chapter and Treatise of sacred Scriptures must of necessity fall out to be this that not all belieuing of Scriptures nor appealing vnto Scripture nor sensing of Scriptures nor presuming of the spirit is sufficient to make a man a Christian Catholick for that as hath beene formerly noted forth of S. Bernard many men presume of Gods spirit when it is not but their owne spirit or rather the spirit of Sathā and consequently take or rather mistake their owne spirits expositions for the interpretation of the holy Ghost Againe some when they erre in expounding Scriptures are notwithstanding of opinion that they follow Scriptures when indeed they follow their owne errours So S. Augustine obserueth 60. Thirdly others by a peruerse interpretation make of Christs Ghospell mās Ghospell or that which is worse the Diuells Ghospell as S. Hierome noteth and yet all these with the Diuell and all former heretickes pretend to vrge and build vpon Scripture But no meruaile if all these appeale vnto Scriptures vpon a false confidence thinking that the word of God maketh for them when it maketh against them For let these Scripturians be but marked let them be vnmasked that is as Vincentius Lyrinensis excellenly deliuereth the obseruation against them let not only their sayings but their meanings not their wordes but their senses of Scripture be noted then their bitternes shall be detected their madnes disclosed their new poyson vented forth their prophane nouelties reuealed then the hedge shal be cut then the boundes of Fathers shall be translated then Catholicke faith shall be violated and the Churches position cancelled Hitherto Vincentius 61. The only way then to make a man a true Christian Catholicke indeed if
Augustine Sancti Apostoli certam regulam fidei tradiderunt quam secundum numerum Apostolorum c. The holy Apostles did deliuer a certaine rule of faith which rule being comprehended in twelue sentences according to the number of the 12. Apostles was called by them by a Greeke word and borrowed metaphor Symbolum a Symbole or collation of many thinges togeather And their intention as is before intimated was that by this Symbole signe and summe of Christian faith and doctrine Catholicae fidei veritas ab haereticae prauitatis falsitate discernatur as Vincentius Lyrinensis speaketh of his goulden rule of faith deliuered vnto him from all his ancestors that the truth of Catholicke faith and verity might be discerned from the falshood of hereticall prauity This haue our ancestors left vs by tradition And for the first in stitution of it it was in this sort as the history of Antiquity the very life of memory hath by writing registred and commended it vnto vs. 5. After the glorious visible Ascension of our Sauiour from the lowest pitch and vale of the earths misery into the highest toppe of heauen and bosome of his Fathers eternity this being terminus ad queÌ„ aswell as it was terminus à quo in that great motion of heauen Christs Incarnation and mans Redemption the place whither he ascended as it was the place whence he descended according to that Exiui à Patre veni in mundum relinquo mundum vado ad Patrem I say after this Ascension descension of the holy Ghost in the visible shapes of fiery tongues vpon the Apostles in abling them and qualifying them with the tongues of nations for the conuerting of nations then the Apostles being ready to separate themselues and to depart into all parts of the earth to preach the Ghospell for the conuersion of the whole world they did compose and lay down a perfect platforme of their future preaching and others belieuing by deuising a certaine squared rule and Canon of fayth and that not so much for their owne direction being so assisted with the inward inspiration of the spirit that they could not possibly erre in their doctrine though their teaching was euer to be conforme vnto these heades as for the Christian Churches instruction and premunitioÌ„ that by hauing recourse vnto these general heads of fayth commeÌ„ded vnto them by the true Apostles they might more easily discerne and auoyd the hereticall doctrine of all false disciples VVherefore the Apostles being assembled togeather and met as it were the second time in Councell being ech of them seuerally replenished with the holy Ghost and all of them ioyntly directed by the selfe same neuer-erring spirit who was both now and euer in such assemblies as these to sit as President in the Church I say being thus prepared euery one proposed as he belieued and all being put togeather in the vpshot did make the shot or symbole of a breife yet entire methodicall summe of Christian doctrine including all points of faith either to be preached afterwardes by the Apostles or to be belieued by their disciples And this summe did the Apostles theÌ„selues appoint to be deliuered by tradition or from hand to hand vnto euery one that belieued ad directionem ad distinctionem both for a direction vnto that which they were to preach and others were to belieue as also to discerne and put a difference betwixt all faithfull Christians and misbelieuing Infidels 6. Thus S. Augustine whose sense I haue kept though I haue somewhat dilated vpon his wordes relateth the matter which before him had beene recorded by Ruffinus in the Exposition of this Creed so that S. Augustine borroweth not only sense but the selfe same words also for the most part are taken from Ruffinus And further the said Ruffinus doth adde another signification of the word Symbole besides a collation or contribution of many things vnto one saying that it signifieth also a signe or badge wherby one sort of souldiers are distinguished from others And in this acception also of the word it consorteth well to our present purpose that by this briefe summe of Doctrine as by a badge or cognisance true Catholicke Christian men may be distinguished heere from Infidels and Hereticks since after death there is such an externall distinction and separation to be made And for this purpose at the beginning this Creed serued but afterwards charity the loue of God and Christian piety decaying and the malice of men exceedingly multiplying vpon the earth this breife and playne summe would not serue the turne against infernall and hereticall subtility for that as S. Augustine before hath well obserued sundry sortes of Hereticks presumed to shrewd their heresies vnder the articles of this Creed peruerting also the meaning and misunderstanding aswell the wordes thereof as the sense so as in fine the bare and outward profession of belieuing this Creed became at last to be no certaine argument of prouing a man to be a true Christian Catholicke except other due conuincing circumstances concurred as we haue before shewed of the Canonicall Scriptures themselues 7. Furthermore the Fathers and Doctors of the Church do ioyntly affirme and expresly S. Augustine in the place before cyted that albeit the wordes be few and briefe of this Creed yet are they so substantiall punctuall and materiall as that they containe the full and entyre summe of whatsoeuer is to be belieued by vs his wordes be these Quicquid praefiguratum est in Patriarchis quicquid denunciatum in Scripturis quicquid praedictum in Prophetis de Deo ingeniâ—o vel ex Deo in Deum nato c. Whatsoeuer was prefigured in the Patriarkes whatsoeuer was denounced in the Scriptures whatsoeuer was foretold in the Prophets eyther of God the Father vnbegotten or of God the Sonne begotten or God the holy Ghost or of receyuing any Sacrament or of the death of our Lord or of the mystery of his Resurrection all this is briefly contayned in this Creed so that the obseruation hence deduced must needs be this that albeit in the bare wordes of the Creed many thinges belonging to fayth are not literall and syllabically expressed yet were they implyed comprehended and intended by the Apostles and namely and particularly about the admitting of Sacraments of their nature number necessity efficacy manner of administration and the like as S. Augustine doth here expound which yet in the wordes are not expressed but were locked vp with in the sacred breast and closet of the Church as in the safest treasury there to be expounded dilated amplified more largely and particulerly vnto the faithfull as eyther the Churches necessity requiring or hereticall pertinacy and importunity oppugning should at any time or occasion require which exposition of the Church as the soundest Commentary vpon the Creed he that in all humility of iudgment and opinion submitteth not him selfe to belieue obay cannot be truly said to belieue this Creed notwithstanding
with a chast shamefastnes and loue So S. Cyprian in that excellent Tract of his devnitate Ecclesiae which Tract alone though it be but a very short one yet is it sufficieÌ„t to be the bane of all heresies and to keepe any man desirous of truth within the bosome of Catholicke vnity 23. With S. Cyprian agreeth S. Hilary writing to the same effect in expresse wordes affirming Hoc Ecclesiae proprium est vt tum vincat cùm laeditur tum intelligatur cùm arguitur tum obtmeat cùm deseritur This is peculiar vnto the Church that when she is hurt by persecutions then she winneth and ouercommeth when she is reprehended by heretickes then is she perceiued that is to say when she is misconceiued she maketh her selfe in her doctrine to be better vnderstood by declaration of matters called into question when she is forsaken eyther by rebellious children that go out from her or by Gods permission exercising her by tribulation then doth she obteine the victory and gloriously triumph So as here you see that they spake not only of the Church of their time but of all other ensuing ages that it cannot perish or be corrupted And with these agree S. Ambrose saying Haec ergo nauis Ecclesia est quae si quotidiè saeculum istud tamquam aliquod pelagus sortitur insestum numquam eliditur ad saxum numquam mergitur adprofundum So speaketh S. Ambrose in his booke intituled de Salomone the 4. chapter that is to say This ship therefore of the Apostles that was tossed vpon the seas of this world as the true Church of Christ which albeit it do dayly find and feele the world to be troblesome vnto it as a certaine tempestuous and stormy sea yet doth it neuer dash and split in peces by striking against any rock nor yet is it euer dryuen and drowned to the bottome All which priuiledges could not be verified of the said Church if it were possible that the spouse of Christ could become a harlot or fall away from Christ by intertayning any damnable errour or heresy 24. And as S. Ambrose so speaketh S. Hierome in his commentary vpon the fourth chapter of Isay his wordes be these Super petram sundatur Ecclesia nulla tempestate concutitur nullo turbine ventisque subuertitur The Church being founded vpon a rock is shâ—uered with no tempest is ouerwhelmed and ouerthrowne by no fury violence of windes whatsoeuer And the same holy Father in another place putting a reall distinction betwixt the Synogogue of the Iewes the Christian Church but especially betwixt the promises of God made vnto both assumeth the speach of Christ and speaketh to the Iewes in the person of our Sauiour Linquetur domus vestra deserta your house your Church your Synagogue shal be left desolate and empty vnto you But as for the Christian Church saith he aeternam habebit possessionem for that Christ promised vnto his disciples behould I will be with you or as other Readings haue it I am with you to the consummation of the world And the same speaches are reassumed and reiterated by him in his Commentaries vpon the ninth of the Prophet Amos and vpon the 28. of the Ghospell of S. Matthew 25. And here I might tyre out both the reader and my selfe also with alleadging the vnamine consent of all the ancient Fathers to proue that the visible Catholicke Church of their dayes could neuer perish Apostatate or fall away from Christ to the end of the world in regard of Christ his promise made vnto it and yet the contrary hereticall tenent is a common receiued doctrine in the Protestants schooles in this last worst age of the world For do not the Protestants pro aris focis as though it were a matter of the life or death of their Religion as in very deed it is no lesse stifly peremptorily defend that the visible Church that held these foure generall Councells which are admitted by his Matie and the Church and Parlament of England and fourteene other no lesse Generall from that of Chalcedon to the last of Trent this Church say I descending by succession of Christian people and by lawfull and Ecclesiasticall ordination of Prelats Pastours and Bishops for gouernement of the same hath after the aforesaid Councell of Chalcedon by little little say the Protestants Apostated from Christ and his true doctrine and hath left their roome and place for Protestants to enter and supply their defects And this is iust like the allegations and pretences of the Donatists in S. Augustines time And no maruaile that Protestants and Donatists thus conspire against the true Church for surely the right of the Donatists is as good to lay clayme thereunto as the interest of the Protestants for ought that I can see to the contrary And let this suffice for my first Consideration The second Consideration MY second Consideration concerning this present subiect of the foure first Generall Councells receaued by the Protestants lay Parlament as is already premised shal be this that for as much as this Ecclesiastical deuise and inuention of calling generall Councels and this spirituall authority in erecting this great consistory and supreame tribunall of the Church for the deciding and determining of all doubts and controuersies that may possibly arise therein eyther by the friendes or rather enemyes of the Church must be presumed to haue come peculiarly and proceeded originally from the holy Ghost partly for that the first forme origen and practice therof was prescribed by the Apostles themselues as you shal read Act. 15. according to that which we haue formerly noted and partly and especially in regard of the infallible assistance of the said holy Ghost that euer-blessed and neuer erring spirit of truth testified by the words of high and soueraigne commaunding authority vsed by the Apostles in that first Councels decree visum est Spiritu Sancto nobis it seemeth good to the holy Ghost and vs why I say this being so haue the Protestants in our dayes hauing now almost had a full age since their defection from Catholicke Roman Religion neuer as yet called a generall Councell amongst themselues to repaire their owne breaches reconcile their owne emnities determine and decide their owne controuersies which as before I haue shewed are both many and waighty implacable and irreconciliable Truly it seemeth vnto me that if they had beene of the same spirit with the ancient Apostolicke Church that gathered these foure first generall Councels to hould all in one vnion and communion nay if they had not bene led or rather misled with a contrary spirit of schisme heresy and diuision they would haue troden in the steeps of these ancient Fathers and haue imitated them in applying the soueraigne remedies of generall Councells for curing the woundes of their owne home-bred diuisions and damnable dissentions at least wyse they would without faile in a whole age haue called some one forasmuch as
places of his body as there were seuerall wounds in the same shed his most pretious bloud for the sinnes of the world and redemption of mankind if after all this done and suffered for man he should haue left him no certayne meanes or infallible way for his obteyning the fruites therof by discerning betweene heresy and Catholicke religion 50. Furthermore since heresy as all ancient and moderne Orthodoxe Deuines notify is nothing els but to choose or make choice that is yet more plainly to adhere obstinately to a mans owne priuate opinion and proper election when soeuer different points of religion are proposed vnto him if thē there be not some perspicuous apparant rule and reason left by Christ to conuince vnto ech mans conscience and vnderstanding or at least to make a sufficient conuiction which is truth and which is not which is Heresy and which is Verity which to be imbraced and which is to be abandoned I say if this way rule and reason be not most clearely left in the Church whereby a man may guide him selfe then why may not a man make his proper choice and vse that benefit of his owne election in spirituall matters which God hath bestowed vpon him in morall and ciuill affaires permitting therin a choice to his free will Why may he not choose or be a chooser which in our sense and the Churches acception and appropriation of the word importeth an Hereticke without so greiuous and damnable a sinne as Heresie is by vs already disclosed to be Why should a man be damned by his owne iudgment be left inexcusable for that no plea of pretended ignorance will serue his turne since being such a chooser or hereticall man as S. Paul calleth him and brandeth him for he cannot say Nemo corripuit as S. Chrysostome S. Ambrose Theophilact Oecumenius ioyntly expound the place For if the meanes and way of conuiction decision be not infallible it should seeme that man may make his choice but this particuler choice and election out of a mans owne head and priuate iudgment which makes a choosier or Hereticall man is seuerely prohibited and condemned and that by the iudgment of S. Paul as you haue heard at large therfore it must follow by force of necessary and ineuitable consequence that Almighty God out of the depth of his mercy wisdome equity and piety hath left vnto vs some euident vniuersall certaine and infallible way for deciding of all doubts and controuersies in Religion For so he promised when Isay prophesied thus saying That at the comming of Christ there shal be a holy path and a way and it shall be vnto you a direct way so as fooles may not erre therin Thus he prophesied And is there any doubt that he performed it Hath he promised and shall not he make it good Hath he spoke it shall he alter the thing that is gone out of his lippes Atheisme Heresy and Infidelity may question it but all religion piety and Christianity will vndoubtedly belieue the same 51. Wherfore this ground being presupposed and granted as a chiefe principle in Christian Religion that there is some such way left vnto vs whither we must haue recourse in all doubtfull causes and controuersies of Religion the Question then is betwixt the Protestants and those of the Catholicke Roman Religion where and what this way is how we may come to the notice of it and in what manner it is to be followed after it is once found out The Protestant commonly of what Sect or faction soeuer he be auerreth that the written word of Canonicall Scripture is this infallible way directory-guid and this he doth not in my conscience so much for any honour and reuerence that he beareth vnto the oracles of Gods sacred Writ as he would falsely beare the world in hand he doth but only vpon an hereticall intent that he may auoid therby the iudgement of the Church And no meruaile for Qui malè agit odit lucem the guilt of his Heresy flyeth the censure of the Church Some others do add that when the Canon of Scripture is not perspicuous and obuious vnto euery man then for explication of the word they may inquire of the spirit of God which inspireth ech man and that will instruct him and lead him vnto all truth But now this falsely supposed and imaginary spirit can be no infallible rule of direction For that S. Iohn hath giuen vs a Caueat touching these false spirits Beloued belieue not euery spirit but try the spirits whether they be of God for many false Prophets are gone sorth into the world And was not this the common tricke of all condemned Heretickes and heresies Did they not all of them plead the spirit of God against the liuely authority and speaking voice of the Church Doth not the whole ranke of ancient Fathers that wrote against thē thunder out that terrible comminatiō threatning a fearefull woe and vengeance vnto all priuate lying and deceyuing spirits Vae illis qui sequuntur spiritum suum Woe be vnto them that follow their owne spirit Lastly haue not all ancient Heresies and Heretickes Arians Nestorians Pelagians c. beene vniustly condemned and therefore must not their heresies be raked out of the ashes of Hell againe and set fresh footing in the Church if the rule of interpreting Scripture be ech man his priuate spirit It cannot be denyed for that all of them vaunted of the spirit as the Sectaries do at this day Well then the conclusion is that this vaunting of the spirit is nothing else but a horrible belying and presumptuous blaspheming of the spirit of God making that spirit of vnited verity a spirit of distracted heresy And therfore this their priuate spirit can be no rule to direct them any longer And so much of this way in following euery man his owne spirit 52. And now for the former way of following Canonicall Scriptures for this only rule and sure direction though this be euer to be graunted as most true that the holy Scriptures breathed by the instinct of the spirit be diuine and of infallible truth and direction when they are by the Church both known to be Scriptures rightly interpreted by the assistance of the spirit in the Churches voice sense yet forasmuch as the Scriptures sublimity fitteth not with euery meane and ordinary capacity for the most part of people are vnlearned and cannot read or vnderstand what they read much lesse those learned tongues wherein the Scriptures were originally written It followeth euidently that the Scriptures alone can be no sure vniuersall infallible way for the discerning of Catholicke Religion and discouering of heresie Or at least wise this rule is not generall to all as it ought to be for as much as all must haue sufficient meanes left for their saluation 53. But here me thinketh I heare the Protestāt obiect that howsoeuer the Scripture is no way for the