Maxime quin hoc opus nostrum quo singularis ille reruÌ„ conditor huius immensi operis rector asseritur si quis attigerit ex istis inepte religiosis vt sunt nimia superstitione impatientes insectetur etiam maledictis vt vix lecto fortasse principio affligat proijciat execretur seque inexpiabili scelere contaminari atque astringi putet si haec aut legat patienter aut audiat One Bee or egge is not liker to another then to these Pagans be our peeuish Papists in shutting their eies from reading godly and learned bookes tending to the confutation of their errors the instruction of them in the truth Whom yet I am to intreate with Lactantius words immediatly following Ab hoc tamen si Idem ibidem fieri potest humanitatis iure postulamus vt noÌ„ prius daÌ„net quam vniuersa cognouerit Nam si sacrilegis proditoribus veneficis potestas defendendi sui datur nec praedamnari quenquam incognita causa licet non iniustè petere videmur vt si quis erit ille qui inciderit in haec si leget perlegat si audiet sententiam differat in extremuÌ„ This reasonable request I would that I might obtaine at our Romish Catholickes hands that they would first read and examine this my answere before they condemne it For what is more vniust then to condemne that which a maÌ„ doth not know Howbeit I doubt least with the same Lanctantius I must say Sed noui hominum pertinaciam nunquam â—bidem impetrabimus Timent enim ne à nobis reuicti manus dare aliquando clamante ipsa veritate cogantur Obstrepunt igitur intercedunt ne audiant oculos suos opprimunt ne lumen videant quod offerimus Euen so our vntruly termed Catholickes doe follow this froward peruersitie of the Pagans in whom that saying also of the Prophet as it is alleaged by Saint Luke is verified The heart of this people is waxed Act. 28. 27. grosse or fat and their eares are dull of hearing and they haue shut their eyes least they should see with their eyes and heare with their eares and vnderstand with their hearts and should be conuerted and I might heale them The which is a fearefull iudgement of God when men refusing the loue of the truth that they might be saued be giuen vp to a 2. Thess 2. strong delusion to beleeue lyes But if these blinded with errour and ignorance for whose sake especially I haue written this answere will not vouchsafe to read it nor make any vse and profit of it yet if it may some what serue to edifie the faithfull and confirme the weake I shall thinke my labour not altogether lost The which how small or simple soeuer it be yet as I haue written it for the good of Gods Church so I haue bin by your Honours curtesie incouraged to offer and present it vnto your Lordship as a true testimony of my louing heart and dutiful affection towards your Honour for your fauour shewed me The God of all grace and mercy blesse your Lordship and all yours increase his good graces and gifts in you and long preserue you to the benefit of this Church and Common-wealth Amen Your Honors most humble to be commanded EDVVARD BVLELEY To the Christian Reader GOod Christian Reader whereas the author of these reasons vpon his good conceit of the forciblenesse of them to perswade to Popery hath thought them worthy of a second impression and a new augmentation I am partly thereby and partly by the request of the Printer and others moued to publish againe in Print my answer to them The which I haue recognised and in many places enlarged by adding not onely moe testimonies but also some discourses I haue also in the end adioyned answers to some friuolous cauillations which S. R. in his answer to Maister Bels downe-fall of Poperie and others haue made against it And hereof I must certifie thee good Reader that I haue inserted into the said reasons the Authors new additions the which that thou maist discerne from the other I haue put this marke vnto them the same marke also I haue put to my answers made to the same I haue also in this impression added an answer to certaine Popish questions written fifteene or sixteene yeares past the which although it was long agoe allowed to be published yet it hath vntill now lien by me howbeit now for the reasons in the Preface before it declared I haue thought good to ioyne it vnto this Now although this my answer will bring no profit to them that being wedded to will and bewitched by a strong delusion will not vouchsafe to looke vpon it much lesse will wholy read compare and examine it but will condemne it before they know it yet if it may serue to the defence of Gods truth and to the confirming of thee good Reader in the same as I shall therein obtaine that I doe seeke so my desire is that thou wilt remember mee at the throne of grace in thy faithfull prayers The Father of all mercy giue vs true vnderstanding in all things and guide vs by the light of his holy word outwardly and by his blessed spirit inwardly to beleeue his truth and obey his will to his owne glory and our eternall comfort Amen Aprill 22. 1608. Thine in Christ Iesus ED BVLKELEY AN ANSWER TO AN VNLEARNED SLANDEROVS AND LYING PAMPHLET INTITVLED Certaine articles or forcible reasons discouering the palpable absurdities and most notorious errors of the Protestants Religion pretended to be Printed at Antwerpe 1600. TO the sayings of the Prophet Esaias chap. 59. 10. and Elizeus 4. King 6. 20. set in the first front of this peeuish Pamphlet whereby he would insinuate and signifie vs to be blind I answere that if we be blind which giue our selues daily and diligently both pastors and people to the reading and hearing of Gods holy word and doe endeuour to make that a light vnto our Psal 119. 105 feete and a lanterne vnto our pathes in what estate be they which keepe the light of Gods word vnder the bushell of a strange tongue and read the same both little them-selues and disswade and with-draw others from it Aeneas Syluius who was Pope called Pius Secundus writeth thus of the Italian Priests in his dayes and of the good people in Bohemia Pudeat Italiae Sacerdotes quos ne semel quidem Commenta de dictis sactis Alphonsi Reg. lib. 2. 17. nouam legem constat legisse apud Thaboritas vix mulierculam inuenias quae de Nouo Testamento veteri respondere nesciat i. The priests of Italie may bee ashamed who are knowne not once to haue read the new Testament seeing with the Thaborites one can hardly finde a silly woman which cannot answer out of the old and new Testament Iohn Gerson Chancellor of the Vniuersitie of Paris who liued Anno 1415. and was a great dealer
and beleeued of which to giue fol. 251. the reader a taste I will set downe two or three It is there sayd that Iohn Damescene hauing his hand cut off for writing letters against the Emperour the same was suddenly set on againe to write a praier which he had made to fol. 254. the Virgine Marie Also that a theefe which vsed to fast the vigiles of the feastes of our Ladie and vsed to pray vnto her beeing hanged by the space of three daies could not die for the Virgine Marie susteined him on the gibet infinite such other fables swarme in that booke And wee may wonder that men of any wisedome knowledge or iudgement should bee deluded and mocked with such false fained reliques as were and are in Popery as with Saint Peters finger at Walfingham as bigge as if it Erasmus in Colloquio peregriergo Blondus de Roma instaurata lib. 3. prope sinem Holingshead in Henry 8. p. 946 Caluinus admonitione de reliquijs had beene of some Giant and also the virgin Maries milke there which seemeth by Erasmus to haue beene the white of an egge and chalke mingled together and a vessell of the same at Rome as writeth Blondus the bloud of Hales the which was prooued and declared at Paules Crosse by the Bishop of Rochester in king Henry the eights daies to haue beene clarified honey coloured with saffron In Geneua there was worshipped for the arme of Saint Anthonie that which afterward was prooued to bee the pisle of a Stagge for a peece of Saint Peters scull that which was found to bee a pumish stone But this will not bee beleeued of this writer and of his fellowes because Caluin did write it But why Caluin should write and publish euen in the French tongue in Geneua such a thing of Geneua vnlesse it were true which the Inhabitants thereof might know to bee false I see no reason it could purchase no credit to him or to his doctrine But why might not that as well bee true as the things before alleaged or as that which Gregorius Turonensis who liued sundry hundreth yeares past writeth Gregâ—â— Turoâ—ens lib. 9. ca. 6 that there was found in a boxe of reliques of a certaine Sainct rootes of trees the teeth of a Mole the bones of Mice and the clawes of Beares which were worshipt for holie reliques But of these iuglings I will write no more at this present GOD may giue occasion hereafter more largely to intreate of them At these things we may wonder but yet wee doe not ouermuch meruaile and wonder at them for that the spirit of GOD by Saint Paule hath foreshewed vs that the time would come when men shold 2. Timoth. 4. 4 turne away their eares from the truth and bee giuen to fables and that the comming of Antichrist should bee by 2. Thessal 2. 9. the effectuall working of sathan with all powre and signes and lying wonders and in all deceiueablenesse of vnrighteousnes amongst them that perish because they receiued not the loue of the truth that they might bee saued therefore GOD should send them a strong delusion to beleeue lies that all they might bee damned which beleeued not the truth but had pleasure in vnrighteousnes Whereas you request that hee that shall answere this your pamphlet will doe it briefely orderly and seriously I will indeuor to doe the two last as GOD shall inable me But concerning breuitie I will vse my libertie and peraduenture more largely lay downe your absurdities then you would bee willing I should doe But whereas you say that you make this request for that you perceiue that the Protestants cannot answere with breuitie because their Religion lacketh both certaintie and perspicuitie I say that with one breath you doe vtter two vntruthes The first that wee cannot answere with breuitie which how vntrue it is let it be tried first by the briefe and pithy answeres of that great learned man Doctor Fulke who answering many of their bookes which yet to this day stand vndefended how briefely and pithily hee answered the same let any man that hath but a graine of indifferent iudgement consider and iudge And particularlie I referre them to his answere to Rishtons challenge and to Allens booke of Purgatorie both in one volume yea many times in his writings hee called them from long and impertinent discourses to short syllogismes wherevnto â—ee could neuer bring them How closely that pretious Iewell and excellent ornament of this Church of England did hold himselfe to the matter and how vnlike hee was to Doctor Harding in his long discourses and digressions who in his booke intituled A detection of lies c. discoursed two hundred and sixe whole sides of paper onely in preambles and prefaces before hee once stept into his matter as Maister Iewel truely told him let the vpright Preface to the defence of the Apology edition 2. reader indifferently iudge The like I may say of that worthie man of famous memorie Doctor Whitakers who how briefely soundlie and learnedlie hee hath answered Campion Saunders Duree Stapleton William Reynolds Bellarmine any man that hath an incorrupt eye may see and discerne And if T. W. bee the author of this pamphlet as I nothing doubt but hee is he may remember that one which had conference with him did write a briefe Epistle vnto him and did therein set downe short sillogismes concerning the controuersies of praier to Saints and the sacrifice of the Masse and required to haue the like short syllogismes set downe of him for the defence of his assertions and could not receiue one but along tedious discourse concerning praier to Saints which was confuted and neuer defended But whether answeres be briefe or long it maketh no matter so that they be learned sound and true to the effectuall confuting of the errour and satisfying of the reader Now as touching certaintie which you say but doe not shew that our Religion lacketh I answere and auouch that our Religion is farre more certaine consonant and agreeable to it selfe then the doctrine of the Church of Rome is the which if I do not effectually proue hereafter in place more conuenient I will not require any man to vse your owne words to accept or affect it But with what forehead can this man charge our doctrine with want of perspicuitie seeing hee cannot bee ignorant how obscure darke and intricate the popish Religion and doctrine is as may appeere by their manifold both curious questions and intricate distinctions which be their chiefe shifts to elude the plaine truth And if any would see how darke the doctrine and writings of Papists are let him looke into the Schoolemen Tho. Aquine Io Scotus Alexander de Hales Gabriel Biel and many such other amongst whom he may finde as much certaintie vnitie and perspicuitie of doctrine as hee may in hell But how we study for perspicuitie and seeke to make all matters plaine both in our preachings and
in our writings auoyding all curious questions and intricate and needlesse distinctions we appeale to the consciences of al that reade and heare vs. As touching your method concerning errours in doctrine and inordinate affections in manners if you can proue that our wits be inueigled with them and our liues stained with these more then wee can prooue euen your holy Fathers the Popes forsooth Peters successors and Christes vicars haue beene you shall winne the victorie You seeme to attribute too much to our very naturall faculties to the iudging and discerning of truth proposed not considering the corruption of our naturall faculties by sinne how both the minde is blinded and the will peruerted Our Sauiour Christ saith The light shineth in darkenesse and the darkenesse Iohn 1. 5. 1. Cor. 2. 14. comprehendeth it not Saitn Paul saith that animalis homo the naturall man perceiueth not the things of the spirit of GOD for they are foolishnes vnto him neither can hee know them because they are spiritually discerned But of this I forbeare to speake any more and also will leaue the other wast words in your letter and doe come vnto your articles of faith The Pamphlet The first article concerning knowledge and faith The Protestants haue no faith nor Religion THe Protestants haue no faith no hope no charitie no repentance no iustification no Church no alter no sacrifice no Priest no Religion no Christ the reason is for if they haue then the world was without them for a thousand yeeres as they themselues must needes confesse videlicet all the time their Church was eclipsed and 1500. as we will prooue by all records of antiquitie as Histories Councels monuments of ancient Fathers Whereby it plainely appeareth that the synagogue of the Iewes was more constant in continuance more ample for place then the Church of Christ For the haue had their sinagogue visible in diuers countries euer since Christs death and passion euen vntill this day which is the very path to lead men into Atheisme as though Christ were not as yet come into the world a Isa 60. 11. whose admirable promises are not accomplished b Math 16 18. whose assistance hath failed in preseruing his Church vnto the worlds end whose presence was absent many hundred yeeres before â— cap 28 20. the finall consumation and consequenetly they open the gap to all Machiuillians who say that our Sauiour was one of the deceiuers of the world promising so much concerning his Church and performing so little Answer LOoking in this first article to haue found a syllogisme which this worthy writer vseth in some articles following but heere for want of a good medium as it may seeme to frame one by hath omitted I found a false assertion and a foolish probation The assertion that we haue no faith Haue we no faith The Deuils haue some faith Saint Iames saith The Deuills beleeue tremble and haue wee no faith wee are much beholden Iaâ— 2 19. vnto you for your charitable opinion of vs. You are by the doctrine of Saint Paule not to thinke so euill but to 1 Cor. 13. 7. hope the best of them that professe Iesus Christ and his holy Gospell But to this your false and slaunderous assertion I will oppose a true affirmation and confession Wee beleeue all that God hath deliuered to vs by Moses the Faith Prophets and Apostles in the old and new Testament yea we beleeue the contents of the Creeds of the Apostles Nicene Athanasius and yet haue we no faith Wee hope Hope to passe hereafter from death vnto life and to bee partakers of that kingdome of glory which God hath promised and Iesus Christ hath purchased for all those that truly beleeue in him We trust that we haue Charitie loue both towards God and man although wee confesse not in such Charitâ—e full and perfect measure as wee ought to haue Wee with Saint Iohn say Hee that loueth not his brother abideth in 1. Iohn 3 14. death Wee acknowledge repentance to bee one of those Repentance chiefe heads wherein the summe of Christianity is comprised Saint Marke setting forth the summe and substance of Christes doctrine comprehendeth it in these two Repent Marke 1 16. Acts 20 21. and beleeue the Gospell so did saint Paule witnes sing both to the Iewes and to the Grecians the repentance towards GGD and faith towards our Lord Iesus Christ We beleeue to be iustified not by our owne works of righteousnes which wee vnprofitable seruants and prodigall Iustification Luke 17. 10. 15. 21. children haue done nor by the merits of any Saints in heauen or in earth but by the mercies of God purchased vnto vs by the blessed and bloudy merits of Iesus Christ and applied vnto our soules by the band of faith by the John 3. 36. Rom. 3. 25. 4. 5. Ephes 2. 8. Ephes 3. 17. Church which Christ doth dwell in our hearts and is made ours We beleeue that wee are true members of that holy Catholike Church which is Christes misticall body and whereof hee is the head which is the spouse and hee the bridegroome which is his flocke and he the shepeard which is the heauenly Hierusalem the Mother of vs all Galath 4. 26 finally which is the number of Gods elect and chosen people that shall rest with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the Math. 8. 11 Kingdome of Heauen And wee know that wee haue perticular and visible Churches wherein Gods word is more truly preached the Sacraments seales of the word are more purely ministred and Gods name more faithfully inuocated and called vpon then in any or all the Romish Synagogues Indeed wee haue no Idolatrous Alters to offer either carnall or externall sacrifices vpon as though Altars Christs sweet smelling sacrifice were not yet offered but wee haue Mensam Domini the Lords Table where-vpon we minister the Supper of Christ which is a holy Sacrament 1. Cor. 10. 21. of Christs body and bloud giuen for vs a memoriall of his death and passion and a pledge of our redemption and saluation purchased thereby Wee haue that sweete smelling and sufficient Sacrifice which Iesus Christ by his eternall spirit offered without fault vnto GOD to purge Sacrifice Hebre. 9. 14. our consciences from dead workes to serue the liuing GOD. As for the sacrifice of the Masse as being iniurious to the said sacrifice of Iesus Christ which he once for all and for euer offered vpon the Altar of the Crosse wee deny and defie We haue no shauen nor greased Priests to offer the Priests said false and forged sacrifice of the Masse but wee haue priests pastours or ministers how-so-euer wee terme them according to the ordinance of Christ to preach his holy Gospell and to administer his sacraments to his Church We haue and vse that religion which hath the testimonie of Religion Rom. 3. the law and prophets
which cannot bee moued but remaineth for euer Being iustified by faith wee haue Psal 125. 1. Rom. 5. 1. 2. peace towards God through our Lord Iesus Christ by whom al so through faith we haue had this accesse vnto his grace wherin we stand and reioyce vnder the hope of the glory of God Ye haue not receiued the spirit of bondage to feare againe but ye haue receaued the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father Rom 8. 15. The same spirit beareth witnes with our spirit that we are the children of God Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Ibid. vers 33. Gods chosâ—â— it is Christ that iustifieth Who shall condemne c. Who shall seperate vs from the loue of Christ shall tribulation vers 35. or anguish or persecutioÌ„ or famine or nakednes or perill or sword c. I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Vers 38. Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come neither height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to seperate vs from the loue of GOD which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. It is God which stablisheth vs with you 2. Cor. 1. 21. in Christ and hath anointed vs who hath also sealed vs and hath giuen the earnest of the spirit in our hearts In whome also ye haue trusted after that he heard the word of truth euen the Ephes 1. 13. Gospel of your saluation wherein also after ye beleeued ye were sealed with the holy spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance c. Let vs therefore goe with confidence or boldnes Heb. 4. 16. vnto the throne of grace that wee may receaue mercy and finde grace to helpe in time of neede So God willing more abundantly Chap. 6. 17. to shew vnto the heires of promise the stablenes of his counsel bound himself by an oth that by two immutable things wherin it is impossible that God should lie we might haue strong consolation which haue our refuge to lay hold vpon that hope that is set before vs which hope we haue as an ancre of the soul both sure and stedâ—ast and it entreth into that which is within the vaile c. Let vs draw neere with a true hart in assuraÌ„ce of faith our hearts being pure from an euil conscience and washed Chap. 10 22. in our bodies with pure water let vs keepe the profession of our hope without wauering for he is faithful that promised Therfore by faith that by grace the promise might be sure to all the seed And he not weâ—ke in the faith considered not his owne Rom. 4. 16. Vers 19. body which was now dead being almost an hundred yeares old neither the deadnes of Saraâ—s wombe neither did he doubt of the promise of God through vnbeleefe but was strengthened in the faith and gaue glory to God being fully assured that hee which had promised was able to doe it and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousnes Herevnto I will adde to the confuting of this doctrine of doubting two or three sayings of the Fathers Chrysostome Chrisost ad Rom. Homi. 9. saith Spes humana subinde intercidit sperantem pudore afficit Nostra verò eiusmodi non est sed firma immobilis perdurat c. The hope that is had in man sundrie times falleth away and shameth him that hopeth but our hope is not such but abideth firme and vnmoueable August praefat in Psal 123. Augustine saith Gaudium ergo nostrum fratres nondum est in re sed iam in spe Spes autem nostra tam certa est quasi iam res perfecta sit i Our ioy O brethren is not as yet in possession but in hope And our hope is so certaine as though Bernard lib. 5. de considera the thing were already done Bernard saith Ergo vt dixi fides ambiguum non habet aut si habet fides non est sed opinio Faith hath no doubting or if it haue it is not faith but an opinion Againe Non est enim fides aestimatio sed certitudo Epist 190. Anton. hist part 2. Tit. 17. cap 1 Sec. 5. fol. 217. faith is not an opinion but a certainty And Antoninus out of the same Bernard alleageth these words Clamat Apostolus Scio cui credidi et certus sum Et tu mihi sub sibilas fides est â—stimatio Tu mihi ambiguum garris quo nihil est certius c. The Apostle crieth out saying I know whom I haue beleeued and am certaine and doest thou whisper to me that faith is an opinion Poest thou bable and tell me that that is doubtful then the which there is nothing more certaine c. Hereby the indifferent reader may see both how false this desperate doctrine of doubting is against the which Ambrosius Catherinus an Archbishop a great doer in the councel of Trent did earnestly writ also that the Papists by this principle of their doctrine teach infidelity And withal let him consider whether is a more true godly comfortable doctrine to beleeue by faith our saluatioÌ„ or to be vncertaine to doubt therof as they teach But now let vs see how S. Paul exhorteth vs as this man saith to doubt of our saluation He saith Cum timore â—remore salutem vestram operamini which is thus translated With feare and trembling worke your saluation This text was alleedged by hearesay and not by sight For this worthy writer who so highly thinketh of himselfe and so greatly disdaineth others quoteth in the margent 1. Cor. 2 whereas it is not in that chapter nor in all that Epistle but it is Philip. 2. 12. But the fault hereof will be laid vpon the Printer Yet that the Printer should so much erre and set 1. Cor. 2. for Phillip 2. it is not likely And that this error is not of the Printer but of this mans fine memorie it may hereby appeare yâ— it is not in the vulgar editioÌ„ which they both do and are bound to follow cum timore but cum metu Hereby the reader may see with what care these men alleage the Scriptures not looking vpon the words nor considering the simple sense and meaning but snatching at the words and wresting them contrary to the purpose and meaning of the Apostle Whose intent is not to teach Rom 3. 28. 4 2. 5. Gal. 2. 16. Ephe. 2. 8. 9. 2. Tim. 1 9. Tit. 3. 4. the Phillippians that they be saued by their workes which is contrary to his doctrine in many other places but to disswade them from carelesse security and to exhort them to walke in good workes and to run on the race of their life in the feare of God vntil they come to attaine that saluation which God hath promised and Iesus Christ for vs hath purchased Saint Paul to the Ephesians doth as it were to the explication of
Tim. 5 11. because they haue broken the first faith The which is to be vnderstood of the first profession of faith in Baptisme not of the latter vow of single life as the Papists falsely and foolishly expound it From this faith all they doe fall which turne either on the right hand to false doctrine or on the left hand to wicked life Many other waies faith is taken but this question is of that true liuely and iustifying faith which is the faith of Gods elect whereby Christ Tit. 1. Ephes 3. dwelleth in their hearts and they receiue nourishment and life from him This faith may be couered by temptations and falles as fire in the night with ashes but neuer vtterly extinguished For they in whome this true faith is are like a tree planted by the riuers of waters that will Psal 1 3 bring forth her fruite in due season whose leafe shall not fade And they that trâ—st in the Lord shall bee as mount Psal 125. â— Sion which cannot bee mooued but remaineth for euer They thâ—t by thâ—â— faith are built vpon the rocke Iesus Christ Math. 16. 18 hell gates shall neuer ouercome them Christ saith He that beleeueth iâ— the Sonne of God hath euerlasting life Hee that hearetâ— my word beleeueth in him that sent mâ— hath euerlasting Ioâ— 3. 36. chap â— 2â— life and shall not come into condemnation but hath passed roÌ„ death to life He that beleeueth in me shall neuer thirst Chap. 6. 35. Ephes 1. 13 Saint Paul saith Wherein after ye beleeued ye were sealed with the holy spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance for the redemption of that libertie purchased vnto the praise of his glory These places sufficiently shew that that faith which is common to all Gods elect and proper only to the elect can neuer perish nor bee vtterly lost in them And this true comfortable doctrine bringeth no vaine securitie nor openeth the gap to any libertine sensualitie For they that by this faith haue tasted how sweete the Lord is cannot but loue and feare God and greatly delight in his commandements And that faith which swimmeth Psal 112 1 in meÌ„s lips but is not printed in their hearts nor shineth by Godlines and good workes in their liues is a dead faith and is no more that true faith whereby we liue vnto God then a dead man is a man To conclude this matter although we distinguish betweene iustification and sanctification yet wee acknowledge that they be inseparable and the one doth necessarily follow the other For whosoeuer are iustified by Gods grace and mercy through faith in Christ Iesus be also sanctified with Gods holy spirit to abhorre that which is euill and to cleaâ—e to that which is good to serue God in truâ— holinesse and righteousnes all the daies Rom. 12. 9. Luk 1 75 of their life And therefore we teach that they which without repentance persist in sinnne wallow in wickednesse and commit vngodlinesse with greedinesse haue no faith nor haue any assurance of the remission of their sinnes but may be assured that the wrath of God hangeth ouer them and â—f they doe not truely repent and bring forth fruites worthy amendement of life will fearefully fall vpon them So that you might haue spared your vaine and foolish exclamations concerning Epicures Heliogabalus Bacchus and Venus which are more honoured in Rome as hereafter I will shew then allowed of vs. For of whome did Mantuan the Italian Carmelite Frier an 100. yeares past De calamitat tempor lib. 2 write this but of your Popes and his fauourers Neglecto superum cultâ— spretoque tonantis im erio Baccho indulgent Venerique ministrant Neglecting the worship of God they serue Bacchus and Venus Concerning the fourth point of doctrine of keeping Gods commandements I haue spoken sufficiently before Onely now I say that our doctrine tendeth hereunto to shew vs our misery by transgressing of them that wee may thereby bee mooued to hunger for Gods mercie in Christ and although we cannot perfectly fulfill them for in many thingâ— we sinne all yet we ought according to the Iamet 3. 2 measure of Gods grace giuen to vs haue a care and conscience to walke in them and to frame our liues to the obedience of them Whereas fiftly you charge vs that wee deny the Sacrament of Penance thereby to make men careles how they liue I answer that although we deny your penance to be a Sacrament because it hath no outward visible signe and reiect your clancular confession your absurd absolution and your surperstitious or rather blasphemous satisfaction thereby to answere Gods iustice and discharge your sins yet we truly teach the doctrine of repentance as it is deliuered vnto vs in the word of God We teach men to come to the knowledge of their sins by the law of God which is the Rom 3. glasse to shew vs our spots the first step to repentance then to lament their sinnes whereby they haue offended their gracious God and mercifull father to confesse their sinnes with remorse of conscience both to God and men whom they haue offended and especially wee call vpon men for amendement of life in bringing forth fruits worthie of repentance without the which there is no repentance One part of which amendement is satisfaction to our brethren for iniuries committed and restitution of goods vnlawfully and vngoldly gotten As touching our iniuries against God wee plead not our owne satisfaction but craue Gods mercie in Christ Iesus who is our onely satisfaction and by whom only we seeke to haue remission of them Whereas you say that your confession rubbeth the sores of sinne and causeth remembrance of them I say that this more truely and effectually is wrought by the preaching of Gods word whereby sinne is more shewed and the wrath and iudgements of God against sinne are more threatned and thereby the conscience more pricked 2. Sam. 12. 7 and wounded then by your confession So Dauid was brought to repentance for his foule sinnes of adultery and murther by Nathans preaching and thundring Gods iudgements against him and not by his secret confessing So the people hauing heard Peter preach the worde of Act. 2. 37 De poeâ—itent dist 5. cap. in poeâ—itent iâ— gâ—ossa Concil tom 1 part 1. P. 155. Socrat. lib. â— cap. â—9 Sâ—zomen lib. 7 cap. 16 God were pricked in their hearts said vnto Peter the other Apostles Men and brethren what shall we doe This is Gods holy ordinance the other a plant which God hath neuer planted but an inuention of man as euen your own Canonists against your Schoolemen doe confesse And what wickednes hath come of it the ecclesiasticall historie partly sheweth and God who seeth all secrets knoweth Your owne Aluarus Pelagius Bishop of Sylueus in Portugale in his booke de planctu ecclesiae writeth thus of your confession and confessioners Saepè cum parochâ—anis
in the Councell of Constance Tom. 1 Serm. coram Alexan. Papa in die Ascensionis Nicol Clemang de corrupto Ecclesiae statu fol. 5. b. writeth thus Nam quem è Sacerdotum numerâ— mihi dabis non ignarum legis Christi Whom among the multitude of Priests canst thou shew mee which is not ignorant of Christs Law Nicolaus Clemangis a Doctor of Paris who liued in the same time that Gerson did complaineth in like manner of the grosse ignorance of the popish Clergie in these words Non tamen à studiis aut schola sed ab aratro etiam seruilibus artibus ad Parochias regendas caeteraque beneficia passim proficiscebantur qui paulo plus Latinae linguae quam Arabicae intelligerent c. i. Yet they commonly came to rule parishes and other benefices not from schooles and Vniuersities but from the plowe and seruile artes who did little more vnderstand the Latine then the Arabike tongue yea and such as could not read and which is shamefull to bee spoken could scarce discerne A. from B. And againe Nam quotus quisque Ibid. fol. 10. b. hodie est ad pontificale culmen euectus qui sacras vel perfunctoriè literas legerit audierit didicerit imo qui Sacrum codiceÌ„ nisi tegumento tenui vnquam attigerit cum tamen iureiurando illas in sua institutione se nosse confirment iâ— How many are there now aduanced to bee bishops which haue but lightly read the holy Scriptures heard or learned them yea who hath touched the holy Bible except it bee the couering of it Againe Ibid. fol. 13. De literis verò doctrina quid loqui attinet cum omnes ferè presbyteros sine aliquo captu aut rerum aut vocabulorum morosè syllabatimque vix legere videamus i. But what should I speake of learning for that wee see in a manner all Priests can hardly spell and read beeing without vnderstanding of the matter or words I might alleage the like complaints of Erasmus and others but to omit them if wee who with the Councell of Toledo condemne ignorance Dist 38. ex conc Tole Contra Manichaeos Haere 66 Hier. in Esaiam dist 38. si iuxta Prâ—â— 2. 4. as the mother of all errors and say with Epiphanius Nihil peius imperitia multos excaecauit ignorantia i. There is nothing worse than ignorance which hath blinded many and with S. Hierome to be ignorant of the Scriptures is to be ignorant of Christ and doe with Salomon exhort all men to seeke for knowledge as for siluer and for vnderstanding as for treasures if we I say be blind in what estate are they which hold ignorance the mother ef deuotion as Doctor Cole In the conference at Westminster in the beginning of her Maiesties raigne See the beginning of the Praeface of the new TestameÌ„t set out by them 1582. at Westminster said who to this day haue not published the whole Bible in the English tongue for the instructing and inlightning of Gods people although they writ eighteene yeares past that they had long before that time translated it and yet to this day they haue wanted meanes to publish it They haue had meanes since that time to print publish D. Stapletons great booke de Principiis doctrinalibus and many such others of the like sort but they can or will finde no meanes to publish the blessed Bible and booke of God for it serueth not so well for the defence of their doctrine and doings as the others doe But to conclude this matter I also doe both pray with the Prophet Dauid and say Open our eyes that we may see the wonders of thy law and Psal 119. 2. Timoth. 2. 7. Ephes 1. 18. with Saint Paule The Lord giue vs vnderstanding in all things that the eyes of our vnderstanding being lightened wee may know what the hope is of Gods calling and what the riches of his glorious inheritance is in the Saints c. and also exhort this man and his fellowes to take heed they bee not of the number of them of whom our Sauiour Christ said If Iohn 9. 41. yee were blind yee should haue no sinne but now yee say we see therefore your sinne remaineth The Pamphlet The copie of a Letter written by a Catholike to a worshipfull Protestant Gentleman his speciall friend concerning certaine reasons why the Protestants Religion is false and absurd LOued and reloued friend I haue receiued your courteous letter wherein you greatly wonder that I wondred so much in our last discourse that any man in England endued with a good iudgemeÌ„t conioined with a religious conscience could either accept or affect the Protestants new coyned gospell You request me to set downe briefly such reasons as induced me therevnto the which suite I could not deny for both religion and affection vrged me to satisfie so iust a desire For I must confesse I loue you as a man and as an honest ciuill Gentleman most gladly I would haue occasion to loue you as a Catholike Gentleman for it is great pitty that such a multitude of detestable errors and heynous heresies should lodge in so rarely qualified a soule I haue penned them after an accustomed manner following the fashion of schooles in most of them after a syllogisticall method to the intent that if you should shew them vnto your Ministers which swarme about you they might not haue such free scope and liberty to range abroad with their idle discourses as they vse to take veiling their confused conceits with a multitude of affected phrases thereby more easily to deceiue the simple loath the learned Wherefore I beseech you if any such itching spirit shall attempt an answer to intreat him to performe it briefly orderly seriously This I request for that I perceiue that Protestants cannot answer with breuity because their religion lacketh both certainty and perspicuitie And extreame hard or impossible it is to reply without prolixitie where there is no truth nor verity And therefore I request you as you loue me to will them to consider well before they answer ill and not to reply with rashnes least they retract with deliberation to their vtter shame confusion And that you may perceiue how my wonder rather deserued approbation then admiration for that order is a fauorit of memory I thought good to reduce all my reasons into two heads wit and will knowledge affection faith and good life because the nature of heresie hath euer been such as did not only inueagle the wit with errors but also seduce the will with occasions of inordinate affections I say then that no excellent good wit linked with a religious conscience can accept nor affect the Protestants new coyned gospell for good wits and iudgments assisted with Gods grace may easily conceiue the truth yea by the force of their very naturall faculties they may iudge credibly of the truth once proposed without great difficulty
veritâ—e that is both bee subiect to semblable incertaintie These errors I say they know not and consequentlie cannot discerne a true translation from a false and therefore must needes relie their faith vpon the sillie ministers faithlesse fidelitie which conuinceth they haue no faith at all Answere IDeny the Minor or second proposition of this Syllogisme and say that wee relie not our faith vpon the Ministers credit and sidelitie but vpon the worde of GOD translated the which wee know to bee true and holie not so much for that it is by publike authoritie and generall assent of men allowed as for that it containeth most holie doctrine agreeable to true faith and Godlie life whereby any that readeth or heareth it may behold the Maiestie of Gods spirit appearing in it As for example I beleeue these sayings to be true That Iesus Christ came into this world to saue sinners that hee is the Lambe 1. Tim. 1. Iob. 1. Tit. 2. 11. of GOD which taketh away the sinnes of the world that the grace of GOD which offereth saluation to all men hath appeared and treacheth vs that wee denie vngodlinesse and worldlie lust and liue soberlie righteously and Godlie in this present world c. not for that this or that man hath translated them but because the spirit of God doth beare witnesse vnto my heart that most holie pure and diuine doctrine is contained in them And therefore to say that those which vnderstand not the Hebrew and Greeke tongues because they vse the word of God translated to them into other languages do rely their faith vpon the Ministers credit and fidelitie and haue no faith is most foolish and absurd And let the Christian reader marke and confider how this sottish reason tendeth to the discrediting not onely of vs but also of the most part of all Godly and faithfull Christians in all ages yea and to the most of the Godly Doctors Fathers of the Church who were almost al ignorant of the Hebrew tongue and some of the Greeke also The holy scriptures were translated into many tongues in the which the people of God did reade and heare them As Theodoretus writeth Hebraici vero libri non modò in Graecum idioma conuersi sunt sed in Romanam quoque Theodor. de cu. vatione Graecarum affectionum lib 5. linguam Aegyptiacam Persicam Indicam Armenicamque Scythicam adeoque Sauromaticam semelque vt dicam in linguas omnes quibus ad hanc diem nationes vtantur that is The Hebrew bookes bee translated not onely into the Greeke tongue but also into the Romaine Egyptian Persian Indian Armenian and Scythian and also the Sclauonian tongues to say at a word into all languages which the nations vse vnto this day Did the ancient faithfull Christians which read and heard the holy scriptures in these sundrie languages rely their faith vpon men that did translate them or vpon the diuine doctrine and pretious promises of God contained in them And let this cauiller shew sufficient reason why were are not either to be acquited with them or they condemned with vs. They could no more iudge of the truth of the translations then our people can yet they did to their great comfort and Godly instruction and edification reade and heare the holy scriptures grounding their faith not vpon the translators who might bee and sometimes were euill men but vpon the sound holy and heauenly doctrien therein contained Saint Hierome exhorted ladies and gentlewomen Hieron ad Gaudentium de pacatulae Inâ—â—tulae educat ad letam de institut filiae not onely to reade the scriptures themselues but also to bring vp their young daughters when they were but seuen yeares old in that holy exercise They were not able to iudge of the translations otherwaies then to discerne and perceiue that the doctrine by them deliuered was pure and holy agreeable to true faith and Godly life And euen so they that bee Godly in these daies although they hauing not the knowledge of the Hebrew and Greeke tongues cannot iudge so exactly of translations and of the truth of them as those that vnderstand them can yet they may discerne whether the translations deliuer sound and holy doctrine consonant to true faith good manners and the generall heads and principles of Christianitie or not I neede not heere aske vpon what or whome your 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Catholikes doe rely their faith when they reade either the old vulgar Latine translation of the Remish English seeing they can no more nor better iudge of these translations whether they bee true or false then wee I do not I say aske wheron they rely their faith for it seemeth that they build not their faith so much vpon Extrauagant Ioh. 22. cum inter in glossa dist 96. satis euidenter the written word of God in the scriptures as vpon vnwritten traditions of men customes of fathers decrees of councels and especially vpon the will and pleasure of their great GOD as his owne friends call him the Pope of Rome Whose will is the rule of their faith and life If he giue a dispensation for a man to mary his owne sister as Antoninus Sum. part 3. titu 1. cap. 11. 55. quod papa summa Angelica in Papa fol. â—32 Pope Martin the fift did it is lawfull if he giue a dispensation for one to marry his sisters daughter which is as vnlawfull as the other as a late Pope gaue to the late King Philip of Spaine it is lawfull But yet if any of these counted Catholikes will pretend to build their faith vpon the Scriptures and being ignorant of the Hebrew and Greeke tongues readeth either the vulgar Latine or English Remish translation of the new Testament I would aske how he doth know whether these translations bee true or false or whether hee will say that his faith dependeth vpon the credit and fidelitie of the translator or no But I know Counc TrideÌ„t Sessi decretum 2. what they will answere that the Latine vulgar translation is allowed by the Church that is to say by the councell of Trident which representeth the Church which hath decreed the same to bee taken for authenticall in readings disputations sermons or expositions and that no man bee bold or presume vpon any pretence to reiect or refuse it Wherevnto first I say that as this decree doth allow the Latine so it doth not approue the English Now how shall an English Catholike that vnderstandeth not the Latine know whether the same bee truely translated out of the Latine or no or shall his faith here rely vpon the credit and fidelitie of the translator I would know what difference there is betweene such a one reading or hearing that translation and one of vs reading or hearing ours And why the faith of the one doth more depend on the credit and fidelity of the translator then the other Surely this difference there is that our translations
terris ipse meruit Idem in confut assert Luther articulo 17. innumeri tamen sunt qui longè grauiores aerumnas pertulerunt quà m ad suorum suffecissent delictorum expiationem Secondly wee make this supposition that although there is none to whome God doth not giue a greater reward in Heauen then hee hath merited and deserued yet there bee many which haue suffered farre more grieuous griefes and punishments then would haue sufficed to the expiation and purging away their sinnes This is their doctrine and is this to beleeue the forgiuenesse 2. Pet. 2. of sinnes or is it not rather to denie the Lord Iesus that hath bought vs For I may say with Saint Paul that Galat. 2. if righteousnesse come by the law or by our satisfaction then Christ died in vaine And with what face can these men accuse vs of denying this article the forgiuenesse of sinnes themselues teaching such blasphemous doctrine so manifestly opposite and contrarie vnto it Againe they denie the forgiuenesse of the punishments due for sinne saying that Christ hath deliuered vs à culpa from the fault or offence but not à poena from the punishment or at leastwise hee hath deliuered vs from eternall punishment but not from temporall which must bee sustained in Pugatorie whereby our sinnes or soules must bee purged and Gods iustice satisfied And yet the Popes pardons masses and dirges may discharge and deliuer from it Wherein first what doe they but extenuate and greatly diminish the vertue and powre of Christs death For if our Sauiour Christ haue not deliuered vs from the punishment due to our sinnes what great good hath hee done vs And if hee haue discharged vs from eternall punishment in hell but not from the temporall in Purgatory then is hee not a full and perfect Sauiour but an halfe Sauiour Haue you the testimonie of all Antiquitie for this doctrine Tertullian saith Exempto scilicet reatu eximiâ—ur poena The guiltinesse of sinne beeing taken away the punishment Tertull. lib. de baptismo is also taken away And Chrysostome saith vbi enim gratia ibi venia vbi verò venia illic nulla erit poena Where grace is there is forgiuenesse and where forgiuenesse Chrysost ad Rom. Homil. 8. is there shall bee no punishment Saint Augustine saith Ablato ergo peccato auferetur poena pecati The sin beeing taken away the punishment of sinne shall also bee taken away By this let it be discerned who they bee that August de vera relig cap. 13 denie that article of the forgiuenesse of sinne Moreouer let the Christian reader consider how they attribute first that to their Purgatory which is proper to the bloud of Christ which as S. Iohn saith clenseth vs from all sinne and secondly more to their Dirges Masses Pardons and such 1. Ioh. 1. paltries then they doe to the death and passion of Iesus Christ For they may deliuer from the paines of Purgatory but Christs death doth not O coelum non sudas ô terra non tremis But now let vs come to your proofe of this your accusation of our denying of this article Your first reason is that wee acknowledge no such effect in the Sacrament of Baptisme c. Wee acknowledge that baptisme is a Sacrament of the forgiuenesse of our sinnes by the death and passion of our Sauiour Iesus Christ whereby our faith is confirmed and we assured that as water washeth away the filth of the bodie so all the filth guiltinesse of our sinnes is so purged in the bloud of Christ that wee bee accepted for iust and righteous before God But we do not acknowledge that Baptisme or any other Sacrament doe conferre grace of themselues or haue grace included in them as in a vessell but wee affiame that they bee seales of Gods promises and instruments whereby God worketh in his elect and chosen people those graces which hee hath in his word promised and Iesus Christ hath purchased for them But all that bee outwardly baptized bee not inwardlie clensed as Simon Magus who beeing baptized was yet Act. 8. 23. still in the gall of bitternesse and in the bond of iniquitie For the spirit of God worketh by them in whom when and how much it pleaseth him Neither doe wee beleeue that Baptisme serueth onely for the remission of sinnes committed before it as you say here but that the vse and benefit of it pertaineth to our whole life continually to asâ—ure vs and confirme our faith in the forgiuenesse of all our sinnes by Iesus Christ And whereas you say that this our doctrine is contrarie to the expresse word of GOD which calleth this Sacrament the lauer of regeneration for that in it the soule dead by sinne is newly regenerate by grace I answere that Baptisme is so farre from beeing in this place of Saint Paul expressed that it is not mentioned neither necessarily to bee vnderstanded Saint Pauls sweete words bee these When the hountifulnesse and loue of God our Sauiour towards man appeared not by the workes of T it 3. 4. righteousnes which we had done but according to his mercy he saued vs by the washing of the new birth and renewing of the holy Ghost which hee shed on vs aboundantly through Iesus Christ our Sauiour Where is baptisme here mentioned or expressed to the lauer of regeneration Saint Paule doth here attribute this washing whereby wee bee regenerate and renewed to the holie Ghost alluding as it were to the words of God by the Prophet Ezechiel Then will I powre â—xech 36. 25. cleane water vpon you and ye shall be cleane yea from all your filthinesse and from all your Idols will â— clense you By this cleane water is vnderstood the spirit of God as it is expounded in the two next verses following I confesse that Baptisme is a Sacrament and pledge vnto vs of this washing and clensing of the holie Ghost to whom this washing is to be attributed and not to baptisme as though it were included in it or affixed to it for as I said many be outwardly baptized which be not inwardly clensed but onely the faithfull children of God in whom Gods spirit inwardly worketh that which by the word of God is promised and in baptisme sealed and confirmed And therefore this lauer is the spirit of God by whom we be regenerated and renewed Saint Augustine saith well Ea demum miserabilis August lib. 2 â—le doct Câ—rist cap. 5. est seruitus signa pro rebus accipere supra creaturam corpoream oculum mentis ad hauriendum aeternum lumen leuare non posse This is miserable seruitude to take the signes for the things signified and not to bee able to lift vp the eye of the minde aboue the corporeall creature to receiue eternall light Your second proofe is that we allow not the sacrament of Penance wherein all actuall sinnes committed after Baptisme are cancelled Your Popish penance
infidelity But S. Paul doth exhort vs to doubt of our saluatioÌ„ which we are bound to beleeue by faith according to the Protestants religion ergo S. Paul exhorteth vs to infidelity The Maior is plaine for to doubt of matters in faith is manifest infidelity because whosoeuer doubteth whether God hath reuealed that which indeed be hath reuealed being sufficiently proposed as reuealed vertually doubteth whether God saith truth or lieth The Minor is proued by the testimonie of S. Paul Cum timore tremore salutem vestram operamini with feare and trembling worke your saluation All feare whether it be filiall feare or seruile feare inculdeth doubt the one of sinne the other of punishment Answere AS it is false that wee neither know what wee beleeue nor why wee beleeue as hath beene before sufficientlie shewed so is it no lesse false which is here boldlie affirmed but faintly prooued That wee haue no meanes in our Church to settle vs in vnitie of beleefe to determine controuersies and to abolish Heresies Wee haue the word of GOD which we acknowledge to be the onely touchstone of truth concerning religion and saluation We haue learned and Godly Bishops and Pastors to teach the truth of Gods word to confute both by preaching and writing errors and heresies And we haue Synodes although not generall yet prouinciall wherein controuersies may be decided and Heresies condemned as heretofore the truth hath beene maintained and Heresies confuted and confounded in some prouinciall Councels as that called Gangrense and some other Africane Councels as wel as they haue beene in some generall I would faine know of you what other and better meanes the Church of God had for the space of three hundred yeeres after Christs incarnation then these to determine controuersies and abolish Heresies Generall Councels they had not before Constantines time which Pigh 6. de eccle Hierarch cap. â— Bellarm. tom 1 contro 4. lib. 2 cap. 13. Aeâ—cas Siluius epist 28. pag. 802. therefore your fellow Papist Pighius counteth to haue beene an inuention of his but your great Rabbin Rob. Bellarmine therein controlleth him and saith it is false So well these men bee setled in vnitie of beleefe And to your great Maister of Rome whom you now would make the Oracle of the world there was before that time but small respect and regard had as your own Pope Pius 2. in these words confesseth Ante Concilium Nicenum sibi quisque viuebat ad Romanam Ecclesiam paruus habebatur respectus i. Before the Councel of Nice euery one liued to himselfe and there was small regard had to the Church of Rome Shew vs therefore what meanes the Churches of God then had for maintenance of vnity of faith which we want You say that Christ willed vs to heare his Church if we Matth. 18. 17. Bellar. contro 1. lib. 3. cap. 5 would not be accounted for Ethnicks and Publicanes The which place your said Rob. Bellarmine Reader full wisely alleageth to proue the Pope and his Councel to be the supreme Iudge of controuersies As though our Sauiour Christ there spake of deciding of controuersies in doctrine or of expounding the Scriptures or by the Church meant the Pope and his councell and that euery man against whom his brother trespasseth must goe to the Pope and his councell to make his complaint These bee vanities and follies which nullo impellente ruunt and neede no confutation You further alleage out of Ioh. 14. 17. that Christ promised vnto the church the assistance of the holy Ghost where by the church you meane the Pope and his councell as your Maister Bellarmine hath taught you who writeth thus Sed hic in genere dicimus iudiceÌ„ veri sensus Idem ibid. ca. â— Scripturae omnium controuersiarum esse ecclesiam id est Pontificem cum concilio in quo omnes Catholici conueniunt Wee generally say that the church is the iudge of the true sense of the Scripture and of all controuersies that is to say The Pope with the councell wherein all Catholikes doe assemble or rather dissemble together But our Sauiour Christ made this promise to his disciples saying I will pray the Father and hee shall giue you another Ioh 14 16 17 comforter that hee may abide with you for euer euen the spirit of truth whome the world cannot receiue because it seeth him not neither knoweth him but ye know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you This promise pertaineth not to all the successors of the Apostles but to all them that truly feare God and beleeue and obey the holy doctrine which Christ deliuered to his Disciples and which they preached the which when you shall soundly proue that your Popes councels do then we will grant that this promise of Christ belongeth to them In the meane time wee will follow Chrysostomes good counsell Si videris aliquem Euangelica Chrysost Hom. dâ— Sâ—ncâ—o adorando spiritu repetentem profecto spiritum sanctum habet Veniet enim spiritus sanctus vt recordari vos faciat eorum quae docui Si quis igitur eorum qui dicuntur habere spiritum sanctum dicat aliquid à seipso non ex Euangelijs non credité meam doctrinam sequimini If thou see any man speaking out of the Gospell surely he hath the holy Ghost For the holy Ghost shal come to put you in remembrance of those things which I haue taught you If therefore any of them which are said to haue the holy Ghost doe speake any thing of himselfe not out of the Gospell beleeue him not but follow my doctrine Whereas you say that you beleeue certainely that the church cannot erre that the generall councels cannot deliuer false doctrine c. I answere that you foolishly begge that which is in question For as wee acknowledge councels assembled of Godlie learned and modest men which simply seeke the glorie of God and the profit of his Church are good meanes to suppresse errors and heresies and to abolish abuses and enormities so to affirme that generall Councells cannot erre or deliuer false doctrine is most false absurd as by many both reasons and examples might bee proued But for shortnes sake I will touch but a few examples The councell of foure hundred Priests of Israel erred and Satan was a false spirit in the â—outh of them all to the 1. King 22. 6. 8 22. Matth 26. 3. 65. 66. Act. 4. 5. 18. destruction of Achab that cursed king of Israel The councell of the Priests of Iuda erred in coÌ„demning Iesus Christ to death The councell of the high Priest and other Priests Rulers Elders and Scribes erred in forbidding Christs disciples to speake or teach in the name of Iesus The councel of Neocaesarea erred in iudging hardly falsly of second marriages which Gods word alloweth Rom Concil Neoca sar Can. 7. 7. 3. 1. Cor. 7. 39. the words of the councell be these
Presbyterum conuiuio secundarum nuptiarum interesse non debere maxime cum paecipiatur secundis nuptiis poenitentiam tribuere A priest ought not to be present at the feast of second marriages specially because he is commanded to appoint Distiâ—st cap. 20 de libellis penance to second mariages This councell although it were prouinciall was confirmed by Pope Leo the fourth as appeareth by Gratian and the Papists hold that prouinciall Sozom. lib. 4. cap. 17. councels confirmed by the Pope cannot erre The councel of Ariminum wherin were assembled aboue foure hundred Bishoppes horribly erred in maintaining the blasphemous doctrine of Arius The like did the Councels of Millaine Seleucia and of Tyrus The second Councell of Ephesus erred and maintained the false doctrine of Eutycheâ— These councels the Papists confesse to haue erred and why because they were not allowed and confirmed by the Bishoppe of Rome A simple and shamelesse shift as though the Bishop of Rome had in those daies power either to call or confirme Councels any more then the other Patriarks had In that second Councell of Nice most vnlike vnto the first not onely the wicked worshipping of Images was allowed and the Scriptures for the confirmation therof most shamefully abused and detorted as appeareth by the said corrupt councell and Caluin and Caluin Instit lib. 1. cap. 11. Sec. 14. Mart. Ciâ—mni exam Concil Tridet part 4. de imagine Action 5. Mart. Chemnicius haue largely shewed but also in the same was decreed that the Angels haue bodies and that the soule of man is corporall and therefore they may bee painted the which be soule errors If you will not allow the worshipping of Images to be an errour then you cannot say but that the Councell of Constantinople vnder Leo the Emperour where were present 338. Bishops and another of Frankford vnder Charles the Great in which the worshipping of Images was condemned did erre Some of these Councels erred To omit for breuitie sake Platiâ—a in Stepha 6. many other Councells a Councell at Rome vnder Stephanus the sixth or as some reckon seuenth condemned Pope Formosus and his doings Another Councell at Rauenna vnder Pope Iohn the tenth restored Formosus and Platina in â—oan 10. condemned Stephen and the actes of his Councell I hope you will not or cannot say but that one of these Councels erred Another Councell at Rome vnder Pope Nicholas the second caused that excellent learned and godly De coÌ„se Inst 2. Ego Bereng Sâ—ss 13 man Berengarius to recant and to confesse that the very true body of Christ is indeed handled and broken by the Priests hands and torne wtth the teeth of faithfull people The which is a grosse false and blasphemous doctrine The Councell of Constance erred most wickedly in taking away the cuppe of the Lord from the lay people contrary to the word of God and the testimonie of all antiquitie And that their last Councell of Trident hath fouly erred and confirmed false doctrine repugnant to the truth of Gods word and the Canons of ancient Councells both these excellent learned men Martinus Chennicius Innocentius Gentilletus haue shee l and wee doe and will proue to the consciences of all those whom the God of this world hath not blinded I am not ignorant what coullors the Iesuite Bellarmine seeketh to cast vppon the foresaid errours of these Councels and such others and what simple shifts he seeketh to elude auoid them the which I wil not stand here to answer but I will referre the reader to the answers of Lamb. Danaeus and to that excellent man of blessed memory D. Wbitakers where hee may find the weakenesse and nakednesse of Bellarmines said shifts plainly discouered and the same fully confuted the which I thnke will stand as other of his workes haue done long vndefended Whereas you note in your margent the ancient Councels of Nice Constantinople Ephesus and Chalcedon wherin old heretikes were confuted and condemned and thereby claime them to appertaine to your Church I answer that as it is most certaine that those Councels were not called nor gouerned and directed by the Bishops of Rome as now by vsurpation they are so you shall neuer proue that those Godly and learned fathers agreed with you in many great and principall points of Christian doctrine It were easie to shew that sundry things were condemned by them which be receiued and vsed by you And therefore you vainly brag of their names whose doctrine and proceedings you haue forsaken neither haue you so much by disputation in Councels as by cruel persecution through fire and fagot suppressed such as in all ages haue complained of your idolatry and abominations as plainely appeareth by histories As it is true that we admit the holy Scripture or rather the holy Ghost speaking in the scripture to bee the supreme vmpier and Iudge in matters of controuersies and acknowledge him to be the onely infallible interpreter of his own words so is it false that we admit no other iudge but remit all to euery mans priuate spirit and singular exposition We say that as the holy Ghost in the Scriptures is the high infallible iudge and interpreter of the Scriptures so we acknowledge inferiour Iudges and interpreters both priuate and publike Euery man is a priuate iudge to discerne and iudge of the doctrine which he heareth or readeth in the Scriptures So Saint Paul saith I 1. Cor 10. 15. 1. Ioâ— 4. 1. Ibid. 14. 29. 1. Thess 5. 20. speake as vnto wise men iudge ye what I say Let the Prophets speake two or three and let the other Iudge Despise not prophecying Try al things keep that which is good Abstain froÌ„ al apperance of euill Beloued beleeu not euery spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God The spirituall man iudgeth all 1. Cor. 2. 15. Heb. 5. 14 Iohn 10. 5. things Good Christians ought to haue their wits excersised to discerne both good and euill The true sheepe of Christ heare and know his voycâ— and they will not follow a stranger but they flye from him for they know not the voyce of strangers whereby our Sauiour christ sheweth that those which bee his sheepe and bee truly gathered into his fold can iudge and discerne betweene his voye sounding in the Scriptures and the voyce of strangers deliuering a strange doctrine differing and dissenting from the same such is the false doctrine of the Church of Rome Wee also admit publike iudges of controuersies both seuerally as learned Bishops Pastors and Doctors who may giue their sentences and iudgements in matters in question and coniunctly when they bee assembled in Synodes and Councels to examine questions of greater difficultie and to decide the same Howbeit their iudgements be not infallible Psal 11 6. for all men be lyars and subiect to ignorance and errour neither haue they any absolute power and authoritie to iudge after their owne spirit or mind but according to
workes of fasting praying and almes giuing therfore the workes themselues be deadly sinnes Our doctrine is first that these workes and such other Psal 109. 7. being done by vnfaithfull hypocrites and wicked men be turned into sinne as Dauid saith for they be so corrupted and defiled with their infidelitie and wickednes that they be but splendida peccata glittering sinnes before God as Saint Augustine termeth them For euen as most pure water flowing through a filthie sinke or priuie is made foule filthy and stinking euen so these workes prayer fasting c. which bee good workes commanded of God flowing from their faithlesse and wicked hearts and bodies be so defiled that they be but filthy sinnes in in the sight of God Pro. 15. 8. Salomon saith the sarcifice of the wicked is abhomination to the Lord but the prayer of the righteous is acceptable to Esa 1. 13. him God saith by the Prophet Esay Bring no moe oblations in vaine incense is an abhomination vnto me I cannot suffer your new Moones nor Sabboths nor solemne dayes it is iniquitie nor solemne assemblies My soule hateth your â—bid 66. 3. new Moones and your appointed feasts c. He that killeth a bullocke is as if he slew a man hee that sacrificeth a sheepe as if he cut off a dogges necke c. These sayings shew that euen the sacrifices commanded in the law of God were wicked abhominable wheÌ„ they were offered of wicked and prophane persons voyd of true faith and repentance So it is in the Prophet Haggai Thus saith the Lord of Hostes Aske now the Priestes concerning the law If one Hagg. 2. 12. beare holy flesh in the skirt of his garment and with his skirt doe touch the bread or the pottage or the wine or ale or any meate shall it bee holy And the Priestes answered and sayd no. Then sayd Haggai if a polluted person touch any of these thinges shall it bee vncleane And the Priestes answered and sayd it shall bee vncleane Then answered Haggai and said so is this people and so is this nation before me saith the Lord. and so are all the workes of their handes and that which they offer here is vncleane Agreeable to this is that which Tit. 1. 15. Saint Paul saith vnto the pure are all things pure but vnto them that are defiled and vnbeleeuing is nothing pure but euen their mindes and consciences are defiled Christ our Math. 7. 16. 12. 33. Sauiour saith Doe men gather grapes of thornes or figges of thistles and a corrupt tree bringeth forth euill fruit Whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne and without faith it is impossible Rom. 14. 23. Heb. 11 6. to please God Hereof we conclude that euen those workes which God hath commaunded and commended to vs in his word beeing done by the vngodly and reprobate be so corrupted by their infidelitie and wickednes that they bee not acceptable but rather abhominable before God So saith saint Augustine Sine qua fide quae videntur August lib. 3 ad Bonnifac cap. 5. Ambros de vo cat gentium lib. 1. cap. page 6. bona opera in peccata vertuntur without faith those workes which seeme to bee good are turned into sinne Saint Ambrose saith Sine cultu veri dei etiam quod virtus videtur esse peccatum est nec placere vllus deo sine deo potest without the worshippe of the true GOD euen that which seemeth to be virtue is sinne neither can any please God without God Anselme saith Omnis vita infidelium Anselme in Rom cap. 14. peccatum est nihil bonum sine summo bono i. The whole life of the vnfaithfull is sinne and there is nothing good without the chiefest good which is God By this the Christian reader may sufficiently see how false the doctrine of the Papists and namely of our fine and delicate Iesuites who teach as their proctor Andradius one of that coate blusheth not to auouch that all actions of those Explicat orthodox lib. 3. pag. 277. pag. 279. â—ulla culpa coâ—aminata pag. â—80 which bee vâ—yde of the true knowledge of GOD bee not sinne yea that they may doe workes defiled with no fault but worthy of great praise and that we are not to thinke that all the workes of them which be voyd of faith do so displease God that they bee crimes worthy eternall punishments Let the Godly reader compare these sayings of this Iebusite with those alleadged before out of the Scriptures and ancient Fathers and discerne which is more sound and agreeable not to the blind reason of man but to the wil of God reueiled in his word Secondly concerning the workes of the regenerate that belong to Gods election and mercy we say that although they bee done with imperfection and not so fully with their whole soule heart and minde as they should be but carry the touch of mans corruption and are not able to abide the strict and streight iudgement of God yet because they proceed from hearts purified by Act â—5 faith sanctified in some measure with Gods holy spirit they please God and the imperfections of them being pardoned in Iesus Christ they be accepted for pure and holy Math. 7. 16. 1â— 33. Pro. 15. 8. 1. Pet. 2. 5. Heb. 13. 16. Christ saith A good tree bringeth forth good fruite to the pure are all things pure The prayer of the righteous is acceptable to God The faitifull be an holy Priesthoode to offer vp spirituall sacrrfices acceptable to God by Iesus Christ To doe good and to distribute forget not for with such sacrifices God is pleased This therfore is a falsely which this man with a brasen brow affirmeth that fasting praying and almes deedes according to our religion be deadly sinnes These workes be commanded of GOD who commaundeth no sinnes We say that the corruption of our nature which is but in part and imperfectly regenerate in this life doth creepe into them and therefore they be not so purely perfectly done of vs as God requireth whereby we acknowledge that euen the best workes we doe had neede of Gods mercy So Saint Augustine saith Vae etiam laudabili vitae hominum siremota misericordia discutias eam Wo bee August confes lib. â— cap. 13. to the laudable life of man if thou O God examine it with out mercy Now what reasonable man will reason or imagine vs to reason thus that because we doe good workes not so purely and perfectly as Gods righteousnesse requireth and deserueth that therefore good workes as prayer almes deeds c. be deadly sinnes or are to be auoided of vs. But let vs come to examine the proofe of your Minor or second proposition You say that according to our religion and common exposition of this text of Scripture wee are maâ—e all as vncleane and all our iustices are like a stained Isaia 64. 6. cloth the best workes wee can
their workes for such as IESVS CHRIST is And therefore wee say that although our best workes are done in weakenesse and bee stayned with the sinne which dwelleth in vs yet as long as wee yeeld not to our corruptions but striue and pray for the mortification of them our workes doe please and glorifie GOD and bee testimonies to our consciences of our eternall election and waies to walke in vnto saluation and therefore are not to bee auoyded but dilligently in the feare of God to bee vsed But the Doctrine of this man and of the Church wherevnto hee adhaereth is that they can doe good workes so purely and perfectly void of staine and corruption that they may by them merite and deserue his eternall glory hereafter The which hee that holdeth is a proud Pharisiee and blinde hypocrite knowing effectually neither the corruption of his owne heart nor the perfect puritie and holynesse which GOD who is most pure and holy in his law requireth For whereas there is euen in them that bee regenerate both the new man and the old The spirite and the flesh Galat. 5. 17. and the flesh lusteth against the spirite and these be contrary one to the other that what thinges they would they Rom. 7. 14. doe not And seeing that they bee carnall sold vnder sinne so that they allow not what they doe For that which they would they doe not but that they hate they doe so that they doe it not but sinne that dwelleth Rom. 15. 27. 20. 22. 23. 24. in them And that although they consent to the law of GOD according to the inner man yet they see an other law in their members fighting against the law of their minde and leading them captiues to the law of sinne which is in their members so that they cry out and say O wretched men who shall deliuer vs from this body of death whether the regenerate and best men beeing in this estate wherein Saint Paul after mercy and grace receiued confesseth himselfe to haue beene can doe good workes purely and perfectly voyd of staine and corruption let any whome the God of this world hath not blinded iudge But to come to the cases which this man full wisely putteth to the first say that if hee who maketh the sinnes of those that truly turne to him though they Isai 1. were as redde as bloud as white as snow bee not able to wring out of this menstruous cloath the staines of it and to make it cleane in the bloud of his Sonne 1 Iohu 1. then is this menstruous cloath to bee abhorred And if you cannot giue almes but you must steale then is almes giuen to bee auoyded For wee must not doe Rom. 3. euill that good may come of it For they that say and doe so theire damnation is iust And if mallice so abound in your heart that you cannot see your enemy but you must fall a quarrelling with him then his company is to bee shunned And if you cannot eate flesh but you must scandalize and giue occasion of offending GOD to the beholder then you ought not to eate flesh And if you cannot releeue the poore but for vaine glory then haue you your reward and such reliefe is to bee spared Sed quorsum haec What of all this So saith he in like manner of the corruption of nature if the pâ—ison of concupisceÌ„ce so stâ—in my best actions that whatsoeuer I do or think I cannot possibly effećt them without these infections and corruptions then certainly I am bound in concsience to auoid these crimes and offences the which cannot possibly be performed without these vitious circumstances For answer here-vnto I desire the reader to obserue the manner of this mans reasoning that whereas by our doctrine euen good and faithfull men cannot doe good workes without some infection of sinne remayning in them this man intreateth of wicked men and of their workes vtterly defiled by sinne raigning ouer them For he that stealeth to giue almes and in whose heart mallice so aboundeth that he cannot see his enemie but he must quarrell with him c. is a wicked man and sinne raigneth in him And such men giuing their hearts to wickednesse as God will not heare their prayers so will hee not accept either them or any of their workes Moreouer whereas the question is whether good workes for corruptions and Psal 66. 18. infections in them are to be auoyded he concludeth that crimes and offences are to be auoyded To the which I say Amen And where 's he saith that a good thing consisteth of all Integritie but an euill worke is caused by euery defect and proueth the same by health and sickenesse and by a potfull of pottage which one ill hearbe will spotle I answer that as euill humors may be in mans body not ouermuch abounding and dominering in the same it may liue do good actions profitable to him-selfe and others So though euill humors of sinne bee in vs as long as they abound not and rule not ouer vs wee may liue vnto God and do workes acceptable to him in Iesus Christ by whose righteousnes they be perfumed and made sweete and sauory before his Maiestie And as in a potte of pottage one venemous and poysonable hearbe may spoile the whole so one great and poysonable sinne raigning in man may bring destruction and damnation to the whole man both in body and soule Yet as there may be euill hearbes in pottage which bring not death to the eaters thereof so their may bee imperfections and corruptions in mens workes and not be deadly to them that be in Iesus Christ For as there may be an Antidotum and counterpoyson against very perrillous poysons to expell them and preserue life so Iesus Christ who dwelleth in the heartes of Eâ—hes 3. his elect and chosen people by faith is a most sure and safe Antidotum and counterpoyson against not onely imperfections but also great and dangerous sinnes and offences to those that truly repent vnfainedly beleeue in him and by his spirite do indeauour to mortifie the euill afections of the flesh and more and more to grow in newnes and holynes of life As for that all Integritie wherein this man saith good thinges consist it is in this corrupt estate of ours sinne dwelling in vs rather to bee wished then attained For when wee haue done the best wee can wee must confesse our selues to bee improfitable seruants True Contr. Pelagi lib. 1. is this saying of Saint Hierom. Haec est hominis vera sapientia imperfectum se esse nosse atque vt ita loquar cunctorum in carne iustorum imperfecta perfectio est This is mans true wisdome to acknowledge himselfe to bee vnperfect and that I may so say the perfection of all that liue in flesh is imperfect And againe Haec hominibus sola perfectio Ad Ctesiphont aduers Pelagi Sâ— imperfectos se esse nouerint This is the
in Math cap. 3. can fullfill the law of GOD yea can doe superarrogant workes I should say workes of Supererogation aboue them that the law requireth Ergo the Papists bee proud Hypocrites and Phraisees The Pamphlet The most poynts wherein the Protestants dissent from the Catholikes tend to loosenes of life and carnall liberty 4. Article THis article may bee proued by a generall induction in all such matters as now the Protestants call in question First say that a man hath not free will to doe good but all goodnesse proceedeth so from grace that it lyeth not in his power neither to haue it nor resist it but of necessitie it must haue effect To what other end tendeth this senceles doctrine and fatall fancie but to make men negligent in disposing and preparing their soules to receiue Gods grace and rouse it vp and put it in execution after they haue it making man not much vnlike a sicke asse who neither can dispose nor prepare himselfe to seeke for his medicine but of necessitie must expect till his maister thrusteth it into his throate neither after hee hath drunke it can cause it cure his disease but carelesly letteth it worke as it will Secondly they defend that men be iustified by faith alone the which Solifidian position ouerthroweth flatly true repeâ—tance sorrow for sins mortification of passions al other virtues which tend to perfect reconciliation of the soule with God causing men onely to procure a certaine false fantastical apprehension of Christs death passioÌ„ the which faith although they erroniously auerre cannot be seuered from charity vertues good works yet both experience teacheth that it may for also few or none haue faith because few or none of them haue these works and the Scriptures plainely proue that all faith yea and the most noble faith which hath force to remoue Mountaines may be without charitie Thirdly they assure vs that faith once had can neuer be lost the which vain security openeth the gap to al libertine sensuâ—lity for if a man bee certain that he hath true faith if it bee impossible he should lose it if he be secured that by it alone he shal be saued why may he not wallow in al licentious pleasures in this life neuer doubt of glory in the other could euer Epicurus haue fouÌ„d a better ground to plant his Epicurisme could euer Heliogabalus haue better patronised his seÌ„suality could Bacchus or Venus euer haue forged better reasons to enlarge their dominion Fourthly they say a man cannot keep all the commaundements for what other cause I pray you but thereby to make men negligent in keeping of them to pretend an excuse of impossibilite whensoeuer they transgresse them Fiftly why deny they the Sacrament of penance but to make men careles how they liue and neuer regard the auoiding of sinnes as though they were neuer to render an account of theÌ„ to hinder that shame blushing which men conceiue in discouering their sins the which are most excellent meanes to deter them from sinning another time to shuffle vp restitution satisfaction of iniuries committed against our neighbours to draw men from remorse of conscience by burying their sins in eternal obliuion the sores whereof confession rubbeth causeth remembrance Sixtly why exclude they the true real body of Christ from the blessed Sacrament of the altar but for that they perceiue how by the presence thereof they were deterred from sinne and wickednes for they knew well that sinfull liâ—es consorted not with those sacred misteries and therefore they rather resolued to banish Christ from the Sacrament then sinnes from their soules Finally for what other cause haue they coined a new negatiue religion wholy standing vpon negation of sacraments ceremonies rites lawes customes other principal points of the catholike Church but for fasting to bring in feastâ—g for praying playing for deuotion â—issolutioÌ„ for religious fâ—are of God vain securitie for zeale and mortification a nuâ—ber of vaine verbal sermons and to conclude for a positiue working a flat deniall almost of all points of faith and religion Answere COncerning this article I will first answere these cauils which this cauiller obiecteth to the slaundering of our doctrine as tending to loosenesse of life and carnall libertie Secondly I will shew to what loosenesse and wickednesse of life the doctrine of the Church of Rome tendeth and what fruits or rather weeds of wickednes it hath brought forth euen in Popes their clergie and namely in Rome that holy Citie where that holy Father resideth and wherevpon he especially breatheth and blesseth He beginneth with free will wherein he neither setteth downe truly our doctrine nor the state of the controuersie which is a vsuall custome with his companions to peruert and alter the state of the question as Doctor Whitakers sheweth yâ— Bellarmine vseth to do I wil Epist dedica in contr 1. therefore lay downe our doctrine truly as we teach concerning this matter wee beleeue that although in worldly matters concerning this life man haue wit reason and vnderstanding to know and will for the choise of good and euill iust and vniust yet in spirituall matters pertayning to eternall life and the worship of God wee beleeue that mans reason is so darkened wil be so corrupted that he can neither truly know loue nor couet much lesse do performe those things which bee agreeable to Gods will and acceptable vnto his Maiestie vntill God in his elect and chosen people doe by his holy spirit regenerate them by lightning their blinde reason and forming their wicked wils This we proue by these places of Scripture here following The Lord saw that the wickednes Genes 6. 5. of man was so great vpon the earth al the imaginations of the thoughts of his hart were euil continually And that the Ibid. cap. 8. 21. Math. 16. 17. imagination of mans heart is euill from his youth Flesh and bloud hath not reueiled it vnto thee but my Father which is in John 1. 5. Verse 1â— Iohn 3. 3. heauen That light shined iâ— the darkenes and the darkenes comprehended it not Which are borne not of bloud nor of the will of the flesh but of God Except a man be borne againe he cannot see the kingdom of God That which is born of the flesh 13 is flesh that which is borne of the spirit is spirit A man can 27 receiue nothing except it be giuen him from heauen No man Chap. 6. 44. 65 can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him Therefore I said vnto you that no man can coâ—e vnto me except it be giuen vnto him of my Father without mee ye can do nothing The wisdome of the flesh iâ— death The wisedome Cap. 15. 5. Rom. 8. 6. 1. Cer. â— 14 of the flesh is enmitie against God The natural man perceiueth not the things of the spirit of God for they are foolishnes to him
good end which God intended and yet haue solde denied and crucified Christ conforming their intentions to his they being instruments and he the first meouer Againe it cannot be said but that God indirectly and most effectually intended their sinnes for he that intendeth any effect wherewith another effect is necessarily conioyned consequently intendeth it as for example He that intendeth to burne a ship in the midst of the sea intendeth consequently the death of all the men which be in her In like manner if God intended that Iudas should sell Christ vnto which action sinne was necessarily adioyned consequently God intended the sinne as well as the selling The Minor is too too euident For the Protestants deride Gods permission they say that all his actions are energeticall or effectuall they desperately auerre that Pauls conuersion and Dauids aduoutrie were in like manner the workes of God And as he elected some to glorie before the preuision of workes so he reiected some from glorie before the preuision of sins Here hence I infer that according to the Protestants principles God is most properly the author of sinne because he impelleth most effectually thereunto Next that he is the only author of sinne for that he inforceth men vpon necessitie to sinne and they as instruments follow the motion of their first cause Againe that man sinneth not for where there is necessitie of sinning there is no sinne for sinne is free or no sinne besides how can man sinne in conforming his will with Gods will Finally God is worse then the diuell for that the wickednes of the diuell principally consisteth in moouing perswading and iuducing of men to sinne the which by the Protestants confession God perfâ—rmeth more effectually then the diuell because the motions of God are more forcible and lâ—sse resistable then the illusions or suggestions of the diuell Many sinnes moreouer are acted without the temptations of the diuell some of ignorance some of passion but none without the motions of God so that God is worse then the diuell both in causing a greater multitude of sinnes then â—â— diuell and in the forcible manner of causing sinnes which the diuell cannot attaine vnto The which doctrine is as good a ground for Atheisme as euer hell could deuise for were it not much more reasonable to say there were no God at all then to beleeue there were such a God as commaundeth perswadeth vrgeth impelleth men to sinne and yet for the same sinnes will torment them with the inexplicable paines of hell Answere THis man sheweth himselfe to be like to the vnrighteous Luk. 18. 2. Apocal. 12. 10. Iohn 8. 4â— Iudge who neither feared God nor reuerenced man or rather like him that is a slanderer of Gods Saints and a lyar and the father of liâ—s For the Minor or assumption of this syllogisme that all Protestants say that God commaundeth perswadeth vrgeth and impelleth men to sinne is as true as that is that Catholikes in England be wrapped in Beares skinnes and cast vnto dogges to be deuoured which was published in Rome by a printed booke and set out in tables confirmed with Pope Gregorie In a booke intituled Eccles Anglicane Trâ—phea printed in Rome 1584. the 13. priuiledge The which as all men know to be a false malitious slander to discredit our gracious Queenes mercifull and good gouernment so is this also to defame the teachers of Gods truth For if this man or any of his partners can proue that either all Protestants or any learned Protestant doth say that God commaundeth perswadeth vrgeth and impelleth to sinne then will I yeeld vnto him not onely in this but in all other matters of religion If this cannot be shewed as most certainely it cannot what a shamelesse man is this to vtter such a grosse and palpable lye as euen a blind man may as it were feele it with his fingers and in what miserable estate be those simple ignorant soules which credit such lying spirits But this is the iust iudgement of God against them that receiue not the loue of the truth that 2 Thes 2. 10. they might be saued to send them strong delusion that they should beleeue lies As touching the matter wee beleeue with our hearts and confesse with our mouthes that God tempteth no man to euill and sinne but euery man is tempted Iames 1. 13. when he is drawne away by his owne concupiscence and is intised and that euery good gift and euery perfect gift is from â—boue and commeth downe from the Father of lights with whom is no variablenesse neither shadow of turning Whereby Saint Iames meaneth that God is in such sort good and so the giuer and author of good things that there is no change or alteration with him and therefore is the giuer of all good gifts and graces and neuer of any euill And we say with the Prophet Dauid Thou art not a God that loueth or willeth wickednes neither shall euill dwell with Psalm 5. 8. thee And with Saint Iohn God is light and in him is no 1. Iohn 1. 5. darknes And as there is no darknes that is to say ignorance wickednes in God so is he not the author thereof neither doth hee commaund perswade vrge or impell vnto it Fulgentius saith Inâ—quitas igitur quia in Deo Lib. 1. ad Monimum non est vâ—ique ex Deo non est Because iniquitie is not in God therefore it is not of God These blasphemies wee denie and defie neither doe Caluine or Beza in the places Beza Aphoris 1. by him quoâ—ed or any where else affirme them What is it then that they say They â—ay that there is nothing done by any neither vniuersally nor particularly but by the ordinance of God no not those things excepted which be euill and to be detested not in as much as they be ordained of God who is alwaies good and iust but in as much as they be done by the diuell and other wicked instruments So that wee say that the power and 2. Cor. 4. 6. prouidence of God who maketh the light to shine out of darknesse doth so cooperate and worke with the euill actions of wicked men and doth so direct them to the execution of his holy ordinance and iust iudgements that the same as they be done and directed by God be pure and holy and as they be committed of man be wicked and abominable Iosephs brethren did wickedly and of malice sell him into Aegypt for a slaue yet Ioseph saith God sent me before you to preserue your posteritie in this land Gon. 45. 7. and to saue you by a great deliuerance Now then you sent not me hither but God who hath made me a father vnto Pharaoh And againe When ye thought euill against me God disposed it Chap. 50. 20. to goâ—d Here God did neither commaund perswade nor impell Iosephs brethren to sell and send him into Aegypt yet his omnipotent hand was in that action to
vniuersitatis rector Dominus tu necesse est facias quod sine te fieri non potest i. Shall I say that any thing is done without thee O Lord God and that the wicked can doâ— so much thou being vnwilling To thinke this is blasphemous Seeing therefore thou art the ruler and Lord of the vvorlde thou must needes doe that which cannot be done without thee Wee say indeede that Gods works be energeticall and effectuall not onely in the faithfull but also in the wicked and reprobate whose a Exod. 4. 21. Rom 9 18. hearts hee hardeneth b Ioh. 12 40. and eyes blindeth c Rom 1. 28. whom he giueth vp to a reprobate minde d 2. Thess 2. 11. and to whom hee sendeth a strong delusion to beleeue lies These be Gods iust iudgements whereby hee punisheth the wicked who yet are not impelled or coacted of God to these sinnes but willingly harden their owne hearts by the deceit of sinne shut their eyes that they may not see Rom. 6. â—9 giue vp their members seruants to vncleannesse and iniquitie and delight in delusions and in beleeuing lies as Papists now doe Wee doe not desperately auerre but you do falsly and impudently affirme that we teach that Pauls conuersion Dauids adulterie were in like manner the works of God This shamelesse saying you haue picked out of Campians reasons out of which you haue Ratione 8. like a goodly Rapsodist gleaned a great part of this lying Libel but you cannot shew it in the writing of any Protestant This is calumniari non ratiocinari to slander and not rightly to reason But you knowe your friends fauourers will beleeue you though it be neuer so false And you haue learned that lesson Audacter calumniare semper aliquid adhaeret We say that Pauls conuersion was a worke of Gods mercie agreeable to his will reuealed in his word Dauids sinne of adulterie was a worke which hee hateth and repugnant to his said will God wrought mightily in Paul by his holy spirit in conuerting his heart in drawing him out of darknesse and in making him of a persecuter a preacher of his Gospell and a minister of his mercie God did not so worke at that time in Dauid but left him to himselfe to be tempted drawne away and ouercome of his owne corrupt concupiscence yet wee say that God did draw good out of that sinne of Dauid in making him a paterne of true repentance and example of Gods mercie in forgiuing his sinnes thereby teaching vs to walke warily and flee carnall securitie For if so excellent a man that was according to Gods heart did so fouly and fearefully fall what may fall vnto vs if we walke not circumspectly and pray not feruently to God to vphold vs with his hand and to guide vs with his holy spirit Touching Gods preuision you write as though you neither did know what we teach nor regard what your selfe doe write Doe we teach that God elected some to glory before the preuision of workes and reiected some from glory before the preuision of sinnes You shal finde this false assertion in our bookes when you finde the former shamelesse slander We doe not teach that God elected any to glory before hee did foresee their workes For from euerlasting he to whom all things be present did foresee both the good workes of his elect and the wicked works of the reprobate But this we say that the foundation and cause of Gods election and reprobation is not his prescience and foreseeing of the good workes of the one and the wicked workes of the other but his owne purpose will and pleasure and that good workes be not causes of Gods election but fruits and effects of it Saint Paul saith Before the children were borne and when Rom. 9. 11. they had neither done good nor euill that the purpose of God might remaine according to election not by workes but by him that calleth It was said to her The elder shall serue the younger As it is written I haue loued Iacob and haue hated Esau Againe As he hath chosen vs in Christ before the foundation Ephes 1. 4. of the world that we should be holie and without blame before him in loue Who hath predestinate vs to be adopted through 5. Iesus Christ in himselfe according to the good pleasure of his 11. will in whom also we are chosen when we were predestinate according to the purpose of him which worketh all things after the counsell of his owne will Againe God hath saued vs and called vs with an holy calling not according to our workes but according 2. Timoth. 1. 9. to his owne purpose and grace which was giuen to vs through Christ Iesus before the vvorld was Where we may see that the foundation and cause of Gods election is his owne will pleasure and purpose and not the foreseeing of our workes Saint Augustine saith Quod si futuros eorum August lib. de Praedestina gratia cap. 7. mores dicitur diuinum discreuisse iudicium profectò illud euacâ—abitur quod praemisit Apostolus dicens c. i. But if it be said that the iudgement of God did discerne the manners of Esau and Iacob vvhich afterward vvould be then surely that vvhich the Apostle saide before shall bee made frustrate and in vaine Not of vvorkes but by him that calleth it vvas saide The elder shall serue the younger For hee saith not by the vvorkes past but hauing said generally Not by vvorkes hee vvould thereby haue vnderstood vvorkes both past and to come vvorkes past vvhich vvere none to come vvhich as yet vvere not Iacob vvas predestinate a vessell vnto honour because not by vvorks but by him that calleth it vvas said The elder shall serue the younger Againe Nam quid est August lib. 1. de prâ—destin Sanctâ— cap. 17. quod ait Apostolus sicut elegit nos in ipso c. i. For what is that which the Apostle saith As hee hath chosen vs in him before the foundation of the vvorld The vvhich if it be therefore said because God did foresee that they vvould afterward beleeue and not that he vvould make them to beleeue against this foreseeing the Sonne speaketh saying You haue not chosen me but I haue chosen you A little after he saith Elegit ergo Deus fideles sed vt sint non quia iam erant i. God hath chosen the faithfull that they might be and not because they now vvere Againe Vt essemus sancti immaculati Non ergo quia futuri eramus sed vt essemus i. That vve might be Ibid. cap. 18. holy and vvithout blame therefore not because vve after should be but that vve might be Againe Quos elegit c. i. Whom August lib. 6. contra Iâ—lian cap. 8. he hath chosen before the foundation of the vvorld by the election of grace not of vvorkes either past or present or to come for
then grace vvere no grace Thus Saint Augustine sheweth that Gods election is not his prescience and foreseeing of workes to come but his owne grace good pleasure and purpose Now I come to your illations which vpon these false assertions you falsly inferre To the first I answere that God impelleth no man to sinne and therefore God is not the author of sinne Secondly God inforceth not men vpon necessitie to sinne but they sinne willingly and by the instigation of the diuell who worketh in the children of disobedience therefore God is not the author of sinne In your third inference where you say that sinne is free or no sinne belike you hold with Pighius some other Papists that originall sinne is no sinne for it is not free for vs to be without it And whereas you aske how man can sinne in conforming his will with Gods will I answere that they that sinne doe not conforme their will to Gods will but doe disobey it and oppose themselues vnto it This is the will of â—od saith Saint Paul your sanctification and that ye should abstaine from fornication 1. Thes 4. 3. Finally for as much as you can neuer shew that it is the Protestants confession that God moueth perswadeth and induceth men to sinne therfore you make a false and blasphemous collection for the which the Lord rebuke thee Satan Lastly whereas you thus charge vs to hold that God is the author of sinne I would desire you to shew where we do write more hardly of this matter then Iohn Fisher Bishop of Rochester hath written heereof whose words be these Neutrum sane potest sine Deo nec ad Iohn Roffens asserti Luther confuta artic 36. pag. 339. bonum se pararâ— neque malum opus facere Neque enim adulter absque generali fluxu Dei potest adulterandâ— facinus committere sed neque postquam ipsum admisit sine speciali auxilio Dei conari valebit vt resurgat i. Man can doe neither vvithout God neither prepare himselfe to good nor doe that vvhich is euill For the adulterer can neither commit adulterie vvithout the generall influence of God nor after hee hath committed it can he endeuour to rise vvithout the speciall helpe of God And againe Nam quantum ad substantiam actus etiam operibus malis cooperatur Deus Neque tamen recte Idem ibidem pag. 340. quisquam Deo peccatum imputabit quia tametsi cooperetur Deus adsubstantiam actus non tamen ipsam deficientiam operatur sed hoc agit sola voluntas i. As touching the substance of the act euen GOD doth cooperate or vvorke vvith euill vvorkes yet may not any man rightly impute sinne vnto God for although God doth cooperate to the substance of the deede yet he doth not vvorke the defect of the deede but onely mans vvill doth that Either shew where we haue written more hardly hereof or else condemne this Bishop and Martyr for the Popes cause with vs. I trust you will not say that hee taught Atheisme which is so rife in Rome as I haue before shewed c. The Pamphlet That faith once had may be lost 6. Article VVHosoeuer leeseth his charitie leeseth his faith But Dauid when he killed Vrias lost his charity Ergo Dauid when he killed Vrias lost his faith The Maior is a principle vndoubted of in the schooles of Protestants for they peremptorily affirme that true faith such as was in Dauid one of Gods elected can nâ— more be seuered from charitie then heate from fire or light from the sunne and therefore if Dauid killing Vrias lost his charitie no doubt but therewithall he lost his faith The Minor I prooue for whosoeuer remaineth in death is without charitie but Dauid when hee killed Vrias remained in death Ergo Dauid when he killed Vrias was without charitie If hee was without that which once he had no doubt but then he lost it for he was depriued thereof for his sinne The Maior proposition of this last Syllogisme thus I proue for charitie is the life of the soule and it is as impossible for a man to haue charitie and remaine in death as it is impossible to be dead in bodie and yet indued with a reasonable soule The Minor cannot be denied to wit that Dauid by killing Vrias remained in death for it is the expresse vvord of God Qui non diligit manet in morte He that loueth not 1. Ioh. 3. ver 14. his neighbour remaineth in death but certaine it is that Dauid loued not Vrias when he killed him Ergo likewise certaine it is that Dauid remained in death The same position might easily be prooued out of the eighteenth chapter of Ezech. verse twentie foure Si autem auerterit se iustus à iustitia sua c. Answere IDenie the Minor or second proposition that Dauid in procuring Vrias to be killed lost his charitie For although in this combat betweene the spirit and the flesh in Dauid the spirit retired and the flesh preuailed the new man was foyled and the olde man ouercame yet was not the spirit vtterly extinguished nor the new man cleane killed Indeede Dauids faith fainted his charity was cooled and his other gifts and graces couered yet not cleane quenched but there remained sparks of Gods spirit which afterwards being stirred vp and blowne by Nathans bellowes kindled flamed to Gods glory and Dauids eternall comfort and saluation Shall we thinke that Dauid had lost all loue of God of his law of man was he cleane depriued of Gods spirit it appeareth by his owne words that hee was not Who vpon Nathans preaching and reprouing of his sinne prayed and said Take not thy holy spirit from me Whereupon I reason thus Psal 51. 11. He that was not cleane depriued of Gods spirit had not wholly lost faith and charity But Dauid was not cleane depriued of Gods spirit therefore he had not wholly lost faith and charitie The first proposition is euident by the words of Dauid the second is manifest For it is absurd to say that the spirit of God should continue in him that hath lost all graces and gifts of the spirit It is with Gods elect and chosen children as it is with fire which in the night is so hid and couered that none appeareth and yet in the morning is stirred vp and is made to brune and to flame and as with a tree which in the Winter hath neither fruite nor leafe vpon it yet it hath a sap fallen into the root which in the spring springeth bringeth forth both leafe and fruite So is it with Gods holy Saints they be sometimes so ouertaken and ouercome with temptations that they seeme to be as trees without fruite withered and perished yet there remaineth a sap of Gods spirit and grace in them which afterward riseth and buddeth forth good fruit And therefore to the second proposition of your second Syllogisme I say that although Dauid by those foule
c. The inuenting of Idols and Images was the beginning of VVis 14. 2 Cor. 6. 16. 1 Ioh. 5. 21. Apoca. 9. 20. whoredome and the finding of them is the corruption of life What agreement hath the Temple of God with Idols or Images Babes keepe your selues from Images The remnant of the men which were not killed by these plagues repented not of the workes of their handes that they should not worship deuills and Idols of gold and of siluer of brasse and of stone and of wood which neither can see neither heare nor goe Also they repented not of their murther and of their sorcerie neither of their fornication nor of their theft I wil for shortnes sake omit many other places of Scripture wherein Images in the worship of God are condemned and the vanitie of them liuely painted forth Now as touching the state of the Church after Christ and his Apostles it is most certaine that the Christians in Lib. 3. cap. 23. the primitiue Church neither had nor worshipped Images Eusebius writeth that Plinius secundus a Pagane writing to Traiane the Emperour a persecutor of Christians did certifie him that hee found no wickednes in the Christians but that they would not worshippe Images Origne writeth that Celsus that railer and Blasphemour of Christianity did obiect this as a fault against the Con. Celse lib. 4. Apolog. cap. 12. Christians that they had no Images Tertullian writeth thus If we worship not vaine pictures and Images that are like dead men which Kites Mise and Spiders know what they be doth not the forsaking of this knowne errour deserue rather praise then punishment Lactantius saith that God is greater then man therefore he is aboue and not below neither Lib 2. de Orig. 9. error cap 19. is he to be sought below vpon the earth but in the highestrehioÌ„ of heauen wherefore ther is no doubt but that there is no religion wheresoeuer there is an Image Clemens writeth Lib. 5. recog cap 6. thus That Serpent the Deuill vseth by others to vtter such words we to the honor of God do worship visible Images the which is most certainely false for if you would truly worship the Image of God by doing well vnto man you should in him worship the true Image of God for in euery man is the true Image of God But yet not in all the true similitude but where there is a good soule and a pure minde If therefore you would honor the Image of God wee doe shew you what is good that you do good and giue honor and reuerence vnto man who is made after the Image of God giuing meate vnto the hungry and drinke vnto the thirsty apparell vnto the naked seruice vnto the sicke hospitality vnto strangers and things necessarie vnto him that is in prison And this is that which shal be accepted as truely done vnto God And these things doe so farre forth tende vnto Gods Image and the honor thereof that he that doth them not is thought to offer iniury vnto the Image of God Therefore what honour of God is this to gâ—d after Images of stone and of woode and to worshippe as God vaine and liuelesse Images and to despise man in whom is truly the Image of God Hitherto Clement Epiphanius comming into a church and there finding a Com. 3. opem Hicronimi vaile hanging and hauing on it an Image as it were of Christ or some Saint did teare it in peeces willed them to wrap some dead body in it and not to hange such in the churches contrary to the authority of the scriptures This Epistle wherein this is contained hath the authority not onely of Epiphanius which did write it but also of Saint Hierome who did translate and alledge it against Iohn the Bishop of Ierusalem Saint Augustine commendeth that Lib. â— de ciuit dei cap. 9 learned Romaine Varro for that hee affirmed that they which ordained Images for the people both tooke away feare and brought in error And againe hee writeth of the Ibim cap. 31 same Varro in this sort Wherefore seeing that Varro did say that they did know what was God who did beleeue that hee is a soule or spirit gouerning the world and did thinke that religion might more chastly bee obserued without Images who did not see how neare hee came to truth Heare Saint Augustine affirmeth that Varro came neare vnto the truth in thinking that religion might more chastly and purely be obserued without Images then with them The same Saint Augustine writeth thus Vere mendatia c. Our fathers haue indeed worshipped lies euen Images in which is no profit Saint Ambrose sayth The De fug â—culi cap. 5. cap. 36. Church knoweth not idle formes and vaine figures Images The counsel Elibertimum decreed that Images ought not to be in the Church and that which is worshipped or adored 〈◊〉 lib. 1. a coas a. Euangel cap. 10. should not be painted â—poâ— walls I will conclude this matter o Images with an other saying of S. Augustine Sic omnine errare meruerunt quia ChristuÌ„ et Apostolos eius non in sanctis condicibus sed in pictis parietibus quaesiueruÌ„t i. They haue altogither deserued to bee deceiued because they haue sought Christ and his Apostles not in the holy bookes of the scriptures but in painted walls And thus much at this time for Images expecting that this Catholike gentlewoman or some of her friends will proue by the testimony of the holy scriptures and the testimony of all writers in all ages since Christ and his Apostles not onely the vse of them as here they say but also the horrible abuse of them such as was in Popery in running a pilgrimage to them in kneeling creeping to them in burning candles and tapers before them in offering incense and all kinde of other oblations vnto them in making them to nodde with their heads and their eyes to gogle to deceiue the simple c. This shal be as easie for them to doe as to moue mountaines As touching the crosse and pilgrimage I will for shortnesse sake write nothing requiring them by the foresayd testimonies for to proue them Now it followeth in the sayd scroole or paper I Would know whether it bee not true that Aerius was condemned an Heretike aboue these thousand yeares for denying praier for the dead and Vigilantius for denying the praiers to Saints and the Nouatianes for denying the power of the Church to forgiue sinnes and Eustathius for denying Pilgrimage to holie places and Simon Magus for denying free will and Iouiniane for affirming the marriage of Priestes all the which opinions and many moe that are now preached for Gods word haue beene these thousand yeares condemned for heresies as I am told out of bookes of Saint Ireneus Saint Ambrose Saint Augustine Saint Epiphanius Saint Hierome and other holy fathers of the primitiue Church Answere AS touching these here charged with
the one saying and some the other so weake that some alledge the one and some the other and I haue not read any one that doth vse them both T W. in a discourse of this matter alledged the former words of the Angell and Ecchius the latter To the which I will briefly answer By the Angel is ment Iesus Christ the Angell of the couenant as Malachie calleth him and the Angell of the great councell of God So doth Aloisius Lipomanus that great Catholike Bishop of Verona both out of Cyrillus and of him-selfe expound it in these Cyrillus Alois Lipoma catena in Genes 48. words Cyrillus Iacob pueris benedicens deum paâ—rem nutrientem se Angelum liberantem nominat illum nempe Angelum qui Angelus magni consilij ab Esaia dicitur quia omnis benedictio omnis gratia non aliter quà m à deo per Iesum Christum in homines descendit ConsideraÌ„dum quòd dictio hagoel vel redimens vel qui redimit propriè reddi potest quo loquendi modo clarissimè filius dei mundi generalis redemptor denotatur Et si diâ—igenter aduerseris tacitè propheta domini sanctissimam inuocat trinitatem patrem scilicet spiritum S. sub nomine dei bis repititi vnigenitum verò dei filiuÌ„ sub nomine Angeli Angelum verò intelligit redemptorem verbum diuinum saluatorem nostrum vel auxilij aispensationis diuinae ministrum ipse inquam ille benedicat pueris istis That is Cyrill Iacob blessing thy children doth name God both the father which did nourish him and the Angell which did deliuer him to wit that Angell whom Esay calleth the Angell of great counsell because all blessing and all grace descendeth no other wayes from God vpon men but by Iesus Christ Wee must consider that the word Hagoel may bee translated either redeeming or he that redeemeth by which phrase of speech the sonn of God the generall redeemer of the worlde is most manifestly signified and if thou dilligently marke thou maist perceiue that the prophet in secret sort calleth vpon the most holy Trinitie to wit the father and the holy Ghost vnder the name of God twise repeated and the onely begotten sonne of GOD vnder the name of the Angell For by the Angell he vnderstandeth the redeemer the word of GOD our Sauiour or the minister of GODS helpe and dispensation euen he I say blesse these children Hitherto Lipomanus who with that ancient Father Cyrill truely vnderstand by this angell Iesus Christ and not any other ministring spirit or created Angell And therefore this place proueth the inuocation of Christ but not of other Angels By the other words Let my name be called vpon them c. Iacob meant nothing else but that Manasses and Ephraim Iosephs sonnes should bee counted amongst his sonnes to make vp the twelue tribes of Israel And euen so Frier Lyra doth Lyra in 48. cap Genes truely expound it in these words Inuocetur super eos nomen meum quia vocati sunt filij adoptiue Iacob facti sunt capita duarum tribuum sicut alij filij Iacob that is Let my name be called vpon them because they were called the adopt sonnes of Iacob and were made the heads of two tribes as were his other sonnes This phrase of speech is so vsed in other places of Scripture as Isa 41. In that day seuen women shall lay hold of one man saying we will eate our owe bread and we will weare our owne garments onely let thy name be called vpon vs and take away our reproch Whereby is meant that hee should bee their husband and they counted and called his wiues The like phrase is 2. Sam. 12. 28. Hierem. 7. 10. c. And therefore that this exposition of this place whereby they go about to proue inuocation of Saints is a priuat and false exposition any man may easily perceiue And this is the more euident for that some great Papists are forced to confesse that inuocation of Saints is not commended nor commaunded in all the Scriptures There is one Francis Hamilton a Scot a Papist and fugitiue prior of S. Iames at Herbipolis in Gemany who in a discourse concerning inuocation of Saints writeth thus Porro libenter hîc concedimus disertis scripturarum verbis ipsam inuocationem sanctorum non commendari Quibus enim cuius authoris cuius libri cuius instrumenti Noui an veteris commendantur Sancti commendatur oratio quam pro nobis ad deuÌ„ faciunt vt ipsos inuocemus atque vt pro nobis orent rogemus Francist Hamiltonius de Iunocat Sanct. demonstrat priore in appendice pag. 3â— 81. nullo loco commendatur Vbi consulatur locus demonstrari non potest Sed neque couâ—eniebat vt aut commendaretur aut consuleretur nascentis maxime ecclesiae exordiis ne plures sibi deos more gentium fingere aut constituere existimarentur christiani quando etiam in suspitionem Idolatriae venerunt duÌ„ sub specie panis vini verum deum colerent 83. praecepta ne est Non est praecepta c. that is Moreouer we doe heere willingly graunt that inuocation of Saints is not commended to vs by expresse words of the Scriptures For by what words of what authors of what booke of which testament the new or the old Saints are commended prayer which they make to God for vs is commended but that wee should call vpon them and that wee should intreate them to pray for vs is in no place commended No place caÌ„ be shewed where it is counselled Neither was it couenient that it should be either commended or counselled especially in the beginning of the Church arising lest christians should be thought to make vnto themselues after the maner of the gentiles moe Gods seeing they were suspected of Idolatry for worshipping the true GOD vnder the forme of bread and wine 83. Is it commaunded It is not commaunded Hitherto the words of this Papist Hamilton by which it appeareth that inuocation of Saints is not commaunded nor councelled in the Scriptures and therefore they doe wrest them and bring a priuate and faulse exposition to them which seeke to proue it by them You quoate also in the margent Apoc. 1. 4. whereat a man might well wonder that you would quote a place so impertinent for this purpose but that it is euer vsuall amongst you and your fellowes in such sort to abuse the word of God The words of Saint Iohn be these Iohn to the seuen Churches which are in Asia Grace be with you and peace from him which is and which was and which is to come and from the seuen spirits which are before his throne and from Iesus Christ c. What meaneth this man to alledge this for inuocation of Saints will he by these seauen spirits vnderstand the Saints either he knoweth little or he cannot be ignorant that this is expounded of the holy Ghost who although he be in person one
yet by the communication of his vertue and demonstration of his diuine workes in those seauen Churches doth so perfectly shew himselfe as though there were so many spirits euery one working in his peculiar Church Ambrose set out by Doctor Tunstall Bishop of Duresme writeth vpon these words thus Hic tota trinit as demonstratur Heere the whole Trinitie is shewed and a little after Per septem autem spiritus spiritus sanctus cò quòd sit septiformis intelligitur By the seauen spirits the holy Ghost is vnderstood because hee worketh seauen manner of wayes And hard it were or rather absurd to pray for grace and peace from Saints and that before Iesus Christ But vpon this I will not stand onely the reader may consider how barren this cause is which hath no plainer proofes and driueth this man to such priuate and false exposition of Gods word Now whereas you say that by prayer you glorifie the Saints in heauen I say that by prayer we doe glorifie God Call vpon mee in Psal 50. 15. the day of trouble and I will deliuer thee and thou shalt glorifie me But that by prayer we should glorifie Saints I doe not finde in all the holy scriptures If this man can why doth hee not shew it I finde that God will not giue his glorie Isa 42. 8. Psal 115. 1 to any other and that the Saints with Dauid say Not vnto vs O Lord not vnto vs but vnto thy name giue the glorie for thy louing mercy and thy truths sake And that the Angell Apoc. 19. 10 2◠8. would not bee worshiped or glorified but said vnto Iohn worship God As touching the Saints mediation when Iesus Christ shall cease to be our mediator and to sit at the right hand of GOD to make intercession for vs then wee wil seeke to your mediation of Saints In the meane time take you heede that in attributing that to the Saints which is proper and peculiar to the sonne of GOD yea which hee hath bought with his bloud you doe not deny the Lord which hath bought vs and that you doe not horribly dishonor those Saints and make Idols of them Furthermore you say that wee deny the communion of the Church militant and the soules in purgatorie c. Wherevnto I answer that when you shal plainely pithily proue this your fained fire of purgatorie which the Greeke Church alwaies hath denied then we will yeeld vnto you and graunt our selues to bee to blame in not helping these seely soules with dirges masses c. out of the paines of this forged fire You quote in your margent for proofe thereof 1. Cor. 3. v. 15. 15. v. 29. Alas poore purgatory that hath no better proofes The words of S. Paul in the first place be these If a mans worke burne he shall lose but he shall be saued himselfe neuerthelesse yet as it were by fire Here is mention of fire and therefore it must needs be the fire of purgatory for such is the great iudgement of these worthy writers that if they read in the scriptures or Fathers this word fire it is none other but the fire of purgatorie if sacrifice it is the sacrifice of the Masse if confessiō it can be nothing but auricular confession to the Priest if tradition it is vnwritten verities or vanities But touching these places of Saint Paul because the author of this Pamphlet doth not aledge them but barely quote them I will but briefely touch thē To the first I say that Saint Paul there speaketh not of all men but only of teachers and preachers which be builders of Gods house and Church which euen Bellarmine confesseth Tom 1. contr 6 de purgat lib. 1 cap. 4. Secondly he speaketh not of all their workes but only of their doctrine whereby they build the Church of God Thirdly hee speaketh not of the purging of workes or persons but of the probation of doctrines Fourthly the works are said to bee prooued and not the persons Lastly if this place should be vnderstood of purgatory then euery man should bee throwne into it for it is said the fire shall try euery mans worke of what sort it is but this is contrarie to the doctrine of the Papists who will not haue all men come into purgatorie These things plainely shew that this place cannot bee vnderstood of purgatorie Saint Augustine in many places doth vnderstand it of the afflictions and troubles sustained in this life and not of the paines of Purgatorie after this life Enchir. ad Laurentium cap. 68. de ciuit Dei lib. 21. cap. 26. de fide operibus cap. 16. in Psal 80. But S. Paul speaketh of triall of doctrine shewing that as the fire trieth mettals so the light of Gods truth trieth doctrines and as gold and siluer abide in the fire and hay and stubble be consumed so true sound and holie doctrines abide the light and trial of Gods word when either vntrue doctrines or vaine speculations perish and be comsumed So doth Saint Ambrose expound it Mala doctrina Ambros in 1. Cor. 3. in igne omnibus apparebit nunc enim quosdam fallit Euill doctrine shall appeare vnto all in the fire for now it deceiueth some Againe Mala enim adultera doctrina idcirco in ligno foeno stipula significata est vt ostenderetur ignis esse esca Euill and counterfeit doctrine is therefore signified by wood hay and stubble that it might be shewed Idem in Psal 118. in haec verba ignitum eloquiū tuum that it is but meate to bee consumed of fire And againe Ignis ergo hic Christi sermo est bonus ignis c. This fire is the word of Christ and it is a good fire which warmeth but burneth not but onely sinnes By this fire that gold of the Apostle laid vpon the good foundation is tried By this fire that siluer of manners or workes is proued By this fire those pretious stones are lightned but the hay stubble is consumed Therefore this fire clenseth the soule and consumeth error Hitherto Saint Ambrose whereby wee may see that neither Saint Augustine nor Saint Ambrose expound this place of Purgatory much lesse the Greeke Fathers who neuer acknowledged it Therfore to expound it of Purgatorie as the Papists do whether it bee not a priuate false exposition let the godly reader vprightly iudge The words of the other place here quoted are these Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead if the dead rise not at all why are they then baptized for dead To picke Purgatorie pickpurse out of this place passeth my skill Here is mention made of baptisme for the dead but neither of Purgatorie nor of praier for the dead I am not ignorant that there bee sundrie expositions of this place yet I doe not remember that euer I read it expounded of Purgatorie or applied vnto it And therefore I will write no more at this present