said that this commandement is spoken as well of the vnwritten as of the written word I answer that Moses speaketh of the written word onely for these very words are a certaine preface which he set before a long commentarie made of the written lawe for this end to make the people more attentiue and obedient Testimonie II. Isai 8.20 To the lawe and to the testimonie If they speake not according to this word it is because there is no light in them Here the Prophet teacheth what must be done in cases of difficultie Men must not rūne to the wizard or southsayer but to the lawe and testimonie and here he commends the written word as sufficient to resolue all doubts and scruples in conscience whatsoeuer Testimonie III. Ioh. 20.31 Those things were written that ye might beleeue that Iesus is the Christ and in beleeuing might haue euerlasting life Here is set downe the full ende of the gospell and of the whole written word which is to bring men to faith cōsequently to saluatiō therfore the whole scripture alone is sufficient to this end without traditiōs If it be said that this place must bee vnderstood of Christs miracles onely I answer that miracles without the doctrine of Christ knowledge of his sufferings can bring no man to life euerlasting and therefore the place must bee vnderstood of the doctrine of Christ and not of his miracles alone as Paul teacheth Gal. 1.8 If wee or an angell from heauen preach vnto you any thing beside that which we haue preached let him be accursed And to this effect he blames them that taught but a diuers doctrine to that which he had taught 1. Tim. 1.3 Testimonie IV. 2. Tim. 3.16,17 The whole Scripture is giuen by inspiration of God and is profitable to teach to improoue to correct and to instruct in righteousnes that the man of God may be absolute being made perfect vnto euery good work In these wordes be contained two arguments to prooue the sufficiencie of Scripture without vnwritten verities The first that which is profitable to these foure vses namely to teach all necessarie trueth to confute all errours to correct faults in manners and to instruct in righteousnes that is to informe al men in all good duties that is sufficient to saluation But Scripture serueth for all these vses and therefore it is sufficient and vnwritten traditions are superfluous The second that which can make the man of God that is Prophets and Apostles and the ministers of the word perfect in all the duties of their callings that same word is sufficient to make all other men perfect in all good workes But Gods word is able to make the man of God perfect Therefore it is sufficient to prescribe the true and perfect way to eternall life without the helpe of vnwritten traditions V. The iudgement of the Church Tertul. saith Take from heretickes the opinions which they maintaine with the heathen that they may defend their questions by Scripture alone and they cannot stand Againe We neede no curiositie after Christ Iesus nor inquisition after the gospel When we beleeue it wee desire to beleeue nothing beside for this we first beleeue that there is nothing more which wee may beleeue Hierome on Math. 23. writing of an opinion that Iohn Baptist was killed because he foretold the comming of Christ saith thus This because it hath not authoritie from Scriptures may as easily be contemned as approoued In which wordes there is a conclusion with a minor and the maior is to bee supplyed by the rules of logicke thus That which hath not authoritie from Scriptures may as easily be contemned as approoued but this opinion is for therefore Behold a notable argument against all vnwritten traditions Augustine booke 2. cap. 9. de doct Christ. In those things which are plainely set downe in Scripture are found all those points which containe faith and manners of liuing well Vincentius Lirinen saith the Canon of the Scripture is perfect and fully sufficient to it selfe for all things Beside these testimonies other reasons there bee that serue to prooue this point I. The practise of Christ and his Apostles who for the confirmamatiō of the doctrine which they taught vsed alwaies the testimony of Scripture neither can it be prooued that they euer confirmed any doctrine by tradition Act. 26.22 I continue vnto this day witnessing both to smal and great saying none other things then those which the Prophets and Moses did say should come And by this we are giuen to vnderstand that we must alwaies haue recourse to the written word as beeing sufficient to instruct vs in matters of saluation II. If the beleeuing of vnwritten traditions were necessarie to saluation then we must as well beleeue the writings of the auncient Fathers as well as the writings of the Apostles because Apostolicall traditions are not els where to be found but in their bookes And we may not beleeue their sayings as the word of God because they often erre beeing subiect to errour and for this cause their authoritie when they speake of traditions may be suspected and we may not alwaies beleeue them vpon their word Obiections for Traditions First they alleadge 2. Thess. 2.15 where the Apostle biddes that Church keepe the ordinances which he taught them either by word or letter Hence they gather that beside the written word there be vnwritten traditions that are indeede necessarie to be kept and obeyed Ans. It is very likely that this Epistle to the Thessalonians was the first that euer Paul writ to any Church though in order it haue not the first place and therfore at that time when this Epistle was penned it might well fall out that some things needfull to saluation were deliuered by word of mouth not being as yet written by any Apostle Yet the same things were afterward set downe in writing either in the second epistle or in the epistles of Paul Obiect II. That Scripture is Scripture is a point to be beleeued but that is a tradition vnwritten and therefore one tradition there is not written that we are to beleeue Ans. That the bookes of the old and new Testament are Scripture it is to be gathered and beleeued not vpon bare tradition but from the very bookes themselues on this manner Let a man that is indued with the spirit of discerning read the seuerall bookes withall let him consider the professed author thereof which is God himselfe and the matter therein contained which is a most diuine and absolute truth full of pietie the manner and forme of speach which is full of maiestie in the simplicitie of words the ende whereat they wholly aime which is the honour and glorie of God alone c. he shall be resolued that Scripture is Scripture euen by the Scripture it selfe Yea and by this meanes he may discerne any part of Scripture from the writings of mē whatsoeuer Thus thē scripture prooues it selfe to be scripture yet
assent vnto the same knowledge and it is to be found in the deuill and his angels So Saint Iames saith the deuills beleeue and tremble Some will say what a faith haue they Ans. Such as thereby they vnderstand both the Law and the Gospell besides they giue assent to it to be true and they doe more yet in that they tremble and feare And many a man hath not so much For amongst vs there is many a one which hath no knowledge of God at all more thâ—n he hath learned by the common talke of the world as namely that there is a God and that he is mercifull c. and yet this man will say that he beleeueth with all his heart but without knowledge it can not be that any should truly beleeue and therefore he deceiuâ—th himselfe Quest. But whence haue the deuils historical faith were they illuminated by the light of the spirit Ans. No but when the Gospell was preached they did acknowledge it and beleeued it to be true and that by the vertue of the reliques of Gods image which remained in them since their fall And therefore this their faith doth not arise from any speciall illumination by his spirit but they attaine to it euen by the very light of nature which was left in them from the beginning The second kinde of faith is Temporarie faith so called because it lasteth but for a time and season and commonly not to the ende of a mans life This kinde of faith is noted vnto vs in the parable of the seede that fell in the stonie ground And there be two differences or kindes of this faith The first kinde of temporarie faith hath in it three degrees The first is to knowe the Word of God and particularly the Gospell The second to giue an assent vnto it The third to professe it but to goe no further and all this may be done without any loue to the word This faith hath one degree more then historicall faith Examples of it we haue in Simon Magus Acts 8.13 who is saide to beleeue because he held the doctrine of the Apostle to be true and withall professed the same and in the deuils also who in some sort confessed that Christ was the sonne of the most highest and yet looked for no saluation by him Mark 5.7 Act. 19.15 And this is the common faith that abounds in this land Men say they beleeue as the Prince beleeueth and if religion change they will change For by reason of the authoritie of princes lawes they are made to learne some litle knowledge of the word they beleeue it to be good and they professe it thus for the space of thirtie or fourtie yeares men heare the word preached and receiue the sacraments beeing for all this as voide of grace as euer they were at the first day and the reason is because they doe barely professe it without either liking or loue of the same The second kinde of temporarie faith hath in it fiue degrees For by it first a man knowes the word SecoÌ„dly he assenteth vnto it Thirdly he professeth it Forthly he reioiceth inwardly in it Fiftly he bringeth forth some kind of fruit and yet for all this hath no more in him but a faith that will faile in the ende because he wanteth the effectuall application of the promise of the Gospel and is without all manner of sound conuersion This faith is like corne in the house top which groweth for a while but when heate of sommer commeth it withereth And this is also set forth vnto vs in the parable of the seede which fell in a stonie ground which is hastie in springing vp but because of the stones which will not suffer it to take deepe roote it withereth And this is a very common faith in the Church of God by which many reioyce in the preaching of the word and for a time bring forth some fruits accordingly with shewe of great forwardnesse yet afterward shake off religion and all But some will say how can this be a temporarie faith seeing it hath such fruits Ans. Such a kind of faith is temporarie because it is grounded on temporarie causes which are three I. A desire to get knowledge of some straunge points of religion For many a man doth labour for the fiue former degrees of temporarie faith onely because he desires to get more knowledge in Scripture then other men haue The second cause is a desire of praise among men which is of that force that it will make a man put on a shewe of all the graces which God bestoweth vpon his owne children though otherwise he want them and to goe very farre in religion which appeareth thus Some there are which seeme very bitterly to weepe for the sinnes of other men and yet haue neither sorrow nor touch of conscience for their owne and the cause hereof is nothing else but pride For he that sheddes teares for an other mans sinnes should much more weepe for his owne if he had grace Againe a man for his owne sinnes will pray very slackly and dully when he prayeth priuately and yet when he is in the companie of others he praies very feruently and earnestly From whence is this difference surely often it springeth from the pride of heart and from a desire and praise among men The third cause of temporarie faith is profit commoditie the getting of wealth and riches which are common occasions to mooue to choose or refuse religion as the time serueth but such kinde of beleeuers embrace not the Gospell because it is the Gospell that is the gladde tydings of saluation but because it brings wealth peace and libertie with it And these are the three causes of temporarie faith The third kinde of faith is the faith of Miracles when a man grounding himselfe on some speciall promise or reuelation from God doth beleeue that some straunge and extraordinarie thing which he hath desired or foretold shall come to passe by the worke of God This must be distinguished from historicall and temporarie faith For Simon Magus hauing both these kinds of faith wanted this faith of miracles and therefore would haue bought the same of the Apostles for money Yet we must know that this faith of miracles may be in hypocrites as it was in Iudas and at the last iudgement it shall be found to haue bin in the wicked and reprobate which shall say to Christ Lord in thy name we haue prophesied and cast out deuills and done many great miracles And thus much for the three sorts of common faith Now we come to the true faith which is called the Faith of the Elect. It is thus defined Faith is a supernaturall gift of God in the minde apprehending the sauing promise with all the promises that depend on it First I say it is a gift of God Philip. 1.29 to confute the blinde opinion of our people that thinke that the faith whereby they are to be saued is
we see how Gods word bindes conscience now conscience beeing thus bound againe bindes the man in whome it is The bond of conscience is called guiltines Guiltines is nothing else but a worke of the conscience binding euery sinner to the punishment of euerlasting death before God for this or that sinne Thus much of the proper binder of the conscience now followes the improper The improper binder is that which hath no power at all or vertue in it selfe to binde conscience but doth it onely by the authoritie and vertue of Gods word or some part thereof It is threefold Humane lawes an Oath a Promise Touching humane lawes the speciall point to be considered is In what manner they binde That this may in part be cleared I will stand a while to examine and confute the opinion that the very pillars of the Popish Church at this day maintaine namely that Ciuill and Ecclesiasticall iurisdiction haue a coactiue power in the conscience and that the lawes made thereby doe as truly and properly binde as they speake to mortall and veniall sinne as Gods law it selfe The arguments which they commonly vse are these Argum. 1. Deut. 17. That man that will doe presumptuously and not obey the authoritie of the Priest or Iudge shall die and thou shalt take away euill from Israel Here say they the precepts of the high Priest are Imperia not admonitions or exhortations they bind in conscience otherwise the transgressours therof should not haue bin punished so seuerely Ans. The intent of this law as a very child may perceiue is to establish the authoritie and right of the highest appeales for all matters of controuersie in the Synedrium or great court at Ierusalem Therefore the words alleadged doe not giue vnto the Priest a soueraigne power of making laws but a power of giuing iudgemēt of controuersies that according to laws alreadie made by God himself frō which iudgemēt there might be no appeale Now this power of determining doth not cōstraine conscience but the outward man to maintain order peace For what reason is there that that sentence which might be either a gainsaying of Gods law or a mistaking of it should bind the conscience to a sinne Again not euery one that refused to subiect themselues to the sentence of this court were straightway guiltie of sinne for this did Ieremie the Prophet and Christ our Sauiour when the Iewes condēned them for wicked persons but he that presumptuously despised the sentence and by consequent the authoritie it selfe which was the ordinance of God was guiltie Lastly the seueritie of the punishment which is temporall death doth not argue any power in the iudge of binding conscience this they might haue learned of their owne Doctor Gerson who holdeth that they that bind any man to mortall sinne must be able to punish him with answerable punishment which is eternall death Arg. 2. Matth. 16. Whatsoeuer ye shall bind in earth shall be bound in heaven Here say they to binde is to make lawes constraining conscience according to Matth. 23.4 They binde heauie burdens and lay them on mens shoulders Ans. The soueraigne power of binding and loosing is not belonging to any creature but is proper to Christ who hath the keyes of heauen and hell he openeth and no man shutteth he shutteth and no man openeth Reuel 3.5 As for the power of the Church it is nothing but a ministerie or seruice whereby men publish and pronounce that Christ bindeth or looseth Againe this binding stands not in the power of making lawes but in remitting and retaining of mens sinnes as the words going before declare v. 18. If thy brother sinne against thee c. and Christ sheweth his owne meaning when he saith Whose sinnes ye remit they are remitted and whose sinnes ye retaine they are retained Ioh. 20. 23. hauing before in the person of Peter promised them this honour in this forme of words Math. 16. I will giue vnto thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen whatsoeuer thou shalt binde vpon earth shall be bound in heauen This which I say is approoued by consent of auncient Diuines August Psal. 101. serm 2. Remission of sinne saith he is loosing therefore by the law of contraries binding is to hold sinne vnpardoned Hilar. vpon Matth. cap. 18. Whome they binde on earth that is saith he leaue vntied of the knottes of their sinnes Lumberd the popish master of sentences The Lord saith he hath giuen to Priests power of binding and loosing that is of making manifest that men are bound or loosed Againe both Origen Augustine and Theophylact attribute the power of binding to all Christians and therefore they for their parts neuer dreamed that the power of binding should be an authoritie to make lawes Lastly the place Matth. 23.4 ouerturnes the argument for there the Scribes and Pharises are condemned because they laid vpon mens shoulders the burdens of their traditions as meanes of Gods worship and things binding conscience Argum. 3. Act. 15. It seemes good vnto vs and the holy Ghost to lay no more burden on you then these necessarie things that ye abstaine from things offered to idols and blood and that which is strangled and fornication Here say they the Apostles by the instinct of the holy Ghost make a new law not for this or that respect but simply to bind consciences of the Gentiles that they might be exercised in obedience And this is prooued because the Apostles call this law a burden and call the things prescribed necessarie and S. Luke tearmes them the commandements of the Apostles and Chrysostome calls the Epistle sent to the Church Imperium that is a lordly charge To this they adde the testimonies of Tertullian Origen Augustine Ans. Though all be graunted that the law is a burden imposed a precept of the Apostles a charge againe that things required therein are necessarie yet will it not follow by good consequent that the law simply bindes conscience because it was giuen with a reseruation of Christian libertie so as out of the case of scandall that is if no offence were giuen to the weake Iewes it might freely be omitted And that will appeare by these reasons First of all Peter saith that it is a tempting of God to impose vpon the Gentiles the yoke of Iewish ceremonies he therefore must needs be contrarie to himselfe if he intend to binde mens consciences to abstinence from strangled blood and things offered to idols A replie is made that this abstinence is prescribed not by the auncient law of Moses but by a new Ecclesiasticall or Apostolicall authoritie I answer againe that a Mosaicall ceremonie is still the same thing though it be stablished by a new authoritie And whereas Christ by his death put an ende to the ceremoniall lawe it is absurd to thinke that the Apostles by their authoritie reuiued some part of it againe bound mens consciences thereto Secondly the Church of God in
his merits is a kind of apprehension And thus we see the kinds of implicite or infolded faith This doctrine is to be learned for two causes first of all it serues to rectifie the consciences of weake ones that they be not deceiued touching their estate For if we thinke that no faith can saue but a full perswaâ—ion such as the faith of Abraham was many truly bearing the name of Christ must be put out of the role of the children of God We are therefore to know that there is a growth in grace as in nature and there be differences and degrees of true faith and the least of them all is this Infolded faith This in effect is the doctrine of M. Caluin that when we begin by faith to know somewhat haue a desire to learne more this may be tearmed an vnexpressed faith Secondly this point of doctrine serues to rectifie and in part to expound sundrie Catechismes in that they seeme to propound faith vnto men at so high a reach as few can attaine vnto it defining it to be a certen and full perswasion of Gods loue and fauour in Christ whereas though euery faith be for his nature a certen perswasion yet onely the strong faith is the full perswasion Therefore faith is not onely in generall tearmes to be defined but also the degrees and measures thereof are to be expounded that weake ones to their comfort may be truly informed of their estate And though we teach there is a kinde of implicite faith which is the beginning of true and liuely faith yet none must hereupon take an occasion to content themselues therewith but labour to increase and goe on from faith to faith and so indeede will euery one doe that hath any beginnings of true faith be they neuer so little And he which thinks he hath a desire to beleeue and contents himselfe therewith hath indeede no true desire to beleeue The difference The pillars of the Romish Church laies downe this ground that faith in his owne nature is not a knowledge of things to be beleeued but a reuerent assent vnto them whether they be knowne or vnknowne Hereupon they build that if a man know some necessarie points of religion as the doctrine of the Godhead of the Trinitie of Christs incarnation and of our redemption c. it is needelesse to know the rest by a particular or distinct knowledge and it sufficeth to giue his consent to the Church and to beleeue as the pastours beleeue Behold a ruinous building vpon a rotten foundation for faith containes a knowledge of things to be beleeued and knowledge is of the nature of faith nothing is beleeued that is not knowne Isai 53.11 The knowledge of my righteous seruant shall iustifie many and Ioh. 17.2 This is eternall life to know the eternall God and whome thou hast sent Iesus Christ. In these places by knowledge is meant faith grounded vpon knowledge whereby we know and are assured that Christ and his benefits belong vnto vs. Secondly this kind of assent is the mother of ignorance For when men shall be taught that for sundrie points of religion they may beleeue as the Church beleeues that the studie of the Scriptures is not to be required of them yea that to their good they may be barred the reading of them so be it they know some principall things contained in the articles of faith that common beleeuers are not bound expressely to beleeue all the articles of the Apostles Creede that it sufficeth them to beleeue the articles by an implicite faith by beleeuing as the Church beleeueth fewe or none will haue care to profit in knowledge And yet Gods commaundement is that we should grow in knowledge and that his word should dwell plenteously in vs Col. 3.16 Againe the Papists say that the deuotion of the ignorant is often seruice better accepted then that which is done vpoÌ„ knowledge Such say they as pray in latin pray with as great consolation of spirit with as little tediousnes with as great deuotion and affection and oftentimes more then the other and alwaies more then any scismaticke or hereticke in his owne language To conclude they teach that some articles of faith are beleeued generally of the whole Church onely by a simple or implicite faith which afterward by the Authoritie of a generall Counsell are propounded to be beleeued of the Church by expresse faith Roffensis against Luther giues an example of this when he confesseth that Purgatorie was litle known at the first but was made knowne partly by Scripture and partly by reuelation in processe of time This implicite faith touching articles of religion we reiect holding that all things concerning faith and manners necessarie to saluation are plainely expressed in Scripture and accordingly to be beleeued The 17. point Of Purgatorie Our consent We hold a Christian Purgatorie according as the word of God hath set downe the same vnto vs. And first of all by this Purgatorie we vnderstand the afflictions of Gods children here on earth Ier. 3. The people afflicted say thou hast sent a fire into our bones Psal. 65.12 We haue gone through water and fire Malach. 3.3 The children of Levi must be purified in a purging fire of affliction 1. Pet. 1.7 Afflictions are called the fiâ—rie triall whereby men are clensed from their corruptions as golde from the drosse by the fire Secondly the blood of Christ is a purgatorie of our sinnes 1. Ioh. 1.7 Christs blood purgeth vs from all our sinnes Heb. 9.14 It purgeth our consciences from dead workes And Christ baptizeth with the holy Ghost and with fire because our inward washing is by the blood of Christ and the holy Ghost is as fire to consume and abolish the inward corruption of nature To this effect saith Origen Without doubt we shall feele the vnquenchable fire vnles we shall now intreat the Lord to send downe from heauen a purgatorie fire vnto vs whereby worldly desires may he vtterly consumed in our mindes August Suppose the mercie of God is thy purgatorie The difference or dissent We differ from the Papists touching purgatorie in two things And first of all for the place They hold it to be a part of hell into which an entrance is made onely after this life we for our parts denie it as hauing no waraant in the word of God which mentioneth onely two places for men after this life heauen and hell with the two-fold condition thereof ioy and torment Luk. 16.25 26. Ioh. 3.36 Apoc. 22.14 15. and 21.7,8 Matth. 8.11 Nay we finde the contrarie Reu. 14.13 they that die in the Lord are saide to rest from their lâ—bours which can not be true if any of them goe to purgatorie And to cut off all cauills it is further said their workes that is the reward of their workes follow them euen at the heeles as an Acoluth or seruant doth his master Augustine saith well After this life there remaines no