Duraeus Con. Whitel◠p. 140. The Fathers are not counted Fathers when they either write or teach of their owne and what they haue not receiued from the Church p. 1. pa. 75. And Dominicus Bannes The more part of Doctors if some few bee against them make no infallible argument in matters of Faith De iurisd p. 4. Dr Marta also The common opinion of Doctors is not to bee regarded when another contrary opinion fauoureth the power of the keyes and the iurisdiction of the Church De vorb Dei l. 3. c. 10. Likewise Bellarmine The Fathers expound the Scriptures not as Iudges but as Doctors now not to this but that authority is required And De conc In expounding the Scripture the Catholike Church doth not alway and in all things follow the Fathers The writings of the Fathers are no rules and haue no authority to bind vs. In Rom. 14. Finally Tom teltroth Cornelius Mus To speake freely I would yeeld more credence to one chiefe Bishop in those things which concerne the mysteries of Faith then a thousand Augustins Hieromes or Gregories And thus as a right learned writer saith Reinol Conf. c. 2. d. 2. you vse the Fathers as Marchants are wont to vse their counters Sometime they stand with you for pence sometime for pounds as they bee next and readiest at hand to make vp your accounts So that I cannot but maruell how you dare to make that the ground of your Faith which the learnedst of your side so ordinarily reiect as an vnsure foundation to build vpon Shall I tell you M. Bayly you haue been fouly gulled and beguiled by your new Masters For notwithstanding all this faire pretence of Fathers yet in the end not Consent of Fathers but the authority of the present Church must bee your surest anchorhold So saith Gregory de Valentia a man well seene in the Romish mysteries Tom. in Thom. 3. d. 1. q. 1. p. 7. §. 3. De Sacram. l. 2. c. 25. Neither the holy Scripture nor yet tradition alone if yee separate from it the present authority in the Church is that infallible authority and mistresse of Faith So Bellarmine also The firmity of all ancient Councels and Doctrines depends vpon the authority of the present Church And this reason they render because without the authority of the present Church yee can neuer haue infallible certainty either of Scripture or Councels or Traditions which they bee or what is the true meaning of them So that now you must of force remoue your Faith from the ancient Fathers and rest it vpon the present Church But what are you now more safe then you were before Neuer a whit vnlesse you may further bee resolued what is the present Church For it is taken three seuerall wayes by you and is either the Church essentiall consisting of all Catholicks whatsoeuer Prier in Luth. tom 1. fund ◠or Representatiue of Bishops in a Coūcell or Virtuall the Pope who is head of the Church Now which of these three must you pitch vpon The first So say some But the most part of this Church is the Vulgar who are not comprehensiue of those matters which are controuerted neither is it possible for you to gather the voices of such a diuided and dispersed body Others therefore direct you to the second But what to a Councell with the Pope or without the Pope For here is such confusion of tongues and part taking of each side that I feare you will hardly find any rest for the sole of your foote this way Howbeit if the most voices of the new cut now adayes may sway it not a Councell without the Pope but the Pope whether with a Councell or without it it mattereth not much Tom. 3. p. 24. must bee the iudge and ground of Faith In this question saith Gregory de Valentia by the Church wee meant the Roman Bishops in whom resides the full authority of the Church when hee pleases to determine matters of Faith whether hee doe it with a Councell or without And Greiser Def. Bellarm. 10. 1. p. 1450. b. when wee affirme the Church to bee iudge of all controuersies of Faith by the Church wee vnderstand the B. of Rome who for the time being gouernes the ship of the militant Church And Albertin I say that besides the first verity there is an infallible rule liuing and endued with reason such as is the Church and this rule liuing and endued with reason is the chiefe B. of Rome So that Tom. 1. dis 44. Sect. 1. the Popes determination is the truth saith Suares and were it contrary to the sayings of all the Saints yet were it to bee preferred afore them nay if an Angell from Heauen were opposed against him the Popes determination were to bee preferred By all which you see that as you haue once already remoued your Faith from the ancient Fathers to your Mother the present Church so must you bee faine now againe to remoue it from your mother the present Church vnto your holy Father the present Pope But besides that it is altogether vnprobable that the Spirit of Truth should bee chained vnto the chaire of those men who many of them haue beene monsters rather then men and not only Heretiks but very Atheists and Infidels I would willingly learne why the Pope is so seldome in the humour to decide controuersies Why haue wee not from him an exact Commentary on the Bible that wee need no longer stand in doubt of the meaning thereof And why doth hee not stint the deadly fo-hood that now is on foot betweene the Iesuites and Dominicans But suppose hee bee both able and ready to resolue what must I trauell from England so farre as Rome for resolution and when I am arriued before him hath hee clouen tongues sitting vpon him to speake vnto mee in the language I vnderstand Or if I vnderstand him how am I assured that speaking to mee hee intendeth to teach the whole Church for otherwise hee may erre as Bellarmine shewes Innocent the eighth did De Rom. Pont. l. 4. c. 14. permitting the Norwegians to celebrate the sacrifice of the Masse without wine Shall I tell you a mystery Whatsoeuer your Priests and Iesuits prate either of Fathers or Church or Pope yet to an ordinary man who cannot of himselfe be resolued by them the authority of his Diocesan is sufficient yea and hee merits by belieuing it although what hee teach bee false This perhaps may seeme strange to you L. 3. d. 25. q. v. art 1. yet thus saith Gabriel Biel If a simple and vnlearned man heare his Prelate preach any thing contrary to the Faith thinking that what his Prelate hath so preached is belieued by the Church Instr Sacer. l. 4. c. 3. such a one not only not sinneth but by belieuing that which is false meriteth And Tolet Againe if a Countrey-man belieue his Bishop propounding some hereticall Doctrine about the
question bee indeed as they seeme vnto me sound and necessary you may as well chide the Sun for mouing towards the west or the earth for resting stedfastly on her center as me for being swayed and perswaded by them And yet by your leaue I was not so transported with Confidence but that I still kept my selfe within the bounds of Modesty For although it pelase you in the former section to charge me with â—oasting that scarce Archimedes could better and more liuely haue painted his Theoremes then I iustifying Faith yet was I in truth as farre from it as you are from truth in affirming of it submitting my selfe in all humility vnto the censure of Gods Church and promising vpon conuiction of my error to reuerse what euer I had said Yea but very insolently I haue bidden battell to all the learned men of Christendome bitten snapt and snarled at Melancthon Martyr c. yea all Fathers and Writers both old and new for these 1600. yeeres 1 Sam. 17.26 Intolerable arrogance I confesse if your accusation be iust for who but a presumptuous and proud Goliah would in such opprobrious manner defie and reuile the host of the liuing God But tell me I beseech you what are those despitefull and contumelious tearmes wherewith I haue so reproched those famous and excellent men Nay did I in my Sermon so much as name either Melancthon or Martyr or Caluin or Beza or Grynaus or Pelanus or Whitaker or Perkins whom yet you say I snapt and snarled at For that you adde particularly of M. Perkins as if I had boasted by my sudden arguments to haue driuen him so hard to the wall as hee knew not what to answer is but a blacke drop of your slanderous pen. The truth is this that in a priuate conference I told you that he being demaÌ„ded if Faith be an assurance of our present state in grace and future saluation what comfort remained for him who not feeling this assurance thinks himselfe to bee without Faith and consequently in the state of damnation his answer was which also in his books he hath published that desire of assurance is in the acceptation of God as assurance indeed to the which I sayd I could no way yeeld seeing by the couenant of Grace actuall Faith it selfe is absolutely required vnto Iustification and therefore actuall assurance if Faith bee assurance Besides this priuate speech all I haue publikely said or written is no more but this in generall that though my opinion differ from the writings and doctrine of most learned and worthy Diuines to whom as farre inferiour I owe all respect and reuerence yet being Gods freeman I cannot endure to bee mans Bondman and sweare to all they say And is not this the same in effect which all our Diuines answer when they are charged by the aduersary to dissent from the Fathers Let one Whitaker speake for them all We are saith he not the seruants but the Sons of the Fathers Contrà Duraeum if out of the law and from diuine authority they prescribe any thing vnto vs wee obey them as Parents if they command ought against the voice of the heauenly doctrine wee say wee must harken not vnto them but God You Iesuits like bondmen and base slaues admit without iudgement and reason all the sayings of the Fathers fearing I thinke the gibbet or whip if yee refuse any Now M. Baxter say if you dare that glorious Whitaker with the rest of our Diuines bite and snap and snarle at the Fathers as well as I if you dare not and yet I vse no other language then they doe then are biting and snapping and snarling but your owne doggish tearmes arguing rather notorious Sycophancie in you then such barbarous inciuility in me Well yet sith you will needs say you come barefoot to these mountaines giue me leaâ—e to sift your arguments and to shape you an answer for the defence of Iustifying Faith Exod. 3.5 Sir it was reason I should pull off my shooes and come barefoot to these mountaines because the ground on which I was to stand is holy Neuerthelesse in this encounter with you I trust you shall find my feet so well shâ—â— with the preparation of the Gospell of peace Ephes 6.15 that I need not care what briers or thornes soeuer you plant in my way And therefore good leaue haue you sift my arguments in Gods name at your pleasure for to that very end sent I them you in writing But I am afraid least insteed of sifting I find from you nothing else but meere shifting as indeed I doe not For to some of my arguments you shape no answer at all some you unshape and turne cleane out of the forme I set vpon them to not one of them doe you shape so much as probable or tolerable answer So that although you seeme very ambitious and greedie of the title yet if you haue no better skill in sifting arguments and shaping answers you will hardly obtaine so high an honor as to bee stiled Defender of the Faith Further you tell me that shortly I shall receiue the writings of other most learned men and grasple with them They shall bee welcome M. Baxter whensoeuer they come for the more you are that impugne the truth the more honorable will the victory be But I beseech you Sir when will that shortly you speake of be expired for it is now more then two yeeres since you first threatned me with them as by the date of your writing appeareth and yet hitherto could I neuer heare either from them or of them whether they be white or blacke Only it seemes they are very angrie Pismires that a man cannot spit among them without sore lips But when I shall speake with these enemies in the gate as the Psalmist saith I hope they shall finde my lips so seasoned with the salt of grace and so well prouided of an answer Psal 127.5 Col. 4.6 that I need not feare if they proue a nest I say not of Ants onely but euen of Waspes and Hornets also In the meane season if they bee so deeply learned as you pretend how is it that you so hastily preuent them and haue not the manners to stay till your betters haue spoken It is not you say vpon presumption of your greater learning being one of the least but out of a greater measure of zeale as being the most offended But M. Baxter they that doe the works of Zimri haue not lightly in them the affection of Phinees And seeing you will needs bee the most offended shall I say being the most offending Certainly hauing no iust cause of offence giuen you it is not so much either the glory of God or the satisfaction of your people as your own factiousnesse and vaineglory that sets you so forward in this busines and makes you so impatient to thinke of the second place Of a colder temper it seemes are those learned Rabbies you scarre me
fo◠〈◊〉 second question I thinke you will confesse pardon â—ee if I thinke amisse that you haue not skill enough with vnderstanding to read the Greeke Fathers in their Original but are faine to trust vnto Translations But I beseech you doe not Translators many times what through ignorance or neglicence or wilfulnesse mistake and peruert the meaning of their Author L. 2. c. 1. Ruffinus translated the Ecclesiasticall history of Eusebius and in it this passage of Clemens that Peter Iames and Iohn although Christ preferred them almost before all yet they tooke not the honour of Primacy to themselues but ordained Iames who was surnamed Iust Bishop of the Apostles A shrewd testimony for the Primacy of Iames against that of Peter but the error is in the translation the Greeke Eusebius hauing not Bishop of the Apostles but Bishop of Hierusalem Yet Marianus Scotus citeth the same out of Methodius iust according to Ruffins translation from whence perhaps it was taken Hist l. 2. c. 23. Eusebius himselfe in expresse tearmes affirmeth the Epistle of S. Iames to be Spurious but your Chrystopherson renders it so as if he had meant that not himselfe but some others in the Church had so esteemed it in former times And lastly not to stand longer vpon this point that very translation of Cyrillus Alexandrinus which you haue made by Trapezuntius you haue little reason much to trust vnto For as Bonauentura Vulcanius sheweth Praef. Ann. it is a very disorderly one wherein many things are omitted much is added of his owne and much peruersly translated To conclude therefore seeing the writings of the Fathers haue so many wayes and so notoriously beene abused by addition by subtraction by alteration by misquotation by mistranslation it followeth that infallible certainty from them you can haue none and so consequently that you cannot safely build your Faith vpon them To proceed the Scriptures you say are obscure and ambiguous and therefore you may not rest vpon them saue onely as they are expounded of the Fathers If so then if the Fathers also bee obscure and ambiguous neither may you rest your Faith vpon them Now certainly the Fathers are as darke and doubtfull as the Scripture If you thinke otherwise doe but read the works of Tertullian and Arnobius and let me afterward know your minde For my part I see no reason why the Scripture should bee more subiect to diuersity of interpretations according to the difference of times as Cardinall Cusan impiously affirmeth Ep. 2. 7. Cont. Whit. l. 2. p. 45. and Duraeus the Iesuit impudently defendeth then the writings of the Fathers What doe wee not vouch the Fathers on both sides are we not as confident vpon them as you whence commeth this I beseech you if they bee so cleere that no doubt can bee made of them And why doe you professe in your Flemish Expurgatorie Index that in ancient Catholike Writers yee tolerate many errors yee extenuate and excuse them and often deny them by deuising some shift and faining a sence vnto them when they are opposed against you What need I say all these tricks and fetches if there bee no obscurity in them If literall and Grammaticall construction may cary it the Fathers are directly ours and wee suppose they ment as they wrote neither can you make any shew of answer vnlesse you fall to expound the meaning of them And so as you remoue your Faith from the letter of the Scripture vnto the exposition of the Fathers so must you of force remoue the same againe from the letter of the Fathers vnto some other tribunall to determine the sence and meaning thereof Giue mee leaue to declare this by some few examples That Faith only iustifies Origen Cyprian Eusebius Caesariensis Hilary Basil Chrysostome Ambrose Augustin Cyril Primasius Hesychius Gennadius Oecumenius in expresse tearmes affirme agreeing therein with vs whose words I will not fayle to produce whensoeuer you shall require Against hauing of Images in Churches and the Adoration of them wee haue the precise words not onely of Lactantius and Epiphanius and other Fathers seuerally Epist ad Ioh. Hicrosol but nineteene Bishops together in the Councell of Eliberis and of the whole Councell of Frankford vnder Charles the Great Against the Bishop of Romes supremacy wee haue the plaine resolution of Pope Gregory Lib. 6. ep 30. that he is the forerunner of Antichrist whosoeuer desires to bee called Vniuersall Bishop And of the Generall Councell of Chalcedon Act. 16. giuing to the Bishop of Constantinople equall priuiledges with the Bishop of Rome And of two hundred seuenteene Bishops in the sixt Councell of Carthage among whom were Saint Augustin Prosper Gresians and many other worthy Fathers all decreeing that the Pope of Rome thenceforward should haue no authority ouer the African Churches Finally against Transubstantiation thus writeth Gelasius himselfe a Bishop of Rome De dâ—ab nat con Euâ—ych The Sacraments of the Body and Bloud of CHRIST which we receiue is a diuine thing wherefore by them wee are made partakers of the diuine nature and yet the substance of bread and wine ceaseth not to bee Thus also Theodoret Dial. 1. Hee who hath called meat and drinke that which naturally is his body and after cals himselfe a Vine he himselfe hath honoured the visible signes with the name of his Body and Bloud hauing not changed their nature but hauing added grace vnto nature And againe Dial. 10. The signes mysticall change not their nature after consecration for they remaine in their first substance figure and forme Hom. 11. Chysostom likewise if hee bee the Authour of the imperfect worke on Math. In the sacred vessels there is not the true Body of CHRIST but the mystery of his Body And Saint Augustin The Lord doubted not to say This is my Body Con. Adimant c. 12. when he gaue the signe of his Body Thus the Fathers in these few points neither is it hard to shew the like consent in the rest What Will you now subscribe vnto their words yea being taken in the right sense But who shall iudge of the 〈◊〉 on vnderstand them one way we another Shall 〈◊〉 learned Rabbies of your side Fic that were too partiall and they so enterfere in their answers that they cut and hew one the other miserably Reuerend Bishop Morton hath demonstrated this at large Preambleâ—ng Mitigator Take one of his examples The Councell of Bâ—â—beris forbiddeth the hauing of Images in Churches Do Imagin l. 2. c. 9. and Adoration of them Of Images representing Gods nature faith Andradâ—â—s No saith Bellarmine for such were not then in vse For feare test Gentiles should thinke Christians warshipped them idolatrously saith Sanders But the reason of the Canon agreeth not much with this exposition saith Bellarmine Because Christians seemed to worship those Images as Gods Ibid. saith Alen Cope But this exposition is not agreeable to the Canon saith
Articles he meriteth by belieuing although it be an error because hee is bound to belieue vntill it manifestly appeare that it is against the Church O immortall God if this bee true how easy a thing is it for a Papist to bee saued Onely belieue what your Prelate or Curate telleth you and you shall not need to trouble your selfe further for whether it be true or false sound doctrine or heresy you are out of danger nay it is meritorious to belieue it Alas alas that poore simple people should bee so miserably cheated and seduced God I hope will ere long open their eyes to see these impostures and by the light of his word guide their feet in a surer way In the meane season giue me leaue to summe vp all what I haue hitherto sayd and thereupon to inferre the Conclusion first intended Seeing therefore as wee haue now fully demonstrated the Fathers were but men as wee are neither hauing the Promise nor assuming vnto themselues the Priuiledge of Infallibility aboue vs seeing secondly many Counterfaits are set forth vnder the names of the Fathers which the best of your side cannot so readily discerne and which they ordinarily alledge in euery controuersie betwixt vs for authenticall Fathers seeing thirdly the writings of the Fathers are pitifully corrupted and adulterated by Hereticks and others and that sundry wayes by Addition Substraction Alteration Misquotation and False translation seeing fourthly the sayings of the Fathers are so ambiguous and obscure that not onely we and you one against another but your owne side also among themselues are distracted and diuided touching the sence and meaning of them seeing fiftly the more part of the Fathers sometime consent in errour yea and such errors as the present Church of Rome condemneth with Anathema seeing sixtly the most learned of your side make no scruple to reiect the Fathers whensoeuer they consent against them and warrant their so doing with diuerse reasons seeing lastly they make not Consent of Fathers but the authority of the present Church that is to say the Pope for the time being to bee the onely Infallible iudge of Controuersies seeing I say all these things are vndoubtedly so I will not bee afraid to conclude that the pretended Consent of Fathers is too weake and deceitfull a ground for a man with security to build his Faith vpon For whereas you say that beleeuing as the Fathers did if they bee saued as doubtlesse they are you cannot miscary take heed lest this proue but a broken reed and deceiue you in the end For first if for the reasons aboue set down you cannot be infallibly certaine which are the true Fathers and what is their right meaning how can you bee infallibly certaine that you belieue as they did Againe doe you thinke it safe to hold all their errors also and because they are not condemned for them that you shall escape condemnation in like manner beleeuing them Cont. Haer. c. 10. Heare then what Vincentius Lirinensis saith O wonderfull change of things saith hee the Authors of the same opinion are iudged Catholicks and the followers Heretiks the Masters are absolued and the Schollers condemned the Writers of the books shall bee the Sonnes of the Kingdome and Hell shall keep those that maintaine them For who doubts but blessed Cyprian the light of Bishops and holy Martyrs together with the rest of his Collegues shall raigne for euer with Christ Contrarily who is so impious as to deny that the Donatists and the rest of that pestilent crew who vnder the authority of that Councell presume to rebaptize shall burne for euermore with the Diuell Thus hee whereby you see how dangerous it is to beleeue euen as the best haue done before vs vnlesse wee haue better warrant then so for our doing Lastly suppose the Fathers consenting erred not yet are you neuer the safer For the strength of Faith exceeds not the strength of the testimony nor the strength of the testimony the Veracity of the Witnesse Now the Veracity of the Fathers is but the Veracity of men and the Veracity of men is imperfect and inconstant euer leauing roome for that word of truth All men are lyers Whence it followeth that your Faith being grounded only on the Veracity of men is no better then an Acquisite and Humane Faith Whereby though you belieue all that the Fathers did yet not belieuing as they did they may bee saued and you perish For they building vpon diuine testimony belieued with a Diuine Faith and therefore Sauing but you relying on humane authority belieue onely with an Acquisite and Humane Faith which saueth not no not although the things you belieue thereby are true For an Acquisite Faith the diuels themselues may haue and yet are damned Wherefore it being as you see so dangerous and vnsafe to trust in man and as the Prophet speaketh to make flesh your arme let mee entreat you euen in the bowels of Iesus Christ to take vnto you Christian seuerity and with all speed to returne your Faith backe againe vpon the rocke from which so rashly and vnaduisedly you remoued it Remember I beseech you how S. Augustin in a controuersy betwixt him and Hierome touching S. Peters dissimulation hauing eleuated the authority of foure of those seuen Fathers which were vrged against him and not being able to oppose three to the other three remaining Epist 19. quitteth himselfe thus When saith he I seeke a third that I also may oppose three to three verily I suppose I might easily find him if I had read much howbeit to mee the Apostle Paul shall bee insteed of all yea and aboue them all To him I flie to him I appeale of him I aske and demand c. In like manner doe you also and in Gods name let your finall appeale bee made vnto the holy Scriptures as vnto the supreme iudge in all questions of Faith Catech. 4. Theod. l. 1. c. 7. For as Cyril B. of Ierusalem saith The security of our Faith ariseth from the demonstration of the holy Scripture and the resolution of those things we seeke for must bee taken out of the diuine inspired Scripture saith Constantin in his oration to the Bishops of the Nicen Councell Con. Herm. De bon vid. c. 1. Orat. de ijs q. adeunt Hierosol Hom. 13. in 2. Cor. Epist 112. ad Paulin. And reason for the Scriptures are the rule of Faith as Tertullian and Augustin say A straight and inflexible rule as Gregory Nyssen saith A most exquisite rule and exact square and ballance to trie all things by saith Chrysostome In regard whereof saith Saint Augustin If a matter bee grounded on the euident authority of holy Scripture such I say as the Church calleth Canonicall it is without all doubt to bee belieued but as touching other witnesses and testimonies vpon whose credit a thing is vrged vpon vs to bee belieued thou majest lawfully either credit or not credit them as thou perceiuest them
to deserue or not to deserue credit Con. Parmen l. 5. And Optatus B. of Milenis you affirme wee deny betweene your yea and our nay the soules of the people wauer and stagger Let no man belieue either you or vs Wee are all contentious men Wee must seeke out iudges If Christians both sides cannot yeeld them and part taking would hinder truth Wee must seeke for a iudge without If a Pagan hee knowes not the mysteries of Christianity if a Iew hee is an enemie to Christian Baptisme Therefore vpon earth no iudgment touching this matter can bee found Wee must seeke a iudge from heauen But why knocke wee at heauen seeing herein the Gospell wee haue his will and testament With these Fathers your owne men accord The holy doctrine saith Thomas of Aquin Sum. p. 1. q. 1. a. 8. ad 2. vseth such authorities of profane writers as forraine and probable arguments but the authorities of Canonicall Scripture it vseth arguing properly and necessarily and the authorities of the Doctors of the Church as disputing indeed properly yet onely probably For our Faith relyeth on that reuelation which was made to the Apostles and Prophets who wrote the Canonicall books De verb. Dei l. 1. c. 2. but not on reuelation made to other Doctors if any such haue beene And Bellarmin The sacred Scripture is the rule of Faith most safe and certaine and God hath taught vs by corporall letters which wee may see and read what he would haue vs belieue concerning him And Stapleton Del. con Whit. l. 2. De rat Con. l. 2. c. 19. The diuine Scriptures alone yeeld infallible testimony and such as is meerely diuine And Persius also The authority of no Saint is of infallible truth for S. Augustin giues that honour onely to the sacred Scripture But why vouch I human authority hauing diuine God himselfe by the Prophet summons vs vnto the law and to the testimony Esa 8.20 affirming that if any speake not according to this word it is because there is no light in them Ioh. 5.39 Our Sauiour Christ commandeth to search the Scriptures as which testify of him and wherein eternall life is to bee had Luc. 16 3◠Abraham referred the rich gluttons brethren to Moses and the Prophets assuring himselfe that if they refused to heare them neither would they be perswaded though one rose from the dead The holy Apostle Paul chargeth vs not to presume aboue that which is written 1. Cor. 4.6 in as much as the Scriptures are able to make vs wise vnto saluation through the Faith that is in Christ Iesus 2. Tim. 3.15.16.17 and are profitable for doctrine for reproofe for correction for instruction in righteousnesse that the man of God may bee perfect Luc. 1.3.4 throughly furnished vnto all good works To what end did Saint Luke write his Gospell was it not that we might know the certainty of those things wherein wee are instructed Phil. 3.1 This saith Saint Paul is a very safe course And hence was it that the Bereans searched the Scripture so carefully Act. 17.11 that they might bee fully assured of those things which were taught thē We haue a more sure word of Prophecy 2. Pet. 1.19 saith Saint Peter whereunto yee doe well that yee take heed as vnto a light that shineth in a darke place vntill the day dawne and the day starre arise in your hearts But S. Paul is yet more peremptory Though we saith hee Gal. 1.8 or an Angell from heauen preach any other Gospell vnto you then that which wee haue preached vnto you let him bee accursed Contra Haer. c. 12. What is it saith Vincentius Lirinensis that hee saith though wee Why not rather though I His meaning is though Peter though Andrew though Iohn yea though the whole Colledge of Apostles preach vnto you otherwise then wee haue preached let him bee anathema A fearefull straine for the maintenance of the first Faith neither to spare himselfe nor his fellow Apostles It is but a little Although saith hee an Angell from heauen preach otherwise then wee haue preached vnto you let him bee Anathema It sufficed not for the preseruation of the Faith once deliuered to mention the nature of humane condition vnlesse he comprehended Angelicall excellency also Though saith hee wee or an Angell from heauen Thus you see that the Faith which was first deliuered and is now contained in the Scripture is the soueraigne rule and iudge of all the doctrines both of men and Angels For whatsoeuer the Apostles preached the same is written as Irenaeus testifieth Lib. 3. c. 2. Whereupon Saint Augustin As touching Christ or his Church Cont. Petil. l. 3. c. 6. or any other thing pertaining to our Faith or life I will not say if wee who are no way to bee compared with him that said Though wee but as it is added if an Angell from heauen preach vnto you otherWise then what yee haue receiued in the Legall and Euangelicall Scriptures let him be accursed Happily you will say the Scripture is indeed the rule of Faith and the law of the Church but not the Iudge or if Iudge yet but a mute and dumbe Iudge and if there bee not some externall visible audible infallible vnerring Iudge to interpret Scriptures and to stint all controuersies there will neuer bee an end of quarels neither will there euer bee peace and vnity in the Church Indeed the name of vnity and peace is a goodly thing and a finall end of all controuersies might it bee had were much to bee wished for But I feare the Church will not bee so happy so long as it dwelleth in tabernacles and is militant here on earth 2. Cor. 11.18.19 Otherwise the holy Apostle would neuer haue written thus to the Corinthians I heare that there bee diuisions among you and I partly belieue it For there must bee also heresies among you that they which are approued may be made manifest among you And the generall experience of former ages confirmeth the same wherein God continually hath exercized his Church either with the fire of persecutions that it might appeare who they are that loue him more then the present world or with the tempests of contrary doctrines that it might bee knowne who are chaffe and who wheat who sound in the Faith and who not Besides this mee thinks the facilnesse and easinesse of the way which your new Masters prescribe vnto you should make you much to suspect the goodnesse of it For whereas it is the good pleasure of God that all men should carefully diligently studie the holy Scriptures Psal 1.2 119. reading them and meditating in them night and day to the end they may grow rich in all knowledge and vnderstanding you by your rule may spare all this paines and though you sit still take your ease and fold your hands yet if you belieue whatsoeuer your externall human iudge
Bâ—llâ—rmine Lest in time of persecution they should bee made a scorne and contempt vnto infidels saith Sanders Allen Turrian De adorat l. 2. d. 5. c. 2. n. 131. and Bellarmine But this exposition agreeth not with the intention of the Canon saith Vasques Lest by the decay of the wals they might loose their lustre saith the same Vasques Ib. n. 132. The Councell was but prouinciall and neuer confirmed by the Pope Ib. n. 121. Bell. Imag. l. 2. c. 36. Bin. de Conc. in hunc Can. Biblioth l. 5. ann 247. say diuerse of late being oppressed with the obiection But Baronius and Binius affirme that it was a lawfull Councell and free from errour And whatsoeuer the occasion of the prohibition was this is sure The Councell of Eliberis did absolutely forbid the worship of images saith Sixtus Senensis What say you now to this language of Babel Can you gather any certainty for your Faith out of such confusion Certainly you cannot And if many Fathers laying their heads together in a generall Councell may euen in then decrees of Faith vse inconuenient speech either by superfluity of teâ—â—mes or disorderly placing them and the like so that noâ—â—â— much the words as the sâ—â—â—e is to bee regarded De Concil l. 2. c. 12. as your Bellarmine affirmeth 〈◊〉 you reâ—deâ— any reason why some few of them writing funderly one from another may not also faile in their tearmes and thereby leaue the Readers mind in suspence and douth what their true meaning should bee The very Syâ—â—â— of Trent hath not spoken so plainely but that it hath left scruples in the mind of some And yet Good God faith Campian what variety of Nations Rat. 4. what choice of Bishops out of the whole world what Maiesty of King and States what marow of Diuines what holynesse what teares what fasting what flowers of Vniuersities what tongues what subtilty what industry what infinite reading what richesse of vertues and studies replenished that more then humane Sanctuary All which notwithstanding Bellarmine and Sixtus Senensis accord not in the meaning of the third Session touching the number of the Canonicall books De verb. Dei l. 1. c. 7. For Bellarmine thinks that the seuen last chapters of Hester following after the tenth are by the Councell admitted into the Canon Biblioth l. 1. 8. but Sixtus thinketh no. Neither yet are Bellarmine and Ambrose Catharin agreed about the eleuenth Canon of the seuenth Session concerning the necessity of the Priests intention to make a Sacrament the one affirming it De Sacram. in gen l. 1. c. 27. Opusc de intent minist Ib. de laps pecc or c. 6. the other denying it Nor lastly are they resolued of the Councels mind touching Originall sinne Catharin who had beene in the Councell a great stickler Bell. de amis grat l. 5. c. 1â— defining it onely by the Imputation of Adams sinne others affirming it to be more then so and that vpon the words of the Councell too I could easily instance in sundry other points but these are enough to let you see that the Oracles of Loxiaâ— went 〈◊〉 more perplexe then the Decrees of this Tridentâ—â— conuenticle Whether they were framed so of purpose or no I cannot tell many shrewdly suspect it Sure I am it hath beene so farre from stinting of quarels that in many things it hath beene and still is the matter and fewell of contention Howsoeuer seeing the Fathers oftentimes write so darkly and ambiguously that there is great doubt made not onely betweene you and vs but amongst your chiefest Doctors also what their right meaning should bee I conclude and that according to your own rule that Consent of Fathers cannot bee a sufficient ground to build vpon But what if the more part of Fathers consent in error euen in those points which the Church of Rome herselfe condemneth Will you not then freely confesse that such Consent is not so firme and sure a ground as you tooke it to bee Doubtlesse you will vnlesse you be too too wilfull and obstinate in your opinion Let vs therefore a little examine this point That Christ after the first Resurrection shall liue with his elect hereupon earth for a thousand yeeres in all peace and happynesse vntill the second Resurrection is the error of the Millenaries and iustly condemned by the Church of Rome Yet Papias Saint Iohn the Apostles auditor Sixt. Senens l. 5. ann 233. 6. ann 347. Apollinarius Irenaus Tertullianus Victorinus Pitabionensis Lactantius Seuerus Sulpitius Iustin Martyr and a great multitude of other Catholicke men were of the â—â—me opinion all being deceiued by misunderstanding that in the Reuelation And they shall raigne with him a thousand yeeres S. Augustin speaketh very tenderly of it De ciuit Dei l. 20. c. 7. In Ier. l. 4. calling it neither error not heresy himselfe hauing sometimes held it And Hierome durst not condemne it because so many Church-men and Martyrs had said it That the soules of iust men after their dissolution see not the face of God vntill the day of iudgement is an error and condemned by the Church of Rome Yet the Liturgie fathered vpon Saint Iames Irenaeus Iustin Tertullian Clemens Romanus Origen Lactantius Victorinus Martyr Prudentius Ambrose Chrysostome the Authour of the Vnperfect worke on Mathew Augustin Theodoret Arethas Oecumenius Theophylact Eâ—thymius Pope Iohn the two and twentieth and Bernard held the same whose particular words Sixtus Senensis recordeth in his Library Lib. 6. annot 345. Stapl. de auth Sc. l. 1. c. â— I am not ignorant how Sixtus there laboureth to excuse them but others of his pewfellowes find their words so pregnant that they can by no meanes salue them That the thrice blessed Virgin Mary was conceiued in Originall Sinne the Church of Rome holdeth to bee an error 3. d. 117. n. 148. for not onely the vnskilfull vulgar but the Doctors and Diuines and all Catholiks with one consent fight for the Immaculate Conception saith Vasques And why hath your Church by her authority commanded the feast of â—â—r Conception to bee celebrated vnlesse shee were conceiued without sinne De consecr d. 4. Firmissime n. 11. Yet Cardinall Turrâ—cremata affirmes that all the Doctors in a manner maintaine the contrary and that hee had gathered together the testimonies of three hundred to that effect noting the very places and words wherein they affirme it Part. 1. q. 1. d. 5. And Dominicus Bannes saith that it is the generall consent of the holy Doctors that shee was conceiued in sinne and yet the contrary is held in the Church to bee not onely probable but very godly That Angels and the Soules of men are bodily Actione 5. visible and circumscriptible is an error and condemned by the Church of Rome Yet three hundred Fathers such as they were and fifty vpon the head of them in the second Councell of Nice auouch it and alledge the
authority of Basil surnamed the Great Blessed Athanasius Methodius and their followers for it If any shall say it was the opinion onely of Iohn B. of Thessalonica and not of the whole Councell I answer that what Iohn said Tharasius Patriarch of Constantinople forthwith confirmed and the whole Synod immediatly answered So it is my Lord. And this is so cleere that Bartholmew Carranza notes it as an errour in them Epit. Conc. ad cum loc Ep. 215. De Eccl. dog c. 11. 12. and contrary vnto the Lateran Councell yet addes withall that Saint Augustin was of the same mind But leauing other their errors I come without further delay to discharge that obligation wherein I stand bound to proue that the Fathers for a time generally held it necessary for all euen young Infants to bee partakers of the Eucharist Conc. Trid. Sess 5. can 4. or they could not bee saued which you know the Church of Rome alloweth not but condemneth as an error Eccl. hier c. 2. p. 3. First your Denys hee that goeth vnder the name of Areopagita after hee hath recited other ceremonies in the administration of Baptisme at length saith hee the Priest cals the partie Baptized to the most holy Eucharist and giues the Communion vnto him And lest you should vnderstand this of them that are baptized being Adulti Id. 7. c. 3. elsewhere he speaketh more plainely thus That children who cannot yet vnderstand diuine things should bee made partakers of holy Baptisme and of the mysticall signes of the most holy Communion may perhaps seeme ridiculous to profane men De lapsis if the Auditors when Bishops teach such Heauenly things bee not fit Saint Cyprian reports a story of a certaine Infant mayde who had not yet age enough to tell what wrong another had done her how when the Deacon had offered the holy chalice vnto her and shee refused hee powred it into her mouth Ibid. And a little after Will not those Infants saith hee when the day of iudgement shall come say wee haue done nothing neither forsaking the meat and cup of the Lord haue wee of our owne accord hastned to these profane contagions the perfidiousnesse of others hath ouerthrowne vs our Parents are our murtherers Innocent the first B. of Rome Ep. ad Patr. conc Milou That which your Brotherhood saith hee affirmeth them to preach namely that little ones may obtaine the reward of eternall life without the grace of Baptisme is very foolish for vnlesse they eat the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his blood they cannot haue life in them Con. Iul. Pel. l. 1. c. 2. Of this Innocentius S. Augustin saith how hee defined that little ones vnlesse they did eat the flesh of the Sonne of man they could by no meanes haue life in them Now I beseech you durst any man at that time hold otherwise then the head of the Church for so you count the Pope to bee had defined But let vs heare Saint Augustin himselfe Verily Con. duas Ep. Pel. l. 1. c. 22. saith he Christ is the Sauiour of little ones also and vnlesse they bee redeemed by him they must perish because without his flesh and blood they cannot haue life And againe Wherefore they also as I haue said Ad vital Ep. 107. if they die in that tender age shall certainly bee iudged according to the things they haue done by the Body namely during that time while they liued in the body when by the heart and mouth of them that bare them they belieued or not belieued when they were baptized or not baptized when they ate the flesh of Christ or not ate it when also they dranke his bloud or not dranke it according to these things I say which they haue done by the body not those which they would haue done had they liued longer here shall they bee iudged And yet againe De pec mer. remiss l. 1. c. 20. Away therefore now with doubting Let vs heare the Lord and not the suspicions and coniectures of men let vs I say heare the Lord speaking this not of the Sacrament of Baptisme but of the Sacrament of his holy Table to which none lawfully approcheth but hee that is Baptized Vnlesse you eat my Flesh and drinke my Blood you shall haue no life in you What seeke wee further What will they bee able to answer hereunto vnlesse obstinacy doe stretch their striuing sinewes against the constancy of euident truth Will any dare to say this also that this saying belongs not vnto little ones or that they may haue life in them without the participation of this Body and Blood because hee saith not hee that eateth not as of Baptisme hee that is not borne againe but thus If yee eat not as speaking to them who were able to heare and vnderstand which certainly little ones cannot But hee that saith so marketh not that vnlesse this saying hold all that they cannot haue life without the Body and Blood of the Sonne of Man euen the elder age also will make little reckoning of it And yet once more againe Ib. c. 24. The Carthaginian Christians excellently call Baptisme no other then Saluation and the Sacrament of the Body of Christ no other then Life Whence but from an ancient and as J thinke Apostolicall tradition by which the Churches of Christ hold as ingrafied into them that without Baptisme and the participation of the Lords Table no man can come not onely to the Kingdome of God but neither to saluation nor life eternall And this being thus proued by and by he concludes If therefore as so many and so pregnant diuine testimonies witnesse with ioint consent no man may hope either for saluation or eternall life without Baptisme and the Body and Blood of the Lord in vaine doe they promise it to little ones without them Thus Augustin where by the way obserue how hee affirmeth this his opinion to bee the Tenet of all the Churches of Christ To whom I adde lastly the eleuenth Councell of Toledo Can. 11. If any faithfull man being constrained by any ineuitable infirmity shall cast vp the Eucharist which hee hath receiued let him in no case bee subiect to Ecclesiasticall condemnation Likewise let not the censure of any condemne them who either in the time of their infancy shall doe the same or in the alienation of their mind seeming to bee ignorant of what they doe In Ioh. 6.53 In Tertull. de cor mill This error touching the necessity of the Eucharist to Infants continued in the Church a long time euen about sixe hundred yeeres as your Maldonat saith And Beatus Rhenanus obserueth out of the Rituall books called Agendae that the custome of ministring the Communion to Infants was still in vse vnto the times of Ludouicus Pius and Lotharius that is towards nine hundred yeeres after Christ Against all this I know not what can be said vnlesse perhaps that