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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A17308	Truth's triumph ouer Trent: or, the great gulfe betweene Sion and Babylon That is, the vnreconcileable opposition betweene the Apostolicke Church of Christ, and the apostate synagogue of Antichrist, in the maine and fundamentall doctrine of iustification, for which the Church of England Christs spouse, hath iustly, through Gods mercie, for these manie yeares, according to Christs voyce, separated her selfe from Babylon, with whom from henceforth she must hold no communion. By H.B. rector of S. Mathews Friday-Street.	Burton, Henry, 1578-1648.	1629 (1629)	STC 4156; ESTC S107077	312,928	398

they vtterly renounce all Certainety of Faith and of Saluation For what certainty of Faith can there bee if the holy Scriptures the obiect and ground of Faith be not certaine And what certainty can there bee in the Scriptures if they must depend vpon the authority of the Church for their certainetie And what certainty can there be in the Church if this Church be no other than the Church of Rome And what certainety can there bee in the Church of Rome when it wholly depends vpon a the only breast of a sinfull man vpon whose infallibilitie notwithstanding the whole Pontifician Church cannot finde no not the least footing for any Certainty of Saluation to stand vpon But to remoue this heape of Rubbish although for multiplicity of Controuersie it be growne to a mighty Mountain which may seeme to exceede the strength and labour of Hercules himselfe to remoue yet I trust with one small graine of Faith to ouerturne this Mountaine into the Sea For first whether was the Word of God or the Church more ancient Was not Gods Word For by the voyce thereof was the Church first called Where was the Church when the Gospell began first to be reuealed Gen. 3. 15. As yet the whole world in Adam and Eue lay buried in Apostacy and now totus mundus in maligno positus the whole world lay in wickednesse till this Word of the Gospell of the promised and blessed seede of the woman made a separation and did constitute a Church So that the first ground and foundation of the Church is the Word of God as it was also of the first frame of the Creation Hereupon the Apostle saith That the Church is built vpon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Iesus Christ being the chiefe corner stone in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth vnto an holy Temple in the Lord. The foundation of the Apostles and Prophets is the Old and New Testament whereof Christ Iesus is the chiefe corner stone Away with the blasphemy of the Councell of Lateran that calleth the Pope Leo the tenth the corner stone and the Lyon of the Tribe of Iuda and many such blasphemous titles which are proper and peculiar only to the person of Christ. But that eyther the Church or the Pope of Rome had any such authority and power ouer the Scriptures it was neuer known in those purer times of the Church when the sweet and salutiferous streames of the waters of life were not as yet poysoned and imbittered with that Luciferian wormewood starre that fell from heauen It was in those primitiue and virgine times the Catholicke Doctrine of the Church That the Church was to be ruled by the Scriptures and not the Scriptures by the Church much lesse by any one man St Augustine saith De Catholica Ecclesia id credant homines quod Diuinae Scripturae dicunt non quod linguae humanae maledicunt Let men beleeue that concerning the Catholicke Church which the Diuine Scriptures doe say and not which mens tongues doe mis-say By which place we see that the Catholicke Church is to bee estimated according to that which the Scriptures testifie of it Therefore not contrary And in his Booke of the vnity of the Church Ecclesiam suam demonstrent c. Let the Donatists shew mee their Church not in the tales and rumours of the Affricans not in the Synods of their Bishops not in the learning of their disputants not in their deceitfull signes and prodigies for wee are fore-warned and fore-armed against such things by the word of the Lord but in the prescript of the Law in the predictions of the Prophets in the songs of the Psalmes in the Shepheards owne voyce in the preachings and labours of the Euangelists to wit in all the Canonicall authorities of the holy Bookes Nor so saith hee as that they collect and quote such places as are obscurely or ambiguously or figuratiuely spoken which euery man interprets at his pleasure according to his owne sense For such places cannot be truly vnderstood and expounded vnlesse first those which are most plainely deliuered bee by a firme Faith entertained Note here the Catholicke doctrine of those times teaching that the authority and sense of the Scriptures depended not vpon the Church but the authority of the Church vpon the Scriptures and the Scriptures were to bee interpreted by themselues to wit the more obscure places by the more plaine as he speaketh often elsewhere in his Bookes De doctrina Christiana I will adde one place in steed of many Quit autem nesciat c. Who can bee ignorant saith hee that the holy Canonicall Scripture as well of the Old as of the New Testament is contained within its owne fixed limits and that it is so preferred before all the latter writings of Bishops as that it may not bee disputed or doubted off whether it bee true or salse whatsoeuer is found written in it and for the writings of Bishops which eyther haue beene or are written after the establishment of the Canon of Scriptures they haue beene subiect to the wiser iudgements and grauer authorities of some more skilfull and learned Bishops and might bee censured by Councels if ought therein swarued from the truth and those very Councels themselues which are prouinciall doe without scruple submit to the authority of plenary Councels assembled from the vniuersall Christian world of those plenary generall Councels often times the former are corrected by the latter when by some better experiment of things that which was shut is opened and that which was hid is made known without any swelling of sacrilegions pride without any strouting of arrogancy without any contention of bleake enuie with holy humility with Catholicke peace with Christian charity So that Bishops are corrigible by prouinciall Councels these by generall Councels and these also by some latter Councels as being all subiect to imperfection But the holy Scriptures come vnder the f●rula of no Bishop or Councell to bee censured Nay as Augustine saith Titubabit fides si diuinarum Scriptunar ●●●●cillat authoritas Faith will stagger and stumble if the authority of the diuine Scriptures doe wauer And hee taxeth the Manicheans of this impiety and sacriledge that they went about quite to take away the authority of the Scriptures approuing any thing not because they found it written in that supreame authority but because their fancy tooke a liking to it therefore they approued the Scriptures And so their priuate s●●s● must giue authority to the Scriptures which they frame to their owne fancy and not the Scriptures giue authority to their Doctrines What difference then is there betweene the Pontificians and the Manicheans in this maine point But the Pontificians of old obiect vnto vs one speciall authority out of St. Augustine to ouerthrow all that hee hath said for the supreame authority of the Scriptures aboue the Church His words are which they obiect and wherein

but of that wicked Symon Peter knew that Repentance and Prayer to God was a speciall meanes to procure pardon of sinnes and therefore exhorts Symon to repent and pray yet withall Peter knew that not euery repentance obtaineth pardon at Gods hands no more than that of Iudas or that of Esan who for all his teares was reiected But let vs heare Vega's iudgement vpon this place Cur Prophetae esti Petrus qui constantissimè praedicabant Deum misericordem esse valdè praestabilem super hominum malitijs istis hae●itationis notis vtebantur nisi vt docerent non leuiter oportere credere nos esse iustificatos neque statim ad qualemcunque poenitentiam debere nobis-m●tipsis promit lere remissionem peccatorum that is Why did those Prophets and Peter who most constantly preached that God is mercifull and very ready to forgiue the sinnes of men vse these notes of hesitation or doubting but to teach vs that we should not lightly beleeue that wee are iustified nor presently vpon any kinde of Repentance that we ought to promise to our selues pardon of our sinnes Thus farre Vega's inference is pretty tolerable referring his vncertainty of the pardon of sinnes to any sleight or ouerly Repentance Herein hee jumps with that which wee said euen now of Iudas and Esan's repentance And besides faith of iustification is not a light beleefe But shall we heare Vega expresse his minde cleerely and ingenuously without any ambiguity He addeth Mihi quidem vt ingen●è di●am quod sentio sic olim loc●ti Prophetae isti videntur vt iam tum deterrerent iustos ab ista certitudine remissionis suorum peccatorum quam quidam his temporibus iustificatis omnibus perswadere moliti sunt ea forma loquentes arma nobis subministrasse videntur quibus omnes hos vt sic dicam certitudinarios re●inceremus that is It seemeth to me that I may ingenuously speake what I thinke those Prophets did heretofore speake thus that they might then skare righteous men from that certainety of the remission of their sins which certainty certaine in these times haue laboured to perswade all those that are iustified of and speaking in that forme they seeme to conuey weapons into our hands whereby wee should vanquish all these certitudinaries as I may so say or patronizers of the certainty of faith Now well-fare Vega yet for his candid ingenuity that he vtters his minde plainely as he thinkes How is it possible else that euer we should haue discouered the corruption of his heart in this point as first to make no difference betweene the righteous and the wicked and to draw an argument from the example of wicked men as Nabuchadnezzar Symon Magus and such like that because their repentance was doubtfull and so consequently the pardon of their sinnes that therefore the righteous and godly men should be deterred and affraid of the certainety of the remission of their sinnes vpon their true faith and repentance And whereas he thereupon triumphs that these kindes of formes of speech vsed by the Prophets and the Apostles are weapons put into the hands of Pontificians wherewith to beate downe the maintainers of certainety what are these weapons but such Withes and flaxen Coards wherewith Dalilah thought to binde Sampson and so to betray him into the hands of the vncircumcised But as Sampson hauing his seuen Nazaraicall lockes still vpon his head brake them all as rotten tow so the truth of Faith cannot bee bound hauing the seuen spirits of God whereby it retaines vnuincible strength But the best is Vega dare not peremptorily conclude it but only saith out of his ingenuity that the Prophets seemed to him to speak so and that they seemed to conuey such weapons into the Pontificians hands Wee will therefore let these passe as seeming arguments well beseeming Pontificians to vse as their best weapons To these he addes a place out of Ecclesiasticus as the maner of Pontificians is to equall Apocryphall Bookes with Canonicall Scriptures accounting them equally Canonicall as they do also with as good reason their Apostolick Traditions But wee will not here take vp the quarrell with them in this point Nor neede we to bee affraid of the place which Vega alledgeth which is De propitiato peccato noli esse sine metu Of sinne pardoned bee thou not without feare This place also was answered in the Councell by Catarinus as wee haue recited before out of the History For it is not spoken of sin already pardoned but de propitiatu peccatorum of the future pardoning of sinnes as the vulgar Latine set forth by the Doctors of Louan hath noted in the Margin and Vega himselfe addeth the same in the variety of reading And the sequell of that place is cleare and euident that a sinner must not bee bould to commit sinne vpon presumption of pardon And therefore it is expressed in the future tense euen in the vulgar Et ne dicas miseratio Dei magna est multitudinis peccatorum meorum miserebitur And say not thou the mercy of God is great hee will pardon the multitude of my sinnes So little makes this place for Pontifician vncertainty as it also no whit crosseth the certainty of faith whose property is not to presume that God will be mercifull though I sinne but to beleeue that God is mercifull to mee vpon my present repentance And for that of the Apostle I know nothing by my selfe yet am I not thereby iustified vrged by Vega for his vncertainty in his 12. Chapter I referre the Reader to the answer made before in the History of the Councell which is sound and good and needes not any thing to be added vnto it although Vega spend a whole large Chapter about it but all to no purpose in the world but to exercise his vnlimited liberty to say what he list But hauing thus raked the Scriptures together to make a heape of testimonies for the confirmation of his vncertainty he proceeds in his 13. Chapter to the authorities of the ancient Fathers To which in briefe to auoide tediousnesse we may answer in generall as the History hath well noted that the Fathers sometimes did attemper their speech to the depressing of the proud and presumptuous as if eyther men had no sinne at all in them or that sinning they had Gods mercy at command And we are to note also that where the Fathers speake of the vncertainty of mans iustification or rather of the certainty of their vnrighteousnes it is most euident and cleare that then they speake of mans righteousness of sanctification wherein they are neuer perfect in this life But I cannot here omit to set down one speciall place wherein Vega much triumpheth taken out of St. Augustine Vega's words are these Inter omnia quae legerim in Augustino apertissimè proposito nostro fauent quae c. Among all which I haue read in Augustine those words doe most clearely fauour our purpose which hee

thy wayes and sinners shall be con●er●●d vnto thee So that this is the vp-shot of all this discourse of Salomon to giue God the glory in Salomons repentance and in his choosing of him to bee both a Patterne and a Preacher of repentance to the world If I haue beene longer herein than perhaps may seeme sutable to the present purpose I must craue pardon although I shall not repent me if by this means I shall be any occasion of conuerting any young Alipius from the Circensian pleasures of this vaine world to the imitation of Salomons repentance as St. Augustine thanked God for hauing beene a meanes of conuerting Alipius from the Circensian games wherewith he had been so bewitched Which saith Augustine was vpon this occasion Alipius being present at one of my Rhetoricke Lectures in Carthage I tooke occasion being offered to delight my Auditory with a Simile taken from the Circensian games wherewith Alipius being taken Augustine confesseth Tu scis Deusnoster quod tunc de Alipio de illa peste sanando non cogitauerim Thou knowest O God that at that time I did not so much as think of curing Alipius of that pestilentiall disease Or as the same Augustine contrary to his vsuall manner hauing made a digression besides his intention from his purpose was as it were by Gods all-directing prouident hand led out of his owne way to reduce a wanderer into the right way For by his digression hee was a meanes to conuert one Firmus a Merchant but a Manichee vnto the true Faith Possid in vita August cap. 15. But to returne to our purpose Notwithstanding the Book of Ecclesiastes bee a most cleere euidence of Salomons repentance sith it cannot be denied to be his both by the title of it and the whole passage of the booke yet Vega labours tooth and naile to make a Reprobate of him One of his reasons is because the Scripture makes no mention of his repentance as of Dauids But I hope the booke of Ecclesiastes he will allow to be Scripture But shall we take all those for Reprobates whose sinne the Scripture recordeth but makes no mention of their repentance What then shall become of holy Moses whose infidelity at Meribah in not honouring the Lord by his obedience and faith is recorded in Scripture yea so as there is not onely no mention of his repentance but as if his sinne remained vnpardoned and hee deceased in Gods displeasure he was not suffered to come into the land of Canaan for that very cause Did not therefore Moses repent him of his sinne or dyed he in Gods displeasure or must hee not come into the Kingdome of Heauen whereof Canaan was a type But Vega prosecuting the matter very eagerly alledgeth also his proofes not onely out of Ecclesiasticus to no purpose but not a word of Ecclesiastes but also out of St. Augustine Cyprian who indeed doe speake somewhat difficultly and doubtfully of Salomon as making his example a matter of terrour and so it is no doubt But there are also other Fathers to counterballance them for the Doctrine of small falling away from grace we shall see their iudgements at large Yet at length Vega himselfe is willing to condeseend so farre to indifferency herein as he is content to waue the matter so it be granted that though Salomon did repent whereof there are such pregnant proofes yet at least his example of falling may confute as hee saith Iouinian that denyed the iust could once fall away from the grace receiued Another example he brings of Iudas who saith hee had once grace and fell away from it For Iudas was in the state of grace at what time he was chosen to be an Apostle else he had not bin admitted to that dignity And that hee both had and lost this grace Christ proueth saying Of those whom thou gauest mee haue I lost none but the sonne of perdition So Vega. But tell mee Vega what grace had Iudas when he was chosen to be an Apostle Had hee the true grace of iustification whereby he was accepted with God Where proue you this You might remember your Schoole distinction which may well enough be admitted to wit of gratia gratis data and gratia gratum saciens the first a grace freely giuen to enable men to the worke of the Ministery and such like whereof Christ speaketh Freely you haue receiued freely giue but the other is that grace which makes a man accepted with God through Christ whereof the Apostle speaketh Ephes. 1. ● where hauing spoken in the Verse before of Gods predestinating vs vnto the adoption of children by Iesus Christ according to the good pleasure of his will he addeth To the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made vs accepted in the beloued c. Now Iudas being made an Apostle had the former grace giuen vnto him to enable him to preach and doe miracles and to discharge the duety of an Apostle but the other grace to make him accepted in the Beloued according to Gods eternall purpose in predestination whereof the Apostle there speaketh we deny that euer Iudas had that grace Yea Vega himselfe confesseth that Iudas was not of the number of the predestinate to life eternall but that notwithstanding he had the grace of iustification Vnlesse Vega equiuocates in the word Grace meaning onely a certaine fauour of God towards Iudas in making choice of him to be an Apostle If Vega meane so we grant that it was a great fauour indeed but that Iudas was so in the grace and fauour of God as to be adopted for one of his Children and so accepted in his beloued Sonne we vtterly deny nor can Vega with all his Sophistry euer proue it Christ saith indeed Of them whom thou hast giuen mee I haue lost none but the sonne of perdition Was Iudas then giuen to Christ by his Father in such a speciall manner as the rest of the Apostles were who were also holy and elect vessels of mercy Gods giuing there vnto Christ is in a twofold respect to be considered First as all the Twelue were Apostles so God gaue them all to Christ without difference to serue him in the ministery of the Gospell For the wickedest Apostle or Minister of the Gospell hath as great power and authority giuen him to execute his function as the holiest of all The wicked Scribes and Pharisees must bee heard with all attention and reuerence sitting in Moses Chaire that is teaching Moses Doctrine But secondly the Twelue were giuen to Christ as men and so they were giuen in a most different respect and to a diuers end Our Sauiour saith Haue not I chosen you Twelue and one of you is a Deuill Iudas was a Deuill that is a deuillish man a Deuill incarnate as we vse to say of a most wicked man when God gaue him to Christ and as a man a wicked man hee was giuen to Christ to be his Minister that

thy self-loue the loue of yaine glory the loue of thine own felicity more than of the glory of God a thousand secret corruptions lurking in the secret corners of thy selfe-deceiuing heart Nay besides this thou canst not number vp so many good dueties which thou hast done as this all-seeing Iudge can number and set before thee greater and weightier duties which thou hast altogether omitted And more than that too this Iudge can muster vp vnto thee whole Legio●s of sins which thou hast committed the least whereof all the men in the world with all their merits their arrogant works of supererogation the fained treasure of the Church with Masses and Dirges and whatsoeuer else man or Angel can deuise cannot possibly appease the wrath and satisfie the iustice of this Iudge for For if all the Creatures in the world could satisfie Gods iustice for one sinne wherefore dyed the innocent Lambe and the only Sonne of God Well th●n in this case what wilt thou doe whither wilt thou flye where wilt thou seeke reliefe for thy perplexed spirit where comfort for thine appalled conscience where a sanctuary for thy soule now pursued with the hue and cry of diui●● iustice and reuenge of hell and Satan of the guilt of thy tormenting conscience for sinne Thy good workes and merits They cry guilty before Gods throne of many imperfections defects corruptions If thy actuall transgressions which are many if thy totall omissions of dueties which thou oughtest to haue done should bee silent yet euen thy best actions which thou bringest to pleade for thee would and must tell the truth and become a full grand Iurie to bring-in the verdict of thy condemnation And then thou shalt be found such as the Gospell hath doomed who pleading their great workes before the Iudge receiued this sentence I know you not depart from mee yee workers of iniquitie Dost thou not thinke it safest now to bee of thy Brother or thy Father Bellarmines minde who howsoeuer as a member of the Papall State he writ mainely against the truth of iustification yet one time speaking his conscience and vttering his priuate iudgement said Propter incertitudinem propriae iustitiae periculum inanis gloriae tutissimum est fiduciam in sola Dei misericordia benignitate reponere Because of the vncertainty of our owne righteousnesse and the perill of vaine glory it is most safe to repose our confidence in the only mercy and fauour of God Only herein be vnlike this Brother or Father of thine For this sentence of his standing in his workes shall rise vp in iudgement against him at the latter day for all his lyes spoken through hypocrisie but let it teach thee so to renounce all thy supposed merits as reposing thy selfe in the only mercies of God and merits of Christ thou mayst flying from Babylon finde mercy and saluation in the great day of the Lord Iesus Let me hereunto adde a passage or two one out of Augustine his Manual which Booke though it bee fathered vpon some other Author yet the chiefe matter of it is confessed to bee collected out of Augustines Workes In omnibus aduersitatibus non in●eni● t●m efficax remedium quàm vulner a Christi in illis dormio secur●s requiesco intrepidus Christus mortuus esh pro nobis Nihil tam ad mortem amarum quod morte Christi non sanet●r T●ta spes mea est in morte Domini mei Mors eius meritum meum refugium meum s●lu● vita resurrectio mea meritum meum miseratio Domini Non sum meriti inops quamdi● ille miserationum Dominus non defuerit Et misericordiae Domini mult● multus ego sum in meritis Quanto ille potentior est ad saluandum tanto ego securier Peccaut peccatum grande multorum sum mihi conscius delictorum nec sic despero quia vbi abundau●runt delicta superabundauit gratia In all aduersities saith hee I find not a more effectuall remedy than the wounds of Christ in them I sleepe securely in them I rest without feare Christ dyed for vs. There is nothing in death so bitter which cannot be cured with the death of Christ. All my hope is in the death of my Lord. His death is my demerit my refuge my saluation life and resurrection my merit is the Lords mercy I want no merit so long as the Lord of mercies is not wanting And while the Lord is rich in mercies I am rich in merits The more able he is to saue the more am I secure I haue committed some haynous sin and am guilty of many trespasses yet I despaire not because where sins haue abounded there grace hath also superabounded And in the 23. Chapter Inter brachia Saluatoris mei viuere volo mori ●upio Betweene the armes of my Sauiour it is both my will to liue and my wish to dye Another passage to this purpose I finde in Gregory in the conclusion of that singular worke of his Morals where speaking of mans good workes and good intentions concludeth thus Si de his diuinitus districtè dis●ntimur quis inter ista remanet salutis locus quando mala nostra pura mala sunt bona quae nos habere credimus pura bona esse nequaquam possunt If saith he we be strictly-sifted by God concerning these things what place would bee left for saluation in them seeing that both our euill actions are simply euill and the good things which we beleeue we haue cannot be simply good Which place of Gregory beeing alledged by Luther to proue none can bee certaine that hee doth not alwaies mortally sinne although Iohn Bishop of Rochester would haue Gregory to meane not all workes but only such as we vainely boast of as Sixtus Senensis relateth Yet Gregories meaning is easily discouered by the title or contents prefixed to the said Chapter in these words Quod S●nctus Gr●gorius in his quae iam recta intentione protulit vanae gloriae vel laudis humanae fauorem subrepsisse sibi formidat pro recompensatione operis post●lat orationem loctoris that is That St. Gregory in those things which he did with a right intention feareth lest some affectation of vaine glory or humane applause might haue crept in vpon him and for a recompence of his worke desireth the Readers prayers And it is plaine also by the whole tenure of that Chapter that Gregory durst not trust his best workes vpon the tryall of Gods strict iudgement seeing that a mans best intentions are subiect to bee tainted with secret pride and vaine glory And the said Bishop of Rochester may seeme too sharpe in his censure the sequell whereof tends to a flat condemnation of Gregories best intentions as if he had beene directly conscious of pride in them whereas Gregory onely feareth least some such corruption might haue secretly stollen in vpon him And to confirme this and put it out of all

remission of their sins when notwithstanding they certainely knew that that certainety was rather a most vaine perswasion of their Iustification And so Vega concludes Neque dubium quin latinè possimus dicere apud Haereticos nostrae tempestatis non esse suae gratiae opinionem sed certitudinem Nor do we doubt but that we may say in plaine termes that the Heritiques of our time haue not an opinion of their grace or iustification but a certainety Note here iudicious Reader that the Pontificians doe allow of a certaine vncertaine particular certainety of Faith namely such as may bee eyther true or false They might better haue said iust nothing sauing that they cautelously put this clause by way of preuention that if a particular certainty of Faith bee neuer so manifestly proued yet it may proue at hap-hazzard eyther true or false And this Vega would demonstrate by a distinction saying There is a two-fold certainty Per se or Quoad nos Eyther a certainty in regard of the truth it selfe beleeued or in respect of our apprehension which may be deceiued according to the Councels own Text. In a word in his fift Chapter following hee sets downe foure limitations of certainety that are extra controuersiam without all controuersie allowed of the Pontificians First that euery man may haue a knowledge of his iustification by diuine reuelation and that this hath been truly reuealed to some holy men although but to few and them Gods greatest familiars as the blessed Virgin and the Apostles Secondly it is certaine that all righteous men may by some certaine signes and probable arguments or tokens and coniectures attaine to a probable notice and opinion or as they call it a coniecturall certitude of their iustification Thirdly saith he it is certaine that no mortall man without diuine reuelation can attaine in this life to the certainety of euidence of his iustification Fourthly it is also certaine that no man can without diuine reuelation certainely know anothers iustification vnlesse haply when he shall haue baptized a childe To these limitations wee may here adde the substance of that which Vega sets downe in the 46. Chapter of the same booke the title whereof is Possunt vir● spirituales certitudinem assequi de sua gratia Spirituall men may attaine a certainty of their grace and iustification By spirituall men he vnderstandeth those that liue in a state of perfection as they terme it Yet this certainety is so rarely found among such as after much adoe and wauering this way and that way Vega being vncertaine what to thinke of this certainety at length hee is resolued vpon the point and giues vs a rare instance of Saint Anthony whose birth of faithull and religious Parents whose Christian and holy education whose firme faith in beleeuing all which the Church of Rome beleeueth whose care not to offend but to please God in all things whose voluntary pouerty whose inoffensiue and innocent life full of charity whose humility whose dayly comming to Masse and frequent Shrifts whose watchings and fastings and other infinit deuotions induced Vega to thinke that this certainty of saluation may haply bee found in some spirituall men But hee must bee a St. Anthony at the least who is possest with this certainety So few receiue this gift as Christ said of continency No not Martyrs themselues saith Vega Chapter 43. His words are Neque adduci possum vt credam aliquem Martyrem aut babuisse aut habere potuisse certitudinem de sua iustificatione c. Nor can I bee induced to beleeue saith hee that any Martyr eyther had or could haue the certainety of iustification vnlesse God reuealed it vnto him as also their perseuerance and crowne of blessednesse layd vp for them that so they might the more cheerefully and couragiously persist in their confession With these limitations doe the Pontificians confine their allowance of the certainty of Iustification First it is only generall not speciall or particular Secondly if particular there be any they say it may be true or false Thirdly this speciall certainty is giuen to none but by speciall reuelation and that to some speciall choyce persons as the blessed Virgin and the Apostles Fourthly iust men may haue some coniectural signes and probable opinions of their iustification Fifthly if any had this speciall certainty then certainly St. Anthony a priueledge which not euen the holy and faithfull Martyrs are capable off without speciall reuelation saith Vega. His reason is because euen Heretickes may be Martyrs and constantly dye for Christ. This is the state of Pontifician doctrine about certainety and vncertainety of faith in iustification Against which we oppose the truth of Catholick doctrine concerning the certainety of Faith First to their first limitation we oppose That the certainty of Faith is not generall but particular and speciall Secondly to the second that this certainty cannot be false but alwayes infallibly true and that not onely in regard of the truth of Gods word in generall which certainty may be in dogmaticall and historicall Faith but also of Gods speciall promises in Christ which it is the property of sauing faith certainely to apply and appropriate to the beleeuer that vndoubtedly they belong to him in particular Thirdly to the third that neyther this certainety is simply and only a speciall diuine reuelation nor peculiar onely to a few but it is the proper vertue of sauing and iustifying Faith and is in euery true beleeuer in whom true sauing faith is found Fourthly to the fourth that this certainety in euery man iustified is no coniecturall matter gathered by probable signes but a certaine cleare firme euidence of Faith Fiftly to the fift As for St. Anthony much might his priueledge be as hauing the Patronage of Pigs Cattel which the Priests do solemnly on St. Anthonies day blesse in his name and so they are free from all diseases and disasters all the yeare after and therefore the Pigges Masters or Dames are very Hogs if they requite not the Priests paines with the best Pigge But for all St. Anthonies workes of deuotion if they had beene of a far higher and holier nature they make but little for this euidence of certainety but rather the contrary For the more a man confides in his good workes the more vnsettled he is in the certainety of iustification And for Martyrs I meane Christs Martyrs if they haue not this certainty then none euer had it As for Heretickes they cannot dye for Christ while they dye in the quarrell of their Heresie Thus we haue the state of the question on both sides As for Veg's fourth allegation in his fifth Chapter forementioned That no man can certainely know but by speciall reuelation whether another man be iustified or no this is impertinent to the present purpose and so we leaue it extra controuersiam But display wee our forces now in the open field and try we our cause by the dint of truth First that

of the elect But here it may be obiected that St. Augustine confesseth that those that fell away were once in the true faith and therefore a man may fall away from true faith and consequently from grace finally and totally But Saint Augustine cleareth this in many places of his Bookes shewing that a man cannot fall away from the faith of the elect As Fides Christi fides gratiae Christianae● id est ea fides quae per dilectionem operatur posita in fundamento neminem per●●e permittit The faith of Christ the faith of Christian grace to wit that faith which worketh by loue being built vpon the foundation permitteth none to perish And therefore where hee speakes of such as were once in the faith and fall from it hee meaneth not the proper faith of the Elect but the common faith of Christians As he also saith Appellamus nos electos Christi Discipulos Dei Filios quia sic appellandi sunt quos regeneratos pi● viuere cernimus We doe call men euen the elect Disciples of Christ and the Sonnes of God because they are so to bee called whom we see to be regenerate and to liue godly but if they haue not perseuerance they are not truely called sith they are called that which they are not And therefore Quia non habuerunt perseuerantiam sicut non verè Discipuli Christi ita nec verè Filij Dei fuerunt etiam quando esse videbantur ita vocabantur Because they had not perseuerance as they were not truely Christs Disciples so neyther were they truely the Sons of God euen when they seemed to be so and were called so Of this sort and sense is another place of St. Augustine to bee taken which the Author of the new Gagge for the old Goose for haste as Charity may deeme rather than eyther of malice or ignorance not easily incident to a man of such rare and extraordinary learning hath perhaps casually in such a swift flowing current of discourse dropped from his Goose-quill His allegation out of St. Augustine is in these words Credendum est quosdam de filijs perditionis non accepto dono perseuerantiae vsque in finem in fide quae per dilectionem operatur incipere viuere aliquandi● fideliter iustè viuere postea cadere neque de ha● vita priusquam hoc eis contingat auferri The author of the Gagge seemeth to alledge this place to proue that a man may totally fall away from grace sith from faith working by loue And the words as he alledgeth them seeme to fauour that opinion as if it were Augustines definitiue conclusion for all peremptorily to beleeue it Credendum est But as a guelt man though he haue all the other signes of a man hath lost his virility the chiefe difference of his Sexe so this sentence being but a little guelt how much is it made to degenerate from the Masculine stile of St. Augustine For Augustine speaking there of the gift of perseuerance inferreth this sentance thus Propter huius vtilitatem secreti credendum est quosdam c. For the benefit of this secret to wit of perseuerance credendum est where wee are to note that these first words left out by the Author are a speciall qualification and limitation of our faith herein namely how farre forth and in what respect Augustine would haue vs thinke so that men may fall from that faith which worketh by loue to the end that thereby they should bee more carefull to keepe their standing therefore he saith Propter huius vtilitatem secreti A clause in no case to bee neglected for little though it bee it leaueneth and seasoneth the whole lumpe As the same Augustine elsewhere saith Deus melius esse iudicauit miscere quosdam non perseueraturos certo numero Sanctorum suorum vt quibus non expedit in huius vitae tentatione securitas non possint esse securi God iudged it better to mingle some that should not perseuere with the certaine number of his Saints that they for whom security in the tentation of this life is not expedient might learne not to be secure Now that Augustine by that faith working by loue mentioned in the former allegation from whence he would haue vs beleeue for our owne profit and proficiency in perseuering that the reprobate fall did not meane that true reall faith of the Saints and Elect which worketh by loue but onely such a faith in appearance and common account besides many other places and those also which we haue forecited that one may conuince it where he saith vpon 2. Tim. 2. 19. Horum fides quae per dilectionem operatur profectò aut omnino non deficit aut si qui sunt quorum deficit reparatur antequam vitaista finiatur deleta quae intercurrerat iniquitate vsque in finem perseuerantia deputatur The faith of those which worketh by loue eyther doth not faile at all or if there be any whose faith doth faile it is repaired before this life be ended and the inquity which came betweene being blotted out perseuerance is deputed euen vnto the end Yea he saith definitiuely Fides eius qui aedificatur super Petram pro qua etiam orauit Christus ne deficiat non deficit His faith that is built vpon the Rocke for the which also Christ prayed that it should not faile faileth not And Christ saith expresly That the house built vpon the Rocke faileth not but standeth firme against all windes and waues of tentations The Rocke is Christ and the house vpon this Rocke is euery true beleeuer But say that former allegation out of Augustine had beene altogether set downe by him eyther in those termes or in that sense as the Author citeth it what if one such speech tending that way should haue fallen from that excellent holy man shall that one preponderate the whole tenure of St Augustines workes Nay rather let it bee interpreted by his other sayings than they be ouerthrowne and euacuate by this And let the learned Author of that booke of the Gagge so maintaine the truth of Christ in the maine current of his other writings as they may not only extenuate but wholly expiate and expunge to omit other things at least this blot dropping from his penne Augustine though a most excellent light in Gods Church yet wherein he saw his errours such was his rare humility and dextrous ingenuity hee writ a Booke of Retractations But for his Doctrine in the point of the Saints perseuerance in the state of grace vnto the end it is so cleare and consonant to the Scriptures that it needes no retractation and as vneasie it is almost by any wit to bee peruerted as subuerted Onely let not a misalledged place or a mis-conceiued allegation out of Augustine stand as the Rest whereon the state of the Doctrine of the Church of England must lye at hazzard Nor euer let