the well-beeing of a Christian. A true Christians life is full of affliction more then other men For this he hath the greatest need of comfort Now wherein hath a Christian most solid comfort Surely in the Scriptures David a man of afflictions can tell us this by his own experience Remember Lord Saith he the word unto thy Servant wherein thou hast caused me to hope This is my Comfort in my affliction for thy word hath quickned me And v. 52. I remembred thy judgements of old ô Lord and have comforted my selfe And v. 54. Thy Statutes have been my Songs in the house of my pilgrimage Gods word is that which supports Faith in prayer to God in affliction As v. 76. Let I pray thee thy mercifull kindnesse be for my coâ—fort according to thy word unto thy Servant And v. 80. Let my heart be sound in thy Statutes that I be not ashamed And v. 92. Except thy Law had been my delights I should then have perished in my Affliction And that excellent Psalme which Aug. so much admires and not without cause calling it Magnificum Psalmum it is his own word is full of such meditations and consolations grounded upon Gods word And the Apostle also sheweth this where he saith Whaâ—soever things are written aforetime were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope Now how could a Christian in affliction comfort himselfe in the Scriptures had he not a full demonstrative knowledge by Faith that the Scripture is Gods word and therefore all his promises therein are most true and in Christ yea and Amen I say a full demonstrative knowledge by Faith which is ' élenkos the demonstration of things not seen as before Not that this full demonstrative knowlâ—dge in â—aith hath in it the full perfection of Degrees which is not attained in this life but it is such a full demonstrative knowledge such a sure trust and confidence in God according to his word such a hope in his Promises in Christ that although his â—aith be sometimes assaulted with temptations of feares and doubtings arising either from infirmities and corruptions within or from Satans suggestions without yet the beleever sticks closse and will not let go his hold but as Iob saith though God kill him yet will he trust in him Then then being so your assertion is very bold and blasphemous in saying God in his Providence hath kindled in the Scripture no light for that namely full demonstrative knowledge wherof we have made sufficient demonstration to the contrary And your own next words will confute you for you say He requires our faith of it and such a certain demonstration as may fit that Doth he so And what is that faith but wherin there is such a certain and demonstrative knowledge as gives a man full assurance that the Scripture is the word of God And this is that faith which God especially râ—quireth in hiâ— people as without which they cannot beleeve unto righteousnes and confesse unto Salvation But this is not that faith with its certain demonstration which you mean For as you adde yours is such a faith as is begotten of Reason and ordinary Grace which is ever the burthen of your Song where the soule is morally prepared by the Tradition of the Church Of which enough before Neither can your morall faith probably perswaded by your Tradition ever become to be élegkos a demonstrative assurance that Scripture is Gods word So as hereby you overthrow both the beeing and well-beeing of a Christian and leave him stript of all means and hope of Salvation and consolation by the Scripture L. p. 88. Hooker gives a very sensible Demonstration It is not the word of God which doth or possibly can assure us that we doe well to think it is his word For if any one Book of Scripture did give testimony to it yet still the Scripture would require another to give credit unto it So that unlesse beside the Scripture there were some thing that might assure c. And this he acknowledgeth saith Buerly is the Authority of Gods Church Certainly Hooker gives a true and sensible Demonstration P. First for your Author here alledged he was we all know not onely a Creature but a Champion for your Hierarchy and Ceremonies And besides that his Book was guelt in some things before it could have its passeport to travaile abroad However as you say of Others so I of him he was but a private man And if you take his words to be the Doctrine of the Church of England you may seeing the Jesuite doth so approve of it as also your selfe doth Well let Hookers words be so as you alledge them yet give me leave to detect in them a mixture of some absurdity and some impiety together As in these words It is not the word which doth or possibly can assure us that we doe well to think it is his word And so in that sense which is the onely sense a sensible man and sound Christian can make 't is true that the Scripture neither doth nor possibly can assure us that we do well to think onely it is his word For as the Scripture cannot lye so it cannot assure us that we do well when we come short of our duty as in thinking which is but opinion when we should beleeve which is Faith For the Scripture requires a firme Faith in us and approveth not of thinking as sufficient But now for his sensible Demonstration which is this That if any one book of Scripture did give testimony to all yet still the Scripture would require another to give testimony to it and so we can never come to assurance this way I answere The Scripture is a compleat body in it selfe and every part of it an uniforme and homogeneall member to the making up of this body So as the Scripture is to be taken first in the whole lumpe or body as bearing full witnesse to it selfe and every part or Book of Scripture hath a witnesse in it selfe and for it selfe and for the rest too there being such a sweet and full harmony in the whole and all the parts Gods Spirit speaking and breathing in it as the Animall Spirits in mans body moving the whole and every part and shewing that it is Gods word And we must never in this notion fever the Spirit of God from the Scripture his owne word which it filleth in every part as the life-blood doth the veines So as there is not a Book of Scripture wherein the Majesty of GOD and his Wisdome and Goodnesse and Righteousnesse and Holinesse doe not in some degree more or lesse shine forth And Mr Hooker might as well have reasoned thus It is not the whole frame of mans body that can perswade us that we doe well to thinke that it is a mans body for though one member by its motion doth beare witnesse to the rest that they are
and of Rome doe agree upon 363 364. He contradicts himselfe ibid. 307. Jesuites Commendation of the English Liturgy whether it be a good signe 364. 318. How the Prelate rewards the late Dr. White for his Deserts and what they were 364 365. The true Church of Christ proved against the Prelate not to be alwayes visible and conspicuous by many Instances Though the Prelaticall be alwayes conspicuous 366 367 368. Most pittifull and perplexed contradictions and confused and false Speeches of the Church of Rome by the Prelate 369. Rome a Tree wholly corrupt without so much as the Barke of a true Church 370. 321. Dr. Whites Errours Fundamentall reductivè confuted 371 372. 325. Wherein the Prelates Church of England is departed from the Foundation 373. The Prelates Latitude of faith in reference to different mens Salvation which he can no more fit to them then a coat for the Moâ—ne 373 374. True Preachers must teach all what and how to beleeve though it be no worke for the Prelates pen 373. 327. The Prelate confesseth that Romanists dare not beleeve but as the Church of Rome beleeves which saith he beleeves not aright How then can his Ignorants be saved 374 375. 332. Apocrypha by the Prelate how neatly brought in as a Co-witnesse with the Scripture to prove points of Faith 375. 336. The Prelates Resolution to live and dye in the Faith of the Primitive Church confuted by sundâ—y Instances 375 376. 338. The Prelate holds not the Saving Faith as not acknowledging other then Romes Faith 377 378 379. And the Saving Faith is not in the Church of Rome 377 The Prelate holds a false Hope and Charity together with a false Faith with Rome wherein he will live and dye an English Romish-Catholicke 379 380. 339. The Prelates haâ—ting and halfing with the Jesuite 380. In charging Rome he checketh himselfe 340. His halting againe 381. Yet he confesseth that the now Roman Faith is not the Catholicke which Roman Faith he will live and dye in 380. What Contradiction is ib. His contradiction noted 382. His halting down-right all along 382 383. 342. How the Prelates Saving Faith of Rome is by himselfe proved to be Infidelity 384. So as compared with the former he will live and dye in the Roman Infidelity Conferre 375 376 377. His Collusion 382. 349 Who the first Founder of Purgatory 386. 365. The Prelates false root of the true Churches existence and true root of the false 387 388. 370. The Church of Rome how yeelded by the Replyer to be visible yet not Apostolicke against the Prelate 387 388. 371. Of Peters being at Rome 388. The Church of Rome for what preserved of God 389. 375 How the Prelate gives more liberty to his Protestants to goe to the Romish Church to heare Masse which he calls the Service of God then the Jesuite doth to his Roman Catholicks to goe to the English Service 390 391 392. 376. The Prelates Assertion That the Church of Rome and the Protestant Church of England do not set up a different Religion 392. And so no great difference of going to either yet that both accuse each other of grosse corruptions indangering Salvation 393. Ibid. Who are the Prelates Indifferent Readers to whom it appeares by his Discourse as himselfe saith That the Religion profest in the Church of England comes nearest to the Primitive Church And what Readers will judge the contrary 394. 377. Not onely Superstition as the Prelate stints it but grosse Idolatry in Adoration of Images in Invocation of Saints in Adoration of the Sacrament 395. 378. By the Prelates confession to the Priest A. C. there should be but little pride in his heart 396. 379. The Prelates wan hope of mercy to the dead Lady 396 397. 388. The Prelates Close or Conclusion wherein he excuseth himselfe by reason of his other weighty affaires and of his Age His misnaming of the Penman of the 90 Psalme least he should through all his Booke but touch or name any one Scripture and withall not mistake misapply or pervert it His fearefull and desperate condition layd home unto him by the Replyer His mocking and abusing Gods Name and Mercy in his hypocriticall Prayer and impenitent heart His blaphemy in Fathering all his Booke written and published for the meeting of his Popish Truth and Peace in a Reconciliation with Rome upon Gods Free Grace His wicked and false hope that God will bring to passe that his Diabolicall Designe and Desire which cannot come to passe but with the utter confusion of the whole Land His hypocriticall and faithlesse giving Glory to God after all his blacke mouthed blasphemies and disgraces throughout his Booke cast upon the Majesty of God of Christ and of the Holy Ghost also upon Gods holy word the Scripture as if he would in the close of all with this one plaister heale so many broken heads 397 to 405. This suffice for a rude Model But what 's that to the House it selfe Enter therfore and take a free and full view Consider what thou readest and the Lord give thee understanding in all things TO THE AVTHOR AND PVBLISHER OF THE RELATION MY Lord that you find not my Name in Front the Reasons are to my selfe And when you find it 't will appeare that feare of your displeasure though terrible enough was not the Cause But whoever I be you will Say perhaps I am some madde fellow and too bold to make a Reply to your Relation But your own words will I hope excuse me for that For you Say A right sober mâ—n may without the least touch of insolency or madnesse dispute a businessâ— of Religion with the Roman either Church or Prelate so it be with modesty and for the finding out or confirming of Truth free from â—anity and purposed opposition against even a Particular Church So you Now my manner in disputing with one so Great though a single Prelate and no Church being with modesty and 〈◊〉 from vaniâ—y and purposed opposition against your Person and the end for finding out and confirming the Truth which God himselfe knoweth I hâ—pe I Say your Lordship wil be as good as your word not to cast upon me an aspersion or Censure of the least touch of Insolâ—nâ—ie or madnesse But this indeed I must confesse unto you and professe before all the world that in a Cause so weighty as this wherein I find my Lord Iesus Christ so deeply ingaged so much dishonoured and his onely true Faith and Religion so much depressed and disparaged and that by so great a Prelate I must crave pardon if herein I be both zealous and plain with you And that so much the more that one so Great I say so high in favour in Court and so potent and prevalent in the State should so doe And to this purpose I remember another Speech in your Booke Worth is no necessary concluder for Truth For worth once misled is of all other the greatest misleader And such is
vaine and wicked thought concerning GOD as if he favoured him and his wicked practises and all because GOD was silent and patient in forbeâ—reing to reprove and punish him Now to apply this If you can find any to whom these things may more fitly and truely be applyed then your selfe doe you apply them home unto them But till you doe give us leave to apply them so farre to your Lordship as we have sufficient warrant and good evidence for First do not you in this your Booke in particular pretend at least to declare Gods word and speak of his Covenant as if you would become a Champion to maintain the holy Scripture against the Roman Adversaries thereof This you professe and willingly grant But in the proofe hereof you set us up Mans Authority above the Scripture as we shall see in the due place And doe you not withall hate instruction and cast Gods word behind you when being by Gods Minister as of late reprooved and convinced of such things as you neither could nor can deny to be true as being written in Capitall Letters in your forehead and on the palmes of your hands yet you not onely hated and despised the reproofe and instruction which was according to Gods word and the duty of a Minister whose strict charge is among other things to reproove with all authority but also have manifested this your hatred and contempt in persecuting this poore Minister beyond all measure and example yea and still continue persecuting him to this day and that most Antichristianly and not onely him but his Wife and Children who have done you no offence at all not suffering the one to goe see her Husband nor the other their Father O my Lord heaven rings of this your fury and the earth groaneth under such more then Heathenish inhumanity not sorting with the Law of common humane nature O How shall you escape the damnation of hell And what plagues may not the Land expect for being guilty of such innocent blood and of such unheard of Barbarisme and that also maintained and continued in cold blood Yea and doth not the spirit of the Beast in you breath out persecution and blast many other of Gods faithfull Ministers never leaving them till you have rooted them out And this you neither feare to practise nor shame to professe And then againe Doe you not give your mouth to Evill and frame your tongue to Deceit You frame it as having a special art and Method in it as the Apostle spekas which you expresse in the fourth mark especially Sitting and speaking against your brother and slandering your own Mothers Son as will further yet appeare and doth by your continuall and dayly practises and specially in or at your High Commission chaire or Boord where as else where you have a power to doe what you list without controule or contradiction And for carnall security in an impious and Atheisticall conceit of GOD as if a favourer of wicked practises because a patient forbearer to punish them presently examine your own heart nay may we not both read it in your courses and understand it by your speeches in sundry places of your Booke where you would seem to have a speciall interest in Gods favour as in his admirable restoring you as you say from your dangerous Fever though you there forgot as those nine Lepers that Christ clensed to return him thanks so much as verball And for the further and fuller clearing of the verefying of all this in your selfe I shall call your Book to witnesse In the meane time here Heare Gods doom against this wicked Man But I will reprove thee and set them in order before thee He will bring every worke to judgement with every secret thing whether good or evill And as David elswhere saith Wherefore doth the wicked contemn GOD He hath said in his heart Thou wilt not require it Thou hast seen it O GOD for thou beholdest mischiefe and spight to require it with thy hand the poore committeth himselfe unto thee Thou art the helper of the Fatherlesse Breake thou the arme of the wicked and the evill man Seeke out his wickednesse till thou find none But How long Lord Holy and True Surely when he maketh inquisition for blood he remembreth them he forgetteth not the cry of the Humble There is a day of Gods visitation a comming and it hasteneth yea we may see it even at the doores Therefore Davids inference hereupon will sort well in this place O consider this ye that forget GOD least I teare you in pieces and there be none to deliver Thus you may see what need you have to beware how you meddle with such edg'd tooles in misapplying the holy Word of God for it is a sharpe two edged sword which not skilfully handled as a Sword in a mad mans hand but applyed to a wrong use and object will rebound back upon you and wound you God give you Grace to repent if possible if you be not come to that Sklurâ—tata kai ametanamton kardian as the Apostle speakes hardnesse and impenitent heart treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath I am plain you see if there may be hope and surely 't is no time now to spare when we heare Gods Trumpet sounding the Alarme You proceed L. p. ibid. In the midst of these libellous outcryes against me some Divines of great note and worth in the Church of England came to me one by one and no one knowing of the others coming as to me they protested and perswaded with me to reprint this Conference in my owne Name This they thought would vindicate my Reputation were it generally known to be mine P. What libellous outcryes my Lord Of Scandalous and Scurrilous pennes If Scurrilous I approve not If Scandalous is not that in your sense onely because against you But the Authours names were to the Bookes which they avowed to be theirs How then libellous And Master BURTON in speciall offered to the full Court at his Censure to prove all his Book to be true And how then Scandalous And if just reproofe of Iniquity and Enormities and that by a Minister of GOD in his own Charge be Censured for Scandalous then how shall the writings of the Apostles and Prophets and the words of Christs owne mouth escape this Censure of being Scandalous For Master BURTON was a Minister of CHRIST which under the Gospell is called a Prophet whose Office is to convince and reproove sinne But he named your Lordship and some other of your Brethren in his Book True And what of that Doe you make this to be Scandalum Magnatum Then what say you to the Prophet Elias telling King Ahab to his face Thou art hee that troubleth Israel And in his writing to King Iehoram hee told him his owne which hee shortly after found too true So the Prophet Elisha when hee spake to the Elders of Israel and
tâ—e Rule and Foundation of our Faith but what we find written in the holy Scriptures This is that word of God which is authenticall of Authority to his Church and therefore Authority to us because written So as your unwritten word whereiâ— you agree with Bellarmine and your Apostolicke Traditions wherin you come home to your A. C. the Jesuite we receive none of them all as authentick or to have any thing to doe to expound the Scripture in any doubt about the Faith But if you can shew us any Traditions Apostolick we will by your leave examine them by the Scriptures and not the Scriptures by them You name baptizing of Infants for a Tradition Apostolicke We doubt not but the Apostles baptized the Infants of beleeving Parents For the Infants or Children of such are holy as the Apostle sheweth And so they belonged to the Covenant And as the Children of the Jewes in the old Testament were circumcised as pertaining to the Covenant and promise made to Abraham and to his Seed So Baptisme succeding in place of Circumcision as a Seale of the Same Covenant belongs to all Children of beleeving Christian Parents As the Apostle saith Therefore it is of Faith that it might come by Grace and the Promise might be sure to all the Seed not to that onely which is of the Law but to that also which is of the Faith of Abrahâ—m who is the Father of us all So as beleeving Christians have the same interest in the Covenant with Abraham and their Children or Infants have the like priviledge of Baptisme as the Infants of the ancient Israelites had for Circumcision Therefore the Baptizing of Infants was certainly practised by the Apostles as well as the baptising of beleeving Parents So as we doe not baptize Infants because you tell us it is a Tradition Apostolicke but because it is as clearely and firmely grounded in the Scripture as the baptizing of beleeving Parents We exclude therefore whatsoever Word unwritten or Traditions Apostolicke as you call them as being either partiall or equall Rules of Faith with the Scriptures as Bellarmine calls them or as Interpreters and Iudges of the Scripture in doubts about Faith as you are bold to affirme We have no word of God but the Scripture we acknowledge no Traditions Apostolicke but what we find they delivered in Scripture The Prophets in the old Testament sent Gods people to the Scripture for information instruction resolution in all matters of Faith and Cases of Conscience To the Law and to the Testimony Saith Isaiah if they Speake not according to this word it is because there is no light in them He Saith not To the Traditions of our Fathers but To the Law and to the Testimony Gods word written Els there is no light in men they are blind guides that in matters of Faith lead us any where but to and by the Scriptures And the Prophet Ieremiah They have rejected the word of the Lord and what wisedome is in them All wisdome without this word of God is foolishnesse all knowledge without this is ignorance and blindnesse So our Saviour Christ Search the Scriptures for in them ye thinke to find eternall life and they are they which testifie of me So as Christ allowes us no other Testimony of him and of Faith in him but the Scriptures We must erunan Search them not the Archives or Sacraries of blind Traditions though guilded over never so faire with the name of Apostolick nor of any pretended word of God unwritten And Christ answereth the Lawyer when he asked what he should doe to inherit Eternall life What is written in the Law How readest thou And the Apostle That none presume above that which is written And Whatsoever things were written afore time were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope And Peter We have a more sure word of Prophecy to wit the Scriptures of the old Testament whereunto ye doe well that ye take heed In all which places and many more the Scripture is still commended to us as the onely absolute sufficient perfect and compleat Rule of our Faith in all matters or doubts of Faith touching our Salvation So as it hath no other interpreter but it selfe not any Tradition not any word unwritten But of this you will give us occasion to speak more at after L. p. 72 73. Faith is the gift of God of God alone and an Infused habit in respect whereof the soule is meerely recipient The Sole Infuser is the Holy Ghost Till the Spirit of God move the heart of man he cannot beleeve P. I confesse when first I read these words I began to muse with my selfe and to argue thus What is my Lord of Canterbury turn'd Orthodox no Arminian in the Doctrine of Grace But looking a little further and observing both the Authors you alledge as Stapleton a great man with you and other Popish Authors as is usuall with you throughout your Book and also considering of what Faith you here Speak I changed my conceit and found that you were no Changeling For wheras I thought that all this faire â—â—ourish of Faith is the gift of God of God alone A habit infused The Holy Ghost the Sole Infuser The soule meerely recipient Till Gods Spirit move mans heart he cannot beleeve had been meant of that Grace of Saving and Iustifying Faith which the Scripture teacheth and particularly the Apostle Ephes. 2.8 By Grace ye are saved through Faith and not of your selves it is the Gift of God c. I imagined I say that as you used the Apostles very words and the Language of Scripture so you had done it in the sense and mind of the Apostle and of the Scripture which Speaks so of the Saving and Iustifying Faith But when I found the contrary I confesse I blushed at my folly in having such a conceit of you having had so much experience both of your usuall perverting of Scriptures and your corrupt sense throughout your Book and considering that light and darknesse cannot stand together and how you hâ—ve altogether suppressed the Preaching of the Doctrines of Grace and finding that all this Faith you Speake of is nothing els but that historicall Faith in beleeving the Scriptures to be the word of God which beliefe is common to the very Reprobates and Devils themselves who beleeve and tremble Phristouâ—i they quiver and Shake as when mens teeth Chatter in their head in extreme cold And yet how doe you abuse the Scripture and your Reader in giving to this Faith those peculiar Attributes which are proper and peculiar to the onely Saving Grace of Saving Faith the Sole Infuser Giver and worker whereof is the Holy Ghost Tell me how come the Devils to that historicall faith whereby they beleeve the Scripture to be the very word of God and all things therein to be most certainly true and so all
text and so prosecutes them with proofes of Scripture and Reasons and lastly applyes this word in sundry uses to the hearts and Consciences of the hearers reproving this or that sinne and pressing it home And all this while knowing nothing that any such Creature as the Archbishhop of Canterbury is in his Congregation in the ardor of his holy Zeale hee lets flye his Darts of sharpe Reproofe Steeled with Divine Authority of GODS Word the Scripture as against Pride Hypocrisie hatred of GODS Word Persecution of Gods Ministers and People under a colour of piety and peaâ—e-making in the Church and the like and so drives the nayle to the head as that the dart pierceth through all your armour of proofe as the Arrow shot at adventure hit Ahab between the joynts of his Armour to the the very quick of your Conscience not onely to the awakening of it but driving it to a trembling fit as Pauls preaching did to Felix and to be in a cold Sweat and to wax wanne and pale as Belshazzar at the sight of the hand-writing which is a part of Scripture what would you imagine of this Perhaps that the Minister knew of your being there But the contrary appeares to your selfe you did it so secretly as you knew none could discover it as you want neither wit nor art to doe such a feate if you will Well you can draw no other Conclusion from that your Conviction upon this occasion but that sure those were the Darts of the Scripture that wounded you yea and sounded you and found you out in the Croud pulling off the veile of hypocrisie from off the the face of your Conscience and therewithall so terrifying it as you are perswaded all the men in the world could not have struck such terrours into your Soule and therupon you are forced to Conclude and Confesse that surely the Scripture must needs be the word of God having such a mighty power in it being applyed but by a weake man As the Apostle saith We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power might be of God and not of us For you could discerne nothing of the Minister himselfe but that he was a simple plain man and did but speake as his text led him and for which he brought good proofe from the Scripture Thus if your Lordship should make but such an experiment as this would you not doe with this your Book wherein you have besides many other strange passages all along as will appeare yet more at large pronounced so many disgracefull Sentences against the Sufficiencie of the Divine Scripture to prove it selfe to be the word of God as those Converts in the Acts did with their Books of Curious Arts or as you did though against your will with that Popish Book of the Bishop of Geneva in Smithfield But I proceed As the Scripture not onely in and of it selfe but by the Ministry of it discovereth such a cleare selfe-light as whereby even naturall men are convinced and enforced to beleeve and confesse that Surely the Scripture is the very word of God so this word this Scripture is not as the Papists say and you say little better a dead letter but as it is the word of God uttered by his Spirit by which holy men spake and wrote it so it carries meat in the mouth as we say it never goes alone but is accompanied with the Spirit of God which Spake it giving testimony unto it that it is the undoubted word of God For even as the veines in a naturall body doe carry and convey in them the life-blood and as the Arteries doe containe in them those animal Spirits conveyed from the head to all the members whereby they are vegetated and moved So the Scriptures and every part of them have in them the Spirit whereby they are quickned and which is in them as the light in the body of the Sun their proper light wherein they shine forth in such a brightnesse as is sufficient to convince all men that they are the word of God and effectuall in perswading and assuring all the Elect of God of the truth thereof even to their Salvation And as the Soule with its faculties as understanding and Reason in mans body doe shew him to be a reasonable creature Man So the Spirit of God breathing and moving in the Scriptures doe shew them to be the very word of God For in the Scripture doe shine forth Gods Majesty Wisdome Holinesse Power Providence Iustice Mercy Truth Goodnesse Omniscience and all his excellent Attributes so as they all beare testimony unto it that it is the word of God So as to seperate these from the Scripture as they doe who affirme that the Scripture is not bright enough to be a sufficient witnesse to it selfe to the begetting of Beliefe that it is the word of God is as if they should abstract and seperate the light from the Sun and say it is not sufficient to prove it selfe to be the Sun For indeed take away the light from the Sun and then you may say truely it is not bright enough to shew it selfe to be the Sun Nay it ceaseth to be the Sun any more when the light and heat of it is taken away For the Sun is pherónumos according to its names in the Hebrew Shemesh so called because by its light it is a Minister or Servant to the world or some derive it quasi Sham-esh ibi ignis There is fire or according to another name from its property of calefaction or heating But take away its light and it looseth both its nature and its name and serves for no use So if you take from the Scripture those things in it which are its life and soule its native light and â—uster which can no more be seperated from it then the light from the Sun nay the Sun shall come to loose his light as it once did at the Ecclipsing of the Sun of Righteousnesse in his Passion on the Crosse but Gods word endureth for ever in heaven you quite destroy the nature of the Scripture and so make it to be no longer the word of God I might here inlarge my Discourse upon this excellent Subject but I shall have further occasion ministred by you to speake something more of it as I passe along For you proceed L. p. 83. A man is probably led by the Authority of the present Church as by the First informing inducing perswading meanes to beleeve the Scripture to be the word of God but when he hath studied considered and compared this word with it selfe and with other writings with the helpe of ordinary Grace and a mind morally induced and reasonably perswaded by the voyce of the Church the Scripture then gives greater and higher Reasons of Credibily to it selfe then Tradition alone could give P. Here you begin to tell us your manner of proposing the Scripture as a credible object fit
for beliefe And you place the Authority of the Present Church in the forefront as a prime leader and inducer to this beliefe And this you inculcate very often and Say pag. 120 I confesse every where that Tradition introduces the knowledge of them And pag. 126. you tell the Jesuite A. C. saying Herein we goe the same way with you because we allow the Tradition of the present Church to be the First inducing Motive c. So as herein you jumpe with the Jesuite So then Authority of the present Church is the Prime Or as sometimes you call it Tradition or otherwhiles The voyce of the Present Church All comes to one reckoning Then to this Leader you muster up a troop of followers as here Ordinary Grace a mind morally induced and reasonably perswaded and before a mans owne Reason and humane Testimony morall perswasion Reason and Force of the present Church the Holy Ghost Conferring of the Scripture with it selfe and other writings And what then Then and not before the Scripture gives greater and higher Reasons of Credibility to it selfe then Tradition alone could give What No more effect for all this but a Credibility I expected you should with such a Troope under the command of such a Generall as the Authority Tradiâ—ion and voyce of the present Church have effected that Rockie Forâ— of mans heart to have yealded to open the Gates of his Infidelity to let in this Beliefe that Scripture is the word of God And can you obtaine no more then a Credibility Alas poore Scripture Can all Mans witty inventions advance thy credit which they have taken away no higher then to a Credibility But thus we may see the vanity of Mans wit when it hath cast away the truth This is right as the Preacher Saith Lâ—e this onely have I found That God made man upright but they have sought out many inventions So when men reject the word of the Lord what wisdome is in them Then they fall to their inventions like Michals stuffing her Image with Goates haire and laying it in the bed instead of David Or a right Embleme hereof we have in our First Parents when they had disrobed themselves of that plain simple seamelesse but glorious robe of their Innocencie having thus lost their uprightnesse wherein God made them presently they fall to their inventions they will supply the want of that robe with a many faire fresh Fig-leaves sowed together without either needle or thread vainly imagining that this would cover their shame when indeed it was a plain signe they had lost their Glory and yet could not hide their nakednesse So when a man hath lost the Truth he shall loose his wits in his manifold Inventions before he shal be able thereby to make up his losse Thus did the Church of Rome of old no sooner had they thrust out Gods word and the preaching of it out of their Temples but up goe their Images for Lay-mens Books and in comes crowding a multitude of Ceremonies the Inventions of man as if these would make amends with advantage instead of the holy Scriptures Just your practise in the Church of England at this day And just your like practise here When you have cast a black veile over the Scriptures native beauty and light disabling them as sufficient witnesses to prove themselves the word of God you invent here a number of things to stop our mouthes to make us beleeve that by these you will bring Mans naturall blindnesse to see and his infidelity to beleeve just nothing at all that the Scriptures are the word of God So as you deale with us here as some Parents doe with their Children take the piece of gold from them and please them with a handfull of deafe nuts Onely they doe it providently to preserve the Gold from being lost but you Popishly to destroy the Gold and to set up the painted dresse of your New-nothing Or you put out the Eyes of the Scripture and then light your Candle before it as after you tell us But let 's a little examine your words First I note here what a blind guide you commend to blind men to lead them to the beliefe of the Scriptures to be the word of God For what is it Certainty No Probabilty A man is probably led But of Probability we have spoken before And take this with you for a certaine truth Probability may beget an opinion but never a belief But by whom probably led By the Authority of the present Church What present Church Of the Prelates or Hierarchy ever But who gave you Authority to be a Church Or Suppose you were the true Church of Christ who gave you this Authority to take away from the Scriptures their sufficiencie of guiding men to the faith of them and to tie men to depend upon the Authority of the present Church thereby to be induced to beleeve the Scriptures And what 's your present Church Is it not the Same with that of Rome And is not this Authority which you arrogate Romish And what if your present Church with Rome shall induce us to beleeve the Apocryphall Bookes to be part of Scripture Or some word unwritten which you call Apostolick Traditions to be equall with the word written as you agree with Bellarmine in this Distinction of the word written and unwritten as before is touched And what if as you have given us too much proofe you should limit us in beleeving the Scripture what part to beleeve for Canonicall and what otherwise For as Hierome saith The Scripture consists more in the marrow of Sentences then in the barke of words more in the Sense then in the Syllables What say you then to the 4 th Commandement which your present Church denyes to be Morall for a Seventh day Sabbath and thereby overthrow the Sanctification of the Lords day What say you of the Doctrines of Grace which you have overthrowne by your Declaration before your Articles What of Altars and the like If herein you overthrow the Sense of Scripture doe you not proclaime to the world that such and such Scriptures are not Canonicall Or if the words be still holden for Canonicall yet it must be according to the Sense of your present Church As Paulus 4. the Pope in the End of the Councel of Trent tyes all Priests by oath to interpret the Scriptures no otherwise but according to the Sense of the Catholick Church the Summe whereof is the Decrees and Canons of Trent Is not thus the whole Scripture made voyd But come on let men be primely induced by the Authority of the present Church to wit of the Prelates or Hierarchy for no other Church you allow nor we you to be any other but of Antichrist by what Argument trow you is it likelyest they will be perswaded that the Scriptures are the word of God Will you give me leave to tell you my Opinion It is this in briefe When men upon
parts of mans body yet still that member wants other members to beare witnesse unto it that it is a part of mans body As if every particular member of mans body by its inherent proper motion were not a sufficient witnesse not onely to all the rest of the body that it is a living and true organicall body of man but also to it selfe that it is a true living member of this body Or as thus It is not the whole frame of heaven and earth that can assure us that we doe well to thinke that God made all the world for if any one Creature should give testimony to all the rest yet still that Creature would require another Creature to give testimony to it that it is one of Gods Creatures and so we should never come to any pawse to rest our assurance this way that God created the whole world heaven and earth and all the Creatures therein Now what is there besides the Creature that can assure us of this What The Authority of men or the Tradition of the whole world No for By Faith we come to understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that things which are seen were made of things which did not appeare Now whereupon is this Faith grounded Surely on the word of God and confirmed abundantly by the whole frame of heaven and earth and all the Creatures therein not one of them but having a stampe of the Creator upon it to assure us that it is his Creature And how doe we come to be assured that this word of God is contained in the Scripture By the Authority of the present Church Doth Hooker Say so Had you Said The Ancient Church as the Jewes in witnessing for the Old Testament and the Ancient Apostolick Church in witnessing for the New you had said Somthing As also if you had put the Ministry of the Word for the Authority of your present Church For as we said before the Ministry of the Word is Gods own voyce which commends unto us the Scripture as the word of God This is Gods owne ordinary meanes to bring men to Faith and not the Authority and Tradition of I wot not what present Church And now against Mr Hookers sensible Demonstration as you call it I will oppose another Demonstration which is not onely sensible but most true as proving that the testimony of Scripture to be the word of God is in the Scripture it selfe First Paul in the Epistle to the Romans witnesseth that unto the Iewes or Israeliets under the Old Testament were committed the Oracles of God those Oracles were contained in all the severall Bookes of the Old Testament which the Jewes kept intire and inviolate without the mixture of Profane Books And of this Scripture Paul speaketh and testifieth saying All Scripture is given by inspiration from God And Christ himselfe giveth testimony of the Old Testament saying to the Jewes Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternall life and they are they which testifie of me And what those Scriptures were the Jewes knew well enough for they were deposited with them and they kept them as their chiefest treasure And Peter also gives testimony to the Old Testament saying of it that Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost speaking of the Scripture expresly in that place in the former verse And To Him give all the Prophets witnesse Thus the New Testament gives testimony to the Old that it is the word of God And I hope you will not except against this testimony as insufficient Againe the New Testament gives witnesse to it selfe that it is the word of God Peter witnesseth of Pauls Epistles that Paul wrote them according to the wisdome given unto him that is the Holy Ghost And Christ said to Peter I have prayd for thee that thy Faith faile not Yea He sent the Holy Ghost to all his Apostles that should lead them into all truth Ergo what they preached and wrote was the Truth and word of God And Christ made all his Apostles his witnesses who in all their writings beare-witnesse of him both of what they saw and heard and so their record left in writing is true See Luk. 1.2 1 Joh. 1.3 3 Joh. 12. And none writ the New Testament but either Euangelists or Apostles all indued with the Holy Ghost And the Wisdome of Christ reserved his beloved Disciple Iohn as the last surviver of all the rest to write the Book of the Revelation and to conclude as the New Testament so the whole Bible with that Charge If any man adde to this Book or take away from it c. as shewing that the whole and intire Scripture was now compiled and consummate I might be copious in this point But I will summe up all this The New Testament gives testimony to the Old that it is the word of God also to it selfe one Book to another one Apostle to another who were all witnesses of Christ Christ and the Holy Ghost to all the Apostles all their writings being guided by the Spirit of Truth and giving joynt witnesse unto Christ and to the truth of the Gospell Yea and the severall parts beare witnes to themselvs As 1 Cor. 14.37 If any man think himselfe to be a Prophet or Spirituall let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the Commandements of the Lord. And 1 Pet. 5.12 I have written brieflly exhorting and testifying that this is the true Grace of God wherein ye stand And Joh. 20.31 These things are written that ye might beleeve that Iesus is the Christ the Son of God and that beleeving ye might have life through his Name So 1 Joh. 1.3 4. 2 Joh. 5. 3 Joh. 12. And we also â—eare record and ye know that our record is true And as the New Testament doth every where beare witnesse both to the Old and to it selfe both in the whole and every part even by the Spirit of God that speakes and breathes in the whole and every part So the Old Testament in like manner beares witnesse both to it selfe and to the New Testament and that by many Types and Prophecies all which are fulfilled in the New So as these two Testaments are as Ezechiels Wheeles one within another the New Testament being the Old revealed and the Old the New veiled Or they are like the two Cherubims both looking towards the Mercy-Seat which is Christ the Summe of them both the Old looking upon him as he was promised and to come the New as he is now exhibited and come Thus we have here a full true and evident Demonstration that the whole Scripture gives testimony to it selfe that it is the word of God And yet you Say That Truth it selfe cannot say that Scripture it selfe can doe it But you adde L. ibid. That Scripture cannot beare witnesse to it selfe nor any one part of it
same unchangable truth still and hath in it sufficient evidence both to reconcile those differences and to convince the gainsayer 'T is true Let no man presume upon his owne strength for the secret of the Lord is with them that feare him Whaâ— was the cause then that you have all along your Booke as in part hath been shewed so perverted the Scriptures was it not because you took not with you for your guide the Tradition of the present Church And was not this then a prusuming upon your own strength when you goe so solely and singly to worke But what meane you by going single without the Church The not consulting the Prelates Or because the Papists object as you The Scriptures are deep and darke therfore we must in all things take the present Church Tradition in our way where it may be bad and be guided by that as by Ariadnees Thread through those manyfold Meanders of that intricate Labyrinth the Scripture as you make it Or that you meane by Church Tradition the Authority of the present Church of England as one with that Church whereof none is and that this Authority must needs proceede and like a Candle before the Sun at noon-day as before shew us the way to know the Scripture to be the word of God if we be willing to shut our eyes and blindfold to be led by the Traditionall Authority of this your Church what know we but by such Authority you may tell us puting the â—ible clasped into our hands All that is cantained within those claspes is the word of God This you may be sure of you have Authority for it you need goe no further And all your Bibles of your present Church of England being by expresse Charge bound with the Apocrypha so as they are punished that doe it not all the Books forfeited which may breed an opinion in the people that those Bookes also are a part of the word of God If now one hereupon opening the Bible and lighting upon either that ridiculous tale of Tobies Dog or that of the Angel who tells Tobiaâ— that he is his kinsman and of the Smoke of the Fishes Liver that drives away the Devill or of Razis killing of himselfe and commended for it by the writer of the Books of the Maccabees or that of the same Authors doubting whether he hath done well or no in writing that Story and the like he may possibly by this meanes be brought to think meanely of the Scriptures and that they are not the word of God because he finds such things in the Bible so as it is bound as are ridiculous false vaine impious and uncertaine whether the rest be done as it should be c. And thus by your Apocrypha delivered into his hand by the Authority and Tradition of your present Church he is brought to beleeve that either the Scriptures of thaâ— Old and New Testament are not the word of God as wherwith those Apocryphall Books are equally bound in all Bibles or else that such Tradition of the present Church it little to be regarded while pretending to lead men to the beliefe of the Scriptures to be the word of God there is no more difference made between them and the Apocrypha so full of vain lyes and ridiculous tales And perhaps you may come in also as Time and Plaâ—e will permit with your Verbum Dei non scriptum to boot the word of God not written of which you tell us before agreeing therein with Bellarmine And at last when your Tradition and Authority hath sufficiently prepared the way you will perhaps bring in your Traditions Apostolicke accompanied with the Decretalls of Gratian which your Sister Church of Rome equall with the 4 Euangelists But however were it for nothing else but to maintaine the credit of your present Church Tradition and Authority in commending to men the Scripture to be the word of God you might doe well to take away your Apocrypha which your Zeale will have placed in the midst between the two Testaments not suffering any Bibles to be bound without it which is as one saith as a Blakamore placed between two pure unspotted Virgins Nor doe I think that your Lordship so placeth your Blackamore as Ladyes put a black patch upon their Cheek or Chin as a foyle to make them seem more fayre so you to make the Scriptures the more lovely and desireable or the better to be known as things by their contraries as white by blacke or the straight by the crooked or truth by error standing near it And though Hierome who excludes the Apocrypha out of the Canon of Scripture saith they may be read ad morum institutionem non ad confirmationem Fidei for instruction of manners and not for confirmation of faith yet considering both the fooleries and falsities and vanities and commended impieties and confessed uncertainties in them as aforesayd all these things put together might be me thinks of sufficient strength to thrust out that Blackamore by the head and shoulders from betweene those two fayre and unspotted Virgins L. ibid. It is most reasonable that Theology should be allowed to have some Principles as well as other Sciences which she proves not but presupposes And the chiefest of these is That the Scriptures are of Divine Authority P. How Is the chiefest of these Principles allowed to Theologie This That the Scriptures are of Divine Authority Doe you not forget Tradition now Doe you not reckon that for the first and so the chiefest as without which the other cannot be granted Or perhaps you doe not reckon your Tradition or Authority of the present Church to be a Principle of Theology What then Perhaps of Muthology the science of setting forth Fables Or of Buttologie the science of much babble to no purpose Or Argologie the science of vaine and frivolous talke Or Carphologie a gathering of Chaffe as if you would by the heape of Chaffe shew us where the Wheat is Onely your Tradition is no Principle of Theologie and therfore a heape of chaffe wherein there is not one grain of the pure corn But let us come to see what is most reasonable It is most reasonable say you that Theologie should be alowed to have some Prinâ—iples as well as other Sciences which she proves not but presupposes And what is Theologie but the Scripture it selfe and the Doctrines therein contained And however it be with other Sciences which in comparison of Theologie are but imperfect and beggerly so as they have need to begge their a'itemata some Principles to be granted them as grounds to worke upon as the Mathematicks c. yet you might have given that honour to Queen Theologie to which all other Sciences are but handmaids as to exempt her from being a begger yea and of that too which is her own and in her own possession namely That the Scripture is the word of God This is one of Theologies prime Principles which
of the New Testament L. p. 123. Even that Scripture of the old Testament was a light and a shining light too therfore could not but be sufficient when Tradition had gone before P. What told you us but now of misleading the Jewes by leaning too much upon Tradition and do you goe about the same way to mislead them blind as they be and to make them yet more blind if possible That you have gone to mislead Christians Doe you tell the Jewes now that the old Testament is sufficient when Tradition had gone before So as without Tradition preceding no sufficiency in the Book I perceive you will not yet have done with your Tradition as without which nothing is done L. p. 125. Certaine it is that by humane Autthority Consent and proofe a man may be assured Infallibly that the Scripture is the word of God by an acquired habit of Faith Cui non subest falsum under which no error nor falshood is but he cannot be assured Infallibâ—y by Divine Faith cui subesse non potest falsum into which no falshood can come but a Divine Testimony And a little after If you speake of Assurance onely in Generall I must then tell you a man may be assured nay Infallibly assured by Ecclesiasticall and humane proofe Men that never saw Rome may be sure and infallibly beleeve that such a City there is by Historicall and acquired Faith P. Although you use here a Schoole Distinction Cui non subest falsum cui non potest subesse falsum Of Faith Historicall and Faith Divine Assurance generall and Assurance particular yet in truth in the upshot it will appeare you speake very Confusedly as in the Babylonish Dialect or Phrase For first you attribute Infallibility to your acquired habit of Faith wherein is no falshood which habit of Faith you oppose to Divine Faith wherein no falshood can be whereas Infallibility in its genuine or Gramaticall sense importeth impossibility of Error or falshood For infallible is that which is not subject unto error which cannot be deceived So as you doe under correction very much mistake in applying your Schoole distinctions Non subest non potest to Infalliblity I remember indeed that the Schoole-men apply this Distinction to Faith Cui non subest cui non potest subesse falsum but never to Infalliblity for that is alwayes such Cui non potest subesse falsum which cannot be deceived Look a little better in your School-men and I beleeve you will find it so as I say Secondly while you would seem to put a Difference between your acquired habit of Faith which you expresse and instruct to be Historicall and Divine Faith which you say is onely to beleeve the Scripture to be the word of God you doe bring both ends together making your Acquired Faith and Divine Faith one and the same kind both Historicall Onely Historicall Faith may differ respectively to the object Humane or Divine For it is an Historicall Faith that beleeves there is such a City as Rome in which respect it may be called Historicall Faith humane and it is an Historicall Faith that beleeves the Scriptures to be the word of God in which respect it may be called Historicall Faith Divine Divine I say respectively to the object but being in kind the same Historicall Faith with the other whose object is humane And you tell us before that ordinary Grace and a morall perswasion upon the necessary previous Authority and Tradition of the present Church works this your Divine Faith All which reacheth no further but to an Historicall Faith call it what you will acquired or divine And your building this your Faith upon the Rise of humane Authority and morall perswasion how ever you use the ingredience of ordinary Grace by naming of it yet you are not able to say whether this Historicall Faith be an habit infused or acquired though you never so much daube it over with Divine Onely thus you give us occasion to take notice what an accute School-Divine you are at least so farre as a distinction or two will goe which rather confound then distinguish But admit you could demonstrate and make it plain unto us that your ordinary Grace what ever it is and a morall perswasion puts a speciall difference between your Divine Faith and Historicall yet to what purpose will all this prove May not both these Faiths be found in wicked men and Reprobates however distinguished by divine ordinary Grace and the like The Schooles have a knowne Distinction much more proper and sensible and agreeable to the truâ—h of Scripture then those you bring and so apply For speaking of the Difference between ordinary common Graces and those peculiar to the Elect they call the first Gratia gratis data Grace freely given meaning Ministeriall Graces which God freely gives as well to the wicked as to the godly he gave as Royall KarÃsmata or Graces to Saul as to David and Apostolicall Graces as well to Iudas as to Peter And this Grace Thus freely given is grounded on those words of Christ freely you have received freely give But that peculiar Grace which God freely gives too but onely to his Elect is distinguished from the other being called Gratia gratum faciens Grace makeing us acceptable unto God according to that of the Apostle According as he hath chosen us in him c. haveing predestinated us c. To the praise of the Glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved Or that Being justified freely by his grace c. Now ordinary and Common Grace being freely given of God to whom he will good or bad depends not upon humane Authority as a necessary inducing Cause Yet you make your present Church Authority which is but humane a necessary previous Cause to ordinary Grace whereby your Historicall or Divine Faith as you call it is wrought in beleeving the Scripture to be word of God and so what ever faire termes you guild this Faith withall it wil be found no better then either meerely humane or at least common unto the wicked and Reprobate which for all this your Divine Faith goe to hell and then the difference is not so great between your Historicall and Divine Faith which you keep such a puzzell about but that a man may without any great hazard winck and chuse Ob. But you tell us before That ordinarily the Scriptures must have Tradition to goe before Therfore that you place not an absolute necessity in it Ordinarily So you once say indeed But so as withall it must be absolutely necessary For you make all other meanes of this beliefe to be deficient without your Church-Tradition leading the way As for the Scriptures those have not light sufficient for themselves and are as a candle that must first be lighted before it can give light and that is by Church Authority As for the holy Holy Ghost that works not this Faith but by
as you imposed upon me So as No Right that is No Orthodox Church at Rome And yet no newes it is that I granted the Roman Church to be a true Church For so much very learned Protestants have acknowledged before me and the Truth cannot deny it For that Church which receives the Scripture as the Rule of Faith though but as a partiall and imperfect Rule and both the Sacraments as instrumentall Causes and seales of Grace though they adde more and infuse these yet cannot but be a True Church in Essence How it is in manners and Doctrine I would you would loâ—ke to it with a single eye P. Not Right then not Orthodox you hold the Church of Rome to be That 's somthing yet Yet True you ever have and will hold her to be unlesse she absolutely fall away from the Faith Well And yet I wot well you give absolutely falling away from the Faith So large bounds as it is to be feared you will never come to give her for absolutely gone and fallen away from the Faith so long as she can have but one bare thread or ragge of the profession of the Faith of the Creed nay if she can but say over her Creed though as you Confesse elsewhere she hath quite overthrown the sense of it And if the sense of it be destroyed surely the Faith of it also This will more fully appeare as we goe along We come to your Reasons why you hold Rome a True Church 1. For very learned Protestants which hold with you in this First we can set both as learned and double the number of of Protestants who will weigh down the Scale against those that seem to be of your opinion Secondly we could out of those very Protestant Authors whom you mean though I suppose you seldome read such Authors and in other things scarce name them Honoris causa collect more against this opinion That the Church of Rome is a true Church then you can for it As out of Iunius himselfe for Instance I mentioned before a laâ—e Book intituled Babel no Bethel never yet answered by any Jesuite or other Priest Romish or English where the Author hath cleared all or most of those Protestants which his Adversaries alledged and I suppose you meane from this opinion of yours And then also the Author proves by many concluding Arguments and in my opinion unanswerable that the Church of Rome is no true visible Church of Christ as having lost the very Essence of a true Church To which Booke I referre your Lordship could your patience but brook the Authors name or your Conscience not tremble at the mention of him To your Second Reason First I deny that the Church of Rome receives the Scriptures as A Rule of Faith For first The Rule of Faith must be in it selfe simply Divine and Infallible But such to the Church of Rome the Scripture is not For she makes the Infallibility and Divine Authority of the Scripture to depend upon the Church as you do upon Church Tradition which you confesse to be not simply Divine and Infallible Ergo Rome receives not the Scripture as A Rule of Faith Secondly Rome receives not holds not The Rule of Faith Ergo she is not a true Church As the late Dr Carleton of Chichester in his Book of the Church hath well and learnedly proved For not to hold the Rule of Faith is to deny and destroy the Faith and to fall absolutely away from the Foundation of Faith and to set up a new and false Faith upon a new and false Foundation Nor dare or doe you say that Rome receives the Scripture as The Rule of Faith but onely as A Rule of Faith to wit a partiall Rule as Bellarmine calls it But if the Scripture be as it is The onely Rule of Faith and ever hath been in all ages so held till Rome in the Councel of Trent changed this Rule then not to hold it so for The Rule that is the onely Rule but onely as a partiall Rule joyned with other Rules equall to it as her Traditions which Bellarmine in his Book de verbo Dei non scripto calls the word of God unwritten is to reject the onely Rule and so to fall absolutely away from the Faith And you confesse that the Church of Rome holds the Scripture but as a partiall and imperfect Rule And is this nothing with you What is this but to evacuate and utterly make voyd the Rule when for a perfect intire and absolute onely Rule it is made but a partiall imperfect and joynt Rule And when humane Authority is equalled with Divine Humane Traditions with Divine Scriptures as an equall Rule of Faith Nay and those her Traditions which she calls her word of God unwritten are such as teach things directly contrary to the Doctrines of Scripture as of Purgatory Invocation of Saints and the like Is not this a'kurosai as Christ saith to make voyd and of no Authority the Commandements of God by mens Tradition Yet this Camel you can easily swallow you slight this over as a matter of nothing as if it were all one thing in a manner to hold the Scripture The Rule of Faith and A Rule of Faith namely a part or piece of the Rule The whole Rule and a partiall Rule The onely perfect Rule and An imperfect Rule All this breakes no squares with you but that Rome for all this holds the Rule of Faith and therfore you hold her for a true Church of Christ. But yet in so saying you plainly imply That if Rome held not the Rule of Faith she is no true Church of Christ but is absolutely fallen away from Christ the Foundation For you give this for a Reason that Rome is a true Church because she holds the Rule of Faith Ergo If she hold not the Rule of Faith she is no true Church of Christ but is absolutely fallen away from the Faith Whereupon I argue thus That Church which denyeth the Scripture to be the onely Intire Absolute perfect Rule of Faith is fallen absolutely away from Christ and so ceaseth to be a true Church that is to have the very Essence and beeing of a true Church of Christ But the Church of Rome denyeth the Scripture to be the onely Intire Absolute Perfect Rule of Faith Ergo the Church of Rome is absoluely fallen away from Christ and so ceaseth to be a true Church that is to have the very Essence and beeing of a true Church of Christ. The Minor Proposition is confessed by your Lordship For you say The Church of Rome holds the Scripture but as A Rule a Partiall Rule an Imperfect Rule Thus she denyeth the Scripture to be the onely Intire Absolute Perfect Rule of Faith And for the Major Proposition you doe by necessary Consequence confesse it also to be true For you set it down as a Reason why you hold the Church of Rome to be a true Church because she holds the
larger Commentary let him but read the words over againe To the Eighth I answere It is not in it selfe pride not to obey Councels Difinitions and much lesse when a man knows them to be erronious Nor is it against any Iust and Godly Government but onely against that which is Papall Antichristian Tyrannicall And is it not high and Antichristian pride to impose Difinitions of Generall Councels of Prelates yea even when they are erronious and known apparently to be so yet to be as Gods own holy Commandements necessarily obeyed of all This is the highest and most Diabolicall Tyranny in the world thus to bring into bondage the faith soule and conscience of men to a necessary subjection to errour and falshood Yea thus not to obey you call it also unlawfull Unlawfull By what Law Or what Law either of God or of any lawfull Authority of Man or of Civil state is here broken Are mens lufts a Law Or are your Prelaticall Councels any true Generall Councels Generall they may be in respect of Prelates but Generall they are not in respect of the true Catholicke Church of Christ the Body whereof is not represented in your Generall Councels as is shewed before No nor is your Generall Councel Generall in respect of the Catholicke Church whereof you call your selfe the representative body For the lay-people are not admitted into your Councel nor any to represent them therfore it is not Generall therfore not to obey the difinitions of it is it unlawfull And suppose the Councel were lawfull are the Decrees therof to be obeyed when erronious To the Ninth That Christ intended not to leave an Infallible certainty in his Church to satisfie either contentious or curious or presumptuous spirits Here is one thing expressed and another implyed the thing expressed is negative Christ intended not c. the thing implyed is affirmative That Christ intended to leave an Infallible certainty in his Church And sutable hereunto are your precedent words There is there can be no necessity of an infallible certainty in the whole Catholicke Church and much lesse in a Generall Councel of things not absolutely necessary in themselves Which words imply this Affirmative That there is a necessity of an infallible certainty in the whole Catholicke Church of things absolutely necessary in themselves So as here also it is all one as if you had said thus Christ intended to leave an infallible certainty in hiâ— Church but not to satisfie either contentious or curious or presumptuous spirits Oney you doe still in such things of this naâ—ure prudently avoyd the plainer and least deceitfull way of expressing your selfe Now what Christ intended he certainly performs and makes good But to that your Imaginary Catholicke Church Prelaticall I deny that Christ ever intended to leave an infallible certainty For to such he never made any such promise And therfore you cannot say and say truly That Christ intended that For you are no part of his true Church as having no calling from Christ as before is proved And you your selfe confesse in many places of your Booke that the Authority of your Church is not Divinely infallible And for instance you make your present Church Authority in inducing beliefe of Scripture to be Gods word to have a primâ— place in things absolutely necessary in themselves and yet you confesse that this Authority is not Divine and infallible So here is a Contradiction which I leave with you to reconcile Againe you tell us before that our Saviour Christ hath left in his Church besides his Law-books the Scripture visible Iudges to wit Arch-Bishops and Bishops And of such are made your Generall Councels Ergo of necessity Christ must intend to leave unto you an Infallible Certainty in judging Controversies of Faith For the Scripture you deny to be a compleat and sufficient Iudge in doubtfull cases and that in such cases the visible Iudges the Prelates in a Generall Councel are to determine Now if you have not certain infallibility of Judgement in what case is the Church Then it may be said as Bellarmine and other Jesuiâ—es say Christ hath provided very ill for his Church if he had not left a visible Iudge and withall a certaine infallibility unto him to determine controversies of Faith This he speakes of the Pope and upon the very same ground that you doe for all Prelates in a Generall Councel And the ground is that you and they both deny the Scripture to be sole Iudge in Controversies of Faith Well then what say you Doe you confesse this that you have this Infallible certainty If you say you have it not as you do and yet you will be the true Church of Christ then you bely Christ both here saying He intended to leave it and before in saying He hath left you to be visible Iudges For had he intended to leave such an Infallibility certain to such a Church as you speake of and to leave such to be visible Iudges as are Archbishops and Bishops then certainly he would have given you such an Infallible certainty as wherby you should have been qualified and furnished to be sufficient and competent Iudges whose Judgement should be such in matters of Faith as men might secretly and safely rely and rest their Faith upon For otherwise if you have not this Infallibility but that somtimes at least and that in weighty Controversies you might erre in Judgement then men should have no more ground whereon to settle their Faith then the Dove in the Deluge had to set her foot upon you have so covered the Scripture as with a Deluge of Criminations as to be no sufficient Judge in Controversies of Faith And you confesse ibid That a Generall Councel which is an Universall Assembly of Prelates and Grand Bench of visible Iudges is not of infallible credit but that they may erre yea and possibly manifestly too against fundamentall verity as pag. 226. So as if the Scripture be though Infalâ—ible yet not living but a dead Iudge that cannot speake or pronounce the sentence And if the Prelates the visible living Iudges have not infallible certainty nor a Generall Councel infallible credit in their Decrees you leave the Church in a most perplexed case Whither shall she goe in all her doubts To what Judge or Oracle for resolution To the Scriptures That 's dead and cannot say Mum· To a Generall Councel of Prelates That 's of no certain credit their Judgement is not infallible yea not in fundamentall Truths Alas poore Church what wilt thou doe What wilt thou doe Why surely beleeve none of all these false Prophets no not all of them together when assembled in a Generall Councel for they may and will miserably deceive and seduce you if you trust to their Judgement Whither then To the Scripture But it is dead say they They are false Prophets and blind guides beleeve them not follow them not Search the Scriptures as Christ bids you To the Law and
hath been an Old stickler for Images ever since her S. Gregory first set them up in Churches to become Laymens Books Wherein in processe of time the Laity was so well read and grew such profound Proficients that those dumb Masters had taught them to put no difference at all between the Images and the Saints themselves whom they represented For the Images were layd so thick on with beautifull and lively colours as the eyes of the simple Beholders being dazled therewiâ—h were not able to penetrate or pierce through them to discern the Saints themselves who were farre enough off Whereupon the Images grew prouder and prouder as taking all the honour done to themselves like the Asse that bore the Image of the god â—sâ—sâ— he imagined that the people adored him So as becoming every day more gay then other and to follow the fashions even the clergy also began to fall in love with them and so to doâ—e upon them as they not onely adored them and that as devoutly as you do your Altars and that which hangs over them but writ Books in commendation of them and found out a Mistery which the Heathen never knew nor acknowledged the learned of them at least That Images were to be adored with the same honour that was due to the Saints they represented as the Image of Christ and the Crucifix and the Crosse with Laâ—ria which is divine worship due to Christ and to God as they distinguish the Images of the Saints with Doulia such a worship as they have devised for the Saints and if you knew all no way inferiour to divine worship and the Image of the Virgin Mary with a certain worship which they call Huperdoulia which is proper say they to the Virgin Mary a worship I will warrant you if it were well examined above that worship which they give to God himselfe And all these worships they give to the very Images themselves respectively Nor are they any small â—ools that teach these things as no lesse then Aquinas among the School-men and Bonaventure both Saints for this their meriâ— and Bellarminâ— among the Jesuites besides many more of such lâ—arned Râ—bbiâ—s In so much as their golden Legends and other Authors report that the said S. Thomas coming into a Church in Naples a goodly Cruifix saluted him saying My good friend Thomas thâ—u hast written well of me what recompense dâ—st thou desire He answered the Crucifix None but your selfe Now pâ—rhaps iâ— was of good massy Gold or Silver But this by the way Thus we see those simple A. B. C. Books and scarce that which aâ— first were onely for simple Laicks became in time Books to teach those that were of the highest forme in their Schooles even their Angelicall and Seraphicall Doctors And thus even in them came Augustins words to be verified which he then spake of the Heathen Quâ—s intuetur simulacrum c. Who beholdeth an Image that is not so affected with it as to beleeve that to be God which he seeth and adoreth And againe Plus valeat â—imulacrâ— ad incurvandum in foelicem animam quod oculos habent c. quà m ad corrigendum quod â—on vident c. Images are of more force to crooke an unhappy soule that they have eyes and eares and mouth and nose and hands and feet then to correct it that they see not heare not speak not smell not handle not walke not As David saith They that make them are like unto them and so are all they that put their trust in them that is that adore them The Makers and worshipers learned and unlearned are even as blockish as the senselesse Images themselves as the Prophet Esay also saith chap. 44.19 Besides had not Rome a finger at least if not a whole hand in that Decree of the 7 th Generall Councel of the 2. of Nice for worship of Images though then they went not so farre as Divine worship in words at least untill the worship it selfe do prove it And how many good and Godly Emperours were most grievously vexed and troubled from time to time by the Bishops of Rome for causing the Idolatrous Images in Churches to be broken down and cast out But what more Moderne Rome is too like to Paganisme in the practise of Image-worship Too like Nay doth she not farre outstrip the Heathen in this her Idolatry Da veniam verbo pardon the word Idolatry as being too grosse a word to brand the Church of Rome withall in all your Booke and therfore I suppose more grosse then your tender Eares can well brooke to heare to be layd to Romes Charge or cast in her dish as being too bitter a sauce and able to put the good motion of Reconciliation quite out of taste And it seems it is Religion with you to call Image-worship Idolatry or an Image and Idol because that second Councel of Nice made a Decree Qui sacras Imagines Idola vocant Anathema They that call the sacred â—mages Idols let them be Anathema or such as alledge against them sentences of Scripture against Idols let them be Anathema So loth are you to come under that cursed Councels Anathema But a spade is a spade And if Modern Rome outstrip old Heathen Rome â—n the Idolatry of Image-worship and if the Heathen were Idolaters then let Rome passe for an Idolatresse But the old Heathen though they adored the Images yet when it was objected to them their usuall answere was that they worshiped not the Image it selfe but that which it represented as Lactantius and Augusâ—ine and others report of them But your Moderne Rome teacheth and professeth not onely practiseth that she gives the same honour to the Image which is due to that which it representeth and that the honour or worship of Chrisâ— is terminated in his Image or Crucifix or Crosse and doth not passe through it or beyond it that is reacheth not to Christ but is wholly intercepted and preoccupated by the Image So Atheistically impudent is that Whoâ—â— grown in her Idolatry of Images that â—he surpasseth all the Heathen that ever were But you cite a saying of Cassender That in this present case of the Adoration of Images the Church of Rome came full home to the superstition of the Heathen Full home that 's somwhat more like yet then too like But it seems you have Cassanders ancient Copy which hath not passed through the fire of Romes Index Expurgatorius which would never have suffered such an Heresy as this to escape a Deleatur And you know I suppose that Cassanders works are marked out in their Indices to be purged of all such stuffe as this is Then after sundry other passages out of Romish Authors bewraying their grâ—sse Idolatry but teaching it onely none I hope doth practise it tho say you wherein you shew that you have as good a hope of the learned Teachers of Idolatry as hereafter you shew charity to their simple Disciples for their salvation
the malignity and iniquity of the Times shall lay upon me which I am most willing to undergoe for his sake who suffered death that we might live And never had I more imployment to exercise me in any age Mother Iustice what sayst thou Iustice. Deare Mother I hold it both just and necessary that the Reply be published both for the beating down of the insolencie of the Relator and the raysing up of the drooping spirits of Gods people and the setling them in the Truth As for presenting it to the King though I be not against it yet for my part I have engaged my selfe in an Appeale to the High and Rightâ—ous Iudge of all the world for Iustice in this Cause where I shall be sure to have it So as I resolve not to descend to any inferiour Court and there too where the like Cause inferiour to none for pure innocencie and that also upon Appeale so foulely miscarried So as I am altogether taken up in waiting for an Answer from my Righteous Iudge wherein I shall desire my Sister Patience to lend me so much of her vertue as may preserve my Attendance from fainting Mother Mercy what sayst thou Mercy Deare Mother I am ingaged with my Sister Iustice in the same Petition to the throne of Iustice and Mercy that the Righteous Iudge will for his mercy sake to his people give righteous judgement between them and the Relator for else they and the Cause must fall to ground And this course I stick unto not that I dissent from my other Sisters but what your selfe and they shall resolve on in this case my Petition with my Sister Iustice may stand in no small stead when GOD shall be pleased to move the Kings heart to vindicate the Cause of Christ and of his innocent people from the unjust and unmercifull dealing of the Relator against whom I stand a dayly Petitioner with my Sister Iustice not departing from the Court-gate of heaven till we have a full Answer Mother Verity what sayst thou Verity Deare Mother I would willingly accompany my other Sisters to the Court in presenting the Reply to the King but that there I am better known then trusted So as I could never yet have any good successe there Insomuch as I have made my selfe as they have made me altogether a stranger at Court because my naked simplicity can no way suit with the garbe of the Court-fashion which can turn themselvs into all formes but mine which is unchangeable Yet if my Sister Hope could lend me her habit I durst adventure with my Sisters once more within the Court-gates in hope the Courtiers would not reject me as not knowing me to be Verity And should they by my language descry me yet seeing me in Hopes habit they might perhaps turn Truths Disciples in hope of some gaine or preferment so much affiance they have in hopes But alas their hope is nothing a Kin to my Sister Hope for her object are things spirituall and eternall but theirs onely temporall And besides the Relator hath forced his Pack with such a deale of trumpery and painted stuffe gilded over with the glittering Titles of Truth and Peace and Piety and Devotion and the Church and the like that these his faire polished Bristow-stones are preferred by his Court-Disciples before the true and precious Diamonds because presented in their ragged or russet Coat so as these prove not merchantable there where otherwise even Truth it selfe is bought and sold. And therefore it shal be sufficient that my Sisters so many as goe weare me as alwayes as a Jewell in their bosomes so I shall not be taken notice of and the fewer they appeare the better least the Prelate conjure them down for a sort of Factious Spirits as he did those THREE of late in the Starre-Chamber I have said Mother Prayer what sayst thou Prayer Deare Mother and all my deare Sisters here present come I pray you and kneele down here and assist me by joyning in earnest supplication to our GOD that he would direct and lead us in that way which in this businesse may most conduce to the advancement of the Cause of Christ and the honour of the King Prayer O Lord God Almighty Who shall not feare thee thou King of Saints Great and marvelous are thy works just and true are thy wayes Thou art the great King over all the Earth the righteous Iudge of all the world the GOD that hearest Prayer and helpest thy People when they cry unto thee and judgest their cause when thou seest their strength is gone But how long LORD Holy and True when wilt thou arise and have mercy upon Sion Is not now the time the set time come Is it not now a day of rebuke and blasphemy Are not the children brought to the birth and there is none to deliver How long shall thy people cry and thou answerest not How long shall the enemy roare and thou regardest not How long shall he blaspheme thy Name For ever Why pluckest thou not thy right hand out of thy bosome Art not thou our King of old working Salvation in the midst of the Earth Didst not thou divide the Sea for thy People to passe through And art not thou the same GOD of Israel still Or is thine arme shortened that it cannot save And dost thou not remember this how the enemy hath reproached O LORD and blasphemed thy Name And wilt thou deliver the soule of thy Turtle Dove unto the Beast Wilt thou forget the Congregation of thy poore for ever Remember thy Covenant O Lord for we are thy People and thou art our GOD. Other Lords besides thee have had dominion over us but by thee onely will we make mention of thy Name And yet dost thou not see the darke places of the Earth full of the habitations of Cruelty O let not the oppressed returne ashamed The poore and needy cry unto thee they trust in thee they waight for thee that they may praise thy Name Arise therfore O GOD plead thine own Cause remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily Forget not the voyce of thine enemies the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually And now behold here spread before thee a Book of Reproaches and Blaspemies against thy Majesty and against thy Sonne Iesus Christ and against thy Holy Spirit and against thy Holy Word and against thy Holy Ministers and against thy Holy People and against thy Holy and Pure Worship yea and against the Kings Sacred Majesty whom thou hast set over thy People to governe them according to Truth and Equity under whose Patronage and Authority notwithstanding the Relator is bold to shrowd this his Book with all the Blasphemies and Falsities therein contained So as hereby not onely the exterpation of all true Faith and Religion in the Land is threatned but consequently the utter ruine and extermination of the Nation it selfe hastened already fitted as dry fewell for thy wrath by this
this Relator professeth and teacheth a blind Charity sutable to his Faith which he boldly affirmeth to be not a mistaken Charity in granting that a silly ignorant Papist so living and dying may be Saved by his Ignorance in that Religion conforming himselfe to his Religious life and on the contrary condemning such Protestants of stiffenesse and churlishnesse that are not of the same Charity with him though the Replyer proveth that there is no true Charity without true Faith and Verity And whereas the same Relator is shewed in this Reply to give much more liberty to your Majesties Protestant People to goâ— to the Romish Masse as being with him one and the same undiffering Religion with that of England then the Jesuite doth to his blind Romanist to come to the English Church And whereas the same Relator hath many passages wherein he makes a Generall Councell of Prelates Iudge in all Controversies of Faith ascribing unto them an Infallibility and in case they shall erre and that even in grosse things and points of Faith yet that all men are bound to yeeld obedience at least externall till another Generall Counsell equall to the former reverse those Errours whereupon by Consequence of this Prelaticall doctrine as the Replyer doth instance the Church of England it self is bound to observe the worship of Images and the forbearance of the Cup in the Sacrament c. decreed in Generall Councels and not yet reversed by other Generall Councels equall to those And whereas the Relator calls Transubstantiation Purgatory and the forbearance of the Cup but disputable and Improbable Questions the nature of which is to be taken indifferently Pro and Con And whereas he never once in all his Relation calls the Romish-worship of Images and of the Sacrament or any other Idolatry in all the Romish Church but onely by the name of Superstition abstaining altogether from the name of Idolatry as if with him the Roman Church were no Idolatresse And whereas he much lamenteth the Seperation and rent between the Protestants and Rome with the continuance of it although with the Iesuite he confesse that errour in Faith is just cause of separation And whereas he the same Relator doth cunningly yet palpably enough in sundry passages of his Booke as also he hath openly done viva voce at the High-Commission-Board exclude all the Reformed Protestant Churches beyond the Seaes as no Churches of Christ as not admitting the Hierarchy Finally also in his Book quipping Luther and in him all the Reformed Churches as having made a rent not onely from Rome with her corruptions but even from the Catholick Church it selfe which indeed in the Relators sense and difinition of the Catholicke Church is most true to wit from the universall Hierarchy And whereas he the Relator doth every where highly extoll his Ceremonies in Gods worship as without which he saith there is no light left to shine before men that they may see his Devotion and so glorify GOD therein most foulely and odiously perverting and abusing the holy Text of Scripture uttered by CHRIST to a cleane other purpose as the Replyer hath noted all which Ceremonies being a will-worship after the Tradition and Commandement of men the Apostle doth utterly condemn as wherby the very merits of Christs death are made of none effect who in his death destroyed All Ceremonies in Religion obliging the Conscience and not onely the Leviticâ—ll but all other whatsoever of humane Ordinance as the Replyer clearely proveth So as it is not left to any Power on Earth to impose the least Ceremony yea though it be of nature indifferent to bind the Conscience in the service of GOD seeing all such imposition is Antichristian Tyranny And whereas all Prelaticall Hereticall and Antichristian Faction erected by the Prince of darkenesse against Iesus Christ and his Kingdome as is apparent both by their profession and practice wherein they have nothing at all yea not any one thing to show wherein they resemble either Christ or any one of his Apostles except Iudas Christs Kingdome being altogether spirituall and not of this world but the Hierarchy a meere carnall and worldly Kingdome onely guilded over with the bare name of spirituall And whereas the Relator throughout his whole Booke bewrayeth his most palpable and profound ignorance and notorious blindnesse in the whole mystery of Faith and all true divinity in so much as when ever he Cites Scripture he still perverts it to a wrong sense and is not able to bring any proofe either from Scripture or Common Reason except from some of his Jesuiticall Authors for any of his Paradoxes and strange doctrines delivering all without Book tanquam è Cathedra as but of some Papall unerring Chaire upon the Authority of his bare word and upon meere trust And whereas the Relator saith That worth once misled is of all other the greatest misleader and who of greater worth in the Church of England and in the Esteem of Great ones too then the Great Primate himselfe whose very word with many is taken as a divine Oracle So as if the Church and State of England will but pin their soules upon this Leaders sleeve he will not fayle to lead them in that way the issue whereof seem it never so right in the eyes of credulity will certainly prove to be as Solomon saith the wayes of death And whereas by the Relator sundry occasions are ministred to the Replyer of instancing divers practises charged upon the Prelate as the principall Agent or Instrument of setting up sundry Innovations in Religion in the Church of England all which have been done under his Primacie as The republishing under your Majesties Name the Book for liberty of profane Sports on the Lords day with pressing Ministers to read the Sayd Book in their severall Congregations and upon refusall extreamely persecuting them and thrusting them from their Ministry and meanes with their poore wives and children The authorizing and licencing of some Doctors Books which cry down the Morality of the 4 th Commandement for the Sanctifying of the Lords Sabbath day The setting forth of a New Order to restraine Preachers from Preaching in the Afternoones on the Lords dayes much pressed by the Prelates and their Officers in all their visitations The setting forth of a Declaration in your Majesties Name prefixed to the Articles of Religion which the Prelates practises plainly interpret to be for the restraining and prohibiting altogether the Doctrines of Saving Grace to be preached and wherein the genuine sense of those Articles touching Grace which formerly were universally interpreted to have but one sence agreeable to the Scripture is confounded with the heterodox hereticall doctrines of the Pelagians and Arminians so as none can tell what to make of those Articles saving that by this meanes the Orthodox Ministers must not preach the truth and the Adverse party and Faction may find footing and countenance for their groundlesse and gracelesse heresies and all this to the manifest
Kingdome meerly Temporall 283. Their Government Oligarchicall ibid. Christs Congregations have no need of Prelates to visit them having their own lawfull Pastor to feed them 285. The Govenment of Christs Church is most perfect of all other as consisting of the 3 States of good Politie or Government to wit the Monarchiall the Aristocraticall and the Democraticall 286. Prelates Lordly Tyranny expresly condemned by Christ as Heathenish 287 to 290. 204. The Prelaticall Church in England no lesse Tryumphant then the Prelate taxeth Rome to be 290 291. 205. By the Prelates own allegation nor Kings nor Priests may doe any thing in Reformation of Religion besides Gods prescript Law 291 292. And so by his Confession implicitly where the foundation of Faith and Good Manners are shaken therein Magistrates are not to be obeyed in which respect the Prelate is shrewdly put to it in sundry instances 293 to 297. 210. The Prelate againe blasphemeth Gods Name as if a favourer of the Prelaticall practises in England 297. A blasphemous Article of Faith of the Prelates pinning upon the Church of England ibid. Prelaticall Canons yea and Papall too yoaked and equalled by the Prelate with Scriptures in Governing the Church We must not joyn in Prayer with notorious profane Hypocrites and Enemies of Christ and of his Truth 298. A speciall Prayer for the King in these perillous times ibid. King and State abused and indangered by the Prelates practises and putting forth of this his Booke ibid. The Prelate proves all his Speculations with his bare word 199. What a Polititiant he Ch. of Eng. is grown under such a Primate Prelates no visible Judges of Gods Institution proved at large against the Prelates Blasphemy 399 300 301. Prelates Canons such Law-books as wherewith Christs Law-book cannot consist but is made of none effect They are Antichristian bondage ibid. No more necessity of one Primate over all England then of one pope over All 302. A Speciall duty of Christian Magistrates ibid. 212. How uniny and certainty of Faith is preserved by the Prelates 303. 194. The Prelate makes the Scripture a blind dumb and dead Judge 303 304. Of Generall Councels sundry notable Passages scattered along his Booke and collected by the Replyer and detected to be some of them ridiculous and all of them most impious and detestable from 304 to 324. How by the Prelates Doctrine both himselfe and his Church of England are bound to worship Images and to forbeare the Cup in the Sacrament as being decreed by Generall Councels and not yet reversed by any other equall to those 312 313. The Apostles Assembly Act. 15. no Precedent for Generall Councels in after Ages to be Judges in Controversies of Faith 314 315. and therfore that example not prudently but surreptitiously taken up by the Prelaticall Church The Prelate confesseth that Generall Councels have no Authority by Christs Institution 312 313. How unlike Prelaticall Councels are to that Act. 15. whereof not only the Apostles but the Presbyters and the Brethren the People of God were the Body 313 314. How the Prelate holds the Difinitions of Generall Councels to be infallible and that there is no more question to be made of the assistance of the Holy Ghost in them then that the Holy Ghosts assistance is without errour 325 326. The Prelate boldly professeth that he absolutely maketh a Generall Councel Judge of Controversies 327. Wherein he is abolutely fallen from the Catholick Faith His sundy assertions some ridiculous some contradictorious some blasphemous some darke riddles which he propounds and leaves unresolved and can never Resolve 321 322. He is catcht fast in his own Net And the more he struggleth to unwind himselfe out the mâ—re he is intangled 213. Though the Councel of Trent were not Generall yet it is so Generall as the Decrees thereof do bind all Papists under Anathema 328. 227. Another Reason of the Prelates why a Generall Councel erring yet should stand in force namely for the peace of Christendome confuted He is content to forgoe the Truth for Peace sake 328. The Prelates Heresie in holding it a branch of Heresie to say The Church Militant is without spot or wrinckle according to Ephes. 5. confuted 329 330. The Prelate overthrows an Article of the Faith 331. The Prelates Key of Doctrine primely in the Church wherewith he shuts out Truth and lets in Errour 329. He makes it but a supposition for the Key of Doctrine to let in Truth ibid. The Prelates subtile but futile and vaine Distinction of Transubstantiation confuted 332. He makes Christs Institution not to be cleare against Transubstantiation as against Communion in one Kind Confuted fully 333 334. Romish Adoration of Images minced by the Prelate set forth by the Replyer in its full proportion and shewed to be more grosse Idolatry then that of the Heathen 334 335 336. 280. The Prelates notorious hypocrisie in confessing Images in Churches and other Romish Superstitions to have given great Scandall to many so as to drive them quite away from them detected and selfe-condemned by his practises 337 338. Will-worship in Altar-Service and the like a Service of the Devil 340 341. The Prelates hot zeale in pressing more of Romes Ceremonies makes the old justly suspected as smelling ranke 341. Ilustrated by a similitude ibid. The Prelates Ceremonies condemned by the Same Testimony which he alledgeth 343 344. the By beâ—ng put for the Maine See before 280. The Prelate stands stiffly in this That a silly ignorant Papist living and dying in the Romish Faith may thereby conforming himselfe to his Romish Religious life be saved with his Reasons his so learning of Christ and his Charity not mistaken confuted 345 to 350. That which the Prelate calls Churlishnesse in the Protestants is better then the Prelates Charity ibid. 294 295. The Prelates quoting of 3. Martyrs for the Name of Reall Presence which he would faine have to be brought in use answered 350 351 352 353. Reasons why we ought not to name the Reall Presence in the Sacrament 351. 297. The Prelate dallies with Transubstantiation Purgatory Forbearance of the Cup in saying they are Disputed or Disputable and Improbable Questions 353 354. Romes Tyranny confessed by the Prelate the Image whereof is proved to be in the Prelacy of England 356 357. How he dawbes with the Jesuites about their Salvation 357 358. 299. The Prelate contradicts himselfe and so overthrows his Faith and Charity concerning a silly Papists Salvation in Saying That as a Romanist he cannot be saved 357 358. The Prelates vaine ridiculous and absurd hope of the Salvation of some Papists living in the Church of Rome 358 to 363. The Prelates confession of the Romanists Faith crosseth his hope of their Salvation 372. The Prelate still hath a Reservation for the Salvation of his silly ignorant Papists 302. The Prelates worth misled the greatest misleader 363. The Prelates Rule 'T is safest to beleeve the Article of Christs Descent into hell as both the Churches of England
your worth in the esteem of Great ones too that misled it is the greatest misleader But there you adde And yet God forbid that to worth weake men should not yeâ—ld in difficult and perplexed Questions Certainly my Lord what ever my weaknesse be it will hardly yeeld to your worth though never so great where I find your worth misled and so to become the Great Misleader and that of no lesse then the whole Church of England You know it is every good Subjects part to be zealous of the Kings honour when he seeth it wounded or wronged And shall not every good and faithfull Christian be zealous for the honour of his Lord Iesus Christ and of his Kingdome when he seeth them either openly opposed or secretly undermined by Any though never so Great and honourable in the world And this I shall make manifest and I hope convince your Lordship of if cleare evidence of holy Scripture and Reason will doe it that you have as in your common practise so in this your Last Book not onely bewrayed but confirmed to the world at least to all that have their eyes in their head as the Preacher saith your amity with the Church of Rome and enmity against Iesus Christ and his true Church and so to the Salvaâ—ion of mens soules This by Gods Grace I shall make cleare in my ensuing Reply Wherein I shall observe no other method but as I meet with such Passages all along though perhaps not all as are worthy of Animadversion to tell your Lordship plainly my mind of them And although as the Proverbe is Plaine dealing is a Iewel that is for the rarity of it yet it is not so highly esteemed in Court as others of a more glistering luster And wheras you may imagine and hope as you have exprest your selfe that this your Book will make for your Reputation as being interlaced with some â—arger Discourses or Disputes against the Jesuite which may be a goodly broad Figge-leaves to cover the nakednesse of the rest yet many things in it are so palpably grosse and directly opposit to the Truth that when you have layd on never so much varnish and guilding All will prove but as a painted Sepulchre The Law of God forbids the Jewes to sow their field with diverse kinds of seeds least the whole fruit be defiled This was to teach them and us not to mingle Truth with Errour nor to halt between GOD and Baal for so all their Religion comes to be defiled But your field here is sowne with many Tares mingled with some graines of Wheat which oâ—â—ekthròs Anthopos the enemy having sown and being grown up to such a ranknesse and ripenesse marvaile not that I have brought so Sharpe a Sickle to cut it down The letter L. is to noâ—e your Lordships words p. the page and P. the Replyers Answere And in all I shall be somwhat briefe though perhaps tedious And I suppose your Lordship so formidable by That Late Censure and so secure by the Sure and Closse cooping up of those 3 once troublesome men expected not that any should be left of that mettall so hardy as to take up and maintain such a quarrell against the Great Metropolitan of all England But my Lord deceive not your selfe The Lord Iesus Christ rather then faile will out of the very dust rayse up witnesses to stand up against Antichrist or any of his Confederacie And so in the first place I come to your Epistle Dedicatory to his Majesty THE REPLIE TO THE RELATORS EPISTLE DEDICATORY TO THE KING L. p. 1. THIS Tract will need Patronage as Great as may be had and that 's yours P. Thus you begin your Epistle But you might have added on Earth On Earth no doubt the greatest Patronage you can have is the Kings But haply you neither thought nor hoped of any higher Patron of this Tract then on Earth And therefore it will so much the more need some humane Patronage and that as Great as may be had and all little enough you will find in the end But I hope when once your Tract shal be well troden out and beaten that you will find but few that will travell your way or follow such a Leader and much lesse hazzard their own both honour and safety by Patronizing such a perillous Tract as this will appeare to be And though you should find some to protect you from the Courts of Civill Iustice yet never from Christs dreadfull Throne where you shall certainly be judged according to your worke And let me tell you in putting forth this your Book under the Kings Patronage you lay a greater burthen upon his shoulders then he is able to beare and should he undertake it it would break his back For then he must Patronize all your blasphemous lyes against GOD and his Word and against all Truth which when he comes once to know instead of Patronizing hee will Anathematize both you and your Book L. p. 2. He that seeks it Court Truth with a Roman Bias or any other then for it selfe will run counter when he comes neere it and not find it though he come within the Kenning of it P. Sir you say true And for proofe hereof it will appeare and that too palpably that this Roman Bias hath too much wheeled you about from the Truth which you pretend to seek but neither come neere it nor within the Kenning of it Or if within Kenning so as you have been at any time by its cleare light convinced of it the greater is your sin and the more desperate your case not to confesse it but how much more to fight against it And think not my L. that your plausible naming of Truth here will so blind mens eyes as to beleeve all is truth that you have written in your Book If you seek Truth 't is but as those Sodomites sought for Lots doore to violate his Angel-guests For where you find the Truth sincerely preached and professed doe you not lay violent hands upon Gods Angels the Messengers of his Truth and break into the houses of those righteous Lots those Preachers of Righteousnesse to cast them out And then mervaile not if GOD smite you with blindnesse that you shall never find the Truth for the end you seek it namely to destroy it L. p. 6. He did but skip up and down and labour to pick a hole here and there where he thought he might fasten and where it was too hard for him let it alone P. What the Jesuite did let him answere for himselfe But perhaps you will say the like of me here For I touch not every particular passage as where for your reputation sake you speake some truth thereby to gaine credit to what is contrary as you know who useth to doe and therfore Christ would not suffer the Devils to confesse him at all nor need I labour to pick holes here and there when every where
I find such wide gappes wherein you lye so open that you give me advantage to fasten at pleasure And I have unmasked such dark holes as your selfe have made with such artifice as through which men may easily passe thick and three-fold to Rome So as I feare you will rather complain of me as for being too busie in reading some of your dark and mysticall Riddles which perhaps you would not have had all men to have known L. p. 7. I fell into a most dangerous Fever but it pleased GOD beyond all hope to restore me to health P. This was as you there tell us upon your thoughts of giving A. C. an Answer But how ever surely your Fever was as well sent of GOD to admonish you to desist from such an Enterprise as you had then in hand which was under pretence to Answer a Jesuite to overthrow the truth and to reconcile the Church of England with that of Rome as your restoreing was to oblige you to walke more worthy of that mercy for the future and not to renue and prosecute this your Designe Or else it pleased GOD so to restore and reserve you to be not onely a scourge to his People for their further tryall and humiliation for a time untill he had as now he is in hand performed his whole worke upon his Sion but also to be a plague to that sinfull Land upon which since that your restoring you have been an Instrument to bring so many and grievous sins as open profanation of the Sabbath Altars sheding of much innocent blood both of soules and bodies and of terrible discontents and divisions in the State and the like and so at length that he might call you Magor Missabib Feare round-about making you a terrour to your selfe when you shall come to feele the fire of his fiery indignation to kindle upon you L. ibid. How of late I have been used by the Scandalous and Scurrilous Pennes of some bitter men whom I heartily beseech God to forgive the world knoweth little leasure and lesse incouragement given me to Answer a Iesuite or set upon other Services while I am under the Prophets affliction Psal. 50.19 20. P. And what those Scandalous and Scurrilous pennes are and who those some bitter men the marks you have set upon them are sufficient to shew the Scarres whereof they will carry to their graves to be a witnesse against you in the great day of doom And bitter men you may well call them as whose lives you have filled with all manner of bitternesse and that in a high degree as hell could invent Of these THREE Remarkable bitter men one was a Minister of your own Coat saving that his was not of the Scarlet couloured-Dye He preached against the Scarlet-sins of the Land especially in the Church which touched your Lordship not a little and therefore Bitter For this he was extraordinarily summoned to the Court of High-Commission from whence appealing to his Majesty he was notwithstanding proceeded against by suspension in the same Court his house violently broken open and searched his person neither flying nor resisting seased on and carryed away late in the night to prison and made a closse prisoner his very Wife debarred from him brought into the Starre-Chamber and there Censured to be degraded deprived of his living of his Liberty of his Eares on the Pillory fined in five thousand Pounds to the King and to indure perpetuall Closse imprisonment in Lancaster-Castle whence he was after 12. weeks imprisonment there in the base Common Goale where his Wife might not come to him nor any Physitian in his necessity closely conveyed to the Sea side and thence by a Sea-voyage of sixe weeks space in a stormy winter and dangerous Seas to be carryed to Guersosey Castle where ever since he hath indured Banishment in Closse prison where nor wife nor children nor any friend nor acquaintance are permitted to visit him and where he is not allowed the use of pen and inke and paper a little to deceive time withall in his solitary muse the solace of a Scholars life And what was the Cause of all this sharp and teerrible Censure In summe this He had put in his Answer to the Bill into Court and that by speciall Order of the Court where it was upon his Oath to be a true Answer admitted But about a week after the main body of his Answer which contained his defence of what he had confessed upon Oath to be his which was one onely Book intituled For GOD and the King containing the effect of his two Sermons preached in his own Church on November 5 th 1636. for which he was first questioned by the High Commission together with an Apology of an Appeale all in one Book which was by the two Lords Chiefe Iustices wholly expunged containing about foure-score sheets of paper as Impertinent and Scandalous and all this before the Interrogatories were brought to him in his Closse Prison to Answer the Answer whereunto was to be reckoned as a part of his Answer in Court such as now it was left So as the Interrogatories coming at length to be tendred to him for I have all circumstances by credible intelligence hee refused to make Answer to them alledging that his Answer which he had put into the Court being expunged as Impertinent and Scandalous he saw not himselfe any further bound to Answer Interrogatories for so doing he should assent to the condemning of his Cause before the heareing by assenting to the expunging of his true Answer as Impertinent and Scandalous Hereupon his Censure was drown up in black and white and concluded on before the Day of hearing came in which he tendred to the Court a Copy of his Intire Answer as it was fâ—rst put into the Court desiring the Court it might be there publickly read but it was refused then he tendred a Copy of his Reasons seaven in number of not Answering the Interrogatories desiring they might publickly be read in Court but that was also refused And in all the Kings Attourneys Pleading which was his Speciall Taske against BURTON hee could alledge or object nothing at all in his Book confessed against him but some Few Passages wherein they said hee was too bitter To which he Answered there was Cause for it and that he had not exceeded the Latitude or Liberty of a Minister in reprooving of Sinne and for any thing in his Book hee was there ready as he told the Court to make it good if hee might be heard But his Doom was already set downe in the blacke Booke before the Censure came which for all hee could say must not be reversed So he was Censured as before as one holding Seditious and Schismaticall opinions though none was or could be proved against him And the like censure had the other two with him the one a Physitian the other a Lawyer Now my Lord do not you well enough know all this to be true and
to boot For then how easily and quickly may the Wolves and Foxes devoure all the Flocks in the Land when the faithfull Shepheards and wathmen as your Lordship knowes Leo-well are taken away and when those Fishers can show the people this your Book which as a vast net were able at one draught to inclose multitudes by exâ—rting them to be reconciled to Rome and that upon this one ground that the Church of England and of Rome is one and the same Church no doubt of that of which anon But yet me thinks I have not all this while dived deep enough to sound the bottome of this word Not neglect Somwhat of a moderate Speech in the smoothnesse of the barke Not neglect as if you should say I would not have your Majesty to be too rigorous against the Puritan Ministers good men but yet I would not have you to neglect them But we cannot better find out the full meaning of this word but by the large Commentary of your Practises which summed up together amount to thus much I would not have your Majesty to neglect that is I would not have your Majesty neglest means that can possibly be devised for the utter rooting out of these Puritans that do so pester your Kingdome And for that you must make your main aym at the suppressing of the Puritan Ministers For smite the Shepheard and the sheep wil be Scattered Now forasmuch as all Non-conformists are put to perpetuall silence wherein we have been helped by your good Lawes and we want Lawes to dealâ— with your Puritan Conformists therefore we must supply that with policie backed with your Royall Power Your Majesty must set forth Edicts laying a straight charge on us Prelates to see them executed For instance That all Ministers yea and that in their own Persons not by their Curates do read in their severall Congregations respectively your Book for Sports on Sundayes and Holy-dayes This will pack away a good many of them who I know will never read it Leâ— another be made for setting up of Altars in all Churches as that for S. GREGORIES under S. Pauls which would be pulished in Print although in the meane time it be safely kept among the Records of the Counsell Board and your Proclamation since enjoynes all Orders for Religion to be observed whether Publique or Private being made at the Counsell-Board A third to prohibit all Lectures on the week dayes and also preaching on the Afternoones on Sundayes A fourth prohibiting Controverted points to be preached on at all or Predestination c. which will mainly pinch the Puritans A fift That whatsoever Rites we Bishops doe or shall impose upon the Churches may be ratified under your Majesties Broad Seale both for the preventing of Premunires and suppressing Clamours of the People against the Prelates and enforceing Ministers to obey them A sixt That a Proclamation be published to inhibit all men from speaking or writing against the Religion of the Church of England As it is now established leaving out that other Phrase as it was in Queen Elizabeths time and turning into As it is Now established And to all these adde Vnder pain of your Majesties most heavy Displeasure not nominating any particular punishment because of the Lawes but leave that to us for so long as you doe but give us power we shall not want meanes and wayes to punish them so long as either the High Commission or Starre-Chamber doe stand And thus in short time there should not one Puritan be left in the Land And all this I meane by I would not have you neglest Thus we know your mind But in the meane time my Lord you might doe well to consider and consult what may be the Consequences of these things that you thus load the King withall What Thus to root out the Puritans and so by your Innovation of the State of Religion by Law established to make way for your Reconciliation with Rome Take heed what you doe Have you not learned that principle in the Politicks That Suddaine Changes in the Civill Government and most of all in Religion is full of perill And another notable point of prudence I have read of For a Prince how ever he may haply connive yet not to appeare the prime Author of such projects and practises as may breed a heart-burning in the people For as the Heathen Poet sung Invidia Siculi non invenere Tiranni Majus Tormentum And the Wise-man saith Who can stand before Envy Not Caesar himselfe And therefore if you tender the Kings honour and the peace and weale of his Kingdome doe not lay too great a burthen upon him Give way that some things may be imputed to your zeale so as if you should come to be questioned for it as you have no such feare so long as there is no Parliament which I hope you will look too well enough the King may have opportunity to show his favour in spreading his Royall wing over you But my Lord you professe great love to his Majesty and to the peace and prosperity of his Kingdome Will you now show how zealously and sincerely you love the King and his people at this time At this calamitous and dangerous time when you see a whole Kingdome even his Native Countrey fallen off at one clappe And for what cause Some say 'T is for Religion because they cannot injoy it in that purity nor their Consciences in that liberty as antiently they did before the Prelates came to be set over them but by that their meanes they are more and more pressed as they complain to bring them to a full conformity to your Church of England as now you have made it which you say is all one with the Church of Rome and which in your Booke you labour to reconcile to Rome And can there be any thing more offensive to true Christian Stomacks then the burthening of their Consciences with such things as are against Gods Word and Christs Kingdome and their Christian Liberty Or is it not for this Cause that they are thus fallen off But the Late Proclamation given at White-Hall Febru 27. 1639. seemes to intimate that one maine Cause of the Scots discontent is the Hierarchicall Government For there it is said We neither can nor will permit Episcopall Government established by many Acts of Parliament in that our Kingdome to be abolished And againe the Proclamation saith And further we thinke to declare unto you and to the Christian world that by our Intention of introducing the Service Booke into that Kingdome we had not the least thought of Innovation in Religion in this or that but meerely to have a conformity with that Worship of God which is observed within both our other Kingdomes though il-minded men have wrested some things in it to a Sinister Sense Thus it seems to me that the Scots are discontented with Episcopall Government and Ceremonies which usually go together Now were it not a worthy and admirable
Preachings by word of mouth of the Lawfully sent Pastors and Doctors of the Church are able to breed in us Divine and Infallible Faith Nay are the very word of God So A. C. expresly And no lesse then so have some accounted of their owne Factious words to Say no more then as the word of God †in the margent at this marke For the freeing of Factious and Silenced Ministers is termed The restoring of Gods word to its Liberty In the Godly Author of the Late Newes from Ipswitch p. 5. P. That the Sermons and Preachings by word of mouth of the Lawfully sent Pastors and Doctors of the Church are able to breed in men Divine and Infallible Faith being according to the Rule and Evidence of Scripture as true Preaching is what good Christian makes a doubt though you deride it I pray you you that are the great Rabbi and Champion of the present Church of England What Say you of the Apostles words How shall they call on him in whom they have not beleeved And how shall they beleeve in him of whom they have not heard And how shall they heare without a Preacher And how shall they Preach except they be Sent So then Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God But we shall heare your judgement by and by As for A. C. with whom you yoak the precise party in the same sentence surely were he no Jesuite nor illegitimate Priest but either a Sound Christian or a Lawfully sent Pastor and Doctor of the Church of Christ the words rightly meant and understood are most true I remember I have read a Story of a Grecian State I take it of Athens where when a vitious Senator in Court on a time gave very good Counsell for the Common-Weale they approved of the Counsell but would not have it Registred in his name but caused an honest man to utter the same forme of words in Court and so under his name it was recorded So I may here Let a good Christian or if you will one of the precise party you mention utter these words and not A. C. and then the sense wil be good and true And by your own words we shall convince you of folly by and by Now for the precise party in the Reformed Churches doe you not meane those who are most reformed in their life and conversation and most refined from the drosse and dregges of all Deformed Churches Superstitions and Idolatries in the pretended worship of God and from all grosse errours in Faith and Doctrine Surely those you must and do meane as whom you most deadly hate and therefore in your wretched malice do couple them with A. C. Of which precise party Iesus Christ is the head that pure and precise Nazarite and Seperatist from all sin and errour with all the Apostles Prophets and Martyrs And what do they say No lesse say you then A. C And what faith A.C. Expresly that Sermons c. as before are the expresse word of God And how prove you that this precise party saith no lesse Nay you say more that they account their own Factious words no lesse to say no more then as the word of God To Say no more Nay surely you have said enough if it be true But if not true a great deale too much Well true or not true 't is enough you Say it and so you make this precise party to be ten times worse then the Jesuite And so you would have it For say you the Jesutie saith Sermons are the very word of God but the Precise That their own factious words are What The word of God No but As the word of God Why do you call them factious words because they are As the word of God Doe you not know that true Preachers words should be hoes logâ—â—â—eou as the Oracles or word of God as Peter speakes such words as become Sound Doctrine Sound Speech that cannot be condemned but unjustly by such as doe heterodidaskalein teach strange Doctrines and agree not to wholsome words keeping the Forme of Sound words But you charge here the precise party with factious words How prove you that For Si sat est accusasse quis innocens erit If your single Accusation be sufficient who shal be Innocent But you bring your proofe è Scriptis good evidence sure What 's that †For the freeing of factious and Silenced Ministers is termed The restoring of Gods word to its Liberty But where do you find these factious words In the Godly Author of the late Newes from Ipswich Well then here be 2 things obserbable 1. The Matter 2. the Author 1. The Matter charged The freeing of factious and Silenced Ministers is termed The restoring of Gods word to its Liberty And who are these factious and Silenced Ministers Namely a matter of about an hundred godly and Conscientious Ministers in Norfolke Suffolk Essex Kent Surrey and other Shâ—res who were in one Summer and the most in the Circuit of one Visitation some silenced some suspended some also excommunicated from Church and Chimney ab Aris ac Focis aqua igni and with their Wives and Children exposed to beggery and all calamity Wherefore They were factious Wherein They would not obâ—y and conforme to the Orders of their Ordinary What Orders For the reading in their severall Congregations the Book for Sports on the Lords dayes For the setting up of Altars in their Chancels For the causing of their People never accustomed to it before to come up to the Altar and there receive the Communion or the Lords Supper on their knees For these and the like which they refused to do they are doomed Factious But the Ministers aledged these were new Impositions praeter praescriptum Legis besides the prescript Law or Statute so as their obedience should have incurred a Premunire No matter for that They are a sort of factious fellows and ringleaders of Puritan-people as you apologised in the Starre-Chamber and so being once silenced 't is too late to talk Yet these men were all Conformists to the Discipline by Law established and lived peaceably How then were they Factious Why surely they would not observe Orders They would notwithstanding an Order to the Contrary preach twice every Lords day They would open the Catechisme-points and not content themselves with the bare words of Question and Answere as it is in the Booke they would hold the people so long with their preaching in the Afternoons that they had no time left to goe to their Laudable Sports nor could the people enjoy their pleasures with a quiet Conscience the Ministers would so trouble them with pressing the Sanctification of the Sabbath according to the 4th Commandement and the like Well then diligent Preachers they were and they preached the word of God by expounding and applying it which we shall heare you by and by to commend if we may beleeve your words when we see your deeds contrary So
shall meet with many passages of good note yet he may observe how farre wide he is of the scope and meaning of the Psalmes which he handleth all along He preached indeed every day as Calvin did at Geneva besides all his other weighty imployments but what a disparity there is between their expositions I referre to the judgement of K. Iames who commended Calvins Commentaries above all those of the Ancients So for the Greek Church as Aug. for the Latine that golden mouthed Chrisostome according to his Name the best preacher in his time though many of his expositions were good yet when he came to his tò u'thikòn his morall or application though in it selfe it was very good yet for the most part no way pertinent to his text he handled but he would sometimes make his use against covetousnesse somtimes against pride or some other sinne or to exhort to some morall vertue or other but I say without any coherence to his text for the most part And for the most of those Antients what was the common Theame of their preaching but morality delighting rather to contemplate in a solitary life then to practise such preaching as might win soules How few of them did preach the Doctrine of Iustification by Faith in Christ. In somuch as Bernard who lived many hundred yeares after those ancients and in those times wherein he noted Antichrist to be come which he plainly poynted out to be the Pope did preach more soundly of this doctrine of Iustification by Faith onely then all those Fathers had done if we may judge of their preaching by their writings They spent themselves more in preaching for good works Then to set forth the faith in Christ though some flashes they had here and there And whether this be not one reason why you so commend the Fathers preaching because they were so much for good works and so little for faith I know not Whereas the moderne Divines of the Reformed Churches are most singular and excellent in seting forth the Mystery of faith and that doctrine of Iustification thereby therein exalting Gods grace and excluding mans merits though not negligent in exhorting to good works as the fruits of faith Those Doctrines of Grace and faith being the main substance of the Gospell and the true practising of Iesus Christ besides which there is no true preaching Admirable they are also in seting forth the nature of sinne to bring man out of himselfe and to plant him into Christ. And in a word have so set forth the whole body of Divinity as the Fathers writings to theirs are in comparison in respect of sound Divinity but as a barren Field to a fruitfull well planted and well watered Garden And great reason there is for this The Fathers had to deale with some Hereticks as with Arius whose Mal was Athanasius and with Pelagius knockt down by Augustine and others but they knew not as yet the Mistery of iniquity which in these latter times seeking to overtop the Gospell and to overthrow the Doctrine and Kingdome of Christ hath given occasion not onely of a reformation in a seperation from that Whore of Babylon but to many Worthies whom God hath raysed up in these last times to bestirre themselves and to study Christ his Military Discipline and spirituall warfare against the Beast and his Crew and to be expert in maintaining Christs Cause with weapons both offensive and defensive So as by this occasion Gods Grace working with it this last Century hath produced more excellent sound and learned Divines and famous preachers then I may say truly though not without envie have been ever since the Apostles times The Name of our God and of our Lord Iesus Christ who by this meanes hath Tryumphed over Antichrist be praysed and glorified for evermore These have been and are Christs Triarian band fighting against Antichrists power with the sword of the Spirit in their lippes their pike their pen in their hand and fighting on their knees by Prayre and have so confounded Antichrist by the dint of their Sword and Pike the word of God that he hath no meanes left him but by his legates à latere to negotiate his cause with Kings and Princes of the earth to incite them against the precise party by taking their weapon Gods word and the preaching thereof from them leaving them nothing but their bare knees to plead their Cause upon even Prayers and Teares these which the powers on earth may cause but never deprive them of And how farre you have been a stickler and instigator in this kind I appeale to your practises and to this your Book sufficient and competent witnesses against you But to return to your Fathers you say that they for all their preaching so farre beyond others yet no one of them durst think himselfe infallible much lesse that whatsoever he preached was the word of God 'T is true they had been no wise Fathers but Children rather yea proud and foolish Men if they had thought themselves to be infallible which is proper to God alone But whatsoever they preached out of Gods word that they had good evidence it was according to the Scripture why should they not not onely thinke but be assured that being the truth it was infallible as being the substance of Gods word which they preached And so all other preachers Lastly where you say It may be observed that no men are more apt to say that all the Fathers were but men and might erre then they that thinke their own preachings were infallible And what say you I pray you of your antient Fathers Were they any others but mâ—n And might they not erre But you are not perhaps so apt to say They were but men and might erre You are willing to entertain and retaine a higher opinion of them then so Or at least you are not so apt to say so of them as they then whom none are more apt to say The Fathers were but men and might erre Sure if there were cause enough and urgent too so to say as when it concernes the glory of God and the truth it selfe he that is aptest to say so is the most to be commended And now let us here a little inquire who these men be that are so apt to say thus of the ancient Fathers and for what cause That they were but men and might erre Why who should they be but the precise party of the reformed Churches as all the worthy reverend pious religious learned and judicious Divines both beyond the Seas and on this side who undertaking to defend the truth of Christ against Antichrist and their Adversaries objecting and pressing so much the authority of the antient Fathers in such things wherein they could not be otherwise excused but that they did a'nâ—ropopathein speake as men who are not in all things infallible what could they in such a case answere otherwise But that those Fathers were but men and might erre Nor
that seeth the Son and beleeveth in him should have eternall life and I will raise him up at the last day Marke here This is the Fathers will his resolution his revealed councell and purpose What That every one that seeth Christ not with bodily eyes here but with the eyes of his soule being illuminated by holy knowledge and so beleeveth in him should have eternall life and Christ will raise him up in the last day Here is Mans last happinesse to which God hath revealed tâ— us in his word that he hath resolved in his councel to bring Mankind by Faith and Knowledge together and without seperation as both seeing and beleeving And this doth the Scripture every where shew unto us Wherfore did God give some Apostles and some Prophets and some Euangelists and some Pastors and Teachers but for the perfecting of the Saints for the worke of the Ministry for the edefication of the body of Christ And Col. 2.2 That their hearts might be comforted being knit together in love and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding to the acknowledgement of the Mystery of God What a high and admirable expression is here And 6.7 this is to be rooted and built up in Christ. Againe on the other side what 's the Cause and sourse of all wickednesse and infidelity superstition and Idolatry but ignorance of God and of his word As Ephes. 4.17 This I say therfore and testifie in the Lord that ye henceforth walke not as other Gentiles walkâ— in the vaâ—ity of their minds having the understanding darkened being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindnesse of their heart c. So 1 Pet. 4.3 and Hos. 4.1 The Lord hath a controversie with the Inhabittnts of the Land because there is no truth nor mercy nor knowledge of God in the Land And vers 7. My people are destroyed for lacke of knowledge Because thou hast rejected knowledge mark it well my Lord I will also reject thee THAT THOU SHALT BE NO PRIEST TO ME. And on the other side againe The Lord saith I will give you Pastors according to mine heart which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding namely the people whom the Lord is in Covenant with But it seemeth your Priesthood standeth not with the nature and office of those Prophets which feed the people of God with knowledge and understanding You can teach the people a shorter cut to heaven and more easie for the Priest for you tell us God hath resolved to bring Mankind to blessednesse another way then by knowledge Wherin how farre you not onely dishonour but blaspheme the truth of God in Fathering such a foule and abominable lye upon him for this I leave you to that judgement which he hath revealed in his Word But you seem to doe all this in charity That the weakest among men may have their way to blessednes open A way open You meane surely the broad way and you know whither that leads and how the many such weake ones as you speake of goe in that way And broad and open your way had need to be both for the multitude of the travailers therein and for their blindnesse and for the darknesse of the way that so though both they and their guides be blind yet the way is so broad as they cannot possibly goe out of it so long as they do but follow their Nose which must be their guide for want of eyes But it may be you will alledge that saying of Augustine Indocti rapiunt regnum Caeloâ—um c. The unlearned and ignorant take by violence the Kingdome of heaven where we that be great learned Clerks are shut out Ergo the way is open for the weakest and shut against those that abuse their Learning to Gods dishonour and soules destruction But whom doth Augustine there meane by unlearned Ignorants that had no Faith nor true Religion in them Certainly ther 's no heaven for such The blind and lame come not within the fort of Sion But a true beleever may be unlettered or as they say not book learned yet not without knowledge For if he hath faith he hath a knowledge of God in Christ. And being Christs he hath the Spirit of Christ and this quickens him up â—o diligence in the use of all good meanes of saving knowledge as to heare Gods word faithfully preached for he knows Christs voyce and frequently read and conferred upon and he meditates on it his mind is much upon it as yours is of your honours and favour in Court how to keep them and he is still praying for increase of grace and faith and knowledge And my Lord many a such man I could bring that cannot a letter on the Booke that for all your seeming Learning would put you to your Trumps if your greatnesse would but descend so farre as to reason with him of the Scriptures and of Christ and so of faith and the like For there 's all his Learning And such unlearned ones they be who goe to heaven yea take it by violence as Christ saith when great Lord Prelates are shut out As Christ saith to the Pharisees The Publicans and â—arlots goe into the Kingdome of God before you for they beleeved Iohns preaching but ye when ye had seen it repented not afterwards that ye might beleeve him But you goe on in your blind way and say pag. 109. The way of knowledge was not that which God thought fittest for mans Salvation 'T is true not such a speculative knowledge as you speak of but God thought it fittest to bring men to salvation by a knowing Faith as before is shewed I will conclude this with the Apostles thunder As we said before so say I now againe if any man preach otherwise then that is delivered in Gods word let him be accursed And if the Scripture accurse him that leads the blind out of his way to which curse all the people say Amen then what curse is due to him that teacheth the blind such a way as leads to certain destruction of Soule and Body Shall not all the people say Amen to this curse L. p. 106. The Credit of the Scripture depends not upon the subservient inducing Cause that leads us to the first knowledge of the Author which leader here is the Church but upon the Author himselfe and the opinion we have of his Sufficiencie P. Doe you not make the credit of the Scripture to depend upon the Authority of the present Church when without this subservient inducing Cause you deny the possibility of beliefe that the Scripture is the word of God For you say expresly pag. 120. When I said Scriptures were Principles to be supposed I did not I could not intend they were prius cognitae known before Tradition Since I confesse every where that Tradition introduces the knowledge of them But if the credit of
Foundation being already layd For you say It is to build up the Truth for the benefit of the Church We have discovered before what the truth is you speak of through your Book which is as much to say as all that wherein you agree with the Church of Rome as one and the same Church for the benifit where of you have writ this Discourse to discredit the word of Truth So as by your building up of Truth is meant your pulling of it down with that hand that wrote this Book And for satisfaction of all men Christianly disposed that is of a peaceable Disposition and not perverse peevish and refractory but willing to meet Rome at least in the halfe way And in a word All your Labour is for Edification not for Destruction For Edification Wherin By rasing the Foundation of Faith the Scripture to build up the Tower of Babel againe in England And not for Destruction but onely of the Puritan Profession and Religion and the power of Godlinesse and the Purity of Gods worship and the sincere Preaching and Preachers of the word of God and in a word in rooting out the precise party where ever your Arme of flesh can reach them This being your practise too well known this must needs be your meaning and sense of these words of the Apostle For Edification and not for Destruction Which as you most wickedly pervert and abuse as you doe all other Scriptures to your false purposes so in this respect it is a Conclusion not unsutable to your whole Section while thus you make the word of God of no Authority by your Traditions And so here an end of this Section But not an end of the prosecution of the same subject still For it follows L. p. 118. You see neither Hooker nor I nor the Church of England for ought I know leave the Scripture alone to manifest it selfe by the light which it hath in it selfe No but when the present Church hath prepared and led the way like a preparing morning light to Sun-shine then indeed we settle for our Direction but not upon the first opening of the morning light but upon the Sun it selfe P. In the former Section 17. consisting of one page the Jesuite objecting your words The Bishop said That the Books of Scripture are Principles to be supposed and needed not to be proved your Answere is Did I say it needed no proofe at all to a naturall man or to a man newly entring upon the Faith yea or perhaps to a doubter or weakling in the Faith Can you think me so weake I doe but mention this by the way as taking notice with what a pretty slight you put off your recantation of that speech But the next passage will cleare this more fully Now this your Comparison of the morning light let us clearely see how weake and improper it is for your purpose For what is the morning light but a beame or beames of that Sun which as children of the Bridegroom doe usher him out of his Chamber signifying his neare approach These beames I say are of the very same nature of that light which is in the body of the Sun and do immediately issue and spring from it inlightning the Sky or that part of heaven above the Horizon which beames or morning light as the Sunne advanceth nearer to his Rising waxeth clearer and clearer unto the perfect day But now the Authority of the present Church which you compare to the morning light is no such beame of the Sun of Righteousnesse shining in the Scripture as in his Sphere as that it is of the same nature of the light of the Scripture For the Scripture light is Divine and Infallible but of Tradition you say I cannot find that the Tradition of the present Church is of Divine and Infallible Authority Which if you could by all the light in the Sky at noon day find you would be no Churle in hiding it from the world or puting it under a bushell But to hold you to the propriety of your Comparison which at first blush showes as faire as the first morning light you may know That the Sunne makes the beames to shine and not the beames the Sunne whereas you say The Authority of the present Church lights the Candle of Scriptures which otherwise gives no light and so makes it to shine Againe 2 dly The morning light is an Infallible Index or immediate foregoing token of the approach of the Sunne riâ—â—ng which it ushereth in but you dare not say yea you deny that the present Churches Testimony or Authority is infallible for the inducing of beliefe that Scripture is the word of God Thirdly the morning light so soon as ever it first peepeth or dawneth we say and that truly It is day but an Infiel or doubting or weake Christian upon the first hearing of the testimony of the present Church That the Scriptures are the word of God is not so infallibly Convinced and perswaded as therfore to beleeve it to be true Fourthly The morning light is alone a sufficient and infallible signe as being an immediate effect an essentiall quality issuing from the Sun of its neare rising but you confesse that though your present Church Authority be the Prime yet it is not the Sole Index or finger to point us out the Scripture to be the word of God but you joyne with it sundry other helps as before you tell us Thus no way can we find your Comparison proper or pertinent to your purpose being as a blind Horse that halts downright of aâ—l foure But this by way of application to the right purpose I conclude out of it That as the morning light which certainly and infallibly tells us of the approching of the Sun rising and which perswades every man whose eyes are awake of the truth therof is an immediate beame of that Sun and of the same nature and quality of its native and essentiall light So that which is both Prime and Sole in leading us Certainly and Infallibly to beleeve that the Scripture is the word yea and working also and begetting this Faith in us is the light or beame of the Scripture it selfe displayed by the Ministry or Preaching of the Word which is as the dawning of the day or the Day Stars first arising in our hearts as Peter speakes by meanes whereof we come actually not onely to beleeve without any other externall Cause that Scripture is the word of God but also to know and feele that the Sun of Righteousnesse hath now begun to shine in our hearts by the beame of his Spirit the immediate forerunner of his rising unto the perfect Day L. p. 120. A C. Cannot but perceive by that which I have clearly layd down before that when I said Scriptures were Principles to be supposed I did not I could not intend they were prius cognita known before Tradition since I confesse every where that
F 6 ly But since this Division say you nothing hath been done by you to discredit this Principle That the Scripture is the word of God No Nothing Not when you say The light which is in Scripture it selfe is not bright enough it cannot beare sufficient witnesse to it selfe Not when you say The Scripture is a light but as a Candle that yeelds no light till first it be lighted by Tradition of the present Church Not when you say That Scripture to be the word of God is not so demonstratively evident à priore that is of and by it selfe primarily as to inforce assent Not when you say Such a full light we doe neither say is nor require to be in Scripture as is in Prime Principles which carry a naturall light with them Is not this point blank against this Principle That Scripture is the word of God Not when you say God doth not require a full Demonstrative Knowledge in us that the Scripture is his word and therfore in his Providence hath kindled in it no light for that Not when you say That the Scripture cannot beare witnesse to it selfe nor one part of it to another And yet in all this and much more hath nothing been done by you to discredit this Principle That Scripture is the word of God Now let the Lord of the Scripture whose Word it is and all the Children of Truth be Judge in this matter against you G. 7 ly Yet you dare say more that you have given it all honour and ascribed unto it more sufficiencie as more then all even to the containing of all things necessary unto Salvation with satis superque enough and more then enough How enough and more then enough What A worke of Superarogation or superarrogancie rather Now fie for shame Will no bounds of Sober Speech contain your lawlesse spirit but that you must cast it in Gods dish That you had ascribed to his Word all honour and more sufficiencie and more then enough Had you yet turned Lyrinensis his word in the margent superque Abundantly it had been both more agreeable to reason and not lesse disagreeing with Grammer Certainly it had become you of all other to have qualified the construction of Satis superque better considering what palpable hand and harsh language you have dasht the Credit of Gods most holy Bible withall Extreames are not good And your Hypocrisie here is too grosly counterfeited Just as some Gentlewomans bad face for want of Art is daubed so much with laying on of Colours that it is ridiculous to every beholder And how say you in the truth of your heart were there any there that the Scripture containeth all things necessary to Salvation when it doth not containt tha assertion of yours That the Scripture is not known to be the word of God but by the Authority and Tradition of the present Church When yet this That the Scripture is the word of God is by your own expresse Confession one of the greatest Principles of beliefe H 8 ly For your going the same way with the Jesuites partly your whole Booke and partly all your practises doe Satis superque superabundantly witnesse Onely you say you cannot goe so farre in that way with them to make the present Tradition Alwaies an Infallible word of God unwritten No not Alwaies Infallible I hope Onely somtimes perhaps Infallible when you say the word of God And if your present Tradition be not alwaies an Infallible word of God unwritten I pray you is it at any time an unwritten word of God If it be then at such a time especially when its Infallibility is in Season is it not Infallible For Gods word is alwayes Infallible be it written or when he speaks it from heaven But when shall we se the time when you will prove your present Tradition to be a word of God unwritten or to have any Ground at all in written word of God the Scripture But if your present Church Tradition be not alwaies infallible but that somtimes at least it may deceive us certainly I conceive our safest course wil be alwayes to goe immediately and directly the shortest Cut to the Scripture it selfe which I am sure is alwaies Infallible and will never deceive us and not at any time to depend upon your present Tradition which is not alwaies an Infallible word of God unwritten But me thinks I heare you say That you make not the present Tradition An Infallible word of God unwritten No not absolutely not Alwaies We understand English But if you could prove This your present Tradition to be but somtimes an infallible word of God unwritten in the use at least you put it to it were no great Mastery to conclude it to be in that case Alwaies an Infallible word of God unwritten and so you should by this way of the Jesuites come full home to Rome But I hope you will more clearely and fully expresse your selfe in this grand point when to use your own words before It shall fit Time and Place In the meane time if this be not the genuine sense which I have picked but not stollen for the interpretation is Grammaticall and sensible out of your words then I confesse your meaning is more abstruse and mysticall then can be gathered from your manner of expression your words having a tang of that confusion of tongues at the building of that old Tower But the summe of it is Here is the grand difference between you and Rome She makes her Tradition alwayes a word of God unwritten unfallible you yours not Alwayes somtimes therfore and so it is blasphemy But at length pag. 127. the Lady calls you from the point of Church Tradition to heare what you will say of the Church of Rome whether you will Confesse it to be the Right Church And saith the Jesuite the Bishop granted that it was Now if the Lady were not dead as elswhere you tell us I should give her hearty thanks for being an occasion of delivering us out of this Purgatory-lake of your tedious irksome and endlesse Discourse of your present Tradition wherein otherwise it is to be feared you lye so long till you had been drowned in your own puddle or burnt up with your own hot zeale But let us heare your Answere to the Jesuites relation of what you granted L. p. 128. There is a great deale of difference between The Church and A Church and some between a True Church and a Right Church For the Church may import in our language The onely True Church and perhaps the root and ground of the Catholick And this I never did grant of the Roman Church nor never meane to doe But A Church can imply no more then that it is a member of the whole And this I never did nor never will deny if it fall not absolutely away from Christ. That it is a True Church I granted also but not a Right
Moris-dances teach us Nemo saltat sobrius could the very Heathen say No man Danceth that is sober And as an English Author saith licenced too but in diebus illis A Dancer and a mad man different but in the duration And to helpe to shake this Foundation yet more you have licenced Books that do unmoralize the Fourth Commandement as before as antiquated now and of no force to bind us Christians to the observation of a seventh day or the Lords day which we have proved before to be the Rest-day or the Sabbath day of the Lord our God Iesus Christ. And did not your Tyranny suppresse all Truth all your Doctors had been ere now answered to the shame of their Divinity-Profession and the confusion of their accursed Opinions and Blasphemies against the holy Truth and eternall Law of God Well here you are charged with shaking this Great Foundation of Faith and Religion And though my Name be not here to the Bill which therfore you wil be ready by another Bill to make a Libell yet as I sayd before I say againe let the King be but pleased to send forth a Proclamation commanding the Author of this Charge to come forth and avouch it before the High and Honourable Court of Parliament where he shall have a faire just unpartiall and honourable hearing and where your Lordship shall as well stand at the Barre as your Accuser and you shall see your Antagonist dare shew his face But to prevent the trouble of Calling a Parliament you will answere this is none of Your doing 't is the Kings Edict and of King Iames before him and now by the Kings speciall command republished Is it so And therein are the Foundations of Faith and Good Manners shaken And that not onely in overthrowing the Morality of the 4 th Commâ—ndement by Dispensaton of profane sports but by dispensing with youth to use their libâ—rty on that day without controule of their Superiours as Parents or Masters who if they shall hinder them the Magistrate shall punish them and so the 5 th Commandement which is a Foundation of Good Manners in all obedience due to Superiours is shaken if not pull'd down to the ground as the Aprentices of London were wont on Shrove-Tuesday to pull down Infamous houses Is all this so Why then did you not step in as good Azariah and withstand the coming forth of such an Edict and tell the King It pertaineth not to Thee ô King to set forth such an Edict to dispense wâ—th Gods Holy Morall Eternall Commandements whereby the Foundations of Faith and Good Manners are shaken least thereby shaking the Foundations both of Church and Common-Wealth you doe through Gods just wrath bring your own Kingdome to suddain ruine But did you at all interpose your selfe Or did you use Prayer and Patience rather undergoing the Kings displeasure then being either Agent or Instrument in the publishing of such an Edict No such thing For it was the handsel of your Primacy to publish the Edict as being the best Office whereby you could testifie your thankfullnesse for so high a Preferment For why should you here leave the King alone in so weighty a Cause when you tell us before that the King and the Priest more then any other are bound to looke to the Integrity of the Church in Doctrine and Manners and that in the first place And would you now leave the King in the lurch to doe that whereby the Foundations of Faith and Good Manners are shaken and the Church in Doctrine and Manners corrupted But you were an Instrument at least and that at both endâ— of the businesse As for Prayer and Patience you were willing to leave them to others that had more need and could make better use of them to wit those poore honest Ministers who seeing the danger of their publicke reading of the said Booke in their severall Congregations so straightly imposed by the Prelates and thâ—inâ— the Kings Name wherein they well understood that the very Foundations of Faith and Good Manners are shaken so as their reading of it to their people would make themselves accesâ—ary to all the mischiefe that might come thereby as whereby the wrath of God must needs be greatly incensed against the whole Land did thereupon refuse to read it committing the Cause to God in Prayer and arming themselves with resolved Patience to indure all the Censure and punishment threatned in the Booke and left to be inflicted by the Bishops As not long after the Bishops thunderclap of threatning they feele the thunderbolt it selfe by Suspension Silencing Excommunication Dispossession out of their Benefices Cures Houses Freeholds Dispersion of Family Wife and Children now exposed to the wide world and made a Prey to Wolves and Lyons Here is indeed the Patience and Faith of the Saints Here is use of their spirituall Armour Prayer Patience Teares the onely weapons of their warfaire against such enemies so as if Solomon the Preacher were now alive he might see his words as truly and fully verified in these times as ever they were in his I returned saith he and considered all the Oppressions that are done under the Sun and behold the teares of such as were oppressed and they had no Comforter and on the side of their Oppressors there was power but those had no Comforter But it is well that you left the poore soules those weapons which you could not take from them but with their lives Prayer and Patience Although how doe you labour to deprive them even of Prayer when you will not suffer them to pray together that suffer together in and for the same Cause but your Beagles hunt them out And would you not reduce all Prayer and conjure down the very Spirit of Prayer by confining it to the prescript letter and form in your Service Book where there is never a Prayer for poore afflicted and distressed soules in such a Case complaining of the Bishops Cruelty and Tyranny over them So as you see they patiently suffer they use no opposition by force And yet what say you to one of your Predecessors who when the King would not agree to his Nobles in the casheering of his Favorites who were his Privy Councellors to the ruine of his Realme he being then but Lord Elect of Canterbury took with him his Clergy and went to the King and threatned him if he would not yeeld in the matter he would Excommunicate him Neither I suppose are you of opinion with once a Brother of Winchester who in a Book of his published by Authority and Printed at Oxford hath these words If a Prince should goe about to subject his Kingdome to a forraigne Realme or change the forme of the Common-wealth from Empery to Tyranny or neglect the Laws establlished by common consent of Prince and People to execute his own Pleasure In these and other Cases which might be named If the Nobles and Commons joyne together
Protestants except not against it For this difference de Modo of the manner of the Presence of Christs naturall Body in the Sacrament we have spoken before at large And was this Difference trow you so small that cost both Ridley and Cranmer and Frith their lives For you cite them all 3 in one Page calling them the learned of those zealous in Queen Maries dayes Martyrs you do not call them beware of that So as times kà rin for honour sake you mention them not So you cite Calvin a little before whom in the High Commission you honoured with the Title of Rascall And these Martyrs are they whom one of your Divines of note and worth Dr. Heylin in a Booke licensed by your Chaplein stiles with the Honourable Title of Schismaticall Hereticks But to let this passe for currant with you The summe of your whole passage touching this point from pag. 292. to 296. is to perswade us to acknowledge a reall presence of Christs naturall body in the Sacrament onely differing from the Papists quoad moaum as touching the manner of presence Now I confesse this is a very pretty and ready way to lead to your Reconciliation But let me tell you even words and names and verball expressions are of no small force many times to lead men into great errours although at first they meant no harme that used them For instance The Primitive Fathers when they began to call the Lords Table an Altar they little dreamed what an Altar it would prove afterwards as wheron to offer up in sacrifice Christs naturall body So when they called Ministers Priests they imagined not that those Priests would prove afterwards such sacrificing Priests as now are in the Church of Rome And when they called the Lords supper a sacrifice which they meant to be Eucharisticall of thanksgiving they never suspected that this would become afterwards a corporall sacrifice of Christs very body and bâ—ood And yet these very Names so taken up gave occasion afterwards of setting up the greatest Idol that ever was in the world as we see at this day So dangerous is it to expresse Divine matters by any other Name then what the Scripture hath given them Seeing then that in Scripture we find no such words as Reall Presence of Christs naturall body in the Sacrament it is not safe for Christians to take them up And so much the more because we see by experience the mischiefes that this reall presence so called and so understood as the Papists doe hath done in the Church of God How many Martyrs hath it made How much innocent blood hath it spilt So as it hath gotten and that deservedly a very bad Name And it is the Name or Word wherby the Romanists expresse their Great Idol in the Masse And David saith Their Drinke offerings of Blood will I not offer nor take up their Names into my lips So as Christians ought not to use the Names of Idols invented by man to expresse Divine things of Scripture by Yea K. Hezechiah when the Brazen Serpent which God himselfe had commanded to be made for the present occasion in the Wildernesse though he commanded it not to be kept for a Monument began to be abused unto Idolatry he brake it to pieces And so in this case though these words The Reall Presence may beare a good sense yet being and that of long time abused to the setting up and upholding of most grosse Idolatry we are to stamp it to powder and never use it more And we have as little reason to be perswaded hereto by your Lordship as by any For as this word Reall presence is very suspicious in it selfe and much more in regard of the Papists abusing of it so it wants not suspicion that you so commend it unto us First in regard of the whole matter of your Book which generally complyes with Popery Secondly in regard of the main scope of your Booke which is to bring on a Reconciliation with Rome And Thirdly and more especially in regard of some speeches which have now and then dropped from you in publick Court where speaking of Altars-placing you said you would have none to sit above God-Allmighty which must needs imply as before is noted that either your Altar is your God Allmighty or els God Allmighty hath a locall presence and residence there upon your Altar And so Fourthly your eager zeale in promoting of Altars makes us much to suspect your Reall Presence as fearing all will not be well when once we have taken up and let down this Reall presence of God Allmighty into our bellies And so also Fiftly your Priests by that Name doe increase the suspition And Sixtly because you tell us before of a Transubstantiation taken properly and improperly And Seventhly Because you tell us by and by that Transubstantiation Purgatory Forbearance of the Cup are but Disputed and Improbable Opinions Lastly it is used to Idolatry and so to be broken in pieces as the Brazen Serpent was And therfore for all these Reasons we desire not to be troubled with your Reall presence but leave it to the Papists or to you to restore it where you had it or if you like it so well to use it let it be to your selfe or Chappell at Lambeth trouble not the Church of England with it any more which desireth not more matter for a new Booke of Martyrs Now to come to the Martyrs First for Ioh. Friths words Not to make it an Article of Faith but leave it Indifferent First However the words sound we must weigh them by the sense And the best Commentary of his words is his death which he suffered even therfore because he made it an Article of his faith to beleeve that Christ was not Really Present in the Sacrament as the Papists do hold and therfore on the contrary he held it as an Article of his faith That Christ was onely vertually and spiritually present to the Faith of the Receiver according to the true meaning of those Sacramentall words This is my body as a little before we shewed Secondly to take Friths words in your sense doth overthrow a Christians faith as touching the Sacrament wherein the beleever receives and applyes by faith the merits of Christs death to the comforting nourishing and strengthning of his soule And a man is bound to beleeve aright concerning the Sacrament and to put a maine difference between truth and erroâ—â— therein And is it not an Article of Faith to beleeve Christs body not to be corporally present in the Sacrament seeing he saith Me have you not alwayes It is expedient for you that I goe away who sits at Gods right hand whom the heavens must receive till his coming againe And lastly admit his words may be stretched to the full bredth of your sense which is erronious wee must measure all mens words by the Rule of Scripture in divin matters If they dissent or come short or goe
giving her hope that she might be saved living and dying in the Roman faith Is it so easie trow you to send such a Lady to heaven securely wrapped in the Mantle-lap of her silly ignorance But what if she be now in hell Are not you guilty of her damnation by muzzling her in her blind ignorance as wherein onely you taught her to place the hope of her salvation But you told her of some danger But you did not possesse her with such a feare of the danger as both there was cause and you should have done as you puffed her up with the hope of safety and that in the onely confidence of her silly ignorance so as her vain hope overcame just feare And if now by this meanes she be in hell as you set her in the ready high way look you to it Paries cum proximus ardâ—t Tunc tua res â—gitur if she by your leading be fallen into the pit what is like to befall you the leader when the blind leading the blind both fall into the pit But if God hath had mercy on her it was not since her death by delivering her out of Purgatory iâ— she dyed a Papist but before her death by delivering her from her Popery worse then any Purgatory causing her to renounce and repent of that and to beleeve in his mercy and Christs merit onely for salvâ—tion without which faith of Christ â—here is no hope of mercy And we shewed before that this faith of Christ is not the Roman faith but quite opposit unto it L. p. â—88 But 't is time to end especially for me that have so many things of weight lying upon me and disabling me from these Polemâ—ck â—isccurses besides the burthen of sixty five yeares compleat which draw on a pace to the period set by the Prophet David Psal. â—0 and to the Time that I must goe and give God and Christ an account of the Talent committed to my Charge in which God for Christ Iesus sake be mercifull to me who knows that however in many weaknesses yet I have with a faithfull and single heart bound to 〈◊〉 free Grace for it laboured the meeting the blessed meeting of Truth and Peace in his Church and which God in his own good time will I hope effect To him be all Honour and Prayse for ever Amen P. How fitly doth this your Conclusion suit with and succeed that which was last mentioned as matter for your more serious and sad meditation and which I cannot but tremble 〈◊〉 And well weighing also the words of this your Conclusion with all that you have written in this your Booke and with all your Practises in your life all so uniforme and sutable I am surprized with great astonishment The reasons hereof will further appeare in the more particular animadversions upon your words asunder And because we use to take most speciall notice of a mans last words give me lâ—ave to take a full and particular view of yours here as being though not the last words of a dying man yet the finall Conclusion of this your Booke which so soon as I have read over it passeth away tanquam Fabula as the Prophet speaks of a mans life as a taâ—â— thâ— is told And as we looke thaâ— however you have dealt in your Book yet in the close of all you should deale candidly ingeniously and cordially and not dubble with God and the world and with your own Conscience yet for my part as the Spirit of sincerity and truth without flattery or respect of Persons where the truth is wronged hath rnd doth run through all the veines of this my Reply to your Relation so I shall by Gods grace close all with the same spirit not sparing you to the last where still you give just cause And the truth cannot better nor more seasonably be spoken home then as to a dying man who though he have been never so notorious an hypocrite and desperate man in the Course of his life yet when he lyes upon his death-bed and utters some words which seem to savour of some sensiblenesse of his Condition then if ever there may be some hope of working upon him as when the yron is hot by putting home unto him and laying before him his former life that so at the last though late as the Thiefe on the Crosse he may through Gods mercy be brought to repentance and so to salvation Although examples of such penitents indeed and in truth be very rare For as one observeth One Thiefe was saved on the Crosse that none should dâ—spaire and but one that none should presume â—or the saying too ordinarily proves true Qualis vita finis itâ— As a man lives so he dyes And Paenitentia sera rarò vera Late Repentance is seldome true And the Prophet gives the reason of it Can the Ethiopian change his hew or skin Or the Leopard his spots Then may ye also do good that are accustomed to doe evil For as one â—aith Consuetudo peccandi tollit sensum peccaâ—i Custome of sinning takes away the sense of sin And where there is noâ— sense of sin there can be no Repentance for sin And therfore commonly when a man that hath lived wickedly and hath been used to lying and dissembling all his life comes to â—ay on his death bed or at the last gaspe Lord have mercy upon me however we may not judge him leaving him to his Judge yet this is no sufficient argument to perswade us that this is 〈◊〉 Repentance For lightly when such men promising and vowing it God restore them to reforme their life do recover they â—â—turn â—s the Scripture speaks with the dog to his vomit and with 〈…〉 that is washed to her wallowing in the mire According to that 〈◊〉 or Apologie 〈◊〉 Daemon Monachus tunc esse volebat 〈◊〉 Daemon nec tamen est Monachus Which 〈…〉 thus 〈…〉 was 〈◊〉 the Deâ—il a Monke would be 〈…〉 was well the â—evil a Monke was he But I must not doe you wrong in applying of these things to you or that I have any hope of doing good upon you even now at last in the close of all seeing you give me no incouragement of hope at all this way For in all this your Closse not a word expressing the least sorrow for your most enormious iniquites but on the contrary you justifie them and glory in them Wherein you shew the pride of your heart to be out of measure desperate and not to be named with the pride of that Pharisee For though he gloryed in himselfe yet he gloryed not in his evil but in those things that were in themselves good and commendable and for which he gave God thanks as the Author of them but here I find a proud Prelate vaunting in his impiety and in all his wicked practises the ayme whereof is to reconcile the Church of England and that of the Whore of Babylon together and all under a faire pretence