desire to be taught the rule of faith out of an humble and a religious meaning here you may learne it it was a question worth his asking a point worthy your learning Mr LEECH Why said he what other ground of faith then the pure word of God I demaunded then who shall interpret this word Hee replied the spirit What spirit good Sir The spirit of God only which privat men thinke they haue Against which rule I except for that it was the common plea of all condemned Heretiques Wherefore I required a triall of this pretended spirit for I cannot admit that to be God his spirit in any private man which consenteth not with the spirit of the Catholique Church And thus you see M.D. Airay that what you formerly reiected out of my rule as Popish you must necessarily admit as true that is Ecclesiasticall Tradition annexed to the sacred Canon for the discerning of private spirits Otherwaies each Heretique will sense Scripture in the mould of his owne braine ANSVVER That the word of God is the ground of beleefe in God sacred Scripture it selfe proveth in manifold and pregnant places as in the olde Testament in the Proverbs Prov. 2.9 They make a man vnderstand righteousnes and iudgement and equity and every good path Esay 8.19.20 in Esay should not a people enquire at their God at the law and at the Testimonie they that speake not according to this word there is no light in them by Malachie Mal. 4.4 Remember the law of Moses which I commanded all Israell with the statutes and iudgements in the new Testament in S. Paul 2. Tim. 3.15 The Scriptures are able to make a man wise vnto salvation through the faith which is in Christ Iesus in S. Peter 2. Pet. 1.19 We haue a most sure word of the Prophets wherevnto we must giue heed as to a light that shineth in darknesse till the day starre arise in our hearts Luc. 1.4 in S. Luke They containe the certainty of those things whereof we are instructed and in S. Iohn Ioh. 5.39 These things are written that yee might beleeue that Iesus is that Christ the sonne of God and in beleeuing yee might haue eternall life and by Christ himselfe sealing this point Search the Scriptures for in them you haue eternall life and they are they which testifie of mee but to this also the Fathers with all reverence haue agreed Basil Ep. 80. ad Eust Med. Let the Scriptures be arbitrators betweene vs saith Basill in his 80 Epistle and whosoever holds consonant opiniōs to those heavenly oracles let the truth bee adiudged on their side We are to enquire for iudges saith Optatus Contra Parmenianum de coelo quaerendus est Iudex Optat. cont Parmen l. 5. the Iudge must bee had from heaven but saith hee wherefore need we to knock at heauen when we haue a iudge wohm wee finde in the Gospell The Scripture is the rule of faith saith Tertullian contra Hermogenem Tertull. cont Hermog Chrysost in 13. Homil. in 2. Corinth It is a most exquisit rule saith Chrysostome in his 13 homily vpon the second to the Corinths It is an inflexible rule Greg. Nyss Grati. de ijs qui adeunt Hierosolymā saith Gregorius Nyssenus And S. Austin ample for this in many places in his booke de bono viduitatis testifieth that the Scripture pitcheth downe the rule of our faith And not only the Ancient Fathers but the Schoole-men haue succeeded in the same resolution Aquinas writeth expresly Aq 1. qu. 1. art 8. that our faith must rest vpon the Canonicall bookes of Scripture Durand agreeth with this Durand pref in senten that the maner of our knowledge exceed not the measure of faith and the holy Scripture expresseth the measure of faith Sum part 3. tit 18. c. 3. Nay Papists haue acknowledged this Antoninus confesseth that God hath spoken but once to vs and that in Scripture so plentifully that hee voucheth Gregory in the 22 book of his Moralls thus God needeth to speake no more concerning any necessary matter Al. 1. sent quaest 1. art 3 1. Coroll seeing all things are found in Scripture Alliaco consenteth to this The verities of Scripture bee the Principles of divinity quoniam ad ipsas saith he fit vltima resolutio Theologici discursus Bell de verbo Dei lib. 1. c. 2. In one word Bellarmin agreeth to all these Testimonies in his first book de verbo Dei Sacra Scriptura est regula credendi certissima tutissima This may serue to shew you that there is no other ground of faith then the worde of God Scriptures Fathers Schoolemen nay even our Adversaries being witnesses Deut. 32.31 as Moses speaketh You demaund who shall interpret this word It is replied the spirit of God which spirit the elect doe know certainly that they haue not only thinke as you traduce the speech of this reverēd Doctor but they assure thēselus that they haue the spirit and hee that knoweth not this ◠Cor. 3.16 is ignorant as Paul teacheth by an interrogatiō Knowe yee not that yee are the Temples of the holy Ghost and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you But against this rule you except for this was you say Chrysos prolog in Epist ad Rohan 3. de Lazar. the plea of al Heretiques It is false Heretiques and the devill did vrge Scripture but these could never for wāt of Gods spirit compare Scriptures together The privat spirit even every Priuat man of himselfe saith Chrysostom only by reading may vnderstand yea need nothing else but to read Chrysos hom 13. in Gene◠by which he meaneth to confer one place of Scripture with another And the same Father giveth the reason Scriptura seipsam exponit auditorem errare non sinit The scripture expoundeth it selfe and suffereth not the hearer to be deceived Distinct 37. Relatum So speaketh Chrys 13. hom in Genes The Canon Law is most plaine herein Non enim sensum extrinsecus alienum extraneum sed ex ipsis Scripturis sensum capere veritatis oportet For we must not from without them seeke a forraine and strange sense but wee must out of the Scriptures themselues receiue the meaning of the truth And a clowde of witnesses do testifie the same Wherefore it is no way necessary that we aske helpe of Tradition which is as I formerly spake the cittie of refuge for all runnagate points in your religion Popish Tradition in the Church soiourning only as the deuill doth to deceiue as a treacherous stranger not to be acquainted with or as an Infidell not to be conversed with and therefore D. Airay taught you the truth when you heretically thought you might mould the sense of scripture in the brain of the brasen head Tradition Mr LEECH And now M. D. Airay being thus overthrowne in the rule of his faith proposed vnto me a question of
that D. Hutton had inhibited me that D. Benefield whose bookes I was not worthy to carry had publikely confuted my doctrine c. with such like frivolous allegations ANSVVER Here to helpe your memory which wandreth as much as your iudgement you forget that vpō your bragge that all the Latine Church held with you D. Aglionbee asked you what was the Church and you receiving a blow where you had no ward were driven so farre out of the way as to affirme the last resolution of the Church to be not in primam veritatem but in the iudgement of men the absurdity of which position I haue dealt with in your Epistle The Vicechancellour seeing such presumptuous insolence ioined with ignorance herevpon remembred you how the inhibition by authority and the confutation of that controversie might haue staid your proceedings and added the due worth of the Doctor who had determined that point in his solemne Lecture Mr LEECH As for D. Hutton his inhibition I answered as before adding farther that I respected not his iudgement in this matter For I knew indeed that as his vnderstāding is not very deepe so his affection is not very good who in a certaine booke or rather statizing pamphlet concerning the crosse in baptisme defendeth this laudable Christian ceremony by tradition of the Church as it is witnessed by the holy Fathers and yet now in a point of greater importance expressed in Scripture taught by Fathers practised by the Saints defined by the whole Church he blushed not to accuse me nay S. Gregory himselfe of Popery in this doctrine But singular is my comfort to consider by what Iudge I am thus vsed in what cause and with what Patrone from whom our Nation first receiued her first faith for whose faith I must now forsake my nation ANSVVERE You leaue the answer of your neglect of D. Huttons gouernement and traduce his iudgement Inhibition is matter of authority not of learning why disobeyed you that command you answere but not to the purpose you respected not his iudgement Let not malice be iudge but cōsider how base infamous malitious your reproaches be his soūdnes of iudgment is approved sufficiently by the consent of our whole Vniversity And that booke which so scornfully you reproach is esteemed deservingly and is of reverend respect with the best Bishops of our Church Where the Fathers agreeing to Scripture are truly vrged and vnderstandingly interpreted both D. Hutton and all of our part with all willingnesse receiue their assertions But when Fathers are misvrged arrested and impostured by Coccius or Bellarmin and you receiue them at second hand not from the foūtaine but from the ditches we returne your party-coloured blended sentences as vnworthy of approbation because they be vsed as the Tyrant entertained his guest if to long for his bed to chop of if to short to racke them out The doctrine which you call a point of great importance expressed in Scripture taught by Fathers practised by the Saints and defined by the whole Church is not so founded as you presume to teach Scriptures no where expresse it Fathers teach it not the Saints of God haue not practised it the Church of Christ hath not defined it Therefore he only accused you of Popery but not Gregory For as formerly hath beene said D. Hutton and all any way seene in Gregories Moralls may perceiue how you foist into the Text the words Evangelicall Counsells Your comfort will proue your corrasiue your Iudge in this was God others were but his deputies the cause was religiō nay the very marrow pith of Religion and the opposition of many absurd hereticall positions Your Patron was not Gregory hee neither taught you this nor from him our Church received their first faith Neither for defending this were you cōstrained to leaue the Land you forsooke your Religion rather then your Nation Vegetius tells that in the Roman Armies Vegetius Non fugere was a speciall precept The way for you to Triumph had beene to recant and to remaine in your station not to fly Bosquiers speech is true Bonsq cont 7 the Devill is overcome by resisting but the flesh and the world by running away but you fled because you would run into the world Mr LEECH As for D. Benefield with his lecture his bookes I passed them over considering that M. Vicechancellour made excursions from the point loading me only with contumely and disgrace ANSVVER You passed him ouer because he doth so far overpasse you but he is in your bosome his Lecture lyeth heavy on your heart it is such a pang that you will not easily remoue The Vicechancellour loading you as you call it with disgrace knewe you had a back provided for a burthen If his speech seeme harsh to you you turned his tongue being turned your selfe Otherwise his tongue is the hearauld of encouragement and comfort himselfe the refuge of innocencie a Tutor to his Colledge and a father to the Clergy in his Accademicall governement Mr LEECH Wherefore not suffering him to divert mee from the maine issue Haeretici est praecepta Patrum declinare saith worthy Flavian in his first epist to LEO the great I desired him to deale punctually that is to say first to admit a triall by the Fathers or to deny it if he denied it he should be thereby sufficiently convinced Secondly if he admitted this triall then either to disproue my authorities or to approue my doctrine ANSVVER To deale punctually is so proper vnto all his discourses that all his Auditors will acknowledge this a speciall felicity in the power of his speech Your demands were preposterous in your Epistle you commit your selfe to the censure of the Church now to the triall of the Fathers no appeale at all to the Scriptures without which whatsoever is taught is like Israells building in Aegypt without stuffe no warrant for the matter they build with Mr LEECH But he not daring to make a briefe and punctuall answer to my reasonable demands fell extravagantly into a mention of the reformed Churches summoning me before their tribunall for the censuring of this doctrine ANSVVER Not daring Why continueth this Bracchadochian humor it hath long beene in the consumption it will at length spend it selfe What dareth not he that vndertakes without rashnes and performes without feare did ever your experience finde him to be a read shaken with the winde or to want the sinewes of courage and resolution No you knowe hee is ballaced with wisedome and worth able to vndertake the most resolute and vndauntedest of the contrary side in the worlde Neither in this was there the least note of extravancie as your exorbitancie of accusation doth impute for by whom should a minister of the reformed Churches bee censured but by the power iudgement of the reformed Churches Mr LEECH Which course of proceeding I vtterly disclaimed as vnequall because the later Church is not to iudge the former but contrarily the former
is to iudge the later ANSVVER Who ever that was a supposed member in our Ecclesiasticall state durst disclaime the iudgement censure authority of our Church But your reasonlesse reason is the later Church is not to iudge the former If by the former Church you meane the ancient Catholike Church for the first 500. yeeres we maintaine our reformed Church to bee the same but if by the former church you meane the now Roman Catholike faith as Bristow and the Rhemists deliver Bristow mot 12. in marg Rhem in Annot in Rom. 1 8. that the Romane and Catholike Church be all one then we reiect and abhorre that Synagogue of Sathan wherein Ziim and Iim the Ostrich and Vulture and Schritchowle doe remaine And by many more degrees then Papistes prefer the Pope before the Emperour wee preferre the Reformed Churches which doe mainetaine the ancient Catholike Apostolike faith reformed from errors superstitions and heresies stealing in by the degrees of time and occasion into the window of the Church Mr LEECH And what did I herein good Reader but obserue the prescription of Antiquity in this behalfe Contr. Iulian Pelag. lib. 2. and namely that of S. Augustine against the Pelagian hereticks Patres oportet vt populi Christiani vestris novitatibus anteponant eisque potius eligant adhaerere quà m vobis ANSVVER Nay what did you but as Pelagian himselfe did magnifie the nature of man so strengthen the arme of flesh as if you would incite it to rebell against heaven and what did you otherwise then as hereticks of all ages who haue stoode so much vpon authorities out of some authors falsely collected that they will not be drawn no not by Scriptures to the acknoweledgemēt of their errors Such S. Austin observed the Donatists to be Aug. contra Donatist Quis autem nesciat sanctam Scripturam Canonicam tam veteris quā novi Testamēti c. where in a large discourse hee manifesteth that the Canon of Scripture is only so sure that there ought to bee no doubt or disputation thereof but for Fathers and Ancient Bishops much might be reprehended therein The cause that S. Austin in confuting the Pelagians did appoint the reading of the fathers to the people was this because the fathers formerly had delivered by strength of scripture the contrary doctrine to that heresie And yet that holy father speaking of himselfe and al the ancients before him Neque enim debeo negare saith he ad Vincentiū sicut in ipsis maioribus Aug. ad Vincentium Victorem ita multa esse in tam multis opusculis meis quae possunt iusto iudicio culpari that in him nor in any other this is a prescription of Antiquity to rely only on fathers Mr LEECH Here D. Airay distasting my refusall to stand vnto the verdict of the reformed Churches questioned with me about the rule of my faith I answered him briefly Contr. haeres cap. 1. c. See D. Field pag. 239. that I wholly followed Vincentius Lyrinensis his direction to wit Canonicall scripture and Ecclesiasticall traditiō the first being sensed by the second ANSVVER To refuse the iudgement of the ruler and to fly to a stranger is punishable in Policy to condemne and contemne your owne mother Church and to stand to the iudgement of a strange Church nay of a Synagogue a stranger from the Church is culpable in divinity It was a seasonable question to aske the rule of your faith whē it was manifest you had forsaken the faith your answer was vnsound ioining with Canonicall Scripture Ecclesiasticall tradition these be two therefore not the rule but rules whereas Canon regula must be but one Aq. lect 1. in 1. Tim. 6. Aquinas on Timothy affirming that the Doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles is called Canonicall because it is the rule Traditions wee renounce as vnworthy to be ioyned with Scripture Melch. Can. lib. 3. c. because Canus in this doeth expresly teach that whatsoever the Church of Rome practiseth and hath not warrant from Scripture the same things and the practise of them shee hath received by Tradition which Popish traditions we abhorre to supply scripture with as knowing that the Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation and also affirme that the most certaine rule of interpretation is by comparing Scripture with Scripture Vincentius Lerinensis is not for you he alloweth nothing barely vpon Tradition For by all the passages of his booke he doth plainely teach that no Traditiō is to be received but that which is consonant vnto Scripture such as S. Austin delivereth Quod vniversa tenet Ecclesia Lib. 4. contra Don. cap. 23. such as the whole Church hath doth hold agreeing to the Canon of the revealed word And from famous D. Field that powerfull hammer of all Heretikes that claime tenure in the Church you cā produce nothing to helpe your cause either in that page or in his whole booke Neither is Tradition to sense or expound the Scripture as you say This is your third interpreter first you appealed to the Church then to the Fathers now to Traditions the next appeale must bee to the Pope or else you will be cashierd Mr LEECH This rule he called Popish exclaiming against it as the very ground of Popery and superstition Wherevpon I desired him for my better instruction to giue a rule of faith more certaine infallible then this which be brāded with such disgracefull imputation ANSVVER Popish it is without all gainsaying For howsoever we reiect not all Traditions as first D. Field in his 4 booke of the Church the number and names of the Authors of Canonicall Scripture secondly the cheefe heades of Christian doctrine as delivered in the Creed of the Apostles Thirdly the religion purely collected out of Scripture delivered to succeeding ages fourthly the continuall practise of the Primitiue Church though not expresly commaunded but necessarily contained in Scripture and lastly Traditions of order not of faith such as are our Canons and Constitutions agreeing to the ancient and grounded on S. Paules speech Let all things be done in order I say we reiect not these though Waldensis in his time complained Waldens tom 3. tit 7. cap. 63. that the necessary Traditions of the Church were so confounded that they could hardly be discerned from the rest The points that we deny bee these first Scripture needeth not the Adiectiue help of Traditions it is a most sufficient rule and containeth all things necessary to salvation Secondly wee abhorre the comparison of these two and much more the preferring of tradition before Scripture as Hosius Baronius Symancha and others professe some affirming Hosius contr Petric c. 92. Baron an 33. nu 11. Sym. instit tit 24. n. 40. that all Scripture came to vs by Tradition therefore Tradition more worth others that Scripture needeth help from Traditions but Traditions neede no assistance from Scripture And therefore if you
Biell in their distinction of faith they hold that it is either fides infusa inspirata an infused faith wrought in vs by the inlightning spirit of God and resting it selfe vpon the truth of God or else it is acquisita suasa a naturall faith grounding it selfe vpon humane authority and wrought by humane motions and persuasions The faith wee haue of the points in Scripture is of the former and better kind not relying on the testimony of the Church whose authority is but a created thing from the first verity as a Prin. fid doct lib. 8. Stapleton confesseth when as the first verity enforceth the minde without further autority to yeeld obedience As also Scripture is that b Rom. 1.16 power cōmanding that c Eph. 6.17 sword dividing that d Ier. 23.27 hammer driving in that e 2. Cor. 10. Pyoner powerfull to overthrow strong holds and to cast downe every high thing therefore onely the authority of the Scripture is to be relied vpon because our faith would reele and totter and fall if the authority of Scriptures stand not fast O then submit your selfe to the censure of Scripture whose maiestie is ineffable whose decree inevitable which rightly looked into with the eye of humility harkned vnto with the eare of attention and vnderstood with the hart of faith wil be the certaine rule authority testimony only to be relied on the piller of truth and Schoole of goodnesse Mr LEECH his Title A TRIVMPH OF TRVTH ANSVVERE A Triumph and why c Ludov. Vives in praefatio ad libros Aug. de civit Dei Honorius the Emperor had a fighting Cocke called Rome wherevpon Vives recordes that when the Goathes surprised Rome the Citty news was brought that Rome was lost the Emperour thought it was his Cocke not his Cittie Your Triumph and his Cocke may go togither d A booke in folio vpō the 4. Gospels Iohannes de la Hay the Jesuit hath lately robd you of the Title his great volume being intituled Triumphus Veritatis and surelie he had some semblance for it for his volume seemed to bee a vessell of good lading though it haue nothing in it but stubble and hay But you to giue your boate of so small burden the Title of a man of warre sure your title is too big your booke is too little It is A Triumph got by flying or a triumph got without fighting Let the Pharisee bee the Herauld of his owne praises Pigmalion enamored with his owne devises let Narcissus do ate on his shaddow let Thersites vaunt without modesty but how much better were it for you that you had styled your booke with some humble and religious title savouring of grace not of vaine-glory But alas Religion without Truth wil be ever vnsavory and reading without iudgement ever peremptory Mr LEECH CHAP. 1. INtreating of this parcell of holy scripture I sawe the dead In a sermon at Christ-Church in Oxford 1607 Apoc. 20.12 both great and small stande before God I distinguished a fowrefolde acception or signification of great and small FIRST great and small for worldly authoritie and temporall condition SECONDLY great and small in respect of heavenly supereminency of grace and spirituall infusion THIRDLY great and small in lieu of diversity of rewards and retribution FOVRTHLY great and small in regard of contrariety and disparitie of workes and operation ANSVVER A time there shall bee when the bookes of everie mans conscience shall be laide forth a day of feare and furie when an vniversall flowde of fire shall overstreame the whole world when the heavens shall threaten the earth cast vp al creatures cry vengeance devils accuse conscience giue evidence and the whole Iurie of Saints passe verdict vpon sinners and then the secrets of all harts shall be disclosed In holy Scripture this iudgement is often mentioned but of all others Hier. that glorious Eagle S. Iohn mounting the high spheare of divinest contemplation doth most expresly by his vision and revelation manifest the declaration thereof and of all other places most pregnantly in this your text Apoc. 20.12 And I saw the dead both great and small stand before God and the bookes were opened Was there no other place to confirme an vntruth but that which shall confound all vntruth no other Scripture to iustifie you but that which shall iudge you Would you sow tares vpon that ground vpon which wheate and tares shal be distinguished Remember whence you are fallen and repent and doe the first workes or else I will come against thee saith Christ Rev. 2.5 O the eternity of that cursed time Rev. 2.5 to be spēt in wretchednesse and confusion no myriads of yeeres to free from the execution of that perpetuall iudgement An end not ending a death not dying should terrifie and amase you and make you returne seeing the dead both great and smal shall stand before God But to your distinction There is a great mistake in your fourfold acception of great and small For antiquity which you so much boast of doe all expound it otherwise a Rupert in Apoc. Rupertus by mortuos magnos and pusillos vnderstanding homines impios spiritus malignos b Anselm in Apoc. 12. c Lyra in Apoc. 12. Anselmus Lyra d Hugo in Apoc. 12. Hugo the e Gloss in Apoc. 12. ordinary glosse and many others vnderstanding by the dead great and small malos only wicked men And f Carthus in eund Carthusian intimateth so much of St Austins opinion that he vnderstandeth not by mortuos magnos and pusillos the Saints but by libros apertos Carthusians words be plaine Augustinus per libros apertos intelligit Sanctos in quibus mali poterunt legere seu videre bona quae facere debuerunt neglexerunt Austin vnderstandeth by the books that were opened the Saints in whome the wicked might see and reade the good which they ought to haue done and haue neglected How then holdes your fourfold acception if by the dead you meane the living and by the wicked you meane the Saints g Caelius Rhodog lib. 20. Rhodogine recordeth that Polemo being the spectator of a Tragoedy at Smyrna a ridiculous actor comes out vpon the stage and being to pronounce O coelum ô terra bends his hands and eies to the earth and crieth ô coelum and then lifts his eies and hands to the heaven and pronounceth ô terra Polemo condemneth his action for a soloecisme It is no lesse in you to call evill good and good evill and in the Prophet it is forewarned with a woe Whose fourfold acception this should be I knowe not If your owne I am sorry for the mistake and I confesse it is the first notice that I ever tooke of your breathing in any Schoole learning and in that I shall doe you no more iniury then h Gretzer App. 1. ad lib. 1. Bellarm. § Idem dictū pag. 558. Caietanus homo
our Christian perfection wherevnto the abdication of riches fitteth prepareth a man listening not so much to that which is lawfull as to that which is expedient avoiding riches and other things of like nature not as things vnlawfull but as impediments and hinderances vnto righteousnes ANSVVER Abdication of riches fitteth those indeede that are covetously minded for to such only these are hinderances and impediments and no other Did God grant a clogge to Salomon when he gaue him wealth Let me propose a Question Is it lawfull for all men to sell all that they haue and pursue this perfection I see no reason but they should for why in good matters should not one be as forward as another If so who should buy when all sell or giue almes or exercise deedes of liberality when they haue nothing If otherwise then this is no arbitrary counsell but a particular precept to some to whom it may doe good And howsoever that be true which S. Austin in the 61. Psalme speaketh that God doth not say Nolite habere Aust 61. Psal sed nolite cor apponere Non enim damnat divitias sed cor appositū quod scilicet non expendit sed recondit yet I say Riches are vnlawfull when they be impediments vnto righteousnesse Mr LEECH And S. Augustine in his Enchiridion ad Laurentium is of opinion that perfection of charity which is the perfection of Christian life consisteth neither in the sole performance of the actions of precepts conformable to non moechaberis nor yet in the performance of the actions of Counsells vnlesse both actions of precepts and counsells be rightly referred with relation to the ende of all the actions of precepts and Counsells which is charitas erga Deum proximum propter Deum charity toward God primarily and charity towards our neighbour for Gods sake secondarily ANSVVER This place of Austin is most forcible for our assertion and returneth vpon you vnavoidably For if all that we can doe by precepts and Counsells Deut. 6.5 Mat. 22.37 Marc. 12.30 Luk. 10.27 are referred as meanes to attaine this end to loue God aboue al c. and if this be so expresly and often commanded not only by Moses in the law but thrise by Christ in the Gospell how then can counsells outstrip precepts that by them may be performed works of supererogatiō vnlesse the meanes should exceed the ende and the middle the top S. Austin doth highly extoll our loue of God the more to exhort vs therevnto and the Schoolemen with him and out of him doe vrge the worthinesse of charitie being as they affirme bonorum principium quia à Deo bonorum medium quia secundum Deum Albert. Aquin. bonorum finis quia propter Deum and do further obserue that whereas other vertues haue bonum for their obiect and yet not for their end charity hath bonum pro fine obiecto all as Austin speaketh performed to God and all Christian offices to our neighbour for Gods sake Nostrarum haec meta viarum Mr LEECH And because the performance of the actions of precepts are in themselues absolutely necessary for atcheiving this end being such as without it the ende cannot be attained and the performance of the other of Counsells doth only secondarily tende therevnto as a help or as a removens impedimentum hence is it that schoole-divines haue this distinction or rather conclusion comprised in a distinction viz. Perfectiō of charity which is the perfection of Christian life consisteth primario essentialiter in praeceptis but secundario accidentaliter in Consilijs primarily and essentially in precepts but secondarily and accidentally in Counsells ANSVVER You come neerer and neerer to vs. If Perfection consist accidentaliter secundariò in Consilijs then Counsells are of lesse value then precepts Caietan in Th. Aq. 22 ae hoc articulo as much as the circumstance is lesse then the substance And Caietans graine of salt must season this distinction and then it may well be admitted precepts necessary to all as including the thing to be done Counsells necessary to some as prescribing secondarily and accidentally the best maner for them of fulfilling the precepts which as I haue often said bee particular to such Gers de confilijs Evang. Paludan in sent lib. 3. dist 34. q. 3. because each man is tied to the fulfilling of the law in the highest degree and best sort he can according to the talent receiued the abilitie wherewith God hath endowed him So Gerson and Paludanus the one in his tract de Consilijs Evangelicis statu perfectionis the other In Sent. lib. 3. distinct 34. q. 3. Mr LEECH Benefield his confederats in Iovinians heresy If any be so wedded to his owne private humor as not in this sense to admit of Evangelicall Counsells of perfection quoad viam and quoad gradum but that they will confound Precepts and Counsells together holding both of like necessity Counsells as well precepts so did the heretiques called Apostolici Austin haeres 40. Epiphane haeres 61. or that Counsells containe in them no kinde of perfection it is a branch of Iovinian and Vigilantius their condemned heresie Read Saint Hierom against Iovinian and S. Ambrose in the 10. booke of his Epistles the 80. and 81. Epistles Or lastly if any will hold the profession of them vnlawfull and that there be none the first crosseth many pregnant testimonies of Scriptures veritie and the second thwarteth the ioint consent of all orthodoxe Antiquitie The which Tertullian de praescriptionibus adversus haereticos Cyprian de vnitate Ecclesiae Augustine de vtilitate credendi Vincentius Lyrinensis in his Commonitoriū against all the prophane innovation of heretiques of his time make to be the very square of propheticall and Apostolicall interpretation drawne along by the line of the Church ANSVVER Wee admit of Evangelicall Counsells in the same sense that the Fathers did not as transcending the strict meaning of the law That famous and ancient Chancelor of Paris did sufficiently taxe the errour of those that vnderstand not the Fathers in this point for according to his iudgement Counsells precepts be coincident and yet neither that famous Gerson nor wee doe maintaine any heresy herein Our Tenet is this we deny not but there may be a verball distinction of precepts and Counsells as that thrise worthy Austin of our age the Deane of Winchester doth grāt D. Morton in his appeal lib. 5. c. 4. sect 3. num 11. but we abhorre and detest the maintaining of them as the workmen of Babell vphold them Wee holde that they transcend not the strict meaning of the law nor haue heate enough to hatch the addle egges of workes of supererogation which are of a later brood but we maintaine against the gates of Rome and the strength of hell that Counsells tie not all but those only who are better enabled with guifts then others or tied by their vocation to
done the like you had never rambled on such a Collection as this to say Christ had erroneously taught him the way to life by vade vende omnia if this bee not a Counsell of voluntary poverty Your sequell is out of ioint and absurd rather Christ would haue never applied this plaister if he looking through the windowes of this young mans soule into his inward most retired roome had not found covetousnes to be his hinderance and encombrance And this proveth it selfe in the Text for he went away sorrowfully I cannot but note the malice and virulent dealing of your ignorant contradicting spirit traducing Calvine for a blasphemous interpreter who taught no more then he learned of the Fathers and if among those that did interpret Scripture since the fathers time any one is worthy to be accounted fidus interpres Horat. Art Poet. for his soūdnesse and profoundnesse blessed Calvin is who was as Eramsus wrot of Tonstall a world of learning Eras epist 84. Claud. Verderius conscio in Autores pag. 174. and as Theodorus Gaza testified of Plutarch that if any mā were so limited that he could only read one humane authors bookes he would read Plutarch so many renowned Divines next vnto sacred Scripture haue of all other authors choisly and cheefly selected this holy servant of God So that in this Paragraph you blaspheme God iniure truth accuse your knowledge and abuse your conscience Mr LEECH Lastly I would but demand what S. Paule meant 2. Cor. 7.25 Vid. Damas dict Gnomi in Indice to distinguish plainely betwixt Precepts Coūsells thus praeceptum non habeo consilium do for so the vulgar readeth which all the latine Church followeth and all the Greeke Fathers haue so taken it if there be no Counsells For he groundeth this his distinction vpon his Masters wordes Non omnes capiunt and therefore S. Paul had no precept But qui potest capere capiat And hence floweth the second branch consilium do as S. Hierom S. Basill and divers others of both Churches doe obserue ANSVVER Discourses that grow tedious are odious and such is this your frequent and too often querulous quaere The distinction in S. Paule is betweene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 betweene a precept and sentence no word signifying Counsell in that place I haue already shewed how Antoninus maketh S. Dominick the Author of Evangelicall Counsells Anton. parte 3. vt ante and S. Paul the teacher of faith and the law and yet you produce S. Paul as a speciall bullwark for your Counsel house Many Fathers haue I confesse read that Text so but the originall ministreth no such interpretation nor doe the Fathers themselues otherwise hence ground but that qui potest being enabled is qui debet hee that is commanded You and Coccius teach the Fathers to speak very preposterously Beware of the Fathers curse or rather of Gods curse seeing you call them to beare false witnesse against the Law Gospell and God himselfe Mr LEECH And that this point may be every way full and perfit builded vpon so many seuerall rockes as there bee seuerall places of Scriptures let the Doctors of the Church speake Vincentius Lyrin in cōmonitorio being the most probable Maisters and teachers in the Church against quot capita tot sensus the very bane of all religion mother of innovatiō let the church interpret Scripture and hee that will not heare the Church you know what followeth 2. Pet. 1. vlt. sit tibi tanquam haereticus Nay sit tibi tanquam ethnicus For as it is said of the letter of the scripture that it is not of any private inspiration For it came not in old time by the will of man but holy men spake as they were moved by the holy Ghost Serm. 17. in Cantic So may it be as truely saide of the sense of the Scripture that it is not of any priuat spirits interpretation And the reason why every man should flie from a private spirits interpretation A sentence that striketh the Religion in England as dead as a dore naile is this as it is excellentlie rendred by that mellifluous Father S Bernard Nonnulli adesse putant spiritum cùm non adest suúmque sensum pro sensu spiritus sequuntur deviantes suásque sententias magistrorum sententijs praeferūt that is for I cānot but translate it many men thinke that they haue the spirit of God when they haue it not erroneouslie following the sense of their owne private spirits for the meaning of the holy Ghost preferring their owne private opinions before the publique iudgements of their masters and teachers ANSVVER You haue suffered shipwracke vpon your rockes They be severall indeed Psal for they are severed far from you which is manifest in that you rocke to and fro in your preposterous building like a tottering wall or like a broken hedge You call for advocates the Doctors of the Church Num. 23.38 and fetch them in as Balaac did Balaam but they answer as there hee did but with a more holy spirit We are come vnto thee and can we nowe say any thing at all The worde that God hath put in our mouthes that shall we speake But if this helpe you not you call the Church to testifie with you To the church we leaue as much as the spowse hath made her iointer in the interpretation of Scripture by the Church Tertull. libro de praescrip haereticorum that of Tertullian is to be remembred who warneth of some Qui non ad materiam Scripturas sed materiam ad Scriptur as excogitant and thereby run into one of those two miseries which S. Austin observeth Aust Comm. Faustum lib. 22. cap. 32. Caiet in praef Com. in lib. Mosis aut falli imprudenter aut fallere impudenter you say the Fathers of the Church are for you yet Caietā beleeveth that God hath not tyed the exposition of the Scriptures to the senses of the Fathers And if the Fathers serue not you saie let the Church interpret Scripture We distinguish the Church from the Synagogue of Antichrist and seeing wee hold that Scriptures must tell which is the Church wee must deny that the Church must tell vs the sense of Scripture Gerson doth disclaime the iudgement of Pope Gerson de exam doct part 1. cō 5. Councell or Church cōcerning interpretation of Scriptures and trial of doctrine when hee delivereth that the examination of doctrine concerning faith belongeth not to the Councell or Pope but to every one that is sufficiently learned in Scriptures Cus Ep. 2. pag. 833. And Cusanus cannot deny but that by the iudgement of the Church the Scripture is fitted to the time and the sense altered as the time altereth We make the spirit of God speaking in Scripture to be iudge of the Scripture and Act. 17.17 as the men of Berea sought the Scripture to approue the
should be ready to cast a stone the stone which I cast against superogatiō is no other thē that which S. Iohn cast against it who giveth the lie to him that saith he hath no sin Bell. de Mon. lib. 2. c. 13. And Bellarmine is constrained to cōfesse that S. Austin Bernard and Thomas doe thinke it impossible to keep that Commandement Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy soule and with all thy minde Mr LEECH These are wiser fuller of zeale then Christ himself who suffred nay gaue commandement as it is in the parable that both tares and wheat should grow together vntill the harvest of the last iudgement and then shoulde the tares and weeds be bound vp in bundles fitted for the fire and the wheate should be gathered into his barne For at the last iudgement Sermo 3. de le iunio collectis 1. Cor. 3.12.13 there are some things vrenda flammis other things condenda horreis as S. Leo speaketh And doth not S. Paul allude to this Whose words be if any man build vpon Christ the foundation gold silver precious stones timber hay stubble every mans worke shal be made manifest for the day shal declare it because it shal be revealed by the fire and the fire shall try every mans workes of what sort they are To which fire let this Doctrine be reserved to stand or fall to burne as stubble hay timber or rather to escape as gould silver and precious stones ANSVVERE True zeale is the true seale of a Christian If you had any sparke therof I would wish as Porsenna did to Scaevola concerning his Country Lavater Iuberem macte virtute esse si pro mea patria virtus ista staret So I for true Religion Iobs friends had a bad cause but handled it well Iob had a good cause but maintained it ill neither ability of the cause nor dexterity of the handling haue assisted you The multiplicious abuse of Scripture in your text is frequēt that as the Prophet spake of aslying book so may al of your lying book You wold by intimation of that Scripture in the Parable of the Tares desire that as the tares are suffred to growe Mat. 13.30 so your doctrine may remaine vncēsured till the iudgement It is well that you acknowledge your doctrine to be like the Tares Fearefull will that iudgement be at that vniversall Sessions where Christ will be iudge the Saints the Iury when you are accused with those words of the Parable Master sowedst not thou good seed in thy field whence thē are these tares In that Parable of Christ as the streame of interpretation doth carry it is meant that by the evill seed mixt with the good the Church shall never be free from some wicked that it is impossible to roote them finally out for if wee wish to avoide these so fully as the godly could wish wee must goe out of the world as the Apostle speaketh So that of lewd persons not of hereticall positions that place is to be vnderstoode for Christ doth threaten the Churches in the Revelation for connivencie of false doctrine Laodicaea Rev. 2.3 chap for beeing neither hot nor cold Rev. 2.14 Rev. 2.20 Gal. Pergamus for maintaining the doctrine of Balaā Thyatira for suffring Iesabell to teach and deceiue his servants The Church of Galatia is reproved for that they suffered the Copartnership of Iewish Ceremonies when they were established in the Gospell of Christ and shall Religion the truest bond betwixt man and man the knot of coniunction and consociation In Dion Cass shall it bee divided Shall Maecenas wish Augustus to hate and correct any that change any thing in the service of the Gods Ioseph cont ap 2. Shall the Athenians enact that they that spake of their God otherwise then the law appointed should be severely punished And shall we so much neglect the attonement of iudgements and peace of soules as to suffer blending of doctrines not only leaven in our Lumpe but poison in our bread Far be it frō vs and from our seed for ever Let it be the brand not only of a luke-warme affection and of a Policie overpolitique but of Machiavillians and matchlesse villaines to call for connivency of hereticall positions From hel it came to hell it must returne againe We cannot chuse but suffer the Tares of iniquitie to grow vp but we will endeavour pro aris focis to eradicat the Tares of heresie Your second place of Scripture out of S. Paule A chardgeable Appeale is very fit for your purpose and the words in the next present verse as fit for mine 1. Cor. 3.11 Let every man take heed how he buildeth the later of those verses shall bee my praier for you that though your worke burne at that day and you loose yet you may be saved In the meane time Scripture hath disapproved you and the fathers haue refused you Mr LEECH Now to God only wise be rendred praise power might maiestie rule dominion and thanksgiving and let al the creatures in heavē in earth or vnder the earth say so be it Amen ANSVVER Vnto that supreame iudge Rev. 22.13 and to the last iudgment be this referred and vnto the everliving God who is in himselfe α ω in Angelis sapor et decor Aust in iustis adiutor protector in reprobis pavor et horror be ascribed the admiration of his Maiesty the acknowledgment of his mercy the awful remembrance of his power the ioyfull continuance of his favor And Hallelu-iah Rev. 19.1.2 Salvation and glory and honor and power be to the Lord our God for true and righteous are his iudgements for he hath condemned that great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornications Amen Hallelu-iah CHAP. 8. Mr LEECH THus gentle Reader thou hast seene my maine defence of this doctrine wherein I haue followed the mature advise of the Philosopher and Oratour For I thought it not sufficient to confirme truth in the former part of this sermon vnlesse I confuted falshood also in the later And this I did for establishing thee if thou be in the right or reducing thee vnto it if thou hast been in the wrong ANSVVER THus Gentle Reader thou hast seen the meane defence of this doctrine wherein whether the author as he professeth hath followed the advise of the Philosopher or Orator iudge by the contradictions misapplications falsifications in the sermon Can Oratory or Philosophy be obtained without Grammar or cannot a Grammarian distinguish between Concilium Consilium the one comming originally à conciendo Calepin id est convocando the other derived from Consileo eo quòd vno consulente caeteri consileant It was a most probable tryall of the Ephraimits in shibboleth Iudg. 12.6 and sibboleth the mistaking cost the death of the body It was a laudable triall betweene the Coūsell of Nice and
that you wil deeply answere this vnlesse you staine your cheekes with the blushes of recantatiō sende over the forme of your penance without the secret glosses of double and reserved senses Did some in over much charity petitionat for your pardon from the heavy burden of censure do you traduce their innocency so far as to accuse thē for connivency nay for authorizing your doctrine You shall pardon me for crediting this any more thē that of Doctor Kilby of whom in your first booke and 8. chapter you report that hee contested with Doctor Hutton for the truth of the Doctrine and that you might answer it with credit whose reverend protestation against that speech and against your opinion against this subscription into which you entitled him is forcible and suasible and availeable with any honest hart to measure this speech by that and to assure all that here you traduce others as there him Mr LEECH But I pray you Sir to be advertised by me that I neuer made vse of their letters one reason whereof meeteth with your obiection For as I assumed this doctrine from the holy Scriptures and ancient Fathers so I determined to maintaine it vpon these grounds without any assistance and much lesse was I set on by anie of them ANSVVER This is a firme confirmation of my former opinion Would not you haue vsed those letters and produced thē if you had any such You that ransackt al the inventories and catalogues you could to muster vp testimonies your modesty so to modifie your cause as not to vrge vivum testimonium the living witnesses of your assertiō Absit far be it but that al here should hate falshoode more then death and bee so faithfull Clients of truth as not to yeeld an eare much lesse a hand or hart to any startling opposer Obiect as oft as you will that you vsed not these letters because you relyed on Scriptures and Fathers yet if you had had but the least manuall or oral assistance you would haue produced it and traduced the Authors whosoever Mr LEECH And that you may know vpon what authority I first began and do now proceede here are the Doctours 24. in number 12. Greeke 12. Latine who set me on here are their testimonies produce their bookes conuince me if you can ANSVVER And that you may know that there bee ashes scattered to descry your footing it is manifest that as in your sermon you gleaned frō Bellarmine very much so in your proofes you haue borrowed from Coecius much more the Quotations that you cite in the same order found in him as in you But as Bellarmine in the point of Purgatory professing to proue it by 10. places in the old Testamēt 9. in the New to make for it is afterwards cōstrained to cōfesse that there is no direct place in Scripture For being in the last Chap. 1. booke of Purgatory vrged by the argument of Peter Martyr and others that Purgatory is foūd in no place of Scripture therefore no matter of faith answereth Non est necesse vt Scriptura vbique omnia dicat Bellar. c. vlt. lib. 1. de Purg. And againe Talia enim ad Apostolicam traditionem sunt referenda So some of your Fathers haue not so much as the word Counsaile others that vse it doe either in the same wordes or in other places as I haue shewed distinguish the generall from the special precept by the name of Counsell that whereas some Challendge their Iury your Iury doeth challendge you of rash indiscretion and false information Mr LEECH Whereat his courage began to abate and first he excepted against me for producing the Greeke in whose language said he you haue but slender skill ANSVVER His purposes be so deliberate and resolution so firme that your paper gun could not abate his courage as you falsely enforme your leane-heart-fretting envie fatting it selfe with contumelious scornes You were questioned with twise whether you vnderstoode the Greeke first your answer was affirmatiue being pressed againe you confes you vnderstood it only by the translation It was replied by the Vicechancelour that if the translation erred then you did partake in that error instance given in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so much mistaken in the vulgar to this you did nor could answer a word You were not able to vnderstand the Greeke fathers and in retaliation none of the Greeke fathers will afford you one word of Counsell Mr LEECH To which malitious and impertinent exception I answered first that it was sufficient for me to rely vpon the translations approved commonly in the Church Secondly that I had so much skil in Greek as to compare the translation with the originall and that none there was so exact as to vnderstand some Greeke fathers and namely S. Gregory Nazianzen in their natiue idiome Thirdly that if I had no Greeke Author on my side yet here is a sufficient Iury of Latine Fathers whose language I vnderstand and whose conspiring tenent I hope you dare not renounce ANSVVER A Scandalous and vnreuerent Phrase Was it malitious and impertinent to aske whether you vnderstood the Greeke whē you dosend vp the greek fathers as if they had been pickled herrings yet vnderstood them only by the vse of an interpreter That you answer first it was sufficient for you to relie vpon translations I say in point of controversie it is not so S. Hierome did practise and did Counsell the contrarie Hier. Epist ad Suniam Fret tom 3. Aug. de Doc. Christ lib. 2. c. 11. Theol. Lov. Praef. lib. var. lect in lat Bib. edit vulg and S. Austin giveth the same rule in his booke de Doctrina Christiana The Divines of Lovaine approue the same Villavincentius doth prescribe it as most necessary In differences or doubts or cōtroversies to repaire to the Hebrew for the old Testament and to the Greeke for the new Secondly in that you affirme that you haue so much knowledge in Greeke as to compare the Translation with the originall and that none there were so exact as to vnderstād some greek father c. both parts be faulty He that is able to cōpare the translation must carry in his head a Lexicon you haue the roome but you lack this furniture It is the labour of a wel read throughly grounded Grecian And that any father should be so hard to bee interpreted that it were difficulty to finde out in this choice company one able to translate him it is a calumnie to the ancient Fathers and to these reverend Doctors the former writing elegantly these able to translate thē faithfully Your third hath cut off the third part but halfe your army of Fathers you are driven out of Greece and as the Greeke Fathers knew you not so the Latine Fathers as is plentifully proved assist you not Mr LEECH Doctour Aglionbee being thus pressed by me having nothing to answere in his defence D. King interposed himselfe obiecting
beene over luxuriant in commending virginity and condemning matrimony your own men had not so censured him as they do Gregory Nazianzene his speech concerning Basill no doubt is as true of many thousād Protestāts who haue bridled the appetites and lusts of the flesh and haue subdued themselues to the obedience of Gods spirit And howsoever Antiquity haue commended the restraint of lawfull thinges to vs yet in this they ever taught that lawfull things when they are hurtfull to vs are vnlawfull we are bound to avoide al things that are hinderances to Gods service Cōtinue your virulency and acrimony of speech against Luther let his works and studies testifie whether hee were of so delicate a spirit as you affirme and if by his carnall sectaries you meane Protestants read our D. Downham Mr Rogers Mr Greenham nay Luther himselfe and see whether we maintaine not that a Christian is bound to watch and pray fast thē consider whether we teach a single faith or no for as wee teach that faith only must iustifie vs so also wee declare that workes must iustifie our faith and continually we preach the excellency and necessity of good works If you lacked Chastisement you might haue complained and beene supplyed fasting I doubt not but you were practised in you were put out of Commons for whipping the Monkes exercise though it sort better that you haue it abroad then at home yet that should not haue been wanting to you if you had acquainted your friends Seriously I answere that Protestants are not lulled a sleepe in the cradle of security How many sighes do many send vp to heaven for their sins what straines of compūction what streames of contrition flow from the limbecke of many of their souls And yet this only serveth not For if this had beene the only way to happines thē had the Pharisies by violence obtained heavē The holinesse of their carriage continuance at devotiō avoidance of all meanes of polution their yeerely tithing monthly almes weekely fastings dayly whippings howrely praiers had holp them But of al such God asketh Who required these things at your hands nay who counselled any man to do this but only such as require will-worship Al these waies in the ballance of the sanctuary appeare to be but hay and stubble straw To this the way hath not led the guides not directed the teachers not informed For performing of this the true Saints haue not beene registred in this the true church hath never bin practised Wherfore my fourth confirmation is to sticke to the vnity of that happy Church which hath so worthily cleared it selfe from these visards of perfection and ragges of superstition Mr LEECH The fift Motiue The Protestants corrupt the holy scripture in defence of their opinions THe proper meanes designed by God to convince Heresie are two to wit sacred scripture and Ecclesiasticall Tradition Now because Heretiques are clearely refuted by the second therefore they fly only vnto the first which they depraue and mangle according to the liberty of their spirits And this they performe partlie in their translations and partly in their interpretation thereof Though many examples might be afforded in this kind yet I need not seeke after further proofe then this present busines doth afford whereof I now intreate For whereas the words of our Saviour are easie and plaine all men do not receiue this saying as though there were such an impossibility therein that the freedome of will concurring with the grace of God could not subdue the inclinations of corrupt nature Tom. 7. in ep ad Wolfgang Hence Luther the slaue of his affections saith that the propension of fervent nature in MAN towardes a WOMAN is so created by God in his body that it cānot be extinct by any vowes and therefore he that resolveth to liue without a WOMAN must leaue the name of a MAN and make himselfe to be plainly an Angell or spirit For it is by no meanes granted vnto him by God so that it is aboue his strength to containe himselfe from a woman And this is by the compulsiue word of God willing and commanding the same Wherefore the Counsaile of virginity is intollerable with them that conceiue such an impossibility to fulfill it To increase Tom. 5. serm de matrimon and multiply it is not a precept saith Luther but it is more then a precept it is implanted nature it is as necessary as meate and drinke It is no more in the power of Man to liue without a womā then to be a woman and no man In vaine then doth our Saviour giue his advise and S. Paul his Counsaile For in Luthers gospell it is more then a precept to avoide virginity And yet my Iudges not admitting it to be a Counsaile could not deny it to be a precept Which yet if it be so why doe they then make lesse conscience to fulfill a Precept then Catholiques do to follow a Counsaile For the neglect of the first is a sin but it is not so in the second vnlesse we tie our selues vnto it by a voluntary vow being not constrained therevnto by a necessary command ANSVVER THe proper meanes appointed by God to confute all sprouting Heresie is Scripture which because it is so powerfull against Popery therefore Papists doe disclaime it and with the most contemptuous Phrases brand that testimony that hath marked them with the stamp of heresie Tearming it a nose of waxe as Peresius blasphemously doth Peres de Tradit praef Pighius con◠3. Eckius Enchr c. 1. prop. 4. or dead inke a dumb iudge as Pighius and besides many other titles of disgrace Eckius affirmeth that God never cōmanded his Apostles to write any Scripture Thus they vilifie the word to magnifie tradition which tradition we acknowledge not for with Mary wee haue chosen the better part and doe assure our selues that there is no means so absolute as scripture to cōvince Heretikes which meanes you would take from vs by laying to our charge false translations and corrupt interpretations Concerning false Translations much might be spoken conferring yours with the Originall how many hundred differences wil be foūd how many Additions Detractions Falsifications Depravations Lyndan de opt gen Interpret l. 3. c. 1. 2. 4. 6. and intolerable Barbarismes be in the vulgar Lindanus hath confessed who acknowledgeth that there be monstrous corruptions of all sorts in it scarse one booke of Scripture that is vndefiled and so haue Bannes and Sixtus Senensis and others accused it And I desire but this resolution of any learned Papist that seeing the Councell of Trent hath approved commanded the vse of the vulgar translation affixing a Bull before it and Sixtus Quintus hath afterwards commanded only his translation to stand in force shewing many errors in the vulgar therefore hath prefixed his Bull before it after him Clemens Octavus finding manifold corruptiōs in the Bible of his Predecessor caused it againe to