Scriptures which neglected they shall grope like one blinde in the darke and saile in a wide Sea without either North-Starre or Compasse Another Caution ought to bee that though the authority and consent of the Fathers in the Truth doe much confirme and comfort yet Faith is onely to bee builded upon the Apostolicall and Propheticall Scriptures as a foundation most firme For the Scripture as the only Queene and Empresse as Luther is used to say ought to have the soveraigne Command The third Caution is that in reading the Fathers wee doe not imitate those flatterers of â—ionisius Siculu who licking up the Tyrants spittle affirmed it to bee sweeter than Nectar To these I may liken such as without any exception embrace and magnifie indifferently all the Writings and Sayings of the Fathers These are the points about which at this day we combat the Iesuites the stoutest Champions the Pope hath and not as they labour to perswade the vulgar about the Fathers themselves or reverent Antiquity as if wee did plainely reiect them and after the Athenian manner were delighted with the novelties of Newes-tellers For first wee recall them to true Antiquity which is to be derived from the ancient of dayes and his revelations that so wee may refuse and condemne as new whatsoever Christ hath not taught us as Saint Ambrose adviseth us lib. 1. Officior Next wee distinguish betweene the ages of the Church and betweene Father and Father and demonstrate in one and the same Father what is authenticall what erroneous irreptitious and inserted by the Monkes Moreover when wee enquire after the Church we doe not seeke the degenerate and adulterate but the chast and holy Spouse of Christ And why may not wee say the same of the Roman Church at this day that Cicero in his Oration for his house said of the Roman people An tu populum Romanum esse putas qui constat ex iis qui mercede conducuntur qui impelluntur ut vim adferant magistrastibus optant quotidiè praecipiti furore caedem incendia rapinas O speciem dignitatis populi Romani quam scilicet reges quam nationes ex terrae quam gentes ultimae pertimescunt Dost thou thinke saith hee that to be the people of Rome which consisteth of those that are mercenary who are ready to offer violence to Magistrates that desire daily with a desperate fury fire rapes and slaughter Othe goodly dignity of the Roman people whom Kings forreigne Nations and the most remote inhabitants of the earth doe feare Wee doe indeed much esteeme that Roman Church whose faith is preached through the whole world we likewise reverence those Fathers and Bishops which are not commended to us by the onely authority and Canonization of Popes but by their owne purity of Doctrine Innocency of life and constancy in Martyrdome But it is well the Iesuits so distrust their owne cause that they dare not stand to the decision of the sacred Scriptures nor of the Fathers themselves except they bee mutilated and altered according to their will and deformed with many suppositious bookes Their Impudency this way clearely appeareth in their Index Expurgatorius not long since here published out of all which wee may easily collect that they retaine neither shame faith nor conscience nor any thing authenticke either in the Scriptures or Fathers but onely what is appropriated to their superstition and will-worship of Images Now most loving Auditors because it is much materiall to the Students in Divinity though all have not the meanes and faculty of reading the Fathers at least to know what is to be iudged and determined of them in generall and which were the most famous Fathers and Scholasticall Authors as also with what iudgment choyce they are to be read I thinke it wil neither be a service unacceptable nor unprofitable if in the end of these dogge-dayes and before the Mart now at hand I instruct you in the premises and contract the whole matter into as it were a Synopsis or abridgement Errata Page 2. line 3. read itâ—â— p. 5. l. 4. r. literaâ— p. 8. l. 8. r. Academicorum p. 11. l. penuâ—â— r. â—â—lle p. 14. l. 1. r. Canon law p. 19. l. 13. r. A Doctrina p. 23. l. 13 r. Constantinople p. 24. l. 11. f. preiudice r. produce p. 27. l. 14. r. quantum p. 70 l. 12. r. Lazarum p. 71. l. 10. r. Masse p. 77. l. 2. r. taught p. 67. l. 7. r. Nestorius p. 71. l. 3. f. shall r. doth p. 72. l. 19. r. it is told uâ— p. 74. r. French p. 76. l. penult f. upon Bookes r. upon the sacred Writ A SYNOPSIS OR COMPENDIVM of the Fathers or of the most Famous and Ancient Doctors of the Church as also of the Schoole-men Generall Aphorismes containing certaine Rules by which we may judge in reading of the Fathers of their true Antiquity and Purity together with the Solutions of some Objections Aphorisme 1. THat true Antiquity is to bee sought after and magnified is the Common Tenent of all Pious People 2. For it is manifest that the Christian Religion is the most Ancient as deriving it Testimonies from the very beginning of the world 3. But this is not to be esteemed true Antiquity to understand Quid hic aut ille ante nos fecerit aut docuerit sed quid is qui ante omnes est Christus et qui solus via est veritas et vita à cujus praeceptis nullo modo recedendum est What this or that man did or taught before us but what he did who was before all even Christ himselfe who onely is the Way the Truth and the Life from whose Precepts wee ought not to digresse as saith Saint Cyprian ad Caecil lib. 2. epist 3. 4. Omnis quippe Antiquitas ct consuctudo sine veritate nihil aliud nisi Errâ—ris vetustas censenda est So that all Antiquity and Custome not grounded on the Truth is to bee accounted no other than an Ancient Errour as the same Saint Cyprian piously writeth to Pomp. against the Epistle of Stephanus 5. But the Ancient Truth God taught us by his Prophets and Apostles who though in condition they were men and indeed sinners yet in Doctrine which was revealed to them supernaturally by the holy Ghost not by the will of man wee know them rightly to bee fellow-Witneffes Ephes 2. 20. 2 Pet. 1. 20. 6. The Perfection of the Scriptures is easily proved by these two Arguments First That they are sufficient to instruct in those things that belong to salvation and to the full knowledge of the Truth Iohn 5. 39. Iohn 20. 30. 2 Tim. 3. 15 16. Secondly Because in Temptations Faith onely finds rest in the Testimonies of the sacred Scriptures having alwayes for its Object the Word of God revealed by the Prophets and Apostles which cannot bee said of any other Writings or Bookes whatsoever 7. To recall us therefore from the manifest Testimonies of the Scriptures to the Writings of
of Patience of Mortality of the lapsed also against Demetrianus and the Iewes scarce anything of Saint Cyprian is left us although I cannot deny some other Sermons are inserted The explication of the Creed is rather made by Ruffinus than Saint Cyprian The Treatise of the Lords Supper seemes also to have another Author After the Frobenian and Lugdunensian Edition his workes were printed and revised by Turnebus at Paris and after that at Colen with an addition of some fragments Hee confuted Novatus the Hereticke whom in his Epistles hee stiles an importunate Innovatâ—r and a murtherer of penitence The staines of Saint Cyprian were that hee contended too obstinately that they were to be re-baptized who were baptized by Heretickes or who leaving Heresie repented Although the Affrican Councell assented to him yet Stephanus a Roman Bishop opposed him Saint Augustine lib. 2. contra Crescon Grammat saith thus Nos nullam Cypriano facimus iniuriam cum eius quaslibet literas a Canonica Divinarum Scripturarum anthoritate distinguimus Non teneor authoritate Epistolae Cypriani ad Iubaianum et cum eius pace quod cum Scripturis non convenit respuo Wee doe no wrong to Cyprian if we distinguish any of his letters from the Canonicall Authority of the Divine Scriptures I am not tyed to the authority of Cyprians letter to Iubaianus and by his leave I refuse that which agrees not with the Scriptures Saint Cyprian also in his Epistles over-carefully and superstitiously urgeth water to be mixed with wine in the Administration of the Lords Supper because water and blood flowed from the side of Christ Also Epist 8. lib. 3. hee affirmes Infantes statim esse baptizandos ne pereant quòd eis misericordia non sit deneganda That Infants must forthwith be baptized lest they perish because mercy is not to be denied them Where hee seemes to confine mercy to the Signes Anno 260. Gregorius Neocaesariensis the Disciple of Origen a learned and pious man confuted Samosatenus of whose workes there is nothing extant save a confession of his in the Councell of Antioch against Samosatenus To these times may be referred Arnobius an Affrican of whose composing eight bookes are extant against the Gentiles as also his Commentaries on the Psalmes but they are very briefe and falsified by the Monkes About the yeare after Christ 317. flourished Lactantius Firmianus in the beginning of the reigne of Constantine the great to whom hee dedicated his bookes of Divine Institutions against the Gentiles Hee lived at Nicodemia and excelled in Elegancy and lustre of Language all the Writers of the Church But hee seemed little to understand the proper Doctrine of the Gospell concerning the Benefits of Christ and of Faith For hee expresly writeth that Christ was therefore sent that by his Word and Example hee might invite us to vertue and suffered onely to be a president of Patience And when in his 5. and 6. booke hee expresly and of purpose handles the point of Christian Justice he onely disputes of the Justice of the Law and mentions very sparingly the Justification by Faith But the first part of his Institutions which taxeth the heathenish Idolatries and Philosophicall opinions of God and the Chiefe Good as also his booke of the Workemanship of God in the structure of man may be read with great profit and pleasure The Fathers in the time of the Nicene Councell which was held anno Christi 330. whose Writings are extant Athanasius although in the time of the Councell he were not a Bishop yet was he alwayes a faithfull assistant of Alexander the Bishop of Alexandria whom hee afterward succeeded and deservedly obtaines the first place amongst the Fathers of that time For although hee were exposed to innumerable Calumnies yet with an incredible constancy he frustrated all the endevours of his adversaries and is stiled the Bulwark of Faith in the Ecclesiastical History neither was there any other cause that more whetted the bitter hatred of the Arians against him as saith Theodoret lib. 1. hist than that they perceived the sharpnesse of his wit and industry in confuting of Heretickes in the Nicene Councell His Creed or his explication of the Apostolical Creed is in the Church among other Creeds received There are yet some of his most grave and excellent Treatises extant at Basill set forth heretofore by the Frobenii and Episcopii but more lately at Paris by Nivellius Petrus Nannius an eloquent man being his Interpretour as an oration against Idols of the Incarnation of the Word an Epistle against Heretickes to Epictetus Bishop of Corinth an Exposition of Faith foure Orations against the Arians a double Apology for his flight against the Calumnies of the Arians of divers questions of the Scripture to Antiochus and many others of the same Argument which our Divines usually object against the Neorians and Vbiquitarians The life of S. Anthony the Abbot is father'd on him but there are in it many things fabulous which savour not of the gravity and simplicity of S. Athanasius Most true it is that both S. Athanasius and those ancient Fathers were too fervent in commending the signe of the Crosse and the miracles wrought by that signe and by Martyrs thinking by this meanes to authorize the Evangelicall Doctrine While wee give these cautions touching the blemishes of the Fathers we are not lyable to that censure which the Papists lay upon us derived from the Authority of the same Father who in his first Oration complaines that the Arians accused the Fathers for he speakes not there of all the writings of the Fathers but of the Nicene Creed gathered out of the Scriptures by the Fathers of that Councell to confute the Arians For hee there diligently admonisheth us to try the Spirits which may be easily done by those who are conversant in the Scriptures There are some memorable speeches of Athanasius to be observed First against the Lutherans out of the second Oration against the Arians Nunquam populus Christianus ab Episcopis suis sed a Domino in quem creditum suit nomen accepit Ne ab Apostolis quidem appellationes adepti sumus sed a Christo Illi qui aliundè originem suae fidei ducunt ut haeretici meritò authorum suorum cognomenta praese ferunt The Christian people never tooke their Name from the Bishops but from the Lord in whom they beleeved Neither have wee our appellations from the Apostles but from Christ himselfe They who derive their Faith from any other Originall as heretickes deservedly beare the surnames of their Authors Then against the Vbiquitaries upon that saying Omnia mihi tradita sunt c. All things are given mee Tradita sunt illi omnia ut medico qui sanaret morsum serpentis ut vitae qui vivificaret ut luci illuminanti id est ratione officii Dedit inquit Deus ut quemadmodum per eum facta sunt omnia ita in eo omnia
epist 38. Si delitioso cupitis pabulo saginari B. Augustini opuscula legite et ad comparationem siligimis illius nostrum furfur em non quaeratis If you desire saith he to be fatned with delicious faâ—â— read the workes of Saint Austine and having â—â—sted his flowre you will not seeke after our Branne Which is to be noted against the Papists who preferre that Gregory the first before all others The workes of Saint Austine are distributed into ten Tomes some of them are Philosophicall and of no great moment as of Grammar Rhetoricke Logicke Musicke of Order of the quantity of the soule In his bookes of Confessions wherein he describes his owne life hee often useth too much simplicity and copiousnesse yet may they be read cursorily But the Students in Divinity meaning to read Saint Augustine ought to beginne at his Doctrinals and first at his foure books of Christian Doctrin in which he instructs a future Divine Next hee must read his Enchiridion to Laurentius and the booke of Faith to Peter of the spirit and the letter and of the Ecclesiasticall opinions The Epistles of Saint Augustine and the bookes of the City of God are of a mixt kind partly Doctrinall partly Historicall but full of various learning Thence let him proceed to his Polemicall or Controversiall which hee wrote against the Maniches the Arians Donatists c. His expository bookes as upon the Psalmes and Saint Iohns Gospell containe more piety than solid Interpretation partly by reason of his small insight in the Hebrew and Greeke Tongues partly because in those Interpretations hee accommodated his writing to those times as also that sometimes he makes digressions but his Commentary on Saint Iohn is excellent above the rest The Palmary or Master-peece of Saint Austin was that above all the other Fathers and almost alone being provoked by the Pelagians hee discusseth diligently the Doctrine of Originall sinne and Predestination But as in Saint Austin it is very laudable that he only of all the Ancients wrote bookes of Retractations for in his seventh Epistle hee professeth himselfe to bee of their number who write by profiting and profit by writing so there remaine some things which require a censure Yet is there no doubt but many things are inserted in his workes of which hee is not the Author For he being yet alive sixteene Articles were falsly father'd on him to which hee replyed But chiefly this was his errour that as hee wrote much so hee often varies nor is alwayes consonant to himselfe Hee hath also many Acurologia's as Danaeus a most learned Divine observes in his Annotations upon the Enchiridion of Saint Austin Then he erred in that he precisely included the salvation of Infants in the sacrament of Bapâ—isme But whereas in some places hee cals the Eucharist a Sacrifice hee thus interpreteth himselfe lib. 10. Civit. Dei cap. 20. that it is the Sacrament of the Sacrifice of Christ In another place hee seemes to affirme that the pious soules of the deceased are helped by the Almes and prayers of the living but without the warrant of the Word of God especially in his booke entituled The â—are for the dead where he handles this question Whether or no it profiteth to be bâ—ried neere the Monument of any Saint But that Booke as Calvin admonisheth lib. 3. Instit. cap. 5. Sect. 10. conteines so many doubts that the coldnesse of it is able to extinguish the heate of any foolish zeale and there is no doubt but that Booke hath beene depraved by many Monkish additions for in another place as lib. 2. question Evangeliâ— câ—p 38. hee affirmes Nullum auxilium a justis praeberi defunctorum animabus that the soules of the deceased receive no helpe from just men Cyrillus Bishop of Alexandria flourished about the yeere 433. in the reigne of Theodosius the younger He expelled the Iewes out of his Diocesse and killed not a few of them in the Synagogues by the hands of his Souldiers Being much incensed against Nestorious he excommunicated him by his owne proper authority which was not approved of by the Fathers although he defended a good cause and that Nestorius was a little after condemned in the Ephesine Councell Cyrillus wrote in Greeke and many things which are extant in Latine They were publisht at Basill apud Hervag anno 66. with an addition In the first Tome are found Commentaries upon Leviticus in which he insists too much upon the Anagogicall sense He also wrote Commentaries upon Saint Iohn but imperfect His second Tome is Doctrinall as the booke which he calleth a Treasure There in 14. bookes he defends the Consubstantiallity of the Sonne and the holy Ghost against the Arians In the third Tome he disputes against Iulian for the Christian Religion also touching the right Faith to Theodosius and the Queene The fourth Tome conteines Epistles Homilies and an Apologie to Theodosius also an Exposition of the Nicene Creed and Synodicall Epistles together with other things against the Nestorians The fift Tome is a Commentary upon Esay not long since added to his Works and Translated by Laurence Humfre an Englishman Vigilius Bishop of Trent flourished in those times of whose Workes but a few are extant printed at Colen in Octavo as a disputation against the Arians and five books against Eutyches both pious and learned which are often objected against the Vbiquitaries The Hearers of Saint Austin who reteined his Doctrine were anno 440. Primasius who wrote upon all the Epistles of Saint Paul Prosper Aquitanic anno 454. Helychius anno 490. hee wrote upon Leviticus Fulgentius a Bishoppe in Africa about the yeere five hundred under Thrasymund King of the Vandals hee wrote three bookes of diverse questions to Monimus seven bookes to King Thrasymund and other things worthy the reading His Workes were most accurately Printed at Antwerpe by Plantin anno 74. After the time of Saint Austin and his Disciples the purity of Doctrine began with the Roman Empire very much to decline by reason of the accumulated superstitions of the Munkes wherefore the succeeding Fathers cannot be in the same esteeme with the first and more ancient yet had the following their peculiar gifts not to be coÌ„temned wrote many things which are read with great profit Leo the first of that name Bishop of Rome about the yeere 444. in the time of Attila Hee was the Author of gathering together a Synod against Eutyches and Dioscorus Bishop of Alexandria who would oppresse Flavianus an orthodox Bishop of Constantinople His Workes as his Sermons Epist are imprinted at Colen by Birkmannus Amongst his Epistles that to Flavianus against the Blasphemies of Eutyches is most eminent the authority of which Epistle was of great force in the Chalcedonian Councell wherein amongst the rest this speech is remarkeable Agit vtraque forma id est natura cum alterius communione quod proprium est verbo operante quod verbi est
carne exequente quod carnis est unum horum coruscat miraculis alterum succumbit inivriis Non est ejusdem naturae flere Lazarus resuscitare Either forme workes that which is proper to it with the communion of the other the word working what is of the word and the flesh executing what is of the flesh The one of these shines with Miracles the other is subject to injuries To bewaile Lazarus and to raise him proceede not from the same nature This saying also is memorable and makes against the Papists Serm. 2. de Petro on that place of Matthew 16. Tu es Petrus thou art Peter c. Soliditas ejus fidei quae in Apostolorum principe laudata est perpetua est Haec fides diabolum vincit portaeque inferi adversus eam praevalere non possunt The solidity saith he of that faith which is praised in the chiefe of the Apostles is perpetuall This Faith shall vanquish the Divell and the gates of hell cannot prevaile against it About the yeere 591. Gregory the first lived Bishop of Rome surnamed the great who in his youth was a Munke of the Benedictine Order He instituted the Masse and most of the Psalmodies which are in the Papacy His Workes are extant printed at Basill by the Frobenij anno 51. Stella a Venecian Priest who wrote his life saith he was a most humble man and the first of the Popes that out of his humility would be called the servant of servants Nullum inquit ex successoribus habuit aequalem aut paâ—em None of his successours saith he were equall or like to him Hee laboured much to call the Gothes to the true Faith Hee wrote morall Expositions upon Iob also on the seven Psames which wee call Poenetetiall and upon Ezechiel the Bookes of the Kings and forty Homilies upon the Gospels In his Expositions he is pure enough Tom. 1. l. 25. c. 15. he writes thus Sciunt inquit pij quod omnis justitia humana injustitia esse deprehenditur si divinitus districte iudicetur The godly know saith he that all humane Justice appeares injustice if it be strictly examined from above In his Epistles also are found many excellent admonitions as that which he writes in his second Tome to Serenus the Massilliensian Bishop Ad nos per venit quod fraternitas vestra quosdam imagenum admiratores adspiciens easdem Ecclesiae imagenes confregit Eum quidem Zelum ne quid manu factum adorari possit laudavimus sed frangere easdem non debuisse judicamus Idcirco enim pictura in Ecclesijs adhibetur vt hi qui literas nesciunt saltem in parietibus videndo legant It is told that your Fraternalshippe seeing certaine admirers of Images hath broken the said Images belonging to the Church Wee commend that zeale indeede which would have nothing made by hands to be adored but we judge that you ought not to have broken them for therefore are Pictures admitted into Churches that they who are ignorant of good letters may read by looking on the wals Hee wrote a Treatise of the Pastorall Cure not unprofitable but in his Dialogues hee seemes to dote in relating I know not what feined Miracles as Stephano cuidam Presbytero Diabolum coactum obedire ad extrahendas caligas Bonifacium quendam orando duodecim aureos a Maria imputrasse Fortunatum quendam signo crucis equum furiosum mansuetum reddidisse That the Divell by constreint obeyed one Stephan a Priest to pull off his hose That one Boniface by prayer obtained twelue crownes from the Virgin Marie That one Fortunatus made a fierce horse tame with the signe of the Crosse Concerning the fire of Purgatory hee writes doubtfully lib. 1. Dial. 10. Qualis hinc quisque egredietur talis in judicio praesentabitur Sed de quibusdam levibus culpis Purgatorium esse ignem ante judicium credendum est Such as every one departeth hence such shall hee be presented at the day of judgement But it is to be beleeved that there is a Purgatory fire before the day of Judgement for some light crimes Tome 2. epâ—st 58. lib. 4. he complaines grievously that the peace of the whole Church is disturbed by one Iohn Bishoppe of Constantinople by assuming the name of Universall Bishop And lib. 7. epist 39. to Mauritius the Emperour hee thus writes Ego fidenter dico quod quisquis se universalem Sacerdotem vocat vel vocare desiderat in elatione sua Antichristum praecurrit I confidently affirme saith hee that whosoever calleth or desireth to call himselfe an universall Priest is by this his pride marked for a forerunner of Antichrist Yet for all this presently after Gregory Phocas successour of Maurice in the yeere 660. granted to Boniface the third that Rome should be the head of all other Churches Yet all the Churches never simply consented to it especially the Greeke and the Frence In the yeere 727 in the time of Leo Isaurus Iconomachus Iohannes Damascenus lived At first hee was Secretary to the Duke of the Sarazens but after that hee became a Munke His chiefe writings are foure Bookes of the Orthodoxe Faith which Faber Stapulensis translated out of Greeke Lib. 1. he discourses of the Essence of God and of the three Persons Lib. 2. of the workes of God of the Angels of Man of the Fabricature of the World Lib. 3. of the dispensation of the mystery of our Salvation where he learnedly disputes of the vnion of Natures and the actions Theandricall also of the twofold Will of Christ but he addes many things supersticious as of the adoration of Images c. Anno 1116. Saint Bernhard Abbot of Clarovall was in great repute for his sanctity of life and Doctrine and was admitted to compose differences between Kings and Princes At that time there was such a disturbance of all things as saith Calvin lib. 4. instit cap. 7. Sect. 22. that it was not much unlike our times if we consider the Papacy But Saint Bernhard makes grieuous complaints and admonitions of the corruption of the Papall Court in his Book of Consideration to Pope Eugenius Many excellent sayings also of his are to be read in Sermonib in Cantic Cantecor and on the 91 Psalme which Sermons are worthy the perusall yet many things fabulous are intermingled as of Saints and he numbers the washing of feet amongst the Sacraments CHAP. IIII. Of the Writers commonly called SCHOOLMEN THe labour would be infinite to number all the Scholasticall Authors it suffiseth us to shew the chiefe whose Monuments are extant There were after those times also some Bishops though not so famous yet not unlearned as anno 630. in the time of Heraclius Isidorus Bishop of Hispalia who wrote holy Expositions upon Bookes and some Bookes of Etymologies Also Beda an English Priest who in the time of Iustinian the second anno 690. wrote upon the New Testament as also a learned Booke of Times Anno 834. in the
not of much lesse Authority but in which almost nothing but the Decrees of the former Councels were establisht as that of Constantinople the fourth and sixth about the yeere 680. which condemned the errors of the Monothelites who averred that the Deity Humanity of Christ had onely one will and operation But Gregory the first Bishop of Rome erred who lib. 2. epist 10. writeth thus Quatuor Synodos sanctae universalis Ecclesiae sicut quatuor libros sancti Evangelii recipimus Wee receive the foure Synods of the holy universall Church as wee doe the foure Evangelists Gratianus writeth somewhat better in Decreto Canon 3. Sancta Romana Ecclesia post veteris et novi Testamenti Scripturas quas regulariter suscipit etiam quatuor Synodos suscipi non prohibet The holy Roman Church saith hee after the Scriptures of the old and new Testament which it regularly receives doth not forbid the admittance of the foure Synods Moreover these rules are to be observed concerning those foure Oecumenicall Councels Wee must beleeve the Scriptures for themselves because they have never erred in matters words or sentences but we beleeve the Councels not for themselves but for the Scriptures The certainety of the Symbols and confessions of Faith made by those Councels doth not consist in the authority of the men or the places but in the perpetuall consent of the whole Church from the time of the Apostles Councels have no power of making new Articles of Faith but onely to explaine them by Scripture and produce them against Hereticks Councels may bee exâ—mined and searched what is in them agreeable to the Divine Word and what not For if to those of Beraea it were lawfull to examine the Doctrine of Saint Paul and conferre it with the Scriptures why may not wee examine the Councels since many of them contradictone another as the Nicene and the Ariminensian the Chalcedonian and the second Ephesian the sixt at Constantine-Poole touching the pulling down of Images and the second Nicene under Irenes against the defacers of Images Also many have erred as that of Carthage before the Nicene of the re-baptizing of Heretickes the Nicene concerning warfare the second Ephesian in defending Euryches although some great and famous men were present Leo Bishop of Rome epist 30. 31. saith that hee doth approve of the decrees of the Chalcedon Synod as farre as they concerne Doctrine but not those which were acted with Anatholius And the saying of Saint Austin lib. 3. cont Maximinus is very remarkeable Nec ego tibi Nicoenum Concilium nec tu mihi Ariminâ—â—â—e tanquam praeiudicaturus proferas nec ego huius authoritate nec tu illius detineris Scripturarum authoritatibus non quorumlibet propriis sed utrisque communibus testibus certemus res cum re ratio cum ratione decertet Neither saith hee will I with prejudice urge against thee the Nicene Councell neither doe thou prejudice against mee the Ariminensian neither am I tyed to the Authority of the one nor thou of the other Let us both submit our selves to the Authority of the Scriptures witnesses not proper to one but common to both Let one matter one reason contest with another But some Councels deliberated onely upon those things which appertained to the Ecclesiasticall policy as that of Spain and the Laodicenian Other Councels decreed partly some things holy partly many impious as the Lateran celebrated at Rome under Innocent the third where the prophane Doctrine of Transubstantiation was ranked with the Articles of our faith And so in the following Councels the state of the Church alwayes declining many Idolatries were established so that not without cause the Evangelical Churches have rejected their Authority and have appealed from them to the Antiquity of the Apostolicall Age. CHAP. III. Of the private Writings of the Fathers BEfore the Nicene Councell there flourished in the Church the two Disciples of the Apostles Polycarpus and Ignatius in their youth Auditors of Saint Iohn the Apostle But of these there are no writings extant except certaine fragments of the Epistles of Ignatius To them succeeded Irenaeus Bishop of Lions and Iustinus the Philosopher surnamed Martyr in the reigne of Antonius the Emperour Hierom in his Catalogue of the Ecclesiasticall Writers testifieth Irenaeus to have written many things but now there is only one Volume remaining consisting of five bookes against the Heresie of Valentinus and the like wherein there are excellent sayings of the cunning Arguments of Heretickes as also of the authority and consent of the Ecclesiastical Doctrine Among others this saying is very rife lib. 3. cap. 21. Christum pro nobis passum requiesconte verbo at crucifigi et mori posset The Word resting Christ suffer'd for us that he might be crucified and dye Irenaeus anno 70. was set forth at Geneva with the notes of Nicholas Gelasius who hath explained certaine things unfitly spoken as that in his third Booke Filium hominis commixtum verbo Dei The sonne of man is mixt with the word of God Also Mariam sibi et universo generi humano factam causam salutis Mary was made the cause of salvation to her selfe and all mankind which to say is blasphemy unlesse we consider her as the Organ through which our Saviour passed into the world There are extant both deserving and learned writings of Iustinus Martyr in Greeke Questions and Answers against the Gentiles about true faith and an Apology for the Christians to Antoninus In the second booke there is a memorable place of the Liturgy of the Ancient Christians out of which may bee proved how much the Papists degenerate from the custome of the ancient Church for thus hee saith Die qui Solis dicitur omnes tum qui in opidis tum qui in agris morantur in unum convenimus et ex Commentariis Apostolorum et Prophetarum Scriptis recitatur quantam licet Deinde ubi destitit qui recitat antistes orationem habet quae admonet hertaturque ad pulchrarum illarum rerum imitationem Postea omnes una surgimus et precamur Postquam autem à precibus destitimus profertur panis et vinum et aqua Tum antistes rursus precatur et gratias agit quanta potest contentione populusque acclamat dicens Amen et iis super quibus actae sunt gratiae unusquisque participat On the day called Sunday wee assemble together as well they which are in the Townes as those that dwell in the fields when as much as is convenient is recited out of the Commentaries of the Apostles and writings of the Prophets When the Reciter hath ended the chiefe Priest maketh an Oration which admonisheth and exhorts to the imitation of those faire things After this we rise altogether and pray prayers being ended there is brought forth bread wine and water Then the chiefe Priest prayeth againe and gives thankes with as great ardency as he can and the people cry Amen Then every one participates of
Emperors and when he was Proconsul in Liguria in the time of Valentinianus he was called to the Bishopricke of Millan with the full consent of the people It is reported that he baptized Saint Austine Hee was endued with great zeale as appeares in the Ecclesiasticall story and by his demeanour in his Bishopricke The writings of Saint Ambrose extant are divided into foure Tomes and are partly morall as the three bookes of the offices of a Christian an institution and exhortation to Virgins of Widowes of Repentance of the worlds volubility of the good wee receive by death Also they are partly Doctrinall Tom. 2. of the vocation of the Gentiles of faith to Gratianus of the holy Ghost to the same of Faith against the Arians of the Sacrament of the Dominicall Incarnation But it is to bee observed that the more learned have judged Saint Ambrose not to bee the Author of the Treatise of the calling of the Gentiles 1. Because he speaks no where so purely of the Predestination of God 2. By reason there is mention made of Pelagius who lived after Saint Ambrose 3. In that Saint Augustine who cites many things out of Saint Ambrose against Boniface the Pelagian mentions not this bâ—â—ke which inveighes most of all against the Pelagians 4. The dissimilitude of phrase But it is certaine the Author of that booke to have beene a learned man and well exercised in the Scriptures which makes Erasmus not unaptly wish that many such were mixed with the workes of Saint Ambrose Amongst many excellent sayings contained in those books these golden words are extant making directly against the Papists lib. 1. cap. 5. where hee disputes the reason why to one man grace is given to another denyed Quid Calumniamur inquit iustitiam occultam qui gratias debemus misericordiae manifestae Laudemus et veneremur quod agitur quia tutum est nescire quod tegitur Hic nec praeterita nec futura merita censeri possunt vilesceret Redemptio Christi neo misericordiae Dei humanarum operum praerogativa succumberet si iustificatio quae fit per gratiam meritis praecedentibus deberetur ut non munus largientis sed merces esset operantis Why doe we calumniate saith hee the hidden Justice who owe thankes for the manifested Mercy Let us prayse and adore what is done because it is safe not to know what is hid Here neither past nor future merits are to bee reckoned The Redemption of Christ would be abased neither would the prerogative of humane workes give place to the mercy of God if Iustification which is by grace were due to precedent merits so that it should not be the gift of the distributer but the reward of the worker The Writings of Saint Ambrose are partly also Homileticall as Tom. 3. Orations Epistles Sermons partly againe Expository as Tom. 4. lib. Hexaemeron and a Treatise of the Patriarchs which belong to Genesis He wrote also copiously on the 119. Psalme and of the Sacraments of the Church also a glosse upon Saint Luke and Commentaries upon the Epistles of Saint Paul Where againe it is to be noted against the Papists that S. Ambrose upon the fourth Chapter to the Romans useth the particle onely when he averreth Gratiam Dei solam fidem poscere ad salutem The grace of God doth require faith onely to salvation Saint Augustine quotes his Commentaries upon Esay and the 48. Psalme but they are not extant By reason of his ignorance in the Greeke and Latine Tongues he erred often in his Expositions which is common to him together with Saint Austin and some others But although he be over-vehement in the commendations of Virginity yet is that memorable against the Papists which he writes in his first booke of Virgins Non debere imperari virginitatem nec necessitatem imponendam nec castam esse quae metu cogitur Virginity saith he ought not to be commanded neither of necessity to bee imposed nor is shee chaste who is compelled by feare In his bookes of the Sacraments there are some things ambiguous othersome superstitious as of Unction in Baptisme which notwithstanding was not done altogether without cause by those of riper yeares also of water to bee mixed with the Wine in the Cup at the Lords Table Yet is it remarkeable against the Papists that in his booke of Sacraments hee onely acknowledgeth two Baptisme and the Supper of the Lord. And when lib. 6. he disputes how the bread is made the body of the Lord hee speaketh nothing at all of Transubstantiation but hee confesseth that there seemeth to be a similitude onely not true flesh and blood and that wee must beleeve the operatory word of Christ that is the efficacious that the Sacrament is taken outwardly Grace and Vertue inwardly Hee plainely distinguisheth bread from Grace Tu inquit qui accipis panem in illa alimento Divinae participas Substantiae quia idem Christus est particeps corporis et Divinitatis Thou saith hee who takest bread in that nourishment participatest of the Divine Substance because the same Christ is partaker of a body and Divinity which is as much to say wee communicate the whole Christ and communicating his flesh have communion also with God Neither did the Greeke Churches want excellent Doctors for in those times namely under Valentinian Basilius Magnus of Caesaria Cappadocia and Gregory Bishop of Nazianzena were famous of whom as yet some worthy monuments are extant Wee linke them together because they were companions in Studies and most intimate friends Yet Gregory lived longest even to the yeare 400. and wrote a Monody or Funerall Oration which containes the life of S. Basil There are extant of this S. Gregory eloquent Orations and Epistles as also Greeke Poems which are in the hands of all men There lived also in those times Gregorius Nissenus brother of Basilius who wrote eight bookes of Man There is a learned Epistle extant written to him by S. Basil of the difference betweene the Essence and Subsistence Moreover S. Basil as hee himselfe somewhere writeth was diligently instructed in the Christian Religion from a child He was indued with so much Eloquence that Erasmus doubts not to call him the Christian Demosthenes Amongst others that saying which is extant in his Sermon of Humility is eminent and is often cited by our Divines against the Papists Haec est perfecta et integra gloriatio quando non propter iustitiam suam aliquis â—ffertur sed agnoscit sibi deesse veram iustitiam fide autem sola in Christum iustificari This is saith he perfect and entire glory when a man is not puffed up with his owne Iustice but acknowledgeth himselfe to want true Iustice and that Iustification is onely by faith in Iesus Christ Also in his Epistle of the sacred Scripture to Eustathius the Physician Non consuetudinem sed sacras Scripturas nermam debere esse The sacred Scriptures and not Custome ought to
be our rule Also in his definitions quaest 98. Eos qui praesunt extra Scripturae Canonem nihil praecipere debere ne falsi Dei testes et sacrilegi inveniantur They saith he who rule the people ought to command nothing beyond the Canon of the Scriptures lest they befound false witnesses of God sacrilegious And in his Epistle of Apostasie to the Bishops of the West he complaines Semen Apostasiae spargi in illis ipsis Ecclesiis inquibus Evangelii doctrina primum per orbem manavit that the seed of Apostacy was sown in those very Churches whence the Doctrine of the Gospell was first spread through the world His works extant at this day are comprehended in three Tomes and are either doctrinall as Hexameron or of the world made in six daies eleven Homilies of the Divinity of the Sonne and that the holy Ghost is not a creature against Eunomius Where is to be understood that there were three Families of the Arians Arius held the Son to be equall to the Father but by grace not by Nature The Macedonians companions of the Arians affirmed the Sonne to bee like the Father but not the holy Ghost Eunomius held the Sonne to bee totally unlike the Father because the creature can by no meanes be like the Creator Saint Basil also wrote Sermons of the humane generation of Christ also of Baptisme Or his workes are expository as Sermons upon some of the Psalms a glosse upon the whole Psalter and the sixteene first Chapters of Esay Other of his works are Morall as his Sermons against drunkennesse of Wrath of Humility of Envy Also his Sermons called Asceticos or of the manners of Monks of those who aspire to an Angelicall Life The errours of S. Basilius are that hee too Hyperbollically extols fasting and a Monkish life though indeed hee describes such Monks as peculiarly exercise themselves in piety and good workes to whom the Monkes of our times are as much unlike as Crowes to Swans By the singular providence of God it came to passe that the heresies of the Arians and Pelagians beginning to spring up in the same time almost there arose famous Doctors to confute them For Hieronymus Stridonensis Pannonius lived in part of the time of Saint Ambrose and Saint Basil He was brought up at Rome and was famous in the yeare 390. He travelled over the greatest part of Europe to conferre with learned men and at length chose himselfe a place of abode in Iudaea in the fields of Bethlem where he wrote many of those things which at this day wee enjoy Hee is painted with a Cardinals Hat whereas hee rather led a Monasticke life and those red Hats were given in ages long after to some certaine Priests of the Roman Church by Pope Paul the second ann 1460. as Platina testifieth The stile of S. Hierome is elegant for he was learned and a great Linguist Hee wrote many things whereof some are Expositions upon the Psalms and upon the greater and the lesser Prophets also upon Saint Matthew and some Epistles of Saint Paul as to the Galatians and Ephesians For the Commentary which goes under his name upon the Epistle to the Romans savours too much of Pelagianisme which hee ever opposed Other of his writings are Controversiall and Apologeticall as against Helvidius concerning the perpetuall Virginity of the Virgin Mary against Iovinianus and Vigilantius Also against the Pelagians and an Apology against Ruffinus Some againe are Paraeneticall or instructive as of the life of Clergy men and concerning the Institution of a mother of the Family Hee seemeth to have a wit somewhat Arrogant and fiery which appeareth not onely by his sharpe writings and Epistles against Saint Austin but also that sometimes hee accuseth the Apostle Saint Paul himselfe of rudenesse of stile and ignorance in the Greeke tongue Beza often complaines of his wresting the Scriptures especially against Wedlocke See the Annotations of Beza on 1 Cor. 7. 1 Tim. 3. 1 Pet. 3. But it is remarkeable that although hee was an enemy to Wedlocke yet in his Age both Bishops and Priests were married for so he writeth in cap. 6. ad Ephes Legant haec Episcopi et Presbyteri qui filios suos saecularibus libris erudiunt Let those Bishops and Priests saith hee read these things who instruct their children in secular bookes But he often with too much bitternesse inveighes against Vigilantius and Iovinianus for contending with him that Wedlocke and single Life were of equall merit as also that the Rewards of the Just were alike in that life and that no choyce was to be made of Meats if they were received with thankes-giving that the ashes of Martyrs were not to be adored nor the Vespers to bee celebrated at their Scpulchers that the Saints deceased pray not for us Hee contended unseasonably with Saint Austin concerning Saint Peter that he never erred and that hee was reprehended by Saint Paul not seriously but in jest Gal. 2. How much the state of the Church was disturb'd in those Times appeares by that Learned booke of Epiphanius Bishop of Cyprus which he wrote against 80 Heresies which worke is worthy the perusall for the variety of story contained in it Then also lived Theodoret Bishop of the City Cyrus in Persia who wrote five bookes of the history of the Church and Polymorphum where in three Dialogues most worthy the reading he defends the truth of both Natures in Christ against the Hereticks of his time In the time of Arcadius and Honorius Emperours lived Iohannes Chrysostomus whose Eloquence and Zeale farre exceeded his knowledge in the Scriptures Wherefore he excels more in morals than in Doctrines and Expositions For oftentimes hee philosophizeth too subtilly Yet is hee often cited by our Divines in the interpretation of Greeke words especially in the Epistles of Saint Paul Vulgarus Theophilactus was afterward his imitator and abreviator but an Authour lesse pure It was reprehensible in Saint Chrysostome that hee was too chollericke and free of speech by which hee incurred the great displeasure of many Aurelius Augustinus by Nation an African ought not to be accounted the last amongst the Doctors of the Church Hee was instructed in Rhetoricke at Carthage and was a follower of the Maniches nine yeares together Hee relates a great part of his owne life in his Confessions Afterward being often admonished by Saint Ambrose or rather converted by God upon the abundant teares and prayers of his mother hee turned into the right way and succeeded Valerius Bishop of Hippona in Africa about the yeare 390. He sustained many sharpe Conflicts with the Maniches Arians Donatists and Pelagians whom he confuted by learned writings and personally by word of mouth Hee dyed a little before the first Ephesine Councell when Hippone was besieged in the yeare of his Age 76. Gregory 1. Bishop of Rome had his workes in so great esteeme that hee thus writes lib. 8.
reigne of Ludovicus pius Haimo Bishop of â—abberstat wrote upon the Epistles oâ— Saint Paul and many other things Anno 856. lived Rabanus Maurus who being first made Abbot of Fulda was afterwards Bishop of Mens Hee is reported to have written the glosse commonly called the Ordinary There is a saying of his memorable in cap. 2. Epist Iacobi Abraham per opera quae fecit iustus non fuit sed sola fide oblatio autem ejus opus testimonium fuit fidei Abraham was not just by the works that he did but by faith onely but his oblation was a worke and testimony of his Faith But it is to be observed that the zeale and diligence of the Bishops decreasing and their wealth and dignity augmenting the priviledge of Teaching and Writing was conferred on certain Munks Priests called Schoole Doctors because they taght most in the Schools Before this time the Doctrin of Saint Austin and his manner of teaching was for the most part received but about the yeere 1200. the Schoole Divinity beganne to spring up which afterwards degenerated from its first simplicity and purity and fell upon many unprofitable and doubtfull questions full of Phylosophy call subtilties together with definitions and sentences accommodated to the corruptions of those times The chiefe of these were Lanfrancus Monachus Papiensis who opposed himselfe against Berengarius Albertus Magnus and Peter Lombard Then also did Gratianus gather the Decrees of the Popes into one Uolume and without judgement insomuch that the Glosse sweats in reconciling the contradictions Peter Lombard about the yeere 1150. wrote foure Books of Sentences collected out of all the Fathers as the foundation and compendium of all Scholasticall Divinity which with some are of great value yet hath he cited many things amisse out of the Fathers and omitted not a few necessary Many things there are in him which if rightly understood and explained make against the Papists especially where hee treats of the Supper of the Lord. He that would know the defects of Lombard let him peruse the notes of Danaeus in lib. 1. sentent But like as Lombard did not well in that he would confirme the opinions of Christian Religion rather by the Authorities of the Fathers then by the Testimonies of the Scriptures so hee is more tolerable farre then the other Schoolemen who acknowledge Aristotle for their Master and attribute more to his authority then to the Scriptures Among others of that time William Occam was famous anno 1030. who defended the right of the Emperor against the Pope very learnedly Question Whether therefore did Tertullian against Hermogin rightly call the Philosophers Patriarks of Hereticks and lib. de praescript hee tearmes the Logicke which the Hereticks learnt out of Aristotle the subverter of Truth and the turne-coat artificer of building and destroying Answer These are to be understood secundum quid of Chrisippean Sophismes and such Logicians as Eutydemus in Plato who instantly denied what hee formerly granted Next of those who make Philosophy a Mistresse and a Lady in Divine matters who ought to be the Waitingmade the imbecillity of reason in Divine things being not onely apparent but its Adunamia 1 Corinth 12. Yet are not Philosophy and Reason to be rejected but God is to be invok'd that he wil giue us the spirit of wisedome whereby the eyes of our minds may be illuminated that wee faine not false Principles and involve our selves and others in ambiguities and subtilties of words as in times past the Valentinians did and many of the Schoolemen doe which Abbot Trithemius acknowledgeth when he saith Ab hoc tempore Philosophia secularis sacram Theologiam fâ—cdare coepit from this time saith hee secular Philosophy began to pollute sacred Divinitie But to returne to Peter Lombard It is not to be expressed how many of his successors have I cannot say explain'd but inuolv'd his bookes of Sentences as amongst the rest Bonaventura Albertus Magnus Thomas Aquinas Occam Durandus and innumerable others the last whereof was Thomas Caietanus who lived in the time of Luther The Disciple of Albertus Magnus was Thomas Aquinas commonly called the Angelicall Doctor who lived in the yeare 1270. In him two things are laudable First that hee argued very methodically Secondly that as well in his Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans as in his Summa Theolog. he hath disputed more tolerably of Justification and Predestination than any of the rest But he is much to bee blamed in this that hee imployd the whole strength of his wit in defending Transubstantiation though most unhappily and with many contradictions Not long after lived Iohannes Scotus surnamed Duns a Franciscan who opposed Thomas whence sprung the two sects Thomists and Scotists of which the first were called Nominall the latter Reall because the one concluded the names onely the other the things themselves also to bee comprehended under the predicaments But it is to be noted that there was another Iohannes Scotus long before those times anno 874. a man most learned in the Greeke and Latin Tongues who govern'd the Schoole at Oxford and at length was murdered by his Schollers with Penneknives because his opinion of the Lords Supper was no way pleasing to the Monks The last Age of the Schoolemen from the Councell of Constance to the time of Luther was not more happy but more audacious infinitely ignorant although some were more enlightned with knowledge than others The chiefe of these were Iohannes Capreolus Iohannes Gerson Chancellour of Paris Gabriel Biel Tubinga Petrus de Alliaco Cardinalis Cameracensis who wrote questions upon the booke of Sentences of Peter Lombard where amongst others this saying of his concerning the Eucharist is observable Communem Sententiam esse panem Transubstantiari licet id non sequitur evidenter ex Scriptura sed ex determinatione tamen Ecclesiae Alia opinio est quod substantia panis remanet valde enim possibile est substantiam panis coexistere substantiae corporis nec est magis impossibile duas substantias coexistere quam duas qualitates Possibile inquam est Corpus Christi assumere corpus perunionem et ille modus non repugnat rationi nec authoritati Biblicae It is the common opinion saith hee that the bread is Transubstantiated although that evidently appeare not by the Scripture yet by the determination of the Church it does Another opinion is that the substance of the bread remaines for it is very possible that the substance of the bread may coexist with the substance of the body neither is it more impossible that two substances should coexist than two qualities It is possible I say the body of Christ may assume another body by union and that manner is neither repugnant to reason nor the authority of the Bible Which opinion though Lanfrancus had long before refuted as not agreeable to the words of Christ yet Luther embrac'd it as