define it a Rest of the Will vpon Christ and his merits for Iustification and consequently Saluation In which Definition 1 That the Obiect of it is the Person or Personall merit of Christ the whole tenor of Scripture proues which runs thus Hee that beleeueth in mee shall not perish Ioh. 3.16 Ioh. 14.1 Ioh. 1.12 and Yee belieue also in me and As many as receiued him to them hee gaue power to bee the Sonnes of God that is to them that belieued in his Name and in six hundred places besides But if thou wilt be further informed see M. Foxe in the booke before quoted 2 That the Act of it is Fiducia Affiance I report me to all the words vsed in the originall of the old Testament as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to retire vnto 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to deuolue or Roll vpon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to trust or put confidence in and all the rest and to the forme of words vsed in the new as Credere in Sperare in to beleeue and hope in or vpon 3 That it is Subiectiuely in the Will appeares by the Act for Fiducia Affiance without controuersie is in the Will as also by the Obiect Christ which implies not a Knowledge but Fiducia or Rest Ob. Fiducia Affiance is Spes roborata a confirmed Hope therefore if you make Faith to be Fiducia Affiance you make it likewise to be hope and vnskilfully confound two distinct vertues Ans I denie Fiducia Affiance to bee Hope although the Prince of Schoolemen Thomas of Watering and his followers haue heretofore taught it For 1 Hope looks to the End which is Saluation Affiance to the meanes which is Christs personall merit 2 The Act of Hope is expectare to looke out for the Act of Affiance is tuniti to leane on or rest vpon 3 Hope is of things that are future but Affiance of that which is present So yet Faith is Fiducia Affiance which I further confirme by S. Augustins authority Credere est amare In Ioh. 7. tract 29. amando in Deum tendere To belieue is to loue and by louing to moue vnto God expounding Amare by Confidere Loue by Affiance according to that Fathers vsuall phrase in his Tractates vpon Iohn Ob. Faith may be both Notitia Fiducia Knowledge and Affiance and so both in the Will and in the Understanding Ans It cannot bee because it is impossible for one and the same Habit to bee Subiectiuely in two seuerall Faculties of so different natures Indeed Bonauenture saith Hope is in both being Certi expectatio In 3. Scut citante Kemnit loco de iustif a certaine expectation Expectation being in the will certitude in the Vnderstanding But I answer that Certainty is the ground of diuine Hope but no part of the nature thereof as knowledge of a thing to be loue-worthy is the ground of loue for Ignoti nulla cupido no desire of that which is vnknowne but not of the nature of it and therefore as you cannot place Loue both in the Mind and Will no more may you Hope or Faith Ob. If Faith bee Fiducia Affiance then the wicked may haue it for Balaam desired the death of the righteous Num. 23.10 Mat. 13.20.21 and some receiue the Word with ioy belieuing but for a time Ans There is a double Affiance the one is sleight and superficiall and grounded on no other foundation then a generall apprehension that it is good to bee saued by Christ but leaue not their former course and embrace a new the other is setled and grounded hauing these precedents 1 A particular knowledge of our sinfull estate examined by the rule of Gods Word 2 An apprehension of Gods wrath and eternall death deserued by sinne 3 Vnfained sorrow for sinne with resolution of new life 4 A knowledge of Christ and here 1 Of his sufficiencie 2 His louing inuitation of all to rest on him for Iustification and Saluation These foure things going before if by the operation of Gods spirit shall afterward follow a rest vpon Iesus Christ for Iustification Saluation I pronounce this Rest to bee that Act which doth iustify before God So that these three Faiths shall bee as the three Propositions of a Categoricke Syllogisme Faith of Story being the Maior Faith of Person or Personall merit being the Assumption and Faith of Promises being the Conclusion on this wise De Whosoeuer shall as formerly is declared rest vpon the merits of Christ for his Iustification and Saluation he shall be iustified and saued This the Scripture affirmeth and to acknowledge the truth thereof is Historicall Faith ri But I doe so rest vpon Christ This the Conscience priuy to the sincerity of the heart assumeth which act of Resting I tearme Iustifying Faith j. Therefore I am iustified shall be saued And this is the Faith of Promise concluded of the former premisses and is the Assurance before mentioned To draw to a Conclusion concerning these three Faiths I adde farther that to the Faith of Story many doe not aspire namely such Paynims and Gentiles to whom God hath not vouchsafed the Ministery of the Word and meanes of knowledge yet many Reprobates doe liuing within the compasse and territory of the Church and remaine for all that vniustified Vnto the Faith of Person and that Affiance which I call sleight and superficiall many likewise of the vessels of wrath doe attaine but cannot goe one step farther whereas all and euery of the Elect rest on Christ in the second manner and vpon the precedents before specified and are thereby iustified Vnto the Faith of promise though the children of God may come and most do come yet some doubtlesse partly through the strength of flesh and mixture of infidelity with their Faith partly through the force and violence of temptation doe not nor dare not inferre the Conclusion and yet may be iustified Lastly and finally whereas Faith is distinguished into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 full Faith and little Faith I take it that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not to bee restrained to Faith of Promise onely but that both are common to all three so that a weake assent vnto the story is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a strong assent is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a strong Affiance is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a weake Affiance is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a bold and confident inference of the Conclusion is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a fearefull and timerous inference is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But yet neither of them in the first doth iustifie although one of them of necessity must goe before Iustification nor yet in the third although 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may and ought to follow but in the second the least dramme of Affiance though it bee but as a graine of mustard-seed doth iustifie as perfectly as the greatest quantity because it receiues all Christ who is not capable of magis and minus more and
of all the heauenly hoste of the blessed Spirits therein whereas Saint Paul himselfe though hee had beene rauished vp into the third heauen euen into the Paradise of God 2 Cor. 12.3.4 yet returning backe neyther durst nor did vtter any such thing and lastly that hee talken so familiarly of Churches and Chancels and Monks and diuers other orders and ceremonies which are well knowne to be of a much latter date omitting I say these and the like obiections although perhaps not so easy to bee answered consider with mee I beseech you these few reasons following First if these were the books of that Denâ— which was Saint Pauls Scholler how commeth it to passe that neither Eusebius in his Ecclesiasticall history nor Ierome nor Gennadâ—ui purposely writing Catalogues of all the famous Writers before them nor Origen nor Chrysostom nor any ancient Father so farre as I can learne maketh any mention of them vntill Gregory the Great who liued about 600. Hom. 34. de 10. dragm yeares after Christ and speaketh very doubtfully of them too For as for Athanasius whom you affirmed to quote him I suppose you meant him in his Questions out of the old and new Testament wherein hee cites his Mystica Theologia But neither was this booke of Denis knowne in the time of Athanasius nor did Athanasius himselfe write that Biblioth l. 4. as your Sixtus Senensis thinketh For had hee written it would hee thinke you haue vouched his owne authority and that with such arrogance vnder the name of Great Athanasius or could hee haue mentioned Gregory Nazianzen who flourished so long after his decease I trow no yet hee doth both Quest 23. 117. 129. Act. 17. 34. Ib. 16.3 c. Secondly it is well knowne that S. Paul was the man that conuerted Denis and that before his comming to Athens Timothy had beene entertained by him and in his company had trauelled ouer many countreyes and grew so intimate and deere vnto him that he both counted and called him his Son 1 Tim. 1.2 2. c. 1.2 Which being so it cannot reasonably bee imagined that the true Denis would proue either so vngratefull or so presumptuous as this counterfait sheweth himselfe to bee vngratefull in that forgetting Saint Paul he euer speakes of one Hierotheus in obscure man in comparison as of his Master presumptuous for that as if hee were a Father to Timothy as well as Saint Paul hee calleth him his Sonne notwithstanding hee were farre more fit to bee his disciple Thirdly Diuin nom c. 5. Strom. l. 8. this Denis citeth Clemens the Philosopher not Clemens of Rome as some would haue it but of Alexandria for in him the very passage quoted by Denis is to bee found Deuin nom c. 4. And yet this Clemens liued two hundred yeeres after Christ Hee citeth also these words out of Ignatius My loue is crucified as if hee had beene present at his Martyrdome Memod and yet the true Dionysius suffered vnder Domitian whereas Ignatius both wrote his Epistle and was martyred some good while after him vnder Trajan Hee further citeth the Gospell and Reuelation of Saint Iohn as if they had a long time beene parcels of holy Scripture howbeit if wee may belieue history both those books were written but a little before Saint Iohns death and fourteen yeeres after the death of Dionysius And yet againe in an Epistle to Polycarpus hee speaketh vnto him as vnto a reuerend Bishop and Doctour Neuerthelesse Dionysius himselfe suffered in France in the yeere of our Lord ninety sixe as Writers testify but Polycarpus in the yeere one hundred sixty sixe and of his age eighty sixe so that at the death of Dionysius Polycarpus could be but a stripling and about sixteene yeeres old Fourthly according to the Prouerbe the Rat perisheth by bewraying himselfe for speaking of Infants and why they are baptized thus he saith Hier. Eccl. c. 7. Hereof wee say those things which our diuine Masters being instructed by the old tradition haue brought vnto vs. In which words ere hee was aware hee hath discouered that nor Paul nor any other of the Apostles could be his Masters for it is both vntrue and absurd to say that the holy Apostles were instructed in the point of Christian Baptisme by the old tradition Lastly this Denis writeth that himselfe together with Timothy and Hierotheus were present at the departure and funerall of the Blessed Virgin Mother Ep. ad Tim. Now story saith that shee liued threescore and three yeeres being fifteen yeeres of age when she bare Christ whereunto if yee adde thirty three yeeres of Christs life and fifteen more to make up her full age it will appeare that shee dyed eight and forty yeeres after her Sonnes birth and fifteen after his Ascension But on the other side it plainely appeareth that Denis Arcopagite was not conuerted vnto the Christian Faith till the eighteenth yeere after the ascension one and fifty yeeres after Christs birth Our Diuines gather it thus The Scripture witnesseth that Saint Paul was not called till Christ was ascended Reinold in Conc. 8. d. 2. Act. 9.5 Gal. 1.18 Act. 9.26 Gal. 1.21 Act. 13.4 Gal. 2.1 Act. 15.4 Act. 16.1 Being called hee stayed three yeeres in Damascus and Arabia before hee came to Ierusalem Thence he went into the coasts of Syria and Cilicia and the Countreyes thereabout And fourteen yeeres after hee came to Ierusalem againe with Barnabas to the Councell From the Councell hee went to Derbe and Lystra Where hee receiued Timothy And hauing trauelled through Phrygia Galatia Mysia Macedonia hee came at last to Athens Act. 17.34 where hee conuerted Denys So that it must needs bee about eighteen or at the least seuenteen yeeres after Christs Ascension before Saint Denys know Christ All which duely considered it is euident that the Blessed Virgin dyed if not three full yeeres yet more then two before the conuersion of Denys and consequently that he could not be one of those Brethren who were present at her death and funerall Whence also it followeth ineuitably that the Authour of that booke cannot possibly be this Denys This argument being pressed by that renowmed Reinolds vpon Iohn Hart Confer c. 8. d. 2. hee confessed ingenuously that hee knew not how to accord it And these or the like reasons haue so preuailed with sundry of your owne side that they haue beene forced some to doubt of him others vtterly to disclaime him from being the true Denys Praef. in Probl. Alex. Aphrod Theodorus Caza affirmeth those books of the Hierarchy to be none of Denys the Athenians In Act. 17. Ibid. Erasmus also professeth himselfe to be of the same mind And Laurentius Valla saith that the learnedest men of his time entitled one Apollinarius vnto them Cardinall Cajetan not onely saith it In Act. 17. but also sheweth how vnlikely it is that hee who wrote of the Names of God and of the Heauenly and
withall who while you hazard your selfe in the forlorne hope wisely prouide for their owne security in the reerward And as the Turke vses to marshall the basest of his nations in the front of the battell that the enemies armes being wearied swords blunted vpon them his â—aâ—jâ—ars may find the lesse danger and â—esistance so these I thinke are not vnwilling that you with your wrangling a while comber and annoy mee that hauing spent my strength vpon you I should not be able to endure the force of their second charge But vnto 〈◊〉 â—â—ish policy I oppose the old Roman wisdom Veget. l. 1. c. â—1 and as thâ—â— exercising their young souldiers to skirmish and 〈…〉 Martiall actiuities against a post â—repared 〈…〉 â—hereby with more readines and skill to encounter a true enemie so will I by trying and experiencing my selfe vpon you fit and prouide my selfe to the better entertainment vnto those learned aduersaries whensoeuer they shall please to assaile me N. B. Your writings are well polished and shew whence you came and where you were bred Plutarch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but as smooth as they bee they cannot helpe you nor saue you from blemish except you speedily which I wish snetch the new hatched Mansters For the faire shooe helpeth no man of the Gowt I. D. Here M. Baxter you bestow vpon me once for all a few drops of your holy water sprinkle telling me that my writings are smooth and well polished sauouring something of the place whence I came and where I was bred but withall remembring me I thinke lest I should grow too proud of your praises that though the shooe be faire the foot is gowtie that is though the stile and manner of handling be Schollerly yet the argument and matter is erronious if not hereticall And so as Hierome spea◠〈◊〉 you cast vpon me an honorable kind of contumely Ep. 6 ad Pam. Ocean commâ—â—â—ing mee a little for some good parts but vtterly bereauing one of the truth of Faith Which commendation also here vousafed mee in grosse anon you rob mee of againe by retaile allowing mee nothing but ridiculous vnlearned and inkehorne speeches and scarce affording me skill enough to compose a Syllogisme But the best is your iudgement is not the truest touch to trie desert by and therfore whether you praise or dispraise it no way moues me the one cannot better me the other cannot disparage mee Neuerthelesse if you can plainly and directly shew that like another Ixion embracing a cloud insteed of Iuno I meane my owne fancie insteed of Gods truth I haue begotten thereupon these monsters as you tearme them of opinions I will as you wish mee speedily snetch them Psal 137.9 and dash their heads against the stones that they grow not vp to the strength and stature of Giants to the further danger and disturbance of the Church But till then pardon mee if I neither snetch them 1 Pet. 2.2 nor feare blemish by them nay if as the blessed ofspring of celestiall verity I still feed and cherish them with the sincere milke of the word that they may grow thereby to the further comforting of distressed soules Iude 20. and building vp of the Saints in their most holy Faith And thus much in briefe for answer to your Prologue now take wee a view also of the Disputation it selfe Wherein if you obserue due proportion and Decorum as that is no other then a head without wit or braine so this can bee no better then a body without heart and spirit N. B. But that I may orderly proceed I will briefely 〈◊〉 the state of the Question betwixt vs and next shewing how it is holden by you and denyed by mee The Quest The Question is whether iustifyâ—â—g Faith by the Church for 1600. yeeres bee rightly dâ—fined you deny it I affirme it I. D. In word you promise orderly proceeding but indeed you lay the foundation of Babel and by peruerting the state of the Question disorder and confound the whole Disputation For whereas I inquire What is the true Nature and definition of iustifying Faith and determine that that act whereby a man stands iustified before God is not Assurance in the Mind but Affiance in the Will you to forestall the reader on your side and to worke all the preiudice you can against mee substitute insteed thereof this enuious demaund Whether iustifying Faith by the Church for 1600. yeeres bee rightly defined and boldly auerre that I maintaine it negatiuely you affirmatiuely How you can quit your selfe of manifest preuarication herein I see not vnles perhaps you say that albeit directly in precise tearmes I affirme not so much yet defining otherwise then the Church hitherto hath done indirectly and by consequence I auouch no lesse But this figleafe is not broad enough to couer your nakednesse For suppose it were so yet was it your dutie to haue retained the Question in that very forme of words I propounded it vnto you and not in lieu of my Conclusion to place a Consectary of your owne collection If whereas you hold that Faith is Assurance I should state the Question thus Whether God commaund a lie to bee beleeued as true and then peremptorily pronounce that you affirme it and I deny it would you not think your selfe much wronged and abused And yet this absurditie necessarily following vpon that opinion as in my fift Argument is firmely proued I should so doing but serue you with your owne sauce and repay you in your owne coine How forcible therefore soeuer your Consequence may be in this place it is very vnseasonable and with more credit should you haue performed your promise of orderly proceeding if you had reserued it thither where you meane to argue against mee But Camels saith Pliny loue not to drinke till they haue troubled the water Hist Nat. l. 8. ca. 18. nor Sophisters to dispute till they haue clouded the Question Neuerthelesse because you vaunt so much and so often of all the learned men of Christendome all the Church all the world all Fathers all Writers old and new Greeke and Latin for these 1600. yeeres giue mee leaue in this place once for all to apply mine answer thereunto I say therefore that it is but a vaine and idle brag full of Arrogance Temerity and Vntruth Arrogance in that you would seeme to haue read all Authors that haue wrtten these 1600. yeeres which if you were such a glutton of bookes and withall had the strength of an oke and the time of Mathuselah yet could you not by any meanes performe Temerity in that you thinke with the countenance of one inartificiall argument to outbraue so many sound Demonstrations grounded on Gods Word and according with right reason Vntruth in that you beare the world in hand as if all Writers both old and new were cleerely against me not so much as one giuing his suffrage and voice with mee whereas in my
or word Rest you shall hardly perswade mee that hee will take it for any other then the effect of true Iustifying Faith I. D. Neither is it your vaine surmising what Master Perkins would say Neither his expresse and direct saying that may be the decider of this controuersie How well that worthy man deserued of the Church of God wherein hee was like another Baptist both a shining and a burning torch Ioh. 5.35 I cannot bee ignorant who knew him so well and very vngratefull were I if I should not acknowledge to haue receiued a good part of that little skill I haue in my profession from his mouth hauing beene for sundry yeeres his ordinary auditor Yet because hee was not a Peter or a Paul nor so preserued from error by the Spirit of truth that hee could mistake in nothing I hope I may without arrogance and with reseruation of due reuerence honor vnto his worth in some points dissent from him And if you may seat Faith both in the vnderstanding and the will notwithstanding that M. Perkins place it only in the vnderstanding On the Creed affirming that it scarce standeth with reason that one single grace should inhere in two distinct faculties why may not I take the same liberty vnto my selfe and define Iustifying Faith by Affiance although M. Perkins would take it for no other then the Effect of Iustifying Faith for so indeed hee doth and I deny not but freely confesse that vpon the reasons aboue rendred I doe in this point altogether differ from him Neither yet did I say that I blanked him with my rare and cunning disputes for this is but the renewing of your old slander the vanity of which I haue already detected Onely it seemes that your best wine is wel-nie spent seeing now you serue your guests with these dregs and that you are driuen to a very narrow strait when you are faine to arme against me such base calumniations and fictions of your owne braine N. B. When you send me to Master Foxe in his Booke de Christo gratis justificante without citing the place where or the words what of mee your speech deserueth none answer but this I dare vndertake you abuse the writings of so reuerend a man I. D. The authority of Master Foxe was not vouched by me to iustify my Definition that Faith is Affiance but to ouerthrow yours who affirme that Faith is Assurance and therefore was placed as was fitting after those arguments which I vrged against you Neuerthelesse here it pleaseth you after your desultory and disorderly manner of disputing in a very vndue place to giue answer vnto it And the reason why with such violence you hale it hither as I guesse is this that not appearing where it should it may seeme to giue no euidence at all against your Assurance and being ordered where it should not it may seeme to bee but idly alledged as being of no force to maintaine my Affiance But yet let vs see what exceptions you take to eleuate this authority Because I cite not the place where nor the words what my speech you say deserues no answer I wisse M. Baxter that booke is not of such bulke but that perusing the titles of each Chapter you might soone haue found out the places by me intended and you know that the schedule I sent you being endited at Bristoll where I was farre from my bookes I could not possibly referre you vnto the very page and line as otherwise I would haue done But now because I haue the booke at hand I will set you downe his direct words and quote you the page where you may read them and then leaue you to bee iudge your selfe whether as you charge mee I abuse the writings of that reuerend man or hee agree with mee in this that Faith is not Assurance Foxe Master Foxe therefore in his booke de Christo gratis iustificante pag. 246 saith thus My iudgement and opinion is that this confidence of mercy and certainty of Saluation promised is a thing which ought to bee very neerely conioined with Faith and which euery one ought necessarily to apply vnto himselfe yet being most applied is not that which onely by it selfe properly and absolutely dischargeth vs of our sinnes and iustifies before God but that there is some other thing propounded in the Gospell which in nature goeth before this certainty and iustifieth before God For Faith vpon the Person of the Sonne of God whereby wee are first reconciled vnto God necessarily goes before Againe pag. 253. Although saith hee certainty and assurance of diuine grace which it selfe is sometime commended vnder the name of Faith bee very neerely ioined with Faith yet this assurance doth not properly import the cause of iustifying but receiueth it being brought neither worketh iustification but is rather wrought by it and maketh them certaine who by the Faith of Christ are iustified but it selfe iustifieth not And yet againe pag. 255. If the question bee of the cause which properly iustifieth from sinne I answer it is that Faith not whereby wee belieue that wee are iustified but whereby wee belieue in Christ the Sonne of God Thus M. Foxe and thus by M. Foxe it appeareth as I affirmed that in this point I am not singular and alone Yet to preuent captious cauils you may bee pleased to vnderstand that the Latin word vsed by Master Foxe to wit Fiducia I haue in my translation englished Confidence and Assurance not that I was afraid lest rendring it Affiance hee might seeme to exclude my affiance also from the Definition of Faith for had hee done so it were nothing to mee hauing shewed that hee denies Faith to be Assurance which was all I there affirmed of him but because if you marke his words attentiuely you shall find that by Fiducia hee vnderstands not Affiance but confident Perswasion or Assurance for hee doth euer confound it with Certainty and expresly defines it to bee that whereby wee are assured of our iustification by Christ So doth Melancthon also and Kemnitius and many others vnderstanding by Fiducia a firme Perswasion that our sinnes are certainly remitted by the propitiation of Christ and all the benefits of the promise of grace giuen communicated and applyed vnto vs. So that vnlesse I would haue depraued my authors meaning I could not translate otherwise then I haue done N. B. Now thinke not that I hold that a man ordinarily saued may be saued without relying vpon Christ Iesus for I hold the cleane contrary viz. that true Iustifying Faith assuring a man in spirituall knowledge of his owne saluation in Iesus Christ worketh and causeth a sweet rest and reposing of the whole soule vpon Christ and his Merits But I deny that this Rest is Faith or this Faith Rest no more then the tree can be the fruite or the fruite the tree I. D. That no man can ordinarily bee saued without Relying vpon Christ I grant for according to my
Chrysostome Hierome Basil others but expresly affirmeth that the Friers are they who haue corrupted the Fathers Not so expresly Ludouicus vines In Ciuit. Dei l. 22. c. 8. yet couertly hee insinuates as much In this chapter of Augustin saith he many things are added by those who with their polluted hands haue defiled the writings of great Authors Euen of late Pamelius although eight other written copies failed him yet bashed not vpon the sole authority of one blind Cambron copie to insert into Cyprian de vnitate Ecclesiae these words He that forsaketh the chaire of Peter on which the Church is founded doth hee hope himselfe to be in the Church Which glosseme notwithstanding it bee not to bee found nor in Alopecius his print nor in that of Heruagius or Langlier or Crinitus or Gryphius or Manutius or any other Part. 1. p. 89. no not in any other written copie as our learned Bilson sheweth yet because it seemeth to make much for the authority of the See of Rome it must of necessity bee clapt into the text Whereas contrarily if all the Copies of the Imperfect worke vpon Mathew haue in them these words In which not the true Body of Christ but the Sacrament of his Body is contained because it maketh strongly against Transubstantiation it must needs bee inforced for so it pleaseth Bellarmins grace by some Scholler of Berengarius De Euchar. l. 2. c. 22. And as the Fathers haue been not a little wronged by way of addition so I feare mee they haue receiued much iniury also by way of Subtraction Ep. dedic Yee haue taken order saith Sixtus Senensis vnto Pope Pius the fift that all the works of Catholicke writers and specially the ancient Fathers should bee purged and corrected In Cyprians works printed at Rome by Manutius the letter of Firmilianus B. of Caesaria is left out Why but because hee is in somewhat quicke against Steuen B. of Rome In regard whereof saith Pamelius it had beene more wisdome if it neuer had beene set out The works of Ambrose also set foorth by Frelonius at Lions were before the printing of them razed by two Friers This Fr. Iunius saw with his eyes and the Corrector of the presse complayned of it professing hee would buy any other print rather then that You must needs bee very deafe for all the world rings of it if you haue not heard of the late order taken amongst you for the purging of books at the next reprinting of them namely that whatsoeuer is to be found whether in the Epistle Dedicatory or Preface or Margent or Tables or Annotations or in the Text of the worke it selfe any way seeming to make either against them or for vs be wholy cut off and left our in the next edition Then which I thinke there was neuer a more base and beggerly shift vsed Neither doth it argue other then the badnesse of your cause and the distrust you haue of it for truth and a good cause would much disdaine to bee supported by so vniust and dishonest meanes Yet is this policy now a principall pillar of your Religion and hath of late yeeres beene carefully executed Witnesse those Expurgatorie Indices which giue direction to the Ouerseers of this businesse what is to bee altered which to be added and what to bee defalked and spunged out of which fiue are published to the world one printed in Flanders a second in Spayne a third in Portugal a fourth in Naples a fift in Rome What others there be lurking in secret and not yet come to light I know not Witnesse also the writings of Cardinall Cajetan Polydor Virgil Andreas Masius Feras Ludouicus Vines Erasmus Beatus Rhenanus and innumerable others which haue already passed this Purgatory and are not set forth pitifully mangled and dismembred But to leaue this suppose the Fathers haue not been so shamefully entreated as I haue shewed yet would I pray you to answer mee these two questions the first whether you bee assured of this consent by your own reading or else belieue it vpon the report of others the second if you haue read them all your owne selfe whether you haue read them in a translation or in their owne originall language To the first of these two questions I presume you neither can nor will answer that you haue read them all your selfe for I know you neither haue them all nor haue you had sufficient either time or strength to peruse them all vnlesse happily your body bee made of yron and you haue reached vnto the yeares of Methuselah What then will you trust the allegations of other men Take heed what you doe for so you may soone bee deceiued For example Doct. Princ. l. 6. c. 14. Stapleton to proue that Paul was the Apostle of the Gentiles but Peter both of Iewes and Gentiles In Gal. alledgeth these words of Ambrose Hee nameth Peter alone and compareth him to himselfe because hee had receiued the Primacy to build the Church that himselfe likewise is chosen to haue the Primacy of building the Churches of the Gentiles yet so that Peter preached vnto the Gentiles also Here your Doctor stops and Iohn Hart taking it vp vpon trust vrgeth it against Reynolds as a strong testimony whereas Ambrose if yee curtall not his words saith cleane otherwise thus yet so that Peter also preached to the Gentiles if it were needfull and Paul to the Iewes Many mo such falsifications might I easily produce out of your writers but let vs rather heare how themselues censure one another Antony Augustin Archbishop of Tarracon desiring in a booke written to that purpose that Gratian might bee purged De emend Grat. l. 1. dial 1. saith His faults are so many that they cannot bee reckoned in one day For hee alledgeth false Authors ascribing words to Gregory Ambrose Augustin no where to bee found in them and produceth true Authors but so as oft times he bringeth in contrary sentences Cumel saith that the testimony of Hierome is by Molina Disp Var. to 3. p. 126. Pag. 124. Suares and others fraudulently cited and that Suares alledging Chrysostome cuts off that which immediatly goes before and followes after Defens p. 324. because hee saw Chrysostome fauoured not his opinion at all It is no rare thing saith Iohannes Marsilius for his illustrious Lordship meaning Bellarmine to cite Authors for an opinion whereas they affirme the plaine contrary Pag. 289. And againe It grieueth mee to see things imputed vnto holy Fathers the contrary whereof they affirme Ib. p. 357. Finally saith the foresayd Marsilius touching Cardinall Baronius I haue heard that as hee hath taken a liberty to mend the Fathers Canons and Historians so he will correct the Councels after his manner and for 〈◊〉 â—â—ne purpose and to assume vnto himselfe a licence 〈◊〉 which God forbid And thus you see euen by your owne men how dangerous it is to trust them in their allegations As
goodnesse either grant vs the Gift or sanctifie the meanes vnto vs that keeping our selues cleane both in body and soule wee may bee presented vnto thee as pure and vnspotted Virgins in the last day Amen A LETTER INsteed of a few words which I promised to write you I haue here sent this little treatise which if you diligently read and peruse it will more fully informe and resolue you then I should haue done Neuerthelesse that I may in some sort discharge my promise and not altogether faile your expectation in few words thus I would wish you diligently to remember that to bee grieued and troubled for sinne is a necessary duty and that it ought to be so For as in the poole of Bethesda there could bee no cure wrought vntill the Angell had troubled the water so neither is there any remission of sinnes and healing of the soule vntill by the worke of Gods Spirit the heart bee bruzed and broken When such an Angell as Peter was shall by his powerfull preaching haue pricked the Conscience and made men both to see their sinne and to feele the misery thereof then and not before doe they crie out Men and Brethren what shall wee doe Sorrow for sinne is a blessed sorrow A broken and contrite spirit God neuer yet despised Those and those alone who feele the heauy loade and burden of their sinnes doth Christ inuite vnto him and vnto them doth hee promise refreshment Hee that oftentimes watered his couch with his teares and as oftentasted the sweet consolations of Gods blessed Spirit hath out of his experience seriously affirmed that whosoeuer soweth in teares shall surely reap in ioy and a day of reioycing shall euer succeed the night of mourning And to speake the truth sorrow was made for nothing but for sinne A potion is made onely for that disease which it is able to cure and sorrow for that onely which it is able to remedie Losse of friends health wealth and the like were neuer yet recouered with weeping but the teares of true repentance haue euer cleansed the soule from sinne and purchased both pardon and fauour from God Sorrow therefore was made onely for sinne Mourne then in Gods name for your sinnes but yet take heed you mourne not as those that are without hope You cannot doe a greater wrong vnto the infinite mercy of God and the inualuable merits of Christ your Sauiour then to thinke them lesse then your sinnes or demerits If Satan suggest any such thing vnto you spare him not but tell him hee lies for Gods goodnes cannot bee outreached by mans wickednesse and where sinne doth abound grace doth much more abound If your sinnes were as red as scarlet yet vpon your true repentance God both can and will make you as white as snow And of your repentance you cannot well make doubt there being in you as you haue confessed vnto mee both hearty sorrow for sinnes past and vnfained resolution of amendement for the time to come which are the two essentiall parts of true repentance Yea but you haue committed that sinne which is vnto death and can neuer bee forgiuen nor in this nor in the next world If so to what end doe you seeke vnto mee for comfort And why doe I wast paper in writing vnto you But vpon what ground haue you entertayned this conceit Forsooth you haue often sworne and forsworne against your knowledge I will not extenuate your sin it is I confesse grieuous and fearefull neither would I willingly hinder you from a long pennance in sackcloth and ashes for the same Howbeit I would aduise you to steere right betweene these two dangerous gulfes for as you must not make mole-hils of mountaines nor frailties of furies so neither must you of euery sinne though otherwise heinous and enormious make that vnpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost It is not often swearing or cursing no nor forswearing or periury and the like which God neither can nor will forgiue For then what should become of that worthy Apostle Saint Peter who forswore his Lord and Sauiour euen against his Conscience and that not once but thrice with most horrible execration and cursing you haue not sinned in so high a nature as Peter did neuerthelesse now that Christ looketh backe vpon you as hee did on him touching your heart with consideration of what you haue done I giue you good leaue to goe foorth with him and to weep as bitterly as you can But despaire not of pardon nor count it the sinne against the Holy Ghost for so did not hee That sinne is no lesse then a wilfull malicious and obstinate denying of the foundation namely that Iesus is the Mediator and Redeemer of the world It is a totall apostasie from the Faith when the whole man reuolteth from the whole Christian Religion wholly with an obstinate resolution neuer to returne to it any more This sinne I know you are farre from and you dare not say you haue committed it Neither is it possible for him that is guilty thereof to doe as you now a long time haue done that is to mourne and lament for his sinnes His stubborne and reprobate heart is not so tender but being past all sorrow and feeling rather reioyceth in his desperate and malicious obstinacy More I might write but let this little booke I send you bee insteed thereof It remayneth that henceforward you play the valiant souldier of Christ and suffer not your selfe any longer to be led by passion but onely by the rules and directions of Gods blessed Word For my part I will not cease to pray vnto the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ for you that this pricke may be eftsoones taken from you or if for you further exercise and triall hee delay you a little longer that yet your Faith may settle and rest vpon that answer which God gaue vnto Paul being in the like case My grace is sufficient for thee Farewell THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY IS TRVLY Deipara the Mother of GOD. THIS Proposition either in expresse or equiualent tearmes hath euer been held by all Orthodoxe writers both ancient and moderne specially those who haue liued since Nestorius broached the contrary heresie This Nestorius about foure hundred yeeres after Christ was Patriarch of Constantinople who when his Chaplaine Anastasius had publickly taught that the blessed Virgin Mary ought not to bee called the Mother of God was so farre saith Socrates from checking in him these blasphemies against Christ L. 7. c. 32. that hee maintained him in it and reiected himselfe the word Deipara Euagr. l. 1. c. 7. or Mother of God Wherefore hee was banished into the I le Oasis where hee died miserably hauing his accursed tongue eaten out with wormes But as I say the Church of God hath euer held and defended the contrary which I proue by vnanswerable reasons And. Can. 1. First by generall Councels In the Councell of Ephesus it was thus decreed Whosoeuer confesseth not the