ye are not to claime in any such cōferēce other thē the plaintifs or opponents part which must cōsist altogether in proofe cōfirmation of two things the one that our orders by you condēned we ought to abolish the other that yours we are bound to accept in the stead therof Secōdly because the questions in cōtrouersie between vs are many if once we descend vnto particularities that for the easier more orderly proceeding therin the most generall be first discussed nor any questiō left off nor in each questiō the prosecutiō of any one argumēt giuē ouer another takē in hād til the issue wherunto by replies answers both parts are come be collected red acknowledged aswel on the one side as on the other to be the plain cōclusiō which they are grown vnto Thirdly for auoyding of the manifold incōueniēces wherunto ordinary extēporal disputes are subiect as also because if ye should singly dispute one by one as euery mans owne wit did best serue it might be cōceiued by the rest that happily some other would haue done more the chiefest of you do all agree in this action that whom ye shal then choose your speaker by him that which is publikely brought into disputation be acknowledged by al your cōsēts not to be his allegatiō but yours such as ye all are agreed vpō haue required him to deliuer in al your names the true copy whereof being taken by a notarie that a reasonable time be allowed for returne of answere vnto you in the like forme Fourthly whereas a number of conferences haue bene had in other causes with the lesse effectual successe by reason of partiall vntrue reports published afterwards vnto the world that to preuent this euill there be at the first a solemne declaration made on both parts of their agreement to haue that very booke no other set abroad wherin their present authorized notaries do write those things fully only which being written there read are by their owne opē testimony acknowledged to be their owne Other circumstances hereunto belōging whether for the choice of time place and language or for preuention of impertinent and needlesse speech or to any end and purpose else they may be thought on whē occasiō serueth In this sort to broach my priuate conceipt for the ordering of a publike actiō I should be loth albeit I do it not otherwise thē vnder correctiō of thē whose grauitie wisedome ought in such cases to ouerrule but that so venterous boldnes I see is a thing now general am therby of good hope that where al mē are licensed to offēd no man will shew himself a sharp accuser 6. What successe God may giue vnto any such kind of conference or disputation we cannot tell But of this we are right sure that nature scripture and experience it selfe haue all taught the world to seeke for the ending of contentions by submitting it self vnto some iudiciall definitiue sentence wherevnto neither part that cōtendeth may vnder any pretence or colour refuse to stand This must needs be effectuall and strong As for other meanes without this they seldome preuaile J would therefore know whether for the ending of these irksome strifes wherein you and your followers do stand thus formally deuided against the authorized guides of this Church the rest of the people subiect vnto their charge whether I say ye be content to referre your cause to any other higher iudgement then your owne or else intend to persist proceed as ye haue begun til your selues can be perswaded to cōdemn your selues If your determinatiō be this we can be but sorie that ye should deserue to be reckened with such of whom God himselfe pronounceth The way of peace they haue not knowne Waies of peaceable conclusion there are but these two certaine the one a sentence of iudiciall decision giuen by authoritie therto appointed within our selues the other the like kind of sentence giuen by a more vniuersall authoritie The former of which two waies God himselfe in the lawe prescribeth and his Spirit it was which directed the very first Christian Churches in the world to vse the later The ordinance of God in the lawe was this If there arise a matter too hard for thee in iudgement betweene bloud bloud betweene plea c. then shalt thou arise and goe vp vnto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose and thou shalt come vnto the Priests of the Leuites and vnto the Iudge that shall be in those dayes and aske and they shal shew thee the sentence of iudgement thou shalt do according to that thing which they of that place which the Lord hath chosen shewe thee and thou shalt obserue to do according to al that they enform thee according to the law which they shall teach thee and according to the iudgemēt which they shal tell thee shalt thou do thou shalt not decline from the thing which they shal shew thee to the right hand nor to the left And that man that will do presumptuously not harkning vnto the Priest that standeth before the Lord thy God to minister there or vnto the Iudge that man shal dye and thou shalt take away euill from Israel When there grew in the Church of Christ a question Whether the Gentiles belieuing might be saued although they were not circumcised after the manner of Moses nor did obserue the rest of those legall rites ceremonies wherunto the Iewes were bound After great dissension and disputation about it their conclusion in the end was to haue it determined by sentence at Ierusalem which was accordingly done in a Councell there assembled for the same purpose Are ye able to alleage any iust and sufficient cause wherfore absolutely ye should not condescend in this controuersie to haue your iudgements ouerruled by some such definitiue sentence whether it fall out to be giuen with or against you that so these tedious contentions may cease Ye will perhaps make answere that being perswaded already as touching the truth of your cause ye are not to harken vnto any sentence no not though Angels should define otherwise as the blessed Apostles owne example teacheth againe that men yea Councels may erre and that vnlesse the iudgement giuen do satisfie your minds vnlesse it be such as ye can by no further argumēt oppugne in a word vnlesse you perceiue and acknowledge it your selues consonant with Gods word to stand vnto it not allowing it were to sinne against your own cōsciences But cōsider I beseech you first as touching the Apostle how that wherein he was so resolute peremptory our Lord Iesus Christ made manifest vnto him euen by intuitive reuelation wherein there was no possibilitie of error That which you are perswaded of ye haue it no otherwise then by your owne only probable collectiō therefore such bold asseuerations as in him were admirable should in your mouthes but argue
rashnes God was not ignorant that the Priests and Iudges whose sentence in matters of controuersie 〈◊〉 ordained should stand both might and oftentimes would be deceiued in their iudgement Howbeit better it was in the eye of his vnderstanding that sometime an erroneous sentence definitiue should preuaile till the same authoritie perceiuing such ouersight might afterwardes correct or reuerse it then that strifes should haue respit to growe and not come speedily vnto some end Neither wish we that men should do any thing which in their hearts they are perswaded they ought not to doe but this perswasion ought we say to be fully setled in their harts that in litigious and controuersed causes of such qualitie the will of God is to haue them to do whatsoeuer the sentence of iudiciall and finall decision shall determine yea though it seeme in their priuate opinioÌ„ to swarue vtterly from that which is right as no doubt many times the sentence amongst the Iewes did seeme vnto one part or other contending and yet in this case God did then allow them to doe that which in their priuate iudgement it seemed yea and perhaps truly seemed that the lawe did disallow For if God be not the author of confusion but of peace then can he not be the author of our refusall but of our contentment to stand vnto some definitiue sentence without which almost impossible it is that eyther wee should auoyd confusion or euer hope to attaine peace To small purpose had the Councell of Ierusalem bene assembled if once their determination being set downe men might afterwards haue defended their former opinions When therefore they had giuen their definitiue sentence all controuersie was at an ende Things were disputed before they came to be determined men afterwardes were not to dispute any longer but to obey The sentence of iudgement finished their strife which their disputes before iudgement could not doe This was ground sufficient for any reasonable mans conscience to build the dutie of obedience vpon whatsoeuer his owne opinion were as touching the matter before in question So full of wilfulnes and selfeliking is our nature that without some definitiue sentence which being giuen may stand and a necessitie of silence on both sides afterward imposed small hope there is that strifes thus far prosecuted will in short time quietly end Now it were in vaine to aske you whether ye could be content that the sentence of any Court already erected should bee so farre authorized as that among the Iewes established by God himselfe for the determining of all controuersies That man which wil do presumptuously not harkning vnto the Priest that standeth before the Lord to minister there nor vnto the Iudge let him dye Ye haue giuen vs already to vnderstand what your opinioÌ„ is in part concerning her sacred Maiesties Court of high Commission the nature whereof is the same with that amongst the Iewes albeit the power be not so great The other way happily may like you better because Maister Beza in his last booke saue one written about these matters professeth himselfe to be now weary of such combats and encounters whether by word or writing in as much as he findeth that controuersies therby are made but braules therfore wisheth that in some common lawfull assembly of Churches all these strifes may at once be decided Shall there be then in the meane while no doings Yes There are the waightier matters of the lawe iudgement and mercie and fidelitie These things we ought to do and these things while we contend about lesse we leaue vndone Happier are they whom the Lord when he commeth shall finde doing in these things then disputing about Doctors Elders Deacons Or if there be no remedie but somewhat needs ye must do which may tend to the setting forward of your discipline do that which wise men who thinke some Statute of the realme more fit to be repealed then to stand in force are accustomed to do before they come to Parliament where the place of enacting is that is to say spend the time in reexamining more duly your cause and in more throughly considering of that which ye labour to ouerthrow As for the orders which are established sith equitie and reason the law of nature God and man do all fauour that which is in being till orderly iudgement of decision be giuen against it it is but iustice to exact of you and peruersnes in you it should be to denie thereunto your willing obedience Not that I iudge it a thing allowable for men to obserue those lawes which in their hearts they are stedfastly perswaded to be against the law of God but your perswasion in this case ye are all bound for the time to suspend and in otherwise doing ye offend against God by troubling his church without any iust or necessary cause Be it that there are some reasons inducing you to think hardly of our lawes Are those reasons demonstratiue are they necessary or but meere probabilities only An argument necessary demonstratiue is such as being proposed vnto any mâ— vnderstood the mind cannot choose but inwardly assent Any one such reason dischargeth J graunt the conscience and setteth it at full libertie For the publike approbatioÌ„ giuen by the body this whole Church vnto those things which are established doth make it but probable that they are good And therefore vnto a necessary proofe that they are not good it must be giue place But if the skilfullest amongst you can shew that all the bookes ye haue hitherto written be able to afford any one argument of this nature let the instance be giuen As for probabilities what thing was there euer set downe so agreeable with soâ—â—â—d reason but some probable shewe against it might be made Is it meete that when publikely things are receiued and haue taken place generall obedience thereunto should cease to bee exacted in case this or that priuate person led with some probable conceipt shoulde make open protestation I Peter or Iohn disallow them and pronounce them nought In which case your answere will be that concerning the lawes of our Church they are not onely condemned in the opinion of a priuate man but of thousands yea and euen of those amongst which dâ—uers are in publique charge and authoritie As though when publique consent of the whole hath established anything euery mans iudgement being thereunto compared were not priuate howsoeuer his calling be to some kind of publique charge So that of peace and quietnes there is not any way possible vnlesse the probable voice of euery intier societie or body politique ouerrule all priuate of like nature in the same body Which thing effectually proueth that God being author of peace and not of confusion in the Church must needs be author of those mens peaceable resolutions who concerning these thinges haue determined with themselues to thinke and do as the Church they are of decreeth till they see necessary cause enforcing
vnto their owne lawes the very publique seruice of God is fraught as touching matter with heapes of intollerable pollutions and as concerning forme borrowed from the shoppe of Antichrist hatefull both waies in the eyes of the most holy the kinde of their gouernment by Bishops and Archbishops Antichristian that discipline which Christ hath essentially tyed that is to say so vnited vnto his Church that wee cannot accompt it really to be his Church which hath not in it the same discipline that verie discipline no lesse there despised then in the highest throne of Antichrist all such partes of the word of God as doe any way concerne that Discipline no lesse vnsoundlie taught and interpreted by all authorized English Pastors then by Antichrists factors themselues at Baptisme crossing at the Supper of the Lord kneeling at both a number of other the most notorious badges of Antichristian recognisance vsuall Being moued with these and the like your effectuall discourses whereunto we gaue most attentiue eare till they entred euen into our soules and were as fire within our bosomes we thought we might hereof be bold to conclude that sith no such Antichristian synagogue may be accompted a true Church of Christ ye by accusing all congregations ordered according to the lawes of England as Antichristian did meane to condemne those congregations as not being any of them worthy the name of a true Christian Church Ye tell vs now it is not your meaning But what meant your often threatnings of them who professing thēselues the inhabitants of mount Sion were too loth to depart wholly as they should out of Babylon Whereat our hearts being fearefully troubled we durst not we durst not continue longer so neere her confines least her plagues might suddenly ouertake vs before we did cease to be partakers with her sinnes for so we could not choose but acknowledge with griefe that we were when they doing euill we by our presence in their assemblies seemed to like thereof or at least wise not so earnestly to dislike as became men heartily zealous of Gods glory For aduenturing to erect the discipline of Christ without the leaue of the Christian Magistrate happily ye may condemne vs as fooles in that we hazard thereby our estates and persons further then you which are that way more wise thinke necessary but of any offence or sinne therein committed against God with what conscience can you accuse vs when your owne positions are that the things we obserue should euery of them be dearer vnto vs then ten thousand liues that they are the peremptory commaundements of God that no mortall man can dispence with them and that the Magistrate grieuously sinneth in not constraining thereunto Will ye blame any man for doing that of his owne accord which all men should be compelled to do that are not willing of themselues When God commandeth shall we answer that we will obey if so be Caesar will graunt vs leaue Is discipline an Ecclesiasticall matter or a Ciuill If an Ecclesiasticall it must of necessitie belong to the duty of the Minister And the Minister ye say holdeth all his authority of doing whatsoeuer belongeth vnto the spirituall charge of the house of God euen immediatly from God himselfe without dependency vpon any Magistrate Whereupon it followeth as we suppose that the hearts of the people being willing to be vnder the Scepter of Christ the Minister of God into whose hands the Lord himselfe hath put that Scepter is without all excuse if thereby he guide them not Nor do we finde that hitherto greatly ye haue disliked those Churches abroad where the people with direction of their godly ministers haue euen against the will of the Magistrate brought in either the doctrine or discipline of Iesus Christ. For which cause we must now thinke the very same thing of you which our Sauiour did sometime vtter concerning false harted Scribes and Pharises They say and do not Thus the foolish Barrowist deriueth his schisme by way of conclusion as to him it seemeth directly and plainely out of your principles Him therefore we leaue to be satisfied by you from whom he hath sprung And if such by your owne acknowledgement be persons dangerous although as yet the alterations which they haue made are of small and tender groath the changes likely to insue throughout all states and vocations within this land in case your desire should take place must be thought vpon First concerning the supreme power of the highest they are no small prerogatiues which now thereunto belonging the forme of your discipline will constraine it to resigne as in the last booke of this treatise we haue shewed at large Againe it may iustly be feared whether our English Nobility when the matter came in tryall would contentedly suffer themselues to be alwayes at the call and to stand to the sentence of a number of meane persons assisted with the presence of their poore teacher a man as sometimes it hapneth though better able to speake yet little or no whit apter to iudge then the rest from whom be their dealings neuer so absurd vnlesse it be by way of cōplaint to a Synod no appeale may be made vnto any one of higher power in as much as the order of your discipline admitteth no standing inequalitie of Courts no spirituall iudge to haue any ordinary superiour on earth but as many supremacies as there are parishes seuerall Congregations Neither is it altogether without cause that so many do feare the ouerthrow of all learning as a threatned sequell of this your intended discipline For if the worlds preseruation depend vpon the multitude of the wise and of that sort the number hereafter be not likely to waxe ouer great when that where with the sonne of Syrach professeth himselfe at the heart grieued men of vnderstanding are already so little set by howe should their mindes whom the loue of so pretious a iewell filleth with secret iealousie euen in regard of the least things which may any way hinder the flourishing estate thereof choose but misdoubt least this discipline which alwayes you match with diuine doctrine as hir naturall and true sister be found vnto all kinds of knowledge a stepmother seeing that the greatest worldly hopes which are proposed vnto the chiefest kind of learning ye seeke vtterly to extirpate as weedes and haue grounded your platforme on such propositions as do after a sort vndermine those most renowmed habitations where through the goodnesse of almightie God all commendable arts and sciences are with exceeding great industrie hitherto and so may they euer continue studied proceeded in and profest To charge you as purposely bent to the ouerthrow of that wherein so many of you haue attained no small perfection were iniurious Only therfore I wish that your selues did well consider how opposite certaine your positions are vnto the state of Collegiate societies whereon the two Vniuersities consist Those degrees which their statutes bind them to take are
for vs so small is the ioy we take in these strifes to labour vnder the same yoke as men that looke for the same eternall reward of their labours to be ioyned with you in bands of indissoluble loue and amity to liue as if our persons being many our soules were but one rather then in such dismembred sort to spend our few and wretched daies in a tedious prosecuting of wearisome contentions the end whereof if they haue not some speedy ende will be heauie euen on both sides Brought alreadie we are euen to that estate which Gregorie Nazianzene mournefully describeth saying My minde leadeth mee sith there is no other remedie to flye and to conuey my selfe into some corner out of sight where I may scape from this cloudie tempest of malitiousnesse whereby all parts are entred into a deadly warre amongst themselues and that little remnant of loue which was is now consumed to nothing The onely godlines we glory in is to finde out somewhat whereby we may iudge others to be vngodly Each others faults we obserue as matter of exprobration and not of griefe By these meanes wee are growne hateful in the eyes of the Heathens themselues and which woundeth vs the moâ—e deeply able we are not to denie but that we haue deserued their hatred With the better sort of our owne our fame and credit is cleane lost The lesse wee are to maruell if they iudge vilely of vs who although we did well would hardly allow therof On our backs they also build that are lewd and what we obiect one against an other the same they vse to the vtter scorne and disgrace of vs all This we haue gained by our mutuall home-dissentions This we are worthily rewarded with which are more forward to striue then becommeth men of vertuous and mild disposition But our trust in the almightie is that with vs contentions are now at their highest floate and that the day will come for what cause of despaire is there when the passioÌ„s of former enmitie being allaied we shal with ten times redoubled tokens of our vnfainedly reconciled loue shewe our selues each towards other the same which Ioseph and the brethren of Ioseph were at the time of their enteruiew in Aegypt Our comfortable expectation and most thirstie desire whereof what man soeuer amongst you shall any way helpe to satisfie as we truly hope there is no one amongst you but some way or other will the blessings of the God of peace both in this world and in the world to come be vppon him moe then the starres of the firmament in number VVhat things are handled in the Bookes following THe first Booke concerning lawes in generall The second of the vse of diuine lawe conteined in scripture whether that be the onely lawe which ought to serue for our direction in all things without exception The third of lawes concerning Ecclesiasticall Politie whether the forme thereof be in scripture so set downe that no addition or change is lawfull The fourth of generall exceptions taken against the lawes of our politie as being popish and banished out of certaine reformed Churches The fift of our lawes that concerne the publike religious duties of the Church and the maner of bestowing that power of order which inableth men in sundrie degrees and callings to execute the same The sixt of the power of iurisdiction which the reformed platforme claymeth vnto lay-elders with others The seauenth of the power of iurisdiction and the honor which is annexed thereunto in Bishops The eighth of the power of ecclesiasticall dominion or supreme authoritie which with vs the highest gouernour or Prince hath as well in regard of domesticall iurisdictions as of that other forreinly claimed by the Bishop of Rome The first Booke Concerning Lawes and their seuerall kindes in generall The matter conteined in this first Booke 1 THe cause of writing this generall discourse concerning lawes 2 Of that lawe which God from before the beginning hath set for himselfe to doe all the things by 3 The law which natural agents obserue their necessary maner of keeping it 4 The lawe which the Angels of God obey 5 The lawe whereby man is in his actions directed to the imitation of God 6 Mens first beginning to vnderstand that lawe 7 Of mans will which is the first thing that lawes of action are made to guide 8 Of the naturall finding out of lawes by the light of reason to guide the will vnto that which is good 9 Of the benefit of keeping that lawe which reason teacheth 10 How reason doth lead men vnto the making of humane lawes whereby politique societies are gouerned and to agreement about lawes whereby the fellowship or communion of independent societies standeth 11 Wherefore God hath by scripture further made knowne such supernaturall lawes as do serue for mens direction 12 The cause why so many naturall or rationall lawes are set downe in holy scripture 13 The benefit of hauing diuine lawes written 14 The sufficiencie of scripture vnto the end for which it was instituted 15 Of lawes positiue conteined in scripture the mutabilitie of certaine of them and the generall vse of scripture 16 A conclusion shewing how all this belongeth to the cause in question HE that goeth about to perswade a multitude that they are not so well gouerned as they ought to be shal neuer waÌ„t attentiue fauourable hearers because they know the manifold defects whereunto euery kind of regiment is subiect but the secret lets and difficulties which in publike proceedings are innumerable ineuitable they haue not ordinarily the iudgement to consider And becâ—â—se such as openly reproue supposed disorders of state are taken for principall friendes to the common benefite of all and for men that carry singular freedome of mind vnder this faire and plausible colour whatsoeuer they vtter passeth for good and currant That which wanteth in the waight of their speech is supplyed by the aptnes of mens minds to accept and beleeue it Whereas on the other side if we maintaine thinges that are established wee haue not onely to striue with a number of heauie preiudices deepely rooted in the hearts of men who thinke that herein we serue the time and speake in fauour of the present state because thereby we eyther hold or seeke preferment but also to beare such exceptions as minds so auerted before hand vsually take against that which they are loath should be powred into them Albeit therefore much of that we are to speake in this present cause may seeme to a number perhaps tedious perhaps obscure darke and intricate for many talke of the truth which neuer sounded the depth from whence it springeth and therfore when they are led thereunto they are soone weary as men drawne from those beaten pathes wherewith they haue bene inured yet this may not so farre preuaile as to cut off that which the matter it selfe requireth howsoeuer the nice humour of some be therewith pleased or no.
those things which are for direction of all the parts of our life needfull and not impossible to be discerned by the light of nature it selfe are there not many which few mens naturall capacitie and some which no mans hath bene able to find out They are sayth Saint Augustine but a few and they indued with great ripenes of wit and iudgement free from all such affaires as might trouble their meditations instructed in the sharpest and the subtlest points of learning who haue and that very hardly bene able to find out but onely the immortality of the soule The resurrection of the flesh what man did euer at any time dreame of hauing not heard it otherwise then from the schoole of nature Whereby it appeareth how much we are bound to yeeld vnto our creator the father of all mercy eternall thankes for that he hath deliuered his law vnto the world a law wherein so many things are laid open cleere and manifest as a light which otherwise would haue bene buried in darknesse not without the hazard or rather not with the hazard but with the certaine losse of infinite thousands of soules most vndoubtedly now saued We see therefore that our soueraigne good is desired naturally that God the author of that naturall desire had appointed naturall meanes whereby to fulfill it that man hauing vtterly disabled his nature vnto those meanes hath had other reuealed from God and hath receaued from heauen a law to teach him how that which is desired naturally must now supernaturally be attained finally we see that because those later exclude not the former quite and cleane as vnnecessary therefore together with such supernaturall duties as could not possibly haue beene otherwise knowne to the world the same lawe that teacheth them teacheth also with them such naturall duties as could not by light of nature easily haue bene knowne 13. In the first age of the world God gaue lawes vnto our fathers and by reason of the number of their daies their memories serued in steed of books wherof the manifold imperfections and defects being knowne to God he mercifully relieued the same by often putting them in mind of that whereof it behoued them to be specially mindfull In which respect we see how many times one thing hath bene iterated vnto sundry euen of the best and wisest amongst them After that the liues of men were shortned meanes more durable to preserue the lawes of God from obliuion and corruption grew in vse not without precise direction from God himselfe First therefore of Moyses it is sayd that he wrote all the words of God not by his owne priuate motion and deuise for God taketh this act to himselfe I haue written Furthermore were not the Prophets following commanded also to do the like Vnto the holy Euangelist Saint Iohn how often expresse charge is giuen Scribe write these things Concerning the rest of our Lords Disciples the words of Saint Augustine are Quic quid ille de suis factis dictis nos legere voluit hoc scribenduÌ„ illis tanquaÌ„ suis manibus imperauit Now although we do not deny it to be a matter meerely accidentall vnto the law of God to be written although writing be not that which addeth authority and strength thereunto finally though his lawes do require at our hands the same obedience howsoeuer they be deliuered his prouideÌ„ce notwithstanding which hath made principall choice of this way to deliuer them who seeth not what cause we haue to admire and magnifie The singular benefit that hath growne vnto the world by receiuing the lawes of God euen by his owne appointment committed vnto writing we are not able to esteeme as the value thereof deserueth When the question therefore is whether we be now to seeke for any reuealed law of God other where then onely in the sacred Scripture whether we do now stand bound in the sight of God to yeeld to traditions-vrged by the Church of Rome the same obedience and reuerence we do to his written lawe honouring equally and adoring both as Diuine our answer is no. They that so earnestly pleade for the authority of Tradition as if nothing were more safely conueyed then that which spreadeth it selfe by report and descendeth by relation of former generations vnto the ages that succeed are not all of the them surely a miracle it were if they should be so simple as thus to perswade themselues howsoeuer if the simple were so perswaded they could be content perhaps very well to enioy the benefit as they accompt it of that common error What hazard the truth is in when it passeth through the hands of report how maymed and deformed it becommeth they are not they cannot possibly be ignorant Let them that are indeed of this mind consider but onely that litle of things Diuine which the Heathen haue in such sort receiued How miserable had the state of the Church of God beene long ere this if wanting the sacred Scripture we had no record of his lawes but onely the memory of man receiuing the same by report and relation from his predecessors By Scripture it hath in the wisedome of God seemed meete to deliuer vnto the world much but personally expedient to be practised of certaine men many deepe and profound points of doctrine as being the maine originall ground whereupon the precepts of duty depend many prophecies the cleere performance whereof might confirme the world in beliefe of things vnseene many histories to serue as looking glasses to behold the mercy the truth the righteousnesse of God towards all that faithfully serue obey and honor him yea many intire meditations of pietie to be as patternes and presidents in cases of like nature many things needfull for â—â—plication many for applicatioÌ„ vnto particular occasions such as the prouidence of God from time to time hath taken to haue the seuerall bookes of his holy ordinance written Be it them that together with the principall necessary lawes of God there are sundry other things written whereof we might happily be ignorant and yet be saued VVhat shall we hereupon thinke them needlesse shall we esteeme them as riotous branches wherewith we sometimes behold most pleasant vines ouergrown Surely no more then we iudge our hands on our eies â—â—perfluouâ— or what part soeuer which if our bodies did want we might notwithstaÌ„ding any such defect reteine still the complete being of men As therfore a complete man is neither destitute of any part necessary and hath some partes wherof though the want could not depriue him of his essence yet to haue â—hem standeth him in singular stead in respect of the special vses for which they serues in 〈…〉 all those writings which conteine in them the law of God all those â—â—nâ—râ—ble bookes of Scripture all those sacred tomes and volumes of holy wriâ— â—â—ey are with such absolute perfection framed that in them there neither 〈◊〉 any thing the lacke whereof might depriue vs of life
nor any thing in such wise aboundeth that as being superfluous vnfruitfull and altogether needlesse we should thinke it no losse or danger at all if we did want it 14 Although the scripture of God therefore be stored with infinite varietie of matter in all kinds although it abound with all sorts of lawes yet the principal intent of scripture is to deliuer the lawes of duties supernaturall Oftentimes it hath bene in very solemne maner disputed whether all things necessary vnto saluation be necessarily set downe in the holy Scriptures or no. If we define that necessary vnto saluation whereby the way to saluation is in any sort made more plaine apparent and easie to be knowne then is there no part of true Philosophie no art of account no kind of science rightly so called but the Scripture must conteine it If onely those things be necessary as surely none else are without the knowledge and practise whereof it is not the will and pleasure of God to make any ordinary graunt of saluation it may be notwithstanding and oftentimes hath bene demanded how the bookes of holy Scripture conteine in them all necessary things when of things necessary the very chiefest is to knowe what bookes we are bound to esteeme holy which point is confest impossible for the Scripture it selfe to teach Whereunto wee may aunswere with truth that there is not in the world any Arte or Science which proposing vnto it selfe an ende as euery one doth some ende or other hath bene therefore thought defectiue if it haue not deliuered simply whatsoeuer is needfull to the same ende but all kinds of knowledge haue their certaine bounds and limits each of them presupposeth many necessary things learned in other sciences and knowne before hand He that should take vpon him to teach men how to be eloquent in pleading causes must needes deliuer vnto them whatsoeuer precepts are requisite vnto that end otherwise he doth no◠the thing which he taketh vpon him Seeing then no man can pleade eloquently vnlesse he be able first to speake it followeth that habilitie of speech is in this case a thing most necessary Notwithstanding euery man would thinke it ridiculous that he which vndertaketh by writing to instruct an Orator should therfore deliuer all the precepts of Grammar because his profession is to deliuer precepts necessarie vnto eloquent speech yet so that they which are to receiue them bee taugt before hand so much of that which is thereunto necessarie as comprehendeth the skill of speaking In like sort albeit Scripture do professe to conteine in it all thinges which are necessarie vnto saluation yet the meaning cannot bee simply of all things which are necessarie but all things that are necessary in some certaine kind or forme as all things that are necessarie and either could not at all or could not easilie be knowne by the light of naturall discourse all things which are necessarie to be knowne that we may be saued but knowne with presupposall of knowledge cōcerning certaine principles wherof it receaueth vs already perswaded and then instructeth vs in all the residue that are necessary In the number of these principles one is the sacred authority of Scripture Being therefore perswaded by other meanes that these Scriptures are the oracles of God themselues do then teach vs the rest and lay before vs all the duties which God requireth at our hands as necessary vnto saluation Further there hath bene some doubt likewise whether conteining in scripture do import expresse setting downe in plaine tearmes or else comprehending in such sort that by reason we may frō thence conclude all things which are necessary Against the former of these two constructions instance hath sundrie wayes bene geuen For our beliefe in the Trinity the Coeternity of the Sonne of God with his Father the proceeding of the Spirite from the Father and the Sonne the duty of baptizing infants these with such other principall points the necessity wherof is by none denied are notwithstanding in Scripture no where to be found by expresse literall mention only deduced they are out of scripture by collection This kind of cōprehension in scripture being therefore receiued still there is no doubt how far we are to proceed by collection before the full and complete measure of things necessary be made vp For let vs not thinke that as long as the world doth endure the wit of man shal be able to found the bottome of that which may be concluded out of the scripture especially if things conteined by collection do so far extend as to draw in whatsoeuer may be at any time out of scripture but probably and coniecturally surmised But let necessary collection be made requisite and we may boldly deny that of all those things which at this day are with so great necessitie vrged vpon this Church vnder the name of reformed Church discipline there is any one which their bookes hetherto haue made manifest to be conteined in the Scripture Let them if they can alleage but one properly belonging to their cause and not common to them and vs and shew the deduction thereof out of scripture to be necessarie It hath beene already shewed how all things necessarie vnto saluation in such sort as before we haue maintained must needes be possible for men to knowe and that many things are in such sort necessarie the knowledge whereof is by the light of nature impossible to be attained Whereupon it followeth that either all flesh is excluded from possibility of saluation which to thinke were most barbarous or else that God hath by supernaturall meanes reuealed the way of life so far forth as doth suffice For this cause God hath so many times and waies spoken to the sonnes of men Neither hath he by speech only but by wilting also instructed and taught his Church The cause of writing hath bene to the end that things by him reuealed vnto the world might haue the longer cōtinuance and the greater certainty of assurance by how much that which standeth on record hath in both those respects preeminence aboue that which passeth from hand to hand and hath no pennes but the toongs no bookes but the eares of men to record it The seueral bookes of scripture hauing had each some seuerall occasion and particular purpose which caused them to be written the contents thereof are according to the exigence of that speciall end whereunto they are intended Hereupon it groweth that euery booke of holy scripture doth take out of all kinds of truth naturall historicall forreine supernaturall so much as the matter handled requireth Now for as much as there hath bene reason alleaged sufficient to conclude that all things necessary vnto saluation must be made knowne and that God himselfe hath therefore reuealed his will because otherwise men could not haue knowne so much as i◠necessary his surceasing to speake to the world since the publishing of the Gospell of Iesus Christ and the
marying in him they do that whereby they incurre his displeasure they 〈◊〉 an offer of themselues into the seruice of that enemy with whose seruants they linke themselues in so neere a bond What one syllable is there in all this preiudiciall any way to that which we hold For the words of Tertullian as they are by them alleaged are two wayes misunderstood both in the former part where that is extended generally to all things in the neuter gender which he speaketh in the feminine gender of womens persons and in the later where receiued with hurt is put in stead of wilfull incurring that which is euill And so in summe Tertullian doth neither meane nor say as is pretended Whatsoeuer pleaseth not the Lord displeaseth him and with hurt is receiued but Those women that please not the Lord by their kind of marying do euen thereby offend the Lord they do euen thereby throw themselues into euill Somewhat more shew there is in a second place of Tertullian which notwithstanding when we haue examined it will be found as the rest are The Romaine Emperours custome was at certaine solemne times to bestowe on his souldiers a Donatiue which Donatiue they receiued wearing garlands vpon their heads There were in the time of the Emperors Seuerus and Antoninus many who being souldiers had bene conuerted vnto Christ and notwithstanding continued still in that militarie course of life In which number one man there was amongst all the rest who at such a time comming to the Tribune of the army to receiue his Donatiue came but with a garland in his hand and not in such sort as others did The Tribune offended hereat demaundeth what this great singularitie should meane To whom the souldier Christianus sum I am a Christian. Many there were so besides him which yet did otherwise at that time whereupon grew a question whether a Christian souldier might herein do as the vnchristian did and weare â—s they wore Many of them which were very sound in Christian beliefe did rather commend the zeale of this man then approue his action Tertullian was at the same time a Montanist and an enemy vnto the Church for condemning that propheticall Spirite which Montaâ—â—s and his followers did boast they had receiued as if in them Christ had performed his last promise as if to them he had sent the Spirit that should be their perfecter and finall instructer in the mysteries of Christian truth Which exulceration of mind made him apt to take all occasions of contradiction Wherefore in honour of that action and to gall their minds who did not so much commend it he wrote his booke De corona militis not dissembling the stomacke wherewith he wrote it For first the man he commendeth as one more constant then the rest of his brethren Who presumed sayth he that they might well enough serue two Lords Afterwards choller somewhat more rising within him he addeth It doth euen remaine that they should also deuise how to rid themselues of his martyrdomes towards the prophecies of whose holy spirit they haue already shewed their disdaine They mutter that their good and long peace is now in hazard I doubt not but some of them send the Scriptures before trusse vp bagge and baggage make themselues in a readinesse that they may flye from Citie to Citie For that is the only point of the Gospell which they are carefull not to forget I knowe euen their Pastors very well what men they are in peace Lions Harts in time of trouble and feare Now these men saith Tertullian They must be aunswered where we do find it written in Scripture that a Christian man may not weare a garland And as mens speeches vttered in heate of distempered affection haue often times much more egernes then waight â—o he that shall marke the proofes alleaged and the answers to things obiected in the booke will now and then perhaps espie the like imbecillity Such is that argument whereby they that wore on their heads garlands are charged as transgressors of natures lawe and guilty of sacrilege against God the Lord of nature in as much as flowers in such sort worne can neither be smelt nor seene well by those that weare them and God made flowers sweet and beautifull that being seene and smelt vnto they might so delight Neither doth Tertullian bewray this weaknes in striking only but also in repelling their strokes with whom he contendeth They aske sayth he What scripture is there which doth teach that we should not be crowned And what scripture is there which doth teach that we should For in requiring on the contrary part the aide of scripture they do giue sentence before hand that their part ought also by scripture to be aided Which answer is of no great force There is no necessitie that if I confesse I ought not to do that which the scripture forbiddeth me I should thereby acknowledge my selfe bound to do nothing which the Scripture commandeth me not For many inducements besides Scripture may leade me to that which if scripture be against they all giue place and are of no value yet otherwise are strong and effectuall to perswade VVhich thing himselfe well enough vnderstanding and being not ignorant that Scripture in many things doth neither commaund nor forbid but vse silence his resolution in fine is that in the Church a number of things are strictly obserued whereof no law of scripture maketh mention one way or other that of things once receiued and confirmed by vse long vsage is a law sufficient that in ciuill affaires when there is no other law custome it selfe doth stand for lawe that in as much as law doth stand vpon reason to alleage reason serueth as well as to cite scripture that whatsoeuer is reasonable the same is lawfull whosoeuer is author of it that the authoritie of Custome is great finally that the custome of Christians was then and had bene a long time not to weare garlands and therefore that vndoubtedly they did offend who presumed to violate such a custome by not obseruing that thing the very inueterate obseruation whereof was a law sufficient to bind all men to obserue it vnlesse they could shew some higher law some law of scripture to the coÌ„trary This presupposed it may stand then very well with strength and soundnesse of reason euen thus to answer Whereas they aske what scripture forbiddeth them to weare a garland we are in this case rather to demaund what scripture commandeth them They cannot here alleage that it is permitted which is not forbidden them no that is forbidden them which is not permitted For long receiued Custome forbidding them to do as they did if so be it did forbid them there was no excuse in the world to iustifie their act vnlesse in the scripture they could shewe some lawe that did licence them thus to breake a receiued custome Now whereas in all the bookes of Tertullian besides there is not so much found as
the house of God did therin establish lawes of gouernmēt for perpetuity lawes which they that were of the houshold might not alter shall we admit into our thoughts that the sonne of God hath in prouiding for this his houshold declared himselfe lesse faithfull then Moses Moses deliuering vnto the Iewes such lawes as were durable if those be changeable which Christ hath deliuered vnto vs we are not able to auoide it but that which to thinke were heinous impiety we of necessity must confesse euen the sonne of God himselfe to haue bene lesse faithfull then Moses Which argument shall need no touchstone to try it by but some other of the like making Moses erected in the wildernes a tabernacle which was moueable from place to place Salomon a sumptuous stately Temple which was not moueable Therfore Salomon was faithfuller then Moses which no man indued with reason will thinke And yet by this reasō it doth plainly follow He that wil see how faithful the one or the other was must cōpare the things which they bothe did vnto the charge which God gaue each of them The Apostle in making comparison betweene our Sauiour and Moses attributeth faithfulnes vnto bothe and maketh this difference betweene them Moses in but Christ ouer the house of God Moses in that house which was his by charge and commission though to gouerne it yet to gouerne it as a seruant but Christ ouer this house as being his owne intire possesion Our Lord and Sauiour doth make protestation I haue giuen vnto them the words which thou gauest me Faithfull therefore he was and concealed not any part of his fathers will But did any part of that will require the immutability of lawes concerning Church-polity They answer yea For else God should lesse fauour vs then the Iewes God would not haue their Churches guided by any lawes but his owne And seeing this did so continue euen till Christ now to ease God of that care or rather to depriue the Church of his patronage what reason haue we Surely none to derogate any thing from the ancient loue which God hath borne to his Church An heathen Philosopher there is who considering how many things beasts haue which men haue not how naked in comparison of them how impotent and how much lesse able we are to shift for our selues along time after we enter into this world repiningly concluded hereupon that nature being a carefull mother for them is towards vs a hard harted Stepdame No we may not measure the affection of our gratious God towards his by such differences For euen herein shineth his wisdome that though the wayes of his prouidence be many yea the ende which he bringeth all at the length vnto is one and the selfe same But if such kind of reasoning were good might we not euen as directly conclude the very same concerning laws of secular regiment Their owne words are these In the ancient Church of the Iewes God did command and Moses commit vnto writing all things pertinent as well to the ciuil as to the Ecclesiasticall state God gaue them lawes of ciuill regiment and would not permit their common weale to be gouerned by any other lawes then his owne Doth God lesse regard our temporal estate in this world or prouide for it worse then for theirs To vs notwithstanding he hath not as to them deliuered any particular forme of temporall regiment vnlesse perhaps we thinke as some do that the grafting of the Gentiles their incorporating into Israell doth import that we ought to be subiect vnto the rites and lawes of their whole politie We see then how weake such disputes are how smally they make to this purpose That Christ did not meane to set downe particular positiue lawes for all things in such sort as Moses did the very different manner of deliuering the lawes of Moses and the lawes of Christ doth plainly shew Moses had commaundement to gather the ordinances of God together distinctly and orderly to set them downe according vnto their seuerall kinds for each publique duty and office the laws that belong thereto as appeareth in the bookes themselues written of purpose for that end Contrariwise the lawes of Christ we find rather mentioned by occasion in the writings of the Apostles then any solemne thing directly written to comprehend them in legall sort Againe the positiue lawes which Moses gaue they were giuen for the greatest part with restraint to the land of Iurie Behold sayth Moses I haue taught you ordinances and lawes as the Lord my God commaunded me that ye should do euen so within the land whither ye go to possesse it Which lawes and ordinances positiue he plainely distinguisheth afterward from the lawes of the two Tables which were morall The Lord spake vnto you out of the midst of the fire ye heard the voyce of the words but saw no similitude onely a voyce Then he declared vnto you his Couenant which he commaunded you to do the ten Commaundements and wrote them vpon two Tables of stone And the Lord commaunded me that same time that I should teach you ordinances and lawes which ye should obserue in the land whither ye go to possesse it The same difference is againe set downe in the next Chapter following For rehearsall being made of the ten Commaundements it followeth immediatly These words the Lord spake vnto all your multitude in the Mount out of the midst of the fire the cloude and the darknesse with a great voyce and added no more and wrote them vpon two Tables of stone and deliuered them vnto me But concerning other lawes the people giue their consent to receiue them at the hands of Moses Go thou neerer and heare all that the Lord our God sayth and declare thou vnto vs all that the Lord our God sayth vnto thee and we will heare it and do it The peoples alacritie herein God highly commendeth with most effectuall and heartie speech I haue heard the voyce of the wordes of this people they haue spoken well O that there were such an heart in them to feare me and to keepe all my Commaundements alwayes that it might go well with them and with their children for euer Go say vnto them Returne you to your tents But stand thou here with me and I will tell thee all the Commaundements and the Ordinances and the Lawes which thou shalt teach them that they may do them in the land which I haue giuen them to possesse From this later kind the former are plainely distinguished in many things They were not bothe at one time deliuered neither bothe after one sort nor to one end The former vttered by the voyce of God himselfe in the hearing of sixe hundred thousand men the former written with the finger of God the former tearmed by the name of a Couenant the former giuen to be kept without either mention of time how long or