faith And thus himselfe being otherwise dead did live or had life in him namely by faith in the Sonne of God and not by the workes of the law Yea he further excludeth even the workes of righteousnes in expresse termes saying thus Not by the vvorkes of righteousnesse vvhich vve have done but according to his mercie he hath saved us Observe that he here directlie affirmeth of himselfe of all the rest that shall be saved that they are saved not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by vvorkes done by them in righteousnes but of Gods meere mercie and grace through Christ Iesus And againe observe that speaking not to unbeleevers but to beleevers Saints and sanctified people living in Ephesus he saith thus By grace are ye saved through faith and that not of your selves it is the gift of God not of vvorkes lest anie man should glorie for vvee are his vvorkemanship created in Christ Iesus unto good vvorkes vvhich God hath before ordained that vvee should vvalke in them Heere also you see infalliblie that workes though done by such as be sanctified and regenerate persons be neverthelesse excluded from being anie cause of their salvation yea by the verie words themselves of the text you perceive that he speaketh expresly and by name of good vvorkes vvhich God hath before ordained that vvee should vvalke in them denying them neverthelesse to be anie cause of salvation But here why doe they speake of anie good workes done by Infidels or before faith received For to speake properlie and truely none doe or can doe good workes so allowed to be in Gods censure but beleeving persons onely inasmuch as the best workes of Infidels and before a man hath received faith be not allowed for good in Gods sight but bee as S. Augustine affirmeth of them Splendida peccata Glittering sinnes Howbeit here remember that although those which be Saints upon earth that is which bee regenerate and sanctified people be thus expresly affirmed to be saved by their faith and not by their good workes yet have they neverthelesse these good workes appointed for them to walke in so long as they live in this world for so this text to the Ephesians directlie sheweth to the end their faith should not be idle but working through love as S. Paul speaketh in another place and that so it might appeare to bee not a vaine and a dead faith but a sound and a lively faith and such as will save a man as S. Iames and the rest of the Scriptures have also before declared Yea this point even Christ Iesus also himselfe by his last Iudgement in the end of the world doth declare namely that the iustifying and saving faith is not voide of good workes but furnished with them and yet that Gods people doe not relye upon them For thus will hee say to his faithfull and elect ones Come ye blessed of my father inherite yee the kingdome prepared for you from the foundation of the vvorld for I vvas hungrie and yee gave me meate I was thirstie and yee gave me drinke I was a stranger and yee tooke mee in naked and ye clothed mee I vvas sicke and yee visited mee I vvas in prison and yee came unto me But now observe that although these elect and righteous persons had these good workes yet doe not they so much as take notice of them much lesse stand upon the merite of them and therefore doe they answer and say Lord when savv vvee thee hungrie and fed thee or thirstie and gave thee drinke vvhen saw vvee thee a stranger and tooke thee in or naked and clothed thee sicke or in prison and came unto thee Reade further the rest of the Chapter to the end of it And by all of it considered together ye may verie easilie perceive first that they bee not the elect and righteous people but the reprobates that stand upon their workes obiect their workes to plead for them And secondlie that Christ their Lord taketh notice of the good works of the elect although themselves take no notice of them nor doe so much as once mention or alledge them Where Christ by alledging their good works would have the world also to take notice and to be advertised that it was not a vaine idle or dead faith but a iustifying and saving faith which these men had For their good workes be there mentioned as testimonies fruites and declarations of their faith and as being Via regni non causa regnandi The vvay vvherein they walked toward this kingdome but not as being the cause of their enioying of that kingdome as S. Bernard also himselfe hath before taught affirmed Yea in verie deede the primarie and original cause of their enioying of that most happie kingdome is there delivered in the former words where Christ calleth them the Blessed of his father and telleth them moreover directlie that they are to possesse this kingdom not by anie purchase or desert of their owne but by way of Inheritance for the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Inherite yee or possesse yee it by waie of Inheritance And further he there telleth them that this kingdom was prepared for them long before they were borne or had done anie good workes at all namelie even from the foundation of the world So that this glorious and heavenlie kingdome is given them of Gods meere bountie and grace and is unto them a Revvard according to their vvorkes as the Scripture speaketh but not for their workes as though their workes deserved it or were the meritorious cause of their salvation Yea it is a reward of grace and favour and not of debt or due desert as S. Paul hath also before testified and a revvard of Inheritance as the same S. Paul againe expresly affirmeth it In vaine therefore also is that your distinction of the first Iustification which you make to be by faith without vvorkes and of the second Iustification which you say is by workes and by living an holie and godlie life for the Scriptures speake but of one Iustification in Gods sight availeable to salvation As for that which you call the second Iustification consisting in doing good workes and in holinesse of life and conversation it is as I said before more properlie and rightly to be tearmed as the Scripture calleth it Sanctification it being an effect declaration fruite and consequent of that Iustification we have before by faith as S. Iames and S. Paul and the rest of the Scriptures doe manifestly teach CHAP. V. That Christ is our onely and all-sufficient Redeemer and hath fully satisfied Gods Iustice for our sinnes and the punishment thereto belonging against mens merits and satisfactions in that behalfe and against Popish Purgatorie And that there is no licentiousnesse in this doctrine but the cleane contrary BVt they further accuse our Religion to be licentious because relying wholly upon Christ our
the Protestants concerning iustification by this lively faith and not by anie dead faith is such as you can no way dislike that it is so far from making anie carelesse of doing good works that contrariwise it urgeth abetteth perswadeth and provoketh men unto them if they meane or desire to have such a faith as whereby they may be saved But now although the Protestants doe thus rightly teach that this faith and good workes goe together and be inseparable in respect of the person so that he that hath this faith hath also good workes yet in the point of our Iustification in Gods sight and before his Tribunall they are to be distinguished and to be considered apart and not confusedlie because it is Faith onlie and not Workes whereby we apprehend and applie Christ Iesus unto us as our Righteousnesse To understand this the better you must ever remember that Christ Iesus is in verie deed our Righteousnes for so the scriptures doe plentifullie teach and proclaime Our faith is but the hand or instrument whereby we apprehend and applie that righteousnesse unto us and our good workes be the fruits testimonies and declarations both to our selves and other men of that faith in Christ which iustifieth us before God And therefore it is not enough for a man to say hee hath faith but if hee have that true livelie and iustifying faith which he pretendeth he must declare shew it by his workes for so S. Iames saith Ostende mihi fidem tuam ex operibus tuis shew me thy faith by thy vvorkes And agreeablie hereunto S Paul calleth good workes and a sanctified course of life fructus Iustitiae the fruits of righteousnesse So that wee are first righteous by faith in Christ before wee doe or can bring forth these fruits of righteousnes And so S. August likewise teacheth affirming directly that Opera sequuntur Iustificatum non praecedunt Iustificandum Good vvorkes doe follow him that is formerly iustified and doe not goe before him that is afterward to be iustified And this even Christ Iesus also himselfe declareth namelie that the tree must first be good before it can bring forth good fruit By all which it is verie manifest that good works be not causes but fruits effects and consequents of that faith which iustifieth us before God But this is yet further evident because S. Paul saith expresselie that wee are Iustified by faith and so have peace vvith God Hee further excludeth Workes verie directlie and by name from having anie thing to doe in that act of our Iustification Therefore vve conclude saith he that a man is Iustified by faith vvithout the vvorkes of the Law And againe he saith that God imputeth righteousnes vvithout vvorks Againe he saith It is by grace and not of works Rom. 11.6 And againe he saith It is not of vvorkes Rom. 9.11 And againe hee saith By grace are yee saved through faith and that not of your selves for it is the gift of God and not of vvorkes lest any man should boast himselfe In all which places yee may perceive that how requisite or commendable soever good workes be and what good use soever they have yet they bee directlie excluded from being anie cause of our Iustification and salvation in Gods sight and censure And with this also agreeth that saying of S. Paul in his Epistle to the Galathians where he giveth this conclusion saying Yee are all the sonnes of God by faith in Christ Iesus And so also testifieth S. Iohn saying That as many as received Christ to them he gave this prerogative to be the sonnes of God even to them that beleeve in his name Where you may observe that beleefe or faith is reckoned as the hand or instrument whereby Christ is apprehended or received Againe he saith That God so loved the vvorld that he gave his onely begotten Sonne that vvhosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have everlasting life In which words you may observe againe the first and originall cause of our salvation to be the meere grace and love of God Secondly the materiall cause to be Christ the Sonne of God with his obedience and righteousnesse And thirdlie the instrumentall cause to be faith or beleefe in that his Sonne and our Saviour Iesus For he saith the text was sent into the world to this end that vvhosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have everlasting life But consider that he saith yet further That as Moses lift vp the Serpent in the vvildernesse so must the sonne of man be lift vp that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have eternall life Some of you no doubt remember the storie of the Serpent there mentioned which is in the booke of Numbers for after that the people of Israel had wickedly spoken and murmured against God and against Moses The Lord sent fierie Serpents among the people which stung the people so that manie of the people of Israel died Therefore the people came to Moses and said VVe have sinned for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee pray to the Lord that he take away the Serpents from us And Moses prayed for the people And the Lord said unto Moses make thee a fierie Serpent and set it up for a signe that as many as are bitten may looke upon it and live So Moses made a Serpent of brasse and set it up for a signe and when a Serpent had bitten a man then he looked to the Serpent of brasse and lived As therefore Moses lift up this brazen Serpent in the wildernes to the end that whosoever was stung by those fierie Serpents and did looke upon that brazen Serpent might be cured live and was cured and did live accordingly So was also the Sonne of man Christ Iesus lift up upon the Crosse where he was crucified to the end that whosoever is stung with the deadly stings of sinne or of that old Serpent the Divell and doth with the eies of his faith applying him looke upon Christ Iesus so lifted vp and crucified for him should bee healed and have eternall life Where you may againe perceive that as Christ is compared to that brazen Serpent so is our beliefe or faith in him compared to their looking upon the brazen Serpent so that still it appeareth that faith is as the eie or instrument whereby wee behold apprehend and apply Christ crucified as a salve unto us for all our sores For in him is comprehended whatsoever is necessarie or fit to cure us When therefore wee say and speake in this sort that Sola fides iustificat Faith onely iustifieth wee meane not that this faith is so sole or alone as that it is without good works but that in the act of our iustification before God and in his sight and as it respecteth and apprehendeth Christ the obiect of it it is sole and alone workes having no
Christ imputed to us by faith And so also doe the Divines of Coleyn teach that we are Iustified by the righteousnesse of Christ not as it is without us abiding in him but as the same being apprehended by faith is imputed to us CHAP. IV. Certaine objections of the Adversaries answered concerning this matter of Iustification FIrst the ambiguitie of this word Iustificare seemeth much to misleade you in this point for you will have it to signifie and import to make a man iust who before was uniust by a quality of Iustice inherent in his owne person And true it is That whosoever is Iustified is also sanctified so that hee hath in some sort a Sanctitie or Iustice inherent in his owne person by the operation of Gods spirit within him This then which you call Inherent Iustice in a man is the same that wee call Sanctification and is not all one with Iustification but is a fruit effect and consequent of it Neither doth the word Iustificare to Iustifie evermore so signifie but sometimes it signifieth to declare or approve one to be Iust as in Psal. 51.4 and Rom. 3.4 where it is thus said to God himselfe That thou mayest be iustified in thy sayings meaning that thou maist bee declared or approved to be Iust. And so in the first of Tim. 3.16 Christ is said to be Iustified that is declared or approved to be iust And this sense also doth S. Iames in his second Chapter of his Epistle say That a man is Iustified by vvorkes that is declared or approved to be Iust by them as being the fruits and declarations of his faith And sometimes againe it signifieth by a Iudgement or sentence to absolve and acquit a man of faults and crimes laid to his charge of all punishments to the same belonging as in Pro. 17.15 it is said Hee that Iustifieth the vvicked and hee that condemneth the Iust even they both are an abhomination unto the Lord that is hee that absolveth or acquiteth a wicked man in Iudgement when contrariwise he should be condemned and he that condemneth a Iust and innocent person who should of right be acquited both these are abhominable in Gods sight Where you see that to Iustifie the wicked is not by alteration of qualities actuallie to make a man Iust who before was unjust but it signifieth by sentence and Iudgement to acquit and free him that is accused And thus is the word Iustifie taken in S. Pauls discourse touching this matter as to omit all other places is manifest by that one place of Rom. 8.33 34 where it is said thus VVho shall lay anything to the charge of Gods elect It is God that Iustifieth who is he that condemneth Where you see that the word Iustifie is set as opposite to the word Condemne and consequently signifieth an acquiting cleering freeing or discharging of whatsoever may bee laid to the charge of anie of Gods elect and chosen children 2 Neither can anie rightly conclude because this righteousnesse of Christ is thus said to be imputed by faith that therefore it is onely an imaginarie and phantasticall Iustice and no Iustice or righteousnesse indeed yea such blasphemies must be detested For the word Imputed doth not diminish or detract from the truth of the Iustice as though it were imputed or reputed for Iustice which were none revera but it signifieth that as it is in it selfe a most pure full perfect and complete righteousnesse being farre above the best righteousnesse that is to be found in anie earthly Saints or such as be meere men so doth God accordingly reckon and esteeme of it So that although we be most uniust in respect of our selves yet by having Christs righteousnesse imputed to us we are in him really and truely Iust righteous and without all spot staine or imperfection For Christ with all his merits righteousnesse satisfaction and obedience is not by way of fancie opinion conceit or imagination but revera actuallie and verilie bestowed and given of God to all his faithfull and beloved children Vnto us a childe is borne unto us a sonne is given saith Esay the Prophet And againe it is said That God so loved the vvorld that he gave his onely begotten Sonne c. And it is said againe that He vvas given of God his Father to the Elect and that those Elect were likewise given of God to him Agreeably whereunto speaketh also S. Paul saying that Christ is made unto us of God vvisedome and righteousnesse and sanctification and redemption that as it is vvritten vvhosoever glorieth should glory in the Lord. Seeing therefore Christ with all his obedience and righteousnesse is given unto us of God and that wee take and receive him by faith there can be no doubt but that he is as verilie and reallie become ours as anie mans lands possessions or goods become his which he hath by lawfull conveyance or gift from another man 3 But when we say that Faith only Iustifieth in Gods sight you further obiect that this word Onely is more then is in the Scripture to be found Howbeit you may observe that in the Gospel of S. Marke Christ said thus to one Be not afraid onely beleeve But neither are these words Trinity Consubstaâ—tiall c. expressely found in the Scripture but so long as the effect and equivalencie of them is there found it sufficeth In like sort if words equipollent or equivalent to this word Onely be found in the Scripture it sufficeth What is then the sense of this word onely in this position Faith onely iustifieth it is added to exclude vvorkes and their merit from being anie cause of that our Iustification in the sight of God Now then when the Scriptures expresly and plentifully affirme that vvee are Iustified by faith vvithout vvorkes and by faith and not by vvorkes is it not as much as if they had said in plaine termes that wee are Iustified by faith onely Againe when the Scriptures say and teach that vve are Iustificati gratis and ex gratia and per gratiam Iustified franckely and freely that is for nothing paid or performed on our parts and of grace and by grace Doe not these words fully import and cleerly shew that we are Iustified without anie merits or workes of our owne deserving it Can anie thing be more plainely declared 4 Neverthelesse they still seeke refuges and therefore sometimes say that When S. Paul speaketh of the Workes of the Law excluding them from Iustifying in Gods sight he meaneth only the vvorkes of the Ceremonial Law and not the vvorkes of the Morall Law But indeed S. Paul speaking of the Workes of the Law verie apparantly meaneth as well the Workes of the Morall law as of the Ceremoniall for when he saith that Not the hearers of the Law but the doers of the Law shall be Iustified can this be intended onely of the Ceremoniall law without anie regard at all had to the Morall Or when
he speaketh of the whole Booke of the Law saying that It is written Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that be vvritten in the booke of the Law to doe them doth not this extend to the Morall Law or can these words be restrained only to the Ceremoniall Yea when he further saith thus I had not knowne sinne but by the Law for I had not known lust or concupiscence to be sinne except the Law had said Non concupisces Thou shalt not covet or Thou shalt no lust doth not everie one hereby most plainly perceive of what Law it is that he chiefly speaketh meaneth namely that it is principally of the Morall Law that is of the Decalogue or Law of the Ten Commandements For to what other end else is it that he there expresly and by name rehearseth and bringeth in one of those ten Commandements But yet further he sheweth that there be but two waies of righteousnesse namely the righteousnes that is of the Law and the righteousnes which is of faith and saith that Moses describeth the righteousnesse which is of the Law in this sort viz. That the man vvhich doth those things shall live by them But the righteousnesse vvhich is of faith speaketh after another manner and he sheweth it to consist not in anie doubtfull questioning but in a firme beleeving in Christ vvho is the end of the Law for righteousnesse to every one that beleeveth When therefore he here againe saith touching the vvorkes of the Law and the righteousnesse compassable that way That the man that doth those things shall live by them is it his meaning thinke you that hee that observeth the workes of the Ceremonial Law only without observing or doing anie of the workes of the Moral Law shall live thereby and enioy everlasting happinesse I presume none can be so absurd or unwise as to thinke it It is then a thing verie manifest that hee speaketh not onely of the workes of the Ceremonial Law but of the workes also of the Morall Law and of these chiefly excluding aswell the works of the one as of the other from being anie cause of our Iustification in Gods sight And this is so much the more evident because S. Paul yet further in that his dispute of Iustification excludeth not only the Iewes but the Gentiles also from all hope of Iustification by the Law teaching that they both are to expect iustification in Gods sight Not by the vvorkes of the law but by faith in Iesus Christ. Now yee know that the Gentiles be not bound to the observation of the ceremonial law as the Iewes were but the Gentiles aswell as the Iewes bee bound to the observation of the moral law of the ten Commandements When therefore S. Paul teacheth that aswell the Gentiles as the Iewes are to expect Iustification not by the workes of the law but by faith in Christ it is apparant that he must needes meane to exclude herein aswell the workes of the Moral law whereto the Gentiles are bound as the workes of the Ceremoniall law whereto the Iewes onelie were bound and not the Gentiles for otherwise you will make him a verie vaine and idle disputer in this point as in respect of the Gentiles 5 Howbeit being thus repulsed from this hold they then retire and returne to their old wonted and ordinarie nold wherein they seeme to repose their greatest strength and that is the same which is before mentioned namely that S. Paul when he excludeth workes from being anie cause of Iustification in Gods sight meaneth it of vvorkes done before faith received and whilst a man is an unbeleever and not of workes done after faith received Which works done by a beleeving person doe as they suppose Iustifie before God and in his sight This hath beene before sufficiently answered yet because they so often and usuallie urge it I hope it will not be offensive that I also here once againe make answer unto it First therefore it might suffice to call to your remembrance that which hath been spoken concerning those two faithfull godlie men Abraham and David who albeit they had after faith grace received from God lived well and done sundrie good workes for which they might deserve praise and glorie amongst men yet for al that they deserved no praise nor glorie with God as S. Paul witnesseth nor were thereby iustified in his sight Yea as touching Abraham he saith that notwithstanding all that he did not his vvorkes but his Faith vvas imputed to him for righteousnesse before God And as touching David though he were a man likewise verie faithfull and godly and did manie good workes yet by his godlie life and good workes he never thought to be iustified before Gods tribunall but found all the godlines and goodnes that was in him to bee too defective and to come too short for that purpose and therefore also he crieth out thus unto God saying Enter not into iudgement vvith thy servant for in thy sight shall no man living be iustified Yea hee discribeth the blessednesse of everie man even of the holiest man that liveth to consist not in his owne sanctitie or righteousnesse but in this that His sinnes be forgiven or not imputed to him And so doth S. Paul inferre and teach out of this example of David That God imputeth righteousnesse vvithout vvorkes So that neither the workes which David did nor the workes which Abraham did nor consequently the workes that anie other godly or holie man doth after grace and faith received be sufficient to Iustifie in Gods presence For I knovv nothing by my selfe saith S. Paul yet am I not thereby iustified I might here further desire you to call to your remembrance that holie man Iob and that holy Prophet of God Daniel yea all that godlie companie and Church of God in Daniels time and Esaies time who all did as themselves testifie renounce all their owne inherent righteousnes as too insufficient and unmeet to stand before Gods most pure eies to claime Iustification thereby in his sight Yea if God should looke narrowlie to see what is said done amisse and to recompence it in the rigor and severitie of his Iustice according to mens merits and deserts VVho as the Psalmist speaketh should bee able to stand or to abide it Yea I might here moreover desire you to remember whatsoever is conteined in the former Chapter touching this matter For not the workes even of a iust man doe iustifie in Gods sight as S. Paul prooveth by an expresse testimonie out of the Prophet Abacuk where he saith even of the iust man that He liveth by his faith and not by his Workes And this he urgeth and enforceth againe in his Epistle to the Galathians saying thus But that no man is iustified by the lavv in the sight of God it is evident for saith he The iust shall live by
unto them and which they heard profited them not why because it vvas not mixt vvith faith in them that heard it Which faith is Gods gift and bestowed where hee pleaseth Againe it is written that at the word and preaching of Christ Iesus and most wonderfull and mightie Miracles which hee did manie beleeved yet some beleeved not yea They could not beleeve saith the Text. Againe it is written of some men that they have such hardnesse of heart that it is a thing impossible for them to be renewed by repentance And what is the great and supreme reason of all this difference amongst men but this that some are Elect and some Reprobate some are ordeyned to salvation and some to damnation and according to that diversitie of men God either giveth or withholdeth his saving graces 4 It is a thing well knowne to all true Christians that none can be saved unlesse they have an unfained and heartie repentance and a true and lively faith in Christ Iesus which is alwaies accompanied with a care to walke in Gods waies and in obedience to his commandements Now this repentance and faith be both the gift of God and be not in mens powers to have them at their owne commands or at their owne wills and pleasures and consequently it must be granted that Mens salvation doth consist not in their owne wills and pleasures but in Gods will and pleasure That Repentance is the gift of God S. Peter and the rest of the Apostles expressely witnesse affirming that it is God that gave repentance to Israel and remission of sinnes And so againe doth S. Paul expressely declare that Repentance is the gift of God Therfore is it said also in the Lamentations of Ieremy Turne thou us O Lord unto thee and we shall be turned And likewise in the prophecie of Ieremy thus Convert thou mee and I shall be converted And that Faith also is the gift of God the Scriptures doe cleerely witnesse For which cause S. Paul saith expressely that Not by vvorkes but by grace men are saved through faith and that they have this faith not of themselves for it is saith he the gift of God Seeing then that none can be saved without this faith and repentance and that faith and repentance be both the gift of God and that men have them not of themselves nor within their owne power it must of necessitie be granted that mens salvation consisteth not in the power will of men but in the power and will of God who is the giver of those saving graces Where withall you may perceive how erroneous and false that doctrine and conceit of mens free-will is as touching things celestiall and divine For what freedome of will in things appertaining to Gods service and kingdome can he have that is ensnared by the Divell and held captive by him to doe his will as Saint Paul speaketh untill it please God to deliver and set him free Or what freedome or forwardnesse hath anie man since the fall of Adam and mans nature corrupted and depraved by that meanes to come unto God or godlinesse of his owne naturall powers and abilities especially when Christ Iesus himselfe also saith thus No man can come unto mee except the father which sent mee doe draw him For if he must be drawne before he can come as here it appeareth that hee must it sheweth that hee hath backwardnesse enough but no forwardnesse at all of himselfe to come unto God And this againe the Scripture witnesseth in Gen. 6.5 and Gen. 8.21 that untill God worke in a man the imaginations of the thoughts of his heart be only evill continually And so also witnesseth S. Paul saying in 2. Cor. 3.5 that vvee are not sufficient of our selves to thinke any thing as of our selves but our sufficiencie is of God Yea S. Paul saith further expressely that The naturall man perceiveth not the things of the spirit of God for they are foolishnesse unto him neyther can he know them because they are spiritually discerned If the corrupt naturall man cannot so much as perceive or understand the things of God untill hee be enlightned by Gods Spirit and have received from him supernaturall grace how can he possibly will or affect those things which he understandeth not For the understanding power or facultie must goe before as being the directer of the will and affections Againe doe not the Scriptures require the old man to be put off and the new man to be put on and men to be regenerate and borne anew to become new creatures to be enlightned to be changed by the renewing of their mindes and such like What doe all these phrases and manner of speeches declare but that mans nature since the transgression of Adam is horribly polluted defiled and corrupted and that they have now none of these supernatural qualities within them by vertue of their owne natural powers and abilities S. Paul againe directly sheweth that these and all other good graces and Christian vertues whatsoever be wrought in a man by Gods spirit and be the fruits of the same his spirit And S. Iames also teacheth the same as likewise all the rest of the Scriptures doe Yea S. Paul saith expressely that Men are dead through their sinnes and corruptions untill they be quickned and made alive by the operation and working of God within them If then since the fall of Adam we be all Dead men in respect of our owne selves untill God by his spirit worke in us to quicken us it is cleere that in respect of our owne natural abilities wee have no more power to come unto God then a dead man hath power in himselfe to rise againe or to walke stirre move go or to doe anie action of life for which cause also Regeneration is called The first resurrection Rev. 20.6 It is true that men have an understanding and a will but to understand well and rightly the word of God and things perteyning to Gods kingdome or to will and affect the same divine things commeth not from men but from God who enlightneth that their understanding which was before darke and maketh their will and affections enclined and to consent unto godlinesse which were before perverse and enclining another way And therefore doth S. Paul say againe most plainely thus It is God which vvorketh in you both the vvill and the deed even of his owne good pleasure Agreeably whereunto God himselfe also speaketh thus A new heart vvill I give you and a new spirit vvill I put vvithin you and I vvill take away the stonie heart out of your body and I vvill give you an heart of flesh that is a soft and mollified heart and I vvill put my spirit vvithin you and cause you to vvalke in my Statutes and ye shall keepe my Iudgements and doe them Where likewise you see that Gods working and grace doth frame make mens
wills and affections good before they have anie goodnesse in them or readinesse to obey him and before that they can give consent to his motions or walke in his wayes And thus is it a thing evident that Gods Love and good Will toward us is antecedent and goeth before our love and good affection toward him for so Christ Iesus himselfe also witnesseth saying Yee have not chosen mee but I have chosen you And so also witnesseth S. Iohn saying expressely Herein is love not that vvee loved God but that he loved us and sent his Sonne to be a reconciliation for our sinnes And againe he saith expresly VVe love him because he loved us first Now then seeing it is manifest throughout the whole course of mens salvation that Gods love and his good will and working is first precedent and goeth before all good wills and loves of men toward him againe and that mens good wills consents loves and affections towards him are caused wrought and procured by himselfe and come in the second place as a thing following after it must needs be granted that Gods will doth not depend upon mens will as an attendant thereupon to follow it but contrariwise that mens will doth depend upon Gods will for him to order frame and dispose it as pleaseth him And therefore you now perceive I trust that this great matter of Salvation dependeth not upon the will of men for if it did who would be damned but upon the will of God who giveth those his saving graces of a lively faith and of a true Christian repentance and conversion to whom hee pleaseth For as S. Paul saith againe expressely Hee doth all things according to the counsell of his owne vvill Howsoever then men are bidden in the Scripture to repent convert return to walk in Gods wayes and to keepe his commandements and such like yet thereupon it followeth not that men have free will and power of themselves to doe these things for it is before proved unto you that it is God that by his grace and spirit working in men maketh them both willing and able to doe these things and to consent to his divine motions before they can doe it Yea albeit they are bidden to choose life yet it is God that must teach and direct them before they can make a right choyce in that case And therefore doth the Psalmist say Shevv mee thy vvaies O Lord and teach me thy paâ—hes Lead me forth in thy truth and teach me for thou art the God of my salvation And againe he saith VVhat man is he that feareth the Lord Him will he teach the way that hee shall choose But to conclude How can mens salvation depend upon their owne wills when as long before they were borne or had anie being in the world or anie will at all they were with GOD and in his counsell determination and purpose elected thereunto namely even before the foundations of the world as the Scriptures doe clearely and directly testifie 5 But then they further obiect that S. Paul saith thus VVhom God foreknew them hee did predestinate c. moreover whom he predestinated them also he called and whom hee called them also he iustified and whom he iustified them also he glorified Here Gods foreknowledge is mentioned as going in order before his predestination and this his foreknowledge say they sheweth that God did foresee and foreknowe what men would bee and what workes and merits they would doe when they should be living in this world and that according thereunto he made his predestination and so they make not Gods will and pleasure but mens future wills workes and merits so long before foreseene foreknown the Cause of Gods predestinating them to salvation It is true in verie deed that God did foresee foreknow what men would and should bee as likewise hee foresaw and foreknewe whatsoever was afterwards to happen or bee in the world but thereupon it followeth not that the good workes of men which hee so foresaw and foreknew were the original and antecedent cause of his Predestination of them to eternali life for they might be a consequent and an effect of his predestination of them for all that as indeed they were and not the Cause For Christ himselfe saith They vvere ordained to this end to bring forth fruite and that their fruite should remaine And so also testifieth S. Paul that they bee Gods vvorkemanship created in Christ Iesus unto good vvorkes vvhich God had before ordained that they should vvalke in them Neither could God foresee or foreknow any merit of salvation to bee in mens workes whereto no such merit belongeth Neither could hee foresee or foreknowe any free or foreward Will in men after the fall of Adam of their owne naturall abilities for the walking in the waies of God as is also before declared But this he might and did indeed foresee and foreknow namely the fall of Adam whereby all mankinde was in respect of themselves most miserable wretches liable to the wrath of God and eternall condemnation Hee did also foresee and foreknow Christ Iesus his Incarnation Passion Satisfaction Righteousnesse and Obedience and that he should be the Saviour and Redeemer of all his Elect For which cause it is said by S. Paul That they which bee Elected were elected in him that is in Christ the mediatour and their head and appointed Saviour and Redeemer who being the second Adam did interpose himselfe and as their suertie did undertake for them to answer whatsoever Gods Iustice would demaund to be performed by him in their behalfe And as for the rest which were not Elected to salvation but refused they being not so beheld nor considered in Christ but as being out of him and consequently as they were in and after the transgression of the first Adam they lye still in that their most wofull estate as having no Suertie to undertake for them nor Saviour appointed to deliver them from the wrath and curse of God to them for their sinnes in his Iustice belonging And therefore doth the Scripture speake in this sort of them namely that The vvrath of God abideth upon them as being never taken away in Christ. And as they were borne in sinne and live in sinne so Christ Iesus himselfe saith that they die in their sinnes So that they never had nor shall have remission of their sinnes nor deliverance from the curse and wrath of God through the death and satisfaction of Christ Iesus 6 For wheras some here obiect that Christ died for all in a generally the Schoolmen answer it with a distinction namely that Christ died for all sufficienter but not efficienter that is sufficiently but not efficiently that is to say his death in respect of the greatnesse vvorth and value of it hee being the Sonne of God aswell as Man was sufficient for all in a generalitie and is therefore propounded as
A FRIENDLY ADVERTISEMENT TO the pretended Catholickes of IRELAND Declaring for their satisfaction That both the Kings SUPREMACIE and the FAITH whereof his Majestie is the Defender are consonant to the doctrine delivered in the holy Scriptures and writings of the ancient Fathers AND CONSEQVENTLY That the Lawes and Statutes enacted in that behalfe are dutifully to be observed by all his Majesties subjects within that Kingdome By CHRISTOPHER SIBTHORP Knight one of his Majesties Iustices of His Court of Chiefe Place in IRELAND IN THE END WHEREOF IS ADDED An Epistle written to the Author by the Reverend Father in God IAMES VSSHER Bishop of Meath wherein it is further manifested that the Religion anciently professed in Ireland is for substance the same with that which at this day is by publick Authoritie established therein DUBLIN Printed by the Societie of Stationers 1622. TO THE HIGH AND MIGHTY KING IAMES BY THE GRACE OF GOD KING OF GREAT Britanne France and Ireland Defender of the FAITH c. CIvill Iustice most Gracious Soveraigne and Externall Peace be as all confesse two things in everie Common-weale much to be honoured and highly respected but they are then doubtlesse of best and worthiest esteeme and most blessed of GOD when together with them Gods Religion flourisheth and the Supremacie of Kings and Princes within their owne Dominions is also as one of his sacred ordinances duly reverenced and obeyed For in the diligent observance of Gods ordinances added to civill Iustice and externall Peace it is as your Majestie best knoweth that the solid durable and complete Happinesse of every Kingdome especially that professeth God and his word consisteth Howbeit concerning points of civill Iustice and externall Peace I shall not neede here to speake anie thing because in those two points and generally in all matters Temporall as they be called the pretended Catholicks of this your Majesties Kingdome doe already of themselves willingly professe and yeeld a very good conformitie without any opposition or contradiction I wish they did also shew as of right they ought and upon better information received I trust they will the like good conformity as touching the two other points which be indeed points of the greatest highest importance namely concerning your Majesties Supremacie and the Religion in which two points it is that their great defect and unconformitie appeareth The cause hereof they alledge to be their Conscience and so I also conceive it But what maner of conscience it is themselves should more seriously consider For if it be as it is indeed not a right but a wrong and an erring conscience all men will grant that such a conscience ought to be rectified and reformed and not persisted in If then matter sufficient to satisfie their consciences in these points shall be shewed unto them it is as much as they can desire and from thenceforth they must eythe◠be conformed or else be held utterly unexcusable as having after that nothing further left to alledge or pleade for themselves in the case This therefore is the thing that I have here attempted endevoured to do perform as I was able and as my other imployments in the affaires of the Cōmon-weale would permit me I confesse that it might have been much better done by sundry and innumerable others that be farre more learned and have also much more leisure for these things then I and that much more might likewise have beene spoken in every severall and particular point then is here by mee delivered But as I could not nor desired to speake all but so much as might suffice so neyther doe I doubt but there will here be found matter sufficient if not redundant to give contentment satisfaction to the conscience of any that will be reasonable and equall and not suffer himselfe to be transported or caried away with prejudice or with perverse or partiall affection The VVorke is I grant in respect of mee in no sort worthy your Majesties view or patrocinie yet in respect of the matter therein handled it being the cause of no lesse then of God himselfe and of his Church and of all Christian Kings in generall if they all knew or would take notice of that which of right belongeth to them and it being your Majesties owne cause more specially and particularly I thought it meetest and my bounden duetie to dedicate it as here in all humble submission I doe to your most excellent Majestie The Almightie evermore keepe and preserve your Highnesse to the great glory of his Name the further comfort of his Church and of all your Majesties Dominions the most ample propagating of his religion and the confusion of all false and Antichristian Doctrines and to your owne everliving honour in this world and everlasting felicitie in the world to come through Iesus Christ. AMEN Your Majesties most humble subject and servant though unworthy Christopher Sibthorp The Preface TO THE HONORABLE VVORSHIPfull and the rest of the pretended Catholikes within the Realme of Ireland IT is cleere and out of all question noble Lords and worthy Gentlemen that the one side namely either the Protestants or the Papists be and must needs be mightily mistaken and strongly deluded whilst they be both so confident and yet so contradictorie and repugnant in their severall Religions opinions but where and on which side this strong Delusion is S. Paul hath foretold long agon and it will hereafter be more fully declared In the meane time some peradventure will take exception to this Work for that it is not done by a professed Divine but by one of another profession Indeed I must confesse that in respect of learning and all other abilities and conveniences it might by manie degrees have beene much better performed by such a one then by mee who am the meanest of manie thousands For which cause it was that I sollicited and that verie earnestly a learned professed Divine of my acquaintance to have undertaken the Worke but Hee whom I thus requested finding himselfe to be otherwise much busied and employed had no leisure to intend it by reason whereof the burthen of it then returned and rested upon my weake selfe Howbeit as I presume nothing of my selfe for neither is there anie cause I should so neither doe I distrust or despaire of the strength of the Almightie whose direction and assistance I therefore most humbly implore to enable mee in this so weighty a businesse wherein I am otherwise of my selfe utterly unable and altogether defective Now then howsoever it is granted that it might have beene much better done by a learned professed Divine yet thereupon it followeth not that therefore it is either unlawfull or unbeseeming Mee or a man of another profession to intermeddle in it For first it is well knowne that manie with whom neverthelesse I neither doe nor is it meet I should compare my selfe have written and that verie commendably even concerning Divinitie who were themselves no professed Divines
in vaine it is for men or Councils to say they be undoubtedly guided by the holy Ghost the spirit of truth unlesse they have the Word of truth for their rule and direction and can so prove the spirit whereby they speake and decree to be Gods Spirit and not their owne But againe yee know that in Councills aswell Generall as Provinciall things be caryed and over-ruled by the most Voyces and where things be so caried and ruled by the greater number of voyces there it is experimentally found to be a thing verie easily possible for the most voyces or greater number sometimes to over-rule the better part being the lesser and consequently Councils whether generall or particular because they may sometime possibly erre can not be held for anie absolute and infallible Iudge or infallible rule of truth in these controversies Or would anie think the Bish. Pope of Rome to be an infallible Iudge Why in the glosse upon the Popes owne Law that opinion also is reiected saying thus Quaero de qua Ecclesia intelligas quod hic dicitur quod non possit errare Si de ipso Papa certum est quod Papa errare potest Respondeo Ipsa congregatio Fidelium hic dicitur Ecclesia I demand of what Church it is meant when it is said as here That the Church cannot erre If of the Pope himselfe it is certaine he may erre I therefore answer that the whole company of the Faithful is here meant by the Church Where beside that you see what Church it is that cannot erre you see it directly affirmed that certum est quod Papa errare potest it is a thing certaine that the Pope may erre Gerson also the Chancellor of Paris telleth us that tam Papa quam Episcopus deviabiles à fide aswell the Pope as anie other Bishop may go out of the way of Faith Alfonsus that wrote so earnestly against Luther yet touching this point said thus Non credo aliquem esse adeo impudentem Papae assentatorem ut ei tribuere hoc velit ut nec errare possit I doe not beleeve that any man is such an impudent flatterer of the Pope as to attribute this unto him that he cannot erre Which words were in his first edition but are not now in the last but yet even in his new copies although he qualifie his termes he holdeth the same opinion verie directly saying Omnis homo errare potest in fide etiamsi Papa sit Every man may erre in faith yea even the Pope himselfe And againe he saith that Papa in fide errare potest ut melius sentientes tenent etiam ex hijs qui Papatui plurimùm favent inter quos est Innocentius ejus nominis quartus in cap. 1. de Summa Trinitate The Pope may erre in matter of faith as the better opinion is even of them that favour the Papacie most of all amongst whom is Pope InnocentÃus the fourth of that name writing upon the first chapter De Summa Trinitate Well therefore doth Erasmus also confute this new conceit strange opinion For If it be true saith he which some say that the Bishop of Rome can never erre Iudicially vvhat neede is there then of Generall Councils Why are men skilfull in the Lawes and learned in Divinitie sent for to Councils if he in his speakings cannot erre To what purpose be so manie Vniversities troubled with handling Questions of faith when thc truth may be had from his mouth Yea how commeth it to passe that the Decrees of one Pope be repugnant to the Decrees of another What Wresters of Scripture then do some Papists in these later times here appeare to be that abuse it to give an infallibilitie of judgement and an immunitie or priviledge from error to the Pope of Rome Arboreus a Doctor of Paris and one not of the meanest Sorbonists confesseth likewise and teacheth this truth saying Papa in fide errare potest Et tota mihi aberrare via videtur qui aliter sentit Assentantur sanè Romano Pontifici qui faciunt eum immunem à lapsu haereseos schismatis The Pope may erre in faith And he seemeth to mee to be in an extreame error that thinketh otherwise Surely they doe but flatter the Bishop of Rome that make him free from falling into heresie and schisme And how can it in reason be otherwise For if Provinciall Councils wherein be manie Bishops may erre in matter of Faith which is a thing that the Popish Writers themselves do grant yea if Generall Councils may possibly erre in matter of Faith which is also a thing confessed by some of the Popish Divines and cannot iustly be denied by anie is there anie likelyhood that any one Bishop singly considered by himselfe should be so priviledged as that he could not possibly erre Yea even a general Councill namely the Councill of Basil saith Saepe experti sumus legimus Papam errasse Wee have often found it by experience and know it also by reading that the Pope hath erred And againe they say Cum certum sit Papam errare posse Forasmuch as it is a thing certaine that the Pope may erre Whereupon it must be concluded that therefore the Pope also cannot be held for an unerrable or infallible Iudge Shall then the ancient Fathers be this Iudge They are I grant in all respects to have that due reverence that belongeth to them but themselves will by no meanes assume that high honour to themselves to be infallible Iudges or such as cannot possibly erre Yea they acknowledge that they may erre and therefore would have no man further to beleeve them then there is warrant for what they write and speake in the Canonicall Scriptures I cannot denie saith S. Augustine but that there be many things in my Workes as there be also in the Writings of my predecessors vvhich justly and without anie rashnesse may be reproved And when S. Cyprian was obiected against him hee answered thus I am not bound by his Authoritie For I doe not account Cyprians Writings as Canonicall but weigh them by the Canonicall Scriptures and that in them which agreeth with the Canonicall Scriptures I allow to his praise but that which agreeth not by his favour I refuse Againe he saith If anie thing be proved by the manifest Authoritie of the divine Scriptures which in the Church be called canonicall it must be beleeved without any doubting but as for other testimonies thou mayst beleeve them or not beleeve them according as thou shalt see cause to trust them And therefore he giveth this prerogative to the sacred and canonicall Scriptures that amongst all the Writings in the world they onely cannot erre and that all other may erre For which cause he saith againe thus Solis eis Scripturarum libris qui jam canonici appellantur didici hunc timorem honoremque deferre ut nullum eorum Authorem scribendo
but two Sacraments of the new Testament properly so called and that Confirmation Penance Mariage Orders and Extreme unction be not Sacraments properly pag. 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 c That the Sacraments doe not give grace ex opere operato by the verie vvorke or action done by the Minister but grace commeth and is given another vvay pag. 215 216 T TRaditions not specified in the Scriptures affirmed to be Apostolicall there being no assured proofe that they came undoubtedly and originally from the Apostles be not to be urged or imposed upon the faith of men pag. 57 58 c How men in ancient time vvere deceived by Traditions said and supposed to be Apostolicall See the Preface That these Traditions be needlesse because the sacred and canonicall Scriptures vvithout them be perfectly and completely sufficient for all instruction of truth concerning divine and heavenly matters pa. 57 58.64 c. See also the Preface V THat the Bishop of Rome if hee vvere a good and orthodoxe Bishop is no more the Vicar of Christ then other Bishops are pag. 97 To vvhat Vse and end God gave his Law of the Ten Commandements pag. 151.152 it being impossible to be exactly and perfectly fulfiâ—led by men by reason of the vveâ—kenesse that is in all flesh and â—hat God therein is neither cruell tyrannicall or uniust p. 151 152. and pag. 108 109 c W GOod Workes be the effect and fruite of a iustifying faith and doe not iustifie in Gods sight pag. 101 c. p 112 c There is a reward belonging to good Workes but it is a reward of bountie and grace and not of merit or due desert by men pag. 113 114 c. Good Workes be the vvay that men must vvalke in towards the kingdome of God but they be not the cause of their comming thither pag. 105 c. Good Workes and a good life and godly conversation must be observed but not to purchase or merit heaven thereby for it cost a greater price but for other godly uses and ends pag. 110.111 112 c. pag. 121.122.123 124 pag. 151.152 â—o good Workes in Gods sight and censure before faith received pag 147 â—â—od Works done after faith received do not merit at Gods hands â—or iustifie in his sight pag. 148.149.150 â—orkes of supererogation most abominable pag. 151.152 â—orkes of mens owne invention and devising done for and in the â—way of Gods service and religion not commanded by him nor warranted by his VVord whatsoever good intention is pretended â—e neverthelesse not good nor approved in his sight and censure pa. 145.146 FINIS TABULAE ERRATA PAg 1 in marg 1. Pet. 5.12 for 1. Pet. 5.1 2. pag. 3. l. 1. audiens for erudiens p. 10. l. 6. knoâ— for knew p. 11. l. 17. otger for other p. 27. l. 25. Grantzius for Crantzius p. 74. l. 10. hirdly for thirdly p. 96. l. 19. alwayes to be blotted out p. 109 l. 22. Clesiphontem for Ctesiphoâ—â—â—â— p. 111. l. 29 manifested for magnified p. 116. l 18. reade in this sense p. 128. l. 28. able to dye 〈◊〉 able to doe it p. 130. l. 31. highest for highest p. 139. l. 37. himselfe to be blotted out p. 148. â— marg Psal 3.12 for Phil 3.12 ib. Gal. 5 1â— for Gal. 5.17 p. 159 l 4. sim for sum p. 177. l â— hâ—â—gh for though p. 190. l. 28. bloud for beloved p. 193 l. 1. sinnes for sinne p. 200. l. 14 of to 〈◊〉 blotted p. 207. l. 13. outward for inward p. 211. l 31. end for and p. 212. l. 25 popist for â—â—â—pish p. 216. l. 1. in marg Graces for Grace p 222. l. 7 member for members p. 231. l. 25. Traâ—â—substation for Transubstantiation p. 232. l. 6. aswell sense for aswell as sense l. 7. Transubstaâ—â—tiation for Transubstantiation p 239. l. 30. manet for manent p 43. l 13. ef for of p. 184. â— marg Ioâ— 4.10 for 1. Ioh. 4.10 Ioh. 4.19 for 1. Ioh. 4.19 p. 253. l. 8. it for is and l. 26. â— in good measure to be blotted p 254. l. 26. Espencaelus for Espencaeus p. 256 l. 6. continuaâ—â—â— for câ—â—ntenance p 263. in marg Exod. 23.8 for Exod 32.8 p. 271 l. 28 due for done p. 283. l. â— reade Titus Vespasian and the rest c p. 296. l. 1 althought for although l. 25. Legall 〈◊〉 Regall p. 318. l. 3. fable for fables p. 331. l. 31. Imperio for l. 'imperio l 37. had led for hanâ—â— p. 332 l 1. for for so p. 341. l. 6 no for not p. 343 l. 11. redigerint for redegerint and l. 9 â— qurdringentos for quadringentos l. 23 Empires for Empire p. 361 l 9 Doranus for Dorâ—â—nus p. 380. l. 15 21. et for est p 387. l. 25. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 39â— l 5. Apostles for Apâ—â—stle p. 393 l. 26. or three to be blotted p. 395. l. 1 2. in the Church relation to Antichrist 〈◊〉 whose spirit they speake as S. Iohn affirmeth to be blotted p. 400. l. 20. true-Christians 〈◊〉 true-Christian p. 410. l 22. bni for bin p. 243. l 4. heree for here p. 296 in marg l 6. petrus â—â—â—spondet for unus respondit p. 380. l. 20. Theodorum for medorum p 48 Finis libri primi 〈◊〉 Finis primae partis hujus libri p. 63 l 26. that for the. l. 5. uphold for hold p. 64. l. 37. prâ—â—structae for praestructa p. 27. l. 21. Minister for Ministers p. 69. l. 1. perish for passe p. 119. l â— for not p 16 l. 15. by them for to them p. 88. l. 4. strang for strange p. 100. l. 5 truth for trutâ—â— p. 113. l. 26. to superfluous p. 38â— l. 34. odoravit for adoravit p 345. l 19. velunt for velut 〈◊〉 358. l 24. Apostolici for Apostoli p. 365. l. 3. after peace add and ioy p 375. l. 32. of prohibiâ—â—â—on for of a prohibition p. 40. in marg for Cyprian in psalmo ad quid Iustificationes meas 〈◊〉 assumis Testamentum meum per os tuum read Cyprian lib. 2. Epist. 3. ad Caecilium p. 3â—â— l. 1. howres to be blotted p. 401. l 26. licentiousnes for covetousnes Other faults may also escape in the printing which I desire the Reader to correct witâ— his pen. THE FIRST PART of the BOOKE CAP. I. Concerning the Kings Supremacie and the Oath in that behalfe to be taken HIS MAIESTIES Supremacie is chiefly considerable in two respects namely in respect of Persons and in respect of Things or Causes First then concerning his Supremacy in respect of Persons Ecclesiasticall as well as Civill within his owne Dominions who can iustly denie it him Doth not S. Peter expresly require of all Christians that live within the Dominion of anie King that they should submit themselves unto him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as unto the chiefe or supreame person over them It is evident that hee calleth the King
anie righteousnesse of our owne or inherent in our owne persons but by that immaculate and spotlesse righteousnesse of his imputed unto us So that In him it is as this Text most plainlie sheweth and not in our selves that wee are deemed righteous in Gods sight Yea here consider further what righteousnesse also it is that God approveth and will have to stand for the Iustification of sinfull men in his sight for it must be a righteousnesse transcendent and going farre beyond the righteousnesse of anie sinfull creatures namelie it must be that which S. Paul here calleth the righteousnesse of God that is a most pure perfect and complete righteousness wherein must not be anie the least spot speck or staine to be found as S. Chrysostome also declareth Which kind of most pure and spotlesse righteousnesse because no other man hath but Iesus Christ only the second Adam who is both God and Man therefore in his person only and not in ours it is to be both sought and found For which cause also it is that the Church and people of God considered not in themselves but in Christ are by the Apostle S. Paul said to have not so much as a spot or vvrinckle or any such thing in them Well therefore doth S. Augustine make this double observation upon this Text of 2. Cor. 5.21 saying Videâ—e duo Iustitiam Dei non nostram In ipso non in nobis Behold and consider two things saith he first That vvee are made the righteousnesse of God and not our owne righteousnes and secondly In him and not in our selves The same observation likewise giveth S. Hierome upon the same Text saying Christus pro peccatis nostris oblatus peccati nomen accepit ut nos efficeremuâ— Iustitia Dei in ipso non nostra nec in nobis Christ being offered for our sinnes tooke the name of sinne that vve might be made the righteousnesse of God in him not our owne righteousnesse nor in us And therefore doth S. Paul againe not onlie for himselfe but in the behalfe of other Christians also speake in this sort even after faith and grace received VVe vvhich are Iewes by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles doe know that a man is not Iustified by the vvorkes of the Law but by the faith of Iesus Christ even vve I say have beleeved in Iesus Christ that vvee might be Iustified by the faith of Christ and not by the vvorkes of the Law because that by the works of the Law no flesh shall be iustified Be not these wordes verie direct for this purpose shewing that even those that be Christians and beleevers in Christ doe neverthelesse expect Iustification by Faith in Christ and not by the Workes of the Law Yea what man ever yet Christ Iesus onely excepted did fully and perfectlie keepe the whole Law and commandements of God in his owne person For which cause it is that none can be Iustified in Gods sight by anie works or observance of the Law which he by and in his owne person can doe or performe If theâ—e had beene a Law given vvhich could have given life then indeed righteousnes should have beene by the Law as S. Paul affirmeth But the Scripture saith he hath concluded all under sinne that the promâ—se by the faith of Iâ—sus Christ should be given to them that beleeve In which words you see he sheweth it verie significantlie to be a thing Impossible for anie that be but meere men to keep the Law of God in that full measure and perfection which the Law reâ—uireth and therefore that they must seeke to be Iustified in Gods sight and to have eternall life another way namelie by Faith in Iesus Christ. Againe he saith thus Be it knowne unto you men and Brethren thâ—t through this man Iesus is preached unto you the forgivenes of sinnes and by him every one that beleeveth is Iustified from all those things from vvhich yee could not be Iustified bâ— the Law of Moses Here also observe that hee saith they could not be Iustified by the Law as noting it likewise to bee a thing Impossible But hee speaketh yet further saying That vvhich vvas Impossible to the Law inasmuch as it vvas vveake because of the flesh God sent his owne Sonne in â—he similitude of sinfull flesh for sinne condemned sinne in the flesh thâ—t the righteousaesse of the Law might be fulfilled in us vvhich vvalke not after the flesh but after the spirit Where you may againe perceive that he teacheth it constantly expresly to be a thing impossible by reason of the vveakenesse that is in all flesh for the most godly person upon earth being but a meere man fullie exactly to keepe and performe the law and that therefore the Son of God Christ Iesus himselfe was sent into the world and became Man for our sakes that so the righteousnesse of the Law which hee in his humane nature in all points and perfection fully performed might by our faith apprehending and applying it bee made ours and so be fulfilled in us namelie by imputation and application and not by anie inherent and actual performance of it by in our owne persons for this he before affirmed to be impossible And this also do the ancient Fathers themselves affirme and teach S. Ambrose saith That the commandements of God bee so great vt impossibile sit servare ea as that it is impossible to keep them S. Chrysostome speaking of the Law and performance of it saith Id vero nemini possibile est That it is possâ—ble to no man S. Hierome saith That no man can performe the Lavv S. Bernard saith that God commanding things impossible made not men transgressors but made them thereby humble Yea it was the heresie of the Pelagians as S. Hierome sheweth ad Clesiphontem to hold as the Papists also hold that Mandata dei sunt possibilia The Commaundements of God are possible And they went about to prove it as the Papists likewise doe by these Texts viz. My yoake is easie and my burthen light in Mat. 11.30 And his commandements be not burdenous in 1. Ioh. 5.3 wheras they did not rightly understand those speeches no more then the Papists their followers doe For it is true that none of the commandements of God be grievous heavie or burthensome to a regenerate godly and sanctified minde which is ever desirous endeavoring and delighting to keepe them and to walke in the obedience of them though hee shall never be able during this mortall life fully and perfectly to keepe and performe them And therefore thus saith S. Hierome to the Pelagian and we also say the same to the Papists â—acilia dicis dei mandata tamen nullum proferre potes qui universa compleverit Thou saist the commandements of God be easie and yet thou canst bring forth none that hath kept them all Againe he saith Tunc ergo iusti sumus quando
the earth so are my vvayes higher then your vvaies and my thoughts then your thoughts Yea what are they else but superstitious vvorkes which are done by the will and pleasure of men without the Commandement of God or his rule and direction for so Isidorus giveth the Etymologie of that word superstition to be a thing done supra-statutâ—m more then is appointed by the law of God upon mens pleasures and devisings May not God say in these cases as sometime he spake Quis requisivit haec de vobis VVho hath required these things of you A good Intention therefore is not sufficient to prove or make the worke to be good in Gods sight unlesse it bee a worke or action commanded from God or by his word approoved For King Saul had a good intention or meaning when being sent against the Amalâ—kites and commanded from God to kill both man and woman infant and suckling oxe and sheepe camell and asse hee neverthelesse spared some of the Cattell suffering the people to take Sheepe and Oxen to this intent to sacrifice to the Lord. But notwithstanding this his good intention the fact was odious in Gods sight and because he had thus reiected the vvord of the Lord not suffring his actions to be thereby squared and ruled therfore also did the Lord reiect him from being King over Israel So likewise had Vzzah a good meaning or a good intention when driving the Cart wherein the Arke of God was and the Arke being shaken and in danger of falling hee put forth his hand to the Arke and tooke hold of it to keepe it from falling yet because it belonged not unto him so to doe with the Arke and that he therein did an action not commanded nor warranted unto him from God or his word therefore notwithstanding this his good intention God was offended with him and hee smote Vzzah there for his error and there hee died by the Arke of God The workes then which men doe of their owne heads and devisings without Gods commandement or approbation by his word be not to be accounted amongst the number of good workes in Gods censure what faire shew soever they make amongst men or what good meaning or intention soever they have For that which is highly esteemed amongst men is oftentimes abhomination in the sight of God as Christ himselfe also teacheth and affirmeth 2 But yee have further in the Papacie workes preparative or workes or merits de Congruo as yee call them such as bee done by a man before faith received which ye also account good workes But first How can a man that is not himselfe as yet made good bring forth any good vvorks for The tree must first bee good before it can bring forth good fruit as Christ himselfe teacheth Yea good workes and a sanctified course of life be the fruites of righteousnesse as S. Paul declareth and therefore before that a man be made righteous and iustified by faith hee cannot possibly bring forth these fruites of righteousnesse Againe the Scripture witnesseth expresly that VVithout faith it is impossible to please God How then can the workes of anie man before faith received please God be accepted of him or merit anie grace or favour at his hands The Heart is the fountaine of all mens actions and by faith it is that mens hearts be purified and cleansed as S. Peter witnesseth Vntill such time therefore that mens hearts bee thus clensed and purified by faith in Christ they can bring forth no good cleane or pure vvorkes but works like themselves that is most impure and uncleane For to them that be uncleansed and unbeleevers nothing is pure but even their minde and conscience is defiled as S. Paul also directly affirmeth And so hee saith againe of all the corrupt naturall men in the world untill they bee regenerated converted and iustified in Gods sight by faith they be such as have all gone out of the way they are all become unprofitable there is none that doth good no not one Not without good cause therefore hath S. Augustine before told us that all the workes of Infidels and Heathens and even the Morall vertues of the Philosophers as they were done and performed by them that had no beliefe in Christ were no good workes in Gods sight but Splendida peccata glittering sinnes Yea hee hath told us expreslie that Good vvorkes do follow him that is before iustified and doe not goe before him that is aftervvard to be iustified And againe he saith that faith goeth before that good vvorkes may follow neither are there saith he anie good vvorkes but those that follovv faith going before And therefore touching Cornelius the Centurion whose praiers to God and Almesdeâ—des be much commended before he was baptised whose example the Rhemists and other Papists alledge in this case the same S. Augustine giveth a sufficient answere thereunto saying That hee did not give Almes and Pray without some faith So likewise testifieth Beda and that out of Gregorie that Non virtutibus ad fidem sed fide pertingitur ad virtutes c. Men attaine not to faith by vertues but to vertues by faith as S. Gregorie expoundeth it For Cornelius saith he vvhose almes before baptisme as the Angell witnesseth be praised came not by vvorkes to saith but by faith to vvorkes And againe he saith Hee had faith vvhose prayers and almesdeeds could please God So that at this verie time of his Prayers and Almesdeedes hee beleeved in the Messias albeit most true it is that hee did not then so well know Christ or so firmely beleeve in him as hee did afterward by the ministerie of Peter 3 The merits also de Candigno as the Popish Church calleth them be not to be reckoned in the number of good works yea this conceit and opinion of Merit is it that poysoneth and marreth the vvorkes so that they are not reputed in Gods sight and censure to be good but bad and odious vvorks that be done with that affection and to that end For even those good workes that be done after grace and faith received and by a man regenerate and Iustified doe not merit or deserve salvation or eternall life because in the best works that men regenerate or sanctified persons doe is some humane frailtie defect or imperfection intermingled for which defects they are to crave pardon at Gods hand and not to stand upon the merit of them VVee are all saith Esay as an uncleane thing and all our righteousnesse is as filthy raggs If thou O Lord shouldst straitely marke iniquitie saith the Psalmist O Lord vvho shall stand But there is mercie vvith thee that thâ—u maist be feared In many things vvee all offend saith S. Iames And therefore well saith S. Augustine Vae universae iustitiae nostrae si remota misericordia Iudicetur VVoe to all our righteousnesse if it be iudged mercie being laid
love Non quia futuros tales nos esse prâ—scivit sed ut essemus tales per ipsam Electionem gratiae Not because he foreknevv that vve should be such but that vvee might be such by the verie election of grace saith S. Augustine By all which you cleerely may perceive that not foreseene or foreknowne faith in Christ not anie foreseene good vvorkes the fruites of the same faith nor anie sanctitie or obedience that men have or performe unto God bee the cause of their predestination to eternall life but a consequent and an effect of it And this S. Paul also yet further and fully sheweth where he maketh mens effectual Calling and Iustification and consequently Sanctification and Glorification also it selfe to depend all upon this that God hath predestinated them And even this predestination likewise he maketh to depend upon his fore-knovvledge that is upon his fore-purposing of them to this eternal glory in his owne secret approbation of them and Counsell had with himselfe before the world was made And againe S. Paul yet further declareth it saying that God hath saved us and called us vvith an holy calling not according to our vvorkes but according to hâ—s ovvne purpose and grace vvhich vvas given to us through Christ Iesus before the vvorld vvas Be not these words most plaine direct and expresse for this purpose But yet againe he saith There is a remnant through the election of grace and if it be of grace it it is no more of vvorkes oâ—hervvise grace vvere no more grace But if it be of vvorkes then is it no more grace othervvise vvorke vvere no more vvorke Yea againe speaking of the two Children of Rebecca Iacob and Esau he saith that the one was loved and the other hated and that before they vvere borne and vvhen they had done neither good nor evill That the purpose of God according to election might stand and not of workes c. What would you have more For by all these Texts and sundrie other which might bee cited if neede were it is abundantly manifest that not future faith or future good workes but the meere good pleasure and will of GOD and his owne most free purpose and Counsaile had with himselfe otherwise termed his fore-knovvledge was and is the first primarie and original cause of mens predestination to eternal life And consequently you may withall perceive that not future unbeleefe or future bad works but Gods owne meere pleasure vvill and purpose was and is likewise the original cause of the Reprobation or refusal of them that were refused or not elected For the Election of the one sort from the rest and the reprobation that is the preterition or refusall of the rest that were not elected being done both at one time must needs both have one and the selfe same primarie and originall cause namely the free and uncontrollable vvill purpose and pleasure of the Almightie 9 For indeed beside the will of God which is ever Iust and the highest and supreame cause of all things what cause or reason can be shewed on mens behalfe why God should Elect and choose that particular man to salvation and refuse this why he should choose Iacob and refuse Esau or why hee should choose Paul and refuse Iudas Iscariot If you answer and say that originall sinne was and is the cause of that difference Doe you not consider that Iacob had original sinne aswell as Esau and that Paul had it aswell as Iudas and that all the Elect have it aswell as the Reprobate So that if Original sinne wherewith all are infected alike had beene the cause of Reprobation then should all have beene reprobated one aswell as another And this even Bellarmme himselfe saw affirming that the cause why God hated Esau before he was borne was not original sinne for if that had beene the cause he should for that cause saith he aswell have hated Iacob as Esau. Yea Gods electing of some and consequently his reprobating or refusing of the rest whom he did not elect was in respect of the purpose and decree of it before the foundations of the world were laid howsoever in respect of the manifestation of it it was not til after the Creation and fall of Adam How then could anie sinne either Orâ—gâ—nal or Actual be the cause when at the time of the purposing of this reprobation as also of Election neither men nor Angels nor world was made nor anie sinne committed If you answer that although sinne were not then committed yet God foresaw it should afterward bee committed and that sinne thus foreseene was the cause of the decree or purpose of reprobation you know that God did foresee sinne aswell in the Elect as in the Reprobate and therefore if sinne foreseene should be che cause of the purpose or decree of reprobation then again should all have beene purposed or decreed to bee reprobated in as much as sinne was foreseene to be in all the people of the world If you reply and say that although sinne was foreseene in all yet it was with a difference because some namely the Elect were foreseene to bee beleeving and repentant sinners new Creatures mortified regenerated iustified and sanctified persons and so were not reprobates I answer that this faith repentance effectuall calling mortification regeneration iustification sanctification and all saving graces whatsoever were so foreseene in the Elect not as antecedent causes but as consequents and effects of that their predestination and election and as dependants thereupon for so is it before proved and apparant and therefore the Reprobats on the otherside must be deemed to have their occecation and obduration in their sinnes and their vnregeneration unmortification unsanctification uneffectual calling and the absence defect or want of saving graces not as Antecedents but as Consequents likewise and Events following that Decree of their not Election otherwise called their Reprobation And this will be yet the more evident if we enquire search whence this difference of sinners ariseth namely that some bee mollified repentant regenerate iustified and sanctified persons and that some others be not so Is it not because God doth bestowe those his saving graces upon the one sort and not upon the other And why doth hee bestow them upon the one sort and not upon the other Is it not because the one sort be Elect and the other Reprobate And why be the one sort Elect and the other Reprobate can anie other reason be yeelded for it but Gods owne meere will and pleasure You see then that in the conclusion you must bee forced in this case to have recourse to the meere pleasure and will of God and to make that as indeed it is the true highest and supreame cause why God chooseth this man and refuseth that man and accordingly giveth his sanctifying and saving graces to the one and not to the other It is true neverthelesse that Reprobation hath an eye
Crosse Your selves againe doe say that this bodily offering up of Christ in your Masse is unbloudie and consequently hath in it no effusion of bloud whereupon it must needs be granted that therefore it cannot possibly be a propitiatorie sacrifice or take away the sinnes of men For the Scripture saith expressely that without effusion of bloud there is no remission of sinnes But beside all this there is also no other Priest appointed of God for the offering up of Christ Iesus in a bodily sacrifice but Christ Iesus himselfe only who therefore did performe it in his owne most sacred person and is also the only Priest according to the order of Melchisedech For yee must be put in minde that the Scripture mentioneth not Priests plurally according to the order of Melchisedech as though there were or might be manie or sundrie according to that order but it mentioneth onely One according to that Order affirming this one to be Iesus Christ as the Epistle to the Hebrewes manifestly declareth Yea verie plainely doth that Epistle shew that though there were in the Old Testament under the Levitical and Aronical Priesthood many that were Priests in succession one after another the death of the one causing the other so to succeede yet is it not so in the New Testament under that Priesthood which is according to the Order of Melchisedech where is shewed that Christ Iesus who is the only Priest according to that Order hath neither Vicars nor successors in that his Priesthood nor possibly can have because himselfe never dieth but liveth and continueth a Priest for ever according to that order For which cause it is there further said directly that he hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is such a Priesthood as doth not passe goe or is convaied from him to anie other Seeing then there neither be nor ought to be anie moe Priests according to the Order of Melchisedech but only One which is Christ Iesus and that this Christ Iesus was in bodily sacrifice to be offered also but Once and not oftner and that himselfe is also the sole and onely Priest allowed and appointed of God to make that bodily oblation which bodily oblation of his is also only propitiatorie How intolerably blasphemous and abominable be and must needs be those Popish Priests that dare arrogate to themselves that particular honor office place and person of Iesus Christ and say that they offer him up in a bodily manner and that often and that their sacrifice of the Masse is a propitiatory sacrifice We know that Christ instituted a Sacrament in bread and wine in commemoration and remembrance of his bodie crucified and his bloud shed for our sinnes But that bodily sacrifice of his was not performed by anie but by himsefe nor was it done at this time of his instituting of this Sacrament but afterward when actually and in verie deed he made that sacrifice of himselfe upon the Crosse and said Coâ—summatum est It vvas then finished And therefore when Christ said at his last Supper to his Apostles and consequently to the rest of his Ministers their successors Hoc facite c. Doe this in remembrance of me hee bad them to administer that Sacrament in such maner and sort as he did it but hee did not thereby make them Priests to offer him up in a bodily and propitiatorie sacrifice as is by Popish Priests most impiously and absurdly suggested and surmised And yet it is granted that ancient Fathers do cal this supper of the Lord a sacrifice but they so call it a sacrifice in respect it is a memorial of that bodily sacrifice of Christ performed upon the Crosse as even Peter Lombard himselfe expressely telleth you As also it may be called a sacrifice in respect of the sacrifice of praise and thankesgiving and other spiritual sacrifices which at these times the godly offer up unto God For which cause those ancient Fathers doe also call it an Eucharist that is a Thanksgiving noting it even thereby also to be not a Propitiatorie but an Eucharistical sacrifice A memory of this sacrifice of Christ upon the Crosse vve have received saith Eusebius to celebrate at the Lords Table by the signes of his body and of his healthfull bloud according the divine Lawes of the New Testament Christ saith S. Augustine is our Priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech vvho offered himselfe a sacrifice for our sinnes and hath commended the similitude of that sacrifice to be celebrated in the remembrance of his passion VVee keepe saith Theophilact a remembrance of the Lords death And againe VVee keepe a memory of that Oblation vvherein he offered himselfe Our high Priest saith Chrysostome is he vvhich offered the sacrifice that purgeth us c. But this vvhich vvee doe is done in remembrance of that vvhich was done by him for doe yee this saith Christ in remembrance of mee And againe he saith VVee celebrate the remembrance of a sacrifice By all which and sundrie other sayings which might be cited if need were out of ancient Fathers you may easily perceive that howsoever they call this Sacrament a sacrifice they meane it not to be anie Propitiatorie or Bodily sacrifice but that in the proper appellation it is rather to be termed as themselves here declare a similitude memorial or remembrance of that sacrifice of Christ which himselfe performed upon the Crosse. 2 And yet the Rhemists and other Popish Teachers say that Christ is called a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedech specially in this respect of the sacrifice of his bodie and bloud instituted at his last supper in the formes of bread and wine in which things they say Melchisedech did sacrifice But first they cannot prove that Christ instituted this sacrament of his last supper to be his verie bodily sacrificing of himselfe yea it is before apparantly disproved for his verie bodily sacrifice was done only by himselfe upon the Crosse and that but once and that sacrifice only is propitiatory and no other And how is it possible that that which is a representation similitude remembrance and sacrament of that sacrifice should be the verie sacrifice it selfe But secondly why doe they or anie other talke of foâ—â—es of bread and wine for yee know that they were not the formes or accidents of bread and wine but verie substantial bread and wine which Melchisedech brought forth to Abraham and his people for their refreshing after their battell and slaughter of the kings Yea if they had beene bare formes and accidents of bread and wine and not verie bread and wine in truth and in substance they would have given Abraham and his companie but verie small and slender refreshing This example therefore of Melchisedech in giving not the formes or accidents of bread and wine without the substance but verie bread and wine substantially to Abraham and his souldiers for their refreshing doth prove strongly
of his most holy and most pure Religion and ordinances delivered in the sacred and canonical Scriptures the Infallible rule of Truth For doe you thinke that ever Christ and Antichrist will agree together VVhat hath the chaffe to doe vvith the vvheate saith the Lord. Or VVhat fellowship as S. Paul speaketh hath righteousnesse vvith unrighteousnesse vvhat communion hath light vvith darkenesse vvhat concord hath Christ vvith Belial vvhat part hath the Beleever vvith the Infidel vvhat agreement hath the Temple of God vvith Idols In some things I grant the Popish Church holdeth rightly and in all things such is the mysterie of Iniquitie maketh a semblance and pretence of pietie and Christianitie But take heed and be not here with deceived for beside that it is the nature and maner of Hypocrisie so to doe you now I hope doe sufficiently understand that neither the Pope of Rome could be Antichrist nor his Church be the Antichristian vnlesse they did make this semblance of pietie outward shâ—w and pretence of Christianitie yea cleerely they should be altogether Vnchristian and not Antichristian people if they made no semblance or profession at all of Christ. But all is not gold that glistereth nor that ever right and true Christianitie that seemeth to be so The Divell himselfe will hold some things rightly and will sometimes utter and tell some truths but it is to the end to gaine credite and beleefe to himselfe at other times and in other things when and wherein he speaketh lies And this craft and subtiltie have all Antichristian and false teachers learned and do practise being as S. Paul calleth them False-Apostles deceiptfull vvorkmen transforming themselves into the Apostles of Christ And no marvaile saith he for Satan also himselfe is transformed into an Angel of light Therefore it is no great thing though his ministers transforme themselves as though they vvere the Ministers of righteousnesse vvhose end shall be according to their vvorkes Now then concerning the Kings Supremacy and his Authoritie in all kinde of causes and over all sorts of people aswell Ecclesiasticall as Civill you see what it is and you understand I trust the cleere lawfulnesse of it within his owne Dominions For a time there was as before is shewed when the Bishop of Rome was limited his precincts and bounds aswell as other Bishops and had no more Supremacy or Authoritie over other Bishops then they had over him Yea a time there was when Bishops in a Councell assembled had authoritie over the Pope of Rome and might and actually did depose him and when also the Bishops of Rome were subiect to the Emperor and at his command as is likewise before declared So that the best title which the Bishop of Rome at anie time had to his Supremacie within anie Kingdome appeareth to be not by anie institution or law of God but by an humane constitution onely and a positive law And seeing that this his Supremacie was afterward put downe againe dissolved and abolished within this Kingdome as also in all the rest of his Maiesties Dominions by as high and as good authoritie as at anie time it was erected and established in the same namely by Act of Parliament made within those Realmes Everie subiect to his Maiestie now standeth tied and bound in duetie utterly to renounce and forsake it If yet yee alledge as ye sometimes doe that for the space of divers hundreth yeares in the later times the Kings and Princes in Christendome submitted themselves to this Supremacie of the Pope I answer first that it is apparant that Non fuit sic ab initio it vvas not so from the beginning and that the most ancient Precedents be to the contrarie Secondly that this was to fulfil a prophecie in the Scripture which foretold that so it should come to passe namely that these Kings should vvith one consent submit or give their Kingdome unto the Beast untill the vvords of God vvere fulfilled Yea these Kings not onely submitted themselves and their Kingdomes to this Supremacie of the Pope but to the adulterated Religion likewise of that Whore of Babylon the Papal Citie of Rome to fulfill the like Prophecie which saith that vvith her have committed fornication the Kings of the earth and the Inhabitants of the earth have beene made drunken vvith the vvine of her fornication Inasmuch then as these things be thus foretold in holy Scripture to come to passe what marvell should it now be to anie to see and know them to have beene accomplished accorcordingly But yet thirdly observe that although these kings did for so long time yeeld and submit themselves and the people of their kingdomes to this Beast vvhore of Babylon yet the later part of this Prophecie remaineth to be fulfilled which is this that Tenne of these Kings that were so long enchanted and bewitched with this Whore and seduced and abused by her shall afterward discerne and espie her fraudes and wickednesse and thereupon shall detest and hate her make her desolate and naked eate her flesh and shall burne her vvith fire Which Prophecie as it is alreadie begun to be performed in some of these Kings which have fallen from her hating and detesting both her authoritie and her adulterated religion so shall it in all the parts and points of it in the due time appointed of God be fully and actually performed and accomplished The long continuance then of Pope and Poperie in the world is no argument or proofe of the lawfulnesse or allowablenesse of them for beside that it was foretold to be of that long continuance Mahometisme Paganisme heresie and error drunkennesse adulterie and sundrie other sinnes and vices be also verie ancient and of long continuance in the world yet doth not that make them therefore to be ever the more lawfull or allowable Yea the longer the Popes Supremacie and his adulterated Religion have continued the greater wrong and iniurie hath been done all that while not onely to all other Bishops in the world and to all Emperors Kings and Princes likewise but also to the whole Church and religion of God and even to God himselfe And therefore this maketh not for the upholding or confirmation but for the further and greater detestation and condemnation of them both 2 So that no sufficient cause or reason can anie of you shew why ye should refuse to be of our Religion or why yee should not all come to our Churches assemblies and ioine with us in the right and true service of God For first where yee suppose Ours the Protestant Religion as it is called to be false and heretical and yours the Popish to be the onely Catholike right it hath before bni made verie manifest unto you cleane contrariwise that Ours is the right Apostolike Catholike most ancient religion that yours comming in afterward is the new adulterate heretical false Antichristian and that those be not the children of the right and
to be by others abroad notwithstanding the Pope doth now by his Bulls of dispensation take upon him to make a faire matter of it may easily be perceived by this censure of Giraldus Moreover saith he which is very detestable and most contrarie not onely to the faith but also unto common honestie brethren in many places throughout Ireland doe I say not marry but marre rather and seduce the wives of their deceased brothers while in this sort they filthily and incestuously have knowledge of them cleaving herein not to the marrow but to the barke of the old testament and desiring to imitate the ancient in vices more vvillingly then in vertues Thirdly touching divorces we reade in Sedulius that it is not lawful according to the precept of our Lord that the wife should be put away but for the cause of fornication and in the Synod ascribed to S. Patrick It is not lawfull for a man to put away his wife but for the cause of fornication as if he should say for this cause he may Whence if he marry another as it were after the death of the former they forbid it not Who they were that did not forbid this second marriage is not there expressed that S. Patrick himselfe was of another minde would appeare by this constitution following which in another ancient Canon-book I found cited under his name If any mans wife have committed adulterie with another man hee shall not marry another wife as long as the first wife shall be alive If peradventure she be converted and doe penance hee shall receive her and she shal serve him in the place of a mayd servant Let her for a whole yeare doe penance in bread and water and that by measure neyther let them remaine in the same bedd together Fourthly concerning single life I doe not finde in anie of our records that it was generally imposed upon the Clergie but the contrarie rather For in the Synod held by S. Patrick Auxilius and Isserninus there is a speciall order taken that their wives shall not walke abroad with their heads uncovered And S. Patrick himselfe confesseth at leastwise the Confession which goeth under his name saith so and Probus Iocelinus and others that write his life agree therewith that he had to his father Calpurnius a Deacon and to his grandfather Potitus a Priest True it is that for the most part the Clergie here did live unmarried but the speciall reason thereof was because almost all the prelates of Ireland were chosen into the Clergie out of monasteries not because that secular Priests were by any law debarred from marriage For our monasteries in ancient time were the seminaries of the ministerie being as it were so many Colledges of learned divines whereunto the people did usually resort for instruction and from whence the Church was wont continually to be supplied with able ministers The benefite whereof was not onely contayned within the limits of this Iland but did extend it selfe to forraine countries likewise For this was it that drew Egbert and Ceadda for example into Ireland that they might there leade a monasticall life in prayers and continencie and meditation of the holy Scriptures and hence were those famous monasteries planted in England by Aidan Finan Colman and others unto which the people flockt apace on the Lords day not for the feeding of their body but for the learning of the word of God as Beda witnesseth Yea this was the principall meanes whereby the knowledge both of the Scriptures and of all other good learning was preserved in that inundation of babarisme wherewith the whole West was in a maner overwhelmed Hitherto saith Curio it might seeme that the studies of wisedome should quite have perished unlesse God had reserved a seed in some corner of the world Among the Scottish and the Irish something as yet remayned of the doctrine of the knowledge of God and of civill honestie because there was no terrour of armes in those utmost ends of the world And we may there behold and adore the great goodnesse of God that among the Scotts and in those places where no man would have thought it so many great companies should be gathered together under a most strict discipline How strict their discipline was may appeare partly by the Rule partly by the Daily penances of Monkes which are yet extant of Columbanus his writing In the later of these for the disobedience of Monkes these penances are prescribed If any brother be disobedient he shall fast two dayes with one bisket and water If any say I will not doe it three dayes with one bisket and water If any murmure two dayes with one bisket and water If any doe not aske leave or tell an excuse two dayes with one bisket and water and so in other particulars In his Rule these good lessons doth hee give unto his Monkes among manie others That it profited them little if they were virgins in body and were not virgins in minde that they should daily profite as they did daily pray and daily reade that the good things of the Pharisee being vainly praised were lost and the sinnes of the Publican being accused vanished away and therfore that a great word should not come out of the mouth of a Monke least his great labour should perish They were not taught to vaunt of their state of perfection and workes of supererogation or to argue from thence as Celestius the Pelagian monke sometime did that by the nature of their free will they had such a possibilitie of not sinning that they were able also to doe more then was commanded because they did observe perpetuall virginitie which is not commanded whereas for not sinning it is sufficient to fulfill the precepts It was one of the points which Gallus the scholler of Columbanus delivered in his sermon preached at Constance that our Saviour did so perswade the Apostles and their followers to lay hold upon the good of virginitie that yet they should know it was not of humane industry but of divine gift and it is a good observation which we reade in Claudius that not only in the splendor of bodily things but also in mournefull abasing of ones selfe there may be boasting and that so much the more dangerous as it deceiveth under the name of the service of God Our Monkes were religious in deed and not in name only farre from the hypocrisie pride idlenesse and uncleanenesse of those evill beasts and slouthfull bellies that afterward succeeded in their roome Under colour of forsaking all they did not hooke all unto themselves nor under semblance of devotion did they devoure widdowes houses they held begging to be no point of perfection but remembred the words of our Lord Iesus how he said It is a more blessed thing to give rather then to take When King Sigebert made large offers unto Columbanus and his companions to keepe
the Archbishop vvas dead Calomagnus the King of Scotts and the troupe of his Officers with the under-courtiers and the concourse of all that countrey with the same affection of heart cryed out that the holy Priest Livinus was most worthily to be advanced unto the honour of this order The King more devoute then all of them consenting thereunto three or foure times placed the blessed man in the chayre of the Archbishoprick with due honour according to the will of the Lord. In like maner also did king Ecgfrid cause our Cuthbert to be ordayned Bishop of the Church of Lindisfarne and king Pipin granted the Bishoprick of Salzburg to our Virgilius Duke Gunzo would have conferred the Bishoprick of Constance upon our Gallus but that hee refused it and caused another upon his recommendation to be preferred thereunto As the Pope intermedled not with the making of our Bishops so neyther can we finde by any approved record of antiquitie that anie Visitations of the clergie were held here in his name much lesse that any Indulgences were sought for by our people at his hands For as for the Charter of S. Patrick by some intituled De antiquitate Avalonicâ wherein Phaganus and Deruvianus are said to have purchased ten or thirtie yeares of Indulgences from Pope Eleutherius and S. Patrick himselfe to have procured twelve yeares in his time from Pope Celestinus it might easily be demonstrated if this were a place for it that it is a meere figment devised by the Monkes of Glastenbury Neyther doe I well know what credite is to be given unto that stragling sentence which I finde ascribed unto the same author for I will still deale fairely and conceale nothing that I meet withall in anie hidden part of antiquitie that may tend to the true discoverie of the state of former times whether it may seeme to make for me or against me If any questions doe arise in this Iland let them be referred to the See Apostolick Onely this I will say that as it is most likely that S. Patrick had a speciall regard unto the Church of Rome from whence he was sent for the conversion of this Iland so if I my selfe had lived in his dayes for the resolution of a doubtfull question I should as willingly have listened to the judgement of the Church of Rome as to the determination of anie Church in the whole world so reverend an estimation have I of the integritie of that Church as it stood in those good dayes But that S. Patrick was of opinion that the Church of Rome was sure ever afterward to continue in that good estate and that there was a perpetuall priviledge annexed unto that See that it should never erre in judgement or that the Popes sentences were alway to be held as infallible Oracles that will I never beleeve sure I am that my countreymen after him were of a farre other beleefe who were so farre from submitting themselves in this sort to whatsoever should proceed from the See of Rome that they oftentimes stood out against it when they had little cause so to do For proofe whereof I need to seeke no further then to those verie allegations which have beene lately urged for maintenance of the supremacie of the Pope and Church of Rome First Mr. Coppinger commeth upon us with this wise question Was not Ireland among other countries absolved from the Pelagian heresie by the Church of Rome as Cesar Baronius writeth then he setteth downe the copie of S. Gregories epistle in answer unto the Irish Bishops that submitted themselves unto him and concludeth in the end according to his skill that the Bishops of Ireland being infected with the Pelagian errour sought absolution first of Pelagius the Pope but the same was not effectually done untill S. Gregory did it But in all this the silly man doth nothing else but bewray his owne extreme ignorance For neyther can he shew it in Cesar Baronius or in anie other author whatsoever that the Irish Bishops did ever seek absolution from Pope Pelagius or that the one had to deale in any businesse at all with the other Neyther yet can he shew that ever they had to doe with S. Gregory in anie matter that did concerne the Pelagian heresie for these be dreames of Coppingers own idle head The epistle of S. Gregory dealeth onely with the controversie of the three chapter◠which were condemned by the fifth generall Councell whereof Baronius writeth thus All the Bishops that were in Ireland with most earnest studie rose up jointly for the defence of the Three Chapters And when they perceived that the Church of Rome did both receive the condemnation of the Three chapters and strengthen the fifth Synod with her consent they departed from her and clave to the rest of the schismaticks that were eyther in Italy or in Africk or in other countries animated with that vaine confidence that they did stand for the Catholick faith while they defended those things that were concluded in the Councell of Chalcedon And so much the more fixedly saith he did they cleave to their error because whatsoever Italy did suffer by commotions of warre by famine or pestilence all these unhappy things they thought did therefore befall unto it because it had undertaken to fight for the Fift Synod against the Councell of Chalcedon Thus farre Baronius out of whose narration this may be collected that the Bishops of Ireland did not take all the resolutions of the Church of Rome for undoubted oracles but when they thought that they had better reason on their sides they preferred the judgement of other Churches before it Wherein how peremptorie they were when they wrote unto S. Gregory of the matter may easily be perceived by these parcells of the answer which he returned unto their letters The first entry of your epistle hath notified that you suffer a grievous persecution which persecution indeed when it is not sustayned for a reasonable cause doth profite nothing unto salvation and therefore it is verie unfit that you should glory of that persecution as you call it by which it is certaine you cannot be promoted to everlasting rewards And whereas you write that since that time among other provinces Italy hath beene most afflicted you ought not to object that unto it as a reproach because it is written Whom the Lord loveth hee chasteneth and scourgeth every sonne that he receiveth Then having spoken of the booke that Pope Pelagius did write of this controversie which indeed was penned by Gregory himselfe he addeth If after the reading of this book you will persist in that deliberation wherein now you are without doubt you shew that you give your selves to be ruled not by reason but by obstinacie By all which you may see what credite is to be given unto the man who would beare us in hand that this epistle of S. Gregory was sent