written spiritus ubi vult spirat c. And thus was the outward race and stock of Abraham after flesh refused which seemed to have the preheminence and another seed after the Spirit raised by Abraham of the stones that is of the Gentiles So was the outward Temple of Jerusalem and chaire of Moses which seem'd to be of price forsaken and Gods chaire advanced in other Nations So was tall Saul refused and little David accepted the rich the proud and the wise of this world rejected and the word of salvation daily opened to the poore and miserable Abjects the high mountaines cast under and the low valleys exalted c. And in the next place it is added in his own will by this falleth down the free will and purpose of man with all his actions councels and strength of nature according as it is written non est volentis neque currentis sed miserentis Dei c. It is not him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercy So we see how Israel ran long and yet got nothing The Gentile runneth began to set out late and yet got the game So they which came at the first which did labour more and yet they that came last were rewarded with the first Mat. 20. The working will of the Pharisee seemed better but yet the Lords Will was rather to justifie the Publican Luk. 18. The elder son had a better will to tarry by his father and so did indeed and yet the fat calf was given to the younger son that ran away Luk. 15. whereby we have to understand how the matter goeth not by the will of man but by the will of God as it pleaseth him to accept according as it is written non ex voluntate carnis neque ex voluntate viri sed ex Deo nati sunt c. Which are born not of the will of the flesh nor yet of the will of man but of God Furthermore as all then goeth by the will of God only and not by the will of man So againe here is to be noted that the will of God never goeth without faith in Christ Jesus his Son And therefore fourthly is this clâ—use added in the definition through faith in Christ his Sonne which faith in Christ to us-ward maketh altogether For first it certifieth us of Gods Election as this Epistle of Mr. Bradford doth well expresse For whosoever will be certain of his Election in God let him first begin with faith in Christ which if he finde in him to stand firme he may be sure and nothing doubt but that he is one of the number of Gods Elect. Secondly the said faith and nothing else is the only condition and meanes whereupon Gods mercy grace Election vocation and all Gods promises to salvation do stay accordingly the word of St. Paul si permanseritis in fide and if ye abide in the faith Col. 1. 3. This faith is the mediate and next cause of our justification simply without any condition annexed For as the mercy of God his grace Election vocation and other precedent causes do save and justifie us upon condition if we believe in Christ so this faith onely in Christ without condition is the next and immediate cause which by Gods promise worketh our justification according as it is written crede in dominum Jesum salvus eris tu domus tua Believe in the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved thou and thy whole house And thus much touching the Definition of Election with the causes thereof declared which you see now to be no merits or works of man whither they go before or come after faith For like as all they that be borne of Adam do taste of his Malediction though they tasted not of the Apple so all they that be born of Christ which is by faith take part of the obedience of Christ although they never did that obedience themselves which was in him Rom. 5. Now to the second consideration Let us see likewise how and in what order this Election of God proceedeth in choosing and electing them which he ordaineth to salvation which order is this In them that be chosen to life first Gods mercy and free grace bringeth forth Election Election worketh Vocation or Gods holy calling which Vocation though hearing bringeth knowledge and faith in Christ Faith through promise obtaineth justification juctification through hope waiteth for glorification Election is before time vocation and faith cometh in time justification and glorification is without end Election depending upon Gods free grace and will excludeth all mans will blinde fortune chance and all peradventures Vocation standing upon Gods Election excludeth all mans wisdome cunning learning intention power and presumption Faith in Christ proceeding by the gift of the holy Ghost and freely justifying man by Gods promise excludetâ—â— all other merits of men all condition of deserving and all works of the Law both Gods Law and mans Law with all other outward means whatsoever Justification coming freely by faith standeth sure by promise without doubt fear or wavering in this life Glorification appertaining only to the life to come by hope is looked for Grace and Mercy preventeth Election ordaineth Vocation prepareth and receiveth the Word whereby cometh faith Faith justifieth Justification bringeth glory Election is the immediate and next cause of Vocation Vocation which is the working of Gods Spirit by the Word is the immediate and next cause of faith Faith is the immediate and next cause of justification And this order and connexion of causes is diligently to be observed because of the Papists which have miserably confounded and inverted this doctrine thus teaching that Almighty God so far as he foreseeth mans merits before to come so doth he dispense his Election Dominus prout â—njusque merita fore previdet ita dispensat electionis gratiam futuris tamen concedere That is that the Lord recompenseth the grace of Election not to any merits proceeding but yet granteth the same to the merits that follow after and not rather have our holinesse by Gods Election going before But we following the Scripture say otherwise that the cause onely of Gods Election is his own free mercy and the cause onely of our justification is our faith in Christ and nothing else As for example first concerning Election if the question be asked why was Aâ—raham chosen and not Naâ—hâ—â— why was Jacob chosen and not Esâ—u why was Moses 〈◊〉 and Pharâ—â—â—â—â—â—dened â—â—â—dened why Dâ—vid accepted and Saul refused why few be chosen and the most forsaken It cannot be answered otherwise but thus because so was the good will of God In like manner touching vocation and also faith if the question be asked why this vocation and gift of faith was given to Cornelius the Gentile and not to Tertullus the Jew why to the poore the babes and the little ones of the world of whom Christ speaketh I thank the Father which hast hid these from
the wise c. Mat. 11. why to the unwise the simple abjects and out-casts of the world of whom speaketh Saint Paul 1 Cor. 1 You see your calling my brethren why not many of you c. Why to the sinners and not to the just why the beggars by the high-wayes were called and the bidden guests excluded We can ascribe no other cause but to Gods purpose and Election and say with Christ our Saviour quia Pater sic complacitum est ante te ye Father for that it seemed good in thy sight Luk. 10. And so it is for justification likewise if the question be asked why the Publican was justified and not the Pharisee Luk. 18. Why Mary the sinner and not Simon the inviter Luke 11. Why Harlots and Publicans go before the Scribes and Pharisees in the Kingdome Mat. 21. why the sonne of the Free-woman was received and the bond-womans Son being his elder rejected Gen. 21. why Israel which so long sought for righteousnesse found it not and the Gentiles which sought it not found it Rom. 9. We have no other cause hereof to render but to say with Saint Paul because they sought for it by works of the Law and not by faith which faith as it cometh not by mans will as the Papists falsely pretendeth but onely by the election and free gift of God so it is onely the immediate cause whereto the promise of our salvation is annexed according as we read And therefore of faith is the inheritance given as after grace that the promise might stand sure to every side Rom. 4. and in the same Chapter Faith believing in him that justifieth the wicked is imputed to righteousnesse And this concerning the causes of our salvation you you see how faith in Christ immediately and without condition doth justifie us being solicited with Gods mercy and election that wheresoever election goeth before faith in Christ must needs follow after And again whosoever believeth in Christ Jesus through the vocation of God he must needs be partaker of Gods election whereupon resulteth the third note or consideration which is to consider whither a man in this life may be certaine of his election To answer to which question this first is to be understood that although our election and vocation simply indeed be known to God onely in himselfe a priore yet notwithstanding it may be known to every particular faithful man a Posteriore that is by means which means is faith in Christ Jesus crucified For as much as by faith in Christ a man is justified and thereby made the childe of salvation reason must needs lead the same to be then the childe of election chosen of God to everlasting life For how can a man be saved but by consequence it followeth that he must also be elected And therefore of election it is truly said de electione judicandum est a posteriore that is to say we must judge of election by that which cometh after that is by our faith and belief in Christ which faith although in time it followeth after election yet this the proper immediate cause assigned by the Scripture which not onely justifieth us but also certifieth us of this election of God whereunto likewise well agreeth this present Letter of Mr. Bradford wherein he saith Election albeit in God it be the first yet to us it is the last opened And therefore beginning first saith he with Creation I come from thence to Redemption and justification by faith so to election not that faith is the cause efficient of election being rather the effect thereof but is to us the cause certificatory or the cause of our certification whereby we are brought to the feeling and knowledge of our election in Christ For albeit the election first be certain in the knowledge of God yet in our knowledge faith only that we have in Christ is the thing that giveth to us our certificate and comfort of this election Wherefore whosoever desireth to be assured that he is one of the Elect number of God let him not climbe up to heaven to know but let him descend into himself and there search his faith in Christ the Son of God which if he find in him not feigned by the working of Gods Spirit accordingly thereupon let him stay and so wrap himself wholly both body and foul under Gods general promise and cumber his head with no further speculations knowing this that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish John 3. shall not be confounded Rom. 9. shall not see death John 8. shall not enter into judgement John 5. shall have everlasting life John 3. 7. shall be saved Mat. 28. Acts 16. shall have remission of all his sins Act. 10. shall be justified Rom. 3. Cal. 2. shall have floods flowing out of him of the water of life Joh. 7. shall never die John 11. shall be raised at the last day John 6. shall finde rest in his soul and be refreshed Mat. 11 c. 4. Such is the judgement and opinion of our Martyrologist in the great point of Predestination unto life the residue thereof touching justification being here purposely cut off with an c. as nothing pertinent to the businesse which we have in hand But between the Comment and the Text there is a great deal of difference the Comment laying the foundation of Election on the Will of God according to the Zuinglian or Calvinian way but the Text laying it wholly upon faith in Christ whom God the Father hath Predestinate in Christ unto eternal life according to the doctrine of the Church of England The Text first presupposeth an estate of sin and misery into which man was fallen a ransom paid by Christ for man and his whole Posterity a freedome left in man thus ransomed either to take or finally to refuse the benefit of so great mercy and then fixing or appropriating the benefit of so great a mercy as Christ and all his merits do amount to upon such only as believe But the Comment takes no notice of the fall of man grounding both Reprobation and Election on Gods â—bsolute pleasure without relation to mans sin or our Saviours sufferings or any acceptation or refusal of his mercies in them As great a difference there is between the Authour of the Comment and Bishop Hooper as between the Comment and the Text Bishop Hooper telling us cap. 10. num 2. that Saul was no more excluded from the promise of Christ then David Esau then Jacob Judas then Peter c. if they had not excluded themselves quite contrary to that of our present Authour who having asked the question why Jacob was chosen and not Esau why David accepted and Saul refused c. makes answer that it cannot otherwise be answered then that so was the good Will of God 5. And this being said I would faine know upon what authority the Authour hath placed Nachor amongst the reprobates in the same Ranck with Esau Pharaoh and Saul all
publick service if otherwise of known zeale against the Papists 2. Several examples of that kinde in the places of greatest power and trust in the Church of England particularly of Mr. Fox the Martyrologist and the occasion which he took of publishing his opinion in the point of predestination 3. His notes on one of the Letters of John Bradford Martyr touching the matter of Election therein contained 4. The difference between the Comment and the Text and between the authour of the Comment and Bishop Hooper 5. Exceptions against some passages and observations upon others in the said Notes of Mr. Fox 6. The great breach made hereby in the Churches Doctrine made greater by the countenance which was given to the Book of Acts and Monuments by the Convocation An. 1571. 7. No argument to be drawn from hence touching the approbation of his doctrine by that Convocation no more then for the Approbation of his Marginal Notes and some particular passages in it disgraceful to the Rites of the Church attire of the Bishops 8. A counterballance made in the Convocation against Fox his Doctrine and all other Novelismes of that kinde 1. IT was not long that Queen Mary sate upon the Throne and yet as short time as it was it gave not only a strong interruption for the present to the proceedings of the Church but an occasion also of great discord and dissention in it for the time to come For many of our Divines who had fled beyond the Sea to avoid the hurry of her Reign though otherwise men of good abilities in most parts of Learning returned so altered in their principals as to points of Doctrine so disaffected to the Government formes of worship here by Law established that they seem'd not to be the same men at their coming home as they had been at their going hence yet such was the necessity which the Church was under of filling up the vacant places and preferments which had been made void either by the voluntary discession or positive deprivation of the Popish Clergie that they were faine to take in all of any condition which were able to do the publick service without relation to their private opinions in doctrine or discipline nothing so much regarded in the choice of men for Bishopricks Deanries Dignities in Cathedral Churches the richest Bâ—nefices in the Countrey and places of most command and trust in the Universities as their known â—eal against the Papists together with such a sufficiency of learning as might enable them for writing and preaching against the Popes supremacy the carnal presence of Christ in the blessed Sacrament the superstition of the Masse the halfe communion the celâ—bratin of Divine service in a tongue not known unto the people the inforced single life of Priests the worshiping of Images and other the like points of Popery which had given most offence and were the principal causes of that separation 2. On this account we finde Mr. Pilkington preferred to the See of Durham and Whittingham to the rich Deanry of the Church of which the one proved a great favourer of the Non-conformists as is confessed by one who challengeth a relation to his blood and family the other associated himself with Goodman as after Goodman did with Knox for planting Puritanisme and sedition in the Kirk of Scotland On this account Dr. Lawrence Humphrey a professed Calvinian in point of doctrine and a Non-conformist but qualified with the title of a moderate one is made the Queens professor for Divinity in the University of Oxon Thomas Cartwright that great Incendiary of this Church preferred to be the Lady Margarets professor in the University of Cambridge Sampson made Dean of Christ-church and presently proptor Puritaxismum Exauctoratus turned out again for Puritanisme as my Authour hath it Hardiman made one of the first Prebends of Westminster of the Queens foundation and not long after deprived of it by the high Commissioners for breaking down the Altar there and defacing the ancient utensils and ornaments which belonged to the Church And finally upon this account as Whitehead who had been Chaplaine to Queen Anne Bulline refused the Arch-Bishoprick of Canterbury before it was offered unto Parker and Covâ—rdale to be restored to the See of Exon which he had chearfully accepted in the time of King Edward so Mr. John Fox of great esteem for his painful and laborious work of Acts and Monuments commonly called the Book of Martyrs would not accept of any preferment in the Church but a Prebends place in Salisbury which tide him not to any residence in the same And this he did especially as it after proved to avoid subscription shewing a greater willingnesse to leaue his place then to subscribe unto the Articles of Religion then by Law established when he was legally required to do it by Arch-Bishop Parker Of this man there remains a short Discourse in his Acts and Monuments of Predestination occasioned by a letter of Mr. Bradfords before remembred whose Orthodox doctrine in that point he feared might create some danger unto that of Calvin which then began to finde a more general entertainment then could be rationally expected in so short a time And therefore as a counter-ballance he annexeth this discourse of his own with this following title viz. Notes on the same Epistle and the matter of Election thereunto appertaining ' 3. As touching the Doctrine of Election whereof this letter of Mr. Bradford and many other of his Letters more do much intreat three things must be considered 1. What Gods Election is and what the cause thereof 2. How Gods Election proceedeth in working our salvation 3. To whom Gods election pertaineth and how a man may be certaine thereof Between Predestination and Election this difference there is Predestination is as well to the Reprobate as to the Elect Election pertaineth onely to them that be saved Predestination in that it respecteth the reprobate is called reprobation in that it respected the saved is called Election and is thus defined Predestination is the eternall decreement of God purposed before in himself what shall befal all men either to salvation or damnation Election is the free mercy and grace of God in his own will through faith in Christ his Sonne choosing and preferring to life such as pleaseth him In this definition of Election first goeth before the mercy and grace of God as the causes thereof whereby are excluded all works of the Law and merits of deserving whither they go before faith or come after so was Jacob chosen and Esau refused before either of them began to work c. Secondly in that the mercy of God in this Definition is said to be free thereby is to be noted the proceeding and working of God not to be bound to any ordinary place or to any succession of choice nor to state and dignity of person nor to worthinesse of blood c. but all goeth by the meere will of his own purpose as it is
to Baroe betwixt whom and Dr. Whitacres there had been some clashings touching Predestination and Reprobation the certainty of salvation and the possibility of falling from the grace received And the heats grew so high at last that the Calvinians thought it necessary in point of prudence to effect that by power and favour which they were not able to obtaine by force of argument To which end they first addressed themselves to the Lord Treasurer Burleigh then being there Chancellor acquainting him by Dr. Some then Deputy Vice-Chancellor with the disturbances made by Barret thereby preparing him to hearken to such further motions as should be made unto him in pursuit of that quarrel Bat finding little comfort there they resolved to steere their course by another compass And having prepossest the most Reverend Arch-bishop Whitgift with the turbulent carriage of those men the affronts given to Dr. Whitacres whom for his learned and laborious Writings against Cardinal Bellarmine he most highly favoured and the great inconveniences like to grow by that publick discord they gave themselves good hopes of composing those differences not by the way of an accomodation but an absolute conquest and to this end they dispatcht to him certain of their number in the name of the rest such as were interessed in the quarrel Dr. Whitacres himself for one and therefore like to stickle hard for the obtaining their ends the Articles to which they had reduced the whole state of the business being brought to them ready drawn and nothing wanting to them but the face of Authority wherewith as with Medusa's head to confound their enemies and turne their adversaries into stones And that they might be sent back with the face of authority the most Reverend Arch-bishop Whitgift calling unto him Dr. Flecher Bishop of Bristol then newly elected unto London and Dr. Richard Vauhan Lord Elect of Bangor together with Dr. Tyndal Deane of Elie Dr. Whitacres and the rest of the Divines which came from Cambridge proposed the said Articles to their consideration at his house in Lambeth on the tenth of Novemb. An. 1595. by whom these Articles were agreed on in these following words 1. Deus ab eterno praedestinavit quosdam ad vitam quosdam reprobavit ad mortem 1. God from eternity hath predestinate certaine men unto life certaine men he hath reprobate 2. Causa movens aut efficiens predestinationâ—s ad vitam non est praevisio fidei aut perseverantiae aut bonorum operum aut ullius rei qui insit in personis Praedestinatis sed sola voluntas beneplaciti Dei 2. The moving or efficient cause of predestination unto life is not the foresight of faith or of perseverance or of good works or of any thing that is in the person predestinated but only the good will and pleasure of God 3. Praedestinatorum praefinitus certus est numerus qui nec angeri nec minui potest 3. There is predetermined a certaine number of the Predestinate which can neither be augmented or diminished 4. Qui non sunt Praedestinati adsalutem necessario propter peccata sua damnabuntur 4. Those who are not predestinated to salvation shall be necessarily damned for their sins 5. Vera viva justificans fides piritus Dei justificantis non extinguitur non excidit non evanescit in Electis aut finaliter aut totaliter 5. A true living and justifying faith and the Spirit of God justifying is not extinguished falleth not away it vanisheth not away in the Elect either totally or finally 6. Homo vere fidelis id est fide justificante praeditus certus est pleriphoria Fides de Remissione peccatorum suoâ—um salute sempiterna sua per Christum 6. A man truly faithful that is such an one who is endued with a justifying faith is certaine with the full assurance of faith of the remission of his sinnes and of his everlasting salvation by Christ 7. Gratia salutaris non tribuitur non incommunicatur non conceditur universis hominibus qua servari possint si velint 7. Saving grace is not given is not granted is not communicated to all men by which they may be saved if they will 8. Nemo potest venire ad Christum nisi datum ei fuâ—rit nisi pater eum tâ—axerit omnes homines non trahuntur a patre ut veniant ad filium 8. No man can come unto Christ unlesse it be given unto him and unlesse the father shal draw him and all men are not drawn by the Father that they may come to the Son 9. Non est positum in arbitrio aut potestate uniuscujusque hominis servari 9. It is not in the will or power of every one to be saved 3. Now in these Articles there are these two things to be considered first the Authority by which they were made and secondly the effect produced by them in order to the end proposed And first as touching the authority by which they were made it was so far from being legal and sufficient that it was plainly none at all For what authority could there be in so thin a meeting consisting only of the Arch-bishop himself two other Bishops of which but one had actually received consecration one Deane and half a dozen Doctors and other Ministers neither impowred to any such thing by the rest of the Clergy nor authorized to it by the Queen And therefore their determinations of no more Authority as to binding of the Church or prescribing to the judgement of particular persons then as if one Earl the eldest son of two or three others meeting with half a dozen Gentlemen in Westminster Hall can be affirmed to be in a capacity of making orders which must be looked on by the Subject as Acts of Parliament A Declaration they might make of their own opinions or of that which they they thought fittest to be holden in the present case but neither Articles nor Canons to direct the Church for being but opinions still and the opinions of private and particular persons they were not to be looked upon as publick Doctrines And so much was confessed by the Arch-Bishop himself when he was called in question for it before the Queen who being made acquainted with all that passed by the Lord Treasurer Burleigh who neither liked the Tenents nor the manner of proceeding in them was most passionately offended that any such Innovation should be made in the publick Doctrine of this Church and once resolved to have them all attainted of a Premunire But afterwards upon the interposition of some friends and the reverend esteem she had of the excellent Prelate the Lord Arch-Bishop whom she commonly called her Black Husband she was willing to admit him to his defence and he accordingly declared in all humble manner that he his associates had not made any Articles Canons or decrees with an intent that they should serve hereafter for a standing Rule to direct the Church but only had resolved
having Free-will receiveth or refuseth as pleaseth him and God in his eternity foreseeth those who will receive his help and use it to good and those who will refuse and rejecteth these electeth and predestinateth those They added That otherwise there was no cause why God in the Scriptures should complain of sinners nor why he should exhort all to repentance and conversion if they have not sufficient means to get them that the sufficient assistance invented by the others is insufficient because in their opinion it never had nor shall have any effect IV. The first Opinion as it is mystical and hidden keeping the minde humble and relying on God without any confidence in it self knowing the deformity of sin and the excellency of Divine Grace so this second was plausible and popular cherishing humane presumption and making a great shew and it pleased more the preaching Fryers then the understanding Divines And the Council thought it probable as consonant to politick Reason It was maintained by the Bishop of Bitonto and the Bishop of Salpi shewed himself very partial The Defenders of this using humane Reasons prevailed against the others but coming to the testimonies of Scripture they were manifestly overcome V. Calarinus holding the same Opinion to resolve the places of Scripture which troubled them all invented a middle way That God of his goodness had elected some few whom he will save absolutely to whom he hath prepared most potent effectual and infallible means the rest he desireth for his part they should be saved and to that end hath promised sufficient means for all leaving it to their choice to accept them and be saved or refuse them and be damned Amongst these there are some who receive them and are saved though they be not of the number of the Elect of which kinde there are very many Other refusing to co-operate with God who wisheth their salvation are damned The cause why the first are predestinated is only the will of God why the others are saved is the acceptation good use and co-operation with the Divine assistance foreseen by God why the last are reprobated is the foreseeing of their perverse will in refusing or abusing it That S. John S. Paul and all the places of Scripture alledged by the other part where all is given to God and which do shew infallibility are understood only of the first who are particularly priviledged and in other for whom the common way is left the admonitions exhortations and general assistances are verified unto which he that will give ear and follow them is saved he that wil not perisheth by his own fault Of these few who are priviledged above the common condition the number is determinate and certain with God but not of those who are saved by the common way depend on humane liberty but only in regard of the fore-knowledge of the works of every one Catarinus sayd He wondred at the stupidity of those who say the number is certain and determined and yet they add that others may be saved which is as much as to say that the number is certain and yet it may be enlarged and likewise of those who say That the Reprobates have sufficient assistance for salvation though it be necessary for him that is saved to have a greater which is to say a sufficient unsufficient VI. He added that S. Augustines Opinion was not heard of before his time and himself confesseth it cannot be found in the works of any who wrote before him neither did himself alwaies think it true but ascribed the cause of Gods will to merits saying God taketh compassion on and hardneth whom he listeth But that will of God cannot be unjust because it is caused by most secret merits and that there is diversity of sinners some who though they be justified deserve justification But after the heat of Disputation against the Pelagians transported him to think and speak the contrary yet when his opinion was heard all the Catholicks were scandalized as S. Prosper wrote to him and Genadius of Marselles fifty years after in his judgment which he maketh of the famous Writers sayd That it hapned to him according to the words of Solomon That in much speaking one cannot avoid sin and that by his fault exagitated by his Enemies the question was not then risen which might afterwards bring forth heresie whereby the good Father did intimate his fear of that which now appeareth that is that by that opposition some Sect and Division might arise VII The censure of the second Article was divers according to the three related Opinions Catarinus thought the first part true in regard of the efficacy of the Divine Will towards those who were particularly favoured But the second false concerning the sufficiency of Gods Assistance unto all and mans liberty in co-operating Others ascribing the cause of Predestination in all to humane consent condemned the whole Article in both parts But those that adhered unto S. Augustine and the common opinion of the Theologans did distinguish it and sayd it was true in a compound sense but damnable in a divided a subtilty which confounded the minds of the Prelates and his own though he did exemplifie it by saying he that moveth cannot stand still it is true in a compound sense but is understood while he moveth but in a divided sense it is false that is in another time Yet it was not wel understood because applying it to his purpose It cannot be sayd that a man predestinated can be damned in a time when he is not predestinated seeing he is alwaies so and generally the divided sense hath no place where the accident is inseparable from the subject Therfore others thought to declare it better saying that God governeth and moveth every thing according to its proper nature which in contingent things is free such as that the act may consist together with the power to the opposite so that wth the act of predestination the power to reprobation damnation doth stand But this was worse understood then the first VIII The other Articles were censured with admirable concord Concerning the third and sixth they sayd it hath alwaies been an opinion in the Church that many receive divine Grace and keep it for a time who afterwards do lose it and in time are damned Then was alledged the example of Saul Solomon and Judas one of the Twelve a case more evident then all by these words of Christ to the Father I have kept in thy name all that thou hast given me of which not one hath perished but the son of Perdition To these they added Nicholas one of the seven Deacons and others first commended in the Scriptures and then blamed and for a conclusion of all the Fall of Luther Against the sixth they particularly considered that Vocation would become impious derision when those that are called and nothing is wanting on their side are not admitted that the Sacraments would not be effectual for them
all which things are absurd But for censure first the Authority of the Prophet was brought directly contrary in terms where God sayth That if the Just shall abandon justice and commit iniquity I will not remember his works The Example of David was added who committed Murther and Adultry of Magdalen and S. Peter who denied Christ They deâ—ided the folly of the Zuinglians for saying the Just cannot fall from Grace and yet sinneth in every work The two last were uniformly condemned of temerity with exception of those unto whom God hath given a special Revelation as to Moses and the Disciples to whom it was revealed that they were written in the Book of Heaven IX Now because the Doctrine of Predestination doth naturally presuppose a Curse from which man was to be delivered it will not be amiss to lay down the Judgment of that Councel in the Article of Original sin which rendred man obnoxious to the dreadful curse together with the preparatory Debates amongst the Scool-men and Divines which were there Assembled touching the nature and transmitting of it from Adam unto his Posterity and from one man to another Concerning which it was declared by Catarinus That as God made a Covenant with Abraham and all his Posterity when he made him Father of the faithful So when he gave Original Righteousness to Adam and all man-kinde he made him seal an Obligation in the name of all to keep it for himself and them observing the Commandment which because he trangressed he lost it as well for others as himself and incurred the punishent also for them the which as they are derived in every one and to him as the cause to others by vertue of the Covenant so that the actual sin of Adam is actual sin in him and imputed to others in Original for proof whereof he grounded himself upon this especially that a true and proper sin must needs be a voluntary Act and nothing can be voluntary but that transgression of Adam imputed unto all And Paul saying that all have sinned in Adam it must be understood that they have all committed the same sin with him he alledged for example that S. Paul to the Hebrews affirmeth that Levi payd Tythe to Melchisedeck when he payd in his great Grandfather Abraham by which reason it must be sayd that the Posterity violated the Commandments of God when Adam did it and that they were sinners in him as in him they received Righteousness X. Which Application as it was more intelligible to the Prelates Assembled together in the Councel then any of the Crabbed Intricacies and perplexities of the rest of the Scoolmen irreconcilable in a manner amongst themselves so did it quicken them to the dispatch of their Canons or Anathamatisms while they had the Notions in their heads against all such as had taught otherwise of Original sin then was allowed of and maintained in the Church of Rome but more particulary against him 1. That confesseth not that Adam by transgressing hath lost Sanctity and Justice incurred the wrath of God Death and Thraldom to the Devil and is infected in Soul and Body 2. Against him that averreth that Adam by sinning hath hurt himself only or hath derived into his Posterity the death only of the Body and not sin the death of the Soul 3. Against him that affirmeth the sin which is one in the beginning and proper to every one committed by Generation not imitation can be abolished by any other remedy then the death of Christ is applied as well to Children as to those of riper years by the Sacrament of Baptism ministred in the form and rite of the Church CHAP. III. The like Debates about Free-will with the Conclusions of the Councel in the Five Controverted Points I. The Articles against the Freedom of the Will extracted out of Luther's Writings II. The exclamation of the Divines against Luther's Doctrine in the Point and the absurdities thereof III. The several Judgments of Marinarus Catarinus and Andreas Vega. IV. The different Judgment of the Dominicans and Franciscans whether it lay in mans power to believe or not to believe and whether the Freedom of the Will were lost in Adam V. As also of the Point of the co-operation of mans Will with the Grace of God VI. The opinion of Fryer Catanca in the point of irresistibility VII Faintly maintained by Soto a Dominican Fryer and more cordially approved by others but in time rejected VIII The great care taken by the Legates in having the Articles so framed as to please all parties IX The Doctrine of the Councel in the V. controverted Points X. A Transition from the Councel of Trent to the Protestant and Reformed Churches I. THese Differences and Debates concerning Predestination the possibility of Falling away from the Faith of Christ and the nature of Original sin being thus passed over I shall look back on those Debates which were had amongst the Fathers and Divines in the Councel of Trent about the Nature of Free-will and the power thereof In order whereunto these Articles were collected out of the Writings of the Lutherans to be discussed and censured as they found cause for it Now the Articles were these that follow Viz. 1. God is the total cause of our works Good and Evil and the Adultry of David the cruelty of Manlius and the Treason of Judas are the works of God as well as the Vocation of Saul 2. No man hath power to think well or ill but all cometh from absolute necessity and in us is no Free-will and to affirm it is a meer Fiction 3. Free-will since the sin of Adam is lost and a thing only titular and when one doth what is in his power he sinneth mortally yea it is a thing fained and a Title without reality 4. Free-will is only in doing ill and hath no power to do good 5. Free-will moved by God doth by no means co-operate and followeth as an Instrument without life or an unreasonable Creature 6. That God correcteth those only whom he will though they will not spurn against it II. Upon the first Article they spake rather in a Tragical manner then Theological that the Lutheran Doctrine was a frantick wisdom that mans Will as they make it is prodigious that those words a thing of Title only a Title without reality are monstruous that the Opinion is impious and blasphemous against God that the Church hath condemned it against the Maniches Priscillianists and lastly against Aballardus and Wickliff and that it was a folly against common sense every one proving in himself his own Liberty that it deserveth not confutation but as Aristotle sayth Chastisement and Experimental proofe that Luther's Scholars perceived the folly and to moderate the Absurdity sayd after that a man had liberty in External Political and Oeconomical Actions and in matters of Civil Justice that which every one but a Fool knoweth to proceed from Councels and Election but denied Liberty in matter of
have compassion on him that shall deserve it de congruo but Of him of whom I will have compassion ' Now as he followeth the Dominicans or rigid Lutherans in laying down the grounds and method of Predestination so he draws more to them also and the Zuinglians also touching Gods workings on the will then possibly may be capable of a good construction ' God saith he of his Infinite power letteth nothing to be exempted from him but all things to be subject unto his action and nothing can be done by them but by his principal motion So that he worketh in all manner of things that be either good or bad not changing their nature but onely moving them to work after their natures So that good worketh good and evil worketh evil and God useth them both as instruments and yet doth he nothing evil but evil is done alone through the will of man God working by him but not evil as by an instrument ' Which last Position notwithstanding all the subtilty in the close thereof how far it is from making God to be the Author of sin I leave to be determined by men of more Scholastical and Metaphysical heads then my simplicity can pretend to 8. For Tyndal next though I shall not derogate in any thing from his great pains in translating the Bible nor from the glory of his suffering in defence of those truths for which he dyed yet there were so many Heterodoxes in the most of his writings as render them no fit rule for a Reformat on no more then those of Wicklif before remembred the number and particulars whereof I had rather the Reader should look for in the Acts and Monuments where they are mustered up together about the latter end of the Reign of King Henry the eighth then expect them here That which occureth in him touching Predestinat on is no more then this 1. ' Grace saith he is properly Gods favour benevolence or kinde minde which of his own self without our deservings he reacheth to us whereby he was moved and inclined to give Christ unto us with all other gifts of Grace ' Which having told us in his Preface to St. Pauls Epistle to the Romans he telleth us not long after that in the 9 10 11. Chapters of the Epistle the Apostle teacheth us of Gods Predestination ' From whence it springeth altogether whether we shall believe or not believe be loosed from sin or not be loosed By which Predestination our Justifying and Salvation are clear taken out of our hands and put into the hands of God onely which thing is most necessary of all for we are so weak and so uncertain that if it stood in us there would of truth no man be saved the Devil no doubt would deceive him but now God is sure of his Predestination neither can any man withstand or let him else why do we hope and sigh against sin ' Discoursing in another place of the act the will hath on the understanding he telleth us ' that the will of man followeth the wit that as the wit erreth so doth the will and as the wit is in captivity so is the will neither is it possible that the will should be free when the wit is in bondage c. as I erre in my wit so I erre in my will when I judge that to be evil which is good then indeed do I hate that which is good and then when I perceive that which is good to be evil then indeed do I love the evil ' Finally in the heats of his Disputation with Sir Thomas Moor who had affirmed That men were to endeavour themselves and captivate their understandings if they would believe He first crys out ' How Beetle-blinde is fleshly reason and then subjoyns that the will hath no operation at all in the working of faith in my soul no more then the childe hath in begetting of his father for saith Paul it is the gift of God and not of us my wit must conclude good or bad yet my will can leave or take my wit must shew me a true or an apparent cause why yet my will have any working at all ' 9. I had almost forgot John Frith and if I had it had been no great loss to our rigid Calvinists who not content to guide themselves in these disputes by Gods will revealed have too audaciously pried into the Ark of Gods Secret Counsels of which spirit I conceive this Frith to be not that I finde him such in any of his writings extant with the other two but that he is affirmed for such in a letter of Tyndalls directed to him under the borrowed name of Jacob For in the collection of his pieces neither the Index nor the Margent direct us unto any thing which concerns this Argument though to the writings of the others they give a clearer sense howsoever made then in favour of the Calvinian party then the books themselves or possibly was ever meant by the men that made them * Now Tyndals Letter is as followeth Dearly beloved Jacob my hearts desire in our Saviours Jesus is That you arm your self with patience and be bold sober wise and circumspect and that you keep you a low by the ground avoiding high questions that pass the common capacity but expound the Law truly and open the Rule of Moses to condemn all flâ—sh and prove all men sinners and all deeds under the Law before mercy hath taken away the condemnation thereof to be sin and damnable And then as a faithful Minister sâ—t abroach the mercy of our Lord Jesus and let the wounded consciences drink of the water of life And then shalt your preaching be with power not as the Doctrine of Hypocrites and the Spirit of God shall work with you and all consciences shall bear record unto you and feel that it is so And all doctrine that casteth a mist on these two to shadow and hide them I mean the Law of God and mercy of Christ that resist you with all your power Of him it is or of such high Climers as he was who we finde Tyn-speaking in another place ' But here saith he we must set a mark upon those unquiet busie and high-climing wits how far they shall go which first of all bring hither their high reasons and pregnant wits and begin first from on high to search the bottomless secrets of Gods Predestination whether they be predestinated or no These must needs either cast themselves headlong down into desperation or else commit themselves to free chance careless But follow thou the order of this Epistle and nuzzel thy self with Christ and learn to understand the Law and the Gospel means and the office of both that thou mayest in the one know thy self and how thou hast of thy self no strength but to sin and in the other the grace of Christ and then see thou fight against sin and the flesh as the seven first Chapters teach
Zurick and Calvins Neighbourhood 7. The Judgement of Erasmus according as it is delivered in his Paraphrases on the four Evangelists proposed first in the general view and after more particularly in every of the Points disputed SEâ—urâ— de salute de gloria corteâ—â—s Having shewed the cause by so many pregnant Evidences derived from the Articles and Homilies and back't by the consenting Testimonies of learned Men and godly Martyrs it would adde something at the least in point of Reputation if not of glory also to gain Bishop Poinet to the side of whom as to his personal capacity we have spoke already and must now look back upon him in relation to a Chatechism of his setting forth Printed by Wolfe in Latine and by Day in English Anno 1553. being the next year after the Articles were agreed upon in the Convocation a Catechisme which comes commended to us with these advantages that it was put forth by the Authority of King Edward the sixth to be taught by all Schoolmasters in the Kingdome By another of the same perswasion ' that the King committed the perusal of it to certain Bishops and other learned men whom he much esteemed by whom it was certified to be agreeable to the Scripture and Statutes of the Realm that thereupon he prefixt his Epistle before it in which he commands and charges all Schoolmasters whatsoever within his Dominions as they did reverence his Authority and as they would avoid his Royal displeasure to teach this Catechism diligently and carefully in all and every their Schools that so the youth of the Kingdome might be setled in the grounds of true Religion and furthered in Gods worship ' The Church Historian seems to give it some further countenance by making it of the same extraction with the Book of Articles telling us that by the Bishops and Learned men before mentioned â—e are to understand the Convocation and that it was not commanded by his Majesties Letters Patents to all Schoolmasters only but by him commended to the rest of the Subjects which cost these several Authors have bestowed upon it out of an hope of gaining some greater matter by it towards the countenancing and advancing of the Calvinian Doctrine Predestination as the true genuine and ancient Doctrine of this Church certain I am that both Mr. Prin and his Shadow so declare themselves the one affirming that all these passages are directly for them and punctually opposite to their Arminian Antagonists the other crying out with some admiration How do the Master and Scholar plainly declare themselves to be no friends to the Tenents which the English Arminians now concend for but notwithstanding all this â—ry I fear we shall get but little wool when we come to consider of those passages in Poynets Catechisme which are most relyed on and which here follow as I finde them in the Anti-arminianismâ— without alteration of the words or syllables though with some alteration in the method of the Collection Now the passages collected out of Poynets Catechisme are these that follow viz. 2. ' The Image of God in â—â—â— by original sin and evil custome was so obscured in the beginning and the natural judgement so corrupted that man himself could not sufficiently understand the difference between good and bad between just and unjust c. As for the sacrificings cleansings washings and other Ceremonies of the Law they were Shadows Types Images and Figures of the tâ—â—â— and eternal sacrifice that Jesus Christ made upon the Cross by whose benefit alone all the sins of all believers from the beginning of the world are pardoned by the sole mercy of God and not by any merit of their own Assoon as ever Adam and Eve had eaten of the forbidden fruit they both dyed that is that they were not only liable to the death of the body but likewise lost the life of the soul which is righteousness and forthwith the Divine Image was obscured in them and those lineaments of Righteousness Holiness Truth and Knowledge of God exceeding comely were disordered and almost obliterated the terene Image only remained coupled with unighteousness fraud carnal affections and great ignorance of Divine and heavenly things from thence also proceeded the infirmity of our flesh from thence corruption and confusion of affections and desires hence that plague hence that seminary and nutriment of sin wherewith all mankind iâ— infected which is called Original sin Moreover nature is so depraved and cast down that unless the goodness and mercy of Almighty God had helped us by the medicine of grace as in body we were thrust down into all the miseries of death so it was necessary that all men of all sorts should be cast into eternal torments and fire which cannot be quenched Those things which are spiritual are not seen but by the eye of the Spirit he therefore that will see the Divinity of Christ on earth let him open the eyes not of the body but of the mind and of Faith and he shall see him present whom the eye doth not see he shall see him present in the midst of them Wheresoever two or three are gathered together in his Name he shall see him present with us to the end of the end of the world What have I said he shall see Christ present yea he shall both see and feel him dwelling in himself no otherwise then his own soul for he doth dwell and reside in the soul and in the heart of him who doth place all his confidence in him ' 3. ' Above all things this cannot be concealed that the benefits which are brought unto us by the death the Resurrection and Ascention of Christ were so great and ample that no tongue either of men and Angels can express it c. From these and from other Actions of Christ two benefits do accrew unto us One that whatsoever he did he did it all for our profit and commodity so that they are as much ours if we cleave fast to them with a firm and lively Faith as if we our selves had done them He verily was nailed to the Cross and we are crucified with him and our sins are punished in him He died and was buried we likewise with our sins are dead and buried and that so as that all the memory of our sins is utterly abolished he rose again and we also are risen with him being made partakers of his resurrection and life that henceforth death might no more domineere in us for there is the same Spirit in us that raised Jesus from the dead Lastly as he ascended into celestial glory so we are exalted together with him The Holy Ghost is called holy not only for his own holiness but because the Elect of God and the Members of Christ are made holy by him The Church is the company of them who are called to eternal life by the holy Ghost by whom she is guided and governed which time
Bishop of London in whose Diocess the Sermon was preached for his Authority did not reach so far as Cambridge whither the Preacher had retired after he had performed the service he was called unto And if it were injoyned by the High Commission and performed accordingly there is no question to be made but that we should have heard of in the Anti-Arminianism where there are no less then eight leves spent in relating the story of a like Recantation pretended to be made by one Mr. Barret on the tenth of May 1595. and where it is affirmed that the said Mr. Harsnet held and maintained the same errors for which Barret was to make his Recantation But as it will be proved hereafter that no such Recantation was made by Barret so we have reason to believe that no such Recantation was imposed on Harsnet Nor secondly Can it be made good that the Controversies between Doctor Whitacres and Dr. Baroe were first occasioned by this Sermon or that Mr. Wotton was appointed by the University to confute the same For it appears by a letter written from the heads of that University to their Chancellour the Lord Treasurer Burleigh dated March 18. 1595. that Baroe had maintained the same Doctrines and his Lectures and Determinations above 14. years before by their own account for which see Chap. 21. Num. 80. which must be three years at the least before the preaching of that Sermon by Mr. Harsnet And though it is probable enough that Mr. Wotton might give himself the trouble of confuting the Sermon yet it is more then probable that he was not required so to do by that University For if it had been so appointed by the University he would have been rewarded for it by the same power and authority which had so appointed when he appeared a Candidate for the Professorship on the death of Whitacres but could not find a party of sufficient power to carry it for him of which see also Chap. 21. numb 4. And thirdly as for the not printing of the Sermon it is easily answered the Genius of the time not carrying men so generally to the printing of Sermons as it hath done since But it was printed at the last though long first And being printed at the last hath met withnone so forward in the Confutation as Mr. Wotton is affirmed to be when at first it was preached And therefore notwithstanding these three surmises which the Author of the Pâ—rpetuity c. hath presented to us it may be said for certain as before it was that Mr. Harsnet was never called in Question for that Sermon of his by any having Authority to convent him for it and much less that he ever made any such Recantation as by the said Author is suggested 10. In the next place we will behold a passage in one of the Lectures upon Jonah delivered at York Anno 1594. by the right learned Dr. John King discended from Robert King the first Bishop of Oxon afterwards made Dean of Christ Church and from thence preferred by the power and favour of Arch-Bishop Bancroft to the See of London A Prelate of too known a zeal to the Church of England to be accused of Popery or any other Heterodoxies in Religion of what sort soever who in his Lecture on these words Yet forty dayes and Nineveh shall be overthrown cap. 3. verse 4. discourseth on them in this manner The only matter of Question herein is how it may stand with the constancy and truth of eternal God to pronounce a Judgement against a place which taketh not affect within one hundred years For either he was ignorant of his own time which we cannot imagine of an omniscient God or his mind was altered which is unprobable to suspect For â—â— the strength of Israel a man that he should lye or as the son of man that he should repeat Is he not yesterday and to day and the same for ever that was that is and that which is to come I mean not only in substance but in Will and Intention Doth he use lightness Are the words that he speaketh yea and nay Doth he both affirm and deny too Are not all his Promises are not all his Threatnings are not all his Mercies are not all his Judgements are not all his words are not all the tittles and jots of his words yea and amen so firmly ratified that they cannot be broken Doubtless it shall stand immutable When the heaven and the earth shall be changed and wax old like a garment Ego Deus non mutor I am God that am not changed The School in this respect hath a wise distinction It is one thing to change the Will and another to will a change or to be willed that a change should be God will have the Law and Ceremony at one time Gospel without Ceremony at another this was his Will from Everlasting constant and unmovable that in their several courses both should be Though there be a change in the matter and Subject there is not a change in him that disposeth it Our Will is in winter to use the fire in summer a cold and an open air the thing is changed according to the season but our Will whereby we all decreed and determined in our selves so to do remain the same 11. Sometimes the Decrees and purposes of God consist of two parts the one whereof God revealeth at the first and the other he concealeth a while and keepeth in his own knowledge as in the Action enjoyned to Abraham the purpose of God was two fold 1. To try his Obedience 2. To save the Child A man may impute it inconstancy to bid and unbid but that the Will of the Lord was not plenarily understood in the first part This is it which Gregory expresseth in apt terms God chanâ—eth his intent pronounced sometimes but never his Counsel intended Sometimes things are decreed and spoken of according to inferiour cause which by the highest and over-ruling cause are otherwise disposed of One might have said and said truly both wayes Lazarus shall rise again and Lazarus shall not rise again if we esteem it by the power and finger of God it shall be but if we leave it to nature and to the arme of flesh it shall never be The Prophet Esay told Hezekias the King put thy house in order for thou shall die considering the weaknesse of his body and the extremity of his disease he had reason to warrant the same but if he told him contrariwise according to that which came to pass thou shalt not die looking to the might and mercy of God who received the prayers of the King he had said as truly But the best definition is that in most of these threatnings there is a condition annexed unto them either exprest or understood which is as the hinges to the Doore and turneth forward and backward the whole matter In Jeremy it is exprest I will speak
on some propositions to be sent to Cambridge for the appeasing of some unhappy differences in the Vniversity with which Answer her Majesty being somewhat pacified commanded notwithstanding that he should speedily recall and suppress those Aricles which was performed with such care and diligence that a Copy of them was not to be found for a long time after And though we may take up this relation upon the credit of history of the Lambeth Articles printed in Latin 1651. or on the credit of Bishop Mountague who affirms the same in his appeal Anno 1525. yet since the Authority of both hath been called in question we will take our warrant for this Narrative from some other hands And first we have it in a book called Necessario Responsio published by the Remonstrants Anno 1618. who possibly might have the whole story of it from the mouth of Baroe or some other who lived at that time in Cambridge and might be well acquainted with the former passages And secondly We find the same to be affirmed by the Bishops of Rochester Oxon and St. Davids in a letter to the Duke of Buchingham August 2. 1625. In which they signifie unto him that the said Articles being agreed upon and ready to be published it pleased Queen Elizabeth of famous memory upon notice given how little they agreed with the practise of piety and obedience to all Government to cause them to be suppressed and that they had so continued ever since till then of late some of them had received countenance at the Synod of Dort 4. Next touching the effect produced by them in order to the end so proposed so far they were from appeasing the present Controversies and suppressing Baroe and his party that his Disciples and Adherents became more united and the breach wider then before And though Dr. Baroe not long after deserted both his place in the Vniversity yet neither was he deprived of his Professorship as some say nor forced to leave it on a fear of being deprived as is said by others For that Professorship being chosen from two years to two years according to the Statutes of the Lady Margaret he kept the place till the expiring of his term and then gave off without so much as shewing himself a suiter for it Which had he done it may be probable enough that he had carried it from any other Canditate or Competitor of what rank soever The Anti-Calvinian party being grown so strong as not to be easily overborn in a publick business by the opposite faction And this appears plainly by that which followed on the death of Dr. Whitacres who died within few dayes after his return from Lambeth with the nine Articles so much talkt of Two Candidates appeared for the Professorship after his decease Wotton of Kings Colledge a professed Calvinian and one of those who wrote against Mountagues Appeal Anno 1626. Competitor with Overald of Trinity Colledge almost as far from the Calvinian Doctrine in the main Plat-form of Predestination as Baroe Harsnet or Barret are conceived to be But when it came to the Vere of the University the place was carried for Overald â—y the Major part which as it plainly shews that â—hough the Doctrines of Calvin were so hotly stickled here by most of the Heads yet the greater part of the learned body entertained them not so doth it make it also to be very improbable that Baroe should be put out of his place by those who had took in Overald or not confirmed therein if he had desired And therefore we may rather think as before is said that â—he relinquished the place of his own accord in which he found his Doctrine crossed by the Lambeth Articles and afterwards his peace distracted by several Informations brought against him by the adverse faction and thereupon a letter of Complaint presented to the Lord Treasurer Burleigh subscribed by most of those who before had prosecuted Barret to his Recantation Which letter giving very great light to the present business as well concerning Barret as Baroe though principally aiming at the last I think worthy of my paines and the Readers patience and therefore shall subscribe it as hereafter followeth A Copy of the Letter sent from some of the Heads in Cambridge to the Lord Burleigh Lord High Treasurer of England and Chancellour of the Vniversity RIght Honourable out bounden Duty remembred we are right sorry to have such occasion to trouble your Lordship but the peace of this University and Church which is dear unto us being brought into perill by the late reviving of new opinions and troublesom controversies amongst us hath urged us in regard of the places we here sustain not only to be carefull for the suppressing the same to our power but also to give your Lordship further information hereof as our Honourable Head and carefull Chancellour About a year past amongst divers others who here attempted publicity to teach new and strange opinions in Religion one Mr. Barret more boldly then the rest did preach divers Popish errors in St. Maries to the just offence of many which he was enjoyned to retract but hath refused so to do in such sort as hath been prescribed with whose fact and opinions your Lord was made acquainted by Dr. Some the Deputy Vice-Chancellour Hereby offence and division growing as after by Dr. Baroes publick Lectures and determinations in the Schools contrary as his Auditors have informed to Dr. Whitacres and the sound received truth ever since her Majesties Reâ—gâ— we sent up to London by common consent in November last Dr. Tyndal and Dr. Whitacres men especially chosen for that purpose for conference with my Lord of Canterbury and other principal Divines there that the controversies being examined and the truth by theiâ— consents confirmed the contrary errours and contentions thereabouts might the rather cease By whose good travel with sound consent in truth such advice and care was taken by certain propositions containing certain substantial points of Religion taught and received in this Vniversity and Church during the time ofher Majesties Reign and consented unto and published by the best approved Divines both at home and abroad for the maintaining of the same truth and peace of the Church as thereby we enjoyed here great and comfortable quiet untill Dr. Baroe in January last in his Sermon Ad Clâ—rum in St. Maries contrary to restraint and Commandment from the Vice-Chancellour and the Heads by renewinâ— again these opinions disturbed our peace whereby his Adherents and Disciples were and are too much imboldned to maintain false Doctrine to the corrupting and disturbing of this Vniversity and the Church if it be not in time effectually prevented For remedy whereof we have with joint consent and care upon complaint of divers Batchelors in Divinity proceeded in the examination of the cause according to our Statutes and usual manner of proceeding in such causes whereby it appeareth by sufficient Testimonies that Dr. Baroe hath offended