Gods sight much lesse pleasing sacrifices to him as in the precedent discourse hath beene shewed if they be defyled with sinne 4. M. Abbot answereth Therefore good works being touched and infected with the contagion of sinne before they can please God must haue some meanes to take away the guilt imputation of the sinne c. which Christ doth perfuming them with the sweet Abbot c. 4 sect 44. fol. 578. 579 incense of his Obedience But how doth Christ take it away By abolishing or not imputing the contagion By not imputing sayth Abbot but thus he taketh away according to them the filth of adultery of murder of sacriledge and all heynous crymes from the beleeuing Protestant And are those sinnefull workes thereby made gratefull hostes and acceptable sacrifices pleasing vnto God No sayth he agayne Our good deedes are not sinnefull workes Are they not What is that guilt then of contagious sinne which must be taken away before they can please God If they be not sinnefull no contagion of sinne is to be pardoned by not imputing if they be sinfull then your sinneful acts inherently in themselues sinnefull by not imputing the guilt of contagion become gratefull pleasing and acceptable vnto God Neyther can M. Abbot any way cuade by his frequent and worm-eaten answere that the action we do is not sinnefull because it is in substance a good Ibid. â—7â— worke and the fruit of the good spirit of God and the default and imperfection is only an accident to the worke Nor Whitaker who to the same purpose replyeth in his answere to Duraeus VVhitk â— in his answere to Duraeus l. 8. pag. 698. We meane not that good workes are sinnes but that they haue some sinne mixed with them For it followeth not that siluer is drosse because it hath some drosse mingled with it Seeing our dispute is not heere of the physicall substance which in euery action euen of murder theft and the like is transcendentally good or in genere Entis to vse the Philosophers tearmes but of the morall bounty or deformity of a worke which if it be tainted with the mixture of any euill how accidenttally soeuer it cannot be good sith it is true which Dionysius teacheth Good ariseth from an entiere cause euill from euery defect So that Whitakers example which Abbot also alleadgeth Dionys de diuin nomin c. 4. par 4. Bonum ex vna tota causa malum ex multis particularibuâ— que proficiscitur defectibus of gold or siluer mingled with drosse is nothing to the purpose because there be two materiall substances really distinct heere we question of one morall act which admitteth no distinction there although one metall be mingled with the other yet by seuerall veynes in seuerall places they are so incorporated as the siluer is not drosse or drosse siluer heere the same act flowing from the same will aymed at the same end must be both good and bad pure and defiled siluer and drosse which is impossible For as it inuolueth contradiction that one and the same assent of vnderstanding should be at the same tyme both true and false in the agreement of all Philosophers and Deuines so likewise it implyeth that one and the same acte of the will should be ioyntly at the same moment good and euill laudable and vituperiall pleasing displeasing vnto God Wherefore if euery action of it owne nature be euil no worke of ours can be in substance good as M. Abbot would haue it none excellent as Whitaker pretendeth but the most excellent must needes in it selfe be wholy marred wholy odious vnto God wholy and substantially naught howsoeuer by outward acceptation it may seeme beautifull and fayre Not so say they for our good workes are not wholy euill not hatefull not sinnes but infected quoth M. Abbot with the contagion of sinne We say not quoth Whitaker to marry a wife is sinne Abbot VVhitak in the places cyted aboue but that they who marry wiues intermixe some sinne in that good action But you say that that intermixed sinne may wholy marre the action make it odious to God if that which is done be weighed in the ballance of diuine iustice Therefore you say that the action of it selfe is wholy euill wholy marred altogeather odious vnto God and hatefull of his owne nature vnles you beleeue that an action weighed in the ballance of diuine iustice becometh thereby worse more odious and abhominable then of it selfe it is and that our supreme highest Iudge who iustly condemneth the wickednes of man maketh it more wicked by the seuerity of his iudgement 5. Moreouer from whence creepeth this spot of sinne into that good and lawfull action of marriage Not from the will of taking a wife for that is laudable no sinne according to the Apostle not from the substance of the act for that M. Abbot also alloweth to be good not from any other accidentall circumstance of end tyme place or person for I suppose they be all guided by the rule of reason How then is sinne intermixed in the good action of marriage By the same act which inseparably draweth the stayne of corruption with it or by some other adioyned The desire of taking a wife for a good end in such as may lawfully marry is free from all sinne as by a wicked intention to which it is ordeyned if by the same one and the same action is both good and euill a sinne and no sinne agreable to reason and disagreable consonant and dissonant to the will of God the often refuted vnauoyded implicancy which you incurre If by some other act or vicious intent either this intention is principall and the cause of marriage as to marry the easier to contriue the murder of his wife or some other then the action of marriage is not good but impious wicked and detestable or it is a secondary intent and followeth the desire of marriage so it cannot vitiate the former good desire nor be termed a sinne intermixed therewith which albeit obstinate and ignorant aduersaryes can hardly be drawn to confesse yet will I make it so cleare as they shall not be able to deny Let vs take for example the act of louing God or dying for his sake what mixture hath it or slyme of euill any stayn that ariseth from the obiect beloued or will which loueth it Not from the obiect for that is infinite goodnes without all spot or blemish therefore no blemish can be intermixed with that act as it tendeth to so pure an obiect nor from the will of louing it for no feare of excesse no danger of impurity can possibly flow from desiring to loue the fountaine it selfe and mayne sea of purity not from the mudd of distraction not from the scumme of vaine glory not from the froath of pride which sometyme may accompany that heauenly loue for as it is impossible the act of loue should be an act of distraction vanity
his law Caluin l. â— inst c. 8. § â— A demaund which so straggered Caluin as he replieth We conceaue not how God in diuers manner willeth and willeth not one selfe thinge I beleeue indeed he could not conceaue it nor can any wit conceaue that which is vncoÌ„ceauable viz. that the same immutable and simple will should striue with it selfe or faigne to forbid which it consaileth and decreeth For concerning the will of God reuealed in his word which is as you define manifestly against sinne either there is a true will in him correspondent thereunto and so he inwardly hateth which he outwardly prohibiteth or els he faigneth dissembleth or at least equiuocateth with vs in his reuealed will Equiuocation I thinke you allow not in God who so passionately censure it in his oppressed seruants dissimulation ought much lesse to be ascribed vnto him whose truth is alwaies constant and fidelity inuiolable But howsoeuer you make sinne discordant from the reuealed will as long as you affirme it agreable to the determination and secret will of God which is his inward immutable and substantiall will you cause sinne it selfe to be no sinne which implieth contradiction and that Protestantes may lawfully without offence perpetrate thefts murders adulteries and all kind of sinnes For the will of God is the inerrable square and supreme rule of all actions Therfore whosoeuer leuelleth his thoughts and deedes according to his will cannot stray or decline into fault or errour But euery protestant by committing sinne conformeth himselfe to the determination and secret will of God no Protestant then S. Thomas 1. 2. q. 19. art 9. 10. Durand l. 1. distinct 48. q. 2. swarueth from his duty or offendeth his Maiesty by incurring theftes murders adulteries or any other sinnes Yf they answere that sinne is against his reuealed will and therefore they offend although it be not against his secret wil That answere fitteth not their purpose For Gods true secret and substantiall will intimated vnto them is the right patterne by which all actions must be drawne Wherefore if sinne be fashioned and squared to that it must needes be streight regular or according to rule and consequently no sinne no offence to God For this cause Abraham sinned not in offering to sacrifice his sonne nor Gen. 22. Exod. 11. Osee 1. the people of Israel spoyling the Aegyptians nor Osee the Prophet taking a wife of fornications and begetting children of fornications nay they all pleased God herein because they directed their actions according to the leuell of his secret and hidden will made knowne vnto them in those particuler cases although they did against his generall reuealed will in forbidding murder thefts and fornication Wherfore if Protestants by sinning follow the direction of Gods determinatioÌ„ if they do nothing against his secret will they cannot be guilty of fault albeit they transgresse his reuealed wil which is only an outward token or signe of his will 9. Neuerthelesse I proue that sinne accordeth also with his will reuealed vnto Protestants For they pretend to know that the secret will of God determineth and purposeth sinne that it is not against sinne But how Fulke in the place aboue cited do they know this will to be such It is secret they cannot pierce vnto it by themselues God must disclose it he must reueale vnto it by them That reuelation whatsoeuer it be by which he manifesteth this mystery is his reuealed will which being the faithfull messenger proposer and interpreter of his secret sinne is not against it Therefore in them it is neither against his secret nor reuealed will Nor by that Atheisticall Sophisme any sinne but a regular and laudable action Contrariwise when God dissuadeth prohibiteth and condemneth sinne either he doth it in earnest or in iest If in earnest he secretly disliketh that which he forbiddeth and so sinne is also repugnant to his secret will repugnant to his determination and hidden counsailes if in iest his dissuasions are but mockeries his threats buggs to terrify babes his iudgements not to be feared Then trudge on in your sinful courses imbrace the liberty of your Epicurean ghospell wallow freely in the mudd of Vice ioyne hand with Atheists there is no God to punish your iniquities 10. The aduersary by this tyme surfetteth with the glott of his blasphemous heresies let vs now view the daynty morsells which gorged him so full They were Rom. 9. 18. Rom. 1. 26. Exod. 7. 8. 9. Ioa. 12. 40. Prouerb 16. 4. Rom 9. 17. Ephes 3. 11. these heauenly viands of holy Scriptures venomed with the corruption of some Marcion or Manichean sause viz. That God hath mercy on whome he will and whome he will he doth indurate God hath deliuered them into passions of ignominy our Lord hath hardened the hart of Pharao he hath blinded their eyes and indurated their hart that they may not see He made al things for himselfe euen the wicked man vnto the euill day To this purpose haue I raised thee that in thee I may shew my power He worketh all things according to the counsaile of his will I answere Those former things God is said to do first by sufferance and permission because foreseeing the euent of their malice Vasques in 1 part to 1 disâ—ut 55 cap. 10. Exod. 8. 15. he hindreth it not but leaueth them to their owne vnnaturall desires Secondly by subtraction of Grace which somtime he iustly taketh from them vpon their desert Thirdly by working miracles preaching the truth or achieuing some other good by which they take occasion to grudge murmur rage and peruersly withstand his holy will wherupon it is writteÌ„ of Pharao that Ibid p. 32. ca. 9. v. 7. 35. he indurated his owne hart himselfe And in the same chapter vers 32. where the latin readeth Pharao's hart was hardened the Hebrew saith Pharao hardened his hart this tyme also so in the 9. chapter vers 7 the Hebrew readeth Pharaos hart hardened it self Again vers 35. he hardened his owne hart he his seruants Of others S. Paul saith they haue giuen vp themselues to impudicity which because they actually effected the like as Caluin misinferreth cannot therby be concluded of God For that which with verity of faith according to S. Augustins rule may not be ascribed Aug. de doct Chri l 3. cap 10. Aug. l. 13. de trin ca. 12. Tertul. l. aduer Her mog Fulgen l. 1. ad Monim â— 13. EpiphaÌ„ haeres 66. Rupert in c. 9. Exod. Chrysost hom 16. in c. 9. ad Ro. Tulit multa cum lenitate volens ipsum ad paenitenâ—iam adducere c. qui fi seruatus minimâ— fuit rei totius culpa ab illius animo accidit Rupertus in eum locuÌ„ Exod. vnto him ought to be expounded some other way Therfore he himselfe interpreteth the foresaid sentences by way of permission saying The manner by which man is deliuered vp into the power of the Diuell ought not so
Law in euery action he goeth about as he hath alwayes sufficient ayde and help from God if he earnestly craue it and craue it he may if he answere his motions Leo ser 16. de Passione to auoyd the infection of any new crime whensoeuer the danger thereof occurreth Whereupon S. Leo sayth God doth iustly vrge vs with his Precept who preuenteth vs with his grace to eschew the enormity of euery fault Thirdly such is the benignity and goodnes of God in seeking 1. ad Cor. 1. v. 3. to mollify the obstinate will of rebellious sinners that albeit not at euery moment nor for any desert of theirs yet in due tyme and place through the merits of Iesus Christ euery one who is held in the prison of vice hath meanes sufficient not only to resist any new offence but also to deliuer himselfe from that wretched thraldome and state of sinne The Father of mercyes and God of all comfort and consolation often vouchsafing to call inuite and being alwayes ready to help him forth 27. Cease therefore O vngratfull man cease to excuse thy selfe that thou art vnwillingly subiect to the tyranny Aug. l. 1. ad Bonifa cap. 3. of sinne Cease to lay the blame of thy misdeeds to blamelesse Necessity Charge not Adams fall as the only cause of thy voluntary faults but confesse with great and humble S. Augustine that euery one who offendeth God all who are bound in the chaines of iniquity By their own will are detayned in sinne by their owne will are tumbled headlong from sinne to sinne THE XXV CONTROVERSY SHEWETH The cooperation of Free-will to our conuersion and to workes of Piety against D. Whitaker D. Fulke and M. White CHAP. I. ALBEIT the perfect decision of this Controuersy now in hand may easily be gathered out of the former Chapter where I treated of mans Liberty not only to Ciuill and Morall actions in the state of corruption but also of his absolute freedome from Necessity in what state soeuer yet least I should be thoght to huddle vp many thinges togeather and lappe them in obscurity after the fashion of our darke and obscure Reformers I purposly handle this difficulty a part that is Whether man clogged and loaden with sinne hath any freedome of will before he be iustifyed to lift vp his hart and giue assent to Gods heauenly motions when he of his boun tiful mercy vouchsafeth to call and stirre him vp All Protestants defend the Negatiue all Catholikes the Affirmatiue part 2. M. Whitaker teacheth that man wants Free-will to Whitak l. 1. contra Dur. p. 78. Fulke in c. 3. Apoc. sect 4. In c. 6. 2. Cor. sect 2. In cap. 9. Rom. sect 4. VVhite in the way to the true Church §. 40. fol. 283 the dutyes of Fayth because till the Sonne hath made him free he must needes be a seruant to sinne And M. Fulke more plainely It lyeth not sayth he in the freedome of mans will to giue consent to Gods calling It lyeth not in mans Free-will to follow the motion of God Man hath no Free-will vntill it be freed Mans will worketh nothing in our conuersion vntill it be conuerted And M. White semblably Our will quoth he when Grace first enters is meerely passiue c. As my paper whereon I am writing receaueth the inke passiuely and bringeth nothing of it to the writing c. Whence it followeth that in those whome God effectually will renew their will can make no resistance as my paper cannot reiect my writing Thus they 3. We on the other side acknowledge indeed that mans will is much weakned his vnderstanding dimmed and all the powers of his soule and body made faint and feeble by the infirmity of sinne incurred by his first Parents reuolt In so much as neither the Gentills by the force of Nature according to the decree of the holy Councell of Trent nor the Iewes by the letter of Moyses Law could arise ou◠Conc. Trid. sect 6. can ◠2. of that sinnefull state c. except God the Father when the happy fulnesse of tyme was come had sent his only Sonne to redeeme both Iewes and Gentils and make vs all his adopted children We grant moreouer that the freedom of mans will cannot preuaile without the speciall concurrence and help of God to any Diuine or Supernaturall work nor to the due performāce of Morall duty nor to the true loue of God with all our hart nor to the vanquishing of any one temptation nor to perseuere long without falling into sinne nor so much as dispose our selues or vse any meanes to win Gods fauour We sav with S. Berna d The endeauours of Freewill are both Ber◠l. de grat liter arbit voyd and frustrate vnles they be ayded and none at all vules they be stirred vp by him Notwithstanding we hold that as by his assistance we may accomplish many Morall good workes and ouercome any offence whatsoeuer so when he in the aboundance of his sweetest blessings calleth vpon vs and affordeth his helping hand we may likewise by the faculty of our Free-will truly consent and actiuely cooperate to our Conuersion Iuc c. 10 4. And therefore the condition of man is resembled in this case to him that descended from Ierusalem to Iericho and fell amongst theeues who robbed him of his temporall riches and maymed him in his corporall members so man by sinne is despoyled of his Supernaturall gifts wounded in his naturall powers and therin left not starke dead nor wholy aliue but halfe dead and halfe a liue aliue Maldon in c. 10. Luc. ver 30. fol. 222. Ioa. c. 11. in body dead in soule Aliue as Maldonate well noteth out of the ancient Fathers because he had remorse of Conscience and liberty of Free-will dead because he lay buried in the sepulcher of sinne out of which he could not rise vnlesse it pleased our Sauiour Christ to call and say Lazarus come forth Vnlesse he by the Oyle of his mercy and Wine of his precious bloud healed the wounded refreshed the languishing not restored the perished powers of our soule all naturall faculties remayning after sinne Thom. 1. 2. quest 85. Dionys c. 4. de diuinominib Concilium 〈…〉 c. 1. Tridentinum ses 6. cap. 1. whole and vncorrupted as the Deuines proue out of S. Dionyse So that Free-will was not vtterly lost as M. Fulke aboue contended but lesse able to worke not enthralled but maymed not altogether bound but vehemently inclined to the corruption of vice It was as the sacred Arausican and Tridentine Councells define Non extinctum sed attenuatum Not extinguished but weakned and diminished yet being moued and strengthened by our Lord it is full able to accept or reiect his offered grace Wherein we haue the voice of God on our side not darkely deliuered in any particuler place but often and many waies perspicuously vttered by the Prophets Apostles and by the heauenly mouth of his beloued Sonne 5.
reason of the hatefull obiect he discouereth in them he doth so punish and abandon them as men are wont to do the thinges which they hate Thus that infinite goodnes that sea of loue hateth and reprobateth such as he foreseeth by the determination of their will Fulgen. l. 1. ad Monim iustly to deserue it otherwise he cannot possibly exercise any hatred or decree of damnation against them according to this of S. Fulgentius It is well known that the wrath Aug. l. 3. in Iulian. c. 18. of God cannot be auouched but where mans iniquity is beleeued to haue gone before And the like of S Augustine God is good God is iust he may deliuer some without good deserts because he is good he can damne no man without evill deserts because he is iust The reason is because to deliuer his elect is an act of mercy which presupposeth hath for her proper obiect Misery wherin al mankind was enwrapped by original sinne but to condemne or depute to punishment is an act of iustice which must needs argue a fault in him Fulk in c. 13 Matth. sect 2. that is punished because as S. Augustine saith God is not A reuenger before man be a sinner Therfore we conclude that he may predestinate vs independently of our merits but he cannot reprobate any without the preuision of their demerits 11. The third heresy is that God purposely intendeth Fulk in̄ ca. 6. Math. sect 5. in c. 1. ad Rom. sect 10. in cap. 11. ad Rom. sect 5. not only the eternall damnation of the wretched but their very obduration blindnes final irrepentance and other enormous crimes by which they are plunged into that hopelesse calamity God hardeneth quoth Fulke the wicked not as an euill author but as a righteous iudge not by bare permission or suffering but by with-drawing and with-holding his grace and deliuering them into their ownelust or into the deceipt of Sathan In which deliuery he graunteth an action of God as his wordes both heere and elswhere import not only to the meteriall entity wherunto we also confesse Gods generall concourse but to that formall obduration or precise formality of contempt and hardnes to which we only allow his sufferance or bare permission or els why doth he alwayes exclude this permission of ours or seeke to excuse God that he concurreth as a righteous iudge vnles he meant that God actually concurreth as a righteous iudge to the same specificall degree of willful resistance or malicious purpose of abiding in sinne to which man cooperateth as an euill actor els to what end deuiseth he that distinction that sinne is against Gods reuealed will not against his secret will vnles he speake of formall sinne for the materiall entity is not against his reuealed will but only the formall obduration or culpable blindnes therfore he supposeth that God sendeth the spirit of errour and giueth the wicked ouer to a reprobate sense by speciall concourse to the very malice it selfe of their sinfull obstinacy 12. It is also a principle of M. Fulkes that God appoynteth before hand not only the end but also the meanes by which men come to that end but the meanes of damnation Fulk in cap. 27. Act. sect 3. are finall impenitencie and other foregoing sinnes therfore they in his diuelish opinion are preordeined by God To which effect writeth of certaine Iewes who refused to imbrace the fayth of Christ forthat they neither would nor could be willing to beleeue because they were reprobate Fulk in cap. Ioan. sect 〈◊〉 making reprobation and consequently Almightie God the cause of their infidelitie willfull peruersitie aboad in sinne For whosoeuer captiueth others without their default in such a bewitching thraldome as they necessarily sinne and cannot auoide the bondage of sinne must needes be the author and cause of their sinnes but thus doth God with the reprobate he according to Fulke before any desert foreseene of theirs before he seeth the propension inclination or any concurrence at al of their will ordeineth them to destruction by his immutable counsell which cannot be repealed then supposing that vnchangeable will and ordinance irreuersible they haue not left them any power to repent or grace to belieue but they are vnauoidably chayned to the fetters of Prosper in respons ad obiec 11. vice vnauoidably carried from vice to vice therfore God O most execrable Conclusion which necessarily followeth out of these our Sectaries premisses God I say though I feare to say it is the cause and only cause of Note that it is al cne Whether God inforce or necessitate men to sinne in repect of making him author of sinne all their incestes murders other abhominable vices 13. Against which I only oppose that excellent answere of S. Prosper If to the deuill it should be obiected that he were the author he the prouoker to such villaines he might I ween acquit himselfe in some sort of that calumnie and euince their owne will to be worker of those mischiefs For though he were delighted with the furie of the delinquents yet would he proue that he * inforced them not to sinne With what follie then or with what madnes is that referred to the appoyntment of God which cannot be wholy ascribed to the deuill Who in the detestable acts of offenders is to be thought the egger on of allurenients not the causer of their wills Therfore God predestinated none of those businesses to be done nor the soule that wil liue wickedly and beastly did he prepare or prouide so to liue Thus S. Prosper you see how dissonant from M. Fulke yet Fulke was not the first broker of these atheismes for looke what he writeth in this kind he coppied Caluin l. 3. instit c. 23. sect 4. 8. out of the originall of Caluins Institutions where Caluin sayth It is not meete c. to assigne the preparing to destruction to any other thing then to the secret counsell of God The whole band of the wicked cannot comeyne nor endeauour nor do any mischiefe but so far as God permitteth but so far as he commandeth Then discoursing of Gods concurrence vnto Calu. l. 8. instit c. 17. §. 11. sinne he hath these words I speake not heere of Gods vniuersal mouing wherby as all creatures are susteyned so from thence they take their effectuall power of doing any thing I speake only of that especiall doing which appeareth in euery speciall act In another place If the blindnes and mades of Achab be the iudgement of God then the deuise of bare sufferance is in vaine A litle after Calu. l. 2. Instit c. 4. 2. Calu. l. 1. Inst c. 18. §. 1. auouching That God blindeth the eyes of men striketh them with giddines maketh them drunke with the spirit of drowsines casteth them into madnes hardneth their hartes he immediatly addeth These things also many doe referr to sufferance as if forsaking the reprobate he suffred
it had byn long before sweetly song in the East and in all the Prouinces Concil Cart. 2. c. 3. Conc. Agath cap. 47 Conc. Calc act 3. S. Cyril cat myst 5. S. Amb. l. 5. epist 33. Greg. l. 7. Ep. 63. l. 12. Ep. 15. Bed l. 1. hist â—â—cles cap. 19. Aug l. 10. confâ—ss c. 1â— â—o l. 22. de Ciui Dei cap. 8. Chrys l. 6. de Sacer. Bils 4. par pag. 993. Caluin de coen â—ni the like he hath lib de vâ—ra Eccles refor in cap. 7. ad Heb. Magdeb. Câ—nt 2. c. Io. col 107 Cent. â— c. 4 col 63. Cent. 3. c. 4. 5. Mâ—lanct l. 4 Chroâ—iâ— Henr. 4. of Italy Was it not there further enacted that the thrice sacred Anthymne Holy Holy should be repeated in morning Masses in the Masses of Lent or in such as were offered for the dead as it was accustomed to be in solemue Masses Is not our Sacrifice of the Masse or vnbloudly Host mentioned also in the second Councell of Carthage of Agatho of Chalcedon and in many others Did not S. Cyril Patriarch of Ierusalem S. Ambrose Bishop of Millan S. Gregory the great Pope of Rome did they not say Masse 19. And the same S. Gregory did he not send all Priestly ornaments to S. Austen our Apostle Did not S. Augustine likewise the Doctour say Masse Did he not in treat others to doe the same for his fathers and mothers soule And which is more doth he not write of a Priest of his who sacrificed the Body of our Lord in a house infected with euill Spirits and the infestation ceased Doth not S. Chrysostome teach That the Angells themselues with reuerence assist our sacrificing Priest in honour of him that is offered on the Altar Which maketh me wonder how M. Bilson should ouershoot himselfe so farre as to auouch That for twelue hundred yeares after Christ our Sacrifice was not knowen to the world Was he so litle conuersant I will not say in these learned Fathers but in the Century-writers his Companions in Caluin his Coronell in Melancthon and other his Protestant Peeres as not to know what they had written in this behalfe Or was he so bold as against vs against them all to broach this stander Caluin sayth It is well knowen the olf Fathers called the Supper a Sacrifice c. Neyther can I excuse the custome of the ancient Church for that with gesture and outward rite they did set forth a certaine forme of Sacrifice with the same ceremonies in a manner that were practised in the old law saue that they vsed the Host of bread in lieu of a beast 20. The Century-writers blame Ignatius the scholler of the Apostles Irenaeus S. Cyprian Tertullian and diuers others in all ages within the compasse M. Bilson speciâ—yeth for the like Melancthon writeth of S. Gregory the First who liued about the 600. yeare of our Lord He allowed sayth he by publike authority the sacrifice of Christs body and bloud not only for the living but also for the dead M. Bale Bale in his Pageans sal 27. Fulk in his confut of Purgat p. 264. 265. c. Beacon in his Treat intituled The reliques of Rome sol 344. Luth. l. de cap. Baby l. de abrog Missae auerreth of S. Leo the first who florished about 440. years after Christ He allowed the sacrifice of the Masse not without great blasphemy to God M. Fulke reprehendeth Tertullian for the same M. Beacon concludeth The Masse was begotten conceaâ—ed borne auone after the Apostles tyme if all be true that Historiographers write So as it was the badnes only I suppose of M. Bilsons cause which made him bolster that foule report 21. Yet I will examine what he and his associates pretend against vs The Eucharist say they is a Sacrament which we receaue from God therfore it cannot be likewise a Sacrifice we offer to God because it implyeth the same thing should be both offered and receaued I answere that one and the self same thing diuersly considered may be both offered and receaued proceed from vs and be giuen to vs be a sacrament and a sacrifice And so the holy Eucharist is a Sacrament imparted vnto vs in that it is a signe of inisible grace ordained by God to nourish our soules with heaueÌ„ly food It is a sacrifice offered vnto God in that this signe or gift consecrated with sacred Ceremony is surrendred vnto him in acknowledgment of his highest Maiesty in protestation of our lowest duety and allegiance In this sense Cyp. ser de â—â—n Dom. it is called by S. Cyprian Medicamentum simul HolocaustuÌ„ Both a medicine and a sacrifice A medicine to heale our spirituall infirmityes A sacrifice to appease the wrath of God A medicine composed by him for the behoofe of vs A 1. Para. 29. v. 14. sacrifice offered and consumed by vs in honour of him This the Prophet Dauid rightly obserued when he sayd All thinges O Lord are thyne and the things we haue receaued from thy hand we haue restored vnto thee Thus we offer our spiritual Hosts as S. Peter exhorteth we offer vnto God â— Pet. 2. â—ers 5. Iac. 1. v. â—7 the Sacrifice of prayer of prayse of thankefulnes c. yet they are all mercifull guifts Descending from aboue from the Father of Lights from whom euery good motion and thoght proceedeth 22. The second and chiefest bulwarke which M. â—eynolds M. Bilson M. Sparks raise to batter the Forr of our Reyn. c. 8. diuis 4. p. 474. Bils 4. par pag. 695. Spark pa. 7. 23. sequen Haeb 10 v. 12. 14. v. 18. ad Heb. c. 9. v. 28. blessed Sacrifice is that S. Paul often inculcateth to the Hebrewes How Christ by one Host one Oblation once offered redeemed vs all How Christ was once offered to exhaust the sinnes of many I graunt that he was only once bloudily sacrifyced in his proper forme and shape yet vnbloudily sacramentally couered vnder the veiles of his creatures he is dayly offered vpon the Altar of his Church Which S. Paul impugneth not but only the iteration of the former bloudy as may be gathered out of the drift and scope of his discourse in that epistle to the Hebrewes 23. Secondly I answere that S. Paul speaketh of the chiefe generall ransoming Host of the full redeeming Heb. 10. v. 14. sacrifice Which once perfected on the Crosse consumated for euer them that are sanctifyed Yet it is nothing repugnant but altogeather correspondent heereunto that we should likewise haue our particuler Oblation to communicate the priuiledges of that vniuersall For so all generall Melchior Canus l. 12. de lo. Theo. c. 12. 1. Tim. 2. v. 4. causes as Melchior Canus noteth are determined and restrained by their particulers The Sunne is the generall cause of light yet we receaue the benefite thereof by many seuerall and particuler illuminations The will of God
is the generall cause of mans saluation God will haue all men to be saued yet besides that will sufficient for their saluation he must haue a determinate and speciall will for the sauing of this or that man in particuler The same I auow in our present case But M. Reynoldes replyeth Reyn. pag. 463. in his confe with M. Hor◠Heb. 10. v. 18. 26. That there is not left an offering for sinne after the death of Christ I answere with the same forenamed Canus that as Almighty God hauing once created the vniuersall cause of light need not produce a new Sunne Moone or Starres as a Physitian hauing made one generall and during medicine to heale all kind of diseases neuer needeth to deuise any other In like manner our mercifull Redeemer who offered one perfect and superaboundant ranfome by which he defrayed the whole debt of sinne hath no necessity at all to make the like purchase any more Which S. Paul mentioneth when he sayth There is not left an offering for sinne to wit any generall offering by which the debt of sinne should be discharged a new Notwithstanding as in the former examples the Sun vseth diuers succeeding illuminations by which euery Coast of the world partaketh his light as the Phisitian composeth sundry potions to minister vnto his Patients the vertue of his sole and single medicine after the same māner the church of God maketh many proper peculiar Oblations to accomodate vnto our seuerall necessityes the soueraigne fruit of that one and principall sacrifice We see that when the King granteth a general pardon to all guilty persons it seldome auaileth any particuler offender except he sue it forth out of the Court of Chancery vnder the seale and warrant of his Maiesty no lesse can that great Charter of pardon which Christ vouchsafed to purchased by his death be beneficiall vnto vs except we receaue it vnder his seale and signet that is according to his commandment from such Officers as he ordained to offer and dispense his heauenly blessings Neither may we iustly be censured by this meanes partial redeemers or sauers of our selues or concurre any more to our owne saluation then the Fellon concurreth to acquite himselfe of his fellonyes who sueth forth the pardon his King promulgated Or the sicke person to the recouery of his health who drinketh the potion his his Physitian tempereth 24. Thirdly our Aduersaryes obiect That the often iteration of the Iewish Sacrifice the continuall succession and multiplication Reyn. in his Confer with M. Hart. c. 9. diuis 4. Sparkes in answere to M. Iohn d'Albins of their Priests bewrayed both the infirmity of the one and defect of the other Wherefore if we daily repeate the sacrifice of the Crosse we prophane sayth M. Reynolds the bloud of Christ If we ordaine and multiply our Priests we abase sayth Maister Sparkes the prerogatiue or impeach the sunction of Christs priesthood I answere that the multitude of old Priestes was a note of imperfection for that euen the chiefe of them were many in equall dignity succeeding one another who neither by themselues being sinners nor by the sanctity of any of their order whose roome they supplyed were sufficiently gracious vnto God But the Priests of the new Law as they are all vnited amongst themselues in the same deputation and ministery so they haue not many but one chiefe they all depend of one holy and impolluted head Christ Iesus to whome they are not as M. Sparkes mistaketh any successours but Sparks p. 7. 9. 23. Deputyes and Viceregents dispensers of his holy Mysteryes And therefore neither can the diuersity of their persons or multitude of such Ministers import any want or defect in the eternall Priest or Bishop of our soules when as by them he no way looseth or surceaseth but still continueth not according to their imperfection but according to his owne excellency the sacred office of his euerlasting Priesthood 25. In like manner to the other braunch of their obiection I yield that the variety of the Leuiticall Hosts bewrayed their weaknes because the Iewes had neither any holy and innocent Priest by whome they had accesse vnto God nor any Host pure and vnspotted Which caused them to offer diuers poore distinct and naked Elements shaddowes of things to come an euident signe of the vnprofitablenesse of the Law But we doe not so we haue one only Host holy and vndefiled this we soly sacrifice vnto God We offer not as S. Ambrose testifyeth Ambr. in c. 10. ad Haebr now one lambe to morrow another but alwayes the selfe same thing c. One Christ in euery place heer whole and there whole one body Not another sacrifice sayth S. Chrysostome as the Chrys hom 17. in epist ad Haeb. Sparks in the places aforenamed high Priest of the old law but the selfe same we do alwayes offer Neither is this repeated againe as though Christ had not offered it well inough as M. Sparkes still cauilleth neither to purchase any new price of Redemption as others contend but only to dispense and apply the treasures of his mercy once purchased for vs. In which we do derogate no more from the high preheminēce of that sauing Host then we detract from the absolute and generall pardon of our Prince when by diuers Notaryes it is copied forth for the behoofe and benefite of sundry Malefactours 26. In fine as M. Bilson and other Sectaryes allow the Bils 4 par pag. 688. 689. c. Caluin l. 4. Insti c. 28. preaching of the word the sacramēt of Baptism the supper of our Lord to be not only memoryes but also applications of Christs bountifull merits without any impeachment to his bitter Passion Why may not we by the same authority without any derogation to the Oblation of the Crosse approue our sacrifice of Masse both as a liuely memoriall to expresse in the neerenesse of it selfe the death of Christ and as an application conduct or conueyance to deriue the waters of grace frō that ouerflowing fountaine of his precious bloud 27. Another obiection M. Bell affoardeth them out of the Epistle to the Romans Christ rysing againe from the Bell in his downfall of Popery 9. p. Rom. 6. v. 9 dead henceforth dyeth no more The Papists sayth he tell vs a contrary tale that he dyeth euery day yea a thousand tymes a day in the dayly sacrifyce of their Masse It is most false that Christ suffereth in our sacrifice cruell violent and iniurious death of which S. Paul there speaketh he only dyeth after an hidden mysticall and impassible manner which is not contrary but agreable to S. Pauls doctrine conformable to the institution of Christ vvho commanded vs not only to preach teach or belieue but to Doe that solemne and mysticall action vvhich he performed of Luc. 22. consecrating the bread into his body vnder one kind vvine into his bloud vnder another to represent thereby his body
excellencyes so we distinguish three kinds of adorations Godly Ciuill Religious 3. There is first in God a supreme infinite and illimited Excellency to which a Godly worship or adoration is due commonly called Latria There is secondly in Men in Kings Magystrats Maysters Fathers c. a humayn and naturall excellency to which our will by the apprehension of their worthinesse inclineth to exhibite an honour tearmed by Aristotle conformable to the nature of their dignity Ciuill or Humane Thirdly there is a meane or midle preheminence betweene these two an higher then the last yet inferiour to the first seated not in the naturall but in the supernaturall giftes and graces of God to which supernatural preheminence a supernaturall worship more then Ciuill lesse then Diuine Aug. ser 58. de verb. Dom. sup Ps 98. ought to be attributed commonly called Religious or Dulia For Hyperdulia is only a more eminent and remarkable degree yet contayned vnder the same kind of reuerence properly belonging to our Blessed Lady as she is mother of God and to the humanity of Christ as considered apart from the diuinity albeit as it is inseparably conioyned and Hypostatically vnited with the Word it ought to be worshiped with the adoration of Latria as the fifth generall Councell of Constantinople defined Rey. l. 1. de ldo Ro. Ec. c. 3. 8. Fulke in c. 4 Matth. sect 3 in Act. 14. sect 2. Aug. de ve reâ—g c 55. Hiero. ep ad Ripa con Vigil Augustquaest 61 supr Gen. Huro aduer Vigil cap. 20. agaynst Theodore the Heretike And S. Augustine answering the Gentils who obiected agaynst the Christians as now the Protestants doe against vs the crime of adoring Christs flesh in the Eucharist I adore sayth he the flesh of Iesus Christ because it is vnited to the Deity euen as one adoreth the King and his Royall robe with the same adoration 4. Notwithstanding these three sorts of honour be ech of them most different in nature the one from the other yet the names are most of them promiscuously vsed and according to the ten our of the discourse sometyme restrayned to one kind of adoration sometyme to another Which if M. Reynolds and M. Fulke had diligently weyghed they would neuer haue cited S. Augustine agaynst vs Affirming the worship of Religion neyther to be due to Angels or men departed but only to God Nor S. Hierome That neyther Angels nor Martyrs Reliques nor any created thing can be worshipped and adored Nor Ep phanius saying God will not haue Angels adored how much lesse Mary Nor S. Cyril nor S. Gregory nor any of the rest who in those places take Quis o insanum caput aliquando Martyres ador auis quis hominem putauit Deum Aug. l. 3. de trin c. 10. the name Religion Adoration and Worship for the supreme and soueraygne worship which is only proper vnto God as S. Augustine explayneth himselfe in his questions vpon Genesis S. Hierome in the same place and agaynst Vigalantius not for that inferiour kind of adoration which is often ascribed vnto creatures and which Abraham exhibited vnto the people of Heth wherupon S. Augustine gathereth That it is not sayd Thou shalt only adore thy Lord thy God as it is sayd Him only thou shalt serue Which in Greeke i◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And in his â— booke of the blessed Trinity writing of the brasen Serpent and other holy signes he sayth They may haue honour as Religious thinges not admiration Fulke in 4. Matt. sect 3. Aug. l. 10. de Ciui c. 1. as strange thinges So that the Fathers only deny the Religious worship of Latria to Angels and other creatures the Religious worship of Dulia they assigne vnto them Which M. Fulke forced to confesse sayth S. Augustine a meane Grecian imagined a distinction betweene Latria and Dulia c. and that by them which haue interpreted Scripture Latria is taken for that seruice which pertayneth to the Religion of God But Lodouicus Viues in his notes vpon that Chapter telleth you otherwise But Lodouicus Viues O base comparison Was it not inough to disgrace S. Augustine with his meane knowledge in Greeke but must a late Gramarian be compared opposed preferred before him whome D. Couell esteemeth the chiefest Doctour that euer was or shal be excepting the Apostles Let his skill in Greeke be what it was shall his D. Couell in his book against M. Burges doctrine his distinction the diuersity of Religious worships which he and other Interpreters from these Greeke wordes deriue be vtterly exploded and reiected by you Shall Viues be accepted and S. Augustine outcouÌ„tenanced 5. Consider M. Fulke how farre heerein you iniure your cause wrong your conscience dishonour that graue ancient and incomparable Deuine Agayne vve ought to obserue that as the names so likewise the outward actions of kneeling prostrating lifting vp hands the like are generally vsed in euery particular kind of worship yet by the inward acts of the mynd they are wholy different the one from the other For he that kneeleth to God reuerently acknowledgeth by the light of his vnderstanding a certayne supreme incomprehensible and increated excellency authour and cause of all rare and excellent thinges he loueth with his will a bounty vnmatchable and with profound submission humbly adoreth an infinite and vnsearchable Maiesty He who kneeleth to his King or Prince dutifully agnizeth and aflectionatly reuerenceth his naturall or Ciuill dignity He who kneeleth to a Saint to their Tombes Reliques or Pictures deuoutly apprehendeth and piously worshipeth some supernaturall preheminence Three things necessary to the nature of honor quality or relation Wherby it followeth that three thinges concurre to the nature of honour 1. The apprehension of the vnderstanding which acknowledgeth an excellency worthy of adoration 2. The propension and inclination of the will which vnfainedly prosecuteth the same with honour 3. The externall obeysance of capping kneeling or bowing the body which is an outward obsequie of inward reuerence And although the vnderstanding be the root origen or rather motiue which exciteth the will yet the act of the will is the life soule and proper essence of adoration without which the sole notice and apprehension of dignity is no worship at all and the outward and externall action may be as well a sinne of mockery as any marke of honour As it was in the souldiers who adored Christ Matt. 27. Ioa. 19. and sayd All hayle O King of the Iewes 6. By which you may easily discerne the blindnesse of Protestants who distinguish not the outward worship by the inward mynd but seeme to make all externall Bils 4. par pag. 576. 577. honour belong to God whether it proceed from the acknowledgment of naturall supernaturall or intreated excellency Submission sayth M. Bilson of knees hands and eyes parts of Gods honour Agayne The outward honour of eyes hands and knees God requireth of vs as his due Then
sort Cardinall Tolet out of Origen and S Augustine notably expoundeth the words of the Psalmist Blessed are they whose iniquit yes are forgiuen and whose sinnes be couered blessed is the man to whome our Lord hath not imputed sinne the chiefest place Protestants alleadge to bolster their fancy of Gods pardoning of sin by not imputing it such an idle fancy as the very tyme may seeme idly spent in disproofe thereof for what is it you account not imputed to the regenerate or other pardoned offendour 11. In Originall as in euery actuall sinne there be S. Tbom. 1. 2. q. 86. 87. Vasq ibid. disp 206. c. 2. Valent. ibid. q. 16. 17. three thinges First there is macula culpae the spot or blemish of the fault because euery sinne defileth the soule with some base and vgly deformity Secondly there is that which is termed by some reatus poenae by others meritum seu condignit as poenae that is the condignity or deseruing of punishment for whosoeuer offendeth doth condignely deserue to be punished for his offence The third is obligatio seu destinatio ad poenam to wit an actuall destination bynding over to punishment which is the ordinance and decree of God appoynting due chastisement to them that deserue it Now which of these is not imputed in your remission of sinnes Is the vgly spot remayning are you not deemed to be defiled by him who cannot erre or be deceaued in his doome Or is not the deseruing or lyablenes to punishment imputed to this inherent fault of your spotted soule It cannot chuse they are inseparable they necessarily accompany the one the other and as it is impossible for the relation of fatherhood not to arise and follow him who beggetteth a child or risibility the power of laughing not to flow from the nature of man so likewise impossible the condignity of punishment should not alwayes attend on the faultines of sinne It resteth then that the actuall destination and binding ouer to punishment is not imputed to the pardoned sinner that to pardon sinne according to your new Diuinity is nothing els then not to punish it which flatly destroyeth a maine article of our fayth the forgiuenes of sinnes defeateth the merits of Christs bountifull passion and disanulleth the benefit of our redemption For to exempt our persons from the paine of hesl is not to redeeme our Psal 7◠v. 14. soules from their iniquity of which King Dauid nor deliuer vs out of the power of darknes of which the Apostle speaketh The delinquent or malefactour who is freed from the Ad Colos ◠v. 13. sentence of death pronounced against him is not therby either loosed of his chaines or bayled out of prison no more are we assoyled of the bandes of vice or bayled out of the iayle of sinne by immunity from the paine or exemption from the horrour of euerlasting death 12. Besides as long as the nature of sinne truly harboureth in the harts of Protestants by infection adhereth and contaminateth their soule it maketh it hatefull detestable to God for his infinit purity cannot but abhone the defiled sinner of whome King Salomon sayth Sap. 14. v. 9. Psal 44. v. 8. To God the impious and his impiety are odious alike And the Psalmist Thou hast loued Iustice and hast hated iniquity but whatsoeuer he hateth he ordeyneth to punishment therfore euery Protestant who is inherently polluted with the deformity of vice how beautifull soeuer he may seem without by the iust censure of the Highest is bound ouer to the paine which is due vnto him for as the loue of God is nothing els then velle bonum to procure good to whatsoeuer he loueth so his hatred is velle malum to wreak euill to that which he hateth and because he cannot will the euill of fault the euill of punishment must he needes inflict on euery vitious and hatefull transgressour 13. In fine this binding ouer to punishment which you dream not imputed may be two wayes vnderstood First it may be taken for the eternall will of the first and supreme cause ordayning iust punishment to such as deserue it Secondly for his exteriour law promulgated vnto vs either absolutly or conditionally declaring the same in the former acception it is the will of God vnchangeable immutable and cannot be altered in the later it is a signe or declaration vnto vs of his inward will which if it be absolute it shal be infallibly executed according to his word if conditionall or comminatory only it may be altered or suspended supposing a change and alteration on our part yet being good of God and for our repentance proclaymed it cannot possible be the sault not imputed vnto vs. 14. Their second quirke or guilefull deceit that guiltines is remoued from the person not frō the sinne in the person or from vs not the sinne in vs is a palpable contradiction because if guiltines still cleaue to the sinne and the sinne abide Perkins in his refor Cath p. 56. Abbot in his defence cap. 2. Bell in his down-fall in vs we must of necessity remaine subiect and obnoxious to that guilty sinne Or if the guilt of Originall sin be remoued from the person it is also remoued from the sinne in the person For enquire of S. Augustine that Miracle of Wit enquire of him how sins aboad in sinners he wil answere no otherwise then by their guilt then demand what it is to be free from sinne he will tell you this it is not to haue sinne not to be guilty of sinne So that sinne guilt are Aug. l. 1. de nupt concup c. 26. according to him two inseparable thinges leaue sinne in the regenerate and the guilt therof remayneth extinguish the guilt and the sinne is abolished 15. Notwithstanding M. Robert Abbot taketh vpon him the defence of the former brainsicke and fanaticall Abbot in the place aboue cyted f. 17 speach that guiltines is remoued from the person not from the sinne in the person thus interpreteth the meaning thereof That sinne is pardoned to the man regenerate and therfore cannot mak him guilty but yet in it selfe and in it owne nature it continueth such as that setting aside the pardon it were sufficient still to make him guilty and to condemne him A fit glosse for such a deformed Text which runneth into more contrarietyes then the contrariety it selfe he seeketh to reconcile For wil you consider the regenerate pardoned of their sinnes and set aside their pardon Will you make them not guilty of sinne as you say by one and guilty by the other at one and the selfe same tyme Is it possible your tongue should discourse of men endued with fayth and abstract from fayth Speake of soules adorned with grace and bereft of grace with one and the selfe same breath Our question is whether the regenerate supposing they be pardoned by the lauer of Baptisme be endued with fayth
out remitted taken away separated from vs. How do they then abide Orabiding not how do they destaine the brightnes of succeeding grace Can the banished darknes ouercome the conquering and preuailing light The oldnes cast off defile the newnesse brought in by Christ The destroyed guilt Ezech. 30. v. 25. Rom 6. v. 6. Act. 3. v. 19. â— Luc. 7. v. 48. Ioan. 1. v 29. Psal 102. v. 12. or death of sinne infect the beauty of restored life Let S. Paul be iudge who speeking of some sanctifyed persons who before had beene fornicatours drunkards idolatours affirmeth These thinges some of you were but you are awashed you are sanctifyed you are iustifyed 3. Now if these faythfull Corinthians were not such as they had beene before if the spots of their fornication drunkenesse idolatry and all other sinnes were cleansed and washed away by the guift of sanctification or true iustification created in theÌ„ how durst you giue the checke 1. Cor. 6. v. â—â— to so great an Apostle and say their sanctification is tainted with the loath some touch of their abyding puddles Salomon auerreth Wisedome will not enter into the malicious soule nor dwell in a body subiect to sinne much lesse will ioyn league and be corrupted with the filthines of sinne Christ Sap. 1 v. 4. cannot accord with Belial nor the Arke of our Lord with the Idoll Dagon no more can sanctifying grace stand togeather 2. Cor. 6. v. 15. with mortall sinne for what participation hath Iustice with iniquity What society is there betweene light and darknesse Marry M. Abbot will contract a society between them at least 1. Reg. 5. in some low degree to which purpose he sayth Doth not Philosophy teach that contraryes are incompatible only in their 2. Cor. 6. v. 14. extremes But hath he quite forgotten or did he not rightly vnderstand of what contraryes that was meant The Philosophers speake of some positiue not of priuatiue coÌ„traryes Abbot in his defence c. 2. f. 171. whereof the one is the habit the other the priuation of these no Logicke or Philosophy euer taught they could reside togeather in the same subiect in any remisse degree as one cannot be both dead and aliue bereft of sight and enioy it also at the same instant such contraryes are infused grace and mortall sinne therefore they cannot comply in any measure the one with the other for a deadly crime howsoeuer it be resisted and curbed of his raigne which is al you pretend to linke it with grace yet so long as it formally dwelleth soiourneth in man it must needes denominate and make him a sinner for euery forme giueth the formal effect to the subiect it informeth If a sinner a slaue to sinne starcke dead to God wholy bereft of his fauour truly hated and abhorred of him throughly vncleane and deseruedly guilty of eternal damnation therefore he cannot possibly at the same tyme by any sparke of grace be aliue to God enioy his fauour be accepted and beloued of him be truely cleane and Medina iâ— 1. 2. q. 113. art 2. Caiet ibid Vasq in 1. 2. disp 10. 4. c. 4. 51 worthy of his kingdome The soule which by sinne is the aduoutresse of the Diuell and thrall of Sathan cannot be also the spouse of Christ and the adopted child of God vnles it be by such vnequall shares as that which is the Diuells by true possession of inherent sinne you will account to be Gods by outward clayme of imputatioÌ„ only and make the Prince of darcknes too strong an armed man to be presently cast forth by the King of heauen 4. The Fathers likewise so much abhorre this diabolicall Luc. 11. v. 21. Phrensy that the Diuell should haue any part in vs who are renewed in Christ or that the tainture of our contagion should staine the sanctification wrought by Chrys ho. 40. in â—5 â— ad Cor. S. Basil in psal 23. August tract 9. in ep Ioan Hier. l. 3. cont Pela Euseb de corp sang Dei Niss l. de perfec homin forma Macar l. de lib. arbit VVhitaker in his answere to Campians 8. reason Fulk in c. 4 ad Ephes sect 2. Abbot in â—is 4. c. sect 10. VVhitaâ— vbi supra Aug. l. 6. 〈◊〉 Iul. â— â— him as they contrarywise teach that our inward renouation euer expelleth the dregs of mortall and sometyms also venial default which I inuincibly proued in the precedent Controuersy and maketh our soules as S. Chrysostome sayth more pure then the beames of the Sunne so amyable to God as he sitteth according to S. Basil in the shining soule making it as it were his throne for which cause S. Augustine calleth that internall sanctification the beauty of our soule S. Hierome The purity of our soule Eusebius Hidden purity Macarius A certaine hidden or mysticall garment of heauenly beauty But Protestants do answere how beautifull soeuer that grace may seeme it only declareth quoth Whitaker the good will clemency of God towards vs it is the effect not the cause of our Iustification This renouation sayth Fulke is only begun in this life and not perfected These beames quoth M. Abbot are too dimme and darke to iustify vs in the sight of God for that righteousnes that iustifying grace they place with Whitaker in the free mercy and fauour of God who reconciled vs to himselfe in Christ that according to them is in God only and not in vs vnles it be by meere imputation but I will manifestly proue first that our inward renouation is perfect and pure from the staine of sinne though not from the defects and infirmityes which haue sprong vp from sinne secondly that grace by which we are iustifyed is inherent in vs and not in Christ thirdly that that inherent grace or inward iustice doth truly instify vs before the face of God 5. The first is testifyed by S. Augustine saying Grace doth now perfectly renew man so far forth as it appertayneth to the dâ—â—â—â—erance wholy from all sinnes not so farre as it belongeth to the freedome from all euills Againe In Christian baptisme perfect newnes and perfect health is attayned from those euills by which we were guilty not from these with which we must yet combate least Ibid. c. 7. Augu. de nat gra c. 42. Augu. de gra Christ l. â— c. 30. De sprit literae cap. 32. Lib. de nat grat cap. 63. we become guilty speaking of charity by which this renouation is made he sayth Charity it selfe is most true most plenteous most perfect iustice The second is also warranted by the same S. Augustine who expresly affirmeth The grace by which we are iustifyed not to be Gods gracious and extrinsecall fauour but his charity diffused into our harts by the Holy Ghost who is giuen vs and this charity not to be that by which he loueth vs but that by which he maketh vs louers of him Likewise by this only charity
the power of our will to moue or Suarez iâ— opus Theoâ—og l. 1. c. 10. 13. in breu resol § 26. not to moue to will or not to will nor to vse any choice election or liberty at all For as Suarez profoundly teacheth that which neither in it selfe is free nor in the cause by which it worketh is no way free The will of man according to Caluin and his Sectaries is not free in it selfe because of it selfe it can doe nothing without the motion and predetermination of God nor in the cause for it is not in the power of man either to appoint remoue chaÌ„ge or resist this determination of God immouably made from all eternity Therefore no liberty remayneth in vs bereft of all indifferency Necessarily determined to euery particular act by the ouer-ruling motion of the prime and supreme cause What wrong then hath Bellarmine done to Luther and Caluin of which M. Field hath the fore-head to challenge him What iniurious imputation hath he layed vpon them or their followers in taxing their Doctrine with the Manichean heresie which they as you see boldly professe and labour to support with sundry arguments sorted and disposed into three seuerall classes or seats 1. Cor. 12. v. 6. Isay 26 v. 12. Hierem. 1â— v. 23. 20. In the first they place those which attribute all our workes to the generall concourse and premotion of God who first moueth inclineth and principally floweth into our actions as All in all things he doth worke All our workes O Lord thou hast wrought in vs. I know O Lord that mans way is not in his owne handes nor in his power to direct his steps c. 21. I answere it is true that God worketh all things in vs and we with him he as the vniuersall we as the particuler causes yet so as the influence of his action neither altereth nor hindreth but rather sustaineth helpeth Fulke in c. 8. Io. sect 2. in cap. 9. ad Rom. sect 7. in c. 2. 2. ad Tim. sect 1. Augu. de verbo Domini ser 2. IdeÌ„in Ench. ad Lauren. cap. 30. Aug. l. de Natu. Grat. cap. 53. and perfiteth ours He concurreth to euery creature according to their owne nature and condition with thinges contingent contingently with necessary thinges necessarily with free thinges freely 22. In the second classe Doctor Fulke rangeth those authorityes of S. Augustine wherein he affirmeth Freewil to be lost by the fall of Adam to wit Man when he was created receaued great strength of Free-will but by sinning he lost it And Man abusing his Free-will lost both himselfe and it The like he vrgeth out of his booke of Nature and Grace and other places M. Whitaker also obiecteth the former sentence of S. Austine out of his Enchyridion addeth therunto the authorityes of S. Ambrose and S. Bernard to whome I shall reply in the next Chapter heere I answere to S. Augustine 23. Man lost by sinne that strength of freedome and perfection of Nature which he had at his first creation and so he lost as S. Augustin excellently discourseth both himselfe his Free-will himselfe in respect of God and the Aug. l. 1. ad Bonif. c. 1. Aug. epi. 107. ad Viclaem Aug. tom 7. de Praed Sanct. c. 2. Aug. l. de perfect Iustitiae de spiri lit de Naâ— gra c. finall end whereunto he was created his Free-will which he had in Paradise First Habendi plenam cum immortalitate iustitiam Of hauing full and perfect Iustice with immortality Secondly He lost his Free-will of louing God by the grieuousnes of his first sinne Thirdly He lost his Free-will of beginning or performing any good and pious deed Fourthly He lost his Free-will of fulfilling the Commandments of God of vanquishing all tentations of perseuering still in the state of Innocency in which he was created For Adam ourforefather endowed with the habit of originall iustice could by the liberty of Free-will ayded with the speciall cooperation of God alwayes fullfill and performe those thinges without any new excyting grace to quicken and stir him vp which we though iustifyed in this state of corruption by reason of many carnall allurements assaults of Sathan and dulnes of nature cannot atchieue without his diuine grace of excitation direction and protection Therefore S. Augustine speaking of the accomplishment of the aforesayd dutyes sayth This is not Aug. lib de bono perseue cap. 7. in the forces of Freewil as now they are it was in man bedore his fal Those freedomes then Adam lost himselfe according to that height of dignity he lost yet as he did not absolutly loose but impaire himselfe as he lost not the nature and Ioa. c. 8. v. 14. Rom. 6. v. 16. 2. Pet. c. 2 v. 19. Aug. l. de corr gra c. 13. Aug. cont 2. ep â—ela l. 3. ca. 8. Concil Arausi can 7. 22 Mileuit can 4. Ambr. in c. 6. ad Roman Ruper l. 4. com in Gen. c. 3. Aug. tract 41. in Ioan. cap. 8. noli in quit libertate abuti ad liberè peccandum sed vtâ—râ— ad non peccandum Aug. l. 1. ad Bâ—â—if c. 2. liberum arbitrum vsque adeo in peccatore non perijt vp per illud peccent maximâ— omnes qui cum delectatione peccant condition of man so neither the faculty of his will which still continuing remaineth free 1. To thinges in different with Gods general concourse 2. To things morally good with his peculiar assistance 3. To accept or refuse his motions offered 4. To worke and purchase his saluation by meanes of infused grace 24. In the third and last classe are digested such sentences as insinuate the will of man to be in the bondage and slauery of sinne as He that doth sinne is the seruant of sin And You are seruants of that to which you obey Seruants of corruption And S. Augustine I say Free-will but not made free Free from iustice but slaue of sinne To which purpose M. Fulke often repeateth this other saying of S. Augustine Free-will being made captiue auayleth nothing but to sinne 25. I answere S. Augustine in this later place writing against the Pelagians speaketh after the manner of two Venerable Councels who define and teach as he doth that the will of man of it selfe without the grace of God auayleth to nothing but sinne that is to nothing of piety oriustice to nothing appertayning to Saluation or damnation but only to Sinne. 26. To all the former instances I ioyntly reply with S. Ambrose Rupertus and the same S. Augustine that he who sinneth supposing he doth sinne is slaue to the sinne he doth commit yet hence it followeth not that he necessarily sinneth or is depriued of his naturall freedome By which as S. Augustine auerreth men sinne chiefly all who sinne with delight Secondly I say he who maketh himselfe the bond-slaue of sin is so far from being necessarily tyed to trangresse the
By whom he sometime inuiteth and exhorteth vs to forsake sinne and repaire vnto him Returne yee and doe penance Returne vnto me withall your heart Returne o Israël c. Cease to doe euill and learne to doe good Rise thou that sleepest and arise from the Dead and Christ will illuminate thee Otherwhile he intreateth vs vpon condition if we be willing If yee wil and shall giue eare vnto me yee shall eat the good Ezec. 18. 30 Ioel 2. 12. Iere. 3. 12. Isa 1. 16. Eph. 5. 14. Isa 1. 19. Mat. 16. 24. Apoc. 3. 20. things of the earth c. If any man will come after me c. Now he seemeth to stay and expect our consent I stand at the dore and knocke If any man shall heare my voice and open the gate I will enter into him Our Lord expecteth to haue mercy vpon you Doest thou contemne the riches of his goodnesse and patience and longanimity not knowing that the benignity of God bringeth thee to Penance Then he complaineth or rather expostulateth with vs what we meane to soiourne in sinne Why will yee die ô house of Israël c. Returne and liue Why art thou angry And why is thy countenance fallen Heere he beseecheth vs not to harden our hearts against his calling This day if yee shall heare the voice of our Lord harden not your hearts c. Be not stiffe necked as your Fathers were c. There he layeth the whole blame of our impenitency to our owne froward and stubborne wils How often would I gather together thy children as the Henne doth gather together her Chickens vnder her wings and thou wouldest not All the day I stretched forth my Isa 30. 18. Rom. 2. 4. hands to a people incredulous I haue called and yee haue refused These and many other the like sayings were both vaine and deceitfull if man awaked by God out of the sleepe of sinne had no power to concurre to his vprising In Ezeâ—b 18. 31. 32. Gen. c. 4. 6. Psal 94 8. 2. Paralip â— 38. Mat. c. 23. 37. Isa 65. 2. Prou. c. 1. 24. vaine should God exhort and command our returne in vaine should he expect our consent or complaine of our delay if we could not possibly hasten our comming or returne vnto him at all Without cause are we intreated not to harden our hearts without cause is the blame of our obstinacy layed to our charge if we haue no meanes in our selues by the help of his grace freely to will or nill our conuersion 6. But S. Iohn the Euangelist and the Apostle S. Paul auerreth that we haue free liberty to become the seruants Iâ—a â— â—â— of God S. Iohn saith of Christ and those that beleeued in his name He gaue them power to be made the Sonnes of God S. Paul If any man shall cleanse himselfe from these he shall be a vessell vnto 2. Tim. 2. 21. Collos 3. 9. 10 Ioa. 6. 27. honour To which purpose he writeth to the Colossians Cast off the old man and put on the new our Sauiour Christ Worke not the meate that perisheth but that endureth to life euerlacting Therefore men are of ability to worke and performe these things by the Cooperation of their Free will with the grace of God In regard whereof they are called Gods Workemen his Coadiutours and Collabourers S. Paul I haue laboured Calu. Gratia quae mihi aderat more abundantly then all they yet not I but the grace of God with me and not as Caluin detorteth it The grace of God which was present to me as though the Grace wrought all the Apostle nothing But S. Paul ioyneth himselfe with the Grace The Syriake hath Hhamâ—i mecum Sap. c. 9. 10. Aug. l. de Gra. lib. arb c. 15 Aug l. 50. hom ho. 16. Aug. l. 2. cont 2. ep Pelag. c. 8. labouring together so doth the ancient Syriacke text The goodnesse or benignity of God with me So the wiseman praieth Send Wisdome out of thy holy heauens that shee may be with me and labour with me So S. Augustine expoundeth the Apostle Neither the Grace of God alone nor he alone but the Grace of God with him 7. Besides this S. Augustine hath many notable testimonies in behalfe of Free-will God hath left it in thy owne free choise to whom thou wilt prepare a place to God or to the Diuel When thou hast prepared it he that inhabiteth shall beare sway therein Man prepareth his heart yet not without the aide of God who toucheth the heart Againe who doth not see euery man to come or not to come by Free-will In them who are saued Aug. in Psa 78. by Election of Grace God the ayder worketh both the will operation or perfourmance thereof God is heere and often in Scripture tearmed the aider and not the sole worker because man also worketh and cooperateth with him For he as S. Augustine gathereth from hence that is ayded doth also by himselfe worke some thing 8. I rehearse not the authorities of S. Irenaeus S. Cyprian S. Hierome S. Ambrose S. Chrysostome answerable hereunto read what the Centurists and their Confederates write of them Of Irenaeus they say He admitteth Free-will in spirituall actions Of S. Cyprian Tertullian S. Clement Alexandrinus Origen S. Iustine Athenagoras they confesse Centu. cen 2. c. 10. col 221. Osiand cen 2. l. 4. cap. 4. In the Apologie tract 1. Sect. 3. subdiuis 5. Caluin l. 2 Instit. c. 3. §. 7. §. 11. the like as you may see related in the Protestants Apology Of S. Augustine Caluin vaunteth much yet he refelleth this saying of his That the will prepared by our Lord doth accompany him in working And a litle after obtrudeth this ouerth wart doctrine of his owne God mooueth the will not as it hath beene taught and beleeued for many ages that it is after in our choise to obey or resist the motion but effectually working it Therefore that so often repeated by S. Chrysostome is to be abandoned Whom he draweth he draweth willing to be drawen O yee Caluinists blush you not at this arrogancy of your Patron who controlleth S. Augustine renounceth S. Chrysostome and impugneth the doctrine the Church of God for many ages both taught and beleeued If yee blush not at him for honours sake blush at your fellow-Sectary M. Fulke who contradicteth Aug. de spiri litera ad Marcel c. 34. Fulke in cap. 3. Apoc. sect 4. Aug. l. 2. de pecca mer. remis c. 5. tract 4. in ep Ioa. Fulke vbi supra also S. Augustine in this point as though he directly sought to crosse him in his speaches 9. S. Augustine saith To consent to Gods calling or not to consent lieth in a mans owne will M. Fulke It lieth not in the freedome of mans will to giue consent to Gods calling S. Augustine continually inculcateth That mans will is holpen by Gods grace and that his Grace doth
ep 29. iudged be found vniust and scant For vniust it is meted with the iustice which is wholy infinit scant in comparison of that Likewise when he sayth That our iustice is right but not pure c. for how can it be pure iustice where fault as yet cannot be wanting he denyeth it to be pure he sayth fault cannot be wanting because it is most commonly conioyned with veniall defaults which although they hinder not the true nature and perfection of iustice yet they darken the luster and brightnes thereof and are lyable to the seuerity of Gods heauy punishment Whereupon S. Augustine Wo be to the laudable life of a man if it be examined without mercy To the other passage of this renowned Doctour where he affirmeth most perfect charity which cannot be increased is to be found in no man in this life we grant it to be true This clause which followeth And as long as it may be increased that which is lesse then it tought to be is of vice of which vice it proceedeth that there is no man who doth good and doth not sinne is to be vnderstood not of formall vice or faulty sinne but of that which is an infirmity weaknes and defect of nature from whence it groweth that there is no man who doth alwayes good and neuer sinneth at least venially sometyme Thus S. Augustine interpreteth August ibid. himselfe a litle before saying Who therefore is without some vice that is without some fomite or as it were root of sinne After which manner I haue shewed aboue in the second Chapter of Concupiscence that not only he but Vlpianus Aug. in l. de perfect iusti◠c. 15. Pliny and Cicero vse the name vitium vice for any defect either in nature or act In the same sense S. Augustine taketh the word peccatum in his booke of the perfection of iustice where he hath these wordes It is a sinne when eyther that Charity is not which ought to be or lesse then it ought to be Otherwise August de spir lit c. vlt. he would haue crossed and contradicted what he auouched before in his booke de spiritu litera That if our loue of God in this life be not so great as is due to his full and perfect knowledg it is not culpae deputandum to be imputed to any fault By sinne then in the former place S. Augustine meaneth a defect only or falling from the brimme of perfection yet no culpable sin So also many prophane writers vse the Plautus in Baceb Si vnam peccauisses syllabam Tull. 2. Tusc Quod in eo ipso peccet cuius profitetur scientiam 1. Ioan. 1. v. 8. Iac. 3. v. 3. August tract 1. epist Ioan. l. de nat gra a. c. 36 38. word peccare to sin for erring and doing amisse in any act or faculty as Plautus sayth If thou hadst fayled in one sillable and Tully If a Grammarian shall speake rudely or he that would be counted a Musitiā sing out of tune he is the more to be blamed quod in eo ipso peccet that he erreth or cōmitteth a banger in the thing it selfe whereof he professeth the skill To Origen to S. Hierome and to the rest of S. Augustine and S. Bernard which Protestants obiect I neede not frame any particuler reply The three last generall answers to the Texts of Scripture sweep all the dust away which they deceiptfully gather out of these or any other of the Fathers writings 4. Lastly it is obiected If we shall say that we haue no sinne we seduce our selues and the truth is not in vs. Likewise In many things we offend all I answere both these places are vnderstood of veniall sinnes as S. Augustine expoundeth them which often creep into the purest actions we do and from which we are seldome or neuer wholy free yet they distayne not the purity of our vertuous actions they are not intermingled with the morall bonity therof but extrinsecally accompany it abating the cleare beames of our soule without defyling the pure action whose adherents they are an assertion manifest amongst Deuines August ep 29. 50. l. de virg cap. 48. 49. l. 4. cont 2. ep Pelag. c. 10. Bonau 3. distinct 3. part dub 1. which Protestants conceauing not run into diuers and those pernicious absurdityes Secondly S. Iohn is interpreted also by S. Augustine of the fomite of sinne which euery man hath how perfect soeuer he be yet he doth not meane that that fomite is properly sinne but materially or the effect or cause of sinne which interpretation of S. Iohns words S. Bonauenture imbraceth and addeth a third exposition that S. Iohn doth not teach no man to be at any tyme without sinne but that no man can say to wit assuredly affirme without reuelatiō that he hath no sinne wherein Lyranus and Hugo Cardinalis agree with him but Caietam vnderstandeth S. Iohn of no sinne neyther actually committed nor originally contracted heertofore This no man the Virgin Mary only excepted as hath beene els where declared can auouch without seduction of his hart without he make God a lyar who sent his beloued Sonne into the world to cleanse vs from our sinnes 5. I proceed therefore to the third Caluinian dotage that all first motions or prouocations to euill are truly sinnes albeit we vanquish them which I haue heere refuted in the Controuersy and second Chapter of Originall sinne and somewhat touched in the Controuersy of Free-wil where I haue shewed that S. Augustine accounteth it a meere madnes and such a barbarical phrensy Seneca l. de mor. Aug. tom 7. l. de na gra ◠67. that man assaulted with temptations should sinne against his will as he sayth the very Poets sheepheards learned and vnlearned yea al the world doth witnes it to be false Seneca a heathen could write Away with all excuse no man sinneth against his will And It deserueth no prayse not to do which do thou caust not But S. Augustine agayne shal decide this matter with a sentence able to seale vp the mouths of Protestant Ministers and quyet the harts of all faythful Christians Whatsoeuer cause quoth he there be of the will impelling it to offend if it cannot be resisted it is yielded vnto Idem tom 4. in expos quarun propos prop. 17. Tom. 7. cont Pela l. 2. circa finem Chry. cited by S. Iohn Damas q. 2. phrall c. 27. Eccles 5. v. 2. c. 18. v. 30. without sin but if it may let it not be yielded vnto there shal be no sinnne committed What doth it perchance deceaue a man vnawars Let him therefore be wary that he may not be deceaued or is the deceit so great as it cannot be auoyded If it be so the sinnes therefore are none for who doth sinne in that which can by no meanes be escaped Likewise not in the euill desire it selfe but in our consent do we sinne Moreouer In as
haue giuen him to will and to runne if contemning his vocation he had not become reprobate Iudas was 〈…〉 reprobate Origen notwithstanding Orig. l. 8. in ep ad Rom. Chrysost hom 16. in cap. 9. ad Rom. Chrysost hom 4 de laâ—d Paul ad fin Concil Arâ—usican â—ap 25. writeth of him that it was in his power if he wold to haue equalled in sanctitie S. Peter and S. Iohn Pharao was a reprobate of whome S. Chrysostome auerreth that God did what lay in him to saue him who if he were not saued the whole fault was his owne He also teacheth that euery one if he endeauour may arriue to the holines and perfection of S. Paul To which effect it is defined by the Arausican Councell that all the baptized Christ ayding and cooperating with them are able if they will labour faithfully and ought to fullfil the things that appeartaine to saluatioÌ„ 5. In like mannerâ— that the Predestinate may forfeit their saluation loose their grace and be damned we need not seeke any other proof then the testimonies of holy Writ For S. Paul an elect witnesseth of his owne person I chastise my body and bring it into seruitude least perhapes when I haue preached to others my selfe become a reprobate 1. Cor. 9. 27. Sap. 4. 11. Eccles c. 31. 10. Apocalyps 3. 11. 2. Pet. 1. 10. VVhitak cont 2. q. 6. cap. 3. Fulk in c. 6. ad Roman sect 2. 5. Of another it is testified he was taken away least malice might change his vnderstanding and fiction begiule his soule therfore he might haue bin altered and deceiued if he had not bin preuented by God Of a third it is said He could haue transgressed and transgressed not haue done euill and did not 〈◊〉 Iohn in the Apocalyps exhorteth the predestinate to perscuere coÌ„stant least they be frustrated of their hope Behold I come quickly hold that thou hast that no man receaue thy crowne And S. Peter Wherfore my brethren rather endeauour that by ' good works you may make sure your vocation and election But these thinges haue bin sufficiently proued heertofore in the 24. and 25. controuersies 6. The eight heresy falsly supposeth that Predestination according to the whole chaine and lincke of euery effect which followeth theron is altogether of God in so much as neither our iustification saluation nor any execution of his will in this kind dependeth of the sacraments of the Church or of our good Works as their instrumentall or meritorious causes but of Gods election as Whitaker auerreth of his promises and Christs merits And Fulke Neither Baptisme nor any works of Christian religion cause iustification but Baptisme is a seale good workes fruites therof Again the Elect work willingly to their saluation c. but they do not therby deserue their saluation for saluation dependeth vpon their election Howbeit the holy ghost in his sacred Word directly teacheth that by Baptisme and other Sacraments we are truly a Marc. vlt. v. 16. saued b Tit. 3. 5. regenerate c Ioa. 3. 5. new borne d Tit. 3. 7. iustified e 1. Corin. 10. 17. incorporated to Christ f Ioan. 6. 56. made one with him he with vs. That by g Act. 8. 18. theÌ„we receaue the holy Ghost h Act. 2. 38. obteine remission of our sinnes i 2. ad Tim. 1. 6. inhereÌ„t grace k Ioan. 3. 5. entrance to the kingdome of heauen l Tit. 3. 7. Aug. in ps 7â— are made heires of euerlasting life Therfore they are true causes of our iustice and instruments of our saluation To which Saint Augustine subscribeth setting downe the differeÌ„ce betwixt the sacrameÌ„ts of the old law and of the new in these words Some sacraments there are that giue saluation others that promise a Sauiour The Sacraments of the new Testament giue saluation the sacraments of the old Testament Gregor l. 6. c. 3. in prim Regum promised a Sauiour And S. Gregory Outwardly we receaue the sacraments that we may be inwardly replenished with the grace of the holy ghost 7. Likewise the execution of Gods predestination is often furthered and effected by the prayers of Saints or other holy men vpon earth as S. Augustine testifieth If Stephen had not prayed the Church had not enioyed Paul Besids Perchance there are some heere predestinate to be graunted by our prayers Moreouer he exhorteth vs to correct all sorts of Aug. ser 1. de sanct Aug. de bon perf 2. Timoth. 2. 10. 1. Timoth. 4. v. vlt. 2. Pet. 1. 10. 1. Corinth 9. Ther shold be noe iudgenunt at all sayth S. Augustin if men sinned by the will of God Aug. tom 7. ad artic sibi falso impositos artic 10. sinners because correction is a meane that the predestinate may obteine their designed glory The same is also taught by S. Gregory Prosper and others and is grounded on these words of Scripture I susteine all things for the elect that they also may obteine the saluation which is in Christ Iesus with heauenly glory For this doing thou shalt saue thy selfe others By good works make sure your vocation and election So runne that you may comprehend Therfore by running we do comprehend by running we winne the goale of eternall felicity Or if we do not if saluation dependeth of gods election and not of our good endeauous damnation dependeth in like sort of his reprobation and not of our misdeeds the doome pronounced by God against the accursed in the latter day is not for their sinnes as the causes of their perdition but the true cause therof is the will of God his eternalll will which in Protestants conceit vndeseruedly reiecteth and abandoneth them Let the Scriptures theÌ„ be false the generall iudgment peruerse the bookes of conscience brought foorth in vaine their euidences reiected the sentence of our iudge reuersed and called back by you as not deliuering the right cause of mans eternall torments in brief let heauen and earth faile and your phrensies only take place 8. The ninth heresy which springeth from that bastard Fulk in ca. 3. ad Rom. sect 4. root of making God the authour of mans destructioÌ„ setteth abroach the contrary wills which M. Fulke assigneth to God to wit his reuealed and secret will For either he supposeth they are two distinct wills allowing that sacrilegious disunion and diuorcement of affection in our true soueraigne God which Tullie disalloweth as the roote Tull. l. 2. de nat Deorum of dissention euen in his false and heathenish Gods and as he distinguisheth his will so he must deuide the vnity of his nature he must needs confesse one God abhorring sinnes the other approuing them with the viperous Manichees Or doth he meane there is but one wil which as reuealed detesteth sinne as secret and hidden liketh well of it then let him tel me how he liketh or decreeth those thinges with his secret purpose which he hath openly forbidden by
to be vnderstood as if God did it or commaunded it to be done but that he hath permitted it only yet iustly So Tertullian calleth God not the doer but the permitter or sufferer of euill And Fulgentius No man iustly sinneth although God iustly permitteth him to sinne Epiphaniuâ—s Rupertus vse the same distinctioÌ„ whome I ioyne to the rest that you may abhorre the impudency of Caluin who so often carpeth at this auncient and long approued solution wherein I bewray both his and other heretikes hatred towards God For where they read in holy writ any mystery which redoundeth to the honour of his name they cloud or extenuate it with metaphoricall constructions as the Reall Presence in the SacrameÌ„t the remission of sinnes and inward iustice of our soules Where they discouer any sentences which may seeme to darken the beames of his glory they sticke fast to the letter and eagerly presse the rigour of the words as heere when he is sayd to â—arden to blind to giue men ouer to a reprobate sense Far otherwise all deuout and faythfull Interpreters of Gods word Otherwise S. Chrysostome who teacheth that God susteyned Pharao with much patience willing to reduce him vnto pennance For if he had not desired this he would not haue shewed so much lenity Otherwise Rupertus who commenting vpon this very allegation of Pharao to this purpose I haue raysed or set thee vp expoundeth it not with our Sectaries of his creation but of his aduancement to his Kingdome permittendo videlicet non agendo as much to say by permitting not by doing Otherwise Theodoret reciting diuers mutations of Pharaos will how sometimes he would dismisse Israel other tymes he would Theod. 9. 17 in Exodum not all these saith he Moyses recorded to teach vs that neyther Pharao was of peruerse nature neither did our Lord God make his mind hard and rebellious for he that now inclineth to this part now to that plainly sheweth freewill of the mind 11. Concerning the latter wounds obiected against vs that God made al things for himselfe euen the wicked man to the euill day To this purpose haue I raysed thee c. they are spoken not of the chief and principall purpose for mostly intended as the cause of his creation but of the euent or after-end Fulgent l. 1. ad Mon. to which he was consequently appoynted foreseeing his iniquity For although God be not the author as S. Fulgentius saith yet he is the ordeyner and disposer of euill wills so far forth as he ceaseth not to worke good of euill Which he receaued of his maister S. Augustine Of so great wisdome and power is God that al things which seeme coÌ„trary to his wil make towards those issues Aug. li. 22. de ciu Dei cap. 1. or ends which he himselfe both good and iust foreknew After this manner God inclineth the harts of all obstinate sinners either to exercise his seruants or make known his patieÌ„ce or to giue a greater lustre to vertue by her contrary vice After this manner not vnlike to the prouident skillfull work man who turneth that to some base which he cannot fashion to a more noble vse so God conuerteth the peruersenes of the impious to manifest his iustice whome without preiudice to their liberty he cannot winne to partake of his mercy Lastly after this manner he worketh all things according to the counsaile of his will because whatsoeuer is done good by himselfe or bad by others he directeth to the scope of his holy designs or rather because all things which he doth for sinnes which he doth not are no thinges but meere defects and priuations are Hierom. in â—om super hunc â—oâ—â—m full of wisdome counsaile freedome and prouidence So S. Hierome interpreteth this place saying God worketh all thinges according to the counsaile of his will not that all thinges which be done are accomplished by the will counsaile of God els sinnes might be imputed to God but because al thinges which he doth by counsaile and will he doth because for both they are full of the wisdome and power of him that doth them Where now was Caluin l. 3 Iâ—stit cap. â—3 §. 4. 7. lib. de aeterna Dei praedest fol. 916. Chrysost hom de interdict arb ad AdaÌ„ quae habetur post hom in Genes Caluin sup 8. Pros lib. 2. de vo cat genâ— cap. 1. 12. Caluin lib. Instit c. 17 18. lib. 2. c. 4. l. 3. c. 23. Augu. tract 53. in Ioan. Fulk in cap. 6. Mat. sect 6 Aug. ep 8â— q. 2. Fulk in cap. 12. Ioan. sect â— Aug. tract 3â— in Ioan. Con. ValeÌ„t cap. 2. Caluins iudgement or Fulkes witts whiles perusing the Fathers they discouered not these expositions But what maruell though they marked not their Comments who so ouerth wartly crosse their very words and meaning For compare a little the sayings of these men with those of the Fathers 12. Caluin By gods predestination Adam fell he both knowing and so ordeyning S. Chrysostome It is manifest that God would not haue Adam sinne who before his fall did fense and arme him Caluin Man falleth the prouidence of God so appoynting S. Prosper The ruine of no man is disposed by diuine ordination Caluin God willeth commandeth and inforceth to sinne S. Augustine God neither forceth commaundeth nor willeth sinne Fulk The text is plaine Lead vs not into temptation wherby is proued not only a permission but an action of Gods in them that are lead into temptation S. Augustine Lead vs not into temptation that is Suffer vs not by forsaking to be lead into temptation Fulke Gods election and reprobation is most free of his owne will not vpon the foresight of the merits of either of them S. Fulgentius Because God by foreknowledge saw the sinnes of men he dictated the sentence of predestination Fulke speaking of some incredulous The neither would nor could be willing to beleeue because they were reprobate S. Augustine If any man aske why they could not beleeue I answere roundly because they would not And the Valentine Councell defineth that the reprobate are not punished because they could not but because they would not be good By these and diuers other oppositions you may see how contrary the new inuentions of Protestants are to the doctrine of the Church You haue reade how repugnaÌ„t to the Scriptures how reproachfull and derogatory from the passion of Christ You haue reade what atheismes what execrations what sacriledges they conteyne against God himselfe against his infinite loue 13. Let me therfore intreate euery sober Christian who is touched with the zeale of his creators honour to abandon those bookes farced with such impieties to infernall flames to detest those Ghospellers who make Caluin l. â— Instit. c. 4. §. 2. Idem ergo facinus Deo sathanae homini assignari videmus noÌ„ esse absurduÌ„ Deus clauuÌ„ tenet Caluin l. 1. c. 18. 6. 1. Caluin lib.