Priest is q Mal. 2.7 the messenger of the Lord of hosts The Priest though he be by calling the messenger of the Lord yet sometimes neglecteth his calling and forbeareth to doe the message wherewith hee is sent and so the church though by duty it be the pillar and ground of truth appointed to vphold and maintaine the same yet sometimes forgetteth this duery and followeth lies in stead of truth For as the church is now so hath it euer beene from the beginning the pillar and ground of truth and yet we finde that very often the church of the Iewes in the time of the Iudges and vnder the wicked Kings of Iudah and Israel did forsake t Mal. 2.6 the law of truth which God had giuen vnto them went a whooring after strange and false gods and many waies prouoked him by their abominations For no longer doth the church continue to be as it ought to be the pillar and ground of truth than it continueth built vpon the foundations of truth ſ Eph. 2.20 vpon the foundations of the Apostles and Prophets as Saint Paul speaketh t Ambros in Eph. 2. Hoc est supra nouum vetus teslamentum collocati that is vpon the new and old Testament as Ambrose expoundeth it If it once go awry from those foundations truth falleth to the ground and it becommeth a pillar and fortresse of errour and vntruth Thus hath it come to passe in M. Bishops church of Rome which in her pride hath cast off the yoke which she at first tooke vpon her and hath magnified herselfe to be a Queene to giue lawes of her owne in stead of the lawes of Iesus Christ Shee is indeede by duety as all other churches are a pillar and ground of truth but being become the minion of Antichrist and prostituted to his adulterous desires shee hath learned for his sake and for her owne sake by him u 1. Tim. 4.2 to speake lies in hypocrisie and x 2. Pet. 2.3 through couetousnesse with feined words to make merchandise of y Reu. 18.13 the soules of men All which hypocrisie and feined words shee fairly gloseth and cōmendeth to men with this perswasion that she can not erre because she hath a promise of Christ to be alwaies directed and guided by his spirit into all trueth But where hath Christ made any such promise to the Church of Rome Whom and how the spirit of Christ leadeth into all truth Wee read that Christ said to his Apostles z Ioh. 16.13 When he is come which is the spirit of truth he will lead you into all trueth and wee beleeue that what hee spake to his Apostles he intended to the whole Church and to all the faithfull but neither doe we reade nor haue any cause to beleeue that Christ therein intended any thing in speciall to the church of Rome neither did euer any ancient Father or Councell gather any such thing out of those words And surely no otherwise doe they alleage this Scripture for themselues than the Manichees did for themselues and the Montanists for themselues For as the Manichees alleaging these words to colour their heresies against the Scripture appropriated the spirit of truth here spoken of to their Patriarch a August cont Faust Manich. lib. 32. cap. 17. Dicere soletis Ipse vos inducet in omnem veritatem c. de vestro Manichao esse praedictum Manicheus and the Montanistes in like sort to b Tertull. de Veland virginib sub initio Montanus as if in them and by them the spirit should direct the Church into all truth Euen so the Papists howsoeuer they talke of the Church directed by the spirit yet doe indeed put ouer the Church to the Pope placing the residence of the spirit in him that he may bee to the Church the infallible oracle of all truth In which fancie if they will expect to haue more credit than those heretikes had they must bring better warrant for themselues than those heretikes did But because they can bring vs none therefore we reiect them all alike as coseners and deceiuers of the Church pretending the spirit of truth for the maintenance of lies and claiming that credit to be giuen to an vsurping wretch which our Sauiour reserueth as proper to the holy Ghost The promise of the spirit as I said before belongeth to all the faithfull and of them all S. Iohn saith c 1 Ioh. 2.27 The anointing which yee haue receiued of him that is saith Austin d August in 1. Ioan. tract 4. Eadem vnctio id est ipse spiritus domini the spirit of the Lord teacheth you of all things Albeit when it is said all things and all truth we are not to vnderstand absolutely all for the spirit doth not teach vs to know e Idem in actis cum Felice Manich. lib. 1. cap. 10. Si hanc doctrinam putas ad illam veritatem pertinere c. interrogo te qunt sint stellae Ibid. Ego tibi possum dicere ea quae pertinent ad doctrinam Christianam how many starres there be as Austin opposeth to Felix the Manichee but he teacheth all things belonging to the doctrine of Christ as the same Austin there expoundeth Yea and yet further he excepteth by the words of the Apostle f Idem cap. 11. Dicebat Apostolus Ex parte scimus c. quia in i st a vita homo cum est non potest assequi omnia sed ex parte assequitur in hac vita ipse autem spiritus qui ex parte docet in hac vita post hanc vitam introducet in omnem veritatem Vide eund in Ioan. tract 96. We know in part and we prophecie in part that whilest a man is in this life he cannot attaine to all things but attaineth onely in part but the holy Ghost saith he which in this life teacheth in part shall after this life bring vs into all truth Hee therefore giueth vs to vnderstand that notwithstanding this promise of the spirit of truth it is incident to them to whom the same appertaineth to be ignorant in this life of many truthes to be subiect to mistaking and errour albeit the same spirit faileth not to enlighten them to that necessary truth which serueth for introduction finally to all truth And heerein the Apostle comforteth vs that g Phil. 3.15 that if any man be otherwise minded than is right God will reueale the same to him so long as in that whereunto we are come we proceed by one rule that we may minde one thing But wee are specially to note the reason which our Sauiour addeth to the words alleaged When he is come which is the spirit of truth he will leade you into all truth for he shall not speake of himselfe but whatsoeuer he shall beare shall he speake meaning thereby the same that he hath before said h Ioh. 14.26 He shall teach you all things
as he rightly speaketh he would not vnderstand it to be receiued by the body And thus Christ sealing vnto vs in the Lords supper all the fruits of his passion and giuing himselfe vnto vs spiritually to become one with vs and to make vs one with him hee hath without reall presence bestowed as M. Bishop saith an inestimable gift vpon vs such a one as neuer any other did or possibly could doe 63. W. BISHOP Moreouer the institution of a religious rite and ceremonie to be vsed in the whole Church vnto the worlds end and to be receiued of all Christian people of age and discretion did necessarily require that it should bee done in most certaine and cleare tearmes otherwise there might arise great strife and contention about it and be the ruine of thousands And specially great perspicuitie is required in this holy Sacrament where the mistaking of it must needs breeed either idolatrie if wee worship for Christ that which is not Christ or impietie if on the other side we should not giue to it being Christ God and man diuine honour Wherefore no good Christian may thinke but that our prouident Sauiour Christ Iesus who verie well foresaw all these inconueniences did deliuer it in such tearmes as he would haue to be taken properly and not be construed at mens pleasures figuratiuely Adde that hee spake those words to the twelue Apostles onely whom hee was accustomed to instruct plainly and not in parable darkely and who were woont also to aske for the interpretation of obscure speeches who here made no question about this high mysterie because they were sufficiently forewarned that they should eat Christs flesh Ioh. 6. and that his body was truly meat and therefore beleeued Christs words without further question R. ABBOT The institution of a religious rite and ceremonie for the vse of the Christian Church required such termes as had beene formerly accustomed in the institution of such religious rites wherein as hath beene a Sect 48. before noted out of Austin Sacraments commonly beare the names of those things whereof they are Sacraments So is circumcision called b Gen. 17.13 the couenant of the Lord being but the signe and seale of his couenant So is the lambe called c Exod. 12.11 the Lords Passeouer though it were but a signification and remembrance thereof So were the sacrifices of the law called d Leuit. 1.4 4.20 c. attonements or reconciliations for sinne which yet they were not in themselues because e Heb. 10.4 it was vnpossible that the bloud of calues and goats should take away sins but were onely signes and figures of the attonement that should be made by the bloud of Iesus Christ And thus Cyprian saith expresly of the Lords supper that therein f Cyprian de Vnct. Chrismat significantia significata eis dem nomenibus censentur the signes and the things signified are reckoned by the same names being both termed the body bloud of Christ And herein is no occasion of contention but to them only that are contentious will prefer their own absurd fancies before the light and truth of the word of God Who as they do peruersly and wilfully mistake so doe wilfully by mistaking runne into idolatrie g Rom. 1.25 worshiping the creature insteed of the creatour giuing to the signe or sacrament that diuine honour which belongeth properly to Christ himselfe And if it be idolatrie as heere he telleth vs to worship for Christ that which is not Christ then hee hath told vs amisse before that men doe not commit idolatrie though they worship the Host when the Priest hath had no intention of consecration In a word our Sauiour Christ though he spake by a figure yet spake so as that not at mens pleasures but according to the course of Gods word he might easely be vnderstood And as for the Apostles we cannot doubt but that they were so well instructed in those other signes and sacraments wherewith they had beene before acquainted as that they could not make any scruple or question what his meaning was in the institution of this Therefore no cause was there for them to be troubled or to aske interpretation heere as of some darke and obscure matter but there had beene cause for them to haue questioned many things in the words of Christ according to that interpretation which the Church of Rome hath made thereof For though Christ spake to them before of the eating of his flesh and that his flesh was truely meate yet had hee said nothing vnto them that they should eate a whole body in the likenesse of a peece of bread Yea though hee spake to them of eating his flesh and drinking his bloud yet withall he spake enough wherby to giue them instruction how that should bee vnderstood as h Sect. 49. 57. before hath been declared 64. W. BISHOP Finally this holy Sacrament is a principall part of the new Testament and one of the chiefest legacies by Christ bequeathed vnto vs Christians Now what law or conscience will permit that any legacie should be interpreted figuratiuely to wit that for a house goods or lands bequeathed and giuen by last will and testament you should vnderstand a figure of a house to be giuen or the signification and representation of some goods or lands If this be most absurd and ridiculous in the testament of any ordinary man about temporall goods how much more pernicious and intollerable is it to suffer this in the eternall Testament of the Sonne of God and that in his diuine and inestimable treasures And thus at length by the grace of God I come to the end of this booke wherein good Christian Reader if thou finde any thing that may confirme thee in the true Catholike faith or further thy knowledge therein giue God the Father of lights from whom all good gifts descend the whole praise If any thing be amisse impute it partly to my slender skill ouersight or negligence and partly to the want of a conuenient resting-place commoditie of bookes and conference all which these times of persecution doe depriue vs of R. ABBOT He that maketh his last will and testament and giueth thereby great legacies of lands and goods and putteth to his seale for confirmation of the legacies that he hath giuen shall he be said in giuing his seale to bequeath only a peece of waxe or a figure and representation of landes and goods The seale indeed is but wax it is but a signe and token of somewhat but yet it serueth to giue assurance of the legacies for confirmation whereof it is appointed The new testament of Christ is the couenant and promise of forgiuenesse of sinnes purchased by his bloud This hath he published by the Gospell to all that repent and beleeue in him For confirmation heereof he hath put to his Sacrament as a seale thereby to deliuer after a sort and to put into our hands the thing which
to the Father and the Son that we make the holy Ghost much inferiour to the other persons And how may that appeare Marry in their French Catechismes they teach saith he that the Father alone is to bee adored in the name of his sonne But what because they say the Father alone must they needes be taken to exclude the holy Ghost Hath he not so much diuinity as to know that the name of the Father is sometimes vsed for distinction of persons sometimes indefinitely of God without any such distinction When our Sauiour saith a Matt. 23.9 One is your Father who is in heauen doth not the name of Father there extend to God the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost Doth it not so also where the Apostel saith b Eph. 4 6. There is one God and Father of all who is aboue all and through all and in you all Doth M. Bishop otherwise vnderstand it when he saith Our Father which art in heauen Surely the French Catechisme may say as he rereporteth who yet seldome reporteth truth yet import nothing therby but what Origen saith ChristiaÌ„s of old did namely c Origen cont Cels â— 8 Christiani soli Deo per Iesum preces offerentes to offer praiers to God only by Iesus or in the name of Iesus The next cauil against Calum is of the same kind that the title of Creatour belongeth only to the Father Which M. Bishop might well haue vnderstood in the distinctioÌ„ of the persoÌ„s by their seueral attributes as d Calu. Opus in Explicat perfidiae Valent. Gâ—ntil Certè vnâ— consensu fatemur Christum impropriè vocari creatorem coeli terrae quoad personae distinctionem Neque enim dubium est quin seriptura patri nomen Creatoris vendicans personas distinguat Caluin setteth it down to be very true and the rather for that in the very articles of the Creed he findeth it so applied I beleeue in God the Father almighty maker of heauen and earth For although it be true which S. Austin oftentimes deliuereth that e August de praedest sanctor cap. 8. Inseparabilia dicimus â—sse opera Trinitatis the workes of the Trinity are inseparable and in the act of any of the persons is the concurrence of all yet they so concurre as that they retaine therein their seuerall proprieties so as that of seuerall actions arise seuerall denominations which in common phrase of speech are vsed as in some specialty belonging to one person rather than another As therefore we attribute it to the sonne alone to haue redeemed vs and to the holy Ghost alone to sanctifie vs albeit both the Father and the holy Ghost had their worke in our redemption and the Father and the Sonne haue their worke also in sanctifying vs euen so to the Father alone the title of Creatour is applied not but that the Sonne and the holy Ghost haue their worke in the creation but because f Origen cont Cels lib. 8. Dicimus immediatum opificeâ— esse fiâ—um dei verbum c. Verâ— autâ—m patrem curus mandato munduâ— sit per ipsum filium conditus esse primarium opincem the Father is the primary or principall worker as Origen saith at whose commandement the world was created by the Sonne and g Hilar. de Synod adu Aria Si suis vnum dicens deum Christum autem deum ante secula filium dei obsecutum patri in creatione omnium non confitetur anathema sit wherein as the Syrmian Councel saith and Hilary approoueth the Sonne did obedience to the Father As for the rest that he heere quarelleth at that the Father is called the first degree and cause of life and the Sonne the second and againe that the father holdeth the first ranke of honour and gouernment and the sonne the second not to question the truth of his allegations I would in a word aske his wisdome doth he that saith that the Father is the first person in Trinity and the Sonne the second deny thereby the holy Ghost to be the third or doth hee hereby exclude the holy Ghost from hauing part with the Father and the Sonne Doth the Apostle when in his epistles he saith h Rom. 1 7. 1. Cor. 1.3 et in reliq Grace and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Iesus Christ doth he I say exclude heereby the holy Ghost from being the authour of grace and peace or from hauing part with the Father and the Sonne Or when he saith i 2. Cor. 1.3 Ephe 1.3 Blessed be God euen the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ doth he deny the Sonne and the holy Ghost to be blessed and praised together with the Father If he doe not why then doth this idle headed Sophister thus take exception where there is nothing for him iustly to except against Forsooth at most saith he the holy Ghost must be content with the third degree of honour But what M. Bishop doe not you also place the holy Ghost in the third degree when you name him the third person Doth not your head serue you to vnderstand degree of order only without imparity or minority as all Diuines in this case are woont to do But why doe I thus contend with a blinde buzzard a wilfull and ignorant wrangler and not rather reiect him as a man worthy to be altogether contemned and derided He hath k Preface to the Reader sect 7. before cited the latter of these words to shew that Caluin made the Sonne of God inferiour to the Father but how leaudly he dealeth in the alleaging of it and to how small purpose it is there declared there is no cause here to speake thereof 12. W. BISHOP 9. one I beleeue the holy Catholike Church the communion of Saints First where as there is but on Catholike church as the Councel of Nice expresly defineth following sundry texts of the word of God they commonly teach that there be two churches one inuisible of the elect another visible of both good and bad holy Secondly they imagine it to be holy by the imputation of Christs holinesse to the elected Bretheren and not by the infusion of the holy Ghost into the hearts of all the faithfull Catholike Thirdly they cannot abide the name Catholike in the true sense of it that is they will not beleeue the true Church to haue beene alwaies visibly extant since the Apostles time and to haue beene generally spread into all countries otherwise they must needes forsake their owne church which began with Friar Luther and is not receiued generally in the greatest part of the Christian world Finally they beleeue no Church no not their owne in all points of faith but hold that the true Church may erre in some principall points of faith How then can any man safely relie his saluation vpon the credite of such an vncertaine ground and erring guide may they not then as well say that they
de notis eccles cap. 7. Si solae vna prouincia retineret veram fidem adhuc verè propriè diceretur ecclesia Catholica dummodo clarè ostenderetur eam esse vnam eandem cum illa quae fuit aliquo tempore vel diuersis in toto mundo if one only countrey should retaine the true faith yet the same should truly and properly be called the Catholike church so that it might cleerely be shewed to be one and the same with that which hath been at any time or times ouer the whole world For by this rule nothing hindreth but that our church though now it be not receiued generally in the greatest part of the Christian world yea if it were but in one onely country yet may truely and properly be called the Catholike church if it be prooued to be one and the same with the church which at any time heeretofore was spred ouer all the world But that our church is the same with that which at the first was spred thorowout the world it is very euident as Tertullian teacheth vs to prescribe g Tert. de praescript adu haeret In eadem fide conspirantes non minus Apostolicae deputantur pro consanguinitate doctrinae by consanguinity or agreement of our doctrine with the doctrine of that church For by the Gospell which the Apostles preached the church was founded thorowout the whole world h Iren. lib. 3. cap. 1. Quod quidem tunc praeconiauerunt postea per dei voluntatem in Scripturis nobis tradiderunt fundamentum columnam fidei nostrae futurum The gospell which the Apostles preached they afterwards by the will of God deliuered to vs in the Scriptures to be the foundation and pillar of our faith The same Gospel deliuered to vs in the Scriptures we receiue we adde nothing to it we take nothing from it as we finde it so we teach it Our faith therefore is the same with the faith of that church which at the first was planted thorowout the whole world There is no cause then for vs to forsake our owne church or to thinke that the same began with Friar Luther as this dreamer imagineth which by so plaine deduction is approoued to be the same with the first church and consequently to be truely and properly the Catholike Church Finally saith he they beleeue no church in all points of faith But doth his wisedome finde it in the articles of the Creed that we are to beleeue any church in all points of faith The church how farre to be beleeued in points of faith We are taught there to beleeue that there is a holy catholike Church which is the communion of Saints but nothing doe we finde there of beleeuing any Church in all points of faith We beleeue the Church in points of faith so farre as she yeeldeth herselfe like a faithfull and obedient spouse to be guided by the voice of her Lord and husband Iesus Christ But if the Church preferre her owne will before the word of Christ as the proud harlot of Rome doth it should be a wrong to Christ to beleeue the Church and a way to set vp humane errour in stead of diuine truth It is not the voice of the Church but the word of the written Gospell which God hath appointed as Irenaeus euen now hath told vs to be the foundation and pillar of our faith For the words of the Church are many times the words of errour and vntruth and therefore if we should relie our saluation vpon the credit thereof wee should indeed relie vpon an vncertaine ground and erring guide but the word of the Gospell is alwaies one and the same without any variablenesse or vncertainty and therefore safely may wee relie our saluation thereupon Now therefore it cannot be said but that wee alwaies beleeue one holy catholike Church according to the profession of faith specified in the Creed though sometimes and in some things we doe not beleeue that is credit the visible Church as touching points of faith because the Church sometimes teacheth vs to beleeue otherwise than God hath taught Which though it seeme strange to M. Bishop in that language which he hath learned to speake yet to vs it is not strange who in the Canonicall histories of the Churches both of the old and new Testament do so often see them diuerting and turning from the right way As for that hee saith that our learned masters doe commonly cashiere out of the Creed the addition of the cōmunion of saints it is but a fruit of the harnessing of his face and he is therefore bold to say it because he hath learned not to be ashamed of any thing that he list to say That by the Saints are there meant al good Christians all the faithful whether aliue or dead we will not denie Communion of Saints implieth neither Purgatorie nor praier to saints but that either praier to saints or praier for soules in purgatorie belong to this communion of Saints we neuer yet learned and are too old to learne it now For as for the Saints in heauen i Aug. de vera relig cap 55. Honoramus eos charitate non seruitute honorandi propter imitationem non propter religionem adorandi We honour them with loue as Austin saith but not with seruice to follow them by imitation not to adore them by religion and therefore not to pray vnto them Further entercourse as yet there is none betwixt them and vs because k Esay 63.16 they know vs not nor are acquainted with vs nor can we any way acquaint them what wee say vnto them Now beside the Saints triumphant in heauen wee acknowledge none but those that are militant vpon the earth because the holie Ghost diuideth the whole body of the Church into l Eph. 1.10 Col. 1.20 those that are in heauen and those that are in earth and pronounceth them all m Reu. 14.13 blessed that are dead in Christ as who rest from labours and sorrowes and thereby are discharged from all Purgatorie paines But if there be any soules in Purgatorie to which all good Christian soules should yeeld and affoord their helpe to doe them ease and this be one matter of the entercourse and communion of Gods Saints why doth the Pope violate the communion of Saints by withholding from those tormented soules that helpe and ease which he is able to affoord them Surely if he cannot doe them ease then is he an impudent liar and a notable impostour and cozener of the world If he can do it then is he a cruell wretch that without compassion suffereth poore souls to lie broiling in those fierie flames But we rather approoue the former member of this diuision and take him for a liar both for that without warrant hee thrusteth in Purgatorie into the articles of our faith and with lesse warrant challengeth the same for a iurisdiction to himselfe 13. W. BISHOP 10 The forgiuenesse of sinnes
non solumâ—t causa vniuersalu sed etiaÌ„ vt particularu ex doctrina Caluini Bezae coÌ„currit ad actiones malas as a cause vniuersall we make him in respect of sinne a cause particular wheras the blinde Iesuit if he had not been blinde might easily haue seene that we make God in wicked sinfull actions only a cause vniuersall in respect of the sinne though in respect of the order and vse thereof we make him a cause particular as who doth particulate and determine the same to this or that as by the words of Hugo Victorinus hath been before said And doth not the Iesuit himselfe confesse as much in the words which I haue alleaged For if God do wrest and turne the wils of sinfull and wicked men to his vse if he hinder them from doing or thinking any thing but what he will permit them to doe or thinke if he so gouerne and rule them as that he maketh them euen against their wils to serue him then he leaueth not the particulating of sinfull actions as touching their order to men themselues but he directeth them in particular to serue the counsell of his will He then that will weigh these speeches of Bellarmine and compare them with that that hath beene before discoursed of our assertion in this point will plainly see that the very euidence of the truth made him subscribe that doctrine against which he professeth to dispute and that he did but maliciously wrest the speeches of our writers to make to himselfe matter of controuersie where by plaine dealing he could finde none This is the triumph and glory of truth that shee aduanceth her selfe and displaieth her banners euen amidest the tents of them that are in armes to fight against her M. Bishop is a true scholer of his and out of the very same malice saith further that Caluin goeth on proouing that God doth not only suffer but actually effect and worke all the euill that any man committeth where he putteth those words actually effect and worke all the euill in a distinct letter as if they were Caluins words whereas Caluin in that that followeth hath no such words The like treachery and falsehood he vseth in the recitall of the other words that God doth worke this euill in man by satans seruice as a meane yet so as God is the principall worker of it and sat an but his instrument whereas the words of Caluin truely reported are these n Cal. Inst l. 1. c. 18. s 2. fateor interposita satanae opera deum saepe agere in reprobis c. Dicitur verò ipse dare homines in reprobum sensum quia iustae suae vindictae praecipuus est author satan verò tantum minister That God by satans seruice doth often worke in the reprobate but yet as by and by it followeth that God is said to giue men ouer to a reprobate sense and to cast them into filthy lusts because he is the chiefe authour of his iust reuenge or punishment and satan only the minister or instrument thereof In which words what is it wherat M. Bishop is offended Surely Saint Austin attributeth to God o Aug. de grat l. arbit c 21. poteÌ„s est fiue per angeles vel bonos vel malos siue quocunque alio modo operari etiam in cordibus malorum pro meritis eorum a power to worke in the hearts of wicked men according to their deserts either by good or euill angels and saith that p Idem in Psal 77. Deus vtitur angelis maâ—is ad puniendos malos sicut in istis â—mnibus c. Et post Eu tribue re sine dubitatione pâ—ssumus obdurationâ—m cordu illorum God vseth euill angels to punish euill men as he did to punish the Aegyptians by hardning their hearts and therefore calleth them q Ibid per illes velut militiae caelestis carnifices the hangmen or executioners of the warfare of heauen So where in another Psalm God is said r Psal 105.25 to haue turned the hearts of the Aegyptians so that they hated his people Å¿ Ibid. Benè creditur deus fecisse per illos angelos malos c. we may wel beleeâ—e saith he that God did this by the euill angels Now then why doth M. Bishop doubt but that satan and his angels are rightly tearmed the ministers and instruments of Gods vengeance the hang-men and executioners of his wrath against wicked and vngodly men Is hee offended to heare that God is the chiefe authour of this vengeance But that wee haue heard before out of Thomas Aquinas whom I trow hee will not gainesay t Tho. Aquin. supra poena refertur in deum sicut in primumactorem that punishment is referred to God as the chiefe authour of it The truth is that if hee had reported Caluins words aright he had had nothing to say against them but leudly and vnhonestly he falsifyeth them that hee may seeme to haue some colour for this slanderous imputation where indeed he hath none Now to goe on with the rest in the same order as I haue begun from the last to the first there foloweth MelancthoÌ„ Of the same cursed crue was Melancthon saith he whereas he himselfe rather here carieth the mark of an accursed wretch in that hee so wilfully belieth and slandereth Melancthon He citeth him vpon the 8. to the Romans where no such are and vpon the 9. of the same Epistle there are words words directly contrary to that forwhich he citeth them u Melanct. ad Rom. c. 9. Etsi deus impertit vitam malis tamen deus non est causa peccati sed voluntas ipsa in malis in diabolo homine transferens agitationem ad obiectum prohibitum à deo est causa peccati Haec sententia tuta â—era est ac sacris literis consentanea Quod autem in scripturis legitur Ego indurabo c. Tradidit eos c. similia haec figura sermonis facilè potest explicari siquis obseruet naturam Hebraici sermonis Certum est enim has figuras habere quandam significationem permittendi Tradidit c. non significat positiuè deum efficaciter seu proprio quodam motu rapere animos ad explendas cupiditates sed significat desertionem Deus deserit impios sinit eos surere non cohibet eorum furorem Ego indurabo c. id est sinam indurari non flectam genuinam impij cordis duritiam Cum autem buius desertionis mentionem facit poenam significat qua punit impiâ—s Haec est vera Grammatica interpretatio nihil habet absurdi Though God saith he giue life to the wicked yet God is not the cause of sinne but the will it selfe in the euill whether the diuell or man transferring the cogitation to an obiect forbidden of God is the cause of sinne This opinion is safe and true and agreeable to the holy Scriptures And whereas saith
one that walketh before him and therefore that of him and his fellowes that deride them the words following haue their iust construction But you witches children come hither the seede of the adulterer and of the whoore On whom haue yee iested vpon whom haue yee gaped and thrust out your tongues are yee not all rebellious children and a false seed But from these he goeth to some of the learnedst amongst vs citing Caluin and Beza Christ truely and properly merited for vs by Caluins doctrine I truely confesse saith Caluin that if a man will set Christ singly by himselfe against the iudgement of God there will be roome for merit Where that thou maiest see gentle Reader that it was not without cause that I suspected him for the former citation I pray thee first to obserue that the very argument of the chapter whence he alleageth these words is thus set dowee h Caluin Instit. l. 2. c. 2. Rectè et proprtè dici Christum nobis promeritum esse gratiam dei salutem That it is rightly and properly said that Christ hath deserued for vs the grace of God and saluation which he purposely disputeth against some i Sect. 1. sunt quidam perperam arguti qui etsi fatentur salutem nos per Christum consequi nomen tamen meriti audire non sustinent quo putant obscurari deâ— gratiam who although they confesse that we attaine saluation by Christ yet cannot endure to heare the name of merit because they thinke the grace of God to be obscured thereby Secondly albeit he set downe Caluins tearmes of qualification k Ibid. EquideÌ„ fateor siquis Christum simpliciter per se opponere vellet iudicio dei non fore merito locum quia non reperietur in homine dignitas quae possit deum promereri simply and by himselfe yet very treacherously he leaueth out the end of the sentence whereby those tearmes are to be vnderstood which is this because there can bee found no worthinesse in man that can deserue at Gods handes For heereby it is manifest that Caluin in those wordes respecteth Christ as man and onely in that respect denieth merit if Christ meerely as man be opposed against the iudgement of God And this further appeareth by that which he addeth to his purpose out of Austin which M. Bishop dissembleth because hee thought he could not so honestly cauill against Austin as he might against Caluin l August de praedest sanct cap. 15. Est etraÌ„ praeclarissimum lumen praedestinationis gratiae ipse saluator ipse mediator dei hominâ—â— homo Christus Iesus qui vt hoc esset quibus tandem suis vel operum vel fidei praecedentibus meritis natura humana quae in illo est comparauit Respendeatur quaeso ille honâ—oâ—t à verbe patri coaeterno in vnitatem personae assumptus filius dei vnigenitus esset vnde hee meruerit There is saith Austin a most notable and cleere light of Predestination and grace euen the man Christ Iesus the Sauiour the Mediatour betwixt God and men who to bee so by what former merits of his either of workes or of faith did the nature of man in him atteine vnto Tell mee I pray saith he that that man taken into vnitie of person with the word coeternall to the Father should be the onely begotten Sonne of God whereby did he merit or deserue it By which words S. Austin giueth vs plainly to vnderstand that the man Christ Iesus did not by merits atteine to become our Sauiour to become the Mediatour betwixt God and man but it was by Gods predestination and grace by his decree and ordinance that it so came to passe Heereupon then Caluin inferreth that m Calu. vt supr Cùm ergò de Christi merito agitur non statuitur in eo principium sed conscendimus ad dei ordinationeÌ„ quae prima causa est quia mero beneplacito modiatorem statuit qui nobis salutem acquireret when we speake of the merit of Christ we are not to place it as the first beginning but we ascend to the ordinance of God which is the first cause because he meerely of his owne good pleasure appointed him the Mediatour to purchase saluation for vs. In which words he acknowledgeth that Christ did verily and indeed purchase saluation for vs but yet that it came of the good pleasure of God and his meere grace and mercy to giue him vnto vs for a Mediatour to merit and purchase our saluation His drift is not in any sort to impeach the merit of Christ but onely to shew that the merit of Christ is no impeachment of the free mercy of God because of that free mercy it is that we haue him to merit for vs. And to that purpose it is that he saith n Ibid. Nam Christus nonnisi ex dei beneplacito quicquam mereri potuit sed quia ad hoc destinatus erat vt iram dei sacrificio suo placaret suaque obedientia deleret transgressiones nostras that Christ could not merit any thing but by the good pleasure of God because but by the good pleasure of God he could not be Christ he could not be man he could not bee the Mediatour betwixt God and man In a word hence it came that he merited for vs as it is added in the next words because hee was destinated and appointed that by his sacrifie he should appease the wrath of God and blot out our transgressions by his obedience To the same effect it is also added which M. Bishop thirdly mentioneth o Ibid. Ex sola dei gratia quae hunc nobis constituit salutis modum dependet meritum Christi that the merit of Christ dependeth vpon the onely grace of God which saith he hath appointed for vs this means of saluation Not so then but that Christ did indeed merit saluation for vs but it was the grace of God that gaue him to merit for vs and so to bee the meanes of our saluation which is the thing that Beza also defendeth against Heshushius And what is there in all this for M. Bishop to dislike He will not say that Christ as a meere man could haue merited at Gods hands because he hath before confessed that the value and dignitie of Christs works arose from the dignitie of his person in that hee was the Sonne of God Hee will not denie that it was the good pleasure and grace of God that gaue Christ to merit in our behalfe for that the texts of Scripture cited by Caluin for proofe thereof doe manifestly shew p Ioh 3.16 God so loued the world that hee gaue his onely begotten Sonne to the end that euery one that beleeueth in him should not perish but haue euerlasting life q 1. Ioh. 4.10 Not that we loued God but that hee loued vs first and sent his Sonne to be the attonement for our sinnes by which it
expresse tearmes teacheth O miracle O goodnesse of God! he that sitteth aboue with his Father at the very same instant is touched with the handes of all men Real presence denied by our beleefe of Christs ascension and giueth himselfe to them that will receiue and embrace him See more of this in the question of the blessed Sacrament where M. PER. citeth the very same authorities which he heere repeateth see my answer to to them there R. ABBOT It is a true argument and very consequent Christ is ascended into heauen and there sitteth at the right hand of God the father therefore hee is not really and locally in the sacrament The connexion is Saint Austins a August in Ioan tract 50. Conuersatus est secundum corporis praesentiam quadraginta diebus cum discipulis suis eis deducentibus videndo non sequendo ascend it in caeluÌ„ non est hîc He is ascended into heauen and is not heere as touching the presence of his body Saint Austin saith that because he is ascended therefore as touching his body he is not heere M. Bishop saith that notwithstanding his ascension he is still heere according to his body Whether now may we thinke is more likely of these two to bee beleeued But M. Bishop to saue himselfe will set Chrysostome and Austin together by the eares Forsooth Chrysostome reporteth it as a miracle that he who sitteth aboue with his father at the very same instant is touched with the hands of all men and giueth himselfe to them that will receiue and embrace him What Chrysostomes minde was in this behalfe appeareth by that which otherwhere he saith that b Chrysost op imperf hom 11. In vasis sanctifacatis non est verum corpus Christi sed mysterium corporis eius continetur in the holy vessels not the true body of Christ but the mystery of his body is contained And by this mystery of his body Saint Austin saith that e August epist 23. Secundum quendam modum sacramentum corporis Christi corpus Christi est after a certaine maner it is the body of Christ and Cyprian saith that d Cyprian de resurrect Christi Quod videtur nonane virtute Christs corpus censetur in name and power it is accounted the body of Christ. As therefore Saint Austin saith that e August in Psal 33. conc 2. Ipse se portabat quodammodo cum diceret Hoc est corpus meum Christ did in some sort beare himselfe in his owne hands when he said This is my body in some sort he saith or after a sort not verily and indeed so Chrysostome intendeth that he who sitteth at the right hand of God is after a sort touched in the Sacrament with the hands of all the partakers thereof not as touching the reality but as touching the mysterie of his body yet so wherein consisteth the miracle which Chrysostome mentioneth as that he indeed giueth himselfe spiritually and by faith to all them that are truely willing to receiue him And in what meaning Chrysostme spake those words we may easily conceiue by other words which he vseth in the very same place f Chrysost de sacerd lib. 3. Dum conspicis dominum immolatum Sacerdotem sacrificio incumbentem ac preces fundentem tum verò turbam circumfusam pretioso illo sanguine intingi ac rubefieri etiamnè te inter mortales versari atque in terra confistere censes annon potiùs evestigiò ad caelum transferris annon omnem ca niâ—câ—gitationem abijcreâ—s mente â—ura circumspieâ—â—quae in ceâ—â— sunt O miraiu um O dâ—â— bemgintatem qâ—â— cum patre sursum sedet in illo ipsotemporis articulo on nium manibus pertractatur aâ— sâ—â—pâ—â— tradit wâ—â—tibus ipsum excipere accâ—mâ—lecti fit autem id nullis praestigijs sed apertis acâ—â—reumspâ—tientibus circumsistentium omnium occutis When thou seest the Lord offered the Priest leaning to the Sacrifice and powring foorth praier and the people round about died and made red with that pretious blood doest thou thinke that thou art amongst mortall men or standing vpon the earth Art thou not foorthwith lift vp to heauen Doest thou not cast away all carnall cogitation and with pure minde behold those things which are in heauen aboue Then vsing the words which M. Bishop hath alleaged he addeth And this is done not by collusion but so as that the standers by with open eies behold all that is done Let M. Bishop now tell vs doe the standers by with open eies see Christ offered Are they made red with the bloud of Christ Must they thinke that they are indeed carried vp to heauen and are not vpon the earth If he cannot deny but that these words are vsed by excesse and vehemencie of speech to drawe the mindes of his hearers to diuine and heauenly meditation of the mysteries then in hand can hee deny but that wee haue iust cause to vnderstand the other words in the very same sort The other testimonies cited by M. PER. out of Vigilius Fulgentius Austin doe make the same good because they shew that Christ according to his manhood is not really vpon the earth M. Bishop biddeth vs see his answeres to those authorities but as yet we doe not see them and if euer we do see them we shall see him as wise or rather as wilfull in them as he hath beene in all the rest 6. W. BISHOP Thirdly he reasoneth thus The Church as it is beleeued is not seene In that we beleeue the Catholike Church it followeth that it is inuisible because things seene are not beleeued We answer that the persons in the Catholike Church are and euer were visible euen to Iewes and Heathens who persecuted them but the inward indowments of those persons that is their faith hope and charity their assistance by Gods spirit and such like Christian qualities are inuisible to be beleeued And euen as a man is truely said to be visible though he consist aswell of an inuisible soule as of a visible body so the Church is visible for the vsible persons visible teaching and administring of Sacraments in it albeit the inward qualities of it be not visible R. ABBOT a Origen in Cant. hom 1. Ecclesiam coetum omnium aduerte sanctoâ—um Et hom 2. Ecclesia ante constitutionem mundi sic enim dicit Paulus sicut elegit nos in Christo c. The holy Chatholike church is the company of Gods saints whom he hath elected in Christ before the foundations of the world and b Gregor in Cantic cap. 3. Secundum praescientiae suae gratiam Christus sanctam ecclesiam de in aeternum permansurissanctis construxit whom he hath by the grace of his foreknowledge appointed to continue with him for euer It is c Ephe. 1.23 the body and d Reuel 21 9. Spouse of Christ e Reuel 5 9. redeemed and f 1. Pet. 1.2 sprinkled with his bloud g
needs confesse themselues to be farre from it which hold that to be impossible and with the principall part of true religion which consisteth in offering a true reall and externall sacrifice vnto God as in that question hath beene prooued they are at vtter defiance R. ABBOT You haue shewed your owne folly M. Bishop and dishonestly The Protestants teach faith hope and charitie aright but for the peruerting of any articles of faith on our side you haue shewed nothing We teach faith hope and charitie as God hath taught them not as your schoole hath newly framed them We teach faith wherby a 1. Io. 5.10.11 to beleeue the record that God witnesseth of his Sonne that God hath giuen vnto vs eternall life and this life is in his Sonne We teach hope whereby b Rom. 8.25 to wait with patience for the reueilling of that which God hath giuen vs. Wee teach charitie whereby to performe c Eph. 2.10 those good works which God hath prepared for vs as the way wherein to walke to the receiuing of it True reall and externall sacrifice for propitiation of sin we teach none but the sacrifice of the passion of Christ because by d Heb. 9.28 10.14 being once offered he hath taken away our sinnes and made perfect for euer them that are sanctified Therefore the sacrifice which he intendeth is no other but sacriledge and idolatrie and because God hath condemned it therefore are we iustly at defiance with it I may not omit how he heere bobbeth his Reader with as in that question hath beene prooued whereas of that question hee hath said iust neuer a word 25. W. BISHOP 2 Touching the second Commandement after our account as God is honoured by swearing in iustice iudgement and truth so he is also by vowes made vnto him of godly and religious duties which the Prophet Dauid signifieth when he saith vow yee Psal 75.13 and render your vowes vnto the Lord your God Heereupon many Catholikes haue and doe continually vow perpetuall pouertie chastirie and obedience the more fully and freely to serue God which holy vowes the Protestants disallow wholly neither doe they allow of any other vowes for ought I haue heard they doe therefore diminish the seruice of God and pare away a part of that which is reduced to the second Commandement R. ABBOT We diminish not the seruice of God because we teach al that the word of God hath taught and with mens deuises God will not be serued Spirituall vowes admitted Popish vowes reiected The true spirituall vowes whereby we consecrate our selues to God we duly approoue but Popish vowes we reiect and detest not onely as superstitious but also as they teach them with opinion of merit and purchase of remission of sinnes for themselues and others most wicked and damnable There needeth heereof nothing more to be said then hath beene before deliuered in the handling of that question 26. W. BISHOP 3. And whereas in the third wee are commanded to keepe holy the Sabaoth day which is principally performed by hearing attentiuely and deuoutly that diuine seruice which was instituted by Christ and deliuered by his Apostles which is the holy Masse they may not abide it but serue God after the inuention of their owne braines with a mingle-mangle of some old some new odly patched together R. ABBOT What Christ instituted appeareth in the Gospell what the Apostles practised and deliuered appeareth by S. Paul holding himselfe entirely to that a 1. Cor. 11.23 which he had receiued of the Lord. What doe wee finde there that doth in any sort resemble the ougly monster of the Popish Masse Gregory Bishop of Rome saith that b Greg. ep l. 7 Indict 2. ep 63. Mos Apostolorum fuit vt ad ipsam solummodo orationem dominicam oblationis hostiam consecrarent the Apostles were woont with the Lords praier only to consecrate the sacred host and shall we then thinke the Apostles to haue been the authours of those gew-gawes and fooleries those turnings and windings and crossings blessings and murmurations and eleuations that are vsed in the Masse Iulius Bishop of Rome the first condemned the dipping of the Sacrament of Christs body in the cup of the bloud of Christ c De cons dist 2. Cum omne Quòd pro complemento communionis intinctam tradunt Eucharistiam populis nec hoc prolatum ex Euangelio testimonium receperunt c. because no witnesse heereof is brought out of the Gospell If nothing be to be done in the celebration of the Sacrament but whereof there is witnesse in the Gospel and d Cyp. l. 2. ep 3. In sacrificio quod Christus est nonnisi Christu sequendus est none as Cyprian saith be to be followed therein but only Christ we haue iust cause to reiect the Masse which hath so little of that that Christ did and so much that he did not The Masse therefore is no sanctifying but a prophaning of the Lords Sabaoth but the true sanctifying of the Sabaoth is in our diuine seruice wherein Gods word is read and taught praier is made to God in the name of Iesus Christ and the Sacraments are administred accordingly as Christ himselfe hath left the same vnto vs. Wherein we haue reteined whatsoeuer the abomination of desolation had left remaining of the ancient seruice of the Church and whatsoeuer was wanting we haue supplied agreeably thereto and to the word of God and no man will account it odly patched together but such odde fellowes as M. Bishop is who are so farre in loue with the Romish harlot as that they like to eat no bread but what is moulded with her vncleane and filthie hands 27. W. BISHOP In the fourth we are commanded to obey our Princes as well as our parents and all other our Gouernours in all lawfull matters yet the Protestants hold that our Princes lawes doe not binde vs in conscience R. ABBOT What Is Saul also amongst the Prophets Princes lawes how they binde in conscience Is M. Bishop now come to speake of obedience to Princes by the problemes of whose religion no Prince shall be obeied if the Pope list by any pretense of religion to picke a quarrell against him nor any matters shall be lawfull for him to command but what must stand with the Popes law Doth he speake of obedience to Princes who because his Prince liketh not to follow his course hath before threatned him a Epist to the king sect 34. God knoweth what that forcible weapon of necessitie will driue men vnto at length When the Fox preacheth beware the Geese To the point I answer him briefely we teach that Princes lawes in things subiect to their command do binde the conscience to externall obedience though not to any spirituall opinion of the things wherein we doe obey And that we doe not denie this he himselfe b Preface to the Reader sect 3. before hath testified for
Bishop here pretendeth that they haue more cause to complaine of vs than we of them for he saith that wee haue defrauded the poore people of both body and blood of Christ and in lieu of that most pretious banquet doe giue them a cold breakefast of a morsell of bread and a sup of wine Which words hee vseth rather of malice then for that he knoweth not that wee affirme in the due participation of this Sacrament a heauenly riches of grace and of the communion of the body and blood of Christ Tell vs M. Bishop when Gelasius saith that q Gelas cont Eutych Nestor Certè sacramenta quae sumimus corporis sanguinâ—â— domini diuina resest per illa diumae consortes â—fficimur naturae tamen esse non desinit substantia vel natura panis vini the Sacraments which we receiue of the body and blood of Christ are a diuine thing and we are thereby made partakers of the diuine nature yet there ceaseth not to be the substance or nature of bread and wine did hee make the Sacrament to be no more but a morsell of bread and a sup of wine If wee respect the nature of the outward and visible elements it is true that we receiue in the Sacrament a morsell of bread and a sup of wine for these creatures r Theodoret. dialog 2. Manent in priore substantia figura forma c. remaine still as Theodoret saith in their former substance but if we respect them in their vse and effect this bread is heauenly bread and this cup is the cup of saluation and life eternall And as he is a mad man who hauing a rich gift confirmed vnto him by his Princes seale will vilifie the seale and say it is but a peece of wax euen so is he as mad who of the Sacrament of Christ which is Å¿ Rom. 4.11 the seale of the righteousnesse of faith the pledge of the remission of sinnes the meanes whereby grace and life through faith are deriued vnto vs will say either in baptisme that it is but a handfull of water or in the Lords supper that it is but a morsell of bread and a sup of wine But of this and of his fiue other sacraments as he hath spoken before so I haue answered him t Preface to the Reader sect 20. before and I refer the reader to that that is there said where he shall easily see that he hath no cause to account himselfe vnfortunate for following vs but rather to hold them for vnfortunate fooles that yeeld themselues to bee guided by such fancies 56. W. BISHOP Let this be the first The state of the new Testament which is more perfect then the old requireth accordingly Sacraments of greater grace and perfection than the old had they had Manna which for substance and taste far passed our bread and in signification was equall to it Wherefore either we must grant our Sacrament of bread and wine to be inferior to theirs of the old Testament or else acknowledge and confesse it to be the true body and bloud of Christ which doth surpasse theirs exceedingly as the body doth the shadow This argument is confirmed by our Sauiour himselfe who in expresse termes doth preferre the meat that he was to giue to his disciples before that of Manna Ioh. 6.48.49 which their Fathers had eaten in the wildernesse R. ABBOT If this argument be good it prooueth reall presence in Baptisme as well as it doth in the Lords supper If in Baptisme without any reall presence there be greater grace perfection as in a Sacrament of the new testament then there was in the Sacraments of the old then nothing hindreth but that in the Lords supper the like also may bee neither can M. Bishop alleage any reason to prooue it necessary in the one that shall not prooue it in the other also The preeminence of the state of the new testament aboue the old standeth in cleerenesse of light not in difference of faith in the performance of promises not in any diuerse effect of them a 2. Cor. 4.13 Wee haue the same spirit of faith and a little to turne the Apostles words b Act. 15.11 they hoped to bee saued by the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ euen as wee doe c Aug de nat grat cap 44. Ea fides iustos sanauit antiquos quae sanat nos id est mediatoris dei et hominum hominis Iesu Christi fides sanguinis eius fides crucis eius fides mortis resurrectionis eius The same faith saith S. Austin saued the iust of old time that saueth vs euen the faith of the Mediatour betwixt God and man the man Iesus Christ the faith of his bloud the faith of his crosse the faith of his death and resurrection To them he was to come to vs hee is already come he hath stood as it were in the middest betwixt vs they looked vpon him forward we looke vpon him backward but both receiue from him the same grace Accordingly therefore the Sacraments of the old and new testament though in outward forme and administration they differ much yet in inward power and effect they are the same d Aug. ep 118. Leus iugo suo nos subdidit sarcinae leui vnde sacramentis numero paucissimis obseruatione facillimis significatione praestantissimis societatem noui populi colligauit Christ as S. Austin noteth hath laid vpon vs an easie yoke by Sacraments in number very few in obseruation most easie and in signification most excellent they were forced to attend to many types and figures and encumbred with infinite operositie of manifold obseruations and ceremonies Our state therefore is better than theirs for that wee with more ease are partakers of the same effects of grace which with greater labour and difficultie God so disposing they did atteine vnto but otherwise what benefit we receiue by our Sacraments towards eternall life they also receiued by theirs For why doth the Apostle say that the Israelites e 1. Cor 10.2 were baptised in the cloud and in the sea but to signifie that in these types and figures they were made partakers of the same spirituall blessing and grace that in baptisme is ministred vnto vs. And why doth he say that they did eat the same spirituall meate and drinke the same spirituall drinke but to giue to vnderstand that they also did f Ioh. 6.54 eate the flesh of the sonne of man and drinke his bloud that they might liue thereby for if wee respect the outward signes they did not eat the same or drinke the same that we do It must needs therefore bee as touching the spirituall and inward meate and drinke which is the body and bloud of Christ And so the Apostle saith that they dranke of the spirituall rocke which followed them and the rocke was Christ g Amb. de Sp. Sanct lib. 1. in
and would he then thus like a micher steale away from all and leaue the chiefe and principall matters of his suggestion without succour or defense I had often said and he hath now verified it that either he would not reply at all or else would doe it in that patching sort as he hath now done And surely had not I my selfe ministred vnto him the matter whereupon hee hath framed his Reproofe without any necessity thereof arising out of his Epistle I should haue gone for this time without any reproofe at all Vpon mention made of the Catholike faith I tooke occasion further than I was compelled by him to insist vpon the name of Catholike and to shew their abuse thereof Vpon his appeale to the Romane Church when the same was in the best and most flourishing estate I tooke occasion of a comparison of the doctrine of the old and new Church of Rome by sundry sentences of the Bishops and other writers of that Church whereas it had beene sufficient for me to haue disprooued those instances whereby he tooke vpon him to prooue the same faith in both From these two points ariseth the whole substantiall part of his booke and had I omitted these in hard case had he beene for the writing of a booke for for defense of his owne allegations he had had nothing more to say Now gentle Reader to confesse to thee the truth I had determined so soone as time should serue by a speciall treatise to enlarge the said comparison and to remooue their exceptions which they haue to take against it and so more fully to describe The true ancient Romane Catholike What then hath M. Bishop in effect done by his Reproofe but onely giuen me further occasion to doe that that I had beforehand purposed to doe and to consider of sundry matters which happily otherwise not minding I might easily haue ouerpassed For the doing of this I must craue thy patience for a time because it is a matter that will require conuenient time but in the meane time to giue thee some satisfaction as touching that Reproofe I haue thought good by a short Aduerisement to make it appeare to thee that Foxes whelpes are all alike that M. Bishop is no changling but continueth in his proceeding the same man that he was in the beginning 3. And first I would haue thee to obserue what a terrible inscription he hath put in the forefront to fright owles and buzzards that they may keepe them in their corners and not come foorth to see the light A Reproofe saith he of M. Doct. Abbots Defence of the Catholike deformed by M. W. Perkins wherein his sundry abuses of Gods sacred word and most manifold misapplying and falsifying of the ancient Fathers sentences be so plainely discouered to the eie of euery indifferent Reader that whosoeuer hath any due care of his owne saluation can neuer heereafter giue him more credit in matter of faith and religion But not contented heerewith to bombast this skar-crow to the full and to cause the greater terrour taking occasion belike by my comparing him and his fellow Wright to Iannes and Iambres he vnderwriteth to that title the words of the Apostle d 2. Tim. 3.8 As Iannes and Iambres resisted Moses so these men also resist the truth men corrupted in minde reprobate concerning the faith but they shall prosper no further for their folly shall be manifest to all as theirs also was Now is not this a horrible coniuration Gentle Reader and sufficient to make any mans haire to stare Wouldest thou not imagine heereby that there should be cause to cry out vpon me yea to hang me vp for abusing Scriptures and fathers and beguiling the world in such sort as he pretendeth But stay I pray thee a while remember that losers must haue their words and they will crie lowdest that smart most neither doth any thing in being handled make so importunate a noise as the filthy swine doth Saint Austine saith rightly that e August de ciu dei lib. 5. cap. 27. Non ideò plus potest vanitas quà m veritas quia si voluerit etiam plus potest clamara quà m veritas vanity is not therefore stronger than truth because if it list it can cry louder than truth Thou knowest that naughty drabs when they are reprooued for their leaud and vnhonest life doe set themselues with all bitternesse and violence to deuise and frame words and termes to gall and disgrace them by whom they are reprooued Thou maiest well conceiue that the greatest occasion of suspicion lieth on his part who like the silly wood-cocke that thrusteth his head into a hole and leaueth his body to be beaten till both head and all be dead so after three yeeres space leauing the whole body of his Epistle vndefended thrusteth himselfe into one corner of a booke there for a time to shrowd himselfe till his head being crushed in that corner also he shall haue no place left further to yeeld him breath But that thou maiest see from what spirit that title of his booke hath proceeded I haue thought good heere to examine the whole matter of his preface wherein he taketh vpon him to iustifie the same and professeth to haue said so much therein f Page 11. as may suffice to discredit me with all indifferent men Marke well I pray thee the matters which he bringeth consider well the waight and the truth of them and then take knowledge of some other obseruations that I shall giue thee concerning the whole book 4. His Preface he beginneth artificially according to a precept of Rhetoricke which teacheth a man g Quintil. Orator institut lib. 5. cap. 13. Haec simulatio hucusque procedit vt quae dicendo refutare non possumus quasi fastidiendo calcemus a dissembling tricke that what he cannot confute he shall seeme scornefully to reiect and trample vpon He telleth his Reader concerning mine answer that h Pag. 3. he found so little substance in it that a long time he was vnwilling to reply vpon it and could not thinke the time well bestowed which should be spent in so friuolous and vaine altercation Aquil◠non capit muscas The Fox would none And in this veine the man much pleaseth himselfe hauing much in his mouth my i Pag. 45. vnlearned writings k Pag. 94. more meet to stop mustard-pots than likely to stop any meane scholars mouth He calleth me l Pag. 86. shallow and shuttle witted m Pag. 16. one of the most shallow and beggerliest writers of these daies n Pag. 52. one of the shallowest for substance of matter that euer he read and o Pag. 40. if saith he there lie more marrow and pith hidden in my writing than one at the first sight would perhaps suppose spectatum admissi risum teneatis then surely it doth require a man of more substance than he though of lesser shew yea p Pag. 47. if
there be more in my booke saith he than you somtimes would haue people to beleeue they that haue a good opinion of it may hap to thinke that those graue and wise men in high authority foresaw that it would hardly be answered by laying nakedly testimony to testimony and reason to reason wherefore they thought it best policy to make choice of som iolly smooth-tongued discourser that might with a ruffling multitude of faire pleasing words cary his Reader from the matter Thus he is all marrow and pith a terrible man our graue wise men in high authority were afraid of him they were put to their shifts to haue his booke answered as for me I am no body all words and no woorth a man of too little substance to encounter with the profound learning of so great a Clerke I doe him heere a double fauour both that I traduce not his foolery as it deserueth and that I forbeare to giue him a ierke for so leaudly demeaning himselfe towards those graue wise men in high authority But what he is and what I am is not to be determined by him or mee God and the Country must trie vs both only this I doe not doubt that my writings vnlearned as they are haue set a dagger at his heart which he shall neuer be able to pull away It appeareth by this Preface that hee hath heard somewhat thereof that pleaseth him not whereupon he is growen so furiated and enraged as that he spitteth nothing but poison and straineth himselfe to the vttermost to disgrace that which he seeth to be so disgracefull to himselfe But he is heerein but as the dogge which gnaweth the stone which causeth paine to his owne teeth but to the stone can doe no harme at all And heere it troubleth him that to his Epistle being but one sheet and a halfe I should write so long an answer of thirty sheetes but I answer him that in the seruice of my Prince and in a busines of that nature I was not to huddle vp any thing but to vnfold and lay open all things that the truth might the more fully and plainly appeare I doe not wonder that he would haue had me more briefe because therby his vnhonest and shamefull dealing should haue beene the lesse seene In a word I wrot as the ancient fathers of the Church haue beene wont to doe not to serue the humour of Heretickes and enemies but as might best make for the satisfaction and edification of Gods Church 5. Another quarrell he hath concerning my sharpe and bitter words disgracefull and odious termes and bitter railing as he speaketh against the best men of their side As touching the persons I must tell him that the best of their side are very bad if they be no better than those of whom I haue spoken As touching the words I will not iustifie my selfe but that in a iust and righteous cause humane affection may carry me somewhat too far in heat but yet I must aduertise M. Bishop that there is a difference to be made betwixt words spoken by way of priuate anger and reuenge and those that are spoken by way of iust reproofe By way of iust reproofe Esay saith to wicked men q Esay 57.3 Ye witches children ye seed of the adulterer and of the whoore By way of iust reproofe Iohn Baptist said to the Pharisees and Sadduces r Mat. 3.7 O generations of vipers who hath forewarned you to flie from the wrath to come In like sort doth our Sauiour Christ bitterly reproch the Scribes and Pharisees calling them Å¿ Mat. 12.34 generations of vipers t Mat. 16.4 a wicked and adulterous generation u Mat. 23.13.16.17.26 Hypocrites blind guides fooles and blind blind Pharisees and in extreame passion saith x Ver. 33. Ye serpents Ye generations of vipers how should ye escape the damnation of hel So doth Steuen speake to the Iewes y Act. 7.51 Ye stifnecked and of vncircumcised hearts and eares And Paul to Ananias z Act. 23.3 God shall smite thee thou painted wall The words then are not alwaies faulty but the occasion thereof is alwaies to be regarded and the occasion thereof must be taken to depend much vpon the condition of the persons For where men are in any sort tractable and do not wilfully oppose themselues against instruction the Apostle prescribeth that rule alleaged by M. Bishop a 2. Tim. 2.24 The seruant of the Lord must not striue but must be gentle towards all apt to teach instructing with meekenesse them that are contrary minded But where men absurdly and wilfully resist the truth and doe leaudly seeke to draw others to be partakers with them in their sin there the Apostles example sometimes taketh place who when he saw Elymas the sorcerer labouring to turne away Sergius Paulus the Romane Deputy from the faith brast out with great indignation and said b Acts 13.10 O full of all subtilty mischiefe thou child of the diuel enemy of all righteousnes wilt thou not cease to peruert the straight waies of the Lord Now therefore albeit I doe not in any sort compare my selfe in measure of grace with those excellent seruants of God as M. Bishop to make himselfe worke full simply cauelleth yet according to that measure of the same spirit which God hath giuen me let no man maruell that I haue beene deeply mooued in heart to see these vassals of Antichrist by trocherous calumniations of true religion to offer so great indignity to the Anointed of the Lord and therefore haue somewhat dipped my pen in gall to exagitate their hypocrisie and iniquity in such sort as to me it seemed the cause it selfe did require Neither will I for that cause be a foule mouthed wrangler as M. Bishop hath stiled me but an earnest Aduocate of Gods truth c Iude vers 3. vehemently contending as the Apostle Iude exhorteth for the maintenance of the faith which was once giuen to the Saints caried with zeale and indignation towards malicious and wicked hypocrits who hauing prostituted their owne soules to the fornications of the whore of Babylon seeke perfidiously to entangle the consciences of others in the fellowship of their vngodly courses and in a word so far from wrangling and hauing with so sound reason and proofe repulsed the cauillations and Sycophancies of his epistle as that after three yeeres he can say nothing for iustification of his motiues which he tendered to the King but shiftingly abuseth the world by a meere collusion enlarging a booke out of some matters of discourse and making a miserable answer onely to some few sentences alledged against him without the compasse of that that he had written But it is not to be omitted in this behalfe what M. Bishop himselfe euen heere saith d Pag. 4. I wot well saith he that the most milde sweet pen-men are sometimes through zeale of the truth or by the ouerthwart dealing of their
aduersary moued to let slip now and then a word or two Yea and let it be noted how one sweet pen-man in this case excuseth another M. Bishop his fellow Watson after that he had with all importunity and fury thorowout his whole booke of Quodlibets runne vpon the Iesuits e Answer to particulars against D. Bishop pag. 17. Sory I am saith he that to some blemish of his former vertues certaine bookes set out of late carry the letters of his name because the stile seemeth too sharp and some thing in them soundeth harshly in Catholike eares But to mitigate the matter the occasion of writing which time and place ministred must be duely considered and withall how he and others were before grieuously hurt in their reputation by the other party and that in defense of their honour they might lawfully discredit the iniurious aggressours Now if any man looke vpon me with the same eies wherewith M. Bishop looked vpon M. Watson he will easily see that the reputation and honour of our religion being so deeply touched and so many infamous aspersions being cast vpon our whole doctrine and ministery by his malicious and slanderous libell the zeale of truth and importunate impudencie of such an iniurious aggressour must needs wrest from me what spleene or passion I had to shew in the seruice of my Prince and in the cause of Iesus Christ And this I hope shall excuse me in this behalfe with all that are friends and welwillers to the cause in hand or if any take exception further I must say to him with the words of S. Bernard f Bern. in Cant. serm 12. Inhumanè corum redarguis opera quorum onera refugis temerariè obiurgat rirum de praelio reuertentem mulier nens in domo Thou dealest vngently to blame the doings of them whose burdens thou refusest it is rashnesse for the woman that sitteth spinning in the house to checke the souldier returning from the warre g Hieron Apolog ad Pammach Delicata doctrina est pugnanti ictus dictare de muro It is a daintie kinde of teaching saith Hierome to sit vpon the wall and to appoint the man in fight in what maner he shall strike Consider that thou art but as a beholder and looker on but I was as hee that felt the blowes and therefore do not maruell if I were more moued than thou yea esteeme of me in this businesse by the experience of thine owne affections in that that toucheth thine owne cause But I must needs heere intreate thee gentle Reader by the way to note how this sweet peÌ„-man carieth himselfe in that kind wherein he obiecteth so great fault to me The flowers of his speech are h Preface to his second part sect 10. Of the same accursed crue was Melancthon Caluin in his institutions to hell i Reproofe Pag. 50. craking impudencie and impudent craking k Pag. 64. a vaine craking iangler and notorious liar l Pag. 211. deuoid of all good conscience honest dealing m Pag. 264 past all shame and worthy to be thrust into an Asses skin n Pag. 272. base and bastardly minded Ministers o Pag. 283. cosening companions false hypocrites most impudent liars p Pag. 281. the spirit that possesseth his heart to wit the father of all lies q Pag. 283. he that will be fed with lies let him take the diuell to his father and M. Abbot or some other such like of his lying Ministers to be his master Nay the terme of lying is nothing euery where and it is wonderfull to see what a rare dexterity he hath to multiply lies vpon me as for example fiue lies in a place where indeed there is no lie r Reproofe Pag. 83. A lie it is saith he that I denied to his Maiesty such authority as would serue for the taking order how God might be rightly serued in his Realm whereas my words are that he denieth to his Maiesty that supreme gouernment in causes ecclesiasticall whereby he should take vpon him so to doe which he so far denieth as that against this Å¿ Pag. 170. 171. c. Supremacy he hath said more than of any one matter thorowout his whole booke What authority he dreameth would otherwise serue so to do that to me is nothing Another lie it is saith he that the Popes lawes doe inhibit Princes to meddle with matters of religion whereas the law is plaine t Dist 96. Si imperator Ad Sacerdotes deus voluit quae ecclesiae disponen da sunt pertinere c. Non publicis legibus non a potestatibus seculi sed a Pontificibus sacerdotibus opus deus Christianae religionis voluit ordinari c. The ordering of matters for the Church God would haue to belong to Priests not to the secular powers not by publike lawes not by secular powers but by Popes and Priests would God haue the worke of Christian religion to be ordered u Sext. de haeret Quicunque Inhibemus ne cuiquam laica personae liceat publicè vel priuatim de fide Catholica disputare Qui contra fecerit excoÌ„municationis laqueo innodetur We forbid any lay person either publikely or priuately to dispute or reason concerning the Catholike faith he that doth so let him be excommunicated Againe he saith A third lie it is that I affirmed Kings to hold their crownes immediatly from God but that his foolery may the better appeare he adeth Which though it be true in that sense he taketh it yet it is false that I said so in that place for I meddle not with those termes of immediatly or mediatly So then he saith so but yet I lie in saying that he saith so because he saith not so in that place whereas notwithstanding I neither charge him with mediatly nor immediatly in that place but onely repeat his owne former words that of Gods meere grace and bounty Princes receiue and hold their diadems and princely scepters Yet againe The fourth lie is that the Pope denieth Princes to hold their Diadems and Princely authority immediatly from God but are to receiue them by his mediation whereas the Pope himselfe saith of the Emperour x Auent Annal lib. 6. Imper ator quod habet totum habet a nobis Ecce in potestate nostra est imperium vt deâ—â—us iâ—ud cui volumus propterea constituti à deo super gentes regna vt destruamus euellamus edificemus plantemus c. Ex epist Adriani 4. What he hath he hath it wholly of vs the Empire is in our power to giue it to whom we will being therefore appointed of God ouer nations and Kingdomes to destroy and to pull vp to build and to plant Which words I alledged vsed by y Bull a Pij 5. apud Sander de schism Anglic. Pius Quintus against Queene Elizabeth and applied generally to that purpose by the z Extrauag de maior
Pag. 12. answer to the second section of his Epistle I say thus p Bulla Pij 5. de Maior obed cap. Vnam sanctam Behold sayth the Pope we are set ouer nations and kingdomes to build vp and to plant to pull vp and to destroy c. and therefore what the wisdome of God saieth as M. Bishop alleageth q Prou. 8.15 By me Kings raigne the same the Pope blasphemously applieth r Ceremon eccles Rom. lib. 1. cap. 2. Ad sum mum pontificem Dâ—i vices gerentem in terris tanquoam ad eum per quem reges regnant c. to himselfe Per me reges regnant By me Kings raigne To prooue that the Pope saith that By him Kings raigne I alleaged his owne booke Sacrar ceremon eccl Rom. l. 1. c. 2. where it is expresly sayd that it is he by whom Kings doe reigne as I haue now set downe in his owne words euen as * supra sect 5. before I noted him saying of the Emperour By me he reigneth Now in setting downe my text in Å¿ Reproofe pag. 82. his booke hee quite leaueth out the citation and then telleth his Reader t Pag. 84. This is the fift lie that he makes within the compasse of lesse than halfe a side for albeit the Pope vse the words spoken to the Prophet Ieremy Ecce nos constituti sumus c. yet doth he not those by King Salomon vttered in the person of Gods wisdome which M. Abbot deceitfully shuffleth in But M. Bishop do I lie indeed What will you tell me that I lie and in the mean time suppresse the proofe whereby it should appeare that I doe not lie If I should thus deale I know what you would terme it and I could not but acknowledge it what it is in you let the world iudge I forbeare to giue it the right name Another prank he plaieth of as great honesty as this in putting in of words which are none of mine u Answer to the epistle sect 3. pag 19. Our faith therefore say I because it is that which the Apostles committed to writing is the Apostolike faith and our Church ex consanguinitate doctrinae by consanguinity and agreement of doctrine is procued to be an Apostolike church At the end of which words M. Bishop x Reptoofe pag. 103. in setting downe my text hath put in c. as if there were something els to come in than he hath expressed and in the rehearsing of them in his answer addeth these words y Pag. 114. And is the only true Catholike church as if I had said that our Church of England is the only true Catholike church and is proued by perfection of doctrine to be the only true Catholike church heereupon running vpon mee for saying the same which I reproued in the Donatists wheras the words against which hee fighteth are none of my words but are most leaudly and falsely thrust in by himselfe You tell me of tricks M. Bishop but if I had vsed such tricks as these and many other of yours I would be ashamed euer to set pen to paper again Remember what your selfe haue said z Reproofe pag. 283. The diuels cause it is that needeth to be bolstered out and vnderpropped with lies 26. Yet further gentle Reader to giue thee some small taste of his answers to the authorities by me alleged thou maiest first take knowledge of those words of Austin a Answer to the epistle sect 3. pag. 18. ex August cont lit Petilian l. 3. c 6 Siquis siue de Christo siue de eâ—us ecclesia siue de quaecunque re quae pertinet ad fidem vitamque nostram non dicam Nos c. sed si angelus de caelo vobis annunciauerit praeterquam quod in scripturis legalibus Euangelicis accepistis anathema sit If any man nay if an Angell from heauen shall preach vnto you concerning Christ or concerning his Church or concerning any thing pertaining to our faith and life but what ye haue receiued in the Scriptures of the Law and the Gospell accursed be he What saith M. Bishop heere b Reproofe pag. 112. To S. Austin I answer first that those are not his formall words which he citeth Is that all But if those be not his formall words why doth he not tell his Reader what his formall words are Surely if hee were a man formally honest he wold deale more materially than to mocke his Reader in this sort Well though he will not tell the formall words yet he expoundeth the meaning to be if any shall preach contrary to that that is written whereas S. Austin telleth vs that c August de Doct. Christ l. 2. c. 9. In ijs quae apertè in scriptura posita sunt inueniuntur illa omnia quae continent fidem moresque vinendi in those things which are plainely set downe in the Scripture are found all those things which conteine faith and conuersation of life and therefore meaneth not only if any preach contrary but as his words are if any preach any thing beside that that is written accursed be he 27. I alledged that S. Paul writing his epistle to the Romans d Answer to the epistle sect 4. pag. 24. ex Theodoret praefat in epist Pauli comprehended therein as Theodoret saith omnis generis doctrinam accuratam copiosamque dogmatum pertractationem doctrine of all sorts or all kind of doctrine and very exact and plentifull handling of the points thereof The first part of these words in Latin he leaueth out in my text and in his answer saith to it thus e Reproofe pag. 132. 133. That you may see how nothing can passe his fingers without some legerdemaine marke how he Englisheth Theodorets words Dogmatum pertractationem the handling of opinions is by him translated all points of doctrine whereas it rather signifieth some than all opinions or lessons But M. Bishop this dealing of yours is somewhat too grosse Mee thinkes you should seeke to be acquainted with some Aegyptians that you may learne of them somewhat more cunningly to shift and conueigh Thou seest gentle Reader that he hath dashed out Omnis generis Doctrinam all kinde of Doctrine wherein the force of the words consisteth and then saith that by legerdemaine I haue Englished Dogmatum pertractationem all points of Doctrine Doe not maruell that he doth so because he well perceiued that by these words of Theodoret his Reader should see that if the Apostle comprehended in that epistle all kinde of Doctrine then the doctrine of the church of Rome that now is cannot be the same that it was of old because they haue so many Doctrines now whereof there is nothing conteined in that epistle 28. I produce Agatho Bishop of Rome professing f Answer to the epist sect 4. pag. 29. duty of obedience to the Emperour Constantinus the fourth and taking vpon him obediently to performe what the said Emperour commanded Heare
Tertullian confesseth there that Catholikes held themselues bound to fast the Lent and on Wednesdaies and Fridaies whereas in Tertullian there is no such matter and hee contrariwise plainely saith of them b Tertul. de ieiun Certè in Euangelio illos dies ieiunijs determinatos putant in quibus ablatus est sponsus hos esse iam solos legitimos ieiuniorum Christianorum that in the Gospell they thought those daies determined for fasting wherein the Bridegroome was taken away which were good Friday and Easter euen and that these onely were the daies by law appointed for Christian fasts Such iugling tricks are not daintie with him and thou shalt see store enough of them when heereafter we shall come to examine him more at large 32. Now heere to obserue the same course that he hath done it shall not be amisse before I end with him to shew by one or two places with what conscience he carieth himselfe in the vsage of holy Scripture And first I note his prodigious impudencie in the defense of that damnable praier which heeretofore they haue vsed as touching Thomas Becket who though by vndue course yet died no other but a rebell and traitour to his Prince e Breuiar in translat S. Thom. Cantuariens Tu per Thomae sanguinem quem pro te impendit Fac nos Christe scandere quò Thomas ascendit By the bloud of Thomas which for thee he did spend Make vs O Christ to climbe whither Thomas did ascend This praier the masters of the Church of Rome were ashamed of and in the reforming of their Portesses they haue put it out it being one of the great infamies of their church that euer it came in But this iolly gamester resoluing to play at all will haue vs thinke that they were fooles and did more than they need to doe because this praier may be warranted d Reproofe pag. 109. 110. by example of the like recorded in the old Testament Lord remember Dauid and all his mildnesse for why may we not saith he as well beseech God to remember the constant fortitude of S. Thomas as they did the mildnesse of Dauid he should say the affliction or trouble of Dauid But did he not know that sundry great authours both old and new and namely e Leo in Natiuit dom ser 4. Hinc Dauid promissionem Dei prophetico spiritu canit dicens Iurauit dominus Dauid non frustrabitur c. Leo Bishop of Rome haue taken that Psalme to haue beene written by Dauid himselfe and doe thereby exclude that blasphemous construction of his And if it were not so will he make it all one for the people to beseech God to remember Dauids trouble and for vs to pray by the bloud of Thomas to be brought to heauen The people intreat God to remember the affliction of minde and care that Dauid had for the building of the Temple vpon which God tooke occasion to make promise to him of his sonne to sit vpon his throne by whom that should be done To this care of Dauid and to the promise thereupon made they desire God in the beginning of Solomons reigne to giue effect Chrysostome maketh it the praier of Solomon himselfe and giueth the effect therof thus f Chrysost in Psal 131. Quoniam genus ab co duxi quâ—mam cum tibi acceptum fuisset cius studium diligentia dixisti te eius genu regnuÌ„ erecâ—urum propterea haec pacta conuenta nunc a te exigimus Because I am borne of him and for that when his studie and diligence was acceptable to thee thou saiedst that thou wouldest raise vp his stocke and kingdome therefore we now desire of thee the things that thou hast couenanted and promised Now this being so plaine and cleere a meaning of that place what may we thinke of him that would thus impiously wrest it to the maintenance of a horrible blasphemie which farre hath it beene from any ancient Christian writer to imagine to be meant either there or any otherwhere 33. Againe g Answer to the epistle sect 25. the Apostle say I in expresse termes affirmeth the imputation of righteousnesse without works The words are plaine h Rom. 4.6 Dauid declareth the blessednesse of that man to whom the Lord imputeth righteousnesse without works Now what doth he say heereto Forsooth i Reproofe pag. 135. touching imputation of righteousnesse the Apostle speaketh not like a Protestant of the outward imputation of Christs iustice vnto vs but of inherent iustice to wit of faith which worketh by charitie which are qualities powred into our hearts by the holy Ghost so that saith he there is onely a bare sound of words for the Protestants the true substance of the text making wholly for the Catholikes Thus he confesseth that the words sound for vs and may we be sure that the Apostle hath any other meaning than hee soundeth by the words Forsooth M. Bishop telleth vs so and we must so beleeue it though his exposition be a meere contradiction to the words of the Apostle Inherent righteousnesse is the righteousnesse of works The Apostle speaketh of imputation of righteousnesse without works And yet we must thinke that hee speaketh of imputing inherent righteousnesse Surely the very phrase of imputing inherent iustice is in the Apostles drift a thing very absurd for k Origen in Rom. cap. 4. Quid videbitur gratiae iusto reputari iustitiam ad iustitiam what grace or fauour should it seeme to be saith Origen that to a iust man his iustice should be reputed for iustice but to say that by the imputing of righteousnesse without works is meant the imputing of inherent iustice that is the imputing of the righteousnesse of works it is a construction so frantike so senslesse so shamelesse as that we haue good cause to feare that the authour of it hath desperately resolued himselfe rather to say any thing than to confesse the truth The thing is plaine by the words in which the Apostle saith that Dauid declareth the blessednesse of that man to whom the Lord imputeth righteousnesse without works namely l Psal 32.1 Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiuen and whose sinnes are couered blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not sinne Whereby it is manifest that not the imputing of inherent iustice but the forgiuenesse of sinnes by faith in Christ is the imputing of righteousnesse without works Man hauing no works whereby to appeare iust in the sight of God yet by forgiuenesse of sinnes is reputed iust because m August Retract li. 1. c. 19. Omnia mandata facta reputantur quando quicquid non fit ignoscitur all the commandements of God are reputed as done when that is pardoned which is not done Now what impudency is this man grown to that dareth thus apparently delude abuse the world Surely these shifts of his are such so wilfull so wretched as that they giue all
the confession of their faith exhibited to the French King as Sleidan hath recorded it shall be no disreputation to vs that we haue ioined with them neither shall it be to M. Higgons any reputation with God that he hath departed from them 40. I may not omit that mentioning elsewhere that Luther termeth their religion by the name of Popery though this were but a very small occasion yet his gall casting vpon the sudden he addeth u Book 2. p. 1. c. 1. ¶ 1. num 7. Whom I might more iustly call a foul-mouthed-dogge then D. Abbot bestoweth this homely courtesie vpon a very learned Priest meaning thereby T. Wright Let the Reader esteeme whether it were not a meet courtesie for him that was not ashamed to set it downe for an article x Certaine Articles or forcâ—ble reasons c. part 2. art 5. That the Protcestants make God the authour of sinne the only cause of sinne that man sinneth not that God is worse than the diuell If Luther haue any where in that leand and impious maner calumniated the Church of Rome I will not deny but that M. Higgons should haue cause to stile him afoul-mouthed dogge but if he haue not so done then is M. Higgons to blame to assigne to him that which of right belongeth to another man Whom indeed we thinke to be a man of some kind of learning whereby he can audaciously and impetuously wrangle where he may haue his way but he that would giue forth to the world for forcible reasons such misshapen stuffe as specially some of those are which he hath published is very far from the woorth where he is vprightly iudged to be accounted a very learned Priest 41. His last matter touching me concerneth a difference betwixt Doct. Field and me Doct. Field thinketh that the cause why Aerius was condemned of hereticall rashnes was for that he durst condemne the laudable custome of the commemoration of the dead by way of giuing thankes for them Against this opinion of Docter Field hee produceth mee amongst others for a witnesse though mangling and disordering my words to other purpose in some sort than I intended them But the summe of all is that I hold it to haue beene the cause why Aerius was taxed of heresie for that he reprehended and denied praiers and offerings for the dead Whereupon D. Field groundeth his opinion I cannot tell by Epiphanius and Austin I conceiue that it is right which I haue said But vpon this occasion M. Higgons because I had said that Austin and the Papists as touching the end of praier for the dead did agree like harpe and harrow returneth my phrase and saith Doe not these men agree like harpe and harrow Where I cannot but thinke that he was very idlely disposed and wanted matter that would so much trouble himselfe as hee hath done with a difference of so small effect If Doct. Field conceiue rightly of the opinion of Aerius then in the condemning of Aerius we al accord with him If we conceiue more truely of Aerius that it was praier for the dead which he impugned then in the approuing of Aerius Docter Field accordes with vs. And may we not thinke this to be a great matter to trouble M. Higgons minde Did he see no greater differences than this in the Church of Rome Had he not found in Bellarmine concerning sundry waighty points of faith a first opinion of such a one a second opinion of such a one a third yea a fourth opinion of such and such To let other matters goe did you not M. Higgons remember your two great Cardinals Baronius and Bellarmine standing in great difference the one that it is directly the other that it is indirectly that the Pope hath a power ouer Kings and Princes to depose them yea and another opinion regnant amongst many of your great Diuines that the Pope hath no such authority either way and that they are but Parasites and pickthankes that sooth him in so vniust and vndue a claime Goe M. Higgons goe and tell your owne Cardinals haec est mendaciorum natura vt probè cohaerere non possint for the third opinion prooueth them to bee liars on both sides As for your selfe you are now become one of those pedling merchants in the exercise of whose trade you shall indeed finde it true that they cannot thriue at all vnlesse they can lie much 42. I pity your folly M. Higgons and cannot but for your friends sake lament that miserable state whereinto you haue wilfully cast your selfe Surely it was a strong and a strange humour that possessed both your head and your heart that could driue you to this extremity for Purgatory and prayer for the dead Doubtlesse it was not Purgatory nor praier for the dead that you respected but when you had resolued to run into this ruine you thought these points most plausible and ready whence your wit might weaue some spiders webs for the hiding of your shame I doubt not M. Higgons but if you were heere as you would wish to be you are able your selfe to shew that all you haue said is no other but a spiders web God giue you grace to vnderstand what you haue done that if it be possible you may returne againe out of the snare of the diuell and out of that hell of inward terrours whereinto you haue desperately plunged your owne soule I know you are in the hands of Gryphes and Vultures that doe not easily let goe the prey that they haue once seazed vpon but I commend you to his mercy who is able to doe more than we can any way expect of you 43. And so for the time I leaue both M. Bishop and M. Higgons but with minde speedily to take M. Bishop in hand againe The meane while gentle Reader I haue giuen thee this Aduertisement for some satisfaction concerning his late booke that thou maiest with the more patience expect the full answer thereof And albeit I haue heere made it appeare that he hath prostituted his conscience and set himselfe to sale to say and face and outface any thing to serue the Popes and his owne turne so as that heereby he hath voided himselfe of that credit which hee would detract from me and his booke shall remaine for no other but the record of his owne shame yet I will not so leaue him but will goe forward if God will more thorowly to pull the vizard from his face and to make him appeare in those colours that doe belong vnto him Assist mee with thy praiers vnto God for the doing of the worke of God that it may be to his glory to the conuincing of the aduersarie and to the edification of the church of Christ Amen Some faults escaped to be corrected thus PAg. 126. line 5. roome read no roome p. 129. l. 3. in marg vitiosas r. vitiosus p. 139. l. 4. integrity truth r. integrity and truth p. 143. l. 2. visibly r. visible p. 175. l. 17. publike r. publick p. 190. l. 8. striue r. stirre p. 195. l. vit see in the r. see the. p. 201. l. 12. most ancient r. the ancient p. 214. l. 37. the article r. that particle p. 215. l. 2. certainly in the r. certainly the. p. 262. in marg l. 24. ipè r. sibi p. 368. l. 16. approoued r. reprooued Ibid. l. 26. the Church r. that the Church p. 380. in marg l. 5. obiurat r. obdurat Thus farre I saw the booke before it came foorth what faults shall follow I must pray thee by thine owne iudgment to amend