of the priuiledge of trafficke which the King thereof tenders to our countrimen in this case if the Relators credit bee suspitious it were dangerous to build vpon his report because here he is the principall and only cause vpon whose sole affirmation we can finally rest In like manner if two persons onely bee present at the death of a friend and depose that in this or that manner he bestowed legacies in this case if they be of doubtfull repute it will be hard to determine positiuely what is the truth because that here they are the principall and onely witnesses and there are no other authentike proofes whereby their depositions may be examined But where the Propounder is onely the instrument by whose meanes wee are brought to see proofes of an higher nature and by whose ministerie arguments of greater importance doe display themselues as if the Trauailer shall bring letters of Credence vnder the Hand Seale of the Prince confirming his Relation or if the persons present at the death of their friend shall besides their owne testimonie produce a formall will subscribed by the hands of lawfull witnesses and strengthened by an authentike seale here the possibilitie of erring in the Propounder takes not away the certaintie of the things propounded by him because in this case the same may be supplyed by other more sufficient demonstrations vpon which as the principall causes of our beliefe wee may finally rest Now to apply this to the Church I say that if the Church were the principall or onely Cause for whose authoritie our faith doth finally assent to the mysteries propounded by her then and vpon this supposition it were to be acknowledged that if the Church might erre and that her testimonie were not infallible the assured truth of things so assented vnto could not bee attayned by vs. But wee say that in working an vndoubted assent vnto the mysteries propounded and deliuered vnto vs the Church though it bee one cause to wit an inductiue or preparatiue yet is it not the onely no nor the principall or finall vpon which wee lastly depend The principall and finall causes for whose sake we firmely beleeue those truths which the Church propounds vnto vs touching the Scriptures are two The one the Word of God it selfe with the properties notes and characters aboue mentioned imprinted in the letter thereof which serue as the hand-writing and Deed of the great Maker produced by the Church in confirmation of what shee vtters The other the inward testimonie of Gods Spirit enlightning the eyes of our vnderstanding to discerne the Scriptures by those notes and perswading vs what we discerne stedfastly to beleeue seruing as a seale which confirmes to the consciences of the Elect the Deed to bee lawfull and authentike The former which is the Word it selfe and the notes thereof cannot bee denyed by an ingenious Papist to bee there found for howsoeuer some of them by a iust iudgement of God for being iniurious to the Scriptures in branding them with obscuritie imperfection c. haue beene so blinded by the Prince of darknesse that setting aside the iudgement of the Church no reason to them hath appeared wherefore Aesops Fables should not as well as the Scriptures themselues bee thought Canonicall yet others as Bellarmine Greg. de Valentia Gretser c. doe acknowledge these distinguishing notes to be in their kinde argumentatiue and to shine in them as the excellency of the Doctrine concord efficacie and the like whereby may be verified of the whole Booke of God what the Officers sent by the Pharisies and Priests said of our Sauiour Ioh. 7. Neuer man spake like this man Nor is the later which is the inward testimonie of the Spirit denyed by the learneder sort of Papists to possesse another chief place in the discouerie of the Scriptures For although in popular aire they seeme to vent the contrarie yet when they are called to giue a more sober account in writing they vtter the same in effect which we doe The Church saith Stapleton by reason of her ministerie and mastership receiued of God doth make vs to beleeue but yet the formall reason wherefore we beleeue is not the Church but God speaking within vs. Againe The minde of a faithfull beleeuer saith hee doth rest in the iudgement but not by the iudgement of the Church but by the inward grace of the holy Spirit So Gregorie de Valentia The infallible proposition of the Church saith he is as obscure to vs as any other article of faith whatsoeuer alleadging out of Canus That if a man should aske wherefore he beleeues the Trinitie he should answer incommodiously in saying because the Church doth infallibly propose it And Canus giues the reason Because the last resolution of faith saith he is not into the testimonie of the Church but into a more inward efficient cause that is into God inwardly mouing vs to beleeue If therefore addes Becanus you be asked wherefore you beleeue that God reuealed such a thing and you answere that you beleeue it for the authoritie of the Church it is not the assent of a theologicall faith but of some other faith of an inferiour ranke Many more testimonies might bee added it being a firme position amongst the Schoolemen that principles of faith such as the Scriptures are cannot bee beleeued as they ought to bee but by infused faith But I will conclude where I began with our Countriman Stapleton because he layes downe the very fundamentall reason vpon which this Doctrine is grounded There is the same faith saith hee in the rest of the whole Church which is in the Prophets Apostles and all those who are immediately taught of God They haue one and the same formall reason of their act of beleeuing But the faith of the Apostles and Prophets which was by immediate reuelation was lastly resolued into God alone the Reuealer and did end and rest vpon him onely as the supreme and last cause of beleeuing therefore the faith of the rest of the whole Church hath the same formall obiect These foundations being laid it shall not be hard to shape distinct answeres to the seuerall questions aboue propounded To the first if the testimonie of the Church bee not infallible how shall wee vndoubtedly knowe the Scriptures to bee the Word of God I answere that wee may know them to bee so partly by the light of the Word that is the diuine notes and characters therein imprinted and partly by the enlightning and perswading grace of Gods Spirit enabling vs to see and mouing vs to beleeue what wee see Now on the contrarie I demand of them If one cannot bee assured of the certaintie of the Scriptures propounded by the Church vnlesse the proposition of the Church bee infallible how the lay Papists in this Land doe know any article of faith to be infallibly true considering that few or none of them euer heard the voyce of that Church which they
the holy Ghost communicating it selfe to this and the subsequent and that chiefely for two reasons The one to teach vs that the principall obiect of our faith is God himselfe considered in vnitie of Essence and Trinitie of persons and therefore to each of the persons there is either a Beleeue prefixed or the Particle in set before to shew that on them we are to build the certaintie and assurance of our hope but as for these Articles of the Church the forgiuenesse of sinnes the Resurrection of the body and the like they being creatures are but the secondarie obiects of our Faith not to be trusted vpon immediately in themselues but onely vnder God and through God and therefore haue not a Credo a Beleeue a part to themselues but prefixt to one of the persons I beleeue in the holy Ghost The other to set out and diuide by this meanes vnto euery of the persons an appropriate and speciall worke For as God the father hath Creation in the Articles attributed vnto him and the Sonne Redemptionem merito Redemption by the merit of his Death and Passion vnto him so the holy Ghost by the Beleeue which is prefixt to his Article and is in part of sense to be conuei'd vnto the following hath the application of our redemption Virtute efficacia by his vertue and efficacie appropriated vnto him also to wit The sanctifying of the holy Catholicke Church the vniting of the members in a communion with their head the infusion of iustifying faith which apprehends the remission of sinnes the quickning of the dead in the Resurrection and the conferring of life both vitam gratiae the life of Grace and vitam gloriae the life of glorie in the world to come So then the act of faith I beleeue which belongs to this Article of the Church is to bee fetch'd and deriued from the preceding Article of the holy Ghost And yet because it descends not in the same forme and garbe of sense altogether which it beares there but something altered and transfigured the question will be what act it properly imports in this place towards his obiect the holy Catholicke Church For the better resoluing whereof we must necessarily call to minde that ancient distinction of Saint Austens and the Schoolemen touching Credere to beleeue That there is 1. Credere in aliquem to beleeue and put ones trust confidence in one 2. Credere alicui to beleeue or giue credit to one 3. Credere aliquem to beleeue that one is in being or to beleeue that one is after this or that manner in being The first of these which is Credere in aliquem to beleeue in one doth virtually indeed include the other two for one cannot beleeue in one but he must presuppose that hee is and that hee is to be credited but yet the proper obiect of it is bonum a thing as it is good and the formall act which it exerciseth is chiefly an act of the will whereas the rest haue rather for their obiect verum a thing as it is true and the act which they exercise appertaines onely to the vnderstanding but with this difference that when I say credo alicui I giue credit to ones saying the act of faith hath relation to his obiect as to obiectum formale a kind of principle for whose sake and cause I beleeue but when I say Credo aliquem I beleeue that one is in being the act of faith hath relation here to his obiect as onely to obiectum materiale or quod as the Schoolemen speake a conclusion which it beleeues and not as to the motiue or inducement for which it beleeues Now to bring this home to the marke The Church of Rome and we doe agree that the beleeue which is prefixt to the Article of the holy Ghost doth not communicate it selfe with the restriction caused by the Particle in to this Article of the Church and the rest which follow it for that were to beleeue in them and then no difference should be made betweene the Creator and the Creatures but simply and without addition and the question is what act it now exerciseth whether such an one as whereby our faith hath relation to the Catholicke Church as onely to a materiall obiect or bare conclusion which it beleeues by reason wherof we may say Credo Ecclesiam I beleeue that there is a Catholicke Church or moreouer such as whereby our faith may reflect vpon the Church as a formall obiect cause and principle for whose sake it yeelds credit and assent to all other things so that thereby though not expresly yet tacitly is implied Credo Ecclesiae I yeeld faith beliefe To the Catholicke Church The Iesuites howsoeuer they would palliate the matter and make shew that the Church is onely a condition and not a formall cause of our beliefe yet others of them speake more plainely what the rest ayme at For Scotus and Biel to whom Canus ioynes Durand doe teach that our faith is last resolued into the authoritie of the Church and Stapleton yet more punctually affirmes that this Article of the Church is inserted into the Creede Tanquam medium credendi alia omnia as the onely meanes whereby we beleeue all other things importing thus much Credo illa omnia quae Deus per Ecclesiam me docet I beleeue all those things which God teacheth me by the Church Whereby we may easily collect that the Papists by this Credo Ecclesiam I beleeue that there is a Church doe vnderstand also Credo Ecclesiae I yeeld faith and beliefe to the Church We for our parts doe reuerence the name and testimonie of the Church we acknowledge it to bee of all humane the greatest wee confesse moreouer that the Catholicke Church in the whole neuer hath erred nor euer shall erre in fundamentall points the prouidence of God sustayning it In regard whereof it hath the promise of our Sauiour that the gates of Hell shall not preuaile against it that the spirit shall lead it into all truth and it is called by the Apostle the pillar of truth as who would say that it retayneth a sauing profession of heauenly truth and vpholdeth the same against all the stratagems of Satan and his complices But that it is not either in it selfe or in this place to be taken for the formall cause of our beliefe that is the foundation of our faith vpon whose credit and authoritie wee are wholy to depend I shall by these following reasons drawen out of the Creed it selfe easily make apparant First by the Grammaticall construction of this Credo I beleeue which when it imports to yeeld credit or assent to a thing is not ioyned with an Accusatiue case as here in the Creede but with a Datiue whereas wee say not Credo Ecclesiae but Credo Ecclesiam to shew that the Creede in this place implies veritatem in essendo a beliefe of the Churches being and not veritatem in significando
adhering and yet not promised to bee petra virtute a rocke for vertue in sustayning So that to conclude there may be as you see in many things a likenesse betweene petrus petra this rocke and that stone yet not so much as that a reasonable lapidarie may not distinguish them SECT VI. The obiection drawne from the question how wee may know the authoritie sense puritie and perfection of the Scriptures handled and resolued THe last forme of argumentation which they vse is drawne from the dependancy which they say the Scriptures haue vpon the Church though not absolutely in themselues yet in respect of vs our discerning of them Whence they thus argue if the testimonie of the Church be not infallible how shall we be resolued in these three interrogatiues The first is touching the Scriptures authoritie whether they be the vndoubted Word of God or no The second touching their interpretation what their sense and meaning is The third concerning their puritie and perfection whether they be perfect and entire or maymed and corrupted To prepare the way for the resoluing of these questions we are to note that as to the right apprehension of an obiect by the sense so to the due comprehension of the Scriptures by the soule three things are ordinarily required Viz. 1. First that the Scriptures bee an obiect capable to be apprehended and discerned 2. Secondly that there bee organs and faculties as those of the bodie so these of the soule fitly disposed and qualified to receiue and discerne that obiect 3. Thirdly that there bee a medium that is a middle instrument or meanes to conuey present and vnite the obiect to the organ 1. For the first wee agree that to the end the Scriptures should bee an obiect capable to bee seene and discerned it is requisite that they should be endowed with such remarkable properties and notes as may distinguish them from other writings For we take not to taske to teach vnreasonable creatures as did Saint Francis neither doe we dreame of fanaticall inspirations imagining that God reueales things vnto vs ouer and besides the Word but wee inuite you to looke vpon the markes and characters of the Word and we say as Philip did to Nathaniel Ioh. 1. Come and see Now these properties notes and Characters by which the Word of God becomes an obiect distinct and capable to be knowne by vs are Either 1. Outwardly accompanying it as antiquitie miracles fulfilling of prophesies testimonies of Martyrs and the like which doe onely procure attention and prepare men to beleeue probably and with lesse difficultie 2. Inwardly imprinted in it as first the diuine and spirituall matters therein contayned surpassing all humane wisedom being things which neither eye hath seene nor eare hath heard neither haue entred into the heart of man Secondly The forme of the stile void of affectation yet transcending in quicknesse maiestie and fulnesse the Master-peeces of the most polite and elaborat Orators Thirdly The sweet harmonie and consent of parts with parts Lastly The efficacy and vertue which it hath to produce the loue of God and our Enemies to procure the peace of our Consciences to alienate a man from the delights of the Flesh and the World to make him reioyce in afflictions to triumph ouer Death all which doe necessarily conclude the diuine authoritie of the Scriptures seeing nature it selfe is thereby vanquisht and a strong man cannot be bound but by a stronger than himselfe 2. For the second wee agree that seeing wee are not able to discerne the Scriptures by any naturall habit or inbred qualitie of our owne For the naturall man as the Apostle speakes receiueth not the things of the Spirit of God because they are foolishnesse vnto him neither can he know them for that they are spiritually discerned 1. Cor. 2. that therefore wee are enabled thereunto by faith and by the inward enlightning and perswasion of Gods Spirit But I neede not insist vpon a point which Bellarmine himselfe labours so to proue in his 6. lib. de Grat. lib. Arbit cap. 1. 2. and is confirmed by the Tridentine Councell in the 6. Sess 3. Can. 3. For the third which is the medium wee are not of Democritus opinion who thought that if the aire which conueyes the beames of the Starres vnto vs were away one should bee able to spie a pismire in heauen but rather with Aristotle we thinke wee should then see nothing according to that axiome in philosophie In vacuo per vacuum nulla fit visio wee conseut therefore that God hath appointed an ordinarie meanes to conuey and present such celestiall obiects as the Word of God to our view and this ordinarie meanes wee say is the Church to which wee willingly attribute these two ordinarie vses in that imployment Viz. 1. First of a witnesse testifying the authoritie and sense of the Scriptures vnto vs wherein for the effect the papist and wee differ but this that wee say it produceth a faith no more than humane they lesse than diuine 2. Secondly of Gods instrument by whose ministerie in preaching expounding the Scriptures the holy Ghost begets a diuine Faith and other spirituall graces within vs. So that the question betweene vs is not whether we are to exclude the ordinarie ministerie of the Church testifying and propounding the Scriptures vnto vs for this wee doe not Nor on the other side Whether the authoritie of the Church be a sufficient argument of it selfe to produce a diuine assent vnto the same for this the learneder sort of them as anon you shal heare will not affirme But this Whether to the end that we may by the assistance of Gods Spirit and those inward notes and properties found in the Scriptures discerne the Word propounded by the Church vnto vs to be the Word of God infallibilitie be a requisite condition in the Propounder As if in playner termes one should say whether to the end that I may by the visage gesture and garments discerne my friend approaching towards me to bee such an one it bee needfull that the aire which conueyes those formes to my eye bee neuer and at no time capable by reason of mists or other accidents to represent false and deceitfull formes Or this whether to the end that a Gold-smith may by his touch-stone discerne a piece of gold deliuered him to bee good and currant it bee required that the parties credit which sells it him should bee vnquestionable This is that which in effect they affirme and this we denie To resolue therefore the difficultie We graunt that where the Propounder is the principall finall and onely cause for whose sake we beleeue a thing there if the Propounder bee liable to error and deceit a firme and vndoubted beliefe of such a thing cannot be had As for example if one onely Trauailer haue beene in the Indies and brings relation by word of mouth touching the commodities of the Countrie and
times and places In respect of its forme so likewise it hath sundrie considerations for the forme of it is Either 1. Internall which is the misticall vnion which the members thereof haue with Christ and through Christ one with another which vnion is wrought by faith 2. Externall which is the vniformity the parts haue one to another in the profession of the truth and the right administration of the Sacraments which truth and right administration wee say must be if not in all points whatsoeuer yet at least in all points fundamentall and necessarie to saluation Now to bring this home to my argument the Church Catholick of these foure wayes that it may be considered is not visible at all three wayes and the fourth it is not alwayes so clearely visible as that the visibilitie should serue for a note whereby to come to the knowledge of the vniuersalitie and perpetuitie of the Church It is not visible at all First in respect of its matter taken in the full Latitude thereof excluding no times no places nor any condition of men In which sense by the Tridentine catechismes owne confession it is taken in the Creed For nothing is visible which is not present I may remember times past or read of men absent or coniecture things to come but I can see onely those things which are present Secondly it is not visible at all in respect of its inward forme which is the misticall vnion of the members with Christ and one another wrought by faith for this is rooted in the heart and the heart of man God onely seeth Thirdly not in respect of its outward forme which as it enters the Creed is not onely an outward profession of a Doctrine or Discipline but a profession of the same vnder the notion of truth and that the Church in this sense is inuisible Gregorie de Valentia confesseth in his 3. Tom. vpon Thomas and 1. disput and Bellarmine in his 3. booke de Eccles and 15. chap. where he saith In Ecclesia aliquid videri aliquid credi videmus eum caelum hominum qui est Ecclesia sed quod isle caetus sit ipsa vera Christi Ecclesia non videmus sed credimus That is in the Church something is beleeued and something seene wee see that companie of men which is the Church but that this company is the true Church wee doe not see it but beleeue it Againe the Church considered in her most fauourable sense for the Papists that is according to her matter which are men and that againe in a limitted acception not as shee is taken in her Latitude and extent for the whole but in respect of her parts onely with reference to their proper times and places yet in this sense I say is not so cleerely visible at all times as to haue her visibilitie to serue for a note whereby to know it to be Catholicke and vniuersal For Not a sufficiens ac propria ad dignoscendum Ecclesiam omnino necesse est vt sit omni hominum generi atque conditioni accommodatum it is Gregorie de Valentia's own rule in the place aboue cited q. 1. punct 7. § 15. that is that for a sufficient and proper note to know the Church it is necessarie that the note bee fit for all sorts and conditions of men and that all men bee qualified and capable to discerne the Church by it But the Church euen in this sense by his owne confession in the 16. § is sometimes so tost with the flouds of error schismes and persecutions that to the vnskilfull and such as cannot prudently weigh the reasons of times and circumstances it is hard to bee knowne so that by consequence the Visibilitie of it is not alwaies so apparant vnto all sorts of men as to serue for a note or proofe of the Church as Catholicke To make our argument yet more pregnant let vs but aske where the Church was in the time that the Arrian heresie ouerspread and hee will tell you out of Hierom that the ship of it was almost sunke and out of Hilarie that it was then non in tectis exteriori pompa querenda sed potius in carceribus speluncis not to be sought for in buildings or outward pompe but in Prisons and Caues Aske Turrecremata and others where the Church was in the passion of our Sauiour and they will tell you that it remayned only in the Virgin Marie which they say is signified in the Church of Rome by the putting out of all the Tapers saue one onely in the celebration of the passion Nay Bellarmine though hee oppugnes this opinion of Turrecremata's the most hee can yet he is contented to concurre with Abulensis in this that howsoeuer the Apostles might beleeue yet he thinkes that the Virgin Mary onely had fidem explicitam an explicite beliefe of Christs resurrection without which the Apostle saith that our faith is vaine we are yet in our sinnes 1. Cor. 15. Now grant that the Apostles beleeued as well as Marie yet if their beliefe was but implicit their profession could not be visible idem est non esse non apparere it is all one not to bee and not to appeare in this case Nay aske Bellarmine but how the Church shall be in the dayes of Antichrist and he will answer in his third booke de Rom. Pont. and seuenth chap. that it is certaine the persecution then shall bee so great that all publike ceremonies of Religion and Sacrifices shall cease How vniustly then doe the Papists deale with vs in this question touching modum cognoscendi the manner of knowing the Church to bee Catholike that is vniuersall and perpetuall by tying vs to proue it a posteriori instancing who were the Professors who the Pastors what their Names where they abode in all Ages as if ignorance of a thing were a Cause sufficient to make it not to be or Gods promise were not a gage strong enough for such an incredulous generation as theirs is vnlesse there were Registers to shew how and in what manner he kept his word Certainly if God in his wisedome had thought these kinde of proofes necessarie for his Church hee would haue erected an Office and Officers for the purpose now hee hath giuen vs indeed his Royall promise that it shall be so but no promise hath he giuen that there shall be Scribes in all Ages to commit to writing the names and persons of those by whom it came to be so If therefore a Papist should in this manner question me Where was your Church before Luther or what Professors of your doctrine were there or what assemblies of men professing the same faith that you doe euer since the time of our Sauiour vntill this present I would thus answere him out of the Creed That the Church of which I am a member was before Luther that there were assemblies of men professing the same faith that I doe and that