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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A11078	Testis veritatis the doctrine [brace] of King Iames our late soueraigne of famous memory, of the Church of England, of the Catholicke Church : [brace] plainely shewed to bee one in the points of [brace] pradestination, free-will, certaintie of saluation [brace] : with a discouery of the grounds [brace] naturall, politicke [brace] of Arminianisme / by F. Rous.	Rous, Francis, 1579-1659.	1626 (1626)	STC 21347.3; ESTC S4449	57,093	98

no●… seuerally expressed Neither were these Articles commonly called the Articles of Lambeth approued by obscure priuate or Schismaticall persons but by chiefe Fathers of this Church in Eminence and Authoritie Iohn Arch-bishop of Canterbury Richard Bishop of London Richard elect Bishop of Bangor Doctor Whitaker and other most learned Diuines In these Articles we finde the points of Free Election Finall perseuerance and certainty of Saluation embraced by the Fathers of our Church and particularly in these which follow The cause which moued God to praedestinate some to life was not the foresight of their Faith or of their Perseuerance or of their Good workes or of any thing else which is to be found in men praedestinate but Gods meere good will and pleasure A true liuely and iustifying Faith and the Spirit of God which sanctifieth is neither finally nor totally extinct in the Elect it failes them not it forsakes them not A man truly faithfull that is A man indued with a Faith that iustifieth may bee assured by Faith of the Remission of his sinnes and of his eternall Saluation through Christ. And now if I should vndertake to bring forth the sayings of those Doctors and Fathers of this Church that haue taught the Perseverance of the Saints and Regenerate and the Certainty of Saluation ensuing this certaine Perseuerance multitude would ouercome me and exceed the bounds both of this worke and the Readers patience And yet it is also almost an equall difficultie to shew any number that haue publikely without the cry of the Countrie maintained the contrary Doctrine That is the Apostacy of Saints and the Mortalitie of the Immortall seed of God And though some would faine seeke shelter vnder the shadow of Dr. Ouerall yet hee doth not only leaue them open to stormes but his owne drops doe fall downe and batter them For in the Great Famous and Royall Conference at Hampton Court hee is recorded thus to say for Totall and finall Perseuerance Those which were called and iustified according to the purpose of Gods Election howsoeuer they might and did sometimes fall into grieuous sinnes c. Yet did neuer fall either TOTALLY from all the graces of God to bee Vtterly destitute of all the parts and SEEDE thereof not FINALLY from iustification But to set some bounds vnto boundlesse abundance and to auoide both tedious multiplicitie and meere penurie I will bring forth some few of our Doctors as a patterne of the rest Men that cannot be accused for want of skill to know the Doctrine of our Church no●… I thinke of dishonestie that they should want will to shew it and most of them were dead before late questions and dead men are commonly very vnpartiall Iudges The Councell of Trent even that sinfull Counsell in Doctor ●…abington Bishop of Worcester one Canon saith thus c. And in a third Canon thus If any man shall say with a firme Certainty that he shall haue that great gift of Perseuerance to the end vnlesse he hath learned it by some speciall 〈◊〉 let him ●…ee accursed Vnto which three wicked Canons c. Where this Reuerend Father sheweth it to be the Doctrine of Trent and withall a wicked Canon which teacherh this Doctrine that a man cannot be certaine of finall perseuerance Exp●…s on the Cr●…ed Againe By the spirit of Adoption and effects of Gods grace agreeable wee may haue certaine knowledge that we shall inherite Gods kingdome which none shall doe but they that continue to the end and were appointed vnto it before the beginning of the world Ibid. When it pleaseth him to adde that Hee abideth for euer that is the Holy Ghost Ioh. 14. 17. this comforteth beyond the reach of either penne or Heart For hereupon it followeth that sa●…sure is our saluation with him in that 〈◊〉 ioyfull kingdome that wee cannot fall from it finally For this blessed Spirit is the pledge of our inheritance whereby we are sealed vnto the Day of Redemption Hee therefore abiding with vs foreuer needs must wee be sure of that whereof he is a pledge and an earnest giuen which is the very peace of God that passeth all vnder standing O sweet office therefore of a blessed Spirit And O thrice blinded men with darknesse of Rome that will reach vs to doubt of our Saluation Wee haue this Spirit 〈◊〉 a pawne and the promise of his abode for euer with vs though the times may come through grieuous temptations that wee may not thinke so for a while Ibid. Where Finally Hee that is the Holy Ghost is lost he neuer was by Sanctifying grace Ibid. Whence issues a plaine conclusion wheresoeuer the Spirit was by Sanctifying Grace there he is not finally lost As for the Blisse and Glory of Heauen though yet wee Doctor Abbot Bishop of Sa●…isbury know it not yet wee know that God hath giuen to vs the interest and Title of it already and by Faith doe stand assured through the Spirit that hee will in due time giue vs the full sight and fruition of it And a little after out of S. Austin De praedest Sanct. cap. 17. Hee calleth and iustifieth none but whom hee hath praedestinated vnto glory and therefore it followeth that hee giueth them perseuerance for the attainement of the said Glory Certaintie of Saluation against D. Bishop The same S. Austin saith to his hearers If there be in you faith which worketh by loue even now yee belong to them that are praedestinated called iustified Now sith the faithfull by S. Austens iudgement doe belong to them that are praedestinated called iustified it followeth by Saint Austins iudgement that they are to be assured that they belong to them that shall be glorified and therefore shall certainely perseuere because whom God hath praedestinated called iustified them he hath glorified as the Apostle saith and therefore doth S. Austin will the In Psal. 148. faithfull man to beleeue that he shall liue for euer But I need not to insist much on particular sentences of this Right Reuerend and learned Father of our Church seeing he hath whole Discourses of The Certainty of Saluation and of the Perseuerance of Saints to which I would rather remit the Reader that hee may quench his thirst in the Fountaine it selfe Only I aduertise him that in the Epistle Dedicatorie to His De pers●…n Sanctorum Maiestie then Prince of Wales there is a complaint of some of our Divines that following the by-paths of Arminius Dogmate etiannum destruant Articulos Religion is quos prius proprià manu confirmarunt Wherin this Reverend Bishop sheweth vs that Arminianisme wherof falling from saint-ship or the grace of regeneration is a part is the way to destroy the Articles of Religion And if a Minister write Arminianisme he writes against those Articles which he hath confirmed by his owne subscription writing So vpon the matter the same hand writes forward backward for and against the same things yea contrarily and against it selfe

Bernard de lib. arb gra my words but the Apostles who attributes all the good that may possibly be vnto God and not to his owne Will euen to thinke to will and to doe If then God worketh these three things in vs that is to thinke good to will it and to performe it he worketh in vs the first indeed without vs the second with vs and the third by vs. For by sending in a good thought he preuenteth vs by changing our wicked Will hee ioynes it to him by consent and by giuing power to our consent this inward WORKER shewes himselfe outwardly in our manifest worke Post peccatum ante reparationem c. After sinne and ●… Lombard lib. 2 dist 25 Ex Hug. de S. Vict. before the restoring of Grace the Will is oppressed and ouercome of concupiscence and is weake in euill and hath no grace in good and therefore it can sinne and it cannot chuse but sinne and that damnably Operans Gracia est quae praeuenit c. Working or Id. lib. 2. dist 26. ●… operating Grace is that which preuenteth the good Will For by it the Will of man is freed and prepared that it may bee good and that effectually it may will good But cooperating Grace followeth the Will when it is good in helping it Gracia Dei mecum ostendit vt spepo quòd ipsa est causa Bradwarden de causa Dei lib. 1. cap. 40. efficiens c. The Grace of God with mee I hope will shew that Grace is properly the efficient cause of euery good act I meane Grace freely giuen which is an habite poured into the soule freely by God Vertue and chiefly the chiefest vertue Grace of Charity is no selfe EFFECTVALL than Vice But Vice effecteth euill acts wherefore Grace or Charity effecteth good acts And that I may say nothing of vices morally gotten who doth not know who doth not feele what acts one Radicall vice effecteth that law of the members that tyrant of nature that source of sinne Concupisence or the lustfullnesse of our flesh which also the Doctors often call Originall sinne A witnesse hereof is experience too common too forceable A witnesse also is the Apostle when hee saith I am carnall sold vnder sinne for what I doe I allow not For I doe not that which I would but that which I hate that I doe Seeing then that lust is so violent so effectuall so manifoldly actuous how doth Charity represse diminish and ouercome it if she doe nothing at all if she moue nothing at all if shee be altogether idle Qua Gratia non noua Voluntas creatur c. By which Grace there is not created a new will neither is the Cassander Consul●… Art 18●… will inforced being vnwilling but the will being sicke is healed being depraued is rectified and is changed from euill into good And by an inward kinde of motion is drawne that of vnwilling it may become willing and may freely consent to the Diuine calling and afterward the same Grace cooperating it may obey the will of God and by the same Grace perseuering in good workes may also through the same Grace enter into the inheritance of the heauenly Kingdome This Doctrine of the Grace of God and Free-will the sounder Schoole men strongly defended against the Pelagians among whom was Thomas Brauarden or Bradwarden called in his time the profound Doctor who wrote an excellent worke which he calleth a summe against Pelagianisme increasing in his dayes And how much many of them did attribute to Grace Bonauenture alone may testifie This saith he is the dutie of godly mindes that they attribute nothing to themselues but all to the grace of God wherein how much soeuer a man doth giue to the Grace of God hee shall not depart from pietie though by giuing much to the Grace of God hee take away something from the power of Nature or Free-will But when something is taken away from the Grace of God and that is giuen to Nature which belongs to Grace there may be danger THE DOCTRINE OF King IAMES concerning the Certaintie of Saluation and against the Apostacy or falling away of the Saints ABout the same time one Be●…tius a Scholler of the late Declar. against Vorstiue Arminius who was the first in our Age that infected Leyden with herisie was so impudent as to send a letter vnto the Arch-bishop of Canterbury with a booke intit●…led de Apostasia Sanctorum And not thinking it sufficient to auow the sending of such a booke the Title whereof onely were enough to make it worthy the fire hee was moreouer so shamelesse as to maintaine in his letter to the Arch bishop that the Doctrine contained in his booke was agreeable with the Doctrine of the Church of England Let the Church of Christ then iudge whether it was not high time for Vs to bestirre Our selues when at this Gangrene had not only taken hold amongst Our neerest Neighbours so ●… Non solùm paries proximus iam ardebat not onely the next house was on fire but did also beg in to creege into the bowels of Our owne Kingdome It is true that it was Our hard hap not to heare of this Arminius before hee was dead and that all the Reformed Churches of Germanie had with open mouth complained of him But as soone as Wee vnderstood of that distraction in your State which after his death hoc left behinde him Wee did not faile taking the opportunitie when your last extraordinary Ambassadors were here with Vs to vse some such speaches vnto them concerning this matter as We thought fittest for the good of your State and which Wee doubt not but they haue faithfully reported vnto you For what need Wee make any question of the A●…gancy of these Hereticks or rather Atheisticall Sectaries 〈◊〉 you when one of them at this present remaining in your Towne of Leyden hath not onely presumed to publish of late a blasphemous booke of the Apostasie of the Saints but hath besides beene so impudent as to send the other day a copie thereof as a g●…odly present to our Arch-bishop of Canterbury together with a letter wherein hee is not ashamed as also in his booke to lye so grossely as to 〈◊〉 that his Heresies contained in the said booke are agreeable with the Religion and profession of the Church of England For these respects therefore haue wee cause enough very hartily to request you to roote out with speed those Heresies and Schismes which are beginning to bud forth amongst you which if you suffer to haue the Reynes any longer you cannot expect any other issue thereof then the curse of God infamy throughout all the Reformed Churches and a perpetuall rent and distraction in the whole Body of your State His Maiestie doth exhort you seeing you haue heretofore ●…id taken Armes for the libertie of your Consciences and haue so much indured in a violent and bloudie warre the space of fortie yeeres

for the profession of the Gospell that now hauing gotten the vpper hand of your miseries you would not suffer the followers of Arminius to make your actions an example for them to proclaime to the world that wicked Doctrine of the Apostasie of the Saints It is all worthy of deepe consideration and among if not aboue the rest 1. The opinion that this great and wise King had of this Doctrine of The Apostasie of the Saints Hee saith of a booke so intituled The Title ●…re enough to make it worthy the fire And he call●… him Hereticke and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that published this booke The booke also Hee termeth A 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Apostasie of the Saint●… And by his Ambassadour He calls it That wicked Doctrine of the Apostasie of the Saints 2. What agreement this booke and Doctrine had with the Doctrine of the Church of England Here of the King saith Hee was shamelesse to maintaine in his letter to the Arch bishop that the Doctrine contained in his booke was agreeable with the Doctrine of the Church of England And againe A letter wherein he is not ashamed as also in his booke to lye so grossely as to auow that his Heresies contained in the said booke are agreeable with the Religion and profession of our Church of England 3. The dangers that arise from this kinde of Doctrine Arminius left behinde him a distraction in the State And you cannot expect any other issue thereof then the curse of God infamy throughout all Reformed Churches and a perpetuall rent and distraction in the whole Body of your State 4. The councell that was both taken and giuen hereupon It was high time to bestirre our selues when as this Gangreene had not onely taken hold on our neerest Neighbours but did also begin to creepe into the bowels of Our owne Kingdome And For these respects therefore haue Wee cause enough very hartily to request you to root out with speed these Heresies and Schismes which are beginning to bud forth amongst you I may adde hereunto the Doctrine of the Articles of the Church of Ireland which fitly may here be inserted as both looking to King Iames vnder whose Authority and protection it came forth and was maintained and looking to the Doctrine of the Church of England since it were an intollerable and impudent iniury to the wisdome and religious knowledge of those times to say that betweene them there was not a harmonie All Gods elect are in their time inseparably vnited vnto Article of Ireland Num. 33. Christ by the effectuall and vitall influence of the Holy Ghost deriued from Him as from the Head vnto euery true member of his Mysticall Body A true liuely iustifying Faith and the sanctifying Num. 38. Spirit of God is not extinguished nor vanisheth away in the Regenerate either finally or totally THE DOCTRINE OF THE Church of England for Certaintie of Saluation THe Church of England teacheth the certaintie of Saluation and she hath done it so constantly and and generally that it will be very hard to produce any one of her Sonnes that durst before very late dayes to affirme and defend to the contrary by any publike worke and writing Shee hath taught this Certaintie by her owne Articles Shee hath re-enforced it by an exposition of Her Articles it hath beene explained and enlarged by Articles of Lambeth it hath beene taught by Her most eminent Sonnes the Reverend Fathers the Bishops of this Church and the Professors of Divinitie who are trusted by her to deliver her true thoughts and Tenents in Divinitie to her children And wee see that it hath also beene sealed vp and settled in Articles of the Church of Ireland betweene which Church and the Church of England to make a contraritie and opposition is a thing of extreame danger and absurditie And first for her owne Articles In the Article of Praedestination our Church teacheth the Certaintie of Saluation diuers wayes One way by making Saluation to depend on such a constant and sure Election that it bringeth the Elect constantly to Salvation A constant Decree of Election brings the Saints constantly assuredly through the way of Saluation vnto the wayes end even Salvation it selfe This constant bringing of the Elect to Saluation wee may finde in these words God hath constantly Decreed by his Counsell secret to Article 17. vs to deliuer from Curse and damnation those whom hee hath chosen in Christ out of Man-kinde and to bring them by Christ to euerlasting Saluation From hence is it plaine and easie to argue Those whom God hath constantly Decreed to bring to Salvation they are constantly and certainly brought to Saluation But here God hath constantly Decreed to bring his Elect to Saluation Therefore the Elect of God are constantly and certainely brought to Saluation And that this bringing to Salvation is not in the wayes end only but in the way it selfe the particulars by which the Elect are brought to Salvation plainly shew which are to follow in the next consideration But here by the way let vs note that this bringing to Salvation by a constant and certaine Decree carries with it a certaine and assured Salvation even by the confession of the Enemies of it For in this very respect because it induceth a certaine and constant Salvation they reiect it as that which crosseth their inconstancie and mutabilitie of Salvation This Doctrine of certaintie crosseth their doctrine of Incertaintie and therefore their doctrine of incertaintie crosseth and reiecteth this doctrine of Certainty For well they know that it must be a certaine Saluation which is wrought and brought to passe by a constant and absolute Decree of Election Therefore to plant this Apostacie and that men though Elected may haue leaue to fall from Saluation if they will they make an Election which follow●…th a man vpon the condition of his sore-seene perseverance So that as in the doctrine of our Church a constant Decree of Election constantly bringing to Salvation must needs withall giue a finall perseverance in the state of grace their Doctrine not enduring this constant perseuerance and saluation issuing from a constant Decree of Election haue deuised an Election that waites vpon man to see whether hee will giue to himselfe finall perseuerance by his owne Free-will An Election by which no man is actually Elected vntill hee be no man that is vntill hee be parted the soule from the body But as I said before our Doctrine may be knowne to be a Doctrine of Certaintie that doth oppose and reiect this falling away because the fallers away doe oppose and reiect it there being indeed an incompatibility betweene a constant Decree that brings men constantly to Saluation and a dependant and contingent Decree that waites on mans vncertaine Will to see whether his will will finally perseuer and so bring his owner to Election A second way by which our Church teacheth the certaintie of Saluation in this Article is this Because shee sayeth the same grounds