assumption His proposition carrying the force of a conuexiue falsely inferreth the feyning of a counterfait Christ and a counterfaite Church vpon the deniall of his power and authoritie to be of the essence of a Church For they do not thereby as hee beareth men in hand separate Christ and his Church from his power and gouernement Men of meane vnderstanding knowe that there are propper accidents to thinges which cannot be separated from them and yet are not of their essence For example heate cannot bee separated from the fire nor mouing from the sunne yet are neither of those properties any part of their essence nor doeth hee that saith heate is not of the essence of fire nor motion of the essence of the sunne deny therefore the fire to be hote or the sunne to haue his motion And concerning these offices in question touching which Browne so arrogantly challengeth M.C. to answere whether they be of the essence of the Church I would the reader should aske of him or his friends if he thinke it good whether the kingdome Priesthood of the sonne of God and man the word incarnate be partes of his essence or accidentes vnto him rather and so whether hee that shall say they are not of his essence doeth thereby dispoyle him of his offices I feare not vnlesse you take him in some desperate fit hee will answere no. Why then if a thing may truely be remoued from the essence and neuerthelesse necessarily admitted in the Subiect howe followeth it that they that deny the kingly power or authoritie of Christ to bee of the essence of a Church doe there-fore make or feyne a Church that is without it This being voyded let vs nowe trye whether Christs power authoritie and office of gouerning bee of the very essence of a Church as hee woulde haue it This shall we soundly try out by examining by the word of God what are the essentiall causes of that which is truly may be called the Church of God And first for the matter of a Church I suppose it will-be readily yeelded vnto to bee Christ the head corner stone and Christians who are as liuely stones to bee builded vppon him to a spirituall house For so the Apostles Peter Paul playnely declared according to which proportion hee is likewise called the head and we that beleeue in him the members as Saint Paul sayth that vnder the feete of Christ God hath subiected all thinges and hath appoynted him ouer all thinges to bee the head to the Church which is his body euen the fulnesse of him that filleth all in all thinges To the same end Christ compared him-selfe to a vine and those that beleeue in him to the braunches of the vine Like whereunto is that of the Oliue and the braunches grafted therein as Saint Paul deliuereth it The matter of a Church wee haue Let vs nowe see what may be the fourme Neither will it bee hard to find that if wee consider that the setting together of prepared stones maketh the building the vniting of the head with the members fourmeth the body and the continuance together of the stocke with the braunches giueth the being of a tree For so is it likewise agreeable to all reason that the vniting and knitting together of Christ and Christians bee graunted the formall cause of a Church Nowe this vnition is by two meanes the one eternall the other seruing but for this life The eternall vnition is by the holy Ghost whereby we are flesh of his flesh bone of his bones and made finally complete and perfect in one God through that one and only mediator betweene God and man Iesus Christ This is peculiar and proper to the Catholique Church which is the whole company of the elect of God and doth not pertaine to the members of a particular Church as they are only considered members of any particular Church but as they are also in that regard members of the Catholique The tēporal vnition which as I sayd serueth for this life is by faith which shall cease in the day of the reuelation of the Saincts of God when we shall be possessed of the full fruition of all those things we hoped for as the holie word doth testifie for mortalitie shall be swallowed vp of life perswasion of possession and faith of the fulnesse of the spirit and perfect being in God through Christ Meane time faith is as the engrafting of the braunches into the stock whereby they are vpholden whilest that by the sappe and spirit of life proceeding therefrom they be growne and established And as the braunch to be ingrafted needeth those his enwrappings and bindings to support and defend it against sundrie inconueniences till it be able to be without them and afterward they are of no vse vnto it so doth faith support and desend the tender conscience against all the stormes of temptations till there be that perfect growth in Christ that is vtterly freed from them at which time in like sort faith doth cease But heere withall thys faith must be vnderstood to admit a twofold consideration the one in respect of Gods the other in respect of mans beholding and iudging thereof In regard of God that onely is acknowledged which is vnfeigned and sealed vp with his holie spirit of promise But in regard of man a feigned faith may also stand in the reckoning sith man cannot iudge of the heart but must therfore accept rest in the sound confession of the mouth and so according to this latter consideration hath the Reader the right vnderstanding of faith in this question concerning the fourming of visible Churches for man to discerne of ioyne with them Now that faith doth engraffe and vnite vs vnto Christ and so is the proper fourme of particular visible Churches I needed not at all stand heere to prooue if there were not in this man against whom I deale a iust suspition of fundamentall Apostacie heerein For if he had beene indeede perswaded thereof to this day we should neuer by him haue beene thus brought to the proofe of the being of our Church as now he hath prouoked vs. Therefore although this cause hath beene alreadie so handled by the worthie seruants of God against the common Aduersarye as that he whosoeuer at this day shall call it into question is more worthie the sharpest discipline then any disputation Yet for to stop importunate mouthes whatsoeuer and to make cleere to the world the confutation of Brownes false conclusion heere in hand it is requisite that after the large labour of others I also point at some profes for this purpose shewing that visible Churches in as much as they stand in the accompt of visible Churches are vnited vnto Christ by faith only First let all the planting of Churches thoroughout the story of the Actes be considered and see if the holy Ghost do not euery where testify this vniting vnto Christ
because the iudges and officers of the court do wrest Gods law by their popish canon law and respect persons take rewards which is forbiddē in Deuteronom and by their profession they must needs do so or else they cannot hold their office how shall any make complaynt vnto them for church matters which can be counted none of the Church And seeing Christ hath commanded to complaine to the church against the sinner how shall Christes ordinance be broken by complaining vnto such wretches Furthermore seeing the scripture sheweth that the church hath nothing to do to iudge those that are without how shall any complaine of such a number of wicked men as neuer were worthy to be counted the Church Againe seeing no godly man may seeke iudgemēt vnder the vniust as Paule sheweth if he haue a matter against a brother why should we seeke to such for iudgemēt Again because those canon officers are strāgers neither knowne to the churches nor dwelling among thē no maruaile though Christ say that his sheep will not follow nor seeke to strangers but will flee frō them Moreouer because they bring the churches into bondage as it is written because they deuoure because they take their goods because they exalt thēselues and as it were smite the people on their face cast thē in prison they do all these things besides the church gouernment and therefore ought to be reiected in no case to be suffered So he concludeth Thus it is manifest by the word of God that such prowd Prelates and Antichristiā vsurpers haue no authority nor power of the church neither is their suspēdings to be counted suspensions by the Church nor their calling of Ministers a calling by the Church Hauing then thus condēned our Bishops authority disauowed as vtterly vnlawfull to meddle with their courts and officers How strange is this that he seeth not his subscription to the B. authority to haue gainesaid all his writings yea how monstrous is it that he should thus fetter other men frō any way vsing or applying themselues to their courts officers and yet himselfe of late being iustly called in question by the Minister of the parish where he dwelt for not communicating according to the order appointed made his speedy recourse to a Doctor and iudge of such courts and by his meanes cut off and forestalled the intended proceeding of the minister congregation there against him O worthy Captain guide of so vnworthy a schisme But perhaps his Proctors will pleade for him that his subscription and late practise haue now cancelled all his former writings so as they cannot henceforth in any equity be vrged against him No no let thē know that I hold him heere faster than that all of them can be able to wring him out of my hands I answer therefore that since the time of his subscription first he hath written that which is against both the Bi. and their authoritie as in these words Thus your writing condemneth you of iniquity that speake not one word in the pulpit against the restraint by popish discipline that ye cannot separate How sore do you labour and how much do you suffer that dare not speake a word by name against those officers and courts neither name nor protest openly against those wicked against whom you would haue vs protest particularly and by name And by and by after But why labour you not also to charge them openly though it cost you your life and liuing Also in his Libell against my admonition he hath these words Thou hast written it heeretofore that there is no Aegipt in England and hast thou now found vs out to be in Aegipt Doest thou not perceiue that thou and thy partakers abusing your knowledge to persecute those which are come out of Aegipt are worse then Aegipt yea princes of Sodome and people of Gomorrha looke thou to it that thou remain not in Aegipt Thou hast confessed that we were once come out of Aegipt thou canst not say so of thy selfe if still thou iustifie thy Aegiptian doctrine pollutiōs as is to be seen by thy pamphlet Let the reader now bethinke him what Bro. calleth Aegiptian doctrine sith my booke containeth no doctrine but the doctrine of the church of England and so it was iudged alowed by authority Also whether he accompt Englād as Aegipt which he would deny in another place whether he exclude the Bishops frō the number whē he calleth me all my partakers that do persecute him and his followers Princes of Sodome and people of Gomorrha Again when my admo demandeth what gaine their departing frō our church heer in England hath gotten thē he denieth not that they are departed but answereth thus We haue gained by fleeing from persecuting wolues not wealth nor bellycheere nor fauour in the world but losse imprisonment all maner euil speaches and death it selfe Nay he is so far frō recanting his former course as that he thundreth iudgements and inuocateth vengeance euen the bloud of all those of his sect that haue died any way by pursuite of law vpō the heads of all those that haue been meanes and partakers to their trouble these are his words It is thy manner and thy partners to force to threaten to make stirrings and hurly burlies and to driue man wife asunder thine and their outrage cannot be satisfied with bloud thine their railings slander false accusations haue brought diuers of vs to death some by the Gybbet some by long imprisonmēt some by flight and pursuite some by extreame care thought sicknes some by Seas some by necessity and want some by changing aire dwelling place the bloud of all these shall be vpō thine thy partners heads These places are sufficiēt being writtē since his subscription to proue that he still continueth to oppose himself against the authority gouernment of our Bishops as also to the vnity peace of our Church Secondly to those that obiect his subscriptiō to cut off the allegation of his former writings against him I answere that Brown hath in writing since his subscription iustified all his former cause doctrines in euery point therefore hath again cancelled his subscription and reuiued all his bookes This I lay down by his own euidēt words in two places of his libell against my admo let the Reader consider iudge Glouers popery saith he or popish heresies being long ago by many diuines refuted needed not Bredwells childish refutation wheras the cause wherin Bro. hath stood as yet is refuted by none Now the places aboue cited shew that a chiefe part of Bro. cause is touching the authority proceeding of the Bishops which he vtterly detesteth And seeing then he auoucheth his cause to stād as yet vnrefuted he intendeth not that his subscriptiō should any whit empaire the same for then he could not say so but meaneth therfore that
iudgements which a particular Christian being lesse subiect vnto it is therefore lesse likelie equall or probable that hee should faile And for more proofe experience teacheth this euerie where For in Churches where the discipline of Christ is either not wholy or not soundly established you shal alwayes find some particular members diligent and sound in their duties this way And I referre to the reader the consideration of many particular members of the English assemblies in this behalfe I said there was popish heresie in the consequence and the reader shall testifie no lesse when he considereth that if the reproouing offending brethren bee of the essence of a Christian and no man can denie the doing thereof to be a worke it foloweth that works are of the essence of a Christian and consequently of a church as I haue iustly charged him other where Behold stil whitherto his incōsiderate course doth carie him If his disciples abhorre this and graunt that a particular man ceaseth not to be a Christian for his default in this dutie euen so must he grant by the same necessitie that a Church ceaseth not to be a Church for her defaults in discipline It is true that such a christian is a weake christiā according to the proportion of his wants and errours and such a Church is a diseased Church and that according to the measure of her imperfections but yet still a Christian and yet still a Church for the essentiall causes aforesaid He sayth Euery particular christian is a king and Priest vnto God This is true But to what ende are we kings sayth he forsooth to holde the scepter of Gods worde to iudge the offenders and for nothing else No. For so it is in his wise definitions also Well if this be all when his disciples and he haue best learned to be this kinde of kings as they haue too well learned this lesson alredie what can they be found but those hypocrits which spy motes in other mens eyes but marke not the beames in their owne and by that name shalbe commanded of the iust iudge with shame at length to looke into themselues which before were wholy occupied in the beholding others But whosoeuer will not wilfully close their eyes if they shall suffer themselues to be remembred that the most immediate neere and principall end except Gods glory which is the principall end of al ends of christians being kings vnto God is to mortifie our own affections and euill lusts and to subdue sinne in our selues they will leaue with worthie detestation so loose a teacher and be skilfull to espie this grosse sophisme which almost euerie where he committeth vnder colour of some part of a thing denying the same thing wholy And thus it fareth with him almost in euerie sentence of the page we haue in hande If a particular Christian doe not vpholde his libertie and power in iudging and rebuking particular offenders he is vtterly without the Kingdome and Priesthoode of Christ In like maner sayth he if the Church doe not openlie rebuke and excommunicate it hath no interest in the Priesthood and Kingdome of Christ and so is none of his Church Againe If it cannot excommunicate it hath not the Keyes of the kingdome of heauen to binde and loose reteyne or remitte sinnes and to shut the gates of heauen against anie Which is as much to say as a Christian must shewe the effectes of Christes Kingdome in all thinges or else in none And a Church if it hath it not in all respectes it hath it in no respect And thus belike because Browne is not yet so madde as that hee will suffer no clothes vpon him wee shoulde not beleeue diuerse of his great friendes who say he is madde or out of his wittes whereby they seeke to excuse his dealings The Church hath as I sayde before the woorde of God which because it openeth comfort in Christ to the penitent and shutteth it vp from the obstinate is therefore called the Keyes of the kingdome of heauen as also the power of God vnto saluation to euery one that beleeueth called also in another place the sauour of life to life in those that are saued and the sauour of death vnto death in those that perish These Keyes are diuersly administred or dispensed as generally particularly openly priuately by the seuerall members or by a ioynt number of the Church and so either simplie or else ioyned with some personall restraint as suspension or excommunication Nowe where the Keyes are not all manner of wayes thus dispensed doeth it followe that there they are not dispensed at all Hee needeth not tell vs that the Church hath libertie and right by the woorde to vse them all and so stande harping vpon this ill tuned string that it hath power to iudge those that are within when as this in the meane time which shoulde haue gained his cause lieth vnprooued namely if the Church vse not all her right shee vseth none and if shee exercise not her power of iudging euerie way then doeth shee not exercise it any way This I say beeing prooued had put life into his cause which nowe remayning vnprooued maketh his impudent conclusion wherein he boasted to haue prooued this ridiculous That which hee calleth a fonde answere of M. Cartwright was because it was fondly vnderstood of him The point is explained by me before The rest of his 37. page being chiefly of the Corinthians discipline and abuses in the Sacrament I haue made breathlesse in my discourse of Communicating Thou hast heard beloued what this great maister can say to prooue discipline of the essence of a Church Let vs nowe heare him returning to the rest of his obiections and cauils at M. Cartwright his letter touching this point M. Cartwright hauing truly said that Church assemblies are builded by faith onely vpon Christ the foundation the which faith so being whatsoeuer sayeth hee is wanting of that which is commaunded or remayning of that which is forbidden is not able to put that assemblie from the right and title of so being the Church of Christ For that fayth can admit no such thing as giueth an vtter ouerthrowe and turning vpside downe of the trueth Hereunto hee addeth By this title of the faithfull the Apostle in his Epistles noteth out the Churches of God beeing all one with him to say To the faithfull or to the Saintes as to the Churches of such a place VVhat soeuer wanteth vnto this or is more than ynough it wanteth or aboundeth to the disgrace and vncomelinesse or to the hazarde of the continuance and not to the present ouerthrowe of the Church And although besides fayth in the sonne of God there may be manie thinges necessarie for euerie assemblie yet bee they necessarie to the comely and stable beeing and not simplie to the being of the Church This sounde and sober doctrine of prudent distinguishing discerning things differing in their proper kindes