should be a rule of our faith and manners and that it is the very Word of God and his lively Oracles as having the testimony of Christ himselfe Luke 24 Luke 16. John 5. and many other places and Saint Paul Rom. 3. and Saint Peter in his second Epistle chap. 3. v. 15 16. confirmes the authenticality of St. Pauls Epistles and of all the holy Scriptures and affirmes that they were written for the comfort and benefit of all the faithfull and commands them to make them the rule and guide of their faith and manners which if they doe he promiseth them that they shall not be led away by the errour of the wicked and from their owne stedfaâ—â—nesse but that they shall grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus which is his prayer that they might do and it is and shall be my earnest prayer for you also Mr. Montague that the Lord would open your eyes and that you may see your errours and renounce them and at last believe that the holy Scriptures are Gods very Word and were writ by his speciall command and are to be the rule of our fath and manners and by the which we shall be judged at the last day And this shall suffice to have spoke concerning this point Now I come to prove that the holy Scriptures are not obscure and darke but cleare and perspicuous in all things that concerne salvation David in the 19. Psal ver 7 8. The Law of the Lord saith he is perfect converting the soule The testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple The Statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the heart the Commandement of the Lord is pure enlightning the eyes Here are two things Master Montague confirmed by David who wrote by the Spirit of God which cannot erre the first is that the Law of the Lord is perfect and converting the soule and making wise the simple the second that it is cleare illuminating the eyes What Blasphemy then is it in the Church of Rome to accuse the whole Scripture not onely of imperfection but of darknesse and obscurity Yea what else is it but to give the Holy Ghost the lie who saith that the holy Scripture is not onely perfect but illuminating and enlightning the eyes And in Psalm 119. v. 103. Thy Word saith he is a Lampe unto my feet and a light to my waies And in the 130 verse The entrance of thy Word saith he giveth light it giveth understanding to the simple So that there are none Master Montague that will not turne their backe upon this Lampe but may see the light of it And in Proverb 1. ver 2 3 4 5. among the praises of the holy Word he saith That it giveth subtilty to the simple and to the young man knowledge and discretion And in the 6. chap. ver 23. he saith That the Commandement is a Lampe and the Law is light And in chap. 8. ver 8 9. All the words of my mouth saith he are in righteousnesse c. they are all plaine to him that understandeth and right to them that find knowledge Infinite places to this purpose might be cited but I will content my selfe onely with two more out of the New Testament 2 Cor. 4. v. 3 4. If our Gospell saith the Apostle be hid it is hid to them that are lost to whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious Gospell of Christ who is the image of God should shine into them Take notice Mr. Montague that as the Sunne though it shineth forth never so gloriously and in all its greatest brightnesse yet the blind see never the more in like manner though the holy Scripture be never so cleare and perspicuous in all things necessary to salvation yet the unbelievers and incredulous whose eyes the God of this world hath blinded they can neither see nor comprehend the light of them St. Peter in his second Epistle chap. 1. v. 19. We have also saith he a more sure word of Prophesie whereunto you doe well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a darke place untill the day dawne and the Day-starre arise in your hearts If the holy Apostle Peter compares the writings of the Old Testament to a light and the Scripture of the New Testament unto the Day-starre what wickednesse then is it Mr. Montague in the Church of Rome to accuse all the holy Scriptures of obscurity and darknesse and to make them the cause of all errours and heresies and of all confusions I will now Mr. Montague briefly prove that the people ought to read the holy Scriptures and that it is their duty to study them diligently and that it is a great and insufferable injury and wrong done to them by the Church of Rome to take the Scriptures out of their hands and to prohibite the reading of them for in that they like the Scribes Pharisees and Lawyers take away from them the Key of knowledge and the meanes of their salvation Luke 11. v. 52. contrary to the command of God and Christs precept who was the onely Prophet of his Church whom we are bound to heare and obey in all things Matth. 3. Matth. 17. This Master Montague I will first doe and then come to the point The Lord after that he had proclaimed his Law unto the people and writ it with his owne hand commanded all the people carefully to observe to doe according to that he had taught them and that they might the better remember it he enjoynes them to keepe it in their hearts and to write it upon the Posts of their houses and on their gates the words are these Deut. 6. ver 6 7 8 9 All these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children and shalt talke of them when thou sittest in thy house and when thou walkest by the way and when thou liest down and when thou risest up And thou shalt bind them for a signe upon thy hand and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thine house and on the gates And in the 11. chapter of the same booke he reiterates the same command vers 18 19 20. Therefore saith the Lord shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soule and bind them for a signe upon your hand that they may be as frontlets between your eyes And ye shall teach them your children speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way when thou liest downe and when thou risest up and thou shalt write them upon the doore posts of thine house and upon thy gates Here is precept upon precept as if the Lord could never have spoke enough unto the people to stir them up to the diligent learning and studying of his holy Lawes and all for
of the primitive Christians it is said of that noble Eunuch Acts 8. vers 27.28 to his eternall prayse that came to Jerusalem to worship that as hee returned sitting in his Chariot hee read Esaias the Prophet Without doubt if hee read him before he was a Christian he read him much more and more frequently after hee was a Christian and if hee read the Prophets before hee understood them it is very like that he was a more diligent Reader of them when he understood them and yet notwithstanding Mr. Montague this was no Church-man that I may speake in your dialect but a secular Lord the Treasurer of the Queene of Ethiopia It was his greatest honour that he was a reader of the holy Scripture and in the Church of Rome it is an infamy and hainous crime that is expiated with death for any secular men to reade the Prophecies and Scriptures or to have them in their houses What thinke you I pray Mr. Montague of this dealing of the Church of Rome towards her sonnes and children Is shee not a very cruell step-mother that thus murthereth her poore childrens soules and bodies that snatcheth the Paps and Breasts by which they should be nourished out of their mouthes and keepes away the Milke of the word from them It is said of the Bereans Act. 17. vers 11. to their everlasting honour that they were more noble than they which were at Thessalonica and wherefore were they more honorable because saith S. Luke they received the Word with all readiness searching the Scriptures dayly whether those things were so And this was a thing very laudable in them and left for our imitation and to be a Lesson for all men that they should examine whatsoever is taught them and by whomsoever by the holy Scripture which to do in the Church of Rome would be punished with all severity as you know very well Mr. Montague It was Timothies praise 2 Tim. 3. v. 15. That he knew the Scriptures from his child-hood and that in those tender yeares hee read the Word of God Here we have the example of a youth to his ever honour who was acquainted with the holy Scriptures and the very reading of them would be punished in old men in Italy or under the Popes Dominions What a desperate height of sacrilegious wickednesse is the Church of Rome now arrived to that dares against the command of God and against all justice and honesty take the Word of God and the holy Scriptures out of the hands of the people for whose cause principally they were writ For the Apostles writ most of their Epistles not to the Presbyters and Bishops but to the Churches in generall To the Churches of God to the sanctified in Jesus Christ and to all those that call upon the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ So Paul to the Corinthians the 1. Chap. 1. vers 2. 2 Cor. 2. vers 1. Galat. 1. vers 2. Ephes 1. vers 1 c. And that hee might cleerly demonstrate that hee writes as well to the people as to the Ministers and Pastors he discriminateth and distinguisheth them Phil. 1. v. 1. Paul and Timothy servants of Jesus Christ to all the Saints in Jesus Christ which are at Philippi with the Bishops and Deanes And S. James addresseth his Epistle to the twelve Tribes that are scattered abroade Iames 1. vers 1. And S. Peter writes his first Epistle to the strangers scattered through Pontus Galatia Cappadâ—cia Asia and Bithynia vers 1. And his second Epistle is yet more generall To them that have obtained like pretious faith with us through the Righteousnesse of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ vers 1. What unjustice therefore is it Mr. Montague in the Church of Rome to take these Epistles out of the hands of Christians and Believers to whom they are sent and dedicated S. Iohn in his first Epistle and second Chap. saith that hee writes to Fathers to young men and to little children to this end to oblige and tie all people of what age quality or degree soever they be to reade his Epistle Hee writes his second to an honorable Lady who without doubt made no scruple to reade it in her Family But in the Church of Rome this is not permitted to the people to reade the holy Scriptures or to heare them read in the vulgar Tongue without eminent danger and severe punishment if it be known Although the Apostle in expresse formall words hath commanded that his Epistles should be read by all the people as we may see in his Letters to the Colossians Cha. 4. v. 16. and to the Thessalonians When yee have read this Epistle saith he cause that it be read also in Laodicea c. And in the first of Thess 5. vers 27. I charge you by the Lord saith the Apostle that this Epistle be read to all the holy Brethren But in the Church of Rome such a miserable and degenerating age we live in the holy Scriptures are snatcht and taken out of the hands of the people and impious Legends and scurrilous Pamphlets are put into their hands But to conclude this point S. John in 1 Revelation vers 3. Blessed are they saith S. John that reade and they that heare the words of this Prophesy and keepe those things which are written therein If the Spirit of God Mr. Mountague calls and pronounces those blessed that read the Booke of the Revelation that is the difficultest of all the Scriptures how much more blessed ought wee to thinke those that read the holy Gospells and all the Epistles of the holy Apostles and the other Scriptures which containe many things in them yea all things necessary to salvation very familiar and easy to be understood Therefore needs must that people bee unhappy yea cursed that are deprived not onely of so great felicity but of all true comfort By all this that I have now said to prove that the sacred Scriptures were not accidentally written but by command and that to be a rule of direction to all and that they are not darke and obscure and that the people ought to reade them and study them all which our great Prophet the Lord Jesus hath both taught and confirmed and his blessed Apostles after him whom he hath commanded us to hear saying He that heareth you heareth mee and he that despiseth you despiseth me and him that sent mee Luke 10. vers 16. It is very evident that the Church of Rome doth onely in word acknowledge Christ to bee the King Priest and Prophet of his Church but in workes overthrow all his offices and annihilate as much as in them lies the whole worke of our Redemption and the whole worship of God by bringing in a worship and service of their own which neither the King Priest and Prophet of his Church nor any of his blessed Apostles hath ever taught us But it wil yet more cleerly be elucidated by that that insueth when I shal manifestly prove that
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND A true Church PROVED In a Disputation held by JOHN BASTWICK Doctor in Physick AGAINST Mr. WALTER MONTAGUE in the TOWER Buy the truth and sell it not also wisdom instruction and understanding Prov. 23. v. 23. Where there is no vision the people perish but he that keepeth the Law happy is he Prov. 29. v. 16. Published by Authority LONDON Printed for A. Crooke and I. Rothwell and are to be sold at their shops in Pauls Church-yard 1645. To the Reader Christian Reader IF thou desire to know the occasion of the ensuing discourse betweene mee and Master Montague of whom I may say this although he be an enemy that hee is both generosus doctus adversarius thou shalt not onely be fully satisfied of the necessity of the publishing of it but mayst also finde the true Church by the essentiall and undeceivable notes of the same the which wheresoever they appeare doe abundantly prove and delucidate it to be a true Church Now when they are to be found in the Church of England as in all the reformed Churches it may truely be concluded of them all that they are true Churches from the which there is no just ground and cause of separation As for the Church of England I may ever affirme this as I have in the following Treatise evinced that since the Apostles times the Gospell and the saving truths thereof have never been more purely preached and more chearfully received imbraced and believed and the Sacraments more duely administred and the Name of God more truly invocated and called upon then now in the Church of England that all those that live in it owe their conversion to the Ministery of the same so that with all good reason wee may infer that that Church that teacheth the knowledge of the onely true God and whom hee hath sent Jesus Christ John 17. and is able to build them up in their most holy faith is a true Church and where salvation may be found And therefore not onely those of the Church of Rome that do calumniate her and all the reformed Churches for hereticall are in a great errour and blame-worthy but more especially those that had the worke of regeneration wrought in their hearts by her ministery and owe their conversion to her and yet doe asperse her with odious tearmes absolutely denying her to be a true Church all such I say are likewise to be reproved and have for this their temerity a great deale to answer for before God and all good men for by these their expressions they doe not onely proclaime their owne unthankefulnesse unto Almighty God but their undutifulnesse and ingratitude unto their mother and their uncharitablenesse towards their brethren whom they account of as a company of Insidels denying communion with them in holy things though every way as good and as holy as themselves by all which their proceedings they doe not onely cast filth in all their faces and expose themselves to the ludibree of the world and bring an odium upon the whole Church but are a cause of division and schisme in the seamlesse garment of Christ and give a great scandall to the enemies of the Gospell and to all such as love the truth in sincerity without faction contrary to the Apostles rule who exhorts all Christians to take heed that they give no offence to the Jew nor to the Gentile nor to the Church of God But that all men may see I charge none falsly nor wrong them not in any thing I shall here recite some expressions of their principall leaders and teachers for to enumerate them all would be an endlesse worke as I had them from their owne mouthes in the presence of others and as I finde them in their printed bookes By word of mouth they say That the Church of England is an arrant Whore and Strumpet and that she that was once a Whore can never be presented unto Christ as a chaste Spouse then the which what could be more contumeliosly disgracefully and untruly spoken especially when it is uttered by such as had the worke of grace and conversion wrought in their hearts by the ministery of the Church if they have any grace or were ever truely converted though now they have disobediently deserted and forsaken her In print thus they declare themselves concerning the Church of England and all believers and their fellow brethren in it That the Church of England is a true whorish mother and that they that are of her are base begotten and bastardly children and that she neither is nor never was truely married joyned or united unto Jesus Christ in that espousall band which his true Churches are and ought to be but is one of Antichrists Nationall whorish Churches and Cities spoken of Revel 16.19 c. That the Church of England is false and Antichristian and as shee is a false and Antichristian Church shee can never make true Officers and Ministers of Jesus Christ and absolutely deny that conversion and confirmation and building up in the waies of God are wrought by the Ministery of the Church of England for how say they can they build them up in that which they themselves are ignorant of and enemies unto For as Jannes and Jambres with stood Moses so doe these men also resist the truth being men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth c. This is their Dialect and further they assert That as they have taken paines by the Word of God and demonstrable arguments grounded thereupon to prove the Church of England Antichristian so they promise to all the world that they will in the strength of the Lord of Hosts for ever seperate from Cuurch Ministery and worship of England and all and every one of them as Antichristian and false And conclude that all the Ministers of the Church of England are not true Ministers of Christ but false and Antichristian Ministers and that our Religion neither is the true Religion nor that it leads men the true way to salvation and they affirme that they groundedly and absolutely deny that either the Church of England is or ever was a true Church And from many such premises as these they exhort all good people that are in the bosome of the Church of England as they love their owne inward peace and spirituall joy to withdraw their spirituall obedience and subjection from her Others of them esteem no better of their brethren then of Insidels Vnbelievers and Heathens and proclaime them in their writings published by authority to be men who deny disclaime and preach against Christs Kingly government over his Churches men unconverted or at least converted but in part wanting the maine thing to wit Christs Kingly Office men visibly out of the Covenant of grace who have not so much as an outward profession of faith who deny Christ to be their King to whose persons and infants the very Sacraments and Seales of grace with all Church-communion may and
have given an answer to your cavill and evasions which was this that Saint Paul in this place spake onely of the Scriptures of the old Testament because said you Paul writes only of those Scriptures which Timothy had learned from his youth and they were onely the Scriptures of the old Testament that Timothy was instructed in This Mr. Montague was your evasion which if it be true will notwithstanding adde force and strength unto my argument as I then proved and shall by and by more clearely and fully evince But Mr. Montague that Saint Paul in this place joynes the Scriptures of the new Testament with those of the old is most manifest by the addition following saying Which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Jesus Christ which words perspicuously evince that to the knowledge of the old Testament he joyneth likewise the doctrine of the Gospell and the Scriptures of the new Testament But you then replied that the doctrine of the new Testament was not at that time written and committed to Pen but onely delivered viva voce and received by Tradition But all this you spake without either ground or any good reason and against all light of right understanding For it is well knowne that this very Epistle to Timothy was either the last or one of the last Saint Paul ever writ it being a little before his death as appeares by the six and seventh verses of the fourth chapter where he saith I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith hence forth there is laid up for me a Crowne of righteousnesse which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give me at that day and not to me onely but to all them that love his appearing So that it is evident that most of all Pauls Epistles were written before this time neither will you deny Master Montague but his first Epistle to Timothy was written before this and in that he had given to Timothy and in him to all the Ministers of the Gospell a perpetuall and sufficient rule how to order and governe the Church unto the worlds end so that all men may perceive that the Apostle joynes the Scriptures of the new Testament with them of the old when he addes through faith which is in Jesus Christ And for further evidence of this consider what Saint Peter writes in his second Epistle chap. 3. ver 15 16. in these words Even as our beloved brother Paul according unto the wisdome given unto him hath written unto you as also in all his Epistles speaking in them of these things c. This Mr. Montague as all men of ordinary wit and all Historians acknowledge was writ some good time and space before this last Epistle and a good time before his death so that the Epistle that Paul writ to the Hebrews his Countreymen to whom Peter also at that time in their dispersion writeth and most of his other Epistles if not all were written when Peter writ this Epistle which by all probability was long before Saint Paul wrote his last Epistle to Timothy so that if you please to take an accurate account of the times it will be evident that all the Apostolicall writings and the whole Scriptures of the New Testament or almost all were then written when Paul writ his last Epistle to Timothy so that not onely the most of Pauls Epistles as Peter witnesseth but Peters first and second Epistle also were then written So that your cavill Mr. Montague and evasion was but a demonstration of the weaknesse of your cause and in nothing impeaches or enervates the dint and force of the argument but rather addes strength and vigour unto it for if I should grant you which I cannot with any reason that the holy Scriptures of the new Testament were not then written when Paul writ his last Epistle to Timothy it would be nothing to the purpose or a matter of any moment seeing that afterward all the doctrine of the new Testament was written and commended by the Pens of the Apostles and Evangelists to future ages and to this end that they should order their faith and regulate all their doctrines and manners according to them with an especiall command from St. Paul 1 Cor. 4. vers 6. That they should not be wise above that which was written Saint John also denouncing a fearefull woe and curse to all those that shall adde unto the holy Scriptures or detract from them Revel 22. ver 18 19. which all they doe Mr. Montague that accuse the holy Scriptures of imperfection which is a great taking away from their perfection and from the honour that belongeth unto them and when they not onely joyne their owne Traditions to the holy Scriptures but preferre them before them which is not onely to be wise above that which is written but prodigiously to adde unto the holy Scriptures which makes you all liable to that curse denounced by Saint John So that if you Master Montague repent not of this so great a sinne The Lord will take away your part out of the booke of life and out of the holy City and from the things that are written in the Scriptures But now Master Montague I will make it evident that the argument will be of more force and more convince your erroneous opinion of the insufficiency of the holy Scriptures and prove the authority and al-sufficiency of them if the Apostle Paul should there speake onely of the Scriptures of the old Testament as you and your brethren would have him and not of the new also And thus I prove it If the Scriptures of the old Testament are able to make men wise unto salvation much more then are all the holy Scriptures both of the old and new joyned together when those of the new Testament fully and clearely interpret the old and with open face the vaile being taken away set forth Christ unto us I say much more then are they being all joyned with the old Testament able to make men wise to salvation But the antecedent is true ergo the consequent The truth is Master Montague they that say the holy Scriptures containe not all things in them necessary to salvation and that they are not without the Traditions of men able to make us wise to salvation blaspheme and give the lie unto the Spirit of God which affirmeth the contrary saying that they are able to make a man wise to salvation And whosoever Mr. Montague shall deny this golden sentence of Paul that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and profitable c. vers 26. to belong unto the the Scriptures of the new Testament would be thought worthy not onely to be spewed out of the Schooles of all learned Divines but indeed out of the number of all Christians and adjudged unfit for all godly mens society But that
certainty of all that Christ both did and spak in the knowledge and believing of the which consists our Eternall happinesse and salvation And this Mr. Montague might suffice to have spoke to prove the al-sufficiency of the Scriptures without Traditions but I will yet adde a few more arguments to establish this Truth more fully and so much the more willingly I do it because it is a point of so great concernment and that about which there hath been and is the greatest contestation betweene us true Catholicks and you Papists S. Luke affords us an other evident testimony to prove the al-sufficiency of the holy Scriptures Acts 1. vers 1. The former Treatise saith hee have I made O Theophilus of all that Jesus began both to do and teach untill the day in which hee was taken up c. From which words I thus argue Those Bookes and writings that containe in them all things that Jesus Christ both did taught and suffered for the redemption and salvation of mankind by the knowledge and faith of the which men may be saved they containe all things in them necessary to salvation and have no need of any humane Traditions to be joyned unto them for the making of them a perfect Rule But the Scriptures of the new Testament comprehend in them all things that Jesus Christ both did taught and suffered for the redemption and salvation of mankinde by the knowledge and faith of which men may bee saved Ergo the Scriptures containe all things in them necessary to salvation The evidence of the truth of this argument is so manifest that besides Lukes owne Testimony which is enough for ever to stop the mouth of all gainesayers the very Rhemists themselves your owne witnesses do acknowledge it whose notes upon this place you may at your best leasure looke on their words are these Not all particularly for the other Evangelists wrote divers things not touched by him but all the principall and most necessary things These Mr. Montague are the expressions of your own men in which observe these two concessions The first that they do acknowledge that at that time that S. Luke writ his Gospell The other Evangelists had writ diverse things not touched by him And this overthrowes your opinion that when S. Paul writ unto Timothy that the Scriptures of the new Testament were not then pend but delivered only viva voce and by Tradition and this was long before that time that S. Paul writ to Timothy The second thing that they grant which is as much as I desired is this that S. Luke himselfe had writ all the principall and most necessary things so that if the principall and most necessary things to salvation were written by Luke alone and the other things of lesse necessity were written by the other Evangelists then by your owne witnesses it followeth Mr. Montague that all things necessary to salvation are comprised and contained in the Scriptures of the new Testament compleatly and fully and therefore they are absolutely in themselves perfect and have no neede of any humane Traditions for the making of them an intire and perfect rule And truly Mr. Montague I dare at any time undertake this taske against all the Papists in the would to prove that if wee had nothing but the very writings of S. Luke I meane the Gospell written by him and the Acts of the Apostles that there were enough pend for the salvation of men and that there were no just cause of complayning of the in-sufficiency of the Scripture seeing that the knowledge and believing of those principall and most necessary things are able to save our soules as most certaine it is the knowing and believing of what hee writ is sufficient to salvation But when God of his infinite favour and goodnesse to mankinde hath by so many of his blessed Servants Apostles and Evangelists in so many severall Gospells and Epistles besides the revelation of S. Iohn so abundantly declared his heavenly good will and pleasure it is not onely an intolerable ingratitude in any not to acknowledge it but also an insufferable blasphemy to accuse all the Scriptures of imperfection yea it is indeed an overthrowing of the Lord Christs propheticall office and to give the Spirit of God and his holy Apostles and Evangelists the lie when they affirme the contrary saying in expresse words that they have writ all things necessary to salvation as by the Testimonies following will appeare See what S. Iohn saith concerning this businesse of so great consequence Chap. 20. vers 30.31 And many other signes truly did Iesus in the presence of his Disciples which are not written in this Booke But these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Sonne of God and that believing yee might have life through his Name than the which there cannot be a more pregnant proofe to shew the sufficiency of what was written to salvation The argument from these words is this That which teacheth and declareth unto us the soveraigne and chiefest good and the meanes of attaining unto this good that containes all things in it necessary to salvation But the holy Scriptures doe teach and declare unto us the Soveraigne and chiefest good to wit life eternall and the meanes of attaining this life eternall to wit faith in Jesus Christ Ergo The Scriptures containe all things in them necessary to salvation If Mr. Montague you have a minde to confute this Argument you must then dispute against the Gospell of S. Iohn which confirmeth it But heare Mr. Montague what he saith in his first Epistle vers 1. 3.4 That which was from the beginning which wee have heard which wee have seene with our Eyes which wee have looked upon and our hands have handled of the Word of Life That which wee have seene and heard declare wee unto you that yee may also have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Sonne Jesus Christ And these things write wee unto you that your joy may be full The Argument from these words I thus frame The holy Apostles did hear and see whatsoever was necessary to salvation but the Apostles did declare set downe pen and record in their writings whatsoever they thought usefull requisite and sufficient for the attaining of eternall life Ergo the Apostles have declared and set down in their Bookes and writings whatsoever is necessary to salvation and to affirme the contrary is to give the Spirit of God and the holy Apostle the lie who in expresse tearms assert it For the Minor it is also manifest out of the same words For that which unites us with the Father and with his Sonne Jesus Christ and makes our joy compleat that undeniably containes all things necessary to salvation but the holy Scriptures unite us with the Father and with his Sonne Iesus Christ and make our joy compleate Ergo they containe all things necessary to salvation And the same Apostle in the
Scriptures of Moses and the Prophets containe all things in them that pertaine unto the old Testament and in expresse words call it a Covenant or Testament and the bookes of the new Testament doe not comprehend all those things that belong unto the new Testament which is also called a Covenant in those Divine writings then the Scripture of the old Testament is perfecter than the Scripture of the new Testament or neither of them both answer to their inscription but the consequent is most false impious and blasphemous false likewise and impious must the antecedent needs be For the consequence Mr. Montague of this hypotheticall connexion it is manifest from the very inscriptions of both the old and new Testament who are called Covenants or Testaments For Saint Paul in the second of Corinth chap. 3. ver 14. speaking there of the Scriptures of Moses and the Prophets cals them a Covenant or Testament in these words For saith he untill this day remaineth the same vaile untaken away in the reading of the old Testament which vaile is done away in Christ And Moses in the 29. of Deut. v. 21. According saith he to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this booke of the Law And in the second of the Kings chap. 23. ver 21. it is called the booke of the Covenant The holy Scriptures of the new Testament also are in many places called a Covenant or Testament as in that place Gal. 3. v. 15. Heb. 12. ver 20. And it is most certaine that the Scriptures both of the old and new Testament answer unto their inscription and title neither can there any thing be produced that is not contained in the writings of the holy Prophets that can truly be said to belong unto the old Testament and the knowledge and faith of which thought necessary to the salvation of those that lived under the old Testament Now if the same be not concluded or granted concerning the new Testament who will not easily from thence inferre that the Scripture of the old Testament is perfecter then that of the new and that the Scriptures of the holy Apostles and Evangelists doe not answer to their inscription and title and this title or inscription the new Testament should be interpreted something belonging unto the new Testament which how absurd it is Master Montague you your selfe will easily perceive and therefore that has no need of any farther proofe But for any man to thinke or say that the Scripture of the new Testament is lesse perfect than that of the old is to give the Spirit of God the lie and to overthrow all the doctrine of the holy Apostles and to deny their expresse words as those of Paul in the second of the Corinth chap. 3. ver 8. and ver 18. and them of 2. Peter chap. 1. ver 19. where the Apostle Peter comparing the Scriptures of the old Testament and the new together he compares the old to a candle and the new to a Day-starre Neither yet Master Montague have I ever seene that Christian that durst affirme the Scriptures of the old Testament to be more perfect than them of the new so that this may suffice to have spoke for proofe of my Assumption and from the proofe of it I conclude that the Scriptures of the old and new Testament as they answer to their title and inscription so no man ought under paine and danger of execration to adde unto them or detract from them therefore they have all things in them necessary for the salvation of the Church without the Traditions of men or their unwritten verities Much more Master Montague could I speake for proofe of this truth and to the which you should never be able to answer but that I would not weary you or trouble your patience but lesse than this I could not speake And all that I have here set down doth evidently declare unto you these two things First that the Church of Rome doth onely in word acknowledge Christs Prophetical Office allow him to be a Prophet but in deeds and workes deny it when they heare him in nothing and not onely take away the Scriptures out of the hands of the people for whose cause they were written with a speciall command also that they should read them with a blessing added unto the command but affirm that they were accidentally written and not by the command of God and that they are obscure and darke and that they are not perfect and compleat in themselves without the Traditions of the Church Councels Fathers and the decrees of Synods be joyned to them all which are not onely impious and blasphemous tenents but as I said before overthrow the whole Propheticall Office of Christ and all Christian Religion and bring in other Prophets and another Law and Religion for the serving of God which they themselves have devised by all which they prove themselves to be no true Church and not to be the pillar and ground of truth but the very basis of all errour and abomination and this is the first thing that resulteth from the conclusion of this discourse The second is this that when the Church of England holdeth and believeth all these things viz. that Christ is the onely Prophet of his Church and onely to be heard that he hath fully revealed the will of God to his Church and that the Scriptures were written by the command of God himselfe and that they are not obscure but cleare and perspicuous and that they ought to be read of the people and that they containe all things in them necessary to salvation without the addition of any Traditions of men it followeth that she thinketh and believeth farre more honourably of the Propheticall Office of Christ than the Church of Rome and that she believeth as she ought to believe and is built upon the foundation of Peter and is the ground and pillar of truth and onely dependeth upon the Word and voice of Christ her true sole and alone Prophet And now Mr. Montague I am come to the last thing I undertooke to prove viz. that all Christians are tied to the written Word of God to the end of the world as we finde it penned in the holy Scriptures of the old and new Testament and that the written Word of God and that onely is to be the rule of our faith and manners and that we are not to swarve or to depart from it or to listen to any doctrines whatsoever that are not either grounded upon the expresse words of the Scripture or necessarily and infallibly deduced from them or to admit in matters of faith of any Traditions Councels or Fathers no farther than they are consentany and agreeable to the holy Scriptures yea that wee ought not to listen to any doctrines whatsoever are contrary to the revealed Will of God in the Scriptures though the Apostles themselves should rise from the dead to teach us otherwaies than we have been taught or
to the salvation of the sonnes of men But I will not now Mr. Montague discover all the errors and abominations of this Idoll onely I shall desire you to take notice of the great impiety and absurdities of this your doctrine The Church of Rome affirmeth Mr. Montague that the sacrifice of this idoll Masse is the very same sacrifice that Christ himselfe offered upon the crosse Against which I thus argue That Sacrifice which differeth from the Sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ both in the efficient materiall formall and finall cause that is not the same sacrifice that Christ offered upon the crosse but the sacrifice of the Masse differeth from the sacrifice of the Lord Iesus Christ both in the efficient materiall formall and finall cause Ergo it is not the same sacrifice but a detestable Idoll For the Major Mr. Montague no man will deny it for that that doth re ratione dissentire from any thing that is not the same as all men know The Minor I will prove with its severall parts And thus I dispute The sacrifice of the crosse was offered up by that high-Priest who is the eternall Sonne of the eternall Father who is holy harmlesse undifiled separate from sinners and made higher than the Heavens Heb. 7. vers 28. Who through the eternall Spirit offered himselfe without spot to God Heb. 9 vers 14. But the Sacrifice of the masse is not offered up by this Priest nor through the eternall Spirit but by a most polluted Priest and through the Spirit of Antichrist Ergo the sacrifice of the Masse is not the same sacrifice of Iesus Christ it differing from it in the efficient cause but a most detestable Idoll The Major of this Syllogisme you cannot deny Mr. Montague neither will any man gainsay or deny the Minor and you know then the conclusion necessarily followeth that the Sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Masse are not one and the same Sacrifice and therefore to give that honour to the Masse that is onely due to Christ himselfe is the most abominable Idolatry that the World ever heard of for it giveth the same honour to a creature of mans making that is due to the Creator blessed for ever And that shall suffice to have spoke of the first difference and now I come to speake of the second discrepancy in respect of the matteriall cause The matter of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was the humane nature very man that that was borne of the Virgin Mary that was of the seede of Abraham of the Tribe of Judah that suffered under Pontius Pilate that was crucified dead and buried and is now at the right Hand of God and made higher than the Heavens But the matter of the sacrifice of the Masse is not the humane nature very man and that that was borne of the Virgin Mary that was of the seede of Abraham of the Tribe of Judah that suffered under Pontius Pilate that was crucified dead and buried and is now at the right hand of God and made higher than the Heavens Ergo the sacrifice of the Masse is not the same sacrifice of Iesus Christ that was offered upon the Crosse but a most prodigious Idoll that ought of all men to be abominated For the Major Mr. Montague you cannot deny it and for the Minor no man unlesse he be bereaved of his senses will deny it and unlesse he be unable to distinguish a peece of Bread from the humane nature for Christ retaines his humane nature still wheresoever hee is and he bade Thomas for the confirmation of his weake faith to put his fingers into his side and to prove the reality of his Resurrection and that hee was not a Spirit hee said unto his Disciples Luke 24. vers 39. Behold my hands and my Feete for it is I my selfe handle mee and see for a Spirit hath not flesh and bones as yee see mee have So that Mr. Montague except a man have lost all his senses hee will easily perceive the Sacrifice of the Masse and the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ are two different things for the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ had Flesh Bloud and Bones the Sacrifice of the Masse is neither flesh nor fish nor good read Herring it is neither Man nor Beast I pray Mr. Montague answer mee ingenuously do you really and indeed believe that that Breaden Wafer the Priest holdeth up in his hands or that lieth upon the Altar that Dagon of Ginger-bread is the very Christ the Saviour of the World who is now at the right Hand of God doe you believe a peece of Bread to be God-man doe you I say believe that which is betweene the Priests hands ever to have beene in the wombe of the Virgin to be of the seede of Abraham of the Tribe of Iudah and to have suffered under Pontius Pilate I am confident your conscience telleth you the contrary when you know that it is a meere peece of dow How then dare you Master Montague give that honour to a peece of bread that is due to the Lord of life Was there ever in the world a more unheard of Idolatry And yet this Master Montague is the dayly service of the Church of Rome which is worse than the worshiping of Molecke Rimmon or the God of Ekron and exceedeth all either heathenish or Iewish superstition But now I come to shew the difference betweene them in respect of the formall cause The Sacrifice of Iesus Christ was the giving up of his Spirit into the hands of God his Father the laying down of his life the separation of the humane soule from his body and the effusion of his bloud and the wounding and piercing of his glorious Body but in the sacrifice of the Masse there is none of all this you your selves calling it an unbloudy sacrifice and by virtue of your concomitancy as you tearme it you joyne flesh and bloud soule and body together and make that whole which on the Crosse was in all respects separated Ergo the Sacrifice of the Masse is not the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ but a monster to be abominated of all men as that that robs Christ the Lord of his due honour and all the adorers and worshippers of it of eternall happinesse who worship a peece of Bread for very God and in that perpetrate the greatest Idolatry that ever was committed And so exclude themselves out of Heaven for no Idolater shall enter into the Kingdome of Heaven Revel 21. vers 8. But the Fearfull and Vnbelievers and Idolaters shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and which is the second death And therefore M. Montague it highly concerneth you to looke about you and to consider well what you do when you goe to Masse But now I come to the last cause of difference The Sacrifice of Jesus Christ was of that virtue and efficacy and offered up to this very end that it might be a ransome for all believers 1 Tim. chap. 2. vers 6. And Heb. 10.14 For by once offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified But the sacrifice of the Masse is neither of any power or efficacy nor never yet perfected any and by the confession of the Papists themselves must many times be reiterated to bring one poore soule out of their fained Purgatory therefore in regard also of the end it is not the same but differeth from the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and ought to be cast out of the World as a beastly Idoll and an abomination and as a thing of no efficacy and power to save any man from misery but all-sufficient to damn soules and send them to perdition and to bring downe the judgements of God upon the Nations and Kingdomes where it is set up as all Idolatry doth for the Lord will judge those Nations with all manner of plagues that provoke him by their Idolatries and after cast them into the lake that burneth with Fire and Brimstone which is the second death Which that Mr. Montague you and all men may shun it deeply concerneth you to consult what a fearfull condition you yet are in and all those that are of the Faith and Religion of the Church of Rome which is the Mother of all abomination and duly also to weigh the haynousnesse of your offence who causlesly so separated your selfe from your Mother the Church of England whom I have as I conceive sufficiently in my foregoing discourse proved to be a true Church and built upon the foundation of Peter the ground and Pillar of Truth Mr. Montague That which I have now to say unto you is this God hath given you excellent parts and bestowed many mercies and favours on you and his long suffering and patience towards you has beene great in all respects who have hitherto imployed your gifts to wrong your own soule and mislead others let it be enough that you have gone so farre and have hither so abused Gods loving kindnesse towards you knowing that the goodnesse of God leadeth you to Repentance and therefore take heâ—d lest persevering in these erroneous and damnable Idolatries and sacrilegious impious opinions you treature not up unto your selfe wrath against the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgement of God which that you may not do it shall ever be the Prayer of him that wisheth no lesse happinesse to your soule and body than to himselfe and who shall alwayes remaine Sir Yours in the Lord JOHN BASTVVICK FINIS