us to follow them doe demolish the fences and bullwarckes of the same Christianity and good life But all they who deserve the name of heretikes do agree to charge the Church of Christ with corruption and adultery and do deny in her both infallibility to know Christs doctrine and power to governe And consequently they destroy externall unity and the essence of it Which as it is not formally to ruine good life so it is more then to breake downe her outworkes since it entrencheth upon the very substance in common and leaveth no meanes but meere chance and hazard to come to the knowledge of Christs law and consequently to eternall salvation Whence we may understand what this name Popery signyfyeth to witt An affection or resolution to maintaine faith and good life and the causes of conserving them There are divers other points controverted betweene Catholikes and Sectaries But they are such as for the most part require no explication but a flatt denyall As when they accuse us to have deprived the Laiety of halfe the Communion we deny it For besides that the generall practise of Christians hath bin from the beginning to give the sacrament sometimes in one kinde ometimes in both the Church hath alwayes believed that the entire communion was perfectly administred in either We likewise deny that ever the Church held the necessity of communicating Infants The Popes personall infallibility that Indulgences can draw soules out of Purgatory that Prayers ought of necessity be in an unknowne tongue to though we may thinke it fitting in some circumstances that the publike service for reverence and Majesty be so performed that faith is not to be kept with Heretikes that the Pope can dispense with the subjection to Princes And many such other Tenets which are injuriously imposed upon Catholikes by Sectaries and are flatly denyed by us and therefore require no further explication or discourse about them A Sampler of Protestants Shuffling in there Disputes of Religion COntroversy Logick or the art of discoursing in matter of Religion between those who profess the Law of Christe can not be complete unless as Aristotle made a Book of fallacies to avoide cavills in his Organe or instrument of science so wee also discover the common fallacies used in controversies Not all but the chiefest and most ordinarily in this business This then is the scope of my present work For which the first note I make is that owre Ancients have taught us and by experience wee daylie finde that Heresie is in a manner as soon overthrowne as layed open falshood like turpitude being ashamed of nakedness Therefore 't is falshoods game to vest it self like an Angel of light in the skin of the lamb and to seeme to weare the Robes of truth I mean by words like those of the Catholick party to delude the simplicity of the Innocent and welwishing People And now must it be our theame to unvaile theire Shufflings The first Shuffle Of the Word Scripture And first If we aske them what they rely upon they braggingly answer on Gods word upbraiding Catholicks to rely upon men when they fly to the churches witness but if we press thē to declare what they meā by Gods word to wit the Book of the Bible or the meaning of it they are forced to answer the sense for even beasts can convince them that wee have the Book as well as they Marching on another step and pressing to know by what instruments or means they have the sense there is no subterfuge from confessing it is by reading and their owne judging or thinking the sense of the Scripture is that which they affirme though all Catholicks affirm the contrary And although even in this they are cosened following for the most part the explication of their preacher Yet I press not that for they know not that they do so But I conclude see what you meane when you say you rely upon Scripture or Gods word to wit that you rely upon your owne opinion or guessing that this is Gods word So that this glorious profession of relying upon Gods word is in substance and reality to rely upon the opinion or guessing of a Cobler or Tinker or some house-wife when the answerers are such or at most of a Minister who for his owne interest is bound to maintaine this is the meaning of Gods word The second Shuffle Of Generall Councils SOme Protestants are so bold as to profess they wil stand to Generall Councils Now a General Council in the language of Catholicks is a general meeting of the Christian World by the Bishops and Deputies of it to testify the Doctrine of the Christian Church And is accounted inerrable in such determinations and therefore to have power to command the faith of Christians and to cast out of the Church al who do not yield to such their determinations and agreements and by consequence to have a supreme Authority in the Church in matters of faith The Protestants loath to leave the shadow though they care not for the substance use the name but to no effect For the intention being to manifest the Doctrine of the Christian World They first agree not upon the notion of what a Council is Requiring sometimes that al Bishops should bee present sometimes that all Patriarks though known to bee professed Hereticks and under the Turk sometimes objecting want of liberty and mainly that they decide not by disputation out of onely scripture or that they taught false Doctrine So that to the Protestant a Council signifies an indefinite and uncertaine when and what it is meeting of men going upon the scripture Which as it is before declared signifies every cobler or Ministers fancie which hath no authority to binde men to believe and is to bee judged by the Doctrine or agreement in faith with the Protestants The third Shuffle Of the consent of Fathers THe consent of the Fathers or Doctours of Christians before oure age and controversies beares so Venerable an aspect as that few Hereticks dare at least before honest understanding Christians give it flatly the lye Therefore the discreeter part of Protestants acknowledg it yet with a salve that they were all men and might bee deceived which in effect is to say that it is no convincing or binding Authority as Catholicks hold it to bee nay to bee a stronger authority then that of Councils as being the judgement of the Catholick Church or the learned part of it which is al one as to faith The Protestant first at one clap cutts of a thousand or 13. hundred yeares nay some 15. hundred The one saying S. Gregory the great was the last Father and first Papistrie the more ordinary course being to acknowledg onely the Fathers of the Persecution time before Constantine finding Popery as they call it to publick afterwards some pressing that ever since the decease of the Apostles the Church hath been corrupted So that they neither give any authority to the consent of Fathers nor
naturall credulity of children to their parents and teachers Yet I do not hereby exclude but that as riper yeares come on so they ought to gaine stronger groundes and maximes to confirme what they first accepted of in a more simple manner But here peraduenture it will be expected that since we say we meane not in this discourse by the terme Religion the vertue so named by Divines but the skil of attaining to eternall blisse we should give the reason why we call this Religion The answere hereunto is not difficult for since the end we ought to ayme at in this life belongeth to the next And since we know so very little of that even the great Clerks much lesse the ordinary sort of Christians whose chiefe endeavours are bestowed upon their temporall concernements It was requisite for our nature that this science should be delivered us from God himselfe And coming from him the most confâ—rmable course was that it should be done by way of command that onely becoming his greatnesse and taking away all possibility of dispute in us Which being so effected you see the art of obtaining happinesse was now become a matter of obedience to Almighty God Besides the object of our Beatitude being the diuine essence the way to attaine it must consequently be an ardent affection to Almighty God And such affection proceeding from a high esteeme of him And the performance of duties and the acknowledgements of the greatenesse of him wee honour flowing naturally from such esteeme It followeth that the chief if not the whole skill of acquiring blisse must consist in making due acknowledgements and in framing vehement affections towardes the God-head And thus you see that the skill which before wee seemed to make different from the vertue of Religion as preceding and directing it is now found to be coincident or convertible with it And though the name of Religion seemed to be spoken aequivocally of the two and in truth is so seeing the notions are quite divers Yet because the thinges that are executed by both are the same the name is justly and fitly derived from the one to the other and so necessarily that without due consideration we can not finde in what one signification differeth from the other The third REFLEXION That the Religion without which there is no salvation is but one OUt of what we have hitherto discoursed it is evident that if according to the course of all other arts and sciences and according to the custome and rule of nature in all her other proceedings the way of conquering the high walls of heaven by our violent affections be but one That is to say that as our nature and her acts and her defects are proportionable one to another and of one kind in all men so the happinesse all men ayme at being but one also the best way unto it ought to be but one and the defects from the best one proportionate to an other that is the way of all men to bliss proportionably considered ought to be but one then it followeth clearely that if God intendeth to direct vs wisely and conformably to our Nature towardes the End he created vs for which he must of necessity do vnder forfeiture of his great wisedome and goodnesse should he make nature and vs in it with designe to bring vs to our eternall well-being and not vse the meanes for it his commandes to vs can be no other then of such thinges as by their essences do integrate the streight and direct way in which did we know the causes of things we should of our owne inclinations and by the skill of morall Philosophy both march our selues and guide others in our charge And out of this we may conclude manifestly that Religion is but one onely which if we hit on and put in execution we become happy but if we misse of it we become unhappy whether the fault of missing it be ours or no Not that I suppose the missing can happen without our fault which is an other disputation But that this rule is universally true that whosoever hath not the true Religion miscarrieth and faileth of obtaining blisse By this we see how dangerous the rocke is to which so many seeke for refuge of their shippe-wracked consciences solacing themselves with such discourses as these God is good and mercifull and therefore commandeth not impossibilities but is content if I do my endeavour to fulfill his precepts I for my part am very ready if I knew them Nay I labour and study to find them out and yet can not Therefore why should I trouble my selfe any further Rather let me cast away all anxiousnesse and trust to the mercies of so unlimited a goodnesse For if what we have hither to laboured to evince be true namely that Gods commands are not meere voluntary ones but of such actions as do naturally breede the effect for which they are commanded then labour as much as you will if you do not that which is commanded that is if you take not the true way of going to heaven you shall never come there The prescriptions of the Doctour to the Apothecary are commandes But if the Apothecary though he endeavour never so much do not mingle the right drugges and temper them according to the Doctours prescriptioÌ„s the Physick will not prove healthfull to the Patient The husbandmans prescriptions to his kynde are commands Yet if his seruant though he worke by his greatest wittes should sow pease instead of wheate the croppe will not come up fit for the Masters table So in all other trades and arts It is not enough to do our endeavour But the thinges themselves must be really performed or else the desired effects will not follow Then assuredly those who content themselves with this cold comfort that God is mercifull do make lesse account of that so important businesse of their salvation then they do of those meaner profits which arise out of vulgar arts and occupations These two then do stand very well together that the same thing may be a coÌ„mand and withall a naturall action towardes the end for which it is coÌ„manded Nay ordinarily and regularly it is alwayes so and no command is otherwise unlesse where there is some fault either in the commander or in the subject The Generalls commandes are of doing such thinges as are ordered to safety and victory the Statesmans for keeping peace and for procuring plenty the Bishops of those actions which breede vertue and good life in the people Yet all these are commands and have therefore power of forcing obedience because they are or at least ought to be supposed such as of themselves are necessary for the common good in respect of which one man subjecteth himselfe to another And from hence the sillynesse of this excuse is more evident For if it be naturall to all good commands that they be of actions conformable to the end for which they are given and that the command be made for
Sanctifications or Initiations to enter us in the other six vertues Baptisme for faith Confirmation for hope Penance to redresse the wrongs we do to God and to our neigh-bour Matrimony and Extreme-Unction to injure us to temperance and to fortify us against the terrours of death Prudence because it eminently belongeth to commanders received its proper initiation in the installing of Spirituall Gouvernours which are Priests and Bishops Who being more eminent in Science and Charity have power to governe the flocke oâ— Christ And to the end that emulation might not breake unity among them Christ by his owne practise and mouth gave the Primacy to Saint Peter to whose see and successour inferiour Bishops were to have recourse in all publike necessities or dissentions of the Church And who att this day is commonly called the Pope It is incredible how great encrease of devotion and Charity accrueth to Christian people by the reverent administration and faithfull reception of these sacraments What respect and awe towardes to what adhesion their teachers their doctrine what obedience to their directions in fine how great a life to the Church and eminency above such synagogues as are destitute of these holy institutions The Apostles therefore armed with these and the aforesaid powers dispersed themselves into all the quarters of the earth planting this common doctrine and practise through the universe and dying left the inheritance of the same to their successors Who in debates about doctrines and in other dissentions meeting together and finding what the Apostles had left to the Churches they had planted did cast out such as would not conforme themselves to the received Tradition And so Christians were divided The parties cast out being denominated from their Masters or particular doctrines The part adhering to the Apostles Tradition retaining the name of the Apostolike Church Which because it was as it were the whole of Christians was therefore termed Catholike or Universall These Apostles and Disciples left certaine writinges But neither by command nor with designe to deliver in any or all of them a summary of our faith but occasionally teaching what they thought requisite for some certaine place or company which the Holy Ghost intended for the comfort of the Church In which as we professe there is nothing false or uncertaine so we know the unwritten Preaching ought to be the rule of their interpretation att least negatively Neither can we vindicate those bookes from the corruption of transscribers and much lesse of Interpretours whose labours can not pretend to the authority of scripture otherwise then by a knowne conformity to the Originals Tradition therefore became the rule of faith and Councells and Apostolicall Sees became the infallible depositaries of Tradition The other Sees fayling either by the destruction of Christian Religion in those quarters or by a voluntary discession from the rule of faith the Roman See first instructed by the two chiefe Apostles and afterwardes by perpetuall correspondence with all Christian countries and their recourse to it in matters of faith and discipline remained the onely single Church which was able in vertue of perpetuall succession to testify what was the Apostles doctrine Afterwardes Heretikes confounding equivocally the names of Apostolike and Cathlick by an impudence of saying what they list without shew of reason the Catholike party hath been forced for distinction sake to adde to their Church the sirname of Roman Declaring there by that the Roman particular Church is the Head and Mistresse and cause of Vnity to all those Churches that have share in the Catholike By this linke of truth namely of receiving doctrine by succession and by the linke of Vnity in the Roman head of the Church as the Church hath hitherto stood in Persecutions Heresies and Schismes so we are assured it will never faile untill the second coming of Christ but do hope it will encrease into an universall kingdome of his to dure an unknowne extent of Ages designed in the Apocolypse by the number of a thousand yeares in great prosperity and in freedome both from Pagans without and from Heretikes with in and in great aboundance of Charity and good life This being evidently the effect of Christs coming we see that the generall good life of Mankinde which proceedeth from the knowledge of the End to which we are created and from other motives and meanes delivered by Christs doctrine was the great and onely designe for which he tooke flesh that is to be the cause to us of a happy life both in this world and in the next The which having been the main advantage of the State of Paradise or of our nature before corruption It is cleare that Christ hath repaired the fault of Adam by making whole Mankind capable of attaining everlasting blisse unto which before his coming one only family had means to arrive The settling of Mankind in this repaire restored it to such a condition in respect of God that from thenceforth he resolved to bestow his greatest benefits upon it that is eternall felicity Whereas before as long as it was in the state of sinne his decrees were for its Vniversall Damnation By which it is cleare that Christ appeased his Fathers wrath and made him a friend of a foe he had formerly been unto us So that because eternall blisse followeth out of a good life and out of a constant habit or inclination to it as likewise damnation out of the state of a sinnefull inclination formal justification and sanctity do consist in the habit of good life and the state of damnation consisteth in an habituall inclination to sinne Neither the one nor the other in an extrinsecall acceptation or refusall of the Divine Will or its arbitrary Election or dislike which are only the efficient causes from whence proportionably to their natures they depend Further because Man-kinde was not able of it selfe to gett out of the State of sinne and by consequence lay in subjection and slavery to it And seeing that Christ by the explicated meanes and actions did sett it free and gave it power to come out of that subjection and misery he did clearely Redeeme Man-kinde from this servitude of sinne and of sinnes Master the Divell and gave it the liberty wherein it was created att the first And because Christ did this by his death and by the penall actions of his life he is rightly said to have by them payed a ransome for mankind Notwithstanding this generall preparation by which Man-kinde was enabled to well-doing no particular man arriveth to any action of vertue without the speciall providence and benevolence of Almighty God By which by convenient circumstances both externall and internall he prepareth the heart of that man unto whom he is gratious and favourable to receive these common impressions and maketh it good earth fitt for the seede of his eternall cultiuatour who without any respect to former merits planteth faith and charity and all that is good in him meerely of his