sorrow which being once duly perfomed and accepted if any reall entity or habit chance to remaine it is devested of all formall relation to any Act as it was injurious and offensiue seing that Act is retracted and revoked and therfore remaines no more voluntary in the offending person as if we suppose one to haue shot an arrow or cast a dart with purpose to kill another and to be instantly by particular motion of the Holy Ghost strooken with effectuall sorrow and Repentance before the shaft arriue to the party against which it was levelled the wounding or killing in that case will indeed be sayd to proceed from the hand which discharged the dart in nature of a reall naturall effect but not in the nature of a voluntary morall sinfull action since all that which was voluntary and sinfull is supposed to haue beene retracted by true repentance before the effect was produced This which we haue declared by the example of one man compared to another that the Habituall offense or injury consists not in any reall Habit or Quality but in a morall consideration holds much more if we transferr it to the Habituall offense of man against God who though de facto he be pleased to forgiue sin vpon our Repentance yet considering the thing in itselfe he could not be obliged to forgiue our sin though our sorrow were never so perfect and though we were assisted to extirpate all vicious Habits by the contrary naturall Habits of vertue but besides all this and all that can be imagined to be done by vs there is required a mercifull and free condonation from his infinite Goodness whether by infusing Grace or otherwise I do not dispute for the present without which our sinns are not forgiven wherby it clearly appeares that the denomination of being an Habituall sinner or to be in state of sin consists not in any reall Quality or Habit since these may be destroyed and yet habituall sin remaine and these may remayne though habituall sin be taken away as likewise if we suppose Almighty God to hinder miraculously the production of any reall habits or Qualityes by not affoardingh his vniversall free concurrence or cooparation without which no second cause can produce any action or reall habits yet whosoever commits a sinfull action vnavoidably is and is denominated a sinner till he repent Therfore it is manifest that habituall sin or sin remayning Habitually consists not in any reall phisicall habit or quality and consequently habituall sin may remayne though the vicious habit either be destroyed or never exist Which shewes that your Repentance by rooting out all vicious habits is impertinent to true Repentance and forgiveness of sins 12. The second kind of habits which belong to our present purpose are reall physicall and naturall Qualityes or habits of vertue orvice produced by vertuous or vicious Acts which acts being immediatly voluntary and produced by our free-will are in themselves good or bad vicious or vertuous deserving prayse or disprayse reward or punishment But good or bad habits are not voluntary in themselves but only in their causes for as much as they were produced by voluntary free Acts which produce habits no less necessarily than fire produces heat in a matter capable and approximated nor is it in the power of man to exercise Acts good or bad and forbid or hinder them from producing vertuous or vicious habits When therfore a sinfull Act is once effectually retracted by true Repentance the habit which proceeded from it and was voluntary only in its cause or sinfull Action remaines now no more voluntary to that repentant sinner but retaines meerly its as I may say innocent reall nature and entity being in itselfe a dead Quality and no more a sin to such a one than sickness or death was to Adam after his fall and repentance that is effects of sin not sin They may perhaps facilitate and incline to Acts which may proue sinfull yet that facilitation and provocation being not voluntary but purely naturall is of itselfe no sin at all As the naturall inclination which men haue to certaine Objects may be occasion of sinfull Acts if the will giue free consent yet is not of itselfe any sin nor voluntary vnto vs but naturall and may be occasion of great merit if bad motions proceeding from it be resisted by our will assisted by Gods Grace And you might as well say that Repentance requires the destruction of our nature I meane that naturall inclination which Divines call Fomes Peccati from which sinfull Acts may proceed and which in Adam proceeded from his actuall sin which deprived him of Originall Justice as you require the abolition of all Habits inclining to sin and produced by sinfull Acts which being retracted by Repentance the Habits or effects of them can retaine no relish or relation to them as they were voluntary free and sinfull For which cause such Habits haue now nothing to doe with any sin either actuall or habituall and therfore it is impossible that they can haue any least repugnance with justifying grace Sanctity Charity and Loue of God and consequently true Repentance cannot require their destruction seing their existence is compatible with grace and Sanctity Besides if the Acts by which one vitious Habit is destroyed doe not of themselves destroy any degree of some other vicious Habits with which those Acts haue no connexion much less can justifying grace be incompatible with any naturall acquired Habits of vice these being of an inferiour nature and order to that and therfore habituall sin with which grace and Sanctity cannot stand consists not in such naturall acquired ill habits neither can the extirpation of them be necessary to true Repentance which may take away the sin though those habits remaine Morover the acts wherby some vicious habit is acquired may destroy some contrary vicious habit as for example Acts of Prodigality tend to the destruction of the habit of Avarice and the same may be sayd of all other vices which are Extremes in order to the meane of vertue But it is absurd and impious to say or imagine that habituall sin can be forgiven by any sinfull Act since no habituall sin can be taken away without Repentance which being a speciall supernaturall Gift of God cannot be a sin Therfore we must affirme that reall Qualityes which we call habits are not habituall sin otherwise sin might be pardoned by sin Which is further confirmed by considering that vicious habits may be expelled immediatly and formally by naturall habits and mediate by Acts wherby the habits of such vertues are produced For example The habit of Injustice by the Contrary habit of Justice and so other vices by their contrary vertues habits and Acts. And therfore if habituall sin consist in reall Qualityes or habits of vice sin shall be forgiven formally by a forme or Quality or habit acquired by Acts produced by force of nature which being but naturall yet shall be vltima dispositio
him Philip. 2.17.18 But if I be immolated vpon the sacrifice and seruice of your Faith I rejoyce and congratulate with you all And the selfesame thing doe you also rejoyce and congratulate with me What great sacrifice seruice or obedience is a faith only probable and necessarily inferrd from probable Premises 16. Morouer that Faith doth not necessitate our vnderstanding but is free and voluntary euen quoad specificationem as Diuines speake that is in such manner as it is in our will to belieue the contrary of what we belieue by Faith and for that cause requires Gods particular assistāce and a pious affection in the will and a submitting or captiuating of our vnderstanding is gathered out of diuine Scriptures that vpon the same preaching of the Ghospel some belieued and some belieued not as we reade Act. 17.32.34 Certaine mocked but certaine sayd we will heare thee againe concerning this poynt But certaine men joyning vnto him did belieue Marc 16.15.16 Going into the whole world preach the Ghospell to all creatures He that belieueth ād is baptized shall be saued but he that belieueth not shall be condemned V. 14. he exprobated their incredulity Which shewes that jnfidelity is a sinne and sinne supposeth liberty to the contrary Rom. 10.16 But all do not obey the Ghospel This supposeth that some belieue not and that some other belieue and in belieuing exercise a free Act of obedience Gen. 15. Abrahā belieued God and it was reputed to him vnto justice Heb. 11. it is sayd that God prepared for the Fathers an euerlasting citty and that they got a repromission by Faith Ioan. 20. Blessed are they who haue not seene and haue belieued Luc. 2. Blessed art thou who hast belieued But a meritorious act or deserving such prayses must be free Now Chillingworths faith is such as necessitates the vnderstanding to assent at least that it cannot assent to the contrary as hath bene shewed Therfor his Faith is not that Christian belief which Holy Scripture commands that is a free Assent captiuating our vnderstanding and raysing it aboue all the Motiues of Credibility or Probability and consequently absolutly certaine and infallible wherby we voluntarily submit and perfectly subject our soule to God and his supreme authority For wheras we may distinguish foure sorts of Knowledg wherof the First is Experimentall or of senses 2. Scientificall 3. Humane Faith 4. Diuine Faith Man ought to be subject to God by a voluntary knowledg and such the first and second sort is not The third is imperfect as the authority on which it relyes is subject to errour The fourth then remaynes as it were Religion or highest worship called latria or the greatest submission wherby the will perfectly subject vnto God subjecteth vnto him the other powers which are subordinate vnto it selfe and it is great impiety to belieue that God hath not enabled Christians to offer to theyr creatour and Redeemer a seruice or Obedience connaturall to the Diuine Autority Perfection and Testimony 17. This reason drawen from Obedience exercised in the act of Christian Faith is further enforced thus The command of the will or Pious affection which Diuines require in Faith produceth in the vnderstanding a more firme assent than would be produced without (a) Vide Card Lugo de Fide Disp 10. Sect. 2. N. 19. it as we see by experience that men obstinate in errour or strongly affected to some truth produce by theyr will a more firme assent than otherwise it would haue bene yea the command of the will affection passion and the like moue men to assent to that vnto which otherwise they would not assent or from which perhaps they would dissent Therfor seing the will can moue the vnderstanding to produce the substance of an act much more may it determine vs to produce more degrees of assent or dissent than otherwise it would Although therfor it were granted that a Conclusion formally as such can haue no greater strength than it receyues from the Premises yet the same conclusion or object taken materially may receyue greater strength from some other cause than it did receyue from the Premises as such as the same materiall truth which being inferred from probable Premises is only probable may grow to be certaine if it be deduced from demonstratiue arguments Therfore Chillingworths ground that the Assent of Faith being a Conclusion drawne from probable Premises can be noe more than probable is either false if it be vnderstood that by no other meanes it can be made more than probable or impertinent if he meane that it cannot exceede probability precisely and formally as it is a Conclusion inferd from probable Premises it being sufficient for our purpose that it be improued to a certainty by some other meanes Yea since he grants that our Assent of Faith receyues from the Arguments of Credibility the highest degree of probability and that indeed it receyues a further perfection from the Pious Affection and prudent command of the will we must conclude that it is raised aboue the highest degree of a probable to a certaine Assent Which yet is more and more euinced by this following consideration 18. It is impossible that Christian Faith can retaine the highest degree of probability as Chilling pretends if it haue no greater perfection than it receyues from the sole probable Arguments of Credibility Therfor we must find some other ground on which Christian Faith relyes than meerly such arguments The antecedent I proue thus For to omit what some perhaps will say that at least the Assent of Faith which he sayth is a Conclusion is not so probable as the Premises on which it depends and so is not probable in the highest degree although it were granted that the Motiues of Credibility considered alone may mooue the vnderstanding to the highest degree of probability and such as one cannot entertayne without a prudent doubt of the contrary yet if they be compard and confronted with very great difficultyes objected against them by reason that the Mysteryes of Christian Faith which really are superiour and seemingly are contrary to naturall Reason and Philosophy that supposed highest pitch of probability must needs be abated and lessened and come to some lower than the highest As althongh the will do necessarily loue an object which appeares good when it attends not to any reason or formality of some euill neuerthelesse it is not necessarily carryed to loue that object when it perceyueth any euill therin so the vnderstanding so long as truth is proposd without any thing offered to the contrary necessarily or easily yelds assent but if contrary difficultyes be represented it is apt to pause and consider and perhaps doubt or feare and must needs fall somwhat from its former confidence adhesion and assent if it be left to it selfe and not assisted with greater strength than can arise from meere probabilityes encountred and balanced with contrary seeming strong reasons And as Chilling speaking to Catholiques sayth Pag. 113.
vncertaintyes For the Objection returnes vpon you many wayes 38. Answer I assure you Charity Maintayned hath never felt nor ever will feele any such repentance as you mention having never bene taught to repent him self of a good deed as it seemes you confess his to haue bene while you say to him I feare you will repent the tyme Do you feare He will repent the Object of feare is some apprehended evill and therfor your feare that He will repent must imply that it were ill done of him to repent and consequently that he must persist in what he wrote and so He may well do for any thing you bring to the contrary all your Objections being already answered by the Ground which I layed That more certainty and strength is required in the generall Principles of Faith than in that particular meanes or Act wherby such Principles are applyed in Practise to the Person of every one as for example we are certaine by Revelation certitudine Fidei that he who persevers vnto the end shall be saved but that every particular person doth performe on his part what is requisite to persever we haue no revelation nor absolute certainty God having so disposed that we ought to work our salvation with feare and trembling The further reason wherof may be because if the generall Grounds or Meanes appointed by God were in themselves fallible and vncertaine this want would be ascribed to God himself as if he had not given vs sufficient Meanes for our salvation but for the particular application made by free Acts of men or by Meanes of second causes all the defect is imputed to them alone and in no wise to God who on his part hath provided Meanes certaine and sufficient as will appeare herafter by answering all the particulars which you alledg wherby it will be found that no vncertainty can be derived from the generall Principles or Grounds of our Faith as it must proceed from the very Grounds of Protestants but only from the fallibility infirmity or fault of men in particular cases 39. To this Ground I add this other briefe consideration That it is one thing to treate whether or no a Sacrament be valid and an other whether the defect of an invalid Sacrament may be supplyed by some other Meanes For example Intention of the Ministers is vniversally necessary to the validity of a Sacrament in the sense I haue declared but whether or when or to whom Sacraments be so necessary that they cannot be supplyed by other Meanes must be resolved by descending to particular cases as will appeare after a while and will shew the weakness of the Objections which you extend to no fewer numbers or Sections than the 63.64.65.66.67.68.69.70.72.73.74 And yet all are the same which we haue toucht and answered already as that we cannot be sure that he who absolves the Penitent or consecrates the Eucharist is a true Priest because we cannot know that he or any other was baptized with due Matter Forme and Intention and for the like reasons we are not certaine that the Bishop who ordained him was a true Bishop But as I sayd these vncertaintyes neither are nor can be so great as you make them nor do they touch the Principles of our Faith but are as it were matters of Fact and concerne only the application of those generall Grounds to particular occasions for which we haue no Revelation or certainty of Faith which assures vs only that there shall be alwayes in Gods Church a succession of Bishopes and Priests and this is enough to shew that your Objections are but exaggerations and panick feares as if of many millions not twenty should be true Prists which in effect is to say that God hath no Providence over his Church but leaves all things to chance or the weakness and possible malice of men You teach that we cannot be certain of the Decrees of Councells because we are not certaine that the Pope who must confirme them is true Pope you should say the contrary There haue bene true generall Councells Therfor they who celebrated them were true Bishops and the Pope who confirmed them was true Pope Thus also we are sure true Priests haue Power to absolue repentent sinners and true Bishops to or dayne Priests but not that this or that in particular is a true Priest or Bishop or that every particular Penitent hath true sorrow Otherwise every one must be sure that he is in state of grace and salvation making no distinction between the vertue of Hope and Faith but must with absolute certainty belieue and not only hope that his sins are forgiven And therfor Charity Maintayned did not object against Protestants who belieue Christian Faith to be absolutely infallible and with whom He had to doe and not with such as you are whatsoever vncertainty but sayd expressly that their Faith did rely vpon an vncertaine Ground and therefore could not be infallible And it is strang that you N. 68. should speake to vs in this manner I hope you will preach no more against others for making mens salvation depend vpon fallible and vncertaine Grounds least by judging others you make your selves and your owne Church inexcusable who are strangly guilty of this fault aboue all the men and Churches of the world I say it is strang this should be objected by you that we make mens salvation depend vpon vncertaine Grounds who profess that no Article of Christian Faith is to vs certainly true and therfor though one were certaine that he did vse all meanes prescribed by Christian Religion for attaining salvation yet he might misse therof which is plaine blasphemy putting our want of salvation not vpon any defect in men but vpon the vncertainty of Christian Religion and of the Grounds which Allmighty God hath provided for the belief therof You say indeed N. 70. that we belieue the Church to be infallible only vpon prudentiall Motives but this we vtterly deny For we belieue this Point for the same Reason for which we belieue other Articles of Christian Faith which I haue proved Chap 1. to rely vpon most infallible Grounds 40. In your N. 71.72 you object no more than what I haue answered more than once That although particular men may be moved to accept Christian belief for some immediate reason or Motiue not infallible of it selfe yet still their Faith may be resolved into an infallible Ground which is Divine Revelation proposed by the Church of God certainly acknowledged to be infallible as I haue shewed and that no particular Translations can prejudice vs who submit to the Church which God will never permit to be deceyved by them 41. For the vulgate Translation of which you speake N. 74.75.76.77.78.79 I need say for the present only this That it being approved in the sacred Councell of Trent we are sure that it cannot contayne any least Point against Faith or good manners And if by the fault of the Printers or by any other meanes any
her communion and by Ecclesiasticall censures oblige them to doe that which otherwise they are by divine Law most strictly obliged to performe And further if the separation be causeless the separatists from the externall communion of the Church do jointly leaue the Church either by professing a different Faith or denying obedience both to the Church and to God who commands vs not to forsake the communion of the Church faith and obedience being those requisites which say you constitute a man a member of a Church And so all is reduced to your Memorandum a causeless separation from the externall communion of any Church is the sin of Schisme Yourselfe say expressly Pag 267. N. 38. The cause in this matter of separation is all in all And why then would you entangle men with I know not what other vnnecessary and vntrue remembrances But necessity hath no Law You cannot giue any reason why you leaue vs aÌ„d yet why Protestants must not leaue one another since it is cleare that they in disagree Points at least not fundameÌ„tall and therfore you fly to other chifts besides the cause which yet you say is all in all though Pag 267. N. 40. you expressly say that the cause or the corruption of our Church is not the only or principall reason of your not communicating with vs. A pretty congruity the cause is all in all and yet is not the principall reason 21. Now to that pretended maine ground of yours It is not lawfull to professe known errours or practise known corruptions I say That either we may consider what is true in it selfe or what in good consequence followes from the principles of Protestants and in particular of Potter and Chillingworth or as the Logicians speake ad hominem which are two very differenr considerations and yet by the assistance of Gods holy grace I will shew that according to both of them Protestants are guilty of the sin of Schisme 22. For the first It is most true in itselfe that in no case it can ever be lawfull to dissemble Equivocate or Ly in matters of Faith and he shall be denyed in Heaven who in that manner denyes God on earth But as I began to say aboue from this very ground we proue that the Church cannot erre in such matters For seing all Fathers Antiquity and Divines haue hitherto proclaimed with a most vnanimous consent that to forsake the externall communion of Gods Visible Church is the sin of Schisme it followes that there can be no cause sufficient for such a division and consequently that she cannot fall into such errours or corruptions as may force any to leaue her Communion And therfore as we proue a priori that the Church cannot fall into errour because she is infallibly assisted by the Holy Ghost So as it were a posteriori or ab absurdo we must inferr that she is infallible and not subject to errour because otherwise we might forsake her Communion and men could haue no certainty who be Heretikes or Schismatikes but all would be obliged to leaue all Churches seing none are free from errour and so remaining members of no Church on earth could hope for no salvation in Heaven 23. For this cause in the definition of Schisme our Forfathers never put your limiting particle causless well knowing and taking it as a principle in Christianity that there could be no cause to forsake the Communion of Gods Church as in proportion if one should say it is not lawfull to divide ones selfe from Christ without cause he should insinuate that there might be some cause in some case to do so and yet Potter Pag 75. affirmes That there neither was nor can be any just cause to depart from the Church of Christ no more than from Christ himselfe Durum telum necessitas It could not be denyed that Luther departed from all Churches and so there was no possible way to avoyde the note of open Schisme but by inventing a new definition of that crime and supposing the possibility of a thing impossible that there may be just cause of separating from the Communion of the Church But while they labour to avoide Schisme they broach a most pernicious Heresy that indeed there may be any such just cause verifying what S. Hierome sayth vpon those words of the Apostle which a good conscience some casting off haue suffered shipwracke Though schisme in the beginning may in some sort be vnderstood different from Heresy yet there is no Schisme which doth not faine some Heresy to itselfe that so it may seeme to haue departed from the Church vpon good reason That is that their divsion may not seeme to be a causless separation as you speake in your new definition But I pray you heare S. Austine Lib 2. Cont Petil Chap 16. saying I object to thee the sin of Schisme which thou wilt deny but I will straight proue For thou dost not communicate with all Nations To which if you add what he hath Epist 48. It is not possible that any may haue just cause to separate their communion from the communion of the whole world and call themselves the Church of Christ as if they had separated themselves from the communion of all Nations vpon just cause and Lib 2. Cont Parm Cap 11. There is no just necessity to divide vnity And Lib 3. Cap 4. The world doth securely judge that they are not good who separate themselves from the world in what part of land soever If I say you consider these sayings of S Austine the conclusion must be that Luther who divided himselfe from the communion of the whole world and all Nations was a Schismatike seing it is not possible that any may haue just cause to do so as S. Austine affirmes Obserue also what this same glorious Doctour sayth Lib de Vnit Eccl Cap 4. Whosoever belieue that Iesus Christ came in flesh in which he suffered was borne c yet so differ from his Body which is the Church as their communion is not with the whole whersoever it is spread but is found separate in some part it is manifest that they are not in the Catholike Church Was Luthers communion with the whole which was not with any one place or person Dr. Lawd Pag 139. sayth plainly The whole Church cannot vnâ—versally erre in absolute Fundamentall Doctrines And therfore t' is true that there can be no just cause to make a Schisme from the whole Church Which must be vnderstood that absolutely there can be no cause at all For it were ridiculous to say There can be no just cause to make a causeless Schisme or division seing if there be cause it is not causeless And it is to be observed that the Reason he gives why there can be no just cause to make a Schisme from the whole Church is because she cannot erre in absolute Fundamentall doctrines which supposes both that she may erre in Points not Fundamentall and that errours in such points cannot
destructiue of salvation being but matters of small consideration in their account Secondly That they can not be excused from Schisme who forsooke all Churches for Points not Fundamentall and of so small moment in which they disagree amongst themselves and in diverse of which many of them agree with vs against their pretended Brethren which is to be well observed Thirdly that Chillingwâ— had no reason Pag 11 to say to Charity Maintayned produce any one Protestant that ever did so that is affirme that every errour not Fundamentall is not destructiue of salvation and I will giue you leaue to say It is the only thing in Question seing I haue proved out of many chiefe Protestants that for which he sayth no one can be produced yea and I can yet produce a full confession of Mr. Chillingworth himself that Errours in not Fundamentalls are not destructiue of salvation nor such as may necessitate or warrant any man to disturbe the peace or renounce the Communion of a Church Thus he speakes in his Answer to the Direction N. 39. Though I hold not the Doctrine of all Protestants absolutely true which with reason cannot be required of me while they hold contradictions yet I hold it free from all impiety and from all Errour destructiue of salvation or in itselfe damnable For the Church of England I am perswaded that the constant Doctrine of it is so pure and Orthodox that whosoever believes it and lives according to it vndoubtedly he shall be saved and that there is no errour in it which may necessitate or warrant any man to disturbe the peace or renounce the communion of it Here I obserue first If the doctrine of Protestanss whom he expressly confesses to hold contradictions and consequently some of them to hold errours at least in Points not Fundamentall be free from all errour destructue of salvation or in itselfe damnable it followes that errours against Points not Fundamentall are not destructiue of salvation nor in themselves damnable which is the thing I intended to proue 2. What he saith of the Errours among Protestants that they are not destructiue of salvation he must also say of our pretended errours both because commonly of disagreeing Protestants one part agrees with vs as also because as I sayd diverse of them stand directly with vs against the common course of the rest and finally because the reason of being or not being damnable is common to all Points not Fundamentall which are supposed to contradict some divine revelation sufficiently propounded which to doe if it be destructiue of salvation must be so for all such Points if not in none at all 3. If the constant doctrine of the Church of England be so pure that whosoever believes it and lives according to it vndoubtedly he shall be saved and that there is no errour in it which may necessitate or warrant any man to disturbe the peace or renounce the communion of it you must say seing Luther and his followers did and do disturbe the peace and renounce the communion of the whole Church of God before his tyme which must be supposed to haue erred only in Points not Fundamentall otherwise it had beene no Church they did and do that for which there was no necessity and for which they had no warrant and therfore cannot avoide the just imputation of Schisme For the same reason also that the Church erred only in points not Fundamentall you must grant that whosoever believes as the Church did and lives accordingly vndoubtedly shall be saved For I am sure you belieue the Church of England to haue erred in diverse Points and in particular in her 39. Articles which was her constant doctrine if she had any constant at all In particular your conscience tells you that you belieue not the Mystery of the Blessed Trinity and much less that our Saviour Christ was true God and consubstantiall with his Father to say nothing of other Points of those 39. articles And is it not ridiculous to heare you talke of purity of doctrine of the Church of England which you belieue to be stayned with such Errours But you wrote for Ends If then salvation may be so assured in the Church of England you must grant the same of that Church which Luther and his associates forsooke and that therfore they certainly exclude themselves from salvation by forsaking the communion of them amongst whom salvation was so certaine and remember your words Pag 272. N. 53. it concernes every man who separates from any Churches communion even as much as his salvation is worth to looke most carefully to it that the cause of his separation be just and necessary For vnless it be necessary it can very hardly be sufficient To which proposition if we subsume but it cannot be necessary to separate for avoyding that errour or attaining that Truth which to avoyde or attaine is not necessary to salvation therfore Luther who separated from the Church for Points not necessary cannot pretend any necessary or sufficient cause for such his separation aÌ„d consequeÌ„tly was guilty of the sin of Schisme 4. But yet you will still be making good that in these matters Protestants and yourself in particular haue no constancy but say and vnsay as may best serue their turne You tell vs the doctrine of all Protestants is free from all Errour in it selfe damnable which agrees not with what you say of Protestants Pag 19. If we faile in vsing such a measure of industry in finding truth as humane prudence and ordinary discretion shall advise in a matter of such consequence our Errours begin to be malignant and justly imputable as offenses against God and that loue of his truth which he requires in vt And Pag 306. N. 106. For our continuing in the Communion of Protestants notwithstanding their Errours the justification hereof is not so much that their Errours are not damnable as that they require not the belief and profession of these Errours among the conditions of their Communion And Pag 279. N. 64. The visible Church is free indeed from all Errours absolutely destructive and vnpardonable but not from all errour which in itselfe is damnable not from all which will actually bring damnation vpon them that keepe themselves in them by their owne voluntary and avoidable fault If the visible Church be not free from errour which in itselfe is damnable how could you say that the Protestant Church of England is free from all errour damnable in itselfe But why do I cite particular passages You giue a generall Rule concerning all Errours Pag 158. N. 52. in these words If the cause of it an errour be some voluntary and avoidable fault the Errour is it selfe sinfull and consequently in its owne nature damnable as if by negligence in seeking the Truth by vnwillingnes to find it by pride by obstinacy by desiring that Religion shoudl be true which sutes best with my ends by feare of mens â—ll opinion or any other worldly feare or
any other worldly hope I betray my selfe to any errour contrary to any Divine revealed truth that errour may be justly stiled a sin and consequently of it self to such a one damnable And if he dy without Contrition this errour in it selfe damnable will be likewise so vnto him I haue set downe your words at large that Protestants may learne by them how to examine their conscience about what care they vse to find the true Church ād Religion which imports them no less then the eternall salvation or Damnation of their soules And that every one may clearly see that you do not only grant more than once the errours of Protestants to be in themselves damnable but also a reason for it namely because all errours in Faith are contrary to some Divine Revelation which reason is common to Protestants to the Church of England and to all who erre in matters of Faith And then with what sincerity could you affirme that whosoever holds the doctrine of the Church of England and lives according to it vndoubtedly he shall be saved Can one who is in an errour damnable of itselfe be vndoubtedly saved without repentance Haue we not heard you say To him who dyed without contrition the errour in itselfe damnable will be likewise so vnto him Do you not say Pag 138. N. 23. For ought I know all Protestants and all that haue sense must grant that all errours are alike damnable if the manner of propounding the contrary Truths be not different Therfore you must grant that as errours against Fundamentall Truths sufficiently propounded are damnable so also errours against not Fundamentall Truths are damnable if both be equally proposed How then are the Errours of all Protestants and of the Church of England in particular not damnable 51. Thus we haue sufficiently confuted your first Memorandum and shewed that the separation of Protestants was causeless both in reality and ad hominem or according to the principles and professions of Protestants themselves In reality because there can never be just reason to separate from the Church of God which therfore must be infallible and free from all corruptions and errours Ad hominem because according to the principles of Protestants errours not Fundamentall being not destructiue of salvation cannot yield sufficient cause of separation nor free any from yielding obedience even in the supposed vnfundamentall errours as they confess ours to be and if somtyme Protestants say the contrary at other tymes they contradict themselves which serves only for their greater condemnation in leaving the communion of all Christian Churches vpon vncertaintyes in which themselves do waver somtyme affirming somtyme denying And vpon this very ground of vncertainty I go forward to proue more and more that their separation was causlesse 52. For Pag 308. N. 108. you do not disallow the saying of Cha Ma Part 1. Pag 207. In cases of vncertainty we are not to leave our Superiour nor cast of his obedience nor publikly oppose his decrees And Hooker cited by you in your Pag 310. 311. N. 110. teaches two things to our present purpose The one That an Argument necessary and demonstratiue is such as being proposed to any man and vnderstood the mynd cannot chuse but inwardly assent The other that in case of probability only or vncertainty Lawes established are to be obeyed and men are bound not to obserue those Lawes which they are perswaded to be against the law of God but for the tyme to suspend their perswasions to the contrary and that in otherwise doing they offend against God by troubling the Church This ground being layd I subsume besides what hath now been sayd of the variousness ād vncertainty of Protestants about Points not Fundamentall Protestants cannot possibly haue evidence or certainty against Catholiks therfore they offended against God by dividing theselves from vs and troubling the peace of all Churches The subsumption or Minor I proue diverse wayes abstaining from examination of particular Controversyes and 53. First in this manner An Argument necessary and Demonstratiue is such as being proposed to any man and vnderstood the mynd cannot chuse but inwardly assent saith Hooker If therfore the arguments of Protestants against vs were necessary and demonstratiue learned Catholiks could not chuse but inwardly assent and vnless they were extreme wicked dissemblers against their conscience would also publikly professe And yet we see that all Catholiks in all Ages and places learned holy wise and such as God vsed for instruments in working many great and evident Miracles and in converting nations to the Faith of Christ all these I say did and do and ever will dissent from the Arguments and conclusions of Protestants therfore it is cleare that their reasons against vs are not necessary nor demonstratiue and so according to Hooker the Lawes established were to be obeyed and Protestants were bound to suspend their perswasions to the contrary Truly this is an Argument which must convince any man of a mynd not perverse and resolved to persever in his errour 54. Secondly I prove that they cannot produce against vs any necessary or demonstratiue Argument in regard of the Antiquity of our doctrine confessed even by our Adversaryes as may be seene in Brierley P. 129. seqq Edition Ann. 1608. now how could these doctrines haue passed the search and examine of so many learned men and watchfull Prelats for the space of so many ages if any necessary or demonstratiue argument to which men cannot but assent could haue been produced against them 55. Thirdly Learned Protestants confess that the Fathers hold with vs against them in many and chiefest Points of Doctrine controverted in these dayes as we haue seene hertofore which could not happen if the Arguments of Protestants against the Fathers and vs were necessary and demonstratiue 56. Fourthly In all our chiefest differences diverse most learned Protestants agree with vs against their pretended Brethren as we haue also demonstrated hertofore Now these men being learned could not but see and assent to necessary and demonstratiue Arguments if any could haue been alledged against vs and being Adversaryes would not haue fayld to make vse of them nor would they haue ever left their Brethren and joyned with vs if evidence of truth and reason had not forced them therto or if they could haue espyed any even probability in the grounds and Doctrines of their Brethren wherby it appeares that the tenets of Protestants are so farr from being evident or their Arguments necessary and demonstrative that they are not so much as probable Who I pray will belieue that you could haue any necessary demonstratiue Arguments for your so many changes of Religion and for your ending in Socinianisme which you never durst openly profess and yet men are not wont to be ashamed of truths proved by necessary and demonstratiue Reasons One demonstration or evidence cannot be contrary to another and yet no doubt but you pretended evidence for all your alterations to contrary