〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus much acknowledged by Mercurius Trismegist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus much cōfest by Anaxagoras Plato terming the maker of the world an Intellectual worker Finally the Stoikes although imagining the first cause of all things to be fire held neuerthelesse that the same fire hauing arte did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They all confesse therfore in the working of that first cause that counsell is vsed reason followed a way obserued that is to say constant order and law is kept wherof it selfe must needs be author vnto it selfe Otherwise it should haue some worthier and higher to direct it and so could not it selfe be the first Being the first it can haue no other then it selfe to be the author of that law which it willingly worketh by God therefore is a law both to himselfe and to all other things besides To himselfe he is a law in all those things whereof our Sauiour speaketh saying My Father worketh as yet so I. God worketh nothing without cause All those things which are done by him haue some ende for which they are done and the ende for which they are done is a reason of his will to do them His will had not inclined to create woman but that he saw it could not be wel if she were not created Non est bonum It is not good man should be alone Therfore let vs make an helper for him That and nothing else is done by God which to leaue vndone were not so good If therfore it bee demanded why God hauing power hability infinit th' effects notwithstāding of that power are all so limited as wee see they are the reason hereof is the end which he hath proposed and the lawe whereby his wisedome hath stinted th' effects of his power in such sort that it doth not worke infinitely but correspōdently vnto that end for which it worketh euen al things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in most decent and comely sort all things in measure number waight The generall ende of Gods external working is the exercise of his most glorious and most abundant vertue Which abundance doth shew it selfe in varietie and for that cause this varietie is oftentimes in scripture exprest by the name of riches The Lord hath made all things for his owne sake Not that any thing is made to be beneficial vnto him but all things for him to shew beneficence and grace in them The particular drift of euery acte proceeding externally from God we are not able to discerne and therefore cannot alwaies giue the proper and certaine reason of his works Howbeit vndoubtedly a proper and certaine reason there is of euery finite worke of God in as much as there is a law imposed vpon it which if there were not it should be infinite euen as the worker himselfe is They erre therfore who think that of the will of God to doe this or that there is no reason besides his will Many times no reason knowne to vs but that there is no reason thereof I iudge it most vnreasonable to imagine in as much as hee worketh all things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not onely according to his owne will but the counsell of his owne will And whatsoeuer is done with counsell or wise resolution hath of necessitie some reason why it should be done albeit that reason bee to vs in somethings so secret that it forceth the wit of man to stand as the blessed Apostle himself doth amazed therat O the depth of the riches both of the wisdome and knowledge of God How vnsearchable are his iudgements c That law eternall which God himself hath made to himselfe and therby worketh all things wherof he is the cause and author that law in the admirable frame wherof shineth with most perfect beautie the countenance of that wisdome which hath testified concerning her self The lord possessed me in the beginning of his way euē before his works of old I was set vp that lawe which hath bene the patterne to make and is the Carde to guide the world by that law which hath bene of God and with God euerlastingly that law the author and obseruer whereof is one only God to be blessed for euer how should either men or Angels be able perfectly to behold The booke of this law we are neither able nor worthy to open and looke into That little thereof which we darkly apprehend we admire the rest with religious ignorance we humbly meekly adore Seeing therfore that according to this law he worketh of whom through whom for whom are all things althogh there seeme vnto vs cōfusion disorder in th' affaires of this present world Tamen quon am bonus mund◠rector temperat rectè fieri cuncta ne dubites Let no man doubt but that euery thing is wel done because the world is ruled by so good a guide as transgresseth not his owne law then which nothing can be more absolute perfect iust The law wherby he worketh is eternall and therfore can haue no shew or colour of mutability for which cause a part of that law being opened in the promises which God hath made because his promises are nothing else but declarations what God will do for the good of men touching those promises the Apostle hath witnessed that God may as possibly denie himselfe and not be God as faile to performe them And cōcerning the counsel of God he termeth it likewise a thing vnchangeable the counsel of God and that law of God wherof now we speake being one Nor is the freedome of the wil of God any whit abated let or hindered by meanes of this because the impositiō of this law vpō himselfe is his own free volūtary act This law therfore we may name eternal being that order which God before al ages hath set down with himself for himself to do all things by 3 I am not ignorant that by law eternall the learned for the most part do vnderstand the order not which God hath eternally purposed himselfe in all his workes to obserue but rather that which with himselfe he hath set downe as expedient to be kept by all his creatures according to the seuerall conditiō wherwith he hath indued them They who thus are accustomed to speake apply the name of Lawe vnto that onely rule of working which superiour authority in poseth whereas we somewhat more enlarging the sense thereof terme any kind of rule or Canon whereby actions are framed a lawe Now that lawe which as it is laid vp in the bosome of God they call eternall receiueth according vnto the different kinds of things which are subiect vnto it different and sundry kinds of names That part of it which ordereth naturall agēts we call vsually natures law that which Angels doe clearely behold and without any swaruing obserue is a law coelestiall and heauenly the law of reason that which
especially concerneth our selues in the present matter we treate of is the state of reformed religion a thing at her comming to the Crowne euen raised as it were by miracle from the dead a thing which we so little hoped to see that euen they which behelde it done scarcely belieued their own senses at the first beholding Yet being then brought to passe thus many years it hath continued standing by no other worldly meane but that one only hand which erected it that hand which as no kinde of imminent daunger could cause at the first to withholde it selfe so neyther haue the practises so many so bloudie following since beene euer able to make wearie Nor can we say in this case so iustly that Aaron and Hur the Ecclesiasticall and Ciuill states haue sustained the hand which did lift it selfe to heauen for them as that heauen it selfe hath by this hand sustained them no ayde or helpe hauing thereunto bene ministred for performance of the worke of reformation other then such kind of helpe or ayde as the Angell in the Prophet Zacharie speaketh of saying Neither by an armie nor strength but by my spirit saith the Lord of Hostes. Which grace and fauour of diuine assistance hauing not in one thing or two shewed it self nor for some few daies or yeares appeared but in such sort so long continued our manifold sinnes transgressions striuing to the contrarie what can we lesse thereupon conclude then that God would at leastwise by tract of time teach the world that the thing which he blesseth defendeth keepeth so strangely cannot choose but be of him Wherefore if any refuse to beleeue vs disputing for the veritie of religion established let them beleeue God himselfe thus miraculouslie working for it and wish life euen for euer and euer vnto that glorious and sacred instrument whereby he worketh FINIS An Aduertisement to the Reader I Haue for some causes gentle Reader thought it at this time more fit to let goe these first foure Bookes by themselues then to stay both them and the rest til the whole might together be published Such generalities of the cause in question as here are handled it will be perhaps not amisse to consider apart as by way of introduction vnto the bookes that are to follow concerning particulars In the meane while thine helping hand must be craued for the amendment of such faultes committed in printing as omitting others of lesse moment I haue set downe Pag. line Fault Correction Pag. line Fault Correction 25 37 be ordained he ordained 138 19 still stay 31 23 if any of any 139 19 It is for nothing It is not for nothing 51 mar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 157 33 wash waste 55 mar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 162 32 pretious should pretious body should 64 mar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 180 43 meerenes neerenes 66 19 manifest reason manifest law of reasoÌ„ 183 39 vrine vaine 83 12 or that of that 184 ma. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 87 24 ase such are such 185 18 do I doubt not presume do I doubt not presume 91 44 holy worke holy word 186 mar sticke strike 130 38 seuerally seueraltie 202 3 worde world The cause and occasion of handling these things and what might be wished in them for whose sakes so much paine is taken Ia. 2.1 The first establishment of new discipline by M. Caluins industry in the Church of Geneua and the beginning of strife about it amongst our selues Epist. Cal. 24. Luc. 20.17 An. D 1541. Ep. 166. Quod eam vrbem videret omnino his frenis indigere By what meanes so many of the people are trained into the liking of that discipline 1. Cor. 10 13. 1. Cor. 1â— 13 Luc. 12.56 57. Act 17.11 Rom. 14.5 Galen de opt docen geâ— Mal 2.7 Greg. Naz. orat qua se â—â—cusat Matth. 15.14 Mal. 2.9 Iud ver 10 2. Pet. 2.12 Cal. instit li. 4. cap. 20. Sect. 8 The author of the petition directed to her Maiestie p. 3. Arist. Metaph. lib. 1. cap. 5. â— Ioh. â— â— 2. Thes. 2.11 2. Tim. 3.6 1. Iohn 4.6 1. Cor. â— 27 Act. 26.24 Sap. 5.4 VVe fooleâ— thought his life madnes Mâ—rc Tris. ad Asculap 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vide Lactant. de â—ustâ—t lib. â— cap. 16 August Epâ—st 50. VVhat hath câ—used so many of the lâ—arneâ—er sort to approue the same disciplinâ— T.C. lib. 1. p. 97 Euseb. 3. lib. 32 Lib. Strom. somewhat after the beginning Lib. 7. c. 11. Phil. 4 1â— a 〈…〉 ceremoniis atque fâ—niâ— tantum sanctitatis tribuere coÌ„sueuit quantum adstruxerit vetustatis Arno. p. 746. b Rom. 16.16 2. Cor 13.12 1. Thes. 5.25 1. Pet. 5.14 In their meetings to serue God their maner was in the end to salute one an other with a kisse vsing these words Peace be with you For which cause Tertull. doth call it sigâ—aculum orationis the seale of prayer lib. dâ— Orat. c Epist. Iud. vers 12. Concerning which feasts 5. Chrysost sâ—ith Statiâ— diebus mesas faciebant communeâ— peractâ— synaxi post sacramentorum coÌ„munionem inibaÌ„t conuiuium diuitiâ—us quidemcibos affereÌ„ribus pau peribus auâ—em quâ— niâ—il habebant etiam vocatiâ— in 1. Cor. 11. hom 27. Of the same feasts in like sort Tertull. Coena nostra de nâ—mine rationsui oftendit Vocatur enâ—m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—d quod est penes Graecos dâ—lectio Quantis cunq sumptibusconsteâ— lucrum est â—etatis nomine faâ—ere sumptum Apolog. c. 39. Galen Clas 2. lib. de cuiosque anim peccat notitia atque medela Petit. to the Q M.P. 14. Eccles. 10.1 Their calling for triall by disputation No end of contention without submission of both parts vnto some definitiue sentence Rom. â— 17 Deut. 17.8 Act 15. â—res tract 〈◊〉 excom presbyt Math. 23 2â— T.C. li. â— p. 17 The matter contained in these eight bookes How iust cause there is to feare the manifold dangerous euents likely to ensue vpon this intended reformation if it did take place 1. Pet. 2.2 Psal. 55.13 Pref. against D. Baner Matth. 23.3 Sap. 6.24 Eccl. 16.29 Humb. Motion to the L L. p. 50. Act. 19.19 Mumb. Mâ—t. p. 74. Counterp p. 108. Matth. 1â— 1â— Guy de Brés contre l'errent des Anabapa tistes p. 4. p. 5. p. 16. p. 1.8.119 120. p. 116. p. 124. Luc. 6.12 p. 117. p. 40. Ier. 31.34 p. 29. p. 27. 2. Tim. 3.7 p. 65 6â— p. 135. P. 25. P. 71. 124. p. 764. p. 748. p. 112. p. 518. p. 722. p. 726. p. 6â—8 p. 38. p. 122. P. 841. p. 8â—3 p. 849. p. 40. Laâ—ant de Iustit lib. 5. Cap. 19. p. 6. p. 4.20 p. 5â— p. 6 7. 7. p. 17. p. 6. P. 41. Matt. 5.5 Exod. 11.2 Matt. in his â— libel p. 28. Demonstr in the praef The conclusion of all Iob. 39.37 Greg. Naâ— in Apol. The cause of
might haue eased them of much aftertrouble But a greater inconuenience it bred that euery later endeuoured to bee certaine degrees more remoued from conformitie with the Church of Rome then the rest before had bene whereupon grew maruellous great dissimilitudes and by reason thereof iealousies hartburnings iarres and discords amongst them Which notwithstanding might haue easily bene preuented if the orders which each Church did thinke fit and conuenient for it selfe had not so peremptorily bene established vnder that high commaunding forme which tendered them vnto the people as things euerlastingly required by the law of that Lord of Lords against whose statutes there is no exception to be taken For by this meane it came to passe that one Church could not but accuse condemne another of disobedience to the wil of Christ in those things where manifest difference was betweene them whereas the selfesame orders allowed but yet established in more warie and suspense maner as being to stand in force till God should giue the opportunitie of some general cōference what might be best for euery of them afterwards to doe this I say had both preuented all occasion of iust dislik◠which others might take and reserued a greater libertie vnto the authors themselues of entring into farther consultatiō afterwards Which though neuer so necessary they could not easily now admit without some feare of derogation from their credit and therfore that which once they had done they became for euer after resolute to maintaine Caluin therfore the other two his associats stiffely refusing to administer the holy Communion to such as would not quietly without contradiction and murmur submit themselues vnto the orders which their solemne oath had bound them to obey were in that quarell banished the towne A fewe yeares after such was the leuitie of that people the places of one or two of their Ministers being fallen voyde they were not before so willing to be rid of their learned Pastor as now importunate to obtaine him againe from them who had giuen him entertainment and which were loath to part with him had not vnresistable earnestnes bene vsed One of the towne ministers that sawe in what manner the people were bent for the reuocation of Caluin gaue him notize of their affection in this sort The Senate of two hundred being assembled they all craue Caluin The next day a generall conuocation They crye in like sort againe all VVe will haue Caluin that good and learned man Christs Minister This saith he when I vnderstood I could not choose but praise God nor was I able to iudge otherwise then that this was the Lordes doing and that it was maruellous in our eyes and That the stone which the builders refused was now made the head of the corner The other two whom they had throwne out together with Caluin they were content should enioy their exile Many causes might lead them to bee more desirous of him First his yeelding vnto them in one thing might happily put them in hope that time would breed the like easines of condescending further vnto them For in his absence he had perswaded them with whome he was able to preuaile that albeit himselfe did better like of common bread to bee vsed in the Eucharist yet the other they rather should accept then cause any trouble in the Church about it Againe they saw that the name of Caluin waxed euery day greater abroad and that together with his fame their infamy was spread who had so rashly and childishly eiected him Besides it was not vnlikely but that his credite in the world might many wayes stand the poore towne in great stead as the truth is their ministers forrein estimation hitherto hath bene the best stake in their hedge But whatsoeuer secret respects were likely to moue them for contenting of their mindes Caluin returned as it had bene an other Tully to his olde home He ripely considered how grosse a thing it were for men of his qualitie wise and graue men to liue with such a multitude and to be tenants at will vnder them as their ministers both himselfe and others had bene For the remedie of which inconuenience hee gaue them plainely to vnderstand that if he did become their teacher againe they must be content to admit a complet forme of discipline which both they and also their pastors should now be solemnely sworne to obserue for euer after Of which discipline the maine and principall partes were these A standing ecclesiasticall Court to be established perpetuall Iudges in that Court to be their ministers others of the people annually chosen twise so many in number as they to be iudges together with them in the same Court these two sorts to haue the care of all mens manners power of determining all kind of Ecclesiasticall causes and authoritie to conuent to controll to punish as farre as with excōmunication whomsoeuer they should thinke worthy none eyther small or great excepted This deuise I see not how the wisest at that time liuing could haue bettered if we duly consider what the present estate of Geneua did then require For their Bishop and his Clergie being as it is said departed from them by moonelight or howsoeuer being departed to choose in his roome any other Bishop had beene a thing altogether impossible And for their ministers to seeke that themselues alone might haue coerciue power ouer the whole Church would perhaps haue bene hardly construed at that time But when so franke an offer was made that for euery one minister there should be two of the people to sit and giue voyce in the Ecclesiasticall Consistory what inconuenience could they easily find which themselues might not be able alwayes to remedy Howbeit as euermore the simpler sort are euen when they see no apparant cause iealous notwithstanding ouer the secret intents and purposes of wiser men this proposition of his did somewhat trouble them Of the Ministers themselues which had stayed behinde in the Citie when Caluin was gone some vpon knowledge of the peoples earnest intent to recall him to his place againe had beforehand written their letters of submission and assured him of their alleageance for euer after if it should like him to harken vnto that publique suite But yet misdoubting what might happen if this discipline did goe forwarde they obiected against it the example of other reformed Churches liuing quietly and orderly without it Some of chiefest place and countenance amongst the laitie professed with greater stomacke their iudgements that such a discipline was little better then popish tyrannie disguised and tendered vnto them vnder a new forme This sort it may be had some feare that the filling vp of the seates in the Consistorie with so great a number of lay men was but to please the mindes of the people to the ende they might thinke their owne swaye somewhat but when things came to triall of practise their Pastors learning would bee at all times of force to ouerperswade
reformatiō was that Christ might haue dominion ouer all that all crowns scepters might be throwne downe at his feete that no other might raign ouer Christian mē but he no regimēt keep thē in awe but his discipline amongst them no sword at all be caried besides his the sword of spirituall excommunication For this cause they laboured with all their might in ouerturning the seats of Magistracy because Christ hath said Kings of Nations in abolishing the execution of iustice because Christ hath sayd Resist not euill in forbidding oathes the necessary meanes of iudiciall tryall because Christ hath sayd Sweare not at all finally in bringing in community of goods because Christs by his Apostles hath giuen the world such example to the end that men might excell one another not in wealth the pillar of secular authority but in vertue These men at the first were only pitied in their error and not much withstood by any the great humilitie zeale and deuotion which appeared to be in them was in all mens opinion a pledge of their harmelesse meaning The hardest that mē of sound vnderstanding conceiued of them was but this O quà m honesta voluntate miseri errant With how good a meaning these poore soules do euill Luther made request vnto Fredericke Duke of Saxony that within his dominion they might be fauourably dealt with and spared for that their errour exempted they seemed otherwise right good men By meanes of which mercifull tolleration they gathered strength much more then was safe for the state of the common wealth wherein they liued They had their secret corner-meetings and assemblies in the night the people flocked vnto them by thousands The meanes whereby they both allured and retained so great multitudes were most effectuall first a wonderfull shew of zeale towards God where with they seemed to be euen rapt in euery thing they spake secondly an hatred of sinne and a singular loue of integrity which men did thinke to be much more then ordinary in them by reason of the custome which they had to fill the eares of the people with inuectiues against their authorised guides as well spirituall as ciuill thirdly the bountifull reliefe where with they eased the broken estate of such needie creatures as were in that respect the more apt to be drawne away fourthly a tender compassion which they were thought to take vpon the miseries of the common sort ouer whose heads their manner was euen to powre down showers of teares in complayning that no respect was had vnto thē that their goods were deuoured by wicked cormorants their persons had in contempt all liberty both temporall spirituall taken from them that it was high time for God now to heare their grones and to send them deliuerance lastly a cunning slight which they had to stroke and smooth vp the mindes of their followers as well by appropriating vnto them all the fauourble titles the good wordes and the gracious promises in Scripture as also by casting the contrary alwaies on the heades of such as were seuered from that retinue Whereupon the peoples cōmon acclamation vnto such deceiuers was These are verily the men of God these are his true and sincere Prophets If any such Prophet or man of God did suffer by order of law condigne and deserued punishment were it for felony rebellion murder or what else the people so strangely were their hearts inchanted as though blessed Saint Stephen had bene againe martyred did lament that God tooke away his most deere seruants from them In all these things being fully perswaded that what they did it was obedience to the will of God and that all men should do the like there remained after speculation practise whereby the whole world thereunto if it were possible might be framed This they saw could not be done but with mighty opposition and resistance against which to strengthen themselues they secretly entred into league of association And peraduenture considering that although they were many yet long warres would in time waste them out they began to thinke whether it might not be that God would haue them do for their speedie an mighty increase the same which sometime Gods owne chosen people the people of Israell did Glad and faine they were to haue it so which very desire was it selfe apt to breed both an opinion of possibilitie and a willingnesse to gather arguments of likelihood that so God himselfe would haue it Nothing more cleare vnto their seeming then that a new Jerusalem being often spoken of in Scripture they vndoubtedly were themselues that newe Ierusalem and the old did by way of a certaine figuratiue resemblance signifie what they should both be and do Here they drewe in a Sea of matter by applying all things vnto their owne companie which are any where spoken concerning diuine fauours and benefits bestowed vppon the old Common-wealth of Israell concluding that as Israell was deliuered out of Aegypt so they spiritually out of the Aegypt of this worldes seruile thraldome vnto sinne and superstition as Israell was to roote out the Idolatrous nations and to plant in steede of them a people which feared God so the same Lords goodwill and pleasure was nowe that these new Israelites should vnder the conduct of other Iosuaes Sampsons and Gedeons performe a worke no lesse miraculous in casting out violently the wicked from the earth and establishing the kingdome of Christ with perfect libertie and therefore as the cause why the children of Israell tooke vnto one man many wiues might be least the casualties of warre should any way hinder the promise of God concerning their multitude from taking effect in them so it was not vnlike that for the necessarie propagation of Christes kingdome vnder the Gospell the Lord was content to allowe as much Now whatsoeuer they did in such sort collect out of Scripture when they came to iustifie or perswade it vnto others all was the heauenly fathers appointment his commandement his will and charge Which thing is the very point in regard whereof I haue gathered this declaration For my purpose herein is to shew that when the minds of men are once erroniously perswaded that it is the will of God to haue those things done which they phancie their opinions are as thornes in their sides neuer suffering them to take rest till they haue brought their speculations into practise the lets and impediments of which practise their restlesse desire and study to remoue leadeth them euery day forth by the hand into other more dangerous opinions sometimes quite cleane contrary to their first pretended meanings so as what will grow out of such errors as go masked vnder the cloake of diuine authority impossible it is that euer the wit of man should imagine till time haue brought forth the fruits of them for which cause it behoueth wisedome to feare the sequels thereof euen beyond all apparant cause of feare These men in
whom he himselfe hath so instructed but euen they do acknowledge who amongst men are not iudged the neerest vnto him With Plato what one thing more vsuall then to excite men vnto the loue of wisedome by shewing how much wise men are thereby exalted aboue men how knowledge doth rayse them vp into heauen how it maketh them though not Gods yet as Gods high admirable and diuine And Mercurius Trismegislâ—s speaking of the vertues of a righteous soule Such spirits sayth he are neuer clâ—yed with praising and speaking well of all men with doing good vnto euery one by word and deed because they studie to frame themselues according to THE PATERNE of the father of spirits 6 In the matter of knowledge there is betweene the Angels of God and the children of men this difference Angels alreadie haue full and complete knowledge in the highest degree that can be imparted vnto them men if we view them in their spring are at the first without vnderstanding or knowledge at all Neuerthelesse from this vtter vacuitie they grow by degrees till they come at length to be euen as the Angels themselues are That which agreeth to the one now the other shall attaine vnto in the end they are not so farre disioyned and seuered but that they come at length to meete The soule of man being therefore at the first as a booke wherein nothing is and yet all thinges may be imprinted we are to search by what steppes and degrees it riseth vnto perfection of knowledge Vnto that which hath bene alreadie set downe concerning naturall agents this we must adde that albeit therein we haue comprised as well creatures liuing as void of life if they be in degree of nature beneath men neuerthelesse a difference we must obserue betweene those naturall agents that worke altogether vnwittingly and those which haue though weake yet some vnderstanding what they do as fishes foules and beasts haue Beasts are in sensible capacitie as ripe euen as men themselues perhaps more ripe For as stones though in dignitie of nature inferior vnto plants yet exceed them in firmenesse of strength or durability of being and plants though beneath the excellency of creatures indued with sense yet exceed them in the faculty of vegetation and of fertility so beasts though otherwise behind men may notwithstanding in actions of sense and phancie go beyond them because the endeuors of nature when it hath an higher perfection to seeke are in lower the more remisse not esteeming thereof so much as those things do which haue no better proposed vnto them The soule of man therefore being capable of a more diuine perfection hath besides the faculties of growing vnto sensible knowledge which is common vnto vs with beasts a further hability whereof in theÌ„ there is no shew at all the ability of reaching higher then vnto sensible things Till we grow to some ripenesse of yeares the soule of man doth only store it selfe with conceipts of things of inferiour and more open qualitie which afterwards do serue as instruments vnto that which is greater in the meane while aboue the reach of meaner creatures it ascendeth not When once it comprehendeth any thing aboue this as the differences of time affirmations negations and contradictions in speech we then count it to haue some vse of naturall reason Whereunto if afterwards there might be added the right helpes of true art and learning which helpes I must plainely confesse this age of the world carying the name of a learned age doth neither much know nor greatly regard there would vndoubtedly be almost as great difference in maturitie of iudgement betweene men therewith inured and that which now men are as betweene men that are now and innocents Which speech if any condemne as being ouer hyperbolicall let them consider but this one thing No art is at the first finding out so perfect as industrie may after make it Yet the very first man that to any purpose knew the way we speake of and followed it hath alone thereby performed more very neere in all parts of naturall knowledge then sithence in any one part thereof the whole world besides hath done In the pouertie of that other new deuised aide two things there are notwithstanding singular Of maruellous quicke dispatch it is and doth shew them that haue it as much almost in three dayes as if it dwell threescore yeares with them Againe because the curiositie of mans wit doth many times with perill wade farther in the search of things then were conuenient the same is thereby restrained vnto such generalities as euery where offering themselues are apparant vnto men of the weakest conceipt that need be So as following the rules precepts thereof we may find it to be an Art which teacheth the way of speedy discourse and restraineth the minde of man that it may not waxe ouer wise Education and instruction are the meanes the one by vse the other by precept to make our naturall faculty of reason both the better and the sooner able to iudge rightly betweene truth and error good and euill But at what time a man may be sayd to haue attained so farre foorth the vse of reason as sufficeth to make him capable of those lawes whereby he is theÌ„ bound to guide his actions this is a great deale more easie for common sense to discerne then for any man by skill and learning to determine euen as it is not in Philosophers who best know the nature both of fire and of gold to teach what degree of the one will serue to purifie the other so well as the artisan who doth this by fire discerneth by sense when the fire hath that degree of heate which sufficeth for his purpose 7 By reason man attaineth vnto the knowledge of things that are and are not sensible It resteth therfore that we search how maÌ„ attaineth vnto the knowledge of such things vnsensible as are to be knowne that they may be done Seeing then that nothing can moue vnlesse there be some end the desire whereof prouoketh vnto motion how should that diuine power of the soule that Spirit of our mind as the Apostle termeth it euer stir it selfe vnto action vnlesse it haue also the like spurre The end for which we are moued to worke is somtimes the goodnes which we conceiue of the very working it selfe without any further respect at all and the cause that procureth action is the meere desire of action no other good besides being thereby intended Of certaine turbulent wits it is said Illis quieta mouere magna merces videbatur They thought the very disturbaÌ„ce of things established an hyre sufficient to set them on worke Sometimes that which we do is referred to a further end without the desire whereof we would leaue the same vndone as in their actions that gaue almes to purchase thereby the prayse of men Man in perfection of nature being made according to the likenes of
but that concerning the points which hitherto haue beene disputed of they must agree that they haue molested the Church with needelesse opposition and henceforward as we said before betake themselues wholly vnto the triall of particulars whether euery of those thinges which they esteeme as principall be eyther so esteemed of or at all established for perpetuitie in holy scripture and whether any particular thing in our Church-politie bee receiued other then the scripture alloweth of eyther in greater thinges or in smaller The matters wherein Church-politie is conuersant are the publique religious duties of the Church as the administration of the word and sacraments prayers spirituall censures and the like To these the Church standeth alwayes bound Lawes of politie are laws which appoint in what maner these duties shal be performed In performance whereof because all that are of the Church cannot ioyntly and equally worke the first thing in politie required is a difference of persons in the Church without which difference those functions cannot in orderly sort bee executed Hereupon we hold that Gods clergie are a state which hath bene and will be as long as there is a Church vpō earth necessarie by the plaine word of God himselfe a state whereunto the rest of Gods people must be subiect as touching things that appertaine to their soules health For where politie is it cannot but appoint some to be leaders of others and some to be led by others If the blind leade the blind they both perish It is with the clergie if their persons be respected euen as it is with other men their qualitie many times farre beneath that which the dignitie of their place requireth Howbeit according to the order of politie they being the lightes of the world others though better and wiser must that way be subiect vnto them Againe for as much as where the clergie are any great multitude order doth necessarily require that by degrees they be distinguished wee holde there haue euer bene and euer ought to be in such case at least wise two sorts of Ecclesiasticall persons the one subordinate vnto the other as to the Apostles in the beginning and to the Bishops alwaies since wee finde plainely both in scripture and in all Ecclesiasticall records other ministers of the word and sacraments haue bene Moreouer it cannot enter into any mans conceipt to thinke it lawfull that euery man which listeth should take vpon him charge in the Church and therefore a solemne admittance is of such necessitie that without it there can be no church-politie A number of particularities there are which make for the more conuenient being of these principall perpetuall parts in Ecclesiasticall politie but yet are not of such constant vse and necessitie in Gods Church Of this kind are times and places appointed for the exercise of religion specialties belonging to the publike solemnitie of the word the sacraments and praier the enlargement or abridgement of functions ministeriall depending vpon those two principall before mentioned to conclude euen whatsoeuer doth by way of formalitie circumstance concerne any publique action of the Church Now although that which the scripture hath of thinges in the former kind be for euer permanent yet in the later both much of that which the scripture teacheth is not alwaies needfull and much the Church of God shall alwaies neede which the scripture teacheth not So as the forme of politie by thē set downe for perpetuitie is three waies faultie Faultie in omitting some things which in scripture are of that nature as namely the difference that ought to bee of Pastors when they grow to any great multitude faultie in requiring Doctors Deacons Widowes and such like as thinges of perpetuall necessitie by the law of God which in truth are nothing lesse faultie also in vrging some thinges by scripture immutable as their Layelders which the scripture neither maketh immutable nor at all teacheth for any thing either we can as yet find or they haue hitherto beene able to proue But hereof more in the bookes that followe As for those maruellous discourses wherby they aduenture to argue that God must needs haue done the thing which they imagine was to be done I must confesse I haue often wondred at their exceeding boldnesse herein When the question is whether God haue deliuered in scripture as they affirme he hath a complet particular immutable forme of Church-politie why take they that other both presumptuous and superfluous labour to proue he should haue done it there being no way in this case to proue the deede of God sauing only by producing that euidence wherein he hath done it But if there be no such thing apparent vpon record they do as if one should demaund a legacie by force and vertue of some written testament wherein there being no such thing specified hee pleadeth that there it must needes be and bringeth argumēts from the loue or good-will which alwaies the testatour bore him imagining that these or the like proofes will conuict a testament to haue that in it which other mē can no where by reading find In matters which concerne the actions of God the most dutiful way on our part is to search what God hath done and with meeknes to admire that rather thē to dispute what he in congruitie of reason ought to do The waies which he hath whereby to do all things for the greatest good of his Church are mo in number thē we can search other in nature thē that we should presume to determine which of many should be the fittest for him to choose till such time as we see he hath chosen of many some one which one wee then may boldly conclude to be the fittest because he hath taken it before the rest When we doe otherwise surely we exceede our bounds who and where we are we forget and therefore needfull it is that our pride in such cases be controld and our disputes beaten backe with those demands of the blessed Apostle How vnsearchable are his iudgements and his waies past finding out Who hath knowne the minde of the Lord or who was his counsellor The fourth Booke Concerning their third assertion that our forme of Church-politie is corrupted with popish orders rites and ceremonies banished out of certaine reformed Churches whose example therein we ought to haue followed The matter conteined in this fourth Booke 1 HOw great vse ceremonies haue in the Church 2 The first thing they blame in the kinde of our ceremonies is that wee haue not in them auncient Apostolicall simplicitie but a greater pompe statelinesse 3 The second that so many of them are the same which the Church of Rome vseth and the reasons which they bring to proue them for that cause blame worthy 4 How when they go about to expound what popish ceremonies they meane they contradict their owne arguments against popish ceremonies 5 An answere to the argument whereby they would proue that sith wee allow the customes
sufficient way of preuention but by euacuating cleane and by emptying the Church of euerie such rite and Ceremonie as is presently called in question Till this be done their good affection towards the safety of the Church is acceptable but the way they prescribe vs to preserue it by must rest in suspense And least hereat they take occasion to turne vpon vs the speech of the Prophet Ieremie vsed against Babylon Behold we haue done our endeuour to cure the diseases of Babylon but she through her wilfulnesse doth rest vncured let them consider into what straights the Church might driue it selfe in being guided by this their counsell Their axiome is that the sound beleeuing Church of Iesus Christ may not be like Hereticall Churches in any of those indifferent things which men make choyce of and do not take by prescript appointment of the word of God In the word of God the vse of bread is prescribed as a thing without which the Eucharist may not be celebrated but as for the kind of bread it is not denied to be a thing indifferent Being indifferent of it selfe we are by this axiome of theirs to auoide the vse of vnleauened bread in their Sacrament because such bread the Church of Rome beeing Hereticall vseth But doth not the selfe same axiome barre vs euen from leauened bread also which the Church of the Grecians vseth the opinions whereof are in a number of things the same for which we condemne the Church of Rome and in some things erroneous where the Church of Rome is acknowledged to be sound as namely in the Article proceeding of the holy Ghost And least here they should say that because the Greeke Church is farther off the Church of Rome nearer we are in that respect rather to vse that which the Church of Rome vseth not let them imagine a reformed Church in the Citie of Venice where a Greeke Church and a Popish both are And when both these are equally neare let them consider what the third shall doe Without eyther leauened or vnleauened bread it can haue no sacrament the word of God doth tye it to neither and their axiome doth exclude it from both If this constraine them as it must to grant that their axiome is not to take any place saue in those things only where the Church hath larger scope it resteth that they search out some stronger reason then they haue as yet alleaged otherwise they constraine not vs to thinke that the Church is tyed vnto any such rule or axiome no not then when she hath the widest field to walke in and the greatest store of choice 11 Against such Ceremonies generally as are the same in the Church of England and of Rome we see what hath bene hetherto alleaged Albeit therefore we do not finde the one Churches hauing of such thinges to be sufficient cause why the other should not haue them neuerthelesse in case it may be proued that amongst the number of rites and orders common vnto bothe there are particulars the vse whereof is vtterly vnlawfull in regard of some speciall bad and noysome qualitie there is no doubt but we ought to relinquish such rites and orders what freedome soeuer we haue to retaine the other still As therefore wee haue heard their generall exception against all those thinges which being not commanded in the word of God were first receiued in the Church of Rome and from thence haue bene deriued into ours so it followeth thâ—t now we proceede vnto certaine kinds of them as being excepted against not only for that they are in the Church of Rome but are besides either Iewish or abused vnto Idolatry and so growne scandalous The Church of Rome they say being ashamed of the simplicitie of the Gospell did almost out of all religions take whatsoeuer had any faire gorgeous shew borrowing in that respect froÌ„ the Iewes sundry of their abolished Ceremonies Thus by foolish and ridiculous imitation all their Massing furniture almost they tooke from the law least hauing an Altar and a Priest they should want vestments for their stage so that whatsoeuer we haue in common with the church of Rome if the same be of this kind we ought to remoue it Constantine the Emperour speaking of the keeping of the feast of Easter saith That it is an vnworthy thing to haue any thing common with that most spitefull company of the Iewes And a little after he saith that it is most absurd and against reason that the Iewes should vaunt and glory that the Christians could not keepe those thinges without their doctrine And in an other place it is said after this sort It is conuenient so to order the matter that we haue nothing common with that nation The councell of Laodicea which was afterward confirmed by the sixt generall Councell decreed that the Christians should not take vnleaâ—ened bread of the Iewes or communicate with their impietie For the easier manifestation of truth in this point two things there are which must be considered namely the causes wherefore the church should decline from Iewish Ceremonies and how farre it ought so to doe One cause is that the Iewes were the deadliest and spitefullest enemies of Christianitie that were in the world and in this respect their orders so farre forth to be shunned as we haue already set downe in handling the matter of heathenish Ceremonies For no enemies being so venemous against Christ as Iewes they were of all other most odious and by that meane least to be vsed as fit Church paternes for imitation An other cause is the solemne abrogation of the Iewes ordinances which ordinances for vs to resume were to checke our Lord himselfe which hath disanulled them But how farre this second cause doth extend it is not on all sides fully agreed vpon And touching those thinges whereunto it reacheth not although there be small cause wherefore the Church should frame it selfe to the Iewes example in respect of their persons which are most hatefull yet God himselfe hauing bene the author of their lawes herein they are notwithstanding the former consideration still worthy to be honoured and to be followed aboue others as much as the state of things will beare Iewish ordinances had some things naturall and of the perpetuitie of those things no man doubteth That which was positiue wee likewise knowe to haue bene by the comming of Christ partly necessary not to bee kept and partly indifferent to be kept or not Of the former kinde Circumcision and sacrifice were For this point Stephen was accused and the euidence which his accusers brought against him in iudgement was This man ceaseth not to speake blasphemous words against this holy place and the lawe for we haue heard him say that this Iesus of Nazaret shall destroy this place and shall change the ordinances that Moses gaue vs. True it is that this doctrine was then taught which vnbeleeuers condemning for blasphemie did therein commit that