what is yet wanting to the faithfull departed or to such as are aliue at the suite supplication of the holy Patriarches Prophets Apostles c. For seeing it is confessed by vs that the Saints in heauen doe pray for vs in a generality we may desire of God the graunting of such things as we or others need not only vpon our own suite but much more for that there are so many supplyants to him for vs not in earth alone but in heauen also though without sence or knowledge of our particular wantes So that there is nothing found in Chrysostome either touching prayer for the dead or invocation of Saints that maketh any thing for the confirmation of popish errours For neither doth Chrysostome in that Liturgie pray for the ease of men in Purgatorie neither doth he inuocate any Saint but calleth vpon God onely though not without hope of being heard the rather for that not onely the faithfull on earth but the Saints in heauen also make petition for him But Master Higgons asketh why I concealed these things To whom I answere that I did not conceale any of them For howsoeuer citing some other parts of Chrysostomes Liturgie to another purpose I had no reason to bring in these passages being altogether impertinent to my purpose and the matter in hand yet in other places I haue shewed at large the ancient practise in all these things and therefore this seduced runnagate whom Sathan the tempter hath beguiled had no reason to compare me to the Tempter leauing out certaine wordes in the text he alleadged vnto Christ. §. 5. IN the next place he obiecteth to vs the heresie of Aerius condemned by Augustine amongst many other impious heresies and Augustines conclusion that whosoeuer maintaineth any of the hereticall opinions condemned by him is no Catholicke Christian and telleth vs that this censure toucheth vs very neere but that I demeane my selfe plausibly and artificially to avoid the pressure of that difficultie which is too heauy for me to beare Whereunto I briefly answer that I demeane not my self artificially to avoid the force of any trueth which I esteeme value aboue all treasures in the world but in all sincerity vnfold those thinges which Papists seeke to wrap vp in perplexed and intricate disputes to the entangling of the Readers For I shew that the naming of the names of the departed the offering of the sacrifice of praise for them the praying for their resurrection publike acquitall perfect consummation and blisse in the day of Christ yea the praying for their deliuerance from the hand of hel the mouth of the Lyon the vtter deletion remissioÌ„ of their sins respectiuely to their passage hence first entrance into the other world are not disliked by vs and that thus far the general intention of the Church extended but that to pray for the deliuerance of meÌ„ out of hel or for the mitigation or suspension of the punishments that are in hel was but the priuat deuotioÌ„ of some particular men doubtfully eroneously extending the publicke prayers of the Church farther then they were meant and intended by her and that in this particular they fell from the trueth which if M. Theophilus Higgons shall deny justifie such kind of prayers for the dead we will be bold to call him by his new name Theomisus But he is desirous to know of me or any other without lies obscurities and circuitions whether Cyrill of Hierusalem concurring absolutely with the Papists in this point of prayer for the dead and Augustine agreeing with him fell away from the truth or not That he professeth himselfe an enemy to lies obscurities and circuitions the best sanctuaries of their euill cause I greatly maruell feare that if he giue ouer the aduantage which he and his companions are wont to make thereof this his first booke will be his last But in that he saith Cyrill of Hierusalem concurreth absolutely with the Papists in the matter of prayer for the dead and Augustine with him hee doth as beseemeth him for he vttereth lies and vntruthes which before vnaduisedly he condemned For first it is most certaine that Cyrill maketh but two sortes of men departing out of this life sinners righteous and that he thinketh as Chrysostome also doth and after them Damascene many other that wicked and sinfull men in hell may find some ease be relieued by the prayers of the liuing but of Purgatory he speaketh not Touching Augustine he dissenteth altogether from this opinion of Chrysostome Cyrill and Damascene thinketh that the prayers of the Church for such as excelled in goodnes are thanksgiuings to God for such as died impenitently in grieuous sins comforts of the liuing but no helpes of the dead for those that were neithâ—… exceeding good nor exceeding euill propitiations and meanes to obtaine fauour and remission But whether they of this middle sort be in any penall estate after death or whether by the mercy of God and working of his grace the prayers of the liuing accompanying them they bee freed from sinne and the punishment of it in the first entrance into the other world he resolueth nothing and therfore there was no cause why this good man reflecting as he saith vpon my assertion should bee amazed to behold such a repugnancie betweene these things to wit Augustine ran doubtingly into the opinion of Purgatorie and yet he affirmeth there is no doubt but that some sinnes are remitted in the other world and tâ—…at some soules may be relieued by prayer For in the iudgement of wiser men then Mastâ—…r Higgons these thinges imply no contradiction and therefore the Grecians admit the latter of them and yet deny Purgatory Yea in their Apologie touching Purgatory they say if there be remission of sinnes after this life there is no enduring of the punishments due to sin it being one thing to haue remission of a sin or fault and another to suffer the extremity of punishment it deserueth That there is therefore remission of sinnes of a middle sort of men after this life in the entrance into the other world Augustine made no doubt and to that purpose he alleadged the saying of Christ concerning the sinne that is neither remitted in this world nor the other from thence to inferre that some sinnes are remitted after this life But whether there be any Purgatory-punishments after this life or not hee was euer doubtfull as appeareth by sundry places in his workes where he saith Perhaps there is some such thing it is not incredible that there is some such thing and whether there be or not it may be found out or it may be hid neither will it follow that because he maketh three estates of men dying whereof some are so good that wee haue rather cause to giue God thankes for them then to pray others so ill that they cannot be relieued and a third sort that need our
that should bee in the will but is not when it faileth to bring forth that action that in duty it is bound to doe But some man will say this must not be granted for if wee admitte not the distinction of that which is formall that which is materiall in the sin of commission the difformity the substance of the act that the one is positiue and the other priuatiue God hauing a true efficiency in respect of the substance of the act that which is positiue in it we must acknowledg that he hath a true efficiency in respect of the whole euen the difformity aswell as the substance consequently make him the author of sin They who make this objection seeme to say some thing but indeed they say nothing for this distinction will not cleere the doubt they moue touching Gods efficiency working in the sinful actions of men Whensoeuer sayth Durandus two things are inseperably ioyned together whosoeuer knowing them both that they are so inseperably ioyned together chooseth the one chooseth the other also because though happily he would not choose it absolutly as being evill yet in that it is ioyned to that which he doth will neither can be seperated frō it it is of necessity that he must will both As it appeareth in those voluntary actions that are mixt as when a man casteth into the sea those rich commodities which he hath dearly bought brought from a farre to saue his owne life which he would not doe but in such a case Hence it followeth that the act of hating God sinfull difformity being so inseperably ioyned together that the one cannot bee diuided from the other for a man cannot hate God but he must sin damnably if God doth will the one he doth will the other also This of Durand is confirmed by Suarez who saith he shall neuer satisfie any man that doubteth how God may be cleared from being author of sin if hee haue an efficiency in the sinfull actions of men that shall answere that all that is sayd touching Gods efficiency concurrence is true in respect of the euill motions actions of mens wills materially considered not formally in that they are evill sinfull For the one of these is consequent vpon another For a free and deliberate act of a created will about such an obiect with such circumstances cannot be produced but it must haue difformity annexed to it There are some operations or actions saith Cumel that are intrinsecally euill so that in them we cannot separate that which is materiall from that which is formall wherein the sinfulnes of sin consisteth as it appeareth in the hate of God in this act when a man shall say resolue I will do euill So that it implyeth a contradiction that God should effectually worke our will to bring forth such actions in respect of that which is materiall in them not in respect of that which is formall And this seemeth yet more impossible if wee admit their opinion who think that the formall nature being of the sin of commission consisteth in some thing that is positiue as in the manner of working freely so as to repugne to the rule of reason law of God So that it is cleare in the iudgment of these great diuines that if God haue a true reall efficiency in respect of the substance of these sinful actiōs he must in a sort produce the difformity or that which is formall in thē Wherefore for the clearing of this point we must obserue that there are 3 opiniōs touching Gods cōcurrence with 2d causes in producing their effects The 1st that God hath no immediate influence but mediate only in respect of volūtary agēts And according to this opiniō it is casie to cleare God frō the imputatiō of being author of sin yet to acknowledg his cōcurrence with 2d causes in producing their defectiue effects If the will of the creature saith Scotus were the totall and immediate cause of her action that God had no immediate efficiency but mediate only in respect thereof as some think it were easie according to that opinion to shew how God may bee freed from the imputation of being author of sin and yet to acknowledge his concurrence with second causes for the producing of their effects For whether we speake of that which is materiall or formall in sinne the will onely should be the totall cause of it and God should no way be a cause of it but mediatly in that hee caused and produced such a will that might at her pleasure doe what shee would Durandus seemeth to incline to this opinion supposing that 2d causes do bring forth their actions operations by of themselues that God no otherwise concurreth actiuely to the production of the same but in that he preserueth the 2d causes in that being power of working which at first he gaue them But they that are of sounder judgment resolue that as the light enlightneth the aire with the aire all other inferior things so god not only giueth being power of working to the 2d causes preserueth them in the same but together with them hath an immediate influence into the things that are to be effected by the God saith Caietan being the first cause worketh produceth the effects of all 2d causes immediatly tum immediatione virtutis tum immediatione suppositi that is not onely so as that the vertue power of God the first agent immediatly sheweth it self in the production of the effect but so also that he is an immediate agent between whom the effect produced no secondary agent intercedeth Yet are we not to conceiue that he is an immediate agent immediatione suppositi as he is immediatione virtutis for hee produceth immediatly euery effect of euery 2◠cause in respect of all that is found in any such effect immediatly immediatione virtutis that is so as that his vertue and power more immediatly effectually sheweth it self in the production of euery such effect then the power and vertue of the 2d cause but hee produceth euery effect of euery 2d cause immediatly immediatione suppositi that is as an immediate agent betweene whom and the effect no secondary agent intercedeth not in respect of all that is found in such an effect but of some things only as existence and the last perfection of actuall being For to giue being is proper to God as to make fire is proper to fire So that between God the supreme agent and being communicated to the effects of 2d causes there is nothing that commeth betweene that by force and power of it owne can produce any such effect So that God as an immediate agent bringeth forth such effects and all 2 causes in respect thereof are but instruments only But in respect of those things found in the same effects into which the 2d causes haue an influence by
vertue of their owne proper for me Caietan confesseth that God doth not so produce them as an immediat agent but that the 2d causes doe mediate between him and them as secondary principal agents bring forth their effects Yet are not these that is the first the 2d causes partiall but totall causes of all those effects which they produce For the cleering whereof we must obserue that a cause may bee said to be totall either totalitate effectus that is because it bringeth forth the whole effect though some other cause haue such efficiencie also in respect of the same that without the helpe of it it cannot bring forth any such effect as when 2 men draw a ship either of them produceth the whole effect and moueth the whole ship but yet not so wholly but that either hath need of the others helpe and concurrence Or secondly a cause may bee said to bee totall totalitate causoe and that in 2 sorts either so as to produce the whole effect without any concurrence of any other cause in which sense neither God nor the creature neither the first nor the 2d cause must be said to be a totall cause or so as that though some other do concurre yet the being power of working and actuall cooperation of it is wholy from the agent with which it doth concurre and so God is a totall cause of all those effects that he produceth by and together with the 2d causes So that the opinion of them who thinke that God hath no immediat influence into the effects of 2d causes nor immediate concurrence with such causes in producing their effects is to be exploded out of all Christian schools Churches as profane heathnish Wherfore there are who finding that this first opiniō is not to be admitted flie to a 2d little better then the former For they acknowledge that God hath an immediate influence into the effects of all 2d causes but they think it to be general indefinit to be ◅ted determined by the different concurse of 2d causes It is true indeed that God worketh all things as an vniversall cause but this may bee vnderstood wayes For first a cause may be sayd to be vniuersall in the vniuersality of predication as opposit to speciall or particular as an artificer in respect of this that speciall kinde of artificers is generall and is an vniuersall cause of all workes of arte and they of such speciall workes as are incident to their seuerall kinds Secondly a cause may bee sayd to bee vniversall in that it extendeth it selfe to effects of all sorts in respect of something common to them all and not in respect of that which is proper to each of them vnlesse the working of it bee limited and directed by something else The fire warmeth the water with which poison is mingled in the same sorte that it doth any other water and without any difference of it own action And the actions of the sun fire are such as that men make vse of thē to vvhat purposes they please accordingly as their vvorking is differently applied bring forth differēt effects Thirdly a cause may be sayd to be vniversall because the efficiencie and vvorking of it extendeth it selfe to many things according to the seuerall differences of them without being limited and determined by any other thing These men suppose that God is an vniversall cause in the second sense and that his concurrence influence is indefinit generall and such as may be taken and applied by second causes in what sort they will So that the actions of free vvill the actions of euery other second cause haue from the freedome of the wil the particular quality of the second causes that they are of this or that sort good or bad not from the concurse or influence of the first cause which is finde◅init as is the concurse influence of the sun vvith other inferiour causes and as one man may make offer of his helpe concurrence to whatsoeuer another vvill make vse of it So they suppose that God offereth his concurse to second causes to be vsed by them to what purpose in what sort they will According to this conceipt they suppose they can easily cleere the doubt and free God from all imputation of being authour of sin though he concurre immediatly with second causes in to the producing of those actions that are sinfull For say they his concurse influence is indefinit and is by them applied in ill sorte to ill purposes But first this conceipt cleereth not God from being authour of sin And secondly it cannot stand with the grounds of Philosophie or diuinity That it cleereth not God from being authour of sin but rather layeth this imputation on him it is euident For if the concurse of God be generall indefinit indifferent and to be determined by the creature to the producing of good or euill it followeth that when the will of the creature determineth it selfe to the specificall act of sin God also determinately concurreth with it in particular to the producing of such an acte in kinde That this consequence is good it is evident because whosoeuer shall offer his help concurrence cooperation to another indifferently for the producing of good or euill the actes of sin or vertue as it shall please him he concurreth in trueth indeede to the producing of the acte of sin in particular as it is such an act if by the will of the other his concurrence cooperation bee determined to such an acte in particular Wherefore if God for his part offer onely a generall concurse such as is indifferent to the producing of actes of vertue or sinne accordingly as the will of the second cause shall determine it it will follow that God concurreth determinately or in particular to the producing of the acte of sin as being determined to the producing of such an act in particular by the will of the creature before he come to actuall cooperation or concurrence Secondly this conceipt cannot stand with the grounds of true Philosophie or diuinitie For if Gods concurse were onely generall and indefinit to bee determined by the will of the creature the will of the creature should bee before the will of God in respect of the particularity of things yea in respect of some reall acte as an acte it should be simply the first agent For according to this fancie because the creature inclineth to such an acte to put a thing in being therefore God cooperateth Whence it will follow that there are 2 beings of things that God is not simply the first cause of all those things that haue being 2ly It pertaineth to diuine prouidence determinately to will aforehand to appoint what afterwards shall be to moue second causes to certaine and determinate effects so to dispose all things that they may attaine the ends for which they were created But this could
not be if his concurse were indefinite generall only 3ly If it were as these men imagine the determination of the will of the creature should not bee within the compasse of things ordered by diuine prouidence and so God should not haue particular prouidence of euery particular thing That this is consequent vpon the fancie of indefinite concurse it is euident For if Gods concurse bee indefinite and in generall only then doth hee not truly and efficiently worke that the will of the creature shall in particular encline to and bring forth such an indiuiduall actiō And if he be not the cause that it so enclineth worketh his prouidence extēdeth not to such working seing his prouidence extēdeth to those things only wherein he hath a working So that if these things were soe as these men imagine Gods prouidence should extend it selfe to contingent things in a generality only in that he hath giuen to intellectual creatures a freedome to what whē how it pleaseth thē in particular in respect ofthings of this nature hee should haue a presidence onely and no prouidence Neither doth that which is alleaged by these men touching the indifferēt cōcurse of the Sunne or that of a man offering his concurrence in a generality only proue that Gods concurse is such For the Sunne is a finite and limited thing hauing something in act somthing in possibility so is man likewise therefore they may be determined to produce such such indiuiduall acts by the concurse of some other cause But God is a cause of infinite perfection and a pure act hauing nothing admixt of possibility so that his action and will cannot bee determined limited by any other Wherefore the resolution of the best diuines is that Gods concurse influence is not into the effects of 2d causes only but into the 2d causes thēselues So that he doth not only by an immediate concurse influence concurre with the 2d causes for the bringing forth of such effects as they determine themselues vnto but he hath an influence into the 2d causes thēselues mouing working thē to bring forth effects such effects as he thinketh good to worke thē vnto This is proued by sundry reasons First as we see 2d causes do not only produce some certaine effects operations as within some certaine kind but they giue vnto thē their last actuall perfection to bee But this they cānot giue vnlesse they be made cōpleate in vertue actiue by the first agent because an agent must be no lesse actuall then the effect or operation it bringeth forth But euery created agent is mixed compounded of actuall being possibility is not so actuall as an execution that is a 2d act therefore before it can bring forth any execution or effect it must be made cōpleate in vertue operatiue by the actuall motion of the first agent 2ly To bee is a most vniuersall act the proper effect of God onely therefore if wee will speak formally properly 2d causes in that they giue being to their own effects are but instruments of God whence it will follow that they must be moved by him in nature before they giue being to any of their effects For an instrument doth nothing towards the producing of the effect of the principall agent vnlesse it be actually moued by the principall agent 3ly Euery such thing as is somtimes an agent in act sometimes but potentially only must be moued by some mouer that is a pure act hath nothing mingled with it of possibility before it eā bring forth any actiō But the will of the creature is somtimes actually in actiō somtimes but potētially only therefore it must be moued by the first act before it can bring forth any action Which must bee granted for that otherwise the will of the creature in respect of some actions should bee the first mouer of it selfe and the first determiner That which is wrought by God in and vpon the second causes to make them actually to bee in action is a thing that hath a kinde of incompleate beeing in such sort as colours haue a being in the aire and the power of the act in the instrument of the artificer and so often as 2◠causes whether of naturall or supernaturall order haue in respect of the forme inherent in them a sufficient actiue power in the nature of the first act to bring forth their effects the helpe or precedent motion of God whereby he moueth and applyeth the same actiue powers to operate is not a qualitie but is more properly named a powerfull motion whereby the first and most vniversall agent so worketh vpon them that the 2d causes are actually in action euery one in sort fitting to the nature condition of it And to this purpose it is that Tho Aquinas hath that habituall grace is a quality but the actuall help whereby God moueth vs to will a thing is not a quality but a certain motion of the mind And surely it will easily appeare that there is a great difference between these For the habite doth perfit the power of the soule as a forme or first act implying possibility in respect of actuall operation because the habite doth not determine the power actually to worke but fitteth it only for action inclineth it thereunto But this actuall helpe mouing putting forth the 2d causes into their actions doth not perfit the power of working but makes thē actually to be in action Lastly the habit in respect of the nature of it may be the cause of diuerse actions but that actuall help mouing whereof we speak determineth the will to one individuall action yet taketh not from it a power of dissenting and doing otherwise Alvarez a great learned Archbishop that hath lately written with good allowance of the Church of Rome layeth downe these propositions First that God by an effectuall will predetermined all such acts of men and Angels as are good and all such as are not euill ex obiecto though in individuo they be euill sins ex malâ circumstantiâ Which he proueth out of the 10th of Esay where Almighty God saith Assur is the rod of my wroth he is my staffe I will send him to a deceiptfull nation against the people of my fury will I giue him a command a litle after Shall the axe boast against him that cutteth with it or shall the saw bee lifted vp against him that draweth it as if a rod should be lifted vp against him that lifteth it the staff which is but wood Here it is evident that Assur sinned ex malâ circumstantiâ in subduing the nations and yet it is cleere that God predetermined that he should waste and destroy the nations that he sent him to that purpose and moued him so to doe His 2d proposition is this that whatsoeuer is positiue of being in an act of sin though intrinsecally
ex obiecto euill it hath God for the first mouing cause he doth primarily originally predetermine the will of the creature by an actuall motion to such an act in that it is an act in that it hath being and yet not to the difformity of it But Cumel disputeth strongly against this proposition in this sort There are certain acts saith he intrinsecally euill so that in them that which is materiall cannot bee separated à formali malitiâ peccati that is from the difformity or sinfulnesse of such an act So that it implyeth a contradiction that God should determine our wills freely to bring forth such an action in respect of that which is materiall in it and not to determine it to bring forth the same action in respect of that which is formall And this reason hath greater force against them that hold that the formality of sinne consisteth in some thing that is positiue as in the manner of working freely with positiue repugnance to the Law of reason and of God For if God predetermine and effectually moue to the producing of euill actions in respect of that which is materiall in them and the substance of the act hee must necessarily also predetermine the same actions in respect of all their positiue conditions and circumstances as the freedome of working and the positiue repugnance to the Law of God And if he determine the will to worke repugnantly to the Law he must needs moue and determine it to sinne seeing to sinne is nothing else but to repugne vnto the law So that it must not bee sayd that God is the originall cause that man hath any such action of will as is euill ex obiecto For if hee should originally and out of himselfe will any such acte he must bee the authour of sinne seeing such an acte is intrinsecally euill so that it cannot be separated from difformity but whosoeuer willeth the substance of such an acte must also will the difformity annexed therevnto in the same sorte as hee willeth the substance of it as is already proved Wherefore that wee may rightly conceiue how God may bee said to will actions of this kinde I will lay downe these propositions First that of the sinne of omission no higher cause needeth to be sought then the deficient will of the creature and that God no otherwise decreed the enterance of it but in that he decreed the deniall of that grace without which hee knew such omission would bee The second that the sinne of omission is in order before the sinne of commission The sinne of omission was first in the Angells sayth Wickliffe as it is also in every man that sinneth Omission saith Alexander of Hales in the order of sinnes so farre forth as wee may conceiue that there is any order amongst them is before commission The third that the sinner falling into the sinne of omission putteth himselfe not onely into an estate of aversion from God but of opposition also and being adverse vnto God and so into a necessitie of committing sinne so long as hee continueth in that state For hee that is opposite to God if he haue any action at all must of necessity haue such as are repugnant to the will and law of God The fourth that God the vniversall mouer who moueth and worketh all things to bring forth such actions as are fitting to their condition ceaseth not to worke and moue vpon men Angels after they are become averse but hee still moueth and impelleth them to doe things fitting to that condition wherein hee findeth them as he doth all other things and as hee worketh in and together with all second causes such effects as are fitting to their condition So hee bringeth forth in and with these thus auerse actions fitting to such an estate of aversion and adverse opposition that is such as are beside and contrary to the rule of righteousnes So that to conclude this point God neither worketh the creature to be evill for it becommeth euill of it selfe by falling into the sinne of omission nor simplie and absolutely moueth and determineth it to doe euill but hee moueth it to doe things fitting to the condition wherein it is even after by it owne fault it is become evill and produceth in and together with it such actions as are fitting to that estate that is such as are euill And his will being that nothing shall be without action nor without action fitting to the condition thereof hee hath setled it by an effectuall and positiue decree that hee that will be averse and evill shall not but doe euill so long as he is and will bee in such an estate and condition If wee speake saith Gregorius Ariminensis de prima mala voluntate non habuit causam efficientem quia nulla res fuit quae aliquid faciendo faceret illam malam sed ipsa desistendo à bona volitione facta est mala sed malae volitionis aliqua est causa That is If wee seeke out how the will of the creature at first became ill there is no efficient cause thereof to bee found for there was nothing that did any thing to make it euill but of it selfe by desisting to will that it should it became euill but of the acte of willing what it should not there is a positiue cause It is excellent to this purpose that Luther hath in his booke de servo arbitrio against Erasmus Reason yeeldeth sayth hee that God worketh all in all and that nothing can be done without him for hee is omnipotent and this pertayneth to his omnipotencie as Paul saith to the Ephesians Now Satan and man fallen from God and forsaken of him cannot will that which is good that is such things as please God or such as hee would haue to be done but being turned away to desire such other things as shall please themselues they cannot but seeke those things that are their owne This nature of men and Angels thus turned from God is not nothing neither is Satan and a wicked man nothing neither can wee say they haue no nature nor will though they haue a corrupt and auerse nature Therefore that which remaineth of nature in a wicked man and in Satan as a creature and the worke of God is no lesse subject to omnipotencie and the action of God then all other creatures and workes of God are Whereas therefore God moueth and worketh all in all hee moueth and worketh also in Satan and the wicked man and hee worketh in them in such sorte as is fitting to that they are and as hee findeth them that is so that being evill and averse yet carried on with the motion of diuine omnipotencie they cannot but doe such things as are averse euill As if a horseman shal driue a horse that goeth but on two or three feete hee maketh him goe so as hee must needs goe if hee goe at all so long as hee is thus lame that is haltingly But
saued though the assertions of some men were damnable Now it is cleane contrary touching the present state of the Romish Church For the generall maine doctrine agreed vpon in the Councel of Trent in sort as it is most commonly conceiued is damnable but there are no doubt some of a better spirit and haue in themselues particularly a better conceit of things than generally is holden Formerly the Church of Rome was the true Church but had in it an hereticall faction now the Church it selfe is hereticall some certaine onely are found in it in such degree of Orthodoxie as that we may well hope of their saluation Thus then this great obiection taken from our owne confession is easily answered CHAP. 48. Of Miracles confirming the Romane faith THe next note of the Church is Gods owne testimony which hee giueth of the trueth sanctity of the faith and profession it holdeth This doubtlesse is the most absolute excellent note of all other For that must needes bee the true Church which holdeth the true faith and profession and that the true profession which God that neither himselfe can be deceiued nor deceiue others doeth witnesse testifie to be so For who dare make any doubt whether that bee the true religion or that the true Church which the God of trueth witnesseth to be so Let vs see therefore how God doth testifie concerning the trueth of religion and the happy condition of them that professe it Surely this testification is of two sorts the one by the inward operation of his inlightening spirit satisfying our vnderstandings in those things which by natures light we could not discerne and filling our hearts with ioy and gladnesse such and so great as nothing within natures compasse can yeeld For by this so great happie and heauenly an alteration which wee finde in our selues vpon and together with this receiuing of this doctrine which the spirit of trueth doth teach vs hee doth most clearely witnesse vnto vs that it is heauenly indeede and such as we could not haue attained vnto but by diuine reuelation The other kind of testification is when being desired by them that teach and learne this doctrine to giue some outward testimonie that it is true he doth some such thing for the good of them that receiue it or hurt of such as refuse it as none but God can doe But because partly by reason of the manifold illusions wherewith Sathan can and often doth abuse men making it seem vnto them that those things are done which are not and partly because we doe not exactly know what may be done by the force of naturall causes we cannot infallibly know concerning any outward thing performed before our eyes that it is in deede immediately and miraculously wrought by Gods owne most sacred hands This kinde of testification is not matchable with the other Nay wee cannot be infallibly assured of any thing done that it is Gods owne worke and in deede a miracle vnlesse this assurance grow out of the former testification For we may justly feare some fraud till finding by the inward testimony of Gods spirit the trueth of that for proofe whereof this strange thing is done we are assured it is the immediate and peculiar worke of God This assurance the quality of the things done and the difference betweene the workes of Sathan which onely cause admiration and wonder and the miraculous workes of God that are full of gracious goodnes winning the hearts of such as see them will greatly strengthen To what purpose then will some man say serued all the miracles that were done by Christ and his blessed Apostles This doubt is easily cleared for whereas the things then taught were new strange and incredible to naturall men they would not at all haue listned vnto them made inquiry after them or search into them had not the strange workes that followed the publishers of them made them thinke the things credible that were accompanied with so strange attendants Now while they gaue heed to the things that were spoken the Word was mighty in operation and entred into them in such sort that they discerned it was Gods owne word and that the way of saluation which by it they were directed vnto Thus then we see that miracles are no sure notes of the trueth of Religion nor certaine marke to know the Church by vnlesse they bee strengthened by some other meanes not for that a miracle knowne to bee so is insufficient to testifie of the trueth of God but because it is not possible infallibly to know that the things which seeme vnto vs to be miracles be so in deede vnlesse being assured of the trueth of that for confirmation whereof they are wrought wee thereby bee perswaded they are of God All that hath beene hitherto said is confessed to be true by the best learned Divines of the Romane Church Yea Cardinall Caietan proceedeth so farre that he pronounceth it cannot bee certainely knowne that those miracles are true miracles which the Church admitteth and approueth in the canonizing of Saints seeing the trueth of them dependeth on mens report that may deceiue and be deceiued Thus hauing declared what the vse of miracles is and how farre they giue testimony of the trueth let vs see what our adversaries conclude from hence for themselues or against vs. They haue miracles for confirmation of their faith and Religion and we haue none therefore they hold the true faith and we are in errour For answere hereunto first we say that the trueth of Religion cannot infallibly and certainely be found out by miracles especially in these last times because as Gerson noteth in his booke De distinctione verarum falsarum visionum in this old age of the world in this last houre and time so neere Antichrist his revelation it is not to bee marvailed at if the world like a doating olde man bee abused by many illusions and fantasies most like to dreames Secondly wee say that howsoeuer it may bee some miracles were done by such good men as liued in the corrupt state of the Church in the dayes of our Fathers yet that is no proofe of those errours which the Romanists maintaine against vs. For wee peremptorily deny that euer any miracle was done by any in times past or in our times to confirme any of the things controuersed betweene them and vs. What credit is to be giuen to the reportes of their miracles they may easily conceiue in that in all the differences they haue had amongst themselues either in matters of opinion or of faction they haue had contrary visions reuelations and miracles to confirme the perswasion of either side as appeared in the differences touching Maries conception and in the times of the Anti-Popes Wherevpon Caietane writing to Pope Leo about the controuersie of Maries conception wisheth him not to suffer his iudgement to be swayed by shew of miracles and giueth many good reasons of the
velle perficere pro boná voluntate Soe that God doth not stirre and moue the will and soe stay to see whether it will consent or nor but worketh moueth and inclineth us to consent The good vse of grace proceedeth not from the meere liberty of our will but from God working by the effectuall helpe of preoperating grace and causing a man freely to consent and cooperate If not God were not the totall cause which as the first roote bringeth forth all that which discerneth the righteous from the sinner Quis te discernit Our consent and effect of predestination The will doth not first begin her determination and consent The influx of free will into a good action or the good vse of grace exciting is supernaturall as being about a supernaturall obiect therefore it must proceede from a supernaturall cause c God is a cause and the first eause in that a cause he hath reference to the effect in that the first to the second when therefore by his helping grace he worketh together with vs to will and performe his operation hath a double respect first to our will which it effectually moueth to worke this and secondly to our act of willing which it produceth together with our will for our will hath no operation but in one respect only that is of the act it bringeth forth but it hath no influence upon it selfe antecedently to the production of the act So then God is the first determiner of our will for iâ—… the created will originally begin her owne determination it will follow that it is the first free the first roote and the first cause of her owne determination which must not be granted for seeing a created thing that is free is free by participation it must of necessity be reduced to a first free as to a former cause otherwise duo prima principia Soe that God by his effectuall grace not onely morally but truly efficiently moueth and inclineth the will to the loue and liking of what hee will in such sort that it cannot but turne nor cannot dissent in sensu composito though it may in sensu diuiso The meaning of this is that the effectuall motion of Gods grace and an actuall dissenting resisting or not yeelding cannot stand together but the efficacy of Gods grace and a power of disenting do stand together For the efficacie of grace doth not take away the power but soe directeth the will as infallibly in such liberty to bring forth that he pleaseth Est simultas potentiae ad opposita non autem potentia simultatis ad opposita simul habenda there is in some created thing at the same time a possibility of hauing or doing things opposite as to sitte or walke but there is no possibility of hauing these together Soe there is in free will moued by effectuall grace a power to doe or not to do in sensu diuiso because the efficacy of grace and power of dissenting may stand together but not in sensu composito that is that the motion of grace and actuall dissenting should stand together This is the opinion of Aluarez and many other opposing the Iesuites neither had Caluin or Luther any other apprehension of these things So that the necessity efficacy power and working of Gods grace is rightly deliuered by sundry in the Roman Church euen till this day It is not to be maruelled therefore if it be sayd that the Church wherein our Fathers liued and died beleeued and taught as we now do Aloisius Lippomannus in catenâ ad lectorem hath these words Illud te admonitum esse volumus vt si in toto hoc opere Chrysostomum aliquando legeris dicentem homini quoties is sua attulerit conatum omnem fecerit abundè postea à Deo gratiam suppeditari caute prudenter pium doctorem legas ne in errorem illum decidas vt credas gratiam Dei dari propter merita nostra nam si ex meritis non est gratia cum nec istud ipsum sua afferre conatum omnem facere sine praeueniente Dei gratiâ possit esse juxta illud Psalmi misericordia ejus praeueniet me itemque misericordia ejus subsequetur me in omnibus diebus vitae meae ac illud sanctae Ecclesiae tua nos quaesumus domine gratia semper praeueniat sequatur cui nos quoque scrupulo prouidè occurrentes in duobus fortassis aut tribus locis paucula quaedam in Chrysostomum apposuimus Gocchianus de libertate christianâ l. 2. c. 23. Maria salutatur gratia plena vt quic quid in eâ per eam diuina dispositione fieri conspicitur totum ex dono dei nullis praecedentibus meritis designetur c. habes qualiter in exordio humanae reparationis praesumpsio humanae facultatis dejicitur In eo quod Maria plena gratiâ nunciatur praedicatur in eaplenitudo gratiae ut nihil proprii meriti sed totum quod in ea est gratia esse designetur August in enchirid Quid humana natura in homine Christo meruit ut in unitate personae unici filii Dei singulariter esset Quae bona voluntas cuius boni propositi studium quae bona praecesserunt quibus mereretur iste homo ut una fieret persona cum Deo nempè ex quo homo esse caepit non aliud caepit esse quam Dei filius idemque hominis filius c. Magna hic sola Dei gratia ostenditur ut intelligant homines per eandem gratiam eius se iustificari a peccatis per quam factum est ut homo Christus nullum habere posset peccatum Eccehabes in Mediatore Christo gratiam commendatam qui cum esset unicus Dei filius non gratiâ sed naturâ ob hoc plenus veritatis factus est hominis filius ut esset etiam gratiae plenus verbum caro factum est Cùm in Christo in quo omnia instauranda tanquam in fonte vnde totius humani generis derivatur salvatio nihil aliud invenitur quam gratia unde alicui aliquid aliud de proprio potest provenire per quod potest salvari Miranda quidem imò potius miseranda humanae praesumptio facultatis quae cùm per humilitatem gratis salvari possit propriâ impediente superbiâ salvari non velit Omnes inquit Esaias sitientes venite ad aquas qui non habetis argentum aurum properate emite comedite emite absque ullâ commutatione vinum lac Idem spiritus movet hominis voluntatem ut bonum velit quod prius noluit bonam voluntatem adiuvat ut bonum volitum ad effectum perducat nullâ cooperatione propriae voluntatis facultatis sed sanatae renovatae Aug. de patientia Gratia non solùm adiuvat iustum verum etiam iustificat impium ideo etiam cùm adiuvat iustum videtur eius meritis reddi nec sic
eiusdem loco meriti quod ego miser habere deberem non habeo Item Domine pono eandem passionem mortem Domini mei Iesu Christi inter me et iram tuam in manus tuas Domine cōmendo spiritum meum There is extant a certaine forme of confession attributed to S Bernard in which he speaketh to God in this sort Recordare Domine Iesu quia tuum non est perdere quicquam eorum quae Pater tuus dedit tibi quin tibi proprium est misereri semper parcere neminem perdere sed salvare nam Pater tuus misit te in mundum non vt iudices mundum sed vt vitam habeamus per te vt sis propitiatio nostra advocatus noster non contra nos Quod enim debuimus tu soluisti quod peccavimus tu luisti quod negleximus tu supplesti proficiat ergo nunc Domine et in extremis meis plenaria imò superflua satisfactio amarissima mors tua pretium inaestimabile fusi sanguinis tui cōmemoratio satisfactionis tuae c Ante annos 200 quidam Dominicanus Coloniae quomodo forēt aegroti consolandi docuit his verbis Morti jam vicinus prorsus nihil suis bonis operibus confidere debet nec propter mala diffidere sed omnem spem in merita Christi ejus immensam misericordiam collocare haec est fides Catholica Christiana quae neminem fallere potest So that hetherto wee finde the Church wherin our Fathers liued and died was a Protestant Church and that they were taught to die in the same faith that wee now are But some man will say howsoeuer these disclaimed all merit and confidence in workes as liuing in bad times wherein iniquity abounded and charity was waxen cold yet others of a more excellent quality pleaded their owne righteousnesse and innocency desiring to be iudged according to the same So Dauid Ps. 26. and elsewhere And so when the Lord had said to Ezechias set thy house in order for thou must die hee turned his face to the wall and prayed vnto the Lord said I beseech thee Lord remember how I haue walked before thee in truth with a perfect hart haue done that which is good in thy sight And Paul 2. Tim. 4. with more confidence when his dissolution was at hand he was ready to be offered vp I haue fought a good fight I haue finished my course I haue kept the faith henceforth there is layd vp for mee a crown of righteousnes which the Lord the righteous iudge shall giue me in that day Of Hilarion Hierom reporteth that when he was ready to die he vsed these words Egredere quid times egredere anima mea quid dubitas sexaginta annis seruiuisti Christo mortē times in haec verba spiritum exhalauit But the answer herevnto is easy for the diuines doe note that there is justitia causae facti personae a righteousnesse of some particular cause of some particular fact of the person Causae so Dauid oftentimes desired of God to be judged in the differences between him his aduersaries that wronged him according to his righteousnes innocency in those quarrels Of fact so it is sayd that Phinees stood vp wrought vengance it was imputed to him for righteousnesse that is he was iudged to haue done a righteous act in so doing The righteousnes of the person is twofold for there is a righteousnes that is sincere true pure there is a righteousnes that is true sincere but not pure None of the Ss euer pleaded the former kind of righteousnes nor desired to be iudged according to the same For Dauid in that respect declineth iudgment saying Enter not into iudgment with thy seruant for no flesh is righteous in thy sight again If thou Lord shouldest be extreame to marke what is done amisse who should be able to abide it But in the latter sort they do plead the truth simplicity of their harts the sincerity of the righteousnes that is found in them And this for 2 reasons first in that hereby they are assured that they pertain to God that hath thus begun to do good vnto them so confirme themselues in the hope expectation of that they desire by the cōsideration of the good he hath already done vnto them And besides also for that they know this is the condition wherewith all the promises of God made vnto them for their good are limitted and therefore if they found not this they could expect nothing of God finding this they need not to doubt to obtaine any thing that is necessary for thē And in this sort do Cardinall Contarenus Albertus Pighius men of no small esteeme in the Roman Church cleere these obiections So that it remaineth firme which I haue deliuered that the righteousnes which is inherent in the iust is impure vnperfect that it is not safe to relie vpon it But because this is a matter of great consequence I will demonstrate that the same was taught before at after Luthers time by men of best place and quality in the Church wherein our fathers liued Bernard distinguisheth 4 kinds of righteousnesse Our righteousnes he sayth is Recta sed non pura of which our Fathers sayd no lesse truly then humbly All our righteousnesse is as the poluted ragges of a menstruous woman For how can our righteousnesse be pure wherein it cannot be but there should be sinne The righteousnesse of the first man was both right and pure but because it was not firme and constant it lost purity and retained not so much as the rectitude it had In the Angells there is righteousnesse right pure and firme of an high and excellent nature but much inferiour to that of God Non enim innata est iis sed à Deo collata ut natura ipsa quod ex se est non modo iustitiae sed etiam iniustitiae capax inveniatur Numquid non ista est pravitas quaedam quam in angelis suis vera illa iustitia legitur invenisse That is The righteousnesse that is found in the Angels is not inborne but giuen to them bestowed on them so that their nature as of it selfe is capable not only of righteousnesse but of vnrighteousnesse also And is not this a kind of pravity and iniquity which that true and perfect justice is said to haue found in his Angels For he that was not ignorant of the justice of God saith no one liuing shall be ivstified in thy sight Hee saith not no man but no one liuing happily that thou maist know that he excepteth not the Angelicall spirits For they liue and so much more truely then men as they are nearer to him in whom is the fountaine of life Yet these are just sed ex eo non coram eo munere eius non in eius
Pope sought to ouerthrow the order of the Ecclesiasticall Hierarchie to encroach vpon all Bishoppes and guides of the Church and to vsurpe such an illimited vniversall and absolute authority as no way pertained to him feared not to call him Antichrist to compare him and his Courtiers to that Behemoth that putteth his mouth to the Riuer of Iordan thinking he can drinke it vp to pronounce that it is most true that before his time was said of him and his execrable Court Eius avaritiae totus non sufficit orbis Eius luxuria meretrix non sufficit omnis That the Church was holden in Babylonicall captivity by this Antichrist and that her deliuerance would neuer be wrought but by the edge of the sword that must be bathed in blood This is the true report concerning Grosthead in all which there are neither fictions nor exaggerations as Higgons pretendeth by which it is evident that there was as little Communion between the Pope challenging as he did then and doth now infallibility of judgement vniversality of illimited and vncontrouleable power right to dispose the Kingdomes of the World as there is betweene light and darknesse the Temple of God and Idols CHRIST and Antichrist So that he was no Papist seeing he ouer-threw the Papacie and if in any thing he erred as liuing in corrupttimes it is not to be marvayled at neither did his errour in some particular thing so much prejudice his piety and sanctity as that he may not bee called a worthy and renowned Bishop seeing hee held the foundation and stroue for the truth as farre as hee knew it euen to death And therefore the exceptions of the Author of the booke of the Three Conversions against Master Foxe touching this Bishoppe and some other mentioned by him and recorded in the number of Martyrs and Confessors are little to be regarded for that men might be members of that true Church whereof we are holding the foundation and carefully seeking out and maintaining the truth as farre as they knew it though they were otherwise perswaded in some things then either Master Foxe or we are which need not to seeme strange to Master Higgons nor any other of that side seeing they thinke many to haue beene members of their Church and Catholiques that dissented from them in all the questions concerning the Pope to which all other as Master Higgons telleth vs are subordinate and besides in the questions of originall sin free-will justification merite satisfaction the number of the Sacraments and sundry other like things Thus wee see how zealously Grosthead the worthy renowned Bishop of Lincolne opposed himselfe against the tyrannicall vsurpations and incroachments of the Pope and feared not to call him Antichrist for the same Neither was he alone in this opposition but we shall finde that the whole state of England after many complaints against the Popes incroachments vsurpations and tyrannicall intermedling in things no way pertaining to him to the ouerthrow of the Hierarchy of the Church told him in the end that if these courses were continued they should bee forced to doe that which would make his heart to ake Thus faith Mathew Paris at last the poore Church of England that had bin long vsed as an Asse to carry the Popes burdens in the end grew weary opened her mouth as Balaams Asse did to reproue the folly of the Prophet that not without just cause in the judgement of all the world for howsoeuer the church of Rome challenged to be the Mother of all churches and the Popeto be the Father of all Christians yet the one proued a cruell stepmother the other an vnkind vnnaturall Father so that they both lost the hearts of all men But what did the Pope vpon the complaints of so great a church nation as this of England did he ease her burthens or any way listen to her most reasonable suits no verily but was so vnmercifull as the same Paris testifieth that hauing so sore beaten vs he beate vs againe in more cruel sort then euer before onely because we cryed therefore let him not be angry with vs because we haue kept our word with him that neuer kept any with vs haue indeed done that which maketh his heart to ake as our fore-fathers threatned him long before these groanes of our wrōged Mother her often renewed bitter complaints before any was found to worke her deliuerance doe iustifie that which we haue done to be no more then in duty we stood bound to do neither is there any better proofe of the goodnes of our cause then that that which we haue done in the reformation of the church was long before wished for expected fore-tolde by the best men that liued in former times in the corrupt state of the church But because Mr Higgons is pleased to tell vs that if there be no better proofe the cause is bad the patrons worse because these best men we speak of will not speake for vs I will take a litle paines to shevv the goodnes of this proof vvhich I doubt not but the Reader vvill find to be better then that Mr Higgons or any other of his Romanists shall euer be able to vveaken it All that vvhich vve haue done in the reformation of the church cōsisteth in 3 things the first is the condemning of certain erronious opiniōs in matters of doctrine the 2d the shaking off of the yoake of Papall tyranny the 3 the remouing of abuses superstitious observatiōs Novv then if it be proued that the best best learned in former times thought as vvee doe in matters doctrinall that they complained of the heauie yoake vvhich the Pope laide on them and desired the remoouing of such abuses as vvee haue remooued I thinke this proofe vvill bee found very strong and good I vvill therefore first beg◅ vvith matters of doctrine and so proceede to the other points not intending to run through all the controversed points of doctrine but some onely for example and because the question is onely of the judgment of men liuing in latter times in the corrupt state of the Church vnder the Papacie I will passe by the Fathers and speake of such as liued since their time Touching the Canon of Scripture which is the rule of our faith wee deny the bookes of Tobit Iudith Ecelesiasticus Wisdome Machabees the song of the three Children and the story of Bell and the Dragon to bee Canonicall Scriptures So did Hugo de Sancto Victore Richardus de Sancto Victore Petrus Cluniacensis Lyranus Dionysius Carthusianus Hugo Cardinalis Thomas Aquinas Waldensis Richardus Armachanus Picus Mirandula Ockam Caietan and Driedo to say nothing of Melito Bishop of Sardis Origen Athanasius Hilarius Nazianzen Cyrill of Ierusalem Epiphanius Ruffinus Hierome Gregory and Damascen Here wee see a cloud of witnesses deposing for vs. And what better proofe of the goodnesse of our cause canne there be then that so