and certain Guide in matters of Religion any Infallible Interpreter of his Word p. 24. Question 7. If God hath left no sure and un-erring Interpreter of his Word in matters of Faith how can it be defended that the Holy Scriptures are not unprofitable and even pernicious to Mankind p. 30. Question 8. Whether the State of the great Family City Kingdom and Commonwealth Army of Jesus Christ that is of his Church doth require a Supreme Spiritual Head or no p. 33. Question 9. Whether the way to Salvation be narrow or no p. 40. Question 10. How it can be defended that Jesus was the true Messiah promised in the Old Testament if the Church which he Founded erred so many Ages in her Doctrine of Faith p. 42. Question 11. Did the Church of Christ Err heretofore because Christ could not preserve her from Erring or because he would not p. 63. Question 12. If the Church of Christ did Err for so many Ages How can it be defended that God is truly Good and doth truly desire the Salvation of Mankind p. 65. Question 13. If the Church of Christ did Err from the true Light of the Gospel so many Ages could he find none fit in so many Hundred Years to restore the same till Luther falling out with the Pope and breaking his Vow of Chastity began to teach a new Religion tending to Liberty and Looseness p. 69. Question 14. Whether God by Miracles can draw and incline men to believe a false Religion or no Where it is shew'd that Cod by Miracles did draw our Fore-Fathers at their first Conversion to Christianity to believe Papistry p. 74. Question 15. Out of which Religion the Elect of Christ are to be gather'd at the day of Judgement p. 80. Question 16. Whether Protestants or Catholicks do take the sure way to Eternal Happiness Where it is shewed that Papistry by the Judgement of all Learned Protestants is a saving Religion and consequently a securer way p. 87. An Appendix Whether the Apostles were Protestants or no p. 95. Question I. Where was the Protestant Religion Believ'd and Practis'd the last five hundred years before Luther First I Demand of Protestants where in what Countries Provinces or Cities was the Protestant Church and Religion Extant and Practis'd the last five hundred years immediately before Luther's Revolt from the Roman Church Which he began in the year 1517 First To say that Christ for those five hundred years had no True Church no Saving Faith and Religion upon Earth is flatly against Daniel 2. 44. foretelling that the Kingdom that is the Church of Christ should stand for ever and c. 7. v. 14. That it should Never be Corrupted And against Christ himself assuring us Matth. 16. 18. That the Gates of Hell should never prevail against his Church Moreover out of this Answer it follows that Christ was not the Saviour of the World. For if the World had no means of Salvation from him for those five hundred years Such means it had not from him the next five hundred years which passed before these Which being granted it will be hard if not impossible to prove either by Scripture or Reason that for the space of the next five hundred years which reach up to the times of the Apostles the World from Christ had any true means of Salvation And so by this Answer he will be wholly excluded from being the Saviour of the World as hereafter more clearly shall appear Secondly No understanding Protestant will deny that the World was full of Christians before Luther began his new Preaching or that they then had believ'd and re-cited the CREED of the Apostles If then a Christian in those times had been press'd by a Jew Turk or any other Infidel to deny that Article of his Creed I believe a Holy Catholick Church a Communion of Saints Whether might he with a safe Conscience have deny'd it or no If safely he might have deny'd this Article safely also he might have deny'd the rest In regard that all these Articles so far forth as they are the Object of Faith are of equal Truth and Certainty as is manifest For if one of them be false what certainty is there of the rest But if he might not without damnable Sin and the high offence of God have deny'd this Article as doubtless he might not then this Article as well as the rest is a Divine Truth which we ought to believe with firm and Divine Faith And consequently there was extant in the World before Luther's rising a Catholick Church and a Communion of Saints That is a common union or conjunction of Sanctify'd People in that Church Otherwise Christian People could not so strictly have been oblig'd to believe that Article For they cannot be oblig'd to believe a Falsehood Christ then in the Ages immediatly before Luther began to Preach and institute the Protestant Church and Religion had on Earth a Catholick Church and a Sanctify'd People therein united together in Faith and Religion and in the participation of his Divine Benefits Which being so What will Protestants Answer to my Question Will they grant as the Truth is that although the Protestant Church and Religion were no where extant and in practice the last five hundred years before Luther Yet Christ had then and in all former Ages a saving Faith and Religion But then I must tell them first That if the Protestant Religion and Church were not then the Catholick Church and saving Religion of Christ it cannot prudently be thought or possibly prov'd to be so now But rather all Discreet and Judicious People must hold it to be a new Invention such as the Arrian or the Nestorian Profession was Secondly I must tell them that That Religion which before Luther's Innovation was a Saving Religion is still a Saving Religion For why should it not it being the same that it was Which being granted the Protestant Profession cannot be a Saving Religion Because there cannot be two Saving Religions extant at the same time opposite and contrary one to another as hereafter more clearly shall appear in regard that one of them must of necessity be a false Religion and proceed as from the prime Suggestor and Author not from God but from the enemy of mankind Who will never invent and set a foot a Religion apt to save men in Thirdly I must tell them that if in all Ages before Luther's time Christ on Earth had a Holy Church and a Saving Religion as most certainly he had The first Protestants did very ill in forsaking her Communion and in raising against Her such Factions and Tumults meerly for Liberty sake as they have done For this breaking off was not to secure their Souls whatsoever they pretended to have some colour of their doing but to enjoy more Carnal Liberty than the long settled Discipline of that Holy Church could bear and allow And as ill do They who still maintain the same breach and impugne the same Holy
prove even in this Sense their Religion to be Apostolick Question III. If the Protestant Religion be Truly Catholick When was it spread over the World and what Heathen Nations hath it Converted to Christ IF the Protestant Religion be truly Catholick as the Teachers thereof do stile it it is now and in former Ages must have been spread over the World. For Christ as Daniel foretold c. 2. Was to grow into a Mountain that is into a Church which is his Mystical Body that was to fill the whole Earth And as the Royal Prophet Sung Psal 2. He was to have the Gentiles for his Inheritance and the ends of the Earth for his Possession The Christians also of all Ages were bound to believe a Catholick Church according to the Creed of the Apostles as I before shew'd Which being so if Protestants have been this Catholick Church and their Religion the most common and Vniversal Religion believ'd over the World They must have spread themselves and their Religion over the World by Converting Heathen Nations to Christ according to the clear Promises of God made to the Patriarchs that in their Seed that is in Christ all the Nations of the Earth should be Blessed Which Promises you shall find in my tenth Question and according to the words of Christ Matth. 24. saying This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be Preached in the whole World for a Testiomny to all Nations And then shall come the Consummation That is the end of the World. Now then I demand of Protestants what Heathen Nations in this and in former Ages they have Converted to the Belief and Practice of their Religion and have thereby spread the same over the World as the True Catholick Faith of Christ ought to be spread If they cannot truly name any such Nations as indeed they cannot unless they will feigne Let them confess as the certain Truth is that their Religion is neither Truly Catholick but so term'd to delude the simple nor the true Faith of Christ by which in him the Nations of the Earth are to be Blessed Let each Prudent Protestant who truly seeks Salvation thoroughly weigh this Point Question IV. What likelihood there is that to bring to pass and effect the great and Merciful work of the Conversion of the Nations of the Earth and of their Kings to Christ God hath never yet made use of the True Religion of Christ and of the Pure Light of his Gospel IT is certain out of the Word of God alledg'd in the last Question that Christ was to have the Gentiles for his Inheritance and the ends of the Earth for his Possession as the Royal Prophet foretold Psal 2. 8. That is He was to destroy false Religions and the Worship of False Gods and of the Devil through the World and to introduce his own Divine and most Holy Religion and the True Worship of one God amongst the Nations of the Earth Thereby to bring unto them the Blessing Promised Gen. c. 12. c. 22. c. 26. c. 28. and Psal 71. 2ly It is also certain that Christ was to enter upon this his Inheritance and to begin the ruine of Idolatry and the Conversion of the Gentiles by the Preaching of his Apostles within some few years after his Ascension As is clear out of the Commission which he gave them Matth. 28. saying Go Teach all Nations and out of the words of St. Paul Act. 13. saying to the Jews To you it behoov'd us first to speak the Word of God But because you repel it and judge your selves unworthy of Eternal Life behold we turn to the Gentiles for so our Lord commanded us I have put thee to be the Light of the Gentiles that thou mayest be Salvation unto the utmost of the Earth Isaias 49. Thirdly It is certain that although the Conversion of the Gentiles was to be begun by the Apostles yet it was not to be compleatly finish'd by them but was to be continued by their Successors the Doctors and Pastors of the Church Ephes 4. 12. And not to be accomplish'd till toward the end of the World as is clear out of Gods word Matth. 24. Where our Saviour being ask'd a Sign of his coming to Judgement and of the end of the World gave the compleat Preaching of his Gospel to all Nations for a sign thereof saying This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be Preached in the whole World for a Testimony to all Nations and then shall come the Consummation This also is manifest out of Isaias by whom God foretold the conversion of the Kings of the Earth to Christ his Son and their lowly subjection to his Church saying v. 7. c. 49. Kings shall see and Princes shall arise and Adore for the Lords sake And again Kings shall be thy Nursing Fathers and Queens thy Nurses With Countenance cast down toward the ground they shall Adore thee and they shall lick the Dust of thy feet And c. 60. Thy Gates shall be open continually day and night they shall not be shut that the strength of the Gentiles may be brought to thee and their Kings may be brought For the Nation and the Kingdom that shall not serve thee shall perish And a little after speaking again of the Church of Christ gather'd out of the Gentiles he says For that thou wast forsaken viz. in the time of the Law of Moses and hated and there was none that pass'd by thee I will make thee to be the pride of Worlds a joy unto Generation and Generation And thou shalt suck the milk of the Gentiles And thou shalt be Nursed with the Teats of Kings Out of which clear Prophesies it seems to be manifest that the chief Conversion of the Gentiles was to be effected long after the times of the Apostles When the Roman Empire the strength then of the Gentiles in the time of Constantine the Great And in the following Ages the Kings and Princes of Spain France England Scotland Ireland Denmark Norway Swedeland Poland Hungary and of other Countries were Converted to the Faith of Christ and wonderfully Honour'd and Inrich'd his Church as the Laws of exemption which they made or receiv'd the Edifices which they Built and Bishopricks and Monasteries which they Founded and Endowed do abundantly testify For in the Apostles days and some Ages after was rather fulfill'd the Prediction of Christ foretelling Luke 21. That his Disciples and Servants should be Hated before Kings and Presidents and should be Despis'd Persecuted and Kill'd by them Which things being so I demand of Prudent and Considerate Protestants what probability there is that to bring to pass the Divine and Merciful work of the Conversion of the Nations of the Earth and of their Kings to the Chaste and Holy Faith of Christ and to the Worship of the true God from the Impure Service of False Gods and detestable Worship of the Devil God hath never made use of the True Religion of Christ and of the Pure Light of his Gospel if
THE APPENDIX Whether the Apostles were Protestants or no. PRotestants generally conceive and believe that Jesus Christ and his Apostles Preached and planted in the World the Protestant Religion even the very self-same that Protestants now believe and practice and that they were really Protestants not in Name but in their Belief and Practice And that they instituted their Disciples and Followers that is the first Christians in the self-same Liberty of Gospel which Protestants now follow and charged them that with all Care and Diligence they should deliver this sweet and easie Religion which is so pleasing to Flesh and Blood to those who were to succeed them that so for ever it might be continued in the World for the Salvation of Mankind Thus I say do Protestants generally conceive and upon the Truth of this Conceipt they hazard their Souls notwithstanding that they are not agreed nor cannot yet agree among themselves which makes the matter very strange and the conceipt wholly improbable whether the Apostles in their Belief and Practice of Religion were Lutherans or Anabaptists or Swinglians or Calvinists or New Arians or Quakers or Arminians or Parliamentary Pretestants for each of these sorts or Branches of Protestants lay Claim to the Apostles and the Learned of each sort do bear their Followers in hand That the Doctrine which they Teach is the pure Light of the Gospel even the self-same that the Blessed Apostles Believed Taught and practised and of this they are all certain alike And so the conceipt of Saxony Denmark Sweden is that the Apostles were Lutherans The Conceipt of some of the Cantons of Switzerland is that they were Swinglians The Conceipt of many in Moravia and in Holland is that they were Anabaptists The Conceipt of Geneva of Scotland of Puritans of England and of some parts of Germany is that they were Calvinists The Conceipt of divers in England and Holland is that they were Quakers And the Conceipt of the Protestant Church of England is that the Apostles were of the same Belief and practised the same Worship of God that by Act of Parliament is here settled and established But to speak the Truth as it is impossible that the Apostles should be of all these Beliefs so it is more than probable that they were of none of them but rather that all these Beliefs are meer conjectural Conceipts of new Teachers who are wholly uncertain of what Belief the Apostles were For if they were certain that the Apostles were of some one of these Beliefs they would all doubtless be of the same But the Learned of the Protestants being indeed altogether uncertain and really ignorant of the Faith and Practise of the Apostles by guessing thereat so near as they can they have divided themselves into so many Branches and into so many contrary Faiths and practises each of them having nothing but his own conjecture to lead him to the true Light of the Gospel and to the right Religion of the Apostles But notwithstanding that Protestants do thus differ about Religion and are uncertain of the Faith and practice of the Apostles Yet they will not forsooth have it deny'd but that the Apostles were Protestants and that they planted in the World the Protestant Religion And so it must be supposed that they Taught That we are justified by Faith only That we have not Free-will in the works of Grace That our best Works are impure and stained with Sin That we do not merit by them either Increase of Grace or Glory That by Faith in Christ we are freed from the Yoke of the Law which is such as no man can keep and therefore Christ having fulfilled it for us our breach thereof doth neither wound the Conscience nor endanger the Soul. Moreover according to this supposed Doctrine of the Apostles we are not bound to confess our Sins to the Priests of God's Church or to do pennance for them no Works of ours being truly satisfactory Neither is Sin punished any where after this Life but in Hell and therefore we need not fear any purging Flames Christ having paid for all Furthermore we are not bound in Conscience to Fast or to abstain from Flesh upon certain days according as the Church doth appoint this being contrary to the Liberty of the Gospel It is likewise vain foolish superstitious to endeavour to gain Heaven by Prayer Fasting Alms-deeds by a Holy and mortified Life or to Vow Poverty Chastity and Obedience or to esteem perpetual Virginity Consecrated to God better more noble and more pleasing to God than Marriage Again according to the same supposed Apostolical Doctrine the Church of Christ is subject to Erring in her Doctrine of Faith and therefore we are not tyed to believe as she Teaches further than we esteem her Doctrine to agree with the written Word for to be so tyed is against the Liberty of the Gospel Against which Liberty also it is that Bishops and Priests should be tyed to live Chaste and Single Lives Lastly all sorts of Protestants saving Lutherans esteem the Apostles to have believed and taught that the Eucharist is not the true Body and Blood of Christ but a Figure or Remembrance thereof And so they consequently hold that Christ left no true and proper Sacrifice to be daily offered in his Church nor no true Priest-hood which cannot subsist without a true Sacrifice This is the Conceipt of Protestants in general real or pretended Real it may be of the ignorant and simple but pretended only I believe by the Understanding and Learned For these cannot but know that if the Apostles indeed had been Protestants and really had Preached spread and settled amongst the Nations of the Earth to which they Preached in Asia Europe and Africa the Protestant Religion which is so easie and so pleasing to Flesh and Blood that the same had continued infallibly at least for some while in the following Ages and that it could not possibly morally speaking so upon the sudden have been cast aside and extinguished in all places at once but that there would have remained illustrious Memory thereof at least in some of the primordial Churches in some of the Countries Provinces or Cities where the Apostles Preached This I think no understanding man will deny 1. Because the first Christians were zealous Followers and Imitators of the Doctrine and manners of the Apostles of whom they had a high esteem as also of their Doctrine which they knew the Apostles had confirmed by many true and Divine Miracles 2. Because they were very careful of their own Salvation as is evident by their admirable Constancy in suffering Losses Tribulations Torments yea terrible Deaths in the cruel and bloody Persecutions raised against them by the Roman Emperours for the space almost of Three Hundred Years How then is it likely if thus they suffer'd to save their Souls that they would wilfully cast them away by forsaking the true Religion of Christ which his Blessed Apostles had planted and so firmly
and Obedience is very meritorious and pleasing to God That Virginity vow'd and Consecrated to God is better than Matrimony That Bishops and Priests ought to live chaste and single Lives That the Body and Blood of Christ is truly and really in the Blessed Sacrament which Sacrament is also truly and properly a Sacrifice Christ therein being truly offered to his Heavenly Father in an unbloody manner under the forms of Bread and Wine which Sacrifice doth not only represent the Sacrifice of the Cross but it doth also copiously apply the same to those for whom it is Offered both as it is impetratory and also as it is satisfactory That it is not lawful to interpret the Scriptures contrary to the Interpretation of the Church or to reject any parts thereof by Her approved But in this and in all other things appertaining to Faith and Religion we are bound under pain of Damnation to submit our Judgements to the Teaching of the Church and to believe as She doth direct us These and the like Points professed now in the Roman Church were in practice amongst the Primitive Christians which lived presently after the Apostles as is manifest not only by the Records of Antiquity but also by their Practice which clearly sheweth their Faith For Fasting the keeping of Lent the abstaining from Flesh on Fridays the Vowing of Virginity of perpetual Chastity Monastical Discipline the wearing of Hair-cloth and other like Austerities the single Life of the Clergy and the like were in use and did wonderfully flourish amongst them Insomuch that Sebastianus Francus a Learned Anabaptist searching most curiously among the Writers of former Ages after the Protestant Religion and finding no Footsteps thereof in all Antiquity even up to the Apostles times he freely and boldly affirmeth in his Epistle of abrogating all Ecclesiastical Statutes That presently after the Apostles times all things were turned upside down c. and that for certain through the work of Antichrist the External Church together with the Faith and Sacraments vanished away presently after the Apostles departure Into which Blasphemy this Learned Protestant would never have fallen if he could have found any certain signs of the Protestant Religion among the Primitive Christians which lived presently after the Apostles or could have inclined his Conscience to outface the matter with stout lying as many of his Fellows do to conceal the Truth in this point from the Eyes of well-meaning People The same in effect is affirmed by Coelius Secundus Curio a Learned Protestant also in his Book of the Amplitude of the Kingdom of God Lib. I. pag. 43. Are we ignorant saith he in how great Darkness and Blindness the World hath continued almost from the Apostles Age to these our times in which beyond all expectation the Lord hath begun to manifest himself The Protestant Author of the Book Entituled Antichristus or Prognostica finis mundi pag. 13. affirms likewise That from the Apostles times till Luther the Gospel had never open passage To that there can no doubt be made but that the first Christians who lived presently after the Apostles did forsake and abandon the easie pleasing and sweet Liberty of the Protestant Religion if ever they were taught it by the Apostles and fell of themselves through all the world to believe and practice the hard and harsh Discipline of Papistry contrary to the custom of Mankind The which how improbable yea how impossible it is Who is so senseless that he doth not see Which improbability and moral impossibility will appear yet much more clearly if we take into our consideration that not only a few ignorant People must be thought thus to have neglected and abandoned the Doctrine and Discipline of Christ and of his Apostles if that indeed was such as is now believed and practised by Protestants and to have preferred without any necessity without any Utility yea with manifest peril of their Souls Fasting before Feasting Pennance before Pleasure Labour before Ease course Dyet before Dainties hard Couches before Beds of Down rough Hair-cloth before soft cloathing a mortified chaste and single Life before the delights of Wedlock seeking foolishly as Protestants imagine to curb and bring under the Appetites of the Flesh and to rid themselves of the molesting temptations thereof rather by severe harsh and cruel usage of their Bodies than by the pleasing remedy of a Female Consort as Protestant Ministers use to do Not only I say the ignorant and vulgar sort must be thought thus to have neglected the sweet liberty of the Protestant Gospel if ever the Apostles had settled them in it and to have embraced foolishly and madly the hard and severe Discipline of Papistry but the better sort also even the Learned and Holy Fathers of the primitive Church such as were Dionisius Ignatius Cyprian Athanasius Basil the Great Gregory the Divine Chrysostome Hierom Ambrose Augustine and others the chief and principal Lights after the Apostles of the Church of Christ All which were either real Practisers or Praisers of Monastical Discipline of the chaste and single life of vowed Virginity and the like which they would never have done most certainly if these things had been contrary to the Doctrine and practice of Christ and of the Apostles and against the true liberty of his Divine Gospel of which they could not be ignorant being so excellently skilled in the Scriptures as they were and living so near the times of those Blessed Founders of the Christian Religion as they did And so the Doctrine and Discipline of the Ancient Fathers and of the Christians of the primitive Church which really was the same in substance that is now in use in the Roman Church do evidently convince that the Apostles were not Protestants neither in Doctrine nor in Practice but rather that truly and really they were Papists in regard that they were strict Practisers and Teachers of those many points in Papistry which so clearly shined in their Disciples and Successors the Pastors and People of the primitive Church which is so certain out of the Doctrine of the Antient Fathers and other Records of Antiquity that it cannot be denyed with any colour of Truth And therefore the Conceipt of those Protestants who imagine that the Apostles practised and taught the easie Discipline and Belly-pleasing liberty of their new Gospel is but a meer fancy a vain and empty Dream there being no colourable ground thereof at all neither in the Word of God nor in the Records of Antiquity Out of which Records how little may be expected to prove that the Apostles were Protestants doth sufficiently appear by that which hath been said For if by them it doth appear as most certainly it doth that much Fasting great austerity of life Monastical Discipline the vowing of Virginity of perpetual chastity and single life in the Clergy did greatly flourish among the first Christians what Hop can there be to gather from thence that the Apostles were Protestants certainly none
settled amongst them to follow another of their own inventing Especially seeing that living so near the time of our Saviour and of his Apostles they could not be ignorant what Religion He and They had Taught and Planted Did they more esteem of the Religion of Christ than of all their Worldly Contents and prefer the Profession thereof before their own Lives and yet did they wittingly and willingly abandon and forsake it not for the good and safety but even to the certain perdition of their Souls Who will so judge but mis-led and blinded Souls 3. Because such a change as this in the Religion of Christ which is the Heart and Marrow of his Church is directly contrary to the predictions of the Prophets and Promises of Christ himself For Daniel foretold cap. 2. and cap. 7. That the Kingdom that is the Church of Christ should stand for ever and should never be corrupted Isaias foretold cap. 59. that the Word and Spirit of God should never depart from the mouth that is from the teaching of the Church Christ promised Mat. 16. that the Gates of Hell should never prevail against his Church that the Holy Ghost should abide with his Apostles for ever that is with them and their Successors even to the end of the World Joh. cap. 14. and should teach them all truth John cap. 16. All which had been false if the Protestant Religion planted by Christ and his Apostles by the Folly and Wickedness of the Successors of the same Apostles had been rejected and abandoned as Protestants imagine and Papistry brought in instead thereof 5. The impossibility of such a change is clearly shewed and plainly convinced out of the natural Inclination and common custom of all Societies of men which is as evident experience doth teach rather to descend then ascend rather to fall than to rise rather to slide to looseness and to more liberty than to aspire to more strictness and to greater Sanctity unless the special Grace of God do stay them and incite and stir them up which must not be here admitted of because God by his Grace doth not use to draw men from the pure Light of the Gospel to embrace false and erroneous Doctrine and to follow superstitious and Idolatrous practises as Protestants imagine Christians to have been drawn in the primitive Church And therefore it cannot be deny'd with any colour of Truth but that good Discipline Conscientious Dealing virtuous courses strictness of Life and the practice of Godly Actions do rather decay by tract of time than get ground and increase in all Communities and Societies of Men And on the contrary Liberty Ease Idleness Sensuality do ever rather increase than decay and vanish away of themselves as evident experience doth teach For as the Poet saith tendimus in vetitum semper cupimusque negata We tend toward things forbidden still and covet things denyed This is manifest First by the decay of good Order of honest and upright dealing in Commonwealths which hath caused so many new Laws so many new Orders and Statutes to have been made Decreed and Enacted by Supream Authority to repress the bad and vicious Inclinations of men 2. By the decay of Ecclesiastical Discipline from time to time in the Church of Christ which hath occasioned the Pious Endeavours of so many Zealous and Apostolical Preachers of so many Holy Biships of so many Godly Emperours Kings and Princes to reform and restore the same by the help of General of National of Provincial Councils 3. By that which hath happened to most of the Religious Orders of the Catholick Church For although these Holy Congregations have ever begun with great Zeal and Fervour and have been furnished with special Helps to continue the same yet through Humane Frailty by tract of time they have so fallen off that Reformation hath often been needful 4. In Cities in Colledges in particular Families Reformation is often and vigilancy of Superiours is ever needful Yea who is it though never so Saintly though never so well inclin'd and accustomed to Virtue that finds not that his Inclinations have ever need of repressing and his Manners often of Refining 5. The same appeareth evidently in all the Nations of the Earth which hitherto have been Converted to Christ which ever by degrees fall from their first Fervour Zeal and Devotion of which we have a clear example in the Word of God Rev. 2. 4. I have against thee saith Christ to the Bishop and Church of Ephesus a few things because thou hast left thy first charity Be mindful therefore from whence thou art fallen and do pennance and do thy first Works c. If Pennance was needful so quickly if even in the times of the Apostles Charity Zeal Fervour Sanctity decayed among Christian people how much more afterwards in the Ages following How then is it so much as probable yea rather how is it not altogether improbable and even incredible that the Christians of the Primitive Church through all the World of themselves of their own accord without any Warrant from Christ and his Apostles but rather contrary to His and their Doctrine and Practice without any good to themselves yea even contrary to the Eternal Good and safety of their Souls did cast aside fall from abandon the easie belly-pleasing and sweet liberty of the Protestant Gospel to embrace and practice the hard harsh austere and mortifying Discipline of Papistry In such sort that neglecting the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostles and the example of their Lives yet fresh in memory amongst them they fell to believe contrary thereunto as Protestants imagine that we are justifyed not by Faith only but by Faith Hope Charity and other Divine Virtues that we have Free-will in the Works of Grace that Works of Grace done in the state of Grace do truly merit the increase of Grace and of Glory That we are bound under pain of Damnation to keep the Commandments of God by abstaining from all great and mortal Sins such as are the Profession of false Religions the denyal of the Truth Perjury Murder Fornication Theft in a notable quantity Cousenage Vsury and the like that we are able to keep them by the help of Divine Grace of which God for the merits of our Saviour doth measure to every Man a sufficient quantity That we are bound under pain of Damnation to Confess all our mortal Sins so far forth as with reasonable Diligence we can call to mind to some lawful Priest or other That we are bound under the same Penalty to restore all Goods and Lands unlawfully gotten to Fast and to abstain from Flesh as the Church appointeth and commandeth That ordinarily when our Sins are forgiven God doth reserve some Temporal Pain or Punishment for which if we get it not released in this Life by Prayer Fasting Alms-deeds and other holy laborious and penitential works we shall suffer terribly in the purging Fire of the next That to Vow perpetual Poverty Chastity