them with Clamour and Judicial Sentences and which is more fill every corner of the World with their Thundring Writings to prevent the Voice of Truth from being heard nay which is more then all this like Ahab himself they make it their business to throw the guilt of the Troubles which themselves have rais'd upon the Faithful Preachers of the Truth and which is most horrible to hear make it their glory to condemn them all to the Punishment of Infernal Fires The same ill Fate has befall'n me For when it was my late hap to officiate in the Function of Ecclesiastial Overseer in the County of Weeden upon the Rhine one of the Popish Prelates a certain Neighbour of mine was not asham'd instead of a NEW-YEARS-GIFT to send me word That not only my Self but also all the Protestants in general were eternally Damn'd and to be infallibly Burn'd in the everlasting Fire of Hell. But in regard that by the Testimony of the Apostle We can do nothing against the Truth but for the Truth and that it is the chief Duty of a Preacher of the Gospel To hold fast the faithful Word which is according to Doctrin that he may be able both to Exhort in wholsom Doctrin and to Convince them that say against it I thought it my Duty not only to Translate into the German Language the Catechism of Controversies written by Monsieur Moulin and by that means to arm my Auditors against the daily Attacques of the Monks but also to refel such an inconsiderate and unchristianlike Letter and by this my ANSWER to vindicate the Salvation of the Protestants against so horrible a Condemnation Wherein I have chiefly made it my business to encounter my Antagonist with the Sword of his own Brethren as having brought in Aid of our Cause the Testimonies of the most Famous Popish Doctors against him Not that I would have it so to be understood however as if the Suffrages of Men that wander in the Paths of Error were necessary for the support of our Doctrin but only that as vanquish'd Enemies following the Triumphal Chariot of Truth their Necks laden with Chains and compell'd to submit to the Victress they might give all the World an unquestionable Testimony of her Conquest or else that if after the first Rout they should adventure to make a second Attempt upon her being by this Stratagem set together by the Ears one among another and distracted in their Minds or at least in their Sentences they might by mutually wounding each other destroy themselves thereby affording us this pleasing Spectacle as if the Lord had set every Man's Sword upon his Neighbor throughout the Host and had so brought it to pass that they should kill one another with the Weapons which they had made themselves and that the Heads of these new Goliah's should be cut off with the Swords which they had girt upon their own Loyns For thus we see that the Papists in many things are like Samson's Foxes having their Tails in such a manner ty'd together to set on Fire that with their Heads they draw two contrary Ways or else like certain Monsters whose Bodies are not united together till about the Navil or the Belly But as Fawning creates Friends and Truth begets Hatred so neither could I avoid the Hatred and Persecution of the Papists For their Revenge transported them to that degree that they sent several Soldiers to apprehend me and to have punish'd me with eternal Captivity who because they could not overtake me flying away on Horseback discharg'd two Pistols at me to have kill'd me outright but in vain while God in his Mercy protected me Constrain'd therefore by these and other Persecutions and continual way-layings of my life some Weeks ago I threw my self into the Bosom of your Church that under your Protection I might live in more safety and so soon as opportunity should permit that I might be ready to employ the utmost of my Abilities and Sedulity in your Service But in regard that according to the Proverb There is no Desire of that which is to Men Unknown I thought it might be worth my while most devoutly and humbly to offer and dedicate this my Answer to all and singular both Shepherds and Sheep High and Mean Ecclesiastics and Laity Magistrates and Subjects as having no other means to excite and kindle in your Hearts when once made known to your Christian Pity so much of generous Goodness as to receive me into the Arms of your Charity and make me Partaker of your Labors Accept I beseech ye therefore most Honourable Patrons with courteous Mind and Hand this little Treatise of mine and open to me the doors of your Benevolence and what you would should be done to your selves in the same case that do to me Be not weary in well doing for in due season ye shall reap if ye faint not While we have therefore time let us do good unto all Men especially unto them that be of the houshold of Faith. In the mean time our Merciful God who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ that being fill'd with the fruits of righteousness ye may speak the Word of God without fear and continue in one Spirit and one Soul holding together in the defence of the Faith of the Gospel and in nothing fearing your Adversaries which is to them a Token of Perdition but to you of Salvation and that of God. For to you it is given for Christ not only this that ye believe in him but also this that ye suffer for his sake Having the same sight which ye saw in me and now hear in me My Brethren count it all joy when ye fall in diverse temptations For blessed is the Man who endureth temptation because that when he is try'd he shall receive the Crown of Life which the Lord has promis'd to those that love him May it please the same Almighty God That fighting a good fight ye may hold Faith and a good Conscience which some having put away as concerning Faith have made Shipwrack So shall ye remain faithful unto death and a Crown of Life shall be given unto you So that when the time of your dissolution is at hand you may gladly and truly say We have fought a good Fight We have fulfilled our Course We have kept the Faith. Henceforth there is laid up for us a Crown of Righteousness whicb the Lord the Righteous Judge shall give at that day and not only to us but to them that have lov'd his appearing Now unto the King Everlasting Incorruptible Invisible To God only Wise be Honour and Glory for ever and ever Amen So farewel most Honoured Patrons and benignly favour Your most Humble Servant And Exile J. H. Dalhusius THE SALVATION OF PROTESTANTS Asserted and Defended c. The Salvation of Body and Soul comes from one Fountain of Salvation which is
by which the Succession of the Popes was interrupted So many Simoniacal Elections into that See which are recorded in History so many Popes in the Tenth Age to be call'd Apostatic and Renouncers of Christ rather then Apostolic upon the Testimony of Genebrade I use a new Argument to which you Romanists can make no Answer It is confirm'd as well by the Canon Law as by Custom time out of mind That a Pope may constitute a new Law and a new Form for Chusing a Successor which not being observ'd an Election otherwise made is void Hence Julius II grieving that he had invaded the Supreme Authority by Simony made a new Law concerning the Simoniacal Election of the Pope for the future whereby he ordain'd That any Pope who after him should be Simoniacally elected should be lookt upon as an Intruder a Magician a Publican an Arch Heretic and that he should by no means be acknowledg'd for a lawful Pope But that Sixtus V was chosen Simoniacally is a thing which almost every Body knows For that he might be elected he bought the Suffrages of Cardinal d'Este and the Cardinals depending upon him and covenanted with him in a Writing drawn up and subscrib'd with his own Hand that during his Pontificate he would never make Jeronymo Matthei who was de'Este's Enemy a Cardinal upon condition that by d'Este's means he obtain'd the Pontificate Upon which being made Pope by d'Este and his Faction he confess'd himself to be the work of his hands However Sixtus forfeited his Faith to Him and created Matthei Cardinal for all that which Cardinal d'Este took so ill that he sent the Contract between him and Sixtus to Philip II King of Spain who in the Year 1589 sent the Duke of Sessa his Extraordinary Embassador to Rome to give Notice to Sixtus of his Intentions to call a General Council upon the Information of a Simoniacal Election and to require the Cardinals created by the Predecessors of Sixtus and other Ecclesiastics to be present at a Council to be assembled at Sevil but because upon intimation of the Council Sixtus dy'd for Despair the business went no farther This is related in a certain Book entitled Papatus Romanus cap. 10. pag. 200 c. Seeing then that Sixtus was an Illegal and Simoniac Intruder certain it is that the Papacy ceas'd in him so that they who succeeded were no true Popes because they were elected by the Cardinals which he created who being Intruders as created by a Simoniac wanted Right of Election as well according to the Council of Constance as for that according to the Rule of the Lawyers No Man can transfer more Right to another then he has himself And therefore the whole World ought not to be shut up in one City Some are of Cephas others of Paul others of Clement let it suffice a Christian to be of Christ Whoever fears God and works Righteousness in whatever part of the World he is is acceptable to God. If two or three are gathered together in the Name of Christ he will be in the midst of them The Supernal Jerusalem which enjoys her Liberty is the Mother of us all We shall not be Judg'd by the Roman or Popes Communion but by the Communion of Saints and of Christ Therefore we cannot be Schismatics upon this just necessary and sound Separation of ours There are still remaining Reverend Mr. Prior some other Motives of yours to this rash Judgment which you give of us which are now to be brought to the Touch with the rest There are some who believe a Posteriori that we are deservedly to be listed among the number of the Damned because we stand Excommunicated by the Pope and the Catholic Church But in regard these Excommunications do not strike us but either as Heretics or Schismatics they do us no hurt in regard we are neither Heretics nor Schismatics as hath bin already shewn If they are necessarily to be numbred among the Damned whom the Pope has Excommunicated of necessity all in Asia the less who dy'd during the Excommunication of Victor upon the Paschal difference must be by all Christians excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven and that the Sacraments which you our Adversaries nevertheless will allow preserve their Excellency by way of Physical Cause and in general all Public Worship must be depriv'd of their Efficacy in all Provinces which are sometimes subject to Papal Interdiction Nor ought we to pass over in silence that Observation of St. Jerom upon that place of Mat. 16. wherein the Keys of Heaven are promis'd to St. Peter This Place saith the holy Man the Bishops and Presbyters not understanding assume to themselves something of the Pride of the Pharisees even to Damn the Innocent and Absolve the Guilty whereas God regards not the Sentence of the Priest but the Life of the Offender But according to this Saying of St. Jerom all Casuists and Canonists acknowledge that an unjust Excommunication is Invalid and that such an Excommunicate may both Administer and Receive the Sacraments with a good Conscience An Excommunication without a just Cause is not valid in the Interior Court therefore such a one may Celebrate where it is no Scandal says the Jesuite Emanuel Sa voce Excommunicat § 4. But Toletus lib. Instruct Sacram. cap. 10. num 7. more positively asserts That there is no unjust Sentence of Excommunication can bind either as to God or as to the Church But it is unjust as he says again § 1. from some defect which if it be Essential makes it no Excommunication and then it is not to be dreaded neither does it bind either in the Court of Heaven or Earth Which he confirms by the Testimony of several Canonists If therefore we are unjustly Excommunicated and as the Schoolmen Phrase it Clave Errante or with an Erring Key and that these Excommunications are of no force Our Damnation cannot be inferr'd a Posteriori from such Sentences but that they are unjust and null I shall easily demonstrate An Excommunication is said to be null says Toletus ibid. § 4. if it contain an intolerable Error c. Now then a Sentence is said to contain an intolerable Error when any one is Excommunicated because he does that which is Good in it self or does not do that which is in its own act Unlawful Why then are we Excommunicated Surely because we do that which is good in it self applying our selves to the Word of God and will not adhere to those who would have us to be wiser then the Scripture can make us and refusing to do what is evil in it self or at least what we judge in our Consciences to be so and because we adhere not to a Worship unlawful and contrary to Scripture An Excommunication is void if it be pronounc'd by one already Excommunicated or Suspended from Jurisdiction or Interdicted or after a lawful Appeal says Emanuel Sa as above § 1. And Toletus has the same words Now such is
to the Rule of Vincentius Lyrinensis and produces over and above out of the Treasury of the Scripture her most certain Documents Where it is apparent That all those things which we disprove in the Roman Communion are really new and unknown to the Apostles and their Primitive Successors It is a New thing and never heard of by the Ancient Church that the Christian People should be forbid the Use of the Cup in the sacred Eucharist It was a New thing that Boniface II above Six hundred years after Christ should be the first who call'd himself Vniversal Bishop and Bishop of Bishops and long after him that Gregory VII or Hildebrand should presume to lay violent hands upon the Rights of Emperors and Princes Nothing Newer then the Papal Indulgences which first gave occasion to the Modern Controversies at Wittembergh and Zurich Anthony Archbishop of Florence acknowledging part 1. Tom. 10. cap. 3. That as for Indulgences we have nothing in the Scripture concerning them nor from the Sayings of the Ancient Fathers and the Jesuite Valentia agreeing cap. 5. de Indulg That there were certain Catholics before Luther of whose Opinion Thomas makes mention part 3. quest 15. art 5. who said That Indulgences were pious Frauds Moreover that the Eucharist was celebrated of old without Communicants no Man can find in the Writings of the Antients The Adoration of Images was not establish'd till near Eight hundred years after Christ in the Second Council of Nice and that so slenderly that the Decrees of that petty Council were condemn'd and rejected in two Synods assembled at Paris and Frankford by Charles the Great And tho' these Synods were only National hence nevertheless it appears that all the Churches of Germany and France of which Nations those Synods consisted had not then admitted the Public Worship of Images Nay even George Cassander infers from St. Austin upon Psal 113. That Images and Statues were not set up in Churches in St. Austin's time Moreover Bellarmin reports of Scotus That he did not believe Transubstantiation to be an Article of Faith before the Lateran Council that is before Five hundred years ago The Law of Celibacy enjoyn'd the Clergy and the Priests is a very New thing and to which the Clergy of Leige and the Germans would not yield Obedience till about Five hundred years since At length Calixtus II who was created Pope in the Year 1119. constraind them all to submit which produc'd these Verses upon him O bone Calixte jam omnis Clerus odit te Quondam Presbyteri poterant uxoribus uti Hoc destruxisti postquam tu Papa fuisti Ergo tuum nomen merito habent odio The Clergy hate thee Good Calixtus why The Presbyters of old with Wives did lye This thou destroy'dst when thou wer 't Pope created Therefore thy Name is now deserv'dly hated The Apostles never knew what Monkish retirement meant which came into the World about Three hundred years after Christ under Antony and Paul but the Church was utterly ignorant of Monkish Beggery till the times of Francis and Dominic who as all Men know were but of late years I will not undertake here to unravel your whole History otherwise there would appear very little of Antiquity in it For all those Opinions of the Romish Church which we have rejcted are not only new but so new that as the Abuses multiply'd they were dislik'd and reprov'd by all good Men long before Luther's time among whom there were some who being offended at such kind of Innovations and consulting the good of their Consciences openly deserted your Communion as the Wicklevians in England the Hussites in Germany the Waldenses or Albigenses in France and Germany whose public Confessions are at this day Extant conformable to Ours in the principal Heads Nor can I forbear to add in this place a remarkable Testimony concerning the Waldenses whose Names for above Six hundred years has bin terrible to the Roman See given by one Rainer an Inquisitor of the Faith against them about Three hundred years ago and not long since publish'd by Gretser the Jesuite Among all the Sects says that same Rainer that are or ever were there is not any one more pernicious to the Church meaning the Roman then that of the Poor of Lyons meaning the Waldenses for Three Reasons First because more lasting for some say that it has bin ever since the time of Silvester and others deduce it from the time of the Apostles Secondly because more general for there is hardly any Country into which this Sect has not made a shift to creep Thirdly because all others are abominable to God for the Immanity of their Blasphemies but this of the Waldenses only carries with it a great shew of Piety because they live justly before Men and believe truly of God and all the Articles of the Creed only they blaspheme and hate the Roman Church But so much for Them. Thus Mr. Prior you have what as I was willing so it was my desire to Answer to your insipid and inconsiderate Letter Do you see by what has bin said that you have violated the Divine Civil and Public Laws of the Instrument of the Peace of Munster nay which should first have bin said against the Rules of Christianity which proscribes and abominates all such Censures of our Neighbour worse then a Dog or Snake What now remains of Counsel or Remedy for such an unjust Judge I will tell you Implore of God and beseech your injur'd Neighbor through whose sides you have wounded such infinite numbers of Christians to forgive you and to pardon these Transgressions of yours that are of so great weight Endeavour industriously for the future like the smitten Fisherman to Traffic at a better rate and to be transform'd by renovation of Mind to this that you may be able better to prove what is the good Will of God so pleasing and so perfect Beware of being wiser then it becomes you to be and with an unfeigned Charity for the future detest so wicked and perverse a Judgment adhering to that which is more solid and if it may be as much as in you lyes live at Peace with all Men that you may not be overcome by Evil but may overcome Evil by Good. This pious and sincere Counsel if you slight and disregard through Contumacy and Despising it assuredly there will nothing more certainly befal you then this That being depriv'd of Eternal Felicity I repeat your own words after you have finish'd this Mortal Course you will for ever burn with your Seducers in the Everlasting Fire of Hell. From which however the Great God of his infinite Mercy preserve you Amen Farewel and instead of a New-Years-Gift meekly and with patience accept this wholsom Answer and Admonition more precious then Gold or all the Kingdoms of the World. Live soberly and live eternally the Favourer of him who is Visitor of the County of Weeden Most desirous of your Salvation John Herman Dalhusius FINIS The Inscription 2 Cor. 13. 8. Tit. 1. 9. Gal. 6. 9 10. Phil. 1. 6 11 14 27 28 29. James 1. 2 12. Apoc. 2. 10. 2 Tim. 4. 6 7 8 1 Tim. 1. 17. The usual gruonds of the Papists uncharitable Judgment 1. Of Protestants bounding God's Omnipotence Apud Bellarm. de Euchar. l. 3. c. 5. Whether Protestants teach that God is the Author of Sin. Concerning Christ's Despair on the Cross Of Protestants being Enemies to the Blhssed Virgin and Saints Of Protestants being Enemies to Chastity Sobriety c. Whether Protestants be Heretics Whether Protestants be Sehismatics Concerning want of Miracles among Protestants Concerning the Differences of Protestants among themselves Concerning the Number of Protestants who do not submit to the Church of Rome Of the Newness of the Reform'd Religion