matter of this Epistle it is various But the thing that he chiefly aymeth at is Puritie in life Charitie in affection In this fift Chapter hee setteth downe the force and efficacie of Faith the seuerall fruits and effects which it produceth a speciall one whereof is Assurance to bee heard in our prayers verse 14. The which Assurance teacheth vs that whatsoeuer wee aske the same shall be nay is alreadie graunted Wee know that we haue the petitions that we haue desired of him prouided alwaies that it be according to his will Whereupon the Apostle builds an exhortation that if any one doe see his brother going astray sinning a sin which is not vnto death he should pray for him and the Lord would giue liâ—e for them that sinne not vnto death By which wordes hauing intimated a difference of sinnes and thereby giuen just occasion of a doubt of a question he annexeth the solution the answere of it in this Text shewing plainely that there is a sinne vnto death for which hee will not haue prayers to be made There is a sinne vnto death I say not that thou shouldest pray for it For the cleering of which words which I must needs doe before I can come to the matter I note first the Terme that is vsed secondly The number that is insinuated A word or two of either The Terme is not Mortall but sinne vnto death The Schoole men and their followers the Iesuits haue a distinction of sinne into Veniall and Mortall Some sinnes say they are sua natura in their owne nature veniall others are mortall But one that hath but halfe an eye may see the reason of this distinction For you must know that when Purgatorie was found out lest that it should haue beene lost againe and so the Popes Kitchin haue wanted fire fuell and other vtensilles it was conuenient nay in a manner necessary that some sins should be accounted veniall that so though a man should die in them without repentance yet there might be some hope to helpe him But not daring to make all sinnes veniall lest they might seeme to haue reversed the judgement of God they left some to be mortall Little considered they that Death is the wages of all sinne Paul speaketh indefinitely and Moses more distinctly Cursed is he that confirmeth not all the words of this Law to doe them And how can it be otherwise since that All sinne is a rebellion against God transgression of the Law of God Excellent to this purpose is the saying of an Ancient n Wee must not vse deceitfull ballances in censuring sinne but the iust and true waight of Gods holy word Neither is the distinction so absurd but the application of it is farre more grosse For while they reckon vp these mortall and deadly sinnes hence haue they excluded the breach of the first Table hence also the breach of their two last our tenth commandement So that Idolatrie Superstition Swearing Prophanation of the Sabboth together with the inordinate lusts and concupiscence of our corrupted nature are not mortall with them The aspersion of holy water will wash them away especially if committed after Baptisme The Sorbonists o sayth Calvin acknowledge no sinne to bee mortall except it be Aegyptian darknesse filthinesse that may be felt and palpably perceiued Obiection But no learned Papist doth build that distinction vpon this Text True indeede yea I grant that some doe here manifestly distinguish betwixt mortall sinnes and sinnes to death But who knowes whether hereafter it may not be true that as this generation is worse then the former so the next may be more absurd then this And as they decay in learning so fayle in vnderstanding and in the end come to that which their forefathers would haue blusht at None before Boniface the eighth could picke the Supremacie out of Gen. â— 1. Nor any out of Deut. 17. 6. before Innocentius the third Whereas all things duely considered this Text is a farre fitter place to proue the distinction of veniall and mortall then the other to build vp the Supremacie And yet if we marke it Haymo is not farre from it when speaking of the words of Paul Stipendium peccati mors est The wages of sinne is death he addeth this is not to be vnderstoode of all sinnes but onely of Criminall of which sayth hee S. Iohn speaketh saying There is a sinne vnto death But if any hereafter should so farre forget himselfe as to vrge this place for it Let him withall consider what S. Iohn addeth viz. That for this sinne wee must not pray So that if this Text shall patronize the distinction of Mortal sinne it shal also exclude all Mortall sinne from the Churches prayers for Sainâ— Iohn sayth I say not that thou shouldest pray for it Nay sayth Bellarmine that followeth not He forbids vs not but onely he doth not encourage vs to pray for such Why then it seemeth S. Iohn did approue of the sluggards saying â— There is a Lyon in the streete I shall be slaine Because it was somewhat difficult therefore the safest course were to giue it ouer Would a Captaine so speake to his souldiers A Physition to his patient A Master to his schollers A Minister to his people How much better is that noble consequence of our blessed Sauiour The way is narrow and the gate streight Ergo not giue it ouer but striue to enter But if neither the consent of Authors thus vnderstanding this Text nor the coherence of the Text it selfe could guide the Cardinall to the truth yet the rule of Logicke might haue taught him For contradictories haue contrary consequences Now St Iohn before had said If any see his brother sinne a sinne not vnto death let him pray for him doth it not hereupon follow If he see him sinne a sinne vnto death let him not pray for him But I loose time Obserue also the number here vsed â— A sinne For howsoeuer the singular number doth not alwayes imply an individuall vnitie as may appeare out of ver 17. yet here it doth For there is found onely one sinne so deadly so mortall that it may not be prayed for and to which the Lord will shew no mercie One such there is called A sinne vnto death First because it hangeth vppon a man even to death Secondly It giueth death possession of him surrenders vp his damnable life to a cursed death a Now so long as any place is left for pardon death hath not taken possession but when all hope of pardon is excluded then death which is the wages of sinne claimes his right calls for his due Onely one such there is and that we hang no longer in suspence it is that heauie that hainous that deadly that mortall that irremissible and vnpardonable sinne viz. The sinne against the holy Ghost which is a sinne with a witnesse a lump of sinne
a masse of mischiefe It is the perfection of sinne if the word perfection may bee so ill placed It is the Nil vltra the vp shot of all sinnes So that there is none here I suppose who is not very sensible of the difficulties I now sustaine Non est res levis no small matter whereof I am to speake you to heare Let me borrow the full emploiment of your best attention that I may flie vpon the wings of your holy desires and with the full gale of your prosperous wishes arriue at the hauen of my hopes Gods glory mans edification They which put forth into the Ocean do guide their sayling by the winde discerne the winde by the Compasse direct their Compasse by the Pole-starre and not in vaine for without these their labour might bee much their progresse little their profit none at all This wisedome of the Mariner is worth imitation Loc heere therefore before I enter into the Ocean of matter which may be expected in which I may easily loose my selfe and abuse mine Auditory my Cynosura my Pole-starre which must guide my sayling confine my speech direct my discourse is briefly reducible to these two maine points First enquire what this sinne is which is against the Holy Ghost Secondly why it is so mortall Of both these with as much briefenesse and plaines as such a matter will giue leaue For the first I take it for granted that all men doe easily vnderstand that this Sinne which nowe wee seeke is no sinne of Infirmity nor of Ignorance but it must needes bee a sinne of a Presumptuous minde a sinne with an high hand so that onely among them will wee looke There is a sinne against knowledge When the seruant knoweth his masters will and doth it not Well may our sinne comprehend this vnder it but all sinne against knowledge is not this sinne There is a sinne against conscience when notwithstanding the conscience like Gods solliciter secretly checketh them yet on they goe still this is worse then the former but yet neither can it bee that which we seeke vnlesse wee would enwrap Dauid in it There is a sinne of Presumption proceeding from pride and arrogancie wilfulnesse and haughtines of heart which both wilfully and contemptuously causeth a man to sinne against God wilfully as presuming vpon Gods mercy and his owne future repentance Contemptuously as despising and con temning the Law of God These are great grosse and grieuous especially if the particular sinne be either Idolatrie which is the forsaking of God or witch-craft which is a ioyning Couenant with Satan In these to sinne against knowledge against the checke of conscience presumptuously wilfully and contemptuously is a sinne that may make the earth to tremble and the heauens to sweat with amazednes that earth should thus transgresse against heauen man against God Yea it may on a suddaine set a man into a stound and driue his thoughts to a perplexitie to consider what further degree of sinne there can bee founde or thought of into which the Sonne of Adam may slip or plunge himselfe But let vs wade a little deeper Origen as Bellarmine alledgeth thought that euery sinne committed against the Law of God after Baptisme was the sinne against the Holy Ghost not farre from this were the Novatians But Athanasius doth well refute this opinion first because our Sauiour doth accuse the Pharisees of this sinne who yet neuer were Christians nor baptized whereas the opinion of Origen doth suppose a prcedencie of baptisme in those who may fall into this Apostasie Secondly Because then it woulde followe that all sinnes committed by Christians shoulde bee sinnes of this nature as beeing committed after the Sacrament of Baptisme which to hold what were it else but to barre vp the gates of heauen against all Christians what soeuer for who is there that sinneth not and sinneth not grieuously at one time or other Truth it is that Christians falling into sinne doe sinne against the grace of God receiued But wee seeke out one speciall sinne which in a principall maner and for some speciall consideration is called the Sinne against the Holy Ghost such is not each sinne committed after Baptisme Augustine standeth for finall Impoenitencie viz. when men die without repentance Certainely I cannot but much commende the censure that Bellarmine passeth vpon this opinion This is true sayth hee so farre forth as it teacheth that finall impoenitencie is some speciall sinne against the holy Ghost but it cannot bee defended if hee woulde haue this impoenitencie to bee that peculiar and proper sinne which wee feeke for But I more commende his Reasons First Because finall Impoenitencie is not blasphemy but onely a certaine circumstance in euery sinne whereas our sinne is a blaspheming sinne as heereafter shall appeare in which respect it is called blasphemie against the Spirit Secondly This finall Impoenitency is not committed till death for which cause it is called finall viz. which continueth to and in the ende I suppose to distinguish it from the other Impoenitencie a species of sinne of malice which according to their doctrine may bee forgiuen in this life but the sinne against the Holy Ghost is committed in this life the which hee confirmeth first by the practise of our Sauiour who taxed the Pharises at that time living and like enough to liue longer Secondly by the text of Paul to the Hebrues 6. Necessarily to bee vnderstoode of men liuing vnlesse wee woulde make Paul speake thus It is impossible that the dead should be renewed by repentance which how vnbeseeming so great an Apostle it were iudge yee Lastly by this text of Iohn the which indeede speaketh of a man seeing his brother sinning and not of one knowing or hearing that hee hath sinned whereupon he concludeth that our sinne is not finall Impoenitencie which not before death and hardly then can bee seene and discerned A third opinion holdeth the sinne against the Holy Ghost to be any sinne of malice This is the common opinion receiued from the Schoolemen and by the Papistes much magnified Let vs if you please fetch it from the originall Aquinas the Angelicall Doctor the cheife of the Schoolemen whose Elogie is Tolle Thomam disipabo Ecclesiam were it not for Thomas Aquinas the olde Serpent would easily destroy the Church whose writinges were confirmed by myracle or else Fame is a lyar the Crucisixe speaking to him He I say as in other questions so in this hath bestowed much labour in the searching out of this sinne Let vs trace him Three sorts of men sayth he are said to sinne against the spirit First he who blasphemeth the person of the holy Ghost Secondly He which dyeth in finall impaenitencie Thirdly He that sinneth of set malice whether it be in choosing euill or refusing good This third kinde he subdivideth into sixe seuerall sinnes which he calleth the seuerall species and kinds of this kinde And
to handle knowing this that if he keepe him to his matter he cannot be taedious though he may be long Certainely his observation is good and worthie to be remembred not onely of a Writer but also of an Oratour of an Auditor Of an Oratour least he abuse his Auditory Of an Auditor least his censure seeme rather to proceed from the rashnesse of a Caviller then from the judgement of an vnderstanding hearer Wherefore as in the handling of the former Part raised all my matter from the definition praefixed and reduced the words of the definition to certaine heads that so still I might reade my Title and you might see what I was in doing So here in this second Part that both you and I may still finde our selues this shall bee the Title that wee must often reade viz. The assumption of the former Sillogisme For I hope that in prooving this our sinne to be irremissible I shall draw each one to conclude with me That it is mortall The irremissibilitie stands then to bee confirmed by the rule of Faith which is Scripture by the guide of action which is reason For Scripture let vs first scanne that which the Evangelists haue set downe Mathew sayth It shall not be forgiuen neither in this world nor in the world to come Neither in this world in soro conscientiae in the Court of conscience God speaking peace to our consciences Nor in the world to come in soro iudicij in the last judgement Neither in this world per solutionem ministerij by the ministery of the word loosing vpon earth Nor in the world to come per approbationem Christi by the approbation of Christ loosing that in heauen which was loosed vpon earth by the ministery The which phrase of Mathew is expounded by Marke Non in aeternum it shall never be forgiuen in the same sense that Peter sayth Non in aeternum lavabis id est nunquam Thou shalt never wash my feete Or else to mend the example because Bellâ—rmine doth carpe at that of Peter in the same sence in which Christ vseth the phrase to the woman of Samâ—ria Iohn 4. speaking of the water that hee would haue given her 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He shall never thirst id est neither in this world nor in the world to come that so the similitude may to satisfie Bellarmine runne on foure feete and agree in terminis And marke I pray you the concordance of the three Evangelistes Luke sayth plainely Non remittetur It shall not be forgiuen Marke sayth Non in aeternum neuer forgiuen Mathew Neque in hoc seculo c. Neither in this world nor in the world to come So that whether we begin with Mathew and expound him by Marke and Marke by Luke or vice versa begin with Luke and encrease his negatiue by Marke and amplifie that of Mark by Mathew all is one in substance Indeede heere is the difference that Mathew to cut off all hope of pardon and to shut this sinne perpetually from remission vseth this distribution of time And certainely not without iust cause For as God when he charged Laban to vse no meanes to bring Iacob backe againe least Laban might think it lawful to vse fayre meanes though not fowle did vse a distribution of the thinges neither good nor euill As Moses after the explication of the Law addeth Thou shalt not turne aside id est no whether but least they might suppose it not amisse to turne to the right hand though not to the left to embrace superstition though not wickednesse he vseth the partition of places Neque ad dexâ—ram neque ad sinistram Neither to the right hand As Paul hauing set foorth the effect of the Gospell that it is Potentia Dei ad salutem cuivis credenti The power of God to saluation to euery one that beleeueth least the Iewes might dreame of some prerogatiue doth distribute the persons Iudaeo Graeco both to the Iewe and the Greeke So in this place least some might thinke as did Origen afterwards that this sin as all other sins might be remitted though not in this life yet post novissimum judicium multis voluminibus seculorum after many revolutions of future ages there fore doth Mathew vse this distribution of times Neither in this world nor in the world to come Passe wee from the Gospell to the Epistles Heb. 6. 4. 5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. It is impossible c. He sayth not as doe the Iesuits it is difficult and very hard but plainely impossible Neither saith hee to renew them to baptisme or to make them pertakers of a second Baptisme but to renewe them againe to Repentance Or that they should â—e renewed againe by Repentance Repentance I say not Baptisme For what absurdity is it for our Rhemists to confound Repentance with-Baptisme Or if some of the Ancients did so vnderstand it did they not by denying Baptisme the Sacrament of Remission deny also Remission Or if the Apostle meane that this sinne of Apostasie doth exclude from a second Baptisme wherein shall it differ from other sinnes vnlesse other sinnes may allow a man a second Baptisme vpon his Repentance which were ridiculous Againe marke what the same Apostle addeth Heb. 10. 26. There remainâ—th no more sacrifice for sinne The Sacrifices of the old Law were effectuall in their time to the expiation of sinne if ioyned with faith Since they were abolished the Sacrifice of Christs death is effectuall But if this also be despised this being the last there is no more Sacrifice for sinne and yet without Sacrifice no remission of sinne This is the tenor of the sacred Scripture thus doth the spirit speake to the Churches and they who are of God doe acknowledge the voice of the Spirit Wherfore if the Papists will expound cannot be forgiuen by can be forgiuen Neuer by one day Neyther in this world nor in the world to come by both in this world and in the world to come Impossible by possible though difficult Repentance by Baptisme and the like Certainely it is reason that they shew some authoritie that they haue thus to expound the Scripture and to warrant their licentious interpretations else when we reade such glosses wee shall imagine that we heare not men but Bellies speake which haue sworne to defend their â—rroniuâ— positions whatsoeuer become of the truth of the Scriptures Yea if this may bee allowed what â—uidence of words can there be found whereby the truth shall bee able to defend her selfe against vntruth and heresie We haue heard the â—uidence of Scripture let vâ— also heare the witnesse of Reason And first if you please the reasonâ— alledged by the Schoole-men The sinne against the holy-Ghost is irremissible saith Aquinas First eyther because it is finall impenitency and after this life is no repentance and no Remission and that sinne which is not remitted here is neuer dimitted