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A39279 A defence of the Thirty nine articles of the Church of England written in Latin by J. Ellis ... now done into English ; to which are added the Lambeth Articles ; together with the judgment of Bishop Andrews, Dr. Overall, and other eminent and learned men upon them.; Articulorum XXXIX Ecclesiae Anglicanae defensio. English Ellis, John, 1599?-1665.; Andrewes, Lancelot, 1555-1626.; Overall, John, 1560-1619.; Church of England. Thirty-nine Articles. 1700 (1700) Wing E587; ESTC R1641 74,086 146

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and bewail them Lastly Bernard Epist. 107. ad Thom. Beverl saith After a Man is once come to a knowledge of himself in part let him boast in Hope but not yet in Security Security and Fear are with Bernard two Extreams the one is the Excess and the other the Defect See Serm. in Cantio 11. That the Faithful are thro' their whole Lives uncertain of their Predestination and Perseverance St. Austin is very full and clear De Corrept Gratiâ Cap. 13. almost at the Beginning Contrà Ar●iculos sibi falsò impositos Artic. 12. In Epist. 107. De bono Perseverantiae Cap. 13. near the beginning And then in his Book De Civitate Dei Book 11. Chap. 12. THE OPINION OF THE Church of England CONCERNING Predestination And the consequent Doctrines of it Explained by Dr. Overal Divinity-Professor at Cambridge CHAP. I. Concerning Predestination THE Opinion that the Church of England holds in this Matter is plain in its XVII Article That the eternal purpose of Predestination concerning the Elect's being saved in Christ is so to be taught that in the mean time we must receive God's Promises in such wise as they are generally set forth to us in the Holy Scriptures And in our Doings that Will of God is to be followed which we have expresly declared unto us in the Word of God In all which we must suppose that the necessary and effectual means both of inward Grace and the outward Word towards 〈◊〉 receiving the Promises of God and doing hi● Will are to be understood to be by ver● of 〈◊〉 Gospel-Covenant which is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Spirit and not of the naked Letter according to that of Leo. He that looks only on the Duty goes without his Guide Wherefore under a general Promise and Precept every one may safely repose himself by a stedfast Faith and by a certain Hope and Trust may come boldly to the Throne of Grace at the same time assuring himself that if he does not trust in God's Promises nor obey his Commands he must blame himself and not God And own too that 't is thro' his own Negligence and not for want of Divine Grace lest he fall into that of Solomon Prov. 19. 3. The foolishness of Man 〈◊〉 his Way and his Heart sretteth against the Lord which St. Austin has frequently repeated against that Opinion Our Article therefore has thought sit so to join that eternal purpose of God concerning those whom he has chosen in Christ to be saved with the Divine Precepts and Promises as they are generally laid down together with the Means and Assistances annex'd to them that ●so we may fetch the original Ground of our Salvation from the eternal stedfast Purpose of Divine Election and not from any temporal unconstant variety of Man's Will That Grace may not be thought to be the necessary Consequence of Free-will but that all our Vertue and Strength in pious Affections and good VVorks of Faith as well as Perseverance is owing not to the uncertain co-operation of Man's Free-Will but to the efficacy of Divine Grace That in the End all may be ascribed to God and that he that Glories may glory in the Lord. These things being thus adjusted on both sides this seems to be the Order of God's Predestinating of us set forth in the XVII Article viz. That God foreknowing the Fall of Mankind did for a Remedy of the same determine to send his Son out of his meer Mercy and Compassion and so in him placed the condition of our Salvation For the performance of which he did appoint necessary Helps and sufficient Means more or less to all in general But to those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of the rest of Mankind he hath out of his good Pleasure bestowed and granted a greater and more abundant provision of Grace whereby they are most certainly led on to Faith Perseverance and eternal Salvation As for the rest they have nothing to complain of for hereby is shown both what the Free-will of Man left to it self can do under the Aid of a common yet sufficient Grace and also the singular Benesit of a special and prevailing Grace in those to whom God shall please to bestow it So that St. Austin's Opinion is true not only of the first Man but likewise of all his Posterity The God and Lord of all things has so disposed the Life of Men and Angels as first to show therein what their Free-will could do and then how far the Advantage of his Grace and the Love of Justice would prevail Thus God is the Saviour of all Men but especially of them that believe 1 Tim. 4. 10. which words of the Apostle as Prosper thought ought to determine this whole Cause CHAP. II. Concerning the Death of Christ. THE Opinion of our Church concerning the Death of Christ is so plain and every where so consistent with it self That Christ died for All Men or for all the Sins of all Men that it is to be wondered that any of us should ever have ventured to call it in Question It is said in the II. Article that Christ truly Suffered was Crucified Dead and Buried to reconcile his Father to us and to be a Sacrifice not only for Original Guilt but also for all the actual Sins of Men. Article VII As well in the Old as New Testament everlasting Life is offered to Mankind by Christ who is the only Mediator between God and Man being both God and Man Article XV. Christ came to be a Lamb without Spot who by Sacrifice of himself once made should take away the Sins of the World And again Article XXXI The Offering of Christ once made is that perfect Redemption Propitiation and Satisfaction for All the Sins of the whole World both Original and Actual And the same is to be met with in the common Catechism as the most plain sense of the second part of the Creed wherein it is proposed to every one to believe in God the Son who hath redeemed him and all Mankind according to the Nicene Creed who for us Men and for our Salvation descended c. And in many other places of our publick Liturgy as in the Prayer of Consecration in the Sacrament O God! who didst give thine only Son jesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for o● Redemption who made there by his o●e Oblation of himself once offered a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice Oblation and Satisfaction for the Sins of the whole World And to every single Person to whom the Sacrament is administred t is said The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for thee And again His Blood which was shed for thee preserve thy Soul c. The Death of Christ therefore considered in it self must be a Price sufficient for All Men if it was given for All. But the Scripture saith plainly That God gave his Son for the World and lays a Condition thereon not the Death of Christ but
and Mother in respect to different Natures not simply so For he was without Father in respect of his Humane Nature and in respect of his Divine without Mother Obj. 7 God was not angry with M●nkind but abundantly loved it and therefore out of meer Charity sent his Son for which Reason there was no necessity that the Father should be reconciled to us Answ. God was certainly angry with us although he sent his Son He loved us as Creatures and hated us as Transgressors God's Wrath excludes the special and particular though not that general Love of God wherewith as such he loves his Creatures ART III. Of the going down of Christ into Hell AS Christ died for us and was buried so also it is to be believed that he went down into Hell Obj. 1. The Evangelists that have mentioned the most minute Circumstances in the History of Christ do not speak one Word of this Descent into Hell Answ. The Evangelists desired only to relate those things of Christ whereof either they themselves were Eye-witnesses or else had it from others that were so but no Mortal could see Christ descend Obj. 2. Christ did not go down into Hell in his Deity which is every where nor in his Body which was laid in a Sepulcher nor in his Soul which was in Paradise Luke 23. 43. Answ. The Soul of Christ might be upon one and the same Day in Hell and in Paradise For why may we not say that Christ after his Death and the Union of his Soul and Body restored might in a Moment descend into Hell and in a Moment return from thence We ought to believe many things the Manner and Circumstances whereof we are not able to define Obj. 3. Christ did not descend that he might shew his Victory because his Resu●rection was but the beginning of his Triumph nor that he might further suffer because he said upon the ●ss It is finished nor finally that he might free the Fathers from Limbo since Limbo is a meer Tale. Answ. * The Opinion ●f Bishop Pea●on and other emment Men of our Church in this Matter seems to be safer and l●ss liable to Exceptions That by He● or Hades is meant rather ●he Place and State of the Dead after the Separation of Soul and Body when Christ as to his Humanity was willing to be detained ●ill his Resur● His Resurrection was the beginning of his Triumph manifested to us but perhaps not absolutely so for his Descent into the Lower Parts mentioned Ep● 4. 9. was before his Resurrection And this Place seems very strongly to prove the real Descent of Christ into Hell Nor by our Adversaries Confession is there any Impiety in this Opinion if it be said that Christ went to manifest his Victory to the infernal Spirits and then presently enter'd into Paradise as he promis'd the Thief Obj. 4. It did not become Christ to honour those with his Presence who had been unworthy of his Favour and were eternally damned Ans. It did become Christ and for the Demonstration of his Justice and Glory it was fitting that he should present himself a Conqueror to infernal Spirits that he might bring a Terror upon the Devils and reproach the damned with their Folly and Wickedness However it be let us believe that Christ went down into Hell although we are not fully and plainly satisfied of the Sense and Manner of it ART IV. Of the Resurrection of Christ. CHRIST did truly rise again from Death and took again his Body with Flesh Bones and all things appertaining to the Perfection of Man's Nature wherewith he ascended into Heaven and there sits until he return to judge all Men at the last Day Yet it should seem that Christ could not raise himself from the Dead For Obj. 1. It appears very unaccountable that any one should die and yet raise himself to Life again Answ. It is indeed very unaccountable that mere Man should rise again by his own Power but Christ is God as well as Man Obj. 2. The Scriptures generally ascribe the Resurrection of Christ to God the Father as Rom. 6. 4. Answ. His Resurrection is indeed ascribed to the Father but not to him alone It is attributed to both because of the perfect Unity of their Essence Whatsoever the Father does that does the Son do likewise Obj. 3. 'T is objected That Bodies after Resurrection are not Flesh and Bones but of a Spiritual Nature 1 Cor. 15. 44. how could Christ then reassume his Body with Flesh and Bones Answ. Bodies after their Resurrection are said to be Spiritual not as to their Substance and Essence but as to their Qualities and Endowments they will be like to Spirits immortal and wanting neither Meat nor Drink Obj. 4. Bodies of Flesh are not immortal because as the Praphet Esa. 4. 6. says All Flesh is Grass Ans. All Flesh of pure Man is corruptible and as Grass but the Flesh of Christ is not such The Prophet there speaks of the common and ordinary Condition of Mortals and not of a most glorious Saviour who is very God Obj. 5. The Apostle tells us 1 Cor. 15. 50. That Flesh and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God how then could Christ with both these ascend up into Heaven Answ. The Apostle speaks of Man as corrupted and not washed from his Sins by Christ or else of Flesh not yet freed from Corruption That such shall not inherit the Kingdom of God for the Body cannot enter into Heaven till it be freed from Corruption Obj. 6. Christ will not forsake us even to the last Judgment for he told his Disciples Mat. 28. 20. Lo I am with you even to the end of the World And in the way to Damascus he appeared to St. Paul Acts 9. 17. And again in the Castle he stood by him in the Night Acts 23. 11. Answ. Christ speaks of a Spiritual Presence by his Grace and not of a Bodily one by Nature And then what if Christ did promise his Disciples that he would be with them by a Substantial Presence if need so required We are not to fix Christ so to the Heavens as if he could not appear upon Earth as perhaps in an extraordinary manner he did appear to St. Paul although many understand that place of a mental Vision However Heaven is the ordinary place of his Residence Obj. 7. It is apparent that Christ will not judge all Men for he that believes shall not come into Judgment John 5. 24. The Prince of this World the Devil is already judged John 16. 11. And also he that believes not John 3. 18. is condemned already Answ. He that believeth shall not come into the Judgment of Condemnation but of Absolution But the Devils and all Infidels are already judged in God's Decree or in his revealed Word or by their own Consciences which is the beginning of their Punishment but hereafter they will be condemned accordding to the Revelation and Manifestation of Judgment already made to
who can drink no Wine C●d such as can get none are excepted A●o there is scarce any Country in the World in which there is so great a scarcity of Wine that it cannot be got for so sacred an Use. Christ foresaw those things that are said to be Inconveniencies and yet he has not permitted us to administer the Sacraments lame and imperfect ART XXXI Of the one Oblation of Christ finished upon the Cross. THE Offering of Christ once made is that perfect Redemption Propitiation and Satisfaction for all the Sins of the whole World both Original and Actual and there is no other Satisfaction for Sin but that alone Wherefore the Sacrifices of Masses in the which it was commonly said that the Priest did offer Christ for the Quick and the Dead to have remission of Pain or Guilt were blasphemous Fables and dangerous Conceits Obj. 1. The Offering of Christ was made only for many Mat. 20. 28. and for the Sheep i. e. for the Elect John 10. 15. Answ. That Christ died for many and for the Sheep or Elect we must not deny but from hence to imagine that the Death of Christ was not a Price sufficient for All is a vain Conclusion not only because the Word many is very often equivalent to the word All D●n 12. 2. R●m 5. 19. but because the Dignity of Christ's Death was so great in it self that not only Mankind by God created but tho' God had created ●any more World's it would have been a f● and sufficient Satisfaction for them All Altho' the World only of Believers can obtain Salvation th●o his Death Obj. 2. Praying Fasting Alms and Temporal Punishments are Satisfactions for Sin Answ. Whatever Good Works we are able to perform or whatsoever we may suffer for God's Glory even all that we are obliged to do and suffer by the right of Creation Redemption and Divine Precept Luke 17. 19. Eph. 2. 10. Tit. 3. 1. But it would be an extream rash thing to think of paying a Debt with a Debt And then as for Temporal Punishments they are not Satisfactions but the Divine Corrections and Chastisements even which God does often avert when Men repent not that they Satisfie but only because he regards their true Faith Obj. 3. The Offering that Christ made upon the Cross is to be represented in the Supper Answ. The Offering of Christ is to be represented bloody and not by any other unbloody Offering but by the Breaking of Bread and the pouring out of Wine Obj. 4. The Mass is the Application of the Sacrifice of Christ. Answ. The Sacrifice of Christ is applied only by Faith Obj. 5. The Prophets foretold that there should be a perpetual Sacrifice in the Church Mal. 1. 11. Esa. 66 23. Answ. The Sacrifices of the Church of the New Testament are Eucharistical and Spiritual ●nd these are Perpetual Obj. 6. Christ said to his Disciples Do this in remembrance of me i. e. Sacrifice this for the Word facere or do is often taken in this sense as Virgil has it Cùm faciam Vitulâ When I off● Sacrifice with a Heifer So Lev. 15. 15. 1 Kings 18. 23. Ho● 2. 8. And in other places in the vulgar Translation Answ. The Latins use a concise way of speaking and sometimes make the word facere to do signifie facere rem d●inam to do a Religious or Sacred thing But the facere to do cannot signifie in this place to Sacrifice because it relates to the Actions of Christ of which we cannot properly say that they are to be Sacrificed And then this is not only spoken to Ministers but to other Lay-Communicants likewise as appears by the Apostle's Exposition 3 Cor. 11. 26. And They have no Power or Authority to Consecrate ART XXXII Of the Marriage of Priests BIshops Priests and Deacons are not commanded by God's Law either to vow the estate of Single Life or to abstain from Marriage Therefore it is lawful for Them as for all other Christian Men to marry at their own discretion as they shall judge the same to serve better to Godliness Obj. 1. Marriage hinders Holy Duties and therefore in the Old Testame●t t●e High Priest and Priests were commanded to abstain from the Conjugal Bed so often as they were obliged to attend upon Holy Things Exo. 19. 15. and 28. 4. Answ. It is the abuse of Marriage and not Marriage it self that hinders Holy Duties David whilst he was married prayed seven times in a Day and did meditate upon the Law of God Day and Night That Abstinence which was commanded the Priests under the Old Testament is said to be Ceremonial and was required even in Lay-Persons for a certain time to which belongs likewise the abstaining from Wine and Strong Drinks which was commanded the Priests when they were upon Holy Duty However it be it is without doubt convenient for all Christians as well as Pastors to abstain from such conjugal Commerce as may hinder their Worship of God Obj. 2. St. Paul commands married People that they should abstain from one another by consent for a time that they might give themselves the more ardently to Prayer 1 Cor. 7. 5. Wherefore since Priests must daily attend upon Prayer and Sacrifices it is plain that they are injoyned to a perpetu●l Continence Answ. The Apostle there speaks concerning extraordinary Prayer such as is joyn'd with Fasting but Clergy-Men are not every Day obliged to such Devotions Nay and by this Rule all Christians must abstain for ever from Marriage for 't is said to All In general 1 Thess. 5. 17. Pray without ceasing Obj 3. They that are unmarried do care for the Things of the Lord better than those that are married 1 Cor. 7. 32. Answ. The Apostle here does not dispute concerning Men of the Holy Order alone but of all Christians in general who should also by the same reason live a single Life But alcho ' Marriage has its Troubles it has its Conveniencies too And a pious Wife is given not for an Impediment but for a Help as well in Spiritual as in Family Concerns Celibacy is therefore to be preferred to Marriage when the Church is under various Persecutions and upon condition the Person has the Gift of Continence But from hence no general Rule can be made that Celibacy is to be observed by any particular Order of Men. Wherefore also the Apostle says 1 Cor. 7. 28. That if thou marry thou hast not sinned So that the place before cited proves nothing against this Article ART XXXIII Of Excommunicated Persons how they are to be avoided THat Person which by open denunciation of the Church is rightly cut off from the Unity of the Church and Excommunicated ought to be taken of the whole multitude of the Faithful as an Heathen and Publican until he be openly reconciled by Penance and received in the Church by a Judge that has authority thereunto Obj. 1. Christ has said Mat. 13. 39. Let both grow together until the