so plentifully that God can aske no more of them And in his Latin booke against Luther he hath these words Secundo supponimus quod quanquam nemo sit cui non cumulatius praemium in coelis Deus largiatur quà m hic in terris ipse meruit innumeri tamen sunt qui longè grauiores aerumnas pertulerunt quà m adsuorum suffecissent delictorum expiationem that is Secondly wee make this supposition that although there is none to whom God doth not giue a greater reward in heauen then hee hath merited and deserued yet there be many which haue suffered farre more grieuous griefes and punishments then would haue sufficed to the expiation and purging away of their sinnes This is their doctrine and is this to beleeue the forgiuenes of sinnes or is it not rather to denie the Lord Iesus that hath bought vs For I may say with S. Paul that if righteousnes come by the law or by our satisfaction then Christ died in vaine And with what face can these men accuse vs of denying this article The forgiuenes of sinnes themselues teaching such blasphemous doctrine so manifestly opposite and contrarie vnto it Againe they denie the forgiuenes of the punishment due for sinne saying that Christ hath deliuered vs à culpa from the fault or offence but not à poena from the punishment or at leastwise he hath deliuered vs from eternall punishment but not from temporall which must be sustained in Purgatorie whereby our sinnes or soules must be purged and Gods iustice satisfied And yet the Popes Pardons Masses and Dirges may discharge and deliuer from it Wherein first what doe they but extenuate and greatly diminish the vertue and power of Christs death For if our Sauiour Christ haue not deliuered vs from the punishment due to our sinnes what great good hath hee done vs And if he haue discharged vs from eternall punishment in hell but not from the temporall in Purgatorie then is he not a full and perfect Sauiour but an halfe Sauiour Haue you the testimonie of all Antiquitie for this doctrine Tertullian saith Exempto scilicet reatu eximitur poena that is The guiltines of sinne being taken away the punishment is also taken away And Chrysostome saith Vbi enim gratia ibi venia vbi verò venia illic nulla erit poena that is Where grace is there is forgiuenes where forgiuenes is there shall be no punishment S. Augustine saith Ablato ergo peccato auferetur poena peccati The sin being taken away the punishment of sinne shall also be taken away By this let it be discerned who they be that denie this article of the forgiuenes of sinne Moreouer let the Christian reader consider how they attribute first that to their Purgatorie which is proper to the blood of Christ which as S. Iohn saith clenseth vs from all sinne and secondly more to their Dirges Masses Pardons and such paltries then they doe to the death and passion of Iesus Christ For they may deliuer from the paines of Purgatorie but Christs death doth not O coelum non sudas ô terra non tremes c. But now let vs come to your proofe of this your accusation of our denying of this article Your first reason is that wee acknowledge no such effect in the Sacrament of Baptisme c. We acknowledge that baptisme is a Sacrament of the forgiuenes of our sinnes by the death and passion of our Sauiour Iesus Christ whereby our faith is confirmed and wee assured that as water washeth away the filth of the bodie so all the filth and guiltines of our sinnes is so purged in the blood of Christ that wee be accepted for iust and righteous before God But we do not acknowledge that Baptisme or any other Sacrament do conferre grace of themselues or haue grace included in them as in a vessell but wee affirme that they be seales of Gods promises and instruments whereby God worketh in his elect and chosen people those graces which he hath in his word promised and Iesus Christ hath purchased for them But all that be outwardly baptized be not inwardly clensed as Simon Magus who being baptized was yet still in the gall of bitternes and in the bond of iniquitie For the spirit of God worketh by them in whom when and how much it pleaseth him Neither doe we beleeue that Baptisme serueth onely for the remission of sinnes committed before it as you say here but that the vse and benefit of it pertaineth to our whole life continually to assure vs and confirme our faith in the forgiuenes of al our sinnes by Iesus Christ And whereas you say that this our doctrine is contrarie to the expresse word of God which calleth this Sacrament the lauer of regeneration for that in it the soule dead by sinne is newly regenerate by grace I answere that Baptisme is so farre from being in this place of S. Paul expressed that it is not mentioned neither necessarily to be vnderstanded Saint Pauls sweet words be these When the bountifulnes and loue of God our Sauiour towards man appeared not by the workes of righteousnes which wee had done but according to his mercie he saued vs by the washing of the new birth and renewing of the holy Ghost which he shed on vs aboundantly through Iesus Christ our Sauiour Where is baptisme here mentioned or expressed to be the lauer of regeneration Saint Paul doth here attribute this washing whereby wee be regenerate and renewed to the holie Ghost alluding as it were to the words of God by the Prophet Ezechiel Then will I powre cleane water vpon you and ye shall be cleane yea from all your filthines and from all your Idols will I clense you By this cleane water is vnderstood the spirit of God as it is expounded in the two next verses following I confesse that Baptisme is a Sacrament and pledge vnto vs of this washing and clensing of the holie Ghost to whom this washing is to be attributed and not to baptisme as though it were included in it or affixed to it for as I said many be outwardly baptized which be not inwardly clensed but only the faithfull children of God in whom Gods spirit inwardly worketh that which by the word of God is promised and in baptisme sealed and confirmed And therefore this lauer is the spirit of God by whom we be regenerated and renewed Saint Augustine saith well Ea demum miserabilis est seruitus signa prorebus accipere supra creaturam corpoream oculum mentis ad hauriendum aeternū lumen leuare non posse that is This is miserable seruitude to take the signes for the things signified and not to be able to lift vp the eye of the minde aboue the corporeall creature to receiue eternall light Your second proofe is that we allow not the sacrament Penance wherin all actuall sins committed after Baptisme are cancelled Your popish
was neuer accursed of his Father but he bare in his body and soule the curse that was due to our sinnes to deliuer vs from the curse of God and to purchase to vs the blessing of God But these men who otherwayes are so full of curious distinctions doe herein erre because they doe not with Saint Augustine put a difference betweene that which appertained to Christs owne person and that which he suffered in the person and place of vs the which if this writer or rather slaunderer had done he might haue abstained from these his blasphemous collections of his owne and not our assertions As if Christ had despaired of his Saluation or God had hated him c. Whereunto I answere that Christ was farre from such despaire which properly is a sinne in the reprobate and not a punishment of Gods iustice And we hould that our Sauiour Christ suffered in our person and for vs those torments which are righteous punishments of Gods iustice against sinne and not such as properly bee sinnes in the deuils and in wicked and reprobate men as are despaire and hatred of God And therefore we confesse with our mouthes and beleeue with our harts that Christ was neuer hated of his Father but alwayes the deerely beloued Sonne of God in whom he was alwayes well pleased But he hated sinne the which as man had committed so in mans nature Gods iustice was to be satisfied The which for that corrupt and sinfull man was not able to performe the Sonne of God as I said became our surety tooke vpon him our nature and in the same hath suffered vpon the crosse the punishment of Gods anger due to our sinnes and thereby hath satisfied Gods iustice pacified his anger and purchased his loue and mercie to all those that truly beleeue in him And so Christ was tormented with anguish of minde not for his sinnes as you falsely gather but for our sinnes which hee bare in his bodie and soule vpon the crosse and God was not enemie to God but enemie to our sinnes which were imputed to Christ that his satisfaction and righteousnes might be imputed vnto vs. To conclude we beleeue that Christ suffered vpon the crosse those punishments of sinne which proceede from Gods iustice and be no sinnes which in some sense may be called the paines of hell because that as Christ by his Deitie ouercame them and it was impossible for him to be held and ouercome of them so the diuell and the reprobate shall eternally indure them And this is no desperate doctrine but a most comfortable doctrine to assure vs that in Christ Gods iustice is satisfied our sinnes are discharged hell is conquered and wee from it be deliuered So that we may with the Apostle say O death where is thy sting O hell where is thy victorie The Pamphlet The Protestants haue no meane to determine controuersies and abolish heresies 5. Article AS the Protestants neither know what they beleeue nor why they beleeue so haue they no meanes in their Church to settle them in vnitie of beleefe nor to determine controuersies nor to abolish heresies as hath the Catholike Church for our Sauiour Christ by his diuine prouidence did foresee that heresies were to arise in his Church as his Apostle S. Paul doth warne vs the which as plagues were to infect his flocke and therefore he not onely forewarned vs of them but also gaue vs meanes how to preuent and extinguish them He willed vs to heare his Church if we would not be accounted as Etlmicks and Publicanes He ordained Pastors and Doctors lest we should be carried away with euery blast of vaine doctrine He promised to the Church the assistance of the holy Ghost in such sort as they which would not heare her would not heare him The Catholikes therefore beleeuing certainly that the Church cannot erre that the generall Councels cannot deliuer false doctrine that the Pastors and ancient Fathers with ioynt consent cannot teach vntruths when heresies spring vp presently with the voyce of the Church plucke them vp euen by the rootes and so euer hath practized and after this manner hath ouerthrowne al encounters false opinions and errors which the diuell by his ministers euer planted or established in the world and so they haue been freed from all braules and quarrels in matters of religion But the Protestants admitting the sole Scripture as vmpire and Iudge in matters of controuersies allowing no infallible interpreter thereof but remitting all to euery mans priuate spirit singular expositioÌ„ cannot possibly without error winde themselues out of the laborynth of so many controuersies wherewith they are now inâ—â—â—gled and intricated And the irreconciliable iarres betâ—ixt them and the Puritanes in essentiall points of faith giue sufficient testimonie that they will neuer haue an end or can haue an end holding those grounds of opinion which they obstinately defend And finally they haue no argument to prooue that they haue the true Church true religion true faith which all heretakes which euer were will not bring to condemne the Church as well as they For example they alleage Scriptures so did the Arrians they contemne Councels the Arrians did not regard them they challenge to themselues the true interpretation the same did all heretikes to this day And to conclude they call themselues the little flocke of Christ to whom God hath reuealed his truth and illuminated them from aboue all which the Donatists with as good reason and better arguments did arrogate vnto themselues The same I say of Pelagians Nestorians Eutychians with all the rabble of other damned heretikes And to conclude these articles of faith I say that if the principles of the Protestants religion be true S. Paul himselfe exhorteth vs to infidelitie which I proue thus Whosoeuer exhorteth vs to doubt of that which we are bound to beleeue by faith exhorteth to infidelitie But S. Paul doth exhort vs to doubt of our saluation which we are bound to beleeue by faith according to the Protestants religion Ergo S. Paul exhorteth vs to infidelitie The Maior is plaine for to doubt of matters in faith is manifest infidelitie because whosoeuer doubteth whether God hath reuealed that which indeede he hath reuealed being sufficiently proposed as reuealed vertually doubteth whether God saith truth or lieth The Minor is proued by the testimonie of S. Paul Cum timore tremore salutem vestram operamini With fears and trembling worke your saluation All feare whether it be filiall feare or seruile feare includeth doubt the one of sinne the other of punishment Answere AS it is false that wee neither know what wee beleeue nor why wee beleeue as hath been before sufficiently shewed so is it no lesse false which is here boldly affirmed but faintly proued That we haue no meanes in our Church to settle vs in vnitie of beleefe to determine controuersies and to abolish herefies We haue the word of God which wee acknowledge to be the onely touchstone
was Bernards iudgement concerning our keeping of Gods commandements and fulfilling of the law Ferus also a late Frier but yet a man of better iudgement in many matters then many others were or be hereof writeth thus Per Christum implenda erat omnis iustitia per quem solum lex poterat impleri nam maledicta erat natura humana legemque implere non potuit iuxta illud neque nos neque patres onus hoc portare potuimus that is All righteousnes was to be fulfilled by Christ by whom onely the law could be fulfilled For mans nature was accursed and could not fulfill the law according to that saying neither we nor our Fathers were able to beare this burden Againe the same Ferus saith Si nemo potest gloriari se á peccato immunem nec quisquam gloriari potest se legem seruasse cum peccatum nihil aliud sit quà m transgressio legis that is If no man can glorie that hee is free from sinne neither can any man glorie that he hath fulfilled the law seeing that sinne is nothing else but the transgression of the law Hence from it followeth that zealous Protestants want neither a liuely faith in Gods mercies nor true obedience to Gods commaundements although they vnfainedly confesse their manifold imperfections and sinnes by which they bee farre from perfectly fulfilling the law of God And now pro coronide I will requite you with another Syllogisme They that thinke they can fulfill the law of God be proud Hypocrits and Pharisees but the Papists thinke that they can fulfill the law of God yea can doe superarrogant workes I should say workes of Supererogation aboue them that the law requireth Ergo the Papists be proud Hypocrites and Pharisees The Pamphlet The most points wherein the Protestants dissent from the Catholikes tend to loosenes of life and carnall libertie 4. Article His article may be proued by a generall induction in all such matters as now the Protestants call in question First say they that man hath not free will to doe good but all goodnesse proceedeth so from grace that it lyeth not in his power neither to haue it nor resist it but of necessitie it must haue effect To what other ende tendeth this senceles doctrine and fatall fancie but to make men negligent in disposing and preparing their soules to receiue Gods grace and to rouse it vp and put it in execution after they haue it making man not much vnlike a sicke asse who neither can dispose nor prepare himselfe to seeke for his medicine but of necessitis must expect till his master thrusteth it into his throate neither after hee hath drunke it can cause it cure his disease but carelesly letteth it worke as it will Secondly they defend that men be iustified by faith alone the which solifidian portion ouerthroweth flatly true repentance sorrow for sinnes mortification of passions and all other vertues which tend to perfect reconciliation of the soule with God causing men only to procure a certaine false fantastical apprehension of Christs death and passion the which faith although they erroniously auerre cannot be seuered from charitis vertues and good workes yet both experience teacheth that it may for also few or none haue faith because few or none of them haue these workes and the Scriptures plainely proue that all faith yea and the most noble faith which hath force to remoue mountaines may be without charitie Thirdly they assure vs that faith once had can neuer be lost the which vaine securitie openeth the gap to all libertine sensualitie for if a man be certaine that he hath true faith if it be impossible he should lose it if he be secured that by it alone he shall be saued why may be not wallow in all licencious pleasures in this life and neuer doubt of glorie in the other could euer Epicurus haue found a better ground to plant his Epicurisme could euer Heliogabalus haue better patronized his sensualitie could Bacchus or Venus euer haue forged better reasons to enlarge their dominion Fourthly they say a man cannot keepe all the commaundements for what other cause I pray you but thereby to make men negligent in keeping of them to pretend an excuse of impossibilitie whensoeuer they transgresse them Fiftly why deny they the Sacrament of penance but to make men careles how they liue and neuer regard the auoyding of sinnes as though they were neuer to render an account of them to hinder that shame and blushing which men conceiue in discouering their sinnes the which are most excellent meanes to deter them from sinning another time to shuffle vp restitution and satisfaction of iniuries committed against our neighbours to draw men from remorse of conscience by burying their sinnes in eternall obliuion the sores whereof confession rubbeth and causeth Sixtly why exclude they the true and reall body of Christ from the blessed Sacrament of the altar but for that they perceiued how by the presence thereof they were deterred from sinne and wickednes for they knew well that sinfull liues consorted not with those sacred mysteries and therefore they rather resolued to banish Christ from the Sacrament then sinnes from their soules Finally for what other cause haue they ioyned a new negatiue religion wholy standing vpon negation of Sacraments ceremonies rites lawes customes and other practicall points of the catholike Church but for fasting to bring in feasting for praying playing for deuotion dissolution for religious feare of God vaine securitie for zeale and mortification a number of vaine verball sermons and to conclude for a positiue working a flat deniall almost of all points of faith and religion Answere COncerning this article I will first answere these cauils which this cauiller obiecteth to the slaundering of our doctrine as tending to loosenes of life and carnall libertie Secondly I will shew to what loosenes and wickednes of life the doctrine of the Church of Rome tendeth and what fruites or rather weeds of wickednes it hath brought fourth euen in Popes their clergie and namely in Rome that holy Citie where that holy Father resideth and whereupon he especially breatheth and blesseth He beginneth with free will wherein he neither setteth downe truely our doctrine nor the state of the controuersie which is a vsuall customewith his companions to peruert and alter the state of the question as Doctor Whitakers sheweth that Bellarmine vseth to do I wil therefore lay downe our doctrine truely as we teach concerning this matter wee beleeue that although in worldly matters concerning this life man haue wit reason and vnderstanding to know and will for the choise of good and euill iust and vniust yet in spirituall matters pertayning to eternall life and the worship of God we beleeue that mans reason is so darkened and will so corrupted that he can neither truely know loue nor couet much lesse doe and performe those things which be agreeable to Gods will and acceptable vnto his Maiestie vntill God
eorum mores dicitur diuinum discreuisse iudicium profectò illud euacuabitur quod praemisit Apostolus dicens c. i. But if it be said that the iudgement of God did discerne the manners of Esau and Iac̄ob which afterward would be then surely that which the Apostle said before shall be made frustrate and in vaine Not of workes but by him that calleth it was said The elder shall serue the younger For he saith not by the workes past but hauing said generally Not by workes he would thereby haue vnderstoode workes both past and to come workes past which were none to come which as yet were not Iacob was predestinate a vessell vnto honour because not by workes but by him that calleth it was said The elder shall serue the younger Againe Nam quid est quod ait Apostolus sicut elegit nos in ipso c. i. For what is that which the Apostle saith As he hath chosen vs in him before the foundation of the world The which if it be therefore said because God did foresee that they would afterward beleeue and not that he would make them to beleeue against this foreseeing the sonne speaketh saying You haue not chosen me but I haue chosen you A little after he saith Elegit ergo Deus fideles sed vt sint non quia iam erant i. God hath chosen the faithfull that they might be not because they now were Againe Vt essemus sancti immaculati Non ergo quia futuri eramus sed vt essemus i. That we might be holy and without blame therefore not because we should be but that we might be Againe Quos elegit c. i. Whom hee hath chosen before the foundation of the world by the election of grace not of workes either past or present or to come for then grace were no grace Thus Saint Augustine sheweth that Gods election is not his prescience and foreseeing of workes to come but his owne grace good pleasure and purpose Now I come to your illations which vpon these false assertions you falsely inferre To the first I answere that God impelleth no man to sinne and therefore God is not the author of sinne Secondly God inforceth not men vpon necessitie to sinne but they sinne willingly and by the instigation of the diuell who worketh in the children of disobedience therefore God is not the author of sinne In your third inference where you say that sinne is free or no sinne belike you hold with Pighius and some other Papists that originall sinne is no sinne for it is not free for vs to be without it And whereas you aske how man can sinne in conforming his will with Gods will I answere that they that sinne doe not conforme their will to Gods will but doe disobey it and oppose themselues vnto it This is the will of God saith Saint Paul your sanctification and that ye should abstaine from fornication Finally for as much as you can neuer shew that it is the Protestants confession that God moueth perswadeth and induceth men to sinne therefore you make a false and blasphemous collection for the which the Lord rebuke thee Satan Lastly whereas you thus charge vs to hold that God is the author of sinne I would desire you to shew where we doe write more hardly of this matter then Iohn Fisher Bishop of Rochester hath written hereof whose words be these Neutrum sane potest sine Deo nec ad bonum se parare neque malum opus facere Neque enim adulter absque generali fluxu Dei potest adulterandi facinus committere sed neque postquam ipsum admisit sine speciali auxilio Dei conari valebit vt resurgat i. Man can doe neither without God neither prepare himselfe to good nor doe that which is euill For the adulterer can neither commit adulterie without the generall influence of God nor after he hath committed it can hee endeuour to rise without the speciall helpe of God And againe Nam quantum ad substant iam actus etiam operibus malis cooperatur Deus Neque tamen recte quisquam Deo peccatum imput abit quia tametsi cooperetur Deus ad substantiam actus non tamen ipsam deficientiam operatur sed hoc agit sola voluntas i. As touching the substance of the acte euen God doth cooperate or worke with euill workes yet may not any man rightly impute sinne vnto God for although God doth cooperate to the substance of the deede yet he doth not worke the defect of the deede but onely mans will doth that Either shew where we haue written more hardly hereof or else condemne this Bishop and Martyr for the Popes cause with vs. I trust you will not say that hee taught Atheisme which is so rife in Rome as I haue before shewed c. The Pamphlet That faith once had may be lost 6. Article WHosoeuer leeseth his charitie leeseth his faith But Dauid when he killed Vrias lost his charitie Ergo Dauid when he killed Vrias lost his faith The Maior is a principle vndoubted of in the schooles of Protestants for they peremptorily affirme that true faith such as was in Dauid one of Gods elected can no more be seuered from charitie then heate from fire or light from the sunne and therefore if Dauid killing Vrias lost his charitie no doubt but therewithall he lost his faith The Minor I proue for whosoeuer remaineth in death is without charitie but Dauid when he killed Vrias remained in death Ergo Dauid when he killed Vrias was without charitie If he was without that which once he had no doubt but then he lost it for he was depriued thereof for his sinne The Maior proposition of this last Syllogisme thus I proue for charitie is the life of the soule and it is as impossible for a man to haue charitie and remaine in death as it is impossible to be dead in body and yet indued with a resonable soule The Minor cannot be denied to wit that Dauid by killing Vrias remained in death for it is the expresse word of God Qui non diligit manet in morte He that loueth not his neighbour remaineth in death but certaine it is that Dauid loued not Vrias when he killed him Ergo likewise certaine it is that Dauid remained in death The same position might easily be proued out of the eighteenth chapter of Ezech. vers twentie foure Si autem aucrterit se iustus a iustitia sua c. Answere I Deny the Minor or second proposition that Dauid in procuring Vrias to be killed lost his charitie For although in this cōbat betweene the spirit and the flesh in Dauid the spirit retired and the flesh preuailed the new man was foyled and the old man ouercame yet was not the spirit vtterly extinguished nor the new man cleane killed In deede Dauids faith fainted his charitie was cooled and his other gifts and graces couered yet not cleane
quenched but there remained sparkes of Gods spirit which afterwards being stirred vp and blowne by Nathans bellowes kindled and flamed to Gods glorie and Dauids eternall comfort and saluation Shall we thinke that Dauid had lost all loue of God of his law and of man was he cleane depriued of Gods spirit it appeareth by his owne words that he was not Who vpon Nathans preaching and reprouing of his sinne prayed and said Take not thy holy spirit from me Whereupon I reason thus He that was not cleane depriued of Gods spirit had not wholy lost faith and charitie But Dauid was not cleane depriued of Gods spirit therefore he had not wholy lost faith and charitie The first proposition is euident by the words of Dauid the second is manifest For it is absurd to say that the spirit of God should continue in him that hath lost all graces and gifts of the spirit It is with Gods elect and chosen children as it is with fire which in the night is so hid and couered that none appeareth and yet in the morning is stirred vp and is made to burne and to flame and as with a tree which in the winter hath neither fruite nor leafe vpon it yet it hath a sappe fallen into the roote which in the spring springeth and bringeth forth both leafe and fruite So is it with Gods holy Saints they be sometimes so ouertaken and ouercome with temptations that they seeme to be as trees without fruite withered and perished yet there remaineth a sappe of Gods spirit and grace in them which afterward riseth and buddeth forth good fruite And therefore to the second proposition of your secoÌ„d Syllogisme I say that although Dauid by those foule and fearefull offences deserued eternall death yet he did not remaine in death and although God hated those sinnes yet hee neuer hated Dauid For whom God loueth he loueth to the end and the giâ—ts and calling of God are without repentance If we loue a man and yet hate some sinne that he committeth might not God who is loue it selfe hate Dauids sinne and yet loue him and keepe some sparkes of his spirit and grace in him and so preserue as the externall life of the body so the internall life of the soule in him So that neither Dauid remained in death neither was his loue no not to Vrias altogether extinguished in him No doubt but he did loue him as his true and faithfull subiect and might loue him as the seruant of God yet in that temptation his owne selfe loue and desire to couer his owne sinne and shame did preuaile against his loue to Vrias and did draw him to doe an act which was no fruite nor effect of loue and charitie and yet did not wholy quench loue in him The Maior of your latter Syllogisme which needeth no proofe you seeke to proue by a false assertion in barely saying According to your manner but not by any place of Scripture prouing that charitie is the life of the â—oule I say that faith is the life of the soule the which I proue by these two sayings of the Scripture The Prophet Habacuk saith The iust shall liue by his faith Saint Paul saith In that I now liue in the flesh I liue by the faith in the sonne of God who hath loued me and giuen himselfe for me Let this man shew two such plaine places of Scripture to proue charitie to be the life of the soule Properly Christ is the life of our soules Saint Paul in the place before alledged saith Christ liued in me And when Christ which is our life shall appeare And our Sauiour himselfe saith I am the way the truth and the life For when wee were dead in sinnes hee hath quickned vs and at he hath restored life vnto vs so hee doth continually nourish and preserue life in vs. But this is attributed to faith because by it Christ dwelleth in vs and we by it be put into the possession of Christ and of all the benefits of his passion Concerning the place of Ezechiel because you doe not vrge it I will not stand vpon it We doubt not but men may and doe fall from God and iust actions vnto wicked and vngodly deedes and may haue a temporall faith and fall away from the grace of God But this we say that true faith in Gods elect which are sealed with the spirit of adoption and to whose spirit Gods spirit doth beare witnes that they are the sonnes of God is neuer wholy lust in them and the same spirit worketh by charitie which in them may bee cooled but neuer cleane quenched But of the losing of faith and of the coniunction thereof with charitie I haue before intreated Now to returne this argument in some sort vpon you whereas the Papists auerre that the Popes faith cannot faile I reason thus He that loseth his charitie may lose his faith the Pope may lose his charitie Ergo the Pope may lose his faith The first proposition I haue proued alreadie and haue shewed that true faith is not separated from charitie but worketh by it And most manifest it is by Saint Iames that the faith which is without charitie and good workes is dead So that if the Pope be without Charitie then hee hath but a dead faith And a dead faith is as much faith as a dead man is a man That the Pope may bee without charitie I thinke they will not deny and if they doe it may be proued by many examples Pope Iohn the twelft or as Platina reckoneth the thirteenth tooke two of his Cardinals and cut off the nose of the one and the hand of the other as witnes Platina Blondus and many others Stephanus the sixt did take the bodie of Formosus his predecessor out of the graue after he was dead put him out of his pontificall habite and put on him a lay mans attire cut off the two fingers of his right hand where with he did consecrate and threw them into Tiber. Pope Sergius the third tooke vp againe the body of the same Formosus did cut off his head as if hee had been a liue and threw the bodie into Tiber as vn worthie of buriall Boniface the seuenth tooke Iohn a Cardinall and put out his eyes Vrban the sixt of seuen of his Cardinals which hee apprehended at Nuceria tooke fiue of them put them in sackes and cast them into the Sea Innocentius the seuenth caused by Lewes his nephew certaine citizens of Rome which sought the restitution of their ancient liberties and the reformation of the Common-wealth decayed by his euill gouernment to be throwne out of windowes and so killed Alexander the sixt caused both the right hand and tongue of Antonius Mancinellus to bee cut out because hee had written an eloquent oration against his wicked and filthie life Many such other pranckes of Popes might bee alleadged which were no more fruites of
himselfe and not God of God So that he receiueth not his diuinitie from his father I answere that if we consider of Christ absolutely in respect of the essence he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God of himselfe to whom all things doe agree which are spoken of the diuine essence by it selfe but if we consider of him in respect of his person he is not of himselfe but sonne of the father yet coëternall and coëssentiall So saith Saint Augustine Christus ad se deus dicitur ad patrem filius dicitur that is Christ in respect of himselfe is called God and in respect of the Father is called sonne Saint Basil saith that it was an vndoubted principle of diuinitie in all ages 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is The godhead to be begotten neither of it himselfe nor of any other but to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vnbegotten And that Christ is God of himselfe I proue it thus He that is Iehoua is God of himselfe Christ is Iehoua ergo Christ is God of himselfe The first proposition cannot be denyed for God is called Iehoua because he hath his being of himselfe and all others haue their being of him And that Christ is Iehoua I thinke you will not deny and if you doe it may easily be proued For he that appeared to Esaias the Prophet cap. 6. and is there called Iehoua vers 3. is said of Saint Iohn to be Christ in these words These things said Esaias when he saw his glory and spake of him That which Esaias cap. 18. 13. 14. speaketh of Iehoua Saint Paul Rom. 9. 33. expoundeth of Christ The Angel that appeared to Moses in the bush is called Iehoua but Christ who is called the Angel of the couenant and the Angel of the great counsell was that Angel ergo Christ is Iâ—houa And so consequently is God of himselfe And therefore Epiphanius whom I trust you will not terme a Puritane calleth Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God of himselfe The Fathers of the Nicene councell in calling Christ God of God did thereby signifie that he is coëssentiall and of the same substance with the Father and not as you falsely affirme that he receiued his diuinitie of his Father which is in effect to make Christ no God For it is proper to God to be of himselfe The deitie is the diuine essence which is one and singular and the same wholy in the Father in the sonne and in the holy Ghost And so we acknowledge a Trinitie of persons and a vnitie of essence that is one only God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Saint Basil c. it is manifest that the names of Father and sonne doe not signifie the essence but the proprieties of the persons So Damascene saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is The deitie signifieth the nature or essence the word Father the person And the essence is wholy in the Father wholy in the sonne and wholy in the holy Ghost as euen your great Master of the sentences Peter Lumbard confesseth so that the Father is God of himselfe the Sonne God of himselfe the holy Ghost God of himselfe and yet not three Gods but one true and immortall God And therefore with Athanasius wee worship a vnitie in Trinitie and Trinitie in vnitie The fift article which you say those whom you disdainfully call Puritaines doe deny is the descension of Christ into Hell Can you shew and name any such puritanes which omit this article either in rehearsing it or in expounding it as you haue done the second commaundement of God I am sure you cannot Why doe you then say that they deny it forsooth because they receiue not your exposition of it to wit that Christ descended in soule to Hell and was there as long as his body was in the graue and there harrowed Hell and deliuered thence the patriarkes and all iust men there houlden in bondage vnto his death as your Rhemists write And doe all that receiue not this exposition deny this article Then did your owne Doctor Durand deny this article who held and published in writing that Christs soule did not in respect of the substance and essence thereof but by effect efficacy and operation descend into Hell Then did Iohn Picus that learned Earle of Mirandula and Cardinall Caietane whom the Pope sent into Germanie to suppresse Luther deny this article who concurre and agree with Durand yea I might say that then either Saint Cyprian or Ruffin denyed this article who expoundeth it of Christs buriall But you say that these nameles Puritans defend that Christ suffered the paines of Hell vpon the crosse whereby they blaspheme most horribly that sacred humanitie as if Christ had despaired of his saluation as if God had hated him and he had hated God c. I answere that this doctrine of Christs suffering the paines of Hell vpon the crosse is not so desperate as your collections thereof are false and blasphemous What desperatnes or absurditie is this that Christ our Sauior not in respect of himselfe but in that he became our suretie and tooke vpon him our debts and bare our sinnes in his bodie vpon the wood as Saint Peter saith did beare and indure in his humanitie the wrath of God and the paines and torments which our sinnes had deserued to deliuer vs from the wrath of God which we by our sinnes had prouoked and from the said paines and torments which we had merited We are not to thinke that Christ did suffer onely an externall and corpoÌ„ral death for then he had shewed greater weakenes then many meere natural men haue done who with great courage and cheerefulnesse haue gone vnto death but Christ our Sauiour was in such an Agonie that his sweate was like drops of bloud trickling downe to the ground so that an Angel appeared from heauen comforting him He cryed and said My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Whereby it doth euidently appeare that he suffered not onely an outward death of the body but did in his soule wrastle with the paines of Hell and beare the burden of Gods wrath dewe to our sinnes to deliuer vs from the same and to purchase the loue and mercie of God vnto vs. And when the prophet saith of him He hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrowes he was wounded for our transgressions he was broken for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was laid vpoÌ„ him and with his stripes we are healed All we like sheepe haue gone astray we haue turned euery one to his owne way and the Lord hath laid vpon him the iniquitie of vs all Did not our Sauiour Christ heerein suffer the punishment which was due to our sinnes Saint Paul saith that Christ hath redeemed vs from the curse of the law being made a curse for vs for it is written Cursed is euery one that hangeth on the tree yet Iesus Christ
the person of Christ and you denie the office of Christ in not acknowledging him to be our onely Prophet and teacher whose onely voyce wee must heare and obey nor the only King and head of his Church nor our onely high Priest with the sweete smelling sacrifice of himselfe once for euer offered to redeeme and reconcile vs to God nor our only mediatour to make intercession for vs. The Arians did cruelly persecute the true Christians and so do Papists when power is in their hand to do it The Arrians when they could not preuaile against that excellent man Athanasius fell to raile vpon him and to slaunder him accusing him of adulterie murther and sorcerie and euen so do you deale now with such as for their godlinesse and learning may well bee compared with Athanasius I meane especially Caluin whom the Authour of that vnlearned libell and beastly booke intituled A quartron of reasons of Catholike religion c. is not ashamed to call a seare backt priest for Sodomie O thou shamelesse man or rather monster art thou not ashamed to slaunder and belie such a man of whom they that knew him did truly write of him ipsa à quo potuit virtutem discere virtus that euen vertue it selfe might as it were haue learned vertue of him How doest thou know that Caluin was such a man I assure my selfe that thou didst neuer see him nor know him yea I nothing doubt but that thou wast scarsly borne whē he died And how doest thou know y t he was subiect to such a filthie sinne where was hee euer accused or conuicted of such a matter In that Citie adulteries be punished by death and would Sodomie haue bin winked at in the Preacher And if it were not knowne there how doest thou know it But I will not insist any longer in cōfuting this shamelesse slaunder For most true it is which Tully saith Nonne vt ignis in aquam coniectus continuò restinguitur refrigeratur sic referuens falsum crimen in purissimam castissimamque vitam collatum statim concidit extinguitur that is As fire being cast into water is straight waies quenched so a feruent false crime and slaunder being cast into a most pure and chast life such as Caluines was forthwith falleth downe and is extinguished And euen so let this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. slanderer and Bolsec the Apostata and all other raile and slaunder what they can yet Caluines memorie with God and all good men will be blessed for euer And this railer herein sheweth himselfe like not onely to the Arians but also to that ancient enemie to Christianitie Porphyrius who as Eusebius saith going about to reprehend and finde fault with the Scriptures and Preachers of the Word not being able to reproue their doctrine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is wanting reasons he fell a railing and slaundering the Preachers But to returne to my matter let the reader also with indifferencie consider who be like to the Donatists Pelagians Nestorians and Euty chians we or the Papists The Donatists affirmed the Church to haue perished from the rest of the world and to haue remained onely with them in Africa Doe not the Papists in like manner affirme only them to be the Church of God which in a part of Europe be vnder the obedience of the Bishop of Rome vnlesse now they will adde the West Indians of whom as the Spaniards haue murthered many millions so peraduenture a few be either perswaded or coacted to professe Poperie and submit themselues to the Pope of Rome But the Christian Churches in Grecia Aethiopia Armenia Muscouia and other countries they acknowledge not for the Church of God because they doe not subiect themselues vnto the Church of Rome we acknowledge al them to be of the Church of God which in all the world hold the truth in the chiefe and fundamentall points of Christian religion The Pelagians held first that the grace of God whereby wee be deliuered is giuen according to our merits Secondly that the law of God may be fulfilled of vs. Thirdly that wee haue free will the Papists herein be so like to them that as they maintaine in effect the same matters so for the defence of them they alleage the same places of Scriptures now as the Pelagians of old time did as appeareth by the writings of S. Augustine and S. Hierome against them Nestorius did as Theodoretus writeth of him trouble and intangle the simple and plaine doctrine of Christian faith with Greekish Sophistications How the Papists haue herein ioyned with him and by their curious Questions and vaine Sophistications haue troubled and peruerted the pure simple and plaine faith of Christ by their Schoolemen it doth euidently appeare Entyches confounded the two natures in Christ and the properties peculiar to them So doe the Papists in making the bodie of Iesus Christ to be at one instant in heauen and earth and infinite places of the earth which is only proper vnto the Deitie This shall suffice to shew that the Papists be liker to these olde heretikes then wee are whose doctrine wee abhorre and be farre further from it then they be Yea I may not onely truly say but can also plainly proue Poperie to be an hotchpotch of old heresies long agoe condemned in the Church of God The which as I did once in publike place shew so I may if it be the will of God hereafter more plainly and plentifully proue Now this worthie writer or rather lewd libeller will proue and that by a syllogisme out of the principles of our religion that S. Paul exhorteth vs to infidelitie This subtile syllogisme is thus framed Whosoeuer exhorteth vs to doubt of that which we are bound to beleeue by faith exhorteth to infidelitie But Saint Paul doth exhort vs to doubt of our saluation which we are bound to beleeue by faith according to the Protestants religion Ergo Saint Paul exhorteth vs to infidelitie As the assumption or second proposition of this syllogisme as it now standeth is false so by a small alteration both it and all the rest may be very true that is by putting out the name of S. Paul and putting Papists in place thereof in this sort Whosoeuer exhorteth vs to doubt of that which we are bound to beleeue by faith exhorteth vs to infidelitie The Papists exhort or at leastwise teach vs to doubt of our saluation Ergo the Papists exhort vs to infidelitie The first proposition of this syllogisme is affirmed by this writer to be plaine The second is the doctrine of the Papists concluded and determined in that Tridentine Cōuenticle where it is said that they which be truly iustified cannot without all doubt account themselues to be iustified And againe that no man can know by certaintie of faith which is not subiect to error and falsehood that he hath obtained the grace of God And againe Siquis dixerit omni homini
were indued with it for els he would not haue acknowledged the effectuall faith the diligent loue and patient hope of the Thessalonians and that they were elected of God Which gifts of Gods spirit could not be in them without the grace of God Now by this mans diuinitie what a madnesse was it for him to pray for grace vnto them whom hee did beleeue to bee endued with Gods grace alreadie And where as Saint Iohn saith These things haue I written vnto you that beleeue in the name of the sonne of God that yee may know that yee haue eternall life and that ye may beleeue in the name of the sonne of God By this mans deepe doctrine it might seeme madnesse for Saint Iohn to write vnto them that did beleeue in the name of the sonne of God that they should beleeue in the name of the Sonne of God But it seemed not so to S. Iohn who writeth to them that as they had blessedly begunne to beleeue in the name of the Sonne of God so they might still continue grow and increase in the same faith Moreouer also I would aske of this man and his fellowes whether they praying do beleeue the forgiuenes of their sins if they doe not then are they Infidels and deny the article of the creede I beleeue the forgiuenes of sinnes which before he falsely obiected to vs. If they doe beleeue the forgiuenes of their sinnes why doe they then by this mans doctrine pray for it If he say that he beleeueth that there is in generalitie a forgiuenes of sinnes but particularly he is not assured by faith of the forgiuenes of his owne sinnes then what doth his faith differ from the Diuels faith who beleeueth and trembleth as Saint Iames saith and what is this his doubting but as he himselfe here saith flat infidelitie And no meruaile though these men feele in their harts no assurance of faith for that they ground it not vpon the vnmoueable rocke of Gods promise but vpon the vnsure sand of their owne workes and satisfactions by the which indeede neither can their faith be assured nor their consciences quieted The which false doctrine while they beleeue I would know how they can aske forgiuenes of their sinnes for whosoeuer maketh satisfaction to God for them needeth not to aske forgiuenes of them But the Papists maintaine that they make full satisfaction to God for them as I haue before shewed therefore I may much more iustly say then he doth here that it is madnes to aske forgiuenes of them For what man not being mad owinge a summe of money and paying it will desire the same to be forgiuen him Concerning your scoffing in the proofe of your Minor or second proposition we indeede beleeue that we are iustified by faith without the workes of the law and that Christ dwelleth in our hearts by faith and that by this hand of a true and vnfained faith in Iesus Christ we apply the plaister of his precious bloud shed for our sinnes to cure all the sorances and sores of our soules And take you heede that you trusting in your owne workes and merits in your Masses agnus deis holy water pardons and manifold other such paltries fall not into the ditch of damnation And this shall suffice for this article which is so absurd that it deserueth not so much The Pamphlet The Protestants are bound in conscience to auoyde all good workes 2. Article EVery man is bound vpon paine of eternall damnation to auoyde all deadly sinnes But fasting praying almes deedes and all good workes according to the Protestants religion are deadly sinnes Ergo according to the Protestants religion all men are bound vpon paine of eternall damnation to auoyde fasting praying almes deedes and all good workes The Maior is manifest for the wages of deadly sinne is death Stipendium peccatimors The Minor is euident for according to the Protestants religion and common exposition of this text of Scripture Factisumus vt immundi omnes nos tanquam pannus menstruatae omnes iustitiae nostrae We are made all as vncleane and all our iustices are as stayned cloth That is to say the best workes we can doe are infected with deadly sinne and consequently deserue eternall damnation and therefore to be auoyded Answere AS Hannibal said of Phormio that he had heard many doting fooles but he neuer heard any that so much doted as did Phormio so may I say that I haue heard and read many foolish disputers but any that did so foolishly disoute and reason as this man doth I neuer heard nor read For what man in his wits will reason thus that because the corruptions of men doe creepe into these workes of fasting praying and almes giuing therefore the workes themselues bee deadly sinnes Our doctrine is first that these workes and such other being done by vnfaithfull hypocrites and wicked men be turned into sinne as Dauid saith for they be so corrupted and defiled with their infidelitie and wickednes that they be but splendida peccata that is glittering sinnes before God as Saint Augustine tearmeth them For euen as most pure water flowing through a filthie sinke or priuie is made foule filthie and stinking euen so these workes prayer fasting c. which be good workes commaunded of God flowing from their faithles and wicked hearts and bodies be so defiled that they be but filthie sinnes in the sight of God Salomon saith the sacrifice of the wicked is abomination to the Lord but the prayer of the righteous is acceptable to him God saith by the Prophet Esay Bring no moe oblations in vaine incense is an abomination vnto me I cannot suffer your new moones nor Sabboths nor solemne dayes it is iniquitie nor solemne assemblies My soule hateth your new moones your appoynted feasts c. He that killeth a bullocke is as if he slew a man he that sacrificeth a sheepe as if he cut off a dogges necke c. These sayings shew that euen the sacrifices commaunded in the law of God were wicked and abominable when they were offered of wicked and prophane persons voyde of true faith and repentance So it is in the prophet Haggai Thus saith the Lord of Hostes Aske now the priests concerning the law If one beare holy flesh in the skirt of his garment and with his skirt doe touch the bread or the pottage or the wine or ale or any meate shall it be holy And the priests answered and said no. Then said Haggai if a polluted person touch any of these things shall it be vncleane and the priests answered and said it shall be vncleane Then answered Haggai and said so is this people and so is this nation before me saith the Lord and so are all the workes of their hands and that which they offer here is vncleane Agreeable to this is that which Saint Paul saith Vnto the pure are all things pure but vnto them
God and therefore are not vnder the curse So that which seemed to Saint Paul absurd to be denied is now denied by these absurd and blind Pharisies Furthermore Saint Paul saith That which was impossible to the law in as much as it was made weake because of the flesh God sending his owne sonne in the similitude of sinfull flesh and for sinne hath condemned sinne in the flesh Doth not S. Paul here shew that whereas wee could not be saued by the law God hath sent his sonne in the flesh to saue vs And he declareth why wee could not be saued by the law because the weakenes of our sinfull flesh is not able to yeeld that perfect righteousnes which the law of God requireth the which if we could doe wee should liue thereby For God saith which if a man do he shall liue in them And that euen they that are regenerate with Gods spirit doe not perfectly fulfill the law and keepe Gods commaundements it is most euident by Saint Pauls confession of himselfe I am carnall sold vnder sinne I allow not that which I doe for that I would I doe not but what I hate that I doe It is no more I that doe it but sinne that dwelleth in me For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing for to will is present with me But I finde no meanes to performe that which is good For I doe not the good thing which I would but the euill which I would not that doe I I finde that when I would doe good euill is present with me I see another law in my members rebelling against the law of my minde leading me captiue to the law of sinne which is in my members O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from this bodie of death If S. Paul that elect vessell of God which was taken vp into the third heauen and into paradise and heard words which cannot be spoken did not fulfill the law and fully without transgression keep Gods commandements who but a blind hypocrite and proud Pharisie will arrogate to himselfe the same Bernard saith well Aut te ergo si audes praefer Apostolo nempe ipsius ista vox est aut fatere cum illo te quoque vitijs non carere that is Either if thou darest preferre thy selfe before the Apostle whose saying this is or els confesse with him that thou also art not void of vices I will adde hereunto a few testimonies out of the auncient Fathers to prooue that none in this life is assisted so fully with Gods grace that he perfectly fulfilleth the law and keepeth Gods commaundements without any transgression or breach of them Iustinus Martyr saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. And that none hath exactly done all things you your selues dare not denie but there be which haue kept the things commaunded some more and some lesse then others S. Hierome saith Facilia dicis esse Dei mandata tamen nullum proferre potes qui vniuersa compleuerit Responde mihi facilia sunt an difficilia Si facilia profer quis ea impleuerit Thou saist Gods commaundements be easie and yet thou canst not bring forth any that hath fulfilled all Answere me be they easie or hard If they be easie shew any that hath fulfilled them Again Haec hominibus sola perfectio si imperfectos se esse nouerint that is This is the onely perfection of men to acknowledge themselues to be imperfect Againe Tunc ergo iusti sumus quando nos esse peccatores fatemur iustitia nostra non ex proprio merito sed ex Dei consistit misericordia that is Then wee be iust when wee confesse our selues to be sinners and our iustice consisteth not in our owne merits but in Gods mercie Saint Augustine saith Ipsa iustitia nostra tanta est in hac vita vt petius peccatorum remissione constet quam perfectione virtuium that is Our iustice is so great in this life that it consisteth rather in the remission of our sinnes then in the perfection of our vertues And againe Omnia mandata facta deput antur quando quicquid non fit ignoscitur that is All the commaundements are then reputed to be done when whatsoeuer is not done is pardoned Againe Gratia Dei tribuit in hac vita studium praecepta seruandi eadem si quid etiam in illis praeceptis minus seruatur ignoscit that is The grace of God doth giue in this life a desire to keepe his commaundements and the same grace if any thing in them be not obserued forgiueth it The like I might alleage out of many other places of his workes As De natura gratia cap. 36. Contra Iulianum lib. 4. cap. 3. De libero Arbitrio cap. 16. and such others but for shortnes sake I omit them Chrysostome saith Neque enim alios licet in lege iustificari nisi eum qui cuncta adimpleuerit Id verò nemini dum possibile factum est that is None can be iustified by the law but he that hath fulfilled all And that hath beene as yet possible to no man Bernard saith Quomodo ergo iubenda fuit quae implenda nullo modo erat c. How was the law to be commaunded which can by no meanes be fulfilled or if thou rather thinke that the commaundement was giuen for the ruling of our affections I will not hereupon striue so that thou also doe yeeld vnto me that in this life it neither can or euer could be fulfilled of any man For who dare arrogate that to himselfe which Paul himselfe confesseth that he had not comprehended Neither was the commaunder ignorant that the weight of the commandement exceeded mans strength but he iudged it to be profitable that thereby they might be put in mind of their owne insufficiencie and so might know that they ought according to their power labour to the end of righteousnes Therefore by commaunding things impossible he made men not transgressors but humble that euery mouth might be stopped and all the world made subiect vnto God because that by the workes of the law no flesh shall be iustified before him for wee receiuing the commaundement and feeling our owne want will crie vnto heauen and God will haue mercie vpon vs. Again Quantumlibet in hoc corpore manens profeceris erras vitia si putas emortuae non magis suppressa velis nolis intra fines tuos habitat Iebusaeus subiugari potest sed non exterminari scio inquit quod non habitat in me bonum that is How much soeuer thou doest profit whilest thou abidest in this bodie thou art deceiued if thou thinke vices to be dead in thee and not rather suppressed whether thou wilt or no the Iebusite will dwell within thy coasts he may be subdued but not vtterly banished I know saith Paul that no goodnes dwelleth in me This
deposed from his benefice and the reason is because Pauci sine illo vitio inueniuntur i. Few are found without that vice Robert Holket an English man a Dominike Frier who liued about the yeere of our Lord 1340. writeth of the Priests in his tune in these words Sed proâ—â—â—olor his diebus verificatur nim is illud Iob. cap. 3. Eoce qui seruiunt ei id est Domino non sunt stabiles in Angelis suis raperit prauitatem Sunt enim quidaÌ„ de modernis sacerdotibus Angeli Sat anae per discordiam quidaÌ„ Angeli Apostatici per superbiam quidaÌ„ incubi per laxuriam quidam Angeli abyssiper auaritiam i. But alas in these daies that saying of Iob cap. 3. is too true Behold they that serne the Lord are not stable or constant and in his Angels he hath found naughtines For of the Priests of these dayes some be Angels of Satan by discord and contention some Apostaticall Angels by pride some be filthy spirits by riotousnes and vncleannes and some the Angels of the bottomles pit by couetousnes Againe Hunc vilissimum deum Priapum excolunt non pauci Idem ibidem sacerdotes moderni discipuli illius magni Angeli de quo loquitur Paulus 2. Cor. 12. Datus est mihi Angelus Satanae c. This most vile and filthy god Priapus not a few Priests of these dayes doe serue being the disciples of that great Angell of whom Paul speaketh 2. Cor. 12. The Angell of Satan was giuen vnto me c. Auentinus writing of Pope Hildebrand called Gregorie the seuenth who earnestly forbad Priests mariage saith Maxima pars sub honesto nomine castimoniae stupra incestus adulteria passim impunè committunt that is A great number of Priests vnder the honest name of chastitie committed euery where and without punishment Whoredome Inecst and adulteries Yea what other great mischiefes were committed he there declareth There is a treatise in the second tome of the Councels intituled Opusculum Tripartitum in the second part whereof are these words Tanta immunditia luxuriae notoria est in multis partibus mundi non solum in Clericis sed etiam in Sacerdotibus imo quod horribile est audire in praelatis maloribus that is So great vncleanenes is notorious in many parts of the world not onely in Clearks but also in Priests and that which is horrible to heare in great Prelates Panormitane who liued anno 1431. and was a great dooer in the Councell of Basile hauing shewed that the vow of continencie is not of the order of Priesthood nor holdeth by the lawe of God but is a constitution of the Church addeth these words Credo quod pro bono salute animarum c. I beleeue that it were a holesome ordinance for the good and saluation of soules to leaue it to their owne wils that would liue continently and merite more and that they which could not conteine might marrie because that experience doth teach that a cleane contrarie effect doth follow of that law of continencie for that now adaies they doe not liue spiritually nor be cleane but be defiled by vnlawfull copulation to their most grieuous sinne whereas they might liue chastly with their own wife as the Nicene Councell said Iohn Gerson in his time complained that some Cloysters of Nunnes were become stewes of strumpets and whores his words be these Rursus oculos aperite inquirite Si quae â—â—die Claustra monialium facta sunt quasi prostibula moretricum Mantuan the Carmelite Italian Frier who was an excellent learned man and liued an hundred yeeres past writing of this vow and the fruites thereof saith thus Propterea leges quae sunt connubia contra Esse malas quidam perhibent prudentia patrum Non satis aduertit dicunt quid ferre recuset Quid valeat natura pati ceruicibus aiunt Hoc insuaue iugum nostris imponere Christus Noluit istud onus quod adhuc quà m plurima monstra Fecit ab audaci dicunt pietate repertum Tutius esse volunt qua lexdiuina sinebat Isse via veterumque sequi vestigia patrum Quorum vita fuit melior cum conings quam nunc Nostra sit exclusis thalamis coniugis vsu Mantuan here sheweth first that many in those dayes misliked that law of vowing single life Secondly that it had bred many monsters that is to say such as for their wickednes did leade a monstrous life Thirdly that the life of the auncient Fathers that liued in mariage was better then of these which vowed chastitie Polidorus Virgilius an Italian and gatherer of the Popes Peter pense here in England writeth thus Illud tamen dixerim tantum abfuisso vt ista coacta castit as illam coniugalem vicerit c. Yet this I will say that this enforced chastitie is so farre from excelling that chastitie of mariage that no crime and sinne hath brought more shame to the order of Priesthood more euill to religion nor more griefe to all good men than that blot of the filthines of Priests Wherefore peraduenture it were expedient both for the Christian common wealth and the estate of that order of Priesthood that at the last the right of publike mariage were restored vnto Priests which they might holily vse without infamie rather then most filthily defile themselues with such a naturall vice Such a loosenes and filthines of life this doctrine of vowing chastitie and forsaking matrimonie hath brought forth whereof much more might be alleaged but this shall suffice Yet hereunto I will adde not onely their practise but also their doctrine of hauing Lupanaria stewes where whoredome is publikely permitted for the restoring of which Frier Perine preached at Paules Crosse in Queene Marier daies and D. Harding calleth them necessarie euils And if it were not the doctrine of the Church of Rome to allow them neither would they haue so long permitted them nor Sixtus the fourth would haue built Nobile Lupanar a noble Brothell house in Rome as before I alleaged out of Cornelius Agrippa In these places what filthines and incest and what murders were committed God knoweth and auncient men may somewhat remember God saith There shall be do whore of the daughters of Israel nor whore keeper of the sonnes of Israel Another doctrine of theirs tending to loosenesse and wickednesse of life is their doctrine of Popes pardons whereby they falsely faine that the Pope hauing the merites of Martyrs which they cal the treasure of the Church to dispense and bestow at his pleasure hee can pardon whatsoeuer sinne men haue committed and acquit and discharge them both à poena culpa that is from the sinne and punishment which is more by their doctrine then the death and passion of Christ can doe What miserable mischiefe hath flowed from these pelting pardons of Popes from which the ruine of their kingdome hath iustly proceeded I will
declare out of the words of the Princes and estates of Germanie in their 100. grieuances exhibited to the Popes Legate at Norenberg anno 1522. and printed at Colen anno 1533. In the third grieuance be these words Illud importabile tam olim increbuit Romanarum indulgentiarum onus c. That importable burden of Romish pardons hath now a long time increased when vnder pretence of pietie either for the building of Churches in Rome or that the Bishops of Rome promised avoyage against the Turke they sucked all the marrow of money from the simple and ouer eredulous Germanes And that which is much more to be regarded by these deceits and the publishers and Preachers of them the true godlines of Christians is abolished whilest they to broach the sale of these their buls and pardons giue praise vnto their wares that by these bought pardons great and strange offences both which be past and that are to come not onely of the liuing but also of the dead being in the fire of Pargatorie as these publishers of pardons call it be pardoned so that money be paide and that it tingle in their right hand And by the sale and merchandise of this ware both Germanie of money is spoyled and Christian godlines is extinguished when euery one according to the quantitie which he bestoweth vpon this ware doth take vnto himselfe libertie and impunitie to sinne Hence whoredome incest adulteries periurie murther theft robberies vsurre and an whole heape of mischiefes haue proceeded and taken their beginning For what mischiefes will men be afraid to commit when they be once perswaded that they obtaine by money of these brokers and pardoning pediers licence and impunitie to sinne not onely in this life but also after their death c. By these words it doth euidently appeare to what loosenes of life and manifold mischiefes this doctrine did tend which some Papists themselues confesse to haue no warrant of the Scriptures and other some affirme such pardons as be graunted for twentie thousand yeeres to be supersitious and foolish I might speake much of this matter but at this time I will conclude it with two sayings the one contained in a booke printed at Colen anno 1531. intituled Omio Ecclesiae wherein after great complaint of these pardons and of the wickednes that proceeded of them be these words Illi autem indulgentiarum buccinateres omnimodumpromittunt securitatem quae paritnegligentiam negligentia offensum Dei that is These publishers of pardons doe promise all manner of securitie which breedeth negligence and negligence the offence of God The other is in the treatise I named before in the second Tome of the Councels called Opusculum Tripartitum in these words Item habent breuia quae relinquunt in singulis parochijs in quibus continentur tot indulgentiae quod mir antur boni viri Si vnquam de conscientia Papae vel etiam alicuius boni viri potuerunt illa procedere that is They haue also briefes which they leaue in euery parish in which such pardons be graunted that good men doe maruell that euer they could proceede from the conscience of the Pope or of any good man The doctrine of the Popes dispensations to what loosenes and wickednes of life did it tend First hereby incest was committed as before I shewed how Pope Martin 5. gaue a dispensation to one to marrie his owne Sister Ferdinandus a King of Naples married his Annt and lately Maximilian the Emperors daughter was married to King Philip of Spaine her Vncle of whom he begat this present King These and many such other were not done without the Popes dispensation So Bonifacius a Bishop of Germanie in one Epistle to Pope Zacharie sheweth how a great man by the Popes dispensation maried his Vncles widow Fabian our English Chronicler who liued somewhat before Luther writeth that Charles the fift the French King did by the dispensation of Pope John 22. put away Blanch his wife because her mother was his Godmother and afterward was by the same Pope dispensed with to marrie his Cosin Germaine Many Kings by meanes of such dispensation bought of the Pope for money haue put away their lawful wiues married others as Vladistaus King of Hungary Ludauicus the 12. the French King c. Yea I am ashamed to expresse what a horrible sinne Pope Sixtus 4. did dispense with to be vsed in the hote moneths of Iune Iuly and August as writed Veselus Groningensis in his treatise of Pardons They did dispense to keepe as many Benefices as one could get so that Cardinals of Rome had some 200. some 300. Benefices as I haue out of Io. Gerson and Nicholaus Clemangis before declared Hereof also that learned Earle of Mirandula Io. Franc. Picu complained in an Oration to Pope Leo 10. in these words Sanctissime cauetur ne multa ab vno Saoerdotia quibus annexa sit animaruÌ„ cura possideantur dispensatio ita solet appellarâ— effecit vt iam non multa non plura sed innumera teneant multi qui ne diaconi quidem mererent ur officio defungi at eiusmodi rerum dissipationem non ego sed Bernardus tot ante seeâ—lis appellauit It was most godly prouided that one man should not haue many Benefices whereunto cure of soules is annexed But dispensation for so it is called hath brought to passe that many men haue not some and many but innumerable Benefices which are not worthie to execute the office of a Deacon This not I but Bernard many ages past called a dissipation Io. Gerson hauing made mention of Bernards complaint addeth these words Quid modo dicendum putabimus de tam facill vt appellant dispensatione per Papam Praelatos super iuramentis licitis super votis rationabilibus super immensa beneficiorum pluralitate super generali conciliorum non obstantia super priuilegiorum exemptionum commune ius priuantium concessione Quis omnia denumeraret per quae nune vigor ecclesiasticae imo Euangelicae disciplinae totus vere elanguit emareuit euanuit 1. What shal we think is to be said now of such easie dispensing by the Pope and Prelates concerning lawfull othes reasonable vowes infinite pluralitie of Benefices the generall infringing of Councels and the graunting of priuileges and exemptions which take away common rights Who can number vp all by which the whole strength of Ecclesiasticall and Euangelicall discipline is languished withered and perished Hereby it may sufficiently appeare what dissolution and loosenes of life hath proceeded from the doctrine of the Popes power in dispensing What great mischiefes and calamities haue comen of their doctrine concerning the Popes power in deposing Emperours Kings and Princes from their Crownes and dignities no pen can expresse nor any minde sufficiently conceiue Hereupon infinite bloudie battels haue beene fought Cities sacked Countries wasted and millions of people consumed As appeareth by y e histories
who was Deane of the Church of Mentz in Germanie in y e time of Charles the 4. about Anno 1370 in these words Recessit lex à sacerdotibus c. 1. The law is departed from Priests iustice from Princes counsell from the Elders faithfulnes from the people loue from parents reuerence from subiects charitie from Prelates religion from Monkes honestie from young man distipline from Clâ—rkes learning from teachers studie from schollers eqeitie from Iudges concord from Citizens feare from seruants fellowship from Countrimen truth from Marchants vertue from Noblemen chastitie from Virgins humilitie from widowes loue from the married and patience from the poore O times O maners most troublesome and miserable times reprobate and wicked maners both of the Clergie and of the people Here by this man others who so much accure our manners these times may see what hath bin the estate of the Church manners both of the Priests people heretofore when Poperie most florished therby may discerne with whom dissolution loosenes of life do most raigne The Pamphlet The Protestants make God the author of sinne the onely cause of sinne that man sinneth not that God is worse then the Diuell 5. Article WHosoeuer defendeth that God commaundeth perswadeth vrgeth impelleth to sinne maketh God the cause of sinne But all Protestants say that God commaundeth perswadeth vrgeth impelleth to sinne Ergo. The Protestants make God the cause and author of sinne The Maior I proue for if God perswade or impell men to sinne as for example Iudas to sell Christ Saint Peter to deny Christ the Iewes to crucifie Christ questionles he intended the sacriledge of Iudas the negation of Peter the murder of the Iewes and this much more effectually then Iudas Peter or the Iewes For who can resist his impulsion or who can frustrate his intention Voluntati eius quis resistet Who is able to oppose himselfe against his will yet what man is he that in conscience were not bound to conforme his will vnto the will of God who is the author of all good wills and the first rule and square of all regular wils Iudas Peter and the Iewes if they bad followed the motions of God who could haue blamed them for following him who could not erre in impelling nor sinne in perswading them But some will say that God moued them for a good end videlicet the redemption of man and they intended an ill end to wit Lucre reuenge or some other sinister effect Yet this shift will not salue the sore for euill may not be done that good may follow Non sunt facienda mala vt inde veniant bona For otherwise a man might steale to giue almes be drunke for a meriment commit aduontrie to beget children Moreouer why might not Iudas Peter or the Iewes intend that good end which God intended and yet haue sould denied and crucified Christ conforming their intentions to his they being instruments and he the first moouer Againe it cannot be said but that God indirectly and most effectually intended their sinnes for he that intendeth any effect wherewith another effect is necessarily conioyned consequently intendeth it as for example He that intendeth to burne a ship in the midst of the sea intendeth consequently the death of all the men which be in her In like manner if God intended that Iudas should sell Christ vnto which action sinne was necessarily adioyned consequently God intended the sinne as well as the selling The Minor is to too euident For the Protestants deride Gods permission they say that all his actions are energeticall or effectuall they desperately auer that Paules conuersion and Dauids aduoutrie were in like manner the workes of God And as he elected some to glorie before the preuision of workes so he reiected some from glorie before the preuision of sins Here hence I infer that according to the Protestants principles God is most properly the author of sinne because he impelleth most effectually thereunto Next that he is the only author of sinne for that he inforceth men vpon necessitie to sinne and they as instruments follow the motion of their first cause Againe that man sinneth not for where there is necessitie of sinning there is no sinne for sinne is free or no sinne besides how can man sinne in conforming his will with Gods will Finally God is worse then the diuell for that the wickednes of the diuell principally consisteth in moouing perswading and inducing of men to sinne the which by the Protestants confession God performeth more effectually then the diuell because the motions of God are more forcible and lesse resistable then the illusions or suggestions of the diuell Many sinnes moreouer are acted without the temptations of the diuell some of ignorance some of passion but none without the motions of God so that God is worse then the diuell both in causing a greater multitude of sinnes then the diuell and in the forcible manner of causing sinnes which the diuell cannot attaine vnto The which doctrine is as good a ground for Atheisme as euer hell could deuise for were it not much more reasonable to say there were no God at all then to beleeue there were such a God as commaundeth perswadeth vrgeth impelleth men to sinne and yet for the same sinnes will torment them with the inexplicable paines of hell Answere THis man sheweth himselfe to be like to the vnrighteous iudge who neither feared God nor reuerenced man or rather like him that is a slaunderer of Gods Saints and a lyar and the father of lies For the Minor or assumption of this syllogisme that all Protestants say that God commaundeth perswadeth vrgeth and impelleth men to sinne is as true as that is that Catholikes in England be wrapped in beares skinnes and cast vnto dogges to be deuoured which was published in Rome by a printed booke and set out in tables confirmed with Pope Gregorie the 13. priuiledge The which as all men know to be a false malitious slaunder to discredit our gracious Queenes mercifull and good gouernment so is this also to defame the teachers of Gods truth For if this man or any of his partners can proue that either all Protestants or any learned Protestant doth say that God commaundeth perswadeth vrgeth and impelleth to sinne then will I yeeld vnto him not onely in this but in all other matters of religion If this cannot be shewed as most certainly it cannot what a shameles man is this to vtter such a grosse and palpable lye as euen a blind man may as it were feele it with his fingers and in what miserable estate be those simple ignorant soules which credit such lying spirits But this is the iust iudgement of God against them that receiue not the loue of the truth that they might be saued to send them strong delusion that they should beleeue lies As touching the matter we beleeue with our hearts and confesse with our mouthes that
God tempteth no man to euill and sinne but euery man is tempted when he is drawne away by his owne concupiscence and is intised and that euery good gift and euery perfect gift is from aboue and commeth downe from the Father of lightes with whom is no variablenes neither shadow of turning Whereby Saint Iames meaneth that God is in such sort good and so the giuer and author of good things that there is no change or alteration with him and therefore is the giuer of all good gifts and graces and neuer of any euill And we say with the Prophet Dauid Thou art not a God that loueth or willeth wickednes neither shall euill dwell with thee And with Saint Iohn God is light and in him is no darkenes And as there is no darkenes that is to say ignorance and wickednes in God so is he not the author thereof neither doth he commaund perswade vrge or impell vnto it Fulgentius saith Iniquit as igitur quia in Deo non est vtique ex Deo non est that is Because iniquitie is not in God therefore it is not of God These blasphemies we deny and desie neither doe Caluine or Beza in the places by him quoted or any where else affirme them What is it then that they say They say that there is nothing done by any neither vniuersally nor particularly but by the ordinance of God no not those things excepted which be euill and to be detested not in as much as they be ordained of God who is alwaies good and iust but in as much as they be done by the diuell and other wicked instruments So that we say that the power and prouidence of God who maketh the light to shine out of darkenesse doth so cooperate and worke with the euill actions of wicked men and doth so direct them to the execution of his holy ordinance and iust iudgements that the same as they be done and directed by God be pure and holy and as they be committed of man be wicked and abominable Iosephs brethren did wickedly and of malice sell him into Aegypt for a slaue yet Ioseph saith God sent me before you to preserue your posteritie in this land and to saue you by a great deliuerance Now then you sent not me hither but God who hath made me a father vnto Pharaoh And againe When ye thought euill against me God disposed it to good Here God did neither commaund perswade nor impell Iosephs brethren to sell and send him into Aegypt yet his omnipotent hand was in that action to turne it vnto good So when the Chaldeans and Sabeans tooke away Iobs Oxen and Camels and slew his Seruants they were vrged and impelled thereunto by the diuell yet Iob saith God hath giuen and God hath taken blessed be the name of God To this spoiling of Iobs goods God did not commaund perswade vrge or impell the Chaldeans and Sabeans yet the same was not done without his prouidence and ordinance who turned the same to his glorie in prouing and purging Iob in the furnace of affliction in making him a paterne of patience to all posteritie and in teaching men thereby not to iudge of men by outward afflictions and aduersities whereunto both the faithfull and wicked he subiect So in the examples here set downe the diuell put into the heart of Iudas to betray Christ and impelled the Iewes to crucifie him yet he was deliuered to them by the determinate counsell and foreknowledge of God to doe whatsoeuer the hand and counsell of God had determined before to heldone Thus these things which were done against the will of God were not done as Saint Augustine saith beside or without the will of God that is they were done against the commaundement and will of God reuealed in his word yet not without the eternall purpose counsell and decree of God And the same being most wickedlie committed by man God turned and directed them to the endlesse praise of his mercie and the eternall saluation of his elect So Saint Augustine saith Cum ergo pater tradiderit filium suum ipse Christus Corpus suum Iudas Dominum suum cur in hac traditione Deus est pius homo reus nisi in re vna quam fecerunt causa non vna est ob quam fecerunt that is Whereas both the Father gaue his sonne and Christ gaue his owne bodie and Iudas gaue or betrayed Christ why in this giuing is God holy and man guiltie but that in one thing which they did there was not one and the same cause wherefore they did it This is not to doe euill that good may come of it for all actions as they are of God are good and righteous For if a good tree cannot bring forth euill fruite as our Sauiour Christ saith how much lesse can God who is the author of all goodnes and euen goodnes it selfe bring forth euill actions Neither doth God directly or effectually intend the sins of men nor their danation but his own glorie which shineth not onely in the manifestation of his mercie towards the faithfull and godly but also in the declaration of his iustice against the wicked and reprobate The similitude of intending the burning of a shippe and consequently the death of them that be in it will not here hold For God as I haue said before doth intend neither the sinne nor perdition of man but his owne glorie and the execution of his iust iudgements Your owne Angelicall Doctor Thomas Aquinas to the like similitude of drowning a ship answereth thus Ad tertium dicendum quod subuer sio nauis attributur nautae vt causae ex eo quod non agit quod requiritur ad salutem nauis sed Deus non deficit ab agendo quodest necessarium ad salutem inde non est simile i. To the third wee say that the drowning of a ship is attributed to the Marriner as the cause there of because he doth not that which is requisite for the safetie of the ship but God faileth not from doing that which is necessarie vnto saluation whereupon this is not like So in burning a ship malice in man is the cause thereof but there is no malice in God neither doth he desire the death of him that dieth but the execution of his iustice Yet it is true which Augustine saith Deus operatur in cord bus hominum ad inclinandas voluntates eorum quocunque vult siue ad bona pro sua misericordia siue ad mala pro ipsorum meritis iudicio vtique aliquando aperto aliquando occulto semper autem iusto i. God worketh in the hearts of men to incline their wils to whatsoeuer he will either to good things by his mercie or to euill for their deserts by his iudgment which sometime is open and sometime secret but alwaies iust And which Fulgentius saith Deus licet auctor non sit
charity then was Dauids procuring of Vrias death by the sword of the Ammonites But notwithstanding these and such other tragicall and tyrannicall acts these Popes faith neuer failed For they neuer had any but a false and dead faith such a faith as the Diuell hath The Pamphlet The Protestants shall neuer haue life euerlasting because they will haue no merits for which euerlasting life is giuen 7. Article WHatsoeuer is giuen as wages is giuen for workes But the kingdome of Heauen is giuen as wages Ergo the kingdome of Heauen is giuen for workes The Maior or first proposition may bee declared after this manner for example her maiestie may bestow 1000. pounds by yeare vpon some suiter either gratis of meere liberalitie and so it is called a gift donum a grace or fauour or vpon condition if he behaue himselfe manfully in the warres of Ireland and in this case the reuennew is called merces wages Remuneratio stipendium a reward or paiment and although her maiestie did shew him a grace and fauour to promise such a reward for performing such a worke the which he was bound vpon his allegiance otherwise to performe yet once hauing promised and the worke being performed her maiestie is bound vpon her fidelitie and iustice to pay that she promised In like manner God may giue vs the kingdome of Heauen without any respect or regard of workes as he giueth it to little children which are baptised and so it is a meere gift and a pure grace Or he may giue it with some respect vnto our workes and so he giueth it to all them who hauing vse of discretion keepe his commaundements and for this cause it is called wages merces a reward and thus the Maior must be vnderstoode to wit that whatsoeuer God giueth as wages is giuen for workes and such wages are called merits Wages then and merits haue a mutuall relation for what are wages but a reward of merits and what are merits but a desert of wages The Minor is most plaine and inculcated in Scriptures Voca operarios redde illis mercedem Call the workmen and pay them their wages Ecce venio merces mea mecum est reddere vnicuique secundum opera sua Loc I come and my wages with me to giue to euery one according to his workes Vnusquisque propriam mercedem accipiet secundum suum laborem Euery one shall receiue proper wages according to his labour The like we haue in twentie other places of Scripture all which infallibly proue that the kingdome of heauen is giuen as wages for merits and consequently that Protestants who are enemies to merits shall neuer attaine to the kingdome of heauen which is purchased by good workes and merits And for such men we may well say that heauen was neuer made no more then learning for him that will neuer studie nor vertue for him who despiseth the exercise thereof Answere A euerlasting life is not in your bestowing so we want not merites to obtaine it to wit Gods mercies and Christs sufferings for vs with the which wee content our selues and nothing doubt but they be sufficient to discharge vs of damnation and to bring vs to saluation Of these merits sweetly saith Bernard Meum proinde meritum miseratio Domini c. My merit is Gods mercie I am not cleane voide of merite as long as he is not voide of mercies And if the mercies of the Lord be much I am much in merits What though I be guiltie to my selfe of many sinnes Surely where sinne hath abounded grace also hath superabounded And if the mercies of the Lord be from euerlasting to euerlasting I will also from euerlasting sing the mercies of the Lord. Shall I sing my owne iustice O Lord I will remember thy iustice onely for that is mine also in that thou art of God made iustice to me So Augustine saith Meritis suis nihil tribuunt sancti totum non nisi misericordiae tuae tribuunt ô Deus i. The Saints attribute nothing to their own merits they attribute all O God onely to thy mercie Hierome saith Tunc ergo iusti sumus quando nos peccatores fatemur iustitia nostra non ex proprio merito sed ex Det consistit misericordia i. Then are wee iust when wee acknowledge our selues to be sinners and our iustice or righteousnes consisteth not in our merits but in Gods mercie S. Basil saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. i. Eternall rest or life is propounded to them that striue lawfully in this life not rendred according to the merite or desert of workes but according to the grace of the magnificēt God bestowed vpon them that trust in him But these counterfeit Catholicks not content therewith nor thinking the same sufficient will put vnto them the merits of Saints departed and of men liuing and their owne workes and satisfactions thereby fully to effect that which Gods mercies and Christs merits are not able perfectly to performe This their doctrine appeareth both by their prayers in their Masse-bookes and Porteises and also by the forme of a Monkes absolution in these words Meritum passionis Domini nostri Iesu Christi bonta Maria semper Virginis omnium sanctorum Meritum ordinis grauamen religionis c. i. The merite of the passion of our Lord Iesus Christ and of blessed Mary alwaies a Virgine and of all Saints The merite of thy order the heauines of thy religion the humilitie of thy confession the contrition of thy heart the good workes that thou hast done and shalt doe for the loue of our Lord Iesus Christ be vnto thee for the forgiuenes of thy sinnes to the increase of merite and grace and to the reward of eternall life Thus these men by their doctrine make Iesus Christ not a full perfect and sufficient Sauiour and so infringe the saying of S. Peter There is not saluation in any other for among men there is giuen none other name vnder heauen whereby wee must be saued What is this but to deny the Lord that hath bought vs as Peter also saith Whether this doctrine be agreeable to the word of God let the Christian reader by these places discerne and iudge Christ came to giue his life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a raunsome for many He is that lambe of God which taketh away the sinne of the world In him we haue redemption through his blood that is the forgiuenes of sins He hath made peace by the blood of his crosse and hath reconciled vs in the bodie of his flesh through death We are not redeemed with corruptible things as siluer and gold from our vaine conuersation receiued by the traditions of the Fathers but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lambe vndefiled and without spot He himselfe bare our sinnes in his bodie on the tree that wee being dead to sinne should liue in
righteousnes by whose stripes we are healed The blood of Iesus Christ his sonne clenseth vs from all sinne Hee hath loued vs and washed vs from our sinnes in his blood and made vs Kings and Priests vnto God his father As these places attribute our iustification and saluation onely to Iesus Christ and his merits so others doe detract and take the same from our workes and deseruings To him that worketh not but beleeueth in him that iustifieth the vngodly his faith is counted for righteousnes If it be of grace it is no more of workes or else were grace no more grace but if it be of workes it is no more grace or else were worke no more worke By grace ye are saued through faith and that not of your selues It is the gift of God not of workes least any man should glorie Who hath saued vs and called vs with an holy calling not according to our workes but according to his purspose and grace c. Not by the workes of righteousnes which we had done but according to his mercie he saued vs. Although this which I haue said may seeme sufficient to answere this article yet I will say something to this syllogisme To the Maior or first proposition I answere that with men wages is giuen for workes but with God whose thoughts are not as our thoughts nor waies as our waies it is otherwaies Man may do labour and seruice to man which may merit and deserue by equitie and iustice wages and reward For that there may be a proportion betweene the seruice and reward and also a benefit and commoditie commeth to him to whom the seruice is done As in this example here alleaged the Lord Deputie or some other may doe some such singular seruice in Ireland that if her Maiestie should bestow vpon him 1000. pound a yeere he might in some proportion deserue it and her Maiestie may receiue double benefit by it But can wee doe any workes that can either merit and deserue the kingdome of God or bring any benefit vnto God Dauid saith My weldoing extendeth not to thee And as S. Paul saith that all the afflictions of this present life are not worthie of the glorie that shall be shewed vnto vs so may I say that all our imperfect and stained workes are not worthie of the kingdome of God which we haue not deserued but Iesus Christ by his death and passion hath purchased for vs. Can a bond seruant by any seruices looke to deserue an earthly kingdome and can we which are bond seruants to God in respect both of creation and of redemption looke to deserue the kingdome of God Christ our Sauiour saith Doth he thanke that seruant because hee did that which was commaunded vnto him I trow not So likewise ye when ye haue done all things which are commaunded you say we are vnprofitable seruants we haue done that which was our dutie to doe If he that hath done all things which were commaunded must confesse himselfe to be an vnprofitable seruant how much more must wee confesse our selues to be vnprofitable seruants who haue both omitted many things commaunded and committed many great and grieuous sinnes prohibited So saith Hierome Si inutilis est qui fecit omnia quid de illo dicendum est qui explere non potuit .i. If hee be vnprofitable that hath done all what is to be said of him that could not fulfill all Therefore wee are not to trust in our owne merits but in Gods mercie which importeth our miserie and not worthines But for the proofe of your Minor you alleage the saying of our Sauiour Christ Call the labourers and giue them their wages I graunt that God doth giue to them that labour in his vineyard a reward which is called wages because it followeth pietie and good workes as outward wages followeth labour But that this heauenly wages is not deserued by our workes as that other is by our labour it euidently appeareth by that parable where they that had wrought but one houre receiued as much as they did which had borne the burden and heate of the day Which sheweth that this reward came of grace and not of merit and so S. Ambrose doth expound it Non labori praemium soluens sed diuitias bonitatis suae in eos quos sine operibus eligit effundens vt etiam hij qui in multo labore sudarunt nec amplius quam nouissimi acceperunt intelligant donum se gratiae non operum accepisse mercedem i. Not paying a reward vnto our labour but powring foorth the riches of his goodnes vpō them whom he hath chosen without works that they also which in great labour haue toyled and haue receiued no more then the last may know that they haue receiued a gift of grace and not a wages of workes To your other places Apocal. 20. 12. and 1. Cor. 3. 8. I say with S. Paul that God will reward euery man according to his workes but not for the merite and desert of their workes To them that continuing in well doing seeke glorie honour and immortalitie hee will giue euerlasting life and vnto them that are contentious and disobey the truth and obey vnrighteousnesse shall be indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish vpon the soule of euery man that doth euill But you will say why is not euerlasting life the wages of good workes as euerlasting death is of euill workes and sinnes I answere that our euill workes be simply euill and being transgressions of Gods righteous law offend his infinit maiestie prouoke his infinit wrath and deserue infinit paine and punishment But our workes are not simply and perfectly good but be imperfect and are stained with the corruption of our finfull nature as I haue before declared and therefore cannot satisfie Gods infinit iustice nor pacifie his infinit anger nor deserue his infinit glorie but rather require Gods great mercie as hath been shewed And therefore Saint Paul in the sixt to the Romanes hauing said that the wages of sinne is death doth not say which had been most meete to haue been said if this pharisaicall doctrine were true the wages of good workes is eternall life but hee saith the gift of God is eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord as also Oecumenius doth wel obserue You confidently affirme that the Protestants who are enemies to merits shall neuer attaine to the kingdome of Heauen which is purchased by good workes and merits Where first I would aduise you to take heede that you be not brethren to those old heretikes called Hieraclitae to whom Saint Augustine doth ascribe this as an heresie that they denied infants to appertaine to the kingdome of Heauen because they had no merits His words bee these Hieraclitae ad regnum coelorum non pertinere paruulos dicunt quia non sunt eis vlla merita certaminis quo vitia superentur i. The Hieraclites say that infants