de vita contempl wee need no encouragement in this kind for wee haue bought truth already then I haue nothing to say but this euermore defend it with your tongue and penne and if need bee seale it with your blood euer more adorne it with the holinesse and integrity of your liues that so when this life shall bee changed into a better you may with soules full of truth the more comfortably come into the presence of the God of truth to whom Father sonne and holy ghost bee ascribed all glory and praise now for euer FINIS IAMES I. VER 16. Doe not erre my beloued brethren IF error were only the disease of the ignorant it might reasonably bee said vnto me Physition heale thine owne country flocke come not hither where various learning hath provided sufficient preseruatiues against this euill or if this malady of the soule might be cured by a bare information of the vnderstanding the matter more conueniently might bee left to your publicke schooles or priuate studies then brought vp into your pulpit but since experience abundantly teacheth that the most dangerous and troublesome errors haue had their birth and breeding amidst the tongues and pens of men famed for their wit learning and since the affections which many times are as inordinate in the greatest clerks as the simplest Idiots doe though very irregularly I confesse too too oft lead the vnderstanding I could not take it so misbeseeming a worke for a preacher who hath so much to doe with the ordering of mens affections to take in hand this subiect in this place let mee then once more Reuerent Fathers beloued brethren venture vpon your patience and as heretofore I haue from that wise king invited you to buy the truth Prov. 23.23 so suffer mee now from this holy Apostle advise you to fly error A thing if yet I can entitle it to entity well worth our speediest flying from it or chasing it from vs. Errorem definirefacilius quam finire Aug. lib. 1. contra Academicos cap. 4. For if wee define error which is sooner defined then finished said Licentius what is it but a pittifull deformity incongruity betwixt our vnderstanding and the things which God and nature haue established For as it is the iustice of truth to consider euery thing as indeed it is herein nobly doing right to the first truth God the fountaine of that setled being which things haue so on the contrary iniurious error is a false witnes-bearer against God reporting otherwise of things then God made them or then hee would haue them to bee apprehēded by vs either fastning vpon things what belongs not to them or denying to them what doth Alas how haue we lost God and the tracks of things as he hath left them to vs yea how haue wee lost our selues and the indowments wherewith wee were trusted For whereas reason was bestowed vpon vs to be a lamp whereby we might discerne betwixt truth and that which is the shadow thereof error hath put out this light and so deprived vs of that which is the soule of the soule to vse Philo his words euen as the apple is the eye of the eye De mundi opificio Philosophers speake of a naturall appetite which the soule of euery man hath to know what is true in things therefore howsoeuer there may be found thousands that most gladly would deceiue others scarce one among them would willingly be deceiued himselfe Yet I know not how error hath somewhat dulled this appetite I am sure it cannot satisfie it but frustrates the honest desires of the soule and insteed of her due meate feeds her either with incertaine opinions which breed crude and vndigested tenents in the iudgement or else with certaine falshood the very poyson of the minde Nor is error only dangerous to the first harborers of it but like the plauge it runns from man to man no man almost being content to erre to himselfe but hath a longing to transmit his erronious conceits to others as it appeareth in all Hereticks But the malignity of error is neuer of greater force then when it lighteth into men of our calling for when we haue once lost part of our priestly pectorall Exod 28.30 our vrim our light of true doctrine and haue clad our selues in the darke hue of falshood wee conueigh our fashion vnto multitude of soules and cannot perish alone By this you see the perrill and cannot but welcome our Apostles admonition calling you from it But then is an admonition in this kinde so much the more to be heeded the fouler the error is concerning which the warning is giuen Such a one is this which Saint Iames meanes for if you will surveigh the verses bordering vpon my text you shall finde him labouring to root that impiously absurd conceit out of mens minds that God is a sollicitor and temptor to sinne The diuell greedy after the destruction of soules was it seems impatient of any long delay ere hee wrought his feates and therefore not tarrying vntill the Gospell of our Sauiour were generally planted and strongly rooted in mens hearts by the preaching of the apostles hee very early began to sow his tares where the Lords first husband men had cast in their good seed Nay so diligent was the malice of Satan in his hireling Simon Magus the Patriarch of hereticks that the Apostles were prevented Haeretic Fabul compend de Simone for as Theodoret writeth when he had quitted Samaria he trauelled into diuers parts where the Apostles had not preached forestalling as he went along the mindes of men with his detestable impostures that the doctrine of Apostolicall teachers might wholly bee shut out or enter with greater difficulty now among his pestilentiall errors Aduers haereses cap. 24. that was one as Vincentius testifieth that God the creator was author of the euills euen of sinne an impiety which wanted not abettors in all ages For besides Simon Cerdon Marcion Florinus in the first times and the Manichees with the Priscillianists afterwards euen our present age hath afforded that impure sect of the Libertines fouly guilty that way It is probable that some in the Apostles time had drunk of Simons cuppe which might moue Saint Iames to giue caveats to his schollers that they erre not in this point Howsoeuer we deeme of the occasion moving him to write his admonition is so much the waightier the more grieuous the error which hee speakes of is an error primae magnitudinis of the biggest size For if God be an author of or a tempter to sinfull euill if wee cannot bee content to say that he permits offences but will haue him to necessitate them if wee cannot rest satisfied with that truth that God doth in his infinit wisdome make vse of the wicked wills of his creatures to his owne glory but wee will further say that hee makes their wills so wicked if when men are read to be
desires of the minde vitiat and rauish the vnderstanding and beget diuers errors how should not such be pestered with these mishapen bratts in whom vnbridled sinfull affections keepe a standing court and whose whole life is an habituated vitiousnesse Nor is it nothing to our purpose that wee may obserue those grand masters of error the hereticks in all ages for the most part haue beene ill mannered men such in whom the distempers either of the concupiscible or irascible part of the soule haue beene eminent St Paule prophecying of the last perilo us times shewes that men shall bee selfe amorous 2 Tim. 3.1.2.3.4.5.6.8.13 couetous boasters what not afterwardes declares that of this rotten timber should teachers of falshood be made deceiuing being deceiued resisting the truth as Iannes and Iambres did Moses nor can I thinke that alwaies the heresies of these men did produce their vitiousnesse but rather that the vitiousnesse of these men did thrust them vpon their heresies They were first men of corrupt mindes and then reprobate concerning the faith as the Apostle orders his description and surely if wee take a list of the present errors of the Church of Rome which wee most condemne it were no hard matter to finde out their genealogy and shew that the greatest part of their false doctrines and bad practises come as it were out of the loines of couetousnesse or ambition or licentiousnesse If then we would not fall backe into the same or plunge our selues into as bad errors wee must take heed of certaine vitious humors affections the accustomed originalls of false opinions in matters of religion the chiefe whereof I shall name vnto you And first omitting to charge that natuall flatnes and dulnesse of spirit in some which I had rather commiserat there is a voluntary sluggishnesse and affected lazinesse of the minde which cannot but expose a man to error for since error easily followes an ignorance of the truth and since truth doth commonly keepe so much state as not to reveale her selfe to any but those who studiously seeke her this slouthfull and negligent fort of men must needs misse her and fall into error since they will not take the paines of diligent inquiry into things there is naturally in all of vs a cloudines and foggy darknesse of ignorance and nothing will so much thicken it in our breasts as this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isdor Pelusiot ep lib. 3. epist 191. this spiritlesse and languishing sloth of the minde if the soule be of neuer so rich mettall idlenesse will fennew and rust it and make it vnseruiceable in the warre we haue against error Obserue the inclinations of these men and see if they bee not worthy to be mistaken out of a loue they haue to ease their owne vnderstanding and to giue the powers both of body and soule some rest in the questions o religion they accept them with ready faith as they are stated by others reputed learned or as they are vulgarly held 1 Thess 5.21 1 Ioh. 4.1 as for that aduice of the Apostle St Paule proue all things and hold that which is good or that of St Iohn try the spirits whether they are of God it is with them too cumbersome and tedious a businesse but while they giue this prone assent to assertions and will not take the paines to examine them while they thus haue made an absolute resignation of their iudgements to the braines and faith of others and thinke it reason inough to beleeue their elders in time or betters in place though they speake without reason Lord whether will these be carried into what pitte of error may they not quickly fall Since it may be their lucke not to meet with the best leaders and the leaders of these beare their faith along with them To this mischiefe men are not alwaies subiect whose capacities are not great or whose vnderstanding is yet in its minority but euen free and able men put themselues into the hazard Minutius in Octavio to liue the more easily and idly taedio investigandae penitus veritatis cuilibet opinioni temerè potiùs succumbere malunt quà m in explorando pertinaci diligentiâ perseuerare as hee said not amisse in the dialogue of Minutius Faelix out of a wearinesse to search deepely into truth they had rather rashly I may say basely fall into the hands of any opinion then perseueringly indure the paines of a thorough enguiry But I dismisse these The next sort of men most obnoxious to error are of a more elate and lofty spirit Act. 8.9 Simon Mangus consorts that would haue himselfe thought to bee some great one as it is in the acts and all antiquity proclaimes his pride a malady discouered by St Paule in the sixt chapter of his first epistle to Timothy 1. Tim. 6.4 2 Pet. 2.10 and by Saint Peter in his second epistle and second chapter thereof in the fase teachers and seduced seducers of their time and we may not wonder if the man that is possessed with the spirit of pride be carried into errors if wee shall obserue his manners and garbe a little For first whereas there is nothing that doth cast a sooner or thicker mist before the vnderstanding then an opinionate dotage vpon our selues this arrogant man setts too high a price vpon himselfe and his owne abilities and whether his pride be conioined with ignorance or learning as 't is hard to say which is the more vnlucky coniunction he is confident he erres not and so indeed drawes neerer to error the winde of pride hurting his eyesight this man casts a scorne vpon what so euer elder times or riper iudgements can shes him contrary to that which he hath conceited Nectorius boasted Saram scripturam seprimum Vincent Lyrin cap. 42. solum intelligere he first and alone vnderstood the scriptures and all other Doctors before him meere Ignaroes hee deserued to erre that would be wise alone Thus a proud man as if all the light were in himselfe disdaines the soclety of other mens iudgements of which branne are those of our times with whom saucily herein leuelling God with themselues 1000 yeares are but as Ps 90.4 yesterday no regard had by them to Godly antiquity and the constant iudgement of the Church in the best ages thereof and what may wee thinke of their spirit by whom the most renowned diuines of our present times to whom the happy reformation of our Church next vnder God is so much indebted à re sleightned and cast off as tribolary writers I doe not say but that there are blemishes of iudgement in the auntient and errors may be found in our moderne worthies and I account it a seruility vnworthy of free and generous Christians to mancipat our vnderstandings to the iudgement of others which may carry vs into errors as soone as any other thing as I haue already noted I onely call for so much modesty and good
hardned by God wee will pronounce that hee doth it not only by witholding grace but infusing mallice if when wee speake of Gods concurring with euery worke of his creature wee will not distinguish the action it selfe from the obliquity but promiscuously entitle God to both Lord what confusion will there be in all things let the pale betwixt iust and vniust holy and prophane be pull'd downe For if God solicit and impell men to evill when I sinne I sin not for why should it be my fault to bee lead by God nay this confounds God and the diuell makeing them all one then which what more horrid blasphemy can be conceaued And as for the attributes of God which are indeed himselfe not one of them can stand with any honor if this error bee not demolished for how is he goodnesse it selfe if such streames of euill doe flow from him how is he all power when he is the parent of defects and impotencies What iustice is it to punish those crimes which he himselfe makes and plague in another his owne fault and if he encline yea driue a man to sinne that so afterwards he may shew his mercy in remitting it Aug. alas as that father saith it is but a maleuolent good will to make any one miserable to appeare himselfe mercifull A more sacrilegious indignity against God cannot bee offered then by this abominable error not is there any more pernitious to humane society For it erects a prophane sanctuary for all offenders euery one sheltring his iniquity vnder the authority patronage of God himselfe There is in man a naturall humour not to owne his offences and he is glad if he can translate them vpon another this error affords the boldest shift when it proposeth God the author of and mouer to sinns none if this doctrine were currant but would freely and riotously offend when they haue not fault but necessity yea diuine authority to charge in whatsoeuer they doe This I speake to discouer the waight of the Apostles admonition who giues warning in a matter of great importance this error not only grating vpon but casting downe the very foundation of all religion But although our Apostle hath especiall reference to this one particular most impious error yet there is no doubt In locum but as Paraeus rightly comments the admonition here giuen extends to our auoidance of all other foule errors about the doctrines of faith For if wee bee vntoucht of this falshood there are besides this many others iniurious to God and dangerous to soules wherewith if wee are likely to be tainted our Apostles watch-word is still in force Erre not my beloued brethren Let me then taking my text in its iust latitude enter into that wherevnto I haue destinated my meditations for this place and time which is to lay downe a course how wee may recouer others and preserue our selues form errors in religion that so this monitory speech of out Apostle may take effect among vs. And of this as God the hower and your patience will permit Concerning our recouery of others faln into error though herein much may bee said yet in this scantnesse of time it will be thriftiest for me to obserue only our Apostles method herein first wee must haue a care as well to instruct them as condemne them so doth Saint Iames who together with his cry Nolite errare vseth very powerfull arguments drawne from the nature of God and the true causes of sinne whereby hee proues that God cannot be a tempter to euill as reading the chapter you shall perceiue And indeed it cannot be but a fruitlesse imperiousnesse to command a man not to erre not teach him with all the folly of his error what reasons there are to withstand it and here I cannot but dislike the course taken vp by some of our calling who sometimes in the pulpet doe with greater eagernes of passion inveigh against popish errors then soundnesse of iudgement and choice of arguments refute them this rather advantageth then reformeth falshood putting this frump into our aduersaries mouths wee see a will rather then a power in our opposits to convince vs of error for we heare much noise little reason and who are they that we should credit them vpon their bare words and weake assertion only but this is a fault most seene in the country and therefore not to bee insisted on in this place A second direction is afforded from the curteous language of Saint Iames in our text the matter which he confutes comes not short of blasphemy yet the Apostle abstaines from that harsher terme and molifies that had opinion into the gentler name of error and now hee calls from this error he salutes his schollers after a milde louing manner Erre not beloued brethren If we could doe any good vpon others errors this behauiour is of all others the most winning to come to the handling of our brethrens sores with brotherly minds full of loue and compassion Aseruant of the Lords especially he that doth the Lords service in freeing mens soules from error 2. Tim. 2.24.25 Must be as Saint Paule describes him gentle to all men apt to teach patient in meeknesse instructing those that oppose themselues if God peraduenture will giue them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth and surely great reason we haue to shew humanity to humane errors remembring how difficult a matter it is for poore ignorant men so euery way beset with the snares of error to escape all danger yea not forgetting that wee our selues are but men and may possibly haue as great staines in our iudgement as those wee would expunge in others how soeuer by dealing with our brethren after a faire mild demenaour wee shall render them more docile and tractable it being the nature of many to lend a more patient eare to those of whom they haue an opinion that they proceed in loue the mind delights rather to follow then to be lead and rather to be lead then drawne violence making it the more contumatious it fares with him that hath put on error as it did with him in the Apoloag whom the sunne fairely and serenely shining vpon might haue woode to cast off his cloake which the blustering winde made him to keepe closer on and surely there are some that if gently admonished will both reuerence their instructer and embrace his advice but if ouer roughly and smartingly handled Salvian will rather be exasperated then reformed facti sunt ingesta acrius veritate peiores they are made worse by a truth too too eagerly put vpon them They seeme then smally acquainted with the discretion of admonishers or condition of humane nature who fly into the face of their erring brethren with biting inuectiues and rigorous punishments as if it were all one to raile and convince condemne and teach or as if it were a brauer thing for Christians to imploy power then loue in the correcting of