to which the notes aboue specified doe agree Secondly he reasoneth thus The true and certaine notes whereby the Church is knowen are inseparable but there may be true Churches that hold not the entire and sincere profession of supernaturall trueths revealed in Christ therefore this profession is no note of the Church That there may bee true Churches without the entire sincere profession of the trueth of God appeareth by the examples of the Churches of Corinth Galatia and other to whom Paul wrote and gaue them the titles and names of the Churches of God and yet they erred in the matter of the resurrection and the necessity of the law of Moyses to be ioyned with the Gospel To the minor proposition of this argument we answere by a double distinction the first taken out of Stapleton that a multitude or company of Christians may be said to bee a true Church either onely because it hath the true nature essence of a Church or because besides that it hath all those things that pertaine to the integritie and plenitude thereof The second that there is a double sincerity and puritie of the profession of the trueth of God reuealed in Christ the first free from all damnable fundamentall and pertinacious errour the other from all errour whatsoever The former is an inseparable note of the true Church For there is no being of a Church to bee found where that sincerity and puritie of profession is not The later is a note of a pure and perfect Church and is inseparably proper vnto it So that proportionably sincerity and purity of profession is alwayes inseparably proper to the Church Absolute to the Church that is absolutely perfect and in an inferiour degree and sorte to that which is in any sorte a Church For seeing as Stapleton rightly affirmeth the true faith is the life of the Church it cannot be the true Church that pertinaciously erreth in the substance and maine grounds of the faith What is a fundamentall errour what that pertinacie that cannot be found in the true Church of God I will then make manifest when I come to speake of the nature of Schisme and Heresie His third reason hee proposeth in this sort Notes of the Church must be proper to the Church and such things as are not to bee found in any societie or companie of men besides but this sincerity and soundnesse of profession may bee found in other societies and companies of men besides namely amongst Schismatikes as appeared in the Luciferians and some others in the beginning of their schisme though for the most part the better to iustifie their schismaticall separation they adde heresie to schisme To the Maior proposition of this argument we answere that the notes of the Church are of two sorts either absolute full and perfect generally differencing and distinguishing it from all other societies whatsoeuer or onely from some certaine Those notes that absolutely generally distinguish the Church from all other societies and companies whatsoeuer are so peculiar to the true Church that they are not found any where else but they which doe distinguish it but onely from certaine are proper onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and respectiuely that is so that they are not found in any of those things from which they doe distinguish it Notes of the former sort are all those three things iointly concurring whereof I spake in the beginning to wit entire profession of sauing trueth and right vse of sacraments and vnion vnder lawfull Pastours These iointly cannot bee found among Pagans Iewes Heretikes Schismatikes nor any other seduced or misseled people whatsoeuer But the entire profession of sauing trueth singly and by it selfe is a note distinguishing the Church from Infidels Heretikes onely and so is not absolutely but respectiuely proper to the true Church so farre foorth that it is not found in any of these Fourthly he reasoneth that puritie of profession can be no note of the Church for that absolute puritie is not necessarily required to the being of the Church for that the Church may bee without it and that other purity free from essentiall and fundamentall errour is no note for that it doth not distinguish the Church from Heretikes For there haue beene and may be Heretikes which erre not in any matter directly fundamentall But who seeth not that hee reasoneth sophistically from an imperfect diuision of the puritie of the Churches profession For there are three sorts of it the first absolute and that is not necessarily required in the being of the Church the second free from fundamentall and essentiall errour and that is necessarily required in the Church and company of right beleeuers but it is not peculiar to it for it may bee found among Heretikes and a third free from pertinacious errour and that is euer found in the true Church and neuer among Heretikes It is this last kind of puritie of profession which wee make a note of the Church Lastly hee endeauoureth to improoue the notes assigned by vs for that notes must not onely bee inseparable and peculiar but they must be such as may not be challenged or pretended by any other As if he should thus say I may not direct my man to seeke out one whom I desire to speake with beeing in company with two or three more by this note that hee is the tallest man of the company though euidently he bee so if any one of the rest foolishly imagine himselfe as tall or taller Or by wearing a garment of some certaine colour or die because some one or other not exactly distinguishing the diversities of colours may thinke himselfe to haue the like But saith he they must be so proper that no other must pretend or challenge them with any probabilitie This likewise is false euen in the notes which himselfe bringeth for who knoweth not that the Grecians others pretend Antiquitie Succession Vniversality and the like aswell as the Church of Rome and that not without all probabilitie Thus wee see how weakely this great Champion hath performed that which he vndertooke CHAP. 4. Of Stapletons reasons against our notes of the Church LEt vs see if Stapleton quitte himselfe any better His first reason is taken from the vncertainety of our doctrine in this sorte The doctrine of the Protestants is most vncertaine doubtfull and full of contradiction therefore they doe vnaduisedly make trueth of doctrine a note of the Church for the notes of the Church must be constant and perpetuall The Antecedent of this Argument We reiect as most false and calumnious For the whole course of our doctrine is most constant and certaine as shall appeare by that which followeth That which hee alleadgeth that we agree not touching the nature qualitie and members of the Church is sufficiently refuted by that which I haue already deliuered touching that matter in the former part Secondly he reasoneth from our confession for saith he Calvin and Melancthon
acknowledge these notes to be vncertaine This who so taketh a view of the places cited by him shall finde to be most false Calvine indeede saith that not the bare preaching of the trueth but the receiuing imbracing and professing of it is necessary to the being of the Church but touching the vncertainety of these notes he saith nothing That which hee obiecteth that wee make the Church to bee onely the number of the elect and that therefore it cannot bee knowen by these notes is answered in the refutation of Bellarmines first reason His third allegation is this There are many that doe truely pertaine to the Church to whom these notes agree not therefore they are no notes of the Church The Antecedent wee denie Hee prooueth it out of our owne doctrine Many not yet called pertaine to the Church but these notes agree not to such therefore there are many to whom these notes agree not which yet pertaine to the Church To the maior proposition we answere thus Of them that pertaine to the Church there are two sorts For some pertaine to it actually some potentially onely and according to the purpose of Gods will To both these these notes agree but in different sort and maner To them that are actually of the Church they actually agree For they doe presently make profession of the trueth of God and ioyne with the people in the vse of holy Sacraments appointed by him To them that potentially and according to the purpose of Gods will pertaine to the Church as doe all the elect not yet outwardly called these notes agree onely potentially and according to the purpose of Gods will for that in due time they shall come to the knowledge and profession of the trueth and vse of those happy meanes of saluation which others actually enioy His fourth obiection that the entire profession of the trueth agreeth to schismatikes is answered already being likewise obiected by Bellarmine Fiftly he reasoneth thus The trueth of heauenly doctrine and right vse of Sacraments are no notes of the Church because they doe not shew vs which is the Church We answere that they doe hee prooueth they doe not because the true Church is knowne of vs before wee can know any of these This we denie For we say a man must know which is true doctrine and what is the right vse of Sacraments before he can know which is the true Church This he thinketh impossible because wee seeke to learne the trueth of the Church and therefore wee must in the beginning of our enquirie knowe which is the true Church and where assuredly trueth is found or else our whole search and enquiry is doubtfull vncertaine and often without successe For the clearing of this doubt we must obserue that seeking is a motion of the mind desiring to knowe where a thing is or what it is Hee that desireth to know where a thing is either knoweth the place within compasse whereof he is sure it is or else his search is doubtfull vncertaine and often in vaine What a thing is we desire to know either by our owne discourse or by the instructions or directions of another Hee that seeketh after a thing desiring to know it by the directions of another either knoweth not particularly and certainely of whom to enquire with assurance that from him he shall receiue satisfaction and this kinde of search and enquirie is alwayes doubtfull and often without successe Or else he knoweth particularly of whom to enquire with assurance of resolution and satisfaction Now if we apply this which hath beene said to that which Stapleton alleadgeth we shall easily answere his obiection For when Infidels and men wholly ignorant of the trueth of God beginne first to seeke it they doe not knowe certainely where they may finde it and being left to themselues would often seeke in vaine as he saith but being directed by diuine providence and the helpe of others to the true Church which they know not and beeing taught by her they are established in the perswasion of the truth taught by her in such sort as they make no doubt of it and are farther resolued that that must needes be the Church of God and company of them whom he loueth where these truthes are in such sort knowne and taught as they find them to be there It is therefore vntrue that Stapleton saith that the Church is better and sooner knowen then the doctrine of it For the doctrine is in some sort knowen before we can know the Church that teacheth vs. For euen as a man wholly ignorant and knowing none of the precepts and principles of Geometrie cannot possibly know who is learned in that kind of knowledge but eitheir casually or by direction of others meeting with one excelling therein learneth of him then by that which he hath learned of him knoweth him to be a skilfull professour thereof and euer after resorts vnto him if in any thing he be doubtfull with assurance of satisfaction whose perfections when he began to learne he knew not but either casually mette with him or by the directions of others and not of his owne choise So we know not the Church what it is which it is nor how excellent it is till we haue learned some part of the doctrine it teacheth and are directed to it without any certainty of our owne knowledge but being once established in the certainty of the trueth of the things shee teacheth we thereby know her to be the Church of God beloued of him ledde into all truth by him and appointed a faithfull witnesse and skilfull mistresse of heauenly truth and then in all our doubts and vncertainties we ever after resort vnto her with full assurance of satisfaction and resolution Thus then wee see how both the Church sheweth vs the truth of heavenly doctrine and that againe the Church but in different sort the Church doctrinally proposing to vs what we must embrace and beleeue and the doctrine of the trueth beleeued and imbraced by vs really demonstrating to vs that to be the Church in which so pretious sauing truthes are taught and professed and that the first repaire and resort of Infidels to the Church proceedeth from the direction of others or some thing which they see that maketh them enquire farther after her but not from their owne knowledge of her infallibilitie and the pretious treasures â—…f heauenly trueth which she possesseth as Stapleton vainely fancieth In his sixt obiection first he saith Trueth of doctrine and right vse of sacraments are things without which the Church is not entire and full contrarie to Bellarmine who therefore excludeth them from being notes because they are separable the Church may be without them Secondly in the same place hee saith that these things doe depend of the Church flow from it and are in order of nature after the being of it not giuing being to it or concurring in the constitution of it therefore cannot be notes c but
it selfe the note of Antiquitie because it hath long continued and beene before others in the profession of Christianitie but besides it is required that it haue aunciently and ever holden the doctrine of trueth This is specially to be noted against old heresies whereof some began in the Apostles times And hee saith of the Churches of Greece Aethiopia and Armenia that though their Antiquitie did reach as high as the Apostles times yet notwithstanding propter doctrinae novitates postea inuentas veram antiquitatem non habent because they haue brought in newe doctrine they haue no true Antiquitie CHAP. 6 Of Succession HItherto we haue spoken of Antiquitie which they make the first note of the Church It followeth in the next place that wee speake of Succession The ministerie of pastours and teachers is absolutely and essentially necessary to the being of the Church For how should there be a Church gathered guided and gouerned without a ministerie Therefore the ministery of those whom God sanctified to himselfe to teach instruct and gouerne his people is an essentiall marke and note of the Church as wee haue already shewed Now because the Church is not to last onely for some short time so to cease but to continue to the end of the world this ministery must continue likewise which because it cannot continue in the same persons all being subiect to death it is necessary that when some faile others possesse the places they formerly held which is to Succeede Neither is this Succeeding of one into the place of another necessary onely by reason of that failing which is by death but because the places of sacred ministery must not be vnfurnished if either the wickednesse of them that are in place cast them out or their weakenesse cause a voluntary relinquishment of their office and standing others must succeede Lawfull and holy ministery therefore is an inseparable and perpetuall note of a true Church for no Church can be without it but Succession not so For the Churches in the first establishment in the Apostles time had it not and many Churches which in sundry ages since haue beene founded had none their Bishops being the first and succeeding none in those episcopall chaires wherein they sate If therefore we should cauill against them as they doe against vs wee might deny Succession to bee a note of the Church because there haue beene and may be true Churches without it as all at the first in the beginning of Christianity and all others since newly founded in their first beginnings But because wee knowe they make not Succession of pastours and Bishoppes a note of the Church absolutely considered but of that which being formerly established is still to bee continued by multitudes of men and people continually succeeding and comming into the places of others that went before them in the same profession of Christianity Let vs see whether Succession of Bishops and pastours may truely be sayd to be a note of the Church Absolutely and without limitation doubtlesse it is not For there may bee a continued Succession of Bishoppes where there is no true Church as at this day amongst the Grecians Armenians and Aethiopians which yet are not the true Churches of GOD in the opinion of them that plead for succession Bellarmine therefore sayth that Succession is inseparable so that there can bee no Church without it but that it is not proper so that wheresoeuer it is found we may assure our selues that there is the Church so forgetting himselfe who requireth in the notes that they be proper and rejecteth our note of purity of doctrine free from pertinacious errour because it may be found among schismatickes though it be inseparable and the true Church cannot be without it But Stapleton handleth this point of Succession much better For hee saith that Succession is an inseparable and proper note of the true Church but not euery Succession but that which is true and lawfull Let vs therefore see what hee requireth to make a true and lawfull Succession First there must be a place voide by resignation deprivation or death Secondly they that succeede must haue election and ordination from them to whom it appertaineth to elect and ordaine Thirdly they must not depart from the faith that was formerly holden by them that went before vnlesse any of them did first decline and goe aside from the way of the first and most auncient that held those places before and therefore in the catalogue of Bishops succeeding one another in each seuerall See wheresoeuer any first began to teach any new and strange doctrine different from that which was formerly deliuered the thread and line of succession was by him either wholly broken or some-what endaungered according to the quality of the errour and the manner of defending and maintaining the same So that this is all which Stapleton saith that wheresoeuer wee finde a Church once established vnder a lawfull ministery in the vndoubted profession of the trueth if afterwards there be a Succession of Pastours and Bishoppes in the same place and that none of them depart from the faith of the former that so it may be evident that what faith was first holden is still holden by them that presently are in place there wee may assure our selues to find the true Church Thus still wee see that truth of doctrine is a necessary note whereby the Church must be knowen and discerned and not ministery or Succession or any thing else without it But saith he the people must not judge which is true doctrine and which is false by the particular consideration of the things themselues but onely by the newnesse strangenesse contrarietie it hath with that which they haue learned of their pastours guides forefathers He alloweth then a kind of judgement to the vulgar sort who must discerne which is the true doctrine which is the false though not by particular consideration of the things themselues that are taught yet by the newnesse strangenesse of them Touching the judgement the people of God ought to haue of the doctrine of Christianity I will speake when I come to the fourth part of my first and generall diuision In the meane while it sufficeth that not bare naked Succession but true lawfull wherein no new or strange doctrine is brought into the Church but the auncient religiously preserved is a marke note or character of the true Church CHAP. 7. Of the third note assigned by them which is Vnitie THe third note of the Church assigned by them is Vnity There are many sorts degrees of Vnity found in the Church The first in respect of the same beginning and originall cause which is GOD that hath called vs to the fellowshippe of his Sonne and to the hope of eternall life 10. 6. No man commeth vnto me vnlesse my father draw him The 2d in respect of the same last end wherevnto all they that are of the Church doe
eminent and peculiar power is giuen and whom all must obey In respect of this first kinde of vnity consisting in the subjection of each people or portion of the flocke of Christ to their lawfull Pastours if they who should obey this one Pastour as being in the stead place of Christ doe either wholly withdraw themselues refusing to be subject to any Ministerie like Core and his complices pretending that all the people of God are holy and that the guides of the Church take too much vpon them or when one is elected doe set vp an other against him and forsaking the right cleaue to him that hath no right This is the first kinde of Schisme Secondly because there must be an vnitie not onely among the parts of each particular Church but also of many particular Churches and the Pastours and guides of them among themselues the Churches which forsake the communion of other Churches without just cause doe fall into Schisme And if they not onely refuse to communicate with them in the performance of the acts of religion vpon causelesse dislike but swarue from the rule of faith the other doe constantly hold they become not onely schismaticall but hereticall also These are the seuerall kindes of Schisme of which one is much more daungerous then another The forsaking the rule of faith or absolute refusall to be subject to the holy Ministerie saying as they did Are not all the people holy you take too much vpon you c. is damnable Schisme In each Church wherein there must be one Pastour hauing eminent and peerelesse power when one is lawfully called they who presume to set vp an other if they know the former to be lawfully possessed of the place or their ignorance thereof bee affected or they be so violentlie carried with the streames of contention and faction that they would not yeeld though the right should appeare vnto them this Schisme is likewise damnable But if it be doubtful and men carry mindes readie to yeeld when they shall see the right it is not so When whole Churches with their Pastours and guides diuide themselues from other refusing to communicate with them if this separation grow out of pride and Pharisaicall conceit of fancied perfection and absolute holinesse as did the Schisme of Novatus Donatus Lucifer and others of that sort it is damnable Schisme but if out of ignorance or errour not ouerthrowing the rule of faith or ouer earnest vrging of ceremonies rites and observations as the separation of Victor Bishop of Rome and the Churches of Asia had beene if Irenaeus had not interposed himselfe or striuing for precedence it is dangerous but not damnable vnlesse it be joined with such pertinacie that though it should appeare they were in errour or did amisse and contrary to the rule of charitie they would not yeeld This being the nature of Schisme and Heresie and these the kindes and degrees of them more or lesse dangerous let vs in the next place see what is to be thought of all those Churches of Graecia Armenia Aethiopia Russia before mentioned Every of which is in some sort rent and divided from other Wee dare not with the proud Romanists condemne so famous Churches as culpable of damnable Heresie and Schisme and cast so many millians of soules into hell for every difference in matter of opinion or rent from the other parts of the body of the Church All these therefore holding the rule of faith and beleeuing all those things that are on the perill of eternall damnation to bee particularly and expresly knowne and beleeued and their seperation not growing for ought wee know out of Pharisaicall and damnable pride as did that of Nouatus Donatus and the like but out of error not directly contrary to the rule of faith or some other humane infirmitie and defect and it no way appearing that their obstinacie is such that though they knew they did amisse they would still continue so to do wee accompt them in the number of the Churches of God and doubt not but that innumerable liuing and dying in them notwithstanding their sundry defects imperfections and wants are and haue beene saued Wee conclude therefore that their Schismes and seperations are sinfull wicked and dangerous and their errours inexcusable insnaring the consciences of many to endlesse perdition and greatly endangering all that are or haue beene misse-led with them but not damnable excluding from all possibility of salvation Wee make a great difference betweene them that were the first Authors and beginners of these diuisions and such as walke in the wayes and insist in the steps of their misse-led and seduced fathers betweene such as are more and such as are lesse deepely plunged into errour CHAP. 6. Of the Latine Church that it continued the true Church of God euen till our time and that the errours wee condemne were not the doctrines of that Church TOuching the Latine Church likewise wee are of the same opinion that it continued still a part of the Catholike Church notwithstanding the manifold abuses and superstitions that in time crept into it and the dangerous and damnable false doctrine that some taught and defended in the middest of it It is therefore most fond and friuolous that some demand of vs where our Church was before Luther began For wee say it was where now it is if they aske vs which wee answere it was the knowen and apparant Church in the world wherein all our Fathers liued and died wherein Luther and the rest were baptized receiued their Christianity ordination and power of ministery If they reply that that Church was theirs and not ours for that the doctrines they now teach and wee inpugne the cerimonies customes and observations which they retaine and defend and wee haue abolished as fond vaine and superstitious were taught vsed and practised in that Church wherein our fathers liued and dyed wee answere that none of those points of false doctrine and errour which they now maintaine and wee condemne where the doctrines of that Church constantly delivered or generally receiued by all them that were of it but doubtfully broached and deuised without all certaine resolution or factiously defended by some certaine onely who as a dangerous faction adulterated the sincerity of the Christian verity and brought the Church into miserable bondage Touching the abuses and manifold superstitions which wee haue remoued it is true they were in that Church wherein our fathers liued but not without signification of their dislike of them and earnest desire of reformation as shall appeare by that which followeth As therefore the Churches of Corinth Galatia Pergamus and Thyatira had in them emulations diuisions neglect of discipline contempt of the Apostles of Christ some that denied the resurrection of the dead that ioyned circumcision and the workes of the law with Christ in the work of saluation thē that maintained the doctrine of the Nicolaitans suffered the woman
Iesabel which called her selfe a Prophetesse to deceiue the people of God make thē cōmit fornication eate things sacrificed vnto Idols c. yet it is not to be thought that all that were of these Churches with one consent denied the resurrection fell into al the errours euils aboue mentioned For then doubtlesse these societies had ceased to be the true and Catholicke Churches of God so though sundrie dangerous and damnable errours were broached in the midst of the Church and house of God in the dayes of our Fathers which did fret as a canker as Gerson confesseth yet were they not with full approbation generally receiued but doubted of contradicted refuted and rejected as vncertaine dangerous damnable and hereticall And as in the reformation of those Churches of Corinth Galatia Pergamus and Thyatira if some had still persisted in the maintenance of those errours and abuses reproued by the Spirit of God and the blessed Apostles of our Sauiour Christ whiles other moued by the admonition of the Spirit of God and the wordes of the holy Apostles reformed themselues and so a diuision or separation had growen it had beene a vaine challenge for the stiffe maintainers of errours and abuses to challenge the reformed part for noueltie to aske of them where their Church was before this reformation began seeing it was euen the same wherein in one communion they formerly liued together with toleration of all those euills which the one part still retained and the other justly rejected So when many Princes Prelates and great States of the Christian world haue in our dayes shaken off that yoke of miserable bondage whereof our fathers complayned remooued those superstitious abuses they disliked condemned those errours in matters of doctrine which they acknowledged to bee daungerous and damnable fretting as a canker and insnaring the consciences of many It is no lesse vaine and friuolous for the Patrons of errour to aske vs which and where our Church was before the reformation beganne for it was that wherein all our Fathers liued longing to see things brought backe to their first beginnings againe in which their predecessours as a daungerous and wicked faction tyrannized ouer mens consciences and peruerted all things to the endlesse destruction of themselues and many others with whom they prevayled If they shall further reply that that Church wherein our fathers liued was not ours because there were many things found in it which wee haue not who seeth not that this reason stands as strong against them as against vs For there are many errours and superstitions which they haue reiected and doe not retaine at this day which were in being in the dayes of our Fathers And besides this obiection would haue serued the Patrons of errour in the Church of Corinth Galatia and the rest For they might haue sayd after those Churches were reformed that they were new and not the same that were before For that in the former the resurrection of the dead was denied circumcision vrged and practised discipline neglected and the Apostles of Christ contemned which things afterwards were not found in them As therefore this had beene a shamelesse objection of those erring miscreants against the godly and well-affected in those times so it is in ours And as those errours were not generall in those Churches so were not they which we haue condemned in the Churches wherein our Fathers liued As those errours and heresies were not the doctrines of the Churches of Corinth Galatia and the rest but the lewde assertions of some perverting and adulterating the doctrine of the Churches so likewise the errours which wee condemne at this day whereupon the difference groweth betweene the Romish faction and vs were neuer generally receiued nor constantly deliuered as the doctrines of the Church but vncertainly and doubtfully disputed and proposed as the opinions of some men in the Church not as the resolued determinations of the whole Church CHAP. 7. Of the seuerall points of difference betweene vs and our adversaries wherein some in the Church erred but not the whole Church FOr neither did that Church wherein our Fathers liued and died holde that Canon of Scripture which the Romanists now vrge nor that insufficiencie they now charge it with nor corruption of the originals nor necessitie of following the vulgar translation nor the heresies touching mans creation brought into the Church by certaine barbarous Schoolemen as that there are three different estates of men the first of pure nature without addition of grace or sinne and two other the one of grace the other of sinne That all those euils that are found in the nature of man since his fall as ignorance concupiscence contrariety betweene the better and meaner faculties of the soule difficulty to doe well and pronenesse to doe euill were all naturall the conditions of pure nature that is of nature as considered in it self it would come foorth from God That these euils are not sinfull nor had their beginnings from sinne that they were the consequents of Nature in the state of creation but restrained by addition of supernaturall grace without which the integrity of nature was full and perfect That men in the state of pure nature that is as they might haue beene created of GOD in the integritie of Nature without addition of grace and in the estate of originall sinne differ no otherwise but as they that neuer had and they that haue lost rich and precious cloathing so that originall sinne is but the losse of that without which natures integrity may stand that no euils are brought in by the fall but Nature left to her selfe to feele that which was before but not felt nor discerned while the addition of grace bettered Nature None of these errours touching the estate of mans creation were the doctrines of the Church but the private fancies and conceits of men So likewise touching originall sinne there were that taught that it is not inherent in each particular man borne of Adam but that Adams personall sinne is imputed onely that the propagation of sinne is not generall Mary being conceiued without originall sinne That the punishment of it is not any sensible smart or positiue euill but privatiue onely and that therefore there is a third place neither hell nor heauen named Limbus puerorum which is a place where as some thinke they who are condemned thither though they bee excluded from the kingdome of Heauen and all possibility of euer comming thither yet are in a state of naturall happinesse and doe enioy the sweet content of eternall life These Pelagian heresies were taught in the Church of God but they were not the doctrines of the Church being condemned rejected and refuted as contrary to the Christian verity by many worthy members and guides of the Church who as they neuer receiued these parts of false doctrine so likewise the Church wherein they liued neither knew nor approved that distinction and difference of veniall and mortall sinnes
which the Romanists now teach nor power of nature to doe the workes of the Lawe according to the substance of the things commanded though not according to the intention of the Law-giuer to loue God aboue all and to do actions morally good or not sinfull without concurrence of speciall grace nor election and reprobation depending on the foresight of some thing in vs positiue or priuatiue nor merit of congruence and condignity nor workes of supererogation nor counsels of perfection as they now teach nor iustification by perfection of inherent qualities nor vncertainty of grace nor seaven Sacraments properly so named nor locall presence nor Transubstantiation nor orall manducation of the body of Christ nor reall sacrificing of it for the quick the dead nor remission of sinnes after this life nor tormenting of the soules of men dying in the state of saluation in a part of hell hundred of yeares by divels in corporall fire out of which prayer should deliver them nor that the Saints heare our prayers know or are acquainted with our particular wants nor the grosse Idolatry in those times committed and intollerable abuses found in the number fashion and worship of their images nor their absolution as now they define it nor treasure of the Church growing out of the superfluitie of Saints merits not rewardable in themselues to be disposed by the Pope for supplie of other mens wants to release them out of Purgatorie by way of indulgence nor the infallibility of the Popes iudgment and plenitude of his power such and so great that he may depose Princes and dispose of their crownes and dignities and that whatsoeuer he doth he may not be brought into order or deposed by authority of the whole Christian world in a generall Councell These are the errours which wee condemne and our adversaries maintaine and defend these wee are well assured were not the doctrines of that Church wherein our Fathers liued and dyed though wee do not deny but they were taught by some in that Church All these we offer to proue to be errour in matter of our Christian faith and that seeing wee could no longer haue peace with our adversaries but by approuing these impieties wee had iust cause to divide our selues from them or to speake more properly to suffer our selues to be accursed anathematized and rejected by them rather than to subscribe to so many errours and heresies contrary to the Christian and Catholike verity CHAP. 8. Of the true Church which and where it was before Luthers time THus then it appeareth which wee thinke to haue beene the true Church of God before Luther or others of that sort were heard of in the world namely that wherein all our Fathers liued and died wherein none of the errours reproued by Luther ever found generall vniforme and full approbation in which all the abuses remoued by him were long before by all good men complained off and a reformation desired And therefore though wee accknowledge Wickliffe Husse Hierome of Prague and the like who with great magnanimity opposed them selues against the Tyranny of the See of Rome and the impiety of those who withheld the trueth of God in vnrighteousnesse who being named Christians serued Antichrist as Bernard complained of some in his time to haue beene the worthy servants of God and holy martyrs and confessours suffering in the cause of Christ against Antichrist yet doe wee not thinke that the Church of God was found onely in them or that there was no other appearance of succession of Church and ministerie as Stapleton and other of that faction falsely impute vnto vs. For wee most firmely beleeue all the Churches in the world wherein our Fathers liued and died to haue beene the true Churches of God in which vndoubtedly salvation was to be found and that they which taught embraced and beleeued those damnable errors which the Romanists now defend against vs were a faction only in the Churches as were they that denied the resurrection vrged circumcision and despised the Apostles of Christ in the Churches of Corinth and Galatia If any of our men deny these Churches to haue beene the true Churches of of God their meaning is limitted in respect of the prevailing faction that was in the Church and including them and all the wicked impieties by any of them defended in which sense their negatiue is to bee vnderstood For howsoever the Church which is not to be charged with the errours and faults of all that in the midst of her did amisse held a sauing profession of the trueth of God yet there were many and they carrying the greatest shew of the Church that erred damnably and held not a sauing profession of diuine trueth wherevpon Gerson sayth that before the councell of Constance the false opinions touching the power of the Pope did fret like a Canker preuailed so far that he would hardly haue escaped the note of heresie that had said but halfe so much as was defined in the Councell of Constance by the vniuersall consent of the whole Christian world Gregorius Ariminensis sheweth that touching the power of nature to doe things morrally good and to fulfill the law without concurrence of speciall grace touching the workes of infidels predestination reprobation and punishments of originall sinne the heresies of Pelagius were taught in the Church and that not by a few or contemptible men but so manie and of soe great place that he almost feared to follow the doctrine of the Fathers and oppose himselfe against them therein The same doth Gerson report concerning sundry lewd assertions preiudiciall to the states of Kings and Princes which the Councell of Constance could not bee induced to condemne by reason of a mighty faction that preuailed in it though many great ones much urged it and though they made no stay to condemne the positions of Wicklife and Hus seeming to derogate from the state of the Clergie though many of them might carry a good and Catholike sense if they might haue found a fauourable construction Whereupon he breaketh into a bitter complaint of the partialities and vnequall courses holden in the Church and protesteth that he hath no hope of a reformation by a councell things standing as they then did The like complaint did Contarenus make in our time that if any man did debase the nature of man deiect the pride of sinnefull flesh magnifie the riches of the grace of God and vrge the necessity of it hee was iudged a Lutheran and pronounced an Hereticke though they that gloried in the name of Catholikes were themselues Pelagian heretickes if not worse then Pelagians Alas saith Occam the time is come the blessed Apostle Saint Paule 2. Timoth. 4 prophecied of When men will not suffer wholesome doctrine but hauing their eares itching after their owne lustes get them a heape of Teachers turning their eares from the trueth and being giuen vnto fables This Prophecie is altogether fullfilled in our
many hundred yeares after him yea the Greeke and Aethiopian Churches continue that errour and the practise of communicating infants assoone as they are baptized euen vnto this day Touching predestination how many obscurities vncertainties and contrarieties shall we finde Surely before Augustines time many great worthy prelates and doctors of the Church not hauing occasion to enter into the exact handling of that part of Christian doctrine did teach that men are predestinate for the foresight of some thing in thēselues And Aug himselfe in the beginning of his conflicts with the Pelagians was of opinion that at the least for the foresight of faith men are elected to eternall life which afterwards he disclaimed as false and erronious and taught that mans saluation dependeth on the efficacie of that grace which God giueth and not his purpose of sauing vpon the vncertainty of mans will This doctrine of Augustine was received and confirmed in the Church against the Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians And Bellarmine professeth that Augustines doctrine in this case is the doctrine of the Church yet so that many followed the former conceipt as wee may easily see by the writings of the Schoole men many of which do teach that men are elected for the foresight of some thing positiue or priuatiue in themselues Howe farre some did Montanise in the matter of second marriage so farre disliking it that they would not haue it blessed in the Church but imposed penance on them that married a second wife after the death of the first Hierome against Iouinian certaine auncient provinciall Councells are proofes more then sufficient Touching the state of Saints departed their generality of presence in all places their vniversall knowledge of all things and admirable working every where where their memories are solemnized are not more confidently affirmed by Hierome and Gregory than they are modestly denyed and doubted of by Augustine Hugó de sancto victore the Author of the glosse and others That there were superstitions and abuses in the primitiue Churches wee haue such witnesses as the Romanists dare not except against Doth not Hierome confesse that the burning of lights at noone day vsed in some Churches was an act of zeale but not according to knowledge Did not a Councell forbid those pernoctations in the cemeteries and places ef the martyrs buriall which when Vigilantius reproued Hierome with such fiercenesse and rage as cannot well be excused traduced him as the vilest monster the earth did beare Are not these vigils long since abolished Doth not Augustine confesse there were certaine adoratores sepulchrorum et picturarum worshippers of Tumbes and Pictures in the Church in his time It is therefore much to be maruailed at that our aduersaries charge us with I know not what impiety for that wee say there hath beene a defection not only of heretickes from the Church and faith but also in the Church of her owne children from the sincerity of the heauenly trueth sometimes more and sometimes lesse in some things by some and in some other by others That this defection began long agoe but found greater and stronger opposition in the first six hundred yeares then after there being in later times a great decay of the auncient piety whence it came that many moe and worse errours then euer before were broached and they which were in some beginnings before were augmented and more dangerously defended In which sence some of our men haue said that Gregory was the last of the Good Bishops and the first of the bad For that all things since his time haue greatly decayed and the state of the Church beene much corrupted CHAP. 10. Of their errour who say nothing can be amisse in the Church either in respect of doctrine or discipline IT is vaine saith Gerson that some object the Church is founded on a Rocke and therefore nothing can be amisse either in the doctrine or discipline of it nothing that should neede any reformation If it be so saith he then where is the observation of that Canon that Clarks goe not into Innes or Tavernes that Monkes in their owne places attend onely prayer and fasting without intermedling with Ecclesiasticall or secular busines whence is the superfluous pompe and Princely state of Cardinals and Bishops making them forget that they are men what say they to that abhomination that one man holdeth two hundred or three hundred Ecclesiasticall benefices That the sword of excommunication is so easily drawne out against the poore for euery trifle as for debts and that the Lords of the Clergie vse it for the maintenance of their owne temporall states That strangers are appointed by the Pope to haue cure of soules not vnderstanding the language of them ouer whom they are set nor liuing amongst them Open your eyes saith he and see if the houses of Nuns be not stewes of filthy harlots if the consecrated Monasteries be not Faires Markets and Innes Cathedrall Churches dennes of theeues and robbers Priests vnder pretence of maides keepe harlots consider whether so great variety of pictures and images be fit and whether it occasion not Idolatrie in the simple Looke vpon the number variety of religious orders the canonising of new Saints though there be too many already as Briget of Suetia Charles of Britaine the feasts of new Saints being more religiously kept than of the blessed Apostles Enquire if there be not Apocryphall Scriptures hymnes and prayers in processe of time either of purpose or of ignorance brought into the Church to the great hurt of the Christian faith Consider the diversities of opinions as of the conception of Mary and sundry other things See if there be not intollerable superstition in the worshipping of Saints innumerable observations without all ground of reason vaine credulity in beleeuing things concerning the Saints reported in the vncertaine Legends of their liues superstitious opinions of obtaining pardon and remission of sins by saying so many Pater nosters in such a Church before such an Image as if in the Scriptures and authenticall writings of holy men there were not sufficient direction for all acts of piety devotion without these fabulous and frivolous additaments nay which is yet worse see if these observations in many Countries and Kingdomes of the World bee not more vrged than the Lawes of God euen as wee shall finde in the decrees and decretals a Monke more seuerely punished for going without his coule then for committing adulterie or sacriledge CHAP. 11. Of the causes of the manifold confusions and euils formerly found in the Church THese are the euils deformities and sores of the Church which this worthy man in his time cōplained of The causes where of he thought to be principally two First the neglecting of the Lawes of GOD and direction of the Scriptures following humane inventions Secondly the ambition pride couetousnesse
persecuted and oppressed and so be incensed against so pertinacious and stiffe maintainers of the Churches confusions This counsaile would not be followed whence ensued this alteration of things wee now see resisted by the Pope and Papists set forward by many Christian Countries kingdomes and States and long before wished for and foretold before it came to passe For what is now done in this reformation which Cameracensis Picus Sauanorola Gerson and innumerable other worthy guides of Gods Church long before thought not necessarie to be done as appeareth by that wee haue already deliuered touching that matter Thus then it being evident that the number of lawes canons and customes formerly in vse and by vs taken away was a burthen to the Church and an insnaring of mens consciences That in the feasts fasts holy-dayes worship of God and honour of his Saints there were abuses in that very kinde which wee haue reprehended and that a reformation was wished for and the Popes were so farre from setting it forward that when they saw the States of the world ready to accomplish it euen with division of themselues from them they would in no sort consent vnto it though the wisest about them perswaded them to it as the likeliest way to keepe all in quietnesse seeing it was necessary for the good of the Church to free it selfe from that bondage it was formerly holden in vnder the Pope taking all into his owne hands by innumerable sleights and treading downe vnder his feete the Crownes of Kings and jurisdictions of Bishops as hath beene shewed and proued out of Authors not to bee excepted against seeing in matters of doctrine wherein we dissent from them we found vncertainty contradiction and contrarietie some saying that we now say and others that which they defend and the things they defend not hauiug the consenting testimony of other Churches in the world as of Armenia Grecia Aethiopia c. nor the certaine approbation of antiquity and the places of Scripture on which they were grounded being most apparantly mistaken as now in this light of the world themselues are forced to confesse seeing it is certaine there was great ignorance of tongues and all parts of good learning neglect of the studie of Scripture mixture without all judgment of things profane with divine seeing innumerable errours superstitions barbarismes and tautologies were crept into the prayers of the Church seeing there was great corruption ignorant mistaking and shamelesse forgeries of the monuments of antiquitie writings of Ecclesiasticall Authours in favour of errours then maintained which haue beene detected in this age wherein learning is revived and with and out of learning the purity of Religion seeing it was long before resolued the Church must be reformed that this reformation was neuer likely to be obtained in a generall Councell and that therefore seuerall kingdomes were to reforme themselues seeing it was then feared the proceeding in this reformation thus seuerally without generall consent would breed too great difference in the courses that would be taken as wee see it hath now fallen out to the great griefe of all well affected who mourne for the breaches of Sion seeing notwithstanding this disadvantage in that one part of Christendome knew not what another did in this worke of reformation nor consulted with other that so they might proceede in the same in one and the same sort yet it so fell out by the happy providence of God that there is no essentiall fundamentall or materiall difference among those of the reformed Religion whose confessions of faith are published to the view of the world howsoeuer the heate ignorant mistaking inconsiderate writings of some particular men the diversity of ceremonies rites obseruations make shew of a greater division than indeed there is it is most vndoubtfully cleare and evident if wee be not wilfully blinded that this alteration of things in our times was a reformation not as our adversaries blasphemously traduce it an heretical innovation CHAP. 13. Of the first reason brought to prooue that the Church of Rome holdeth the faith first deliuered because the precise time wherein errours began in it cannot be noted NOtwithstanding to stop the mouths of our adversaries whom a spirit of contradiction hath possessed and to satisfie all such as bee any way doubtfull I will by application of the notes of the Church formerly agreed vpon examine the matter of doubt and answere all such reasons as from thence are taken and by them vrged against vs either for proofe of their profession faith and the soundnesse of their owne Church or reproofe of ours The first note assigned by them is Antiquity by which they vnderstand not simply absolutely long continuance in the profession of Christianity but the retaining and hauing that faith which was first delivered to the Saints by the Apostles the immediate and prime witnesses of the trueth which is in Christ. Let us therefore see how they indeavour to make proofe that they now hold that auncient profession This they indeauour to demonstrate three wayes First it being confessed the Church of Rome was the true Church established in the faith by the blessed Apostles and the faith thereof commended and renowned throughout the world they thinke they can prooue there hath beene no change alteration or departure from that sincerity which some times was found in it Secondly they offer to shew the consent and agreement of that forme of doctrine they now teach and that the Fathers of the Primitiue Church did teach in their times and commended to posterity in their writings Thirdly they presume they can shew that our doctrine who dissent from them is nothing else but the renewing of old heresies long since condemned in the best times of the Church by consent of the whole Christian world If they could as easily proue these things as they confidently vndertake it there were no resisting against them But seeing they faile therein so much that very children may discerne their weakenesse therefore I will propose whatsoeuer I find alleaged by any of them in this kind that carrieth any shew of probability that all men may see how weakely their perswasion is grounded in these things which are of greatest consequence First therefore let vs see how they proue there hath been no change in the doctrine discipline profession and state of the Romane Church since the Apostles times In every great and notable mutation say they may bee obserued the author the time place beginnings increasings and resistance made against it But the protestants are not able to note these circumstances in that mutation in matters of religion which they suppose hath been in the Church of Rome Therefore it is evidently convinced there hath beene no such mutation For the more full answering of this obiection wee must obserue that there are 4 kinds of mutation or change in matters of religion The first when the whole essence
gazed on and adored to driue away diuels to still tempests to stay the ouerflowing of waters to quench and extinguish consuming and wasting fires But that the body of Christ is present in and with the sanctified elements onely in reference to the vse appointed that is that men should be made partakers of it This participation according to the auncient vse was first and principally in the publike assembly secondly in the primitiue Church the maner of many was to receiue the Sacrament and not to be partakers of it presently but to carrie it home with them and to receiue it priuately when they were disposed as Tertullian and others doe report Thirdly the maner was to send it by the Deacons to them that by sickenesse or other necessary impediment were forced to be absent and to strangers Yea for this purpose they did in such places where they communicated not euery day reserue some part of the sanctified elements to be sent to the sicke and such as were in danger of death This reseruation was not generally obserued as may appeare by the Canon of Clemens prescribing that so much onely should be prouided for the outward matter of the Sacraments as might suffice the Communicants and that if any thing remained it should presently be receiued by the Clergie Neither could there be any place for or vse of reseruation where there was a daily Communion as in many places there was nor in any place for such reseruation as is vsed in the Church of Rome for weekes and moneths seeing there was generally in auncient times in all places twise a weeke or at least once euery weeke a Communion from whence they might bee supplied that were absent The Romanists consecrate euery day but make their reseruations from some solemne time of communicating as Easter or the like and this not only or principally for the purpose of communicating any in the mysteries of the Lords body and blood but for circumgestation ostentation and adoration to which end the Fathers neuer vsed it Neither is that which is thus vnto this purpose reserued the body of Christ as our Diuines doe most truely pronounce The maner of the primitiue Church was as Rhenanus testifieth if any parts of the consecrated elements remained so long as to be musty and vnfit for vse to consume them with fire which I thinke they would not haue done to the body of Christ. This sheweth they thought the sanctified elements to be Christs body no longer than they might serue for the comfortable instruction of the faithfull by partaking in them But the Romanists at this day as the same Rhenanus fitly obserueth would thinke it a great and horrible impietie to doe that which the Fathers then prescribed and practised So then Caluine doth thinke that the Romish reseruation doth not carry about with it the body of Christ as the Papists foolishly fancie and yet I hope is in no heresie at all Neither doeth hee any where say that the elements consecrated and reserued for a time in reference to an ensuing receiuing of them are not the body of Christ but saith onely that there were long since great abuses in reseruation and greater in that euery one was permitted to take the Sacrament at the hand of the publike Minister in the Church and carry it home with him which I thinke this Cardinall will not denie if hee aduisedly bethinke himselfe CHAP. 35. Of the heresie of Eutiches falsely imputed to the Diuines of Germany THe next heresie imputed vnto vs is Eutichianisme which is directly opposite and contrary to the former errour of Nestorius This hee chargeth first vpon Zuinck feldius whom wee reiect as a franticke seduced miscreant and do in no wise acknowledge him to be a member of our Churches Secondly vpon Brentius Iacobus Smidelinus and other learned Diuines of the German Churches The heresie of Eutiches was that as before so after the incarnation there was but one only nature in Christ for that the nature of God was turned into man that there was a confusion of these natures Doe any of the Germane Diuines teach this blasphemous doctrine No sayth Bellarmine not directly and in precise tearmes but indirectly and by consequent they doe If wee demaund of him what that is which they teach whence this impiety may by necessary consequence be inferred hee answereth the vbiquitary presence of the body and humane nature of Christ. For sayth he vbiquity being an incommunicable property of God it cannot bee communicated to the humane nature of Christ without confusion of the diuine and humane natures But he should remember that they whom he thus odiously traduceth are not so ignorant as to thinke that the body of Christ which is a finite and limited nature is euery where by actuall position or locall extension but personally only in respect of the coniunction and vnion it hath with God by reason whereof it is no where seuered from God who is euery where This is it then which they teach That the body of Christ doth remaine in nature and essence finite limited and bounded and is locally in one place but that there is no place where it is not vnited personally vnto that God that is euery-where in which sense they thinke it may truely bee said to be euery-where For the better clearing of this point we must remember that it is agreed vpon by all Catholike Divines that the humane nature of Christ hath two kindes of being the one naturall the other personall The first limited and finite the second infinite and incomprehensible For seeing the nature of man is a created nature and essence it cannot be but finite and seeing it hath no personall subsistence of it owne but that of the Sonne of God communicated to it which is infinite and without limitation it cannot be denied to haue an infinite subsistence and to subsist in an incomprehensible and illimited sort and consequently euery-where Thus then the body of Christ secundum esse naturale is contained in one place but secundum esse personale may rightly bee said to be euery-where It were easie to reconcile all those assertions of our Divines touching this part of Christian faith in shew so opposite one to another and to stop the mouthes of our prattling adversaries who so greedily seeke out our verball seeming differences whereas their whole doctrine is nothing else but an heap of vncertainties and contrarieties if this were a fit place But let this briefly suffice for the repelling of Bellarmines calumniation and let vs proceed to examine the rest of his objections CHAP. 36. Of the supposed heresie of Zenaias Persa impugning the adoration of Images THe next heresie hee imputeth vnto vs is the impugning of the adoration and worshipping of Images the first authour of which impiety as this impious Idolater is pleased to name it was Zenaias Persa as Nicephorus reports But whatsoeuer the Iesuite thinke Nicephorus credite is not so good
liue at one time and may be limited also in respect of place for it is not necessary that the Church be in all places at one time but it sufficeth if it bee successiuely Fiftly vniuersality may be a note of the true Church in respect of particular societies of Christians limited in time and place though not by hauing it yet by demonstrating themselues to pertaine to the vnity of that Church that hath it This no particular Church can do but by prouing that it holdeth the common faith once deliuered to the Saints without hereticall innouation or schismaticall violation of the vnity and peace of the Christian world This being the way for particular Churches to demonstrate themselues to be Catholike by prouing they hold the Catholike faith it is easie from hence to conclude that the reformed Churches are the Catholike Churches of God First for that that being Catholike as Vincentius Lirinensis defineth it which is and hath beene holden at all times and in all places by all Christians that haue not beene noted for noueltie singularity and diuision whatsoeuer hath beene so receiued wee receiue as the vndoubted truth of God neither is there any of the things which wee impugne and the Papists defend that is Catholike but they all carry the markes of nouelty and vncertainty Secondly touching the communion the people of God should haue among themselues our aduersaries shall neuer proue that wee haue at any time giuen occasion of those breaches that now appeare But wee will proue against them that they haue and so the note of Vniuersality maketh nothing for them or against vs. Touching the name of Catholike devised to expresse those both men and societies of men which hold the common faith without faction or division I haue spoken sufficiently in the former part touching the notes of the Church and so need not here to insist vpon it Thus haue we runne through the examination of the principall notes of the Church assigned by our adversaries but because they adde vnto these certaine other I will briefly examine their proofs taken from thence for themselues or against vs. CHAP. 44. Of the Sanctity of Doctrine and the supposed absurdities of our profession THese notes are Sanctity and efficacie of doctrine our own confession miracles and predictions the felicity and infelicity of such as defend or impugne the trueth and lastly the holy and religious conversation of the Professours of the truth Let vs take a view of these in such sort and order as they are proposed by them They place in the front the Sanctity and efficacie of doctrine A lyer they say should haue a good memory but surely our adversaries of all the lyers that euer were haue the worst memories by reason whereof euery second page of their writings if not euery second line is a refutation of the first Bellarmine divideth his tract of the notes of the Church into two parts In the first he sheweth what things are required in the notes of the Church and there he saith trueth and Sanctity of doctrine is no note of the Church In the latter he doth particularly assigne the notes whereby he supposeth the Church may be knowne and reckoneth truth sanctitie and efficacie of doctrine amongst the rest But let vs pardon him this ouersight and see how he proueth by this note that we are not and that their faction is the true Church of God Our doctrine is false absurd and vnreasonable and theirs full of truth reason and equitie Therefore our Churches are not the true Churches of God and theirs are Both parts of the Antecedent of this argument we deny For he shall neuer bee able to proue the absurdities he imputeth vnto vs but we are able to demonstrate against him that the whole course of Popish doctrine is most absurd false and impious But least hee should seeme to say nothing hee produceth foure instances wherein he supposeth there is apparant and very grosse absurditie The first he proposeth in this sort The Protestants teach that a man is justified by speciall faith whereby he perswadeth himselfe that he is just Now then he reasoneth thus When men beginne to beleeue either they are just and then their faith justifieth not being in nature after their justification and finding them already just when it beginneth or else they are not just and then speciall faith making a man beleeue he is just is false and so a man is justified by a lye To this horned argument wee answere that speciall faith hath sundry actes but to this purpose specially two the one by way of petition humbly intreating for acceptation and fauour the other in the nature of comfortable assurance consisting in a perswasion that that is graunted which was desired Faith by her first act obtaineth and worketh our justification and doeth not finde vs just when wee beginne to beleeue by her second act shee doeth not actiuely justifie but finding the thing done certifieth and assureth vs of it and so is no lying perswasion as this lying companion is pleased to pronounce it to bee So then speciall faith in her first act which is a kinde of petition is before justification and procureth or obtaineth it but then shee hath not the perswasion of it in her second act shee presupposeth the thing done and already obtayned and so truely perswadeth the beleeuer of it but procureth not the doing of it The second palpable and grosse absurdity of the Protestants doctrine is that it is not lawfull to say the Lords prayer This the Cardinall proueth because no man of the Protestants Religion can without dissimulation aske forgiuenesse of sinnes which is one of the principall petitions of that prayer This petition they cannot make because they hold that all right beleeuing and iustified men are without sinne and know themselues so to be and therefore cannot be excusable from vile dissimulation and mocking of God in asking the remission of their sinnes The impudencie of this imputation is such as I thinke all moderate Papists are ashamed of it For doth any of vs thinke that the iustified man is voyd of all sinne Or is it consequent if a man know himselfe to be iustified that then he may not aske remission of his sins Doe not many right learned and wise amongst themselues teach that a man may be sure he is in state of grace and iustification by the ordinary working of Gods spirit and doe not all Papists thinke that by speciall reuelation men may be sure they are in state of grace as Paul and sundry others were Doe all these teach that men thus assured of their iustification know themselues to haue no sin consequently nothing whereof they should aske forgiuenesse Surely herein I thinke both they we agree that in the iustified the dominion of sinne ceaseth sin hath no longer dominion ouer them that proportionably the guilt of condemnation is taken away but that there are still remainders of sin in them
saued though the assertions of some men were damnable Now it is cleane contrary touching the present state of the Romish Church For the generall maine doctrine agreed vpon in the Councel of Trent in sort as it is most commonly conceiued is damnable but there are no doubt some of a better spirit and haue in themselues particularly a better conceit of things than generally is holden Formerly the Church of Rome was the true Church but had in it an hereticall faction now the Church it selfe is hereticall some certaine onely are found in it in such degree of Orthodoxie as that we may well hope of their saluation Thus then this great obiection taken from our owne confession is easily answered CHAP. 48. Of Miracles confirming the Romane faith THe next note of the Church is Gods owne testimony which hee giueth of the trueth sanctity of the faith and profession it holdeth This doubtlesse is the most absolute excellent note of all other For that must needes bee the true Church which holdeth the true faith and profession and that the true profession which God that neither himselfe can be deceiued nor deceiue others doeth witnesse testifie to be so For who dare make any doubt whether that bee the true religion or that the true Church which the God of trueth witnesseth to be so Let vs see therefore how God doth testifie concerning the trueth of religion and the happy condition of them that professe it Surely this testification is of two sorts the one by the inward operation of his inlightening spirit satisfying our vnderstandings in those things which by natures light we could not discerne and filling our hearts with ioy and gladnesse such and so great as nothing within natures compasse can yeeld For by this so great happie and heauenly an alteration which wee finde in our selues vpon and together with this receiuing of this doctrine which the spirit of trueth doth teach vs hee doth most clearely witnesse vnto vs that it is heauenly indeede and such as we could not haue attained vnto but by diuine reuelation The other kind of testification is when being desired by them that teach and learne this doctrine to giue some outward testimonie that it is true he doth some such thing for the good of them that receiue it or hurt of such as refuse it as none but God can doe But because partly by reason of the manifold illusions wherewith Sathan can and often doth abuse men making it seem vnto them that those things are done which are not and partly because we doe not exactly know what may be done by the force of naturall causes we cannot infallibly know concerning any outward thing performed before our eyes that it is in deede immediately and miraculously wrought by Gods owne most sacred hands This kinde of testification is not matchable with the other Nay wee cannot be infallibly assured of any thing done that it is Gods owne worke and in deede a miracle vnlesse this assurance grow out of the former testification For we may justly feare some fraud till finding by the inward testimony of Gods spirit the trueth of that for proofe whereof this strange thing is done we are assured it is the immediate and peculiar worke of God This assurance the quality of the things done and the difference betweene the workes of Sathan which onely cause admiration and wonder and the miraculous workes of God that are full of gracious goodnes winning the hearts of such as see them will greatly strengthen To what purpose then will some man say serued all the miracles that were done by Christ and his blessed Apostles This doubt is easily cleared for whereas the things then taught were new strange and incredible to naturall men they would not at all haue listned vnto them made inquiry after them or search into them had not the strange workes that followed the publishers of them made them thinke the things credible that were accompanied with so strange attendants Now while they gaue heed to the things that were spoken the Word was mighty in operation and entred into them in such sort that they discerned it was Gods owne word and that the way of saluation which by it they were directed vnto Thus then we see that miracles are no sure notes of the trueth of Religion nor certaine marke to know the Church by vnlesse they bee strengthened by some other meanes not for that a miracle knowne to bee so is insufficient to testifie of the trueth of God but because it is not possible infallibly to know that the things which seeme vnto vs to be miracles be so in deede vnlesse being assured of the trueth of that for confirmation whereof they are wrought wee thereby bee perswaded they are of God All that hath beene hitherto said is confessed to be true by the best learned Divines of the Romane Church Yea Cardinall Caietan proceedeth so farre that he pronounceth it cannot bee certainely knowne that those miracles are true miracles which the Church admitteth and approueth in the canonizing of Saints seeing the trueth of them dependeth on mens report that may deceiue and be deceiued Thus hauing declared what the vse of miracles is and how farre they giue testimony of the trueth let vs see what our adversaries conclude from hence for themselues or against vs. They haue miracles for confirmation of their faith and Religion and we haue none therefore they hold the true faith and we are in errour For answere hereunto first we say that the trueth of Religion cannot infallibly and certainely be found out by miracles especially in these last times because as Gerson noteth in his booke De distinctione verarum falsarum visionum in this old age of the world in this last houre and time so neere Antichrist his revelation it is not to bee marvailed at if the world like a doating olde man bee abused by many illusions and fantasies most like to dreames Secondly wee say that howsoeuer it may bee some miracles were done by such good men as liued in the corrupt state of the Church in the dayes of our Fathers yet that is no proofe of those errours which the Romanists maintaine against vs. For wee peremptorily deny that euer any miracle was done by any in times past or in our times to confirme any of the things controuersed betweene them and vs. What credit is to be giuen to the reportes of their miracles they may easily conceiue in that in all the differences they haue had amongst themselues either in matters of opinion or of faction they haue had contrary visions reuelations and miracles to confirme the perswasion of either side as appeared in the differences touching Maries conception and in the times of the Anti-Popes Wherevpon Caietane writing to Pope Leo about the controuersie of Maries conception wisheth him not to suffer his iudgement to be swayed by shew of miracles and giueth many good reasons of the
worthy Scofferius whose true report wee oppose against the wicked and vile slaunders of that base and branded runnagate Bolsecus That Zuinglius died in the field with his Countrey-men in defence of their liues liberties and Religion is no certaine note as I take it that his Religion was false but rather an excellent proofe and demonstration of the Christian magnanimitie and resolution that rested in him How infortunate they haue beene in their attempts how vnhappy in their endes that haue most opposed themselues against the trueth of that Religion which wee professe we are able to produce many examples CHAP. 52. Of the Sanctity of the liues of them that are of the true Church THe last note of the Church assigned by them is the sanctitie holinesse and good conversation of such as are of it In assigning of this note as in some of the former they shew how sweetly they conspire and agree together For Cardinall Allen in his preface before his booke of Purgatory confesseth that by the guile and craftie conveyance of our common enemie the diuell falsehood is often so cloaked in shadow and shape of truth and the masters thereof make such shew of vertue and godly life that you would thinke it had no affinitie with vice nor origine of mans misbehauiour at all So did hee couer the wicked heresies of Manicheus Marcion Tatianus and the like with a fained flourish of continency and chastitie So did hee ouer-cast the enemie of Gods grace Pelagius with the apparance of all grauitie constancie and humility And so hath he alwayes where craft was requisite to his intent made shew of a simple sheepe in the cruell carcasse of a wily wolfe transfiguring himselfe into an Angell of light And that his schollers play the like parts our Maister Christ of his singular loue gaue his flock this watch-word for a speciall provizo Take heede of false Prophets that come in sheepes vesture but within are ravening Wolues So that in all cloaked heresies men must haue an eye to the fruit of the doctrines preached and not onely or principally to the liues of such as teach them by the outward appearance whereof it is not alwayes safe to judge This the Rhemists doe more fully expresse in their annotations vpon this place saying the fruits that heretiques are knowne by are division from the whole Church division amongst themselues inconstancie in doctrine and such like and that these are lightly common to all heretiques but that there are some other more peculiar to certaine as wickednesse of life and doctrine directly tending to corruption of good life in all states of men Thus then wee see that appearing sanctity grauity and godlynesse are no sure certaine infallible and perpetuall notes to knowe the true professors by from such as erre and are deceiued But passing by this their ouersight in that they make such things to be notes of the Church as are not proper vnto it nor doe not clearely distinguish it from heretickes let vs see what they indeauour to proue against vs or for themselues by the force and euidence of this note Thus therefore they reason The chiefe guides of the reformed Churches and professours of the reformed religion are apparently wicked and godlesse men of vile and scandalous conuersation and the people wicked yea much worse then they were in the Papacy but their Pristes Prelates Monkes Friers and people are holy and religious therefore the truth of religion is theirs This imputation of wickednesse Bellarmine fastneth vpon Wickliffe and Luther and from them descendeth to the people Touching Wickliffe it is a most impudent and shamelesse challenge for Waldensis sheweth that his conuersation was such and his manner of life soe shadowed with shewes of vertue that he thereby preuailed much thereupon sheweth at large that it is not safe to discerne the truth of religion by the appearance of sanctity and good conuersation of them that professe it and that heretickes haue and often do cloth themselues with the robes and garments of seeming vertue and piety But hath he no proofe that Wickliffe was a wicked and godlesse man Doubtlesse hee hath and that very pregnant For Waldensis reporteth vpon an vncertaine rumour that a Bishoppe of Salisburie in a very great and solemne assembly of the Clergie of the Prouence of Canterbury affirmed that Wickliffe affected the Bishopricke of Worcester which when he obtained not hee grewe discontented and so became an enimy to the Catholike Church impugned the different degrees of Ministerie and the dignity of Bishops If this kind of proofe bee good innocencie it selfe will not be able to abide the triall Wherefore passing from Wickliffe against whom it seemeth our aduersaries are able to say little let vs see what are those greeuous crimes wherewith they charge Luther First they say he beganne to impugne the sale and marchandise of indulgences not led by any iust reason mouing him to dislike them but because the publishing of them was not committed to the Friers of his order but to the Friers predicant This vile slaunder hath no better ground then the former against Wickliffe For who will regard the malitious report of Coclaeus his sworne enimie against the whole course of things that passed in those times and the cleare euidence of the trueth it selfe Guicciardine reporteth that the abuses in the marchandise of those pardons were so intolerable that the pardon sellers set the price of redemption and deliuerance of soules out of Purgatorie as a stake at dice to be played for in euery Inne and Ta◅erne where they came that all good men disliked much this impious and irreligious abusing the people of God and that thereupon Luther began his opposition against them not without the great applause of the Christian world But to make it most cleare to all not wilfully blinded that noe such sinister respect mooued Luther to impugne the Kingdome of the Roman Antichrist It is certaine hee had before this occasion was offered vnto him cleared the doctrine of Originall sinne of Nature and Grace of the difference betweene the spirit and the letter the Law and grace of freewill and the like which are the maine grounds of all that doctrine wherein hee dissenteth from the Romish Synagogue But saith Bellarmine Coclaeus reporteth that Luther in the disputatiō at Lipsia between him Eckius said his opposition against the Pope Poperie was never begun out of any desire of Gods glory nor would euer haue any good end This is is a diuellish slaunder for Luther said no such thing but that this disputation was not begunne on his aduersaries part out of any desire of the glory of God or the good of his Church and that therefore it would neuer haue any good end That which hee writeth to them of Strawesborough that hee would willingly be of their opinion and denie the reall presence of the body of Christ in the Sacrament if the euidence of truth did
efficacie force and power of working gratious effects that is committed to the disposition and distribution of the Priest is so limited that accordingly as he intendeth good to more or fewer he procureth more or lesse vnto them Heere wee see a goodly frame of building raised but it hath an ill foundation for it is most absurd to say that the very offering of Christs body and bloud ex opere operato and of it selfe should haue force to obtaine any thing at Gods hand or to procuâ—…e any good vnto vs. For there is no offering that can haue any acceptation vnlesse it bee offered by an accepted offerer according to that in the 4â— of Genâ—…sis God had respect to Abel and to his offering first to Abel and then to his offering and that in the 21th of Luke where Christ saith this poore widdow hath cast in more into the treasurie then any of the rest because shee cast it in out of a larger more free better and more accepted will And heereupon Saint Gregory in his Homilie on that of Mathew 4. Iesus walking c. saith non pensat Deus quantum in eius sacrificio deferatur sed ex quanto that is God doth not so much weigh and consider how much or how good that is which is presented to him in sacrifice as out of how great and good affection it is presented And therefore if a Iew had offered Christ vnto his father willing so to bee offered or not willing this oblation had not beene so acceptable as when hee offered himselfe nay it had not beene accepted at all according to that in Ecclesiasticus Hee that offereth sacrifice out of the substance of the poore is as hee that slayeth and sacrificeth the sonne in the sight of his father And Bellarmine saith well to the same purpose that though the thing offered bee acceptable of it selfe yet the oblation is not acceptable vnlesse the offerer be accepted which is especially true in respect of God whose all things are and who needeth nothing So that in this supposed sacrifice the worthinesse and acceptation of the offerer is principally to bee considered for it is not so much the worth of the thing offered as the esteeme the offerer hath of it and his good affection in offering it that God respecteth Who therefore is the offerer of this their supposed sacrifice They will say Christ is the supreme and the Priest the inferiour and subordinate and that therefore whatsoeuer the condition of the Priest bee the sacrifice is accepted for the principall offerers sake But this is nothing for though Christ bee offered on the Altar as they imagine yet hee doth not offer himselfe immediately For then this offering would bee equivalent to that former on the Crosse which yet they will not acknowledge And besides that of the Apostle should be found false and vntrue Heb. 9. that hee doth not often offer himselfe Neither can it be saide that Christ offereth himselfe mediatly by the Priest and so giueth price and worth to the offering For if it be said that Christ offereth himselfe mediatly by the Priest either it is because hee appointeth authoriseth and encourageth the Priest to make this offering and this will giue no more value and worth to the offering then the immediate offerer hath as wee see it was in the offerings of the Priest vnder the Law or else in that the Priest doth this in his name as a Legate presents a thing to a forraine Prince in the name of the King and this cannot bee for whatsoeuer a legat may doe in the name person of his king the king may doe in his owne person if it please him but Christ can no more offer himselfe in his owne person therefore this is not to be admitted Wherefore passing by this idle phancie wee shall finde that the ofâ—…erer is the priest and so many as doe procure or desire the doing of the same and that therefore the whole Church in a sort may be said to offer this sacrifice For though it be offered ministerio sacerdotis by the ministery of the Priest yet it is offered voto ecclesiae out of the devotion desire of the Church in which there are ever some found that are acceptable vnto God and therefore the offerer of this sacrifice is euer acceptable and according to the merit worthinesse of this offerer the sacrifice here offered findeth acceptation So then these men imagine that there is a reall externall sacrifice in the Church which they daily offer vnto God that it worketh great effects of grace that Christ is offered in it but that the acceptation of it is not wholy nor principally from the dignity of the thing offered but from the merit of the offerer This is the present doctrine of the Roman Church but this was not the doctrine of the Church at the time of Luthers appearing for the best principall men that then liued taught peremptorily that Christ is not newly offered any otherwise then in that hee is offered to the view of God nor any otherwise sacrificed then in that his sacrifice on the crosse is commemorated represented The things that are offered in the sacrament are two sayth the authour of the Enchiridion of Christian religion published in the provinciall councell of Colen the true body of Christ with all his merits his mysticall body with all the gifts which it hath receiued of God In that therefore the Church doth offer the true body blood of Christ to God the father it is meerely a representatiue sacrifice all that is done is but the commemorating representing of that sacrifice which was once offered on the crosse But in that it dedicateth itselfe which is the mysticall body of Christ vnto God it is a true but a spirituall sacrifice that is an eucharisticall sacrifice of praise thanksgiuing of obedience due vnto God Christ therefore is offered sacrificed on the altar but sacramentally mystically in that in the sacrament there is a commemoration remembrance of that which was once done Christ is not often slaine which once to thinke were abominable but that which was once done is represented that wee might not forget the benefit bestowed on vs but rather be so stirred vp moued by this sacrament as if wee saw the Lord Iesus hanging vpon the crosse The passion of the Lord sayth Cyprian is the sacrifice that wee offer to God that is that wee offer to the view of God and represent vnto him Neither is it to be marvailed at that we offer the true body of Christ to reviue the memory of the former sacrifice and to represent it vnto God seeing the son of God was giuen vnto vs that wee might oppose him to the wrath of God as a reconciler and that distrusting our owne strength wee might represent to the father this most potent sacrifice Cum defecerit sayth Bernard virtus mea non conturbor
not of sense and that they are subiect to no dolour or greife inward or outward this he saith is the opinion of Thomas Aquinas and some other Schoolemen The third opinion is that they are in a sorte subiect to the punishment of sense that is to greife and dolour which floweth out of the consideration of their great and inestimable losse of eternall happines but because they cannot haue remorse not hauing lost that eternall good by their owne negligence and contempt therefore they are not subiectto that dolour that is properly named the worme that neuer dieth whereof wee reade in the ninth of Marke Their worme dieth not and their fire neuer goeth out There is a fourth opinion which is that of Augustine who sayth Wee must firmely beleeue and no way doubt that not onely men that haue had the vse of reason but infants also dying in the state of originall sinne shall bee punished with the punishment of eternall fire because though they had no sinne of their owne proper action yet they haue drawne to themselues the condemnation of originall sinne by their carnall conception To this opinion Gregorius Ariminensis inclined fearing exceedingly to depart from the doctrine of the Fathers and yet dareth not resolue any thing seeing the moderne doctours went another way And to the same opinion Driedo inclineth likewise Thus then wee see that Pelagianisme was taught in the midst of the Church wherein our Fathers liued and that not by a few but many For was not this the doctrine of many in the Church that there are foure mansions in the other world of men sequestred from God and excluded out of his presence The first ofthem that sustaine the punishment as well of sensible smart as of losse and that for euer which is the condition of them that are condemned to the lowest hell The second of those that are subiect to both these punishments not eternally but for a time onely as are they that are in purgatory The third of them that were subiect onely to the punishment of losse and that but for a time named by them Limbus patrum The fourth of such as are subiect onely to the punishment of losse but yet eternally and this named by them Limbus puerorum nay were there not that placed these in an earthly paradise and was not this Pelagianisme Surely August telleth vs that the Pelagians excluded such as were not made pertakers of Gods grace out of the kingdome of heaven and from the life of God which is the vision of God and yet supposed that they should be for euer in a kind of naturall felicity so that they imagined a third state and place betweene the kingdome of heauen and hell where they are that endure not onely the punishment of losse but of sensible smart also where they are whose worme neuer dieth and whose fire neuer goeth out and this is the opinion of Papists against which Saint Austine mightily opposeth himselfe The vnregenerate is excluded out of the kingdome of heauen where Christ remaineth that is the fountaine of the liuing Giue mee besides this another place where there may bee a perpetuall rest of life the first place the faith of Catholiques by diuine authoritie beleeueth to bee the kingdome of heauen the second Hell where euery apostata and such as are aliens from the faith of Christ shall suffer everlasting punishment but that there is any third place we are altogether ignorant neither shall wee finde in the holy Scripture that there is any such place There is the right hand of him that sitteth to iudge and the left the kingdome and hell life and death the righteous and the wicked On the right hand of the Iudge are the iust and the workers of iniquity on the left There is life to the ioy of glory and death to weeping and gnashing of teeth The just are in the Kingdome of the Father with Christ the vnrighteous in eternall fire prepared for the divell and his Angels By which words of Augustine it is euident that there is no such place to bee admitted as the Papistes imagine their Limbus puerorum to bee neither did the Church wherein our Fathers liued and died beleeue any such thing though many embraced this fancie And therefore Gregorius Ariminensis hauing proued out of Augustine and Gregory that infants that die in the state of originall sinne not remitted shall not onely suffer the punishment of losse but of sense also concludeth in this sort Because I haue not seene this question expressely determined either way by the Church and it seemeth to me a thing to be trembled at to deny the authorities of the Saints and on the contrary side it is not safe to goe against the common opinion and the consent of our great Masters therefore without peremptorie pronouncing for the one side or the other I leaue it free to the Reader to judge of this difference as it seemeth good vnto him CHAP. 8. Of the remission of originall sinne and of concupiscence remaining in the regenerate IN the remission of all sinne there are two things implyed the taking away of the staine or sinfulnesse and the remouing of the punishment that for such sinfulnesse justice would bring vpon the sinner In actuall sinne there are three things considerable First an act or omission of act Secondly an habituall aversion from God and conversion to the creature remaining after the act is past till we repent of such act or omission of act and this is the staine of sinne remaining denominating the doers sinners and making them worthie of punishment And thirdly a designing to punishment after the act is past In remission therefore of actuall sinne there must bee first a ceasing from the act or omission secondly a turning to God and from the creature and thirdly for Christs sake who suffered what we deserued a taking away of the punishment that sin past made vs subject to In originall sinne there are onely two things considerable the staine or sinfulnesse and the designing of them that haue it to punishment The staine of originall sinne consisteth of two parts the one privatiue which is the want of those divine graces that should cause the knowledge loue and feare of God the other positiue and that is an habituall inclination to loue our selues more then God and inordinately to desire whatsoeuer may be pleasing to vs though forbidden and disliked by God and is named concupiscence This sin first defileth the nature and then the person in that it so misinclineth nature as that it hath the person at commaund to be swayed whether it will The remission of this sinne implieth a donation of those graces that maycause the knowledge loue and feare of God a turning of vs from the loue of our selues to the loue of God and forChrists sake a remouing of the punishment we were justly subiect to in that we had such want and inordinate inclination The donation of grace maketh
that in the one men are sure and know they neither are nor can be deceiued in the other they knowe and are certaine that they are not not that they cannot bee deceiued But this difference cannot staud for if a man know and bee certaine that hee is not deceiued he must certainly know that no such thing doth now fall out as doth fall out when men are deceiued in apprehensions of this kind and consequently that now and things so standing he cannot be deceiued For example a man dreaming thinketh he is waking and vndoubtedly perswadeth himselfe hee seeth or doth something wherein he is deceiued because it is but representation in a dreame but he that is waking knoweth that he waketh that hee seeth that which he thinketh he seeth that in this perswasion hee is not nor cannot be deceiued things so standing Amongst the Articles agreed vpon in the conference at Ratisbon 1541 this is one Docendum est ut qui vere poenitent semper fide certissimâ statuant se propter Mediatorem Christum Deo placere quia Christus est propitiator Pontifex interpellator pro nobis quem pater donavit nobis omnia bona cum illo Quoniam autem perfecta rectitudo in hac imbecillitate non est suntque multae infirmae pavidae conscientiae quae cum gravi saepe dubitatione luctantur nemo est à gratiâ Christi propter ejusmodi infirmitatem excludendus sed convenit tales diligenter adhortari ut ijs dubitationibus promissiones Christi fortiter opponant augeri sibi fidem sedulis precibus orent juxta illud Adauge nobis Domine fidem So that touching this point it is evident that the Church of God euer taught that which we now teach Neither haue wee departed from the doctrine of the Church in that wee teach that faith onely justifieth For many of the ancient haue vsed this forme of words as Origen ad Rom. 3. Dicit Apostolus sufficere solius fidei justificationem ita ut credens quis tantummodo justificetur etiamsi nihil ab eo operis fuerit expletum Hilar. can 8. in Math. Fides sola justificat Basil. homil de humilitate Haec est perfecta integra gloriatio in Deo quando neque ob justitiam suam quis se iactat sed novit quidem seipsum verae justitiae indigum solâ autem fide in Christum justificatum Ambros. ad Rom. 3. Iustificati sunt gratis quia nihil operantes neque vicem reddentes solâ fide justificati sunt dono Dei Chrysost. Homil. de fide lege naturae Eum qui operatur opera iustitiae sine fide non potes probare vivum esse fidem absque operibus possum monstrare vixisse regnum coelorum assecutam nullus sine fide vitam habuit latro autem credidit tantum iustificatus est Aug. l. 1. contra 2 Epistolas Pelag. c. 21. Quantaelibet fuisse virtutis antiquòs praedices justos non eos salvos fecit nisi fides mediatoris 83. q. q. 76. Si quis cùm crediderit mox de hâc vita decesserit iustificatio fidei manet cum illo nec praecedentibus bonis operibus quia non merito ad illam sed gratiâ pervenit nec consequentibus quia in hac vita esse non sinitur Theophylact. ad Galat. 3. Nunc planè ostendit Apostolus fidem vel solam iustificandi habere in se virtutem Bern. ser. 22 in Cantic Quisquis pro peccatis compunctus esurit sitit iustitiam credat in te qui iustificas impium solam iustificatus per fidem pacem habebitad te Et ep 77. citans illud Qui crediderit baptizatus fuerit salvus erit Cautè inquit non repetiit qui vero baptizatus non fuerit condēnabitur sed tantū qui vero non crediderit innuens nimirum solam fidem interdum sufficere ad salutem sine illâ sufficere nihil Sometimes by these phrases of speech they exclude all that may bee be without supernaturall knowledge all that may be without a true profession Sometimes the necessity of good workes in act or externall good workes 3. The power of nature without illumination and grace 4. The power of the Law 5. The sufficiency of any thing found in vs to make vs stand in judgement to abide the tryall and not to feare condemnation And in this sense faith onely is said to justifie that is the onely mercy of God and merite of Christ apprehended by faith and then the meaning of their speech is that onely the perswasion and assured trust that they haue to bee accepted of God for Christs sake is that that maketh them stand in judgement without feare of condemnation And in this sense all the Diuines formerly alleadged for proofe of the insufficiency of all our inherent righteousnesse and the trust which wee should haue in the onely mercy of God and merite of Christ doe teach as wee doe that faith onely iustifieth For neither they nor we exclude from the worke of Iustification the action of God as the supreme and highest cause of our iustification for it is he that remitteth sinne and receiueth vs to grace nor the merit of Christ as that for which God inclineth to shew mercy to vs and to respect vs nor the remission of sinnes gratious acceptation and grant of the gift of righteousnes as that by which we are formally justified nor those works of prenenting grace whereby out of the generall apprehension of faith God worketh in vs dislike of our former condition desire to be reconciled to God to haue remission of that is past grace hereafter to decline the like euils to do contrary good things For by these wee are prepared disposed and fitted for iustification without these none are iustified And in this sense to imply a necessity of these to be found in us sometimes the fathers others say that we are not justified by faith only And we all agree that it is not our conuersion to God nor the change we find in our selues that can any way make us stād in judgment without feare and looke for any good from God otherwise then in that we find our selues so disposed and fitted as is necessary for justification whence we assure our selues God will in mercy accept us for Christs sake CHAP. 12. Of Merit MErit as Cardinall Contarenus rightly noteth if we speake properly importeth an action or actions quibus actionibus aut earum autori ab altero iusticia postulante debeatur praemiū No man can merit any thing of God First because we are his seruants owe much more seruice vnto him thē bond-slaues that are bought for money owe vnto their masters though no reward were promised we were bound to obey his commands Yet if we looke on the bounty of God he deales with us being bond-men as with hired seruants recōpencing that with a reward which we stood bound in duty to
afterwards when they are grown inveterate for that then they will corrupt the monuments of antiquity 8 That the whole present Church may be ignorant of some things and erre in them but that in matters necessary to bee knowne and beleeued expressely it cannot erre and that it cannot erre in any the least thing with pertinacie such and so great as is found in Heretickes Ninthly that Councels and Popes may erre in matters of greatest consequence This our opinion thus layde downe is defended by Waldensis Occam and others Waldensis saith the Church whose faith neuer faileth according to the promise made to Peter who bare the figure of the Church when Christ said I haue prayed for thee that thy faith faile not is not any particular Church as the Church of Africa within the bounds whereof Donatus did inclose it nor the particular Romane Church but the vniversall Church not gathered together in a generall Councell which hath sometimes erred as that at Ariminium vnder Taurus the Governour and that at Constantinople vnder Iustinian the younger but it is the Catholique Church dispersed through the whole world from the Baptisme of Christ vnto our times which doth holde and maintaine the true faith and the faithfull testimony of Iesus CHAP. 6. Of the Churches office of teaching and witnessing the truth and of their errour who thinke the authority of the Church is the rule of our faith and that shee may make new articles of our faith THus hauing spoken of the Churches assured possession of the knowledge of the truth in thenext place wee are to speake of her office of teaching witnessing the same touching the which our adversaries fall into two dangerous errours the first that the authority of the Church is Regula fidei ratio credendi the rule of our faith the reason why we belieue The second that the Church may make new articles of faith Touching the first of these erroneous conceipts the most of them doe teach that the last thing to which the perswasion of our faith resolueth it selfe the maine ground whereupon it stayeth is the authoritie of the Church guided by the spirit of truth For say they if infidels and misbeleeuers demaund of vs why we beleeue the Trinity of persons in the Vnity of the same Divine essence the Incarnation of the Sonne of God the Resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come we answere because these things are contayned in the Scriptures If they proceede farther to aske why wee beleeue the Scripture we answere because it is the word of God if why wee beleeue it to bee the word of God because the Church doth so testifie of it if why we beleeue the testimony of the Church because it is guided by the spirit of truth so that that vpon which our faith settleth her perswasion touching these things is the authority of the Catholique Church ledde and guided by the spirit of truth If it be said that it is one of the things to bee beleeued that the Church is thus guided by the spirit therefore that the authority of the Church cannot be the reason cause of beleeuing all things that pertain to the Christian faith because not of those things which concerne her owne authority Stapleton who professeth to handle this matter most exactly Sometimes seemeth to say that this article of faith that the Church is guided by the spirit and appointed by God to be a faithfull mistrisse of heauenly truth is not among the Articles of faith nor in the number of things to be beleeued Which the Rhemists vpon these words The Church is the pillar and ground of truth most constantly affirme saying We must beleeue heare and obey the Church as the Touchstone Pillar and firmament of truth for all this is comprised in the principle I beleeue the holy Catholique Church Sometimes that though perhaps in that Article it be implyed that wee beleeue whatsoeuer the Church teacheth vs yet not necessarily that wee beleeue that the Church is a faithfull and infallible witnesse mistresse of trueth And sometimes as in his triplication against Whitaker he sayth that when we professe that we beleeue the holy Catholike Church we doe not onely professe to beleeue that there is such a Church in the world but that wee are members of it and doe beleeue and embrace the doctrine of it as being guided infallibly by the spirit of trueth and that wee are taught in the Articles of our faith that the Church ought to bee listned vnto as to an infallible mistresse of heauenly trueth Surely it seemeth his braine was much crased when he thus wrote saying vnsaying saying he knew not what That which he addeth that this proposition God doth reveale vnto vs his heavenly truth teach vs the mysteries of his kingdome by the ministery of his Church is a transcendent wherevpon that article wherein wee professe to beleeue the Catholike Church doth depend as all the rest do is not an Article of the Creede doth but more more shew the distemper of his head But in that which hee addeth for confirmation hereof that we do not professe in the first Article of our faith to beleeue God as the reuealer of all hidden and heauenly truth and to rest in him as in the fountaine of all illumination is the note brand of an impious miscreant For this doubtlesse is the first thing implyed in our faith towards God that we yeeld him this honour to be the great master of all trueth vpon whose authority we will depend renouncing all our owne wisedome knowing that as no man knoweth the things of a man but the spirit of a man so no man knoweth the things of God but the spirit of Got and that flesh and blood cannot reueale these things vnto vs but our father which is in heauen That the precept of louing God aboue all is not distinctly set downe among the rest of the tenne commaundements but is implyed though principally in the first yet generally in all is to no purpose If he thinke it is not at all contayned in the Decalogue his folly is too too great CHAP. 7. Of the manifold errours of Papistes touching the last resolution of our faith and the refutation of the same THus wee see hee cannot avoid it but that the Church is one of the things to be beleeued therefore cannot be the first generall cause of beleeuing all things that are to be beleeued For when we are to be perswaded of the authority of the Church it is doubtfull vnto vs and therefore cannot free vs from doubting or settle our perswasion because that which setleth the perswasion must not be doubted of There is no question then but that the authority of the old Testament may bee brought to proue the new to him that is perswaded of the old and doubteth of the newe and the authoritie of the newe to
himselfe may we not tell him he doth so Shall it be lawfull for Theoph Higgons to vse al words of disgrace that he can deuise against Luther Caluin men of as good worth as the Cardinall may no man say any thing to the Cardinall because he is a Cardinall How much soeuer he forget himselfe truly I am not ignorant that these ministers of Antichrist take very much vpon them For as Clemangis long since feared not to write their spirits are so high lofty their words so swelling their behauiour so insolent that if a Painter would paint pride he could not do it better then by representing to the beholders the forme figure of a Cardinall which kind of men though they were originally of the inferiour clergy yet together with the increase of the pompe of the See of Rome grew so great enlarged spread out their Phylacteries in such sort that they despise as farre inferiour to them and much below them not Bishops alone whom in contempt they vse to call petit Bishops but Patriarches Primates Archbishops also almost suffering themselues to be adored and worshipped of them and yet not content therewith seeke to be kings fellowes for the maintenance of which their imagined and fained greatnesse like wild Boares they made hauocke of the Vineyards of the Lord of hoastes Thus wrote he almost 200. yeares since but Gods name be blessed for it these wild Boares haue beene well hunted out of many parts of Christendome since that time But Maister Higgons as if he meant to make an oration in the praise of his Cardinall to reproue as he saith the temerity of such as steepe theis pens in gall and wormewood to vent malicious vntruths against this happy man commendeth him for his intellectuall and morall parts setting them out at large in the particulars and as his manner is to cast in things sodainly without all cause or reason that are no way pertineÌ„nt he telleth of a crime which I lay vnto him and though I pardon him yet so vncourteous he is that hee sayth I do it in malice The crime as hee will haue it called is this I charge Bellarmine that hee forgetteth himselfe very strangely in his discourse touching the notes of the Church in that in the former part of it he denieth truth of profession or Doctrine to be a note of the Church and in the latter maketh Sanctity of doctrine or profession which he defineth to be the not contayning of any vntruth in matter of faith or vniust thing in matter of manners and conuersation to be a note of the Church Betweene which two assertions as I thinke there is a manifest contradiction For if truth of doctrine and profession and Sanctity of doctrine or profession bee all one as I thinke they will be found to bee then to say truth of doctrine and profession is no note of the Church and to say Sanctity of doctrine or profession is a note of the Church as Bellarmine doth is to vtter manifest contradictions This is the want of memory I find in Bellarmine for which Maister Higgons who amongst other good naturall parts commendeth him highly for tenaciousnesse of memory is offended with Me. But because he is become so jealous of his Cardinals Honour I will shew him another Scape or two in this kind In the former part of his discourse touching the notes of the Church he denieth Sanctity or purity of doctrine free from error to be a note of the Church because it may be found in a false Church for that Schismatickes who are only Schismatickes pertaine not to the true Church whose profession notwithstanding is free from all error as was the profession of the Donatists and Luciferians in the beginning and yet in his latter part he maketh this purity from error a note of the Church In the former part he denyeth it to be a note because it agreeth not inseperably to the true Church as notes should doe seeing the Churches of the Corinthians had it not and yet in the latter part he maketh this purity of doctrine to bee a note of the Church In the former part hee will haue nothing to be a note of the Church that may be claimed or pretended by any but the true Church and thereby excludeth purity of profession which is claymed by all mis-beleeuers and yet in the later admitteth it notwithstanding any challenge Heretickes or Mis-beleeuers make vnto it By this which hath beene said I hope it doth appeare that Maister Higgons had little reason to charge Mee with want of conscience in accusing Bellarmine But for want of ciuilility of manners and respectiue demeanor towards his person whereof hee complaineth let him know that if he inuolue himselfe in infinite contradictions as hee doth if he wrong vs and the Princes People and States of our profession by hellish and diabolicall slanders as he doth if he basely abuse Luther Caluine Bucer Melachthon and others his equalls in merit and esteeme if he set his face against heauen and open his mouth to the dishonour of our late Soueraigne of famous memory and his most excellent Maiesty now regnant as he doth we will be bold to cast this dirt into his face againe if he were a better man then all Master Higgons his base and slauering commendation of him can make to be §. 2. HEre Master Higgons leaueth me and passeth to D. Morton yet so good a will he hath to say something against Me though neuer so idlely that within two or three pages hee returneth to Mee againe and chargeth Mee full wisely with perplexing and involving my selfe in manifest contradictions The first contradiction he would force vpon Me is this The Elect notwithstanding any degree of sinne which they runne into retaine that grace which can and will procure pardon for all their offences and yet sometimeâ—… there is nothing found in the Elect that can or doth cry to God for pardon It is strange truly that such as Higgons is should be permitted to play the fooles in print as they doe But our Adversaries know it is good to keepe men busied in any sort and that the greatest part of their Adherents will applaud any thing though neuer so senselesly written against vs For otherwise I know they cannot but laugh at the serious folly of this their Novice in this passage For Ineuer say the Elect haue alwayes in theÌ„ that grace that can and will procure them pardon for all their sinnes and offences as hee chargeth Me but that the Elect called according to purpose haue that Grace that excludeth sin from raigning and that this Grace once had by them is neuer totally nor finally lost Now what contradiction is there betweene these propositions The Elect at sometimes to wit before they be called haue nothing in them that cryeth for pardon and remission of their sins and the Elect after they are once called according
parts of this Church and Catholiques that thinke the Pope may iudicially erre vnlesse a generall Councell concurre with him which in their opinion is an error and neare to heresie Yea the same Bellarmine sayth that the particular Romane Church that is the cleargy and people of Rome subiect to the Pope cannot erre because though some of them may yet all cannot It is true therefore which I haue deliuered not withstanding any thinge the Treatiser can say to the contrary that the Church including all the faithfull that are and haue beene since the Apostles may be sayd to bee free from error because in respect of her totall vniuersality she is so it being impossible that any errour should bee found in all her parts at all times though in respect of her seuerall parts shee be not For sometimes and in some parts she hath erred and in this sense can no more be sayd to be free from error then a man may be sayd to bee free from sicknesse that in some parts is ill affected But as a man that hath not beene alwaies nor in all parts ill may bee said to be free from perpetuall and vniuersall sicknesse so the Church is free from perpetuall and vniuersall error This the Treatiser saith is a weake priuiledge and not answerable to the great and ample promises made by Christ whereas the Fathers knew no other whatsoeuer this good man imagineth For Vincentius Lyrinensis confesseth that error may infect some parts of the Church yea that it may sometimes infect almost the whole Church so that he freeth it only from vniuersall perpetuall error But sayth the Treatiser what are poore Christians the nearer for this priuiledge how shall such a Church be the director of their faith and how shall they know what faith was preached by the Apostles what parts taught true doctrine and when and which erred in subsequent ages Surely this question is easily answered For they may know what the Apostles taught by their writings and they may know what parts of the Church teach true doctrine by comparing the doctrine each part teacheth with the written word of God and by obseruing who they are that bring in priuate and strange opinions contrary to the resolution of the rest But if happily some new contagion endeauour to commaculate the whole Church together they must looke vp into Antiquity and if in Antiquity they finde that some followed priuate and strange opinions they must carefully obserue what all not noted for singularity or heresie in diuerse places and times constantly deliuered as vndoubtedly true and receiued from such as went before them This course Vincentius Lyrinensis prescribeth But the Treatiser disclaimeth it not liking that all should be brought to the letter of holy Scripture and the workes of Antiquity which setting aside the authority of the present Church he thinketh yeeld no certaine and diuine argument So that according to his conceipt wee must rest on the bare censure and iudgement of the Pope for he is the present Church Antiquity is to be contēued as little or nothing worth Hauing iustified the distinctiō of the diuerse cōsiderations of the Church impugned by the Treatiser that which he hath touching the two assertions annexed to it will easily bee answered For the one of them is most true his addition of not erring being taken away and the other is but his idle imagination for wee neuer deliuered any such thing §. 3. IN the third place he excepteth against Mee because I say the words of the Apostle in the Epistle to Timothy touching the house and Church of God are originally vnderstood of the Church of Ephesus wherein Paul directeth Tymothy how to demeane and behaue himselfe but because I haue cleared this exception in my answere to Higgons I will say nothing to him in this place but referre him thither §. 4. FRom the Apostle the Treatiser passeth to Saint Augustine and chargeth Me th I wrest his words when he sayth he would not beleeue the Gospell if the authority of the Church did not moue him to a sense neuer meant by him These words of S. Augustin are vsually alleadged by the Papists to proue that the authority of the Church is the ground of our faith reason of beleeuing in answere whereunto I shew that the Diuines giue two explications of them For Ockam and some other vnderstand them not of the multitude of beleeuers that now are in the world but of the whole number of them that are and haue beene since Christ appeared in the flesh so including the Apostles and in this sense they confesse that the Church because it includeth the writers of the bookes of the new Testament is of greater authority then the books themselues Other vnderstand by the name of the Church onely the multitude of beleeuers liuing in the world at one time and thinke the meaning of Augustine is that the authority of this Church was an introduction vnto him but not the ground of his faith and principall or sole reason of beleeuing The former of these explications this graue censurer pronounceth to be friuolous First because if wee may beleeue him Saint Augustine neuer vsed these words Catholique Church after this sort in that sense Secondly because he speaketh of that Church which commanded him not to beleeue Manicheus which vndoubtedly was the present Church Thirdly because as he supposeth I can alleadge no Diuine that so interpreted the words of Augustine that which I cite out of Ockam being impertinent To euery of these reasons I will briefly answere And first that Augustine doth vse the words Catholique Church in the sense specified by Me it is euident For writing against Manicheus he hath these words Palám est quantū in re dubia ad fidem certitudinem valent Catholicae Ecclesiae authoritas quae ab ipsis fundatissimis sedibus Apostolorū vsque ad hodiernū diem succedētibus sibimet Episcopis tot populorū cōsensione firmatur that is it is apparant what great force the authority of that Church hath to settle the perswasion of faith cause certainty in things doubtfull that from the most surely established seats of the Apostles by succession of Bishops euen till this present cōsent of people is most firmely setled To the second reason wee answere that the Church including the Apostles and all faithfull ones that haue beene since comprehendeth in it the present Church and so might commaund Augustine not to listen to Manicheus So that this commaunding proueth not that he speaketh precisely of the present Church To the third I say that the Treatiser is either strangely ignorant or strangely impudent when hee affirmeth that I can alledge no Diuine that vnderstandeth the words of Augustine of the Church including in it the Apostles such as liued in their times For first Durandus vnderstandeth them of the Primitiue Church including the Apostles Secondly Gerson will tell him that when
heart that they may discerne see the light of heauenly truth it is evident that in Augustines judgment the authority of the Church serueth but as an introduction that the thing which right beleeuers rest vpon is of a higher nature to wit the discerning of heauenly truth Wherefore finding himselfe too weak to giue any substantiall answer he betaketh himselfe to a most silly exception pretending that I haue not truly translated these words of Augustin praesto est authoritas quā partim miraculis partim multitudine valere nemo ambigit authoritie is ready at handwhich standeth vpō 2 things the one the greatnes of miracles done the other multitude Is this a false translatiō hath the authority of the church that force which it hath to moue mē to beleeue partly by reasō of miracles partly by reasō of multitude may it not be truly said that it standeth partly vpon the greatnes of miracles wrought partly vpō multitudes but valere doth not signifie to stād vpō it is true it doth not yet what boy in the Grāmer School will not laugh at him for thus childishly demeaning himself for what man of vnderstāding would cal men to cōster euery word precisely as it importeth by it selfe without consideration of the coherence it hath with other in the same sentence Besides this place of Aug. there is another cited by Me out of Hugo where he maketh 3 sorts of beleeuers whereof the first are such as are moued out of piety to beleeue which yet discerne not by reason whether the things they beleeue are to bee beleeued or not The second such who by reason approue that which by faith they beleeue The third sort are such as by reason of the purity of their heart conscience begin inwardly to taste what by faith they beleeue This place maketh strongly for the confirmation of that I say that the evidence of sundry things in the light of faith and grace is that formall reason which assureth vs of the truth of them For heere Hugo affirmeth that the best sort of beleeuers doe approue by reason or by taste invvardly discerne the things they beleeue to be true So that such approbation or spiritual taste is the reason of their perswasion of the truth of these things To this authoritie the Treatiser hath nothing to say but that it maketh nothing to the purpose and that if I meant to translate the vvords of Hugo I haue not exactly translated thē Whether the saying of Hugo be to the purpose or not I vvill leaue it to the iudgment of the Reader but as for his other exception I vvould haue him knovv and any sensible Reader vvill very easilie discerne that I meant not exactlie to translate his vvordes but at large to set downe the intent driftes of them which I haue most truely performed and therefore hee doth Me wrong when hee saith I deale corruptly vntruly In the third place hee endeauoureth to make his Reader beleeue there is a contrariety betweene Me and Luther Brentius in that Luther with whom Brentius seemeth to agree maketh the Scripture to be of it self a most certaine most easie and most manifest interpreter of it selfe prouing judging and enlightning all things I acknowledge many difficulties in it But if the Treatiser had beene pleased to haue taken thinges aright he could not but haue seene that Luther also acknowledgeth manifold difficulties in the Scripture yea hee doth see it and acknowledge it and yet will not see it and therefore that he bee not contrary to himselfe when he affirmeth that the Scriptures are easie interpret themselues and judge and enlighten all thinges he must bee vnderstood to meane that notwithstanding some difficulties they are not so obscure and hard as that Heretiques may wrest and abuse them at their pleasure and noe man bee able to conuince them out of the euidence of those sacred writings as the Romanistes imagine but that wee may bee so assured out of the Scripture it selfe and the nature of the thinges therein contained that wee haue the true meaning of it that wee neede not altogether to rest in the authority of Church which explication of Luthers words the Treatiser might haue found in the place cited by him if hee had beene pleased and so haue omitted the vrging of this imagined contradiction §. 3. The 4. thing that he proposeth which cōcerneth me is that I mentiō a rule of faith according to which the Scriptures are to be interpreted which if we neglect al other considerations are insufficient the like he alleageth out of the Harmony of confessions whence he inferreth that we admit another guide in interpreting the Scripture besides the letter of the Scripture But hee should knowe that the rule of faith mentioned by me deliuered to vs from hand to hand by the guides of Gods Church containeth nothing in it but that which is found in Scripture either expressely or by necessary implication so that though wee admitte another guide in the interpretation of of Scripture besides the bare letter yet wee admitte noe other but that forme of Christian doctrine which all right beleeuing Christians taught by the Apostles and Apostolique men haue euer receiued as contained in the Scripture and thence collected To this hee addeth an excellent obseruation which is that I seeme to confesse that Saint Paul sometimes by the workes of the Law vnderstandeth the workes of the Law of Moses in that I say that that Apostle pronounceth that the Galathians were bewitched and that if they still persisted to joyne circumcision and the workes of the Law with Christ they were fallen from grace and Christ could profit them nothing But hee needed not thus to mince the matter for I willingly confesse that Paul not sometimes onely but euer vnderstandeth by the workes of the Lawe the workes of Moses Law Neither can there any thing be inferred thence for the Papists or against vs. For whereas by the workes of the Lawe some vnderstand those workes which the ceremoniall Lawe prescribed other such as the morall Lawe requireth and and a third sort such as by terror it worketh in men or causeth them to worke without any chaunge of the heart which cannot be wrought but only by grace the Papists think that whē the Apostle sayth we are iustified by faith without workes he excludeth not such works as the Morall Law requireth but such as the ceremoniall Law prescribeth and the morall Law worketh in men we teach that he excludeth all these So that a man repenting and beleeuing may bee saued though hauing neuer done any good worke he be taken out of this world before he can do any It is true indeede that good workes do necessarily follow iustification if time do serue and opportunity bee offered yet are they no meritorious causes of saluation But the Treatiser will proue out of that which I haue written that they are meritorious that
that the errours condemned by vs were not the doctrines of that auncient Roman church wherein our Fathers liued died we must obserue that the doctrines taught in that Church were of three sorts The first such as were deliuered with so full consent of all that liued in the same that whosoeuer offered to teach otherwise was rejected as a damnable hereticke such was the doctrine of the Triuity the creation fall originall sinne incarnation of the Sonne of God the vnity of his person diuersity of the natures subsisting in the same The second such errours as were taught by many in the midst of the same Church as that the Pope cannot erre and the like The third such contrary true assertions as were by other opposed against those errours The first were absolutely the doctrines of that Church The third may bee sayd to haue beene the doctrines of the Church though al receiued them not because they were the doctrines of such as were so in the church that they were the Church according to that of Augustine Some are in such sort in the house of God that they also are the house of GOD and some are so in the house that they pertaine not to the frame and fabricke of it nor to the society and fellowship of fruitfull and peaceable righteousnesse The second kinde of doctrines were not at all the doctrines of that church because they neither were taught with full consent of all that liued in it nor by them that were so in the church and house of God that they were the church and house of God but by such as though they pertained to the church in respect of the profession of some parts of heauenly truth yet in respect of many other wherein they were departed from the same seeking to subuert the faith once deliuered were but a faction in it Hence it followeth which is the third thing I promised to shew that howsoeuer wee haue forsaken the communion of the Romane Diocesse yet wee haue not departed from the Romane Church in the later sense before expressed wherein our Fathers liued died but onely from the faction that was in it First because wee haue brought in no doctrine then generally and constantly condemned nor reiected any thing then generally and constantly consented on Secondly because wee haue done nothing in that alteration of thinges that now appeareth but remoued abuses then disliked and shaken off the yoake of tyranny which that Church in her best parts did euer desire to bee freed from howsoeuer shee had brought forth and nourished other children that conspired against her that taught otherwise then we now doe would willingly for their aduantage haue retayned many things which wee haue remoued Thus then I hope it doth appeare that howsoeuer I confesse that the Latine or West Churches oppressed with Romish tyrāny cōtinued the true Churches of God held a sauing profession of heauenly truth turned many to God and had many Saints that died in their communion euen till the time that Luther began yet I neither dissent from Luther Caluine Beza or any other Protestant of iudgement nor any way acknowledge the present Romish Church to be that true Church of God whose communion wee must embrace whose directions wee must follow and in whose judgement we must rest But will some man say is the Romane Church at this day no part of the Church of God Surely as Augustine noteth that the societies of heretickes in that they retaine the profession of many parts of heauenly truth and the ministration of the Sacrament of Baptisme are so farre forth still conjoyned with the Catholicke Church of God and the Catholick Church in and by them bringeth forth children vnto God so the present Romane church is still in some sort a part of the visible Church of God but no otherwise then other societies of heretickes are in that it retayneth the profession of some parts of heauenly trueth and ministreth the true Sacrament of Baptisme to the saluation of the soules of many thousand infants that die after they are baptized before shee haue poysoned them with her errours Thus having spoken sufficiently for the cleering of my selfe touching this point I will passe from this chapter to the next CHAP. 3. IN the third chapter he endeauoureth to shew that the Protestants doe now teach the necessity of one supreame Spirituall head and commaunder in the Church of Christ. His words are these Whereas heretofore some vnchristian Sermons and Bookes haue termed the Bishop of Rome to bee the great Antichrist wee shall now receiue a better doctrine and more religious answere That there euer was and must bee one chiefe and supreame spirituall Head and Commander of the Church of Christ on earth c. D Field citeth and approueth this as a generall and infallible rule Ecclesiae salus in summi sacerdotis dignitate pendet c. The health of the Church dependeth on the dignity of the high Priest whose eminent authority if it be denyed there will be as many schismes in the Church as there be Priests Then of necessity one chiefe supreme and high Priest must be assigned in his iudgement These are his words The place he meaneth is not page one hundred thirty eight as he quoteth it but page 80. Let the Reader how partiall soeuer peruse it and if he finde that I haue written any thing whence it may be concluded that I acknowledge there euer was and must bee one chiefe and supreme spirituall Head and Commaunder of the whole Church of Christ in earth I will fall prostrate at the Popes feete and be of the Romish religion for euer But if it appeare vnto him that the author of these pretended proofes hath cited this place to proue that which in his conscience he knew it did not let him beware of such false cozening companions My words are The vnity of each particvlar Church depends on the vnity of the Pastor who is one to whom an eminent and particular power is giuen and whom all must obey Heere is no word of one chiefe Pastor of the whole vniuersall church of Christ vpon earth but of one chiefe Pastor in each particular Church VVho would not detest the impudencie false dealing of these Romish writers But he saith I approue the saying of Hierome before mentioned therefore I must assigne one chiefe Pastour of the whole Church of Christ on earth How will he make good this consequence Doth Hierome speake in that place cited approued by mee of one supreame Pastor of the whole Church of Christ on earth Surely this Pamphletter knoweth he doth not but of the Bishop of each particular Church or Diocesse If saith Hierome thou shalt aske why he that is baptized in the church doth not receiue the Holy Ghost but by the hands of the Bishop which we say is giuen in baptisme know that this obseruation commeth from that authority that the Spirit descended vpon the
OF THE CHURCH FIVE BOOKES BY RICHARD FIELD DOCTOR OF DIVINITY AND SOMETIMES DEANE OF GLOCESTER THE SECOND EDITION VERY MVCH AVGmented in the third booke and the Appendix to the same ·PECCATA·TOLLE·QVI·EMISTI·O·AGNE·DEI·IESV·CHRISTE ECCE·AGN DEI AT OXFORD Imprinted by WILLIAM TVRNER Printer to the famous Vniuersity 1628. TO THE ILLVSTRIOVS PRINCE THE DVKE OF BVCKINGAM HIS GRACE LORD HIGH ADMIRALL OF ENGLAND c. RIGHT HONOURABLE THat especiall fauour which your Grace was pleased to shew vnto the Author of this worke while he liued hath imboldned me to commend the worke it selfe as it is now inlarged vnto your Gracious protection And though the Authors particular obligement had not directed me in my choyce I know not vnto whom I might more fitly haue presented it then vnto your Grace who in a more peculiar manner then others haue vndertaken the protection of Schollers One example amongst many this Author might haue beene had hee liued but a little longer of your honourable care for the aduancement of learning and encouragement of Schollers The volume which I present vnto your Grace for the bulke and bignesse is not great especially if it be compared with the writings of our Aduersaries whose voluminous workes would make the ignorant beleeue that they had ingrossed all learning vnto themselues But asmany times wee may find in little men that strength of body and vigour of mind which is wanting in those of greater stature so experience telleth vs that amongst bookes the greatest are not alwaies the best Saepius in libro memoratur Persius vno Quam leuis in tota Marsus Amazonide And those that are acquainted with the writings of our Aduersaries are not ignorant how for the most part their great volumes are stuffed If a man will take the paines to reade them like those that digge in mines for gold he must expect to finde paruum in magno but a little gold in a great deale of vnprofitable earth Of this worke I thinke I might safely say thus much that it compriseth much in a little but I intend not a Panegyrique in the praise thereof If I giue it not that praise which it deserues my neare relation vnto the Author may be my excuse seeing whatsoeuer I should say would seeme rather to proceede from affection then judgment VVhat my opinion of it is I thinke I haue sufficiently expressed in that I haue thought it not vnworthy your Graces patronage And thus praying for the continuance of your Graces prosperous and happy estate I remaine Your Graces most humbly obliged seruant NATHANIEL FIELD TO THE MOST REVEREND FATHER IN GOD MY VERY GOOD LORD THE LORD Arch-bishop of CANTERBVRY his Grace Primate and Metropolitan of all England MOst Reuerend in Christ the consideration of the vnhappie diuisions of the Christian world and the infinite distractions of mens mindes not knowing in soe great variety of opinions what to thinke or to whom to joyne themselues euery faction boasting of the pure sincere profession of heauenly truth challenging to it selfe alone the name of the Church and fastning vpon all that dissent or are otherwise minded the hatefull note of Schisme and Heresie hath made me euer thinke that there is no part of heauenly knowledge more necessary than that which concerneth the Church For seeing the controuersies of Religion in our time are growne in number so many and in nature so intricate that few haue time and leasure fewer strength of vnderstanding to examine them what remaineth for men desirous of satisfaction in things of such consequence but diligently to search out which amongst all the societies of men in the world is that blessed company of holy ones that houshold of faith that Spouse of Christ and Church of the liuing God which is the Pillar and ground of truth that so they may embrace her communion follow her directions and rest in her iudgement Hence it commeth that all wise and iudicious men do more esteeme bookes of doctrinall principles than those that are written of any other argument and that there was neuer any treasure holden more rich and precious by all them that knew how to prize and value things aright than bookes of prescription against the profane nouelties of Heretiques for that thereby men that are not willing or not able to examine the infinite differences that arise amongst men concerning the faith haue generall directions what to follow and what to avoid Wee admitte no man sayth Tertullian in his booke of prescriptions to any disputation concerning sacred and diuine things or to the scanning and examining of particular questions of Religion vnlesse hee first shew vs of whom he receiued the faith by whose meanes he became a Christian and whether hee admitte and hold the generall principles wherein all Christians do and euer did agree otherwise prescribing against him as a stranger from the common-wealth of the Israel of God and hauing no part nor fellowship in this businesse But as in the daies of the Fathers the Donatists and other Heretickes including the Church within the compasse of Africa and such other parts of the world where they their consorts found best entertainment reiected all other from the vnity of the Church excluded them from hope of saluation and appropriated all the glorious things that are spoken of it to themselues alone soe in our time there are some found so much in loue with the pompe and glory of the Church of Rome that they feare not to condemne all the inhabitants of the world and to pronounce them to be Anathema from the Lord Iesus if they dissent from that Church and the doctrine profession and obseruations of it So casting into hell all the Christians of Graecia Russia Armenia Syria and Aethiopia because they refuse to be subiect to the tyranny of the Pope and the Court of Rome besides the heauie sentence which they haue passed against all the famous States and Kingdomes of Europe which haue freed themselues from the Aegyptiacall bondage they were formerly holden in These men abuse many with the glorious pretences of antiquity Vnity Vniuersality Succession and the like making the simple beleeue that all is ancient which they professe that the consent of all ages is for them and that the Bishops succeeding one another in all the famous Churches of the world neuer taught nor beleeued any other thing than they now doe whereas it is easie to proue that all the things wherein they dissent from vs are nothing else but nouelties and vncertaineties that the greatest part of the Christian world hath beene diuided from them for certaine hundreds of yeares that none of the most famous and greatest Churches euer knew or admitted any of their heresies and that the things they now publish as Articles of faith to be beleeued by all that will bee saued are so farre from being Catholike that they were not the doctrines of that Church wherein they and wee sometimes liued together in one communion but the opinions onely of
some men in that Church adulterating the doctrine of heauenly trueth bringing in and defending superstitious abuses disliked by others and seruing as vile instruments to aduance the tyraÌ„ny of the Bishop of Rome Wherefore for the discouery of the vanity of their insolent boastings for the coÌ„firming of the weake the satisfying of them that are doubtfull and that all men may know that wee haue not departed from the auncient faith or forsaken the fellowship of the Catholicke Church but that wee haue forsaken a part to hold communion with the whole led so to doe by the most preuailing reasons that euer perswaded men and the greatest authority on earth I resolued to communicate to others what I had long since in priuate for mine owne satisfactien obserued touching the nature of the Church the notes whereby it may bee knowen and the priuiledges that pertaine to it These my simple labours most Reuerend in Christ I thought it my dutie to offer to your Graces censure before they should present themselues to the view of the world that so either finding approbation they might the more confidently make themselues publike or otherwise be suppressed like the vntimely fruit that neuer saw the Sunne The condition of the times wherein wee liue is such that manie are discouraged from medling with the controuersies of Religion because they are sure besides the vile slanders wicked calumniations and bitter reproches of the common aduersaries to passe the censures of those men who though they will doe nothing themselues yet in the height of a proud and disdainefull spirit with many a scornefull looke smile at the follies of other mens writings as they esteeme them The sinister iudgements of either of these sortes of men I shall the lesse regard for that it pleased your Grace so louingly to accept and soe fauourably to approue these my poore paines bestowed for the clearing of sundry questions concerning tâ—…â—…rch which by your direction and appointment I first entred into It hath biâ—… 〈◊〉 â—…he vaunt of the aduersaries of the Religion established amongst vs that 〈◊〉 written many bookes against vs and none haue beene found to oppose any â—…g against them that they desire nothing more then by writing or disputing to â—…ic the goodnes of their cause But I doubt not but this Nationall Church the gouernment whereof vnder our most gracious Soueraigne is principally committed to your fatherly care shall yeeld men more than matchable with the proudest of the aduerse faction who being animated and hartned by your fauour guided by your directions shall no longer suffer these proud Philistims to defie the armies of the Lord of Hosts For though they proclaime their owne praises with loude sounding trumpets that might haue beene piped with an oaten straw and though they magnifie themselues as if they were the only Paragons of the world and as if all wit learning had bin borne with them should die with them yet whosoeuer knoweth them will little regard the froath of their swelling words of pride and scorne seeing when they haue done vaunting they haue done their best and that which remaineth is little worth their allegations being for the most part nothing but falsifications their testimonies of antiquity the markes notes of their ancient forgeries their reasons sophismes their reports slanders and wicked calumniations their threats the venting of their malice and powring out of their impotent desires their predictions onely manifesting what they wish might be but no way shewing what shall be In the later daies of our late dread Soueraigne Elizabeth of famous blessed memory all their books were nothing but fearefull threatnings of bloody confusions and horrible dissipations of Church and common-wealth which they hoped for and looked after soe soone as it should please God to cut off the thread of her blessed life But he that sitteth in heaueÌ„ hath laughed them to scorne and branded them with the marke of false Prophets For Elizabeth is gathered to her fathers in peace full of daies and full of honour yet they haue not bathed their swords in blood as they desired but God hath disappointed all their purposes frustrated their hopes and continued our happinesse Iosua hath succeeded Moyses and Salomon Dauid and he that disposeth the kingdomes of men giueth them to whom he will hath set vpon the Throne of Maiesty amongst vs a King of a Religious Vertuous and peaceable disposition to whom he hath giuen a wise and vnderstanding heart large as the sands of the sea shore whose delight is in the Law of the Lord who hath chosen his testimonies to be his Counsellers whose constant resolution in matters of faith and Religion daunteth the enemies of it whose admirable vnderstanding in things Diuine more then for many ages the world hath found in any of his ranke giueth vs good assurance that no frauds of any deceiuers shall euer be able to seduce or misse-lead him whose blessed Progenie and Royall issue maketh vs hope that the felicity of these vnited kingdomes shall continue as longe as the Sunne and Moone endure which whosoeuer desireth and seeketh to procure Peace be vpon him vpon the Israel of God Thus crauing pardon for this my boldnesse and humbly beseeching Almighty God long to continue your Graces happie and prosperous estate and to make you a glorious instrument of much good to his Church I rest Your Graces in all dutie RICHARD FIELD WHAT THINGS ARE HANDLED IN THE BOOKES FOLLOWING The first Booke is concerning the Name Nature and Definition of the Church and the different sorts of them that do pertaine vnto it CHAP. 1. OF the Church consisting of men and Angels in the day of their creation pag. 1. Chap. 2. Of the calling of grace whereby God called out both men and Angels from the rest of his creatures to bee vnto him a holy Church and of their Apostasie 4. Chap. 3. Of the Church consisting of those Angels that continued in their first estate by force of grace vpholding them and men redeemed 5. Chap. 4. Of the Church of the redeemed 7. Chap. 5. Of the Christian Church 9. Chap. 6. Of the definition of the Church 11. Chap. 7. Of the diuers sorts of them that pertaine to the Church ibid. Chap. 8. Of their meaning who say that the Elect only are of the Church 13. Chap. 9. Of the difference of them that are in and of the Church 14. Chap. 10. Of the visible and inuisible Church ibid. Chap. 11. Of the diuerse titles of the Church how they are verified of it 17. Chap. 12. Of the diuerse sorts of them that haue not yet entred into the Church 18. Chap. 13. Of the first sâ—…rt of them that after their admission into the Church of God do voluntarily depart and goe from the same 19. Chap. 14. Of the second sort of them that voluntarily goe out from the people of God 20. Chap. 15. Of them whom the Church casteth out by excommunication 22. Chap.
16. Of the errors that are and haue beene touching the vse of the discipline of the Church in punishing offenders 24. Chap. 17. Of the considerations moouing the Church to vse indulgence towards offenders 25. Chap. 18. Of their damnable pride who condemne all those Churches wherein want of due execution of discipline and imperfections of men are found 26. The second Booke is of the notes of the Châ—…h CHAP. 1. OF the nature of notes of difference and their seuerall kindes 29. Chap. 2. Of the diuers kindes of notes whereby the true Church is discerned from other societies of men in the world 30. Chap. 3. Of Bellarmines reasons against the notes of the Church assigned by vs. 32. Chap. 4. Of Stapletons reasons against our notes of the Church 34. Chap. 5. Of their notes of the Church and first of Antiquity 37. Chap. 6. Of succession 39. Chap. 7. Of the third note assigned by them which is Vnity 40. Chap. 8. Of Vniuersality 41. Chap. 9. Of the name and title of Catholike 42. The third Booke sheweth which is the true Church demonstrated by those notes CHAP. 1. OF the diuision of the Christian World into the Westerne or Latine Church and the Orientall or East Church 47. Chap. 2. Of the harsh and vnaduised censure of the Romanists condemning all the Orientall Churches as Schismatic all and hereticall 75. Chap. 3. Of the nature of heresie of the diuerse kindes of things wherein men erre and what pertinacie it is that maketh an hereticke 76. Chap. 4. Of those things which euery one is bound expresly to know and beleeue and wherein no man canne erre without note of heresie 77. Chap. 5. Of the nature of Schisme and the kindes of it and that it no way appeareth that the Churches of Greece c. are hereticall or in damnable Schisme 80. Chap. 6. Of the Latine Church that it continued the true Church of God euen till our time and that the errours we condemne were not the doctrines of that Church 81. Chap. 7. Of the seuerall points of difference betweene vs and our aduersaries wherein some in the Church erred but not the whole Church 83. Chap. 8. Of the true Church which and where it was befâ—… Luthers time 84. Chap. 9. Of an Apostasie of some in the Church 86. Chap. 10. Of their errour who say nothing can be amisse in the Church either in respect of doctrine or discipline 89. Chap. 11. Of the causes of the manifold confusions and euils formerly found in the Church ibid. Chap. 12. Of the desire and expectation of a reformation of the corrupt state of the Church and that the alteration which hath beene is a reformation 91. Chap. 13. Of the first reason brought to prooue that the Church of Rome holdeth the faith first deliuered because the precise time wherein errors began in it cannot be noted 93. Chap. 14. Of diuers particular errours which haue beene in the Church whose first author cannot be named 94. Chap. 15. Of the second reason brought to prooue that they hold the auncient faith because our men dissenting from them confesse they dissent from the Fathers where sundry instances are examined 96. Chap. 16. Of Limbus Patrum concupiscence and satisfaction touching which Caluin is falsely charged to confesse that he dissenteth from the Fathers 99. Chap. 17. Of Prayer for the dead and Merit 101. Chap. 18. Of the Fathers strictnesse in admitting men into the Ministery of single life and of their seuerity in the discipline of repentance 103. Chap. 19. Of the Lent Fast of Lay-mens Baptisme and of the sacrifice of the Masse 106. Chap. 20. Of the inuocation and adoration of Saints touching which the Century writers are wrongfully charged to dissent from the Fathers 109. Chap. 21. Of Martyrdome and the excessiue praises thereof found in the Fathers 114. Chap. 22. Wherein is examined their proofe of the antiquity of their Doctrine taken from a false supposall that our doctrine is nothing else but heresie long since condemned 115. Chap. 23. Of the heresie of Florinus making God the author of sinne falsely imputed to Caluine and others 117. Chap. 24. Of the heresies of Origen touching the Image of God and touching hell falsely imputed to Caluin 133. Chap. 25. Of the heresie of the Peputians making women Priests 134. Chap. 26. Of the supposed heresie of Proclus and the Messalians touching concupiscence in the regenerate 135. Chap. 27. Of the heresies of Nouatus Sabellius and the Manichees 139. Chap. 28. Of the heresies of the Donatists 141. Chap. 29. Of the heresies of Arrius and Aerius 142. Chap. 30. Of the heresies of Iouinian 143. Chap. 31. Of the heresies of Vigilantius 146. Chap. 32. Of the heresie of Pelagius touching originall sinne and the difference of veniall and mortall sinnes 147. Chap. 33. Of the heresie of Nestorius falsely imputed to Beza and others 149. Chap. 34. Of the heresies of certaine touching the Sacrament and how our men deny that to be the body of Christ that is carried about to bee gazed on 150. Chap. 35. Of the heresie of Eutiches falsely imputed to the Diuines of Germany 151. Chap. 36. Of the supposed heresie of Zenaias Persa impugning the adoration of Images 152. Chap. 37. Of the error of the Lampetians touching vowes 153. Chap. 38. Of the heresie of certaine touching the verity of the body and blood of Christ communicated to vs in the Sacrament ibid. Chap. 39. Of succession and the exceptions of the aduersaries against vs in respect of the supposed want of it 154. Chap. 40. Of succession and the proofe of the trueth of their doctrine by it 159. Chap. 41. Of vnity the kinds of it and that communion with the Romane Bishoppe is not alwaies a note of true and Catholike profession 160. Chap. 42. That nothing can be concluded for them or against vs from the note of Vnity or diuision opposite vnto it 164. Chap. 43. Of Vniuersality 169. Chap. 44. Of the Sanctity of doctrine and the supposed absurdities of our profession 170. Chap. 45. Of the Paradoxes and grosse absurdities of Romish religion 172. Chap. 46. Of the efficacie of the Churches doctrine 174. Chap. 47. Of the Protestants pretended confession that the Romane Church is the true Church of God ibid. Chap. 48. Of Miracles confirming the Romane faith 175. Chap. 49. Of Propheticall prediction 177. Chap. 50. Of the felicity of them that professe the trueth 178. Chap. 51. Of the miserable ends of the enemies of the truth ibid. Chap. 52. Of the Sanctitie of the liues of them that are of the Church 179. An Appendix to the third booke wherein it is proued that the Latine Church was and continued a true orthodoxe and protestant Church and that the maintainers of Romish errors were onely a faction in the same at the time of Luthers appearing AN answere to M. Brerelyes obiection concerning the masse publiquely vsed in all Churches at Luthers appearing pag. 185. Chap. 1. Of the canon of the Scriptures 224.
Schismatikes are they that breake the vnitie of the Church and refuse to submit themselues and yeeld obedience to their lawfull Pastours and guides though they retaine an entire profession of the trueth of God as did the Luciferians some others in the beginning of their Schisme though for the most part the better to justifie their Schismaticall departure from the rest of Gods people Schismatikes doe fall into some errour in matters of faith This is the first sort of them that depart and goe out from the Church of God and company of his people whose departure yet is not such but that notwithstanding their Schisme they are and remaine parts of the Church of God For whereas in the Church of God is found an entire profession of the sauing trueth of God order of holy Ministery Sacraments by vertue thereof administred and a blessed vnitie and fellowship of the people of God knit together in the bond of peace vnder the commaund of lawfull Pastours and guides set over them to direct them in the wayes of eternall happinesse Schismatikes notwithstanding their separation remaine still conioyned with the rest of Gods people in respect of the profession of the whole sauing trueth of God all outward actes of Religion and Diuine worship power of order and holy Sacraments which they by vertue thereof administer and so still are and remaine parts of the Church of God but as their communion and coniunction with the rest of Gods people is in some things onely and not absolutely in all wherein they haue and ought to haue fellowship so are they not fully and absolutely of the Church nor of that more speciall number of them that communicate intirely and absolutely in all things necessary in which sense they are rightly denied to be of the Church which I take to be their meaning that say they are not of the Church CHAP. 14. Of the second sort of them that voluntarily goe out from the people of God HEretikes are they that obstinately persist in error contrary to the Churches faith so that these doe not onely forsake the fellowship but the faith also and therefore of these there may be more question whether notwithstanding their hereticall division they still continue in any sort parts of the Church of God But this doubt in my opinion is easily resolued For in respect of the profession of sundry diuine verities which still they retaine in common with right beleeuers in respect of the power of order and degree of ministery which receiuing in the Church they carry out with them and sacraments which by vertue thereof they doe administer they still pertain to the Church But for that they hold not an entire full professiō of all such sauing trueths as to know and beleeue is necessary vnto saluation for that their Pastours and Priests though they haue power of order yet haue no power of jurisdiction neither can performe any acte thereof for that they retaine not the vnity of the spirit in the bond of peace they are rightly denied to be of the Church not for that they are not in any sort of it but for that they are not fully and absolutely of it nor of that more speciall number of them which communicate in all things wherein Christians should This more speciall number of right beleeuing Christians is for distinction sake rightly named the Catholike Church because it consisteth of them only that without addition diminution alteration or innouation in matter of doctrine hold the common faith once deliuered to the Saints and without all particular or priuate diuision or faction retaine the vnitie of the spirit in the bond of peace To this purpose is it that Saint Augustine against the Donatists who therefore denied the baptisme of Heretikes to be true Baptisme and did vrge the necessity of rebaptizing them that were baptized by them for that they are out of the Church doth shew that all wicked ones feined Christians and false hearted hypocrites are secluded from the Church of God considered in her best and principall parts and in the highest degree of vnitie with Christ her mysticall head aswell as ◅retikes and Schismatikes As therefore all they that outwardly professe the trueth and hold the faith of Christ without schisme or heresie are of the Church and are within as the Scripture speaketh yet are not all ofthat more speciall number of them that are intrinsecus in occulto intus but in more generall sort So likewise Heretikes and Schismatikes though they be not of that speciall number of them that in vnity hold the entire profession of diuine trueth are of the Church generally considered and of the number of them that professe the trueth of God reuealed in Christ. And this surely Augustine most clearely deliuereth For when the Donatists did obiect that Heresie is an harlot and that if the baptisme of Heretikes bee good sonnes are borne to God of heresie and so of an harlot than which what can be more absurde impious his answere was that the conuenticles of Heretikes doe beare children vnto God not in that they are diuided but in that they still remaine conjoyned with the true and Catholike Church not in that they are Heretikes but in that they professe and practise that which Christians should and doe professe and practise It is not therefore to be so scornefully rejected by Bellarmine Stapleton and others of that faction that we affirme that both Heretikes and Schismatikes are in some sort though not fully perfectly and with hope of saluation of the Church seeing Augustine in the iust and honourable defence of the Churches cause against Heretikes did long since affirme the same not doubting to say that Heretikes remaine in such sort conioyned to the Church notwithstanding their Heresie that the true Church in the midst ofthem and in their assemblies by Baptisme ministred by them doth beare and bring forth children vnto God The not conceiuing whereof gaue occasion to Cyprian and the African Bishops of errour and afterwards to the Donatists of their heresie touching the rebaptization of them that were baptized by Heretikes For seeing there is but ◅e Lord one faith one Baptisme seeing God gaue the power of the keyes and the dispensation of his word and sacraments onely to his Church if Heretikes bee not of the Church they doe not baptise This their allegation they amplified and enlarged from the nature and condition of heresie and Heretickes and the high pretious and diuine qualitie force and working of the sacraments thereby endeauouring to shew that so excellent meanes pledges and assurances of our saluation cannot be giuen by the hands of men so farre estranged from God There is say they one faith one hope one Baptisme not among heretikes where there is no hope and a false faith where all things are done in lying false and deceiueable maner where he adiureth Sathan that is the vassall of Sathan and possessed of the diuell
perpetually proper CHAP. 2. Of the divers kindes of notes whereby the true Church is discerned from other societies of men in the world THere are presently and were formerly but three maine differences of religion in the world Paganisme Iudaisme and Christianity Paganisme is and was that state of religion and diuine worship wherein men hauing no other light than that of nature and the vncertaine traditions of their erring fathers to guide them did and doe change the trueth of God into a lie and worship and serue the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed for ever Iudaisme is that state of religion wherein men imbrace the Law which God gaue to the children of Abraham and sonnes of Iacob reforming heathenish impietie teaching saluation to bee looked for through one whom God would send in the last dayes and exalt to bee Lord ouer all Christianitie is the religion of them that beleeue Iesus Christ to be that Sauiour promised to the Iewes and acknowledge him to bee the sonne of the liuing God They which hold this profession are called the Church of Christ neither is there any other society or company of men in the world that professe so to beleeue but they only If we take a view of this Church respectiuely considered seeking onely to difference and distinguish it from the society of Pagan Infidels the profession of Diuine supernaturall and revealed verities is so found in the Church that not amongst any of these and so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 respectiuely it is proper to the Church may serue as a note of difference distinguishing it from these profane and heathenish companies but from the Iewes it doeth not seuer it for it is common to it with them both holding the sacred profession of many heauenly and reuealed verities So that if we will distinguish Christians from Iewes we must finde out that which is so proper and peculiar to the companies and societies of Christians that it is not communicated to the Iewes Such is the profession of diuine verities reuealed in Christ whom onely these societies acknowledge to bee the sonne of God and Sauiour of the world But for that when neither heathenish superstition nor the Iewes perfidious impietie could any longer prevaile or resist against the knowledge and glory of Christ but that all the whole world went after him Sathan the enemie of mankinde stirred vp certaine turbulent wicked and godlesse men who professing themselues to bee Christians vnder the name of Christ brought in damnable doctrines of errour no lesse dangerously erring than did the Pagans and Iewes This profession of the faith of Christ though it distinguish the Christian Church from the Iewes and Pagans and is so farre proper vnto it that it is not found in any of them yet doth it not separate the multitude of right beleeuing Christians which is the sound part of the Christian Church and is named the Orthodoxe Church from seduced miscreants being common to both We must therefore further seeke out that which is so peculiarly found in the more speciall number of right beleeuing Christians that not in any other though shadowed vnder the generall name of Christianitie Such is the entire profession of diuine verities according to the rule of faith left by Christ and his first disciples and schollers the holy Apostles This entire profession of the trueth reuealed in Christ though it distinguish right beleeuers from Heretikes yet it is not proper to the happy number and blessed company of Catholike Christians because Schismatikes may and sometimes doe hold an entire profession of the trueth of God revealed in Christ. It remaineth therefore that wee seeke out those things that are so peculiarly found in the companies of right beleeuing and Catholike Christians that they may serue as notes of difference to distinguish them from all both Pagans Iewes Heretikes and Schismatikes These are of two sorts for either they are such as onely at sometemes and not perpetually or such as doe perpetually and euer seuer the true Church from all conuenticles of erring and seduced misereants Of the former sort was multitude largenesse of extent and the name of Catholike esteemed a note of the Church in the time of the Fathers The notes of the later sort that are inseparable perpetuall and absolutely proper and peculiar which perpetually distinguish the true Catholike Church from all other societies of men and professions of religions in the world are three First the entire profession of those supernaturall verities which God hath reuealed in Christ his sonne secondly the vse of such holy ceremonies sacraments as hee hath instituted and appointed to serue as prouocations to godlinesse preseruations from sinne memorialls of the benefits of Christ warrants for the greater securitie of our beleefe and markes of distinction to separate his owne from strangers thirdly an vnion or connexion of men in this profession and vse of these sacraments vnder lawfull pastours and guides appointed authorised sanctified to direct and leade them in the happy wayes of eternall saluation That these are notes of the Church it will easily appeare by consideration of all those conditions that are required in the nature of notes They are inseparable they are proper and they are essentiall and such things as giue being to the Church and therefore are in nature more cleare and evident and such as that from them the perfect knowledge of the Church may and must be deriued Notwithstanding for that our aduersaries take exception to them I will first examine their obiections and secondly proue that neither they nor any other that know what they write or speake can or doe assigne any other And because Bellarmine and Stapleton haue taken most paines in this Argument I will therefore propose the obiections I finde in them assuring my selfe that there are not any other of moment to be found in the writings of any other of that side CHAP. 3. Of Bellarmines reasons against the notes of the Church assigned by vs. BEllarmine his first obiection is By these notes we know not who are elect therefore by these we doe not certainely know which is the true Church The consequence of this reason we denie as being most fond and false He proveth it in this sort The Church according to the doctrine of the Protestants is onely the number of the elect and therefore if the elect be not knowen and discerned by these from the reprobate and castawayes the Church cannot bee knowen by them But the Antecedent of this argument is likewise false as appeareth by that which I haue formerly delivered touching the nature and being of the Church for we doe not say that the Church consisteth onely of the elect but principally intentionally and finally For otherwise it consisteth of all that partake in the outward calling of grace and enjoying of the meanes of saluation and so may be knowen by these notes For that society doubtlesse hath enioyeth the meanes of saluation
hee findeth it professed and taught hee may know that society that so professeth as he now knoweth the trueth in Christ to bee is the true Church of God Euen as if one aske of vs how hee may know such a noble mans servants in the Princes Court we satisfie him if wee tell him they are clothed with scarlet if none other but they onely bee so clothed But if he know not scarlet and so aske of vs in the second place which is scarlet and who they are that weare it wee will not tell him they that weare it but shew him how hee may know it that so when hee seeth it he may assure himselfe he hath found the men he enquired after CHAP. 5. Of their notes of the Church and first of antiquitie THus hauing answered the reasons brought by our aduersaries against the notes of the Church assigned by vs let vs proceede to take a view of such as are allowed by them and see if they bee not the very same in substance with ours The notes that they propose vnto vs are Antiquity Succession Vnity Vniversality and the very name and title of Catholicke expressing the Vniversality Antiquity is of two sortes primary and secondary Primary is proper vnto God who is eternall whose being is from everlasting who is absolutely the first before whom nothing was from whom all things receiue being when as before they were not This kind of antiquity is a most certaine proofe and demonstration of trueth and goodnes Of this they speake not who make Antiquity a note of the Church Wherefore letting this passe let vs come to the other which for distinction sake we name secondary Antiquity This is of two sortes The first wee attribute to all those things which began to bee long agoe and since whose first beginning there hath beene a long tract of time This is no note or proofe of trueth or goodnesse For the divell was both a lyer a murtherer long agoe even immediatly after the beginning And there are many errours and superstitions which began long since yea before the name of Christians was once named in the world and sundry heresies that were coaetaneall and as auncient as the Apostles times and that began before the most famous Churches in the world were planted This kinde of Antiquity it is that Cyprian speaketh of Non debemus attendere quid alius ante nos fecerit aut faciendum putauerit sed quid qui ante omnes est Christus prior fecerit Neque enim hominis consuetudinem sequi oportet sed dei veritatem Et alibi Non est de consuetudine praescribendum sed ratione vincendum Et ad Pompeium Consuetudo sine veritate vetustas erroris est Wee must not regard what any other did before vs or thought fit to be done but what Christ did who was before all Neither must wee follow the customes of men but the trueth of God And in another place Wee must not prescribe vpon custome but perswade by reason And writing to Pompeius Custome without trueth is nothing else but inueterate errour There is therefore another kind of Antiquity which is not long continuance or the being before many other but the prime first and originall being of each thing this is a sure proofe of goodnesse and perfection For all defects found in things are swaruings deelinings and departures from their originall and first estate For trueth is before falshood and good before evill and the habit before privation Veritas saith Tertullian in omnibus imaginem antecedit postremò similitudo succedit The trueth is before any counterfeite similitude on representation the trueth is first and then afterwards there are imitations That therefore that is first in any kind or sort of things is truest and best and consequently that Church that hath prime and absolute Antiquity is vndoubtedly the true Church This Antiquity a Church may be sayd to haue three wayes either onely because the first constitution of it was most auncient as taking beginning from the first publishers of heauenly knowledge the Apostles of Christ the immediate indubitate and prime witnesses of the trueth of God whatsoever her declinings haue beene since Or because as her first constitution was most auncient in that shee receiued the faith from the Apostles or such as shee knew vndoubtedly to hold communion with them so she is not since gone from it in whole or in part but still hath the same being shee first had or thirdly because the profession it holdeth is the same that was deliuered by the prime immediate and indubitate witnesses and publishers of the trueth of God though it began to be a Church but yesterday The Antiquity of the first constitution of a Church is no sufficient proofe or note of the trueth or soundnesse of it Neither doe they that plead most for Antiquity thinke it a good proofe for any company or society of Christians to demonstrate themselues to bee the true Church of God because they haue had the profession of Christianity euer since the Apostles times by whose meanes they were first converted to the faith established in the profession of the same For then the Church of Ephesus might at this day proue it selfe a true Church of God yea many Churches in Aethiopia are yet remaining which haue continued in the profession of Christianity euer since the Apostles times But this is all they say that if any Church founded by the Apostles or their coadiutors left by them in the true profession as were the Churches of Rome Antioche Ephesus the like can demonstrate that they haue not since departed from their first and originall estate they thereby doe proue themselues to bee the true Churches of God And if any other that began since as innumerable did can shew that they haue the faith first delivered to the Saints they therby proue themselues no lesse to be the true Church of God then the former which had their beginning from the Apostles themselues and haue continued in a state of Christianity ever since Doe we not see thē that it is truth of doctrine whereby the Church is to be found out euen in the judgement of them that seeme most to say the contrary they admitte no plea of Antiquitie on the behalfe of any Churches whatsoeuer though established by the Apostles vnlesse they can proue that they haue not left their first faith So that this is still the triall if they may be found to haue the trueth of profession c. Wherevpon Stapleton saith Ad notam Antiquitatis sibi vendicandam non satis est quòd aliqua societas sub titulo Ecclesiae diu perdurauerit aut prior extiterit sed praetereà necesse est quòd sanam doctrinam semper priùs retinuerit Hoc autem contra veteres haereses maximè ipsis Apostolis coetaneas notandum est It is not a sufficient reason for a societie of Christians to chalenge to
tend signified by that pennie given to every one of the labourers Matth. 20. The third is in respect of the same meanes of saluation as are faith sacraments holy lawes and precepts according to that Ephesians 4. One faith one Baptisme c. The fourth in respect of the same spirit which doeth animate the whole body of the Church There are diversities of graces but the same spirit 1. Cor. 12. The fift in respect of the same head Christ and guides appointed by him who though they are many yet are all holden in a sweete coherence and connexion amongst themselues as if there were but one episcopall chaire and office in the world Which Vnitie of Pastours and Bishops though they be many and ioyned in equall commission without dependance one of another Christ signified by directing his words specially to Peter Feede my sheepe feede my lambes as Cyprian most aptly noteth The sixt is in respect of the connexion which all they of the Church haue amongst themselues and with Christ and those whom he hath appointed in his stead to take care of their soules Rom. 12. Wee are one body and members one of another These being the diuers kindes and sortes of Vnitie in the Church let vs see what Vnitie it is which they make a note of the Church The Vnitie which they make a note of the Church is first in respect of the rule of faith and vse of the sacraments of saluation secondly in respect of the coherence and connexion of the Pastours and Bishops amongst themselues thirdly in the due and submissiue obedience of the people to their Pastours This is it then which they say that wheresoeuer any company and society of Christians is found in orderly subiection to their lawfull Pastours not erring from the rule of faith nor schismatically rent from the other parts of the Christian world by factious causelesse and impious diuision that societie of men is vndoubtedly the true and not offending Church of God This note thus delivered is the very same with those assigned by vs. But if any of them shall imagine that any Vnitie and agreement whatsoeuer of Christian people amongst themselues doth prooue them to bee the Church of God wee vtterly denie it For the Armenians Aethiopians and Christians of Muscovia and Russia haue euery of them an agreement amongst themselues though diuided each from other more perfect than they of the Church of Rome haue which yet in the judgement of the Romanists are not the true Churches of God CHAP. 8. Of Vniversalitie THe next note assigned by them is Vniuersalitie Concerning Vniversalitie Bellarmine obserueth three things First that to the Vniversalitie of the Church is required that it exclude no times places nor sorts of men in which consideration the Christian Church differeth from the Synagogue which was a particular Church tied to one time being to continue but to the comming of Christ to a certaine place to wit the Temple at Hierusalem out of which they could not sacrifice and to one family the sonnes of Iacob Secondly he noteth out of Augustine that to the Vniversalitie of the Christiā Church it is not required that all the men of the world should be of the Church but that at the least there should be some in all provinces of the world that should giue their names to Christ. For till this be performed the day of the Lord shall not come Mat. 24. Thirdly he noteth out of Dried◅ in his fourth booke chap. 2. part 2. de Ecclesiasticis dogmatibus that it is not required that this should be all at once so that at one time necessarily there must be some Christians in all places of the world For it is enough if it bee successiuely Whence sayth hee it followeth that though but onely one Province of the world should retaine the true faith it might truely and properly be named the Catholicke Church if it could clearely demonstrate it selfe to be one with the Church and company of beleeuers which if not at one time yet at diuers times hath filled the whole world This it cannot demonstrate but by making it appeare that it hath neither brought in any new and strange doctrine in matter of faith nor schismatically rent it selfe from the rest of the christian world This note of Vniversality thus vnderstood wee willingly admitte For it is the same with those we assigne For wee say what Church soeuer can proue it selfe to hold the faith once deliuered to the saints and generally published to the world without hereticall innouation or schismaticall violation and breach of the peace and vnitie of the Christian world is vndoubtedly the true Church of God But out of this which Bellarmine hath thus truely wisely fitly obserued touching Vniversalitie we may deduce many corrolaries of great consequence in this controversie touching the Church The first that it may be the true and Catholike Church which neither presently is nor euer hereafter shall bee in all or the most parts of the world if it can continuate it selfe and prooue it selfe one with that Church which formerly at some time or times hath beene in the most parts thereof From whence it is easie to discerne the vanitie of that their sillie obiection against vs who say our Church began not at Hierusalem in the feast of Pentecost but at Wittenberg or Geneva in this last age of the world that it is not likely beginning so late that euer it will so farre enlarge it selfe as to fill all the whole world so become Catholicke or Vniuersall For wee doe not imagine that the Church began at Wittenberg or Geneua but that in these and sundry other places of the Christian world it pleased God to vse the ministerie of his worthy seruants for the necessary reformation of abuses in some parts of that Catholicke Church which beginning at Hierusalem spread it selfe into all the world though not at all times nor all places in like degree of puritie and sincerity So that though the reformed Churches neither presently be nor perhaps hereafter shall be in all or the most parts of the world yet are they catholicke for that they doe continuate themselues with that Church which hath beene is or shall bee in all places of the world before the comming of Christ and vndoubtedly already hath beene in the most parts thereof The second that the true Church is not necessarily alwayes of greater extent nor the multitude of them that are of it greater than of any one company of Heretickes or mis-beleeuers The third that the true Church cannot bee at all times infallibly knowen from the factions of heretickes by multitude and largenesse of extent The fourth that this contrarieth not the sayings of Augustine and others of the Fathers who vrge the ample extent of the Church as a proofe of the trueth thereof For that they liued and wrote in those times when the Church was in her growth and wee are
substance figure and shape and are visible and may be handled as before but they are conceiued and beleeued to be that which now they are made and are adored as being that which they are beleeued to bee Heere wee see is no such change of the mysticall signes as to abolish their substance and former being for then the conversion in the Sacrament had beene such as the Hereticke imagined it to be in the body of Christ assumed and so Theodoret could not truely haue sayd hee was taken in the snare which he layd for others Wherefore to conclude this poynt the Crecians teach that there is a conversion of the sacramētall elements but of that kinde which I haue before shewed that abolisheth not the things which were but maketh them to bee that they were not Which may farther appeare in that they say likewise there is a chaunge of the communicants into the being of Christ and make the end of the Sacrament to be nothing else but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a transubstantiation into Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the making of them that communicate partakers of the diuine nature according to that of the Apostle who saith Wee are made the body of Christ and yet is not our former being abolished but wee are made to bee that which wee were not in a divine and supernaturall sorte according to that of Damascen Let vs come and receiue the body of him that was crucified let vs partake of that divine burning coale that the fire of desire being kindled in vs by that coale may burne vp our sinnes and lighten our hearts and that being changed into that devine fire wee may become fire and bee in a sort deified and made partakers of the divine nature All which changes neither abolish nor confound substances For as Cyprian sayth well nostra ipsius contunctio nec miscet personas nec vnit substantias sed affectus consociat confaederat voluntates That is the vnion and coniunction that is betwixt Christ and vs neither causeth any mixture of the persons nor maketh them to be substantially the same but joyneth affections and confederateth the wills Lastly touching the sacrament of the Lords boby and blood they teach that it is a sacrifice and that wee may the better conceiue what they meane they lay downe these propositions First that vnder the Law two sorts of things were presented vnto God gifts and sacrifices Giftes as vessels of gold or silver and things of like nature which were dedicated vnto God and set apart from prophane and ordinary vses Sacrifices as sheepe oxen and the like things when they were slaine and their blood powred out and generally all such things as were consumed in the fire The second proposition is that the body of Christ was both a gift and a sacrifice for he was dedicated to God from his first entrance into the world as the first fruites of our nature as the first borne of Mary his mother and afterwards he became a sacrifice when he was crucified The third that bread and wine are presented vnto God in the holy sacrament in the nature of gifts before they are consecrated The fourth that the bread and wine are consecrated and so chaunged as to become the sacrificed body and blood of Christ. The fifth that it may be truely sayd that there is not only an oblation in the holy eucharist but a sacrifice also in that the body of Christ which was once sacrificed is there The sixt that the bread cannot be sayd to be sacrificed for then the sacrifices of the new Testament should not excell those of the old The seaventh that in the sacrificing of a liuing thing the killing of it is implied The eight that the body of Christ cannot bee sayd to bee sacrificed in the eucharist because hee can die no more but is immortall and impassible The ninth that Christ may be sayd to be newly sacrificed and slaine commemoratiuely in that the sacrificing of him on the altar of the crosse is there commemorated liuely expressed and the benefits of it communicated to them that are made partakers of those holy mysteries according to that of Lyra Si dicas sacrificium altaris quotidiè offertur in ecclesia dicendum quod non est ibi sacrificij reiteratio sed vnius sacrificij in cruce oblati quotidiana commemoratio Secundum illud Lucae 22. hoc facite in meam commemorationem That is If thou say the sacrifice of the altar is daily offered the answere is cleare and easie that the body of Christ is not newly sacrificed on the altar but whereas Christ once offered himselfe as a sacrifice on the crosse the same is daily commemorated according to that Luk. 22 Doe this in remembrance of mee And therefore Chrysostome writing vpon the epistle to the Hebrewes hauing named it a sacrifice addeth by way of explication or correction that it is a sacrifice or rather the commemoration of a sacrifice So that heerein they differ from the Romanists who teach that there is a new reall sacrificing of Christ. In the doctrine of freewill they doe not so clearely expresse themselues as S. Augustine others that follow him For they teach that we must first will the things that are right and good and that God then helpeth confirmeth and setteth vs forward so that they suppose hee followeth our wils and goeth not before them least the liberty thereof might be prejudiced Their meaning I thinke is that no good can be wrought in vs without our consent which S. Augustine also confesseth to bee true but it is Gods grace that winneth inclineth and boweth vs to consent to that good which it selfe suggesteth in which respect it may be truely sayd to goe before our will and yet not to prejudice our liberty If they speake not so distinctly touching this poynt as some others doe it is not to be marvailed at seeing the Greeke fathers are not so cleare in this point as the Latines are Wherevpon Aloisius Lippomannus in catena aurea in his preface to the reader hath these words I haue thought good to admonish thee that if in this whole worke thou shalt any where finde any such sayings of Chrysostome as that when man endeavoureth and doth that which pertayneth to him God will abundantly giue grace thou wisely and warily reade that holy Doctour least thou fall into any such errour as to beleeue that Gods grace is given for our merits For if out of merit it is not grace But farre be it from vs so to thinke seeing wee cannot so much as endeavour or doe any thing that pertayneth to vs without Gods grace preventing vs. According to that in the Psalme His mercie shall prevent mee and againe his mercy shall follow mee all the dayes of my life And that of holy Church Let thy grace O Lord wee beseech thee prevent and follow vs. Sixtly touching Iustification they lay downe these propositions The first that wee
posterity not by imitation only but by propagation and descent subjecting all to curse and malediction yet not without possibilitie and hope of mercifull deliuerance Thirdly wee must beleeue that for the working of this deliuerance the Sonne of God assumed the nature of man into the vnity of his diuine person so that hee subsisteth in the nature of God and man without all corruption confusion or conuersion of one of them into another that in the nature of man thus assumed hee suffered death but being God could not be holden of it but rose againe and triumphantly ascended into Heauen that hee satisfied the wrath of his father obtayned for vs remission of sinnes past the grace of repentant conuersion and a new conuersation joyned with assured hope desire and expectation of eternall happinesse Fourthly wee must constantly beleeue that God doth call and gather to himselfe out of the manifold confusions of erring ignorant and wretched men whom hee pleaseth to be partakers of these precious benefits of eternall saluation the happy number and joyfull society of whom wee name the Church of God whether they were before or since the manifestation of Christ the sonne of God in our flesh For both had the same faith hope and spirit of adoption whereby they were sealed vnto eternall life though there bee a great difference in the degree and measure of knowledge and the excellencie of the meanes which God hath vouchsafed the one more then the other Fiftly wee must know and beleeue that for the publishing of this joyfull deliverance and the communicating of the benefits of the same the Sonne of God committed to those his followers whom hee chose to bee witnesses of all the things hee did and suffered not onely the word of reconciliation but also the dispensation of sacred and sacramentall assurances of his loue set meanes of his gracious working that those first messengers whom hee sent with immediate commission were infallibly led into all trueth and left vnto posterities that summe of Christian doctrine that must for euer be the rule of our faith that these blessed messengers of so good and happy tidings departing hence left the ministerie of reconciliation to those whom they appoynted to succeede them in the worke so happily begun by them Lastly wee must know and be assuredly perswaded that seeing the renouation of our spirites and mindes is not perfect and the redemption of our bodies still remaining corruptible is not yet therefore God hath appointed a time when Christ his sonne shall returne againe raise vp the dead and giue eternall life to all that with repentant sorrow turne from their euill and wicked wayes while it is yet the accepted time and day of saluation and contrary wayes cast out into vtter darkenesse and into the fire that neuer shall bee quenched all those that neglect and despise so great saluation That all these things and these onely doe directly concerne the matter of eternall saluation is euidently proued by vnaunswerable demonstration For how should they attaine euerlasting happinesse that know not God the originall cause and end of all things the object matter and cause of all happinesse that know not of whom they were created of what sorte to what whereof capable and how enabled to it how farre they are fallen from that they originally were and the hope of that which they were made to be whence are those euills that make them miserable and whence the deliuerance from them is to be looked for by whom it is wrought what the benefits of it are the meanes whereby they are communicated to whom and what shall bee the end both of them that partake and partake not in them Wee see then that all these things and these onely essentially and directly touch the matter of eternall saluation Other things there are that attend on them as consequents deduced from them or some way appertayning to them whereof some are of that sorte that a man cannot rightly be perswaded of these but hee must needes see the necessary consequence and deduction of them from these if they bee propounded vnto him as that there are two wils in Christ that there is no saluation remission of sinnes or hope of eternall life out of the Church that the matrimoniall societie of man and wife is not impure as the Marcionites Tatianus and other supposed nor any kinde of meates to bee rejected as vncleane by nature as the Manichees and some other Heretickes fondly and impiously dreamed other things there are that are not so clearely deduced from those indubitate principles of our Christian faith as namely concerning the place of the Fathers rest before the comming of our Sauiour Christ concerning the locall descending of Christ into the hell of the damned In the first sorte of things which are the principles that make the rule of faith a man cannot be ignorant and bee saued In the second which are so clearely deduced from those principles that who so aduisedly considereth them cannot but see their consequence from them and dependance of them a man cannot erre and be saued because if he beleeue those things which euery one that will bee saued must particularly know and beleeue he cannot erre in these The third a man may be ignorant of and erre in them without danger of damnation if errour bee not joyned with pertinacie The principall grounds of Christian doctrine aboue mentioned are the whole platforme of all Christian Religion The rule of faith so often mentioned by the Auncient by the measure of which all the holy Fathers Bishops and Pastours of the Church made their Sermons Commentaries and Interpretations of Scripture This rule euery part whereof is prooued so neerely to concerne all them that looke for saluation we make the rule to trie all doctrines by and not such platformes of doctrine as euery Sect-master by himselfe canne deduce out of the Scriptures vnderstood according to his owne private fancie as the Rhemists falsely charge vs. This rule is deliuered by Tertullian Irenaeus and other of the Fathers and with addition of conclusions most easily clearely and vnavoydably deduced hence by Theodoret in his Epitome Dogmatum CHAP. 5. Of the nature of Schisme and the kindes of it and that it no way appeareth that the Churches of Greece c. are hereticall or in damnable schisme OVt of this which hath beene deliuered it is easie to discerne what is Heresie and what errours they are that exclude from possibility of saluation It remaineth to speake of Schisme and the kindes and degrees of it Schisme is a breach of the vnity of the Church The vnity of the Church consisteth in three things First the subjection of people to their lawfull Pastours Secondly the connexion and communion which many particular Churches and the Pastours of them haue among themselues Thirdly in holding the same rule of faith The vnity of each particular Church depends of the vnity of the Pastour who is one to whom an
daies For behold there are many that peruert the holy Scriptures and deny the sayings of the holy Fathers reiecte the Canons of the Church and ciuill constitutions of the Emperours which molest persecute bring into bondage and without mercy torment and afflict euen vnto death them that defend the trueth And that I may conclude many things in fewe words with harlâ—…ttes foreheades and execrable boldnesse doe endeavour to subuert imperiall and regall power and to ouerthrow all lawes both of GOD and man Neither are these young men or vnlearned but they are the elders of the people High Priests Scribes Pharises and Doctours of the Law as they were that crucified Christ so that wee may rightly say of our times that which Daniel long since pronounced in his 13 Chapter Iniquity is gone out from Babylon from the elders and iudges which seemed to governe and rule the people For many that should bee pillars in the Church of God and defend the truth euen vnto bloud doe cast themselues headlong into the pit of heresies Thus spake he in his time of the corrupt 〈◊〉 of the Church wherein so damnable a faction prevailed daungerously pervâ—…ting all things that in the end he submitteth all his writings to the judgment correction of the true and Catholicke Church but not of the Church of malignant miscreants heretickes schismatickes and their favourers CHAP. 9. Of an Apostasie of some in the Church THus then we thinke with Lira that as there was an Apostasie or revolt of many kingdomes from the Romane Empire and of many Churches from the communion of the Romane Church so there hath beene an Apostasie from the Catholick faith in the midst of the Church not for that all at any time did forsake the true faith but for that many fell from the sinceritie of the faith according to the saying of our Sauiour a when the time of Antichrist draweth on iniquity shall abound and the charity of many shall waxe cold and that 1 Timoth. 4 In the last times some shall depart from the faith attending to spirits of errour and 2 Timoth. 3. In the last dayes there shall bee perilous times men shall be louers of themselues men of corrupt mindes reprobâ—…e concerning the faith This hee speaketh of an Apostasie in the middest of the Church it selfe answerably to that of â— Nazianzen who saith that as when one taketh water into his hand not onely that which hee taketh not vp but that also which runneth forth and findeth passage betweene his fingers is divided and separated from that which he holdeth inclosed in his hand so not onely the open and professed enemies of the Catholicke verity but they also that seeme to bee her best and greatest friends are sometimes divided one from another There is no cause then why it should seeme so strange to our Adversaries that our Divines affirme there hath beene an Apostasie from the Faith not of the whole Church but of many in the Church dangerously erring and adulterating the Doctrine of Faith deliuered by Christ and his blessed Apostles And that some say this Apostasie began sooner some later For if wee speake of those grossest illusions wherewith men were abused in these latter ages surely that degree of Apostasie did not enter into the Church in former times For there was no thought in any Christian man liuing sixe hundred yeares agoe that the Pope could dispense the merits of the Saints and giue pardons that hee might depose Princes for supposed heresie that the Sacrament not receiued but elevated gazed on and adored is a sacrifice propitiatorie for the quicke and the dead that Mary was conceiued without originall sinne that the people are to be partakers of the Sacrament but onely in one kinde and sundry other things of like nature But if we speake of a declination from the sincerity of the Christian Faith it is certaine it began long agoe euen in the first ages of the Church Of this sorte was the errour that the soules of the iust are in some part of hell till the last day as Tertullian Irenaeus and sundry other of the auncient did imagine that they see not God nor enjoy not heauens happines till the generall resurrection which was the opinion of many of the Fathers That all Catholicke Christians how wickedly soeuer they liue yet holding the foundation of true Christian profession shall in the end after great torments endured in the world to come be saued as it were by fire This was the errour of sundry of the auncient who durst not say as Origen that the Angels that fell shall in the end be restored nor as some other mollifying the hardnesse of Origens opinion that all men whether Christians or Infidells nor as a third sorte that all Christians how damnably soeuer erring in matter of faith shall in the end be saued but thought it most reasonable that all right beleeuing Christians should find mercy whatsoeuer their wickednesse were This opinion was so generall in Augustines time that very fearefully he opposed himselfe against it and not daring wholly to impugne that which he found to haue so great and reuerend authours he qualified it what he could and so doubtingly broached that opinion which gaue occasion to the Papists of their heresie touching Purgatory For saith he if they would onely haue vs thinke that the soules of men liuing wickedly heere in this World may through the goodnesse of God and the prayers of the liuing find some mitigation of their paines in hell or haue their punishments suspended and differred for a time yet so that they be confessed to be eternall I would not striue with them yea saith he it may be that men for some lighter sinnes and imperfections cleauing to them while they are here may finde pardon remission in the world to come and be saued as by fire which whether it be so or whether there be no other purging but in this life by the fire of tribulation he professeth he knoweth not nor dareth not pronounce Of this sorte was the opinion of a double resurrection the first of the good who should liue in all happinesse on the earth a thousand yeares before the wicked should be awaked out of the sleepe of death and another after the thousand yeares expired when the wicked also should rise and goe into euerlasting fire and the good into euerlasting life which they supposed to bee the second resurrection How generally this errour spread it selfe in the true Church they that haue but looked into the writings of the fathers and monuments of antiquitie cannot bee ignorant The opinioÌ„ of the necessity of infants receiuing the sacrament of the Lords body and blood as well as Baptisme did possesse the mindes of many in the Church for certaine hundreds of yeares as appeareth by that Augustine writeth of it in his time and Hugo de sancto victore so
of the Bishop of Rome Touching the first which is the neglect of divine lawes infinite multiplying of humane inuentions he pronounceth confidently there can be no generall reformation of the Church without the abolishing of sundry canons and statutes which neither are nor reasonably can be obserued in these times which doe nothing else but insnare the consciences of men to their endlesse perdition That no tongue is able sufficiently to expresse what euill what danger what confusion the contempt of holy Scripture which doubtlesse is sufficient for the gouernment of the Church for otherwise Christ had beene an vnperfect lawgiuer and the following of humane inuentions hath brought into the Church For proofe hereof saith he let vs consider the state of the clergie to which heauenly wisedome should haue beene espoused but they haue committed whoredome with that filthy harlot earthly carnall and diuelish wisedome so that the state of the Church is become meerely brutish monstrous heauen is below and the earth aboue the spirit obeyeth and the flesh commaundeth the principall is esteemed but as accessary and the accessary as principall yet some shame not to say that the Church is better gouerned by humane inuentions than by the diuine law and the law of the Gospell of Christ which assertion is most blasphemous For the Euangelicall doctrine by the professours of it did enlarge the bounds of the Church and lifted her vp to heauen which these sonnes of Hagar seeking out that wisedome which is from the earth haue cast downe to the dunghill And that it is not wholly fallen and vtterly overthrowne and extinct it is the great mercy of our God and Sauiour Touching the second cause of the Churches ruine which is the ambition pride and couetousnes of the Bishop and Court of Rome he boldly affirmeth that whereas the Bishoppes of Rome challenging the greatest place in the Church should haue sought the good of Gods people they contrarily sought onely to aduance themselues ad imitationem Luciferi adorari volunt vt dij neque reputant se subditos esse cuiquam sicut filij Belial sine iugo nec sibi posse dici cur ita facis nec Deum timent nec homines reuerentur In imitation of Lucifer they will bee adored and worshipped as Gods Neither doe they thinke themselues subiect to any but are as the sonnes of Beliall that haue cast off the yoke not enduring whatsoeuer they doe that any one should aske them why they doe so They neither feare God nor reuerence men Wherevpon hee feareth not to deliuer the opinion of many good and worthy men in his time That there beeing a Schisme in the Church by reason of the contention of the three Popes which continued for a long time in that age wherein hee liued it were good to take the aduantage of the time and neuer to restore to any Pope againe that vniversall administration of the temporalities of the Church and swaying the jurisdiction of the same but that it were best that all things were brought backe to that state they were in the times of the Apostles or at least in the times of Syluester and Gregorie when each prelate in his owne iurisdiction was permitted to gouerne them committed to his charge and dispose of the temporalities belonging to the Church without so many reseruations exactions as haue beene since brought in The Popes in time getting all into their owne hands with so many abuses fraudes and Simonies all seruing to maintaine the state of the Romish Court and of that head thereof which long since grew too heauie for the body to beare Neither was this the priuate opinion conceipt of Gerson only but Petrus de Aliaco Cardinalis Cusanus Picus Mirandula innumerable more of the best wisest and holiest men the Church had saw those abuses errours vncertainties and barbarismes wherewith the glory of the Church was greatly blemished and almost quite defaced and wished and expected a reformation Yea nothing was more certainely looked for a long time before Luther was borne than the ruine of that pompous state of the Church the staying of the furious couetous and tyranous proceedings of the Court and Bishop of Rome and the freeing of the Church from that Aegypticall bondage wherein it was holden CHAP. 12. Of the desire and expectation of a reformation of the corrupt state of the Church and that the alteration which hath beene is a reformation WHen the Pope resolued to accurse Anathematise and excommunicate Grostead the renowned Bishop of Lincolne because he contemned his papall Bulles and Letters who was therefore in his time named Romanorum malleus contemptor The Cardinalls opposed themselues saying hee was a right good man and holier then any of them the things he charged the Pope with most true and that therefore it was not safe thus to proceede least some tumult should follow especially say they seeing it is knowne there must be a departure from vs and a forsaking of the Romane See The same Grosteade a little before his death complayning of the wicked courses holden by the Romanists whose scourge he was said the Church should neuer finde any ease from the oppressiue burdens laid vpon her nor be deliuered from the Aegyptiacall bondage shee was holden in till her deliuerance were wrought in ore gladij cruentandi in the mouth of the sword all bathed in bloud Sauanorola holden by many for a Prophet surely a renowned man for pietie and learning tould the French King Charles the eight hee should haue great prosperity in his voyage into Italy and that God would giue the sword into his hand and all this to the end hee should reforme the corrupt state of the Church which if hee did not performe he should returne home againe with dishonour and God would reserue the honour of this worke for some other and so it fell out At that time when Luther began to reprooue the abuses of the Church of Rome things were in so bad state that not onely the blood of Christ was prophaned the power of the keyes by abuse made contemptible and the redemption of soules out of purgatory set as a stake at dice by the pardon-sellers to bee played for but so many grieuances there were besides that all the world sighed vnder the burden of them and wished that some man of heroicall magnanimitie would oppose himselfe When God had stirred vp so worthy an Instrument what did the Pope and his adherents Surely as Guicciardin reports there were that yeere many meetings in Rome to consult what was best to bee done The more wise and moderate sorte wished the Pope to reforme things apparantly amisse and not to persecute Luther least continuing those intollerable disorders abuses and villanies whereof all good men complayned and persecuting him that reprooued them with so great applause of the whole Christian world men should thinke innocencie vertue and piety in him to be
of religion is changed such is the change from Paganisme to Christianity or from Christianity to Paganisme The second when the essence remaining the same the state is changed such was the change of Iudaisme into Christianity there being in the later new sacraments ceremonies and a new ministery that was not in the former and the performance of that which was but in expectation onely before The third is when not the whole essence and state of religion but some parts of it only are so changed that some impugning and denying those things which others alwayes did and doe hold most certaine the opposition is so great that there groweth an apparant separation betweene them the one sort refusing to communicate with the other As when the Arrians denied the Sonne of God to be coessentiall coequall and coeternall with his Father The fourth when men so bring in new opinions and obseruations into the Church that yet both they and other not led away in the same errour hold communion still In the three first kindes of mutation all those circumstances they speake of may be noted but not alwayes in the fourth Now the mutation in matters of faith and religion which hath beene in the Romane Church is of the fourth and last sorte For the errours thereof were so brought in that both they that were the authours of them and others that neuer fell into them were both of one communion as I will make it most cleare and euident in that which followeth And therefore it is most absurde to require vs to shew these circumstances they speake of Secondly for the better clearing of this matter wee must note that the aberration which hath beene in the Church of Rome from her auncient purity and simplicity consisteth in foure things First in certaine canons lawes and traditions euill and hurtfull from the beginning Secondly in the multitude of lawes and canons in respect of the number growing to be a burden Thirdly in that the state of things and conditions of men altering the same constitutions and ordinances become hurtfull that were formerly good or in that things instituted to one end are in processe of time applied to another or euill and dangerous opinions corrupting the vse of that which was not wholly to be misliked in the beginning are newly added Fourthly in errours in matter of faith Touching that aberration of the Church of Rome which consisteth in the bringing in of lawes canons and constitutions hurtfull from the beginning wee can note the beginning of it and assigne who were the authours of such lawes But when the lawes themselues are not euill but the number of lawes Canons and constitutions is a burden to the Church and the euill complayned of it is most foolish to vrge vs to shew the first authour thereof As likewise when lawes not euill in the beginning by alteration of times grow hurtfull or when things from one vse grow to another Hugo de sancto Victore noteth that the custome was to communicate little children in the Sacrament of the Lords body and bloud which being in time ceased yet still they continued in his time to giue wine though not consecrated to children new baptized which hee confesseth to be a superstitious and foolish custome yet it is not possible to shew the beginning of it The aberration in the Church of Rome in matters of doctrine was in such things and so carried in the beginnings that the Authours of those new and false opinions were not disclaimed and noted as damnable heretickes as were those that erred in things most cleerely resolued before or that erred with such pertinacy that they diuided themselues from all that thought otherwise But the Authours of these errours and they that were free from them were notwithstanding these differences both of one communion And therefore the circumstances by them required in these mutations cannot bee shewed as it will easily appeare by these instances following CHAP. 14. Of diuers particular errours which haue beene in the Church whose first Authour cannot be named THe opinion of two resurrections of mens bodies the first of the good the second of the wicked there being betweene the one and the other a thousand yeares was an errour but the Authour of it is not knowen For I hope the Romanists will not say the Fathers learned it of any hereticke the first authour of it The opinion that the soules of the just are in hell and see not God till the generall resurrection was an errour but they cannot tell who was the first author of it The opinion that all Catholique Christians how wicked soeuer shall in the end be saued as by fire was an errour but the Author is not knowne The opinion that men are elelected for the foresight of some thing in themselues is an errour or else the doctrine of Augustine who was of that opinion sometimes but afterwards condemned it in himselfe and others The opinion that infants could not be saued vnlesse they were not onely baptized but did receiue the Sacrament of the Lords body was anerrour but the Author of it is not known The opinions that the bookes of Wisedome Ecclesiasticus the Machabees and the like are Apocryphall and that they are Canonicall are contradictory and the one of them an errour in matter of Faith yet is not the Author of that errour knowne The innumerable contradictory opinions holden in the Church of Rome touching matters of Faith as that the Pope is Soueraigne temporall Lord of all the World and all Kings and Princes hold of him in fee and that he is not that he may depose Kings erring in Faith and persecuting the faithfull and that he may not that papally he cannot erre and that he may and sometimes doth and many other like must needes be errours on the one side or other yet is not the authour of those errours to be nominated It was doubtlesse in the confession of the adversaries the custome of the Westerne or Latine Church aswell as of the rest to communicate in both kindes when and where that custome of communicating the Lay-people only in one kinde began cannot be precisely noted It was the custome to impose penance first and after the performance of it to giue absolution now absolution is first giuen and then penance imposed to be performed afterwards when this alteration began it cannot be noted It was the generall opinion that Mary was conceiued in sinne it grew afterwardes to bee generally thought shee was not The first Author of this latter opinion cannot bee knowne nor of the former neither as I suppose The custome was to graunt Indulgences or Relaxations onely from injoyned penance the forme of these was afterwards altered I thinke it can hardly bee noted by whom c. The custome was on the dayes which they kept as Fasting-dayes not to eate till three a clocke in the afternoone or till the euen so that to dine and not to
fast were Synonymies in the Primitiue Church but in the Romish Church they did dine on their Fasting-dayes and therefore said their Euensong betweene tenne and eleuen a clocke in the morning I thinke it hard to note precisely the time when this alteration beganne Thus then we see there may be haue beene many alterations in the state of Religion and matters of Faith in the Church of Rome though all those circumstances they vrge vs to shew cannot bee noted in them And therefore the first reason brought to proue that the Romish Church is not departed from the first and originall purity is found too weake CHAP. 15. Of the second reason brought to proue that they hold the auncient faith because our men dissenting from them confesse they dissent from the Fathers where sundry instances are examined LEt vs see the other The other way whereby they indeuour to prooue the antiquity of their faith and religion is by shewing the agreement and consent betweene it and the doctrine of the Primitiue Fathers This they say they cannot do but either by proposing the seuerall parts of Christian doctrine deliuered by the Fathers and comparing the doctrine of their Church with it or out of our owne confession The first course they thinke would be too tedious and therefore they indeauour to prooue by oâ—… owne confession that the doctrine of the Church of Rome and of the auncient Fathers is all one The greatest Diuines say they of the reformed Chuches when they impugne the assertions of the Romanists confesse they go against the streame of all Antiquity Therefore they are forced to confesse the doctrine of the Fathers and of the Church of Rome to bee all one This is a vile and wicked calumniation neither are they able to iustifie it But let vs see what they say Caluine they say in the article of free will condemning the Romane Church of errour is forced to reiect and refuse the iudgment of all Antiquity For the clearing of this wee must obserue that the will of man may bee sayd to bee free in divers sorts First from necessity of seeking and hauing diuine support helpe and assistance secondly from diuine direction and ordering thirdly from sinne fourthly from misery fiftly limitation of desire naturall necessity and constraint These being the diuerse kinds that may be conceiued of the freedome of mans will Caluine denyeth the will of man to bee or euer to haue beene free from the necessity of seeking and hauing diuine support helpe and generall assistance without which it hath no force or faculty at all Secondly hee denyeth it to be free from diuine direction ordering and guidance for in this sort neither the willes of men nor Angells were so free in the day of their creation as to exempt themselues from the ordering of the diuine prouidence which most sweetely disposeth all things Thirdly from misery there is no freedome in this world nor from the bondage of sinne without the benefit of grace making free Habemus sayth Bernard liberum arbitrium sed nec cautum a peccato nec tutum a miseria Wee haue sayth Bernard free will but neither so wary as to avoid sinne nor so safe as to be free from danger From limitation of desire naturall necessity and constraint he confesseth the will to bee free though it bee subiect to a condicionall or morall necessity which by Bernard is most aptly named malè libera necessitas The will of man being thus ouer ruled by diuine providence and in so diuerse sorts inthralled to sinne and misery Caluine thinketh the titles of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and liberum arbitrium taken from the Philosophers and vsed by the Fathers to bee too glorious to expresse a thing so weake and miserable and that in his opinion it is not safe to vse these words vnlesse wee adde for the clearing of our meaning the limitations with which the Fathers doe restraine them which yet many will not so carefully obserue as they will vnadvisedly sucke the poyson of errour out of the words themselues Thus then wee see Caluine confesseth the Fathers vsed these words in a good and godly sort But sayth Bellarmine hee feareth not to pronounce that all the Fathers Augustine excepted are so vncertaine perplexed and doubtfull in the deliuering of this point that a man can gather no certainty out of them Surely it is most true that he saith of them they are doubtfull vncertaine in this point yet so that it appeares that in this ambiguitie ascribing little or nothing to the power of mans will they giue all the praise of well doing to the holy Spirit of God To this purpose he alleageth sundry excellent sentencesout of Cyprian Eucherius and Chrysostome and concludes that it was the drift of these Fathers howsoeuer they seeme sometimes too much to amplifie the power of mans will yet wholly to driue men from the confidence in their own strength to seeke their strength in God This then is all that Caluine sayth that before Augustine was stirred by the Pelagians exactly to examine these things that concerne the grace of God and power of nature the Fathers delivered not this point soe distinctly as afterwardes it was nor so fully but that some things were found in their writings not soe fitte as was to bee wished That this is most true the writings of the Fathers themselues will witnesse and the Testimonies alleaged out of them by the Pelagians against Augustine will sufficiently prooue it which are no otherwise answered by him than they are by Caluine that their drift was to deiect the pride of sinfull flesh and extoll the greatnesse of Gods mercy and goodnesse That if they spake some things not so distinctly and fully as men did afterwards it is not to bee marvelled at seeing they did not purposely enter into the examination of these things before the Pelagian heretickes whose heresie was in these things were knowne in the world For the farther iustifying of Caluines censure let the Reader consulte Sixtus Senensis alleaging many testimonies out of the Fathers affirming that men are elected to eternall life for the foresight of some thing in themselues And surely this should not seeme incredible that many of the Fathers were in this errour seeing Augustine himselfe was of this opinion before he entred into conflict with the Pelagians which errour when he corrected most men disliked his doctrine touching election the grace of God and power of nature as it appeareth by the Epistles of Prosper and Hilarius for that he seemed vnto them to ascribe so much vnto the grace of God and detract so much from the power of mans will that they greatly feared his doctrine would weaken that carefullnesse that should bee in men to arise from sinne discourage them from all good indeauours and giue an occasion of negligence and carelesse slouthfullnesse That which Bellarmine addeth that Caluin disliketh that saying of Augustine that mans will
faithfully gathered the opinions of all the Fathers and that his iudgement is their iudgment but he opposeth himself against Augustine therefore against all the Fathers This assumption we deny For Calvin no way dissenteth from Augustine but saith onely it may seeme that there should be some little difference betweene Augustine and vs For that wee affirme concupiscence in the regenerate to be sinne but he is fearefull to call it sinne vnlesse it be consented vnto naming it rather an euill sickenesse infirmity or the like But else-where taking away this doubt he saith that Augustine feareth not sometimes to call it sinne whereby the consent and agreement betweene Augustine and Caluin appeareth It were easie to shew that not onely Augustine but the Fathers generally were of the same opinion that we are of and that the popish opinion is a most dangerous and damnable errour if this were a fit place to enter into the exacte handling of that question But let vs see the rest of his objections Caluin saith he in the matter of satisfaction chargeth all the Fathers with errour This is as true as the rest For Caluin doth not say they erred in this matter of satisfaction for he sheweth plainely they were far from the absurditie of the Popish conceipt but he saith disiunctiuely only that either they erred or at least vsed some phrases and formes of speech that may seeme hard and neede a good and fauourable construction rather than to be wrested to a worse sense then they were vttered in as the manner of the Popish Sophisters is to deale with the writings of the Fathers For the clearing of this matter we must obserue that in sinne there are two things the sinfulnesse the punishment which for it the iustice of God inflicteth Both these are taken away by Christ but in a different sort The sinfulnes by the operatiō working infusion of grace the punishmēt by the imputatiō of Christs sufferings who suffering that he deserued not freeth vs frō that wee were deservedly to haue suffered From one of these wee cannot bee freede vnlesse also wee bee freede from the other and in what degree wee are delivered from the one wee are discharged from the other if wee be freed onely from the dominion of sinne we are onely discharged from the condemnation of eternall death if from all sinnefullnesse wee are discharged from all touch of any puuishment But the Romanists do teach touching sinnes committed after Baptisme that God contenteth not himselfe with the most perfect abolishing and extinguishment of all sinnefullnesse by working of Diuine grace the satisfaction of Christs sufferings but that he doth require that we suffer the extremity of that wee haue deserued onely some little mitigation procured by the bloudshead of Christ and the eternity excepted from which our ceasing from sin doth free vs the punishment of sin being eternall because sinne is eternall Hence it commeth that they teach that if wee will not suffer and endure the extremity of punishment wee haue deserued wee must make some other recompence to Gods iustice for it This is a blasphemous assertion and contrary to the doctrine of all the Fathers who know and teach as wee do that the iustice of God and his wrath against sinne is satisfied in Christ that this satisfaction is imputed to vs not continuing in but ceasing from sinne that according to the degree of our ceasing from sinne this satisfaction is diversly imputed So that if wee cease from sinne onely so that it hath no more dominion over vs it is imputed in such sort as it dischargeth vs only from condemnation but if wee wholy cease from sinne it is so imputed vnto vs as that it freeth vs from all punishment whatsoeuer So that if there were found in any of vs a perfect leauing forsaking of sinne GODS iustice would lay no punishment vppon vs. But the Romanistes thinke it might and would for precedent sinne though now wholly forsaken and quite abolished It is true indeede that the Fathers sometimes vsed the name of satisfaction in their writings but to another purpose than the Romanists doe They knew that euils are cured by contraries and therefore in the curing of sinfull soules they prescribe that which Caluine also doth that men hauing offended in yeelding too much to their owne desires pleasures delights and profits should for the freeing of themselues from the euill of sinne deny something to them selues which otherwise they might lawfully enioy which if they do not they shall in the punishments which God will bring vpon them tast the bitternesse of that that seemed sweete vnto them in sinne This exercise of repentant mortification the Fathers called satisfaction not as if the iustice of God were not satisfied in Christ or wee were tied yea though wee should wholly forsake sinne yet to satisfie for that is past by suffering so much as our sinnes haue deserued or else to doe some painefull thing equiualent to such sufferings which is the popish errour But because wee must doe that in this kind of repentant mortification which may be sufficient for the finding out of the depth of that wound which sinne hath made in the soule for remouing the causes of it the extinguishment of that remaineth of it the taking away the occasions and the preuenting of the reentrance of it againe This if wee do wee shall preuent the hand of GOD which otherwise would smite vs not to be satisfied in the course of his Iustice which at our hands cannot bee looked for and which is aboundantly satisfied in Christ and would not touch vs for any thing past if by perfect forsaking of sinne wee were fully ioyned vnto him but to driue vs by bitter sorrow to purge out that sinfullnesse and those remainders which our precedent sinnes left behind them in respect whereof wee are not yet fully ioyned to Christ. These remainders of sinne if wee dislike cast off and forsake and iudge and condemne our selues as the Apostle speaketh wee shall not bee iudged of the Lord for them This happie course of preventing the hand of God turning away his punishments by bitter and afflictiue recounting of our sinnes the Fathers call Satisfaction Some sayings of the Fathers it may bee there are which are hard and must with a favourable constructiō be reduced to the sense we haue expressed and that is all that Calvin saith for which how justly he is blamed let the Reader judge CHAP. 17. Of Prayer for the dead and Merite THe next calumniation is concerning prayer for the dead Let the Reader obserue what it is that Bellarmine is to proue and he shall find that he doth nothing but trifle For he is to proue that Calvin confesseth that more then a thousand three hundred yeares since the Popish doctrine and custome of prayer for the dead did prevaile and was generally receiued in the whole Church of God throughout the world This if hee will
proue he must reason thus The custome of praying to deliuer the soules of men out of the paines of Purgatory is the custome and practise which the Romane Church defendeth and Calvin impugneth but this custome Calvine confesseth to haue beene in vse more then a thousand and three hundred of yeares since therefore he acknowledgeth the doctrine and practise of the Romane Church to be most ancient and to haue beene receiued a thousand three hundred yeares agoe The Minor proposition of this reason is false and Calvin in the place cited by Bellarmine protesteth against it most constantly affirming that the Fathers knew nothing of Purgatorie and therefore much lesse of prayer to deliuer men from thence But Bellarmine will reply that the custome of praying for the dead was most auncient We answere The custome of remembring the departed naming their names at the holy Table in the time of the holy mysteries offering the Eucharist that is the sacrifice of praise for them was a most ancient and godly custome neither is it any way disliked by vs. And surely it appeares this was the cause that Aerius was condemned of hereticall rashnesse in that he durst condemne this laudable and auncient custome of the commemoration of the dead In this sort they did most religiously obserue and keepe at the Lords Table the commemoration of all the Patriarches Prophets Apostles Evangelists Martyrs confessours yea of Mary the Mother of our Lord to whom it cannot be conceiued that by prayer they did wish deliuerance out of Purgatorie sith no man euer thought them to be there but if they wished any thing it was the deliuerance from the power of death which as yet tyranniseth ouer one part of them the speedy destroying of the last enemy which is death the hastning of their resurrection and joyfull publique acquitall of them in that great day wherein they shall stand to bee judged before the Iudge of the quicke and dead This was the practise of the whole church and this the meaning of their commemorations and prayers which was good and no way to be disliked Notwithstanding it is most certaine that many particular men extended the meaning of these prayers farther and out of their owne private errours and fancies vsed such prayers for the dead as the Romanists themselues I thinke dare not justifie and so it is true that Calvin saith that many of the Fathers were led into errour in this matter of prayer for the dead and not that all as if the whole Church had fallen from the truth as Bellarmine falsely imputeth vnto Calvin who saith no such thing First therefore it was an opinion of many of the Fathers that there is no judgment to passe vpon men till the last day that all men are holden either in some place vnder the earth or else in some other place appointed for that purpose so that they come not into heauen nor receiue the reward of their labours till the generall iudgement Out of this conceipt grew that prayer in Iames his Liturgie that God would remember all the faithfull that are fallen asleepe in the sloepe of death since Abell the iust till this present day that he would place them in the land of the liuing c. And the like are found in the masse booke Of this opinion was Iustin Martyr Tertullian Clemens Romanus Lactantius Victorinus Martyr Ambrose Iohannes Romanus Pontifex and sundry other The second opinion was that men may be deliuered from the punishments of sinne after this life if they die in the profession of the true faith how vvickedly soeuer they liued or at least if the punishment of such bee eternall and cannot be ended yet it may be deferred or mitigated How many of the Fathers were in this errour and made prayers for the dead vpon this false perswasion that all Christians how wickedly soeuer they liued may find mercy at Gods hands in the world to come at the entreatie of the liuing they that haue read any thing can soone report Thirdly whereas there are three estates of the soules of men the first in the body the second when they are seuered from the body and stand before God immediately and instantly vpon the dissolution and the third after they haue receiued their particular iudgement the godly doe not onely recommend them vnto God while they are yet in their bodies but when departing thence they goe to stand before the iudgement seate of God they accompany them with their prayers and best good wishes euen to the presence of the Lord. Hence were all those prayers that were vsed on the dayes of the obites of the Saints conceiued respectiuely to their passage out of this world and the dangers they doe by the goodnesse of God escape in that fearefull houre of their dissolution which prayers were againe repeated in the anniuersarie remembrances of their obites Of this sorte was that prayer in the Masse booke Libera Domine animas omnium fidelium defunctorum de poenis inferni de profundo lacis libera eas de ore leonus ne absorbeat eas tartarus ne cadant in obscurum c. Deliuer O Lord the soules of all faithfull ones departed from the paines of hell and the deepe Lake deliuer them from the month of the Lion that hell swallow them not up and that they fall not into the dungeons of vtter darkenesse How hard this was to vse these prayers in a set course in the dayes wherein they did only commemorate and represent the dayes of mens departure hence and so to pray for them long after their death as if they were but euen then in the passage and so in daunger of falling into the hands of their ghostly enimies and not yet secure and assured of their eternall future state which yet Bellarmine confesseth is the best construction can be made of them I leaue to the consideration of the wise These are the seuerall kindes of praying for the dead all which I hope Bellarmine dareth not justifie but for the Romish manner of praying for the dead it hath no certaine testimony of Antiquitie no man euer thinking of Purgatorie till Augustine to avoide a worse errour did doubtingly run into it after whom many in the Latine Church embraced the same opinion but the Greeke Church neuer receiued it to this day Thus then we see how vniustly Calvin is traduced by Bellarmine in this matter of prayer for the dead and how weakely he prooues that it is confessed that their opinion and the doctrine of Antiquitie is the same His next challenge is scarce worth the mentioning much lesse the refuting Caluin saith the Fathers were farre from the popish errour touching merites and that yet they vsed the word whence men haue since taken occasion of errour Therefore hee dissenteth from all Antiquity and acknowledgeth the Romane faith to bee the auncient faith and religion Truely I am weary in following
of him in these senselesse fooleries CHAP. 18. Of the Fathers strictnes in admitting men into the ministerie of single life and of their seuerity in the discipline of repentance THat which followeth is altogether of the same kinde Calvin saith the Fathers were too seuere in that they required more in them that were to be ordained to serue in the holy ministery of the Church than the blessed Apostle Saint Paule doth require Therefore saith Bellarmine hee dissenteth from all Antiquity and confesseth the Romish doctrine and practice to bee most auncient This consequence is very weake For the Romanists retaine nothing of that auncient seuerity but breake all the Canons of discipline that the Fathers obserued by their ordinary dispensations or rather dissipations of all order and neglect of all rules of orderly government For where is that Canon obserued that no man attaine to the order and degree of a Presbiter till he be thirty yeares of age that no man bee ordained loosely or at randome but to bee imployed in some certaine charge of ministery that one man haue no title interest and liuing in two Churches whereas in the Church of Rome one man hath two hundred or three hundred ecclesiasticall liuings that men ambitiously and couetously goe not from one Church because it is meaner to another because it is greater Caluin therefore was not so ignorant as to thinke the Romanists to bee too seuere in the obseruation of discipline and therein to be like the primitiue Fathers hee saith therefore the cleane contrary to that which Bellarmine imputeth vnto him that in the choise of such as were to be admitted into the holy Ministery the Fathers of the Primitiue Church followed the prescription of Saint Paule and the examples of the blessed Apostles that they proceeded therein with very great and religious reuerence and inuocation of the name of God that they had a set forme of triall and examination according to which they made inquirie both into the life and doctrine of them that were to be chosen but that contrariwise in the Church of Rome there haue beene very few found to bee chosen for the space of an hundred yeares last past that the old Canons reiect not as wholly vnworthy of ecclesiasticall honour imployment as Drunkardes Adulterers Sodomites and the like Monsters to passe by lesse matters as that boyes of tenne yeares of age by the Popes dispensations haue beene admitted to Bishoprickes The Church of Rome then by her pactise condemneth the whole course of proceeding in former times which Caluin reuerenceth as most religious and wisheth that things were brought backe to that auncient order againe Onely he saith that the Fathers of those times may seeme a little to haue exceeded in too much seuerity in that they required more things in them that were to bee elected then the blessed Apostle Saint Paul doth This censure neede not seeme so strange vnto vs if wee remember that such as had beene baptized by heretickes or when they were in feare and danger of death which were named Clinici in those times might not vnlesse their conuersation learning and deserts afterwards were very highly approoued be admitted into the ministery that he which had married a widow though he were now free she being dead might not enter into the degree and order of Ministery that hee which had one wife yea though it were before hee became a Christian or were baptized and after his being a Christian his first wife beeing dead married another was iudged vncapable of Ministeriall order against which Ierome declaimeth in his Epistle to Oceanus Behold sayth he Men suppose Adulteries whoredomes Incests Sodomitries Paricides impieties against God and whatsoeuer things are so wicked that they are not to be named are washed away in Baptisme and that after all these horrible crimes a man may bee admitted to the Ministery as being washed from them in the lauer of new birth but if a man had a wife before which was no crime and after his Baptisme shee being dead marry another he may not Thus saith he these hypocrites for so in the heate of his passion he calles them doe straine at a gnat and swallow a Camell For this Ruffinus challengeth him as a contemner of the constitutions and decrees of the Fathers though he shew that innumerable not onely Presbyters but Bishops were in all the parts of the world admitted contrary to the prescript of these pretended Canons That which Calvine addeth that in processe of time they forbade marriage and forced all them that would enter into the holy Ministery to liue single was neuer generall nor in one sort In the Councell of Nice Paphnutius disswaded the Bishops from putting those of the Clergie from the matrimoniall societie of their wiues affirming that marriage is honourable among all men and the bed vndefiled and that the forcing of single life would bring many euils into the Church This Counsell and perswasion of Paphnutius was not onely yeelded vnto by the Fathers of that Councell but in the sixt generall Councell the Fathers there assembled condemned the practice of the Romane Church in forbidding marriage not onely as hard iniurious and being an occasion of many euils but as contrary to the Canons of the Apostles of Christ from whence it is that all the Churches of the world the Church of Rome onely excepted admit married men continuing in the state of marriage into the holy ministery as the Churches of Armenia Graecia Syria Aethiopia Russia and whatsoeuer Christians there are in any part of the world How long it was before this decree of forced single life prevailed in the Latine Church and what resistance there was made against Pope Hildebrand for the same by the whole Cleargie of Christendome calling him heretike monster and enemie of mankinde author of all mischiefe impurity and confusion the histories of those times report affirming that vpon the publishing of that his decree there followed such disturbance of the peace of the Church such confusions indignities contempts and profanations of all holy things as that the Church was neuer so grievously and daungerously afflicted in any of her most bloody persecutions vnder the Heathen Emperours nor in her greatest conflicts with heretickes What good successe this decree had after it prevailed and what a pure and holy Clergie it represented to the world let Gerson report who acknowledgeth that the places of holy Ministery were possessed by adulterers wantons Sodomites and such like monsters that the number of the offenders in this kinde was so great as that there was no proceeding against them that the canons against Concubinaries notorioussie so knowne requiring all men to refraine from communicating with them could not now bee continued that it were best to permit them to keepe harlots fot the avoyding of greater euils and to tolerate their wickednesse in that kinde as the stewes are permitted Thus then I hope it
proue hee affirmeth But he will say that Caluin in the same place doth except against the Fathers Surely he saith hee thinketh they cannot be altogether excused in that they soe much vrged the mysticall sacrificing of Christs body in the Sacrament and thereby made it carry a kinde of shew of a new and newly repeated sacrifice for that by misconstruction of that they meant well others turned the Sacrament into a new offering of the Sonne of God for the quicke and dead The reason doubtlesse that mooued the Fathers so much to vrge that mysticall sacrificing of CHRIST in the blessed Sacrament was for that they liued in the middest of Iewes and Gentiles both whose religion consisted principally in sacrifice the Fathers therefore to shew that Christian Religion is not without sacrifice that of a more excellent nature than theirs were did much vrge that Christ once offered for the sinnes of the World vpon the aulter of his Crosse is dayly in mystery offered slaine and his blood powred out on the holy Table and that this sacrifice of Christ slaine for the sins of the world thus continually represented and liuing in our memories is the sacrifice of Christians If any man shall alleage that these were reasons sufficient to moue the Fathers to speake as they did notwithstanding any occasions of errour that might by ignorant men bee taken Caluine doth not pertinaciously resist for he sayd only what hee thought not peremptorily iudging or condemning those whom so iust and good causes haue made honourable in the Church for ever CHAP. 20 Of the inuocation and adoration of Saints touching which the Century-writers are wrongfully charged to dissent from the Fathers THus then I hope it appeareth that Caluine doth not confesse that the doctrine of the Romanists hath any testimonie or approbation of Antiquity Bellarmine therefore passeth from him to the writers of the Centuries in whom hee hopeth to find something for his purpose but they steade him as little as Caluine did Let vs therefore take a view of that hee sayth Touching free-will iustification merits and the like there is nothing in them but that which hath bin sufficiently I hope cleared in Caluine the things they say being the same Only two things I find imputed to them by Bellarmine and not to Caluine For first they are supposed to acknowledge the Popish invocation of Saints to haue beene in the time of the Fathers and allowed by them Secondly they are charged to blame the Fathers for magnifying too much the excellency of Martyrdome the praises whereof Bellarmin saith they dislike because they will not admit that Martyrdome is a kind of baptisme seruing for the expiation washing away of sin Touching the inuocation of Saints it is euident it was not known in the first ages of the Church nor approoued by the Primitiue Fathers but because it hath mightily preuailed in these later times the superstition and idolatry there in committed hath beene such as cannot be excused therefore for the better answering of Bellarmines cauils and the satisfying of our selues and others let vs consider from what grounds and by what degrees it entred into the Church First there was in the Church from the beginning a true and certaine resolution that the Saints departed do in generall tender respect and wish well vnto their brethren and fellow seruants whom they haue left behind them in the warfare of Christ in this worlde Secondly men grew afterwards to thinke that men departing out of this world carry with them the remembrance of the state of things wherein departing hence they leaue them and that out of their loue which neuer falleth away they do most carefully recommend vnto God the particular necessities of their brethren made knowen vnto them while they liued there Thirdly from hence it came that men entreated their friends yet liuing that if they preuented them and came before them into Christ their maisters ioyfull and happie presence being freed from the daungers miseries and euils of this present life they would not forget to recommend them vnto God that are in them still Fourthly whereas by an auncient custome they did remember the names of the departed at the LORDS table giuing thankes vnto GOD that had made them soe glorious in their life and death through his goodnesse and praying him by their examples to frame them to the like and besides kept the anniuersarie remembrances of the dayes of their death as if they had beene their birth dayes with all tokens of ioy in the orations they made to sett forth the goodnesse of GOD towards them and to propose their example for imitation they did sometimes by way of Apostrophe speake vnto them as if they had beene present and had sense and apprehension of that they spake whereof yet they were doubtfull as appeareth by Gregory Nazianzen Hierome others and not contented thus to commune with them they entreated them if they had any sense or knowledge of things in this world to be remembrancers for them and the Church here below This was a kinde of doubtfull compellation soliciting of them If their state were such as that they could take notice of these things that they would not forget to procure the good of their brethren but was no invocation which is a retyring of our selues in all our needes necessities and distresses with assured hope of helpe to him that wee know can stede vs in what distresse soeuer wee bee Thus then though the Fathers did sometimes when they had particular occasions to remember the Saints and to speake of them by way of Apostrophe turne themselues vnto them and vse wordes of doubtfull compellation praying them if they haue any sense of these inferiour things to bee remembrancers to God for them yet shall our adversaries neuer proue that they did prostrate their bodies bow their knees or make prayers to them in a set course of devotion but this both adoration and invocation of Saints and Angels was directly condemned by them We honour the Saints saith Ierome but doe not worship or adore any creature neither Angels Archangels nor any name that is named in this world or that which is to come The Councell of Laodicea reported by Theodoret directly condemneth this kinde of adoration and invocation not of Saints onely but of Angels also The Popish distinction of Latria and Doulia doth not answere these authorities and testimonies of Antiquity for those erring miscreants mentioned by Paul the Councell of Laodicea Theodoret Epiphanius and others did not thinke the Angels to be God or equall to the Most High neither did they worship them in such sort as to ascribe infinite greatnesse vnto them which the Papists meane by their Latria but they gaue spirituall worship and adoration vnto them in an inferiour and lower degree such as the Papists call Doulia because they thought them to mediate betweene God and mortall men in very high and
cleering of this point and the answering of this obiection we must remember that whereas the ordinary and set meanes of saluation is Baptisme so that no man carelessely neglecting or wilfully contemning it can be saued The Fathers notwithstanding doe constantly teach that if men be excluded by ineuitable impossibilitie they may be saued without it and that faith and the inward conuersion of the heart flying vnto GOD in Christ through the gracious instinct and sweete motion of the sanctifying spirit may bee reckoned a kind of Baptisme because thereby they obtaine all that which should haue beene sought in the Baptisme of water And because if an ordinary degree of faith doe sometimes obtaine saluation without the Baptisme of water much more that which maketh men willing to suffer death for CHRIST therefore they affirme that Martyrdome and the constant suffering for Christ is also fitly named Baptisme So that there are three kinds of Baptisme Flaminis Fluminis Sanguinis Of water of the spirit and bloud It appeareth by Bernards Epistle to Hugo de sancto victore of this Argument that there were some in his time who though they thought that Martyrdome doth supply the defecte of Baptisme yet would not grant that faith and the inward conuersion of the heart without such suffering doth so and therefore though they confessed that Martyrs not baptised with the Baptisme of water may be saved yet they denyed that others though repenting beleeuing and conuerting vnto God can possiblie obtaine remission of their sinnes without the sacramentall washing Against these Barnarde reasoneth in this sorte If Martyrdome doe supply the defect of Baptisme it is not poena but fides not the suffering but the faith of the sufferer that makes it bee of so great force Nam absque fide quid est Martyrium nisi poena For were it not for faith what were the passions of Martyrs but bitter and vncomfortable torments onely Shall then that which maketh Martyrdome bee esteemed in steade of Baptisme be so infirme and weake that what it giues to another thing it shall be denyed to haue it selfe The sheading of our blood for Christ is an vndoubted proofe and demonstration of a very great constant and vnmoueable faith but it is not God but men that take notice of faith by these proofes For God doth often see and pronounce the faith of a man dying in peace to be as great as the faith of a Martyr for that though it be not proued by Martyrdome it is ready for Martyrdome and animates him that hath it to suffer any thing if neede should require This which Barnarde hath thus deliuered touching this point is the constant doctrine of the Fathers neither doe wee or the Authours of the Centuries dislike any thing in it but wee condemne the vaine and idle disputes of the Romish Schools touching these three kinds of Baptisme especially in that they teach concerning Martyrdome that it giueth grace ex opere operato so that if a man not iustified nor yet in the state of grace come vnto it and do not ponere obicem hee shall by vertue thereof obtaine grace haue the effects of it wrought in him in such sort as in the Baptisme of water This not onely wee condemne but many amongst themselues affirming that Martyrdome hath no force to worke or procure our good farther then the greatnesse of our faith and loue which is therein tried approued and made manifest doth worke it The Centurie writers reproue not the Fathers for any such errour as the Papists doe maintaine touching the force of Martyrdome but they dislike that the Fathers did vse so many Hyperboles and Rhetoricall amplifications in the praysing of Martyrdome though in a good sense that the Romish Sophisters haue from thence taken occasion of their errour touching the merite satisfaction and expiation of sinnes which they fancie to bee in the blood of Martyrs of which impietie the Fathers neuer thought Thus then it doth not appeare by any thing which Bellarmine hath or can alleadge that wee confesse the faith of the Romanists to bee the auncient profession of the primitiue Christians but rather the contrary is constantly defended by all our Diuines in the places produced by him CHAP. 22. Wherein is examined their proofe of the Antiquitie of their doctrine taken from a false supposall that our doctrine is nothing else but heresie long since condemned LEt vs therefore come to his third part wherein hee vndertaketh to proue that the doctrine of the reformed Churches opposite to the faith and profession of Rome is the same with the old heresies long since condemned by the vniuersall consent of the whole Christian world In this part hee is so shamelesse that I blush at the very thought of that hee so doctorally and grauely deliuereth as if it were truer than trueth it selfe whereas in his conscience he knoweth it to be an vntrueth so grosse and apparant that the diuell himselfe will bee ashamed of it Hee reckoneth twenty seuerall heresies of damned Arch-heretickes euery of which he pronounceth that wee silly men defend and imbrace as the sacred trueth of God Let vs for our better satisfaction and refutation of so vile a slaunder take a view of the particulars Hee placeth in the front the heresie of Simon Magus and his disciples which was that the Angels made the world that the Prophets were inspired from them and deliuered their pleasure not the will and pleasure of the high God and that therefore the things commaunded by them were not in themselues good or to bee respected that God was displeased with their gouernment and would exempt his own from it haue them free to doe what they list for that men are saued by his fauour and not in doing those things which though they were commaunded and imposed as good by Moyses and the Prophets mis-ledde by the Angels yet were not naturally so but by accident onely This he saith is the errour of the Protestants for they thinke God made the world and not the Angels that Moyses and the Prophets spake as they were inspired of him that the things they cōmaunded are just and holy that there is no way of saluation but by hauing that righteousnesse the Law of Moses prescribeth which all they that are saued haue First by imputation of that perfect righteousnesse and obedience to Moses Law which was found in Christ to merit our good secondly by the operation infusion of sanctifying grace from him making them to hate sinne to loue righteousnesse walke in the wayes of Gods commaundements so that sinne hath no more dominion ouer them Surely I thinke if the diuell himselfe fate as Iudge in this case hee could not but condemne the impudencie of this his shamelesse disciple But he addeth Eunomius taught that if a man would embrace his profession he should bee saued though he continued without repentance remorse in all maner of most damnable wickednesse
people that adhered to the Catholique verity who haue power to choose their Pastour to admitte the worthy and refuse the vnworthy did forsake the former that were wolues and not Pastours and submitted themselues to those of a better spirit Of the three first kindes of voidance there can bee no question of this fourth there may and therefore I will proue it by sufficient authoritie and strength of reason Cyprian Cecilius Polycarpus and other Bishoppes writing to the Cleargie and people of the Churches in Spaine whereof Basilides and Martialis were Bishoppes who fell in time of persecution denyed the fayth defiled themselues with Idolatry perswade them to separate themselues from those Bishoppes assuring them that the people beeing holy religious fearing God and obeying his lawes may and ought to separate themselues from impious and wicked Bishoppes and not to communicate with them in the matters of Gods service quando ipsa plebs maximè habeat potestatem vel eligendi dignos sacerdotes vel indignos recusandi that is seeing the people hath authority to choose the worthy and to refuse the vnworthy And Occam to the same purpose sayth on this sorte Si Papa maximè celebres episcopi incidant in haeresin ad Catholicos deuoluta est potestas omnis iudicandi If the Pope the principall Bishoppes of the Christian world doe fall into heresie the power of all Ecclesiasticall iudgement is deuolued to the inferiour Cleargie and people remaining Catholique This opinion of Cyprian and the rest if our aduersaries shall dislike or except against may easily be confirmed by demonstration of reason For if it do fall out that the Bishoppes and a great part of the people fall into errour heresie and superstition I thinke our aduersaries will not deny but that the rest are bound to maintaine and vphold the auncient veritie who being not so many nor so mighty as to bee able to eiect those wicked ones by a formall course of iudiciall proceeding what other thing is there left vnto them but either to consent to their impieties which they may not doe or to seperate themselues which is the thing our aduersaries except against in the people of our time Now hauing separated themselues from their former supposed and pretended Pastours what remaineth but that they make choise of new to bee ordained and set ouer them if not by the concurrence of such and so many as the strictnesse of the Canon doth ordinarily require to concurre in ordinations yet by such as in cases of necessity by all rules of equity are warranted to performe the same CHAP. 40. Of Succession and the proofe of the trueth of their doctrine by it THus hauing examined the allegation of the Papists endeuouring to prooue against vs that wee haue not the true Church amongst vs because as they falsely suppose wee lacke the visible Succession of Pastours and Bishops let vs see what they can conclude from this note of Succession for themselues In this part Bellarmine sheweth himselfe to be a notable trifler For first hee sayth that if there bee no Church where there is no succession then where there is succession continued the true Church doth remaine still Secondly being pressed with the example of the Graecians amongst whom a continuall succession of Bishops hath euer beene found hee answereth that succession doth not proue affirmatiuely that to bee the true Church where it is found but negatiuely that not to bee the true Church where it is wanting contrary to himselfe who requireth in the notes of the Church amongst which he reckoneth succession to be one of the prinpall that they be not only inseparable without which the true Church cannot bee but proper also and such as cannot be found in any other society but that which is the true Church of God Thirdly againe forgetting himselfe hee maketh succession proper to the true Church and such a note as may proue all those societies of Christians true Churches which haue it disliketh Calvin for saying that more is required to finde out the true Church than personall succession and that the Fathers did not demonstrate the Church barely by personall succession but by shewing that they that succeeded held the faith of those that went before them Thus he sheweth plainely that he knoweth not what he writeth This matter of succession Stapleton hath much more aptly delivered than Bellarmine confessing that not bare and personall succession but lawfull succession is a note of the true Church And defineth that to be lawfull succession when not only the latter succeede into the voide roomes of those that went before them being lawfully called therevnto but also hold the faith their predecessours did In this sort the Fathers were wont to reason from succession in the controuersies of Religion First they reckoned vp the successions of Bishops from the Apostles times then shewed that none of them taught any such thing as was then called in question but the contrary and consequently that the Apostles deliuered no such thing but the contrary To Bellarmines disiunction that either the Fathers made it appeare to Catholickes or to Heretickes that the succeeding Bishops held the same faith the former did we answere They made it appeare to both For so doth Irenaeus proue the tradition of the Apostles to be for him and against the Heretickes he refuteth because he can number all the Bishops in the principall Churches from the Apostles times downeward none of which euer taught any such thing as those heretiques dreamed but the contrary That which Bellarmine addeth that if it had appeared to heretiques that the true faith had beene kept by succeeding Bishops they would haue yeelded to it is as little to the purpose as the rest For we do not say it did apeare vnto them they held the truth but that they held the same faith their predecessours held Now though the Fathers made this appeare vnto them yet they feared not to oppose themselues as the same Irenaeus witnesseth affirming that when it was prooued against the heretiques of those times that in the succession of Bishoppes those that succeeded held the same faith the former did without any alteration and consequently the Apostles doctrine was still continued in their Churches they thought themselues wiser then the Apostles thēselues affirming that they mingled the Law and the Gospell together taking exceptions of ignorance and imperfection against them and their doctrine Thus then wee see the Fathers did not reason barely from personall sucession but by shewing affirmatiuely the faith they defended to haue beene receiued by all those Bishops whose succession they vrged against their aduersaries and negatiuely by proouing that none of them euer beleeued any such things as their adversaries dreamed If the Romanists wil dispute against vs in this sort and demonstrate that the Fathers successiuely held those opinions they do and that none of them were of that iudgment in matter of faith that
wee are of wee will most willingly listen vnto them But this they doe not and therefore their talking of the Fathers reasoning from succession when they dare not reason as the fathers did is most vaine and idle CHAP. 41. Of Vnity the kindes of it and that Communion with the Romane Bishoppe is not alwayes a note of true and Catholike profession THe next note of the Church assigned by them is Vnity The Vnity of the Church consisteth principally in three things First in obseruing and holding the Rule of faith once deliuered to the Saints Secondly in the subiection of the people to their Pastours and thirdly in the due connexion of many Pastours and the flockes depending on them among themselues All these kinds and sorts of vnity wee thinke necessarily required in some degree in all those societies of Christians that will demonstrate themselues to bee the true Churches of God and deny not but that vnity in this sort expressed and conceiued is a most apt note of the true Church The papists suppose that besides these kinds and sorts of vnity before expressed there is also required another kind of vnity to the being of the Church namely subiection to and vnion with that visible head which as they thinke Christ hath left in his steade to gouerne the whole body of the Church and to rule both Pastors and people This head as they suppose is the Bishoppe of Rome from whose communion sith wee are fallen they inferre that wee are diuided from the vnity of the true Church This last kinde of vnity deuised by the Papists wee deny to bee necessarily required to the beeing of the true Church First therefore let vs see what may bee said for or against the necessity of this kinde of vnitie and in the next place consider what our aduersaries can conclude for themselues or against vs from that kind of vnity which wee acknowledge to be necessarily required to the being of the true Church If the vnion of all Christians with this supposed visible head which is the Bishop of Rome were necessarily required as a perpetuall dutie then was there no true Church in the time of the Anti-Popes when the wisest knew not who were the true Popes and who were vsurpers If they shall reply that it is necessary to hold Communion with the true if hee may bee knowne this hath no more warrant of reason than the former seeing the best learned amongst thēselues thinke that not only the Pope but also the whole cleargy people of Rome may erre and fall into damnable heresies in which case it is the part of euery true Christian to disclaime all communion with them and to oppose himselfe against them and all their hereticall impieties That it is possible for the Pope to erre and become an heretique so many great Divines in the Church of Rome haue at all times most constantly defended that the greatest patrons of the infallibility of the Popes judgement at this day are forced to confesse it is not necessary to beleeue that the Pope cannot erre but that it is onely a matter of probable dispute Thus then it is evident to all that will not wilfully oppose themselues against the truth that consent with the Romane Bishoppe cannot bee made a perpetuall and sure note of the true Church Nay the Grecians most constantly affirme that the Popes taking all to himselfe and challenging to bee head of the vniversall Church hath beene the cause of the Churches division But because Bellarmine is so excellent a Sophister that he is able to proue any thing to bee true though neuer so false and absurde Let vs see how hee proueth that consent with the Bishop of Rome is a note of the true Church in such sorte that whosoeuer holdeth Communion with him is a Catholike and contrarily whosoeuer forsaketh his Communion is an Heretique or Schismatique This hee endeavoureth to make good by the testimonies of sundry of the auncient Fathers wrested against their knowne meanings and vndoubted resolutions in other parts of their workes and writings His first allegation is out of Irenaeus in his third booke and third Chapter against heresies But if wee consider the circumstances of the place and the occasion of the wordes ci◅d by Bellarmine wee shall easily see they proue no such thing as hee laboureth to enforce For Irenaeus in that place sheweth how all heresies may bee refuted by opposing against them the tradition of the Apostles which hee saith wee may easily finde out and discerne how contrary it is to the franticke conceites of heretiques by taking a view of them which were ordained Bishoppes by the Apostles in the Churches of Christ and their successours to this present time which neuer taught nor knew any such thing as these men dreame Now because it would bee tedious to reckon all the successions of Bishoppes succeeding one another in euery Church therefore he produceth the succession of the Bishops in the Romane Church in steede of all because that being the most famous and renowned Church of the world constituted and founded by the two most principall and glorious Apostles Peter and Paul whatsoeuer was successiuely taught and receiued in that Church and consequently deliuered vnto it by those blessed Apostles must needes be the doctrine and tradition of the rest of the Apostles deliuered to all other Churches of the World For what was there hidden from these Apostles that was revealed vnto any of the rest and what would they hide from this principall Church that was any way necessary to bee knowne Therefore saith Irenaeus the producing of the Romane succession is in stead of all For it must needes bee that what this most principall Church receiued from these great Apostles that nothing else the other did receiue from their Apostles first preachers which he expresseth in these words Ad hanc Ecclesiam propter potentiorē principalitatē necesse est omnem convenire Ecclesiā hoc est cos qui sunt vndique fideles Bellarmines sense of these words that all Churches must frame themselues to beleeue what the Church of Rome beleeueth and prescribeth to others to bee beleeued no way standeth with the drift of Irenaeus in this place as may appeare by that which hath beene sayd and therefore this allegation might haue beene spared His next authorities are out of Cyprians Epistles in the first of which Epistles we shall finde that there were certaine Schismatikes that fled from their owne lawfull Bishop and superiours with complaints to other Bishops and Churches and amongst the rest to the Church and Bishop of Rome not knowing sayth Cyprian or at least not considering that the Romanes are such as will not giue entertainement to such perfidious companions nor listen to lying and false reports For that is the meaning of those words Ad quos perfidia non possit habere accessum But Bellarmine wresteth the words to another sense to wit that infidelitie and
a more sound and sincere profession of Christian verity than the Romanists doe It is true indeede that many of the famous Churches of the world haue beene swallowed vp of Mahometisme and Barbarisme but to attribute that their fall to their separation from the Church of Rome is vpon as good ground as to attribute the cause of Goodwin-sands to Tenterton-steeple That which he addeth that none of the Churches divided from Rome had euer any learned men after their separation sheweth plainely that his impudencie is greater than his learning For what will he say of Oecumenius Theophylactus Damascenus Zonaras Cedrenus Elias Cretensis Nilus Carbasilas and innumerable more liuing in the Greeke Churches after their separation from the Church of Rome Surely these were more than matchable with the greatest Rabbines of the Romish Synagogue But saith hee they could neuer hold any Councell since their separation If hee meane generall it is not to bee marvailed at seing they are but a part of the Christian Church If Nationall or Provinciall it is most childish and by sundry instances to be reprooued CHAP. 42. That nothing can bee concluded for them or against vs from the note of Vnitie or division opposite vnto it THus hauing cleared that which Bellarmine objecteth to prooue that subjection to and vnion with the Bishop of Rome is implyed in that vnity which is required to the being of the Church Let vs come to the other part and see whether any thing may bee concluded from that vnity which wee confesse to bee required to the being of the true Church either against vs or for them First therefore the Iesuite reasoneth against vs in this sort All they that are of the true Church must hold the vnity of the faith once deliuered to the Saints but there are sundry Heretikes erring damnably in matters of faith as Zuincheldians Anabaptists Trinitarians and the like gone out of the reformed Churches therefore they are not the true Churches of God If this kinde of reasoning were good hee might proue that those Churches wherein the Apostles liued were not the Churches of God because out of them proceeded sundry heretikes as Hymenaeus Philetus Nicolaus Simon Magus and the like But sayth he there be two differences betweene the Apostolike Churches and the reformed Churches in this respect the first that the doctrine of the reformed Churches it selfe and of it owne nature breedeth dissention the second that when there is difference growne they haue no rule by direction whereof to make an end of controversies But the divisions that grow from the Catholike Church proceede meerely from the malice of Sathan and haue no foundation in the doctrine of it and if any difference doe arise it hath a mâ—…anes to end all controversies by which is the determination of a Councell or the chiefe Pastour Both these differences we deny for neither doth our doctrine of it selfe breed dissention and diversitie of opinions neither are wee without meanes of composing controversies if they arise If Bellarmine will proue that our doctrine of it selfe breedeth division hee must shew that the grounds and principles of it are vncertaine and such as may occasion errour contrariety and vncertaintie of judgment which he neither doth nor can doe For the ground of all our doctrine is the written word of God interpreted according to the rule of faith the practise of the Saints from the beginning the conference of places and all light of direction that either the knowledge of â—…gues or any part of good learning may yeeld This surely is the rule to end all controversies by and not the authoritie of a Councell or the chiefe Pastour as Bellarmine fondly imagineth For they both must follow the direction of this rule in all their determinations Whereupon the Booke of God and monuments of Antiquity were alwayes wont to be brought into the Councels whereby the Fathers might examine all matters controversed or any way doubted of Now as wee want not a most certaine rule whereby to iudge of all matters of controversie and difference so in examining things by the direction of this rule wee require that Christian moderation in all men that euer was found in the seruants of God that no man presume of his owne wisdome iudgment and vnderstanding nor hastily pronounce before conference with others â— For the spirits of the Prophets are subiect to the Prophets and God is the God of order and not of confusion It is therefore a vile calumniation of Bellarmine when hee sayth that with vs euery one preferreth himselfe before others and euery one taketh on him peremptory iudgment of another For contrariwise wee teach all men to submit their priuate opinions to the examination of others the meaner to respect those of greater place and quality the fewer the more and those men which pertinaciously contradict the doctrine agreed vpon by consent of all that are in authority or the greater part wee reiect from the communion of our Churches and so with vs an end is made of all controversies The rule then with vs is most certaine and infallible knowen to all to wit the scripture or the written word of God expounded according to the rule of faith practice of the Saints and the due comparing of one part of it with another in the publike confessions of faith published by the Churches of our communion In all which there is a full consent whatsoeuer our malicious adversaries clamourously pretend to the contrary and all those that stubbornely resist against this rule or any thing therein contained and refuse to bee ordered by it wee reiect as factious and seditious schimatickes Thus doe wee disclaime all Anabaptists Familists Zuinchfeldians Trinitarians and all other Sectaries whatsoeuer But sayth Bellarmine how is it then that there are soe many diuisions not only from your Churches but also in your Churches and amongst them that you take for your brethren and men of your owne communion as Lutherans Caluinists Flaccians Melancthonists Hosiandrines and the like To this wee answere that this diuersity is to be imputed wholly to our aduersaries For when there was a reformation to be made of abuses and disorders in matters of practice and manifold corruptions in very many parts of Christian doctrine in a Councell by generall consent it could not be hoped for as Gerson long before out of his owne experience saw and professed by reason of the preuailing faction of the Popes flatterers but this was necessarily to be assayd seuerally in the particular kingdomes of the world it was not possible but that some diversity should grow while one knew not nor expected to know what another did Yet it so fell out by the happy prouidence of God and force of that maine trueth they all sought to aduance that there was no materiall or essentiall difference amongst them but such as vpon equall scanning will bee found rather to consist in the diuerse maner of expressing one
thing and to bee but verball vpon mistaking through the hasty and inconsiderate humours of some men than any thing else Yea I dare confidently pronounce that after due and full examination of each others meaning there shall be no difference foūd touching the matter of the Sacrament the vbiquitary presence or the like between the Churches reformed by Luthers ministery in Germany and other places and those whome some mens malice called Sacramentaries that none of the differences betweene Melancthon and Illyricus except about certaine ceremonies were reall that Hosiander held no private opinion of Iustification howsoeuer his strange manner of speaking gaue occasion to many so to thinke and conceiue And this shall be iustified against the proudest Papist of them all But sayth Bellarmine your Churches are so torne and rent with dangerous diuisions that not onely one of you dissenteth from another but the same man often times from himselfe and herein giueth instance in Luther whose judgement varied in divers things of great consequence Touching Luther we answere that he was a most worthy Diuine as the world had any in those times wherein he liued or in many ages before that for the clearing of sundry poynts of greatest moment in our Christian profession much obscured intangled before with the intricate disputes of the Schoolemen and Romish Sophisters as of the power of nature of free will grace iustification the difference of the Law and the Gospell faith and workes Christian libertie and the like all succeeding ages shall euer be bound to honour his happie memory In all these things hee was euer constant yea all these things he perfectly apprehended and to the great joy of many mens hearts deliuered both by word and writing before he departed from the Romish Synagogue and out of these and more diligent search of the Scripture and Fathers then was vsuall in those times by degrees saw and descried those Popish errours which at first hee discerned not That herein he proceeded by degrees and in his later writings disliked that which in his former he did approoue is not so strange a thing as our aduersaries would make it seeme to be Did not Augustine the greatest of all the Fathers and worthiest Diuine the Church of God euer had since the Apostles times write a whole booke of Retractations Doe we not carefully obserue what things he wrote when he was but a Presbyter and what when hee was made a Bishop what before he entred into conflict with the Pelagians and what afterwards Did hee not formerly attribute the election of those that were chosen to eternall life to the foresight of faith which afterward he disclaimed as a meere Pelagian conceit So that his aduersaries as appeareth by the Epistles of Prosper and Hillarius did not only charge him to be contrary to the Fathers but to himselfe also Did not Ambrose in his time complaine that he was forced to teach before he had learned and so to deliuer many things that should neede and require a second review Doth not their Angelicall Doctor in his Summe of Theologie correct and alter many things that he had written before Let not our aduersaries therefore insult vpon Luther for that he saw not all the abominations of Popery at the first but let them rather consider of and yeeld to the reasonablenesse of the ◠request which in the preface of his workes hee maketh to all Christian and well minded readers to wit that they would reade his bookes and writings with iudgment and with much commisseration and remember that he was sometimes a Frier nourished in the errors of the Romish Church so that it was more painefull to him to forget those things hee had formerly ill learned than to learne anew that which is good But say they Luther himselfe witnesseth that contrariety and cotradiction is a note of falshood and therefore his writings being contradictory the later to the former his whole doctrine must needes be false euen in his owne iudgement Let them that thus reason against Luther know that his meaning is not that whosoeuer retracteth and correcteth that he formerly taught is thereby conuinced of falshood and his whole doctrine prooued to bee erroneous but that those assertions that doe implie contradicton and contrarietie that stand wholly vpon doubtfull vncertaine perplexed disputes and so ouerthrow themselues doe thereby appeare to be false Of which nature are all the principall parts of the Romish doctrine For example Transubstantiation is one of the greatest mysteries of Popish religion and all Papists at this day do firmely hold and beleeue it yet it is demonstratiuely prooued by their owne best Diuines that such a totall conuersion or transubstantiation of the Sacramentall elements into the body bloud of Christ is impossible implieth in it sundry contradictions consequences of horrible impieties For is it not implyed in the nature of the transubstantiation or totall conuersion of one substance into another that the one must succeed the other in being and that the former must cease to be the later therevpon begin to be whence it will followe that the later of the two substances into which the conuersion is made was not nor had no being before Now vvhat greater blasphemie can there be than to thinke Christs body had no beeing till the Massing Priests had wrought this miraculous Transubstantiation It is true that one substance may be changed into another as was Lots wife into a pillar of salt but that one substance should passe and be totally transubstantiated into another hauing the same beeing without all difference before the supposed Transubstantiation that after it hath and nothing beeing new in it in respect of substance or beeing implieth a contradiction and therefore the sacramentall elements cannot be transubstantiated into Christs body bloud That which Bellarmine hath out of Scotus of Transubstantiatio productiua and adductiua is the most childish folly that euer was For this is that he saith The substance of the sacramentall elements is annihilated and they returne into that nothing out of vvhich they vvere formerly taken and then Christs body commeth into the place where they vvere before Therefore the one substance may be sayd to be changed into the other If this reason be good when one man remooueth out of his place into which another vpon his remooue doth enter the former may be sayd to be transubstantiated into the later For as the former of the two supposed men goeth out of his place into some other vvhereupon the other succeedeth him not in being but in place so the sacramentall elements goe out of their place and returne to that nothing out of vvhich they vvere created and the body of Christ succeedeth them not in being vvhich it had the very same vvhile they vvere but in place ◠Neither can this supposed conuersion of the elements into the body of Christ be the cause of Christs being in the Sacrament but rather of
hee beleeueth whatsoeuer the judgement of the Pope bee And yet the same men which thus teach doe say it is no matter of faith to acknowledge or not to acknowledge the infallibility of the Popes judgement and that a man may bee a true Catholicke that thinketh the Pope may erre These two assertions are directly contradictorie The first they embrace because they find the authoritie Papall to be the surest stay of all their false faith and Antichristian profession and the second they are forced vnto because they dare not condemne so many famous renowned and great Divines as haue beene of that opinion as Durandus Gerson Cameracensis Almaine Waldensis and innumerable moe By this their contradicting of themselues not yet knowing whereon to ground their faith it is evident they haue no faith at all Secondly if wee should graunt them to haue any faith yet will it bee found to be Sophisticall or meerely humane For the reason ground and cause of their perswasion touching things Divine is the testimony of the Church infallibly led into all truth and that there is a Church thus ledde into all trueth whose testimony is vndoubtedly certaine and true they beleeue because the Church telleth them so as if a man should beleeue the reports of such a man because he is wise faithfull and honest and beleeue him to be so onely because he saith so To avoide this Sophisticall circulation sundry of the Schoolemen doe freely confesse that the ground of their faith is nothing else but the multitude and consent of men nations and people agreeing in the profession of it and consequently that it is meerely an humane perswasion and that they haue no faith at all which alwayes stayeth it selfe vpon the certainty of the first trueth Thirdly they teach that mortall men are neuer bound to giue GOD thankes for the greatest benefite that is bestowed on them in this world Nay that to giue him thankes for it were grievous sinne This is most evident for the greatest benefite of all other is justification but for this no man may giue God thankes because no man knoweth whether hee hath receiued it or not nor can assure himselfe of it without intollerable and inexcusable presumption Nay some of these seducers are not ashamed to write that euery man is bound to doubt of it with so fearefull doubting as may cause trembling applying that place of the Apostle to that purpose Worke out your saluation with feare and trembling Now I thinke hee which should come to God and giue him thankes for that which whether hee hath receiued or not hee is so doubtfull that he trembleth for feare should but mocke God and mistake his owne meaning Fourthly they hold that Paul and so many more as knew certainely they were in state of justification did sinne damnably in saying the Lords Prayer and that they did as foolishly as if a man should come to God and aske of him the creation of the world which was made long agoe CHAP. 46. Of the efficacie of the Churches doctrine THus were it most easie for vs to shew in many other particulars that the course of their doctrine is full of palpable absurdities But let these few instances suffice and let vs passe from the sanctity of the Churches doctrine to that the Iesuite addeth touching the efficacy of it where he affirmeth two things the first that heretickes neuer conuert any from infidelity to the faith the second that the Church of Rome hath conuerted This which the Iesuite so confidently deliuereth is partly false and partly to no purpose at all For whereas hee sayth heretickes neuer convert any from infidelity to Christianity the conuersion of the Moscouites by the Greeke Church at that time when it was in his iudgment hereticall and schismaticall abundantly refuteth him besides some other examples that might be alleadged Touching the other part of his speech that the Church of Rome hath conuerted many nations to the faith it maketh nothing to the purpose For wee haue already shewed that wee doubt not but the Church in which the Bishop of Rome with more than Lucifer-like pride exalted himselfe was notwithstanding the true Church of God that it held a sauing profession of the trueth in Christ and by force thereof did conuert many from errour to the way of trueth yet was not the state of that Church such but that a damnable faction of wicked ones was found in the midst of it who being the vassals of that cursed Antichrist adulterated the trueth of God and brought his people into a miserable estate holding men in worse then Babylonical captiuity These men the Romanists succeed at this day For the clearing of this matter see that which I haue noted before to this purpose CHAP. 47 Of the Protestants pretended confession that the Romane Church is the true Church of God THe next note whereby Bellarmine endeuoureth to proue the Romish Synagogue to be the true Church of God is our owne confession Surely if he can proue that we confesse it to be the true Church he needeth not vse any other arguments Let vs see therefore how hee proueth that we confesse the Romane Church to be the true Church of God Luther sayth he clearely yeeldeth it Caluin and others in effect acknowledge the same This wee deny for neither Luther nor Calvin nor any of vs doe acknowledge that the Popish religion is true religion or the Romish faction the Orthodoxe Church of God It is true indeede that Luther writing against the Anabaptists doth affirme that the life of true Christianity was preserued in the middest of those Churches wherein the Pope did formerly tyrannize which thing we haue more fully cleared before But that any part of that doctrine the reformed Churches haue reiected was to be accounted the doctrine of the Church or that those wicked ones in whose steppes the Romanists at this day doe insist peruerting the strait wayes of God and adulterating his heauenly trueth were liuely members of the Church Luther did neuer so much as dreame That which is alleadged out of Caluin touching Bernard and other holy men liuing dying in the Romane Church is to no purpose For we neuer doubted but that the Churches wherein those holy men did liue and die were the true Churches of God and held the sauing profession of heavenly trueth though there were innumerable in the middest of them that adulterated the same to their endlesse perdition whose successours the Romanists are at this day There is therefore a great difference to be made betweene the Church wherein our Fathers formerly liued and that faction of the Popes adherents which at this day resist against the necessary reformation of the Churches of God and make that their faith and religion which in former times was but the priuate and vnresolued opinion of some certaine onely In former times a man might hold the generall doctrine of those Churches wherein our Fathers liued and be
vncertainety of finding out the trueth by that meanes Thirdly whereas they say wee haue no miracles and therefore not the true faith and Religion wee deny both the antecedent and the consequent For first the restoring of the purity of religion in our age hath not beene without wonderfull demonstration of the power of God to confirme the trueth of our doctrine and the equity of our cause as may appeare by that which is reported by Illyricus the English Martyrologue and other histories of better credite than those out of which they report their miracles And besides we say though we had no miracles wee are not thereby conuinced of errour For the vse of miracles was specially if not onely in respect of infidels as Caietane sheweth in the place aboue mentioned out of 1 Corinthians 11. and the authority of Gregorie in his tenth Homily and serued to make the mysteries of God seeme credible to such as were wholly auerse from them So that now the faith being already generally planted receiued in the world and confirmed by the miracles done by Christ and his Apostles and nothing being taught by vs but the same which was deliuered by them in the beginning nothing contrary to the confirmed and receiued doctrine of the Church of God then in the world when those differences betweene vs and our aduersaries began there is no reason they should vrge vs to confirme our doctrine by miracles If they require vs to confirme our calling and Ministery as being extraordinary wee say it is not extraordinary as hath beene sufficiently cleared in the note of succession That which Bellarmine addeth that Luther and Calvine attempted to doe miracles but could doe none is but the lying reporte of his owne companions their sworne enemies whose testimony in this case is not to be regarded CHAP. 49. Of Propheticall Prediction THe next note of the Church vrged by them is Propheticall prediction The certaine foreknowledge of future contingent things is proper vnto God and therefore none can foretell such things before they come to passe but they to whom God reuealeth them but that this kind of reuelation is made only to them that are of the true Church I thinke Bellarmine will not say For then what shall wee thinke of Balaam and the Sybils so that prediction of future things is no certaine nor proper note of the true Church But if it were it would not helpe them not hurt vs. For those men they speake of that liued in the dayes of our fathers prophesied of things to come were of the true Church and many of them did most certainely foresee foretell the ruine of the Pope his estate and the alteration reformation of the Church in our time gaue most cleare testimony vnto that which we haue done Neither is there any better proofe of the goodnesse of our cause than that that which we haue done in the reformation of the Church was before wished for expected foretold by the best men that liued in former times in the corrupt state of the Church That which Bellarmine scornefully reporteth of Luthers false lying prophesie that if he continued but two yeares in preaching the Gospell the kingdome of the Pope should be ouerthrowen shall wee doubt not bee found true to the confusion of the enemies of Gods trueth Religion notwithstanding all the indeuours of the Iesuites to make vp the breaches of Babylon which must be throwen downe till not a stone be left vpou a stone But that Luther foretold many things before they came to passe wherein his predictions were found most true wee haue the testimony of Melancthon Illyricus diuers others CHAP. 50. Of the felicity of them that professe the trueth THe next note of the true Church assigned by Bellarmine is the temporall felicity of them that are of it It was but his priuate fantasie that mooued him to assigne this note of the Church For his fellowes the Diuines of Rhemes in their annotations vpon the fift of Matthew doe vtterly disclaime it saying in expresse precise wordes Wee see then that the temporall prosperity of persons and countreys is no signe of better men or truer Religion But let vs suppose these pettie Diuines are deceiued in this their iudgement though if they bee wee must condemne all the Primitiue Christians that were in the times of the ten bloody persecutions and let vs grant that the Cardinall sayth truely that temporall felicity and prosperity is a note of the true Church and Religion what doeth hee gaine by it surely nothing at all for he is most blind that seeth not the prosperity of all those Countries of Germany Denmarke England Scotland and the like where the reformed Religion is maintained and the long life happy Reigne of those Princes that haue most favoured and sought to advance the same as of great ELIZABETH of famous memory late Empresse of England c. who as she was the great glorieus protectour of the Reformed Churches so was she the wonder of the world in respect of the happy successe shee had in all things she tooke in hand and the perpetuall course of felicity and prosperity that euer attended her notwithstanding the daungerous attempts of bloody miscreants the hired slaues of the sonne of perdition How the professours of this Religion though fewer in number forsaken destitute of all worldly assurances and being by the falshood treachery of their bloody enemies oftentimes brought as it were to nothing in France other places haue yet strangely and indeed miraculously lifted vp their heads againe to the terrour and confusion of their proudest enimies hee that seeth not is a stranger in the world Wherefore I I will leaue the consideration of this note to the indifferent Reader not fearing any great preiudice that can grow from thence against our cause CHAP. 51. Of the miserable endes of the enemies of the trueth THe next is the miserable end of such as are enemies of Gods true Religion It is true that God hath oftentimes shewed his iudgements most clearely against the wicked enemies of his trueth and glory so that in the end the impiety of their former courses was made to appeare as wee see in Herode Arrius Nestorius and others but that any such thing fell out to Luther Caluine or any of those worthy men Bellarmine is pleased in this place to slander we vtterly deny And to the lewd and lying reports of Coclaeus Bolsecus we oppose the testimony of Iunius Melancthon and others And surely it was the worlds wonder that Luther opposing himself against the bloody Romanists against whom no King nor Emperour in later times resisted but he wrought his owne ouerthrow should notwithstanding liue so long die so peaceably and be buried so honourably as few of his ranke haue euer beene Touching Caluine there were many witnesses of the manner of his sicknesse but of his death none but the
they desire to be tryed AN APPENDIX WHEREIN IT IS CLEARELY PROVED THAT THE LATINE OR WEST CHVRCH IN WHICH THE POPE TYRANNIZED VV AS AND CONTINVED A TRVEORTHODOXE AND PROTESTANT CHVRCH AND THAT THE DEVISERS AND MAINTAINERS OF ROMISH ERROVRS and superstitious abuses were onely a faction in the same at the time when Luther not without the applause of all good men published his propositions against the prophane abuse of Papall indulgences To the Reader THis Appendix when first published by the Author contained only some briefe quotations vpon seuerall points of difference betweene us and the Papistes showing that the nowe Romish faith was neuer generally receiued in the VVesterne or Latine Church in the dayes of our Fathers no not then when the darke mist of Poperie seemed to haue ouershadowed all things The Author not long before he died intended an inlargment of it in the seuerall particulars but being preuented by death liued not to finish what hee had begun So much as was finished of it comming to my hands I thought my selfe bound in duty not to depriue the world of I haue therefore so farre aduentured to hazard the credit of the Author as to make it publique though something imperfect and wanting that lustre and beauty which it might haue receiued from the last hand of the Author if God had lent him longer life As it is it may serue if for no other vse yet for this as a platforme to shew what might be done in this kind and what the Author intended I make no question but a fauourable Reader will looke on it as wee vse to looke on the foundations of stately buildings the finishing whereof hath beene hindred by some fatall accident the very ruines whereof breede in us astonishment and amazement while we consider not what they are but what they might haue beene The twelue first chapters of this Appendix are enlarged the rest remaine as they were formerly set forth The quotations contained in that part which hath beene added I haue compared and amended if any where they differed from the Originalls whence they were taken and the truth of them I am able to iustifie If the world shall reape any benifit by the worke or if I may be thought by my paines bestowed on it to haue performed that duty wich I owe vnto the memorie of a deare father I haue my desire and so I rest Yours in all due respect NATHANIEL FIELD AN ANSWER TO Mr Brerelyes obiection concerning the Masse publiquelie vsed in all Churches at LVTHERS appearing WHereas to silence our adversaries who neuer cease challenging vs for departing from the faith of our Fathers and the doctrine of the Church wherein they liued and died I affirmed in my 3◠Booke that none of those erroneous positions which at this day they of the Romish faction doe defend and wee impugne were euer constantly receiued in the dayes of our Fathers as the doctrine of that Church wherein they liued and died but onely doubtfully disputed of as things not clearely resolued or broached onely as the priuate fancies and conceipts of particular men and for proofe heereof heeretofore added an Appendix wherein I produced the testimonies of sundry worthy Pastours and guides of the Church in euery age teaching as we doe touching the points now controversed It hath pleased some of the adverse faction to take exceptions to the same my assertion I will first therefore set downe such objections as they haue made and answere the same and then enlarge my former proofes that all that will not be wilfully blinde may see the trueth of that which I affirmed The principall man that shewed himselfe in this kinde is M ◠Brerelie the Author of the booke entitled the Protestant Apologie And after him the author of the answer to Mr D Whites way to the Church M Brerelie in the first tract pag. 139 hath these words It is beyond beleefe and very wonderment that D Field a man otherwise graue and learned should not be abashed by his publique writing so confidently to averre of our so many Christian Catholique Churches dispersed thorough the world at Luthers first appearing that they were all of them the true Protestant Churches of God And that they which then beleeued those damnable errours which the Romanists now defend were a particular faction onely contrary to the confession of so many learned Protestants And in his 2 tract cap. 2. sect 2 pag. 329. hee hath these words In this vndue sort doth Illyricus place in his catalogue of Protestant witnesses Gerson Aquinas and sundry of our Schoolemen all of them vndoubtedly knowne Catholiques and we could giue like farther example of S. Bernard Erasmus Mirandula and sundry other knowne Catholique Writers whom our adversaries in like manner doe vnjustly claime to bee of their Church D Field a prime adversarie and for such was together with the Bishops and Deanes summoned to the conference before his Majestie in Ianuarie 1603 as appeareth by the said conference forbeareth not in these straits to inforce the like vndue and intollerable bold claime to the many Catholiques a particular faction of them onely excepted dispersed thorough the world at and next before Luthers first appearing And in his third Booke of the Church cap. 12. pag. 85 saith nothing is done in the Protestant reformation which Camaracensis Picus Savanarola Gerson and innumerable other worthy guides of Gods Church long before thought 〈◊〉 fit to bee done And pag. 330 Mr Brerelie addeth these wordes D. Feild of the Church l. 3. c. 6. sayth it is most fond friuolous that some demaund where our Church was before Luther began For we say it was where now it is and that it was the knowne apparant Church in the world where all our Fathers liued died And most exceeding boldly hee there farther sayth none of the poynts of false doctrine errour which the Romanists now maintaine we condemne were the doctrines of that Church constantly deliuered or generally receiued but doubtfully broached and factiously defended by some certaine only And booke the third cap. 8. pag. 76 he proceedeth yet farther with like incredible boldnesse saying we must farther beleeue that all the Churches in the world wherein our Fathers liued died were the true Churches of God that they that taught the errours the Romanists now defend against vs were a faction only as they that denied the resurrection vrged circumcision despised the Apostles of Christ were in the Churches of Corinth Galatia Who can without amazement and wonder behold this incredible boldnesse For was not the Masse wherein are comprehended so many cheife points of our Religion the publique liturgie solemnly celebrated in all Churches at Luthers first appearing Was then the externall face of religion any other then our now professed Catholique faith Was Protestancie then so much as in beeing No marvaile then if our aduersaries doubt not to make vndue and pretended claime to the auncient Fathers seeing they blush
debt there whiles wee celebrate the memory of his passion we acknowledge confesse our sinnes which be without number grant that we are not able to satisfie for the least of them therfore beseech our mercifull Father to accept in full payment satisfaction of our debts his passion which after this sort as hee hath ordained to be done in the sacrifice of the masse we renew represent before him where our sinfull life hath altogether displeased him wee offer vnto him his welbeloued Son with whom we are sure he is well pleased most humbly making supplication to accept him for vs in whom only we put all our trust accounting him all our righteousnes the authour of our saluation Thus doth the Church daylie renew in mysterie the passion of Christ doth represent it before God in the holy masse for the attaining of all the graces benefites purchased by the same passion before after the measure of his goodnes as our faith deuotion is knowne vnto him And againe The Church offereth Christ Gods Sonne to God the Father that is representeth to the Father the body and bloud of Christ which by his omnipotencie hee hath there made present and thereby reneweth his passion not by suffering of death againe but after an vnbloudy manner not for this end that we should thereby deserue remission of sins deliuerance from the power of the deuill which is the proper effect of Christs passion but that we should by faith devotion this representation of his passion obtaine remission grace already deserued by his passion to be now applyed to our profite and saluation c. not that we can apply the merits of Christs death as we list to whō we list but that we by the representation of his passion most humbly make petition prayer to Almighty God to apply vnto vs the remission grace which was purchased deserued by Christs passion before after the measure of his goodnes and as our faith and deuotion is knowne vnto him The thing offered both in the sacrifice of Christ on the Crosse in the sacrifice of the Church on the Altar is all one in substance being the naturall body of Christ our high Priest and the price and ransome of our redemption but the manner and effects of these two offerings are diuerse the one is by the shedding of Christs bloud extending to the death of Christ the offerer for the redemption of all mankind the other is without shedding of his bloud onely representing his death whereby the faithfull and deuout people are made partakers of the merits of Christs passion Hitherto the Bishoppe of Lincolne and to the same purpose the Authour of the Enchiridion of Christian religion hath these words Diligenter ergo haec omnia nobis intuentibus nihil vel absurdi vel scrupulosi in toto missae contextu occurret sedomnia praesertim quae canon complectitur pietatis plenissima ac plané reuerenda vt sunt videbuntur Aut enim Ecclesia respicit ad corpus sanguinem Christi pro se in cruce oblata vi omnipotentis verbi in altari praesentia non veretur haec appellare hostiam puram hostiam sanctam hostiam immaculatam panem sanctum vitae aeternae calicem salutis perpetuae aut ad oblationem repraesentatiuam commemoratiuam passionis seu corporis Christi veri quae fide misericordiam per Christum apprehendente redemptionem quae est in Christo deo patri opponente peragitur non dubitat hoc sacrificium laudis offerre pro se suisque omnibus pro spe salutis incolumitatis suae nimirum spem salutis incolumitatis ac redemptionem animarum debitalaude ac gratiarum actione deo accepta referens petitque vt hanc oblationem seruitutis suae Deus placatus accipiat diesque nostros in sua pace disponat atque ab aeterna damnatione nos eripi et in electorum suorum grege iubeat numerari non quidem ex meritis nostris aut ex dignitate nostrae seruitutis sed per Christum dominum nostrum that is If wee rightly looke into these things nothing will occurre vnto vs in the whole context of the masse that may iustly seeme absurd or cause any scruple but all things there found especially such as are contained in the canon will appeare vnto vs as they are indeede full of piety and much to be reuerenced for either the Church hath respect to the body and bloud of Christ offered for her on the crosse and by force of his Almighty word present on the altar and so feareth not to call these a pure host an holy host an immaculate host the holy bread of eternall life and the cuppe of eternall saluation or else shee hath an eye to the representatiue and commemoratiue oblation of the passion or true body of Christ which consisteth in faith apprehending mercy by Christ and opposing vnto God the redemption that is in Christ and soe shee doubteth not to offer this sacrifice of praise for her selfe and all her members for the hope of her saluation and safety that is with all due praise and thankesgiuing shee acknowledgeth that shee hath receiued from GOD the hope of saluation safetie and the redemption of the soules of her sonnes and daughters and desireth that God will take in good part this oblation of her service and bounden dutie that hee will dispose our dayes in peace that hee will deliuer vs from eternall condemnation and that hee will make vs to be numbred with his elect not for our merits or the worthinesse of this seruice but thorough Christ our Lord. With these Georgius Wicelius a man much honoured by the Emperours Ferdinand and Maximilian fully agreeth defining the masse to bee a sacrifice rememoratiue and of praise and thankesgiuing and in another place he saith the masse is a commemoration of the passion of Christ celebrated in the publike assembly of Christians where many giue thinkes for the price of redemption With these agreeth the Interim published by Charles the fift in the the assembly of the states of the Empire at Augusta March 15 t 1548 and there accepted by the same states But some man happily will say here are many authorities alleaged to proue that sundry worthy diuines in the Roman Church in Luthers time denyed the new reall offering or sacrificing of Christ and made the sacrifice of the altar to bee onely representatiue and commemoratiue but before his time there were none found soe to teach Wherefore I will shew the consent of the Church to haue beene cleare for vs to uching this point before his time and against the Tridentine doctrine now prevailing Bonaventura in his exposition of the masse hath these words The body of Christ is eleuated and lifted vp in the masse for diuers causes but the first and principall is that wee may obtaine and regaine the favour of God the Father
Christian Churches throughout the world as well those of the East as of the West doe euer did though they doe not so certainely resolue what their state is that are departed hence what is yet wanting vnto them or wherein or how far forth they may bee benefitted by our prayers but the Romish conceipt of Purgatorie and their praying to deliuer thence none of the Easterne Churches admit neither doe wee This is that which our Aduersaries must finde in the Canon of the Masse if they will say any thing against vs for the proofe of the Romish religion out of the canon Let vs heare therefore what the forme of the prayer for the dead is which is found in the canon of the Masse The words of it are Remember Lord thy servants and thine handmaides N. or N. which are gone before vs with the badge of faith and doe sleepe in the sleepe of peace O Lord wee pray thee to graunt to them and to all that are at rest in Christ a place of refreshing of light and peace That this prayer hath no respect to Purgatorie or to the deliuerance thence it is evident For how doe they sleepe in peace that are tormented in Purgatorie and whose paines are no lesse than those of hell though they bee not eternall Or who is so voyde of sense as to thinke that all that are at rest in Christ are tormented in Purgatorie and that to all these God is entreated in this prayer to graunt a place of refreshing of light peace So that first it is euident that a place of refreshing light and peace is wished to such as are not in Purgatorie For it is wished to all that are at rest in the Lord. But all that are at rest in the Lord are not in Purgatorie whence it will further follow that the Church prayeth for them that shee doth not thinke to bee in Purgatorie and consequently that prayer for the dead proueth not Purgatorie as they would make the world beleeue that it doth And secondly that the Church at that time when this forme of prayer was first composed did not beleeue or thinke that there is any Purgatory For if shee had had any such perswasion shee would not haue forgotten to recommend to God the wofull estate of men so afflicted as they are supposed to bee that are there That this prayer can haue no reference to the state of men in Purgatorie paines it is so cleere that Iohn the 22 who supposed as many of the auncient also did long before him and the Easterne Christians still doe that the soules of the iust are so at rest in Christ that yet they remaine vnder the altar that is vnder the protection and comfort of the humanity of Christ in a state place of happines foretasted but not fully enioyed and that they shall not bee lifted vp aboue to the view of the deitie of Christ as it is in it selfe the vision of God the Father Sonne and holy Ghost till the judgement produceth this prayer for confirmation of his opinion supposing that seeing a place of refreshing peace is here wished to them that are at rest in Christ which cannot in any sense be vnderstood of such as are in purgatory therefore there is some state of men free from paine punishment wherein they are expect the accomplishment of happines To which though Ockam so answere that hee would haue this prayer to haue reference to the estate of distressed soules in Purgatory yet in the end hee sayth it may bee vnderstood of the soules of holy men that are in heaven the meaning of it is that the soules of such men as sleepe in the sleepe of peace hauing resumed their bodies may enter into that place of refreshing light peace that includeth the highest essentiall accidentall degree of eternall peace which they cannot haue till the resurrection And Florus that liued in the time of Carolus Calvus in his exposition of the Masse saith it is most cleare that the soules of perfect iust men so soone as they are loosed from the body are receiued into heauen but this is to bee vnderstood of the soules of Apostles Martyrs and confessours and men of great perfection of life For the soules of certaine just men are not presently admitted into the heavenly kingdome but though they bee in blessed rest yet are stayed in certaine mansions by which their stay and not enjoying presently what they most desire it appeareth they come short of perfect righteousnesse Besides these he thinketh there is a third sort of such as are in Purgatorie Bernard as it appeareth in the place of Ockams dialogues aboue cited maketh three estates of the soule the first in corpore corruptibili the second in requie the third in beatitudine consummatâ the first in the body subject to death corruption the second in rest the third in consummate happinesse The second excludeth all punishment affliction the third all desire of having any higher perfection or attayning any farther good A man of great place worth that hath written not long since feareth not to deliuer his opinion that the soules of the iust are so in rest peace and in heauenly mansions immediatly after their departure hence that yet they come not into the highest heaven place of greatest felicity till the resurrection Which of these opinions the authour of this forme of prayer followed it doth not certainely appeare But sure it is hee thought those who are there commended to God to bee in a state of rest farre from paine torment and so desired the perfecting of whatsoeuer is yet wanting vnto them without any reference to purgatory or the deliuering of any thence From this of prayer for the dead let vs come to the other objection touching the commemoration of the blessed Apostles other Saints holy Martyrs by through whose intercession for whose merits the priest people desireth God to graunt that they may in all things be kept safe strongly defended by the help of diuine protection That the Saints doe pray for vs in genere desiring God to bee mercifull to vs and to doe vnto vs whatsoeuer in any kind he knoweth needfull for our good there is no question made by vs and therefore this prayer wherein the Church desireth God to bee gracious to her to graunt the things shee desireth the rather for that the Saints in heauen also are suppliants for her will not be found to containe any poynt of Romish doctrine disliked by vs. But they will say there is mention made in this prayer of the merits of those holy Apostles Martyrs and the Church desireth God to graunt her petitions for those merits which is contrary to the doctrine of Protestants that deny all merit properly so named and therefore cannot but condemne the opinion of one mans meriting for another For answere herevnto wee must obserue as Cassander
which according to the tradition of the ancient are beleeued to haue beene inspired by the Holy Ghost and deliuered to the Churches of Christ containing all those bookes which we admit secluding all those that are now in question It must be knowne saith he that there are other bookes which are not called Canonicall but Ecclesiasticall by the ancient as the Wisedome of Solomon and that of the sonne of Sirach And in the same ranke we must put the booke of Tobias and Iudith and the bookes of the Machabees and in the New Testament the booke of Pastor all which truly they would haue to be read in the Church but not to be alleadged for proofe of any matter of faith that was questioned or doubted of and then concludeth that hee held it very fit to put downe these things which were deliuered by tradition from the Fathers that they that are to learne the first elements and rudiments of Christian Religion may know out of what fountaines to draw Hierome in his prologue which he prefixed before the bookes of the Old Testament by him translated out of Hebrew into Latine saith There are 22 bookes of the Olde Testament and that as there are but 22 Hebrew Letters by which wee write whatsoeuer wee speake so there are 22 bookes by which as by Letters and beginnings in the doctrine of God the tender infancie of the just man that yet is like a childe hanging on the breast is informed and instructed and then nameth all the bookes which we admit and after addeth Whatsoeuer is beside these is to bee put amongst the Apocrypha and that therefore the book of Wisdome of Iesus the sonne of Sirach of Iudith Tobias and Pastor are not in the Canon And the same Hierome in his Preface before the Bookes of Solomon hauing made mention of the booke of Wisdome and Ecclesiasticus and deliuered his opinion that it is vntruely called the Wisdome of Solomon and attributed to him then addeth that as the Church readeth the bookes of Iudith Tobias and the Macchabees but doth not account them amongst the Canonicall Scriptures so these 2 Bookes may bee read for the edification of the people but not for the confirmation of any doubtfull point of doctrine Sixtus Senensis confesseth that Philastrius rejecteth the Bookes of Macchabees And the same Philastrius in the he heresie of the Prodianitae taxeth them amongst other things that they vsed the booke of Wisdome which Iesus the sonne of Sirach wrote long after Solomons time The Authour of the Booke De mirabilibus Scripturae that goeth vnder the name of Augustine hath these wordes De lacu verò Abacuck translato in Belis Draconisque fabula idcirco in hoc ordine non ponitur quod in authoritate divinae Scripturae non habentur It is true that Augustine and the African Bishoppes of his time and some other in that age finding these bookes which Hierome and the rest before cited reject as Apocryphall to bee joyned with the other and together read with them in the Church seeme to account them to bee Canonicall Caietan and others answere that those Fathers speake of the Canon of manners not of faith and of Bookes not simply hut in a sort canonicall so that they differ not from the other Fathers before alleadged that deny them to bee Canonicall as not being simply and absolutely so How fit and true this answer is I will not stand to examine but this is most certaine that Augustine himselfe seemeth something to lessen the authority of this Booke for whereas the example of Razias killing himselfe is pressed against him to prooue that it is lawfull for a man to kill himselfe after other aunswers he saith the Iewes doe not esteeme this Scripture called the history of Macâ—…bees in such sort as the law the Prophets and the Psalmes to which Christ giueth testimonie as to them that beare witnesse of him saying it behoued that all those things should bee fullfilled that are written of mee in the Lawe the prophets and the Psalmes but it is receaued of the Church not vnprofitably if it be soberly read and heard especially in respect of those Macchabees that as true martyres indured grieuous and horrible things of the persecutors for the law of God And the councell of Carthage whereat Augustine was present prescribing that noe bookes should be reade in the Church as canonicall but such as indeede are canonicall leaueth out the bookes of Macchabees as it appeareth by the Greeke edition though they haue foysted them into the Latine But howsoeuer these did not soe exactly looke into these things as they of the Greeke Church and many of the Latine Church before named but admitted those bookes as in a sort canonicall that they found ioyned together with the other indubitate scriptures which they had of the translation of the Septuagint yet after Hierome had translated them out of the Hebrew and prefixed his prologues and prefaces before the bookes translated by him almost all the Bishoppes and men of account in the Latine or West Church so approued the same that they admitted no other bookes as Canonicall but those that hee did Pope Gregorie the first citing a certaine testimonie out of the first booke of Macchabees hath these words wee offend not if touching this thing we alleage and produce a testimonie out of books though not canonicall yet published for the edification of the people This was the opinion of Pope Gregory Gregorie the first Gregory the greate our Apostle as they of the Romish faction tell vs and therefore it will not be safe for vs to leaue the faith first deliuered vnto vs. To the Pope I will adde certaine Cardinalls Bonauentura in his preface before his exposition of the Psalter vndertaketh to shew which are the bookes of Scripture Scripture sayth hee consisteth of the old and new Testament and the whole body of canonicall Scripture is contained in these 2 then passing by the bookes of the new Testament hee reckoneth all those and those only that Hierome doth sorting them into their seuerall rankes and orders as the Hebrewes do And in another place he sayth there are 4 sorts of writings in which a student must bee conuersant the bookes of holy Scripture the writings of the Fathers such sayings as haue bin gathered out of them and the writings of Philosophers And because in the bookes of Philosophers there is no knowledge to giue remission of sinnes nor originally in the summes because they haue bin extracted out of the originalls of the Fathers nor in them because they haue been taken out of the Scripture therefore that is principally and in the first place to be studied and there wee must seeke that knowledge as in the fountaine and then that all may know which and how many these bookes of Scripture are that hee will haue to bee thus studied hee sayth according to Hierome there are 22 in the old Testament
and in the new there are eight Hugo cardinalis repeateth certaine verses expressing which bookes are Canonicall and which Apocryphall the verses are these Quinque libros Moisi Iosue Iudicum Samuelem Et Melachim tres praecipuos bis sexque Prophetas Hebraeus reliquis censet praecellere libris Quinque vocat legem reliquos vult esse Prophetas Post hagiographasunt Daniel Dauid Hester Esdras Iob Paralipomenon tres libri Solomonis Restant Apocrypha Iesus Sapientia Pastor Et Machabaeorum libri Iudith atque Tobias Hi quia sunt dubii sub canone non numerantur Sed quia vera canunt Ecclesia suscipit illos Here he numbreth the bookes Canonicall and Apocryphall as wee do And the same Hugo in prologū galeatum speaking of the bookes reiected by vs saith that these bookes are not receiued by the Church for proofe of doctrine but for information of manners And in another place he saith they are not counted amongst the Canonicall Cardinall Caietan sayth those bookes only are to be accounted Canonicall which Hierome so accounted and admitteth none of those that are now questioned this he wrote at Rome as himselfe telleth vs in the yeare 1532. From the Church of Rome which was the principall amongst these of the West let vs proceed to see what other Churches thought of this matter Thomas Aquinas proposing the question whether the soules of them that are departed doe know what things are done here it being obiected that the dead do often appeare vnto the liuing as Samuel appeared vnto Saul concerning Samuel he answereth that it may be sayd that he appeared by diuine reuelation according to that in Eccle siasticus 46. or else if the authority of that booke be not admitted because it is not in the Canon of the Hebrewes it may be sayd that that apparition was procured by the diuel Antoninus Archbishop of Florence affirmeth that the authority of the sixe bookes questioned is not sufficient to proue any thing that is in controuersie and that Thomas secunda secundae and Lyranus in his prologue before the booke of Tobias do say that those bookes are not ofsoe greate authority that any sufficient proofes may be drawne from them in matters of faith as from the other bookes And therefore pronounceth he thinketh they haue such authority as the writings of the Fathers approued by the Church And he mentioneth a certaine worke intitled Catholicon the authors name is not knowne but the same author as hee telleth vs pronounceth that none of these books were receiued for proofe of matters of faith but only for information of manners By this of Antoninus who was present at the councell of Florence it will easily appeare to be meerely supposititious that we find in the abridgment of that councell by Caranza that these bookes were pronounced to be canonicall for had they bin so neither would hee nor others haue reiected them after the holding of this councell neither would such a decree haue bin omitted by all others that put out the councells at large and abridged Radulphus Flaviacensis in his commentaries vpon Leuiticus speaking of bookes pertaining to the sacred history hath these words The books of Tobias Iudith and of the Macchabees though they be read for the edification of the Church yet haue no perfect authority Beda after the history of Ezra addeth thus farre the diuine scripture containeth the course of times what things afterwards wee found digested among the Iewes they are taken out of the booke of Macchabees Iosephus the writings of Africanus It appeareth by the Epistle of Hilarie B. of Arles that in Massilia in some other places of France there were that tooke exception to Augustine alleaging a place out of the booke of Wisdome cap. 4. Raptus est ne malitia mutaret intellectam eius and affirmed that this testimonie as not beeing canonicall should haue beene omitted Hugo de sancto victore hauing reckoned the 22 bookes of the old Testament sayth there are besides certaine other bookes as the Wisdome of Solomon the booke of Iesus the sonne of Sirach Iudith Tobias and the booke of Macchabees which are read but are not written in the canon these hee matcheth in authority with the writings of the Fathers Richardus de sancto victore deliuereth his opinion of the same bookes in the same sort and maketh them to be of no greater authority then the writings of the Fathers Petrus Cluniacensis abbas after an enumeration of all the bookes that are canonicall sayth there are yet besides these authenticall bookes 6 other books not to be rejected Iudith Tobias Wisdome Ecclesiasticus and the two bookes of Macchabees which though they attaine not to the high dignitie of the former yet they are receiued of the Church as containing profitable and necessarie doctrine Ockam to the same purpose saith that according to Hierome in his Prologue before the booke of Proverbes and Gregory in his Moralls the booke of Iudith Tobias and the Macchabees Ecclesiasticus and the booke of Wisdome are not to be receiued for confirmation of any matter of faith For Hierome saith as Gregory also doth that the Church readeth the bookes of Iudith Tobias and the Macchabees but accounteth them not amongst the Canonicall Scriptures So also it readeth those 2 volumes of Ecclesiasticus and Wisdome for the edification of the people but not for confirmation of points of faith and Religion Richardus Radulphus Archbishop of Armach and Primate of Ireland saith it is defined in generall Councels that there are 22 authenticall bookes of the Olde Testament Thomas Waldensis Provinciall of the Carmelites heere in England an enemy to Wickliff whose workes were greatly approued by Pope Martin and the Cardinals at that time hath these wordes The length breadth and depth of the city are equall for as in breadth it can enlarge it selfe no farther then to the loue of GOD and our neighbour nor in heigth nor depth then to GOD the rewarder of all so in length which is the Catholique Faith it cannot growe beyond the 12 Articles contained in the Symbole and found scattered in some of the 22 bookes especially seeing the Holy Ghost sayth in the conclusion of all Canonicall Scripture Let him that will take of the water of life freely I professe vnto euery one that heareth the words of this prophesie if any man shall adde GOD shall adde to his plague Lyra writeth thus Now that I haue by Gods helpe written vpon the Canonicall bookes of holy Scripture beginning at Genesis and so going on to the end trusting to the helpe of the same GOD I intend to write vpon those other bookes that are not Canonicall such as are the book of Wisdome Ecclesiasticus Iudith Tobias and the bookes of Macchabees and addeth that it is to bee considered that these bookes which are not Canonicall are receiued by the Church and read in the same for the
information of manners yet is their authority thought to bee too weake to proue things that are in controversie And writing vpon the first of Esdras 1. c. he saith that though the bookes of Tobias Iudith and the Macchabees bee historicall bookes yet he intendeth to pasle them ouer because they are not in the Canon neither with the Iewes nor with the Christians Tostatus Bishop of Abulen approueth the judgment of Lyra. Ximenius that was made a Cardinall in the time of Leo the 10â— put forth the Bibles called Biblia Complutensia and in the Preface before the same treating of the bookes by vs thought to bee Apocryphall hee sayth they are not in the Canon and that the Church readeth them rather for edification of the people then to confirme any doubtfull points of doctrine and that therefore they are not Canonicall Dionysius Carthusianus in his Prologues before the bookes of Ecclesiasticus and Tobias denyeth them to bee Canonicall as also the booke of Iudith and writing vpon the first Chapter of Macchabees hee denieth it to bee Canonicall Ludovicus Vives treating of History sacred and prophane now come in sayth hee the bookes of Kings and the Chronicles the Apocryphall bookes of Hester Tobias and Iudith Esdras which being divided into foure bookes the two first are accounted Canonicall by the Hebrewes the two latter are Apocryphall And in another place speaking of the History of Susanna and Bell he putteth them amongst the Apocrypha With these accordeth Driedo To these may bee added the Glosses The ordinary Glosse was begun by Alcuinus as Antoninus Florentinus Gaguinus doe thinke or by Strabus Fuldensis as Trithemius Sixtus Senensis thinke but it was afterwards inlarged by diuerse which gathered sundry sentences and sayings out of the writings of the Fathers and put them into it This Glosse grew to bee in great request and vsed in all Churches of the West In the preface thereof are these words There are some bookes canonicall some not canonicall betweene which there is as great difference as there is betweene that which is certaine and that which is doubtfull For the canonicall bookes were composed by the immediate direction and suggestion of the holy spirit they that are not canonicall are very good and profitable but their authoritie is not reputed sufficient to proue the things that are questionable This the authour thinketh so cleere that hee fastneth the note of ignorance vpon all such as thinke otherwise and professeth that therefore he held it necessarie to prefixe this preface because there are many who not giuing themselues much to the study of holy Scripture suppose that all those bookes that are bound vp together in the Bible are to bee in like sorte honoured and esteemed not knowing how to put a difference betweene bookes canonicall and not canonicall which the Hebrewes separate from the canon and the Greekes account apocryphall and so oftentimes make themselues ridiculous to them that are learned Hee citeth the authority of Origen Hierome and Ruffinus rejecting the six bookes questioned and though hee knew the opinion of Augustine yet doth hee not follow it onely hee sayth that amongst the bookes not canonicall they that are reiected by Augustine as Baruch and the third and fourth of Esdras are lesse to bee esteemed then those that hee alloweth And immediately after this preface followeth Hieromes epistle to Paulinus and afterwards his prologus galeatus and his prologue before the bookes of Solomon And the glosse every where inculcateth when it commeth to these six bookes that they are not canonicall Incipit liber Tobiae c. Heere beginnes the booke of Tobias which is not canonicall c. In the edition of the Bibles with the Glosses there is found an exposition of the prologues of Hierome written and composed by Brito more auncient then Lyra for hee is cited by him and honoured with the title of a famous and worthy man who professeth that the bookes questioned are not canonicall Gratian in the decree maketh no mention of the opinion of Gelasius touching the canonicall Scriptures disliking as it seemeth his opinion and yet not willing to oppose against it But the Glosse vpon the next distinction saith there are certaine apocryphall bookes that is without authour as the Wisedome of Solomon the booke of Iesus the sonne of Sirach called Ecclesiasticus the booke of Iudith the booke of Tobias and the bookes of the Macchabees these bookes are sayd to bee apocryphall and yet they are read but happily not generally Driedo citeth this place of the glosse and reprehendeth the authour of it as not giving the true reason why these bookes are called apocryphall but yet thinketh as hee doth that they are apocryphall Sanctes Pagninus in his epitome of historicall bookes that are canonicall prefixed before the Bible translated by him into Latine accounteth all those that Hierome doth to be canonicall the rest hagiographall Bruciolus in the preface of his commentaries vpon the Bible translated by him into Italian saith he hath commented vpon all the bookes of the old testament yet hee hath not commented vpon the six bookes that are questioned In the Bibles put out at Antwerpe by Arias Montanus with the interlineall translation all those bookes are omitted In the edition of the Bible printed at Antwerpe by Birkmannus that very yeare that the councell of Trent was holden to determine this point touching the Canonicall and Apocryphall Scriptures and the like the author suppressing his name prefixeth a preface before the same his edition and in it reiecteth all the bookes now questioned in more peremptory sort then many of the former did Here wee see a cloud of witnesses in all ages and in all parts of the world witnessing to the truth of that wee affirme touching the canon of the Scripture and reiecting those bookes as Apocryphall or not Canonicall which wee reiect euen till and after the time of Luther soe that the Church wherein our Fathers liued and died is found as I sayd to bee in this point a Protestant Church wherefore let vs proceed to other particular points of controversie CHAP. 2. Of the sufficiencie of the Scripture THat the Church formerly did not deny the sufficiencie of the Scripture for the direction of Christian men in matters of faith and religion as the Romanists now doe but acknowledged and taught that it containeth all things necessary to salvation accordingly as wee now professe it appeareth by the testimonies of these diuines Gregorius Ariminensis sometimes Prior generall of the friars Heremites of the order of Saint Augustine writing vpon the sentences hath these words That is properly a theologicall discourse that consisteth of sayings or propositions contained in the holy scripture or of such as are deduced thence or at the least of such as are consequent and to bee deduced from one of these this sayth hee is proued ex communi omnium conceptione nam omnes arbitrantur
earnestly to thirst after these waters when hee sayth Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousnes but the vngodly having tasted of the wine of mundane joy and temporall riches hate dislike and put from them this water and therefore the Lord sayth well of them by the Prophet Esay 8. Because this people haue refused the waters of Siloe that runne softly and without noyse and haue taken rather Rasin and the sonne of Romelia I will bring upon them the mighty waters of of the floud Siloe is interpreted sent and it signifieth the doctrine of the diuine Law sent vnto vs by Christ the Apostles and other faithfull ones which doctrine the Pastors of the Church are bound vnder the paine of damnation to know and teach whereupon Isidore saith de summo bono lib. 3. c. 46. The Priests shall bee damned for the iniquity of the people if either they neglect to teach them being ignorant or to reproue them when they offend the Lord hauing said by the Prophet I haue set thee as a watch-man ouer the house of Israel and if thou shalt not tell the wicked of his wickednes that hee forsake his euill way he shall dye in his iniquitie but I will require his bloud at thy hand Notwithstanding all this many of the moderne Priests cast from them this learning and say we will none of it because it is not de pane lucrando that is it serueth not to bring in gaine and profite and giue themselues to the study of humane lawes which are not so necessary for the sauing of soules as the law of God because as Odo saith here vpon the Gospell sermone 39. If Christ had knowne that we might more easily attaine saluation by the Lawes of Iustinian he would surely haue taught them vs with his own mouth and haue let that alone which he taught vs and deliuered vnto vs et in quâ continetur implicitè vel explicitè omnis scientia ad salutem necessario requisita and in which is contained expressely or implicitely all knowledge necessarily required to saluation according to that of S. Augustine 2. de doctrinâ Christianâ in fine Whatsoeuer a man learneth without and beside the holy Scripture if it be hurtfull it is there condemned if it bee profitable it may there be found But many Church-men leaue this learning and take vnto them Rasin and the sonne of Romelia Rasin signifieth a picture and Romelia high and mighty thunder so that by Rasin and the sonne of Romelia wee may vnderstand painted and glorious wordes and that wordy thunder of humane lawes which kindes of learning many Ecclesiastical persons assume that they may be by such profession exalted in the courts of great Lords and for this cause as the Prophet addeth the Lord shall bring vpon them the mighty and great waters of the floud that is infernall punishments so saith Odo Hitherto hee hath alleadged the words of Grosthead and Odo In another place he saith concerning them that so contemne the word of God that the Lord complaineth of such by the Prophet Ierem. 2. saying My people hath done two euils they haue forsaken me the fountaine of liuing water and haue digged to themselues broken cisterns to which as Gulielmus Parisiensis saith the decree or canon law may fitly be compared which is a broken cisterne that cannot hold water which though it haue water to day shall haue none to morrow because it shall bee abrogated whereas touching the Law of God it is otherwise and therefore the Psalmist saith thy righteousnesse O Lord is an euerlasting righteousnesse and thy law is trueth Yet is the holy Scripture much contemned by the profession of the Canonists so that the knowledge of holy Scripture and profession of Divinity may say to an ill Advocate or Lawyer as Sara said to Abraham in the 16 of Genesis Thou dealest ill with me I gaue thee my handmaid into thy bosome who seeing that she had conceiued despised me for as Gulielmus Parisiensis saith de vitiis part 4. cap. 6. The profession of Canonists contemneth the profession of Divines and science of holy Scripture because they are not so gainefull as it is When Ismael and Isaack played together Ismael mocked Isaack so that Sarâ—… was forced to intreate Abraham to cast out the bondwoman and her sonne So happily it were behoofefull and profitable for the Church that this Science in a great part should be cast out because it not only contemneth the diuine Science and Law of God but blasphemeth it and in so doing contemneth and blaspheameth God himselfe who is the lawgiuer Here wee haue the opinion of three worthy men touching the sufficiencie of the Scripture and the dangers confusions and horrible euils that followed vppon the multiplying of humane inuentions Many more might be alleadged to the same purpose but these may suffice to let us know what the doctrine of the Church was in the dayes of our Fathers for they deliuer not their priuate conceipts but tel vs what all good and iudicious men conceiued of these things in their times But some men will say wee find often mention of traditions in the writers of former ages soe that it seemeth they did not thinke the Scriptures to containe all things necessary to saluation For the clearing of this doubt wee must obserue that by the name of tradition sometimes all the doctrine of Christ and his blessed Apostles is meant that was first deliuered by liuely voice and afterwards written Sometimes the deliuering of the diuine and canonicall bookes from hand to hand as receiued from the Apostles is named a tradition Sometimes the summe of Christian religion contained in the Apostles creed which the Church receiueth as a rule of her faith is named a tradition but euery one of those articles is found in the Scripture as Waldensis rightly noteth though not together nor in the same forme so that this colection may rightly be named a tradition as hauing beene deliuered from hand to hand in this forme for the direction of the Churches children and yet the Scriptures be sufficient Sometimes by the name of traditions the Fathers vnderstand certaine rites and auncient obseruations And that the Apostles delivered some things in this kind by word and liuely voyce that they wrote not wee easily grant but which they were it can hardly now be knowne as Waldensis rightly noteth But this proueth not the insufficiencie of the Scripture for none of those Fathers speake of points of doctrine that are to be belieued without and besides the Scripture or that cannot be proued from thence though sometimes in a generall sort they name all those points of religion traditions that are not found expressely and in precise tearmes in Scripture and yet may necessarily be deduced from things there expressed Lastly by the name of tradition is vnderstood the sense and meaning of the Scripture receiued from the Apostles and deliuered from hand to hand together with the bookes There are
of God the Father concerning which things he admonisheth vs sufficiently and manifestly in his first Epistle to the Corinthians requiring vs no otherwise to speake with tongues but soe that wee may edifie the Church Neither is it contrarie to the right faith and sound doctrine to sing masse in the same Slauon tongue or to reade the holy Gospell or the diuine lessons of the old or new Testament rightly translated and interpreted or to sing all other parts of diuine seruice appointed for certaine houres and times because that hee that made 3 principall tongues to wit the Hebrew Greeke and Latine created also all other for to set forth his praise and glory Notwithstanding wee command that in all the Churches of your country the Gospell be first reade for the greater honour in Latine and afterwards the translation into the Slauonian tongue in the hearing of the people that vnderstandeth not Latine as it seemeth the custome is in some Churches and if it seeme good to thee and thy iudges and great men to heare masse rather in Latine wee command that the masse bee celebrated for thy selfe and them in Latine Aenaeas Syluius afterwards Pius the second reporteth that Cyrill hauing brought Suatocopius to become a ChristiaÌ„ to be baptized won the Moraâ—… and sundry other nations of the Slauonians to Christianity afterwards being at Rome besought the Pope that with his good liking hee might say seruice in the Slavonian tongue to the people of that Nation whom he had baptized concerning which thing when there was no little dispute in the sacred Senate and many disliked this motion there was suddainly heard a voice as it had beene from Heauen saying Let euery spirit praise the Lord and let euery tongue confesse vnto him whereupon the Pope yeelded to his motion gaue consent that he should doe as he desired There is no doubt but that there were many crossings in this kinde and that sometimes they had the seruice in one tongue and sometimes in another not onely in diuerse countreyes but euen in the same accordingly as the different factions prevailed Vuratizlaus Duke of the Bohemians desired of Pope Hildebrand that he would giue consent that they might say divine seruice in the Slavon tongue and it seemeth by the Popes answere it had bin so before as in other places so here for he sayth neque ad excusationem iuvat quod quidam religiosi viri hoc quod simplicitèr populus quaerit patienter tulerunt seu incorrectum dimiserunt cum Primitiva Ecclesia multa dissimulaverit quae à sanctis Patribus postmodum firmatâ christianitate religione crescente subtili examinatione correcta sunt That is neither doth it serue to excuse and make good this petition that some religious men patiently endured and suffered that to be done that the people simply desired or that they let it alone vncorrected or altered it not seeing the Primitiue Church was content to winke at diuerse things which the holy Fathers afterwards when Christianity was firmely settled and Religion increased vpon diligent and exact examination thought good to correct and alter Walafridus Strabo testifieth that in his time the divine seruice was still celebrated in the vulgar Germane tongue amongst certaine Scythian Nations especially those that are called Tomitani and that certaine Germans doe inhabite in those parts There was a third sort of people to whom the Gospell was preached that were so rude and vnlettered at the time of their conversion that they knew not how to write any thing in their owne tongue hauing no characters or letters of their owne nor any monuments of antiquity or report of things past but in the Latine tongue these could haue no forme of divine seruice deliuered vnto them at the first in their owne tongue So that happily to some in this case the Booke of God was at first deliuered in Latin to be expounded by such as vnderstood it to them that vnderstood it not not as thinking it best so to haue it in a tongue not vnderstood but because they could not doe otherwise And therefore Iohn the 8th vnderstanding that they of Moravia had an alphabet characters so that they could expresse things in writing commaundeth theÌ„ to haue their seruice in the Slauonian tongue And so in those places where they could not haue the booke of God in the vulgar tongue at the first yet so soone as they had meanes they caused the same to be put into the vulgar And therefore it is reported that Ludovicus the Emperour hauing a great care of Religion and seeking the saluation of his subjects soules whereas till that time the people of Germany that vnderstood nothing but the Theudiscall tongue could not read the Scriptures but the learned onely hauing now met with one Otfridus a learned and holy Monke commaunded him to translate the Old new testament into the German tongue quatenus non solum liteteratis verumetiam illiteratis sacra divinorum praeceptorum lectio panderetur that so the sacred reading of the divine precepts might be made coÌ„mon to the learned vnlearned which worke he took in hand perfected at the Emperors commaund very willingly hauing bin moued admonished from aboue so to doe it was approued by Luidbertus Archbishop of Mentz If the Index of prohibited bookes had beene out which Pius 4. first Clement the 8 t since published to the world the Emperour Archbish. Translator people vsing the translation had incurred grievous censures and had beene branded as Heretickes But this poynt of the new religion of Rome was not then knowen and therefore as they could in all parts of the world they translated the Scriptures into the vulgar tongue Whether the Saxons at the comming of Augustine into England could write any thing in their owne tongue it is much doubted and many thinke they could not so that happily the Bible was not deliuered to them in the vulgar at the first but afterwards when they knew how to write in that tongue it was For as we reade Beda translated a part of it into the Saxon tongue And the same Beda reporteth that before his time there was a certaine brother in the monasterie of the Abbesse Hilda who hauing receiued excellent grace of God was wont to make poems fit to set forward religion pietie so that whatsoeuer he learned by interpreters out of the holy bookes the same things presently after hee would expresse in verse in his owne tongue that is in English most sweetely and so as that he would peirce the hearts of such as heard him and therefore the abbesse commaunded that hee should bee taught the whole series and course of the holy historie that he might expresse the same in his owne tongue and so he did for whatsoeuer by hearing hee could possibly learne he turned into most sweete poems so that his teachers became his hearers for he composed poems
darke the length breadth and other dimensions of a thing but not whether it be faire or foule white or blacke So men in this obscurity of discerning may finde out that there is a God and that he is the beginning and cause of all things but they cannot know how faire how good how mercifull and how glorious hee is that so they may loue him feare him honour him and trust in him as God vnlesse they haue an illumination of grace The difference therefore betweene those of the Church of Rome and vs touching originall sinne consisteth in two points First In that they make the former defects of ignorance difficultie to doe good pronenesse to euill contrarietie betweene the powers of the soule and the rebellion of the meaner and inferiour against the better and superiour consequents of nature as it might and would be in it selfe simply considered without all defection and falling from God that originall righteousnesse was giuen to prevent and stay the effects that these naturally would haue brought forth and that these are not the consequents of Adams sinne but that onely the leauing of them free to themselues to disorder all is a consequent of the losse of that righteousnesse which was giuen to Adam and by him forfaited and lost that they proceede from the guilt of sinne but that they make not them guilty in whom they are But we say that these are no conditions of nature simply considered that they cannot bee found but where there is a falling from God that they are the consequents of Adams sinfull aversion from God his Creator that they are a part of original sinne and that they make men guilty of grieuous punishment so long as they remaine in them The second thing is that originall sin is indeed according to their opinion the privation of originall righteousnes but as original righteousnes was not giuen simply to inable men to decline euill and do good but collectiuely constantly and meritoriously to decline euill doe good so the privation of it doth not depriue men of all power of declining euill doing good but only of the power of declining all euill and doing all good collectiuely meritoriously But we say that originall righteousnes was given simply to inable men to decline euill to doe good and that without it the nature of man could not performe her proper and principall actions about her principall obiects So that the privation of it depriveth a man of all power of knowing loving fearing honouring or glorifying God as God and of all power of doing any thing morally good or not sinfull and putteth him into an estate wherein hee cannot but loue and desire things that God would not or so as hee would not haue him yea of louing other things more than God and and so as to dishonour God in any kind rather than not to enjoy the things he desires So that if wee speake of originall sinne formally it is the privation of those excellent gifts of diuine grace inabling vs to know loue feare serue honour and trust in God and to doe the things he delighteth in which Adam had lost If materially it is that habituall inclination that is found in men averse from God carrying them to the loue and desire of finite things more then of God and this also is properly sin making guilty of condemnation the nature and person in which it is found This habituall inclination to desire finite things inordinately is named concupiscence and this concupiscence is two fold as Alensis noteth out of Hugo for there is concupiscentia spiritus and concupiscentia carnis there is a concupiscence of the spirit or superiour faculties of the flesh or inferiour the former is sinne the latter sinne and punishment For what is more iust then that the will refusing to bee ordered by God and desiring what hee would not haue it should finde the inferiour faculties rebellious and inclined to desire things the will would haue to bee declined It remaineth therefore that wee proceede to proue that this doctrine was receiued taught continued in the Churches wherein our Fathers liued died till after Luthers time I haue shewed already that Gregorius Ariminensis professeth that Adam in the state of his creation was not inabled to perform any acte morally good or so to doe any good thing as not to sin in doing it by any thing in nature without addition of grace which thing he proveth out of the master of the sentences whose words are these speaking of the first man before his fall Egebat itaque homo gratiâ non vt liberaret voluntatem suam quae peccati serva non fuerat sed vt praepararet ad volendum efficaciter bonum quod per se non poterat That is The first man needed grace not to free his will for it neuer had been in bondage but to prepare and fit it effectually to will that which is good which of it selfe it could not doe And he confirmeth the same out of Saint August his words are these Istam gratiam non habuit homo primus quâ nunquam vellet esse malus sed habuit in qua si permanere vellet nunquam malus esset sine quâ etiam cum libero arbitrio bonus esse non posset sed eam tamen per liberum arbitrium deserere posset nec ipsum ergo Deus esse voluit sine suâ gratiâ quem reliquit in eius libero arbitrio quoniam liberum arbitrium ad malum sufficit ad bonum auâ—…m parumest nisi adiuuetur ab omnipotenti bono quod adiutorium si homo ille per liberum non deseruisset arbitrium semper esset bonus sed deseruit et desertus est that is The first man had not that grace that might make him so will good as neuer to become euill but truely hee had that wherein if hee would haue continued hee should neuer haue bin euill and without which notwithstanding all the freedome of his will he could not be good yet by the freedome of his will he might loose it wherefore God would not haue him to be without his grace whom he left in the freedome of his will because free will is sufficient of it selfe to doe evill but it is of litle force or rather as the true reading is of no force nothing to do good vnlesse it be holpeÌ„ of the omnipotent good which helpe if maÌ„ had not forsakeÌ„ by his free will he had ever beene good but he forsooke it and was forsaken Thirdly he proueth the same in this sort Si Adam ante peccatum potuisset per suas vires naturales praecise agere actum moraliter bonum ipse potuisset facere se de non bono bonum posito quod aliquando fuisset sine omni actu voluntatis cum suis taÌ„tum naturalibus aut de bono meliorem deo illum non specialiter adiuvante that is If Adam had power before the
haue it not bee neuer so good they haue no true vertue Bernard in his booke de gratiâ libero arbitrio Liberi arbitrii conatus ad bonum cassi sunt si non gratiâ adiuventur nulli si non excitentur caeterum in malum dicit scriptura proni sunt sensus cogitationes hominis That is the endeavouring of freewill to doe good is in vaine if it bee not holpen by grace and none at all if it be not stirred vp by grace but the scripture saith the senses and thoughts of men are prone to euill Neither can they say that hee speaketh onely of meritorious good and such as is rewardable in heauen for hee speaketh generally of good as it appeareth in that hee opposeth it not to some other kind of good but to euill Anselme Archbishoppe of Canterbury fully agreeth with the rest affirming in the same words that Prosper and Beda did before that the whole life of infidels is sinne that there is nothing good without the chiefe good and that where the knowledge of the eternall and incommutable veritie is wanting if the manners and conuersation of them that haue it not bee nouer soe good and commendable they haue no true vertue Peter Lombard the master of the sentences sometimes Bishoppe of Paris writing vpon the same place hath the same words and soe hath the ordinary glosse Grosthead the renowned Bishoppe of Lincolne in his sermon vpon the Aduent the beginning whereof is this There shall be signes in the sunne and in the Moone hath these words Bright and glittering starres of vertue seemed to shine and appeare in the morall doctrine of naturall men and in the conversation of many Gentiles as of the Scipioes and others but now it is truly manifest and cleare that without the faith of Christ there is no true vertue in the doctrine or conuersation of any man And in his Enchiridion hee sayth that this was the opinion of St Augustine where treating of the foure Cardinall vertues and proposing the question whether Cato and the Scipioes had such vertues hee sayth thus Wee grant with Augustine that no man euer had or could haue true vertue without the faith of Iesus Christ and proueth it immediately after in this sort Non enim potest esse amor ordinatus vbi contemnitur non amatur quod maximè amandum est cum non ametur nisi quod scitur aut creditur vnde patet quod qui nescit aut non credit dominum Iesum Christum non amat aut contemnit quod maximè amandum est quapropter in tali virtus non est quod etiam probat Augustinus talibus argumentis dicens Absit vt in aliquo sit vera virtus nisi sit iustus c that is There can bee no orderly loue of things where that is contemned and not loued that is to be loued most of all whence it is cleere and euident that seeing nothing can bee loued but that which is knowne or beleeued hee who knoweth not or beleeueth not the Lord IESVS CHRIST contemneth or at least loueth not that which is most of all to bee beloued and therefore in such a one there can bee noe true uertue which also Augustine proueth by arguments of this sort saying GOD forbidde that true vertue should be conceiued to bee in any man vnlesse hee be iust c. By these passages of the Bishoppe of Lincolne it appeareth sayth Ariminensis that hee thought as wee doe that noe act morally good canne bee done without the speciall grace of GOD for if there bee noe vertue without such grace then canne there bee noe act morallie good which is yet more fully cleared for euery vertuous and morall good act either is orderly loue or presupposeth it soe that if there can bee noe orderly loue without GODS grace there can bee noe act of vertue or act morally good With this famous Bishoppe of LINCOLNE wee may ioyne Thomas Bradwardine the noe lesse famous and renowned Archbishoppe of CANTERBVRIE who is his Summe de causa Dei contra Pelagium at large confirmeth and proueth the same Soe that it seemeth by Beda Anselme Grosthead and this BRADWARDINE that this was euer the doctrine of the Church of England as now it is Pupperus Gocchianus that liued a litle before Luthers time saith The whole life of infidels is sinne there is nothing good without the chiefe good where there wanteth the knowledge of the eternall trueth if mens manners be never so commendable they haue no true vertue hee that offendeth in one that is in charity is guilty of all hee therefore that hath not faith and charitie every action of his is sinne And he addeth that when Augustine sayth that they that haue not charity may doe good things but not well his words are not to bee vnderstood as if the things which they doe without charitie were good when they doe them without charitie but that they would bee good if they were done in charity or that they are of such nature and kind which being done in charity may bee good otherwise hee should bee contrary to himselfe where hee sayth that every action of him that hath not charity is sinne Andradius saith that there was much difference touching this poynt not onely amongst the latter but the more auncient divines also and that some did so deiect all the actions and endeavours of infidels as to affirme that none of them are or can bee without sinne It is true indeede that there were ever some in the latter ages of the Church that contradicted this verity which wee haue hitherto proved but they were such as had a touch of Semipelagianisme Prosper speaketh of a rule found in the collations of Cassian Cauendum nobis est ne ita ad Deum omnia sanctorum referamus vt nihil nisi id quod malum est humanae ascribamus naturae That is Wee must take heed least wee so attribute all the merits of the Saints to God as to ascribe nothing to nature but that which is evill and perverse This rule sundry carefully followed in the midst of the Church in all the latter ages who so acknowledged that no man can merit heauen without Gods grace that yet they thought they might doe many things morally good by nature without grace But Prosper bitterly reprehendeth this his wordes are these Quasi natura ante gratiam non sit in damnatione non sit in caecitate non sit in vulnere aut non gratis iustificati sint quorum inde sunt merita vnde iustitia That is As if nature before grace were not in a state of condemnation were not in blindnesse and greivously hurt or as if wee were not freely justified all whose merits are from thence whence is our righteousnesse And all they that rightly vnderstood the doctrine of the Church cleared by Saint Augustine against the Pelagians concurred with Prosper and taught as wee doe now
quae in suo genere sunt bona sed ex affectu sunt mala But he sayth there are others of another opinion making the actions of men to be of three sorts denying all the actions of infidels to be sinne Opera cunsta quae ad naturae subsidium siunt semper bona esse astruunt Sed quod Augustinus mala esse dicit si malas habeant causas non ita accipiendum est quasi ipsa mala sint sed quia peccant mali sunt qui ea malo fine agunt Thomas Bradwardin in his summe against the Pelagians of his time cleerely resolueth that the will of man since the fall hath noe power to bring forth any good action that may bee morally good ex fine circumstantiâ—…s And Aluarez though hee thinke that all the actions of infidels are not sinne yet sayth that none of them is truly an act of vertue noe not in respect to the last naturall end CASSANDER sayth that the article of the Augustane confession touching originall sinne agreeth with the doctrine of the Church when as it teacheth that the will of man hath some kinde of liberty to bring forth a kinde of ciuill iustice and to make choyce in things subiect to reason but that without the spirit of God it hath no power to doe any thing that may bee just before God or anything spiritually iust And all orthodoxe divines agree against the Pelagians that it is the worke of grace that wee are made iust of vnjust truely and before God that this grace createth not a new will nor constraineth it against the liking of it but correcteth the depravation of it and turneth it from willing ill to will well drawing it with a kinde of inward motion that it may become willing of vnwilling and willingly consent to the divine calling The Pelagians the enemies of Gods grace being vrged with those texts of Scripture wherein mention is made of grace sought to avoyde the evidence of them affirming that by grace the powers faculties and perfections of nature freely given by God the Creator at the beginning are vnderstood when this would not serue the turne they vnderstood by grace the remission of sins past and imagined that if that were remitted wherein wee haue formerly offended out of that good that is in nature wee might hereafter so bethinke our selues as to doe good decline euill Thirdly When this shift failed likewise they began to say that men happily will not bethinke themselues of that duety they are bound to doe or will not presently and certainely discerne what they are to doe without some instruction or illumination but that if they haue the helpe of instruction and illumination they may easily out of the strength of nature decline evill and doe that they discerne to be good Against this it is excellent that Saint Bernard hath Non est eiusdem facilitatis scire quid faciendum sit facere Quoniam diversa sunt caeco ducatum ac fesso praebere vehiculum Non quicunque ostendit viam praebet etiam viaticum itineranti aliud illi exhibet qui facit ne deviet aliud qui praestat ne deficiat in viâ Itanec quivis doctor statim dator erit boni quodcunque docuerit Porro duo mihi sunt necessaria doceri ac iuvari tu quidem homo rectè consulis ignorantiae sed si verum sentit Apostolus spiritus adiuvat infirmitatem nostram Immo vero qui mihi per os tuum ministrat consilium ipse mihi necesse est ministret per spiritum suum adiutorium quo valeam implere quod consulis When they were driven from this device also they betooke themselues vnto another to vvit that the helpe of grace is necessary to make vs more easily more constantly and vniuersally to doe good then in the present state of nature vve can and to make vs so to doe good as to attaine eternall happines in heauen And this is and vvas the opinion of many in the Roman Church both aunciently and in our time For many taught that men in the present state of nature as now it is since Adams fall may decline each particular sinne doe vvorkes truely vertuous good fulfill the severall precepts of Gods law according to the substance of the vvorke commaunded though not according to the intention of the lavv-giver that they may loue God aboue all as the authour and end of nature So that to these purposes there vvas no necessity of the gift of grace but that grace is added to make vs more easily constantly vniversally to doe good and to merit heaven And therefore Stapleton confesseth that many vvrote vnaduisedly aswell amongst the Schoolemen heretofore as in our time in the beginnings of the differences in religion but that novv men are become vviser I vvould to God it vvere so but it vvill bee found that hovvsoeuer they are in a sort ashamed of that they doe yet they persist to doe as others did before them for they teach still that men may decline each particular sinne doe the true vvorkes of morall vertue doe things the lavv requireth according to the substance of the things commaunded though not so as to merit heauen or neuer to breake any of them Bellarmine indeede denyeth that vvee can loue God aboue all in any sorte vvithout the helpe of grace But Cardinall Caietan saith that though vvee cannot so loue God aboue all as to doe nothing but that vvhich may be referred to God as the last end yet so as to doe many good things in reference to him as the last end And Bellarmine if he deny not his owne principles must say so for first he defendeth that man may doe a worke morally good without grace and doe it to obey God the author of nature And elsewhere he proueth that man cannot perpetually doe well in the state of nature without grace because it is so turned away from God to the creature by Adams sinne specially to himselfe that actually or habitually or in propension hee placeth his last end in the creature not in God so cannot but offend if he bee not watchfull against this propension Whence it followeth that seeing a man must place his chief good in God if he doe good that naturally he can doe good he can naturally place the same in God That which he some-where hath that it is enough to intend the next end explicitè that it will of it selfe be directed to GOD the last end seeing euery good end moueth virtute finis ultimi is idle for it moueth not but virtute finis ultimi amati nam finis non movet nisi amatus ergo amat finem ultimum So that many formerly almost all presently in the Church of Rome are more then Semipelagians not acknowledging the necessitie of grace to make vs decline euill doe good but to doe so constantly
performe 2. Because no profit coÌ„meth vnto God froÌ„ any thing we can do the good saluation of our soules he accounteth his gaine and out of his goodnesse so esteemeth of our good workes as if they were profitable unto him 3. Because though our workes were profitable vnto God and though we were able to do them of our selues yet wee could neuer repay vnto him so much good as wee haue already do dayly receiue from him but now it is so that he first bestoweth on us one gift which he may afterwards reward with another 4 Because in many things we offend all so haue neede of pardon so farre are wee from meriting any thing at Gods hands 5 Because no meritorious act is so great a good as eternall life so not equiualent vnto it and therefore so great a reward cannot in strictnesse of justice be due vnto it Actus secundum se consideratus sayth â— Scotus absque acceptatione diuinâ secundum strictam justitiam non fuisset dignus tali praemio ex intrinseca bonitate quam haberet ex suis principiis quod patet quia semper praemium est majus bonum merito justitia stricta non reddit melius pro minus bono ideo bene dicitur quod semper Deus praemiat vltra meritum condignum vniuersaliter quidem vltra dignitatem actus qui est meritum quia quod ille actus sit condignum merituÌ„ hoc est vltra naturam bonitateÌ„ actus intrinsecaÌ„ ex mera gratuita acceptatione diuina Et forte adhuc vltra illud ad quod de coÌ„muni lege esset actus acceptandus quandoque Deus praemiat ex mera liberalitate And againe Lib. 4. dist 49. q. 6. de tertio dubio De praemio quod est aeterna beatitudo dico quod loquendo de stricta justitia Deus nulli nostrum propter quaecunque merita est debitor perfectionis reddendae tam intensae quam est beatitudo propter immoderatum excessum illius perfectionis vltra illa merita sed esto quod ex liberalitate sua determinasset meritis conferre actum tam perfectum tanquam praemium tali quidem justitia qualis decet eum scilicet supererogantis in praemijs tamen non sequitur ex hoc necessario quòd per illam justitiam sit reddenda perfectio perennis tanquam praemium imo abundans fieret retributio in beatitudine vnius momenti 6. To merit is to make a thing due that was not due before whence it followeth that no man can merit eternall life For they that define merit do say that no man can merit soe great a good as eternall life ex condigno vnlesse he be first justified reconciled to God and made partaker of the diuine nature but whosoeuer is soe justified reconciled to God and made partaker of the diuine nature hath right to eternall life in that hee is justified reconciled and made partaker of the diuine nature Therefore seeing to merit is to make that due that was not due before noe man can merit eternall life And Bellarmine confesseth that many thinke eternall life cannot be merited but onely some degrees in the same and for this reason as it appeareth by the epistle of Cardinall Contarenus to Cardinall Farnesius the diuines of both sides in the conference at Ratisbon thought good to omitte and suppresse the name of merit 1 For that it might be thought a derogation to the goodnesse and bounty of God that giueth vs freely eternall life to say that wee meritte it And secondly for that it might be conceiued that it was not due before in respect of free gift and that our working could merit it though it were not due to vs by gift Let vs see therefore what the Church of God hath taught touching merit The Author of the answere to Bells challenge named by him the downefall of Popery article the fift chapt 3. pag. 220. protesteth that Bell doth greatly wronge the Romanists in saying it is a part of their faith and that it was defined in the councell of Trent that good workes done in Gods grace are coÌ„dignely meritorious of eternall life for the councell defined no such thing and they that hold it hold it not as a point of faith but as an opinion onely Whereupon Vega who was one of the duines of the councell of Trent writeth de fide operibâ—… quaest 4. that some noble Schoole diuines being moued with no light arguments and vsing a certaine sober and prudent moderation haue denied that there is any condigne merit of eternall happinesse and hee sayth quest 5. that Gregory Durand Marsil Walden Burgensis and Eckius doe deny condigne merit Sotus also another diuine of the sayd councell lib. 3. de naturâ gratiâ cap. 7. sayth that there is some difference amongst catholiques about condigne merit and chap 8. after he had proued condigne merit out of the councell and otherwaies yet concludeth not that it is a point of faith but onely calleth it conclusionem probatissimam a most approued conclusion And Bellarmine lib 5 de iustificatione cap 16 after hee had rehearsed two opinions of catholiques whereof the one seemeth to deny condigne merit the other admitteth it only in a large sense proposeth and defendeth the third opinion which defendeth condigne merit absolutely onely as verissimam communem sententiam theologorum most true and the common opinion of diuines This confession might suffice to proue that the Church neuer admitted of the doctrine of merit of condignity as any point of her faith in the daies of our Fathers seeing euen since these differences grewe that are now afoote betweene those of the reformation and the stiffe maintainers of all confusions formerly found in the state of the Church and religion there are many found amongst the enemies of reformation that reiect the merit of condignity Yet for the better satisfaction of the reader I will more fully and at large sette downe the opinions of them that opposed against the doctrine of meritte properly soe named before LVTHERS time Gregorius Ariminensis besides the reason formerly alleaged that no act of man though done in out of the habite of charity is so great a good as eternall life and equivalent to it consequently that so great a reward as eternall life cannot be due vnto it ex debito iustitiae hath sundry other reasons for proof of the same Intelligendum est saith he etiam ipsa hominis bona merita esse Dei munera quibus cum vita aeterna redditur quid aliud nisi gratia pro gratia redditur haec Augustinus Idem Antecedens probatur ratione Nam constat quod animae carenti charitate simul gloriâ Deus quantum ad neutram est illi debitor si dat charitatem gratis donat Nunc autem nullus diceret quod ex eo quod Deus donat aliquod munus alicui fiat ei alterius muneris debitor Ergo non ex
into the knowledge of all truth without any mixture of ignorance errour or danger of being deceiued Let vs come therefore to the second acception of the name of the Church as it comprehendeth onely all those beleeuers that are and haue beene since the Apostles time The whole Church taken in this sort may bee ignorant in sundry things which though they bee contained within the compasse of revealed truth yet are not of necessitie to be expressely knowne by all that will be saued but that the whole Church in this sort conceiued should erre in any thing of this nature it is impossible seeing errour which is an aberration declining or swaruing from the truth once deliuered necessarily implyeth a kinde of particularity and novelty Neither onely is the whole Church comprehending all the beleeuers that are and haue beene since the Apostles time freed from errour in matter of faith But wee thinke it impossible also that any errour whatsoeuer should be found in all the Pastors and guides of the Church thus generally taken Secondly though there may be some question whether any errour may be found in all them whose writings now remaine yet because they haue all written of nothing but that which is absolutely necessary to bee knowne for the attayning of euerlasting saluation and that was euer generally receiued it is not possible they should all be convinced of errour Thirdly though all whose writings remaine haue not written of a thing yet if all that mention it doe constantly consent in it and their consent be strengthened by vniuersall practise wee dare not charge them with errour Yea though their consent be not strengthened by such practise if it be concerning things expressed in the Word of trueth or by necessary and evident deduction to be demonstrated from thence we thinke no errour can be found in all them that speake of things of that nature if in euery age of the Church some be found to haue written of them But in things that cannot be clearely deduced from the rule of faith and word of diuine and heauenly trueth wee thinke it possible that all that haue written of such things might erre and be deceiued This matter is excellently handled by Pererius Augustinus Eugubinus Cornelius Iansenius Hieronymus ab Oleastro who hold it probable that Paradise doth not remaine in originall beauty notwithstanding the consent of all the auncient that haue written of that matter to the contrary Soe likewise Caietaine and Andradius professe they dare goe against the torrent of all the Doctours and dissent from them in the interpretation of some parts of Scripture Bellarmine blameth Pererius Eugubinus and the rest for that they durst imbrace an opinion contrary to the iudgment of antiquity yet doth hee not fasten vpon them any note of heresie or sauouring of heresie Touching the Church as it coÌ„prehendeth only the belieuers that now are presently liue in the world it is most certaine agreed vpon that in things necessary to be known belieued expressely and distinctly it neuer is ignorant much lesse doth erre Yea in things that are not absolutely necessary to be knowen belieued expressely distinctly we coÌ„stantly belieue that this Church can neuer erre nor doubt pertinaciously but that there shall euer be some found ready to imbrace the truth if it be manifested vnto them and such as shall not wholly neglect the search and inquiry after it as times and meanes giue leaue As therefore wee hold it impossible the Church should euer by Apostasie and missebeliefe wholly depart from God in prouing whereof Bellarmine confesseth his fellowes haue taken much needlesse paines seeing no man of our profession thinketh any such thing so we hold that it neuer falleth into any heresie so that he is as much to be blamed for idle needeles busying himselfe in prouing that the visible Church never falleth into heresie which we most willingly grant CHAP 3. Of the meaning of certaine speeches of Caluine touching the erring of the Church THat which he alleageth out of Caluine and others as if they supposed the true Church to be sometimes altogether inuisible and that the outward profession of the trueth doth sometimes wholly faile is to no purpose for they meane not that it is wholly inuisible at any time but that it is not alwayes to be esteemed by outward appearance that sometimes the state of things is such that the greatest in place of Ministery in the Church peruert all things that they that defend the truth make theÌ„selues a reproach To this purpose Occam hath diuerse excellent things out of Hierome and Vincentius Lirinensis sheweth that the poisoned doctrine of the Arians did infect not onely a part but almost the whole Church soe that almost all the Bishops of the Latine Church were misseled and fewe found to defend and maintaine the truth as beseemed them There are therefore foure things which Caluin sayth The first that the Church may not so farre presume of the assistance of the spirit of truth as that she may deuise newe articles of faith and without the certaine direction of the word of God proceede in the determination of doubts in matters of religion The second that she must not relie vpon traditions a pretended vnwritten word but must coÌ„tain her selfe within the compasse of that heauenly doctrine which is comprehended in the scripture The 3d that so containing her selfe she connot erre The 4th that we haue no assurance that Church shall alwaies so precisely follow the directions of the word of truth as that she shall neuer erre but soe farrefoorth only that she shall euer be free from all errour in things necessary to saluation and such things that men cannot be ignorant of to erre in without pertinacy or ouer-grosse and damnable negligence yea that shee is secured from erring in any thing with hereticall pertinacy This last part of Calvins speach it is that the Iesuite disliketh that he sayth The Church is not absolutely freed from errour but from some kinde of errour onely Yet Melchior Canus confesseth that sundry great Diuines seeme to be of this opinion as the Authour of the Interlineall glosse Thomas Aquinas Cardinall Turricremata and Alfonsus á Castro Yea Picus Mirandâ—…la in his theoremes is of the same opinion confirming it by the authority of Aquinas who thinketh that the Church may erre in Canonizing of Saints and proposing such to be honoured whom God rejecteth from his presence as vessels of his wrath Notwithstanding the Romanists at this day seeme to hold that the whole Church that presently is in the world cannot erre in any thing that either concerneth faith or manners which they endevour to proue by these reasons CHAP. 4. Of their reasons who thinke the present Church free from all errour in matters of faith FIrst for that it is the pillar and ground of trueth secondly for that it is guided by Christ her
erre yet haue men other meanes to finde out the truth as namely the Scriptures and resolutions of former times which whosoeuer findeth is bound to beleeue though the rest of the Church not finding them may in the mercies of God be saued That which is alleaged out of the Fathers is to no purpose for they speake of the Church as it comprehendeth the faithfull that are and haue been which we confesse cannot erre in matters of faith CHAP. 5. Of the promises made vnto the Church how it is secured from errour and of the different degrees of the obedience we owe vnto it THe right vnderstanding of the promisses made and due consideration of the parties to whom they are made will leade vs to the right vnderstanding of the Churches infallibility and assurance of truth For seeing though they be made to all the faithfull generally and to the particular Churches as well as to the whole yet they are vnderstood to bee performed proportionably according to the measure and degree of each part but to the whole Church wholly and entirely the Church being particular not onely in respect of place but also of time the whole is not necessary to be performed to the Church of one time vnlesse wee speake of the Primitiue wherein the whole was originally but to the Church that comprehendeth the whole number of beleeuers that are and haue beene in which sense that promise is to bee vnderstood that the spirit shall leade the Church into all trueth Hither wee may refer those different degrees of obedience which wee must yeeld to them that commaund and teach vs in the Church of God excellently described and set downe by Waldensis We must sayth he reuerence and respect the authority of all Catholike Doctours whose doctrine and writings the Church alloweth wee must more regard the authority of Catholicke Bishops more then these the authority of the Apostolicke Churches amongst them more specially the Church of Rome of a generall Councell more thē all these yet we must not listen so to the determinations of these nor so certainly assent vnto thē as to the things cōtained in the Scripture or beleeued by the whole vniuersall Church that hath bin euer since the Apostles time but as to the instructiōs of our Elders fatherly admonitiōs We must sayth he obey without scrupulous questioning with all modesty of minde and reuerence of body with all good allowance acceptation and repose in the words of them that teach us vnlesse they teach us any thing which the authority of the higher and superiour controlleth yet so as then the humble and obedient children of the Church must not insolently insult vpon them from whom they are forced to dissent but must dissent with a reuerent childe-like and respectfull shamefastnesse Thus hee prooueth out of Augustine Tom 7. lib. 2. De baptismo contra Donatistas Who knoweth not sayth S. Augustine that the sacred and Canonicall Scriptures of the old and new Testaments are contained within their set certaine boundes and that they are so in such sort set in a higher degree of authority then any of the writings of the succeding Bishops that of them we may not doubt nor make any question whether it be true or right that is there contained but the writings of the Bishops of the Church which either haue beene published since the perfecting of the Canon of Scripture or which shall be hereafter may be censured and reproued by the wiser judgment of any that are skilfull in the same things whereof they write or by the grauer authority of other Bishops and the wisdome of them that are learned themselues and able to teach others and by the determinations of Councels if happily they haue gone aside from the truth And the Councels themselues which are holden in seuerall Countries and Prouinces must giue place to the authority of generall councels gathered assembled out of the whole Christian World of plenary Councels oftentimes the former are to be corrected by the later when by experience more perfect knowledge of things that which was shut is opened and that knowne which was hidden before Euery of these must be content to yeeld one to another without the puffe of sacrilegious pride without swelling arrogancie without euious contending with all holy humility with all Catholike peaceable disposition and Christian charity Thus then we thinke that particular men and Churches may erre damnably because notwithstanding others may worship God aright but that the whole Church at one time cannot so erre for that then the Church should cease vtterly for a time and so not be Catholicke being not at all times and Christ should somtimes be without a Church yet that errours not preiudicing the saluation of them that erre may be found in the Church that is at one time in the world we make no doubt only the whole symbolicall and catholike Church which is and was beeing wholly free from errour Thus touching the possession of the rich treasures of heauenly truth I haue sufficiently cleared our iudgment which is the same that all wise and learned men haue euer beene of to wit that the Church which comprehendeth the whole number of belieuers that are and haue beene since Christ appeared in the flesh so including the Apostles can neither erre in nor be ignorant of any thing that was to be reuealed by Christ the eternall Word and Angell of the great Couenant of God Secondly that the Church that comprehendeth all the faithfull that are and haue beene since the Apostles may be ignorant of some things which in processe of time shall be known but cannot erre in any thing Thirdly that all the Pastours of this Church cannot erre Fourthly that all the Pastors that haue committed the treasure of their wisdome learning to writing cannot erre in any thing wherein they consent in their writings because it is not possible that they should all haue writen of any thing but such as touch the very life of the Christian faith generally receiued in all their times Fiftly that it is not possible that all that doe speake of a thing consenting together should erre if it be a matter of substance and if in euery age some haue written of it though many that haue written be silent and say nothing of it Sixtly that the most famous renowned in all ages consenting in any thing that toucheth the substance of the Christian faith no man dissenting from them without note of nouelty singularity may not without intolerable rashnesse be charged with errour Seuenthly that though the writings of the auncient may be much corrupted so that the cōsent of antiquity cānot alwaies be easily known yet there will be euer some meanes to find it out to discry the errours and frauds of the corruptors so I vnderstād that of Vincentius Lirinensis that the iudgmēt of antiquity is to be sought out at the very first rising of heresies not
is in himselfe and maketh vs already to beginne to tast the sweetnesse of so great and happy an vnion is not only true but Diuine and Heauenly such as nature could not teach vs but is to be learned onely of God himselfe It being presupposed in the generalily that the doctrine of the Christian faith is of God and containeth nothing but heauenly truth in the next place we are to inquire by what rule wee are to iudge of particular things contained within the compasse of it This rule is first the summary comprehension of such principall articles of this diuine knowledge as are the principles whence all other things are concluded and inferred These are contained in the creed of the Apostles Secondly all such things as every Christian is bound expressely to beleeue by the light direction whereof he iudgeth of other things which are not absolutely necessary soe particularly to be knowne These are rightly sayd to bee the rule of our faith because the principles of euery science are the rule whereby wee iudge of the truth of all things as being better and more generally knowne then any other thing and the cause of knowing them Thirdly the Analogie due proportion and correspondence that one thing in this diuiue knowledge hath with another soe that men cannot erre in one of them without erring in another nor rightly vnderstand one but they must likewise rightly conceiue the rest Fourthly whatsoeuer bookes were deliuered vnto vs as written by them to whom the first and immediate reuelation of diuine truth was made Fiftly whatsoeuer hath been deliuered by all the Saints with one consent which haue left their iudgment and opinion in writing Sixtly whatsoeuer the most famous haue constantly and vniformely delivered as a matter of faith no man contradicting though many other Ecclesiasticall writers be silent and say nothing of it Seuenthly that which the most and most famous in euery age constantly deliuered as matter of faith and as receiued of them that went before them in such sort that the contradictors and gainsayers wâ—…re in their beginnings noted for singularity nouelty and diuision and afterwards in processe of time if they persisted in such contradiction charged with heresie These three latter rules of our faith we admit not because they are equall with the former originally in themselues containe the direction of our faith but because nothing can be deliuered with such and so full consent of the people of God as in them is expressed but it must needes bee from those first Authors and founders of our Christian profession The Romanists adde vnto these the decrees of Councels and determinations of Popes making these also to bee the rules of faith but because we haue no proofe of their infallibility we number them not with the rest Thus then we see how many things in seuerall degrees and sorts are said to be rules of our faith The infinite excellency of God as that whereby the truth of the heauenly doctrine is proued The articles of faith and other verities euer expressely knowne in the Church as the first principles are the canon by which we judge of conclusions from thence inferred The Scripture as containing in it all that doctrine of faith which Christ the Sonne of GOD deliuered The vniforâ—…e practice and consenting judgement of them that went before vs as a 〈◊〉 and vndoubted explication of the things contayned in the Scripture The Scripture saith Vincentius Lirinensis is full and sufficient to all purposes but because of the manifold turnings of heretiques it is necessary that the line of Propheticall and Apostolicall interpretation be drawnâ—…â—…owne and directed vnto vs according to the rule of Ecclesiasticall and Catholique sense So then we doe not so make the Scripture the rule of our faith but that other things in their kinde are rules likewise in such sort that it is not safe without respect had vnto them to judge of things by the Scripture alone For without the first rule we cannot know the Scripture to be of God Without the second and third we haue no forme of Christian doctrine by the direction whereof to judge of particular doubts and questions without the other rules wee cannot know the authors and number of the Bookes of Scripture nor the meaning of the things therein written For who shal be able to vnderstand them but hee that is settledin these things which the Apostles presupposed in their deliuery of the Scripture We doe not therefore so make the Scripture the rule of our faith as to neglect the other nor so admit the other as to detract any thing from the plenitude of the Scripture in which all things are contained that must bee beleeued CHAP. 15. Of the challenge of Papists against the rule of Scripture charging it with obscurity and imperfection THis rule our adversaries least esteeme of charging it with obscurity and imperfection and thereupon rely vpon humane interpretations and vncertaine traditions Touching their first challenge made against this rule of the scripture as being obscure and darke and so not fit to giue direction to our faith vnlesse it borrow light from some thing else wee aunswere there is no question but there are manifold difficulties in the scripture proceeding partly from the high and excellent nature of the things therein contained which are without the compasse of naturall vnderstanding and so are wholly hidden from naturall men and not knowne of them that are spirituall without much trauaile and studious meditation partly out of the ignorance of tongues and of the nature of such things by the coÌ„parison whereof the matters of divine knowledge are manifested vnto vs. But the difference betweene their opinion and ours concerning this difficultie is first in that they thinke the scripture so obscure and hard to be vnderstood that Heretiques may wrest and abuse it at their pleasures and no man be able to convince their folly by the evidence of the Scripture it selfe Secondly in that they thinke that wee cannot by any helpes bee assured out of the Scripture it selfe and the nature of the things therein contayned that that is the true meaning of it which wee thinke to be but that we rest in it onely for the authority of the Church But wee say that men not neglecting that light of direction which the Church yeeldeth nor other helpes and meanes may be assured out of the nature of the things themselues the conference of places the knowledge of tongues and the sutable correspondence that one part of diuine truth hath with another that they haue found out the true meaning of it and so be able to convince the adversaries and gainesayers CHAP. 16. Of the interpretation of Scripture and to whom it pertayneth TOuching this poynt there are two questions vsually proposed the one to whom the interpretation of the Scripture pertaineth the other by what rules and meanes men may finde out tâ—…e true meaning of it Tâ—…ching the first our Adversaries jangle
pollution of originall sin and if perhaps any did sometimes vse any forme or rite it was rather a matter of priuate voluntary deuotion than of necessitie For whereas parents stand bound by the generall law of God and nature with all thankefull acknowledgment to receiue their children as a great and speciall benefit from God this their faith pietie and thankefullnesse joyned with desire of and prayer for their Good prosperous and happy estate was accepted and found fauour with God on the behalfe of their children Whereupon Gregory pronounceth that the faith of the parents was of the same force with them of the old time that the Baptisme of water is with vs. And whereas Augustine sayth it is not likely that the people of God before the institution of Circumcision had noe Sacrament wherewith to present their children to GOD though the Scripture haue not expressed it it is not to bee vnderstood sayth Andradius of any outward ceremonies necessary for the sanctification of those Infants but of any rite offering them to GOD whether mentall onely or outwardly object to the eye and sense That which Andradius addeth that it could not be knowne but by tradition onely that the faith of the parents was in stead of circumcision before circumcision was instituted and after the institution of it to them that might not lawfully or could not possibly be circumcised is frivolous for men knew it concluded it out of the generall and common rules of reason and equity Touching the state of the people of God since the comming of Christ our adversaries make no doubt but they can easily proue that the writings which the Church that now is hath are defectiue and imperfect This they endeauour to proue First because the Scriptures of the New Testament were written vpon particular occasions offered and not of purpose to containe a perfect rule of faith Secondly because they were written by the Apostles and other Apostolique men out of their owne motions and not by commandement from Christ the Sonne of GOD. But vnto both these Arguments alleadged by our Adversaries we answere that they containe matter of very grosse errour For first who seeth not plainly that the Evangelistes writing the historie of Christs life and death Saint Luke in the booke of the Acts of the Apostles describing the comming of the Holy Ghost the admirable gifts of grace powred vpon the Apostles and the Churches established and ordered by them and the blessed Apostle Saint Iohn writing the Revelations which hee saw concerning the future state of things to the end of the world meant to deliuer a perfect summe of Christian doctrine and direction of Christian faith It is true indeed that the Epistles of the Apostles directed to the Christian Churches that then were were occasionally written yet so as by the providence of God all such things as the Church beleeueth not being found in the other parts of Scripture purposely writtē are most clearely at large deliuered in these Epistles Secondly touching the other part of their Argument which they bring to convince the Scripture of imperfection because they that wrote it had no commaundement to write wee thinke it needeth no refutation for the absurditie of it is evident and cleare of it selfe For who knoweth not that the Scriptures are not of any priuate motion but that the holy men of God were moued impelled and carried by the spirit of truth to the performance of this worke doing nothing without the instinct of the Spirit which was vnto them a Commandement The imperfection defect supposed to be foundin the Scripture our adversaries endeavour to supply by addition of traditions The name of Tradition sometimes signifieth euery Christian doctrine deliuered frō one to another either by liuely voyce only or by writing as Exod. 17. Scribe hoc ob monumentum in libro trade in auribus Iosuae Write this for a remembrance in a Booke and deliuer it in the eares of Iosuah Act. 6. 14. The written Law of Moses is called a Tradition Audivimus eum dicentem quoniam Iesus destruet locum istum mutabit traditiones quas tradidit nobis Moses We heard him say that Iesus shall destroy this place and change the traditions which Moses deliuered vnto vs. Sometimes the name of tradition signifieth that which is deliuered by liuely voyce onely and not written That which I receiued of the Lord saith the Apostle that I deliuered vnto you In this question by tradition we vnderstand such parts of Christian doctrine or discipline as were not written by them by whom they were first deliuered For thus our Adversaries vnderstand Traditions which they diuide into divers kindes First in respect of the Authors so making them of three sorts Divine Apostolicall Ecclesiasticall Secondly in respect of the matter they concerne in which respect they make them to be of tvvo sorts for either they cōcerne matters of faith or matters of manners and these latter againe either temporall or perpetuall vniuersall or particular All these in their seuerall kindes they make equall with the wordes precepts and doctrines of Christ the Apostles Pastors of the Church left vnto vs in writing Neither is there any reason why they should not so doe if they could proue any such vnwritten verities For it is not the writing that giueth things their authoritie but the worth credite of him that deliuereth them though but by word and liuely voyce onely The only doubt is whether there be any such vnwritten traditions or not Much contention there hath beene about Traditions some vrging the necessity of them and other rejecting them For the clearing whereof we must obserue that though we reiect the vncertaine and vaine traditions of the Papists yet wee reiect not all For first wee receiue the number and names of the authors of bookes Diuine Canonicall as deliuered by tradition This tradition we admitte for that though the bookes of Scripture haue not their authority from the Approbation of the Church but winne credite of themselues and yeeld sufficient satisfaction to all men of their Diuine truth whence wee judge the Church that receiueth them to bee led by the spirit of God yet the number Authors and integrity of the parts of these bookes wee receiue as deliuered by tradition The second kinde of tradition which wee admitte is that summarie comprehension of the cheefe heads of Christian doctrine contayned in the Creed of the Apostles which was deliuered to the Church as a rule of her faith For though euery part thereof be contayned in the Scripture yet the orderly connexion distinct explication of these principall articles gathered into an Epitome wherein are implyed and whence are inferred all conclusions theologicall is rightly named a tradition The 3d is that forme of Christian doctrine and explication of the seuerall parts thereof which the first Christians receiuing of the same Apostles that deliuered to them the Scriptures commended
and as after him all men of note in the Latine Church did There was great exception taken to Hierome for aduenturing to translate the scripture out of Hebrew and among others Augustine and the Africans seemed not much to like it They therefore reckon the bookes of Scripture according as they found them in vse in the Latine Church not exactly noting the difference of the one from the other yet not denying but that the Hebrew Canon consisted only of two and twenty bookes and that many tooke exceptions to them when they alleaged any testimonies out of those bookes the Hebrewes admit not Against which exceptions Augustine no otherwise iustifieth himselfe but by the vse of the Church in reading them Which proofe is too weake to proue them Canonicall seeing the prayer of Manasses confessed by our aduersaries to be Apocryphall the third and fourth of Esdras the booke called Pastor and some other were likewise read by them of the Church cited by them in their writings and many things translated out of them into the publike prayers and Liturgies of the Church Thus then these Father 's not looking carefully into the originals name all those bookes Canonicall which the vse of Gods Church approoued as profitable and containing matter of good instruction and so numbred the bookes of Wisdome the rest with the Canonicall Whose opinion yet as Caietane thinketh was not that they were absolutely Canonicall but in a sort in that they containe a good direction of mens manners These the Greeke Fathers rejected from the Canon admitting only those which the reformed Churches at this day admitte as also almost all the diuines of the Latine Church after Hierome doe That some of the Greeke Fathers rejected the booke of Hester it was as Sixtus Senensis rightly noteth by reason of those Apocryphall additions which they not being skilfull in the Hebrew tongue did not discerne from the true parts of it which errour made them to reject the whole booke as Apocryphall This was also the reason why they admitted those Apochryphall additaments joyned to the booke of Daniel Howsoeuer it appeareth that all they which diligently looked into these things did admit all those bookes which we admitte and reject all those which we reject Neither is there any one amongst all the auncient before the third Councell of Carthage that clearely and of set purpose numbreth the bookes controuersed betweene vs and our aduersaries with the bookes of the Canon Melito then Bishop of Sardis going purposely into the East parts of the world that he might diligently search out the monuments and sacred bookes of diuine knowledge reckoneth those only Canonicall which we do saue that he addeth the booke of Wisdome Origen admitteth and acknowledgeth onely two and twenty bookes of the old Testament Athanasius likewise numbreth the books of the Canon in the same sort and addeth There are also certaine other bookes which are read only to the Catechumens and nouices Hilarius sayth the law of the old Couenant is contained in two and twenty bookes answerable to the number of the Hebrew letters Nazianzene also is of the same opinion and Cyrillus Bishop of Hierusalem onely he addeth the booke of Baruch thinking it to be a part of Ieremies Prophecies but suffereth not any others to be added saying The Apostles and first Bishops which deliuered these only were wiser and much more to be esteemed than such as now goe about to adde others Of the same judgment are Epiphanius Ruffinus Hierome and Gregory And Iosephus confirmeth the opinion of these Fathers saying that from the time of Artaxerxes till the age wherein he liued all things were cōmitted to writing which concerned the state of Gods people and Religion but that they were not of equall authority with those which were formerly written because after that time the indubitate succession of the Prophets ceased Vnto these authorities of the Fathers some of our aduersaries as Andradius and others doe answere that they speake of the Canon of the Hebrewes and not of the Canon of the Church so not denying absolutely these bookes to bee canonicall but that they are not so esteemed by the Iewes but this aunswere the wordes of Hierome doe most clearely refute As sayth hee the Church not the Synagogue of the Iewes readeth the bookes of Iudeth Tobias and the Maccabees but receiueth them not as Canonicall Scriptures so likewise it may reade these two bookes of Wisedome and Ecclesiasticus for the edification of the people but not for confirmation of doubtfull poynts of doctrine And therefore Bellarmine Sixtus Senensis and others clearely confesse that this answere of Andradius is insufficient They therefore adde another to wit that the Canon was not perfectly knowen and confirmed in the time of those Fathers Wee aske them when it was confirmed If they say in the Councell of Nice which as Hierome sayth some report receiued the booke of Iudeth as Canonicall though Lindan say it is not likely it did and that Hierome did not say it did so but that some reported so wee aske how it came to passe that so many Catholike Diuines after the Nicene Councell reiected these bookes as they did before If they say they were confirmed in the Councell of Cartharge that was but a prouinciall Councell as was that of Laodicea in which they are not mentioned If they say the Councell of Carthage was confirmed in the sixt generall Councell holden at Trullo wee answere first that it was no more confirmed there than that of Laodicea and as Canus noteth the sixt Councell doeth not expressely name the third Councell of Carthage but onely speaketh of Canons agreed vpon in new Carthage Secondly wee say that those Canons of the sixt Councell wherein this pretended confirmation is found are of no credit with the Romanists so that it is cleare that neither the Nicene Councell nor this other did confirme the authoritie of the bookes questioned as appeareth by the consent of almost all the worthiest Diuines in the Church after those Councells till our age as Gregory Damascenus Hugo de Sancto Victore Ricardus de sancto Victore Petrus Cluniacensis Lyranus Dionysius Carthusianus Hugo Cardinalis Thomas Aquinas Occam Picus Mirandula Waldensis Armacanus Driedo Caietane and others CHAP. 24. Of the vncertainty and contrariety found amongst Papists touching bookes Canonicall and Apocryphall now controversed BVt let vs come particularly to the bookes controversed and see how sweetely our aduersaries agree with themselues in admitting or reiecting them First touching the booke of Baruch though the Councell of Florence and Trent haue confirmed it to be Canonicall yet Melchior Canus sayth it is doubtfull whether it be or not and yet sayth if it bee not Canonicall the Councels of Florence Trent haue erred and the people
to proue that humane lawes doe binde the conscience are so vaine and friuolous that they deserue no answere yet least our aduersaries should thinke wee therefore passe them ouer without examination because wee feare the force and weight of them I will breefely take a view of them and let the Reader see their weakenesse To binde sayth Bellarmine is either the essence or essentiall property of a lawe therefore all lawes whether they bee of God or of men doe binde in the same sort Hee should haue sayd therefore all lawes doc binde whether they bee of God or of men For to say It is the essentiall property of a lawe to binde therefore all lawes doe binde in the same sorte is as if a man should thus reason It is essentiall to all naturall bodies to haue motion therefore the same kinde of motion whereas yet the fire goeth vpward and the earth downewards thinges without life mooue but one way either towards or from the center of the worlde thinges liuing euery way His next reason is more childish then this for hee reasoneth thus If lawes doe binde onely in that they are diuine then all diuine lawes should equally binde This reason concludeth nothing against vs. For first no man sayth that lawes binde onely because diuine for it is essentiall to euery lawe to binde but that they binde the conscience because they are diuine And secondly wee adde that all diuine lawes doe equally binde the conscience For the conscience doth as much feare Gods displeasure and eternall punishment for one sinne as for another though not so great displeasure nor so greiuous punishment And so they equally binde the conscience though there bee no equality either of the sinnes or of the punishment the conscience feareth and seeketh to decline His third reason that Gods commandement maketh those actions that were before indifferent to be actions of vertue therefore men by their precepts doe so likewise is very strange and therefore hee endeauoureth to confirme it The reason sayth hee why Gods precepts and commandements make actions that were indifferent as to eate swines flesh or not to eate it to be actions of vertue is because they are rules of mens manners and conuersation but mens lawes likewise are rules of mens liues manners and conuersation therefore they in like sort make those actions that were before indifferent to be actions of vertue To this wee answere that there are many great differences betweene these two rules First for that the one containeth a certaine and infallible direction the other oftentimes leadeth out of the way Secondly that the lawes of God are rules in such sort that the very thoughts of the heart diuerting from that which they prescribe are sinfull but mens lawes are kept and fullfilled with how bad affections soeuer the things bee done that are prescribed Thirdly because the vse of nothing being lawfull vnto vs in respect of conscience longer nor farther then God the supreme Lord of all alloweth the same it is an action of vertue to abstaine from things denyed vnto vs by GOD either in the first institution of nature or by his positiue lawe but men hauing no such power no such thing is consequent vpon their commaundements or prohibitions Lastly Gods lawe both that which is naturall that is giuen when nature was first instituted and that which is positiue is the rule of mens liues absolutely which if they bee conformed vnto they are morally good if they varie from they are euill and wicked but the lawes of men are rules onely in respect of outward conuersation framing it to the good of the commonwealth Soe that a man euen according to the rules of Philosophy may bee a good Cittizen that is not a good man His next reason is taken from the comparison of a King and his Viceroy the Pope and his Legate and the lawes and edicts of these binding in the same sort To this wee answere that the comparison holdeth not first because the King and his Viceroy command the same things and to the same ends but if wee compare God and men the lawes of God and the lawes of men wee shall finde a great difference betweene them both in the things they commaund and the ends for which they command the one requiring inward actions and the performance of outward with inward affections the other outward onely Secondly because both the King and his viceroy haue power to take notice of all kind of offences committed against both the one and the other and to punish them with the same kind of punishment but there are many offences committed against God by every man whereof men can take no notice and if they could yet haue no power to inflict such punishments as God doth His last reason is taken from that place of the Apostle where he requireth vs to bee subject to power and authority for conscience sake To this wee answere first that it is a matter of conscience to be subject in all things for subjection is required generally and absolutely where obedience is not Secondly we say that it is a matter of conscience to seeke and procure the good of the common-wealth and that therefore it is a matter of conscience to obey good and profitable lawes so farre as we are perswaded our obedience is profitable Thus haue we breefely examined their reasons who thinke that humane lawes binde the conscience the weakenesse whereof I hope all men of any judgment will easily discerne Wherefore to conclude this matter touching the Churches power in making lawes there are three things which we dislike in the doctrine practise of the Romane Church First that they take vpon them to prescribe Ceremonies and observations hauing power to conferre grace for the remission of veniall sinnes and the working of other spirituall supernaturall effects Secondly that they assume vnto themselues that which is proper vnto God seeke to rule in the conscience Thirdly that by the multiplicitie of lawes they dangerously insnare the consciences of men and oppresse them with heauy burdens To this purpose is the complaint that Gerson long since made that the Lawes of the Church were too many and in a great part childish and vnprofitable bringing vs into a worse estate then that of the Iewes as Augustine to Ianuarius complained when things were much better than in latter times they haue beene Neither sayth Gerson are they content to burden vs with the multiplicitie of their lawes but as if they preferred their owne inventions before the Lawes of God they most rigorously exact the performance of the things their owne lawes prescribe neglect the Lawes of God as Christ told the Pharisees and hypocrites of his time pronouncing against them that by their vaine traditions they made the lawes of God of none effect To shew how vnjust and vnreasonable the Romane Lawgiuers are in burdening men with so many traditions the same Gerson fitly obserueth that Adam in
the time of his innocencie had but one commaundement which yet vnhappily he brake and that therefore they seeme to haue no sense of mans miserable wretched condition nor any way to compassionate his infirmitie that charge him with so many precepts besides those of God and Nature Whereupon he grauely and wisely concludeth that he supposeth that the wisest and best amongst the guides of Gods Church had not so ill a meaning as to haue all their constitutions ordinances taken for lawes properly so named much lesse strictly binding the conscience but for threatnings admonitions counsailes and directions onely And that when there groweth a generall neglect they seeme to consent to the abolishing of them againe For seeing lex instituitur cùm promulgatur vigorem habet cum moribus vtentium approbatur Lawes are made when they are published by such as haue authoritie but haue life force and vigour when the manners of men receiuing and obeying them giue them allowance Generall long continued disuse is and justly may be thought an abolishing and abrogating of humane lawes Whereas contrarywise against the Lawes of God and Nature no prescription or contrary vse doth euer prevaile but euery such contrary custome or practise is rightly judged a corruption and fault THE FIFTH BOOKE OF THE CHVRCH TOGETHER WITH AN APPENDIX CONTAINING A DEFENCE OF SVCH PARTES AND PASSAGES OF THE FORMER BOOKES AS HAVE BEENE EITHER EXCEPTED AGAINST OR WRESTED TO THE MAINtenance of Romish errours By RICHARD FIELD Doctour of Diuinity OXFORD Printed by WILLIAM TVRNER Printer to the famous Vniuersitie Ann. Dom. 1628. The Epistle to the Reader AS in the dayes of Noe they all perished in the waters that entred not into the Arke prepared by Gods owne appointment for the preseruation of such as should escape that fearefull and almost vniversall destruction So is it a most certaine and vndoubted truth good Christian Reader that none can flie from the wrath to come and attaine desired happinesse but such as enter into that society of men which we call the Church which is the chosen multitude of them whom God hath seperated from the rest of the world and to whom he hath in more speciall sort manifested himselfe by the knowledge of reuealed truth then to any other So that nothing is more necessary to be sought out and knowne then which and where this happy society of holy ones is that so wee may joyne our selues to the same and inherit the promises made vnto it according to that of the holy Patriarch Noe Blessed be the God of Sem and let Chanaan be his seruant the Lord perswade Iaphet to dwell in the tents of Sem. The consideration whereof moued me when I was to enter into the controuersies of these times first and before all other things carefully to seeke out the nature and being of this Church the notes whereby it may be knowne which it is amongst all the societies of men in the world and what the priuiledges are that doe belong vnto it of all which things I haue treated in those foure Bookes of that argument which not long since I offered to thy viewe and censure Now it remaineth that in this insueing Booke then promised I shew in what sort almighty God who sitteth betweene the Cherubins in this his holy Temple reuealeth himselfe from off the mercy seate to such as by the calling of grace he hath caused to approach draw neare vnto himselfe and how he guideth and directeth them to the attaining of eternall felicity Many sundry waies did God reueale himselfe in ancient times as it is in the Epistle to the Hebrewes For sometimes he manifested himselfe to men waking by visions sometimes to men sleeping by dreames sometimes he appeared in a piller of a cloud sometimes in flaming fire sometimes he came walking a soft pace among the trees of the garden in the coole of the day sometimes he rent the rockes and claue the mountaines in sunder sometimes he spake with a still and soft voyce sometimes his thunders shooke the pillars of heauen and made the earth to tremble as in the giuing of the lawe when he came downe vpon Mount Sinai what time the people by Moses direction went forth to meete him but when they heard the thunders and the sound of the trumpet and saw the lightnings and the mountaine smoaking they fled stood a farre off sayd vnto Moses Talke thou with vs and we will heare thee but let not God talke with us lest we die This their petition Almighty God mercifully granted and knowing whereof they were made resolued no more to speake vnto them in soe terrible and fearefull manner but rather to put heauenly treasures into earthen vessels that is to enlighten the vnderstandings and to sanctifie the mouthes tongues of some amongst themselues and by them to make knowen his will pleasure to the rest In this sort after the giuing of the law he imployed the Priests Levites in a set and ordinary course appoynting that the people should seeke the knowledge of the same at their mouthes and in case of great confusion and generall defects of these ordinary guides raised vp Prophets as well to denounce his judgements against offenders and to reforme abuses as also to foreshew the future state of things and more more to raise in men a desire hope and expectation of the comming of the promised Messias whom in the fulnesse of time he sent into the world as the happiest Messenger of glad tidings that euer came vnto the sonnes of men and the Angell of the great couenant of peace causing this proclamation to be made before him This is my welbeloued Sonne in whom I am well pleased heare him In him were hid all the treasures of wisedome and knowledge so that as it was sayd of him Hee hath done all things well so likewise that Neuer man spake as he spake But because he came not into this lower world to make his abode here perpetually but to cary vp with him into heaven our desires first and then our selues after he had wrought all righteousnesse and performed the worke for which hee came he returned backe to God that sent him Choosing out some of them that had been conuersant with him in the dayes of his flesh that had heard the words of his diuine wisedom were eye-witnesses of all the things he did suffered sending them as his father sent him who were therefore named Apostles These had many excellent preeminences proper to those beginnings and fit for the founding of Christian Churches as immediate calling infallibility of judgement generall commission the vnderstanding and knowledge of all tongues power to confirme their doctrine by signes and wonders and to conferre the miraculous gifts of the spirit vpon other also by the imposition of their hands In which things when they had finished their course they left none to succeede them yet out of their more large ample and immediate
that place which the Lord hath chosen shew thee thou shalt obserue to doe according to all that they informe thee according to the Law which they shall teach thee and according to the iudgement which they shall tell thee shalt thou doe thou shalt not decline from the thing which they shall shew thee neither to the right hand nor to the left And that man that will doe presumptuously not hearkning to the Priest that standeth before the Lord thy God to minister there or vnto the Iudge that man shall die and thou shalt take away euill from Israel This was the highest Court amongst the Iewes from this there was no appeale and this Court some thinke to haue enjoyed so great and ample priviledges as that it could not erre and thereupon inferre that Popes in their Consistories cannot erre to whom Christ hath made as large promises of assistance and direction as euer he did to the high Priests and Rulers in the time of Moses Law That the Priests and Rulers in the time of the Law could not erre they indeavour to proue because he was to answer it with hisbloud whosoeuer disobeyed the sentence decree of those Iudges God required euery man without declining to the right hand or the left to doe that they commanded If it be objected that the words of Almighty God requiring all men so strictly to obey the sentence and decree of those Rulers are not to bee vnderstood concerning matters of faith but Causes Ciuill and Criminall and that therefore this place maketh not any proofe of the infallibilitie of their judgment in matters of faith it will bee answered that there is no reason to doubt of their judgment in matters of faith of whose right judgment in matters Ciuill and Criminall wee are assured Surely it is true that if those Iudges in the time of the Law could not erre in matters Ciuill and Criminall they were vndoubtedly much more freed from danger of erring in matters of faith but it is one of the strangest paradoxes as I thinke that euer yet was heard of that the Priests and Iudges in the time of the Law were priviledged from danger of erring in matters of fact and that they were so assisted in their proceedings as that they could not bee mis-led by any passions or sinister affections to pervert judgement and doe wrong For besides that it is refuted by sundry instances of sinister and wicked judgments passed by those Iudges against the Seruants and Prophets of Almighty God it maketh the Ministery and government vnder the Law incomparably more glorious and excellent then the Ministerie of the Gospell For it is by all confessed that the Popes and Councels may erre in things of this nature But that the Priests in the time of the Law did sometimes erre in judgment condemning them whō God would not haue had condemned appeareth evidently by that we read in the booke of the Prophesies of Ieremy where when Ieremy had made an end of speaking all that the Lord commanded him to speake then the Priests and the Prophets and al◅ the people took him and said Thou shalt dye the death And when the Princes of Iudah heard of these things they came vp from the Kings house into the house of the Lord sate down in the entry of the new gate of the Lords House Then spake the Priests the Prophets vnto the Princes to all the people saying This man is worthy to dye but the Princes said This man is not worthy to dye for he hath spoken vnto vs in the Name of the Lord our God Here we see the Priests erred and were resisted by the Princes of the Land but elsewhere we reade that the Princes also were angry with Ieremy smote him and layde him in prison in the house of Iehonathan the Scribe and saide unto the King Wee beseech thee let this man be put to death for he weakneth the hands of the men of war that are in the Citie and the hands of all the people So that both Priests and Princes might did sometimes erre in judgment But some man perhaps will say that howsoeuer they might erre in matters of fact yet they could not erre in any matter of substance pertaining to the worship seruice of God This also is clearely demonstrated to be false their errours in things pertaining to the worship and seruice of God proued by sundry examples In the second booke of Kings wee reade that Ahaz k◅ng of Iudah walked in the waies of the kings of Israel made his sonnes goe through the fire after the abominations of the heathen and offered burnt incense in the high places and on the hils and vnder euerie greene tree This wicked Ahaz sent from Damascus to Vrias the Priest the patterne of the Altar he saw at Damascus and the fashion of it and all the workemanship thereof and Vrias the Priest made an Altar in all points like to that which King Ahaz sent from Damascus So did Vrias the Priest before King Ahaz came from Damascus and the King commanded Vrias to offer sacrifice on the Altar and Vrias did whatsoeuer the King commanded him Yea we reade of many Priests especially about the time of the Maccabees that forsooke the law of God and followed the abominations of the heathen Idolaters and many Iudges and Kings likewise so that Dauid Hezekiah Iosias only excepted there was none of the Kings that did not decline more or lesse to Idolatry The meaning therefore of Almighty God according to the iudgment of the best Diuines was not that Priests and Iudges in the the time of the law should be obayed in all things without exception but when they commanded and iudged according to the diuine law and verity and in the same sort must wee vnderstand the words of Christ when he sayth The Scribes and Pharisees sit on the Chaire of Moses and commandeth the people to obserue and doe whatsoeuer they prescribe to be obserued and done For otherwise Christ should be contrary to himselfe who elsewhere willeth men to beware of the leauen of the Pharisees which S. Mathew interpreteth to bee their doctrine teacheth men by his own example to cōtemn their traditiōs Yea it is most certaine that the Pharisees erred dangerously and damnably in many things notwithstanding their sitting on Moses chaire and therefore Christ doth oftentimes sharpely reproue them for mis-interpreting the law of God Some man perhaps will say they taught lesse then is implied in the Law in that they condemned murther adultery and the like crimes but not lust hatred and such other sinister affections of the heart and that therefore Christ did not reproue them as teaching any thing contrary to the Law but as teaching lesse then is contained in it and comming short of it This euasion will not serue for it appeareth euidently that they did not only come
short of that the Law requireth but were also contrary vnto it and that Christ taxeth them for the same Quia non intelligebant sayth Saint Augustine homicidium nisi per interemptionem corporis humani per quam vitâ priuaretur aperuit Dominus omnem iniquum motum ad nocendum fratri in homicidij genere deputari vnde Iohannes dicit Qui odit fratrem suum homicida est quoniam putabant tantummodo corporalem cumfoeminâ illicitam commixtionem vocari moechiam demonstrauit Magister etiam talem concupiscentiam nihil esse aliud That is they vnderstood no other Kind of murther but that which is the sundring of soule and body and the taking away of life therefore our Lord shewed that euery vnrighteous motion to hurt our brother is to be accompted murther Whence also S. Iohn sayth He that hateth his brother is a man-slayer and because they thought the vnlawfull conjunction of man and woman only to be adulterie our Maister shewed that euen the desire is no lesse Now I thinke that to say that is not murther nor adultery which Christ pronounceth to be murther and adultery is not onely to teach lesse then is in the Law but to teach contrary to it But to make this point more cleare and euident and that there may bee noe doubt but that their doctrine was contrary to the Law the Scripture reporteth nay our Sauiour Christ telleth vs in the Scripture whose report wee may not doubt of that they taught a man to loue his friend and to hate his enimy whereas by the Law of God we are bound to loue our enemies to blesse them that curse vs to do good to them that hate vs and to pray for them that hurt vs and persecute us It is true indeed that S. Augustine not obseruing this glosse of hating our enemies to bee the lewd tradition of the Pharises but thinking it to be written in the Law doth in one place say that that which is sayd in the Law Thou shalt hate thine enemy is not to be taken as the voyce of him that commandeth and prescribeth what the just should doe but permitteth what the infirmity of the weake requireth and in another place writing against the Manichees sayth that that which is in the old Scripture Hate thine enemie and that which is in the Gospell Loue your enemies do agree together very well For euery vnrighteous man in quantum iniquus est odio habendus est in quantum homo diligendus in that he is vnrighteous is to be hated and in that he is a man is to be loued This saying hee sayth the Pharisees did not rightly vnderstand and that therefore Christ laboured to teach and instruct them better and to let them know that they were so to hate their enemies that they should also loue them This which S. Augustine deliuereth is most Catholike and true For we are to hate the vices and loue the persons of our enimies but neither is there any mandate in the Scriptures that we should hate our enemies neither had that precept of the Pharisees that sense wherein S. Augustine cōceiueth a man may lawfully hate his enemies but as himselfe cōfesseth they thought they were so to hate their enemies that they were not bound to loue thē against which erroneous conceipt Christ opposeth himselfe saying But I say vnto you loue your enemies Neither doth he oppose an Euangelicall coūsell of greater perfection then the Law requireth to that imperfect thing the Law prescribeth as some men haue ignorantly fancied but the true meaning of the Law to the false construction of the same made by the Pharisees as likewise he doth in all other his oppositions to that which had bin sayd to them of old time But let vs let this passe and come to the other errours of the Pharisees taxed by our Sauiour Christ in such sort as no man can excuse them Why doe ye transgresse sayth he the commandement of God by your traditions for God hath commanded saying Honour thy Father and thy Mother and he that curseth Father or Mother let him die the death but ye say Whosoeuer shall say to Father or Mother By the gift that is offered by me thou maist haue profit though he honour not his Father or Mother shall be free Thus haue you made the commandement of God of none effect by your owne tradition Againe they taught that it is nothing if a man sweare by the Altar but that he that sweareth by the gift or offering that is on the Altar is a Debtor that is bound to do that he sweareth Many other like fond wicked glosses of the Pharisees we read of whereby they made the cōmandemēts of God of none effect whereupon our Sauiour sayth Except your righteousnesse exceed the righteousnes of the Scribes and Pharisees ye cannot enter into the kingdome of heauen Thus then I hope it appeareth to all that are not wilfully blinded that Christ meant not when hee sayd The Scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses chaire therefore whatsoeuer they bid you that obserue and doe that they could speake nothing but truth and that whatsoeuer they sayd was to be receiued without any examination but that whatsoeuer things they spake pertinentia ad Cathedram as the author of the interlineall Glosse interpreteth the words and whatsoeuer things they deliuered as sitting in Moses chaire that is doing the duty of Teachers they should bee listned vnto howsoeuer otherwise they were wicked and godlesse men They that teach iudge and rule the people of God are described to performe those things sitting to put them in minde that they must doe all things with setled composed and well aduised resolution and not rashly hastily and inconsiderately whereupon Princes haue their thrones Iudges their Tribunalls and iudgment seates and Teachers their chaires Hence Moses office of teaching the people the lawes of God and the performance of the same is metaphorically named Moses chaire and the succeeding of Moses in this office and duty of deliuering the lawes of God to the people the performance of the same is rightly expressed by the sitting on the chaire of Moses in this sense the Scribes Pharisees are rightly sayd to haue sitte on Moses chaire because they succeeded him in the office and duty of teaching the people the lawes of God and in the performance of the same duety in some part though not wholly And therefore our Sauiour Christ requireth all men notwithstanding their wicked conuersation and manifold errours in matters of doctrine to do whatsoeuer they commanded while they sate on Moses chaire that is performed the duty belonging to Moses office and place It is strange that any man should seeke to extend the words of Christ any farther as if they meant to cleare the Scribes Pharisees from all possibilitie and danger of erring in that they possessed the roome of Moses and had the places of Teachers in the
Church when it is confessed by the best learned of all sides that the Priests of the Law had no priuiledge of not erring in teaching the people of GOD after Christ appeared and began to teach in his owne person whatsoeuer they had before and that this was fore-told by Ieremy the Prophetwhen he said Peribit lex à Sacerdote verbū à Propheta consilium à Sapiente The Law shall perish frō the Priest the word frō the Prophet and counsell from the wise But such is the impudencie of some of the friends louers of the Church of Rome that they feare not to defend cleare the doctrine of the Scribes and Pharisees from errour wherewith Christ so often chargeth them to justifie the proceedings of the high Priest and the rest of the Priests and Rulers assembled in Councell against Christ himselfe affirming that the sentence pronounced against him was true and just for that he was truly guilty of death in that hee had taken vpon him our sinnes to purge them in himselfe and that it was indeede expedient that he should dye for the people according to the saying of Caiphas who in so saying is saide to haue prophesied as being the high Priest that yeare But Bellarmine ingenuously acknowledgeth the ouer-sight of his friends and companions and saith that howsoeuer those words of Caiphas admit a good sense though not intended by him for he meant it was better that Christ being but one should die then that the whole people whose destruction he thought vnavoidable if Christ were suffered to liue should perish come to nothing Yet there are other wordes of Caiphas that in no sense are justifiable as when he said He hath blasphemed what need we any more witnesses Touching his former speech it was the will of God for the honour of the Priesthood that he should vtter that he meant ill in such wordes as might haue a good sense though not meant nor intended by him whereupon he is said to haue prophesied but the latter words are words of cursed blasphemy without horrible impiety cannot be excused in any sense Therefore there are others who confesse that Caiphas and his assistants erred when they cōdemned Christ but that it was but a matter of fact wherein they erred in mistaking the quality of Christs Person in being mis-informed of him in which kinde of things Councels may erre This conceipt the Cardinall likewise rejecteth explodeth as absurd for that howsoeuer it was a question of fact concerning the Person of him that stood to be judged yet it inwrapped in it a most important question concerning the Faith to wit whether IESVS the Son of Mary vvere the true Messias Son of God therefore Caiphas with his whole Councell resoluing that he was not erred damnably in a matter of Faith pertinaciously in that they rejected him as a blasphemer of God whom the Angels from Heauen testified to be the Son of God the Starre designed to be that light that lightneth euery one that commeth into the World the Sages from a farre adored as being that King of the Iewes that is to sit vpon the Throne of Dauid for euer whose Dominion is from Sea to sea from the Riuer to the end of the Land whom the seas windes obeyed at whose rebuke the Diuels went out of those they had formerly possessed But if this defence of the hellish sentence of wicked Caiphas be too weake as indeed it is our adversaries last refuge is that this Councel erred because Caiphas his fellowes proceeded in it tumultuously not in due sort vvhich is a most silly shift For how are Councels priviledged from erring vvhich is the thing these men seek so carefully to defend though it be vvith excusing of the Fact of those men vvho shal be found vnexcusable in the day of Iudgment if Councels may proceed tumultuously so define against the truth Thus we see that the great Councell of state amongst the Iewes to vvhich all matters of difficultie vvere brought from vvhich there vvas no appeale might and did erre sometimes dangerously damnably This Councell continued in some sort as vvell after the captivity of Babylon the returne from the same as before though vvith this difference that vvheras before the king had a principal interest in the same aftervvards the High Priest alvvayes vvas chief there being no more Kings of Iudah but the kings of Persia Aegypt and Syria commaunding ouer the Iewes and making them tributaries vnto them In this sort were they gouerned till some differences growing amongst them for the place of the high Priest they were by Antiochus Epiphanes king of Syria depriued both of their liberty and exercise of religion and brought into miserable bondage the indignity whereof the Assamonaei of the tribe of Leui could not indure but by force and policie in a sort freed the state of the Iewes againe and tooke vnto themselues first the name of Princes and then of Kings In the booke of Maccabees we reade that Mattathias was constituted Priest Prince and Ruler and that many came downe to him to seeke judgement and iustice Iudas Maccabaeus succeeded Mattathias and joyned the dignity of the high Priest to the princely power Ionathas succeeded Macchabaeus of whom we reade Now this day doe we chuse thee to be vnto vs a Prince instead of Iudas and a captaine to fight our battels Simon succeeded Ionathas and in his time Demetrius king of Syria and Antiochus his son remitted all tributes so that then the Iewes recouered their ancient liberty in as ample manner as they had formerly enjoyed it vnder their kings Iohn succeeded Simon and Aristobulus Iohn who put vpon himselfe a Diademe and assumed the name of a King After Aristobulus succeeded Alexander his brother marrying Solina his wife Alexander being dead Alexandra obtayned the kingdome after her Hircanus whom Aristobulus his brother expulsed Pompey tooke this Aristobulus prisoner subdued Iudaea brought it into the forme of a prouince and appointed Antipater Ascalonita to be Procurator of it but not long after Antigonus the son of Aristobulus recouered the citie of Hierusalem inuaded the kingdome against whom the Romans set vp Herod the son of Antipater and gaue him the name of a King Thus the direction and gouernment of the Iewes rested principally in the Sanedrim as well before as after their returne from Babylon and the Sanedrim which was the highest Court and swayed all consisted for the most part of men taken out of the house of Dauid and therefore the Scepter did not depart from Iudah so long as that Court continued and retayned the authority belonging to it though there were no king of the posterity of Dauid and tribe of Iudah but the high Priests first and then other of the tribe of Leui assuming to themselues Priestly and Princely dignity had the chiefest place and highest roome in this court of
to their after-commers by succession but in steed of immediate calling wee haue now succession in steed of infallibility of judgment the direction of their writings guiding vs to the finding out of the truth in steede of Generall commission particular Assignation of seuerall Churches to rule and parts of Christs flocke to feed in steed of miraculous gifts and the Apostles power to conferre them a setled course of Schooles and Vniuersities fitting men for the worke of the Ministery insteed of their Miracles wherewith they confirmed their doctrine the Faith already receiued and by so many generations recommended vnto vs as confirmed by the Apostles Miracles at the first Neither was it fit as Saint Augustine noteth that these miraculous courses should still haue continued For euen as a man that neuer had seene the seede cast into the earth and there rotting and the trees dead in Winter after reuiuing and flourishing againe in their appointed time would wonder no lesse at it then if he should see a blind man receiue sight or a dead man life but now that these things are ordinary wee little esteeme them so if those miraculous things appearing in the Apostles and first Ministers of Christ which with their newnesse and strangenesse moued much at the first should haue beene continued still they would haue grown into contempt and not haue beene regarded at all All that which hath beene sayd touching the dignity Apostolicall and the things properly pertaining to it is so cleare and euident that wise and judicious men make no question of any part thereof Yet are there some that seeme to doubt whether the Apostles generally had immediate calling or vniuersality of commission supposing that Peter onely was immediately designed by Christ and the rest by him that he onely had an illimited commission without all restraint and the rest an inferiour commission to that of Peter bounded and stinted Touching the first of these doubts Bellarmine whose manner it is not to conceale the diuisions and differences that are or haue beene amongst the Friends and Louers of the Church of Rome but to write them in the forehead of euery controuersie sheweth that there are three opinions amongst the Diuines of the Romish Church touching this point The first that as well the Apostles as succeeding Bishops receiued their power and and jurisdiction from Peter and his supposed successour the Bishop of Rome The second that both Apostles and Bishops receiued their Ecclesiasticall power and jurisdiction immediately from Christ and not from Peter nor his Successours The third that Bishops receiue their jurisdiction from the Pope but that the Apostles receiued all their power and jurisdiction immediately from CHRIST and not from Peter The Second of these opinions is wholly true and I will in due place confirme the same The third in part true and in part false which Bellarmine followeth and the first wholly false which hee largely and substantially confuteth prouing first that the Apostles receiued all their jurisdiction and power immediately from Christ and not from Peter as well out of the words of our Sauiour when hee sayth As my Father sent mee soe send I you as out of the election of Matthias who was not chosen by Peter or the other Apostles but designed immediatly by God himselfe shewing by direction of the Lot falling on Matthias that it was hee whom hee would haue to succede into the void roome of Iudas the Traytour adding that the Apostles gaue him no authority and that Paul professeth the same touching himselfe protesting that hee receiued all his power and Iurisdiction immediately from Christ and thereby prouing himselfe to be an Apostle Secondly he proueth that the fullnesse of all Ecclesiasticall power was committed to all the Apostles in as large and ample sort as to Peter by the testimonies of Chrysostome and Theophylact and that Christ by those words As my Father sent mee so send I you made all the Apostles his Vicars or Vicegerents yea gaue them his owne office and authority and out of Cyrill that by these words he made them Apostles and Doctours of the whole world and that to let them know that in Apostolique power hee gaue them all Ecclesiasticall power he sayd vnto them As my Father sent me so send I you it being certaine that the Father sent the Sonne with all fulnesse of power Farther he addeth out of Cyprian that the same fulnesse of power was giuen vnto the rest of the Apostles by those words As my Father sent me so send I you that was promised to Peter by those I will giue thee the keyes of the Kingdome of Heauen performed by those other Feed my Sheep feed my Lambes Now saith he it is certain that by those words I will giue thee the keyes of the Kingdome of Heauen and by those other Feed my sheep c. is vnderstood all fulnesse of Iurisdiction both inward and outward therefore the fulnesse of Ecclesiasticall power and Iurisdiction was giuen to euery one of the Apostles Thus then the Cardinall confesseth first that all the Apostles were immediately taught of God without learning any thing of Peter or needing in any thing to be confirmed by him Secondly that their commission was generall so that there was not any act of Ecclesiasticall Ministery to which their commission did not extend nor any places in which nor persons towardes whom they might not performe the acts of their Ministery Thirdly that they receiued all this authority and power immediatly from Christ and not from Peter and that therefore they could neither be limited nor wholly restrained by him in the vse and exercise of the same Thus doth hee ouerthrow the whole frame and fabrique of their building who ground the pretended supremacy of the Pope vpon Christs words spoken to Peter For to what purpose doe they vrge that to Peter onely Christ said Feede my Sheepe c that to him onely he gaue the keyes of the Kingdome of Heauen and vpon him onely promised to build his Church seeing they are forced to confesse that the commission of feeding Christs sheepe was giuen in as ample sort to the rest as to Peter that they all receiued the whole power of the keyes that the Church was builded vpon the rest as well as vpon Peter and equally founded vpon them all If the Cardinall shall shrinke from this his confession we can easily force him to it againe and make him acknowledge that whatsoeuer Christ promised intended or performed by any of his speeches directed vnto Peter he performed to all Christ said specially to Peter Feede my sheepe yet had the rest our Adversaries being Iudges the same commission Hee promised to him the keyes of the Kingdome of Heauen so that what hee should binde on Earth should bee bound in Heauen hee named him Peter and promised vpon that Rocke to build his Church yet all receiued the same keyes as well as he the same power of binding and
sunder These being the things required in a foundation simply and absolutely in respect of all times persons and things Christ onely is that foundation vpon which the spirituall building of the Church is raised because he onely is that beginning whence all spirituall good originally floweth and commeth vpon whom all the perswasion of the truth of things revealed staieth it selfe as being the Angell of the great Couenant and that eternall Word that was with God in the beginning vpon whom all our hope confidence and expectation of any good groundeth it selfe all the promises of God being in him yea and Amen And in this sense the Apostle Saint Paul saith Other Foundation canne no man lay then that which is layd which is Iesus Christ. And S. Augustine and other of the Fathers vnderstand by that rocke vpon which our Sauiour promised Peter to build his Church the rocke that Peter confessed which rocke was Christ vpon which foundation euen Peter himselfe was builded for that other Foundation can no man lay then that which is laid which is Iesus Christ. But in respect of some particular times persons and things and in some particular and speciall considerations there are other things that may rightly bee named foundations also in respect of the spirituall building of the Church So in respect of the frame fabrique of vertue and weldoing raised in this building the first vertue namely Faith vpon which all other vertues doe stay themselues and from which they take the first direction that any vertue can giue is rightly named a foundation In respect of the forme of Christian doctrine the first principles of heauenly knowledge are rightly named a foundation Not laying againe saith the Apostle the foundation of faith and of repentance from dead workes of the doctrine of Baptismes of the imposition of hands of the resurrection of the dead and ofeternall iudgement let vs be led forward vnto perfection These first principles of heauenly knowledge are named a foundation because they are the first things that are knowen before which nothing can be knowen and because vpon the knowledge of these things all other parts of heavenly knowledge doe depend In respect of the confession of the true faith concerning Christ the first cleare expresse and perfect forme of confession that euer was made concerning the same may rightly be named a foundation and in this sense Peters faith and confession is by diuerse of the Fathers named the Churches foundation But they vnderstand not by the faith and confession of Peter either the vertue and quality of faith abiding in his heart and mind or the outward act of confessing but the forme of confession made by him when he said Thou art the Christ the Sonne of the liuing God vpon which forme as being the rule of all right beleeuing the Church of God is builded In respect of the supernaturall knowledge of God in Christ the first immediate reuelation made to the Apostles from whom all other were to learne and by whose Ministerie accompanied with all things that might winne credit they were to be gained vnto God may very rightly and justly be named a foundation vpon which the faith of all after-commers is to stay it selfe and from which in all doubts they must seeke resolution And in this sort Bellarmine saith truely that the Apostles may be named Foundations of the Church according to that description in the Reuelation of Saint Iohn of the wall of the citie of God that had 12. foundation-stones vpon which it was raised and in them written the names of the Lambes twelue Apostles and that of S. Paul that wee are builded vpon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Christ Iesus being the Head corner-stone And this in three respects First because the Apostles were the first that founded Churches and conuerted vnbeleeuers to the faith Secondly because their doctrine which they receiued immediatly from God by most vndoubted revelation without mixture of errour or danger of being deceiued is the rule of the faith of all aftercommers and that sure immoueable and rockie foundation vpon which the perswasion of all succeeding generations and posterities may and doth most securely stay and ground it selfe Thirdly because they were Heads Guides and Pastors of the whole vniuersall Church hauing not onely supreme but prime and originall gouernment of the same out of whose most large and ample commission all Ecclesiasticall power and authoritie of after-commers was in an inferiour degree and sort to bee deriued and taken In all these respects all the Apostles were that strong rocke and those strong rockie foundation-stones on which the Church is builded though in a peculiar sense Christ alone bee the Rocke and in all these respects as S. Hierome saith Super omnes ex aequo Ecclesiae fortitudo solidatur that is the strength and firmenesse of the Church doth equally indifferently stay it selfe vpon them all and consequently no more vpon Peter then any of the rest Hitherto we finde nothing peculiar to Peter and not common to all the Apostles so that all the allegations of our Adversaries touching the feeding of the Sheep of Christ committed to Peter the power of the keyes of binding and loosing of remitting and retaining sinnes and the promise that on him as on a rockie foundation-stone elect and precious Christ would build his Church are to no purpose seeing they are forced to confesse that all these things were likewise either by direct words or by intendment bestowed on all the rest Wherefore let vs see how notwithstanding this their confession they can make good that there was a primacie of power in Peter and how they goe about to confirme the same CHAP. 23. Of the primacie of power imagined by our Adversaries to haue beene in Peter and their defence of the same FOr the avoyding of the cleare evidence of the truth of all that which hath beene said touching the equalitie of the Apostles of Christ amongst thēselues which our Adversaries cannot but see acknowledge they haue two shifts The first that the Apostles were equall towards the people but not amongst themselues The second that they were equall in the Apostolique power but that Peter had that amplitude of power which the rest had as Apostles by speciall fauour and onely in for their own persons as an ordinary Pastour and in such sort that he might leaue the same to his Successors These their silly shifts evasions we will examine that so the truth of that which hath bin said be more fully cleared that all men may see perceiue that nothing can be substātially objected against it nor no evasiō foūd to avoid it Touching the first thing that they say it is an Axiome as I thinke that may not bee doubted of that whatsoeuer things are equall in respect of a third thing are in the same sort fo farre for equall amongst themselues So
the Romanists for confirmation of the vniversality of the Popes iurisdiction and power IT is euident by that which hath beene said that that vniuersality whereof Gregory speaketh in his Epistles and which he so peremptorily condemneth is claimed by the Popes his successours at this day and consequently that they are in his judgment the fore-runners of Antichrist and in pride like Lucifer Yet because there is nothing so absurd that some will not defend nothing so false which some will not endeauour to proue true let vs see what the Romanists can say for proofe and confirmation of the vniuersall Iurisdiction of their Popes Surely as men carefull to vphold the state of the Papacy vnder the shadow of the boughes of which tree they so sweetly rest and repose themselues they haue turned ouer their bookes to see what may bee said and out of them alleage against vs the testimonies of Councels Popes Fathers Greeke and Latine and the practise of Popes whence such a peerelesse power may bee proued and inferred The first testimony that they bring out of any Councell is out of the Epistle written by the Fathers of the second generall Councell to Damasus Bishop of Rome the other Bishops of the west wherein the Fathers say if we beleeue these men that they came together to Constantinople by the mandate of the Pope whose letters the Emperour sent vnto them and confesse that the Romane Church is the head and they the members Truely this is a very ill beginning and may make vs justly feare that we shall find little good dealing in that which followeth For there is no part of this true which in the front of all their proofes is by them so confidently alleaged For thus the matter standeth betweene the Fathers of that Councell and the Bishop of Rome The Bishops assembled at Constantinople writ to the Bishop of Rome and the rest of the Bishops of the West assembled in a Councell at Rome signifying that they had beene invited by them out of their brotherly loue as their owne members to come to their Councell and that they wished nothing more then that they had the wings of doues that they might flye away and rest with them but that the state of their Churches not permitting them to be so long absent and that intending at the time they vnderstood of their letters to come no farther then Constantinople they could not come but had sent notwithstanding certaine vnto them This is all that is contained in the letter of those Fathers written to the Bishop of Rome in all which there is no word of any mandate of the Pope but of a friendly and louing entreatie of the Westerne Bishops desiring the presence of their brethren of the East no word of head and members but of fellow members nor any thing that may proue a commaunding power in the Pope Nay the contrary is most strongly from hence to be proued For it was the Emperour and not the Pope that called them to Constantinople they refused to come to Rome though they had receiued the letters of the Romane Bishop and his colleagues intreating and desiring them to come to Rome they abode at Constantinople and were esteemed to bee the Generall Councell though the Pope held a Councell in the West at the same time which should haue beene accounted generall rather then this if all assurance of finding out the trueth and making good Lawes did rest in the Pope onely And lastly they ordained Bishoppes of the greatest and most famous Churches of the world such and in such sort as the Pope did not greatly like and yet was forced to giue way to their doings and to ratifie that which they had done The 2d allegation to proue the vniversalitie of the Popes jurisdiction is that the Fathers of the 3d general Councell holden at Ephesus professed that they deposed Nestorius by force of the mandatory letters of Caelestinus B. of Rome that in their epistle to Caelestinus they say they reserued the judgement of the cause of Iohn Patriarch of Antioch to him as being more doubtfull The former of these two things they endeauour to proue out of Euagrius the later out of the Epistle written by the Fathers of that Councell extant in the Councell it selfe For the clearing of this objection wee must obserue that Nestorius Patriarch of Constantinople hauing vttered certaine hereticall and impious speeches touching the personall vnion of the natures of God and Man in Christ whereby many were scandalized the first amongst the Patriarches that tooke notice of it was Cyrill Bishop of Alexandria in Aegypt who after he found that Nestorius would not bee reclaimed by admonitions called a Synode of his Bishops and condemned the absurd and hereticall positions of Nestorius and required him to anathematize them otherwise threatning that hee and his Bishops would reiect him from their communion and hold them as brethren who vnder his iurisdiction resisted against him This his proceeding hee signified to the Bishop of Rome who approved and commended the same with his whole Synode of westerne Bishops encouraged him to goe forward wishing him not to doubt of his concurrence with him but as hauing all the authority and power hee and his Bishops had to prouide for the church of Constantinople and to let Nestorius know that he was cut off from the vnity of the body of their Churches if hee should not within a certaine number of dayes anathematize his wicked doctrine and professe the faith touching the generation of Christ the Sonne of God which the Romane Church the Church of Alexandria and Christian religion euery where preacheth Hereupon Nestorius fearing the course that Cyrill would take against him desired the Emperour to summon a generall Councell To this Councell came Nestorius and the Bishops that were vnder him and Cyrill with his Bishops assisted with the concurrence of the resolution and direction of the Bishop of Rome and other Bishoppes of the West though absent But Iohn the Patriarch of Antioche and his Bishops were not come Whereupon after a while the Bishops that were present being wearie of staying there beganne to proceede without him requiring Nestorius to appeare in the Synode and to answere to such things as should bee obiected to him Which when hee refused to doe the Fathers assembled finding by manifest proofe that hee had taught impiously condemned and deposed him compelled so to doe by the Canons and the letters of the Bishop of Rome and his westerne Bishops who had set a time within which if hee submitted not himselfe they would reiect him from their communion Fiue dayes after the condemnation and deposition of Nestorius came Iohn the Patriarch of Antioche with his Bishops excusing himselfe for his long tarrying in respect of the distance of the place from whence he came as also for that his Bishops could not sooner be gathered together Hee was much offended that they who were come before him had
haue bin attempted sought by the Bishops of Constantinople that liued in his time But granting that Gregory did so write that Eusebius a B. of Constantinople did acknowledge his Church to be subject to the See of Rome yet he meant nothing else thereby but that it was an inferiour See and so subject in such sort as I haue declared the inferiour Sees to be subject to the superiour which subjection will no way proue the supremacie that the Popes now claime Fourthly that Gregory doth not say that the Bishop of Constantinople acknowledged himselfe subject to the Bishop of Rome For it was not Primas Byzanzenus the Primate of Byzantium that Gregory reporteth to haue confest himselfe subject to the Bishop of Rome and whose cause the Emperour commanded Gregory to heare but Primas Byzanzenus that is the Primate of the Byzazene prouince of Africa So that this confession of the Primate mentioned by Gregory brought to proue that the Bishop of Rome had a commanding power ouer the Bishop of Constantinople is meerly mistaken by Bellarmine as it was before him by Gratian. But some man wil say howsoeuer there be a mistaking of this allegation yet it is strong and forcible to proue the thing intended For Gregory saith expressely that howsoeuer all Bishops in respect of humility be equall yet there is no Bishop but if he be found faulty is subject to the See of Rome That this saying of Gregory may be foūd true certaine limitations must be added vnto it For the Bishop of Rome might not immediatly punish euery Bishop that he found to offend nor vpon appeale take notice of the faults and misdemeanours of all Bishops but the Councell of Chalcedon ordereth that if any inferiour Clergy-man haue ought against another inferiour Clerke the matter shall be heard and determined by the Bishop or such as with the liking of the Bishop shall by the parties be chosen arbitratours and if he go against their determination hee shall be punished If a Clerke haue ought against his owne or another Bishop it shall be inquired of in the audience of the Synode of the Prouince If either Clerke or Bishoppe haue ought against the Metropolitane of the prouince hee shall goe to the Primate of the Diocese or to the throne and See of the Regall citty of Constantinople This Canon of the great Councell of Chalcedon was confirmed by the decree of Iustinian the Emperour If any man sayth the Emperour accuse a Bishop for whatsoeuer cause let the cause be judged by the Metropolitane and if any man gainsay the Metropolitane let the matter be referred to the Arch-bishop and Patriarch of that Diocese and let him end it according to the canons and Lawes So that wee see the Bishops of Rome might not intermedle in judging inferiour Bishops subject to other Patriarches neither immediatly nor vpon complaint and appeale whatsoeuer their faults be but they haue other supreme Iudges who haue power finally to determine such matters and from whom there lyeth noe appeale This canon of the Councell of Chalcedon and the Emperours decree confirming the same Gregorie alleageth and alloweth onely adding that if there be no Metropolitane or Patriarch such things as otherwise should be finally determined and ended by them are to be brought to the Bishop of Rome Wherefore it seemeth that Gregory speaketh of the Bishops within his owne Patriarchship whom sometimes he calleth his own Bishops when he sayth there is no Bishop but if he be found faulty is subject to the See of Rome Of these hee speaketh when he sayth I impute it to my sinnes that my owne Bishops should thus despise me And againe if the causes of bishops committed to mee be thus dealt with alas what shall I doe And in this sense he willeth Iohn of Palermo to whom hee sendeth a Pall not to suffer the reuerence of the Apostolique See to be troubled by any mans presumption for that the state of the members is then entire and safe when the canons are kept and no iniurie hurteth the head of the faith not naming the Church of Rome the head of the Faith for that the Bishop of Rome hath an infallible iudgment and absolute command in matters of faith vpon which all the world must depend as some ignorantly construe him but because it was the head that is the beginning and wel-spring whence the doctrine of Faith the knowledge of GOD and all Christian institution flowed to sundry other Churches which therefore are in a sort to depend on it to haue recourse to it and to hold conformity with it No other faith Innocentius established and founded the Churches of Italy France Germany Spaine Africke and the Isles that lye betweene but Peter and his Successours and therefore the Bishoppes of these Churches must keepe such obseruations as the Romane Church from which they tooke their beginnning receiued from the Apostles ne caput institutionum omittere videantur that is Lest they seeme to forsake the Head well-spring of all the institutions and ordinances they haue This is the reason why the Churches of these parts haue beene so subiect to the Church of Rome namely for that from thence they receiued the light of Christian knowledge but to all Churches it is not an head in this sort seeing they receiued the faith not from Rome but from some other Apostolicall Church as Antioche or Alexandria CHAP. 35. Of the pretended proofes of the Popes supremacie produced and brought out of the writings of the Greeke Fathers HAuing examined the proofes they bring for confirmation of the Popes supremacie out of Councels and the writings of ancient Bishops of Rome let vs come to the testimonies of the Fathers Greeke and Latine The first that they produce amongst the Greeke Fathers is Ignatius who writeth to the Holy Church which hath the presidence in the Region of the Romans or sitteth before other in the Region of the Romans from which wordes nothing can be inferred that wee euer doubted of For wee most willingly confesse the Romane Church to haue beene in order and honour the first and chiefest of all Churches and he saith nothing out of which any other thing may be concluded The next is Irenaeus who being to shew against Heretiques that the Tradition of the Church is against them and for him and thinking it very tedious to run through the successions of all Churches saith he will content himselfe with that which is the greatest ancientest best knowne to all founded by the two most glorious Apostles Peter and Paul at Rome for that the whole Church that is the company of all faithfull ones that are euery-where in which the Tradition hath beene euer preserued must of necessity agree in her tradition with this propter potentiorem principalitatem that is For that it is the principall of all other This testimony of Irenaeus no way proueth the thing in question For heere is
continued 85. yeares Milesius perceiuing Paulinus to be ordained Bishop ouer them that were diuided from his communion seemed noe whit therewith to be offended or displeased but spake peaceably to Paulinus desiring him that they might joyne their flockes and feede them together and if sayd hee the throne diuide vs let mee lay the Gospell in it and then do thou sit in it sometimes and I will sit in it at other times and if I dye before thee thou shalt haue the care and charge of all if thou dye before mee the care and charge of all shall be deuolued to mee This counsell Paulinus would not harken vnto and therefore the Emperours officer adiudged the Churches to Milesius and the guiding of the diuided sheepe to Paulinus Whereupon when Milesius dyed though Paulinus would haue had the place yet hee was refused because hee had refused to harken to the Counsell of Milesius and the Bishoppes chose Flauianus a man verie conspicuous for his great labours and one that had exposed himselfe to many dangers for the good of the Church Yet this ordination greatly displeased the Aegyptians and Romanes The reason of which their soe great dislike was for that when there was much contention betweene Milesius and Paulinus it was so agreed that all they that were fit for that Bishopricke or might in likelyhood bee in any hope or expectation of it should sweare neither to seeke it nor accept it while either of these liued nor noe way to hinder but that after the death of the one the other might haue the full and entire gouernement of the whole of which number it was thought that Flauianus was one that therefore not without periury contrary to his vow and oath hee had hindred the reuniting of the diuided parts of the Church This dislike conceiued against Flauianus dyed not when Paulinus dyed but though Euagrius most vnlawfully and against the Canons had gotten the Bishoprique hauing noe ordination but from his predecessour whereas the Canons allow no such nomination of a Successour and besides require the presence of the Bishoppes of the prouince yet would they that at first disliked the ordination of Flauianus take noe knowledge of any of these things but cōmunicated with Euagrius incited the Emperour against Flavianus who being vrged continually by the Bishop of Rome and others no longer to suffer Flavianus to enjoy his place and told that suppressing Tyrants he did ill to suffer the violatours of the Lawes of the Church to escape vnpunished sent for Flavianus thinking to send him to Rome there to be judged in a Synode of Bishops who when hee came into the presence of the Emperour tolde him confidently that if any man would object against his doctrine or life he would desire to be tryed by no other Iudges but his greatest enemies but if the matter were for his Episcopall chaire he would willingly relinquish it that the Emperour might commit it to whom hee would vpon which his confident answere the Emperour dismissed him and bade him to goe home and feed the flocke committed to him Yet long after many complaints were againe renewed against him to the Emperour by sundry Bishops being at Rome fearing to taxe the Emperour himselfe for that he suppressed not the tyranny of Flavianus but the Emperour bade them say what that tyranny was as if he were Flavianus for that he had vndertaken the defence of him Which when they refused to doe professing themselues vnwilling to stand vpon termes with the Emperour he exhorted them to lay aside their foolish quarrellings and to reunite the Churches that had long without cause beene divided for that Paulinus was now dead and Euagrius came vniustly to the Bishopricke and the ordination of Flavianus was so farre forth allowed of that all the Churches of the East with the Churches of Asia Pontus Thracia and Illyricum held Flauianus to be lawfull Bishop of the East Hereupon the Bishops promised to surcease and that if Flavianus would send Legates vnto them they would kindly intreate them and hold communion with him Howsoeuer it appeareth by Socrates that after the death of Euagrius hee procured there should be no Bishop chosen in opposition to him and first pacified Theophilus and afterwards by his meanes Damasus Sozomen reporteth that Chrysostome after he was made Bishop of Constantinople finding that the Aegyptian westerne Bishops dissented from those of the East in respect of Flavianus and that all the Churches throughout the whole Empire were divided about him besought Theophilus to bee pacified towards him and to assist him for the reconciling of Damasus also To this suite of Chrysostome Theophilus yeelded sent certaine to Rome who prevailing sailed into Aegypt and from thence as also from Rome brought letters of reconciliation peace both from the Aegyptian and Westerne Bishops This History I thinke will neuer proue that the Bishop of Rome deposed Flavianus Bishop of Antioche and that hee could not hold his Bishopricke till the Bishop of Rome consented to him For the thing that was sought was not his holding of his Bishopricke as Bellarmine vntruly reporteth but the peace and concord of the Churches divided about him Neither was the difference onely betweene him and Damasus but all the Bishops of Aegypt the West dissented from him likewise and therefore Ambrose sheweth that the examining of the matter betweene Euagrius and him was committed to Theophilus the Bishops of Aegypt and desireth him to make relation of the end he should make to the Bishop of Rome that he also agreeing thereunto an vniversall peace might be concluded So that nothing can bee concluded out of this history for proofe of the vniversall power of Popes Seeing Damasus could neither of himselfe alone nor with the concurrence of the Westerne Bishoppes depose Flavianus nor by any meanes perswade the Emperour to thrust him out of his place but was sharply reprooued by the Emperour for quarrelling with him and required to bee at peace with him that so the Churches formerly divided without cause might be revnited The next instance of the Popes deposing Bishops is that of Sixtus the third who deposed Polychronius Bishop of Hierusalem if wee may beleeue Bellarmine but in truth there was neuer any such thing The circumstances of the whole proceeding against Polychronius Bishop of Hierusalem if there be any credite in the report of Pope Nicholas and the acts of the Councell vnder Sixtus the third were these Two things specially were objected to him the one that hee went about to violate the ancient bounds of the Ecclesiasticall Iurisdiction of Bishops set and limited by the Fathers to preferre himselfe before the other principall Bishops and to make his See the first whereas in trueth it was the last amongst the Patriarchicall Sees the other that Simoniacally he conferred Ecclesiasticall honours vpon such as would purchase the same Hereupon the Bishops subiect to him not willing to proceede
thereby ceasing to be members of it and consequently losing all authority commaund they formerly had For the clearing of this point wee are to obserue that there are some who runne into errours so directly contrary to all Christianity the sense and judgment of all Christians that by the very proposing thereof they abandon and driue from them all such as dissent and are abandoned of all Secondly there are some that runne not into errours so directly contrary to the sense and judgement of all Christians as the former but with such fury madnes pertinacy that they vtterly reject forsake and depart from all such as doe dissent or are otherwise minded Thirdly there are some who though they be not carried with such violent fury into errour as to condemne reject and depart from all that dissent yet they runne into olde heresies formerly condemned and so by force of the former condemnation are rejected put out of the lap and bosome of the Church Fourthly there are some who fall into hereticall and dangerous errours but neither directly contrary to the common sense of all right beleeuing Christians nor formerly condemned by the consenting voice of the whole Church of God nor with such pertinacy as either to refuse to communicate with them that think otherwise or to seeke to depriue depose degrade or otherwise violently vexe and molest them that are vnder them for not consenting to them in their errour The three former sorts of men falling into errour and heresie voluntarily cut themselues off from the vnity of the Body of the Church depart from the fellowship of Gods people and ipso facto cease to bee members of the Church and lose all authority and commaund they formerly had So that they neede not the Churches censure or sentence to cast them out departing of themselues but it sufficeth that their breaches and divisions from the maine body of the Christian Church be published and made knowne that so they may be avoided So Caelestinus in his Epistle to Iohn of Antioch saith that if any one haue beene excommunicated or depriued by Nestorius or any of his adherents since the time they first began to publish their impieties he still continueth in the cōmunion of his Churches neither doth he judge him to be remoued from his place and the like hee hath in his Epistle to the Clergy of Constantinople But the fourth sort of men erring doe not cease to be members of the Church nor lose their places by so erring till both the point of doctrine wherein they are deceiued be tryed and examined and by lawfull highest authority be found faultie and their pertinacie such as rather to suffer themselues to be rejected and put from the communion of all that are otherwise minded then to alter their judgements Cyprian fell into an hereticall opinion that the Baptisme of Heretiques is voyde and that all that haue beene baptized by Heretiques are to be rebaptized Yet because this point was not examined and condemned in a generall Councell nor his pertinacie therein vpon such examination and condemnation found such as rather to suffer himselfe to bee reiected from the communion of all them that thought otherwise then to giue way and alter his iudgment hee was no hereticke neither did he lose his place of ministery in the Church of God The question therefore is whether if the Pope fell into such an errour as that of Cyprian by which he doth not actually and ipso facto divide and cut off himselfe the Church may examine it and judge him to be rejected and put from the communion if he alter not his iudgement If they say it may then hath the Church power to iudge a Pope that is not an Heretique For he is not an Hereticke till after such determination he chooseth rather to be reiected from the cōmunion of the faithfull then to alter his iudgement If it may not iudge the Pope so erring then might the Popes in former times haue taught rebaptization with Cyprian the errour of the Chiliastes with sundry of the Fathers that all right beleeuers how wickedly soeuer they liue shall in the end be saued with some of the Ancient that the just shall not see God till the resurrection and the like and yet the Church haue had noe power to force them to forsake and condemne such errours or to cease from perswading and inducing men both by doctrine example to erre in like sort And then we may runne into their errour who thinke that though the Pope be an hereticke yet hee is neither deposed ipso facto nor may be deposed but that the Church must acknowledge a deuouring wolfe making hauock of the flocke of Christ to be her Pastor which Bellarmine himselfe thinketh to be very absurd Thus then we see that all who fall into heresies do not cut off themselues from the vnity of the body of the Church nor lose the iurisdiction and authority they formerly had ipso facto as the Papists to auoid the deposing of Popes by the authority of the Church seeme to imagine but that many doe soe fall into heresies that they goe not out of themselues till they be rejected and cast out But howsoeuer our Aduersaries must not defend that Popes falling into heresies are deposed ipso facto for if they do they ouerthrow the whole building and fabricke of Popery The constant opinion of almost all later Papists is that howsoeuer the Pope may personally erre and fall into heresie or become an Hereticke yet the prouidence of God ouer him is such because he is Christs Vicar Peters Successour heire of the Apostles and head of the vniuersall Church that hee cannot define or decree any heresie or prescribe vnto all Christians to belieue amisse Which conceipt cannot stand but falleth to the ground is clearely ouerthrowne if the Pope by becōming an hereticke be deposed ipso facto For doubtlesse if the Pope becomming an hereticke ipso facto cease to bee Pope and to be soe much as a member of the Church then doth not the prayer of Christ for the not failing of Peters faith extend to him any longer neither is hee any longer any way priuiledged by vertue of his succeeding blessed Peter but that hee may runne into all extremities in most damnable sort seeke to subuert the faith to force all to belieue as he doth and define and determine that all shall professe the same doctrine of Diuels that himselfe doth seeing when God forsaketh him and putteth him out of his protection the Diuell entreth into him as he did into Iudas the traytor And how violent and strange the mouings of the euill spirit are wee are not ignorant for sometimes he casteth them that are possessed by him into the fire and sometimes into the water sometimes into one extremity and sometimes into another Wherefore either the Papists must confesse that the Pope may define for heresie then all their religion is ouerthrown
the better to perswade vs of the same our Adversaries bring the sayings of some great Divines who conceiued that some such thing may be inferred out of the wordes as they dreame of as Lucius Felix and Marke ancient Bishops of Rome and great Lights of the world in their times If they could indeede bring vs the judgement and resolution of these ancient Bishops they would doubtlesse greatly prevaile with vs. But seeing vnder these names they bring forth vnto vs the Authours of shamelesse forgeries wee are thereby induced more to dislike their conceits then before Now that they who masked vnder the names and titles of ancient Romane Bishops magnifie the greatnesse of the Romane Church and pleade for the not erring of the Bishoppes thereof are nothing else but ignorant authors of absurd and shamelesse forgeries it will easily appeare out of that which I haue elsewhere largely discoursed to shew that the Epistles attributed to the ancient Popes are forged and counterfeit not onely by the judgements and opinions of the best learned on both sides so censuring them but by many reasons inducing vs so to thinke among which one is the likenesse of the stile found in these Epistles arguing that they came all out of the same mint and were not written by those different Popes liuing at diuerse times to whom they are attributed Which similitude of stile will bee found in these Epistles that our Adversaries alleadge to proue that the Pope cannot erre as much or more then in any other For in these wee shall finde the very same words The agreeing of witnesses in the same substance of matter with some difference of wordes argueth that they speake truely but their precise agreement in words and formes of speaking argueth rather a compact and agreement to speake the same things then a desire to vtter the trueth So here the precise vsing of the very same words by all these Popes liuing at diuers times argueth that it was one man that taught them all to speake But they will say Pope Leo in his third Sermon of his Assumption to the Popedome saith as much as they doe and that therefore wee may not discredite their testimony Surely if they can proue that Leo saith any such thing as the former Popes are taught to say wee will most willingly listen vnto them For wee acknowledge Leo to haue beene a most worthy Bishop and the things that goe vnder his name to bee his indubitate workes Let vs heare therefore what he saith His wordes in the place cited by the Cardinall are these Christ tooke speciall care of Peter and prayed specially for him because the state of the rest is more secure when the minde of him that is chiefe is not ouercome In Peter therefore the strength of all is surely established and God doth so dispence the helpe of his diuine grace that the same firmenesse that he giueth to Peter is by Peter conferred and bestowed on all Here is nothing to proue that the pope cannot erre which is that our Adversaries vndertake to demonstrate nor that the Romane church cannot erre which is that the former Popes affirme in their coūterfeit Epistles but that the state of the rest is more secure when he that is chiefe is not ouercome which no man euer doubted of and that Christ gaue or at least promised to giue that assistance of his grace to Peter which he meant to the rest and to passe it by him vnto them so as they should receiue it after him but not from him For thus the words of Leo must be vnderstood seeing it is most certaine which thing also Bellarmine himselfe confesseth that the Apostles receiued their infallibility of judgment and their commission or authority immediately from Christ and not from Peter From Leo they passe to Agatho who in his Epistle to Constantine the Emperour read and approued in the sixth generall Councell sayth that by the grace of God such hath beene the felicity and happinesse of the Romane Church that it can neuer be proued to haue erred from the path of the Apostolicall tradition nor to haue fallen being depraued with hereticall nouelties but the same faith it receiued at first it holdeth still according to Christs promise which he made to Peter willing him to confirme his brethren Which thing saith Agatho my predecessors haue euer done as is well knowne to all These words of Agatho are not so farre to be vrged as if simply neuer any of his predecessors had failed to defend the truth and confirme his brethren but that the Romane Church was euer so preserued from heresie that howsoeuer some fewe in it for a time might neglect to do their duty yet neither soe long nor in such sort but that that Church and the Bishops of it were alwaies a stay to the rest in all the dangerous tryals that fell out in ancient times euen as in the question concerning the two wils of Christ about which the Councell was called it was wherein though Honorius failed yet the rest that gouerned the Apostolicall throne with him did not and Agatho who soone after succeded shewed himselfe an orthodoxe and right beleeuer For that all the predecessors of Agatho did not alwaies confirme their brethren in the true faith of Christ it is most euident in that Marcellinus sacrificed vnto Idols if we may beleeue the Romish stories and was forced being conuicted thereof to professe himselfe vnworthy of the Papall office and dignity in a Synod of Bishops in that Liberius and Felix communicated with heretiques and subscribed to the vnjust condemnation of worthy Athanasius which was not to confirme the brethren but to discourage disharten and weaken them and in that Agatho himselfe doth anathematize his predecessor Honorius as a Monothelite with whom Leo the second concurreth in his Epistle to Constantine the Emperour who anathematizing Theodorus Syrus Sergius Pyrrhus Paulus and other Monothelites addeth to them Honorius Bishop of Rome his predecessor saying we accurse also Honorius who did not lighten this Apostolicall Church with the doctrine deliuered by the Apostles but sought to subuert the vndefiled faith by prophane perfidiousnesse With whom also Pope Adrian agreeth who in the Synode of Rome called about the businesse of Photius of Constantinople saith that the Romane Bishop hath judged of the Bishops of all Churches but that wee reade not of any one that hath iudged him For though Honorius were accursed after his death by those of the East yet it was because he was accused of heresie in which only case the lesser may iudge the greater yet euen there it had not beene lawfull for any of them to giue sentence against him had not the consent of the first See gone before So that wee see the Epistle of Agatho doth not sufficiently proue that the Popes cannot erre Let vs therefore consider whether they haue any better proofes Nicholas the first saith Bellarmine in
his Epistle to Michael the Emperour pronounceth that the priuiledges of the See of Rome are perpetuall rooted and planted by Almighty God in such sort that men may stumble at them but cannot remoue them may pull at them but cannot pull them vp therefore he thinketh the Pope cannot erre which is a very bad consequence For the infallibility of iudgment in the Pope is not mentioned among the inuiolable priuiledges of the Church of Rome and therefore the priuiledges of that Church may be inuiolable and yet the Pope subiect to errour neither hath Nicolas one word of the Popes not erring The testimonies of Leo the ninth and Innocentius the third as being late and partiall in their own cause may iustly be excepted against yet do they not proue the thing in question For they speake of the See and throne of Peter in which the faith may continue without failing though the Popes erre and seeke to subuert the same so long as any other that are to gouerne the throne with them perseuere in the true faith Wherefore from the prayer of Christ made for Peter that his faith should not faile they descend to other proofes taken from the promise made to Peter by Christ that vpon him he would build his Church and his mandate requiring him to feede his sheepe and to feede his Lambes which are too weake to perswade vs that the Pope cannot erre or is more priuiledged then other Bishops in this respect First because it is most cleare and euident and confessed by our aduersaries themselues that the Church was builded vpon all the Apostles as well as vpon Peter and there is no kind of feeding of Christs sheepe and flocke that commeth not within the compasse of that office and commission which the other Apostles had in common with him as I haue elsewhere shewed at large Secondly because Peter and his colleagues were foundation stones vppon which the Church was builded in that their doctrine was receiued by immediate and vndoubted reuelation without mixture of errour vpon which the faith of all after-commers was to stay it selfe none of which things agree to the Romane Bishop So that it is no way necessary that there should be the same infallibility of judgment in him that was in Peter and in his colleagues Thirdly because we know and all that are in their right wits do acknowledge that a man may be a Pastor in the Church of God and yet subject to errour and that therefore Christs requiring Peter to do the duty of a Pastor will not proue that the Pope cannot erre Wherefore from the Scriptures they passe to the Fathers and among them first they produce Theodoret who in his Epistle to Renatus a Presbyter saith that among other things the reason why the Romane Church hath a kind of chiefety among other Churches is because it hath euer remained free from heresie From whence I thinke hardly any good proofe can be drawne of the Popes not erring For how will this consequence euer be made good There are many things that make the See of Rome great as the greatnesse of the city the Empire the sepulchers of those common Fathers and Doctors of truth Peter and Paule those two great lights that rose in the East cast forth their beames into all parts of the world but set in the West and sundry other things and among them the felicity and happinesse of it that till the time of Theodoret no heresie euer preuailed in it therefore the Bishop of Rome can neuer erre Seeing Theodoret doth not dispute what may be but sheweth only what by the happy prouidence of God had beene and besides speaketh not precisely of the Bishop of Rome but of the Romane See including the whole company of the Bishops of the West adhering to him which was a great part of the whole Christian Church and more glorious then the rest for that it was more free from hereticall novelties in those times then they To Theodoret they adde Saint Augustine who saith the succession of Bishops from Peters chaire to his time is that rocke against the which the proud gates of hell cannot preuaile His meaning is that what all those Bishops haue constantly and successiuely taught as true must needes be true and what they haue impugned as false must needes be false seeing it is impossible that any errour or the impugning of any trueth should haue bin found successiuely in all the Bishops of that or any other Apostolicall Church whatsoeuer But what is this to the Popes not erring Surely as litle as that of Gelasius in his Epistle to Anastasius the Emperour that the glorious confession of the Apostle Peter thou art the Christ the Son of the liuing God is the roote of all the faith and piety of the whole world that therefore the Apostolique See carefully looketh vnto it that no chinke be made in it that it be not spotted with any contagion for that if it should there were no meanes of resisting any errour But because this maketh not for them the Cardinall helpeth the matter with an vntruth saying that Gelasius proueth that the See of Rome cannot erre because the confession of it is the roote of al the faith piety that is in the world whereas he neither goeth about to proue the one nor speaketh any word of the other but of the excellencie of the confession that Peter made the necessity of preseruing it inuiolable and the care of the See of Rome in and before his time for the safe keeping of the same Wherefore let vs come to the places that are cited to this purpose out of Gregories Epistles which shew plainly they are past shame that manage the Popes affaires defend his cause For whereas Gregory saith that if he that claimeth to be vniuersal B doe fall all the whole Church is ouerthrowne and that therefore there must bee no such vniversall Bishop and particularly sheweth by the grieuous heresies that prevailed in the Church of Constantinople how ill it would haue beene for the Churches of God if the Bishops thereof had beene vniversall Bishops as they sought to be they bring this place to proue that the Pope cannot erre whereas they should haue brought it to shew how dangerous it is that there should bee any one vniversall Bishop such as their Pope desireth to be and that therefore as Cyprian obserueth Almighty God wisely foreseeing what euils might follow such vniversality of power and jurisdiction in one man ordained that there should bee a great number of Bishops joyned in equall commission that so if some fell the rest might stand and keepe the people from a generall downefall The next allegation is out of the Epistle to Eulogius Bishop of Alexandria whereby the Reader may see with what conscience these Iesuited Papists doe cite the writings of the Fathers The wordes of Gregory are these Your most sweete Holinesse hath
neede sent vnto them Germanus and Lupus Bishops and brethren defenders of the Catholicke faith who cleared the I le from the Pelagian heresie and confirmed it in the faith both by the word of truth signes and miracles Besides this condemnation of Palagius by the French Britaines there were sundry Councels holden to condemne both him his wicked heresies in Palestina at Carthage at Mileuise and at Arausicum and it is most certaine that the Church of GOD and all posterities are more bound to Saint Augustine for clearing the points of doctrine questioned by the Pelagians then to any Bishop of Rome whatsoeuer So that it is most vntrue that the Pelagians were condemned onely by the Bishop of Rome for other were as forward in that businesse as he yea the Africans were more forward then the Romanes and drew them into the fellowship of the same worke with themselues The like may be said of the Priscillianistes for it is more then euident out of the Councell of Bracar that they were not condemned by the Bishop of Rome alone but by many Synodes for it is there reported that Leo did write by Turibius notary of the See Apostolike to the Synode of Galitia at what time the heresie of the Priscillianistes began to spreade in those parts and that by his prescription and appointment they of Tarracon of Carthage of Portugall and Boetica met in Councell and composing a rule of faith against the heresie of the Priscillianistes containing certaine chiefe heades of Christian doctrine directed the same patterne of right beliefe to the Bishop of Bracar that then was which heads of Christian doctrine were recited in the first Councel of Bracar the heresie of the Priscillianistes thereupō more distinctly and particularly condemned then euer before In all which proceedings we may see that the Pope doth nothing of himselfe alone but being Patriarch of the West and hearing of a dangerous heresie spreading in some Churches subject to him hee causeth the Bishops vnder him to meete in Councels and to condemne the same Which as I thinke will not proue that the Pope alone condemned heresies or that some heresies were rejected onely because the Pope condemned them or that the Pope cannot erre which is the thing in question Touching Iouinian and Vigilantius their errours are so vncertainely reported some attributing to them one thing and some another and some condemning them for things for which they were not to be condemned that it is hard to say by what lawfull authority or by whom they were condemned but that in their errours justly disliked they were condemned onely by the Bishops of Rome and therefore taken to bee heretickes by the whole vniuersall Church our aduersaries will neuer be able to proue That the errours attributed vnto them are vncertainely reported it appeareth in that Austine chargeth Iouinian with two dangerous and wicked assertions touching the deniall of the perpetuall virginity of the blessed Virgin the mother of our Lord and the parity of sins whereof Hierome who yet was not like to haue spared him maketh no mention And that they were in somethings vnjustly condemned it is euident first in that Hierome blameth Iouinian for saying that married persons virgins widowes if they differ not in other workes of vertue and therein excell one another are of equall merit which the best learned both of the Fathers and Schoole-men do approue as I haue elsewhere shewed at large Secondly in in that he so bitterly inueigheth against Vigilantius for disliking the pernoctations in the Cemiteries and places of Saints buriall vsed in ancient times which a Councell for the same reasons that moued Vigilantius to dislike them took wholly away and forbade them to be vsed any more the Romane Churches haue long since disused But that the Popes peremptorie cōdemning of an error in matter of faith was not taken in ancient times to be a sufficiēt demonstration that they were heretickes that defended such errors after his cōdemning of the same it is euident in that Austine saith that the Churches might doubt stil touching the matter of rebaptization because in the times of Stephen who condemned it and Cyprian who vrged it there was no generall Councell to end the controuersie betweene them and in that after the peremptory forbidding and condemning of rebaptization by Stephen Bishop of Rome Cyprian and his colleagues still persisted in the practice of it and in vrging the necessity of it and yet were neuer branded with the marke and note of heresie but euer were and still are reputed Catholiques Bellarmine to avoid the force of this argument feareth not to say contrarie to his owne knowledge that Stephen and his adherents neuer determined the question of rebaptization But that hee did and that in most peremptory sort and manner it is more cleare and euident then that the Sunne shineth at noone For Firmilianus a famous learned Bishoppe chargeth him that hee caused great dissentions throughout all the Churches of the world that hee grieuously sinned in that hee deuided himselfe from soe many flockes of Christs sheepe that hee was a schismaticke that hee had forsaken the communion of Ecclesiasticall vnity willing him not to deceiue himselfe but to bee well assured that in thinking hee could put all other from the communion he had put himselfe out of the communion of all that hee brake the bandes of vnity with many Bishoppes in all parts of the World as well in the East as in the South with the Africanes not admitting such as came from them vnto him into his presence or to any speech with him and farther commanding the brethren that none of them should receiue them to house So that he not only denyed the peace of the Church and the communion of Christians vnto them but the entring vnder the roofe of any mans house that would be ruled by him and that thus he held the vnity of the spirit in the bond of peace rejecting them as damnable miscreants that dissented from him and calling blessed Cyprian a false Christ a false Apostle and a deceiptfull labourer or workman And Dionysius a famous and worthy Bishop reporteth that he wrote concerning Hellenus and Firmilianus and all the Bishops in Cilicia Cappadocia and Galatia and all the bordering countries that he would not communicate with them for the same cause of rebaptization which yet as hee saith was agreed on in many very great Synodes of Bishops If this bee not sufficient to proue that Stephen determined the question of rebaptization I know not what can bee For first he commaunded that none should be rebaptized when they returned from the societies and prophane conventicles of heretickes but that they should bee admitted with the onely imposition of hands Secondly he deliuered his owne opinion that rebaptization was vnlawfull confidently as hauing so learned of his elders not in doubting manner And thirdly he rejected all them
thinke that this is the peculiar right of Bishoppes but they are clearely refuted by the Vniuersall practise of the whole Church from the beginning For in all Prouinciall and Nationall Synodes Presbyters did euer giue voyce and subscribe in the very same sort that Bishoppes did whether they were assembled to make Canons of discipline to heare causes or to define doubtfull points of doctrine as I haue before shewed at large and that they did not anciently sitte and giue decisiue voyces in Generall Councels the reason was not because they haue no interest in such deliberations and resolutions but because seeing all cannot meete in Councels that haue interest in such businesses but some must be deputed for and authorized by the rest therefore it was thought fitte that Bishoppes who are the chiefest among such as haue interest in deliberation of this nature should in giuing decisiue voyces supply the places of the rest especially seeing the manner was euer in all the first Councells that the chiefe Patriarches being acquainted with the matter that should be debated sent to all the Metropolitanes subiect to them who calling Prouinciall Synodes consisting of their Bishoppes and Presbyters discussed such doubtes and then by common consent choosing out certaine principall Bishoppes to goe to the Generall Councell in their name sent by thē their resolutions So that in effect Presbyters did subscribe as well as Bishoppes seeing they that went and subscribed were not to vary from the instructions they carried with them That this was the course it is euident by that of Iohn Bishoppe of Antioch in the third Generall Councell excusing his long tarrying by reason that his Metropolitanes could not sooner assemble their Cleargy to consult and by the Actes of the sixth Generall Councell where we find the suggestion of Agatho Bishop of Rome sent to the Councell subscribed by himselfe and the whole Synode of the West subiect to the See Apostolick in which Synode sundry Bishops doe subscribe as Legates sent from Nationall Synodes But if wee shall come to latter Councels holden in the West and esteemed by the Papists to bee Generall wee shall finde that Presbyters did giue voyces decisiue in them as well as Bishoppes For in the great Councell of Lateran as they call it vnder Innocentius the third there were but foure hundred eighty two Bishops but of Abbots and Priours Conventuall eight hundred who yet haue much lesse to doe in the government of the Church then Presbyters hauing care of soules And Bellarmine himselfe confesseth that by priviledge and custome Presbyters as namely Cardinals Abbots and the Generals of the Orders of Fryars may giue decisiue voyces in Generall Councels which they could not doe if by Gods Law it pertayned to Bishoppes onely For there is no prescribing against the Law of GOD and therefore I cannot see why the Romanists should so bitterly censure the councell of Basil because Presbyters were admitted to giue voyces in it Hauing cleared who they are that are to bee admitted to bee present and to giue voyces in Generall councels let vs proceede to see what number of Bishoppes is required to make a Generall councell and what order must be kept in the holding of it Touching the first the Diuines require three conditions to make a Generall councell whereof the first is that the summons bee Generall and such as may bee knowne to all the principall parts and provinces of the Christian World The second that no Bishop whence-soeuer hee come bee excluded if hee bee knowne to bee a Bishoppe and not excommunicate The third that the principall Patriarches bee present with the concurrence of the particular Synodes vnder them either in person or by their substitutes and Vicars or at least by their provinciall Letters as the Patriarch of Rome was present in the second Generall councell though hee were not there in person nor by substitutes And heereupon the second councell of Nice taketh exception to a certaine Synode holden in Constantinople as not Generall because neither all that were present did consent neither was there a concurrence in it of the Bishoppe of Rome and his Bishoppes either by his Vicars or provinciall letters nor of the Patriarches of the East to wit of Alexandria Antioch and Ierusalem and the Bishoppes subiect to them and therefore pronounceth that the wordes of those foolish men assuming to them the name of a Generall councell were not a candle sette on a candlesticke to giue light to all in the house but a meere smoake full of darkenesse blinding the eyes of men and were vttered as it were vnder the bedde and not vpon the mountaine of right beleefe and that their sound did not goe forth into all the earth nor their wordes to the vttermost endes of the World as the sound voyce and wordes of the former sixe Generall councels did But that wee may the better discerne how farre forth the presence of the chiefe Patriarches is necessary in Generall councels and that wee bee not deceiued in this point wee must obserue that when wee speake of patriarches either wee vnderstand them and their Synodes or themselues singly and apart If wee speake of them in the former sense no Synode can bee accounted fully and perfectly Generall to which the presence of any one of the chiefe patriarches is wanting and therefore the first councell of Ephesus was an imperfect Generall councell when before the comming of Iohn of Antioch and his Bishoppes it proceeded to the condemnation of Nestorius And wee see how great turmoyle and confusion that hath caused which could neuer bee quieted and taken away till Cyrill president of that councell and Iohn were reconciled and the Actes of the councell confirmed by the joint consent of them both and hence Cusanus saith it is that the eighth Generall councell when the Vicar of the Apostolicall Throne of Alexandria came rejoyced greatly and saide wee glorifie the GOD of all who hath supplyed vnto this vniuersall Synode what was wanting and hath now made it most full and perfect But if wee speake of them in the second sense that is singly and by themselues alone in case of heresie or wilfull refusall the councell may proceede without them and yet want nothing that pertaineth to the perfection of a generall Councell as did the Councell of Ephesus and the Councell of Chalcedon proceeding to the condemnation of Nestorius and Dioscorus vpon such euidence as they had against them though they refused to present themselues in those Synodes so that the concurrence of the Bishops subject to them be not wanting as in the case of Nestorius and Dioscorus it was not For the Bishops subject to Nestorius subscribed to his condemnation and the Bishops of Alexandria gaue their consent to the condemnation of Dioscorus their Patriarch and approued the proceedings of the synode against him though they refused to subscribe to the actes and decrees of it till they had a new Patriarch chosen
prayers and may be releeued by them that therefore there is a third place wherein they are to be temporally afflicted For all this may be in the passage hence and entrance into the other world the prayers of the liuing accompanying them and God purging out that which is impure and remitting that which offendeth him in this middle sort of men euen in that first entrance into the state of the other world And surely Augustine himselfe in his owne prayer for Monicha his mother neuer speaketh one word of releasing her out of paine or punishment but prayeth God not to enter into iudgment with her to suffer none to diuide her from him and take her out of his protection to keepe her that neither the lyon nor dragon by force or subtilty interpose himselfe for that shee will not plead that shee hath not trespassed lest shee should be conuinced and the accuser should preuaile against her and gette her to himselfe but that her trespasses are remitted to her by Christ so shewing that hee made his prayer for her respectiuely to the state shee was in in her passage and while she stood to be judged and because this might seeme to bee already past and the things hee asked performed when he prayed hee sayth he thinketh God hath already done that he prayeth for but beseecheth him to accept his voluntary deuotions Two places there are found in Augustines workes where he seemeth peremptorily to affirme that there is a penall state and purging fire after this life the first is in his one and twentieth booke De ciuitate Dei where he sayth When the dead shall rise againe there shall some bee found to whom after they haue suffered punishments mercy shall be shewed that they be not cast into eternall fire But the words as Viues noteth vpon the same place are not found in some auncient manuscripts nor in that printed at Friburge The other place is in his second booke De Genesi against the Manichees The words are these Hee who happily shall not till his field but shall suffer it to be ouer-growne with thornes and briars hath in this life the curse of his life in all his workes and after this life hee shall haue either the fire of Purgation or eternall punishment which wordes beeing spoken of them that till not their fielde that suffer it to bee ouer-growne with thornes and bryers whose whole life is accursed in all they doe and not of such good men to whom some imperfection cleaueth are vttered according to that opinion then preuayling of deliuerance out of hell which Augustine in that place would not stand to discusse but else-where refuteth at large So that the thinges t◅ are found in Augustine clearely resolued on are onely these First that some sinnes are remitted after this life which wee graunt vnderstanding that remission to bee in the first enterance into the other world Secondly that they are onely the lesser sinnes that are thus remitted after this life and not those more grieuous wherein men dye without repentance for these exclude from the Kingdome of Heauen Thirdly that prayers do helpe men dying in those lesser sinnes Which likewise we acknowledge to be true if such prayers be conceaued and vnderstood as made respectiuely to the enterance into the other world Fourthly that there is no deliuerance of men dying in the state of mortall sinne out of hell and that noe prayers can benefit them in this behalfe In all these pointes his resolution is full and cleare but whether the paines of men damned in hell may be eased mitigated or suspended for a time by the prayers of the liuing he professeth hee will not striue so that the wrath of God be acknowledged to remaine eternally vppon them Neither is this contradictory to that which he hath else-where that the prayers of the liuing are no helpes of such as are damned but onely comforts of the liuing For hee meaneth that they are no helpes able to free and deliuer them out of that state of punishment wherein they are but whether they may some way ease them or not hee will not much contend and therefore hee sayth that whom praiers profit either they profit them for full remission as they doe men dying in the lesser sinnes or that their damnation may bee the more tolerable and easie The Papists applying these latter words of more tollerable damnation to the state of soules in their supposed Purgatory is absurd for they cānot in any proper sense be said to be dāned These things being thus distinguished wee see there is nothing found in Augustine for confirmation of the Popish error touching Purgatory that no testimonies of Augustine could seale vp M. Higgons his heart in this idle conceit of Purgatory as vntruly he sayth they did that wee no way oppose our selues against the vniuersall resolution and practice of the whole Church which to do Augustine pronounceth insolent madnesse that we no way contradict this worthy Father reporting to vs the doctrine and tradition of the Church and consequently that Higgons ridiculously and idlely asketh whether Augustine or I know better the sense and iudgment of Anti◅uity thereupon childishly making a comparison betweene him and me for I make no question but he knew the sense of Antiquity right well neither do I dissent from him in any thing that he constantly deliuereth and for the comparison confesse my selfe vnworthy to be named the same day but whereas hee saith hee found sincetity in him vnfaithfulnes in me I defie the faithles Apostata challenge him or any of the proudest of his consorts to tell me truely wherein I haue shewed the least vnfaithfulnesse It seemeth he measureth other men by himselfe and his companions but we are not like them making marchandize of the word of GOD. After these idle discourses he passeth from me to that reverend renowned and worthy Divine Doctor Humfrey in his time the light and ornament of the Vniuersitie that bred him whom such a silly novice as M. Theophilus durst not haue looked in the face while hee liued But it is easier to insult vpon a dead lyon then a liuing dog that maketh him barke against him but such was his great reading variety of learning in all kindes profound science and mature judgement as made him so highly esteemed at home and abroad by all that knew how to judge of things aright that the scornefull speeches of this Renegado concerning his Rhetoricall flourishes will neuer be able to diminish or lessen the good opinion that most deseruedly all wise and good men holde of him Yet let vs see what it is that this graue censurer reprehendeth in D. Humfrey surely hee knoweth not what himselfe D. Humfrey speaking of the ancient commemoration or commendation of the dead saith We retaine it in our Colledges which is most true but hee hath spied as he supposeth three differences for first as he saith the
be found out that all thinges might bee brought to an agreement without persisting in a peremptory proofe of the same article against them for that men disposed to resist would hardly euer bee conuinced in this point And further hee wisheth men to thinke vpon it whether as some determinations of doubtes and questions passed and agreed on in Paris are saide to binde none but those that are within the Diocesse of Paris so it may not bee said in like sort that the determinations of the Latine Church binde the Latines onely and secondly whether that which is defined and holden as an article of faith â—…ay not bee made to bee no article by bringing thinges to the same state they were in before any determination passed Which thing he exemplifieth in a Decree of Bonifacius voyded by one of his successours To what purpose Master Higgons alleadgeth the opinion of Gerson touching the not erring of Generall Councels I cannot tell for I am well assured neuer any such Councell as yet approued Purgatorie and Prayer to deliuer men out of it nor I thinke euer will But whatsoeuer we thinke of Councells there is no question to bee made but that the Church is free from damnable errour as master Higgons in the title of his chapter vndertaketh to proue But whether it be free from all ignorance and errour as he seemeth in the discourse following to inforce it is not so cleere neitheir doth that text of Saint Paul touching the House of God which is the Church of the liuing GOD the pillar and ground of trueth nor any other authority or reason brought to that purpose proue the same and particularly touching that place of Saint Paul to Timothie it is euident the Apostles wordes are to bee originally vnderstood of the Church of Ephesus and that he maketh the glorious title of pillar and ground of truth common to that particular Church with that which is vniuersall and consequently that this title proueth not euery Church or society of Christians to which it agreeth to bee free from errour vnlesse wee will priuiledge all particular Churches from danger of erring If any man doubt whether the Apostle giue the title of pillar ground of trueth to the Church of Ephesus it is easily proued by vnanswerable reasons For as Lyra writing vpon the wordes of the Apostle rightly noteth The Apostle writeth to Timothy and giueth him directions that hee may know how to behaue himselfe in the Church of God that is how to order and gouerne it Now the Church which Timothy was to order and gouerne was not the vniuersall Church but the Church of Ephesus therefore the Church wherein he was wisely to behaue himself was but a particular Church and the same Church in which the Apostle directeth him how to behaue himself he calleth the Church of the liuing God the pillar ground of trueth therefore he giueth this title to a particular Church though hee restraine it not to it as master Higgons vntruly saith I doe so that I haue not eluded the grauity of this testimony as hee is pleased vniustly to charge me but I giue the right sence of it whence it followeth that seeing particular Churches may bee said to bee pillars of trueth this title doth not proue that society of Christian men to which it agreeth to bee free from all errour From the reprehension of our opinion in that wee thinke the Church subiect to some kinde of errour hee falleth into a discourse touching the confusions of Protestants admitting innumerable sectaries into one vast and incongruous Church which hee saith is a meere Chymera thrust together and fashioned in specificall disproportions and hence he saith it is that I laying the foundation of my Babell feare not to say that the Churches of Russia Armenia Syria Aethiopia and Greece are and continue partes of the true Catholique Church For answere whereunto I say that wee doe not admitte any Sectaries into the Communion of the true Catholicke Church much lesse innumerable Sectaries for wee admitte none into the Communion of our Churches but such as receiue all the lawfull Generall Councells that euer were holden touching any question of faith the three Creedes of the Apostles of Nice and Athanasius and whatsoeuer is found to haue beene beleeued and practised by all not noted for singularity and nouelty at all times and in all places So reiecting Arrians Zuenchfeldians Anabaptistes Familistes and all other like monsters Touching the differences betweene the Churches of England Denmarke Zueden Germany France c. They are not specificall as this bad Logician fancieth but imaginary or meerely accidentall And for the Churches of Greece Russia Armenia Syria Aethiopia agreeing in all the thinges before mentioned it is most strange that this Schismaticall fugitiue should dare vtterly to reiect them from the vnity of the Catholicke Church and to cast into hell so many millions of soules of poore distressed Christians for so many hundred yeares enduring so many bitter things for Christs sake in the midst of the proudest enemies that euer the name of Christ had That all these admitte the Doctrine of faith agreed on in all the lawfull generall councels that euer were holden the three Creeds and the whole forme of Christian doctrine catholickely consented on and that they reiect and condemne all the heresies condemned by Augustine and Epiphanius it shall be proued if Higgons or any other smatterer of that side shall goe about to improue it It is true indeede that the Armenians refused to admitte the Councell of Chalcedon but it was vpon a false suggestion as I haue else-where shewed And it is most certaine that they condemne the heresie of Eutiches as likewise those other that were condemned in the Fift and Sixt councells and though the Grecians seeke to avoide the euidence of that part of Athanasius Creede touching the proceeding of the holy Ghost yet doe they not deny the Creed it selfe and my Gerson as Master Higgons is pleased to call him thinketh it were better to desist from the strict vrging of the allowance of thaâ—… determination of the Latines touching the proceeding of the holy Ghost that both the Churches might bee reduced to vnity then peremptorily to insist vpon the proofe of it seeing men disposed to resist will very hardly euer bee conuinced so that hee doth not thinke as Master Higgons doth that the not admitting of this Article as defined and determined by Athanasius casteth men into hell for then Saint Iohn Damascene should bee damned who denieth the proceeding of the holy Ghost from the Father and the Sonne after the publishing of Athanasius Creed Thus doe wee moderate our censures not daring to cast all into hell that dissent from vs in some particular points not fundamentall as the Romanists doe yet doe wee not thinke that euery one may bee saued in his owne sect and errour whatsoeuer it bee for wee exclude all such out of the communion of
the true Catholicke Church as admit not all the things before specified so that I lay no foundation of Babell as this Babylonian is pleased to say I doe but pitying the breaches of Sion endeauour as much as in me lieth to make them vp that Hierusalem may be as a citie at vnity wit hin it selfe But the Romanistes indeede build Babell and their tongues are confounded euery one almost dissenting from other and that in most materiall and essentiall points Pighius and Catharinuâ—… haue a strange fancie touching originall sinne contrary to the Doctrine of other Papists Pighius is of Caluins opinion touching iustification Catharinus defendeth against the common tenent that men in ordinary course without speciall reuelation may be certaine by the certainty of Faith that they are in the state of grace yea M Higgons himself saith Our faith in Christ must be trustfull liuely and actiue by a speciall application of his merites vnto our selues as he was wont to preach in Saint Dunstans Church So vrging a necessity of special Faith which the Romanists condemne as hereticall in the Doctrine of our Church and innumerable like differences they haue yet all these are of one Church Faith Communion nothing it seemeth being necessary to the vnity of their Church but the acknowledging of the Supremacie of the Pope And yet which is most strange they that thinke he may erre they that thinke he cannot erre they that make him to be but Prime Bishop they that make him vniversall Bishop they that attribute to him power to depose Princes dispose of their states they that deny that hee bath any such power are of one the same Church But it is a Babylonicall Church §. 2. FRom the perpetual visibilitie vndoubted assurance the Church hath of holding the true Faith he proceedeth to shew our zeale in impugning condemning the opinion of Purgatory that yet notwithstanding the whole vniversal Church receiued it And thervpoÌ„ saith â—…he was misinformed by me others that the Greeks neuer intertained this doctrine that now he findeth that we erre not knowing or 〈◊〉 the truth assuring himselfe that howsoeuer some Greeks did not or do not admit the doctrine of Purgatory precisely vnder this name with some other circuÌ„stances yet the church of Greece generally doth retaine the thâ—…ig it selfe But whatsoeuer this goodfellow say to the coÌ„trary we know the Greek 〈◊〉 neuer 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 thing There is extant a most excelleÌ„t learned Apollogy of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…o the couÌ„cel of Florence or Basil as it is thought In this apology first 〈◊〉 clearly 〈◊〉 that there is no purging after this life by â—…e especially materiall c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Papists imagine Secondly they insâ—…te that some a longst 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that such as are of a middle condition and so depart hence are after death in a certaine obscurity without enioying the light of Gods countenance or holden as it were in a prison or in a state of sorrow till by the goodnesse of God and the prayers of the Church they be deliuered and thus much some professed in the Councell of Florence for there was a diuision amongst them Thirdly they incline to an opinion that the lesser sinnes of men dying in the state of grace are remitted after death without any punishment at all either by fire or in any other kind by the meere mercy goodnesse of God And whereas some bring proofes of remission of sinnes after this life thereby to confirme their conceit of Purgatory they say there is no agreement betweene remission and purging by fire and punishment for that eyther punishment or remission is needfull and not both and againe they confidently pronounce that neither Scripture nor the fifth Generall Councell deliuered vnto vs a double punishment or a double fire after this life This iudgment resolution they confirme proue by very excellent reasons authorities for first thus they argue It more beseemeth the goodnes of God to suffer no good though neuer so litle to passe away vnrespected vnrewarded theÌ„ to punish small sins offences but some litle good in them that haue great sins hath no reward because of the preuayling of the euil that is fouÌ„d in theÌ„ therefore smal euils in them that haue great works of vertue are not to be punished the better things ouercomming Secondly as is a little good in those that are mainely euill so is a little euill in those that are otherwise mainely good But a little good in those that are otherwise euill can procure no reward but onely causeth a difference in the degree of punishment making it the lesse therefore a little euill causeth no punishment but a difference in the degree of glory and happinesse which it maketh to bee lesse then otherwise it would bee whence it followeth that there is no Purgatory Thirdly either the wils of men departed hence are mutable or immutable if they be mutable then they that are good may become euill and they that are euill may become good whence it will follow according to Origens opinion that neyther the good are vnchangeably happy nor the the euill vnchangeably miserable but that men may fall from happinesse to misery and rise from misery to the heighth of all happinesse And soe wee shall make the punishments of all cast-awaies euen of the diuels themselues to be temporary as endeed supposing the mutability of the Will to continue after death iustly they may for the reason why in Iustice the punishment of sinne in the damned is to be eternall is because they are immutably vnchangeably and etâ—…nally euill if they bee immutable then are they not capable of any correction for he who is corrected is sette right by being brought to iust dislike and forsaking of that he formerly affected ill which chaunge from loue to hate froÌ„ liking to disliking from pursuing and following to forsaking and flying from cannot be found in a Will that is immutable Bonauentura disputeth the matter how afflicting fire purgeth the soule and answereth that some thinke that this fire besides the punishing vertue and power it hath hath also a spirttuall purging vertue such as sacraments haue which hee thinketh to be absurd especially seeing Gregory out of visions and apparitions of the dead sheweth that soules are purged in diuerse places and by diuerse other meanes as well as by fire and therefore there are other who thinke that what this purging fire worketh it worketh by punishing and afflicting which helpeth and strengtheneth grace that it may be able to purge out sinne Now punishment and affliction canne noe way helpe grace or strengthen it to the expulsion of sinne but in that by the bitternesse of it it maketh vs know how much it offendeth GOD and hurteth vs and thereby causeth a dislike of it or at least an increase of the dislike of it which dislike the Will cannot newly
was no cause for here is neither falsehood nor absurdity but in himselfe who to wrecke his anger hath sold himselfe to bee an absurd Patron of errour and vntruth The rest of his friuolous discourse following being but a reflection as hee calleth it vpon these premises I will not trouble my selfe nor the reader with The Second Booke §. 1. I Come to his Second Booke in the first part whereof hee challengeth mee for traducing the foure Doctors of the Church beginning with Gregory and from him proceeding to the rest To make it appeare that I haue wronged Gregory First he noteth that the principall drift of my discourse touching the Church is to proue that the opinions wherein the Papists dissent from the Protestants at this day were not the doctrines of the Church wherein our Fathers liued and died but of a faction only predominating in the same Secondly that to this purpose I frame an appendix wherein I produce the testimonies of sundry Fathers and Schoole-authors to justifie the foresayd position Thirdly that descending into the controuersie whether any sinnes be remitted after this life or not I vse this pretense to wit that whereas Lombard and other do say that some veniall sinnes are remitted after this life we must so vnderstand their sayings that therefore they are sayd to bee remitted after this life because they are taken away in the very momēt of dissolution the last instant of life being the first after life That this is the summe of that Exposition I make of Lombards other mens opinion cōcerning the remission of sins after this life wherein how sincerely exactly I deale he wil not dispute 4ly That to corroborate this my Exposition I bring a testimony of S. Gregory not without great wrong done vnto him To these his obseruations I briefely answere First that it is true that the doctrines wherein the Papists and We dissent at this day were not the doctrines of that Church wherein our Fathers liued and dyed but that I haue in any part vntruly set downe the differences betweene them and vs this false runnagate shall neuer be able to proue though if his credit would reach vnto it hee would gladly make men beleeue so 2ly That I haue indeed framed and added such an Appendix as he speaketh of to my Third booke wherein I haue produced sundry learned men and Schoole-authors for proofe of that my former position calling them as they well deserue worthy learned men but that they are mine enimies or that I speake honourably of them for mine own aduantage is but the saying of a silly fellow that careth not much what hee sayth soe he may be thought to say something Thirdly that this good fellow that complaineth so much of falshood and bad dealing hath in his third obseruation wholy mistaken the matter shamefully belied me for I make not that costruction of the sayings of Lombard and others which he speaketh of but it is the construction of Alexander of Ales the irrefragable Doctor and first of all the Schoole-men But that the Reader may the better perceiue how hee peruerteth all that commeth in his way I will lay downe the matter at large In the twentieth Chapter of that Appendix he speaketh of I produce the iudgment and resolution of Scotus Durandus and Alexander of Ales that all sinfulnesse is vtterly abolished in the very moment of dissolution and that there is no remission of any sin in respect of the fault and staine after death The words of these Authors I set downe at large The words of Alexander of Ales are these Finall grace taketh away all sinfulnesse out of the soule because when the soule parteth from the body all pronenesse to ill and all perturbations which were found in it by reason of the coniunction with the flesh do cease the powers thereof are quieted perfectly subiected to grace by that means all veniall sins remoued so that no veniall sin is remitted after this life but in that instant wherein grace may be said to be finall grace it hath full dominion absolute command and expelleth all sin Whereunto he addeth that whereas the Mr of Sentences some other do say that some veniall sins are remitted after this life some answer that they speake of a full remission both in respect of the fault and staine and the punishment also but that others more narrowly and piercingly looking into the thing do say that they are to be vnderstood to say sins are remitted after this life because it being the same moment or instant that doth continuate the time of life that after life so that the last instant of life is the first after life they are remitted in the very moment of dissolution grace more fully infusing and powring it selfe into the soule at that time then before to the vtter abolishing of all sin all impediment formerly hindering her working now ceasing So that these are the words of Alexander of Ales deliuering the opiniōof many worthy men in the church and not mine and therefore whether he and they doe aptly expound the sayings of the Master of Sentences and others or not it is nothing to me for I doe not so interpret the sayings of these men nor cite him to proue they are to bee so interpreted but cite him onely to shew that many learned men in former times did thinke all sinfulnes to be purged out of the souls of men departing hence in the state of grace euen in the very moment of dissolution which he clearely sheweth and besides telleth vs how they sought to construe the sayings of them that seemed to bee of another judgement that they might not be thought to bee contrary herevnto The same may bee confirmed out of Bonaventura who sayth it was the opinion of certaine Doctours who were of good vnderstanding that no sinne is remitted after death because the force of Free-will in respect of merite or demerite doth altogether cease These as he saith thought that veniall sinnes are wholly remitted and taken away either by repentance or by finall grace if there bee no time and place for repentance as when a just good man is suddainly seized vpon by death The Authour of the booke called Regimen Animarum a manuscript copy whereof I haue who liued about the yeare 1343 hath these words Delet gratia finalis veniale peccatum in ipsà dissolutione corporis animae ex virtute completionis sui status quamvis motus contritionis non sit ad illud directus hoc ab antiquis dictum est sed modò communiter tenetur quod peccatum veniale hinc deferatur à multis etiam quoad culpam That is finall grace doth abolish and vtterly take away veniall sinne in the very dissolution and parting of the soule and body in that she groweth to bee in a full and perfect estate though no motion of contrition bee directed to the putting of it
of prayer for the dead vndertaketh to proue the conspiring of the present Romane Church with the true Catholique Church that was of olde this he saith may be proued by producing the sayings and sentences of the Fathers touching euery particular controversie now on foote but because this would be a tedious course he saith there is another shorter and certainer way by demonstrating out of the confession of Protestant Writers first that the points now defended by Papists are the doctrines of all the Auncient secondly that the doctrine of the Protestants was condemned by the Auncient Church Touching the first hee goeth about to proue that Protestants confesse the points of Popish doctrine to bee the doctrine of the Auncient because Caluine in his Institutions when hee oppugneth the assertions of Papists confesseth that in so doing he opposeth himselfe against all Antiquity Amongst other particulars he giueth instance of prayer for the dead So that the thing which the Cardinall is to proue is this that Caluine impugning the Popish manner of prayer for the dead to deliuer men out of Purgatory confesseth himselfe in so doing to be opposite to all Antiquity and consequently that all Antiquity beleeued Purgatory and admitted a necessity of praying for the deliuerance of men out of it This he doth not but is forced to confesse that Caluine affirmeth that the doctrine of Purgatory and prayer to deliuer men thence was vnknowne to all Antiquity whence it followeth vnavoydably that the Cardinall doth nothing but trifle for if to talke idlely and not to conclude the thing intended be to trifle he is found to do so most grossely Neither doth it helpe the matter that Caluine confesseth that many of the Fathers were led into errour in the matter of prayer for the dead as namely such as thought they might suspend mitigate or wholly take away the paines or punishments of men in hell for these errors the Romanists condemne dislike as much as wee but saith Master Higgons Master Caluine confesseth the action of praying for the dead was performed by the Auncient howsoeuer he litigate about the intention It is true he doth so but his confession maketh neither hot nor cold to any thing now in controuersie and question betweene Vs and the Papists Whereforeto silence this pratler that multiplyeth vaine wordes without all sense or reason first wee say that neither Calvine or any of vs did euer simply condemne all prayer for the dead for wee all pray for the resurrection publike acquitall in the day of CHRIST and perfit consummation of them that are dead in the LORD and therefore the generall practise and intention of the Ancient in praying for the dead is not condemned by vs. Secondly we say that some of the Auncient prayed for the dead in such sort as neither wee nor the Romanists dare allow as for the suspension mitigation or releasing of the paines of such as are in hell and so were carryed into errour as Calvine rightly noteth Thirdly we say that neuer any man amongst the Auncients knew any thing of Purgatory or the Popish manner of praying to deliuer men thence So that I trifle not in accusing Bellarmine and defending Calvine as hee is pleased to tell mee I doe in the front and title of his next ensuing Chapter but he talketh idlely as his manner is §. 6. HIs next challenge is that I make an vntrue construction of the Heresie of Aerius condemning the commendations of the dead vsed in the Church at that time For the clearing whereof wee must make a difference betweene the generall practise and intention of the Church and the priuate opinion and conceipt of some particular men in the Church The generall practice of the Church was first to name the names of the dead and to keepe a commemoration of them to signifie expresse the assurance that resteth in the liuing that they are not extinct but that they are and liue with God that their spirits and soules are immortall and that their bodies shall rise againe Secondly to offer the sacrifice of the Eucharist that is of praise and thanksgiuing for them to desire of God the destroying of the last enemy which is death the raising of them vp againe in the last day the publique remission of their sins in the iudgement of that great day and their perfit consummation and blisse which Aerius could not condemne without iust note of hereticall temerity and rashnesse and all these things are excellently deliuered by Epiphanius and rightly iustified by him as right and good Some there were that extended these prayers farther supposing that men dying in the state of sinne may be relieued by the piety and deuotion of the liuing whose erroneous conceipt Aerius hauing an eye vnto rather then to the generall practise and intention of the Church inferred that if it bee soe men may doe what euils they will and be freed from the punishments of them by the meanes of such friends as they think good to procure assure to thē in the end to make prayers for them after they are gone To which obiection Epiphanius answereth that though the prayers of the liuing cutte not off the whole punishment of sinne yet some mercie is obtained for sinners by them at the least for some mitigation or suspension of their punishments of which opinion as I haue shewed before many other were as well as Epiphanius and Saint Augustine seemeth not much to dislike it saying if the mercifull men of his time would haue contented themselues with an opinion of the onely mitigation or suspension of the punishment of the damned he would not haue striued much with them about the matter so that if Aerius his reprehension had reached onely to this erroneous conceipt hee had neuer beene condemned for his censure but in that vppon the consideration of the error of some particular men hee presumed to condemne a generall custome that was lawfull and good hee was iustly condemned himselfe as rash and inconsiderate which things considered the contradiction which this simple fellow would faine force vppon vs is easilie auoided for his reprehension of the particular erroneous conceipt and sinister intention of some men misvnderstanding the Churches prayers is rightly iustified by Doctor Humphrey and the rest named by him and his reprehension of the generall practise and intention of the Church is rightly condemned by mee and others and the Church of that time defended against his rash and inconsiderate censure Neither let this foolish Fugitiue thinke that he can blow vp all with the breath of his mouth and put away this distinction by the sound of his bare word and by only saying I vainely excuse the folly of Protestants which sheweth it selfe in the diuersity of their censures touching the heresie of Aerius nor by sporting himselfe with the soueraigne plaister applied by me for it will be found to haue vertue to heale a greater wound then he can cause §. 7. BVt
it is time for mee to looke about mee for I heare a horrible outcry as if Hanniball were at the gates of the cittie Theophilus Higgons causeth it to be proclaymed with sound of Trumpet that I haue shewed my selfe a notable trifler in the question of Purgatory and prayer for the dead to the vtter confusion of my booke and the Protestanticall Church When Moyses came downe from the Mount and heard the noyse in the Campe he sayd It was not the noyse of them that ouercome in battel nor of them that are ouercome but of singing So is this hideous clamor but the venting of the boyish vanity of a foolish youth in sporting sort calling companie to come and play with him for all that he saith will be found to be lesse then nothing The occasion of this strange out-crie is this In the Appendix to the third booke I shewe that there was nothing constantly resolued on in the Romane Church in the dayes of our Fathers before Luther beganne touching that Purgatory that is denied by vs and defended by the Papists which I haue demonstrated in such sort that this fellow hath nothing to oppose against it but flourishes of his youthfull Rhetoricke For the more cleare and perfit vnderstanding whereof the Reader must obserue that wee all acknowledge a purging out of sinne in the dissolution of soule and bodie and in the first enterance of the soule into the state of the other world But all the question is of the nature kinde qualitie of it Luther saith Bellarmine admitteth a kind of Purgatory but of most short continuance For hee supposeth that all sinnes are purged out by the dolours of death or by the very separation of soule and body wrought by death Which opinion of Luther wee all follow and the same was embraced by many in the Romane Church in the daies of our Fathers before Luther was borne who taught then as wee doe now that all veniall sinnes are done away and purged out in the moment of dissolution and in the first entrance into the other world as I haue shewed before So that concerning Purgatorie properly as it serueth to purge out the impuritie of sinne there was nothing resolued on in the daies of our Fathers but that which wee willingly admitte But the Papists at this day deny that all veniall sinnes are purged out in the dissolution of soule and body and the first enterance into the state of the other world They imagine that they are long in purging out that they are purged in materiall fire and that the place of their purging out is below in the earth nearely bordering vpon the Hell of the damned This is the true difference betweene Protestants and Papists and rightly deliuered by me howsoeuer it please Master Higgons to say I yeeld not the true difference in this matter nor propose the question as in learning and honesty it became me It is true that he saith that wee must distinguish matter of substance from matter of circumstance and that it is sufficient to haue fundamentall vnity in the first howsoeuer there may be accidentall diversitie in the second But it is a matter of substance whether all sinnefulnesse bee purged out in the moment of dissolution they deny it wee affirme it and are well assured they canne neuer proue that all our fathers agreed with them in this matter of substance and therefore Master Higgons may soone be answered when hee asketh where that man is who in the time of our fathers denied Purgatorie or shewed any doubtfulnesse therein against the essentiall Doctrine in which the true difference betwixt Papists and Protestants doth stand most eminently at this day seeing there were found very many as I haue shewed before who not onely doubted of the circumstances of materiall fire place and instruments of punishment but taught as wee doe against the Papists in the most substantiall point of all other that all sinnefulnesse is purged out of the soules of men departing hence in the state of grace not by materiall fire in a place of Purgation vnder the earth or neare Hell nor by being afflicted by the ministerie of Deuills or otherwise but by the completion of the state of grace getting full dominion in the soule vpon her diuiding from the body in the moment of dissolution Now if all impurity and staine of sinne bee purged out in the moment of dissolution by the taking away of impediments and leauing grace to her selfe that shee may fill all with her diuine effects as many of our fore-fathers beleeued and taught there is no such Purgatorie as the Papists at this day imagine If it be said that though all sinne be purged out by death in respect of the staine or sinfull impurity yet the punishment remaineth and so there is a kinde of Purgatorie wherein men are to suffer the punishments due to sinnes past though now perfectly blotted out It will easily be answered that whatsoeuer is of force to doe away all impurity of sinne offending God is likewise able to reconcile God vnto vs so perfectly as that no guilt of punishments shall remaine For seeing it is the nature of grace to expell sinne offending God and to make men acceptable to God that stood in termes of disfauour before where grace is so perfect as that it expelleth all sinfulnesse there it must needes worke and procure a perfect reconciliation with which guilt of punishment cannot stand Besides charity implieth a dislike of all that which is displeasing to God whom we loue and a sorrow that wee haue offended him therefore charitie in such perfection as is able to purge out all impuritie of sinne implieth dislike of that which in sinning was ill affected and desired before and sorrow for the same aequivalent to the pleasure and delight taken in sinning and consequently doth satisfie God in such sort as that no punishment shall come vpon him that so sorroweth Thirdly the punishments of men pure and cleane from sinne for such sinnes as they formerly committed if any such be imagined cannot be named Purgatory punishments but satisfactory onely So that if all sinfulnesse be purged our there remaineth afterwards no Purgatory properly so named Lastly if it were doubtfull in the dayes of our Fathers as Master Higgons confesseth it was whether the fire bee materiall or not in which men are to satisfie GODS displeasure what kind of suffering it is that is to satisfie whether of sorrow onely or some thing inflicted from without and likewise how long it doth continue it is evident that notwithstanding any thing resolued on in former times God may be so satisfied by the first conversion of the soule vpon her separation turning vnto him in mislike of her former misdeeds as that all guilt of punishments may be vtterly taken away in the very moment of dissolution Whence it will follow that nothing was constantly certainely and genelally resolued on in the dayes of our Fathers
fitte to expose such a Father to detractions and wrongs but to hide his turpitude as much as may bee Notwithstanding in the third place I deliuer vnto thee that if this Vicegerent thorough frigiditie or other impediment become vnfitte for the spirituall generation of children hee may not bee esteemed a fitte husband for the Church nor Vicegerent for her husband Now the seede of this generation is the holy word of God and not the variable traditions of the sonnes of this world Againe I deliuer that the Church if this Vicegerent of her husband become a Fornicator or Adulterer marrying a widdow a woman put away from her husband a woman of vile and base condition and a Harlotte contrary to the commaundement of Almighty God in Leviticus If hee hardly intreat the Church if hee spoyle and robbe her of her Roabes by Dilapidation or goe about to abuse her by Symonie if hee smother her children either in the wombe or after they are come out of the wombe by ill example if hee slay them with the sword of scandalous Doctrine and such as killeth the soule or pestiferous wicked courses of life or hurtfull dissembling and winking at faults and heresies that should be suppressed that the Church I say in these cases may giue him a bill of Diuorce especially if hee adde incorrigibility to his fault least the keeping of him still turne to the disgrace and dishonour of her husband and the hurt of her children If it had pleased Maister Higgons to suffer Iohn Gerson thus fully to vtter his minde his Superiours I thinke would neuer haue permitted him to produce a witnesse to depose soe directly against them in Print for what could Luther say more then Gerson doth if the Pope who is the chiefe Bishop of the world will doe his duty hee is to be honoured as chiefe of all Bishops but if hee become scandalous if he be vnable to performe the dutie of teaching the people of God if hee teach false doctrine or wilfully neglect to reforme things amisse and shew himselfe incorrigible he may nay he must be reiected by the Church and a bill of Diuorce must be giuen vnto him This I thinke will be censured as hereticall by our Romanistes But howsoeuer Maister Higgons had no cause to exclaime as hee doth that Luther whom hee calleth the Cham of Saxonie did not demeane him-selfe towards the Pope as hee ought to haue done and thereupon to compare him to furious Aerius and to say that I likewise approximate to them both when I say we haue not receiued the marke of the Antichrist childe of perdition in our fore-heads nor sworne to take the foame of his impure mouth and the froath of his wordes of blasphemy for infallible Oracles of heauenly trueth For Luther did hide the the turpitude and shame of this holy Father as long as it was lawfull so to doe but when the turpitude of this Noah neither could nor would bee hidde any longer when he became vnfit to beget sonnes vnto God when he became a Fornicatour and an adulterer when he married a woman refused by her husband a base woman nay a harlotte when hee choaked and smothered the children of the Church before and after they came out of her wombe when hee slew them with the sword of scandalous doctrine and such as killeth the soule when hee spoyled the Church and stript her out of all her Roabes when hee abused and wronged her in most shamefull and vile manner to the dishonour of Christ her husband what remained for Luther and such other sonnes of the Church as had any care of their Mothers well-fare to doe but to cast him off with disgrace that in so shamefull manner dishonoured the sonne of God their Father and wronged the Church their Mother But if this testimonie of Gerson serue not the turne Master Higgons produceth another that will better satisfie vs touching the opinion hee held of the Pope his wordes are these Nolo de sanctissimo Domino nostro Christo Domini velut os in coelum ponendo loqui that is I will not speake of our most holy Lord and the Lords anointed as it were setting my face against heauen These words follow not in the same place where the other are found And Master Higgons directeth vs to no other pla◅ as if they were found there who yet is wont to complaine against mee for that I cite in thē same page thinges found in diuerse parts of Gersons workes and not all together the Reader may finde them in the third part of his workes in his Apologeticall Dialogue The occasion of these his wordes is this hee complaineth in that Apologie of the partialities and sinister courses hee saw to be holden in the Councell of Constance by reason whereofthe French King and other Christian Princes with their Bishops and Diuines could not obtaine nor procure the condemning of certaine wicked and scandalous assertions of Iohannes Paruus and some other preiudiciall to the state of Princes and more pestilent and dangerous as he sayth whether we respect the prosperity of the Kingdomes of the world or the good manners and honest conuersation of men then those of Wickliffe and the Bohemians that were condemned in that Councell After this complaint one of the speakers in that Apologeticall Dialogue asketh if things went not better in that Councell after a Pope was chosen and the Schisme ended then before whereunto the other speaker answereth in this sort I I will not speake of our most holy Lord and the Lords annointed as it were setting my face against Heauen not-withstanding hee had some sitting by his side who some say proceeded not with that due care and diligence which they should haue vsed in the matter concerning the state of Princes and the things concerning the Lordsof Polonia these men feare not to say that they were so backward that they could not be stirred vp sufficiently to the zeale fauouring of Catholike verity nor bee moued either by words of exhortation or writing to determine such things as were proposed vnto them Thus doth hee in mannerly sort decline the direct taxing of the Pope which might haue bin some-thing offensiue to some at that time and yet spareth him not but condemneth his negligence and want of zeale in suppressing heresie and defending and maintaining Catholique veritie and addeth that hee would haue them that are zealous of Christian Religion the honour of the Pope and the holy Councell to consider whether if care be not had for the extirpation of heresies especially in matters solemnely denounced prosecuted and handled some will not impute it to negligence other to ignorance other to a direct refusall to doe right other to the couetousnesse of Prelates seeking their own things not those of Christ other to the contempt of the Princes and Vniversities that sought the condemnation of such errours others to the weakenesse of the Ecclesiasticall power in rooting out heresies and
Pope sought to ouerthrow the order of the Ecclesiasticall Hierarchie to encroach vpon all Bishoppes and guides of the Church and to vsurpe such an illimited vniversall and absolute authority as no way pertained to him feared not to call him Antichrist to compare him and his Courtiers to that Behemoth that putteth his mouth to the Riuer of Iordan thinking he can drinke it vp to pronounce that it is most true that before his time was said of him and his execrable Court Eius avaritiae totus non sufficit orbis Eius luxuria meretrix non sufficit omnis That the Church was holden in Babylonicall captivity by this Antichrist and that her deliuerance would neuer be wrought but by the edge of the sword that must be bathed in blood This is the true report concerning Grosthead in all which there are neither fictions nor exaggerations as Higgons pretendeth by which it is evident that there was as little Communion between the Pope challenging as he did then and doth now infallibility of judgement vniversality of illimited and vncontrouleable power right to dispose the Kingdomes of the World as there is betweene light and darknesse the Temple of God and Idols CHRIST and Antichrist So that he was no Papist seeing he ouer-threw the Papacie and if in any thing he erred as liuing in corrupttimes it is not to be marvayled at neither did his errour in some particular thing so much prejudice his piety and sanctity as that he may not bee called a worthy and renowned Bishop seeing hee held the foundation and stroue for the truth as farre as hee knew it euen to death And therefore the exceptions of the Author of the booke of the Three Conversions against Master Foxe touching this Bishoppe and some other mentioned by him and recorded in the number of Martyrs and Confessors are little to be regarded for that men might be members of that true Church whereof we are holding the foundation and carefully seeking out and maintaining the truth as farre as they knew it though they were otherwise perswaded in some things then either Master Foxe or we are which need not to seeme strange to Master Higgons nor any other of that side seeing they thinke many to haue beene members of their Church and Catholiques that dissented from them in all the questions concerning the Pope to which all other as Master Higgons telleth vs are subordinate and besides in the questions of originall sin free-will justification merite satisfaction the number of the Sacraments and sundry other like things Thus wee see how zealously Grosthead the worthy renowned Bishop of Lincolne opposed himselfe against the tyrannicall vsurpations and incroachments of the Pope and feared not to call him Antichrist for the same Neither was he alone in this opposition but we shall finde that the whole state of England after many complaints against the Popes incroachments vsurpations and tyrannicall intermedling in things no way pertaining to him to the ouerthrow of the Hierarchy of the Church told him in the end that if these courses were continued they should bee forced to doe that which would make his heart to ake Thus faith Mathew Paris at last the poore Church of England that had bin long vsed as an Asse to carry the Popes burdens in the end grew weary opened her mouth as Balaams Asse did to reproue the folly of the Prophet that not without just cause in the judgement of all the world for howsoeuer the church of Rome challenged to be the Mother of all churches and the Popeto be the Father of all Christians yet the one proued a cruell stepmother the other an vnkind vnnaturall Father so that they both lost the hearts of all men But what did the Pope vpon the complaints of so great a church nation as this of England did he ease her burthens or any way listen to her most reasonable suits no verily but was so vnmercifull as the same Paris testifieth that hauing so sore beaten vs he beate vs againe in more cruel sort then euer before onely because we cryed therefore let him not be angry with vs because we haue kept our word with him that neuer kept any with vs haue indeed done that which maketh his heart to ake as our fore-fathers threatned him long before these groanes of our wrōged Mother her often renewed bitter complaints before any was found to worke her deliuerance doe iustifie that which we haue done to be no more then in duty we stood bound to do neither is there any better proofe of the goodnes of our cause then that that which we haue done in the reformation of the church was long before wished for expected fore-tolde by the best men that liued in former times in the corrupt state of the church But because Mr Higgons is pleased to tell vs that if there be no better proofe the cause is bad the patrons worse because these best men we speak of will not speake for vs I will take a litle paines to shevv the goodnes of this proof vvhich I doubt not but the Reader vvill find to be better then that Mr Higgons or any other of his Romanists shall euer be able to vveaken it All that vvhich vve haue done in the reformation of the church cōsisteth in 3 things the first is the condemning of certain erronious opiniōs in matters of doctrine the 2d the shaking off of the yoake of Papall tyranny the 3 the remouing of abuses superstitious observatiōs Novv then if it be proued that the best best learned in former times thought as vvee doe in matters doctrinall that they complained of the heauie yoake vvhich the Pope laide on them and desired the remoouing of such abuses as vvee haue remooued I thinke this proofe vvill bee found very strong and good I vvill therefore first beg◅ vvith matters of doctrine and so proceede to the other points not intending to run through all the controversed points of doctrine but some onely for example and because the question is onely of the judgment of men liuing in latter times in the corrupt state of the Church vnder the Papacie I will passe by the Fathers and speake of such as liued since their time Touching the Canon of Scripture which is the rule of our faith wee deny the bookes of Tobit Iudith Ecelesiasticus Wisdome Machabees the song of the three Children and the story of Bell and the Dragon to bee Canonicall Scriptures So did Hugo de Sancto Victore Richardus de Sancto Victore Petrus Cluniacensis Lyranus Dionysius Carthusianus Hugo Cardinalis Thomas Aquinas Waldensis Richardus Armachanus Picus Mirandula Ockam Caietan and Driedo to say nothing of Melito Bishop of Sardis Origen Athanasius Hilarius Nazianzen Cyrill of Ierusalem Epiphanius Ruffinus Hierome Gregory and Damascen Here wee see a cloud of witnesses deposing for vs. And what better proofe of the goodnesse of our cause canne there be then that so
three Hypostases wee aske them what they meane by the Hypostases they speake of and they tell vs three persons subsisting wee answere that wee beleeue so but the sense satisfieth them not they vrge vs to vse the word it selfe some poyson lying hid in the very syllables c. Let it bee sufficient for vs to say there is one substance in God and three subsisting Persons perfit equall and coeternall if it seeme good vnto you let vs speake no more of three Hypostases but let vs acknowledge one only there is some ill to be suspected whē in one sense diuersity of words is found let it suffice vs to beleeue as I haue sayd or if you thinke it right that wee admitte three Hypostases with their interpretation we will not refuse soe to doe but beleeue mee there lyeth some poyson hid vnder their wordes the Angell of Sathan hath transfigured himselfe into an Angell of light By this which hath been said it is euident that there haue bin as great and hot contentions in former times amongst right beleeuers as are now between the professors of the reformed religion and that those diuisions were not about matters of circumstance or personall onely as Higgons falsely pretendeth but of whole Churches disliking condemning and refusing to communicate one with another vppon supposed differences in mattersof faith and religion Wherefore to draw to a conclusion we deny not but that Luther and some other adhering to him vpon some misconstruction of the opinion of Zuinglius and the rest were carried too farre with the violence of their ill-guided zeale but we say also that there were as fiery conflicts in former times betweene Cyrill and Theodoret betweene Cyrill and Iohn of Antioch betweene Chrysostome and Epiphanius who yet were Catholicke Christians all of them as I take it notwithstanding the vnkindnesses that passed betweene them and as Iohn of Antioch and Theodoret were reconciled to Cyrill and those of that side vpon a more ful explication of their positiōs formerly disliked so it is reported by Melanchthon that Luther a litle before his death cōfessed vnto him that he had exceeded gone too far in the cōtrouersies between him his opposits about the Sacramēt that thereupon being wished to publish some qualification of his former writings that were too violēt and bitter he said hee had thought vpon that matter and would so doe but that hee feared the scandall that might grow vpon such his retractation and that therefore he was resolued to referre all to God and to leaue the matter to Melanchthon who might doe something in it after his death This conference betweene Luther and him Melanchthon made knowne to many and euer constantly shewed himselfe a most godly peaceable and religious man carefull to hold the vnity of the spirit in the bond of peace howsoeuer it pleaseth pratling Higgons to wrong him and to compare him to the Moone in mutability Wherefore leauing my first allegation let vs come to the second which is that there are more and more materiall differences amongst Papists then amongst vs which Higgons saith is a poore recrimination For that the eye being iudge there is a comfortable Harmony in the Roman Church the same Doctrine preached the same Sacraments ministered and the same Gouernment established whereas Protestants are diuided in iudgement touching matters of faith and haue a distinct gouernment in England Scotland Heluetia and Saxony This exception consisteth of two parts the first clearing the Papistes from the differences and diuisions they are charged with The second charging Protestants with diuisions and differences both in matters of faith and gouernment For answere to the former part of this exception first I say if there be no contradiction betweene these assertions the Pope is aboue Generall Councels the Pope is not aboue Generall Councels the Pope hath the vniuersality of all Ecclesiasticall iurisdiction in himselfe the Pope is but onely prime Bishoppe in order and honour before other equall in commission with him and at the most but as the Duke of Venice amongst the senators of that state the Pope may erre iudicially the Pope cannot erre iudicially the Pope is temporall Lord of all the world the Pope is not temporall Lord of all the world the Pope if not as temporall Lord of the world yet in ordine ad spiritualia may dispose the Kingdomes of the world the Pope may not meddle with Princes states in any case men are iustified by imputed righteousnesse men are not iustified by imputed righteousnesse men are iustified by speciall faith men are not iustified by speciall faith men may be certaine by the certainety of faith that they are in state of grace men cannot bee so certaine there is merit of condignity properly so named there is no merit of condignity the blessed Virgine was conceiued in sinne the blessed Virgine was not conceiued in sinne then doubtlesse all the Pastours and Bishoppes of the Roman Church preach the same Doctrine otherwise let the reader assure himselfe Master Higgons hath stretched his stile to vse his owne wordes till hee forced it to breake into a vast and notable vntrueth Secondly I say the forme of ministring the Sacraments hath not beene alwayes the same in the Romane Church For as Cassander noteth in his preface before the booke called Ordo Romanus published by him the auncient formes of diuine service were abolished new imposed and prescribed violently so that all that resisted were sent into banishment and since that first alteration as Platina noteth a number of Tautologies and Barbarismes are crept in making ingenuous men abhorre from the celebration of the holy mysteries Thirdly I thinke it will easily appeare there was no such sweet harmony in the Romane Church touching matters of gouernment as Master Higgons speaketh of when the Pope was not onely resisted but called Antichrist in respect of his infinite reseruations admittances of appeales his prouisions and graunting of expectatiue graces and the like vsurpations preiudiciall to the right of all other Bishoppes and the liberty of the Church For answere to the second part of his exception first I confidently affirme and the proudest Papist vnder heauen shall neuer proue the contrary that Protestants haue no reall and essentiall differences in matters of faith and doctrine Secondly I say that their differences in the forme of gouernment are not such as our Aduersaries pretend For they that admitte gouernment by Bishoppes make their authority to bee fatherly not princely directing the rest not excluding their aduise and assistance subordinate to Prouinciall Synodes wherein no one hath a negatiue voyce but the maior part of the voyces of the Bishoppes and Presbyters determineth all doubtes questions and controuersies and they that retaine not the name of Bishops yet haue a president in each company of Presbyters and thinke it a part of Gods ordinance that there should bee such a one to goe before the rest and to be
not precisely in that they were Apostles as they reported the precepts of CHRIST deliuered the Doctrine of faith but by vertue of their pastorall power in generall common to them with other Pastors of the Church though in that they were no ordinarie Pastors but Apostles they had absolute infallibilitie could make no lawes or constitutions but good profitable in which respect no other are equall to them So that the Pastors of the Church now haue that power by which the Apostles made their Ecclesiasticall constitutions touching order comelinesse but not with like assurance of not erring in making or reversing such lawes therefore the Treatiser cannot from hence inferre that the present Church the guides of it haue infallible iudgement touching matters of faith or ceremonies §. 2 IN the next place first he produceth my distinction of the Church considered as it comprehendeth all the faithfull that are haue beene since Christ appeared in the flesh or onelie such as are haue beene since the Apostles times or such alone as are at one time in the world Secondly an assertion that the present Church may be said at all times to be the pillar of truth not to erre because it euer retaineth a sauing profession of heauenlie truth that is true doctrine concerning all such principall points as are of the substance of Faith and needfull to bee knowne and beleeued expresly by euery man Thirdly he addeth that we deny so much as the virtuall beleefe of other things to be necessary which he pronounceth to be an absurd opinion For the confutation of my distinction of the Church considered in those three different sorts hee asketh if there be now presently any Church in the world including in it all the faithfull that are and haue beene since CHRIST appeared in the flesh or at least since the Apostles times which is a most childish senselesse demaund For it will easily bee answered that the Church that includeth in it all these faithfull ones is now extant in the world as he is pleased to speake in that some of her parts betweene which and the rest there is a connexion are now in the world though all be not as time whereof the parts are present past to come is now though all parts of it be not now But his inference vpon supposall of our answer is more strange then the question For if it bee granted that the Church including in it all these holy ones hath not all her parts in the world at one time he inferreth from thence that the promises of Christ cannot be verified of it As if Christs promises were verified of the church only in respect of those parts that it hath in the world at one time whereas Bellarmine himself teacheth that the promise of the churches being in all parts of the world is not verified of it at one time but successiuely in that though it be not in all parts Provinces of the world at one time yet at one time or other it spreadeth it selfe into euery part of it And Stapleton defineth the church according to the state of the New Testament to be a collectiue multitude of men professing the name of Christ beginning at Hierusalem frō thence dispersed throughout the world increasing spreading it self through all nations alwaies visible manifest mixt of good bad elect reprobate in respect of faith Sacraments holy in respect of origin successiō Apostolique in extent catholique in cōnexion order of parts one in duratiō continuance perpetuall expressing vnto vs that church that includeth all faithful ones since Christ till now nay till the end of the world Which is no doubt a reall body hath many excellent promises made vnto it though all the parts of it be not in the world at one time But let vs goe forward and wee shall see how this silly Treatiser forgetteth himselfe For first hee confesseth that the diuerse considerations of the church proposed by mee may bee in our vnderstanding and yet presently addeth that wee cannot distinguish them really one from another which hee goeth about to proue because the Church in the first consideration includeth in it the same Church as it is taken in the second and third but the proofe is to weake for euery child will tell him that these considerations may be really distinguished one from another because though the former includeth the latter yet the latter includeth not the former For as euery man is a liuing thing but euery liuing thing is not a man soe the Church consisting of all faithfull ones that are and haue beene since Christ appeared in the flesh includeth in it all those that now presently are in the world but the Church consisting of those onely that are at one time includeth not the other but is included in it as a part in the whole and consequently cannot challenge all the priuiledges belonging to it more then the part of a thing may challenge all that pertaineth to the whole soe that the Church in the former consideration may bee free from error though not in the latter But the Treatiser will proue it cannot seeing if the Church including in it all faithfull ones that are or haue beene since Christ be free from error euery part of it must be free and consequently the present Church as a man cannot be sayd to bee free from sicknesse vnlesse euery part of him be free For answere where-vnto wee say that the Church being a collectiue body may be sayd to be free from error in another sort then a man is said to be free from sicknesse for a man cannot be sayd to be free from sicknesse vnlesse euery part be free but the Church may rightly be sayd to be free from error if all her parts erre not though some doe for otherwise I would aske of this Treatiser whether the Church were free frō error in the daies of Athanasius when as Vincentius Lyrinensis sayth almost all the Bishops of the Latine Church were misled by force or fraud and when Liberius Bishop of Rome subscribed to heresie as Athanasius and Hierome testifie If the Church were not free from errour at that time where is the priuiledge of neuer erring If it were it was but in respect of some few partes whence it will follow that the Church may be sayd to bee free from errour though many partes bee not if any continue sound for here the greater and more principall partes did erre But that the Church may be sayd to be free from errour though all parts be not it is euident in that they who most stifly maintaine the not erring of the present Church yet confesse that some parts of it do erre For Stapleton and Bellarmine who both thinke the present Roman Church to be free from error yet deny that she is free in all her parts and tell vs there are some who are
Augustine saith he would not beleeue the Gospell if the authoritie of the Church did not moue him hee vnderstandeth by the name of the Church the Primitiue congregation of those Faithful ones which saw heard Christ and were his witnesses Thirdly Driedo writeth thus when Augustine saith hee would not beleeue the Gospell if the authoritie of the Church did not moue him hee vnderstandeth that Church which hath beene euer since the beginning of the Christian Faith hauing her Bishops in orderly sort succeeding one another and growing and increasing till our times which Church truly comprehendeth in it the blessed company of the Holy Apostles who hauing seene Christ his miracles and learned from his mouth the Doctrine of Faith deliuered vnto vs the Evangelicall Scriptures And againe the same ◠Driedo saith that the authority of the Scripture is greater then the authoritie of the Church that now is in the world in it selfe considered But if wee speake of the vniversal Church including all Faithfull ones that are and haue beene the authority of the Church is in a sort greater then the Scripture and in a sort equall For explication whereof he addeth that as touching things that cannot bee seené nor knowne by vs we beleeue the sayings writings of men not as if they had in them in themselues considered a sufficient force to moue vs to beleeue but because by some reasons we are perswaded of them who deliuer such things vnto vs thinke them worthie to be beleeued So S. Augustine might rightly say hee would not beleeue the bookes of the Gospel if the authority of the Church did not moue him vnderstanding the vniuersal Church of which he speaketh against Manicheus which including the Apostles hath had in it an orderly course of succession of Bishops till our time For the faithfulnes trueth credit of this Church was more evident then the Trueth of the books of the New Testament which are therefore receiued as sacred true because written by those Apostles to whō Christ so many waies gaue testimony both by word and worke and the Scriptures are to be proued by the authority of that Church which included the Apostles but in the Church that now is or that includeth only such as are now liuing God doth not so manifest himselfe as hee formerly did so that this Church must demōstrat herself to be Orthodox by prouing her faith out of the Scripture With Driedo Ockam cōcurreth his words are these sometimes the name of the Church cōprehendeth not only the whole cōgregation of Catholiques liuing but the Faithful departed also in this sense blessed Augustine vseth the name of the Church in his book against the Manichees cited in the Decrees 2. dist c. palà m where the Catholique Church importeth the Bishops that haue succeeded one another frō the Apostles times the people subiect to thē And in the same sense Augustine vseth the name of the Church when he saith he would not beleeue the Gospell if the authoritie of the Church did not moue him for this Church comprehendeth in it the Writers of the bookes of the Gospell and all the Apostles so that from the authoritie of Augustine rightly vnderstood it cannot be inferred that the Pope the maker of the Canons is rather more to be beleeued then the Gospel yet it may be granted that wee must more rather beleeue the Church which hath beene from the times of the Prophets Apostles till now then the Gospel not for that men may any way doubt of the Gospell but because the whole is greater then the part So that the Church which is of greater authoritie then the Gospel is that whereof the Writer of the Gospel is a part Neither is it strange that the whole should bee of more authority then the parts These are the words of Ockam in the place cited by me Wherfore let the Reader judge whether that I cite out of Ockam be impertinent as the Treatiser saith or not To Durandus Gerson Driedo Ockam we may adde Waldensis who fully agrees with thē shewing at large that it pertayned to the Church onely in her first best and primitiue state age to deliuer a perfect direction touching the Canon of the Scripture so that shee hath no power or authority now to adde any more bookes to the Canon already receiued as out of her owne immediate knowledge But it sufficeth to the magnifying of her authority in her present estate that euen now no other bookes may bee receiued but such only as in her first and best estate shee proposed Farther adding that the saying of Augustine that hee would not beleeue the Gospell if the authority of the Church did not moue him is to bee vnderstood of the Church including the primitiue Fathers and Pastors the Apostles Scholers By this which hath bin sayd it is euident as I thinke that the former of those two constructions which I make of Augustines words hath bin approued by far better men then this Treatiser And that therefore he sheweth himself more bold then wise when he pronounceth it to be frivolous And surely if we consider well the discourse of S. Augustine I thinke it may be proued vnanswerably out of the circumstances of the fame that hee speaketh not precisely of the present Church For it is that authority of the catholicke church hee vrgeth that was begun by miracles nourished by hope increased by charity confirmed strengthned by long continuance And of that Church he speaketh wherin there had bin a succession of Bishops from Peter till that present time So that he must needs meane the Church including not onely such faythfull ones as were then liuing when hee wrote but all that either then were or had bin from the Apostles times Wherefore let vs passe to the other construction of Augustines words which is that the authority of the present church was the ground reason of an acquisit fayth an introduction leading him to a more sure stay but not the reason or ground of that faith whereby principally he did beleeue This constructiō the Treatiser sayth cannot stand because Aug saith if the authority he speaketh of be weakned hee will beleeue no longer Whence it seemeth to be consequent that it was the cause of all thē perswasion of fayth that he had then when he wrote not only of an acquisit fayth preparing fitting him to a stronger more excellent farther degree or kind of faith For the clearing of this poynt we must note that there are 3. sorts of such mē as beleeue for there are some that beleeue out of piety onely not discerning by reason whether the things they beleeue be to be beleeued as true or not the 2d. haue a light of diuine reason shining in them causing an approbation of that they beleeue the 3d. sort hauing a pure heart conscience begin already inwardly to taste that which hereafter
or inducement to make vs beleeue things we know not but it must be the report of such an one as we know cannot be deceiued nor will not deceiue It must therefore be evident to euery one that firmely and without doubting beleeueth things not knowne vnto him vpon the report of another that he that reporteth them vnto him neither is deceiued nor can deceiue Whence it followeth necessarily that things are as he reporteth These things presupposed I demaund of this Treatiser whether he and his consorts assent to the Articles of the Christian Faith induced so to doe by the evidence of the things in thēselues or by the report of another That they assent not vnto thē induced so to do by the evidence of the things in thēselues they all professe but by the report of another I demand therefore who that other is whether God or man if man then haue they nothing but anhumane perswasion very weakly grounded wherein they may be deceiued for euery man is a lyar If God let them tel me whether it be evident in it self that God deliuereth these things vnto thē pronounceth them to be as they beleeue or not If not but beleeued only then as before by reasō of authority that either of God or man Not of God for it is not evident in it self that God deliuereth any thing vnto thē not of men for their report is not of such credit asthat we may certainly vndoubtedly stay vpon it seeing they may be deceiued deceiue other They answere therefore that it is no way evident vnto them in it selfe that God deliuereth the things they beleeue but that they perswade themselues hee deliuered such things vpōthe report of men but such men as are infallibly led into all truth See then if they doe not runne round in a circle finding no stay They beleeue the resurrection of the dead and the like things because God revealed it they beleeue that God revealed it because it is so contained in the Scripture and the Scripture because it is the Word of God and that it is the Word of God because the Church so delivereth and the Church because it is a multitude of men infallibly led into all truth and that there is a Church infallibly led into all truth because it is so contained in Scripture and the Scripture because it is the word of God and so round without euer finding any end Out of this circle they cannot get vnles they either groūd their Faith vpon the meere report of men as men humane probabilities or confesse that it is evident vnto them in it selfe that God speaketh in the Scripture and revealeth those things which they beleeue which if they doe it must bee in respect either of the manner matter there vttered or consequent effects In respect of the manner there being a certaine diuine vertue force and majesty in the very forme of the words of him that speaketh in the Scripture in respect of the matter which being suggested and proposed to vs findeth approbation of reason inlightned by the light of grace in respect of the consequent effects in that we finde a strange and wonderful change wrought in vs assuring vs the doctrine is of God that hath such effects which is that we say which they condemne in vs. The Treatiser would make vs beleeue that there are two opinions amongst them touching this point whereof the one is as he telleth vs that wee beleeue the Church because the Scripture teacheth vs that shee is to be beleeued the Scripture because the Church deliuereth it to vs to be the word of God And the other that by the assistance of God together with the concurrence of our naturall vnderstanding we produce an act of supernaturall Faith by which wee firmely beleeue the Articles of Christian Faith not for any humane inducements but for that they are revealed by Almighty God without seeking any further which if it be so it must be evident in it self to thē that follow this opiniō that God hath revealed deliuered the things they beleeue that by one of the 3 waies before mētioned thē they fal into our opiniō for if it be not evidēt to thē in it self that God speakes in the scriptures reveales the things they are to beleeue they must go further to be assured that he doth so speake and reueale the things that are to bee beleeued either to proofe of reason or authority For no man perswadeth himselfe of any thing but vpon some inducements Proofe of reason demonstratiue I thinke they will not seeke and probable inducements they may not rest in therefore they must proceede to some proofeby authority which can bee no other but that of the Church and then they ioyne with them that follow the other opinion and beleeue the articles of Christian faith conteyned in Scripture because God hath reuealed them and that God hath reuealed them because the Church telleth them so and the Church because the Scripture testifieth of it that it is led into all trueth which is a very grosse sophisticall circulation This the Treatiser did well perceiue and therefore to helpe the matter he distinguisheth the cause of beleeuing and the condition necessarily requisite that the cause may haue her working in shew making the Diuine Reuelation the reason or cause that we beleeue and the Churches proposing to vs the things to be beleeued a condition only and not a cause in sort as the fire alone is the cause of the burning of the wood but the putting of one of them to another is a necessary condition without which that cause can produce no such effect but this shift will not serue the turne For it is the fire onely that burneth the wood though it cannot burne vnlesse it be put vnto it so that in like sort if the comparison hold the Diuine Reuelation must of and by it selfe alone moue induce and incline vs to beleeue the things proposed by the Church as being euident vnto vs to be a Deuine Reuelation though without the Churches proposing we could take no notice of it Euen as in naturall knowledge it is the euidence of trueth appearing vnto vs originally found in the first principles and secondarily in the conclusions from thence deduced that is the sole and onely cause or reason of our assent to such principles and conclusions though without the helpe of some men of knowledge proposing them to vs and leading vs from the apprehension of one of them to another happily we should not at all attaine such knowledge But this euidence of the Diuine Reuelation in it selfe the Treatiser will not admit For it is no way euident in it selfe to him that God hath reuealed any of the things he beleeueth but the onely proofe besides humane motiues or reasons which are too weake to bee the ground of Fayth that he hath is the authority of the Church So that the Ministery of the Church is
not onely a condition but a cause of that perswasion of fayth which they haue yea the authority of the Church is the formall cause of all that faith seduced Papists haue And therefore the distinction of a cause and condition helpeth them not It is true indeed that the Ministerie of the Church proposing to men thinges to bee beleeued is onely a condition requisite to the producing of a supernaturall act of fayth in respect of them that haue some other thing to perswade them that that is true which the Church proposeth besides the authority of the Church but in respect of such as haue no other proofe of the trueth thereof it is a formall cause Now this is the condition of all Papists For let them tell Mee whether they beleeue the Scripture to be the Word of God without any motiue at all or not and if they doe not as it is most certaine they doe not whether besides such as are humane they haue any other then the authority of the Church if they haue not as doubtlesse they haue not they make the authority of the Church the formall cause of their faith and fall into that sophisticall circulation they are charged with For they beleeue the articles of religion because reuealed and that they were reuealed because it is so contayned in the Scripture and the Scripture because it is the Word of God that it is the Word of God because the Church telleth them it is and the Church because it is guided by the spirit and that it is so guided because it is so contayned in the Scripture this is such a maze as no wise man will willingly enter into and yet the Treatiser commendeth the treading of these intricate pathes and telleth vs that two causes may bee causes one of another That the cause may bee proued by the effect and the effect by the cause and that such a kinde of argumentation is not a circulation but a demonstratiue regresse that two causes may be causes either of other in diuerse respects we make no question For the end of each thing as it is desired setteth the efficient cause a worke and the efficient causeth the same to bee actually enjoyed Likewise we doubt not but that the cause may be proued by the effect and the effect by the cause in a demonstratiue regresse For the effect as better known vnto vs then the cause may make vs know the cause and the cause being found out by vs may make vs more perfitly and in a better sort to knowe the effect then before not onely that and what it is but why it is also So the death of little infants proueth them sinners and their being sinners proueth them mortall The bignesse of the footstep in the dust or sand sheweth the bignesse of his foote that made that impression And the bignesse of his foote will shew how bigge the impression is that he maketh but this maketh nothing for the justifying of the Romish circulations For heere the effect being knowne in a sort in itselfe maketh vs know the cause and the cause being found out and knowne maketh vs more perfectly to knowe the effect then at first wee did but the case is otherwise with the Papists for with them the Scripture which in it selfe hath no credit with them but such onely as it is to receiue from the Church giueth the Church credit and the Church which hath no credit but such as it is to receiue from the Scripture giueth the Scripture credit by her testimony And they endeauour to proue the infallibility of the Churches judgment out of the Scripture and the trueth of the Scripture out of the determination and judgement of the Church Much like as if when question is made touching the quality condition of two men vtterly vnknowne a man to commend them to such as doubt of them should bring no other testimony of their good and honest disposition but the testimony of each of them of the other It is true then which I haue said that to a man admitting the Old Testament and doubting of the New a man may vrge the authority of the Old and to a man doubting of the Old and admitting the New the authority of the New but to him that doubteth of both a man must alledge neither of them but must bring some other authority or proofe so likewise to him that admitteth the Scripture and doubteth of the Church a man may vrge the authority of the Scripture but to him that doubteth of both as all doe when they begin to beleeue a man must alledge some other proofe or else hee shall cause him to runne round in a Circle for euer and neuer to finde any way out Wherefore to conclude this poynt let our Aduersaries know that wee admitte and require humane motiues and inducements and amongst them a good opinion of them that teach vs as preparing fitting vs to fayth Secondly that wee require a supernaturall ayde light and habit for the producing of an act of faith Thirdly that we require some diuine motiue inducement Fourthly that this cannot be the authority of the Church seeing the authority of the Church is one of the things wee are to bee induced to beleeue Fiftly that wee require the ministery of the Church as a propounder of all heauenly trueth though her authority can be no proofe in generall of all such truth Sixtly that the Church though not as it includeth onely the beleeuers that are in the world at one time yet as it comprehendeth all that are or haue beene is an infallible propounder of heauenly truth and so acknowledged to bee by such as are assured of the trueth of the doctrine of Christianity in generall Seauenthly that the authority of this Church is a sufficient proofe of the trueth of particular things proposed by her to such as already are by other diuine motiues assured of her infallibility §. 7. FRom the authority of the Scripture which he would faine make to bee wholy dependant on the Church the Treatiser passeth to the fulnesse and sufficiency of it seeking amongst other his discourses to weaken those proofes which are brought by Mee for confirmation thereof Affirming that though I make shew as if it were a plaine matter that the Euangelists in their Gospels Saint Luke in the Actes of the Apostles and Saint Iohn in the Apocalyps meant to deliuer a perfect summe of Christian doctrine and direction of faith yet I bring no reason of any moment to proue it Whereas yet in the place cited by him I haue these wordes contayning in them as I suppose a strong proofe of the thing questioned Who seeth not that the Evangelists writing the history of CHRISTS life and death St Luke in the booke of the Acts of the Apostles describing the comming of the Holy Ghost the admirable gifts and graces powred vpon the Apostles and the churches founded and ordered by them and Saint Iohn writing the Revelations
which he had concerning the future state of things to the end of the world meant to deliuer a perfect summe of Christian doctrine if the proof contained in these words be not sufficiēt for my part I know not what may be for what can be necessary to bee knowne of Christians ouer and aboue that which is found in the olde Testament besides the Incarnation of Christ his words actions sufferings the manner of the establishment of churches in the faith of Christ and the ordaining and appointing of fit guides to take care of the government of the same and the future state of things to the end of the world But he saith no one of the Evangelists intended to set downe all that Christ did and suffered as it appeareth in that no one of them hath so done that it cannot be said that all jointly haue so done seeing that could not proceed but from some common deliberation or the disposition and inspiration of the holy Ghost mouing them to write neither of which can be said For that there was no such deliberation he saith it is evident in that no man mentioneth any such thing in that it is knowne they wrote in diuers countries at diuers times vpon diuers occasions that the inspiration of the holy spirit did not direct them to the writing of all things necessary hee saith it is likewise most cleare in that I confesse there are some things wanting in their bookes which the church beleeueth which could not be if the spirit had moued them to write all This obiection will soone be answered For first it is certain that some one of the Evangelists intended to write all things which Christ did and spake S. Luke professing that he had so done Which yet is not to be vnderstood of all things simply but such onely as he did spake in that time within the compasse whereof he confined his narration Neither doth this prejudice the fulnesse of the Evangelicall history For as Baronius noteth the later Evangelists taking a view of that the former had written for the most part added what things they found omitted by them So Marke Luke write of the ascension of Christ not mentioned by S. Mathew because he ended his story before he came to it And Iohn finding as Hierome saith that the other three had written onely the history of one yeare after Iohn the Baptist was cast into prison wherein Christ suffered approued that which they had written as true omitting that yeare because the things that fell out in it were reported by thē recorded such things as fell out before the imprisonment of the Baptist which they had not written as not fetching the beginning of their narration so farre off If it be said by this Treatiser that many things that Christ did are so omitted that they are found in none of the Evangelists for that Iohn who wrote last of all knew well what the rest had written hath these words Many other signes also Iesus wrought in the sight of his Disciples which are not written in this booke but these things are written that you may beleeue that Iesus is the Christ the son of God and that beleeuing you may haue euerlasting life through his Name And againe there are also many other things which Iesus did which if they should be written euery one I suppose the world would not be able to containe the Bookes which should be written Baronius will tell him that the Evangelists when they tooke in hand the writing of the sacred stories intended not to write all the things generally that Christ did but such so many only as might serue to confirme the Faith and to demonstrate that IESVS is the Son of GOD that the things which they haue written are sufficient to saluation that men beleeuing may haue eternall life So that though there were no commō deliberation or consultation amongst the Evangelists though they wrote at diuers times in diuers places yet by the sweet disposition of the holy Spirit that moued them to write it might and did so fall out in that one saw what another had written that the later added such things as they foūd omitted by the former so left vnto vs a perfect full narration concerning Christ his incarnation life death resurrectiō ascension as also the things he did and spake during the time of his conversing amōgst men So that the Treatiser is not able to proue that the Evangelicall historie is imperfect but there is one thing wherein hee gloryeth as if hee had gotten some great aduantage which is that I confesse that there are somethings found in the Epistles of the Apostles occasionally writtē beleeued by the Church that are not found in the history of the Euangelists the book of all the Acts of the Apostles nor the Reuelation of Saint Iohn whence hee thinketh hee may inferre that eyther the Authors of th◅se books meant not to deliuer a perfect summe directiō of Christian faith as I affirme or that they missed of their purpose which may not bee graunted But lette him know that there is no consequence of any such absurdity as hee imagineth from any thing I haue written For the things beleeued by the Church and not found in the former bookes but in the Epistles of the Apostles are nothing else but distinct and cleare determinations of doubts arising touching matters of faith or manners out of and according to the summe of Christian Doctrine found in the former bookes or historicall narrations of such thinges as passed betweene the Apostles themselues or between them and the Churches founded by them or some particular persons in them not mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles or lastly Apostolicall prescriptions of things pertaining to decencie order and comelinesse in the performance of the acts of Gods worship and seruice Now I thinke it will not follow that if there be found in the Apostolicall Epistles some more distinct cleere resolutiōs determinations of doubtes out of the forme and direction of Christian Doctrine found in the former bookes then are there found or a prescription of some outward obseruations that the former bookes containe not a perfect summe and direction of Christian faith much lesse will it be consequent that these bookes containe not a perfect direction of Christian faith because some historicall narrations not found in them are beleeued in the Church as that Paul left his cloake at Troas that hee mediated for Onesimus and sought to reconcile him to his Maister and the like The Treatiser therefore passeth from this exception and asketh how I will proue that all thinges beleeued by the Church not contained in the former books are found in the Epistles of the Apostles to whom I answere that when hee shall giue any instance of things beleeued by the Church not foūd in the former books either it shal be proued
it Thirdly whatsoeuer the most famous in euery age haue constantly delivered as matter of faith receiued from them that went before them in such sort that the gain-sayers were in their beginnings noted for singularity nouelty and diuision and in processe of time if they persisted in such contradiction charged with heresie which is as much as any Papist doth say And then insteed of shewing that I attribute not soe much to the Fathers as I should do or as Papists doe hee turneth himselfe to shew that such consent of Fathers as I speake of is no sure direction for the finding out of the trueth Soe ouer-throwing all that which his owne Diuines haue deliuered touching this point But yet that he may seeme to say something to the purpose he goeth about to proue that I bereaue the Fathers almost of all authority First in that I reiect their testimonies touching all other matters but onely certaine principall and substantiall points Secondly in that I require such a generall consent as can hardly be found touching such principall points Thirdly in that I make the whole Church subiect to error For answere vnto these Allegations I say The first is a shamelesse vntruth For I do not limitte or restraine the consent of the Fathers to certaine principall or substantiall points as hee mis-reporteth Mee but make the same to bee a direction in all thinges that may be cleerely deduced from the rule of faith and word of diuine and heauenly trueth answerably to that of Vincentius Lyrinensis that the consent of holy Fathers is with great studie and care to be sought out and followed by vs not in all petite questions that may bee moued concerning the Diuine law but onely or at the least specially in thinges pertaining to the rule of Faith with whom Pererius agreeth To the second I say that I require no other consent of Fathers then Vincentius Lyrinensis doth who will haue vs onely to followe that doctrine of the Fathers as certaine which all with one consent haue holden written and taught that haue written of such thinges Neither doth this worthy Treatiser admitte any other consent then I require for in this same chapter hee hath these wordes They will obiect that euery one of the Fathers was subiect to errour I confesse it but yet God according to his promise as I haue aboue declared was so to direct and gouerne them that they should not all erre This consent of the Fathers wee make to be a Rule of direction but yet not so generally and absolutely as if truth could not at any time be found out without it but so that wee must not neglect the knowledge of it nor goe against it when wee know it Neither is it necessary for the knowledge hereof as the Treatiser obiecteth to read ouer all the Fathers for the constant concurrence of the principall in all ages without noted contradiction doth suffice to assure vs of such consent The third allegation is partly vntrue and partly inconsequent it is vntrue in that hee sayth I thinke all the Pastours of the present Church may erre in matters of greatest momeÌ„t It is incoÌ„sequeÌ„t because though the whole preseÌ„t Church may erre in some things not pertaining to the rule of faith and Generall Councels in matters of greatest consequence yet it followeth not that the Fathers of all times and places may be thought to haue erred seeing this succession of Fathers is of greater authority then the company of Pastors that now are Neither is it consequent that if error may possesse the greatest part or almost all the present Church that it may bee Catholike also and so found euery where and euer The former Vincentius Lyrinensis yeeldeth to bee possible but disclaimeth the latter and therefore prescribeth that if error creepe into one part of the Church wee should looke vnto other that if it endeauour to staine and defile all we should looke vp higher vnto antiquity and that if some haue erred amongst the Auncient we should looke what all not noâ—…d for singularity did teach §. 2. WHerefore let vs proceed to that which followeth in the next place first hee reporteth what I haue written touching the ground of that perswasion which we haue of the trueth of thinges contayned in Scripture and then taketh exceptions to it In the report first he sayth that I make the principall cause of our beleefe of thinges contained in the bookes of holy Scripture to be the habit or light of faith Secondly that besides the habit or light of faith I require reasons or motiues by force whereof the spirit of God may settle the mind of a man in the perswasion of the trueth of things contained in Scripture that might otherwise be doubted of Thirdly that I make this motiue or reason in some things to bee the evidence of the things themselues in the light of grace in other not so evident vnto vs the authority of God himselfe whom we doe most certainely discerne to speake in the word of Faith preached vnto vs. These things I confesse are deliuered by Mee and rightly collected by him out of that which I haue written Yet doth hee wrong some other of the same iudgment with Me touching this point in that he saith vntruly they reject all supernaturall habits so goeth about to make a difference betweene them and Mee in this respect whereas in truth and in deede there is none But what is that the good man doth or can dislike in this my discourse First hee vndertaketh to proue that neither the evidence of the things contained in Scriptures in themselues presupposing the light of grace nor the authoritie of God himselfe discerned to speake can be sufficient motiues whereby the spirit of God may settle vs in the perswasioÌ„ of the truth of such things as are therein coÌ„tained Whereas yet I think if he were asked what the motiues are by force whereof the spirit doth effect this work if these be not he would not easily giue any answer but how doth he demoÌ„strate the insufficiencie of these motiues Surely very weakly insufficiently For first thus he reasoneth against them if these motiues were of sufficiencie euery one enlightned by the light of grace should by vertue of them bee perswaded of the Heauenly Trueth of all such things as are contained in the books of God which is a very bad inference For by the like kinde of reasoning it may bee prooued that the evidence of things in the light of nature is not the motiue or inducement that causeth our perswasion touching such things as are knowne in naturall knowledge because all that haue the light of naturall reason are not rightly perswaded concerning all such things which no wise man will allow So that as it is not to be imputed to the defect of evidence in the things that are to be knowne in naturall knowledge which should settle the perswasion that all men are not rightly perswaded of
faith only doth not iustifie that good works are meritorious he endeauoureth to proue because I confesse that men iustified freely by grace are crowned in the world to come for that new obediēce that is foūd in thē after iustificatiō But this cōsequence I suppose wil not be thought good seeing as Cassander rightly notethout of Bucer God in respect of good works or hauing an eye to thē or for good works giueth not onely temporall but eternall rewardes not for the worthinesse of the workes in themselues but out of his owne grace for the merit of Christ first working such good workes in them that are his and then crowning his owne workes in them as Augustine long since aptly obserued Let vs see therefore if he can proue any better that fayth onely doth not justifie this hee vndertaketh to doe out of that which I haue written that justification implieth in it faith hope and charity But for the clearing of this poynt let him be pleased to obserue that by the name of justification sometimes nothing is meant but an adiudging of eternall life vnto vs sometimes the whole translation of a man out of the state of sinne and wrath into a state of righteousnesse and acceptation with God which implyeth in it sundry things concurring in very different sort without any preiudice to the singular prerogatiue of fayth For first it implyeth in it a worke of almighty God as the supreame and highest cause Secondly the merits of Christ as the meanes whereby God is reconciled and induced to take vs into his fauour Thirdly in him that is to be justified a certaine perswasion of the trueth of such thinges as are contayned in the holy word of God Fourthly motions of feare contrition hope of mercy and the like workes of preparing grace as causes disposing and fitting him that is to be justified that hee may be capable of Gods fauour Fifthly as the susceptiue cause an act of faith by which a man truely repenting of former euils and seeking deliuerance without all doubting firmely beleeueth that all his sinnes are remitted him for Christs sake Lastly an infusion of the habite of diuine and heauenly vertues as a beginning of that life of God to which he doth adiudge them whom he receiueth to fauour So that my saying that justification thus taken implyeth in it Faith Hope and Charitie contrarieth not our position that fayth onely justifieth in sort before expressed which the Treatiser knowing right well insisteth no longer vpon this cauill but passeth to an vntruth charging Mee that I say of S. Augustine whom yet I pronounce to haue been the greatest of all the Fathers and the worthiest Diuine the Church of God euer had since the Apostles times that his manner of deliuering the Article of Iustification is not full perfect exact as if I imputed some fault to him in not deliuering the poynt of justification as it became him whereas I haue no such thing but say onely that his manner of deliuering that Article was not so full perfect and exact as we are forced to require in these times against the errours of the Romanists in which saying I no way blame that worthy Father but shew that new errours require a more exact manner of handling of thinges then was necessary before such errours sprung vppe which I thinke no wise man will deny and am well assured this Treatiser cannot deny vnlesse hee will bee contrary to himselfe For hee sayth expressely that Saint Augustine before some articles of Christian Religion were so throughly discussed and defined in the Church as afterwards vpon the rising of new heresies spake not so aptly and properly as was needfull in succeeding times and therefore retracted some things which hee had formerly vttered So that the Reader will easily finde that in this passage hee hath sayd lesse then nothing neither will his next discourse be found any better wherein he laboreth to shew a contrariety between Me Luther Caluine others in that I make that acte of fayth which obtayneth and procureth our justification to bee an acte by way of petition humbly intreating for acceptation and fauour and not of comfortable assurance consisting in a full perswasion that through Christs merits wee are the children of God Whereas Luther Caluine and the rest make iustifying faith to be an assured perswasion that through Christs merits wee are the sonnes of God But the Treatiser might easily know if hee were disposed that according to our opinion iustifying faith hath some actes as a cause disposing preparing and fitting vs to the receipt of that gracious fauour whereby God doth iustifie vs and other as a susceptiue cause receiuing embracing and enioying the same in the former respect neyther they nor I make faith to consist in a perswasion that wee are the sonnes of God in the latter wee both do and so agree well enough though the Treatiser it seemeth could wish it were otherwise §. 4. WHerefore let vs goe forward and take a view of that which followeth The next thing which hee hath that concerneth Mee is that it may bee gathered out of my assertions in my Third Booke of the Church that I thinke as hee saith some other also do that it is no fundamentall point of doctrine but a thing indifferent to beleeue or not to beleeue the reall that is the locall presence of CHRISTS Body in the Sacrament But I am well assured there can no such thing be gathered out of any of the places cited by him vnlesse it be lawfull for him to reason à baculo ad angulum as often as he doth For in the pages 120 and 121 of his second part because I confesse that in the Primitiue Church the manner of some was to receiue the Sacrament in the publique assembly and not bee partakers of it presently but to carry it home that the Sacrament was carried by the Deacons to the sicke that in places where they communicated euery day there was a reseruation of some parts of the sanctified Elements and that the sanctified Elements thus reserued in reference to an ensuing receiuing of them were the bodie of Christ to wit in mysterie and exhibitiue signification hee goeth about to conclude that I must needes confesse the reall that is the locall presence of Christs body in the Sacrament which consequence is no better then if a man should goe about to conclude that this Treatiser hath written a good and profitable booke because hee hath troubled the world with one such as it is full of vaine idle and emptie discourses whereof if any man make doubt let him consider but the very next words For whereas I confessed Calvines dislike of the reseruation aunciently vsed and yet saide it cannot bee proued that hee denied the Sacramentall elements consecrated and reserued for a time in reference to an ensuing receiuing of them to bee Sacramentally the body of Christ hee saith I labour in vaine because
reason doth he giue of his dislike these words hee saith seeme to pretend a kind of doubting or staggering which must not be allowed especially in such men as are spirituall As if a spirituall man might doubt of nothing nor be ignorant of nothing whereas yet all men know S. Augustine S. Hierome and other holy Fathers who as wee thinke were spirituall doubted of the meaning of sundry passages of holy scriptures and left many questions vnresolued If happily he say men may not doubt of matters of faith and that therefore they must not be said to haue mindes desirous of truth with resolution to embrace it it will be answered that noe man professing himselfe to be a Christian ought to doubt of such things as all Christians are bound expressely to beleeue yet are there many matters of faith that is such as must be beleeued at least implicite that faithfull men may doubt of and enquire after Yea at first when a man beginneth to beleeue hee doubteth of all points of faith and must be setled in the same by the Scriptures interpreted vnto him the diuine illumination of grace making him vnderstand them Thirdly whereas I reckon the knowledge of the rule of faith and the practise of the Saints according to the same amongst the meanes which are necessarie for the vnderstanding of the Scripture and define that rule First to bee the summary comprehension of such principall articles of diuine knowledge as are contained in the Creede of the Apostles and are the principles whence all other things are deriued Secondly all such things as all Christians are bound to beleeue expressely which haue bin euer constantly beleeued by all such as haue not beene noted for singularity and nouelty Hee sayth most men will dislike my doctrine and pronounceth this rule to bee verie vncertaine and yet presently forgetting himselfe addeth that hee hath proued in the first part of this Treatise that in very deede the Scriptures ought to bee interpreted according to the rule of faith that is the summe of Christian Religion preserued as a depositum in the Church But some man happily will say that howsoeuer he forgetteth himselfe yet hee hath good aduantage against vs. For first he argueth that if the Scripture be to bee interpreted according to the rule of faith the rule of faith it selfe is not knowne and beleeued through the authority of the Scripture Secondly hee sayth the practise of the Saints from the beginning to which I require men to haue an eye in interpreting Scripture canne very hardly be gathered out of the monuments of Antiquity according to my grounds For answere to which obiections First I say that the particular and seuerall parts of Scripture must bee interpreted according to the rule of fath that is the summe of Christian Doctrine receiued in the Church and that yet the same summe of Christian doctrine is no otherwise to bee receiued by vs but because it hath beene deliuered by the Church as gathered out of the due comparing of one part of Scripture with another and from thence confirmed and proued Neither must wee firmely rest in the direction of it till the Church make vs see and discerne how it is gathered out of seuerall places of Scripture layd together Secondly that the practise of the saints may bee knowne out of the monuments of antiquity soe farre forth as is necessary for the helping of vs to vnderstand the Scriptures without any such difficultie as the Treatiser imagineth For example when Saint Augustine was to interpret certaine places of Scripture touching the deriuation of sinne from Adam and to cleare the point whether it were by naturall propagation or by imitation onely as the Pelagians thought it was not hard for him to know that the Church did euer most carefully present her new borne infants to Baptisme before they could bee mis-led and drawne away to euill by following the example of Adams disobedience thence to infer that she euer beleeued that infants are conceiued and borne in sinne and consequently that the propagation of sinne from Adam is naturall and not by imitation onely The fourth thing that I require in him that will take vpon him to interprete the Scripture is a due consideration what will follow vpon his interpretation agreeing with or contrary to the things generally receiued beleeued amongst Christians against which he hath nothing to say yet that hee might bee thought to say something first hee challengeth Luther for not obseruing this rule And secondly affirmeth that it is insufficient if at any time almost all Christians may erre as I teach But first concerning Luther the good man should know that hee cannot iustly be charged with the breach of this rule seeing he broached no new doctrine in the Church as the Treatiser vntruly affirmeth but such as had the testimony of Antiquity and the allowance of innumerable Christians in his time as well in the West as in the East And secondly that the possibilitie of the erring of the greatest part of the Church prejudiceth not this rule he might if hee pleased learne out of Vincentius Lirinensis who acknowledgeth that sometimes error may ouer-spread almost all the present church prescribeth that in such a case men should looke vp higher into antiquity The two other ensuing rules to wit consideration of the circumstances of the places interpreted the occasion of the words the things going before following after the knowledge of all such histories arts sciences as may helpe vs in interpreting the Scripture he passeth ouer as necessary though not sufficient of themselues alone The knowledge of the originall tongues he acknowledgeth to bee profitable but will not admit it to be necessary especially according to the conceipt of the Romanists First because they are sure they haue the Scriptures rightly translated Secondly because they make not the Scripture the propounder of their beleefe but expound it according to the rule of Faith deliuered receiued In which passages he bewrayeth grosse ignorance For first the Romanists are not sure that they haue the Scripture truly translated as it appeareth by that which Andradius hath written who proueth at large that though the vulgar translation were allowed of by the Councell of Trent as containing nothing in it whence any heresie or errour in faith may be inferred yet is it not without many great mistakings And secondly if they were sure yet as Melchior Canus sheweth the knowledge of tongues is needfull for the finding out of the meaning of sundry particular places of Scripture by reason of some ambiguity or obscurity in the translation Thirdly for that though the rule of Faith serue for direction in generality so that following the same we may bee sure not to decline from the truth of doctrine yet will not that rule secure vs from all erring and swaruing from the meaning of each place in particular so that in this respect the
reason wee can discerne no such thinges as in this heauenly doctrine are manifested to vs. Thirdly the reuelation that is now being mediate and depending on a former it must of necessity be graunted that there was a first and immediate reuelation of the things that are beleeued Fourthly that that immediate reuelation was without mixture of error there being no imperfection found in any of Gods immediate workings Fifthly that whatsoeuer bookes they wrote to whom that immediate reuelation of heauenly truth was graunted are diuine without mixture of error and Canonicall Sixtly that all such books as are recommended to vs by the consenting testimony of all Christians not noted for singularity nouelty or heresie as written by those who first learned the doctrine of heauenly truth from God himselfe must be acknowledged to haue bin written by them Which perswasion is confirmed in that when wee reade and meditate vpon the bookes soe commended to vs wee finde a maiesty vertue and power appearing in them more then in all humane compositions captiuating vs to the the obedience of faith and making vs to receiue them as vndoubtedly diuine These are the grounds which wee build vpon Wherefore let the Reader judge whether the Treatiser had any cause to write as hee doth that hee cannot sufficiently maruel that I or any man of iudgement or learning should runne these courses and impugne their doctrine concerning these points as absurd which indeede is most prudent and diuine and yet fall into most grosse absurdities and inconueniences How prudent and diuine their doctrine is touching the ground of their faith I haue shewed before making it most cleare that if they did shew no more prudence in any thing else their part would soone bee ouerthrowne But touching the absurdities into which hee supposeth wee runne they will bee found to bee none at all For as I haue shewed at large wee ground our faith in generall vppon the euidence of heauenly trueth and the authority of Almighty God whom wee discerne to speake in the holy Scriptures and yet in such sort listen to the Church as a Mistresse of heauenly truth in all particular points that wee do not broach any new and strange doctrine vnheard of in the Church nor impugne any thing that was alwaies constantly deliuered and receiued in the same Soe that it is vntrue that the Treatiser sayth that I reiect all generall authority and leaue euery man to follow his owne priuate conceipt hee returneth therefore to proue that supposing wee know the letter of Scripture yet haue wee no certaine rule to finde out the sence of it and mustereth some obiections to this purpose which I haue sufficiently answered already in the defence of the rules proposed by mee and impugned by him Neyther is it soe strange as hee would make it that we confesse euery one though neuer so much enlightned to bee subiect to errour and yet each of vs assureth himselfe hee doth not erre from the Christian verity one hauing no more assurance of not erring then another For is it not soe that in respect of things that may bee knowne by the light of naturall reason each one confesseth himselfe to be subiect to error and yet euery one assureth himselfe he doth not erre in sundry particular things Wherefore hee leaueth this point and proceedeth to another where he bewrayeth the weaknesse of his braine labouring seriously to proue that he who buildeth his faith vppon the English Parliament cannot firmely and vndoubtedly beleeue nor haue any true fath because I say wee can neuer be so well perswaded of any man or multitude of men but that we may iustly feare they are deceiued or will deceiue Truly it had beene well that hee had applyed himselfe to some other thing rather then booke-making vnlesse hee had any greater facility and felicity in it then he hath for who was euer so senselesse as to build his Faith vpon the English Parliament or why doth the Treatiser thus fight with his owne shadow But haply he will be better towards the end §. 6. IN the last place speaking of the supposed divisions and dissentions amongst Protestants he sayth some amongst vs are so bolde as to deny that there is any great or materiall dissention in our Churches that I amongst others write that it so fell out by the happy providence of God when there was a reformation made that there was no materiall or essentiall difference amongst them that were actors in it but such as vpon equall scanning will bee found rather to consist in the diuers manner of expressing one thing to be but verball vpon mistaking through the hasty and inconsiderate humours of some men then any thing else And that further I adde that I dare confidently pronounce that after due and full examination of each others meaning there shall be no difference found touching the matter of the Sacrament the vbiquitary presence or the like betweene the Churches reformed by Luthers ministery in Germany and other places and those whom some mens malice called Sacramentaries that none of the differences betweene Melancthon and Illyricus except about certaine ceremonies were reall that Hosiander held no priuate opinion touching iustification howsoeuer his strange manner of speaking gaue occasion to many so to thinke and conceiue and that this shall be iustified against the proudest Papist of them all this my assertion he saith all the world knoweth to be vntrue and endeavoureth to proue it to be so First by mine owne sayings else-where and then by some other proofes By mine owne sayings in that I complaine of vnhappie divisions in the Christian world and of infinite distractions of mens mindes not knowing in so great varietie of opinions what to thinke or to whom to ioyne themselues that the controversies of Religion in our time are growne in number so many in nature so intricate that few haue time leasure fewer strength of vnderstanding to examine them But this proofe will be found too weake For there are many very materiall divisions in the Christian world infinitely distracting the mindes of men as those of the Greekes Latines those of the Romish Faction such as embrace the reformed Religion and the controversies that are betweene these are in number many and in nature intricate in respect whereof my complaint might bee most iust though neuer any one Protestant had opened his mouth against an other And besides supposing my complaint of diuisions in the Christian World to reach to the breaches that are haue beene amongst the Professours of the Reformed Religion nothing can bee inferred from thence contrary to any thing that I haue written touching the agreeing of these men in iudgement opinion For there may bee great breaches betweene such men as are of one iudgement opinion vpon mistaking one another therefore Gregory Nazianzene in his Oration made in the praise of Athanasius sheweth that the whole world in a
I may be as good as my word iustifie it against the proudest Papist liuing that none of the differences between Melancthon Illyricus except about certaine ceremonies were reall Wherefore the Treatiser leaueth Illyricus commeth to Hosiander whom hee will proue to haue holden a priuate opinion touching iustification because Calvine in his Institutions spendeth almost one whole Chapter in the confutation of his conceipt touching the same Article which in the very entrance hee calleth hee wores not what monster of essentiall righteousnesse Conradus Schlusselburge placeth him and his followers in the Catalogue of heretickes But this obiection will easily be answered For it is not to be doubted but Caluine the rest iustly disliked that which they apprehended to bee his opinion and condemned it as a monster For they conceiued that heâ—… made Iustification to bee nothing else but a transfusion of the essentiall righteousnesse of Christ into vs and a mixture and confusion of it with vs. But Smidelinus sheweth at large that he neuer had any such conceipt but that distinguishing three kinds of righteousnesse in Christ whereof we are made partakers to wit actiue passiue and essentiall in that hee was the Sonne of God he taught that justification is not onely an acceptation and receiuing of vs to fauour vpon the imputation of the actiue and passiue righteousnesse of Christ but an admission of vs also to the right of the participation of the diuine nature as Peter speaketh and of that essentiall righteousnesse that was in him in that he was the sonne of God that so receiuing of his fulnesse we may be filled with all diuine qualities and graces The reason why hee thus vrged the implying of the communication of the essentiall righteousnesse of Christ in our iustification was not as the same Smidelinus telleth vs for that he thought iustification to consist wholy therein or for that hee meant to exclude the imputation of the merit and satisfaction of Christ from being causes of our iustification or receiuing fauour with God but because he saw many mistooke and abused the doctrine of free justification by the imputation of Christs righteousnesse to the carelesse neglecting of al righteousnesse in themselues therefore he taught there is no remission of sin no receiuing of any man to fauour by vertue of the imputation of the actiue and passiue righteousnes of Christ vnlesse out of dislike of sin desire of grace to auoid it he be admitted to the right of the participation of that essentiall righteousnes that dwelt in him in all fulnesse that so it may dwell in him that is to be iustified also in some degree sort Neither is this construction of Hosianders words made by Smidelinus onely but by sundry other For Stapleton sayth the followers of Brentius defended the opinion of Hosiander whereas yet neither Brentius nor any of his followers euer dreamed of any transfusion of the essentiall righteousnesse of Christ into vs any mixture or confusion of it with vs or any other communication of it to vs or in any other sort then is before expressed So that the Treatiser had no reason to write as he doth that my proceedings are rare and singular and that I feare not to affirme things apparantly false and confessed vntrue by all my brethren much lesse to say that euery man may easily perceiue by these my proceedinges that I had a good opinion of mine owne wit and learning For what haue I done that sauoureth of pride or wherein haue I bewrayed such vanitie as he speaketh of Is it a matter of pride not to condemne hastily other opinions to make the fairest and best construction of other mens words especially such as are of the same profession with vs Wherefore if the Treatiser be able to say any thing against this my defence of Illyricus and Hosiander I will heare him otherwise let him not tell me of my schoole distinctions for I am not ashamed of them Neither doe I vse them as the Romane sophisters do to auoid the euidence of that truth that is too mighty for them to encounter but to cleare that which the Romanistes desire to haue wrapped vp in perplexed and intricate disputes But it seemeth the Treatiser will not accept of this condition and therefore hee passeth from the supposed diuisions of our Churches and differences of our Diuines proceedeth to shew their inconstancie instancing particularly in Luther And wheras in my former books I haue answered the obiections of Papistes touching this supposed inconstancie he goeth about to refute that my answer which consisteth of two parts Whereof the first is that in sundry points of greatest moment as of the power of nature of free-will iustification the difference of the Law and the Gospell faith and workes Christian liberty and the like Luther was euer constant The second that it is not so strange as our Aduersaries would make it that Luther proceeded by degrees in discerning sundry Popish errours seeing Augustine and their Angelicall Doctour altered their iudgment in diuerse things and vpon better consideration disliked what they had formerly approued The former part of this my answere he pronounceth to containe a manifest vntruth for that amongst other things mentioned by me Luther was not euer constant of one iudgment touching freewil hee endeauoureth to proue because in the defence of his Articles condemned by the Pope he saith Freewil is a forged or fained thing a title without a substance it being in no mans power to think any thing good or euill but all things falling out of absolute necessity and else-where hee saith men of their owne proper strength haue free-will to doe or not to doe externall workes so that they may attaine to secular and ciuill honesty But M. Treatiser should know that between these sayings of Luther there is no contradiction in truth and in deed but in his fancy onely for in the former place two things are deliuered by Luther The first that no man by nature hath power to turne himselfe to God without grace or so much as to prepare himself to the receipt of grace which in the latter place speaking onely of externall workes and ciuill or secular honesty hee doth not contradict The second that though men in outward things and things that are below haue a kinde of freedome of will and choyce and power to doe or not to doe them yet not so free but that they are subject to the providence disposition of Almighty God bowing bending turning them whither he pleaseth and hauing them in such sort in his hand as that they can will nothing vnlesse he permit them which no way preiudiceth that liberty which else-where he attributeth to the will For the will of man is sayd to be free because it doth nothing but on liking and choice and because God permitting it hath power to doe what pleaseth it best and not because it is free and not subiect to diuine disposition and
ordering or as if it could doe any thing without Gods permission concurrence And this is all that Luther hath in the former or latter of the two places alleadged by the Treatiser for hee hath no word of absolute necessity but of Gods most wise prouident direction of our wils in all their choices desires and actions And though else-where hee approue the saying of Wickliffe that all things fall out by a kinde of absolute necessitie yet he interpreteth himselfe to meane neither naturall necessity nor coaction but infallibility of event in that all things fall out most certainly as God thinketh good to dispose and order them Wherefore seeing the Treatiser can fasten no contradiction vpon Luther touching free-will let vs proceede to see what exceptions hee taketh to that defence I make of his altering of his judgement in some other thinges My defence is that it was not strange for him to alter his judgement in some poynts of good moment seeing Saint Augustine the greatest of all the Fathers and the Angelicall Doctour did so before him His exception against this my defence consisteth of two parts vvhereof the first is that Luthers changing of his opinion argueth hee was not extraordinarily and immediatly taught of God which vvee easily graunt and that hee built his fayth vpon his owne vnconstant reason which the Treatiser vvill neuer proue to bee consequent vpon the alteration of his judgement in some poynts of religion for that otherwise Augustine might be conuinced to haue so builded his fayth likewise who altered his judgement touching as great matters as euer Luther did For whereas formerly hee attributed the election of such as were chosen to eternall life to the foresight of their future fayth after hee entred into the conflict with the Pelagians he disclaymed it as a meere Pelagian conceipt The second that Saint Augustine vvriting vvhen he vvas yet a nouice in Christian religion and not fully instructed erred in some poynts vvhich errours hauing receiued better instruction hee disclaimed and that before some articles of Christian religion were so throughly discussed defined in the Church as afterwards vpon the rising of new heresies he spake not so aptly properly as was needfull in succeeding times and therefore retracted what he had vttered but that it was not therefore lawfull for Luther to leape vp and downe hither thither and to change his faith accordingly as his fancie ledde him For answere vvherevnto I say that Luther changed not his faith according to fancie nor altered his judgement in any poynt of Christian doctrine generally constantly agreed on in that Church vvherein hee liued For as I haue else-where proued at large none of the thinges vvherein vvee at this day dissent from the present Church of Rome vvere generally constantly beleeued and receiued as articles of fayth in the dayes of our Fathers in that Church vvherein they liued died so that in this respect there will bee no difference betweene the case of Luther Augustine or Aquinas who as the Treatiser confesseth altered corrected their former opinions touching sundry points of doctrine not determined by the Church without any note of inconstancy or building their faith vpon their owne vnconstant reason And thus haue I runne through both parts of the Treatise of the grounds of the olde new Religion so that I might here end but that the Authour thereof addeth in the end an Appendix in confutation of a booke written by M. Crashaw concerning Romish forgeries falsifications wherein among other things bee endeauoureth to proue there could be no such corruption of the Fathers Writings in former times as M. Crashaw conceiueth because I say the Papists were onely a faction in the Church and that there were euer diverse in the middest of all the confusions of the Papacie agreeing with vs who alwayes opposed themselues against such as sought to advance Papall tyranny Popish superstition who he thinketh if there were any such were carefull to preserue the Fathers Workes from corruption For answer whereunto wee must note that the corruptions of the Fathers Writings are of three sorts either by putting out base counterfeit stuffe vnder their honourable names or by putting in some things into their true indubitate Workes not well sorting with the same or by taking something out of them That many absurd things haue beene published vnder the names of holy Fathers no man can make any doubt that looketh into the Workes of Augustine Hicrome others with which many things censured iudged to bee Apocryphall by our Adversaries themselues are mingled Now if in their iudgement this first kinde of corruption of the Fathers Workes might be in former times notwithstanding such good men as they thinke were euer in the Church who willingly and wittingly would giue no consent to any such corruption why may not wee say that some things might bee added or detracted from the indubitate writings of the Fathers notwithstanding any thing they could doe to the contrary whom wee suppose in the middest of Papall confusions to haue opposed themselues against errour idolatry and superstition then by some brought into the Church and to haue giuen testimony to that truth which we now maintaine so that this obiection is easily answered What he hath against others I doubt not but they will take notice of and that he shall heare from them in due time to whom I leaue him The end of the second part THE THIRD PART CONTAINING A BRIEFE EXAMINATION OF SVCH PRETENDED PROOFES for Romish Religion and Recusancie as are produced and violently wrested by a late Pamphleter out of the former bookes IN the Epistle to the Lords of the Councell hee first complaineth of the long and manifold supposed miseries of English Pseudo-Catholiques Secondly hee imputeth the same to the Puritanes as if they had beene procured principally by them and for their cause Thirdly hee proueth that not onely those Puritanes that refuse externall conformity but such also as for a fashion follow it are guilty of the proceedings against the Romanists because the greatest number of Protestant Writers doe teach that there is noe such essentiall and substantiall difference betweene Protestants and Puritanes but that they are of one Church Faith and Religion A strange kind of proofe yet these are his words The pennes and pulpits of Puritanes and their Printers will sufficiently write preach and publish to the world by whom and to what purpose no small part of these afflictions haue beene vrged and incited against vs not onely by those few which refuse your externall conformity but such as for a fashion follow it to retaine themselues in authority For proofe whereof the greatest number of the present Protestant Writers D. Sutcliffe D. Doue D. Field M. Willet Wootton Middleton c. do teach there is no substantiall essentiall or materiall point of difference in religion betweene Protestants and Puritanes but they are of one Church
Faith and Religion His meaning it seemeth is that all Protestantes acknowledging Puritanes to bee of one Church with them are Puritanes and therefore hee would haue all to know that howsoeuer hee make shew of blaming Puritanes onely or principally yet in truth hee equally condemneth all and that therefore hee doth but dissemble or say hee knoweth not what But do all these Protestant writers named by him teach that there is no materiall difference betweene protestants and Puritanes Surely no. For touching my selfe I neuer wrote any such thing neither in the place cited by him nor any where else so that hee beginneth with a manifest and shamelesse vntruth But I doe the more willingly pardon him this fault for that it seemeth hee doth not consider what he writeth For in the title of his booke hee professeth that hee will take the proofes of his Catholique religion and Recusancy onely from the writings of such Protestant Diuines as haue beene published since the raigne of his Maiesty ouer this kingdome for that as hee sayth they often change their opinions at the least at the comming of euery new Prince And yet page 30. hee citeth the Bishop of Winchesters booke written many yeares agoe and Doctor Couell his booke in defence of Master Hooker as often as any other which yet was written in her late Maiesties time But what if I had written that howsoeuer there are some materiall differences betweene Protestants and Puritanes as it pleaseth him to stile them yet not so essentiall or substantiall but that they may bee of one Church faith and religion What absurdity would haue followed Would it be consequent from hence as he inferreth that it is not materiall with vs whether men be of a true or false religion of any or none at all Haue there not beene nay are there not greater differences betwixt Papists who yet will be angry if they be not esteemed to be all of one Church faith and religion Did not Pope Iohn the two and twentith thinke that the soules of the just shall not see God till the generall resurrection and did not the French King that then was with the whole vniuersity of Paris condemne the same opinion as hereticall with sound of trumpet Did not Ambrosius Catharinus teach that a man may be certaine with the certainty of faith that he is in state of grace and Soto the contrary Did not Pighius Contarenus and the Authors of the booke called Antididagma Coloniense defend imputatiue justice and other Papists reiect it Did not some amongst them teach the merit of condignity doe not others moued with a sober moderation thinke there is no such merit Doe not some thinke the Pope is vniuersall Bishop others that he is not but prime Bishop onely Doe not some teach that all Bishops receiue their jurisdiction from the Pope others the contrary Doe not some thinke the Pope may papally erre and others that he cannot Doe not some of them thinke he is temporall Lord of all the world and others the contrary Doe not so 〈◊〉 them thinke he may depose Princes and others that he may not is there not a very materiall point of difference amongst Papists touching predestination Let them shew vs if they can so many and materiall differences betweene Protestants and Puritanes And yet these were all of one Church in their judgement yea Pope Stephen who reuersed all the actes of Formosus his predecessour pronounced the ordinations of all those to bee voide whom he had ordained brought his dead body out of the graue into the Councell stript it out of the Papall vesture put vpon it a lay habit and cutting off two fingers of his right hand cast it into Tyber Pope Iohn his successour who called a Councell of 74. Bishops to confirme the ordinations of Formosus the Arch-bishoppes of France and the King being present at Rauenna burned the acts of the Synod which Stephen had called to condemne Formosus and Sergius who againe condemned Formosus and pronounced all his ordinations to be voide reuersing the acts of Pope Iohn and his Synode were all of one Church of one communion faith and religion Nay which is more strange when there were three Anti-popes sitting in diuerse places accursing one another with all their Adherents and that for many yeares yet still they were of one Church of one communion faith and religion Yet may not wee inferre from hence against them as they doe against vs that it is not materiall with them whether men be of a true or false religion of any or none at all Surely they are more priuiledged then other men for some of them may take the Oath of Allegeance disclaime the Popes power and right to intermeddle with Princes states and other refuse it and yet still be Catholicke brethren in the communion of the same Church Yea a Priest may like of this Oath and perswade others to take it and afterwards goe ouer the Sea and alter his iudgement and returning choose rather to suffer death then to take it againe yet no man must take notice of it But if a Minister subscribe and afterwards vpon ill aduice refuse to doe the same againe then all the courses of our Religion are such that by no outward signes communion profession protestation or subscription a man can tell who is of what religion amongst vs. But let vs passe from the Epistle to the booke it selfe CHAP. I. IN the first chapter which is of the supreame and most preeminent authority of the true church and how necessary it is to finde it follow the directions and rest in the iudgement of it he hath these words Doctor Field a late Protestant writer beginneth his Dedicatory Epistle to the Lord Archbishop of Canterburie before his Bookes of the church in this manner There is no part of heauenly doctrine more necessary in these dayes of so many intricate controversies of Religion then diligently to search out which amongst all the societies of men in the world is that blessed company of holy ones that household of Faith that spouse of Christ and church of the liuing God which is the pillar and ground of truth that so we may embrace her communion follow her directions and rest in her iudgement And after some other things cited out of others he addeth the ioyning with the true church is so needfull a thing that D. Field concludeth There is no saluation remission of sinnes or hope of eternall life out of the church To what purpose this allegation serueth I cannot conceiue for there is nothing in any of these speeches of mine that euer any protestant doubted of or from which any thing may bee concluded against vs or for the papists The church of God saith Master Caluine is named the Mother of the Faithfull neither is there any entrance into eternall life vnlesse shee conceiue vs in her wombe vnlesse shee
bring vs forth vnlesse her pappes doe giue vs sucke and vnlesse shee keepe vs vnder her custodie and gouernement till hauing put off this morâ—… flesh we become like the Angels in Heauen Adde hereunto saith he that ouâ—…â—…r lappe and bosome there is no remission of sinnes nor saluation to be looked for as both Esaias and Ioel testifie to whom Ezekiel subscribeth when hee denounceth they shall not bee reckoned amongst the people of God whom he excludeth from eternall life The onely thing that is any way doubtfull is how far we are bound to rest in the iudgment of the church For the clearing whereof the Author of these proofes hauing taken so much paines to reade ouer my bookes of the church to take some advantage by them against the truth of Religion professed amongst vs might haue beene pleased to remember those different degrees of obedience which wee are to yeeld to them that commaund teach vs in the church of God Which I haue noted in the Fourth Booke and fifth chapter out of Waldensis excellently described and set down by him in this sort We must saith he reuerence and respect the authority of all Catholique Doctors whose doctrine and writings the church alloweth We must more regard the authority of Catholique Bishops more then these the authority of Apostolique churches amongst them more specially the church of Rome of a generall councell more then all these yet must wee not so listen to the determinations of any of these nor so certainely assent vnto them as to the things contained in Scripture or beleeued and taught by the whole vniuersall church that hath beene euer since the Apostles times but as to the instructions of our elders and fatherly admonitions and directions wee must obey without scrupulous questioning with all modesty of minde with all good allowance acceptation and repose in the words of them that teach vs vnlesse they teach any thing which the higher and superiour controlleth And yet if they doe the humble and obedient children of the church must not insolently insult vpon them from whom they are forced to dissent but they must dissent with a reverent child-like and respectfull shamefastnesse And else-where hee saith The church whose Faith neuer faileth according to the promise made to Peter who bare the figure of the church when CHRIST saide vnto him I haue prayed for thee that thy faith faile not is not any particular church as the church of Africa within the bounds whereof Donatus did include the whole nor the particular Romane church but the vniuersall church not gathered together in a generall councell which hath sometimes erred as that at Ariminum vnder Taurus the gouernour and that at Constantinople vnder Iustinian the yonger but it is the catholique church dispersed through the whole world from the baptisme of CHRIST vnto our times which doeth vndoubtedly holde the true faith and faithfull testimony of Iesus Yea the same authour is of opinion that though it argue great contumacy for a man to dissent from a generall Councell without conuincing reason yet not perfidious impiety vnlesse he know or might know if the fault were not in himselfe that in so dissenting hee dissenteth from the Scripture or the determination of the vniuersall Church that hath beene since the Apostles times which onely is absolutely priuiledged from erring Thus then I hope the indifferent Reader will easily discerne that hitherto the authour of Protestant proofes hath found no proofe for Romish religion in any thing that I haue written let vs come therefore to the second chapter CHAP. 2. IN the second chapter wherein he endeauoureth to proue by the testimonies of Protestants that the Romane Church euer was and still is the true Church of Christ he citeth foure things as written by mee The first is touching the supreme binding commanding authority that is in the Church His words are these Doctour Field writeth that the supreame binding commanding authority is onely in Bishops in a generall Councell The second is touching the definition of the church set downe in the Articles of religion Art 19. that it is the congregation of faithfull ones in the which the pure word of God is preached and the Sacraments duely administred according to Christs institution in all those thinges that of necessity are requisite to the same whereunto he saith I agree The third is that the true Church of God is subiect vnto errours of doctrine which are not fundamentall The fourth that the Romane Church is the true Church of God His words are these I thinke no man will deny the Church of Rome to be the same it was at the comming of Luther and long before and Doctor Field writeth that the Romane and Latine Church continued the true Church of God euen till our time And again We doubt not but the Church in which the Bishop of Rome exalted himselfe with more then Lucifer like pride was notwithstanding the true Church of God that it held a sauing profession of the trueth in Christ and by force thereof conuerted many countries from error to the way of truth and he farther acknowledgeth with Doctor Couel others that Luther and the rest of his religion were baptized receiued their Christianity ordination and power of ministery in that Church as the true visible and apparant Church of Christ. Hee telleth farther that divers of the Romane Church not only of the ignorant but of the best learned were saued and are Saints in heauen These are his allegations Now let vs see what is to be said vnto them Touching the first it is most vndoubtedly true that the supreame and highest externall binding commanding authority is onely in Bishops and others assembled in a generall Councell but what will he inferre from hence All men saith he doe know Doctor Sutcliffe with others acknowledge that the Protestants haue had no such councell and what then therefore they are not the Churches of God O impious and wicked conclusion For hereby all the churches of the world 300. yeares after Christ are proued not to haue beene the true churches of Christ seeing as it is euident there was no generall Councell all that while so that Christianity was rent into factions for want of this remedy as Isidorus testifieth But saith hee the Protestant Relatour of religion teacheth that this preheminence meanes and remedy is onely in the Church of Rome This is most false for howsoeuer he thinketh it not impossible for the Romanists to haue a generall Councel of those of their own faction yet he knoweth it lieth not in them to procure a Councell absolutely generall or Oecumenicall Nay we see that for many hundred yeares there hath not beene any generall Councell of all Christians wherin a perfect consent and agreement might be setled but the greatest parts of the Christian world haue remained diuided from the Romane Church for the space of 6. or 7. hundred yeares If the Author of these proofes shall say they
began Here first that wee be not deceiued wee must obserue that by the name of the Romane Church sometimes we vnderstand the Pope his Cleargy and other Christians of the Romane Diocesse sometimes all Churches subiect to the tyranny of the Bishop of Rome In this latter sense we speake of the Romane Church at this time will make it most cleare and evident that it is not the same now that it was when Luther began For first the Romane Church that then was was the whole number of Christians subiect to Papal tyranny whereof a great part desired nothing more then to shake off that yoake which as soone as he began to oppose himselfe they presently did accounting those that attributed that to the Pope which is now attributed vnto him to bee but flatterers but the Romane Church that now is is the multitude of such onely as thus magnifie admire and adore the plenitude of Papall power or at least are contented to bee vnder the yoake of it still Secondly the Church of Rome that then was consisted of men not hauing meanes of instruction and information like vnto those which haue beene since and therefore not erring pertiuaciously in things wherein they were deceiued But the Church that now is consisteth of such onely as pertinaciously resist against the cleare manifestation of the truth and with all fury and madnesse pursue vnto death those that defend and maintaine the same or at least of such as consent in outward communion with them that so doe So that they that liued heeretofore might in their simplicitie be saued and yet these that now are perish in their contradiction wilfull resistance against the truth Neither need this to seeme strange seeing Vincentius Lirinensis saith speaking of the errour of rebaptization that the authors devisers and beginners of it are crowned in Heauen that is Cyprian and the African Bishops of his time for that notwithanding this errour they held the vnity of the Church and condemned not but communicated with them that were otherwise minded and the followers of the same errour that is the Donatists for their schisme pertinacy were condemned into hell Thirdly the Romane Church that then was had in it all the abuses and superstitious obseruations it now hath and such as erred in all the points of doctrine wherein they of the Romane church now erre in which respect it may seeme to haue beene the same as the Author of these pretended proofes vrgeth but it had also others that disliked and desired the remouing of all those abuses superstitious obseruations which we haue remoued thought right in al those points of doctrin wherin the rest erred in which respect it was not the same but very different from that faction of Romanists that resisteth that reformation of religion which so many famous states of Christendome haue willingly embraced So that the Romane Church that then was consisted of two sorts of men of the one as true liuing members of the other as pertayning to her vnity in respect of Baptisme power of Ministery and profession of some parts of heauenly trueth though not partaking in that degree of vnity which the principall parts thereof had amongst themselues but diuided from them being a dangerous faction in the midst of her seeking her destruction which shee could neither flie from nor driue from her as Bernard somewhere speaketh Omnes amici omnes inimici omnes domestici nulli pacifici serui Christi seruiunt Antichristo All these were in some generall sort the Church in respect of Baptisme the profession of some parts of heauenly trueth and the power of ministery but principally and in speciall sort they only that beleeued rightly touching the most materiall poynts of Christian religion and wished for the reformation of superstitious abuses In respect of the former of these the Romane Church was verè Ecclesia truely a Church that is a multitude of men professing Christ and baptized but not vera Ecclesia a true Church that is a multitude of men holding a sauing profession of the truth in Christ as Mornay fitly noteth for which Stapleton vnjustly reprehendeth him but in respect of the latter it was vera Ecclesia a true Church that is a multitude of men holding a sauing profession of the trueth in Christ. The Church of the Iewes at the comming of Christ had in it the Scribes Pharisees and Saduces as well as Zachary Elizabeth Simeon and Anna in respect of the former it was verè Ecclesia but not vera Ecclesia in respect of the later it was vera Ecclesia Neither should this seeme strange to any man that the same society of Christian men should in respect of some parts whereof it consisteth bee the true Church of Christ and in respect of some other not so seeing all men confesse that the same visible church and society of Christians may bee named a garden inclosed an orchard of pome granates a well sealed vp a fountaine of liuing waters a paradise with all precious and desireable fruite a holy nation a peculiar people a roy all Priest-hood the spouse of Christ and wife of the Lambe the loue of Christ all faire vndefiled and without spot in respect of herbest and principall parts though not in respect of other The former ofthese two sorts of men that were found in the Romane Church wee name a faction First because they had no part in that degree of vnity which the best parts thereof had amongst themselues but wandred into by-paths of errour to their owne destruction and sought the ruine of that mother which by baptisme had sacramentally regenerated them to bee the sonnes of God Secondly for that they brought in new and strange errours and a new kinde of tyrannicall gouernment preiudiciall to the purity of the faith once deliuered and the ancient liberty of the people of God For hereby we are to judge who are of the faction in the Church and who not and not by multitude or paucity as some fondly imagine The disguised Arrians and others mis-led by them to the condemning of Athanasius were but a faction in the Church at that time yet were they many so that Hierome sayth the whole world was become an Arrian and they that adhered to Athanasius were few in number and contemptible in respect of the rest And all they that hold and defend errours in matters of doctrine and obseruations in matters of practise and lawes prejudiciall to the ancient liberties in the society of the Christian Church are rightly said to be a faction in the same whether they bee many or few they that retaine the fayth once deliuered are most properly the Church Lastly the errours that wee condemne were taught in the Romane Church that was when Luther began but they were not the doctrines of that Church but these errours are of the doctrines of the present Romane Church For the clearing of the former part to wit
Apostles and in many places we finde the same to haue beene done rather for the honour of Priest-hood then the necessity of any Law otherwise if the Spirit descend not but onely at the prayer of the Bishop they are to be lamented who in villages castles and remote places baptized by Priests or Deacons dye before they are visited by the Bishop and then follovve these words The safety of the Church depends on the dignity of the chiefe Priest to whom if an eminent power be not giuen there will bee as many schismes in the Church as there are Priests So that this is that which he saith that it is rather for the honour of the Bishop or chiefe Priest of each Church that the imposition of hands vpon the baptized is reserued vnto him alone then the necessity of any law because if he had no such preeminences things peculiarly reserued vnto him in respect whereof he might be greater then the rest of the Priests Ministers in the Church there would be as many schismes as Priests and hence he saith it commeth that without the command of the Bishop or chiefe Priest neither Priest nor Deacon haue right to baptize So that it is manifest the chiefe Priest he speaketh of whose power is eminent peerelesse is so named in respect of other Priests in the same church that may not so much as baptize without his mandate not in respect of the pastors of the whole vniuersall church Wherefore if this pamphleter would haue dealt truly honestly he should haue said VVhereas heretofore some vnchristian Sermons books termed the Bishop of Rome the great Antichrist we shal now receiue a better doctrine more religious answer that there must be one chiefe Priest or Bishop in euery Diocesse hauing a more eminent authority then the rest then whereas men now detest his falshood they would but onely haue laughed at his folly But let vs come to his second allegation and see if there be any more truth in that then in this His wordes are these Doctor Field telleth vs from Scripture that Christ promised to build his Church vpon Saint Peter then no Christian will doubt vnlesse he will doubt of Christs truth and promises but it was so performed Let the reader peruse the place and hee shal find that I doe not tell them from Scripture that CHRIST promised to builde his Church vpon Peter as this man adding one falshood to another most vntruely sayth I doe but onely cite a place of Tertullian to proue that nothing was hid from the Apostles that was to be reuealed to after-commers where hee hath these words What was hidden and concealed from Peter vpon whom Christ promised to build his Church from Iohn the Disciple hee so dearely loued that leaned on his breast at the mysticall supper and the rest of that blessed company that should be after manifested to succeeding generations But he will say that I approue the saying of Tertullian and therefore thinke the Church was built vpon Peter Truly so I doe but I thinke also as Hierome doth that it was built no more vpon him then vpon all the rest and therefore the supremacy of Peters pretended successour will not bee concluded from thence Dicis saith Hierome super Petrum fundatur Ecclesia licet idipsum in alio loco super omnes Apostolos fiat Super omnes ex aequo Ecclesiae fortitudo solidatur that is Thou wilt say the Church was built vpon Peter It is true it was so but we shall find in another place that it was builded vpon all the Apostles Surely the firmenesse of the Church doth equally stay and settle it selfe vpon them all This is so cleare and evident that Bellarmine himselfe confesseth that all the Apostles may be said to haue beene foundations of the Church and that the Church may bee truely said to haue beene built vpon them all First because they preached Christ to such as had not heard of him before and were the first that founded Christian Churches Secondly in respect of their doctrine which they learned by immediate reuelation from the Sonne of God in which the Church is to rest as in the ground and rule of her faith Thirdly in respect of gouernmēt in that they were all heads rulers of the vniuersal Church Thus wee see if I had told them out of Scripture that Christ promised to build his Church on Peter our Aduersaries could not from thence haue inferred the supremacie of the Pope his pretended Successour Wherefore let vs come to his next allegation His words are Doctor Field and the rest doe ordinarily yeelde that the Romane Church continued the true Church of God till the yeare of Christ sixe hundreth and seauen when Bonifacius the Pope there claimed as they say supremacie first in the Church This is a meere imagination of his own for I no where speake of the Churchcōtinuing till the time of Bonifacius the Pope or till the yeare sixe hundred and seauen as if it had then ceased and therefore hee doth not here cite any page of my booke as in other places but citeth it at large But saith hee Doctor Field plainly acknowledgeth that the supremacy belonged to the Popes of Rome before the first Nicene Councell and then by the rules which hee giueth to knowe true traditions custome of the Church consent of Fathers or an Apostolicall Churches testimony this must needes bee of that first kinde and then of equall authority with Scripture as hee acknowledgeth of such traditions Such is the intollerable impudency of this man that I protest I canne scarce beleeue mine owne eyes or perswade my selfe that hee writeth that which I see hee doth For doe I any where acknowledge the supremacy belonged to the Popes of Rome before the Nicene Councell Nay doe I not in the place cited by him say that before the Nicene Councell there were three principall Bishoppes or Patriarches of the Christian Church to witte the Bishoppes of Rome Alexandria and Antioche as appeareth by the actes of the Councell limiting their bounds Had these their bounds limited and set vnto them and was there one of them an vniuersall commander If hee say I acknowledge the Bishop of Rome was in order and honour the first amongst the Patriarches before the Nicene Councell and thereupon inferre that I acknowledge his supremacie and commaunding power ouer the rest hee may as well inferre that I giue to the Bishop of Alexandria a commanding authority ouer the Bishoppe of Antioche because before the Nicene Councell he was before him in order and honour That which hee addeth as a Corollary that by the rules I giue to know true traditions this must bee of that kinde and cōsequently of equall authority with Scripture argueth in him a greater desire of saying something then care what he saith For first it no way appeareth out of any thing that I haue said touching the primacy of the Pope before the
famous in all ages the testimony of the Pastors of an Apostolique church successiuely deliuered frō the beginning not the present testimony of an Apostolicall church Thirdly we will neuer admit any pretended traditions vnlesse they may be confirmed vnto vs by one of these rules if our Adversaries can proue any of their supposed traditions by these rules wee will willingly acknowledge them and therefore I know no reason why we may not make claime vnto them He addeth that I condemne priuate interpretations as if euer any Protestant had allowed any priuate interpretation in that sense that I dislike it or as if our Religion were grounded vpon priuate interpretations But the good man might haue beene pleased to remember that in the place cited by him I distinguish three kindes of private interpretations whereof one is named priuate for that they that so interprete neglect the common rules of direction rely vpon secret revelations knowne to none but themselues and despise the iudgment of other men Another because the person so interpreting is priuate and yet presumptuously taketh vpon him to force all others to embrace the same hauing no authority so to do The 3d is whē as the person is of private conditiō so he seeketh only to satisfie himself in it no way presumeth to prescribe to others to follow that he resolueth on farther then by reason higher authority he can inforce the same The first kind of private interpretations we detest accurse The 2. we condemne as presumptuous The 3d we approue so do our Adversaries for ought I know and therefore I know not to what purpose hee citeth this saying of mine that priuate men may not so propose their interpretations as if they would bind all other men to embrace and receiue them That which followeth that I make three kindes of interpretation and affirme that none haue authority so to interprete Scripture as that they may subject all that dissent from the same to excommunication and censures of like nature but Bishops assembled in a generall Councell is so true that neither hee nor any other in his right wits will euer deny it For who hath authority so to interprete Scripture as to subiect them to excommunication that dissent but the gouernors of the church and who so as to subject all that dissent but they that are the gouernors of the whole as are the Bishops of the whole Christian church assembled in a generall Councel But saith he Protestants haue neuer had any generall Councell therefore they haue no warranted interpretations of Scripture If this consequence be good the Christians for the space of 300 yeares after Christ had no warranted interpretations of Scripture for till the reigne of Constantine there was no generall councell But the Protestants can haue no generall councell therefore they haue not amongst them the highest supreme binding authority judgment Surely wee confesse that being but a part of the Christian church they cannot haue a Councell absolutely generall out of themselues alone and therefore not hauing the highest binding authority amongst them it being found only in the whole vniuersall church they do not take vpon thē so to interprete Scriptures as to subiect all to excommunication that refuse their interpretations but such particular churches persons only as are vnder their jurisdiction The Papists indeede in the heigth of their pride being but a part contemning all other interessed in the supreame binding judgement as well as themselues assume and appropriate it to themselues alone in which claime we may rather see the height of their pride thē the cleernesse of their right and therefore the Grecians impute all the diuisions and breaches of the Christian world vnto them in that they presumed of themselues without them to interprete the Scriptures and to define certain questions touching the faith in such sort that they subjected them to Anathema excommunication so casting them all into hell as much as lay in them These inconsiderate proceedings and rash censures did such harme that the wisest most religious moderate in the Latine Church wished they had neuer beene passed or that they were reuersed called backe again But saith he let any man enter into a serious consideration of Protestant doctrine in this point that vnder paine of damnation we are bound to find and follow the truth that generall Councels as before may subiect euery man disobeying their determinations to excommunication and censures of like nature the most terrible and fearefull punishment of this world and all iudgments Ecclesiasticall euen generall Councels may erre haue erred even in things pertayning to God as is defined in their Articles and is commonly taught beleeued with them this consideration is able to put men not regardlesse of saluation into more then a quaking palsey What the meaning of the good man is in this passage I doe not well conceiue For I see not but all these considerations may well stand together that the trueth is to be found out followed vpon paine of damnation that Councels may erre and yet haue power to subiect such as disobey their determinations to excommunication the most terrible and fearefull punishment of this world without any danger of causing men to fall into a quaking palsey For are they all in state of damnation that are excommunicated whether iustly or vniusty or may no man subiect men to excommunication but hee that cannot erre Surely all men knowe that not onely Popes and particular Bishops but euen generall Councels may erre in matters of fact and excommunicate a man vniustly for resisting their determinations And doth not Saint Augustine shew that by the meanes of preuailing factions men may be vniustly excommunicated and neuer restored to the outward communion of the church againe and yet die in state of saluation nay bee rewarded for the patient enduring of the wrongs offered them by them by whom they were excommunicate It is no such absurd thing then that they may erre who haue authority to excōmunicate But perhaps his meaning is that if Coūcels may erre there is no certaine way to find out the truth which yet euery man is bound vpon perill of damnation to find and follow and that it is the consideration hereof that is able to put a man into a quaking palsey Surely this man seemeth to feare where there is no feare for are there no other meanes to find out the truth when questions and doubts trouble the church and distract the mindes of men but generall Councels How did the Fathers in the Primitiue Church during the time of the first three hundred yeares satisfie themselues and such as depended of them in the midst of so many so horrible and damnable heresies as then rose vp Doth not Bellarmine from hence inferre that though generall Councells be a very fit and good meanes to end controversies and settle the differences that may arise in the church
quos symbolum Apostolicum complectitur Illos autem in scriptura multis manifestis testimonijs tradi nullum est dubium Quartum genus traditionum est de expositione vero sensu seu natiuâ sententiâ scripturae Quintum genus traditionum constituimus illud quod Patres aliquando ita vocant illa dogmata quae non totidem literis syllabis in scripturâ ponuntur sed bonâ certâ firmâ manifestâ Ratiocinatione ex perspicuis scripturae testimoniis colliguntur Sextum genus traditionum constituimus illud quod de Catholico Patrum consensu dicitur Septimum genus traditionum est quod vbi Veteres mentionē faciunt traditionū non scriptarum propriè non intelligunt dogmata fidei extra praeter Scripturam recipienda etiamsi nullo Scripturae testimonio probare possunt sed de ritibus consuetudinibus quibusdam vetustis loquuntur quos propter antiquitatem ad Apostolos retulerunt Verisimile est quosdam etiam alios externos ritus qui in scripturâ annotati non sunt ab Apostolis traditos esse nullis quidem certis firmis documentis probari potest qui sunt ritus certò ab Apostolis traditi qui ex Scriptura ostendi non possunt These are the words of Chemnitius wherby it appeareth that he admitteth all those kinds of tradition which I doe and yet reiecteth the imagined traditions of Papists D. Whitakers likewise acknowledgeth that the Apostles of Christ ordained appointed in the Churches certaine rites and obseruations for order comelinesse which they did not commit to writing because they were not of necessity to bee perpetually obserued in one and the same sort but dispenseable according to the circumstance of times and places This hee proueth out of the first to the Corinthians the 11 and 14 chapters Secondly if hee thinke their erronious opinion touching traditions may be inferred from any thing that I acknowledge he seemeth to bee too weake in vnderstanding and not to know what the state of the question is betweene them and vs for the question is not whether there be any traditions or not but whether it being first supposed that the Prophets Apostles and other holy men of God left vnto posterities diuine and sacred bookes and it being agreed vpon which they ate they containe all things necessary to be knowne and practised by Christian men for the attaining of euer lasting life and saluation We say they doe Neither can he proue the contrary out of any thing written by me For I acknowledge nothing to haue beene deliuered by tradition but the bookes of Scripture things therein in some sort contained and certaine dispenseable obseruations not at all or hardly to be discerned from Ecclesiasticall constitutions Let vs see therefore what hee can conclude out of any thing that I haue written for the confirmation of the Romish errour To make saith hee a short reflexion vpon his doctrine by his first rule of traditions he must graunt vnto vs which I haue proued before at large that all those bookes which the Romane church approueth for Scripture together with the speciall doctrines of prayer for the dead to Angels c. are traditions For Doctour Field and his rules doe so assure vs. It seemeth my case is harder then I was ware of my danger greater then I supposed it had beene But what are those rules assigned by mee which assure vs that all the bookes approued by the Romane church are canonicall Haue they beene euer holden to bee so Haue the most famous in all ages or at the least in diverse ages constantly deliuered them vnto vs as receiued by them from those that went before thē no man doubting of them Did the Pastors of any Apostolicall church in the world successiuely deliuer them as canonicall to their after-commers He knoweth they did not For as I haue else-where proued Melito Bishop of Sardis Origen Athanasius Hilary Nazianzene Cyrill Epiphanius the Councell of Laodicea Ruffinus Hierome Gregory Damascene Hugo de sancto Victore Richardus de Sancto Victore Petrus Cluniacensis Lyranus Dionysius Carthusianus Hugo Cardinalis Thomas Aquinas Occham Picus Mirandula Waldensis Armachanus Driedo Caietane and all the most famous Diuines in all ages reiect them saue onely Augustine the third Councell of Carthage some few other who yet as Caietane thinketh receiued them not as absolutely canonicall but in a sort onely in that they containe a convenient good direction of manners The Reader I doubt not will easily see his folly in this point But it may bee the speciall doctrines of prayer for the dead and to Angels whereof hee speaketh will bee found Apostolicall traditions by those rules that I allow of Surely no for howsoeuer it was a most auncient and laudable custome of the church to remember the names of the dead at the holy Altar and Table of the Lord with desire of their and our finall consummation and publique acquitall in the day of CHRIST and some particular men doubtfuly extended the same practise and custome farther to the mitigating suspending or totall remouing and taking away of the punishments of Christian men dying in the state of mortall sinne yet the Popish opinion of Purgatory and prayer to deliuer men from thence were not once heard of in the Primitiue Church nor are yet receiued by the greatest part of the Christian world Touching prayer to Angels it was condemned by the Apostle Saint Paul the councell of Laodicea Augustine Theodoret but that the church did invocate Angels from the beginning that the most famous in all ages did teach men so to doe or the Pastors of any Apostolicall church successiuely one after another which are my rules he speaketh of neither hee nor any Papist liuing can euer proue The second thing he would inferre out of my words is that wee must of necessitie resort to the Romish church to know and learne the forme of Christian doctrine the explication of the seuerall parts thereof and the obscurities of Scripture for that I say the Apostles deliuered the forme of Christian doctrine as a tradition to posterities no posterity of Protestants can be of this posterity because both their priorities posterities deny traditions Thus then the good Author reasoneth The Protestants are none of those posterities to which the forme of Christian doctrine hath been deriued frō the Apostles by the line of succession therefore we must resort to the Roman church to know it The antecedent of this argument he proueth because as hee saith both priorities posterities of Protestants deny all traditions Surely the man cōmitteth so many faults in this one silly argument that I know not well what first to except against For neither is it consequent that if Protestants be not of that posterity to which the forme of Christian doctrine was commended and deliuered from the Apostles that we must of necessitie seeke to the Romane church to learne it Neither doe Protestants deny
all traditions as he vntruly affirmeth but onely the false imagined and vaine traditions of Papists and other heretickes Wee therefore to silence this trifler doe professe that the forme of Christian doctrine is not to bee sought in the Romane church alone or the other Christian churches that now presently are in the world but in the consenting voyce of Pastours and people succeeding one another they that went before euer reporting deliuering to them that came after them the things they had learned of their elders that so what doctrine the Apostles first deliuered might by their after-commers be deliuered to all posterities Of these posterities we professe our selues to be receiuing without any doubt or questioning whatsoeuer we find to haue beene deliuered in all places at all times by all Christian men not noted for heresie or singularitie and reiecting those things that haue no testimony of antiquity as the Popes not erring his vniuersalitie of iurisdiction his power and right to dispose the kingdomes of the world priuate Masses halfe communions Papall indulgences and all such things as any way carry the marke of noveltie and singularitie But saith he D. Field in the fourth and fifth kindes of traditions speaketh of them in the plurall number and yet giueth no example of the fourth but the baptisme of infants nor of the fifth and last but the obseruation of Lent and Sunday or the Lords day therefore hee must seeke for more then hee remembreth and consequently in all equall iudgement as many articles of Catholique religion as wee claime by tradition The answer hereunto is easie for touching the fourth kinde of tradition I define it to be the continued practise of such things as are neither contained in Scripture expressely nor the example of such practise there clearely and expressely deliuered though the grounds reasons and causes of the necessitie of such practise be there contained and the benefite or good that followeth of it The onely example I giue of this kinde of tradition is the baptisme of infants yet may I speake in the plurall number as I doe because not onely the baptisme of infants is of this sort but many very materiall things belonging thereunto as that in time of danger of death they are to bee baptized with all possible speede lest we seeme to contemne or neglect the Sacrament that this may be done in priuate houses either by dipping or sprinkling as well before as after the eighth day If this Author can tell vs of any more examples of things of this kinde the necessitie whereof may bee proued out of Scripture though the practise of them be not there expressed wee will admit them but they will make nothing for the confirmation of Popish vnwritten traditions seeing such things are written in respect of the causes and grounds of the necessity of obseruing them though not by way of expresse precept or report of practise and therefore it will not follow from any thing that I haue saide in the iudgment of any man though not indifferent nor equall that I must admit so many Articles of Religion as Papists shall bee pleased to claime by tradition Of the fifth and last kind of traditions which he diuideth into two though I make but one I giue but only one example which is the obseruation of the Lords day which yet appeareth by Scripture to haue beene in vse euen in the Apostles times For touching the Lent Fast I do not giue it for an example as hee vntruly reporteth but onely hauing described the fifth kind of traditions say that some thinke the Lent Fast the Fast of the fourth and sixth dayes of the weeke to be of this kinde The next thing which he vrgeth in his reflexion vpon my doctrine as he tearmeth it is that if the traditions of the last kinde bee confounded with Ecclesiasticall constitutions as I say they are that we might the more reverence the constitutions of the Church wee must at last recant our contempt and dislike against them For answere hereunto I will first shew that the traditions of the last sort are so confounded with Ecclesiasticall constitutions that it can hardly bee certainely knowne which they are Secondly that wee neuer disliked the auncient constitutions of the primitiue and first Church and therefore need not recant any such dislike That Apostolicall traditions of the last kinde are confounded with Ecclesiasticall constitutions it is most cleare euident in that some reckon one thing and some another and our Aduersaries dare not peremptorily say which amongst those traditions diuersely and differently mentioned by the Fathers are Apostolicall and which not Tertullian accounteth all these following to bee Apostolicall traditions thrice dipping of them that are baptized the interrogatories respondes and words of sacred stipulation vsed in Baptisme the renouncing of the Diuell his Angels and the pompe of the world when we come to the water of Baptisme and before in the presence of the Bishop the fore-tasting of milke and honey and the abstaining from bathing and washing a whole weeke after the taking or receiuing of the holy Sacrament in the time of ordinary repast oblations for the dead and for their birth-dayes euery yeare the same day they dyed standing at prayers on the Lords day and from Easter to Whitsontide and the signing of mens fore-heads with the signe of the crosse Harum saith he aliarum ciusmodi disciplinarum si legem expostules Scripturarum nullam inuenies traditio tibi praetendetur auctrix consuetudo confirmatrix fides obseruatrix that is Of these and the like obseruations if thou seeke for any written law or precept thou shalt finde none Tradition will be alleaged vnto thee as authour of them custome as the confirmer and faith as the obseruer Hereunto some adde praying towards the East baptising at Easter and Whitsontide onely Hierome accounteth the Lent-fast amongst traditions of this sort His words are Nos vnam quadragesimam secundum traditionem Apostolorum toto anno tempore nobis congruo ieiunamus Wee fast one Lent according to the tradition of the Apostles in the whole yeare at a fitte and seasonable time to whom Iansenius agreeth saying that the obseruation of the Lent-fast seemeth to haue proceeded from the tradition of the Apostles which though perhaps it did not binde all by any expresse precept from the beginning yet being kept in all ages and in all parts of the world had the strength and force of a law I thinke there is no Papist will say certainely that all these were Apostolicall traditions but whether they doe or not it is most certaine they thinke themselues no more bound to keepe them then meere Ecclesiasticall constitutions which are established by the authority of the church and may be the same be abrogated and reuersed againe in that the most part of all these are out of vse in the Romane Church For they thinke not thrice dipping necessary following therein the
in that they offend him and this is proper to God in that he onely hath power not to punish that hath power to punish and the Ministers of the Church concurre hereunto no otherwise but onely by bringing men by force of the Word and Sacraments into such an estate wherein God finding them will not punish them The second kinde of absolution is the freeing of men from the censures of suspension excommunication penitentiall corrections and such punishments as the Church may inflict and in this kinde the Church may properly bee saide to absolue The third kinde of absolution is the comfortable assuring of men vpon the vnderstanding of their estate that they shall escape Gods fearefull punishments In these two later sorts the Ministers of the Church haue power to absolue and personall absolution in either of these senses is rightly said to be an Apostolicall and godly ordinance but it is a written ordinance and not an vnwritten tradition which is the thing that this man should proue There is another kinde of absolution imagined by the Papists which is a Sacramentall act giuing grace ex opere operato to the remission of sinnes which is not an Apostolicall ordinance but an invention of their owne whereof I haue spoken elsewhere Touching the ministration of baptisme by priuate persons in the time of necessity it is not said to bee an vnwritten tradition by the Bishoppe of Winchester and therefore it is not to this purpose no more then that Bishoppes are saide to bee Diuinae ordinationis seeing the distinct degrees of Bishops and Presbyters are proued out of the Scripture That confirmation is an Apostolicall tradition wee confesse but it is a written tradition both in respect of the first practise of it by the Apostles who laid their hands on such as were baptized by others from which authority the custome of imposing hands doth come as Hierome testifieth as also in respect of the necessity of the continuance of it in that the Apostle to the Hebrewes reckoneth the imposition of hands together with the doctrine of baptismes amongst the foundations of Christian religion We doubt not therefore but it is a fitting thing that the Bishop should confirme by imposition of hands those that are baptized by others but it is rather for the honour of Priest-hood then the necessity of any law as Hierome testifieth for that otherwise they were in a wofull case who in places farre remote die before the Bishop can come to them if none could receiue the spirit of God but by the imposition of his hands It is therefore a sacramentall complement not to be neglected but not a Sacrament But this good man will proue it to be a Sacrament First because as hee saith it is so ioyned by vs with baptisme And secondly because it hath both a visible signe and grace by the communion-booke reviued It seemeth hee was neuer any good disputer he bringeth so many weake silly arguments and yet vrgeth them as if they were vnanswerable Surely these reasons will be found too weake to proue confirmation a Sacrament if they fall into the hands of any one that will take the paines to examine them For first if hee meane that it is joyned by vs with baptisme as a Sacrament hee is greatly deceiued seeing wee joyne it only as a Sacramentall complement And secondly though it haue an outward signe and inuisible grace yet the signe is not so much a signe of that grace which the Bishop imposing hands by his prayer obtayneth for the confirmation of the parties he layeth his hands vpon as a signe of limitation or restraint specifying and setting out the partie on whom hee desireth God to powre his confirming grace and therefore it hath not the nature of a Sacrament wherein there must be a visible signe of that grace that is conferred Secondly because though the Bishop ouershadowing the party by the imposition of his hands doe in a sort expresse resemble the hand of God stretched forth for the protecting assisting and safe keeping of the party which is an inuisible grace yet it followeth not that it is a Sacrament for the fiery and clouen tongues were a visible signe of that gracious gift of the spirit which the Apostles receiued in the day of Pentecost enabling them with all fiery zeale to publish the mysteries of Gods kingdome in all the seuerall languages of the world yet were they no Sacraments as Bellarmine noteth because the grace whereof these fiery tongues were a signe was not giuen by force of this signe as a set meane appointed by almighty God So in like sort the imposition of hands is a signe of protecting assisting and safe keeping grace not giuen or obtayned by the due vse of this signe as in Sacraments but to be obtained by the prayers of the Bishop and Church of God That which he hath out of Basil is to little purpose for I hope he thinketh not the doctrine of the Trinity to be holden by bare and onely tradition without the warrant of the written word or God And if Saint Basil reckon the forme of wordes wherein we professe our faith in the blessed Trinity to bee a tradition it proueth nothing against vs seeing the thing so professed is contayned in Scripture That the ordaining of Bishops in Diocesses to rule their churches and Metropolitanes in prouinces to call and moderate Synodes was an Apostolicall tradition we make no question but we deny it to be an vnwritten tradition For whereas in the Acts Paul sendeth for the Presbyters of Ephesus to Miletum in the Reuelation it appeareth by the Epistles of the Spirit of God directed to the seauen churches of Asia that amongst many Presbyters feeding the flocke of Christ in Ephesus there was one chiefe who had a kinde of eminent power who is named the Angell of the Church and who is commended or reproued for all thinges done well or ill within the limits and bounds of the same That the Bishop of Winchester saith the Article of Christs descending into hell and the Creede wherein it is contayned is an Apostolicall tradition deliuered to the Church by the direction and agreement of the Apostles is nothing but that we all say Neither is the Popish conceit touching vnwritten Articles of religion thereby confirmed for howsoeuer the Creede of the Apostles may be said to be a tradition in respect of the orderly collection of the principall heades of Christian faith into a briefe summe and Epitome which are scattered here and there in Scripture yet no Article of this Creed is beleeued or receiued by bare and onely tradition but they are all proued out of Scripture as that worthy and learned Bishop doth most excellently confirme and proue the Article of Christs descending into hell out of the same After these particular instances this authour groweth to a generall conclusion and asketh why we may not say with the Councell of Florence cited by
seene him and talked with him they professed that they beleeved not for her saying any longer for themselues had heard him speake and did know that hee was the Saviour of the world indeed So men at the first beginne to beleeue moued so to doe by the authority of the Church but rest not in it but in the infallible assurance of diuine trueth Vpon the mistaking of this saying of S. Augustine and an erroneous conceit that our faith stayeth wholly vpon the authority and testimony of the Church hath growne that opinion that the authority of the Church is greater than the authority of the Scriptures CHAP. 10. Of the Papistes preferring the Churches authority before the Scripture TOuching which odious comparison I find some shew of difference amongst the Papistes but none indeede Some affirme that the authorities of the Church and of the Scripture being in divers kindes may in diverse sorts and respects either of them be sayd to be greater then the other to wit the one in nature of an euidence the other of a Iudge and that therefore the comparing of them in authority is vnfit and superfluous Others say that the Church is greater then Scriptures The Rhemists seeme to be of the first sort seeking to conceale that which indeede they thinke because they would not incurre the dislike and ill opinion of men naturally abhorring from so odious a comparison Yet in the same place they doe make the comparison and preferre the Church before the Scriptures 1. In respect of antiquity in that it was before them 2. In excellencie of nature in that the Church is the spouse of Christ the Temple of God the proper subject of God and his graces for which the Scriptures were and not the Church for the Scriptures 3. In power of judging of doubts and controversies the Church hauing judiciall power the Scripture not being capable of it 4. In euidence the definition of the Church being more cleare and evident then those of the Scriptures Stapleton sayth the comparison may be made and the Church preferred before the Scriptures foure wayes 1. So as if the Church might define contrary to the Scriptures as shee may contrary to the writings of particular men how great soeuer In this sense they of the Church of Rome make not the comparison neither doe we charge them with any such thing though Stapleton be pleased to say so of vs. 2. So as the Church may define though not contrary to yet beside the Scripture or written Word of God This comparison is not made properly touching the preheminence of one aboue another in authority but the extent of one beyond the other as Stapleton rightly noteth In this sense the Romanists make the Church greater in authority than the Scriptures that is the extent of the Churches authority larger than of the Scriptures to bring in their traditions but this wee deny and will in due place improue their errour herein Thirdly in the obedience they both challenge of vs where they all say that we are bound with as great affection of piety to obey and submit our selues vnto the determinations of the Church as of the Scriptures both being infallible of diuine and heauenly authority against which no man may resist and that it is a matter of faith so to thinke Yea some of them as Stapleton in the same place are not ashamed to say that wee are bound with greater certaintie of faith to subscribe vnto the determinations of the Church than of the Scriptures and that it is the authority of the Church that maketh vs accept embrace and beleeue the Scriptures Fourthly in the nature of the things themselues in which respect they preferre the Church before the Scriptures as being in it selfe more excellent then the Scriptures as the subject by which the spirit worketh is more excellent then the thing hee worketh by it CHAP. 11. Of the refutation of their errour who preferre the authority of the Church before the Scripture THat wee may the better discerne what is to bee resolued touching these two latter comparisons betweene the Church and the Scriptures wee must remember that which I haue before noted touching them both For first the name of the Church sometimes comprehendeth onely the beleeuers that now presently are liuing in the world Sometimes not onely these but all them also that haue beene since the Apostles times Sometimes all that are and haue beene since Christ appeared in the flesh If the comparison bee made betweene the Church consisting onely of the faithfull that now are and the Scripture wee absolutely deny the equality of their authority and say it is impiety to thinke that both may challenge an equall degree of obedience and faith to bee yeelded to them for it cannot bee proued that the Church thus taken is free from errour nay themselues with one consent confesse that generall Councels representing this Church may erre though not in matters of substance which they purposely meete to determine yet in other passages and in the reasons and motiues leading to such determinations and consequently the whole Church may erre in the same things the one in their opinion being no more infallible than the other Yea some of them feare not to pronounce that Popes and generall Councells may erre damnably and that the Church itselfe may erre in matters not fundamentall though without pertinacy as Picus in his theoremes and Waldensis who freeth only the vniuersall Church consisting of the faithfull that are and haue beene from errour and not the present Church as I shewed before We are so farre then from preferring the Church thus taken as Stapleton in the place aboue mentioned professeth he taketh it in authority before the Scripture that we thinke it impiety to imagine it to be equall That the authority of the Church maketh vs to beleeue with an humane and acquisite faith we deny not but that it maketh vs to beleeue with a diuine faith we deny as before If the comparison be made between the Church consisting of all the faithfull that haue bin since besides the Apostles writers of the holy Scriptures though we think the Church thus taken to be free from any error yet dare we not make it equall to the Scripture For that the Scripture is infallibly true as inspired immediatly frō the spirit of truth securing the writers of it from errour The Church not in respect of the condition of the men of whom it consisteth or the manner of the guiding of the spirit each particular man being subject vnto errour but in respect of the generality and vniversality of it in euery part whereof in every time no errour could possibly be found And for that whatsoeuer is vniuersally deliuered by it is thereby prooued to be from the Apostles of whose faith wee are secure Thus then the whole Church thus taken is subiect to the Scripture in all her parts and hath her infallibility from it and therefore in her
manner of hauing the truth is inferiour vnto it neither are we bound to receiue her doctrines as the sacred Scriptures Besides though the Church taken in this sort be free from errour yet not from ignorance of many things wherein we may be instructed by the scripture So that it is possible for a man to vnderstand the naturall literall sense of some parts of Scripture and from thence some things that were not in such sort knowne and deliuered by any that went before as Andradius and Caietanus do proue at large If the comparison be made betweene the Church consisting of all the belieuers that are and haue beene since Christ appeared in the flesh so including the Apostles and their blessed assistants the Euangelists we deny not but that the Church is of greater authority antiquity and excellencie than the Scripture of the new Testament as the witnesse is better then his testimonie and the Lawgiuer greater then the Lawes made by him as Stapleton alleageth But he is to proue the present Church greater in authority than the Scripture which hee vndertaketh but performeth not His reason that the Scripture was giuen for the good of the Church and that therefore the Church is better than the Scripture proueth not the thing intended For as the people are more excellent in degree of being and nature of things than the lawes that be made for their good yet are the lawes of more authority and must ouer-rule and direct the people so though the Scriptures being but significations declarations and manifestations of diuine truth be not better in degree of things than the Church yet in power of prescribing directing and ouer-ruling our faith they are incomparably greater That which the Rhemists adde to shew the greatnesse of the Church aboue the Scripture because the Church hath judiciall power to determine doubts and controuersies whereof as they suppose the Scripture is not capable I will examine in the next part when I come to speake of the power of judging which the Church hath This errour of the Romanists imagining the authority of the Church to bee greater than the Scripture all the best learned in the Church of Rome euer resisted as Waldensis Occam Gerson and sundry others CHAP. 12. Of their errour who thinke the Church may make new articles of faith VNto this errour is joyned and out of this hath growne another not vnlike that the Church may make new articles of faith which though Stapleton and some other of our time seeme to disclaime yet do they indeede fall into it For the better vnderstanding whereof we must obserue as Occam fitly noteth that an Article of faith is sometimes strictly taken onely for one of those diuine verities which are contained in the creede of the Apostles sometimes generally for any Catholike verity This question is not meant of articles of faith in the first sense but in the second and so the meaning of the question is whether the Church that now is may by her approbation make those assertions and propositions to be Catholike verities that were not before or those hereticall that were not A Catholike vetity is a diuine truth which euery Christian is bound to beleeue The things which Christian men are bound to beleeue are of two sorts and consequently there are two sorts of Catholike verities to wit some so neerely touching the matter of eternall saluation that a man cannot be saued vnlesse hee expressely knowe and beleeue them others farther remooued which if a man beleeue implicitè and in praeparatione animi it sufficeth These must bee beleeued expressely and distinctly if their coherence with or dependance on the former do appeare vnto vs so that the manifest deduction of them from the former will make them such as must be expressely beleeued Our aduersaries confesse that the approbation and determination of the Church cannot make that a truth which was not nor that a Diuine or Catholike truth that was not so before but they thinke that the Church by her bare and sole determination may make that verity to be in such sort Catholike that euery one vnderstanding of such determination must expressely beleeue it that was not so and in such degree Catholike before But wee thinke that it is not the authority of the Church but the cleare deduction from the things which we are bound expressely to beleeue that maketh things of that sort that they must be particularly and distinctly known beleeued that were not necessarily so to bee beleeued before and therefore before and without such determination men seeing cleerely the deduction of things of this nature from the former and refusing to beleeue them are condemned of hereticall pertinacy and men not seeing that deduction after the decree of a Councell hath passed vpon them may still doubt and refuse to beleeue without hereticall pertinacy We cannot therefore condemne the Grecians as heretickes as the Romanists doe because wee cannot perswade our selues of them generally that they see that which they deny touching the proceeding of the holy Ghost deduced from the indubitate principles of our Christian faith or that they impiously neglect the search of the trueth What is it then will some men say that the decree of a Councell doth effect Surely nothing else but the rejecting of such as are otherwise minded from the societies of those men and Churches with whom the decree of the Councell doth prevaile and with all wise men the more wary and fearefull pronouncing any thing of those matters concerning which so graue authority hath passed her sentence The Papists proceed further and thinke it hereticall pertinacie to gainsay the decrees of a Councell though they finde the reasons by which they of the Councell were mooued so to thinke and determine to bee too weake and not to conclude the thing intended as in the matter of Transubstantiation they thinke it heresie to gainesay the decrees of those Councels that haue defined it and yet many of them judge all the reasons alleaged to proue it too weake to proue it In deed if it were certaine as they suppose that a generall Councell could not erre this were a sufficient deduction These things are decreede in a generall Councell Therefore ture because it is consequent that that is true which is affirmed by him that cannot erre Thus wee see what it is to bee thought touching this question whether the Church may make new Articles of faith onely one thing must be added for the further clearing hereof The Papistes thinke that the Church may adde to the Canon of the Scripture bookes not yet admitted as the bookes of Hermas the Scholler of Paul intituled Pastor and the constitutions of Clement which if it should doe we were to receiue them with no lesse respect then the Epistle of Iames and other bookes of the New Testament This we thinke to be a most grosse heresie and contrrry to their owne principles who making the number