the Church of England is agreeable to the coÌ„mon grounds and principles of our Christian Profession contained in the Articles of our Creede the Law of God the Lord's Prayer the doctrine of the Sacraments and in those other generall rules of holy Scripture wherein are set down all such circumstances as are requisite to euery good worke Now in this third part I endeauour to make it euident that the same doctrine is agreeable to all the rules of right reasoning therefore also is orthodoxe sound For the declaration and demonstration of the truth of euery thing is nothing els but a declaration and demonstration of a true definition and diuision thereof and of the causes and effects and of all other arguments that agree thereunto as I haue already proued in a little Treatise entituled The reasonablenesse of wise and holy Truth and The absurdity of wicked and foolish errour being the fore-runner of this large Volume Faith in holy Scripture is taken either for the quality and habit of Faith or for the doctrine of Faith The holy Scripture deciphereth the quality and habit of our Christian Faith by arguments taken out of all Logicake places as followeth The principall efficient cause of the quality or habit of Faith is God Phil. 1. 29. The instrumentall cause is the word of God Rom. 10. 17. The materiall cause is an assent vpon knowledge Iohn 6. 69. The formall cause is a sure and settled assent grounded vpon a sure settled kgowledge Iohn 17. 8. Col. 1. 6. The finall cause is the excluding of all glorying in our selues and the ascribing of all glory vnto God Eph. 2. 8. Rom. 3. 27. The effects of Faith are as all other diuine graces and fruits of the spirit Acts 26. 18. so an holy confidence and an assurance of God's loue and a comfortable boldnesse to come vnto God as vnto a gracious and louing Father Eph. 3. 12. 2 Pet. 1. 10. The subiect wherein it is seated is the mind For the mind is the eye of the soule and Faith is the true sight thereof Ioh. 8. 56. Acts. 26. 18. the obiect thereof is all diuine truths Rom. 15. 4. especially the Couenant of grace founded vpon Christ Ioh. 20. 31. 1 Pet. 1. 21. the attributes are that it is sound orthodoxe and Catholicke that is one and the same in all the true seruants of God which haue bin are or shal be to the end of the world Heb. 11. 2. Eph. 4. 5. Things diuers are a sleight opinion Acts 26. 28. and a temporary Faith Mat. 13. 20. Things contrary are presumption fleshly security either bred by confidence in teÌ„porall prosperity Isay 28. 15. or in the outward pledges of God's loue Ierem. 7. 4. or in the outward shew of good workes Rom. 9. 32. 10. 3. Things priuatiuely opposite are ignorance Eph. 4. 18. a blind Faith Mat. 13. 19. and sophisticall infidelity 1 Cor. 1. 2â— That which is plaine contradictory is flat Atheisme Sap. 2. 1. Act. 23. 8 things like are a bodily eye Ioh. 9. 39. a bodily hand â— Tim. 6 12. a bodily mouth Ioh. 6. 53. a bodily foot 2 Cor. 5. 7. bodily wings Luke 17. 37. Things vnlike are vnstable childishnesse Eph. 4. 14 and wauering doubtfulnes Iac. 1. 6. The coniugates are to beleeue in God and in Christ Ioh. 14. 1 and to be one of the houshold of Faith Gal. 6. 10 the notation or interpretation of the name is a sure and Fides quia fiet quod dictum est certaine accomplishment of that which Faith beleeueth Math. 8. 8. The definition or description thereof is this Sauiâ—g Faith is diuine wisdome or a certain knowledge and a settled assent and adhaerence to all diuine verities necessary to saluatioÌ„ especially to the couenant of grace as to the meanes of the chiefest good and highest happines 2 Tim. 3. 15. the diuision thereof is into a weake and strong Faith Rom. 14. 2. The testimonies are the confessions of the Martyrs and Confessors that haue liued doe and shall liue to the end of the world Apocal. 7. 10. This is the delineation of the whole body of Faith as it is drawne out by the pensill of the Prophets and Apostles the parts members whereof which are most controuersed are further lightned and cleared in the first part of this Treatise As in the second part thereof the reasons and arguments produced to open and iustifie the seueral doctrines of Faith are referred to all the Topick places as being the rich mines out of which they are digged The doctrines of Faith set down in the bookes of the Prophets and Apostles are Logicall reasonable wise and the very first principles and grounds thereof are 1 Pet. 2. 2 without any mixture of sophisticall deceit The high Priests pectorall wherein the Vrim and Thummim was put and by the which God gaue answer vnto his people was called by the Hebrewes Hosen and by the Greekes See Alsted Praecog Theolog. fol. 230. Logeïon and by the Latines Rationale for that the Lord's doctrines had in them the most pure holines of most exact Logick or reason The Logick places which I follow in this Treatise are deliuered by Petrus Ramus who concerning the vse of Logick hath very much cleared the rules of Aristotle our grand Master The exemplifying of Logick places by the Theologicall positions I haue taken from Amandus Polanus but with this difference in that he setteth downe his arguments declaratiue and demonstratiue in bare sentences and propositions without further discourse whereas in this Treatise they are further opened by other arguments and reasons For as learned and iudicious Doctour Feild auouncheth in his Dedicatory Epistle to his first Booke of the Church the doctrines wherein we differ from the Church of Rome are grounded not only vpon the greatest authority that is but also vpon the most preuailing reasons that euer perswaded men And verily if that most famous Oratours iudgment be sound there is no reason to giue credit to that reason whereof there cannot bee yeelded a sufficient reason Cic. lib. 4. ad Herennium The great Antichrist of these last times as testifieth 2 Thess 2. 8. the Apostle which hath brought in a great Apostacy froÌ„ the Faith shal be consumed with the Spirit of the Lord's mouth and shal be abolished with the brightnesse of his comming and so shall his Armies also which as Chrysostome Chrys bom 49. in Mat. saith are impious Heresies For whereas the time of miracles is now long since expired whereby the Apostles and their successours in the Primitiue Church got credit to the diuine doctrine of the Gospel of Christ and Heb. 2. 4. â— Cor. 10. 4. made it most powerfull to the ouerthrowing of all Heathenish Idolatries and impious Heresies it remaineth now that the Professours of the Gospel by the glorious light of powerfull arguments taken out of God's booke and iustifiable by the exact rules of sound reason make Truth
with milke and to be taught the first principles of Religion and grounds of the Catechisme and yet they that will become men must be able to take stronger meate and to vnderstand the reasons of all Divine Doctrines for the further strengthening and confirming of their faith And verely by all Doctrines deliuered by men it is a truth Non quis sed quid spectandum generally confessed by all that not so much the party that speaketh but that which is spoken ought to be respected and not the bare and taked authority of any but the sufficiency of the testimony it selfe ought to sway altogether and the waight Salmeron Jesuitâ— in c 5. ep ad Rom. of reason whereon it is grounded For the efficacy of reason is better then all authorities And of this iudgement are all wise men as well Heathen as Christians I am thus resolued saith Plato not now but alwayes that I am not to enthrall Plato in Critone my iudgement to any of my friends but to reason yea to that reason which by discourse appeareth to be best Whose opinion was seconded by the chiefest of all his Schollers that is by Aristotle Plato said he is my friend but truth that is Aristonoral l. 1. c. 3. made knowne by reason is more my friend So our wise and Christian Philosophers What wilt thou Lact de vero Dei simulachro c. 20. doe quoth Lactantius wilt thou follow thine Ancestors or reason rather So St. Cyprian we are not to prescribe by custome but to conuince by reason yea let there bee gathered together in a generall councell the chiefest of the Bishops and Doctors and of all other learned men of the whole Christian world and let them also be such as rightly embrace the true Catholique and Apostolique Faith and giue a iust censure also in matters of neuer so great waight and moment yet are we not of necessity bound to stand to their verdict Or else Saint Austin was out of the way when he stood vpon this plea Aug Cont. Maxim l. 3. c. 14. with Maximinius the Arrian I will not saith he alledge the Councell of Nice to prejudice thee neither shalt thou produce the Councell of Ariminum to prejudice me I will not be bound to yeeld to the authority of the one nor thou to the authority of the other but by the authority of the Scrâ—ptures as by most indifferent witnesses not proper to either of vs but common to both let matter with matter cause with cause reason with reason be compared together and so let tryall be made of the truth For he had learned to yeeld that honor to those onely books of the holy Scripture that are called Canonicall Aug ep 19. ad Hieronymum that he did assuredly beleeue that none of the Authors of them did erre any whit at all But as for all other albeit they did excell in learning and holinesse yet he would not rest vpon their iudgements vnlesse they did confirme the same by the authority of Canonicall Scripture or by some reason agreeable vnto truth And verely faith is not to be iudged by the persons but the persons by the faith For as Tertullian saith faith is not therefore sound and Catholique because it is professed by such and such persons but such and such persons are to be deemed sound and Catholique for that they professe the sound and Catholique faith Ramus and Scribonius men of no small iudgement and learning haue taught that all manner of testimonies be they Divine or humane are of themselues iâ—artificiall arguments and that the doctrines proued thereby haue their credit and authority rather from the qualification of the persons whose testimonies they are then from the bare and naked testimonies themselues So the Emperour Adrian in his rescript credit is to be giuen to him that giueth the testimony and not to the bare testimony And verely we doe not embrace the testimony of God set downe in the bookes of the Scriptures with that reuerent manner as we ought to doe vnlesse when wee giue assent thereunto we d ee it not so much for the bare testimony it selfe as for that it is the testimony of the most wise and holy God which cannot deceiue or be deceiued For then we rightly honour him and his truth Hereof it was that Christ receiued not the witnesse of Iohn as it was the testimony proceeding from a meere man but he receiued it as the testimony Ioh. 5. 33. of such a man as was indued with the Spirit of Eliah and sent before himselfe to prepare his way Nay he saith of his owne bare and naked testimony considered by it selfe If I should beare witnesse of my selfe my witnesse were not true Ioh 5. 31. And yet concerning the same as it is the testimony of the Son of God the very essentiall wisedome of his heauenly Father he saith though I beare record of my selfe my record is true Ioh. 8. 14. for I know whence I came and whither I goe And hereof it is that both God and Christ are so often mentioned in the holy Scripture with their honourable Titles that so the credibility of their persons may yeeld the more and greater credit to their Doctrine Andy et as if this were not sufficient inough the very doctrine it selfe that proceedeth from God and is set downe in the holy Scripture is cleared and iustified by many arguments and reasons And verily how otherwise could the holy Scripture inable the wise and learned professors of the Christian Faith to confute all Heathenish and haereticall errours and to iustifie all Divine and Heauenly Truthes not onely to the Gentiles and Haeretickes but also to the faithfull themselues vnlesse it did minister plenty of all sound and evident arguments for the effecting of the same The Gentiles refuse the very words of the Canonicall Scriptures and the Haeretickes reiect the right and orthodoxall sense of them and therefore neither of them can be convicted but by the euidence of reason yea how can the faithfull themselues giue a sure assent vnto the Doctrines of the holy Scriptures vnlesse they apprehend such arguments and reasons as are sufficient motiues to induce them thereunto And hereof it is that in all sound and Orthodoxe Sermons made either to breed or to encrease and strengthen Faith vnto the doctrines obserued in the words of the Text there are annexed sound and sufficient reasons for the opening and confirming of the same doctrines And this is the cause why preaching is preferred before reading and Catechising as being the more ordinary meanes both to beget and strengthen Faith for that in preaching many reasons are produced as many lights for the better clearing and iustifying of all Truthes and for the fuller convincing of all errours and haeresies the which thing is not done either in reading or in Catechizing There is I confesse no efficient cause of Gods will but his will it selfe for there is nothing without
seeing they haue turned the Bread into the Body of Christ and are able to offer him vp in their Masse as a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of quicke and dead the which thing cannot be but much auaileable to themselues which are sure to be well payed for their paynes QVEST. XVII Concupiscence is sinne euen in the Regenerate themselues Why is the liuing man sorrowfull Man suffereth for his sinne So the Apostle By sinne death entred into the world and Lam. 3. 37. Rom. 5. 12. therefore all sickenesse and other miseries that lead thereunto Vnto the which seeing euen sanctified Infants which haue receiued the Sacrament of regeneration and are free from all actuall sinne are subiect therefore concupiscence in sanctified infants is sinne vnlesse we will lay to the charge of the most righteous Iudge of the whole world that he punisheth such persons that are without all fault Yea whereas infants giue no consent to their naturall corruptions and yet are punished for them therefore concupiscence is sinne albeit consent is not giuen to it See S. Aug. Serm. de Temp. 45. QVEST. XVIII Faith repentance and loue with all holy workes proceeding from them doe not deserue any thing at all at Gods hands but make the faithfull endebted to God for the same If Abraham saith the Apostle were iustified by workes hee Rom. 4. 2. hath wherein to reioyce but not before God For gifts and benefits doe not make the doner any whit endebted to the receiuer but they deserue at the hands of the receiuer and make him endebted vnto the doner But faith repentance and loue Phil. 1. 29. and all holy workes proceeding from them are the free gifts and blessings of God wrought in them by the operation of 1 Cor. 12. 11. the holy Ghost and therefore are called the fruits of the Gal. 5. 22. Spirit Wherefore hereby the faithfull deserue nothing at Gods hand but are made the more indebted to God So reasoneth Saint Bernard None by good workes can deserue eternall life Bern. Ser. 1. de 〈◊〉 at Gods hands seeing all the afflictions of this life are not worthy of the glory that shall be reuealed albeit one person could indure them all The merits of men are not such as vnto the which eternall life is by iustice due and that God should doe wrong to them if he did not reward them there with For that I may not let passe that all merits are Gods gifts and that man is thereby rather made a debter to God then God to man what are all merits being compared to so great glory And therefore Dauid cryed out Enter not into iudgement with thy seruant O Lord for in thy sight shall no man liuing be iustified QVEST. XIX The workes of God reuealed in the Scriptures doe manifestly declare them to be the word of God especially the worke of regeneration wrought by the Diuine and powerfull doctrines thereof in the hearts of all such as faithfully and sincerely embrace the same and therefore they are not to be receiued as such onely vpon the testimony of the Church Knowne vnto God are all his workes from the beginning Act. 15. 18. 1 Cor. 2. 11. of the world and to none other besides himselfe and therefore he onely is able to reueale them Wherefore seeing the works of the creation redemption and Sanctification which are the most gracious and glorious workes of God are plainely reuealed in the bookes of the Holy Scriptures therefore the doctrines of the holy bookes are faithfully to be embraced as vndoubtedly proceeding from diuine reuelation And verily who could so distinctly and particularly set downe the manner of the creation of man and of all the rest of the creatures but he that hauing the fulnesse of being in himselfe could giue such a manner and measure of being to them all as should manifest his great power wisedome and goodnesse towards man for whose sake principally the world was made And who could lay open the fall of man from his estate of holinesse and happinesse wherein he was created and the manner thereof but he onely from whose obedience albeit man could depart yet he could not depart from his presence nor so much as dazle his sharpe and cleare eyes albeit he could cleane put out his owne but who could open a meanes of mans recouery from this his miserable and wretched estate whereinto he is fallen by his owne folly but he that was onely able to worke his recouery It is euident that sinne being an offence committed against the infinite Maiesty of the most glorious Deity requireth a satisfaction no lesse then infinite Now who could so much as imagine that God being so grieuously prouoked and so highly offended with man should send his owne Sonne to become man that in mans nature he might suffer death for mans deliuery from death and condemnation For doubtlesse one will scarce die for a righteous man for a good Rom. 5. 7. man it may be that one dare dye that then such a person who when he was in the forme of God thought it no robbery to be equall with God should die for such persons as were not onely neither righteous nor good but aboue measure vnrighteous and euill and that he should die such a death as proceeded from the intollerable wrath of so highly incensed a God against most execrable and cursed sinnes Who hath beleeued our report and to whom is the arme of the Lord reuealed Isay 53. 1. Surely the Gospell wherein this worke is reuealed is Diuine and supernaturall exceeding all humane and naturall apprehension and could not be reuealed but by him that could worke beyond the power of nature The which thing doth more euidently appeare hereby in that wheresoeuer it is plainely reuealed and sincerely imbraced it doth deliuer all such from the most grieuous bondage of sinne and Satan and doth most effectually bring them backe againe vnto God For as Lactantius saith Let humane wisedome stretch it selfe to the vttermost yet it can but cause men to couer their sinnes it cannot enable them to cast them out whereas the Gospell which is the Law of the Spirit of Life not onely freed Saint Paul from the Law of sinne and death but also conuerted Rom. 8. 2. the world and that in short time from infidelity to faith from sinne to righteousnesse from Satan to God albeit it was most mightily resisted not onely with all the wisedome and learning but also with all the power and authority of all the wisest and greatest men of the world and therefore it cannot be denyed but that it is the most mighty and powerfull word of the most mighty and powerfull God The heauens declare themselues to be the workes of God in that they cause the earth which is so bare and barren at Winter to be cloathed in Summer with all manner of hearbes flowers and graine and to abound with all variety of fruit and doth not the doctrine
that concerne the worship and seruice of God nothing ought to be taught or to be beleeued which is not warranted by the testimony of the Canonicall Scriptures If Saint Paul himselfe taught nothing concerning Christ but that which was deliuered by Moses and the Prophets Act. 26. 22. then ought none other of meaner gifts and priuiledges teach any thing that he hath not receiued from the Canonicall Scriptures So reasoneth Origen Paul as his custome is saith he will auouch that which he teacheth out of the holy Scriptures wherein he giueth an ensample to the teachers in the Church that they should produce such things as they teach the people not grounded vpon their own opinions but strengthened with the testimonies of God For if such and so great an Apostle did not thinke that the authority of his owne word might suffice vnlesse he knew that those very things were written in the Law and in the Prophets which himselfe deliuered how much more should we little ones obserue this that when we teach we vtter not our owne but the meaning of the Holy Ghost Against the which most wise aduertisement if we presume to offend albeit we were such as the glorious Angels Saint Austin is bold out of the penne of the Apostle to denounce against vs a most terrible curse If saith he I will Aug. cont 〈◊〉 Pelag. l. 3. c. 6. not say we our selues but if an Angell from Heauen shall teach cōcerning Christ and his Church or concerning any thing else that doth belong to faith and life any other doctrine then that which is contayned in the Legall and Euangelicall Scriptures let him be accursed Accursed then is the Church of Rome and her children who affirme that their vnwritten traditions are of equall authority with the doctrine of the Canonicall Scriptures and command them with the like reuerence to be imbraced and receiued QVEST. XLIX The naturall man hath no free will to that which is religiously good If the Church her selfe had need still to pray to her deare Bridegroome Draw me after a sort vnwilling that thou maist Bernard in Cant. Serm. 2. make me willing draw me drowping that thou maist cause me to runne then certainly all such as are not indued with such spirituall graces as the Church is may iustly be challenged for persons not almost but altogether vnwilling to follow God and to walke in his wayes And if euery one of the true members of the Church had need to confesse vnto God and to pray Thou hast corrected me and I haue receiued thy correction Ier. 31. 18. as an vntamed Bullocke conuert thou me and I shall be conuerted for thou art my God Then how farre off from any willingnesse and readinesse to turne vnto God are all such as are not yet effectually called to the estate of Grace but are strangers from God and from the Couenant of mercy QVEST. L. Not the suffering much lesse the vowing of wilfull pouerty is the way to perfection The possession of riches which are yet Gods good blessings and testimonies of his goodnesse and loue is not the way Act. 14. 17. to perfection much lesse the vow of pouerty or pouerty it selfe which is the rod of Gods correction and a signe or token of his displeasure as all other crosses and calamities are Poore Lazarus was brought into the bosome of rich Abraham both which were rich in God and poore in spirit Marke this saith Saint Austin that ye doe not as commonly men Aug. ad Hillar Epist 89. do blame rich men and put your trust in a poore estate for if a mā should not put his trust in his riches much lesse in pouerty QVEST. LI. The people ought to be able to try and to discerne the doctrine of their Teachers Doe yee not know saith the Apostle that the Saints shall 1 Cor. 6. 2. iudge the world If the world then shall be iudged by you are yee not worthy to iudge the smallest matters Know yee not that wee shall iudge the Angels how much more then the things of this life So may we reason also that if the faithfull people of God shall iudge the world and the very Angels themselues much more may they boldly take vpon themselues to try and discerne the doctrine of their Pastors and Teachers Our most blessed Sauiour thought it no disgrace to himselfe to haue his diuine doctrine examined of the people by the rule of the Scriptures nay he that requireth the same at their hands saying Search the Scriptures for in them yee thinke to haue life Ioh. 5. 39. and they are they that testifie of me and beare witnesse to my doctrine that it is of God Yea the Lord so approued the Beraeans for that they receiued the word with all readines searched the Scriptures whether those things which Saint Paul Act. 17. 11. taught them were agreeable thereto that thereby he brought many of them to the faith It is then no presumption in the people to examine the doctrine of their Pastors and Teachers seeing it is not onely approued but commanded by the Lord and enioyned the Corinthians also by the Apostle I speake saith he as to them that haue vnderstanding iudge yee what I say The refusall 1 Cor. 10 15. hereof by the hereticke Auxentius was sharpely reprooued by holy and Orthodoxe Saint Ambrose Auxentius saith he Amb. Ep. l. 5. in oratione cont Auxentium speaking to the people knowing you not to be ignorant of the faith hath shunned your iudgement and hath chosen foure or fiue heathen men Then in that he hath chosen Infidels he is worthy to be condemned of Christians because he reiected the Apostles precept where he saith Dare any of you hauing ought against another be iudged vnder the vniust and not rather vnder the Saints Yee see then that which he hath offered is against the authority of the Apostle But what speake I saith hee of the Apostle when the LORD himselfe proclaimeth by his Prophet Heare yee mee O my people that know what belongeth to iudgement in whose heart my Law is God saith Heare yee mee O my people that know iudgement Auxentius saith You know not how to iudge Yee see then that he contemneth God in you which refuseth the sense of this heauenly Oracle For the people in whose heart the Law of God is doth iudge And doe not the Popish Priests likewise ioyne with this impious Arrian Auxentius in refusing to stand to the Oracle of God while they refuse to haue their doctrine examined and iudged by the people whether it be agreeable vnto the diuine doctrine of the Canonicall Scripture QVEST. LII Our whole Iustification and Saluation is by the free and vndeserued mercy of God in Christ The Apostles plain asseueration that we are iustified freely by Rom. 3. 24. the grace of God through the redemption that is in Christ Iesus hath forced the Church of Rome to auouch that there
Eph. 4 24. Rom. 1. 7. 1 Cor. 1. 2. Luke 10. 29. Apoc. 20. 12. hath put on the new man which after God is created in righteousnesse and true holinesse and are called by the very name of Saints by the Apostle and their names and deedes also are written in heauen and in the booke of life Therefore all the faithfull are to be taken for Saints by all the faithfull whatsoeuer meane reckoning the Church of Rome maketh of them QVEST. LXXIIII The Bishop of Rome is not the Vniuersall Pastour of the whole Church Some Popes doe not at all by preaching of the Word of God seed so much as the people of the City of Rome it selfe and none of them all haue such gifts as whereby they are enabled to feed the Vniuersall Church therefore some of them are no feeders or Pastors at all and none of them are the feeders and Pastours of the Vniuersall Church And how can they iustly challenge the office of Saint Peter seeing they so much neglect the trebled charge giuen to Saint Peter by his Master Christ who gaue him the dignity that he might performe the dutie annexed thereunto QVEST. LXXV The Lawes of God onely binde the conscience There is but one Law-giuer that is the Lord of the Conscience and therefore his Lawes onely bind the same So reasoneth Saint Iames There is but one Law-giuer that is able to Iac. 4. 12. saue and to destroy viz. the soule and therefore there is but Matth. 10. 28. one Law-giuer that can giue lawes to the soule and that one Law-giuer is God For God onely searcheth the heart and taketh notice of all the aberrations thereof and can punish them with condigne punishments So reasoneth the Lord himselfe The heart of man is deceitfull and wicked aboue all Ier. 17. 9. things who can know it I the Lord search the heart and try the raynes euen to giue euery man according vnto his wayes and according to the fruit of his workes All Magistrates ciuill and Ecclesiasticall are his vnder-officers not to make lawes but to command that the Lords laws only be put in execution in all matters that concerne the substance of his spirituall kingdome For as concerning the lawes that they haue authority to make in matters of circumstance belonging to the spirituall kingdome and in matters both of substance and circumstance belonging to the temporall gouerment they must be squared by those generall rules that are set downe by this one Law-maker in the authenticall records of his canonicall Scriptures And being so framed they are not for their particularities to be esteemed so much mans laws as they are for the generall grounds of them to be accouÌ„ted Gods owne ordinances And being so made they binde the conscience Rom. 13. 5. Exod. 16. 8. 1 Sam. 8. 7. as the Apostle testifieth and they that refuse to be subiect to them doe not cast away man but God that hee should not raignâ— ouer them QVEST. LXXVI True religion bindeth only to the obseruation of such Canons and rules as are made by God himselfe in matters of substance whereas superstition imposeth other also which Arguments drawen from the Etymology or inâ—erpretation of the name Religo à religando Aug. de veca religione cap. 54. are aboue and beside the former Religion hath her name as S. Austin saith for that by certaine rules and precepts giuen by God himselfe it doth inclose and keepe in as within certaine limits and bounds all such as desire to performe that religious seruice which is acceptable to God least they should goe astray and wander out of the right way that should bring them to God Whereas superstition Superstitio quasi supra statutum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Tim. c. 2. 3. hath her name for that shee is so bold foolish hardy as to thrust those things vpon Gods people which are aboue and besides the Lawes and statutes of God Ane therefore it was not without cause that the wise man so seriously aduiseth all such as desire to be esteemed of God as his religious seruants to take good heed when they goe to the house of the Lord to performe that religious seruice which is acceptable in his sight that they be prepared most readily and reuerently to hearken Eccl. 4. 17. to the word of God that so they may both learne keep that which is therein commanded vnto them that they presume not to offer to God the sacrifice of Fooles that is that kinde of seruice which is sucked out of their owne or other mens foolish braines and is aboue and beside that which is commanded of God QVEST. LXXVII The Laitic ought to be admitted to the dayly reading of the holy Scriptures If Religion hath her name á relegendo that is from often Religio à relegendo Cicer. de natura deorum lib. 1 reading because the doctrines which concerne religion should be read ouer againe and againe as Tully whose iudgement concerning the originall of Latine words is not to be contemned iudgeth then the Christian Magistrate must not only suffer but also command all his subiects if he desire to haue them to be truly religious daily to read the holy Scriptures for that they containe the summe and substance of all true religion yea the chiefe Magistrate himselfe albeit the care for the whole common wealth lyeth vpon him and therefore hath cause to busie his thoughts thereon continually yet must not let the booke of the Law of God depart out of his mouth but meditate therein day and night that he may doe according to all that is written therein if he will haue his waies made prosperous Iosh 1. 8. if he will haue good successe in his temporall affaires QVEST. LXXVIII The Faithfull themselues and also their Churches ought only to be dedicated vnto God The congregation of the faithfull themselues and the places of their publike assemblies for the performing of diuine service are called the Church or Kirke from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth that which is the Lords Whereby wee are giuen to vnderstand that the one and the other should be onely dedicated to the Lord seeing they are the Lords So reasoneth the Apostle You are not your owne for yee are bought with a 1 Cor. 6. 20. price therefore glorifie the Lord both in your bodies and in your spirits for they are Gods And verily for this end and purpose not onely the people of God are called The Lords peculiar but 1 Pet. 2. 19. their Churches also are called Basilicae that is the Kings for that they should be dedicated and consecrated to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords QVEST. LXXIX The faithfull are witting to their faith and loue and to their saluation in Iesus Christ The conscience of all men is as a Register wherein all their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Conscientia I know what I know thoughts desires words and workes are truely recorded
THEOLOGICALL LOGICKE OR THE THIRD PART OF THE TRYALL OF TRVTH Wherein is declared the excellency and aequity of the Christian Faith and that it is not withstood and resisted but assisted and fortified by all the forces of right reason and by all the aide that artificiall Logicke can yeeld Against the Heathenish Atheist and the Romish Catholic◠whereof the one taketh exception against the Faith 〈◊〉 Christ in generall and the other against the doctrine thereof as it is professed in the Reformed Churches as being in their opinions absurd and contrary to the euident and vndeniable grounds of reason BY IOHN TERRY Minister of the Word of God at Stocton OXFORD Printed by IOHN LICHFIELD and WILLIAM TVRNER Anno Dom. 1625. 2 THESS 3. 1. Furthermore brethren pray for vs that the word of God may haue a free current and be glorified as it is with you and that we may be deliuered from vnreasonable and wicked men for all haue not faith AVG. DE TRIN. l. 4. c. 6. Against reason no sober man that is himselfe in his right wits against Scripture no Christian man that is of a sound and orthodoxe faith against the Church no man of a peaceable spirit that is not a Schismaticke or at the least somewhat schismatically affected will reason or dispute TO THE RIGHT REVEREND FATHER IN GOD ARTHVRE LORD BISHOP OF BATH AND WELLES IOHN TERRY wisheth all increase of grace in this life and of glory in the life to come IT is truly said Right reuerend and my very good Lord that a foolish Iudge doth ouer-hastily giue sentence not rightly apprehending or duely weighing all things belonging thereunto An example whereof we haue both in Iewes and Gentiles vnto whom the Gospel preached was a stumbling-blocke and seemed to be a foolish and an absurd doctrine they being carried away so to iudge by this hasty conceit that a man who came himselfe to shame death could not bring others to life and glory Whereas if they had rightly apprehended and duely weighed and considered that sinne was a most shamefull and deadly euill which could not as Gods decree stood bee done away but either with the shame and death of the offender or of some other party that should vndertake to satisfie the iustice of God for the same they would haue perceiued that the Gospell reuealing Christ Iesus the aeternall Sonne of God assuming humane nature and ioyning it into one person with his diuine and therein performing all things necessary for our full reconciliation to God that so by his humiliation and shamefull death he might bring u◠to life and glory they would I say well haue vnderstood that the Gospell thus reuealing Christ Iesus vnto us is the 1 Cor. 1. 23. power of God and the wisdome of God And verily the Gospell is the most powerfull wisedome that euer was reuealed to man because it maketh men that by the corrupt suggestions of Satan were made mad Luc. 15. 17. Eccl. 7. 27. 2 Tim. 3. 15. put out of their right mind wise to saluation by faith in Christ yea is not the sincere embracer of the Gospell the wisestman that liueth on earth seeing he only embraceth the right meanes whereby he may be made happy and blessed And is not the sound preacher of the Gospell who turneth the hearts of the Fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdome of the iust and so maketh a people ready prepared for the Lord the disposer of the chiefest Luc. 1. 17. blessings that the Lord bestoweth vpon his dearest seruants And is not also the carefull and watchfull Bishop that is a guide set ouer the guides of the Lord's flocke and a Superintendent ouer the Lord's watchmen and is to commaund that they teach no other doctrine nor mingle wilde goards 1 Tim. 1. 3. with the wholesome food that is appointed for those that 2 Reg. 4. 39. Tit. 1. 5. are of the Lord's Family and if any such thing be done to redresse the same is not I say such a one a singular yea an honourable instrument vnder God that those so sruitfull labours of all inferiour Ministers may bee made powerfull vnto many for the saluation of their soules Now the labors of Ministers are then powerfull when the wisdome of the word of God is made manifest by them which is when the right sense thereof is explained and iustified by cleare and sound arguments and reasons For he that will vrge the bare and naked words of the Scripture without the true sense and meaning thereof is like to a souldier that will fight with a scabbard without a sword And he that will vrge a sense thereof not iustified cleared by sound and sufficient reasons is like to one that will fight with a sword without an edge For they are the solid reasons whereon the wise and holy doctrines of the diuine word of God are grounded that giue light weight thereto and are after a sort the very life thereof And hereof it is that all manner of learned Professours especially among Christians he they orthodoxe or be they haereticks offer to iustifie their seuerall opinions by sound solid arguments concluded in true syllogismes and to that end require publike disputations Now if all require the truth of their opinions to be thus tried then they may not in any case refuse and shame this manner of tryall Wherefore as Festus said vnto Paul when he had appealed Acts 25. 12. vnto Caesar Hast thou appealed vnto Caesar vnto Caesar thou shalt goe So say I vnto all learned Professours of Christianity haue yee appealed vnto reasons concluded in true syllogismes for the iustifying of your seuerall positions by reason ye shall be tryed and to the censure thereof ye ought to stand And this I haue sufficiently proued in the explication and confirmation of the third proposition of the former part of this Treatise by the approbation thereof giuen vnto me from your LOrdships owne mouth after you had duely perused the same being committed vnto your Lordships iust censure Wherefore according to the old Prouerbe Scitum est Athletam placuisse Herculi as he may bee taken for a sufficient Champion that is approued of Hercules so that Treatise may be esteemed to be furnished with sufficient munition that is approued of a wise Colonell And hereupon I am bold to craue to haue it published vnder your Lordships protection that so it may be the better accepted and that some of the Lords souldiers may bee strengthned and inabled thereby with better courage to fight the Lord's battles And thus commending your Lordship to God and to the word of his grace which is able to build further and to giue you an inheritance among them that are sanctified I rest Your Lordships in all Christian loue dutie IOHN TERRY TO THE CHRISTIAN READER I Haue already Christian Reader in the two former parts of the Tryall of Truth made it manifest that the doctrine of
by us the nature of man is greatly disgraced in that wee teach that men are become brutish without reason and as dead stocks and stones without sense and life because we teach that by nature they haue not liberty list nor life vnto any thing that is truly and religiously good And why doe they not bring in the same inditement against the bookes of the Canonicall Scriptures which teach that euery man is a beast in his owne knowledge and that our hearts are stony vntill Ier. 10. 14 Ezek. 36. 26. Eph. 2. 1. they be made flesh and that we are starke dead in trespasses and sinnes and therefore haue no sanctified will sense nor life vntill Christ doth quicken vs by his holy Spirit and raise vs vp to an holy life Our doctrine then herein is none other then the very doctrine of the Holy Ghost neither doe we hereby disgrace the nature of man but shew how man by his owne fault hath disgraced himselfe and into what misery he is fallen by his owne folly And this wee teach only concerning the estate of the naturall man before he be renewed by the Spirit of God Whereas the Church of Rome forbiddeth the faithfull theÌ„selues Rom. 15. 4 to search the Scriptures which yet were written for their learning and keepeth them from them vnder the locke key of an vnknown tonâ—ue and in her diuine seruice readeth them vnto them in a strange language and inioyneth them to receiue their Fatih vpon their Preachers word and credit without all examination and try all commanding them to beleeue blindfully as the Church beleeueth Yea a great Cardinall is bold to avouch that it belongeth no more to thâ— people to aske a reason of their teachers doctrine then it doth to an house to know Cusan exercit 6. pag. 547. why his Master turneth his head this way or that way Wherefore it is the Church of Rome that maketh the very Faithfull themselues like to the horse and mule in whom there is no vnderstanding contrary to the precise commandement of the Holy Prophet it is the Church of Rome by forceing the Psal 32 9 people to pray in an vnknowne tongue that causeth them to offer vp to God the lips of calues and to patter like pyes and parrets yea whereas by nature all men being degenerate and turned into lions beares wolues and tigres are not recouered out of this their wretched estate but by the sanctified knowledge of the diuine Writers of the most powerfull Gospell of Iesus Christ the Church of Rome keeping theÌ„ from the same keepeth them from that whereby they should be recouered out of this their miserable brutish condition And for the iustifying of her doing so there is alleaged by some of her followers this Commandement of Christ Giue not holy things to dogs nor cast pearles before swine Mat 7. 6 Now then let all indifferent men iudge who maketh men beasts whether the Professors of the Gospell of Christ or the followers of the Church of Rome And let all such persons labour both to vnderstand and put in practise the diuine mysteries of Faith and godlines who will not be condemned by God himselfe to be brutish and vnreasonable Creatures CHAP. III. The meanes whereby we are to come to the right vnderstanding of the Word of God is the light of true reason for the opening of the truth whereof these propositions following are explained QVAEST 1 2 3 c. 1 All Questions humane and diuine are to be determined by the rules of reason 2 The testimony of no Author humane or divine is farther to be approued then as it agreeth with the grouÌ„ds of right reason 3 The holy Scriptures doe declare the greatest mysteryes of godlinesse by arguments and reasons 4 The Law the Gospell are founded vpon most forcible reasons yea the permission by God of the fall of Adam being the occasion of the strange meanes of man's recovery which is opened in the Gospell is grounded vpon most forcible reasons 5 The Professors of euery Religion alleage reasons for the iustifying of their severall devotions 6 The soundnes substance as it were the very quintessence of all divine reason is most plentifully to be found in the Canonicall Scriptures 7 No truth in Philosophy is contrary to any truth in Divinity 8 Testimonies may bee taken out of Philosophy to giue witnes vnto truths in Divinity reasons may be produced out of the booke of Nature to cleare the doctrines of the booke of Grace 9 Where there is no reason that may perswade to faith there ordinarily is no faith 10 Where there is a clearer apprehension of the reasons that perswade to faith there is a more setled assent a more strong faith 11 The doctrines of faith and godlines are often repeated the reasons that perswade thereunto are vrged and inculcated againe and againe in the bookes of the old new testament that we may thereby vnderstand that the clearer and fuller apprehension of them doth beget a clearer and fuller faith 12 We may by supernaturall reason ascend aboue the reach of naturall reason 13 That faith is not the best and strongest that hath the lesse number of reasons and the lesse perspicuous arguments to stay it vp but rather that which hath the greater number and the more perspicuous WHereas the Word of God profiteth not vnlesse it bee Heb. 4. 2 mingled with Faith that is vnlesse it being rightly vnderstood procure a wise and a settled assent it standeth all in hand to seeke out the true meanes whereby they may come to the right vnderstanding thereof if that they desire to reape any benefit thereby The truth is that the Prophets Apostles and Euangelists being the Lord's Secretaries or Registers to set down in writing all diuine and heauenly doctrines necessary to saluation were instructed by the immediate revelation of the Spirit of God that so they might be freed therin from all errour But for any other person to challenge the same priuiledge were but a phantasticall and an Anabaptisticall illusion For euen the Bishop of Rome himselfe who is magnified by his followers as the only man that hath all diuine and humane Lawes locked vp in his brest and is by them accounted the only vnerring Interpreter of holy Scripture and the infallible Iudge of the right sense and meaning thereof yet is by his chiefest Vpholders restrained to the meanes without the which he must not looke to attaine to the right and true vnderstanding thereof The high Bishop saith Bellarmine must not expect revelations but vse Bellar. de concil l. 1. c. 11. Canus locor theolog l. 5. c. 5. ordinary meanes For as Canus affirmeth the holy Writers only set downe Catholick doctrines by the immediate revelation and inspiration of God and therefore needed not outward helpes thereunto Whereas it behoueth Bishops to vse the ordinary course by weighing of reasons and by imploying their diligence Yea Cameracensis
Apostles being the expounders thereof to set downe in their Canonicall writings many most forcible and effectuall argument for the procuring of a more ready obedience to the same And verily experience it selfe doth shew Veritas docendo suadet that truth doth teach by perswasion that is by arguments and reasons as being such motiues and inducements as best befitthe reasonable and generous nature of man Whereas brute Generosus animus poti us ducitur quam trahitur beasts that want reason are to be compelled by force and violence And therefore the Law of God in the originall is called Thorah that is a Doctrine or Teaching for that it doth teach and instruct the people of God by the Divine aequity and reason that is contained therein Now if the Law of God which is in part naturally knowne had need to be further opened by arguments and reasons how much more had the doctrine of the Gospell which is aboue the reach of naturall reason St. Austin hath deliuered certaine reasons why it was iust and right that God should willingly suffer the fall of the first man whereof the principall one is the manifestation of his infinite and endlesse mercy and goodnesse in providing that strange and admirable meanes of mans recovery which is reuealed in the Gospell We saith St. Austin Aug. de corr grat ca. 10. most soundly confesse and most firmely beleeue that God who created all things exceeding good and did fore-see that euill things would arise out of good and did iudge that it did beseeme his omnipotent goodnesse euen out of the euill to draw that which is good rather then not to permit euill did so ordaine the estate of Men and Angels that in the same he might make manifest First after what sort their free-will would worke and then what the benefit of his owne grace could effect and also how farre the seuerity of his Iustice would extend it selfe In which words three things are deliuered why God permitted the fall of man First that it might be knowne that the most excellent among the creatures being but in a measure capable of goodnesse may fall away from the same Whereas the Creator onely being infinitely good cannot but continue so for euer Secondly that it might be made manifest that there is no euill so great but that the Lord can prouide in his endlesse goodnesse a remedy for the same Thirdly also that it might be knowne that there is no sinne committed by any one whatsoeuer but that God in his Iustice will punish the same with all severity So then God appointed this strange meanes of mans recouery that is reuealed in the Gospell both that he might make manifest the seuerity of his Iustice in that rather then the sinnes of his Elect and chosen children should escape vnpunished he punished them with that severity vpon their kind suerty that it made him sweat water and blood as likewise that he might make known the vnsearchable riches of his endlesse goodnesse in that to spare vs most wicked Traitors and Apostataes he spared not his owne most dearely beloued Sonne That herein we might behold the omnipotent power wisedome and goodnesse of God in that out of sinne the euill of all euils procured by the most wicked suggestion of Satan to this end that God might be dishonoured in the highest degree and man vtterly ouerthrowne and destroyed the Lord hath not onely drawne vnto himselfe the highest measure of most admirable glory in his strange Iustice and vnspeakeable mercy but also the greatest happinesse to man by binding him most nearely vnto himselfe by the strongest bonds of the greatest loue that could be and in giuing him the greatest assurance of his euerlasting saluation So that in respect thereof we may rightly breake out with that ancient Father into this strange exclamation O happy fall of Adam which was the cause of ordayning so strange and admirable a meanes for mans recouery And how can wee thinke that the truthes of the Law and the Gospell want sound and sufficient arguments and reasons to iustifie their holy and heauenly Doctrines seeing no Idolaters Haereticks or Schismaticks will seeme so absurd and void of iudgement but that they will pretend some shew of reason for the better colouring of their erronious vntruthes As it is apparant by the common practise of all the professors of euery blind devotion and wicked superstition The Idolatrous Iewes Ier. 44. 17. alleadged in the defence of their Idolatries So haue done both we and our Fathers our Kings and our Princes in the Cities of Iudah and in the streets of Ierusalem and then had we plenty of victuals and felt none euill but since wee left off to burne incense to the Queene of heauen and to poure out drinke offerings vnto her we haue had searcenesse of all things and haue beene consumed by sword and by famine And at another time the Temple of the Lord the Temple of Ier. 7. 4. Ier. 18. 18. the Lord. And againe the Law shall not perish from the Priest nor counsell from the wise nor the word frō the Prophets So Ioh. 4. 20. the Schismaticall Samaritans alleadged for themselues our Fathers worshipped in this mount Like as the Idolatrous Heathē Aug. de Ciuit. Dei l. 10. c. 32. Orig. contra Celsum vsed most commonly thus to reason That which is more ancient and long before our dayes cannot be false And againe hath God at the last after so many ages bethought himselfe And doe not the Idolatrous Papists in these times stand vpon the like shewes As the Church the Church Christs Vicar Peters Successor our Fathers our Ancienters O they were good men and did many good workes and who seeth not what manner of men these new Gospellers are So the meere Mal. 3 14. Worldling Epicure and Atheist It is in vaine to serue God for what profit is it that we haue kept his Commandements and haue walked humbly before the Lord of hostes Therefore we count the proud blessed for they that worke wickednesse Wisd 2. 1. are set vp and they that tempt God are deliuered And againe our life is short and tedious and in the death of a man there is no recouery neither was any knowne to haue returned from the graue For we are borne at all peraduenture and we shall be hereafter as if we had neuer beene for the breath is as a smoake in the Nostrils and the words are as a sparke raised out of the heart which being extinguished the body is turned into ashes and the spirit vanisheth as the soft ayre Come therefore let vs enioy the pleasures that are present c. Yea the very Omnifidian who followeth faith not for conscience but for company who will take no manner of paine to seeke out the true faith by searching after the grounds thereof is not thus madde without some shew or shadow of reason For saith he I am an vnlearned man and am to follow
my Calling and to leaue the discussing of quaestions of learning to the learned I am ready to come to Church and to doe my duty to God and to liue iustly and peaceably with my neighbours Why the learned themselues cannot agree about the points of Faith and how then shall such an one as I am be able to discerne it and to finde it out The truth is that God wrote his Law in the heart of Adam and thereby set in his minde such a light of reason that he had a right iudgement in all things But Adam was not contented with this treasure of wisdome and this measure of knowledge extending it selfe to all that was good but he would needes know euill also that he might by experience try what would be the event thereof And thereupon he forsooke God the Father of light and betooke himselfe to be instructed by the Prince of darkenesse Whereby it came to passe that he fell from truth to falshood from faith to fancy from the knowledge of good to the knowledge of euill from the light of Diuine logicke and reason to divellish sophistry Yea hereby the wily and crafty Serpent stored him and his posterity with all manner of captious and deceiuable sophismes and so enabled him not onely to know but also colourably to defend all falshood and vntruth Against the which so desperate a mischiefe the Lord prouided a soueraigne remedy by causing all Diuine verities necessary to saluation lightned fortified with all manner of sound arguments and reasons to be deliuered to his Church first by word of mouth and afterward by writing in the bookes of the Canonicall Scripture that so when the enemy should come ready furnished and prepared with strong delusion and with all deceiueablenesse of vnrighteousnesse the desender of the Truth on the contrary side might also be armed with all manner of weapons offensiue and defensiue that so he might be enabled to stand fast and firme against all the assaults of the enemy and to get ouer him a glorious victory And hereof it is that the booke of the holy Scripture is called the Bible that is the booke of bookes or the onely booke for that all manner of Divine wisdome is contayned therein The reasons and argument set downe in this booke for the clearing and fortifying of all Diuine verities are of such validity and strength that therefore this booke is called by Saint Hierome a reasonable mountaine where wee may Hieron in Hag. cut downe choice and sit timber for the building vp of the house of Wisedome Yea the first rudiments and principles thereof are of such soundnesse and solidity that Saint Peter 1 Pet. 2. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Pet. 1. 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Thes 3. 2. Chrysost hom 9. in ep ad Col. calleth them reasonable and vndeceiueable milke In which words he opposeth them to the principles of all erronious professions which the same Apostle tearmeth sophisticall fables For the which cause the maintayners of those sophisticall positions are called by the Apostle Saint Paul absurd or vnreasonable men as the sincere imbracers of the Doctrines of the Scriptures are tearmed by Saint Chrysostome reasonable sheepe for that they are able to discerne the voyce of their shepheard from the voyce of a stranger And hereof also it is that the Apostle Saint Paul calleth the seruice of God prescribed in this booke a reasonable seruice For that as Tertullian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Non exigebat Deus quae siebant sed propter quod fiebant Tert. l. 3. cont Marc. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 11. 19. teacheth God doth require therein not so much the worke wrought as the doing it vpon those grounds and reasons for the which it should be done One most singular worke of this seruice of God being done by one of the most singular seruants of God that euer liued euen the offering vp of Isaac by his father Abraham was as the Apostle saith performed by him as a Logiâ—ian by the helpe of Metaphysicall and supernaturall reason And no maruell seeing as in the same place the Apostle teacheth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 D. Downam l. 2. c. 7. Of Christian Warfare the true Christian faith is grounded vpon such a demonstratiue syllogisme that is able as Austin expoundeth the words to convince the iudgement and after a sort to force the minde to yeeld therevnto a most setled assent whoÌ„ one of our learned and religious Doctors followeth saying that faith is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a manifest demonstratioÌ„ for that it doth not onely shew a thing probably but doth convince it with strong arguments and maketh that cleare and manifest which was otherwise obscure and secret and therefore is called a demonstration of things not seene And if it be not reason that doth season our seruice done vnto God and make it sauory and well tasting vnto him why Leu. 12. 13. Mar. 9. 50. Coloss 4. 6. was salt to be added to euery sacrifice and why are all the faithfull commanded to haue salt in themselues Yea and that their very words should be poudred with salt And was it not for this cause that one Eccholius in the Primitiue Church when he had fallen away againe and againe from the true faith and reasonable seruice of God vnto absurd and impious Idolatry at his last returne cast himselfe downe flat vpon the ground before the Congregation saying trample vpon me vnsauery salt That reason should be our guide not onely in such things as concerne the Divine seruice of God but also in all our actions whatsoeuer Iesus the sonne of Siracke teacheth saying Eccl. 37. 16. Let reason goe before euery enterprise and counsell before euery action Yea Aristotle saw thus much by the light of naturall reason that is that euery vertuous action must be done vpon knowledge and vpon good advise had with right reason Scienter consultò constanter and vpon a setled purpose to be constant therein Wherefore there was great reason that the great and wise G O D should enrich his owne booke with all manner of divine and heauenly reason that so it might be able rightly to guide all his sincere and faithfull seruants in the performing of all manner of vertuous and Religious actions And verily it is in that aboundant manner so filled and furnished with this heauenly treasure that as Luther saith it were no great matter if all other bookes contayning the doctrines of faith and an holy life were on a light fire if this one booke were rightly vnderstood For there is more Diuine learning wisedome and reason in this little booke then in all the large volumnes that euer were written Witnesse not only the explications of the divine doctrines hereof made by our blessed that â—low most plenteously out of the full fountaines of the Isa 12. 3. wels of life we ought to drinke our full draught and euer to haue them
barely and onely in the booke of the Canonicall Scriptures deliuer the seuerall doctrines of all diuine vereties giuing testimony to each of them but once by the pen of one of his vnerring Secretaries seeing when God speaketh any thing albeit it be but once we ought Chrys aduersus vituperatores monasticae vitae to receiue it with all assurance as if it had beene spoken often times For although when humane testimonies are required in the mouth of two or three witnesses euery word must be established and to him that bringeth not a sufficient number 1 Tim 6. 19. of deponents it is by strict law as if he had brought none yet for that God is true and cannot lie nor beare witnesse to any falshood or vntruth or command any thing that is vnrighteous or vniust therefore in his word which is the infallible foundation of truth if he giue testimony to any thing but once vnder the hand of one of his faithfull registers it is as sufficient as if he had testified the same by them all For if Pythagoras his he said it was enough to his scholers for that he was a most learned and wise Philosopher and the Ipse dixit Centurions come goe and doe this was sufficient to his souldiers Matth. 8. 9. and seruants for that he was a most conscionable Commander yea if the Kings witnesse my selfe be a full warrant Teste meipso to all his grants because of his supereminent power and authority then much more the he said it of the most high God ought to be sufficient to his disciples and all that be of his schoole and the come goe and doe this of the most righteous Commander and Iudge of the whole world ought to be enough to worke a most ready and speedy obedience in all his true and faithfull seruants and the witnesse my selfe of the King of kings and Lord of lords ought to be taken as a most full warrant to all his grants by all his loyall and faithfull subiects Wherefore herein we may behold the strange proceeding of our most great and glorious God remitting after a sort his owne right and submitting himselfe in his great goodnesse to our weaknesse and in his high and endlesse wisdome prouiding a gracious remedy for our infirmity For because we are blinde to conceiue and slow to beleeue and hard to learne and ready to forget the holy mysteries of piety and godlines therefore the Lord hath caused not onely doctrines and reasons and arguments to be set downe at once in the booke of the diuine Scriptures but he hath made them to be reitterated againe and againe that thereby they may become lights to our vnderstanding stayes to our faith and helps to our fraile and weake memory So that albeit we are by nature neuer so dull and blockish yet the same lessons being often repeated and opened and cleered againe and againe we shall be thereby enabled by Gods blessing sufficiently to conceiue and faithfully keepe them in good remembrance Pharaohs dreames were Gen. 41. 32. doubled vnto him that the thing opened therein might get of him the better credit so the instructions of faith and an holy life are doubled and trebled in holy Scripture that they might procure of vs a fuller faith So and so good is our gracious God vnto vs which are so and so vnworthy of the least of his mercies that as he hath stored the earth with great variety of bodily food and physicke for the preseruing and recouering of the life health of our bodies so he hath prouided in the Scriptures great abundance of spirituall food and physicke for the maintenance and restitution of the life and health of our soules One kinde of bodily food and one kinde of dressing doth not sauour alike to euery stomacke and therefore God hath prouided variety of both so one motiue to faith and repentance nor the deliuery thereof after one manner doth fit euery ones spirituall taste and stomacke therefore hath the Lord ordained great abundance of both Yea as the Lord gaue sundry signes and wonders to be done by the hands of his seruant Moses before the eies of the children of Israel that therby they Exod. 4. 8. might vnderstand that he was called sent of God to be their deliuerer out of the bondage of Aegypt that to this very end and purpose that if they would not beleeue nor obey the voice of the first signe yet they might be induced thereto either by the second or the third So doth the Lord furnish the Preachers of the Gospell whom he hath appointed to bee ministers of his mercy for the deliuerance of his people out of the spirituall captiuity of sinne and Satan with great variety of forcible and powerfull motiues and perswasions to repentance and faith that if some of the same will not worke and preuaile with them yet other may For the which purpose also he hath caused the mysteries of godlinesse to be set downe not onely in common and vsuall phrases but also in Metaphores and Allegories and hath lightned them with similitudes and resemblances apparent and manifest to the most simple So the Apostle teacheth that the 1 Cor 15 36. dead shall rise to life and glory by the resemblance of seed that after a sort rotteth and death in the ground before it springeth vp and groweth to maturity and ripenesse So elsewhere he prooueth the vnprofitablenesse of speaking in an vnknowne 1 Cor. 14. 1. tongue by the trumpet which if it giue an vncertaine sound none shall be prepared to the warre and by some oâ—her the like things So he likewise proueth that the faithfull ought not to seeke for life and saluation by the works of the Law seeing Gal. 3. 15. God hath couenanted to giue it to them in Christ Iesus seeing to a mans couenant or testament when it is once made nothing ought to be added or detracted from the same much lesse to the Couenant of God So our Sauiour teacheth that they are Matth. 13. 23. the holy doctrines of his good and gratious Word that causeth our hearts to be good and gracious euen as it is pure and good feed that maketh the ground bring forth pure and good fruit And verily our blessed Sauiour did illustrate with parables all Matth. 13. 34 his diuine instructions which he gaue vnto the people as being the best meanes to bring them to the knowledge of the truth and to their euerlasting saluation which is procured thereby For as our Sauiour himselfe speaking thereof saith if I teach Iohn 3. you earthly things that is heauenly doctrines by earthly similitudes and ye beleeue not how should ye beleeue if I tell you of heauenly things that is after an high and heauenly manner It is impossible saith Saint Denis that the diuine beame Dioâ— de coeles hierar l. 1. cap. 1. should shine vnto vs but vnder the variety of sacred couerings
double keyes and swords giuen in their Armes and carried before them and so it was really acted by Boniface the eight who one day shewed himselfe vnto the people in his Papall attire and the next day in the robes of an Emperour And it hath a long time been practised by them all and is still defended by most of their followers as a soueraignty that iustly belongeth vnto them And was not this most plainly fore-told by the Apostle that Antichrist should sit in the Temple of God not in the Temple of God at Ierusalem seeing that was vtterly to be destroyed and neuer to be built againe but in the Temple of God seated in the greatest City of his Antichristian Dominion that is in Babylonish Rome and that he should exalt himselfe aboue all that is called God and worshipped that is aboue all ciuill and Ecclesiasticall Gouernours of whom it is written I haue said yee are Gods Yea and that he should sit in the Temple Ioh. 8. 34. of God as God that is as Gods Lieutenant Generall and Christ Vicar vniuersall not onely in earth but also in Purgatory and in heauen also as it is signified by his triple Crowne And doth he not by his Indulgences take vpon him to open the doores of Purgatory at his pleasure And by Canonizing of Saints doth hee not take vpon him to giue greater or lesser dignities in the Kingdome of Heauen No maruell then that he taketh vpon him to dispose of temporall Kingdomes and earthly crownes and to possesse and dispossesse Kings of their Regalities at his owne will For this great Antichrist in his transcendent pride will not content himselfe with the honour and dignity of a great starre as all the ancient Bishops of Rome were wont to doe but he will aduance himselfe into the throne of Christ the Sunne of Righteousnesse that all the greatest starres both in the ciuill and also in the Ecclesiasticall Gouernment may take their light and authority from him For if wee will beleeue his Parasires his supremacy is so much greater then the Emperours as the Sunne is greater then the Moone QVEST. XXV The word of God rightly vnderstood doth giue credite to it selfe and doth cause it selfe to be beleeued and imbraced as the word of God for the excellency of the diuine doctrines contained therein and not onely for the bare testimony of the Church Behold saith Moses I haue taught you ordinances and Arguments drawne from the attributes or adiuncts Deut. 4. 5. lawes as the Lord my God commanded mee that yee should doe euen so in the land whether ye goe to possesse it Keepe them therfore and doe them for it is your wisedome and vnderstanding in the sight of the people that shall heare all these ordinances and say onely this people is wise and vnderstanding and a great Nation For what Nation is so great that hath Ordinances and Lawes so righteous as all this Law is that I haue set before thee this day In which words Moses prooueth that his doctrine which hee deliuered vnto the children of Israell was of GOD because it was a wise and a righteous doctrine able to iustifie it selfe to be so euen in the iudgement of the Heathen themselues which did rightly vnderstand and apprehend the same And verily as it was foretold by Moses so it came to passe many ages following For euen then when the children of Israel had lost their worldly estate glory and countrey it selfe for their transgressing of this most wise and righteous Law of their most wise and righteous God and had made themselues vile and contemptible in respect of their vile and base designes yet these vile and base captiues gaue Lawes to such of their glorious Conquerours as did labour to vnderstand the wisedome and righteousnesse of their Lawes In so much that they being Aliens vnto them in Nation yet became Proselytes and Allies Victi victoribus leges dabant Aug de ciuit Dei l. 8. c. 11. vnto them in their holy profession Yea the further degenerate posterity of this people who had heartened and hardened themselues to transgresse these wise and holy Commandements of God that they might obserue their owne absurde Matth. 15 3. Luk. 4. 22. and sottish traditions did wonder at the gracious words that proceeded out of our Sauiours mouth when he opened vnto them the high wisdome and holinesse of those diuine doctrines that were deliuered vnto their Fathers by Moses and the Prophets and gaue this testimony vnto him Neuer man spake Ioh. 7. 46. as this man speaketh No maruell then that when the Apostles were sent by our blessed Sauiour to open these wise and righteous counsels of God to all creatures they soone subdued the whole world and brought some of all conditions and callings therein vnto the obedience of the faith of Christ In truth the strange Miracles that were wrought by their Ministery gaue testimony to the doctrine that was preached by them that it was diuine and so procured audience thereunto but it was the word of faith it selfe that bred faith Miracles were meanes to bring many to the outward court of the Temple of God and to the doore of Christs Church but it was the key of the knowledge of the diuine mysteries themselues Luke 11. 52. that vnlocked the Church doores and opened an entrance vnto them into the house of God For it is the heauenly wisedome and righteousnesse of the Diuine doctrines of the Word of God that can cause vs to receiue the vision for 1 Thess 2. 13. the vision it selfe and to embrace the word not as the word of man but as it is indeed the word of God The holy and religious behauiour of the teachers and professors of the truth may with the woman of Samaria bring many vnto Christ and perswade them to hearken to the doctrine of faith but the holinesse and equity of the doctrine it selfe will cause all such as rightly apprehend the same to professe with those conuerts of Samaria and to say Now we beleeue not any longer by reason of the bare words of the Teachers and professors of truth for we heard it our selues and haue felt such a diuine power therin that we willingly subscribe thereto for that most sufficient euidence that it giueth to it selfe And so doth Stapleton auouch concerning all the faithfull Stap. doct princ lib. 8. cap. 22. that they being at the first induced to beleeue for the voyce of the Church and lightned with the bright lustre of diuine inspiration do not any longer beleeue for the voyce of the Church but for the diuine light it selfe And verily all such as are once brought to the faith and setled therein ought not as Austin Aug. de Catechis rud cap. 25. teacheth measure religion by the professors thereof but by the equity and sanctity of the doctrine it selfe neither ought they to iudge of the doctrine by the persons that professe the same but of
is a double iustification The first by grace and the second by the merit of our owne workes But his doubling is flat contrary to the simplicity of the Gospell For the Apostle plainly auoucheth that not onely at the first we are reconciled vnto God by Christ and are brought into his fauour and loue and are iustified and saued by his Bloud but much more that we are brought to the end of our saluation and to our full and finall glorification by the very same meanes God saith the Apostle setteth out his loue toward vs seeing while wee were yet Rom. 5. 8. sinners Christ dyed for vs much more then being iustified by his bloud we shall be saued frō wrath by him For if when we were enemies we were reconciled vnto God by the death of his Sonne much more being reconciled we shall be saued by his life In the which words of the Apostle it is manifestly and distinctly set downe that as it is the grace of God in Christ whereby we are reconciled vnto God and iustified at the first so it is the very selfe-same grace of God in Christ that doth saue vs at the last And Greg. Moral lib. 2. cap. 4. so a Bishop of Rome it selfe in her better times hath taught saying The first grace begat me in faith being naked and the very self-same grace shall saue me being naked take me vp into glory Wherefore if we desire to be partakers of the fruit of our redemption wrought for vs by Christ let vs not so meanly thinke thereof as if he should haue begun it onely by his obedience and left it to be finished by our selues Let vs not imagine that he paid but a part of our ransome and a parcell of the price that was to be tendred to God for the full purchase of the glorious inheritance of the Kingdome of Heauen and left it to our selues to discharge the rest Or if we cannot but confesse that he paid the whole summe and the full price let vs not impute to the God of all mercy and the most excellent Patron and Patterne of all Pitty such an hard and vniust kind of dealing as if he should exact againe a new payment at our hands for that which was fully purchased and paid for before Vndoubtedly if our title to the heauenly inheritance by the obedience and righteousnesse of Christ be sufficient good why should we seeke after any other title Seeing Law and reason teacheth vs this that that thing Quod semel neum est non potest ampliue fieri meum Quisemel factus est dominus non potest ex alia causa fieri dominus Quia nomo potest acquirere dominium rei suae which is once iustly mine cannot be made more mine And he that is once made a right owner of a thing cannot againe by another title be made owner of the same thing seeing no man can get againe the Dominion of that which was his own before If then our first title to our Iustification and Saluation by the free and vndeserued mercy of God in Christ be good and sufficient then we cannot afterward lay any claime thereunto by the broken and forged title of our owne workes QVEST. LIII The going on pilgrimage to see or to touch the true reliques of the Holiest of the Saints doth not bring any sanctification at all The seeing and touching of holy persons themselues doth not sanctify any much lesse the seeing or touching of their reliques They that receiue Christ by faith are made the Sonnes Ioh. 1. 12. of God and are renewed to his image in righteousnesse and true holinesse and not such as imbrace and kisse him with their bodily hands and mouthes for then Iudas the Traitor should haue been made a Saint Wherefore if we desire to haue any benefit by visiting the Saints we ought daily and diligently to visite the Scriptures wherein the pictures of their piety are most liuely painted out that so we may be rauished with the admiration thereof and be stirred vp to follow them by an holy imitation And so concerning the Saints which liued since the Apostles times if we be desirous to visite them also wee ought to get their learned bookes which are the best Images of their Almās speech is the image and glasse of his minde Erasm in praefat Hieron ad Guili Warramum holy soules that by their sound and Orthodoxe doctrines which are set downe therein we may be directed in the right way of piety and godlinesse But so it is saith Erasmus complayning of the superstitious folly of many of his time we kisse the shooes of the Saint and their handkerchers albeit loathsome for filth but as for their Bookes which are their best reliques we relinquish hauing little regard of them Their Coat or Shirt we lay vp in a chest adorned with gold and precious stones but as for their writings vpon the which they bestowed much labour and in the which still liueth here with vs that which is in them their chiefest good we leaue them to be consumed with wormes and rust QVEST. LIV. The faithfull that are sanctified by Regeneration may and ought to assure themselues of their full and finall glorification If God was found of the faithfull when they sought him not and made himselfe manifest vnto them when they asked Rom. 10. 20. not after him much more when they turne vnto him hee will turne to them when they draw nigh to him he wil draw nigh Iac. 4. 8. Matth. 7. 7. to them when they seeke him he will be found of them For if when they were enemies they were reconciled vnto God by the death of his Sonne much more may they rest assured of his loue being reconciled vnto him and made his stedfast friends If God for Christs sake offered them a pardon being Traitors and Rebels and standing vp in armes against him certainly he will suffer them to enioy the benefit of that pardon when they haue humbly submitted themselues and are become his loyall subiects If God doth forgiue vnto his all their grieuous sinnes which they willingly and wittingly committed before their effectuall Calling to the estate of grace will he not forgiue their sinnes of infirmity which they afterward commit against the resolute purpose of their owne hearts if he did deliuer them from domineering and raiguing sinnes will he not in the end deliuer them fully from all such sinnes whose power and strength are already in part weakened by their daily repentance and stedfast faith The Lord said Dauid that deliuered 1 Sam. 17. 37. me out of the hand of the Lyon and the Beare will also deliuer me out of the hand of this Philistin Vnto the which words happily the Apostle alluding saith of himselfe And I also was deliuered out of the hand of the Lion And thereupon was confident that the Lord would deliuer him from euery euill worke and would preserue him to his heauenly Kingdome
Law which was foure hundred and Gen. 22. 18. thirty yeares after cannot disanull the Couenant that was confirmed a fore of God in respect of Christ that the promise should be of none effect And therefore all such of our Romanists which will needes adde to eternall blessednesse giuen freely in Christ the meriting thereof by their owne workes are iustly chargeable as guilty of grieuous sacriledge because they adde to the couenant of God QVEST. LXVII Vngodly persons are no true members of the Church of Christ As Botches and Sores and all corrupt humours are to the body of Man so are all vngodly persons to the Church Isay 1. 5. which is the mysticall Body of Christ But Botches and Sores and corrupt humors are no members of mans Body but when they are taken away the Body is eased and made whole and sound also So vngodly persons are no true members of the Church of Christ But as Saint Iohn saith are the limbes and 1 Ioh. 3. 8. members of the Deuill howsoeuer they themselues are perswaded to the contrary QVEST. LXVIII The testimony of God set downe in the Canonicall Scriptures and not receiued from vnwritten Traditions is the onely sure euidence and ground of truth As in buying and selling of temporall commodities euery honest subiect will bee content to stand to the measures weights and ballances that are marked and sealed with the marke and seale which is allowed by the Kings Law and to receiue for currant all such coine as beareth the Image and Matth. 22. 20. superscription of the Prince and to refuse all other so euery good Christian is religiously to embrace that doctrine that beareth the stampe of the Canonicall Scriptures and is liable to those measures weights and ballances and hath iust cause to refuse all that which will not hold weight by them So reasoneth Saint Austin Let vs not bring forth deceitfull Aug cont Denat l. 2. c. 6. ballances whereinto we may put what we will after our owne lust say this is heauy or this is light but let vs produce the diuine ballance out of the holy Scriptures as out of the Lords store-house and into it let vs put that which hath weight or rather let vs not put in any thing there but let vs reuise and recognise that which is there weighed already Verily before the Scriptures were written the people of God were to receiue all those doctrines which God reuealed to his seruants the Patriarches by visions and dreames and were deliuered by vnwritten Tradition from the father to the sonne and from the Predecessor to the Successor But when such as had the place and credit euen of Prophets deliuered our trepasse bringeth vs very great danger yea the very ouerthrow of our whole state but where we can easily make an amends or the party trespassed is as much or more in our debt there we are not so carefull for the speedy auoiding of euery trespasse Now the doctrine of such as professe the Gospell is that the very least sinne is mortall and cannot be purged but by the most precious Bloud of our Sauiour Christ whereas the Church of Rome teacheth that there are but seauen that are principally to be called mortall sinnes and that the residue then are veniall and so small that they may be done away by paenance Purgatory Pardons Masses and Trentals yea by a little sprinkling of holy water and by saying of Aue-Maryes and Pater-Nosters and the like Yea they auouch that the works of their Saints are so many and of so great price and worth that by the surplussage of them satisfaction may be made for the sinnes and trespasses of other men according as it shall please the Pope in his Indulgences and Pardons to dispence the same Wherefore their followers need not to be ouer fearefull to offend God and to transgresse his Commandements at the least by small and light offences seeing they are able so many wayes and after so easie a manner to tender a satisfaction vnto God and to render to him a sufficient amends QVEST. LXX Popish paenance and Purgatory cannot stand with this Article of our Christian Creed I beleeue the remission of sinne As the Lord of a Mannor is not said to forgiue a trespasse when he setteth an amercement vpon the head of the trespasser and as the Creditor cannot be said to forgiue the Debtor when for the debt he casteth him into prison no more could God be said to forgiue our trespasses and to remit our debts if either in this life hee require satisfaction at our hands by the workes of Popish paenance or after this life cast vs into the prison of Purgatory there to endure the punishment due to our sinnes QVEST. LXXI Iurie is not now to be esteemed an holy Land The Iewes themselues are now an vnholy and a detested Arguments drawen from the Coniugates that is from such things as agree in nature and in name Nation and therefore Iury is now to be esteemed to be an vnholy and detested Land While the Iewes were an holy people and did faithfully performe those holy duties that their most holy God required in his most holy Lawes then Iury where this holy people inhabited was worthily accounted an holy Land but when they became an vnholy people and defiled their hands with the bloud of Christ and his Martyres those their vncleane workes polluted and defiled their very name and caused it to be had in detestation And why also did they not as well defile their very Land and cause it to be had in execration Surely God himselfe had it in execration when he sent into it the abomination of desolation that is Mat. 24. 15. Luke 21. 20. as Saint Luke expoundeth and explaineth it A destroying army to bring it to vtter desolation that being an euident argument that the Lord had that Land in extreame abomination Now if God himselfe had Iury in extreame abomination then vndoubtedly it is no holy Land QVEST. LXXII The will of man is not by nature free The faithfull themselues are not free indeed vntill by Christ Ioh. 8. 36. they are made free how then can their will be free as long as they continue in the state of nature So reasoneth Saint Austin Aug. ad Bonif. l. 1. c. 3. Why do miserable men dare to be proud of their free will before they themselues be made free or of their own strength Aug. de corrept grat cap. 13. if now they be made free seeing free will not freed is free from righteousnesse and a slaue to sinne QVEST. LXXIII All the faithfull are Saints Such onely are Saints in the Church of Rome that are Canonised by the Popes or at the least are thought by them to be worthy to haue their names put into the Romish Calender But all the faithfull whereof an huge number are not thus dignified by the Pope are sanctified by the Holy Ghost and 1 Cor. 6. 11.