Rulers in Christ's time were notoriously couetous proud oppressing cruell superstitious our Sauiour feared not polluting in ioyning with them and was so farre from separating himselfe that hee called and sent others to them But a little Leauen leauens the whole lumpe it is true by the infection of it sinne where it is vnpunished spreadeth it sowreth all those whose hands are in it not others If we dislike it detest desist reproue and mourne for it we cannot bee tainted the Corinthian loue-feasts had grosse and sinfull disorder yet you heare not Paul say Abstaine from the Sacrament till these be reformed Rather he enioynes the act and controules the abuse God hath bidden you heare and receiue shew me where he hath said except others be sinfull Their vncleannesse can no more defile you then your holinesse can excuse them But while I communicate you say I consent God forbid It is sinne not to cast out the deseruing but not yours vvho made you a Ruler and a Iudge The vncleane must bee separated not by the people Would you haue no distinction betwixt priuate and publike persons What strange confusion is this And what other then the old note of Corah and his company Yee take too much vpon you seeing all the Congregation is holy euery one of them and the Lord is among them wherefore then lift ye vp your selues aboue the Congregation of the Lord What is if this be not to make a Monster of Christs body hee is the head his Church the body consisting of diuers limbes All haue their seuerall faculties and imployments not euery one all vvho would imagine any man so absurd as to say that this bodie should be all tongue or all hands euery man a Teacher euery man a Ruler As Christ had said to euery man Goe teach and whose sinnes yee remit How senselesse are these two extreames Of the Papists that one man hath the Keyes Of the Brownists that euery man hath them But these priuiledges and charges are giuen to the Church True to be executed by her Gouernors the facultie of speech is giuen to the vvhole man but the vse of it to the proper instrument Man speaketh but by his tongue if a voice should be heard from his hand eare foot it were vnnaturall Now if the tongue speake not when it ought shall we bee so foolish as to blame the hand But you say if the tongue speake not or speake ill the whole man smarteth the man sinneth I grant it but you shall set the naturall body on too hard a rack if you straine it in all things to the likenesse of the spirituall or ciuill The members of that being quickned by the same soule haue charge of each other and therefore either stand or fall together It is not so in these If then notwithstanding vnpunished sinnes we may ioyne with the true Church Whether is ours such You doubt and your solicitors deny surely if we haue many enormities yet none worse then rash and cruell iudgement let them make this a colour to depart from themselues there is no lesse woe to them that call good euill To iudge one man is bold and dangerous Iudge then vvhat it is to condemn a vvhole Church God knowes as much vvithout cause as without shame Vaine men may libell against the Spouse of Christ her husband neuer diuorced her No his loue is still aboue their hatred his blessings aboue their censures Do but aske them were we euer the true Church of God If they deny it Who then were so Had God neuer Church vpon earth since the Apostles time till Barrow and Greenwood arose And euen then scarce a number nay when or where vvas euer any man in the vvorld except in the schooles perhaps of Donatus or Nouatus that taught their doctrine and now still hath he none but in a blind lane at Amsterdam Can you thinke this probable If they affirme it when ceased we Are not the points controuerted still the same The same gouernment the same doctrine Their minds are changed not our estate Who hath admonished euinced excommunicated vs and when All these must be done Will it not be a shame to say that Francis Iohnson as he tooke power to excommunicate his Brother and Father so had power to excommunicate his Mother the Church How base and idle are these conceits Are wee then Heretikes condemned in our selues Wherein ouerthrow wee the foundation What other God Sauiour Scriptures Iustification Sacraments Heauen do they teach besides vs Can all the Masters of Separation yea can all the Churches in Christendome set forth a more exquisite and worthy confession of faith then is contained in the Articles of the Church of England Who can hold these and bee hereticall Or from which of these are we reuolted But to make this good they haue taught you to say that euery truth in Scripture is fundamentall so fruitfull is errour of absurdities Whereof still one breeds another more deformed then it selfe That Trophimus vvas left at Miletum sicke that Pauls Cloake was left at Troas that Gaius Pauls hoast saluted the Romanes that Nabal was drunke or that Thamar baked Cakes and a thousand of this nature are fundamentall how large is the Separatists Creed that hath all these Articles If they say all Scripture is of the same Author of the same authoritie so say we but not of the same vse is it as necessarie for a Christian to know that Peter hosted with one Simon a Tanner in Ioppa as that Iesus Christ the Sonne of God vvas borne of the Virgin Mary What a monster is this of an opinion that all truths are equall that this spirituall house should be all foundation no walls no roofe Can no man be saued but he that knowes euery thing in Scripture Then both they and vvee are excluded heauen would not haue so many as their Parlor at Amsterdam Can any man be saued that knowes nothing in Scripture It is farre from them to be so ouercharitable to affirme it you see then that both all truths must not of necessitie bee knowne and some must and these we iustly call fundamentall which who so holdeth all his hay and stubble through the mercy of God condemne him not stil he hath right to the Church on earth and hope in heauen but whether euery truth bee fundamentall or necessarie discipline you say is so indeed necessarie to the well-being of a Church no more it may be true without it not perfect Christ compares his Spouse to an Army with banners as order is to an Armie so is discipline to the Church if the troopes be not well marshalled in their seuerall rankes and moue not forward according to the discipline of warre it is an Armie still confusion may hinder their successe it cannot bereaue them of their name it is as beautifull proportion to the bodie an hedge to a vineyard a wall to a City an hem to a garment feeling to an house It may be a body vineyard
which thou hatest Satan hath no Dart I speake confidently that can pierce this shield Christians are indeed too oft surprized ere they can hold it out there is no small policy in the suddennesse of temptation but if they haue once setled it before their brest they are safe and their enemy hopelesse Vnder this head therefore there is sure remedy against sinne by looking vpwards backwards into our selues forwards Vpwards at the glorious Maiestie and infinite goodnesse of that God whom our sinne would offend and in whose face wee sinne whose mercies and whose holinesse is such that if there were no hell wee would not offend Backwards at the manifold fauours whereby we are obliged to obedience Into our selues at that honorable vocation wherewith hee hath graced vs that holy profession we haue made of his calling and grace that solemne vow and couenant whereby wee haue confirmed our profession the gracious beginnings of that Spirit in vs which is grieued by our sinnes yea quenched Forwards at the ioy which vvill follow vpon our forbearance that peace of conscience that happy expectation of glory compared with the momentarie and vnpleasing delight of a present sinne All these out of loue Feare is a retentiue as necessarie not so ingenuous It is better to be wonne then to be frighted from sinne to be allured then drawne Both are little inough in our pronenesse to euill Euill is the onely obiect of feare Herein therefore we must terrifie our stubbornnesse with both euils Of losse and of sense that if it be possible the horror of the euent may counteruaile the pleasure of the tentation Of losse remembring that now we are about to lose a God to cast away all the comforts and hopes of another world to rob our selues of all those sweet mercies we inioyed to thrust his spirit out of dores vvhich cannot abide to dwel vvithin the noisome stench of sinne to shut the doores of heauen against our selues Of sense That thus we giue Satan a right in vs power ouer vs aduantage against vs That wee make God to frowne vpon vs in heauen That we arme all his good creatures against vs on earth That we doe as it vvere take Gods hand in ours and scourge our selues with all temporall plagues and force his curses vpon vs and ours That we wound our owne consciences with sinnes that they may wound vs with euerlasting torments That we doe both make a hell in our breasts beforehand and open the gates of that bottomlesse pit to receiue vs afterwards That we doe now cast brimstone into the fire and lest wee should faile of tortures make our selues our owne fiends These and vvhat euer other terrors of this kinde must be laid to the soule vvhich if they be throughly vrged to an heart not altogether incredulous vvell may a man aske himselfe how he dare sinne But if neither this Sunne of mercies nor the tempestuous windes of iudgement can make him cast off Peters cloake of vvickednesse hee must be clad vvith confusion as vvith a cloake according to the Psalmist I tremble to thinke how many liue as if they vvere neither beholden to God nor afraid of him neither in his debt nor danger As if their heauen and hell vvere both vpon earth sinning not onely vvithout shame but not vvithout malice It is their least ill to doe euill Behold they speake for it ioy in it boast of it inforce to it as if they would send challenges into heauen and make loue to destruction Their lewdnesse cals for our sorrow and zealous obedience that our God may haue as true seruants as enemies And as vve see naturall qualities increased vvith the resistance of their contraries so must our grace vvith others sinnes vvee shall redeeme somewhat of Gods dishonour by sinne if vve shall thence grow holy To Mr Doctor MILBVRNE EP. IV. Discoursing how farre and wherein Popery destroyeth the foundation THe meane in all things is not more safe then hard whether to finde or keepe and as in all other moralitie it lyeth in a narrow roome so most in the matter of our censure especially concerning Religion wherein we are wont to be either carelesse or too peremptorie How farre and wherein Popery raceth the foundation is worth our inquirie I need not stay vpon words By foundation we meane the necessary grounds of Christian faith This foundation Papistry defaces by laying a new by casting down the old In these cases addition destroyes he that obtrudes a new word no lesse ouerthrowes the Scripture then he that denies the old yea this very obtrusion denies he that sets vp a new Christ reiects Christ Two foundations cannot stand at once the Arke and Dagon Now Papistry layes a double new foundation the one a new rule of faith that is a new vvord the other a new Author or guide of faith that is a new head besides Christ God neuer laid other foundation then in the Prophets and Apostles vpon their diuine writing he meant to build his Church which he therefore inspired that they might be like himselfe perfect and eternall Popery builds vpon an vnwritten word the voice of old but doubtfull Traditions the voice of the present Church that is as they interpret it theirs vvith no lesse confidence and presumption of certainty then any thing euer written by the singer of God If this be not a new foundation the old vvas none God neuer taught this holy Spouse to know any other husband then Christ to acknowledge any other head to follow any other Shepheard to obey any other King he alone may be enioyed without iealousie submitted to without danger without error beleeued serued without scruple Popery offers to impose on Gods Church a King Shepheard Head Husband besides her own A man a man of sinne He must know all things can erre in nothing direct informe animate command both in earth and Purgatorie expound Scriptures canonize Saints forgiue sinnes create new Articles of Faith and in all these is absolute and infallible as his Maker who sees not that if to attribute these things to the Son of God be to make him the foundation of the Church then to ascribe them to another is to contradict him that said Other foundation can no man lay then that which is laid which is Iesus Christ To lay a new foundation doth necessarily subuert the old yet see this further actually done in particulars wherin yet this distinction may cleare the way The foundation is ouerthrown two wayes either in flat tearmes when a maine principle of faith is absolutely denyed as the deity and consubstantialitie of the Son by Arrius the Trinity of persons by Sabellius and Seruetus the resurrection of the body by Himeneus Philetus the last Iudgement by S. Peters mockers Or secondly by consequent vvhen any opinion is maintained which by iust sequel ouer-turneth the truth of that principle which the defendant professes to hold yet so as he will not grant the necessitie of that deduction So
your leisure could allow you to walke along with me a while thorow these sweet and flowrie Meades of Vnity and happy conspiration of thoughts And yet I shall not so much bend the residue of my speech to the praise of vnity to what purpose were that waste as to the necessary vindication of it from the vniust challenges of the enemies of peace It is an heauy crime and of all other the most hainous wherewith we are charged by the Romanists That we are fallen off from the Catholick Church that we haue rent the seamlesse coat of Christ yea broken his bones and torne his very body in peeces whereof if we were indeed guilty how vnworthy were we to breathe in this aire how most worthy of the lowest Hell But we call heauen and earth to record how vniustly this calumny is cast vpon vs yea we protest before God and men that the enuie of this so foule a crimination lights most iustly vpon the heads of the accusers May it please you to heare a short Apologue A certaine man inuited to a feast one or two of his friends entertained them bountifully They sate together louingly they are together and were merry one with another In the second course as the custome is the Master offereth them wine sets before them an apple now a worme had somewhat eaten the apple and a spider by chance had falne into the cup The guest sees and balks it The Master vrgeth him Why doe you not eat quoth he why drinke you not I dare not saith the other t' is not safe to doe either seest thou not this vermine in the cup and that in the apple Tush saith the Master what so great matter is this It was I that set this before thee It was I that began to thee in the other Drinke it eat it at least for my sake But suffer me first replies the guest to take out this spider to cut out this worme the wine the apple likes me well enough the spider the worme I cannot away with Away with such ouer-nine and curious companions quoth he againe Fy vpon thee thou vngratefull fellow that dost so little regard my friendship so contemne my cheere and with that in a rage throwes the platters and pots in the very face of his guest and thrust him out of doores all wounded Tell me now I beseech you worthy Auditors whether of these violates the lawes of hospitality I dare say you haue easily applied it before me There was a time when we sate together in a familiar manner with these Romanists and fared well The spider in the cup The worme in the apple what else be they but superstition in their worship rotten and vnwholsome traditions in their faith without these the Religion pleaseth vs well But they will needs importunately thrust these vpon vs and we refusing are therefore scorned spit vpon beaten and cast out Had they but giuen vs leaue to take out this spider this worme we had still eaten and dranke together most gladly They obstinately resisted and prefer'd their owne headstrong will to our good and safety nay they repell vs with reproaches strike vs with their thundering Anathemaes condemne vs to the stakes what should we doe in this case Heare oh heauens and hearken oh earth and thou Almighty God the Maker and Gouernor of them both suffer thy selfe and thy glorious spirits to be called to the testimony of our innocencie We are compelled we are driuen away from the Communion of the Church of Rome They forced vs to goe from them who departed first from themselues We haue willingly departed from the communion of their errors from the Communion of the Church we haue not departed Let them renounce their erroneous doctrine we embrace their Church Let them but cast away their soule-slaying Traditions we will communicate with them in the right of one and the same Church and remaine so for euer But alas I must be forced to complaine and that not without extreme griefe of heart how that it cannot be determined whether those that boast themselues for Catholikes be greater enemies to Truth or to Charity To Truth in that they haue of late forged new errors and forced them vpon the Church To Charity in that they haue not stuck to condemne the aduerse part and to brand them with the black marke of Heresie I will speake if you please more plainly Three manner of waies doe these Romanists offend against Charity First that they will not remit any thing either of their most conuicted opinion or vitious practice no not for peace sake Secondly that for Articles of Christian faith they put vpon the Church certaine opinions of their owne false doubtfull and vncertaine peculiar onely to the schooles which doe no whit touch the foundation of Religion And lastly that if they meet with any faithfull and sound monitors which doe neuer so little gainsay these new Articles they cruelly cast them out of the bosome of the Church and throw them headlong into Hel Away with these Schismaticks Hereticks Acheists Iwis the Protestants haue no Church no faith no saluation Good Lord what fury what frenzy distempers Christians that they should be so impotently malicious against those who professe themselues to be redeemed by the ransome of the same most precious bloud At length At length O yee Christians be wise and acknowledge those whom the God and Father of mercies holds worthy of his armes yea of his bowels Let frantick error bawle what it list we are Christians we are Catholicks the vndiuided members of one holy Catholick and Apostolick Church Let vs meet at this barre if you please Leâ— who will maintaine the plea What is it which maketh a Church What is it which maketh that Church One holy Catholick Apostolick Is it not one holy Catholick Apostolick saith But which is that Is it not the same which was deliuered by Christ and the Apostles to the whole world and was alwaies and euery where approued through all Ages euen vnto our times Wherefore are the Scriptures wherefore the Creeds wherefore were the primitiue Councells but that there might bee certaine markes whereby Catholicks might be vndoubtedly discerned from Hereticks You know the Epilogue of the Athanasian Creed This is the Catholick Faith If we may beleeue Leo the heads of all heresies are quite cut off with this one sword of the Creed How much more then with that two-edged sword of the Scriptures and of the Fathers their Interpreters What then Those that then were Catholicks can they in any age be condemned for Hereticks No Faith is alwaies constant to it selfe and so is the Church that is built vpon that Faith Did we euer deny or make doubt of any Article or clause of that Ancient Diuinity Either then Christ himselfe the Apostles Councells Fathers erred from the Catholick truth or wee yet remaine Catholicks What euer other opinions we meet withall concerning Religion neither make nor marre it Say they be false
making else-where this sinner worse than the Infidell And the old vulgar can giue no worse terme to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where he findes it yea to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rebels themselues What doth this brand to a Church not Christian onely though you denie it but famous Of whom is truly verified after all your spleene that which the Spirit writes to the Angell of Ephesus Laborasti non Defecisti Say if you can what Article of the Christian and Apostolike faith haue we renounced What Heresie maintaine we Wherein haue we runne from the Tents of Christ What hold we that may not stand with life in Christ and saluation We challenge all men and Deuils in this point for our innocence Distinguish for starke shame of so foule a word or which is better eat it whole and let not this blemish be left vpon your soule and name in the Records of God and the world that you once said of a Church too good for yours Drencht in Apostasie If wee crie Peace whiles you crie Apostasie surely we flatter whiles you raile betwixt these two dangerous extremes we know an wholsome meane so to approue that we foster not securitie so to censure that we neither reuile nor separate and in one word to doe that which your Pastor could exhort the Separators from your Separation for euen this Schisme hath Schismes If we should mislike yet to rest in our differences of iudgement and notwithstanding peaceably to continue with the Church Had you taken this course you should neither haue needed to expect our pittie nor to complaine of our crueltie Surely whether our loue be cruell or not your hatred is whereof take heed lest you heare from old IACOB Cursed bee their wrath for it was fierce and their rage for it was cruell How can you expect compassion when you breath fire and write gall Neuer mention the fury of others indignation till the venomous and desperate writings of Barrow and Greenwood be either worne out with time or by the Thunderbolts of your not rare censures be strucke downe to Hell whence their maliciousnesse came I forbeare to recapitulate how much rather had I helpe to burie than to reuiue such vnchristian exprobrations SEP The first action laid against vs is of vnnaturalnesse and ingratitude towards our Mother the Church of England for our causelesse separation from her to which vniust accusation and triuiall querimonie our most iust defence hath beene and is that to our knowledge wee haue done her no wrong we doe freely and with all thankfulnesse acknowledge euery good thing shee hath and which our selues haue there receiued SECTION XIIII INGRATITVDE and vnnaturalnesse to your mother is obiected The Separatists acknowledgements of the graces of the Church of England in that you flie from her yea now woe is me that you spet in her face and marke her for an Harlot Would God the accusation were as far from being iust as from being triuiall Yet perhaps you intend it not in the lightnesse of this charge but the commonnesse you haue caused me to smart for my charitie yet I forbeare it not What is your defence That you haue done her no wrong to your knowledge Modestly spoken that doubtfully we know your wrong but we know not your knowledge it is well if your wrong bee not wilfull an ignorant wrong is both in more hope of amends and of mercie But is not this caution added rather for that you thinke no hard measure can possibly be a wrong to so vile a Church I aske and would bee denied No you doe freely and with all thankfulnes acknowledge euery good thing shee hath Whatsoeuer you doe to vs I will not any more in fauour of you wilfully wrong my selfe you haue bidden me now to take you as a complete Separatist and speake this for your selfe and yours Let the Reader now iudge whether the wrong of your Sect be wilfull and acknowledgment of our good H. Barr. Praef. to the separ defended Causes of separ def p. 12. Confer with Doctor Andr. free and thankfull Your first false-named Martyr shall giue the first witnesse of the titles of our Church Who saith he that were not drunke and intoxicate with the Whores Cup could affirme this confuse Babel these cages of vncleane Birds these Prisons of foule and hatefull Spirits to be the Spouse of Christ And else-where he calls the people of our Church Goats and Swine Is this any wrong to your knowledge The same Author They haue not saith he in their Churches any one thing in their practise proceedings not one pin naile or hooke according to the true patterne Pref. to separ def Do you not now freely and thankfully acknowledge our Churches good things What is more ordinarie with him and his brother in euill Iohn Greenwood than to call our Ministers Baals Priests Cainites the marked seruants of Antichrist Sellers of the Whores wares Worshippers of the Beast Is this yet any wrong to your knowledge Pastor Iohnson sticks not to say that the Ministerie Worship of the Church of England were taken out of the Whores Cup Gyff refuted touch Donat. Obseruat of M. H. Bar. p. 239. Fr. Iohns Reason 9. against M. Iac. p. 74. Iohns against M. Iac. Excep 3. Nota Bene. and plainly stiles our Church as which of you doe not Daughter of the great Babylon that mother of Whoredomes and abominations of the earth yet more That Hierarchie Worship Constitution and Gouernment which they professe and practise being directly Antichristian do vtterly destroy true Christianity so as their people and Churches cannot in that estate be iudged true Christians Do you not now freely and thankfully acknowledge our good things What can any Deuill of Hell say worse against vs than this That we are no Christians Or what good can there be in vs if no true Christianitie If we denied euery Article of the Christian Creed if we were Mahumetans as your good Pastor sticks not to compare vs if the most damned Heretiques vnder Heauen Ibid. what could he say but no Christians Your Teacher and Pastor which is a wonder agree For your Doctor Ainsworth makes this one head of his poysonous Counterpoyson that Christ is not the Head Mediator Counterpoys p. 127. 131. Prophet Priest King of the Church of England You their Disciple are not yet promoted to this height of immodestie yet what are your good things Euen to you we are Apostates Traytors Rebels Babylonish this is well for a Learner Hereafter if you will heare me keepe our good things to your selfe and report our euill Yea that your vncharitablenesse may be aboue all examples monstrous You do not onely denie vs any interest in the Church of Christ but exclude vs what you may from all hope and possibilitie of attaining the honor of Christendome For when a godly Minister protested to Master Barrow Barr. Conference with M. Sperin as Barr. himselfe hath
seuerall members without distinction a substance without quantity and other accidents or substance and accidents that cannot bee seene felt perceiued So they make either a Monster of their Sauiour or nothing A Religion that vtterly ouerthrowes the perfection of Christs satisfaction If all be not paid how hath he satisfied If temporall punishments in Purgatory be yet due how is all paid and if these must be paid by vs how are they satisfied by him A Religion that makes more Scriptures than euer God and his ancient Church and those which it doth make so imperiously obtrudes vpon the world as if God himselfe should speake from heauen while it thunders out curses against all that will not add these Bookes to Gods regards not Gods Curse If any man shall add vnto these things God shall adde vnto him the plagues that are written in this Booke A Religion whose Patrons disgrace the true Scriptures of God with reprochfull termes odious comparisons imputations of corruption and imperfection and in fine pin their whole authority vpon the sleeues of men Papa facit protestationem ante Canonizationem se nihil intendere facire quod fit contra fidem aut Ecclesiam Catholicam Aliqui tamen clarissimi viri dicunt c. Quia Papâ— quodammodo cogebatur ad Canonizandum quendam contra suum voluntatem lib. Sacr. Ceremon A Religion that erects a throne in the Conscience to a meere man and giues him absolute power to make a sinne to dispense with it to create new Articles of Faith and to impose them vpon necessitie of saluation A Religion that baffoules all Temporall Princes making them stand bare-foot at their great Bishops gate lye at his foot hold his stirrup yea their owne Crownes at his Courtesie exempting all their Ecclesiasticall Subiects from their Iurisdiction and when they list all the rest from their Allegiance A Religion that hath made wicked men Saints and Saints Gods Euen by the confession of Papists lewd and vndeseruing men haue leapt into their Calendar Whence it is that the Pope before his Canonization of any Saint makes solemne protestation that he intends not in that businesse to doe ought preiudiciall to the glory of God or to the Catholike Faith and Church And once Sainted they haue the honour of Altars Temples Inuocations and some of them in a stile fit only for their Maker I know not whether that blessed Virgin receiue more indignitie from her enemies that deny her or these her flatterers that dâ—ifie her A Religion that robs the Christian heart of all sound comfort whiles it teacheth vs that we neither can nor ought to be assured of the remission of our sinnes and of present grace and future saluation That we can neuer know whether we haue receiued the true Sacraments of God because we cannot know the intention of the Minister without which they are no Sacraments A Religion that rackes the conscience with the needlesse torture of a necessary shrift wherein the vertue of absolution depends on the fulnesse of confession and that vpon examination and the sufficiencie of examination is so full of scruples besides those infinite cases of vnresolued doubts in this fained penance that the poore foule neuer knowes when it is deare A Religion that professes to be a 〈◊〉 of sinne whiles both in practise it tolerates open stâ—wes and preferres fornication in some cases to honourable Matrimonie and gently blanches ouer the breaches of Gods Law with the name of Venialls and fauourable titles of Diminution daring to affirme that Veniall sinnes are no hinderance to a mans cleannesse and perfection A Cruell Religion that sends poore Infants remedilesly vnto the eternall paines of Hell for want of that which they could not liue to desire and fâ—ighâ—s simple soules with expectation of fained torments in Purgatory not inferiour for the time to the flames of the damned How wretchedly and fearfully must their poore Layicks needs die for first they are not sure they shall not goe to Hell and secondly they are sure to be scorched if they shall goe to Heauen A Religion that makes nature namely proud in being ioyned by her as copartner with God in our Iustification in our Saluation and idlely puffed vp in a conceit of her perfection and abilitie to keepe more Lawes than God hath made A Religion that requires no other faith to iustification in Christians than may bee found in the Deuils themselues who besides a confused apprehension can assent vnto the Truth of Gods reuealed will Poperie requires no more A Religion that instead of the pure milke of the Gospell hath long fed her starued soules with such idle Legends as the Reporter can hardly deliuer without laughter and their Abettors not heare without shame and disclamation the wiser sort of the World read those Stories on winter Euenings for sport which the poore credulous multitude heares in their Churches with a deuout astonishment A Religion which lest ought should bee here wanting to the Doctrine of Deuils makes Religious Prohibitions of meat and difference of dyet superstitiously preferring Gods workmanship to it selfe and willingly polluting what he hath sanctified A Religion that requires nothing but meere formalitie in our deuotions the worke wrought suffices alone in Sacraments in Prayers So the number be found in the Chappelet there is no care of the affection as if God regarded not the heart but the tongue and hands and while he vnderstands vs cared little whether we vnderstand our selues A Religion that presumptuously dares to alter and mangle Christs last Institution and sacrilegiously rob Gods people of one halfe of that heauenly prouision which our Sauiour left for his last and dearest Legacie to his Church for euer as if Christs Ordinance were superfluous or any Shaueling could be wiser than his Redeemer A Religion that depends wholly vpon nice and poore vncertainties and vnproueable supposals that Peter was Bishop of Rome that hâ—e left any heires of his graces and spirit or if any but one in a perpetuall and vnfaileable succession at Rome That hee so bequeathed his infallibilitie to his chaire as that whosoeuer sits in it cannot but speake true that all which sit where he sate must by some secret instinct say as hee taught That what Christ said to him absolutely ere euer Rome was thought of must be referred yea tyed to that place alone and fulfilled in it That Linus or Clemens or Cletus the Schollers and supposed Successors of Peter must bee preferred in the Headship of the Church to Iohn the beloued Apostle then liuing That hee whose life whose pen whose iudgement whose keyes may erre yet in his Pontificall chaire cannot erre That the Golden Line of this Apostolicall Succession in the confusion of so many long desperate Schismes shamefully corrupt Vsurpations and Intrusions yeelded Heresies neither was nor can be broken Denie any of these and Poperie is no Religion Oh the lamentable hazard of so many Millions of poore soules that stand vpon these slipperie
fauourable report allay the bitter contentions of those ancient Christians of Antioch writes thus Theod. hist l. 3. c. 4. Both parts saith he made one and the same confession of their faith for both maintained the Creed of the Nicen Councell And yet this position is spightfully handled by Cardinall Bellarmine Bell. de laâ—cis lib. 3. c. 19. and can scarce draw breath since his last stripes What care we saith he for the same Creed Faith is not in words but in the sense And indeed I remember what Ruffinus reports done by Arrius That worthy Constantine had charged him to write what faith he held he deliuered him a Creed in words ours in sense his owne and how right his wicked brood tooke after their father in the insuing times of the Church let Histories witnesse sure I am whosoeuer shall read the Creeds of their seuerall Sects shall hardly feâ—ch out any thing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which an Orthodox Censurer would thinke worthy of reproofe How oft doe they yeeld Christ to be God yea God of God and yet perfidiously reserue to themselues in the meane time that absurd conceit That he was created ex non â—â—tibus As therefore Seuerianus the Syrian in Theodoret. spake Greeke as a Grecian but pronounced it like a Syrian so there may be many which may speake truths but pronounce them heretically Iren. l. 1. c. 9. Petr. Chrys Ser. 109. Trinitatem vocabulis mentiuntur Decr. 22. q. 5. humanae For all Heresies saith Irenaeus talke of one God but marre him with their misconceits yea for the most part all Heresies saith Chrysologus set a face of the Trinitie To little purpose It was not ill sayd of Gratian that no man is to care for words since that not the meaning should serue the words but the words rather the meaning Let vs grant all this and more Let it be said of the Creed as Ierome said of the Booke of Iob that euery word abounds with senses Hier. in praef Tert. de prasc There is no Diuine Word as Tertullian speaketh wisely so disolute and deâ—â—sed that onely the words may be defended and not the true meaning of the words set downe To put the Cardinall out of this needlesse feare The proper and natiue sense of the Creed may be fetcht out and I adde yet more except but that one Article of Christs Descension into Hell which Ruffinus confesses he could not find either in the Roman or Easterne Creedes is openly confessed on both parts And yet for all this we are neuer the neerer to peace For from these common Principles of Faith the subtle deuice of Hereticall prauity hath fetcht strange and erroneous consequences which by their sophisticall and obstinate handling are now improued into Heresies and dare now threaten not onely opposition but death vnto those very principles from which they are raysed Of this kind are the most of those Romish opinions which we vndertake to censure in this Discourse But if by the vniuersall consent of all it should appeare that both word and sense are intire that both the principles and necessarie conclusions thence deduced are vndeniably sound Nulla tamen pax cum Lutheranis De Laicis l. 3. 19. Sect. 4. yet saith Bellarmine there can bee no peace with Lutherans Let all the World know this and wonder Our King be it spoken to the enuie of those which cannot emulate him an incomparable Diuine for a Prince yea a Prince of Diuines a King of men and a wonder of Kings mighty both with his scepter and his pen going about in that learned and ponderous Discourse to cleere himselfe from the aspersion of Heresie which that foule hand had vnworthily cast vpon him professes solemnly and holily that whatsoeuer is contained eyther in the Sacred Scriptures or the three famous Creeds or the foure first generall Councels that he embraces with both armes that He proclaimes for His Faith In praefat ad Imper. Princip that He will defend with his Tongue with his Pen with His Sword in that he will both liue and die Yea but this is not enough saith that Great Antagonist of Princes For there are other points of faith wherewith religion is now of late times inlarged Bell. resp ad Regem Non satis est ad haereticum nomen fugiendum illa recipere quae Rex Anglorum recipere atque admittere se dicit pag. 80. Etiamsi nouitia nâ—pâ—ra illa sint si quis tamen ca neget immuâ—â—m ab heresi noÌ„ foâ—e Bell. resp and Regem pag. 98. Bell. l. de laicis 2. c. 19. Dist 22. Omnes Margaritae Decret vel Tabula Mortiniâ— Iâ— verb. Iâ—obediâ—ntia as Transubstantiation Purgatory the Popes Primacie a whole doozen of these goodly Articles hath the Tridentine Councell created in this decayed age of the World lest the Fathers of Italy should seeme to come short of the Apostles and the Pope of Christ any parcell whereof whosoeuer shall presume to call into question is an Heretike presently and smels of the Faggot and how ordinarily is that layd in euery dish that he cannot bee a member of the Church which withdrawes his obedience from their Pope the Head of the Church Neyther is that any whit milder which Gratian cites from Pope Nicholas the Second VVhosoeuer goes about to infringe the priuiledge of the Roman Church or derogates from her Authoritie is an Heretike But that is yet well worse which the allowed Table of the Decree hath peremptorily broched Whosoeuer obeies not the Popes Commandement incurres the sin of Idolatry or as Gregory the Seuenth from whom Gratian would seeme to borrow this which yet is not to be found in his Epistles of Paganisme Whatsoeuer therefore Christ Iesus whatsoeuer the Apostles whatsoeuer the counsels Fathers of the Primitiue Church haue commended to vs to be beleeued shall auaile vs little neither can euer make vs friends vnlesse we will bee content to beslaue our Faith vnto their Popeling And can they thinke wee will looke at peace vpon such a condition That hope were bold and foolish that could expect this Neither doe they more scornfully cast vs out of the bosome of their Church for spetting at these Articles of Straw which their vanitie hath deuised than wee can confidently condemne and execrate their presumption which haue so imperiously obtruded such trash as this vpon the Church of God SECTION V. The impuration or corruption of the Roman Church and their impossibilitie of Reconciliation arising from that wilfull Fable of the Popes infallibilitie BVt to leaue this first head of our Aduersaries indisposition to peace Say that the Papists could be content to hearken to an agreement which I can neuer hope to see whiles Rome is it selfe say they should seeke it yet as things now stand whiles they wil not and we may not stirre one inch from our station of iudgement God forbids the Truth debarres our Reconciliation wee dare not whatsoeuer
with these that it could not stay the time of the common deliuerie Needs must they be notorious falshoods that are thus singled out from the rest Let them appeare in their owne shapes vgly doubtlesse and prodigious The first is Ex Decad. Ep. 3. Epist 5. Reckoned out of Pappus his Enumeration My peace of Rome makes vp 103. That most shamelesse assertion that Bellarmine vnder his owne hand acknowledges 237. Contrarieties of Doctrine amongst his Catholikes Could the man but haue patience he should finde aboue three hundred What sayes my Detector to this He hath not seene the seuerals yet like a braue man at Armes he professes to kill his enemie ere he can appeare and tels vs those 237 Contrarieties are nothing but 237 lyes in one assertion That there are in them so many vntruths I easily grant for in Contradictions one part must needs be false And Truth is but single They are vntruths then lyes are too broad a word but their owne My assertion shall onely iustifie that they are told let him take care for the rest Obiect But they are not in points belonging to Faith and Religion only in matters vndecided and disputable The sequell shall try that shift Why doe wee forestall our Reader Sol. Who knowes not that there cannot be so many points fundamentall Let him take them as they are I aggrauate nothing It is but onely in such light chaffe as this In the number and extent of Bookes Canonicall wherein Driedo Erasmus Genebrard Caietan Sixtus Senensis are acknowledged to oppose the rest In the Popes infallibilitie of iudgement wherein Gerson Almayne Pope Adrian Eckius Hosius Pichius Waldensis are at quarrell In the reach and originall of spirituall iurisdiction wherein Abulensis Turrecremata Fran. à Victoria Alphonsus de Castro c. proclaime to differ what should I instance in more It is but in the Popes power in Temporalities in the inerrablenesse of Councels whether particular confirmed by the Pope or Generall in the authoritie of Councels aboue Popes in the force of Vowes in the worship due to Images and the like These and such other are the slight Trifles since all cannot be weightie impertinent to faith wherein the Romish Doctors varie Neither doth my assertion of their discord gall him more then of our Vnity O the forehead of Heretikes I said that we in our Church differ onely in Ceremonies they in substance Let him giue leaue to the contra-diuision of these two and I will take leaue to maintaine the indiuision of the Church of England in the dogmaticall points of Faith This boldnesse together with my eminent ignorance makes him admire the scarcitie of learned men in our Countrey that could finde no better Doctors to send to Dort-Conference then Master HALL To your griefe Sir it was a Synode and that noble and celebrious Neither was it out of want that your silly Aduersarie was sent thither This happy Iland which hath no blemish but that it yeelds such Vipers as your selfe abounds as you too well know with store of incomparable Diuines such as may set your Rome to schoole So as the Messenger of Pyrrhus long since called your Italy a Countrey of Kings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Egypt was wont to be called the Countrey of Physicians so may this blessed Iland of ours iustly merit the title of The Region of DIVINES For me I can bee content to bee base enough in mine owne eyes but if my disparagement shall redound to my betters I dare tell him it is my comfort that I was sent thither by a iudgement no lesse infallible then of Paul the Fift Let himselfe or any of his Eaues-dropping companions to whom that place stood open say wherein I shamed those that sent me It was my iust griefe that the necessitie of my health Necessitate propellente proditie est ea tacere quae quis fluâ—â—â—e perfecerit Chrysost in ill vtinam toter assetis c. yea of my life called me off immaturely but since either death or departure must be yeelded to others shall iudge whether I went away more laden with infirmitie then how-euer vnworthy with approbation But that second lye of mine is so loud that all my Brethren of Dort must heare it and they which were lately the Witnesses of my sinceritie gracing mee with the deare Testimonie of their approofe are now made the Iudges of my impudencie What monster of falshood will come forth In my censure of Trauell glancing at the Iesuiticall bragge of their Indian Miracles whereat their very friends make sport I charge Cardinall Bellarmine for an auoucher of these Cozenages who dares auerre that his fellow Xauier not onely healed the Deafe Dumbe and Blinde but raised the Dead to which I adde whiles his Brother Acosta after many yeares spent in those parts can pull him by the sleeue and tell him in his eare so loud that all the World may heare Prodigia nulla producimus This is my Indictment Let me come to my Tryall Cast me if ye can ye reuerend heads I craue no fauour Where lyes this so lewd lye and malicious abuse That Bellarmine sayes thus of the Iesuite Xauier is not denyed That Acosta sayes thus of himselfe and his fellow Iesuites is granted The first lye yet is Acosta was neuer in the East-Indies at all nor Xauier in the West and how then could Acosta spend many yeares in those parts A perilous Plea Who euer I beseech you mentioned either East or West I spake of the Indies in common Bell de notis Eccles l. 4. c. 14. so did his Bellarmine from whom I cited this Claruit etiam in Indiis omni genere miraculorum c. Here is not one of the Indies mentioned but both or either If both liued in the Indies though not in one Towne in one Country in one Indie wherein haue I offended whiles speaking of the Indies in generall I said that Xauier and Acosta liued there Yet this is one lye he saith and that so long a one as that it reacheth as farre as it is from the East to the West from the Artick to the Antarctick Pole wherein I doubt not but your reuerences wil easily marke the skill of this learned Cosmographer Some parts of those instanced Indies differ not so farre not to speake of the small strait of Anian the mentioned Region of Mexico is not aboue fourescore degrees from Iapan Either your construction must fauour him or else this must goe into the Booke of ouer-sights The second lye is that Acosta pulled Bellarmine by the sleeue in this assertion as if hee denyed those Easterne Miracles which he elsewhere confesseth Indeed this sawcinesse were dangerous The red Hat you say is fellow to a Crowne But shall I confesse where I erred My dull head could not conceiue that God should be the God of the Mountains and not of the Valleys Of the East Indies not of the West and yet be the Iesuites God in both