warrant it By Scripture You haue barred your selfe from all hope of succour thence For it is obscure equivocall ambiguous every way vncertaine By Naturall Reason The Articles of Faith are aboue Reason and the Naturall Man is not capable of them By the Spirit then That is the thing you so much jest at in others And if by your doctrine you cannot assure your selfe that you are in the present state of Grace neither can you know whether you haue the spirit of God or no. What then may be your last refuge The testimony of the Church touching her selfe Ridiculous for no mans testimony may be admitted in his owne cause And what a reasoning is this You beleeue the Articles of Faith Why Because the Church biddeth you doe so How followeth this Because shee cannot erre And how proue you that Because she saith shee cannot erre If this bee not to expose the Christian Faith vnto the laughter of Atheists and prophane men I know not what it is Will you nill you when you haue said all you can say either you must haue no certaine ground at all for your Faith or you must rest vpon the Scriptures as the finall resolution thereof Returne therefore I beseech in the feare of God returne vnto the sure anchor-hold of your salvation Abandon those frothie generalities of your seducing authors which at the best are but coniecturall and labour to stablish your Conscience vpon the testimony of him that will not that cannot deceiue you Pray vnto him fervently and proceed in a syncere loue of the truth and you shall surely finde that if you be not defectiue to your selfe God will never faile you For my part I haue done what belongs to mee I haue planted I haue watered it is God that must giue the increase And to his mercy in Christ Iesus I commend you An advertisement to the Reader Vnto the Section of Pag. 27. I there freely confessed I could not certainly answere for want of Doctor Mortons booke Since that time I haue met with it and thereby I perceaue that though I answered only by conâ—ecture yet I coniectured not amisse Yet now farther be pleased to vnderstand first that the Doctor citeth not Bibliander as my adversary vntruly chargeth him but only answereth a passage quoted by his adversary Breerly out of him And he answereth in effect as I doe saue that he bringeth in Bellarmine confessing that which to my good man seemeth so strange namely that all Protestants acknowledge in the Eucharist a Sacrifice Eucharisticall or of thanksgiuing Secondly touching those Rabbins R. Cahana R. Iudas and R. Simeon hee belyeth the Doctor it is Breerly that cites them not hee Neither doth he Positiuely say that their testimonies make directly for Transubstantiation But conditionally if they were such Now that they are not such hee proueth For consulting with D. Smith D. Layfield and M. Bedwell very learned Hebricians about this matter they after their painfull and industrious search into the cited places returned vnder their hands this answere R. Cahana in that booke on the 49 of Gen. is not cited nor hath hee there any thing to that purpose R. Iudas in that booke on the 25 of Exod. hath no such thing nor in the whole Parasha Terumah R. Simeon wrote no booke carrying the title of Revelatio Secretorum And thus you see while simple Papists will beleeue nothing but what their guides tell them what pretty tales of Robin Hood they devise for them O that God would be pleased to soften the seared consciences of the one and to open the blindfolded eyes of the other Farewell IOHN DOWNE FINIS A Testimony taken from M. Perkins on Heb. 11. v. 7. to be added to those annexed to the first Sermon But how doth God worke this faith By his word For as God is the author and worker of Faith so God hath appointed a meanes whereby he workes it and that is his word which word of God is the only ordinary outward meanes to worke faith And that word of God is two wayes to be considered either as revealed by God himselfe as to Noah here or else being written by God is either preached by his Ministers or read by a mans selfe in want of preaching and these are all one and are all meanes ordained of God to worke faith and that not only to beginne it where it is wanting but to augment it where it is begunne END So much doth the originall word beare and therefore our last translators haue set it in the Margent M. Smith Preacher at Barstaple Ezech. 14.14 and 28 3. Ver. 1. V. 2. Ioh. 5.28.29 1 Chron. 28.9 ver 13. V. 14. V. 15. V. 16. V. 17. V. 18. 1. Tim. 4 16. Phil. 2.15 psal 34.5 Prov. 4.18 Math. 13.43 43.20 148 36. 2. Cor. 4.17 1. Pet. 5.4 1. Cor. 9.25 Act. 15.5 vers â— vers 4.6 vers 7. c. vers 13.14.15 vers 19.20 Num. 25.1 c Lev. 17.10 In Preachers plea. In Baron â—1 16. n. 23. Duplic cont Stapl. l. 1. c. 6. Act. 13.27 Deut 33.10.11 2 King 23.2 Nâ—h 8.3 Elias Levita Ben. Maimon Apol. against T.C. Eccles. Polit. l. 5. Hom. 1. p. 1. Marâ— 16.15 2. Cor. 2.16 2. Tim. 4.1.2 Defens eccles author l. 3. c. 7. Trois verites l. 3. c. 4. par 3. Confront ibid Canon 4. Can 11. In ans to the Abstract Esa. 29.12 Id. 61.1.2 Paraen ad Gentes l. 17. Strom. l. 1. p. 1. Doct. Christ. Prol. Cont. Bellar. contro 1. Confront l. 3. c. 4. In Rhem. Test Ro. 1. 15. Cont. Bellar. con 1. q. 6. c. 9. De Idol Eccl. Ro. ep ded Advers Cost de Script De S. script Against peril of idol p. 1. Preface to the Reader Rom. 15.4 Preface to the Reader Deut. 13.11 17.1 6.6 Ioh. 5.39 Col. 4.16 1 Thes. 5.27 Act. â— 27.15.21 Mat. 24.15 Eph. 3.4 Confes. l. 8. c. 12. Cont. Lindâ—n In vita sua Acts Mon. Preach plea. Def. of AdmoÌ„ Preach plea. Act. 2.41 Iob. 33.23.24 Contra Char. l. 3. c. 4. Prov. 29.18 Esaiah 1.1 1. Cor. 1.21 Duplic cont Stapl l. 2. c. 10 De S. Script Rom. 10 13.14 Ps. 19.1.2.3 Rom. 1.20 Deut. 17.11 2. Thes. 2.8 Act. 13.27 Rom. 10.8 Ioh. 19.37 Rom. 3.19 Heb. 12.5 Rom. 9.27 Ioh. 5.39 Heb. 4.12 Luc. 16.29 Gal. 4.21.22 Confront l. 3. c. 4. Ibid. De verb. scrip In Rhem. Test. Rom. 1.15 Dupl contr Stapl. l. 2. c 10. De script q. 5. c. 8. arg 2. Cont. A.D. c. 9 1. King 17.6 Ioh. 19.6 Act. 2.4 Act 9.3 c. Gal. 1.12 Dupl cont Stap. l. 2. c. 6. In the way to the true Ch. In Ps. 26. Ep. 3. Dial. cum Try phon L. 7. in Iulian Hom. 1. in Ioh De Script q. 2. c. 14. arg 5. De verb. scrip â—ut 28. Cor. 2.4 Dupl contr Stapl. l. 1. c. 9. 2. Pet. 1.15 Deut. 31.11.12 Ier. 36.2 c. V. 19. V. 5. Ioh. 20.31 Cap. 18. Comment in Psal. initio Ser. 35. Iohn 6.63
taught in all schooles By what way or meanes is the knowledge of Gods will declared in his word to bee attained By diligent reading and meditating of Gods word or by attentiue hearing the same read and purely expounded by others The booke of Homilies affirmeth that the reading of Scripture breedeth knowledge turneth illuminateth comforteth incourageth and againe expressely The ordinary way to attaine the knowledge of God and our selues is with diligence to heare and read the holy Scripture Finally if the iudgement of the chiefe governours of our Church and the publike authorizing of bookes for the maintenance hereof be a sufficient argument I dare bee bold to say that this is the very doctrine of the Church of England Sure I am that the reverend father of this Diocesse who best should know it gaue expresse commandement that it should publikely in this pulpit bee acknowledged that reading is an ordinary meanes to beget Faith and not Preaching only as they tearme it Thus our latter Divines I haue but one thing more to say in this point and it is this that howsoever these men may differ from Papists in other opinions yet I see not how they can cleare themselues from Popery in this For to omit all consequences which necessarily follow vpon it thus in plaine termes say the Iesuits of Rhemes Faith cometh ordinarily of preaching and hearing and not of reading and writing And Bellarmine Scripture was not given to this end to be a rule of Faith but to be a certaine profitable commonitory to preserue and nourish that doctrine which is receaued by preaching And Stapleton Reading is not via ordinaria the ordinary way to Faith and againe Scripture binds not a man to beleeue neither is Faith to be had by it but only as it is preached by the Church Lastly Charron Faith is by the word Preached and pronounced by voice not written or read Againe Thou beleeuest because thou readest thou art no Christian for the Christian beleeueth afore reading and without And againe Faith got by Reading is acquisite humane studied not Christian and he that hath it is no Christian his Faith must haue another name Iump almost with that ere while quoted out of Hieron ordinarily knowledge so gotten is but vaine iangling and swimmeth in the braine but renewes not the heart Thus Papists against whom our men mainely oppose themselues herein And thus haue I at length resolued the three Questions in the beginning propounded and as I trust maintained the truth of God and that as becommeth the truth with the spirit of meeknesse and sobriety Withall as I suppose I haue made a sufficient Apologie both for my selfe and other my reverend brethren who in the general vnderstanding of the ordinary auditory of this place haue beene publikely censured as Seducing Spirits for holding that which I haue now maintained Reason would that he who seemed to lay this scandall vpon vs should haue made publike amends and either haue interpreted himselfe if he were mis-vnderstood or acknowledged his rashnesse if he did so censure But seeing it will not be and so much charity cannot be found in the heart yea over and aboue seeing I haue since that time beene braued to my face and as I am credibly informed often insulted vpon behinde my back as if I durst not publikely shew my face in these points though otherwise I could haue beene content to hold my peace for the peace of the Church yet now I could doe no other then I haue done and pardon me I beseech you for herevnto haue I beene forced and constrained Sooner perhaps would I haue discharged my selfe of this burthen if sooner I could haue met with so fit an auditory For who can better testifie of what I say or are fitter to be iudges and vmpires in such a businesse then you my reverend and beloved bretheren of the Cleargie To you therefore and to your graue censure doe I referre both my selfe whatsoever I haue said duly remembring that of the Apostle Paul the spirit of the Prophets is subiect to the Prophets And now giue mee leaue to addresse my speech vnto you my beloued bretheren of the Laitie specially you that are the ordinarie auditory of this place Let mee intreat you all not again to mistake me as if by what I haue said I went about any way to derogate from Sermons I say mistake me not againe for once already haue I beene either ignorantly or wilfully misconstrued Preaching some while since in this place on Luc. 20.34.35 and enquiring as my Text occasioned me who they were that should be accounted worthy to obtaine the next world and the resurrection from the dead I affirmed first in generall that it was not semblance only or shew of religion that could make a man worthie and then in particular that a man might be a frequent auditor of Sermons might goe two three foure more miles to heare them all the while might looke the Preacher starke in the face afterward returne with ioy call to minde talke conferre and repeat the same and yet for all this still be counted vnworthy And fearing least I should bee mis-vnderstood I then intreated you not to mistake me as if I misliked Sermons or the going to them Nay I exhorted you to goe provided you went not with contempt of Divine Service at home nor departing from your owne Minister how meane a Preacher soever none I thinke being so meane but is able to teach you more then you knowe provided also that you passe not through the Church-yards of as reverend and learned men as these parts afford any to go a mile further to heare a novice and when you are returned that your repetitions bee not vaineglorious with such a rumble and after the manner of a riot but modest and severally in your owne houses and lastly that the fruit of your often hearing be not a demure looke onely and a prating tongue but true humility charity which best conformeth vs vnto IESVS CHRIST These things I then said and for ought I yet see said not amisse yet am I censured as an enimie to Sermons as one that greeues the hearts of Gods Saints and lash the faults of Hypocrites on the backes of Gods children Wherefore you see I haue reason now to be warie of my selfe and to prevent the like danger that I bee not the second time mistaken as if I spake in derogation of Sermons Sermons I acknowledge to be the blessed ordinance of God as learned Hooker saith they are the keyes to the kingdome of heauen wings to the soule spurres to our good affections food to them that are sound and healthy and vnto diseased mindes physicke Whatsoever any can truely say in honour of them withall our hearts we subscribe vnto it If comparison be made betweene Reading and Sermons wee readily yeeld the precedencie to Sermons For although it be the same word which is read
the preaching of the Church as touching the Proposition of things to be beleeued but not as the reason of beleeuing For they who propound the doctrine of Faith withall admonish that that doctrine is revealed from God and that God not themselues is to be beleeved And what Is not the holy Catholike Church it selfe an Article of the Creed If it bee why should the rest of the Articles need to be sustained by an higher Principle more then it For if you may be bold to question any of them vntill it be resolued by the Churches authoritie I hope I may be as bold to question the Churches authoritie vntill it be warranted by some farther Principle I demand therefore why you beleeue the Church Because forsooth her authority is infallible And how know you that it is infallible Here of necessity you must either vouch her owne testimonie or betake you to some other thing To stick vpon her testimonie without farther enquirie is absurd For seeing her voice is not the first veritie that being the Prerogatiue of him only who is from all eternity her veracity must needs bee as doubtfull as her infallible authority And indeed this as a very learned Divine exemplifieth it were as if one whose authority is questioned taking vpon him to bee a law-giuer should first make a law and thereby giue himselfe power and afterward by vertue of that power exercise authority over others But if to establish the Churches authority you seek out of her to some other thing as suppose the Scriptures for so I remember you answered me being demanded the same Question then haue I obtained what I would namely that the Church is not the first ground of Faith because by your owne confession there is a former to wit the Scripture Neither is it true that Catholike men hold the Churches authority to be the first Ground For although some pretended Catholikes those I meane who call themselues Roman catholikes may so conceaue of their Church vnderstanding by the Church the Roman church yet neither are they true Catholikes neither is the Roman church the Catholike church neither doe any true Catholikes ground their Faith so True catholikes they are not because they hold a new Faith not that which Catholikely hath beene held in all ages as appeareth by those twelue new Articles lately added to the Creed vnknown vnto the purer times of the Primitiue church Neither is the Roman church the Catholike Church Not in regard of time for Christ had his Church when Rome was not yet Christian. Nor in respect of place for Catholike is Universall Roman Particular that the Church of the whole world this of one Citie or Diocese only Nor lastly in regard of her authority ouer al other Churches for that which she challengeth is but vsurped the Church of Africk in a Councell of two hundred and seuenteene Bishops of whom S. Augustine was a principall with much indignation reiected it and the Greeke church hitherto could never be drawne to acknowledge it And as for those that are true Catholikes they build not their Faith vpon so weake a Ground but rest both it and the Church her selfe vpon the Scriptures The Apostle S. Paul buildeth the whole Houshold of God vpon no other foundation then that of the Prophets and Apostles Knowe thou saith Origen that Christ alwaies appeareth on the mountaines and hills to teach thee that thou seeke him no where but in the mountaines of the Law and Prophets And the Auhor of the imperfect worke on Mathew The Lord knowing the confusion of things that would happen in the latter daies commandeth that such Christians as will receaue assurance of faith fâ—ie to no other thing but the Scripture And Tertullian Take from Hereticks that which they haue common with the heathen that they be content to stint all questions by the scriptures only and they cannot stand And S. Hierom The church of Christ hath for her cities the Law the Prophets the Gospell Apostles she passeth not beyond her limits that is the holy scriptures S. Augustine in the scriptures we learne Christ in the scriptures we learn the Church And againe I say not if we but if an Angell froÌ„ heauen shall deliuer any thing of Christ or his Church or of faith manners besides that which ye haue receiued in the Scriptures of the Law and Gospell let him be accursed And againe he affirmeth that the Church is to be proued by the Canonical bookes of Scripure and nothing else and that they only are the Demonstration of our cause the very foundation and ground plot whereon we are to build N. N. For proofe of this ground Saint Augustine handleth this matter in a speciall booke to his friend Honoratus deceiued by the Manichees as himselfe also sometimes had bin and he entituleth his booke De vtilitate credendi His discourse is this Suppose that wee now first of all did seeke vnto what Religion we should commit our soules to bee purged and rectified Without all doubt wee must begin with the Catholike Church for that shee is the most eminent now in the world there being more Christians in her this day then in any other Church of Iewes Gentiles put together And albeit among these Christians there be Sects and Heresies and all of them would seeme to be Catholikes and doe call others besides themselues Hereticks yet all grant that if wee consider the whole Body of the World there is one Church among them more eminent then all other and more plentifull in number and as they which know her doe affirme more sincere also in the truth But as concerning truth wee shall dispute more afterward now it is sufficient for them that desire to learne that there is a Catholike Church which is one in it selfe wherevnto diverse Heretickes doe faine and devise divers names whereas they and their Sects are called by peculiar names which themselues cannot deny Whereby all men that are indifferent and not letted by passion may vnderstand vnto what Church the name Catholike which all parts desire and pretend is to bee given Thus St Augustine c. I. D. So maine a point as is the last resolution of faith ought to haue beene better warranted then by the single authority of one Father who how eminent soever hee was in his time yet is not his sole word of strength enough to beare vp such a weight Why did you not vouch the testimony of Saint Paul or Saint Peter or some other of the holy penmen of Gods booke which cannot deceiue you then Saint Augustine or any other of the antient Fathers who both haue erred themselues and may mislead you But thus it is with Papists the more the shame the bare name of a Father swayes them more then the clearest passage of holy writ Howbeit this I say not as if we feared the triall of the Fathers for be it known vnto you wee haue more
cause to bee confident vpon them then your selues but only to vindicate the honour and dignity of the Scriptures which of your side are too basely sleighted and neglected And as touching this particular place of Saint Augustine notwithstanding all the flourish you make therewith yet shall you never be able to proue what you intend thereby as I come now to demonstrate This booke de vtilitate credendi I haue now twice for your sake throughly read ouer and with the best attention I could In it I find the authority of the Catholik Church made the first motiue or meanes vnto Faith by which we doe beleeue but not the first principle and reason of faith for which wee doe beleeue The occasion of writing it was this Saint Augustine hauing lately through Gods grace escaped out of the toiles of the Manichean Heretiks in which for the space of nine yeares hee had beene entangled is very desirous to recouer from them his friend Honoratus also as yet continuing in his error and held fast by them This he doubteth not through the same grace of God soone to effect may hee but find him duly prepared and disposed For vntill hee be wrought from his hereticall pertinacy and stifnesse vnto a more Christian moderation and equability he shall with all his arguments but wash a bricke as they say and spend his oile and labour to little purpose That which made him so vntoward and hard to be wrought vpon was the faire and plausible insinuation of the Manichees that they pressed no man to beleeue vntill they had first cleared and manifested the truth whereas others terrified men with superstition and commanded Faith before they tendred any reason vnto them Wherefore to remoue this preiudice and to frame him vnto a more indifferent temper he employeth in this booke all his strength and skill labouring to demonstrate the Vtility of beleeuing and how requisite it is to yeeld to authority before with pure minds we can discerne the truth And this is the only drift and scope he aimeth at in this booke neither medleth hee therein with any of the Manichean heresies but reserueth the confutation conviction of them vntill some other time as appeareth by the very closing vp thereof where he willeth Honoratus to remember that he hath not yet begunne to refute the Manichees nor to seâ— himselfe against those toies nor hath opened any great matter touching Catholike Doctrine Whence thus I argue If S. Augustin in this booke dispute against Honoratus from the Churches authority as the last resolution of Faith then hath he opened therein the greatest point of Christian religion and confuted thereby the Manichean heresie inasmuch as the Catholike Church vtterly condemned it But S. Augustin in expresse words affirmeth that he hath not so much as begun to refute the Manichees nor opened any great matter touching Catholike doctrine Therefore he disputeth not from the Churches authority as the last resolution of Faith True it is he is much in commending authority setting forth the benefit of beleeving it But what authority What beleeuing that authority which is grounded vpon the Generall opinion fame and consent of people nations that Beleeuing which is Morall and only prepares the minde to divine illumination If so then certainly cannot St Augustins authoritie be the last Principle of Faith For this is infallibile and absolutelie necessarie as well to the wise as vnwise that but an vncertaine step or staire to raise vs vp vnto God not necessarie to them that are wise What then is it in S. Augustins iudgment Surely the first inducement or Introduction to the search of divine Mysteries For saith he it is authoritie only which moueth fooles to hasten vnto wisdome And againe to a man that is not able to discerne the truth that he may be made fit for it and suffer himselfe to be purged authority is at hand Had hee thought it to be more then so he would never haue considered it without certainty of truth Yet so doth hee even in the passage by you alledged They saith hee that know the Church affirme her to be more sincere in truth then other sects but touching her truth is another question In a word as in other arts and sciences He that will learne must beleeue his teachers so in these heavenly mysteries also would Saint Augustine haue all those that are not initiated such as his friend Honoratus was to beginne with Authority Not that it is a sufficient warranty for whatsoever we learne but for that it is the readiest and likeliest way to bring vs vnto learning N. N. Thus Saint Augustine teaching his friend how he might both know and beleeue the Catholike Church and all that she taught simply and without asking reason or proofe And as for knowing or discerning her from all other Churches that may pretend to be Catholike wee heare his marks that shee is more eminent vniversall greater in number and in possession of the name Catholike The second that shee may be beleeued securely and cannot deceiue nor bee deceiued in matters of Faith he proueth elsewhere concluding finally in this place If thou doest seeme to thy selfe now saith Augustine to haue beene sufficiently tossed vp downe among Sectaries and wouldst put an end to these labours and turmoiles follow the way of Catholike discipline which hath flowne downe vnto vs from Christ by his Apostles and is to flow from vs to our posterity I. D. Out of that passage of St Augustine you obserue two things first what be the Marks by which the Catholike Church may be discerned secondly that shee may be beleeued securely as one that can neither deceiue nor he deceiued As touching the former you say Saint Augustines Markes are these foure Eminence Vniversality Multitude and Possession of the name Catholike Wherevnto I answere first that Saint Augustine maketh none of these things Notes of the Church For three of them namely Eminencie Vniversality and Possession of the name Catholike he doth not at all mention Eminencie I confesse is foisted into your translation but no where appeares in the Originall Of the fourth to wit Multitude all that he affirmeth is this that in his time there were more Christians then of any other religion and that among all Sects of Christians there was one Church consisting of a greater number then all the rest which is not enough to establish it for a marke of the Church Where by the way giue me leaue to demand why whereas Saint Augustine saith Christians are more then Iewes and worshippers of Images put together you render it the Iewes and Gentiles put together For what the reason should bee I cannot conceiue vnlesse it be the same for which you raze out of your Catechismes the second Commandement But I answere secondly that as St Augustine maketh none of them Marks so neither are they Markes for Proper they are not nor Perpetuall and
later shorter and taller broader and narrower thicker and thinner greater and lesser then himselfe and such like of the same garbe But I study to be briefe it is high time to remoue my hand as they say from the Table Onely I must forewarne you that if being vnable to vntie these knots you shall attempt to cut them asunder with the sword of Gods Omnipotence you shall but loose your labour For if they be contradictions as vndoubtedly they are your Angelicall Doctor can tell you that they fall not within the compasse of Divine Power So that of force you must either demonstrate that these things are not contradictorie which I am sure you can neuer doe or as becommeth Christian ingenuity you must for ever bid farewell to Transubstantiation and yeeld vnto the truth discouered vnto you And thus at length by Gods assistance haue I finished the taske you haue laid vpon me fully answered whatsoeuer here you haue alleaged in maintenance of your Reall Presence My desire now is that laying aside all prejudice you will but with indifference read what I haue replied therevnto Which if you shall vouchsafe to doe I perswade my selfe it will make you to remit much of that confidence you had in this cause when first you sent this Schedule vnto me Especially if withall you consider that the wittiest and subtlest heads amongst you could never finde it so clearely and strongly grounded either vpon Scripture or Fathers as you pretend Scotus sirnamed the subtle Doctor affirmeth that there is extant in Scripture no place so expresse as without declaration of the Church can evidently constraine a man to admit of Transubstantiation And this saith Bellarmine is not altogether vnprobable For although the scripture may seeme vnto vs so clear as it may constraine a man that is not froward yet it may iustly be doubted whether it be so seeing most learned and witty men such as Scotus specially was haue thought the contâ—ary The same Scot farther saith that were it not for the authority determination of the Roman Church the words of Christ and of the Fathers might more simply plainely truly be vnderstood and expounded Nay hee yet farther addeth and your Cardinal Bellarmine confesseth it that before the Lateran Councell Transubstantiation was not a doctrine of Faith and he wondreth that being no principle article and such as exposeth the Christian Faith to contempt it could be receaued and beleeued The Cardinall of Cambray also doubteth not to avouch that that manner which supposeth the substance of Bread still to remaine is possible neither is it contrary to reason or the authority of scripture Nay it is easier to conceaue and more reasonable then that which saith the substance doth leaue the accidents And of this opinion no inconvenience doth seeme to ensue if it could be accorded with the Churches determination And he addeth that the opinion which holdeth the substance of Bread not to remaine doth not evidently follow of the Scripture nor to his seeming of the Churches determination Cardinall Cajetan is as peremptory that there appeareth nothing in the Gospell that can force a man properly to vnderstand these words This is my body and that were it not for the interpretation of the Roman Church they might very well admit another sense as that of the Apostle the Rocke was Christ. To these Cardinals may wee ioyne another Cardinall though happily he neuer ware the Cap I mean Fisher Bishop of Rochester who expresly averreth that in that place of Mathew where the institution of the Sacrament is recorded there is never a word whereby it may bee proued that there is made in the Masse the true presence of the flesh and bloud of Christ. Gabriel Biel also The Scriptures may be salved and expounded after a more easie vnderstanding And Occam This doctrine that the substance of bread remaineth is subiect to lesser inconveniences and is not so repugnant to reason the Scriptures And Durand It is great rashnesse to say that the body of Christ cannot by divine power be in the Sacrament but by converting bread into it Howbeit if that way which supposeth bread to remaine were indeed true many doubts which meet vs holding it not to remaine were dissolued The Master of the Sentences also freely confesseth that if it be demanded what that conversion is whether formall or substantiall or of another kinde he is not sufficient to define From these your Iesuits swarue not very much Gregory de Valentia saith that the Fathers spake of Transubstantiation somewhat obscurely simply as thinking they could not be vnderstood of Catholikes but Catholikely and least they should haue exposed the mystery to be laughed at of Infidels if in their popular Sermons they should haue vnfolded their minds Your Secular Priests affirme that it was concluded among the Fathers of the Societie and what Catholike would not beleeue them that the Fathers haue not so much as touched the point of Transubstantiation Finally not to muster vp any more it is well knowne that divers of your Priests being demanded if after sentence of death pronounced vpon them that very morning when they were to be executed they might haue leaue to say Masse to the intent they might be certaine of their owne intention to consecrate and not doubtfully depend vpon anothers whether after consecration for the confirmation of our Faith in the point of Transubstantiation they durst to say thus vnto the multitude Vnlesse that which is now in this Chalice whose Accidents you see be the very selfe same bloud which issued out of the side of Christ hanging on the crosse let mee haue no part either in the bloud of Christ or in Christ himselfe for ever and so with these last words bid farewel vnto the world being I say demanded whether they durst adventure to doe so they all with one voice denied it And Father Garnet in a conference with the Deanes of the Chappell Pauls and Westminster being in particular asked the like answered very perplexedly not daring to hazard his saluation therevpon All these testimonies duly pondered and considered you must needs acknowledge vnlesse you see better then these quick-sighted Eagles that you haue not so strong hold either in Scripture or Fathers or right reason as you imagined and that not only the name but the Doctrine also of Transubstantiation hath beene but of late created an article of your Faith It remaineth that I entreat you these things vndoubtedly being thus that you suffer not your selfe any longer to be beguilded with novelties vnder pretence of antiquitie but rather that you open your eyes and stretch forth your armes to embrace the truth now that she offereth her selfe so manifestly vnto you And this I intreat the more earnestly because of the great danger that followeth vpon this errour For if Christ bee not present in the Sacrament in such sort as you hold there
brethren According to this commandement hath the practice both of the Iewish and Christian Church ever beene and is duly continued amongst vs to this day Now all this cui bono and to what end such a world of bookes but that by reading them we may attaine to knowledge Surely if wee poore schollers were no better furthered in our studies by Reading then by Sermons small would bee our knowledge and poore God wot the entertainment yee were like to receiue from vs. Our Saviour Christ thought that Reading might instruct when hee said Qui legit intelligat let him that readeth vnderstand and Saint Paul when he wrote By reading ye may vnderstand my knowledge in the misterie of Christ. But what need wee to multiply arguments seeing it is not only confessed that Reading is after a sort a publishing of Gods word but also such a publishing as prepareth way vnto faith and furthereth it when it is obtained which cannot bee but by teaching and notifying the truth I conclude therefore that reading is a meanes whereby the will of God is made knowne and consequently is Preaching Which if any yet againe purpose to gainesay let me intreat them not to say one thing to wit that Reading is not Preaching and to meane another thus Reading is not Sermoning or all the Preaching required but to speake to the purpose and punctually to demonstrate that reading is not a publishing of Gods word which I know they can never doe and I thinke they will bee ashamed to goe about And so I passe from the second vnto the third part The third and last Quere is touching the vertue and efficacie of Reading whether it be an ordinary meanes to beget faith and to convert a soule That it should haue such a faculty is with much confidence denied Faith and conversion by all meanes must be restrained to Sermons and the Preachers mouth Some little of their holy water sprinkle are they content to bestow vpon reading It may pretily fit a man to heare a Sermon and further him when he hath heard it may serue to nourish set forward and increase faith when it is gotten but to begin to breed to worke faith where it is not that belongs vnto a Preacher nothing can effect it but a Sermon If wee say many haue beene converted by reading only as namely St Augustine if either we may beleeue himselfe or Martyr Iewell and others testifying of him and Antonie the Eremite who as Hierom saith was brought to the faith lectione Evangelicâ by reading the Gospell and Iohn Isaac a Iew both by his birth and religion who professeth that he became a Christian by reading the 53. of Esay and Iunius who if I misremember not imputeth his owne conversion to the reading of Saint Iohns Gospell and finally many of our fore-fathers vnlesse wee will damne them all into the pit of hel who liuing in the blind times of Poperie came to the light of the truth as Mr Foxe saith either by reading themselues or hearing others read yea as Hieron himselfe confesseth by parcels of Scripture the writings of good men conference with others though seldome and secret nay by knowing little more then the Lords prayer these I say and sundry others if we obiect vnto them their answere is ready it was Extraordinarie it was miraculous For ordinarily reading saith T. C. cannot deliuer a soule from famishment from the wolfe from destruction yea saith Hieron knowledge so gotten is but vaine iangling and swimmeth in the braine but converts not the heart So that had wee verbatim written all those heavenly Sermons which St Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles preached among them had we that famous Sermon of St Peter by which three thousand soules at once were added to the Church nay had we all the gratious words sanctified by our blessed Sauiours owne mouth while he liued here in the flesh yet could they not beget faith or convert a soule but only extraordinarily and by way of miracle A strange and incredible assertion and they had need to be armed with mighty demonstrations to persuade it Let vs therefore examine the force of them First they vrge that of Elihu in the booke of Iob If there be a messenger with him an interpreter one among a thousand to shew vnto man his righteousnesse then is he gratious vnto him and saith deliuer him from going downe to the pit I haue found a ransome Here deliuerance is by a messenger this messenger is a minister and that not a Reader but Preacher there being in Iobs time no Scripture and consequently no reading Wherevnto I answere first that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies also an Angell that therevpon some interpret it of a good Angell others of the Angell of the covenant rendring the words thus If there be an Angell speaking for him and shewing for man his righteousnesse If so as it is very probable then is the argument of no force here being no speech of a Minister but mediator nor of a Preacher speaking to man but of an advocate interceding for man Secondly be it that a Preaching Minister is meant yet not every one but one among a thousand For to say that not one among a thousand Ministers but one Minister among a thousand men is vnderstood is too sleight Mercer is of another minde and Oecolampade conceiues it of a graue intelligent and wise teacher such as is rarely to be found And so by this reckoning Faith should be tied very sâ—ort and the Sermons of vulgar and ordinary Preachers should not be able to beget Faith Lastlie he that attributeth such efficacy to Sermons doth not so doing deny it vnto other meanes and who saith Iunius hauing any Christian sense or zeale dare say that Faith is not to be advanced by all meanes yea but in Iobs time Reading could not bee a meanes True yet it followeth not but now it may bee a meanes Then it was not when there was nothing to be read now it is as we haue shewed the whole Canon being written In the next place they vrge that of Solomon where there is no vision there the people perish Heere by vision vocall preaching is meant but without vision no saluation Ergo nor without Preaching or Sermons I answere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or vision imports not the act of the seer or a SermeÌ„ but the obiect or thing which he sees Otherwise when it is said the vision which Isaiah saw we might read it thus the Sermon which Isaiah saw so to see a vision shall be no other then to make a Sermon which is absurd By vision then are we to vnderstand the law as it is in the latter clause of the verse or the revelation of Gods will as if the wise man had said where God revealeth not himselfe there the people perish which is vndoubtedly true And as vndouted is it that God revealeth himselfe by
man by bread Now the soveraigne prime cause of Faith is God God worketh it by his word The word worketh as a Doctrinall or Morall instrument by way of argument perswasion Before it can perswade it must be revealed God therefore revealeth it and that sometimes without meanes by an immediate impression of light and grace vpon the soule as he did vnto the Apostles on the feast of Pentecost and to S. Paul in his iourney towards Damascus But generally and for the most part he revealeth it mediately and by the intervention of meanes The Ordinary meanes is that which is setled and established to continue in the Church for ever That is the Ministerie of the Church whose office is by all meanes to publish the word whether by Writing or by Speaking and this againe whether by Reading or Interpreting All which if they haue in them an ability and fitnesse vnder God to convey into our hearts the knowledge of his word then vndoubtedly are they all Ordinary meanes to beget faith And such an ordinary meanes among the rest doe I affirme Reading to be Which hauing thus fully explained the tearmes I now come to demonstrate and first in that faith whereby we yeeld assent vnto the Scripture that it is the very word of God The last and highest principle whereinto Faith is resolued and wherevpon it finally stayeth it selfe is the Scripture yet is it not so vnto vs vntill we be perswaded that it is the word of the eternall verity which can neither erre nor lead into errour But how come we to bee perswaded hereof By Sermons I deny not but Sermons are vnder God a sufficient meanes to perswade it But when did you ever heare a Preacher treat of this argument or goe about to proue it Or if any haue done it did they not perswade you to that whereof you were already perswaded Yes questionlesse For besides the testimonie of the Church in the publike reading of the Scriptures as the word of God there shineth forth in them such a Majestie and divinenesse as is not to be found in other writings and when by Reading yet take notice of so many oracles and miracles and predictions and sundry other things farre exceeding the power of nature doth not reason it selfe tell you saith Whitaker that they must needs bee of God The same saith D. Iohn White Many times Pagans and Atheists without the Ministery come to Faith by only Reading whence but being convinced by Scripture it selfe If then the very Reading of holy Scripture may bring vnto our knowledge such remonstrances and arguments as convince the minde that it is the word of God certainely it is an ordinary meanes to beget this faith for what can be more ordinary then arguments and demonstrations But the former is true as we haue proued therefore the latter also If so then much more is it apt and fit to beget that Faith whereby we yeeld assent to those articles which are built vpon Scripture especially if two things may be granted first that it is perfect secondly that it is facile easie to be vnderstood That it is all-sufficient and containeth whatsoeuer is necessary either to bee beleeued or done vnto saluation none but a Papist will deny And surely if it be defectiue either it is from God or from the pen-men Not from the pen-men for they were but hands and could not but write what the head indited to them If from God then either because he could not or because he would not perfect it To say he could not is to derogate from his wisdome and power to say hee would not is to detract from his loue and to taxe him of envie But what need mee to spend more time in this point seeing I now deale against those who challenge vnto it such a perfection that nothing may be done no not to the taking vp of a straw without warrant from it The Scripture then is perfect is it also facile and easie to bee vnderstood Aristotle saith of his Acroamaticks that they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 published in that they were writtē not published because of their darknesse In the books of Heraclitus there was so great obscurity that he was therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Obscure May wee iustly say the same of the Scriptures and the pen-men thereof Surely it cannot be denied but that some things are difficult yet as there are deepe places where the Elephant may swim so there are shallow where the Lamb may wade and as there is harder meat which the strong man may chew so there is milk also which the infant may suck And I boldly affirme that all fundamentall points and duties necessary to salvation are in Scripture so clearely delivered that if they were written with a sunbeame they could not bee more cleare God hath spoken so that not a few but all may vnderstand saith Hierom. Hee speaketh to the heart both of learned and vnlearned saith Augustin Scriptures are so plaine as they need not to be expounded saith Iustin Martyr They exceed no mans capacity saith Cyril of Alexandria They are easie not to the wise onely but women and boyes saith Chrysostome And againe They are easie to bee vnderstood to the Servant to the Countryman to the widow to the stripling to him that is very simple The same say all our Divines against Papist The Scripture saith Whitaker may easily be vnderstood of any if he will And Zanchie will a Father speake obscurely to his children in things concerning their salvation that they shall need to seeke interpreters No verily But God being wise was able to expresse himselfe and being good he would and it was necessary to speake plainely in things so necessary If then to come to a conclusion Scripture containe all what is necessary and that in such plaine tearmes that whosoeuer readeth may easily vnderstand how can it be but Reading should be an apt and fit meanes and consequently an ordinary meanes to beget this Faith For if once we beleeue that Scripture is the word of God we cannot but yeeld assent vnto those verities that are so plainely deliuered therein and which we knowe to bee witnessed by the truth it selfe The same doe I also affirme of that Faith which wee call iustifying and of the fruits thereof Repentance and New obedience that the Reading of Scripture is an apt fit meanes to beget that also For it presenteth vnto vs store of strong motiues to perswade sweet promises to allure terrible threatnings to affright notable examples to imitate and the like then which there cannot be a better outward meanes and there needs no more but the inward concurrence of Gods spirit to worke a perfect conversion Read among other places the 28 of the book of Deuteronomie and then tell mee whither the Sermons of any man nay whither the tongue of men and Angels be able to perswade more effectually Sermons you
vnto me Multi sonant voce â—orde muti sunt many sound aloud saith St Augustine with their voice that are dumb in their heart And the contrarie thereof is as true Multi sonant corde voce muti sunt many are silent with their lips yet loud with their affections The common rime though it bee not very elegant yet carries good sense with it Non vox sed votum non cordula musica sed cor non clamans sed amans cantat in aure Dei not the voice but the vow not the harp but the heart not lowing but louing musicke for Gods eares Secondly it serueth for instruction that although Mentall prayer may be available without vocall yet is not vocall so without Mentall For as the body without the soule so words without concurrence of affection are dead The Iewes drew neere vnto God with their mouth honoured him with their lips but the heart being removed farre off it is expressely said they called not vpon his name All Bablers therefore are here condemned who hope to be heard for their heathnish battologie Such are all they who pray in a language they know not like vnto Parrats or the Cardinalls Iay that could repeat the whole Creed but vnderstood never a word thereof A thing vtterly repugnant to nature to Scripture and the practise of all antiquity and is rather the dotage of a drunken braine then the serious exercise of true piety Such also are all they who vnderstand but attend not what they say suffering their thoughts to range about impertinent businesses as if a little lippe labour were enough for God The Schoolemen haâ—e a rule that a generall intention without particular attention is sufficient But it is a profane rule the Gentiles Hoc age shall rise vp in iudgement against it and condemne all those that practise it Lastly it may serue for direction how in what manner to mould and forme our Praying For as our Preaching so our Praying also must be conformed to his example Now if you please to search into it you shall finde this Prayer for the Matter most heavenly for the Method most orderly for the words most expresse and significant and for the length no way tedious as wherein is to vse the words of St Augustine Non multa locutio sed multa precatio not much talking but much praying Every thing is carried with deepe wisdome and advisednesse nothing rashly or tumultuarily Not a word but breatheth forth perfect holinesse and charity and to bee briefe nothing but what every way may become the son of God himselfe Oh that our Prayers might alwaies bee framed according to this patterne How acceptable would they then be to him to whom they are addressed But indeed wee imitate it not as wee ought For on the one side some of vs present vnto God I know not what curious contriuing of words as if he were sooner to be taken with the froth of humane wit then with Christian gravity and simplicity Others on the other side and those God wot sillie ones though they know neither what to say nor how yet least they should seeme destitute of the Spirit of Prayer they presume on the sudden without any meditation to poure out whole floods of words without one drop of sense spinning out their prayers to an enormious length forgetting that God being aboue in heaven themselues here on earth their words should bee both weighty and few Would a man preferre a petition to his Prince without due consideration of all things before hand But these loue to be too homely and familiar with God and I cannot better compare them then to little children who would faine tell a tale to Father or Mother not knowing either what it is or how to vtter it My advice vnto these should be first that they would no longer overweene themselues mistaking the Lips of Calues for the Calues of the lips Then that vpon knowledge of their owne inability they content themselues with short Ejaculations and such Prayers as graue and learned men haue provided for them Lastly that Humility and Charitie be their ordinary Prayers For besides Mentall and Vocall there is also Vitalis Oratio the Prayer of a godly life which cries as loud vnto God for a blessing as Abels murder or notorious sins doe for vengeance Without which though a man roare like Stentor and multiply words as the sand God turneth the deafe eare and will not vouchsafe to heare him But of this as also of the whole Preface thus much Howbeit before I conclude I must craue leaue to addresse a few words vnto you also my Lord who are the Angell of this Diocesse You haue heard what foule abuses there are both of Preaching and Praying it belongeth vnto your Lordship to see them redressed Some are silent and say nothing it were good their mouthes were opened Some insteed of Gods truth broach their owne perverse opinions it were fit their mouthes were stopt Others with their rude behauiour and outcries disgrace Preaching these might be taught a little more civility And others weaken the power of Preaching with too much curiosity these might be persuaded to a little more simplicity As for Publike Prayer it is too much neglected and despised and I feare the scandalous liues of Ministers is in part the cause thereof For although the efficacie as of the Word and Sacraments so of it also depend not vpon the quality of the Minister but Gods ordinance and the blessing of Balaam though a false Prophet were availeable yet the people are not so considerate but the lewd liues of Hophni and Phinees may soone bring the Sacrifices of God into contempt with them Your Lordship therefore may be pleased to haue a speciall eye vnto the reformation hereof And seeing the remisnesse of Heli will not effect it by rigor and severity to procure it that so the liues of your Clergy being answerable vnto their high calling exemplarie to their flock the Liturgy of the Church may recover its ancient credit and dignitie to the glory of God the honour of the Ministry and the building vp of Gods people in their most holy Faith which the Lord grant for his Christs sake V. 1. Father the houre is come glorifie thy Sonne that thy Sonne may glorifie thee Hauing dispatched the Preface wee are now to enter vpon the Corps or Body of the Prayer wherein you may be pleased to obserue with mee other three particulars Quem Pro quibus Quid to whom for whom and for what he prayes For vnto these three heads as I conceaue the whole prayer may conveniently bee reduced Of them therefore in order as it shall please God to assist And first of the first Quem orat to whom hee prayes This appeareth by the very first word of the Prayer Father the houre is come glorify thy sonne It is his Father to whom he prayes even the first Person in the Trinity For although
vs but sometimes remember to begge of God that he would reveale our prayers vnto them Neither can a reason so readily be yeelded why the Saints before the coming of Christ were not called vpon seeing God might as well haue revealed the Churches prayers vnto those then as to these now what revelation then That whereby in the glasse of the Trinity they see all whatsoever may any way belong vnto them Then belike not all things as Gregory saith else what needed this restriction And yet if all things be Christs and whatsoever is Christs belong vnto them as being in Christ then seeing all that belongeth vnto them they see therein all things which they will none of But the truth is this devise of the glasse is but a poore shift For the essence of God is most simple and immutable and varieth not as things here varie Neither is it as Aquinas saith a necessarie but a voluntary glasse reflecting not all that it knowes but what it pleaseth to make knowne which vpon the matter is no other revelation then that which Bellarmine himselfe reiects By all which it appeares that nor Angells nor Saints haue sufficient meanes of particular knowledge As is their knowledge so is their desire for the will followes the direction of the vnderstanding wherefore there is no particular knowledge neither can there be any particular will That the Saints who are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like vnto the Angells doe together with the Angells desire in generall and wish for peace on earth and good will towards men we no way deny but that they haue a will to helpe this man that man every man at all times in every their severall needs and necessities we can no way grant For of their Will wee are to iudge by their calling and of their Calling by the Will of God to which their Will only is conformed If therefore it be the will of God that every one of them should take particular care of all our severall affaires this must appeare by some commandement or promise of God made vnto them But in Scripture where God only revealeth his will such commandement promise we find none True it is the Angells are Ministring spirits and as it pleaseth God are sent forth to doe him service here below But which of them and for whom and about what businesse and when and where how long and the like are circumstances hidden and concealed from vs. Neither are they all employed in every businesse but when and where it pleaseth God Whence it followeth that where they are not employed they haue no particular will to helpe As for the Saints departed wee read not of any commandement they haue to attend vs or our affaires Nay we read they are taken away to the end they should not be troubled with them So that resting from their labours and hauing no further vocation thus to be employed neither haue they any particula◠will to helpe Now wanting both knowledge and will to what end were ability had they any But indeed sufficient power they want also For although they bee blessed and haue the beatificall sight of God yet Gods they are not which yet they must needs be if at one view they could behold all things that are done or at one instant heare all the sutes that are made vnto them by so many thousands in so many places so farre a sunder and at once For ability to perfome so much belongs only vnto him who knowes all is every where and to whom nothing is impossible and therefore not vnto the creature which being of a finite and limited nature cannot attend so many so divers and so distant businesses otherwise then successiuely And thus seeing Angells and Saints neither haue particular knowledge of our estates nor ready will to helpe nor sufficient power enabling them to helpe it followeth that to pray vnto them must needs be vaine and so no way Pious or Profitable Perhaps will some say though it be not Profitable yet neither is it Hurtfull Yes hurtfull and that in a high degree For it is most derogatorie to the glory of God and the mediation of Christ and consequently is superstitious impious and sacrilegious It derogates from the glory of God in that it ascribes vnto the creature that which belongs only vnto him and cannot without much wrong be given to another For he that prayeth vnto Saints or Angells acknowledgeth them so doeing to be omniscient omnipresent omnipotent as is aboue insinuated which yet are attributes so proper vnto God that they are vtterly incommunicable vnto any other And if as Saint Paul saith we can call vpon none but him in whom wee beleeue and wee may beleeue in none but only in God not in St Peter as Saint Augustine saith because Peter iustifieth not the wicked nor in the Church because the Church is not God but the house of God then whosoever calleth vpon the creature thereby testifieth that he placeth all his Faith and affiance so maketh it a God which is no lesse thē high treason against God Adde yet further that Prayer is a principall part of that worship which is due only vnto God according to that of the Psalmist O thou that hearest prayer to thee shall all flesh come And indeed so proper is it vnto God that the ancient Fathers haue from it thus argued vnto the Deity of Christ and the blessed Spirit They are to be called vpon Ergo are God which were but a silly consequence might others also be invoked besides God Derogatorie therefore it is vnto the honour of God So is it also vnto the Mediation of Christ. For holy Scripture maketh him our only Mediator and Advocate and therefore only because he alone hath merited and procured our redemption So saith the Apostle Christ who died or rather who is risen againe who also is at the right hand of God and maketh intercession for vs. And againe There is one God and one Mediator betweene God and Men the man Christ Iesus who gaue himselfe a ransome for all And Saint Iohn If any man sinne wee haue an advocate with the Father Iesus Christ the Righteous and hee is the propitiation for our sinnes whosoever therefore ioyneth fellowes with Christ in the office of Intercession and so doe all that call vpon Saints or Angells notoriously detracteth from him in his Mediation and in that honour which he appropriateth to himselfe of treading the wine presse alone without any other to helpe him which how sacrilegious it is who seeth not One thing more I haue yet to say before I leaue this point namely that against the Invocation of Saints wee haue the prescription of a very long time on our side For in the old Testament and during the space of well neere four thousand yeares we haue no warrant at all for it Nay Bellarmine himselfe howsoever our adversaries to bleare the eye of the
only vpon misprision as some worthy divines haue obserued not well distinguishing betweene Essence and Subsistence whereof that is finite this infinite For Christs humanity though according to its essence or Naturall being it bee not every where but determined vnto one place yet in respect of his Subsistence or Personall being it is every where and circumscribed in no place For proper Subsistence of its owne and in it selfe it hath none only the Subsistence of the Sonne of God is communicated vnto it which is infinite vnlimited Secondly if this Power of Christ though finite yet be incommunicable and cannot passe from him to any other what presumption what arrogance is it in him who not being Christ yet dares say with Christ Data est mihi omnis potestas in coelo in terrâ all power is given me both in heaven and in earth Who therevpon takes vpon him to forge new Articles of Faith and to obtrude them vpon the Church vnder paine of damnation who also takes authority vnto him to make lawes equally binding the conscience with Gods lawes that without any relation vnto divine law at all Who finally for to reckon vp all the blasphemies of this sort would bee infinite pretends a power to dispence with the law of God to grant indulgences for sin to free men from the punishment inflicted by God vpon them for sinne Certainly whosoever challengeth these things to himselfe can be no lesse then Christi aemulus even Antichrist himselfe whose proud vsurpations vpon the power of Christ shall one day bee recompenced with equall shame and confusion The rather because thirdly whereas the power of Christ is not secular but spirituall hee claymeth both and so assumeth to himselfe more then euer Christ did Ecce in potestate nostrâ imperium vt demus illud cui volumus Lo saith Pope Adrian the empire is in our power to bestow it where we please And hence I suppose it is that insteed of the old style Vicarius Christi the Vicar of Christ they now begin to stile him Vicedeum the Vicar of God for that by this they may perhaps wrench in his temporall power which by the other they could not inasmuch as Christ neuer had it Lastly therefore seeing Christ contented himselfe with his spirituall power only reiecting that which is secular let not vs looke after outward pomp or state in his kingdome nor iudge of the Church by such deceitfull notes Rather let vs iudge of it by the lawes thereof and by the rule of Faith professed therein As the power of Christ is Spirituall so is his kingdome also and therefore by spirituall markes and notes to be discerned But to proceed The second point is in quos ouer whom or how farre his authority extendeth It is saith my text Over all flesh This word Flesh is diuersly vsed in Scripture Among other significations vsually it is put for Mankinde As where it is said that God saw all flesh had corrupted his way vpon earth that is all men And againe All flesh is grasse and all the goodlinesse thereof is as the flower in the field And yet againe Except those daies should bee shortned no flesh that is no man should be saued And so is it to bee vnderstood in this place Christ hath power ouer all flesh that is ouer all mankinde Now he that saith all excepts none All men therefore of what age sexe degree condition or qualitie soeuer are vnder the power and iurisdiction of Christ. And as touching the Saints and those that are members of his mysticall body it is questionlesse For to them he is Caput a head to rule and governe them a Husband to order and direct them a Shepheard to feed and ouersee them Hee hath bought them with his most pretious blood he hath conquered them out of the hands of Satan and all that hated them hee rules by the scepter of his word and guides them by the manuduction of his blessed spirit And as he hath many waies made himselfe Lord ouer them and testified his authority and power by his mighty operations in them so haue they freely and voluntarily submitted and resigned themselues vnto him Power therefore hath he over these as over his obedient and louing subiects But question may be made touching reprobate and wicked men whether hee haue any authority and power over them yea or no. For as the Psalmist saith They band themselues and take counsell together against the Lord and against his anointed saying let vs breake their bands asunder and cast their cords from vs. And our Saviour in the parable Nolumus hunc regnare super nos we will not haue this man raigne ouer vs. But notwithstanding all this reluctation and resistance yet power and authority hath he ouer them still Rebellious subiects they may be yet subiects they are Will they nil they Dominabitur in medio hostium hee shall raigne in the midst of his enimies If they will not submit vnto the gentle scepter of his word he hath an yron rod in his hand wherewith to breake and dash them in peeces like a potters vessell And those his enimies that would not hee should raigne ouer them bring them hither will he say and slay them here before me Authority then he hath though they acknowledge it not and ouerrule them he will resist they neuer so much Overrule them I say either to their salvation by converting them or to their confusion by delivering them vp vnto their owne lusts In a word whether they be good or evill how high or low soeuer they be he is Lord of them all Rex regum dominus dominantium King of Kings and Lord of Lords yea Dominus tum mortuorum tum vivorum Lord both of quicke and dead But what Hath he power only of men and not of other things Yes questionlesse For saith David Omnia subiecisti pedibus eius thou hast put all things vnder his feet And the Apostle applying it vnto Christ addeth In that he put all in subiection vnder him hee left nothing that is not put vnder him Our Saviour Christ also himselfe affirmeth that all things are deliuered him of his Father yea that al power is giuen him both in heauen earth Particularly in heauen ouer the blessed Angels For saith S. Peter he is gone into heauen and is on the right hand of God Angels and authorities and powers being made subiect vnto him Hee is vnto them a Head and Mediator though not of Redemption as vnto man yet of Confirmation in the state of grace and though not to deliuer out of misery yet to preuent their falling into misery Hence it is that they are reckoned in the number of those that pertaine vnto the Church that they minister both to the Head thereof and it also reioycing at the conversion of a sinner and desiring throughly to
saith Let him deny himselfe Himselfe What meanes he by that There are two sorts of men for as S. Paul distinguisheth there is a Spirituall and there is a Naturall man The Spirituall man is he who is borne a new of water and the holy Ghost by grace is become a new creature a new man transformed into the image of Christ. The naturall man is he that is as yet vnregenerate hath nothing in him but nature the corruption thereof bearing only the image of the old Adam Must the spirituall man deny himselfe No verily so farre forth as he is spirituall for so doing he should disclaime and disesteeme the very grace of God by which hee is whatsoeuer he is It is the Naturall man then that must be denied Now in the Naturall man there is first Nature and then the corruption of nature By Nature I vnderstand the powers faculties of the soule such as are the Vnderstanding and the light of reason whose office is to discerne truth from falsehood and the Will vnder which also I comprehend Passions and Affections whose dutie is to pursue that which is good and to shun that which is evill The corruption of nature is that which in Scripture is called flesh concupiscence and is commonly known in the Church by the name of Originall sinne because it is traduced vnto vs from our parents and wee are polluted therewith in every part both of soule and body from our very conception and birth Now which of these two must be denied I answer both yet not both alike but the corruption of Nature simply and absolutely and Nature it selfe only in some respect First then Nature it selfe must bee denied What simply and absolutely as the corruption of Nature No by no meanes â—oâ— it is the good creature of God without it neither are we capable of blessednesse nor can bee schollers in the schoole of Christ. Nature is not opposite but subordinate vnto Grace and Grace destroyeth not nor abolisheth but healeth and perfecteth Nature Neither is it without cause that God spoiling man of his supernaturals for sinne only wounded him in his naturals and left vnto him both a light in his Vnderstanding and a liberty in his Will By the light of reason the invisible things of God euen his eternall Power and Godhead are clearely scene there is no nation so barbarous but partly by inbred principles partly by the booke of the creatures knowe him By the same light of reason doe we in part also know the will of God for the law morall is written in our hearts by nature and how many excellent precepts of moralitie doe we finde in the writings of meere naturall men Finally even in the matter of the Gospell reason seeth thus farre that it is not vnpossible if God will and vpon this ground Iustin Martyr Tertullian Arnobius Lactantius Athenagoras Augustin anciently and Aquinas Vives Mornay of late haue attempted to proue by reason the truenesse of Christian religion As for the Will it is yeelded of all hands that in matters morally good it hath free liberty and may of it selfe either chuse it or refuse it at pleasure So that hitherto Nature the power thereof is no way to bee denied or disclaimed Wherein then Surely in things meerely supernaturall For that which is aboue reason cannot be comprehended by reason and that which passeth the reach of nature caÌ„not be attained only by the power of nature The naturall man saith S. Paul perceaueth not the things of God nor can knowe them because they are spiritually discerned In these things reason is starke blinde and seeth nothing Search the writings of the subtilest and sharpest Naturalist and ye shall finde in them of Christ and his Gospell nor palme nor footstep Here therefore reason must bee denied and as a woman may not speake in the Church so must reason also be silent in things supernaturall In things not revealed it must be contented not to know docta ignorantia est it is a learned ignorance In things revealed it must beleeue without and aboue reason reason must bee captived vnto the obedience of faith And as where the naturall Philosopher endeth there the Physitian begins so where naturall reason stoppeth divine Faith must come in place Otherwise if reason will needs be prying into Gods arke and search into those mysteries that are aboue the reach thereof it is the corruption of reason and no marvaile if it become vaine and foolish in her imaginations Yea when men in their curiosity thinke themselues most wise then are they most infatuated And as Ixion in the fable embraceing a cloud insteed of Iuno begat Centaures thereon so they entertaining their owne fancies insteed of divine veritie bring forth nothing but monsters of errors and strange opinions What I say of reason must be vnderstood of the will also in spirituall matters the one wanteth light to see and the other strength to doe It is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercy for as we haue already demonstrated neither can we will of our selues without preventing grace nor doe when wee haue willed without pursuing grace So that if a man will be no more then the scholler of Nature he cannot be the scholler of Christ. For as nature is vnable both to know the mysteries which Christ teacheth and to doe the duties which he requireth so doth Christ command vs to renounce our naturall abilities to come as infants vnto the kingdome of heauen But if Nature it selfe must be denied much more the Corruption of Nature For as the Scripture saith Corruption cannot inherit vncorruption and without holinesse it is impossible to see God Now the leprosie of Originall Corruption not only infects the inferiour part of the soule as Papists dreame but spreads it selfe to every part even the superiour also For as for the mind it is not only blind and ignorant but Corrupt also and full of vanity it savoureth not the things of God but they seeme vnto it meere folly As for the will it is not only vnable to performe spirituall duties but full of hardnesse also and perversnesse and vntowardensse vnto any thing that is good Finally the inferiour part is but a shop of all turpitude outragiousnesse full of nothing else but tempestuous tumultuous vnruly and sinfull lusts These all as the Scripture saith must be crucified must be mortified must be killed that is must vtterly be renounced and denied if wee will bee the followers of Christ. And reason For the flesh lusteth and fighteth against the spirit by reason whereof the good wee would doe we cannot doe and the evill wee would not doe wee doe They that walke after the flesh saith St Paul are not in Christ but they that walke after the spirit And they that liue after the flesh shall die neither can any man liue vnlesse by the spirit
hatred he beares vnto him so the divill to testifie how much hee hates God himselfe spends all his fury vpon him that beareth the image of God Hence is it that he is so wroth with the woman and from this Wrath is it that hee still persecutes her casts out floods of water to overwhelme her and maketh warre with the remnant of her seede which keepe the commandements of God and haue the testimony of Iesus Christ. As Satan so Satanicall and wicked men are deadly enimies vnto the Saints and holy members of Christ. Qui male agit odit lucem he that doth evill hates the light Now the whole world lyeth in wickednesse and therefore cannot endure the light either of Christs truth or their life If they were of the world the world would loue his owne but because they are not of the World but chosen out of the world therefore the world hateth them They thinke it strange that the Saints run not into the same excesse of riot with them What marvell then if hating them and being separated in life and conversation from them they continually stirre vp persecutions against them But it will bee said why doth not God hinder them being able Doth he not loue his Church yes he loues her as the apple of his eye and because her therefore he permits them For as our Saviour saith As many as I loue I rebuke and chasten the Apostle to the Hebrewes whom the Lord loueth he chastneth and scourgeth every sonne whom he receiueth Whereby it appeareth also that God not only permitteth but hath a hand in the afflictions of his children himselfe delivering them over vnto their adversaries to correct them Yea the Apostle S. Paul yet farther saith that wee are appointed to afflictions predestinated to be conformed vnto the image of the sonne of God as in other things so also to suffer with him that we may be glorified together The ends which God propounded to himselfe herein are partly his owne glory partly our good His owne glory in the manifestation of his iustice power and wisdome Iustice in that he beginnneth iudgement at his owne house not sparing them whom he loues most dearely nor suffering them to recover paradise so easily who had abandond it so wilfully Parvo parari tanta res non debuit it was not fit that such a peece should be won without striking any stroke His power in preseruing such earthen vessels notwithstanding all the knocks and blowes laid vpon them not suffering the bush to consume though flaming and all on fire yea multiplying his Church the more they are slaine and making the bloud of his Martyrs the seede of his Gospell and finally in her greatest distresses and extremities delivering her most miraculously His Wisdome in proportioning the body to the head for it was not fit that Christ should weare a crowne of thornes and we be clothed in purple and fine linnen and fare sumptuously every day but as he entred into glory by the crosse so should wee aspire to the same end by the same way As God in the afflictions of his Church respected his owne glory so also hee intended our good and benefit It is good for me saith David that I haue beene afflicted Hee chastneth vs for our benefit saith the Apostle to the Hebrewes First by the crosse he fanneth away from the church paleaâ— levis fidei the chaffe of those that are vnstable in the faith For the seede that falleth in the stony ground that is he that hath no root in himselfe dureth but for a while and when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word by and by he is offended And so the chaffe flying away the heape of corne remaineth more cleane in the garner of God as Tertullian speaketh Againe by it are wee much bettered for as a Corrosiue it frets away our ranke flesh and as a fire it purgeth away the drosse of corruption and refines vs. It worketh repentance of sinnes past it preventeh future sinnes it quickneth the spirit of grace within vs and maketh vs more carefull to obserue Gods commandements Thirdly it honours vs greatly by making our vertues knowne vnto the world For as the valour of a souldier is best seene in the battle and the skill of a pilote in a tempest so is the fortitude and patience of a Christian best discerned in tribulation Spices brayed yeeld the sweetest smellâ— as the broaching of heresies tries how much we know of God so the fire of persecution discouereth how much we loue the truth of God Fourthly it weaneth vs from the loue of this world and worketh in vs a longing to be dissolued and to bee with Christ which otherwise wee would hardly doe even as children would hardly forbeare sucking vnlesse the teat bee striken with wormewood or some other bitter and distastfull iuyce Lastly si compatimur etiam conregnabimus if wee suffer with Christ wee shall also raigne with him Exceeding great shall be our reward in heaven saith Christ. Here on earth shall we reape the peaceable fruite of righteousnesse and in heaven an exceeding weight of glory wherewith our sufferings are no way to be compared Thus by Scripture experience malice of adversaries divine ordinance it plainly appeares that every one that will come after Christ must of necessity beare his crosse I adde farther he must not only beare it but hee must take it vp also and that Daily He must not only endure it with patience but also willingly ioyfully thankfully Willingly for so did Christ who foreseeing it and hauing power to avoide it yet would not Nothing that is forced pleaseth God but only that which is voluntarie Ioyfully so did the Apostles reioycing that they were accounted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ and our Saviour commanded vs in the midst of persecutions to reioyce be exceeding glad Nor but that affliction is in it selfe and for the present greevous not ioyous but inasmuch as it is for Christs sake and to giue testimony vnto the truth Thankfully in regard of the benefit and reward we reape thereby So did Moses esteeme the reproach of Christ greater riches then the treasures of Aegypt And it is reason wee should thanke the Chirurgion that cures vs as well for his Corrosiues as his Lenitiues Neither must wee only take vp the crosse willingly ioyfully thankfully but also daily that is with constancy and perseverance He fighteth not the good fight that finisheth not his course It is not sufficient to beare out a brunt or two vnlesse hauing done all we stand God regardeth not so much the beginning as the end Finis coronat opus it is the end that crowneth the worke The reward is promised non pugnanti sed vincenti not to him that fighteth but to him that overcometh In a word he that continueth to the end
deserueth with no other then equal disdaine and contempt For it hath abundantly beene manifested to the world that as in the goodnesse of our cause wee are every way superiour vnto you so in all kinde of learning both Humane and Divine wee are no way inferiour to the best of you Howbeit seeing I am put in good hope by some of your best friends that you carry a minde prepared to imbrace the truth if at any time it shall bee discouered vnto you and your selfe haue freely professed vnto mee that your meaning is not any way to contest with me but only to be instructed by me I am content laying aside all advantages whatsoever to enter the lists with you by framing vp a short yet full answere to endeauour your best satisfaction God grant that as it is intended so it may redound first to his glory and then to the reducing of your straying soule from the servitude of Babylon into the liberty of Ierusalem which is from aboue and the right Mother of all true Beleeuers N. N. Catholike grounds for the Article of the Real Presence I. D. This title prefixed vnto your Writing intimateth that you craue resolution in the article as you terme it of the Real Presence and the Grounds thereof For the better performance whereof and to cleare the way of all rubs before vs you may be pleased to know that we denie not either the Presence or the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament Not the Presence For seeing therein his Body is delivered receaued eaten as the Scriptures testifie and that can no way be deliuered receaued eaten which is every way absent we cannot but beleeue with the heart confesse with the mouth that Christ is present Nor the Reall presence For seeing Eating betokeneth our Vnion and Incorporation with Christ whereby we are so closely joyned and joynted vnto him that wee are members of his body of his flesh and of his bones certainely vnlesse wee will question either the power of Faith or whether God be able to worke such an effect we cannot well doubt but that the Presence is True and Real not Imaginarie and Fained According herevnto S. Chrysostome Christ offereth himselfe vnto vs in these Mysteries not onely to bee seene but also to be touched and felt And S. Augustin We cannot with our hand feele Christ sitting in heauen but by Faith we may touch him Agreeing therefore in the Thing that there is a Real Presence wherein lies the difference betwixt vs It lies partly in the Manner of Presence and partly in the kinde of Change whereby the Presence is wrought As touching the Manner of Presence wee acknowledge it to bee double the one Sacramentall the other Spirituall The sacramentall is a Relatiue Presence of the thing signified vnto the signes partly for that they are significatiue represent Christ vnto vs even as the word spoken vnto the eare represents the thing signified thereby vnto the minde and partly because they are Exhibitiue God in them offering vs his Sonne vpon condition of Faith And in regard hereof it may also well be called a Pactionall presence The spirituall is a presence of Christ vnto the Faith of the Receauer or which is all one vnto the Receauer by Faith whereby we seeke him not here on earth in with or vnder the Accidents of bread but aloft in heauen where hee sitteth at the right hand of his father For where the carcase is thither saith Christ will the Eagles resort Whence S. Chrysostome He must climbe vp on high whosoeuer commeth to this Body And S. Augustine How shall I convay my hand into heauen that I may hold him sitting there Send thy faith thither and thou holdest him Now if any farther demand how this sacramentall and spirituall presence is wrought I answere it is done by a Change in the Elements of Bread and Wine By a change I say yet not of their Nature and Substance but of their Vse and Vertue For they are now no longer common but consecrated Bread and Wine ordained by Christ to bee effectuall symbols and Pledges of our Vnion and Communion with his Flesh and Bloud So saith Theodoret The visible symbols hath hee honoured with the name of his Body and Bloud not changing their nature but adding grace vnto nature And so the rest of the Fathers But all this little contents you except withall we yeeld you a Corporall and Locall Presence of Christ vnder the Accidents of Bread and Wine and that by way of Transubstantiation Transubstantiation a terme as lately devised so also inconvenient Lately deuised for it is but foure hundred yeares old or thereabouts bâ—ing forged in the Lateran councell vnder Innocent the third Inconvenient for properly it imports a Productiue kinde of Conversion by which one Substance is produced out of another or whereby one Substance is turned into another such as was the turning of Water into Wine by the power of Christ at Cana in Galilee But you vnderstand thereby an Adductiue kinde of Conversion by which as Bellarmine defineth it the Body of Christ which before was only in heaven is now also vnder the Accidents of Bread So that more fitly it might haue beene tearmed Cession or Succession or Substitution or Translocation or some such like rather then Transubstantiation the meaning you giue vnto it being no other then a succeeding of Christs Body into the roome of Bread vpon the abolishing of the Substance thereof Yet is it not so much the Newnesse and Inconvenience of the terme as the Impietie of the Doctrine intended thereby which we condemne For it crosseth the truth of Scripture ouerturneth the Articles of Faith destroyeth the Nature of a Sacrament gainesayeth the perpetuall consent of antiquity and implieth in it innumerable contradictions all which God willing shall in due place be demonstrated In the meane season hauing thus briefly stated the Question I come now to examine the particulars of your Writing and whether the passages you quote in such abundance reach home to that Corporall and Locall Presence which you hold or passe no farther then that Sacramentall and Spirituall Presence which we maintaine N. N. The first ground that Catholike men haue for these and all their mysteries of Christian Faith that are aboue the reach of common sense and reason is the Authority of the Catholike Church by which they were taught the same as Points of Faith revealed from God I. D. If by the first Ground you vnderstand the first introduction vnto Faith I grant the Authority of the Catholike Church to be the first ground that by it wee are taught the same But if thereby you meane as vndoubtedly you doe that highest Principle into which all the Mysteries of Faith are finally resolued and by which the Mind is staied and freed from farther doubting I deny the Catholike Church so to be the first ground For as Bellarmine truly writeth Faith beginneth from
the Church may be without them So was it for some while after Christs Ascention for then neither was the Christian Church so Eminent as that of the Iewes nor was it Vniversall as being confined within Iudea nor great in number as consisting but of a very few nor in Possession of the name Catholike it being a word of a latter date and such as could not well be giuen it vntill it was growne Catholike So will it be also if wee may beleeue your owne writers in the time of Antichrist For then the Church shall bee darkned all externall communion with it shall cease there shall be no Sacrament in publike places all the glory and dignity of Ecclesiasticall order shall lye buried none shall come vnto the solemnity of the Lambe an innumerable multitude shall cleaâ—e vnto Antichrist even all besides the elect and those whose names are written in the booke of life But lastly whether these things be Markes or no is not now much materiall for it makes little to the purpose wee haue sufficiently proued that the Church is not the last Resolution of Faith As touching the second point that the Church may be beleeved securely for that shee can neither deceiue nor bee deceiued I demand what you meane by the Church If the company of all true Beleeuers that now are and heretofore haue beene including the holy Apostles together with them then I grant it For these were so lead by the Spirit into all truth that they could not possibly erre in any matter of Faith that was either to be taught by them or knowne by vs. But if you meane the Present Church in every age successiuely after the Apostles as here Saint Austin doth referring his friend Honoratus therevnto then I distinguish Either you must vnderstand thereby the whole number of true beleeuers who for the present life in the world or the Society and Fellowship of those that in their time rule and sway most in the Church If you take it in the former sense I grant what you say to be true in Fundamentall points but not in such as are not absolutely necessary nor preiudice the Foundation of Faith If in the latter then I affirme that the Church may both deceiue and be deceiued even in Doctrines of highest consequence neither can with such security bee beleeued Witnesse the time when the whole world groaned vnder Arianisme and the greatest part of the Prelates together with Liberius Bishop of Rome subscribed therevnto Neither doth the passage you alledge out of Saint Austin inferre the contrary For although the surest course to put an end to all labours and turmoiles be to follow the way of Catholike discipline which hath flowne downe to vs from Christ by his Apostles yet the Authority that swayeth most in the Present Church doth not alwaies either follow this way her selfe or direct others vnto it as for example it did not in the time aboue mentioned of the Arian heresy And thus much in answere vnto your generall ground N. N. Now I will shew first out of the old Testament how it was prefigured and prophecied and in the new both promised againe exhibited and confirmed by the intendment interpretation of the gravest and most ancient Fathers that haue lived in the Church of God from age to age who vnderstand so the said Figures and foreshewing of the old Testament As for example the Bread and Wine mysteriously offered vnto almighty God by Melchizedek King and Priest who bare the type of our Saviour The shew-bread among the Iewes that only could bee eaten of them that were sanctified And the Bread sent miraculously by an Angell to Elias whereby he was so strengthned as hee travelled forty daies by vertue only of that Bread These three sorts of bread to haue beene expresse Figures of this Sacrament of the true flesh of Christ therein contained doe testify by one consent the ancient Fathers as Cyprian â—lemens Alexandrinus Ambrose Hierom Chrysostom Augustine Cyrill Arnobius Euseb. many others as my author fetâ—eh downe Three other figures not expressed in the forme of Bread but other things more excellent then Bread as the Paschal Lamb the blood of the testament described in Exodus and to the Hebrues and fulfilled by Christ when he said This cup is the new testament in my blood and againe this is my blood of the new testament The Manna also sent by God from heaven was an expresse figure of this Sacrament as appeareth by the words of our Saviour and of the Apostle I. D. This Argument seemeth to be of great esteeme among you for who almost vrgeth it not and that with great confidence It standeth thus Melchizedecks Bread and Wine the Shew-bread Elias his Bread the Paschal-Lambe the Bloud of the Testament and Manna bee Figureâ— of our Sacrament Ergo Christ is corporally and locally present therein by way of Transubstantiation The consequence you maintaine in the next Section the Antecedent in this Wherevnto I answer first that the Legall sacraments and ceremonies if we may beleeue Scripture directly respected Christ So saith S. Paul They are a shadow of things to come but the Body is of Christ. And again Sacrifice and offerings thou wouldest not but a Body hast thou prepared me And hence is it that he doubteth not to call Christ our Passeouer or 〈◊〉 Lambâ— and to affirm that the Rock whereof the Israelites dranke in the â—â—ldernesse was Christ. Yea our Saviour himselfe plainly professeth that the Brasen serpent did prefigure him and that he was the Bread or Manna that came downe from heauen But that those Sacraments and Ceremonies are Types Figures of ours otherwise then by representing the same Substance together with ours I suppose if you searched every corner of Scripture neuer so narrowly you should never finde it therein Adde herevnto that our SacrameÌ„ts are themselues Figures being as S Augustine saith one thing and signifying another Whence it would follow that the old Sacraments being Figures of the New they should be Figures of Figures and Sacraments of Sacraments which standeth not greatly with reason For thus the Circumcision of the foreâ—kinne should figure the Water of Baptisme and water Christ and curious heads might runne on infinitely and as Irenaeus sometime obiected vnto the Heretikes of his time might ever bee devising of types vpon types and figures vpon figures Lastly if the Sacraments of the old Testament were but Signes of ours it would follow that they were ordained rather for the benefit of the Christian then the Iewish Church which is absurd For of our Sacraments which you say is the thing signified by theirs benefit they never reaped any as neuer being partakers of them and to leaue vnto them no more but bare signes that is emptie shels without the kernell how it might availe them I cannot conceaue Certainely all Sacraments
retaining the forme of bodily substance by invisible working proueth the Presence of Gods power to be there would you from hence conclude Transubstantiation I knowe you would not No more can you from this And indeed the word species which you translate Forme yea and outward Forme too though the word outward be not in the text doth not signifie shew without substance or Accident without subiect but in the writings of the Fathers vsually it signifieth the truth nature or kinde of a thing So Ambrose I see not speciem the truth of bloud speaking of the Lords Cup but it hath the resemblance which afterward repeating I see the resemblance saith he but I see not veritatē the truth of bloud Again the word of Christ changeth the species of the Elements What is that The Formes or Accidents of the Elements No for they you say remaine What then but the Elements or things thēselues And St Augustin Their meat was the same with ours but the same in signification not in specie that is in kinde So that when your Author saith it keepeth the species of bodily substance it is not necessary to render it by Forme that is Accident or Shew void of substance for you may as well turne it thus it still retaineth the nature or truth of its bodily substance N. N. This graue Father and Martyr doth plainely shew how Mr Downe hath wrested Pope Gelasius For the Popes and the Doctors of the Church did agree alwaies in matters of Faith notwithstanding the great shew M. Downe hath made to the contrary For here S. Cyprian sheweth you that this food of immortality keepeth the outward forme of the Bodily Substance but prouing that there is present a divine power which is confessed by Gelasius And therefore when Gelasius saith the nature of Bread and Wine ceaseth not to be his meaning is the outward forme of the corporall Substance And with this agree many of the Fathers which are also wrested from their true meaning as appeareth manifestly by the manifold plaine places of the Fathers by me here set downe I. D. If to neglect the Premisses and to contradict the Conclusion by the right way of answering arguments then haue you taken the right course and made vp my mouth for ever replying vpon you For whereas M. Downe as you say hath made a great shew to proue that the Fathers disagree among themselues in some points you passing by all the proofes thinke it sufficient to affirme the contrary that the Popes and Doctors of the Church doe agree Wherevpon you farther inferre that M. Downe hath wrested Pope Gelasius For although hee haue proued by the expresse words of Gelasius that the Bread is not transubstantiated because the substance thereof stil remaineth yet is the conclusion false For Popes and Doctors Gelasius and Cyprian must needs agree But questionlesse if Cyprian for for the present wee will suppose him to bee the right Cyprian doe by Forme of bodily substance vnderstand nothing else but shew without Substance it is impossible to make him agree with Gelasius For Gelasius saith The Substance or nature of Bread and wine cease not to be and Substance cannot possibly be shew without substance So to interpret is to expound white by blacke and light by darknesse and would argue extreame either stubbornesse against the truth or brutishnesse But Cyprian by Forme vnderstandeth not as wee haue shewed Accidents miraculously subsisting without Subiect but them together with the Subiect or the verity and truth of the thing And so hee perfectly agrees with Gelasius and the rest of the Fathers and all of them against Transubstantiation For as for those manifold plaine places by you here set downe I hope by this time they appeare not so plaine vnto you but are all of them fully answered and that without wresting any one of them from his true meaning N. N. Therefore though the Fathers doe sometimes call the Sacrament a Figure or Signe Representation or Similitude of Christs Body death passion and bloud they are to bee vnderstood in the like sense as those places of St Paul are wherein Christ is called by him a Figure the substance of the Father and againe an image of God and farther yet appearing in the likenesse of man all which places as they doe not take away from Christ that he was the true substance of his Father or true God or true man indeed though out of every one of those places some heresies haue beene framed by ancient heretiks against his Divinity or Humanity so doe not the foresaid Phrases sometime vsed by the ancient Fathers calling the Sacrament a Signe Figure Representation or Similitude of Christs Body exclude the truth or Reality thereof I. D. That the Sacraments by the Fathers are called Signes Figures Representations Similitudes and the like is so cleare that you cannot deny it and I feare it greeueth you much to read it in them because it maketh so directly against you Wherefore to salue all some pretty shift or colour must be devised those tearms must bee vnderstood as St Paul meaneth when he saith Christ is the Figure of his Father the Image of God and appeared in the likenesse of man For as here they deny not either the Godhead or Man-hood of Christ so neither in the Fathers doe they exclude the Body or Blood of Christ from the Sacrament And doe they not indeed Why then when Cyprian ere while said Retaining the forme of Corporall Substance did you so hastily exclud Substance and fancy to your selfe shewes subsisting of themselues without it But let vs examine this a little farther A Symbole saith Maximus is some sensible thing assumed insteed of that which is intelligible as Bread and Wine for immateriall and divine nourishment and refection And againe These are Symbols not the truth Sacraments saith Augustine are signes of things being one thing and signifying another It were no figure saith Chrysostome if all things incident to the truth were found in it And Saint Augustine againe If Sacraments haue not a resemblance or Similitude of those things whereof they are Sacraments they are not Sacraments These sayings of the Fathers plainely shew that in Sacraments they never conceiued the Figure and the Truth to be one and the same thing but that the signe is one thing and the thing signified cleane another And herevpon in expresse tearms they affirme that they are two not one The Eucharist saith Irenaeus consisteth of two things an earthly and an heauenly And Saint Augustine The sacrifice of the Church is made of two and consisteth of two things the sacrament or sacred signe and the thing of the Sacrament And it is to be noted that they speake generally of all Sacraments so as in the Lords Supper the Figure is no more the same with the Truth then it is in Baptisme And indeed vnlesse you can make Sensible and Insensible Corporall and Spirituall Earthly and
As the heavenly bread which is the Flesh of Christ after its manner is called the Body of Christ being in truth the Sacramentâ— of Christs Body Marke that which is called Body is not so in truth but only in signe and after a manner Pope Leo Christ being lifted vp into heaven set an end to his Bodily Presence being to abide at the right hand of his Father vntill the times appointed by God for the multiplying of the Sonnes of the Church be accomplished If till then he haue set an end to his Bodily presence then till that time he is no more here Fulgentius the holy Catholike Church throughout the whole world ceaseth not to offer vnto Christ the sacrifice of Bread and Wine in Faith and Charity If a Sacrifice of bread and wine then is it bread and wine after consecration Pope Gelasius certainly the Sacraments of the body and bloud of Christ which wee receiue is a divine thing wherefore by them are wee made partakers of the divine nature and yet the substance or nature of Bread and Wine cease not to bee And verily the image and similitude of the body and bloud of Christ are celebrated in these mysteries And They passe by the worke of the holy Ghost into a divine substance continuing notwithstanding in the propriety of their nature Lo the Substance and Nature of bread remaine and the Sacrament is but an image and Similitude of Christs body What can be more plaine Theodoret Himselfe hath honoured the Visible Symbols with the name of his body and bloud not changing their nature but adding grace vnto nature And againe disputing against an Eutychian Heretike who to overthrow the Humanity of Christ had thus argued that as the signes in the Eucharist are after Consecration changed so the body of our Lord after the assumption thereof was changed into the Divine substance hee bringeth in Orthodaxus thus answering Thou art taken in thine owne nets for the mysticall signes after consecration depart not from their proper nature For they remaine in their former substance and figure and forme and are visible and tangible as formerly they were but are vnderstood to bee thee things they are made and beleeued and are honoured as being the things they are beleeued These passages of Gelasius and Theodoret are the very racke gibbet of you Papists wherevnto the best of you know not what to answere but only that by substance Accident is meant An incredible obstinacy and madnesse and needing rather a Physitian to cure it then a disputer to confute it For with as good reason may you say that by white blacke is meant and by Heaven Hell and any thing by whatsoever Lastly Gregory the Great proueth the truth of Christs body against Eutychius by those words of our Saviour Handle mee and see Can you proue the truth of Christs body in the Sacrament by the same argument Verily if that which is neither felt nor seene be not Flesh Bone neither is the Flesh of Christ in the Sacrament for it is neither felt nor sâ—ene And if bread bee transubstantiated only by vertue of those words This is my body then in the Apostles time there was no Transubstantiation at all For as Gregory saith The manner of the Apostles was only by the Lords prayer to consecrate the host of the Oblation And thus haue you a full grand Iury of the ancient Fathers all of them liuing within sixe hundred yeares after Christ and with joynt consent crossing your new vpstart fiction of the Reall Presence To these I might easily adde a long list of those who succeeded in after times as Bede Rabanus Maurus Walafridus Strabo Bertram Waleram Bishop of Medburg Druthmarus and others not one of them in their times taxed for errour in this point But I will only relate what the Doctrine of the Church of England was about seauen hundred yeares after Christ as appeareth by those Homilies that then were publikely read vnto the people The holy Font water that is called the well-spring of life is like in shape to other waters and is subiect to corruption but the holy Ghosts might cometh to the water through the Priests blessing and it can after wash the body and soule from all sin through Ghostly might Behold now wee see two things in this one creature After true nature that water is corruptible water and after ghostly mystery hath hollowing might So also if wee behold that holy housel after bodily vnderstanding then see wee that it is a creature corruptible and mutable if we acknowledge therein ghostly might then vnderstand wee that life is therein and that it giueth immortality to them that eate it with beleefe Much is betwixt the invisible might of the holy housel the visible shape of his proper nature It is naturally corruptible Bread and corruptible Wine is by might of Gods word truly Christs Body and his bloud not so notwithstanding bodily but Ghostly Much is betwixt the body Christ suffered in and the body that is hallowed to housel The body truly that Christ suffered in was borne of the flesh of Mary with bloud and with bone with skinne and with sinews with humane limmes with a reasonable soule liuing and his Ghostly body which we call the housel is gathered of many cornes without bloud and bone without limme without Soule And therefore nothing is to bee vnderstood therein bodily but all is Ghostly to be vnderstood Thus the Homily and thus much thereof haue I thought good here at large to set downe to the end you may know that our Ancestors in this Iland notwithstanding your loud craks to the contrary haue not alwaies at leastwise in this point beene Papists Besides these testimonies of antiquity wee haue their customes also against you St Hierom reporteth that in the Primitiue times after the holy Communion was ended they were wont to feast together in the Church and to spend the residue of the Eucharist that remained Hesychius saith that it was the custome not to reserue till the morrow as your manner now adaies is but to burne what fragments soeuer remained of the consecrated Elements Evagrius and Nicephorus both doe testifie that the ancient custome of the Church of Constantinople was to send for little children from the schoole such as otherwise were barred from the Communion to giue the remainders of the Sacrament to them Had the Church in those daies verily beleeued that it had been the true and Real body of Christ doe you thinke they would so haue profaned it by feasting vpon it and bestowing it on children Or that they would with such impietie and sacrilege haue burned and consumed it in the fire It is altogether incredible As incredible therefore that they held it to be the Lords Body But of Antiquity enough Fiftly and lastly it implieth in it innumerable contradictions which according to the rule of Logick cannot
was never either seen or heard the like Idolatrie vnto yours as your own Coster confesseth For saith he it is a more tolerable error to worship Images of silver or gold or other stuffe with the Gentiles or a red cloath on a pike with the Lieflanders or liuing creatures with the Egyptians then to adore a morsell of bread Oh therefore let me yet againe beseech you and that by the dearest name of Iesus Christ to pitty your owne soule and with all speed to retire your selfe from Babylon the mother of all spirituall whoredome Heretofore happily your ignorance might in part excuse you but now that the light hath shined vpon you if wilfully you close your eies against it you are altogether vnexcusable and these papers one day will appeare in iudgement against you Oh how glad would the blessed Angels in heaven bee might they once behold your conversion How readily and louingly would the true Church of Christ entertaine you and how humbly thankfull would my poore selfe be vnto the Divine Maiestie if through his blessing these endeauours of mine might be a meanes to reclaime you For my part I haue done what belonged vnto me that truth I haue both propounded and demonstrated vnto you To turne the heart is not in my power that I leaue vnto God whose office it is Yet will I neuer cease to addresse my vowes vnto him for you if at any time hee may bee pleased in Iesus Christ to haue compassion vpon you FINIS A DEFENCE OF THE FORmer Answer against the Reply of N.N. OXFORD Printed by I.L. for E. F. 1633. A DEFENCE OF THE FORMER ANSWERE AGAINST the reply of N. N. SIR I perceiue would I follow the tract you seeke to set me in I might travell long enough and be never the neerer my journies end All the Passages alleadged by you in maintenance of Transubstantiation I haue fully answered adding therevnto sundry arguments clearly demonstrating the impiety thereof Wherevpon I expected either that you should yeeld being convinced by the evidence of truth or particularly acquaint me wherein I had not satisfied you Now what you Forsooth neither the one nor the other But insteed thereof you send me a fardle of idle Generalities pickt out of I know not what blind author all making no more to the matter in hand then as he saith a Cypresse tree doth to a table of shipwrack In regard whereof I could not hitherto perswade my selfe to reioyne vnto it For why should I stray with him that will needs out of the Way Neverthelesse fearing least by holding my peace I might seeme either to prejudice my cause or to disable my selfe and knowing what clapping of wings and crowing there vseth to be amongst you vpon every the least shew of advantage I haue at length resolued to vouchsafe you one encounter more and then if you still persist in your outlopes and impertinences to wast no more oile or paper vpon you For it is St Pauls advice to avoid an heretike after one or two admonitions knowing that such a one is perverted and sinneth being condemned of himselfe To proceed therefore in order let vs begin with your Preamble N. N. Musing why your kinsman delivered me not your papers you suppose it was because hee conceited not well of them or thought they would not pleasure I. D. You coniecture not amisse For being demanded the reason he answered because you had written nothing to the purpose and yet continue obstinated in your errour Which how could it be welcome to either of vs But take heed I beseech you how you close your eyes any longer against the light of truth For to them that receiue not the loue of truth that they may be saved God threatneth to send them the efficacy of errour to beleeue lies N. N. The passages now sent are taken out of your Papers These againe out of your author Yet truly And all to shew you build not vpon any one mans opinion I. D. You might haue done well to name your Author that we might know his worth and whether your Papers haue wronged him and if not whether your Authors selfe haue not wronged those out of whom hee hath taken his collections But suppose neither You nor your Author faile yet is your inference ridiculous For though the writers you quote be many yet is your Author but one And alleadging them vpon his sole credit without any particular knowledge of your owne you build herein but vpon one mans opinion N. N. No nor on Lutherans Anabaptists Protestants Puritans or tearmed Papists farther then they agree with the authority of the Catholike Church I. D. Lutheran is a name not chosen by vs who in point of Faith depend vpon no man but by you thrust vpon vs. Anabaptists we detest as much as you Puritan is the auncient name of the Novatians and better fitteth you then vs. For wee hold not as you doe that we can eschew all sinne all our life and perfectly fulfill the law yea supererogate and merit heauen by our workes The name of Protestant was first given vnto the Princes and Free citties of Germany Protesting their Faith at a Diet in Spire Ann. 1529. neither doe wee disclaime it But who I pray are those tearmed Papists For relying on the Omnipotency of your Lord God the Pope you are Papists indeed and your betters approue the terme Parsons saith that it importeth no more hurt then if in a sedition they that side with the King be called Royalists Florimond Raimond that it is a name of honour and whereat none should take offence Tho. Bozius that you haue good reason to glory in it And an old Catholike as Walsingham reports that it was a most honourable thing for men to stand with their Head and to haue their denomination from him Thus they But nor Papists nor others shall moue you farther then they agree with the Catholike Church And reason if thereby you vnderstand that of all times including the Apostles For they erred not And what they Preached they left in writing ever after to be the rule and ground of Faith But if you meane as I doubt you doe the Now-Roman Church besides that it is not Catholike there will be but little salt found in your speech For it will be as if you had said you will not rely on Papists or any other farther then they agree with Papists of which only that Church consisteth N. N. Succession continuance visibility vnitie are notes of the Catholike Church and only found in her I. D. These Notes are not Proper agreeing only and alwaies to the Church Certaine therefore and infallible they are not Not Personall Succession For in the beginning of the Church it was not and in the time of Antichrist you say it shall not be It hath also beene continued in the Churches of Hierusalem Antioch Alexandria Constantinople which yet you esteeme no true Churches The consideration whereof forced from
much strengthens and confirmes you I. D. By Catholike you still meane Roman for Catholike Roman are now growne convertible tearmes a mystery that the Primitiue Church never so much as dreamed of But what No outward face in England for so many hundred yeares together but Roman What face then I pray was it which it bare some 650 yeares since when the Saxon Homilie of Aâ—lfrick Abbot of Malmsbury not only agreeing with Bertram in this matter of the Sacrament but also for sundry passages expresly translated out of him was publikely appointed to be read vnto the people vpon Easter day before they receaued the Communion Or when the Bishops at their Synods deliuered vnto their Clergie the same doctrine out of two other writings of the same Aelfrick the one whereof saith thus That housel is Christs body not bodily but spiritually Not the body which hee suffered in but the body of which hee spake when he blessed the bread wine to housel the night before his suffering and said by the blessed bread this is my body and againe by the holy wine this is my blood c. The other likewise saith thus The Lord which hallowed housel before his suffering and saith that the bread was his owne body and the wine was truely his bloud halloweth dayly by the hand of the Priest bread to his body and wine to his blood in spirituall mystery as we read in bookes And yet notwithstanding that liuely bread is not bodily so nor the selfe-same body that Christ suffered in nor that holy wine is the Saviours bloud which was shed for vs in bodily thing but in spirituall vnderstanding Both bee truely that bread his body and that wine also his blood as was the heavenly bread which we call Manna that fed forty yeares Gods people and the cleare water which did then run from the stone in the wildernesse was truly his blood as Paul wrot in one of his Epistles Thus he Tell mee now good Sir was the face of the English Church Roman when such doctrine so crosse vnto Transubstantiation was by publike authority deliuered to the Clergie and commanded to be read vnto the people or was it at that time other then a Roman face truely Catholike and Orthodoxe You haue heard I suppose of those Christians whom anciently they tearmed Wâ—ldenses and Leonists Your Ranerius saith of them that they had beene of very long continuance even from Pope Sylvesters time or as some say ever since the Apostles so Vniversall also that there was scarce any country wherein they abounded not finally that where other Sects most fearefully blaspheamed God these made faire shew of religion liued honestly among men beleeued all things rightly touching God and all the Articles contained in the Creed onely they blaspheamed hated the Church of Rome What Was the face of this Church also Roman How so being so opposite vnto it Certainely it was rather the face of our Church For as your Poplinerius testifieth they differed very little from vs and in this point of the Sacrament they perfectly agreed with vs. It is true they were charged with many foule opinions but enviously and maliciously as appeareth by the publike Confessions of their Faith and by the testimonie of Cardinal Sadolet others who by commission were commanded to examin it It is true also that they were most barbarously and bloudily persecuted by the Roman Synagogue But what saith Michael Cesaenas who flourished some 250. yeares since There are two Churches the one of the wicked flourishing in which the Pope doth raigne the other of the godly afflicted Whence it plainely appeareth that there hath heretofore beene another face of the Church besides Roman if not visibly glorious yet at leastwise visibly persecuted You adde it is vncharitable to thinke that all this time there was no knowledge of the meaning of Scriptures and Fathers vntil Luther brought in the true light True neither is there any man that saith so Neverthelesse bee it spoken to the glory of God and the honour of the present times the meaning both of Scriptures and Fathers was never better knowne shall I say never so well knowne as now This I haue elsewhere proued both by the causes thereof and the testimonie of your owne men As for your nine hundred yeares questionles they were not the learned'st times The knowledge of languages quickly decayed and blindnesse and barbarisme crept in apace insomuch as by the testimonie of Genebrard Bellarmine Baronius there was never age more Vnlearned and vnhappy then the ninth Century wherein were no men famous either for wit or learning and whosoever studied the Mathematicks or Philosophie was presently counted a Magician Neither were some of the after times over much amended when the chiefest of their Schooles scarce knewe whether Saint Paul wrote in Greeke or in Latine as Ludovicus Vives saith and to haue skill in Greek was suspicious but in Hebrew almost heretical as Espencaeus But blessed be God who in the midst of these blindest times hath still preserued the light of his truth and though envy burst and split at it blessed be his holy name for that greater light of his Gospel which we haue receaued both by Luther and since Luther Hee was a noble champion of Christ Iesus and gat so much ground of the Papacie as I hope will never be recouered againe vntill by the brightnesse of our Lords comming it be vtterly destroyed If England in these latter times haue yeelded such learned men of your side you may be pleased to knowe that it hath afforded on our side also as learned Clarks in the knowledge of tongues all kind of literature whatsoever as any in your Church wheresoeuer if not excelling them Yea but yours were content to forgoe all their meanes and hopes for their conscience And did not ours trow you doe so also in Q. Maries daies Nay did not Archbishop Cranmer and sundry other Bishops to speake nothing of those of inferiour ranke chuse rather to loose their present honours and estates and themselues cruelly to be martyred in the fire then to perish their coÌ„sciences by subscribing vnto the Romish Apostacy As for your vnkle whose domestical example so much confirmes you I thinke hee was a man of no great note sure I am of no great fame either at home or abroad Yet were his deserts far greater I am not vnprovided of a domesticall example able every way to match him yea and over-match him too My mothers Brother I mean that vnvaluable Iewel whose name is renowned throughout all the Churches Who being Fellow of Corpus Christi Colledge in Oxford and Bachelour in Divinitie possessed also of a Benefice neere the Vniversitie and by reason of his eminence in learning as likely to rise as any yet hee readily forsooke Fellowship Friends Benefice Hopes and all for Christs sake and put himselfe into a voluntary exile all the raigne of Q. Mary
for Titius as well as for Seius I assume but many Papists allow the sense I giue This if I would follow your course I might easily proue by all those Popish writers who acknowledge those words of the Fathers which we obiect against you without mentioning any of their Answers But so doing I should shew my selfe as ridiculous and vnconscionable as your Author Thus therefore Scotus Cameracensis Caietan Roffensis Biel Occam Durand Peter Lombard with some Iesuits and the Canon Law professe some of them that they could not finde Transubstantiation in the Scriptures and some that they could not in the Fathers Their expresse words you haue in mine Answere whether I referre you for it would be too long to transcribe them If so and all these were grand Papists I haue no reason to beleeue you or your Author rather then them nay great reason haue I to cleaue the faster vnto my opinion as better according both with Scripture Fathers N. N. Your second reason There are amongst vs differences even in many essentiall and fundamentall points as namely betweene Protestants and Puritans whatsoever D. Abbat Doue Willet Powel Sr Edward Hobby Rogers others say to the contrary And this you proue by Rogers Covel Ormrode Parks Willet Powel and sundry others I. D. That there are differences and dissentions amongst vs is too true and cannot bee denied This therefore wee grant But the Consequence which you inferre therevpon Ergo you may not yeeld vnto my iudgement or any of our side I deny For to make this follow you must of necessitie hold that where there are dissentions there you may not harken to any side A dangerous and desperate Position and the very Objection of the Iewes against Christianitie We may not beleeue because of your distractions By which reason as you may not heare vs so may not we you nor Turks and Infidels any of vs all how Orthodoxe soeuer because the Christian world is still full of contentions A man would thinke that diversitie of opinions especially in matters concerning soule and Salvation should rather quicken and stirre vp the minde diligently among all to search which is the truest then to cause it sit still and forbeare assent vntill all sides be accorded Neither let any pretend inabilitie for as Chrysostome saith Seeing we acknowledge the scriptures which are so true and plaine it will be an easie matter for to iudge And tell me hast thou any wit or iudgement For it is not a mans part barely to receaue whatsoever hee heareth Say not I am a learner and may be no iudge I can condemne no opinion this is but a shift c. And Gerson rendreth the true reason hereof The triall and examination of doctrines concerning Faith belongeth not only to the Councell Pope but also to every one that is sufficiently learned in the scriptures because every man is a sufficient iudge of that hee knoweth But ô yee miserable servitude and slauery of you the common sort of Papists your eyes are puld out of your heads neither are you allowed the vse of common sense and reason The Scriptures by which you should see are wrested out of your hands as a dangerous booke If you will see it must be by another mans eyes Your Faith must depend vpon the warrant of some equivocating Priest And whatsoever is said to the contrary though never so soundly proued you may in no case harken to it for why there are dissentions among you This reason being thus fully answered I might without more adoe passe on to the next but that I see by your spinning it to such a length you make great store of it Let vs therefore bestow a word or two more vpon it There are say you dissentions amongst vs. True And was there ever or will there ever be a Church so happy as to be altogether free of them If not why doe you vpbraid them vnto vs Is it because notwithstanding them we count one another brethren members of the same Church That is an Argument of our charity and that we dare not cut off and condemne as Hereticks every one that differeth though never so little from vs in opinion whereas you presently condemne to the pit of Hell all Christians whatsoever wheresoever and how many soever that will not vaile bonnet vnto the Popes Miter and beleeue all to bee true that hee resolues vpon But what May not brethren disagree and yet continue brethren Or doth every quarrell exclude out of the Church of God I trow not For then Paul and Barnabas Peter and Paul Victor and Polycrates Cyril and Theodoret Chrysostome and Theophilus Epiphanius and Chrysostome Hierome and Ruffin and sundry others should not be brethren Nay the East and West Churches dissenting about Easter and the Roman and African about Rebaptization should be no true Churches Yea but our differences are not in pettie matters but essentiall fundamentall points And such were also in the Churches of the Corinthians and Galathians for in the one they differed about the Resurrection of the dead in the other about the necessary observation of the law of Moses together with the Gospell And yet saith Bellarmine they were true Churches and they that so erred if they were ready to learne the truth and to beleeue it being taught were true members of them also But by your leaue sir your Author overlashes when he saith we differ in points Essentiall and Fundamentall neither doe our Divines only say it as you beare vs in hand but clearely demonstrate it also And indeed all the quarrell is rather about the shell then the kernell that is the outward gouernment ceremonies of the Church rather then the Faith of the Church or at the most it is rather about some deductions and conclusions in Divinitie then the Principles themselues and those truths that are necessary vnto salvation For as for the Article of Christs descent into Hell though your Author would insinuate the contrary yet there is not one of vs but willingly subscribes vnto it and acknowledgeth that Christ hath spoiled Hell and triumphed over Principalities and Powers and all the enimies of our salvation But whether he did this by descending locally in soule into the Hell of the Damned or Virtually and by the power of his Godhead is all the Question amongst vs whereby for ought I see we neither overturne the Article nor dissolue brotherhood And your selfe must needs confesse so much vnlesse you will disclaime brotherhood with Durandus and condemne him of a Fundamentall errour together with vs. For hee held that the soule of Christ descended into Hell not in the substance thereof but by certaine effects And heare the resolution of Suares the Iesuit touching this Article If by an article of faith saith he we vnderstand a truth which all the faithfull are bound explicitly to knowe and beleeue so I doe not thinke it necessary to reckon this among the Articles
there and how many battles haue there beene fought betweene the Iesuits and Dominicans about no meaner matters then Gods free Grace and mans free will To be breefe there is scarce any thing wherein you dissent from vs that you agree in amongst your selues as our Divines haue at large proved Hugo de sancto victore Richardus de sancto Victore Petrus Cluniacensis Liranus Dionisius Carthâ—sianus Hugo Cardinalis Thomas Aquinas Waldensis Richardus Armachanus Picus Mirandula Caietan and others reiect all those bookes as Apocryphall which wee doe Scotus Gerson Occam Cameracensis and Waldensis affirme the Scriptures to be sufficient in all matters of Faith Stapleton confesseth that the infallibility of the Popes judgement is yet no matter of Faith but of opinion only because so many famous and renowned Divines haue held the contrary as Gerson Almaine Occam almost all the Parisians with â—undry others The same Divines together with Adrian the sixt Durandus Alfonsus à Castro and many besides hold that a Councell is aboue the Pope That a man 〈◊〉 not iustified by any inherent quality but only by faith in the merits of Christ. Gerson Contarenus Albertus Pighius the Canons of Cullen the authors of the booke offered by Cesar to the Protestant Collocutors at the assembly of Ratisbon Stapulensis Peraldus Ferus and others doe justifie That wee may be assured we are in the state of Grace Alexander of Hales Iohn Bacon Ambrose Catharin Andreas Vega with others doe clearly testify That all sins are in their owne nature Mortall Gerson Almaine and Fisher B. of Rochester even by the testimony of Bellarmine doe confesse That there is any merit of Condignity Scotus Cameracensis Arminiensis and Waldensis vtterly deny That Matrimony is no Sacrament Durandus affirmes Alexander of Hales saith there are no more but foure Sacraments That one body should be locally in more places then one at once implyeth contradiction saith Thomas of Aquin. and with him agreeth Aegidius Godfrey de Font Alanus and Henricus The conversion of bread wine into Christs body bloud all of vs saith Caietan doe teach in words but in deed many deny it thinking nothing lesse Finally Peter Lombard Thomas and the other Schoolemen hold not a reall and proper Sacrifice in the Masse as now you doe as your owne Bellarmine is forced to acknowledge It were easy for me to instance in diverse points besides but this may suffice for the present to stop your mouth and to teach you this lesson that you be not so busy to vpbraid others with their warts or freckles your selues meane-while being so full of vlcers and botches For it is fowle indiscretion to obiect that to another whereof our selues are more deepely guilty as here you haue done to vs taxing vs for our petty quarrels while your selues like Amalekits are nothing but stabbing and killing one the other N. N. Your third reason D. Field saith the Church of Rome hath continued a true Church even till our time held a saving profession of truth by it converted nations and divers of that Church even learned are saved D. Covel they of Dome were and are the Church and they that liue and die in it may be saved Willet Kings and Queenes of the Roman faith are Saints in Heauen Yea saith your author Many Kings and Queenes of Great Brittaine haue forsaken their Crownes and Kingdomes to become Monkes and Nunnes I. D. That which you obiect out of D. Field D. Field him selfe hath long since at large answered I will contract it as briefly as I can The Summe is the Roman Church is not now the same it was before Luther His reasons First the then Church was the whole number of Christians subiect to the Papal tyranny of whom many desired to be free of the yoke and as soone as Luther began to oppose shooke it off but the now Church is the multitude of those that adore the plenitude of Papal power or are content to be vnder the yoke still Secondly the Roman Church then consisted of men not hauing meanes of information and so not erring pertinaciously but the now Church consisteth of those who obstinately resist the truth or at least consent in outward communion with them So that they might be saued in their simplicity and these perish in their contradiction Thirdly the Roman Church then had in it the same abuses superstitions it hath now and those that erred the same errours but it had also those that disliked them and thought right in those points wherein the rest erred These were true liuing members of the Church those a faction in the Church In regard of those it was truly a Church that is a multitude of men professing Christ and baptized in regard of these a true Church that is a multitude of men holding a sauing profession of Christ. Lastly the errours then taught in the Church were not the Doctrines of the Church but now they are the Doctrines of that Church That they were not then the Doctrines of the Church appeareth thus The Doctrines then taught were either those which all consented vnto such as are the Articles of the Creed or those errors which many then taught or the contrary truths opposed to those errors The first were absolutly the Churches Doctrine So were the third though all received them not because they were theirs who were so in the Church that they were the Church But the second were not because they were taught by the faction in the Church and not consented vnto by them that were the Church Thus farre the Doctor who at length concludeth that whatsoever it hath beene the present Romish Church is not that true Church of God whose communion wee must embrace whose directions we must follow and in whose judgement we must rest Yea but D. Covell in the name of all the rest affirmeth that it is still a true Church and Salvation may be had in it In the name of all the rest Why who gaue him that commission and how comes hee to be the mouth of vs all more then any other of his brethren Certainly your Author much wrongs the Church of England and abuses his reader to make the private sayings of this man or that man to be the common voice of all If he haue spoken more largely then can be justified hee must answere for it himselfe no reason the whole Church should bee charged with it You will not endure it amongst your selues and why should you then obtrude it vpon vs To the words themselues I answere with D. Field Some will say is the Roman Church at this day no part of the Church of God Surely as Augustine noteth that the Societies of Hereticks in that they retaine the profession of many parts of heavenly truth and the ministration of the Sacrament of Baptisme are so farre forth still conioyned with the Catholike Church of God and the Catholike Church in and by them bringeth forth children vnto God so
vehemently as justly they might if this were his Tenet But there are who defend him affirming that it was but out of a mistake For acknowledging in Christ a threefold Righteousnesse Actiue passiue Essentiall of the Word for the Righteousnesse of God is not Accidentall but his very Essence hee holdeth that we are justified not only by the imputation of the Actiue and Tassiue Righteousnesse of Christ vnto vs but also by the admission of vs vnto the participation of the Divine nature as St Peter speaketh that is of his Essentiall Righteousnesse to the end that receiuing of his fulnesse wee might be replenished with all divine qualities and graces The reason why he so much vrged this doctrine was because he had obserued that many out of a perswasion they had to be justified and saved by the merits and obedience of Christ imputed to them cared not to haue any righteousnesse in themselues and vtterly neglected the practise of holy duties Wherefore hee taught that the Actiue and Passiue Righteousnesse of Christ imputed availed not either to the remission of sinnes or the purchasing of Gods favour vnlesse they were also made partakers of the divine nature for the avoiding of sinne and the leading of a holy and vertuous life This as it seemes was all Hosiander held If he held farther then this and his adversaries vnderstood him aright I am no Patron for him The last quarrell is touching our English translations of the Bible Wherein that divers things were amisse it was never denyed of vs. For being an humane act and humanity being subiect vnto errour it could not bee avoided but that some faults what through ignorance what through negligence what through other infirmities might passe vnheeded and vnobserved If the former translations had beene faultlesse the Church of England would never haue thought of setting forth a new as now it hath done Which it did not as if those aberrations were so dangerous and prejudiciall vnto the substance of Faith but out of a holy desire that our English streames as neere as may be might runne with the same purity that is found in the Hebrew Greeke fountaines So that her meaning was not as our late learned Translators say of a bad Translation to make a good for this had beene in a manner to acknowledge that our people hitherto had beene fed rather vpon husks and akornes then the flower of wheat but to make a good one better or out of many good ones to make one principall good one not justly to be excepted against But tell me in good sooth you that so busily object vnto vs our quarrels in this point is your Vulgar translation even that which your Trent Councell hath made authenticall and is every where read in your Churches free from errour Or are there no bickerings and contentions among you concerning it If it be faultlesse what needed other translations as that of Pagnine Vatablus and Arias Montanus How cometh it to passe that Valla Stapulensis Erasmus Vives Budaeus others finde so great fault with it wishing it were amended or another made in roome of it Nay that Isidorus Clarius a Spanish Monke should finde to the number of eight thousand faults and euery one as hee professeth changing the meaning of the text Pope Sixtus the fift did not thinke all was well when he went about to correct the faults thereof with his owne hand And who would haue thought but all had beene well when he set it forth so corrected charging that none should afterwards be published with any change addition or detraction of the least particle And yet some two or three yeares after this Pope Clement the eight finding all not perfectly amended alters addes detracts yea contradicts his predecessors edition For example where Sixtus saith there was not a citty which did not yeeld Clement saith which did yeeld Againe where Sixtus hath They built vpward to the horse-gate Clement hath from the horse-gate And where Sixtus reads iustice Clement reads Vniustice This for a tast whereof whosoever will haue his fill let him see Doctor Iames who hath written at large of this argument Wherevnto I might adde the barbarismes and solecismes of that translation together with those knowne and manifest faults which yet they suffer to passe in every print as Evertit for Everrit she overturned â—he house for she swept the house consum masset had perfected for consumpsisset had wasted or consumed Saeculi of this world for Sacculi of the bagge praescientiam foreknowledge for praesentiam presence sixe hundred like or worse errors But I forbeare for brevities sake only I cannot but acquaint you with the reasons hereof for they are feriall and pleasant Faults saith the Iesuit Mariana are still left in the vulgar edition first because there is no danger in them to faith and good manners Secondly least the novelty of an exact amendment should offend the eares of them that were enured vnto them Lastly that they might reverence the old edition and tread in the steps of their Ancestors who out of a holy kind of piety tolerated those errors Heare also what the same Mariana saith touching your bickerings about this matter Some Catholikes and those also in Spaine taxe the vulgar edition as defiled with many foule faults appealing every foot vnto the fountaines whence those rivers haue issued vnto vs contending that as often as they differ from them they are to be corrected by comparing them with the Greeke and Hebrew bookes men puffed vp with the skill of languages making a mocke of Ecclesiasticall simplicity whose boldnesse and temerity in pronouncing deserueth to be curbed On the contrary side others more in number through the hatred of their adversaries thinke it great sinne once to touch the vulgar edition and count them in the number of impious ones who adventure to correct the least word or to expound any place otherwise then the vulgar interpretatioÌ„ will beare whom certainly wee are not to follow men of little spirit filled with darknesse conceiuing too narrowly of the Maiesty of our religion who while they defend the block-houses as it were of opinions as articles of faith seem to me to betray the chiefest tower it selfe most shamfully to violaâ—e brotherly charity Therefore avoiding these extreames and by-waies which lead vnto a downe-fall wee haue resolved to hold the midle way c. Thus you see that there are as violent contentions among your selues about translation as there is amongst vs and that wee may justly say vnto you Physitian heale thy selfe before you haue to doe with the diseases of others N. N. Good Mr Downe calling to mind that you told me craving some certaine rule to know the true sense of Scripture that the true sense of Scripture is easy to bee vnderstood as much as appertaineth to Salvation I demand then if the doctrine of Baptisme be necessary If so then is some part hard
the bookes de Sacramentis was wont to say thus If there bee so great force in the speech of our Lord Iesus that the things which were not began to be how much more operatiue is it that things still be what they were and yet bee changed into another things But now because that clause that things still bee what they were make sore against Transubstantiation in the Roman Edition and that of Paris an 1603. that clause is cleane left out and S. Ambrose must no longer say so S. Chrysostom or the Author of the imperfect worke vpoÌ„ Mathew was wont to haue these words If it be so dangerous to transferre vnto private vses those holy vessels in which the true body of Christ is not but the mystery of his body is contained how much more c. But what is become of them now In the edition printed at Antwerp by Ioannes Steelsius anno 1537. at Paris by Ioannes Roigny 1543. and by Audoenus Parvus 1557. not a syllable of those words in which the true body of Christ is not but the mystery of his body is contained appeares Why Because they make so strongly against your Reall Presence So likewise where he vsed in the elder impressions to say the sacrifice of bread and wine now in these latter editions hee is forced to change his language and to say the sacrifice of the body and bloud of Christ. More examples I might easily produce but these are sufficient to shew that Vincentius Lirinensis had good reason when hee gaue this Caveat But neither alwaies nor all kind of heresies are to bee impugned after this manner but such only as are new and late when they first arise while by straightnesse of time it selfe they be hindred from falsifying the rules of the ancient Faith and before that their poison spreading farther they attempt to corrupt the writings of the Ancient But farre spread and inveterate heresies are not to be set on this way forasmuch as by long continuance of time a long occasion hath layne open vnto them to steale away the truth But returne we againe to the matter from which we haue a little digrest The Fathers say you differed not in points essentiall True Neither doe we as is aboue shewed yet by your leaue their differences were not alwaies in petty matters vnlesse Rebaptization Communicating of infants the Popes vniversall iurisdiction and the like bee of small consequence with you Their differences were not so bitter as ours No were When they proceeded not only to curse one another but to fire bloudshed and banishment also And when casting off the rule of pietie they did nothing but increase strife threats envy and quaâ—rels every man with all tyranny pursuing his ambition whereby as S. Basil saith the Church of God was vnmercifully drawne in sunder and his flock troubled without all care or pittie Lastly say you they differed in matters vndecided by a generall Councell What then No danger No danger Then belike a man may safely beleeue all he lists before a Councell determine it The very high way to Atheisme For so the very Articles of the Creed during the first three hundred yeares after Christ should be but disputable points and not necessary For vntill Constantine the great there were no generall Councels By the same reason your Adoration of Images was no matter of Faith till the second Councel of Nice about 800 yeares after Christ nor Transubstantiation till the Councell of Lateran some 1200 yeares nor Merit nor Iustification by workes nor the most of your Tenents till the Trent Councell aboue foureteene hundred yeares after Christ. If they were I require you to shew what generall Councell had before determined them If you cannot then are you but novellers and hold not the ancient Faith The truth is Councells cannot make that an Article which was not but whether they decree or not decree whatsoever God affirmeth in his word as soone as it commeth to our knowledge is absolutely and vpon paine of damnation to be beleeued And it is horrible sacriledge and impiety to thinke that it is not necessary to beleeue God vnlesse a Councell of the Pope say Amen vnto it Yea but say you we nor haue nor can haue generall Councels No more can you nor any Church in Christendome without the generall consent of Christian Princes Synods of our owne Churches we may haue and haue had by the indulgence of our Princes More then this you cannot haue For you are but a handful of the Christian world and the greatest part thereof neither is nor will bee subject vnto you When you can get the Greek Church and that in Prester Iohns countrey with the Armenians and others to submit themselues vnto the Popes omnipotent and vbiquitaâ—y power then may you peradventure haue hope to call a generall Councell But that I think will be at the Greek Kalends that is in plaine English at Nevermasse Howsoever say you if you may not relie on the Fathers because of their differences neither may you on vs because of ours If this be a sound reason as I confesse it is neither may you rely on the Church of Rome because of theirs But you mistake the matter much if you thinke wee require men to relie on our bare authoritie That privilege belongs vnto Christ only and vnder him to those holy Pen-men of the Bible that wrote by inspiration To vs appertaineth to proue what we say by their authoritie and when wee haue so done to require assent and not before If Scripture and sound deduction from it according to the art of reasoning together with the proofe of the sense thereof by the circumstances of the place and the analogie of Faith will not moue you we can but pittie your wilfulnesse and leaue you vnto God till he turne your heart and haue mercy vpon you For certainely miserable is the case of that man who knowing the Scriptures to be Gods word and hauing the vse of right reason shall refuse triall both by the one and the other preferring therevnto the authoritie of man which may erre it selfe and lead others into errour N. N. Your conclusion is you meane not to forsake the religion taught in that Church which is descended from Christ and his Apostles by succession but with Litinensis to preferre it before all things That you will follow vniversality Antiquitie and consent in your beleefe that faith which hath beene held from time to time in all places in all seasons by all or the most Doctors of Christianity That Church which as S. Augustine saith had her beginning by the entring of nations got authority by miracles was increased by charity and established by continuance and hath had succession from S. Peters chaire to our time That church which is knowne by the name of Catholike both to friends and foes even Heretikes tearming her so calling themselues for distinctions sake Reformers Illuminates Vnspotted brethren In
were crept into the Church as needed Reformation and many worthy men that feared God earnestly wished and longed for it yet because it could not be obtained at the hands of those that then swayed in the Church it is true some Heroicall spirits of our side not without the singer of God attempted it and by Gods blessing effected that which the Saints of God reioyce to see and none but Superstitious and Idolatrous Papists greeue and repine at Howbeit they never tooke vnto themselues the name of Reformers but ascribed the whole worke vnto God and wee blesse his holy name for vsing them as instruments therein In regard whereof I see no reason why wee hauing reiected and pared off all those errours wherewith you had corrupted the true religion may not tearme our selues Reformed Catholikes as well as you still retaining them and resoluing to settle vpon your dreggs call your selues by the name of Roman Catholikes But a Roman Catholike you say you meane to keepe your selfe during life and it is likely you will doe so indeed First to avoide the imputation of inconstancie if you should returne to vs againe secondly because I see how obstinately you refuse to beleeue whatsoever wee say though never so strongly proved You adde that so doing if otherwise your life hinder not as you hope it shall not you shall enioy everlasting life after this Wherein I Will not be your Iudge You are servant vnto another and for me you shall stand and fall to your owne Master Only I would advize you not to be too confident For first whatsoever your life bee as I haue said it is as hard for you to attaine everlasting life in a Church so fearfully infected with so many pestilent and deadly heresies as it is for a man to escape with his life in a pest-house Secondly adhering vnto the Church of Rome conforming your selfe vnto the practise thereof you must needs make your selfe guilty of horrible idolatries many waies Whereof vnlesse you timely repent it cannot be but such a life must needs hinder your salvation Lastly although perhaps to many simple people that liue in Spaine or Italy where such meanes of knowledge cannot so well be had it may please God to be mercifull and gracious if they hold the Foundation and bee willing to know if they had the meanes yet I feare much of our English Recusants who liue in the bright sunshine of the Gospell and haue the meanes daily offered vnto them least their obstinacy in reiecting thereof and refusing to see worke vnto them in the end everlasting destruction Certainly if any of you be saued it is not by those doctrines wherein you differ from vs but those only which you hold in common with vs. Especially for that when you lye vpon your death-beds and perceiue that shortly you must yeeld an account of all whatsoever you haue done in the flesh you then thinke it good with all speed to turne Protestants that is to renounce all your owne works as insufficient to iustify you before God and to put your whole affiance vpon the mercies of God through the merits and obedience of Christ alone both for Iustification and Salvation For indeed this is a sure and a safe way even by the confession of Bellarmine himselfe By reason saith he of the vncertainty of our owne righteousnesse and the danger of vaineglory it is the safest course to set our whole affiance on the mercy and goodnesse of God alone And the like safety doe others of your side yeeld vs in other things also as namely in forbearing to make any image of God in worshipping none but the holy Trinity in praying vnto none saue only God in Christ in the marriage of Ministers and other such things as it is easy to demonstrate but that it is now high time to come to a conclusion Only I would haue you carefully to obserue that even they who perswade you to stick close vnto the Popish Faith sticke not themselues to acknowledge the Protestants Practise both in life and death to be many waies the more safe And thus much in Answere vnto this second Schedule It remaineth that I earnestly intreat you in the name of the Lord Iesus and as you tender the everlasting salvation of your soule that you would please to bethinke your selfe a little better of your present estate then heretofore you seeme to haue done You haue suffered your selfe now a long time to be lead vp and downe in the mist of I know not what generalities a path which they that loue to deceiue vse much to tread in They tell you of Vniversality Antiquity Succession Consent and the like and you presently beleeue them But what security haue you in so doing for infallible they are not If they bee matters of so great consequence it were good you knew thē yourselfe that you need not trust the vncertaine reports of others Know them your selfe you cannot vnlesse you acquaint your selfe with all the records of former times and search into them with much diligence and attention for otherwise you may herein also soone bee deceiued But this would proue too long and tedious a course for you and alas the well is deepe and you haue not wherewith to draw What then Surely you haue a shorter way if you would follow it For as Moses saith The commandement is neither too high for you nor farre off You need neither to mount vp into heaven nor to passe beyond the seas for it It is very neere vnto you For you haue at hand the Scriptures of God search them and therein shall you surely finde eternall life By them and no other did the ancient Fathers confute all the heresies of their times vnlesse happily they had to deale with such Hereticks as reiected the Scriptures And to this end were they written that the man of God might bee made perfect and wise vnto salvation Yea but they are obscure darke equivocall ambiguous subiect to divers constructions and each sect pretendeth to confirme their errours by them Strange that they should be the testament of our Father and the instrument of contract betweene Christ and his Spouse and yet they should bee drawne vp so perplexedly and doubtfully that by them neither can the children certainly know what legacies are bequeathed to them nor the Spouse what conditions are agreed vpon betwixt her and her husband But marke what farther followeth hereof For if the Scriptures bee indeed such as you say then haue not Papists any certain ground at all for their Faith Yes will you say the Church But shee speaketh not by her selfe but her heralds and particular messengers and I would faine know what assurance you can haue that they passe not beyond their commission or deliuer not some other errant besides that they are charged withall The Authority also and Vnerring power of this Church had neede to bee most soundly demonstrated I doubt of it how can you