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ground_n	call_v	church_n	pillar_n	2,921	5	10.5182	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A03883	A treatise concerning the ground of faith. VVritten in Latin, by the reuerend Father Iames Gordon Huntley of Scotland, Doctour of Diuinity, of the Society of Iesus. And translated into English, by I.L. of the same Society. The second part of the second controuersy; Controversiarum epitomes. English. Selections	Gordon, James, 1541-1620.; Wright, William, 1563-1639.	1614 (1614)	STC 13997A; ESTC S118149	27,760	72

A TREATISE CONCERNING THE GROVND OF FAITH VVRITTEN In Latin by the Reuerend Father Iames Gordon Huntley of Scotland Doctour of Diuinity of the Society of IESVS And translated into English by I. L. of the same Society The second Part of the second Controuersy Permissu Superiorum M. DC XIV THE FIRST CHAPTER Whether the Church be the foundation and ground of our faith And of the true state of this Question IF the pertinacy of our Aduersaries were not so great it were an easy matter to define this questiō out of those few wordes of the Apostle affirming that the Church is the Pillar and ground of truth for seing that our faith relyeth vpon truth that is to say vpon the most true word of God and that the Church is the Pillar and ground of this truth it must needes follow that the Church is the Pillar and ground of our faith as afterward we will declare more at large But because our Aduersaries goe about to ob●…ure this great and renowned prayse of our Church we will treate of this matter more exactly especially because this is a question of great importance seing that theron dependeth our whole faith For euery thing relyeth and dependeth of his foundation Moreouer heereby is declared the great excellency and authority of the Church Hence also other opiniōs of our faith are to be proued which our Aduersaries deny their errors confuted and they themselues very easily conuinced but that the true state of this Controuersie may the better be vnderstood three thinges are to noted 2. The first is that euery science and doctrine hath her grounds principles out of which all other thinges are deduced proued and depende wherefore we must heere diligently examine and search out the true principles of our faith least otherwise our faith become doubtfull and vncertaine 3. The second is that there are two principles of our faith the one that God is true and the Author of truth the other that these thinges which we belieue are spoken and reuealed vnto vs by God There is lesse difficulty of the former principle For all who confesse that there is a God may easily know euen by natural reason that he is true or rather the very Truth it selfe And seing that he is the chiefest good he can deceiue no body and seing that he is Wisdome it selfe he cannot be deceyued Hereupon the Apostle taketh this as a principle manifestly knowne by it selfe It is impossible for God to lye 4. But the doubts and difficulties which we cōceyue cōcerning matters of faith do especially arise of the secōd principle to wit because we know not certainly that such things as we belieue are reuealed by God for hence ariseth the whole cōtrouersy with Iewes Turkes Heretikes For all do cōfesse that God is true but the Turkes say that their Alcorā was reuealed vnto thē by God the Iewes their Talmud the Anabaptists their bible corrupted maymed by them the Antitrinitarians their blasphemies vttered against the Blessed Trinity the Lutherans their opinions the Caluinists theirs and the Catholikes theirs And hence it is that we need greatly some sure foundation principle rule and meanes whereby we may know certainly which is the doctrine indeed reuealed by God and which is not otherwise our fayth will alwayes remayne doubtfull and vncertayne 5. The third is that God is accustomed three wayes to assure his Church of this his reuelation The first way is when God himselfe appeareth frō heauen and speaketh to his Church for so in tymes past he spake vnto all the children of Israel when he gaue them the tables of his Law in the mount Sinay 6. The second is when God speaketh to one alone from heauen and he sendeth him to the Church that he may reueale vnto the whole Church such things as God hath spoken vnto him So in tymes past in the old Testament God spake by himselfe to Moyses and Moyses reuealed the same things to the people And in the new Testament Christ in this manner reuealed his Ghospell to S. Paul which he afterward reuealed vnto others But these two wayes are extraordinary and are ceased as all docōfesse excepting only a few Anabaptists and Swenkeldiani whose madnesse and folly all men disproue 7. The third way is ordinary which alwayes remayneth in the Church and whereof the whole controuersy is For almost all Lutherans the purer sort of Caluinists will haue the sole Scripture to be the foundation and rule wherby we may certainly know the true reuelation of God from the false But Caluin himselfe at the first blush seemeth to attribute this to the sole Scripture and very cōtumeliously inueygheth against Catholikes who deny it whome therefore he calleth brauling and sacrilegious persons yet a litle after he reduceth the principall and cheifest certaynty of Scriptures and of our whole fayth to the particuler and priuate spirit of euery belecuer The late Caluinists do put two grounds and rules of fayth to wit the Scripture and this priuate spirit But Catholikes do teach that neyther the Scripture alone is sufficient nor this priuate spirit togeather with the Scripture but moreouer the spirit and authority of the whole visible Church is necessary And this is the true state of of this question 8. We will therfore explicate foure things that this whole controuersy may more clearly be defined First what are the properties and conditions of the ground of fayth for by these the ground it selfe will easily be knowne For euen as by the properties of a man it may be knowen who is a true man and by the properties of any other thing the thing it selfe may be knowne So by the properties of the ground of fayth the ground it selfe wil be knowne Secondly it shal be proued that the Scripture alone is not a sufficient ground or rule of fayth Thirdly that neyther any priuate spirit will suffise Fourthly that the authority of the Catholike Church is the most true ground and rule of fayth CHAP. II. The properties of the ground and rule of our fayth are alledged THERE are ten properties of the ground or rule of fayth and they are so manifest and certayne that none can doubt thereof The first is the continuall and neuer interrupted duration thereof to the end of the world For euen as fayth and the Church do alwayes endure continue so must also the ground of fayth seing that nothing can consist without his foundation and ground 2. The second propertie is the most certayne and vndoubted truth thereof in so much that it neyther can deceyue any nor be deceaued in any thing appertayning necessarily to saluation for otherwise it should be vncertaine and doubtfull yea also the fayth it selfe should be false and hurtfull vnto vs. 3. The third propertie is the certaynty therof on our part For it is necessary that the true fayth be not only certayne in it selfe but also to vs. Because error and

the Ghospells of S. Marke and S. Luke who were not Apostles but only their disciples stood in need of this approbation of the Church Here upon saith Tertullian If he from whom S. Luke receyued his light desired to haue his faith and preaching authorized by his predecessors how much more reason haue I to desire the like for the Ghospell of S. Luke seeing the same was so necessary for the Ghospell of his Mayster Thus farre Tertullian 8. And hence it is that the reuelations of S. Brigit and S. Catherine of Siena albeit they were truly reuealed vnto them by God yet they do not appertayne to the Catholike faith because they are not approued by the Church as the vndoubted and certayne word of God 9. Euen as also in the Apostles tyme many before S. Luke wrote the acts of Christ as S. Luke himself testifyeth and yet notwithstanding the Ghospells only of two of them to wit S. Matthew and S. Marks are authenticall for it is well knowne that S. Iohn wrote his Ghospell long after S. Luke but the Ghospells of the rest who wrote before S. Luke do not appertayne vnto faith because they were neuer approued by the Church Wherby it sufficiētly appeareth how necessary the approbatiō authority of the Church is 10. The Church hath the seauenth property of the ground of faith for by the Church and her coniunction communiō a true belieuer may be distinguished from an Infidel for he who belieueth the Church and heareth her is a true belieuer but he who doth not heare her is an Infidell if he will not heare the Church saith our Lord let him be vnto thee as an heathē or publicā And S. Iohn saith he which knoweth God heareth vs he which is not of God doth not heare vs. 11. The Church hath the eight property For whatsoeuer we belieue with our Catholike faith we belieue it because it is reuealed vnto vs from God by the Church But God now reuealeth nothing to euery member of the Church immediatly by himselfe Yea euen our Aduersaries do well admonish vs to labour most of all that no way or leaue be graunted to such fantasticall reuelations 12. The Church hath the ninth property For the Church conuinceth also Turkes and Infidels by naturall reasons of which sort there are many extant in S. Thom. We proue also the Church by the very signes and markes of the Church which are manifest vnto all euen Turkes and Infidels wherof we will spake more hereafter 13. The Church hath also the tenth property because in the Apostles Creed there is expressed an article of the Church For presently after the faith of the true God the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost first of al is set downe this article I belieue the holy Catholike Church 14. Moreouer that the Church and her preaching is the ground of faith euidently appeareth by the wordes of holy Scripture For when S. Paul disputeth of that faith wherby all are to be saued he reduceth this whole faith to the preaching of the Church vnto her sending calling of others to her Ecclesiasticall offices 15. So this Apostle in another place declareth that God alwaies appointed some Pastors and Doctors in his Church that we be not children wauering in faith and carried about with euery wynd of doctrine but that we may be stable and constant alwayes in one and the same faith and confession of the Sonne of God 16. Lastly those words of S. Paul are most euident wherein he affirmeth that the Church is the pillar and ground of truth Where we are to consider that euery foundation of any building hath two offices that is to say to vphould the house to strengthen it The Apostle heere attributeth thē both to the Church the one when he calleth her the pillar of truth the other when he calleth her the ground of the same truth For the pillar also of the earth according to the Hebrew phrase doth signify the lowest foūdations of the earth So God is sayd to shake the pillars of the earth elswhere to strengthen the pillars of the earth that is to say the very foundations thereof 17. These so manifest and perspicuous words of the Apostle do compell Caluin at the last to be of our opinion albeit after his accustomed māner at the first he wrongfully slaundereth vs affirming that Catholiks hold or to vse his owne words do blab out this horible blsaphemy that is to say that the truth of God is not strong inough vnlesse it be vphoulden by the shoulders of men and that the worde of God is vncertayne till by humble prayers as it were it borroweth some certaynety from men And afterward he affirmeth that the Apostle in this place would nothing els but that the truth of God is supported by the pure preaching of the Ghospell But that which he sayd first is a meere slaunder for we do not say that the truth or the word of God absolutly and considered precisely in it selfe receiueth it certainty and strength from the Church for in this sense it receiueth a most perfect strength and large authority from God himselfe but in regard of men and in consideration of our knowledge it receiueth it certainty frō the Church as afterward we will declare more at large the which also Caluin in the words immediatly following acknowledgeth to be most true when he writeth in this sorte S. Paul simply vnderstandeth sayth Caluin that which in other words he sayth in the tenth Chapter to the Romans because fayth is by hearing there wil be no sayth vnlesse there be some that preach Therefore in regard of men the Church supporteth the truth because it maketh it famous by her prayse and commendation because the retayneth it in sincerity and purity and because she deliuereth and sendeth it to her posterity Thus Caluin 18. But that which secondly he addeth that the truth of God is supported and vpholden by the pure preaching of the Church is indeed most true but he should haue considered that this pure preaching of the Ghospell cannot be foūd but only in the Church and that no others but men can preach the pure Ghospell Wherefore if the truth of God be susteyned by the pure preaching of the Ghospell it necessarily followeth also that the Church must be sustained by men and consequently that the Church of Christ is the gound of truth albeit not absolutly yet in regard of vs and our knowledge So as Beza also is forced to cōfesse the same explicating those words of the Apostle the pillar and ground of truth Vnderstand this sayth Beza not simply in it selfe but in regard of vs. Thus he 19. It is therfore manifest as well out of Caluin as Beza that the Church in regard of vs is the ground of truth or of the word of God and consequently of our fayth which relyeth thereon But that which in regard of men is

the authority thereof by the Scripture therfore Scripture is rather the ground of fayth then the Church I answere first that the proofe of the Church which is taken out of Scriptures when we dispute against heretikes is an argument called by Philosophers ad hominem and it is deduced out of the premises already graunted in which manner also the first principles or grounds of euery science may be proued and out of those thinges also which of themselues are not very strong and certayne So out of the old Testament against the Iewes we proue the new testament albeit this also is the ground of our fayth because the Iewes do admit and receiue the old Testament but not the new yea also euen out of the Iewish Talmud we proue many things against the Iewes because they admit and approue it as the word of God but yet their Talmud is not the ground of our fayth because this only is as ●… sayd an argument deduced out of such thinges as they graunt vnto vs. So in like māner because almost al heretikes admit the Scripture and reiect the authority of the Church therefore when we dispute against them we proue the authority of the Church by the Scriptures as premisses already graunted by them But if we were to deale with Infidells or others who doe not admit the Scriptures then the sayd Scriptures were to be proued by the authority of the Church and not contrarywise For it is a thing farre better and more commonly knowne that there is a Church then that there are the holy Scriptures as afterward we will shew more clearly 6. Secondly I answere that there is so great connexion betwixt the Scripture and the Church that the Scripture may very well be proued by the authority of the Church and againe the church by the authority of the Scripture Neyther should this seeme strange to our Aduersaries For Logicians also know very well that that which by it owne nature is more certayne better knowne may be proued by that which is more certaine and better knowne vnto vs by a demonstration called by them à posteriori And cōtrary wise that which is better knowne vnto vs may be proued by that which is better knowne and more certaine in his owne nature by a demonstration called à priori So the cause is proued by the effect the effect by the cause as fyte is proued by heate à posteriori and heate by the nature of fyre à priori So in like manner by the authority of the Church the which in regard of vs is more certayne and better knowne we proue the Scripture as it were à posteriorl and by the authority of the Scripture which in it owne nature is more certaine we proue the true Church of Christ as it were à priori 7. The fourth argument S. Paul testifyeth that the Church is supported by the ground and foundation of the Prophets and Apostles that is tosay by their Propheticall and Apostolicall doctrine but if the foresaid doctrine be the ground of the Church it necessarily followeth that this doctrine appeared to be certaine in it selfe before the Church began to be The Church therefore must be that which giueth certainty to the doctrine or writings of the Apostles but rather their doctrine and writings do affoard sufficient certainty to the Church So Caluin I answere first if we will follow the intērpretatiō of this place alledged by Beza Caluins argument wil be nothing worth For Beza will haue this to be the sense of those words that the Church is built vpon Christ who is the ground and foundation of the Apostles and Prophets and he will haue only Christ to be the ground-worke and the Apostles and Prophets he saith were only as the Architects and builders of this Church as also all faythfull Ministers of Christ are at this day but not the ground it selfe Beza also addeth that he is truly Antichrist who attributeth that vnto himselfe which belongeth only to Christ that is to say to be the ground and foundation of the Church 8. Out of which doctrine of Beza it followeth manifestly that Caluin is truly Antichrist For he attributeth vnto all Ministers of the Church and to their doctrine and consequently vnto himselfe and his owne doctrine that they are the foundations of the Church but according to Beza whosoeuer attributeth this vnto himselfe is plainly Antichrist because he attributeth that vnto himselfe which only belongeth vnto Christ. 9. Secondly I answere that yet whatsoeuer Beza sayth Caluins exposition is the trewer agreeing therin with S. Chrysostome S. Augustine Theophilact and other auncient Fathers that is to say that S. Paul in this place calleth the Apostles and Prophets the ground and foundation of fayth or that which is al one their doctrine for in the same place he compareth Christ to the chiefe coner stone and the foundation of this spirituall building doth consist of many stones but there is one lowest and chiefest to wit Christ Iesus who supporteth all and who is that cornerstone which vniteth the Iewes and Gentills togeather as S. Paul sayth in the same Chapter 10. Hence it is that S. Iohn in the Apocalyps affirmeth that this heauenly Citty hath twelue foundations and not only one and Christ notwithstanding is the chiefest of all the foundations and the foundation of foundations as S. Augustine sayth that is to say of all those twelue foundations he is the foundation 11. And heere the Apostle vseth the Hebrew phrase in which it is all one to say Vpon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets to say Vpon the Apostolicall and Propheticall foundation For the Hebrews often vse the genitiue case of the substantiue for the adiectiue as a man of bloud deceit in the fifth Psalme signifieth a bloudy and deceitfull man 12. Furthermore that which Caluin sayth that the Apostolicall and Propheticall doctrine hath it certainty of it self before the approbation of the Church that indeed is true but this is the certainty which it hath of it owne nature from God himselfe but in regard of vs it receiueth it certainty from the Church as Caluin and Beza witnesse as we haue already declared 13. But Caluin erreth in this that he thinketh S. Paul to treate in this place of the Scripture only of the Apostles and Prophets For not only the Apostolicall Scripture is the ground of our faith but all the doctrine of the Apostles And few of the twelue Apostles to wit only fiue haue written any thing but of the other seauen there are no writings extant but yet they all taught the Apostle therfore speaketh of the Apostolicall doctrine and not only of the Scripture 14. But neyther do we deny that faith dependeth of the Apostles doctrine yea more then that we say that our faith dependeth of the doctrine of the present Church For when we affirme that the Church is the ground of our