〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vnto them Or as in a teeme or draught of Oxen such as are of the one side are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and with reference to them such as are on the other side are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as are in the same yoke are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Howeuer because Souldiers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is when they march in order hold iust distance and proportion one with another hence it is that in Aristotle and other good writers the seuerall tearmes of any iust proportion are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as two foure eight sixteene 5 The termini 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this Allegorie are not mount Agar but Agar Sarahs Handmaid and her ofspring and the Ierusalem which was in our Apostles time On the other side the termini 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to these or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 betwixt themselues were Sarah Abrahams wife her ofspring and the Ierusalem which was aboue As for Mount Agar or Sinai it is no formall part of the Allegorie no tearme at all in this proportion but onely collaterally or by way of metonymie interserted inasmuch as the old Testament which is one of the formall and primitiue tearmes in this Allegorie was giuen vpon this Mount the old Testament or Couenant it selfe and Ierusalem which then was cannot bee properly tearmed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as making but one tearme and diffring onely as homo and rationale So the new Testament and the Ierusalem which is aboue make but one terme whereof the one is as the soule and quidditie the other as the body or compositum vnto which Sarah Abrahams wife is the terminus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnto this or like kindes of arguments drawne from proportion there is alwaies some Common Notion or prolepsis presupposed as a ground to support them The presupposed ground of this argument is that Abrahams family was a type yea more then a type of the militant Church the very roote of that coelestiall Vine which God hauing brought out of Egypt did plant in Iewry This presupposed our Apostles argument may be thus drawne The same proportion which Agar the Handmaid had to Sarah her Mistresse in Abrahams house the same proportion hath the old Testament to the New in the house of God the same proportion which Agars ofspring had to Sarahs the same proportion had the Children of the Law that is the Ierusalem which then was vnto the Ierusalem which is aboue that is to the children of the Gospell or sonnes of promise Now Hagar was sometime a visible and principall member of Abrahams family a kind of second wife to Abraham and Ismael her sonne was for a while Abrahams presumed heire yet after Agar did begin to despise and contest with her Mistresse Sarah and Ismael to flout or persecute Isaac Abrahams heire apparant and Sonne of promise both Mother and Sonne were cast out of Abrahams house and depriued of all hope of inheritance in the land of promise Sarah bearing the type of the true visible Church then on earth did pronounce that sentence of excommunication against them Cast out the Bond-woman and her Son Gen. 21.10 and God ratifying in heauen what shee had bound on earth inioynes Abraham to put her sentence in execution Gen. 21. verse 12. The Couenant likewise which God made with this people vpon Hagar or mount Sinai was as the betrothing of Israel vnto himselfe The Law of Moses whilest it was lawfully vsed was the onely Catechisme or Introduction without which there was no entrance into the Church of God The children of this Couenant did by vertue of it become haeredes praesumpti the presumed heires or children of God 6 But when this deputed or nursing-mother came once to contest with the true Spouse of Christ with the new Testament or Gospell and after her children the Ierusalem which then was began to persecute the children of the Ierusalem which is aboue the mother with her children that is the Law with such as sought to be vnder it were cast out of the true visible Church of God by the Apostles vnto whom our Sauiour had committed the keyes of the Kingdome of heauen There is a speciall Emphasis in that speech of the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is not all one as if he had said the earthly Ierusalem which had continued from Dauids time till Christ but not the same for condition in our Sauiours time as it was in Dauids For it now stood in such opposition to the Gospell as Hagar did to her Mistresse Sarah at the time when she and her Sonne committed those misdemeanours for which both of them were cast out of Abrahams house The Ierusalem which was on earth was sometimes or in some part rather a consort than an opposite or aduersarie to the Ierusalem which was aboue So was the old Testament or the Law and all such as lawfully vsed it rather subordinate allies then foes or aduersaries to the new Testament or heires of promise The occasion which Agar tooke to despise her Mistresse was her barrennesse but the Lord tooke occasion from Agars contempt and scorne to visit Sarah as afterwards he did Hannah with mercy in the middest of griefe and gaue her strength to conceiue seede and she was deliuered of a childe when shee was past age because she iudged him faithfull who had promised Therefore sprang there euen of one and him as good as dead so many as the starres of the skie in multitude and as the sand which is by the Sea shore innumerable Heb. 11. vers 11 12. Nor was Abraham onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as good as dead in respect of procreation but Isaac in whom his seed was to bee called was by him destined to death and in figure or token of the resurrection receiued to life againe before hee became the Father of the glorious ofspring which God had promised to Abraham 7 In like manner the present Ierusalem or Synagogue did deride the new Ierusalem when it first came downe from heauen to abide with men on earth and flouted the promised seede euen whilest they persecuted him to death more bitterly then Ismael had done Isaac He saued others himselfe he cannot saue Thus they did and thus they said not remembring that what had beene said to Abraham and done to Isaac was to be fulfilled in Christ therfore he was not onely to be as good as dead or destinated to death as Isaac was but to tast of death before his glorious seed came to bee multiplied as the starres of heauen Thus much besides the body or embleme exhibited in Isaac was expresly foretold by the Evangelicall Prophet When thou shalt make his soule an offring for sinne he shall see his seed he shall prolong his dayes and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand Hee shall see of the trauell of his soule and shall be satisfied But that which serues best for setting out the
parallel betwixt the Apostle and the Prophet is this After the Evangelical Prophet had written the historie of Christs passion in the 53. chapter he presently sets down that invitation of the new Ierusalem pre-figured by Sarah and her barrennesse to take vp old Hannahs Song Reioyce ô barren thou that didst not beare breake forth into singing and cry aloud thou that didst not trauell with child for more are the children of the desolate then the childrē of the maried wife saith the Lord. Enlarge the place of thy tent let thē stretch forth the curtains of thine habitatiōs spare not lengthē thy coards strengthen thy stakes For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left thy seed shal inherit the Gentiles make the desolate cities to be inhabited Isa 54. v. 1 2 3. The Apostle immediately after his explication of the former Allegory Gal. 4.27 takes vp the first part of the Prophets song by way of testimony or confirmation of his doctrine But Ierusalem which is aboue is free which is the mother of vs all For it is written Reioyce thou Barren that bearest not c. CHAP. XI Of the consonancie betweene the promulgation of the old Testament and the New Of the opposition between the Law and the Gospell or betweene the old Testament and the new The explication of the Apostles argument Heb. 9. ver 13 14. 1 BVt when did the Church or spouse of Christ or children of the new Testament first take vp this ioyfull song whereunto the Prophet did invite her Immediately vpon our Sauiours death and resurrection No these were the dayes of the Churches widowhood wherein she sate for a while destitute and comfortlesse and wherein her womb was shut vp from bearing children The Apostles themselues had as little strength as Abraham had to beget or Sarah had to bring forth children vnto God vntill they were indued with power from aboue The new Ierusalem did not descend like a glorious bride from Heaven vntill the bridegroome her Lord had ascended from earth to heauen in glory But within ten daies after the Holy Ghost came down vpon the Apostles and disciples in visible shape in token that Christs Church was now betrothed vnto him this was as the solemnization of the Mariage And whereas for fifty daies after our Sauiours resurrection wee doe not read of one soule more then their owne begotten to God by the Apostles and Disciples there were added vpon the fiftieth day three thousand soules vnto the new Ierusalem or visible Church and euery day after such as should bee saued And these being dispersed throughout euery Nation vnder heaven did propagate the seed increasing and multiplying much faster then the Israelites did in Egypt The songs of ioy foretold by Esaias the Prophet were taken vp by these sonnes of the new Ierusalem whilest they were filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speake with other tongues as the spirit gaue them vtterance Acts 2. ver 4. God gaue his Law vpon Mount Agar or Sinai fiftie dayes after the Israelites were deliuered out of Aegypt and fiftie dayes after the deliuerance of his people from the bondage of sin and Sathan the same Lord proclaimes his Gospel or new Couenant vpon Mount Sion in Ierusalem the Metropolis or royall seat of Abraham or Dauids seed The visible Ierusalem from Davids time till Christs is as the middle terme of proportion betweene the Law and the Gospell that is the same proportion which the Law as opposed vnto the Gospell or which Agar with her children had vnto Abrahams of-spring by Sarah in respect of ciuill freedome or of emblematicall or typicall preheminences the like proportion had Abrahams of-spring by Sarah or the visible Ierusalem in her greatest glory vnto the new Ierusalem after the Holy Ghost had descended vpon the Apostles and such as were in their times conuerted vnto Christ And as the Law being giuen vpon Mount Agar did emblematically import a kind of ciuill seruitude vnto such as did adhere vnto it whilest it stood in opposition to the Gospell so the Gospell being promulged in the visible Ierusalem did betoken the spiritual freedome of all such as abandoning the Law did embrace it 2 Of the difference or agreements betwixt the Law and the Gospell or which is all one betwixt the old Testament and the new I shall haue occasion to treat elsewhere For this time it shall suffice in a word to aduertise that the old Testament and the new are sometimes compared and considered by sacred Writers tanquam includens inclusum as the Huske and the Graine The Gospell before Christs time was in the Law as the corne new set in the eare And the Law and the Gospell or the two Testaments thus considered are rather one thē two at least there is an vnity of subordination betwixt them Vnto such as vsed the old Testament as they ought onely as an Introduction to the new there was indeed but one Testament For as the Schooles speake vbi vnum propter aliud ibi vnum tantùm The same Testaments may be sometimes considered as abstracted or seuered each from other Thus the Gospell or new Testament since our Sauiours death and resurrection is become as pure corne threshed and winnowed The old Testament or the Law thus seuered from it remaines onely as the chaffe or huske If we thus consider the Law or old Testament as the Iewes imbrace it that is altogether seuered from the new to which alone wee Christians adhere by faith they are not onely two but two opposites or contraries The Iewes appetitus caninus or womanish longing after the Law and our constant adherence to the Gospell thus opposed vnto the Law as pure corne vnto the putrified chaffe or huske breeds a kinde of Antipathie betweene vs. For such as is our seuerall food and nourishment such our seuerall dispositions are Wee feed vpon the pure corne or rather vpon the bread of life it selfe cleansed from all branne the Iew onely vpon the chaffe or huske and his religion is as loathsome to vs as swines flesh is to him See Philip. 3. vers 7 8 9. 3 This opposition or subordination betweene the legall or Euangelicall Testament will further appeare from our second instance which was in the same Apostle Heb. 9. ver 13 14. If the blood of Bulls and of goats and the ashes of an Heifer sprinkling the vncleane sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh How much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternall Spirit offered himselfe without spot to God purge your conscience from dead workes to serue the liuing God The termes of proportion likewise in this inference are foure The first not fully expressed but implyed and it is a sin or trespasse meerly committed against the Law of ceremonies The second which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to this is a legall or proper sacrifice for such a sinne to wit the blood of Bulls and of goats and the
in whom alone they are exactly fulfilled not onely according to the mysticall but for the most part according to the most exquisite literall sense Not that either all or most passages of Scriptures which are first literally verified of some other and after exactly fulfilled in Christ haue as some great Diuines thinke two literall senses albeit this may sometimes happen though very seldome but that of one and the same litterall sense there may be and vsually are two or more obiects one more principall and proper the other either lesse principall or lesse proper Thus it alwaies not onely is but of necessitie must be wheresoeuer the tearmes wherein it pleaseth the Spirit of God to expresse himselfe containe in them a multiplicitie of significations or importances whether aequiuocal analogicall or ad vnum Now of all tearmes vsed in Scripture this word Church as was obserued before hath the greatest varietie of significations or importances And by consequence it must haue one principall obiect of which all the principall attributes or titles of the Church are punctually and accurately verified and other obiects lesse principall to which notwithstanding the same name or titles are in some measure often communicated 3 Hence it may to the obseruant Reader appeare that Bellarmines exception or argument against Caluine which being drawne into forme stands thus The word Church in Scripture doth alwaies import a visible companie of men Therfore it doth not belong to an inuisible Congregation is no better then this The holy ointment did bedeaw or besprinkle Aarons garments Ergo It was not powred vpon his head or it did not madifie or supple some other parts of his body whereas the truth is vnlesse the ointment had first beene plentifully poured vpon his head it could not haue run downe his necke vnto the skirts or rather the brimmes of his vesture Answerable to this representation we say that all the glorious prerogatiues titles or promises annexed to the Church in Scriptures are in th first place and principally meant of Christs liue-mysticall body But being in abundant measure bestowed on it they descend by analogie or participation vnto all and euery one that hath put on Christ by profession without respect of person place or dignitie All the difference in the measure of their participation or manner of their attribution ariseth from the diuers degrees of similitudes or proportion which they hold with the actuall live-members of Christs mysticall body in matter of faith or conuersation Such as haue the true modell or draught of that Catholique faith without which no man can be saued imprinted in their vnderstandings albeit not solidly ingrossed or transmitted into their hearts or affections are to bee reputed by vs who vnderstand their externall profession better then their inward disposition true Catholiques ttue members of Christs body and heires of promise Although in very deede and in his sight that knowes the secrets of mens hearts many of them be members of Christs body onely in such a sense as foetus conceptus non animatus As an humane body shaped or organized but yet not quickened with the spirit of life is tearmed a man 4 The conclusion touching this point which Bellarmine his followers are bound to proue if any thing they meane to proue to the purpose is this That vnder the name or titles of that Church wherunto the assistance of Gods spirit for its direction or other like prerogatiues are by Gods word assured the visible Church taken in that sense in which they alwaies take it is either literally and punctually meant or necessarily included The visible Church in their language is a Societie or Body Ecclesiastique notoriously knowne by the site or place of its residence or by their dignitie order and offices which are the perpetuall gouernours of it Ecclesia saith Bellarmine est tam visibilis quam est Regnum Galliae aut Respublica Venetorum And againe that Church whereof Christ is King is as visible in his absence by the presence of his Vicar generall as the Kingdome of Naples in the absence of the King is by the presence of his Viceroy Vnto the attributes or prerogatiues bestowed on the Church in the Apostles or Nicene Creede or vnto the promises annexed vnto it in the Scripture the visible Church as we say taken in the Romanists sense hath no claime or title saue onely in reuersion or by reflection that is The true mysticall body of Christ is onely instated in the blessings prerogatiues or promises made vnto the Church from this Body or rather from Christ which is the head of it the said blessings immediately and successiuely descend in different measure vnto the seuerall members of it or vnto such as are no solid members of Christ in practice or conuersation yet true Catholiques in opinion and loue vnfaigned vnto the Catholique faith And from indiuiduals thus habitually qualified the Church visible or representatiue deriues its right interest in the promises made vnto the Church generally or indefinitely taken Wheresoeuer two or three thus qualified are gathered together in Christs name that is not for any priuate ends or sinister respects but for meere loue of truth the presence of Christs spirit is by promise annexed vnto them Though a thousand Bishops Prelates or Clarkes not thus qualified be assembled for their own gaine or dignities or if their consultations be managed by superiour power or faction they haue no like interest in the former promise For any Church visible or representatiue whose indiuiduals are not thus farre qualified the greater part whereof for number or more principall for authority may be infideles aut haereti ci occulti that is Heretiques Infidels or Atheists in harts To vsurpe an absolute infallibilitie in iudgement of matters sacred is no better then blasphemie for any such Church to expect the extraordinary assistance of Gods spirit in their consultations is but the dregs and reliques of Simon Magus his sin But of the diuers acceptions of this word Church in what sense it is said visible or inuisible true or false wee are to speake hereafter Sect. 2. chap. 1. CHAP. VI. Containing the speciall points to be beleeued concerning this Article of the One Holy Catholique Church How euery one is so to moderate his assent or beliefe concerning it that he neither incline vnto presumption nor fall into despaire 1 THe speciall points which wee are in this article to beleeue are these First that as Christ whilest he liued on earth was a King albeit his Kingdome was not earthly nor of this world so he hath still a Kingdome or at least a great part of his Kingdome here on earth the members or Citizens of which Kingdome whilest liuing in this world are not of this world their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as our Apostle speakes is in heauen that is the Societie or Corporation whereof they are actuall and liue-members is translated from earth to heauen and their demeanour or conuersation here