he was when it pleased him visible to his Apostles and at other times inuisible and yet was not his man-hood thereby abolished as M. PER. would make vs beleeue no more is it when his body is in many places at once or in one place circumscribed and in the other vncircumscribed For these externall relations of bodies vnto their places doe no whit at all destroy their inward and naturall substances as al Philosophie testifieth wherefore hence to gather that we denie both the Father and the Sonne to be God doth sauour I will not say of a silly wit but of a froward will peeuishly bent to cauill and calumniate Secondly Master PERKINS chargeth vs with disgrading Christ of his offices saying that for one Iesus Christ the onely King lawe-giuer and head of the Church they joyne vnto him the Pope not only as a Vicar but as a fellowe in that they giue vnto him power to make lawes binding in conscience to resolue and determine infallibly the sence of holy Scripture properly to pardon sinne to haue authority ouer the whole earth and a part of hell to depose Kinges to whome vnder Christ euery soule is subject to absolue subjects from the oath of alleageance c. Answere Here is a bed-role of many superfluous speeches for not one of all these thinges if we admitte them all to be true doth conuince vs to haue disgraded Christ of his offices which are these to appease Gods wrath towardes vs to pay the ransome for our sinnes to conquer the Diuell to open the Kingdome of heauen to be supreme head of both men and Angels and such like He may without any derogation vnto these his soueraigne prerogatiues giue vnto his seruants first power to make lawes that binde in conscience as he hath done to all Princes which the Protestantes themselues dare not denie then to determine vnfallibly of the true sence of holy Scripture which the Apostles could doe as all men confesse and yet doe not make them Christes fellowes but his humble seruants to whome also he gaue power properly to pardon sinnes Luc. 24. Ioan. 20. Mar. 16. Matt. 28. Whose sinnes you pardon on earth sbal be pardoned in heauen and finally to them he also gaue authority ouer the whole earth goe into the vniuersall world Ouer part of hell no Pope hath authority and when he doth good to any soule in Purgatory it is per modum suffragij as a suppliant and entreater not as a commander Whether he hath any authority ouer Princes their subjects in temporall affaires it is questioned by some yet no man not wilfully blinde can doubt but that Christ might haue giuen him that authority without disgrading himselfe of it as he hath imparted to him and to others also faculties of greater authority and vertue reseruing neuerthelesse the same vnto himselfe in a much more excellent manner As a King by substituting a viceroy or some such like deputie to whome he giues most large commission doth not thereby disgrade himselfe of his Kingly authority as all the world knowes no more did our Sauiour Christ Iesus bereaue himselfe of his power or dignity when he bestowed some part thereof vpon his substitutes He goes on multiplying a number of idle wordes to small purpose as that we for one Christ the only reall Priest of the newe Testament joyne many secondary Priestes vnto him which offer Christ daylie in the Masse We indeede hold the Apostles to haue beene made by Christ not imputatiue or phantasticall but reall and true Priestes And by Christ his owne order and commandement to haue offered his body and bloud daylie in the sacrifice of the Masse what of that see that question Furthermore he saith for one Iesus the all sufficient mediatour of intercession they haue added many fellowes to him to make request for vs namely as many Saintes as be in the Popes Kalendar yea and many more too For we hold that any of the faithfull yet liuing may be also requested to pray for vs neither shall he in hast be able to proue that Christ only maketh intercession for vs though he be the only mediatour that hath redeemed vs. Lastly saith M. PERKINS for the only merittes of Christ in whome alone the Father is well pleased what was he not well pleased with his Apostles they haue deuised a treasury of the Churches contayning besides the merittes of Christ the ouerplus of the merittes of Saints to be dispensed to men at the discretion of the Pope and thus we see that Christ and his merittes be abolished Answere The good man is somewhat mistaken for we hold not any ouerplus of merits in Saints the which we acknowledge to be by God fully rewarded in heauen but we affirme that some Saints and blessed Martirs haue suffered more paynes in this life then the temporall punishment of their owne sinnes â—eserued Iob 6. v. â— Who therefore might truely say with that just man Iob would to God my sinnes whereby I haue deserued wrath were weighed with the calamitie that I suffer euen as the sandes of the Sea this should be the heauyer Nowe parte of these sufferinges of Gods Saints as being needelesse for their owne satisfaction are reserued in the Churches store-house and may by the high steward of the Church to whome the dispensation of her treasure belongeth he communicated to others as very reason teacheth vs for who is fitter to dispose of any mans goodes then he to whome the charge thereof is giuen by his testament And thus I hope euery reasonable man doth finde vs Catholikes to be farre of from transforming Christ into an Idoll of mans conceite as Master PERKINS dreameth only we see a misconceited man labouring in vaine to deface Christes benefites toward vs to calumniate his chiefe seruantes and to skirmish more against his owne phantasies then against any doctrine of ours He layeth lastly a third kinde of Atheisme against vs for worshipping of God not with such respect as is sutable to his nature For saith he our worshippe is meere will worshippe for the most part without any allowance or commandement of God as Durand in his Rationale in effect acknowledgeth it is a carnall seruice standing of innumerable bodylie rites and ceremonies borrowed partly from the Iewes and partly from the Heathens it is deuided betweene God and some of his creatures in that they are worshipped both with one kinde of worshippe let them paint it as they can c. Answere Ipse dixit Pythagoras hath pronounced his sentence yet you neede not beleeue him vnlesse you list because he fableth so formally doth Durand acknowledge that all our worship is meere will worship and that it hath no allowance of God O egregious and impudent deceiuer For that learned deuout Author Durand doth nothing else in all that booke then set out the Majesty and declared the meaning of the true worship of God vsed daylie in our seruice throughout the whole yeare And therefore doth entitle
power of their free will helped by the holy Ghost 2. Tim. 2. vers 15. whereas Paul ascribeth it wholy vnto God prouing if God at any time will giue them repentance c. Answere Of this point hath beene spoken in the questions of Freevvill and of Iustification and here M. PERKINS answereth and confuteth himselfe sufficiently when he maketh as a passione repentance by which God turneth our hartes to him so an actiue vvhereby a man first moued by God turneth himselfe to God so that by his owne doctrine the free-will of man helped by the holy Ghost concurreth to the first act of repentance And where he saith that the sinner was before dead and therefore could not moue any part towardes repentance we answere that the grace of God raysing him to repentance doth quicken him and enable him to doe that good worke The second abuse of mistaking of penance for the correction only of notorious offenders is a fable The third abuse saith M. PERKINS is that we make repentance not only a vertue but also a Sacrament whereas for a thousand yeares after Christ it was not reckoned among the Sacraments Yea it seemeth that Lumbard was one of the first that called it a Sacrament and the Schoole-men after him disputed of the matter and forme of this Sacrament not able any of them certainely to define what should be the outward element of it Answere I am sorry to see the man so carelesse of his credit what doe schoole-men doubt of this Sacrament it selfe or of either matter or forme of it or are they not yet agreed what should be the outward element or visible signe of it He needeth not feare to auouch any thing that wil not blush at such a palpable vntruth Sess 14. 3. for not only the Councell of Trent but long before it the Councel of Florence in the instruction of the Armenians doth teach the actes of the Penitent to wit contrition and confession to be the element or materiall part of it and the absolution of the Priest the formall The same aboue three hundred yeares past taught the Prince of schoole-men S. Thomas of Aquine Richard Durand and diuers others vpon the fourth of the sentences the fourtenth distinction and now is the common opinion of al men so that this was a lie in graine No more truth hath the former part of his wordes that Repentance for a thousand yeares after Christ was not reckoned among the Sacraments For Victor Cartennensis who liued a thousand yeares past doth in expresse tearmes proue that we must make much of the Sacrament of Penance Lib. de PoeniteÌ„tia cap. 20. and most of the auncient Doctors doe reckon and couple Penance with the Sacrament of Baptisme or with the Sacrament of the Altar To beginne with the latter that we may ascend vpward Victor Vticensis bringeth in the people speaking thus to the Priests which were going into banishment Vnto whome wil yee leaue vs poore wreatches Lib. 2. de persecut VaÌ„dalica whiles yee goe vnto your crownes who shall baptize these little ones in the fountaine of euerlasting water Who shall bestowe vpon vs the gift of Penance and by the fauour of reconciliation loose and vntie vs bounden in the bandes of sinne because to you it was said Whatsoeuer you loose vpon earth shall be loosed in heauen Is not Penance here joyned with Baptisme the very like hath S. Augustine vvhere he first sheweth vvhat recourse in times of danger is wont to be made to the Church Sâ—â—e crauing to be baptised other to be reconciled and to doe Penance Epist 180 ad Honor. euery one of them seeking comfort and the administration of the Sacraments where he not only reckoneth reconciliation and Penance with Baptisme but saith that they are Sacraments for vvhen the people seeketh after them he saith That they seeke after the administration of Sacraments And a little after If the Ministers or Priestes be present some are baptised some be reconciled none are defrauded of the communion of our Lordes body S. Hierome Let him be redeemed by the bloud of our Sauiour L. 1. cont Pelag. Lib. 1. de PoeniteÌ„tia cap. 7. eyther in the house of Baptisme or in Penance that doth imitate the grace of baptisme S. Ambrose speaking against the Nouatians saith Why doe yee baptize if sinnes may not be pardoned by a man for in baptisme there is remission of all sinnes neyther is it any matter whether Priestes by Penance or by Baptisme doe chalenge this right to be giuen vnto them for it is the same in both of the mysteries So man remitteth sinnes aswell in the mysterie or Sacrament of Penance as in Baptisme and the like vertue is in both by S. Ambrose judgement there the one is a Sacrament as vvell as the other And yet more then a 100. yeares before him Tertullian saith Lib. dâ— PoeniteÌ„tia That God fore-seeing the poyson and infection of sinne and hauing shut vp the gate of pardon and bolted the doore of baptisme hath yet suffered something else to lie open for he hath in the porch or portall placed the second penance that may be opened to them that knocke where he testifieth the second Penance that is Penance after Baptisme to be appointed of God to take away sinne after baptisme as baptisme did that vvhich was before it so that many worthy auncient Fathers doe reckon and account penance or repentance as he calleth it among the Sacraments of the Church and so doe most manifestly confute his shamelesse assertion But because I desire here at once to dispatch this matter I will proue that the Father of al Fathers that is Christ IESVS himselfe hath instituted and deliuered vnto vs this Sacrament of Penance viz. When breathing vpon his Disciples Ioh. 20. vers 23. he bid them receiue the holy Ghost and said that whose sinnes soeuer they remitted in earth should be remitted in heauen Whence we proue that as there should be sinners in the Church so men indued with power to absolue them from their sinne and because they are not to absolue any that desire not be absolued the party must in humble sort request absolution and declare from vvhat sinnes he desireth to be absolued for what wise man will absolue one from he cannot tell what and not knowing vvhether any restitution be to be made or no Wherefore the party humbly confessing his fault and the Priest absoluing of him in a religious manner thereby to magnifie God by the due dispensation of his gifts bestowed on men there must needes be a visible signe of grace of justification vvhich is at the same time conferred so that euen after the defâ—â—â—tion of the Protestants it is a true Sacrament for there is a religious ceremony instituted by Christ that hath a promise of justifying grace annexed to it And consequently so wide is that from truth that vvithin a thousand yeares after Christ repentance was not accounted
for the amendment of their liues or else they should be the most foolish judges that euer vvere appointed vpon earth Wherefore seing that the Apostles had authority to forgiue sinnes and vvere in discretion to admmister the same vnto penitent sinners it must needes followe necessarily that the penitent should confesse all his sinnes in particular vnto them and that authority was to continue in the Church for euer it being giuen to the Apostles for the due gouerning of the Church and to the comfort of al sinners which should neuer fayle to be vntill Christes last comming to judgement They to defeate all this discourse answere That Christ gaue not his Apostles authority to pardon any mans sinnes but only to declare that their sinnes were pardoned if with true repentance and faith they receiued the preaching of the Gospell This interpretation first is repugnant to the text vvhich in expresse tearmes hath Whose sinnes yee shall remit or pardon not vvhose sinnes yee shall declare to be remitted Secondly it hath that Whose sinnes yee shall forgiue they are forgiuen to wit euen then when they remit them and not that they were remitted before as he should haue said if he had giuen them authority only to declare them to be remitted Thirdly the metaphor of keyes giuen vnto them doth demonstrate that power was giuen them to absolue and not to declare only they were absolued because keyes are giuen to open or shut dores and not to signifie that eyther the dores are already open or shall be vpon condition Lastly the Ministers pronouncing of men absolued should be very rash and friuolous if they doe not truly absolue them For if he pronounce them absolutely to be absolued without good assurance of their faith repentance he should but lie and if he doe pronounce them absolued conditionally if they beleeue aright and be truly penitent then vvere his absolution in vaine for it depending vpon their faith and repentance and not vpon the Ministers pronouncing it bringeth no further assurance then they had before yea they themselues being of the faithfull could not be ignorant of so much before to wit that he was free from sinne and needed not his absolution Nowe that the Apostles then and Bishops and Priests their successours euer sithence did truly absolue men from their sinnes and were not like to cryers only proclaymers thereof see first S. Chrysostome who saith That such power was giuen here to men Lib. 3. de Sacerdot which God would neuer giue to Angels who yet had power to pronounce saluation to penitent sinners Secondly That Priestes haue such power of binding and loosing ouer the soules as Kinges haue ouer their subjects bodyes vvhich is truly to binde or to loose them and not only to declare them bound or loosed Thirdly he saith expresly That the Priestes among the Iewes had power to purge the leprosie or rather to try whether they were purged from it or no but it is graunted vnto our Priestes not only to discerne whether the body be purged from leprosie or no but playnely to purge our soules from the filth of sinne S. Ambrose in diuers places proueth directly against the Nouatians that Christ gaue power to Priestes to remit sinnes Lib. 1. de Poenitent c. 2. 7. The Nouatians denyed not but that one might preach the Gospell vnto such sinners that vvere relapsed and promise them pardon too if they repented but would not haue the Priests to reconcile them vnto the Church by the Sacrament of Penance denying that Priestes had any such power ouer such sinners but that they must leaue them to God alone vvhich the holy Doctor confuteth by these places of Scripture Math. 16. vers 19. cap. 18. vers 18. Ioh. 20. vers 23. Whatsoeuer yee forgiue in earth shall be forgiuen in heauen Epist ad Heliodor S. Hierome saith God forbidde that I should speake any euill of them who succeeding in the Apostolike degree doe with their sacred mouth make the body of Christ and by whome we are made Christians who hauing the keyes of the Kingdome of heauen doe in a certayne manner judge before the day of judgement Lib. 20. de ciuit c. 9. S. Augustine doth define in these wordes Whatsoeuer yee shall binde vpon earth shal be bound in heauen that authority is giuen vnto the rulers of the Church to judge in spirituall causes and not only to declare Hom. 62. in Euang. S. Gregory vpon these vvordes Whose sinnes you forgiue c. Behold saith he the Apostles are not only made secure of themselues but haue power giuen them to release other mens handes and doe obtayne a prerogatiue of the heauenly judgement that in Gods steede they may forgiue to some their sinnes and binde some others and truly the Bishops nowe doe hold the same place in the Church they receiue authority to binde and to loose c. By this you may see in part vvith what fore-head M. PERKINS affirmed that for a thousand yeares after Christ there was no mention of the Sacrament of Penance and more you shall see shortly if that first I shall note out of the Scripture it selfe both the acknowledgement of receite of that power to reconcile and absolue and the practise and commandement of confession S. Paul acknowledgeth and declareth 2. Cor. 5. vers 18. 20. that God had giuen vnto them the ministery of reconciliation and addeth that they be Gods Legates and therefore exhorteth them to be reconciled but they that be sent Ambassadours vvith full commission to reconcile men vnto their Prince must knowe both howe grieuously they haue offended and what recompence they are willing to make vvhich must needes be by their owne confession Nowe for the practise of confession by the first Christians Act. 19. vers 18. 19. it is recorded That many of the faithfull came confessing and declaring their deedes and many that had followed curious actes brought their bookes and burned them in the presence of al the rest Note here both particular confession made vnto S. Paul of the seuerall deedes and factes and not in generall that they vvere sinners as the very vvordes doe witnesse Confessing their deedes that is vvhat they had done in particular And againe howe should he haue knowne their study of curious bookes if they had not told their sinnes in particular some Protestants conuinced by the text say That they confessed some of their sinnes in particular but not all But I meruaile how they came by the knowledge of that for vvhy should they confesse some more then others and the vse of Scriptures is by the naming of sinnes indefinitely to signifie all as when we pray Forgiue vs our sinnes we meane all our sinnes and when it is said of Christ He shall saue his people from their sinnes it is meant that he shall saue them not from some of their sinnes but from al. Lastly touching the commandement S. Iames doth charge vs a Iac.
5. vers 16. To confesse our sinnes one to another vvhich b Hom. 2. in Leuiticum Origen c L. 3. de Sacerdot S. Chrysostome and d Lib. 50. Homiliar hom 12. S. Augustine doe expound to be meant of particular confession to the Priest And S. Bede vpon that place saith In this sentence that discretion is to be vsed that for dayly and light offences we may confesse vnto such our equals by whose prayers we trust to be helped but the vncleannesse of the more grieuous leper we must as it is in the lawe lay open to the Priest and according to his judgement we must endeauour to be purged so much and so long time as he shall command Caluin saith that S. Iames speaketh of such confession only which euery one is to make vnto his brother whome he hath offended and confirmeth it because it followeth in the text And pray one for another But that vvhich goeth before of calling the Priest to the sicke-man to anoint him doth rather argue that it is spoken of confession to be made to the Priest if the sicke-man remember any mortall sinnes for it is not enough to haue the Priest to pray for the sicke and to anoile him if the sicke be in state of mortall sinnes vnlesse he first confesse himselfe of them he cannot be absolued from them nor vvorthylie receiue Extreame Vnction And as other such like places are expounded as for example 1. Pet. 4. vers 9. Rom. 12. vers 6. Vse hospitality one towardes another euery one as he hath receiued grace ministring the same one toward another vvhich is not let the poore vse hospitality as well toward the rich as the rich toward the poore and the sicke cure the physition as vvell as the physition to cure the sicke But vse hospitality one toward another that is those that be vvell able towardes them that haue neede euen so confesse one to another that is he that hath sinned to him that hath authority to absolue him Nowe let vs heare howe auncient this confession is and vvhether it vvere heard off for a thousand yeares after Christ S. Ireneus vvho liued in the next age after the Apostles L. 1. coÌ„t Haeres cap. 9. Lib. de Poenitent maketh mention of certayne noble Women whome Heretikes had pittifully abused and saith That they comming to repentance made a confession of their faultes Tertullian of the same age reprehendeth some certayne Who more fearefull as he speaketh of their owne shame then carefull of their saluation put off their confessions from day to day whome he likeneth to them who had diseases in their secret partes and fearing to discouer them to the physition doe through their owne shamefastnesse perish And in the end of the booke he saith That this confession of faultes was appointed by our Lord himselfe Homil. 2. in Leuit. Origen There is also a seauenth remission of sinnes though hard and laborious which is by penance when the sinner doth wash his bedde with his teares and when he is not ashamed to confesse his sinne to the Priest of our Lord and to seeke remedy c. Lib. 3. Epist 16. S. Cyprian When in lesser offences penance is to be done a just time and confession is to be made his life being looked into who doth the penance neyther can he be admitted to come to the communion before the Bishop or Clergy haue laid their handes vpon him how much more in these most grieuous and exceeding great crimes must all thinges be warylie and discretly obserued according vnto our Lordes order and discipline Serm. 5. de lapsis Againe Of howe much greater faith and better feare are they who though tâ—â—y be not entangled with any crime of sacrifice or libell yet because they thought of those offences doe simply and sorrowfully confesse them selues euen of those thoughts vnto the Priestes of God Serm. in illa verba S. Athanasius vpon these vvordes Going into a Village yee shall finde a Colt tyed saith Let vs examine our selues whether the fetters of our sinnes be loosed that we may amend our liues and if they be not yet loosed let vs present our selues vnto the Disciples of IESVS For they are present that by authority which they haue receiued from our Sauiour can loose you Math. 18. vers 18. Ioh. 20. vers 23. Regula 228. Oratione in mulierem peccatricem for he said Whatsoeuer yee binde vpon earth shall be bound in heauen and vvhatsoeuer yee loose on earth shall be loosed in heauen And whose sinnes yee forgiue they are forgiuen S. Basil Of necessity must we confesse our sinnes to them vnto whome the dispensation of the mysteries of God is committed that is to Priestes S. Gregory Nyssene Doe thou confidently open to the Priest thy faultes discouer the secrets of thy hart as priuy woundes vnto the physition and he will haue care both of thy honour and of thy health S. Ambrose when he did heare men that came to him to receiue penance and to confesse their faultes as very many came to him therefore he did so vveepe that he constrayned them also to vveepe as vvitnesseth holy Paulinus in his life In cap. 10. Ecclesiast S. Hierome If that serpent the Deuill haue bitten any man secretly and haue venimed him without the priuity of any man if he that was strooken hold his peace and doe not penance nor will confesse his wound vnto his Brother and Master his Master that hath a tongue to cure and heale him cannot easily helpe him for if he that is sicke be ashamed to shew his wound vnto the physition physicke cannot cure that which it knoweth not And vpon the 16. of S. Mathewe he specifieth those Masters that had tongues to heale saying So here the Bishop and Priestes doe eyther binde or loose who according to their office hauing heard the variety of sinne doth knowe who is to be bound and who is to be absolued S. Augustine Be sorrowfull before confession In psal 66. but when thou hast confessed leape for joy euen then thou shalt be cured the conscience of him that doth not goe to confession hath gathered together corrupt matter an imposthume is swelled out it vexeth him and giueth him no rest the Physitions apply the lenitiue of wordes and sometimes launce him c. Doe thou put thy selfe into the handes of the Physition confesse and let all that corrupt matter issue forth in confession and then rejoyce and be gladde for the rest shall afterward be easily cured That Priests be these Physitions of soules he teacheth Lib. 50. homiliarum hom 12. Item tract 49. super Iohan. Con. 2. in Psal 101. Tract 22. in Iohan. hom 49. Lib. 50. hom Doe penance such as is done in the Church of God let no man say I doe penance secretly I doe it to God God knoweth that I doe it who doth pardon it To whome he replyeth thus Then in vayne was
first and not so perfect as the last but it is a more speedy and ready vvay to the later and consisteth in the obseruation of some suâ—h extraordinary vvorkes that be not commanded of God as necessary to saluation but commended as thinges of more excellency and left vnto our free choise vvhether vve vvill vndertake them or no. For example God forbiddeth vs to commit adultery but he doth not command vs to professe virginity and to liue alwaies a single life the vvhich yet he recommendeth and exhorteth vs to embrace saying Math. 19. vers 12. Ibidem vers 21. There be some that make themselues Eunuches for the Kingdome of heauen adding He that can take it let him take it so he forbiddeth to steale but counsaileth only to sell all we haue and to giue it to the poore and to followe him Out of which and the like places of holy Scriptures we gather that there be diuers blessed good vvorkes vvhich are not commanded by any precept yet counsailed and perswaded as thinges of greater perfection which are also called workes of supererogation by a name taken from these vvordes Lucae 10. vers 35. Quicquid supererogaueris vvhere the good Samaritane told the Inne-Keeper that whatsoeuer he should lay out ouer and besides that vvhich he had giuen him should be repayed him at his retourne These vvorkes of perfection and supererogation the Protestants may not abide in shewe forsooth of profound humility because all that we can doe is nothing in respect of that which we ought to doe but in deede vpon enuy and malice towardes religious men and women the lustre and fame of whose singuler vertue doth mightily obscure and disgrace their fleshly and base conuersation vvho commonly passe not the vulgar sort in any other thing but in tongue and habit M. PERKINS in his second conclusion alloweth only vnto our Sauiour Christ workes of supererogation because he alone fulfilled the lawe wherefore saith he his death was more then the lawe could require at his handes being innocent But if I lifted to take aduantages as he offereth them I could tell him that although the lawe could exact nothing at Christes handes hee being God and aboue the lawe yet al that euer Christ did was commanded him by his Father and therefore by a certaine vncertaine rule of M. PER. to wit That no worke commanded can be a worke of supererogation he could not doe any worke of supererogation being bound to doe all he did by commandement of his heauenly Father whome he was bound to obey But to come to the point of our difference we hold that there be many workes of perfection vnto which no man is bound neuerthelesse whosoeuer shall performe any of them they shall haue a greater crowne of glory in heauen for their reward M. PER. goeth about to disproue it by prouing that no man can fulfill the lawe of God in this life much lesse doe workes of supererogation I say that he taketh not a direct course to improue our position For albeit a man could not fulfil that law yet may he doe many of those workes of perfection for a man may lead a chaste life yet sometime in a passion fall out with his neighbour and hurt him in word or deede or sweare and so offend in choller for this sometime hapneth and then the workes of perfection not commanded being done by such a one may the sooner purchase him pardon and be great helpes to him towardes the fulfilling of the lawe wherefore Master PERKINS erreth in the very foundation of his proofes notwithstanding we will heare his arguments because they serue to fortifie an other odde sconce or bulwarke of their heresie to wit That it is impossible to keepe Gods Commandements The first he propoundeth in this sort In the morall lawe two thinges are commanded first the loue of God and man secondly the manner of this loue Nowe the manner of louing of God is to loue him with all our hart and strength Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God Lucae 10. vers 27. with all thy hart and with all thy soule and with all thy strength and with all thy thoughts c. As Bernard said The measure of louing God is to loue him without measure and that is to loue him with the greatest perfection of loue that can befall a creature Hence it followeth that in louing God no man can posssibly doe more then the lawe requireth and therefore the performance of all vowes and of all other duties come to short of the intention and scope of the lawe Answere To loue God with all our hart and strength c. may be vnderstood in two sorts The first is to loue him so intirely that we loue no other thing with him in any such degree as may not well stand with his loue and also that in Gods seruice when his honour shal so require we are ready to imploy our vvhole strength hart and life and in this sence euery good Christian doth loue God with all his hart and may doe besides his bounden duty therein many other good vvorkes because the precept being affirmatiue doth not binde for all times but only nowe and then when occasion so requireth Secondly the wordes may be taken to signifie that we should alwayes with all the powers of both body and minde and that at the vttermost straine loue honour and serue God and so taken it is fulfilled in heauen but cannot be performed on earth by any mortall creature with ordinary grace because we must sleepe and eate sometimes and doe many other thinges besides though not contrary to the same loue In the first sence we are commanded to loue God with all our hart c. And in the second it is no commandement but only a marke for vs to ayme and leuell at but no man vnder sinne is bound to attayne vnto it To that of S. Bernard I answere that to loue God as much as he is to be loued is to loue him infinitly which none can doe but only God himselfe If he meane that we must loue God without measure then he is to be vnderstood that in the loue of God there be not as in the matter of other vertues two extreamities too little and too much only there may be too little but there cannot be too much yet there is a certaine measure or degree to which euery one is bound to attaine whither if he haue gotten he loueth God with all his hart as before hath beene declared Now beyond that degree the perfecter sort of Christians doe mount and so much the more by howe much they doe proceede in that perfection yet in this life they can neuer attaine to loue God so feruently and so perfectly but that they may alwaies encrease and loue him more and more so there is not a prefixed meere-stone or limit of louing God in which sence only we may truly say that God is to be loued without measure but that
a Sacrament that euen in Christes owne dayes and by himselfe it was instituted a Sacrament M. PERKINS objecteth for vs It will be said that remissions of sinnes and life euerlasting are promised to repentance and answereth That it is not to the worke of repentance but to the person which repenteth and that not for his works of repentance but for the merits of Christ applyed vnto him by faith Reply When there is no mention made of faith but only of repentance to attribute all to faith and nothing to repentance is a very extrauagant glosse specially he doing it of his owne authority without warrant eyther of reason or of any authour and thus much of the abuses forsooth of repentance in generall Nowe to the particular about Contrition Confession and Satisfaction The first abuse concerning contrition is that the Catholikes teach that it must be sufficient and perfect they vse to helpe the matter by a distinction c. O remarkeable abuse that Catholikes vvould haue contrition to be sufficient and perfect If vve vvould haue had it imperfect and not fit to serue the turne then loe we had hitte the nayle on the head what dotage is this vve say briefly concerning sorrowe for our sinnes past first that it ought to be the greatest that we can haue for nothing is vvorthy to be so vehemently lamented as that vve haue deadly offended our creatour and redeemer and are fallen from his grace into the slauery of our most deadly enemy the Deuill so that for this as for the greatest euill that could be fall vs we are to be most sorrowfull And this highest degree of sorrowe is requisite in contritio◠vvhen thereby alone vve doe recouer the grace of God but vvhen Contrition is joyned vvith Confession and is made a part of the Sacrament then loe though it vvere not so great before as is otherwise requisite it receiueth by vertue of participating with Christes grace in that Sacrament the full measure of sorrowe and so is made vp sufficient and perfect vvhich M. PER calleth the first abuse of Contrition but goeth not about to disproue it The second as he saith is that we ascribe to Contrition the merit of congruity Before he sticked not to say that vve made repentance the meritorious cause of remission of sinnes vvhich vvas a loude lie because vve teach that no man can merit remission of his sinnes for no man can merit ought at Gods handes vnlesse he first be in his grace and fauour vvhich no sinner is vvherefore we hold only that repentance as faith hope and a purpose of amendment be only good dispositions making the man fit and apt to receiue the grace of justification vvhich God freely of his infinite mercy without any desert of ours bestoweth vpon vs only for Christes sake That apt disposition some men call merit of congruity vvherein is no desert of the grace giuen but only a man is made thereby more meete and better prepared to receiue such grace Nowe mans merits doe so vvell agree and stand vvith Christes merits that Christes order is that none comming to the age of discretion shall be partaker of his merits vnlesse he by his owne merits doe make himselfe capable of them as hath beene sufficiently proued before in the question of Merits The third abuse That they make imperfect contrition or attrition arising of the feare of hell to be good and profitable and to it they apply the saying of the Prophet The feare of God is the beginning of wisdome But saith he seruile feare of it selfe is the way to eternall destruction c. Reply He vnderstandeth not what we say we teach that feare of being punished in hell fire maketh euill men abstaine from sinning and beginneth to put them in minde of Gods justice towardes impenitent sinners vvherewith many being strooken vvith the horrour of that euerlasting torment are moued to flie vnto God for mercy and so that seruile feare becommeth profitable vnto them first in that it causeth them to abstaine from that vvickednesse vvhich they vvould otherwise haue committed and then being helped with Gods grace they beginne to turne vnto his mercy and so feare of Gods punishments becōmeth vnto them the beginning of wisdome Thus much in effect doth M. PER. himselfe allowe of and yet vvould seeme to confute it his judgement is so slender Nowe to the abuses concerning Confession The first abuse That we confesse our sinnes to God in an vnknowne language What is there any language vnknowne to God or doth he meane that the vnlearned make their confession in Latin which is impossible for a man that vnderstandeth not one Latin vvord He vvould say I gheste that some of them begin their generall confession in Latin but we speake here of euery mans confession in particular that general of the Churches ordinance is commanded only to be vsed of them that are skilfull in the Latin tongue all others may vse the English Withall saith he we require the ayde and intercession of dead men We beleeue the Saints to be liuing which if he doth not he blasphemeth Touching the intercession of Saints I haue treated before Nowe as we request the helpe of their prayers so doe we acknoweledge vnto them howe grieuously vve haue offended that they seing our humility and sorrowe for our sinnes may the more earnestly entreate for the remission of them But let vs come vnto the principall point in controuersie about this matter viz. That we haue corrupted Canonicall confession by turning it into a priuate auricular confession binding all men to confesse all their mortall sinnes with the circumstances that change the kinde of the sinne as farre as they can remember once euery yeare at the least and that to a Priest vnlesse it be in the case of extreame necessity but in the word of God there is no warrant for this confession nor in the writinges of orthodoxe antiquity for the space of many hundreth yeares after Christ as one of their owne side auoucheth and he quoteth in the margent a man of small credit among vs Beatus Rhenanus for his authour Well let vs see a little vvhat warrant we haue in holy Scriptures and in the auncient Doctors for confession of our faultes vnto a Priest First it is euidently collected out of these wordes of our Sauiour Receiue the holy Ghost Ioh. 20. vers 23. whose sinnes yee doe forgiue in earth they shall be forgiuen in heauen and whose sinnes yee doe retayne they shall be retayned For giuing his Apostles power to remit and forgiue men their sinnes his meaning vvas not that they should pardon them whether they would or would not or that they should absolue any other then such as vvere contrite and did humbly craue absolution neyther should they absolue them from they knewe not of what but that they should knowe vvhat howe many and howe grieuous their offences were that they might be put to worthy penance and receiue particular comfort and counsell