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A15508	Charity mistaken, with the want whereof, Catholickes are vniustly charged for affirming, as they do with grief, that Protestancy vnrepented destroies salvation.	Knott, Edward, 1582-1656.; Matthew, Tobie, Sir, 1577-1655, attributed author.; Potter, Christopher, 1591-1646.; Potter, Christopher, 1591-1646. Want of charitie justly charged.	1630 (1630)	STC 25774; ESTC S102197	54,556	140

making euery toy to be Fūdamentall Where by the way he takes his pleasure vpon vs sayes that we Papists will not let Protestants be saued though they belieue the same Creede and the same faith with vs vnles withall they will belieue the same Mathematicks and gouerne thēselues by the same Kalēders which to omit other poornesses of his was soe weake and meane a iest so misbecoming of that Audience and of the place he helde as being fitter indeed for some Ordinary thē for a Chappel or Church and withall so very vntrue if he were in earnest that vnles the pride of his owne conceit had raised vp a dust to put out his eyes he could not but haue seene the senselesnes of what he said euen whilest he was speaking since we the Romane Catholickes in this kingdome do rather gouerne our selues at this day by the lesse perfect Kalender which now is vsed in this place then by the other which is both the better euen by the iudgment of learned Protestants is authorized by the Catholicke Church abroade Letting he world see thereby how willingly we can accommodate to them in all things which belong not meerely to Religion But Maister Doctour forgot himselfe worse shortly after For hauing grauely admonished mē before not to account things arbitrary to be necessary nor to call superstructions foundations nor to esteeme that euery little thing in Religion should be able to depriue a man of saluation he takes the paynes to wipe out with a wet finger the whole substance and drifte of all his owne discourse by saying to his effect That differēce in beliefe in points which are not very important is not to preiudice a mans saluation vnles by not belieuing them he commit a disobedience with all for saith he Obedience indeede is of the Essence of Religion Which vpon the whole matter is the very thing we say and the very thing whereby he crosses the whole scope of his owne sermon For if a mans disobediēce to the proposition and direction of the Church concerning an inferiour point of Doctrine do impugne the very essense of Religion it will follow that their distinctiō of points Fundamentall or not Fundamentall wherby they would inferre that a man can not loose his saluation but for misbelief in some few mayne points of Religion and not in the rest is absurd and vaine and detractiue both of Doctour Dunnes Doctrine last mentioned and of their owne obiection of vncharitablenes against vs for saying that men dying in different Religions cannot be saued And withall that this distinction will not secure them from committing the crime of separation from the Church of Christ our Lord and in swaruing from the directions thereof in which case all the Doctrines of the Church are found to be Fundamentall towards saluation And this shall serue for a dischardge both of what they obiect against our vnitie in faith and of what they alleadge in the behalfe of theirs And in the meane time I conceaue that I haue also sufficiently secured and settled those two mayne groundes vpon which this whole discourse is turned Namely first that there is but one true faith and one true Religion and Church out of which there is no saluation and secondly that both Catholickes and Protestants can not possible be accounted to be of that one Religion Church Faith And now for the finall proofe of this last point according euen to their practise as well as ours let my Reader but looke vpon the body of their lawes made against vs and especially vpon the Preambles thereof wherein they plentifully shew how hatefull an opinion they haue of our Church Let him looke vpon the seuerall Acts of State which haue issued from my Lords of the Counsell Let him looke vpō the proclamatiōs which haue beene made and published from time to time Let him looke vpon the large cōmissions which haue beene granted to Pursiuants whereby that scume of the world hath been and is enabled both to ransome ransacke vs at their pleasure Let him looke vpon those speeches which haue been vttered in both houses of Parliament not only against the professours but euen the profession it selfe of our Religion and how his most excellent Maiesty hath been importuned by their Petitions to add more weight to our miseries for thus it will easily be seene how false how rotten how superstitions how Idolatrous how detestable how damnable and euen destructiue of all truth and goodnes they professe themselues to esteeme our Religiō and in fine that we carry such a marke of the Beast in our foreheads as must needs in their opinion shut vp the gates of Heauen against vs and set open the iawes of Hell to deuoure and swallowe vs vp So that certainely we are no more of one Church with them in their opinion then they are of one with vs in ours And now there will remaine noe more but a short Recapitulation of what hath been deliuered more at large for the finishing of this discourse to which I will now betake my selfe A recapitulatiō of the whole discourse wherin it followes vpon the confession of both parties that the Catholickes and the Protestants are not both of them saueable in their seuerall Religions without repentance thereof before they dy and that Catholickes must therefore be no longer held vncharitable for saying so but those Protestants are shewed to be Libertines who say the contrary CHAPTER X. SInce the Faith Religion Church hath beene prooued both by Scriptures and Fathers as also by vnanswearable reasons which haue beene drawne both from the very groundes of true Faith and from the nature and spirit of Heresy and Schisme and finally by the Confession of both parties to be but only one and that out of that one there is noe saluation to be obtayned Since the difference concerning the Doctrine of faith betweene Catholickes Protestants are so many so important and so resolutely maintained cōcerning both the Canon of Scriptures the number nature of Sacraments the authority of traditions the supreme Iudge of Cōtrouersies the visible heade of the Church the iustification of ouer soules the valewe of our good workes the liberty of our will the possibility of keeping the Commandements the relations which runne betweene the men of this life on the one side and both the soules in Purgatory and the Saints in Heauen on the other Since besides our differences in points of Doctrine we swarue also from one an other in points of discipline and haue separated our selues haue mutually excōmunicated one another Since we hold them to liue in heresie and schisme and they vs in affected ignorance grosse superstition and Idolatry and are dayly making Sermons and bookes and edicts and lawes against one another it is certaine that either both they and we must not be saued if we dy vnrepētant of our seuerall Religions or else that the whole world hath beene in a dreame of three thousand yeares old euer

CHARITY MISTAKEN WITH THE WANT WHEREOF Catholickes are vniustly charged for affirming as they do with grief that Protestancy vnrepented destroies SALVATION Printed with Licence Anno 1630. PREFACE HAVING obserued the liberty which men are growne to take in not holding it ne-necessary to belieue that any one Religion is precisely true that for the excusing of themselues from blame they thinke fit to lay the fault on others as being too strict in approuing and vpholding only one I haue thought fit to imply some of my houres vpon examining how much or little reason they haue in a case of this high importance either to bragge of their owne charity or to impeach the opiniō of ours And therefore I shall humbly pray all my Protestant Readers to bring attention without passion to the perusall of this ensuing discourse wherein I will hope they shall meet with cause to be as good to themselues as I wish or at least to giue ouer mistaking vs though perhaps they shall not care to mend themselues But certainly if there be any such thing as Heauen and God and Christ and Faith and Church that indeed there be but one not only shall they be miserable men in the next life vvho apply not thēselues intirely to the beliefe of that and that alone but they shall euen in this vvorld be vvorthily held ignorant and imprudent vvho taxe men as vncharitable for nothing but because they approue not many For let that vvhich follovveth be vvell vveighed and they vvill see that not only Catholickes affirme this truth but that the beliefe there of is also auowed both by the practise and principles of the chief Protestants themselues in their vvritings hovvsoeuer the contrary discourse raigneth too much in the minds and mouths of particular men of that profession vvho haue many times so much of the good fellovv that they haue too little of the good Christian But I remit my selfe to that vvich follovves vvhich againe I recommend to the Reader THAT CATHOLICKS ARE both improbably and vniustly charged with lacke of Charity for affirming that Protestancy vnrepented destroyes saluation CHAPTER I. IF it be a part of honour and iustice for a Cauallier of this world to defend the rights of the oppressed and to contribute if there be cause with particular care towards the protection and defense of some excellent but afflicted Lady whose fame were blasted by the ill tōgues of men how much more iust and honourable will it be for a Catholike who in this time and place may well goe for a Cauallier of Christ to defend the honour and fame of his Lady and Mother which is the holy Catholicke Church Shee being so innocent as the immaculate Spouse of Christ our Lord ought to be and yet with all so much wronged as to be taxed for wanting the very wedding ringe and the nuptiall to be it selfe of Charity whereby shee is best distinguished from all pretenders to that Mariage bed and most euidently marked out to be that very Spouse which indeed shee is For that the abounding in Charity should be the distinctiue signe of the Church of Christ our Lord from euery other congregation vpon earth he did by the Oracle of his owne blessed mouth declare expressely vpon record when speaking to the same Spouse of his in the persō of his disciples he sayd thus By this shal all men know Euan. Io. c. 13. whether you be my disciples or no if you loue one another And least by occasion of these words a man might chance to thinke that the Church were only bound to loue her owne children and consequently that Catholicks were but obliged to mainteine Charity towards their fellow Catholicks our Lord did elswhere teach vs that we were not only to loue our friends but our enemyes also by his owne example of bestowing his sunne Matt. c. 5. and rayne not only vpon the iust but vpon the vniust also and that it was to be a signe of a true Pastour if he were ready euen to lay downe his life for his slocke Ioh. 10. whereby in this case the spirituall good of no lesse thē the whole world is to be vnderstood So that to charge the Catholicke Church that shee proceeds vncharitably towards Protestants and that so far as through the want thereof to censure and condemne them to the paynes of hell is as good as hath bene said as to tell her to her teeth that she is but a harlot and strumpet and not indeed the Spouse of Christ as she pretends And now therefore I as a childe though an vnworthy one of this Church feeling the affront which his mother vndergoes vpon this occasiō will procure to remoue it the best I can and in the first place to shew how improbable the slander is and in the second place how vntrue First then at the very first fight it is wholy improbable euen supposing that the Catholicke Church should vniustly vntruly hold as shee is charged by her aduersaries to doe that Protestancy vnrepented destroyes saluation that yet this should be affirmed by her through want of Charity and not rather vpon some other motiue namely error in iudgment indiscreet zeale of soules immoderate feare of the iustice of God or the like For to see the holy Catholicke Church dissolue and euen as it were defeate her selfe of her very selfe for the acquiring of all imaginable both temporall and eternall blessing to mankinde then yet to say that because shee wants Charity shee will not allow men of different Religions a place in heauen where yet there is roome inough for all the world doth stampe the marke of absurdity vpon the very front of the proposition euen whilest it is deliuered Now to see that this Catholicke Church is after a most eminent manner so expressiue diffusiue of her selfe towards the good of others as hath bene sayd a man needes no more but to haue eyes in his head for the truth thereof is not only to be euicted by reason but it lies subiect euen to common sence and to the obseruation of euery ordinary looker on For what kinde of creature is there of what condition what sex what age whom the Catholicke Church doth not striue to wrap vp in the bowels of her pitty how restles is that solicitude wherwith shee doth it As soon as any childe is borne shee considering the precise necessity of Baptisme will be sure to initiate him with that Sacrament wherin other Religions are farre more remisse When he growes vp to yeares of discretion shee strengthēs him with the Sacrament of Conformation When shee findes him once to haue drunke of the poysoned cup of actual sin shee striues to make him cast it vp againe by the Sacrament of Confession and Penance To the end that he may not only enioy some proportion of health but be able to stand out and grow and passe on with strength and comfort shee feedes him from time to time

naturally prooued that this Church is enriched with those very qualities and markes which are auowed by vs her children contested by the aduersaries thereof as namely with a perpetuall visibility or els he had giuen vs a commaunde which it were not possible for vs to obey For how should we at all times find out and consulte our difficulties and manifest our cōplaints to that Church which at all times could not be seene by the eyes of men with a most certaine infallibility For otherwise a man might perish for beleeuing and professing false doctrines through his obedience to the cōmaundant of Christ our Lord in submitting to an erring Church But especially which makes most to our purpose the entire vnity of the Church is prooued here by the exact obedience which we are obliged to exhibite to the same Church For els if there might be two seuerall true Churches dissenting from one another they might holde me for a Publican and Pagan if I did not obey them both which were impossible for me to doe they cōmaunding contrary things And if one of thē dissented from the other I must be tossed betwixt two damnations For if I should obey that true Church erring I should incurre damnation by obeying her and by embracing and persisting in her errours yet if I should not obey her I should incurre damnation by the expresse sētēce of Christ our Lord himselfe who appoints me to be held a Pagan if I obey her not And this shall suffice for this Chapter wherein we may haue seen what holy Scripture saith to this question and in the next we shall find that the Fathers of the Primitiue Church who follow it as their guide will not fayle to vtter the same voice The expresse vnity of the Church is prooued by the authority of the Fathers of the most primitiue times CHAPTER IIII. THe holy Fathers in the most primitiue times who are iustly called Fathers and reuerenced as such by vs were yet withall most obedient and humble children to the holy Catholicke Church of their time and so treading in those very steps which had beene traced out for them by the holy Ghost in holy Scripture they haue shewed many wayes how they beleeued and knewe that there was but one true Church and that the perfect vnity thereof was to be so very carefully maintained as that whosoeuer broke it must euerlastingly perish I say they haue shewed many wayes what their dictamen was herein for some of thē haue writtē whole books expresly and to no other end at all but to prooue the necessity of vnity in the Church of Christ our Lord as namely S. Cyprian and S. Augustine Others haue written framed expresse Catalogues of all the heresyes which had risen in the Church of Christ our Lord from his Ascensiō to heauē til their own time expresly shewing hereby that both the vnity of the Church was directly broken by the obstinate beliefe of any one doctrine which was held in disobedience to the same Church and withall that whosoeuer did so breake it must forfet the saluatiō of his soule thereby And this was doone by S. Epiphanius Bishop of Cyprus by Philastrius Bishop of Brescia both who are cited to this purpose by the incomparable S. Augustine in his treatise de heresibus ad Quod vult Deū Where himself also maks an exact Catalogue of all the heresies which had sprung vntill his time and where by the way I must needs obserue in a word that he recoūts diuers heresies which are held by the Protestāt Church at this day and particularly that of denying prayers and sacrifices for the dead and then he concludes in the end that whosoeuer should hold any one of them were not Christian Catholick Besides this way of proofe concerning the vnity of the Church I will also cite the Fathers who are full of expresse and positiue texts whereby vpon occasion they proue the vnity of the Church and I will begin with S. Ireneus who discourses thus Lib. 1. cap. 3. Hac praedicatione c. The Church hauing receiued this word preached and this faith as was shewed before and hauing spred the same ouer the whole world doth diligently preserue it as inhabiting one house and doth likewise beleeue those thinges which are taught thereby as hauing one soule one heart in the same conformity she preaches and teaches deliuers it as indeed possessing but one mouth For though there be in the world different expressions tongues yet the vertue and power of Tradition is but one and the same And neither those Churches which are found in Germany nor those others in Spaine nor those in France nor they which are in the Easterne parts nor they which are in Egypt nor they which are in Libya nor they which ar setled in the middle parts of the world doe beleeue or make traditiō of doctrine any otherwise in one place thē in another But as that creature of God the Sunne is one and the same in the whole world so is the preaching of the truth a light which shews euery wheare and illuminates all men who will come to the knowledge of the truth And those Prelates of Churches who haue most power and grace of speache will deliuer no other things but these For noe man is aboue his maister neither will such an one as hath meaner talents in speach make this doctrine and Tradition lesse but since Faith is but one and the same neither doth he inlarge it who is able to speake much of it nor that other diminish it whoe speakes lesse De praescrip aduer Haeret Valentinus c. Tertullian shewes plainly that whosoeuer denyes any one doctrine of the Church reiecteth all for thus he sayeth vpon occasion Valentinus approueth some things of the law and the Prophets some things be disavowes that is be disallowes all whilest he approues some And the same Tertullian De praescrip c. 8. Caeterū multos c. doth also elswhere in the same booke inferre the truth of Catholicke doctrine by the exacte vnity thereof whilest he sayth after this manner Quod apud multos c. That which is found to be one amongst soe many is not to be thought to haue crept in by errour but to haue beene recommended by Tradition S. Cirill Patriarche of Ierusalem Catech. 18. assigning reasons why the Church of Christ our Lord is called Catholicke doth excellently giue this one amongst the rest Quia docet Catholicè id est vniuersaliter c Because she teacheth Catholickely that is to say vniuersally and without any defect or difference all those doctrines which ought to be knowne concerning things either visible or inuisible celestiall or terrestriall S. Cyprian in his booke de vnitate Ecclesiae sayeth thus Ecclesia Domini luce perfusa c. of the vnity of the Church The Church being stroken through by the light of our Lord doth sende her beams throughout the whole

world but yet that light which is cast so far abroad is but one and the same she spreads her brannches ouer the whole earth after a plentifull manner she extendes her flowing streames with greate abundance to a great distance but yet is she one head and one roote and one mother who is fruitfull by such store of issue Lib. 1. Epist 6. The same Saint also speaking of the sin of Core Dathan and Abiron implies that the one Church must not only be entirely belieued but followed also in all her doctrines and directions For he saieth that though Core Dathan and Abiron did belieue and worship one God and liued in the same law and religion with Moyses and Aaron yet because they deuided thēselues from the rest by Schisme resisting their gouernours and Priests they were swallowed vp quick into hell S. Basile puts such a value vpon the absolute integrity of all the whole Christian Doctrine which declares what he belieued concerning the necessity of vnity in the Church as to expresse himselfe after this manner S. Basil apud Theodoret l. 4. hist c. 17. Qui in sacris litteris c. They who are well instructed in holy writ permit not one syllable of diuine doctrine to be betrayed or yeelded vp but are willing to embrace any kind of death for the defence thereof if neede require That man of God had beene solicited by some to relent for a time and to yeeld though it were but to a litle he refused in such sort as you haue seene he did it much disdaine to be attēted in that kind S. Gregory Nanzianzene speaking of Hereticks who doe all breake the vnity of the Church seemes yet to apprehend them to be worste of all who whilest indeed they breake it Greg. Nazian Tract de fide Nihil periculosius c Lib. Apo cont Ruff. Propter vnū c. doe yet seeme to doe it least because so they will hardliest be perceaued And he deliuers himselfe in these words Nothing can be more dangerous then those Heretikes who whē they runne streight through all the rest doe yet with one word as with some drop of poison infect the true and sincere faith of our Lord. S. Hierome shewes that the vnity of the Church and faith thereof must be so perfect as that for some one word or two contrary to the same many heresies haue been caste out of the Church And S. Leo saith that out of the Catholicke Church there is nothing pure according to that of the Apostle whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne and els where he saith also If it be not one it is no faith at all Cōcerning this one Church S. Augustine is also most expresse cleere For when the Donatists saith he calumniated the Catholickes In Breui collat collat dici tertiae as affirming that there were two Churches one vpon earth which contained both the good and bad and the other in heauen which contained none but good the Catholicks made them this answere That they did not make two Churches but did only distinguish the two times of the Church saying that the same One only Church was in one state now and was hereafter to be in an other that now it had a mixture of euill men but that hereafter it should haue none iust so as there are not therefore two Christs because once he could dye and now he can dye no more And thus the Catholickes refuted that slaunder which the Donatists had layed vpō thē expresly shewing what they had formerly sayed namely that there was but One and the same holy Catholicke Church And to shewe more ouer by the iudgmēt of S. Augustine In explicatione Psal 54. that the Church in her doctrine was to be truly One he spake thus of the Donatists who called vpon the same God preached the same ghospell sunge the same Psalmes had the same Baptisme obserued the same Easter and the like In those things they were with me yet not wholy with me in Schisme not with me in Heresie not with me in many things with me in a few not with me but in regard they were not with me in a few their being not with me in many could not helpe them Nay S. Ireneus whom I named before implies Lib. 2. cap. 3. not only That it is necessary for a true Christian Catholicke to differ in no one point of the doctrine or faith from other Christans but he must withall not beleeue any thing after a different manner that is to say vpon a different motiue from that for which it is beleeued by other Christians But this point I shall touch hereafter And for the present it may suffice to haue proued the necessitie of most perfect vnity in the Church and that indeede no reasō can be giuē why if there be allowed any more true Churches then One there should not be admitted as well two thousand as two So that now it remaynes for me to shewe also by the iudgment of holy Scriptures and Fathers that out of this One Church there is no saluation It is prooued both by holy scriptures and Fathers that out of One true Church of Christ our Lord no saluation is to be found CHAPTER V. SInce the Church of Christ our Lord is so truely One and but only One it followes easily inough that no saluation can be had out of this Church and that euery heresy or schisme is sufficient to depriue any soule thereof But yet neuerthelesse to the end that men may be wholy left without excuse or rather that they may be the better warned to take heede in time of those miseries which otherwise they are to feele for all eternity I will strengthen also this trueth by the authority of some few Scriptures and Fathers of the primitiue Church For so by degrees it will easily and of it felfe appeare that we Catholickes are not faulty in that wherewith we are so much charged The Prophet Esay thus foretelles the quality and condicion of the then future Church of Christ our Lord and what shall become of them who serue it not Cap. 60. Gens enim regnum quod non seruierit tibi peribit That nation and kingdome which will not serue thee shall perish And now if a whole nation and kingdome shall perish for not seruing what shall become of those priuate miserable people who blaspheme and rent it The same Prophet sayth else where to the same purpose Cap. 54. Omne vas c. Euery vessell or pot which is framed against the shall not succeede or proue well and thou shalt iudge euery tongue resisting thee in iudgment We haue seene already in the new Testament vpon another occasion to prooue the vnity of the Church that whosoeuer obeyes not this One Church is by the order of our blessed Lord himselfe to be held for no other then a Pagan or Publican that is to say for no better then a meere Idolater

humane and fallible motiue whatsoeuer it is cleare that I could haue no supernaturall faith at all euen concerning that one single article of Catholicke doctrine And the same is to be said of the rest whether they be many or few great or smalle And the vndoubted reason hereof is because I giue not my firme assent to it vpon the only true infallible motiue which is the reuelatiō of God the propositiō of his Church For whatsoeuer is lesse then this cannot erect and qualifie an act of supernaturall faith with must be absolutely vndoubted and certaine and otherwise it is noe true faith at all but opinion and persuasion or humane beliefe He therfore with belieues not euery particular Article of Catholicke Doctrine which is reuealed and propounded by Almightie God and his Church doth no assent euē to any one of them which he belieues vpon the sayd only true and infallible motiue For if he did he would as certainely or rather indeede could not choose but as willingly belieue all the rest since they all come recomended to him by the same Authority And now if there be truth in this which indeed cannot be called into any question the Catholikes and Protestants are farre inough from being of one faith and Church since it is demonstrated that besides the maine differēces which runne betweene vs either they or we haue not really any true and supernaturall faith at all of any one doctrine of the Church wherein yet we seeme to consent together For as Turkes and Mores who belieue in God the Father haue yet no true supernaturall faith euen of that one single Article nor the Iewes of any thing contained euen in the old Testament so neither hath any heticke of any thing contained either in the old or new since they all resemble one another in this that whatsoeuer they belieue it is not done vpon that motiue which only can make an act of true and supernaturall faith And thus it shall suffice me to haue proued according to the maine proiect of this discourse that there is but one true faith which is the foundation of the only one true Religion which is exercised in one only true Church wherewith Christians are bound to communicate and that out of this Church there is no saluation to be found and lastly that both Catholicks and Protestants can by no meanes be accounted for members of one and the same true Church of Christ our Lord. But Protestants Qui nolunt intelligere vt bene agant though their reason tell them that al this is true do yet find their Religion to be so vnsoundly built that they can hardly be drawne to an acknowledgment thereof And therefore they are wont to say that such vnity of faith as this whereof we haue spoken is a kind of impracticable thing in this life that the holy Scripture speaking thereof is not to be vnderstood in such a rigid sense that the Fathers of the primitiue Church were too precise that way that their discourse of this kind was metaphysicall and that saluation is no so hard to be obtained but that there is roome inough in heauen for both Religions And finally they obiect that there is no such exact vnity as I haue her described euen amongst vs Catholickes and that thēselues maintaine a sufficiency of vnity in faith both with the Fathers of the primitiue Church and with their owne fellow brethren the Lutheranes yea some moreouer will be so courteous as to professe that they agree euen with vs moderne Papists in all Fundamentall points of faith But I will consider in the next chapter both how litle reason they haue in what they obiect herein against vs and in what also they alleadge for themselues The auoiding of three obiections which they make against vs to disproue our vnitie in faith amongst our selues and of a fourth allegation whereby they would shew that they hold as much vnity both with the Lutherans and euen with vs Catholickes at this day as they are boūd to maintaine CHAPTER VII THey first striue to impeach our vnity in faith by obiecting that variety of opiniōs in some points which they find by our books to be amongst vs whereby they would inferre that there is also amongst vs a diuersity of beliefe and faith and there is nothing more vsuall with them then this discourse But the answere is shortly and clerely this That wheresoeuer they find our Doctours to be of a contrary opiniō they shall also find those points in question not be haue bene defined by the Church but left at liberty to be debated and disputed as men see cause Such are a world of difficultyes betweene the Thomists and Scotists de auxilijs betwene the Dominicans and the Iesuites wherein either side defendes that which they take to be the truth opposing the contrary opinion by all the argumēts that occure And both sides the while are resolued ready to submit to the iudgmēt definitiō of the Church whensoeuer it shall be declared so captiuating their vnderstanding to the obediēce of faith as the Apostle exhorts And in the meane time they preserue the spirit of charitie in the bond of peace If our aduersaries could sh●w that they erected Altare contra altare or that they were resolued not to obey to the definition of the Church when it were declared they should haue reason on their side but otherwise they are either very ignorant or els full of malice who make this obiection And let them either shew what Iesuite and Dominican breakes communion with on another or els betake thēselues to some better prooffes The next obiection is yet more stupide then the former and I wonder how Caluins rage against the Church could put him so farre out of his wits as that he would euer take it into his mouth For it is he who being pricked by our noting their want of vnity towards their fellow brethren thinkes to re●ort it backe vpon vs by saying that we are not in case to obiect any such thing against them forasmuch as that forsooth we haue as many sects amongst vs as we haue seuerall Orders of Religious men and then he rekons vp Benedictans Carmelites Dominicans Franciscans whom els he will Wicked man who well knewe that no one of those holy Orders doth differ in any one point of doctrine from any of the rest are so farre from breaking communion with them as that still they preuent one another in all honour and good respects according to the aduice of the Blessed Apostle and much more do they exhibite all possible reuerence and obedience to the same Church and the Prelates thereof The difference which indeede raignes amongst them is who shal strip themselues soonest of all earthly incombrance and so fly the faster to heauen They haue seuerall Rules indeed which were framed by their seuerall Founders those men of God whereby they might the better direct their course to this iourneyes end according

for heresie which is a most grieuous kind of infidelity and which includes in it selfe so many other most horrible sinnes as namely blasphemies contempt of Sacraments scoffes and scornes a prophanation of holy things a hatred and persecution of true Religion disobedience to the Church and her Prelates sacriledge pride obstinacy schisme and rebellion against the supreme Ecclesiasticall Magistrats How great torment therefore I say shall any man eternally endure for the sinne of Heresie which is more grieuous then thousands of fornications and thefts It will not therefore serue a mans turne towards eternall life if being out of the Communion of Gods Church he carry himselfe otherwise as sweetly as ciuilly as can be deuised and that men praise him for a worthy person an honest man the best neighbour in a whole kingdome one who owes no man a penny one who is curteous to all the world who neuer sweares an oath nor giues offence to any in any kind These are all goods things but these are not all those good things which are required of him who will be saued For whilest such an one is so kind and ciuill to man he is both vnkind cruell towards Almighty God if he be rebellious to that Church which was purchassed by the death of his only sonne But it seemes we are still made of that mould whereof S. Hierom speaks after this manner Nos in Dei iniurijs benigni sumus In c. 16. Matt. in propri●s contumelijs odia exercemus We are easy remisse towards such as ar iniuriours to God but we are reuinge full when there is question of righting those wronges which are done to our selues But withall he alleages the example of Hely in the booke of kings against this ill custome saying Si peccauerit vir in virum 1 Reg. 2. placari ei potest Deus si autem in Deum quis peccauerit quis orabit pro eo If one man offend an other God may yet be appeased towards him but if any man sin against God who shall pray for that man A very different dictamen from that which raignes now in the world where a man who giues men no offence shall be celebrated by men for a kind of Saint though withall his whole life be consumed in sinning against God by infidelity by secret blasphemy by heresie and by all that pride and malignity which it involues against God and his Church together with contempt scorne as hath been sayd of all those deuout Ceremonies and almost all those holy Sacraments which his diuine Maiesty hath ordained for our eternal good with so much cost to him selfe But Saints and men of God who see with clearer eyes then others make a contrary iudgment of these things and so also are they very remisse whē wrōge is done but to themselues but rigorous when peruerse men will needs be putting affronts vpon Almighty God The Ecclesiasticall story is full of examples in this kind See but how S. Iohn carryed himselfe towards Cerinthus Polycarpe to Marcion and S. Antony to the Arrians and a thousand others And least it should be thought that Saints fall not foule but only vpon such Hereticks as deny the very prime Articles of Christiā Religiō which concerne either God the Father or the immediat person of Christ our Lord himselfe cast but an eye vpon S. Bernard that milde mercifull man of God see how he treates the hereticks of his time who had too much affinity with those of ours as you will perceaue by his censure of them but yet it was for certaine points which seemed not to trench so deepe into the Christian Faith But howsoeuer he speakes of them in no gentler a still then this Serm. in Cantic 66. Videte detractores videte canes irrident nos quia baptizamus infantes quòd oramus pro mortuis quòd Sanctorum suffragia postulamus Behold these detractours beh●ld these dogs they scoffe as vs because we baptise infants because we pray for the dead and because we beg the prayers of the Saincts So that still we see into this truth more and more That how smooth soeuer the face and how sweete soeuer the words and how ciuill soeuer the cariage be yet if heresie be in the heart it is of all others the most odious and offensiue thing both to Almighty God and to all good men who haue his honour in high account Yea and euen how kind and ciuill soeuer they seeme to their neighbours and friends in morall things such especially as they see often and salute and conuerse with yet you may obserue by that saying of S. Bernard that they are cruell inough to such as they see not And with all their ciuillity and curtesy and suauity in ordinary conuersation they can find in their hereticall hearts at a clap to rob all dead men of the helpe comfort of the prayers of the liuing al liuing mē of the prayers of the Saints who are in heauē the same Saintes of all the honour which Catholickes pay to thē here on earth to omit in this place their infinite innumerable detractiōs slaunders reproaches of the whole Church of God Al which I haue not sayd either by way of aggrauating their sins or of alienating men from their persons which I esteeme and loue and desire to serue with my whole heart but only to the end that they may know their owne case and consider well what kind of thing heresie is and how hatefull in it selfe to God and man that so by the diuine goodnes they may grow to change both their names and natures passe from being enemies to become children of that one true Church out of which ther is no saluation In the meane time it is more them clear that the chardge which Protestants lay vpon vs as wanting Charity for saying that their Religion vnrepented destroyes saluation must needs be now transferred from vs and imputed with as much reason to him who hath layed as hath been seene an obligation euen vpon all Christians and much more vpō the Church and the Pastours thereof to declare the daūgers which they incurre who are departed from the Communion of the holy Catholicke Church And as truly yea much more probablely may they affirme that the holy Fathers of the Primitiue Church wanted Charity for the strictnes which they vsed in condēning men to Hell as heretickes for their obstinancy in holding some one single Doctrine of it selfe which yet was not somtimes so very importāt Gal. 5. That S. Paule wanted charity when he excluded men from heauen for those sins of frailty to which we are daily sollicited euen by the very nature and condicion of our owne flesh and blood and in particular also for dissentions and sects which signify heresy in that place That the holy Ghost wanted charity being the hand which guided the Apostles finger to write so seuerely as he did That Christ our Lord wāted