Mat. 7.21.22 Mat. 5.21 Mat. 19.17 and 11.16 Mat. 12.33 Mat. 16.16 Gal. 3.12 1 Tim. 5.8 1. Ioan. 2.4 1. Ioan. 3.22 Rom. 3.31 Philip. 2.12 ¶ The Fathers that affirme this are Origen in 5. Rom. S. Hilar. cap. 7. in Matt. And S. Ambr. in 4. ad Heb. sayth Fayth alone sufficeth not S. Aug. de fide and operibus cap. 15. sayth I see not why Christ should say If thou wilt haue life euerlasting keep the cōmaundements if without obseruing of them by only fayth one might be saued XXII That no good Workes an meritorious COntrary to the expresse wordes of their owne Bible Matt. 16.27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his Angells and then he shall reward euery man according to his workes He sayth not that he shall reward euery man according to his mercy or their fayth but according to their workes So S. August de verbis Apost serm 35. doth interprete Matt. 5.12 Reioyce and be glad for great is your reward in heauen The word Reward in latin and greeke signifyeth wages and hyre due for workes and so presupposeth a meritorious deed as the Rhemish Testament noteth vpon this place Agayne Matt. 10.42 Whosoeuer shall giue to drinke a cup of cold water only in the name of a Disciple verily I say vnto you he shall in no wise loose his reward Therefore good workes are meritorious 1. Cor. 5.10 For we must all appeare before the iudgment seat of Christ that euery one may receiue the thinges in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or had Wordes most cleere that heauen is as well the reward of good workes as Hell the stipend of euill works howsoeuer the enemies of all good life and workes do teach the contrary See more 1. Cor. 9.17 18. 25. Heb. 11.26 Psal 18.20 1. Cor. 4.5 3.8.2 Esdras 15.19 Apoc. 22.12 Apoc. 16.6 Apoc. 3. 4. 22.12 Rom. 2.6 Eccles 12. 2. Colos 3.23 Luc. 16.9 6.38 Gen. 15. 1. Ierem. 31.16 Sap. 5.16 1. Tim. 4.8 2. Thes 1. Rom. 11.21 ¶ The holy Fathers affirme the same S. Amb. de apolog Dauid ca. 6. S. Hier. l. 3. cont Pelag. S. Aug. de spiritu lit cap. vlt. and others XXIII That Fayth once had cannot possibly be lost COntrary to expresse words of their owne Bible Luc. 8.13 They on the rocke are they which when they heare receiue the word with ioy which for a while belieue and in time of tentation fall away Therfore fayth once had may afterwards be lost 1. Tim. 1.18.19 This charge I commit vnto thee sonne Timothy according to the prophesies which went before on thee that thou by them mightest warre a good warfare holding faith and a good conscience which some hauing put away concerning faith haue made shipwrack Both which places do plainly reproue this false doctrine That no man can fall from the faith which he once truly had 2. Tim. 2.16 c. Shun prophane and vaine bablinges for they wil increase vnto more vngodlines And their word will eate as doth a canker of whom is Hymeneus and Philetus who concerning be truth haue erred saying that the resurrection is past already and ouerthrow the faith of some If faith once had could not be lost this saying of the Apostle should be false See more 1. Tim. 6.20 Reuelat. 2.5 Luc. 19.24 Mat. 25.8 c. Rom. 11.20 ¶ The Fathers affirme the same frequently and among the rest S. Aug. de gratia lib. arbit de correp gratia ad articulos falso impositos Concil Trid. sess 6. cap. 9.12.13 and others They maintayne XXIV That God by his will and ineuitable decree hath ordained from all eternity who shall be damned and who saued COntrary to the expresse words of their owne Bible 1. Tim. 2. 3.4 God our Sauiour who will haue all men to be saued and to come to the knowledge of the truth meaning by his conditionall will that is to say if men will themselues by accepting doing or hauing done all thinges requisite by Gods law for God vseth not his absolute will or power towards vs in this case therfore he hath not willed incuitably decreed any at all to be damned as our Aduersaries hold 2. Pet. 3.9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise c. not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance Therfore he is far off from euer making any such decree as our Aduersaries would perswade vs. Wisedome 1.13 For God made not death neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the liuing The reasons which conclude this truth are manifest for we must assure nothing of those thinges which depend vpon the only will of God without cleere and euident reuelation But predestination is such Therfore c. See more Ose 13.9 Ezech. 18. 32. Wis 11.24 Ioan. 3.16 Rom. 11.20.32 Prou. 20.9 28.14 Phil. 2.12 1. Cor. 4.4 9.27 10.12 Eccles 5.5 Iob. 9 21. Ioel 2.14 Ionas 3.9 Acts 8.20 Ierem. 17.9 2. Ioan. 1.8 ¶ See the Fathers that affirme the same in particular S. Aug. l. 1. Ciuit. Tertul. orat ca. 8. S. Cypr. l. 4. epist 2. And S. Amb. lib. 2. de Cain Abel will not that we refer vnto God the preuarication of Adam or the treason of Iudas though he knew the sinne before it was committed Moreouer they hould XXV That euery one ought infallibly to assure himselfe of his Saluation and to belieue that he is of the number of the Predestinate COntrary to the expresse words of their owne Bible 1. Cor. 9.27 I keepe vnder my body and bring it into subiection least that by any meanes when I haue preached to others I my selfe should be a cast-away A man would thinke that S. Paul might be as sure and as confident of Gods grace and saluation as any one of our Protestants be and yet you see he durst not adhere vnto their presumptuous and vnhappy security Rom. 11.20.21 Thou standest by faith be not high-minded but feare for if God spared not the naturall branches take heed least he also spare not thee Behould therfore the goodnes and seuerity of God on them which fell seuerity but towards thee goodnes if thou continue in his goodnes otherwise thou also shalt be cut off And Philip. 1.12 Worke out your owne saluation with feare trembling Most plaine and forcible places against the vayne security of saluation See more Pro. 28.14 Eccles 9. 1.2.2 Tim. 2.15.2 Pet. 1.10 Tob. 12.2.13 Pro. 20.9 Eccles 5.5 Iob. 9.20 Psal 18.13 1. Cor. 4. 4. Deut. 4.29.2 Cor. 10.18.1 Pet. 1.17 ¶ See S. Amb. ser 5. in Psal 118. S. Basil in constit monast cap. 2. S. Hieron l. 2. aduers Pelagianos l. 3. in Ierem. cap. 13. S. Chrysost hom 87. in Ioan. And S. Aug. in Psal 40. sayth I know full well that the Iustice of my God remaineth Whether my owne iustice remaine or no I know not for the Apostle
THE TOVCH-STONE of the Reformed Ghospell Wherin sundry chiefe Heads and Tenets of the Protestants Doctrine obiected by them commonly against the Catholicks are briefly refuted BY The expresse Texts of the Protestants owne Bible set forth and approued by the Church of England With the ancient Fathers Iudgments thereon in confirmation of the Catholike Doctrine The fourth Edition augmented Out of thy owne mouth will I Iudge thee Luc. 19.22 Permissu Superiorum 1634. TO THE CATHOLIQVE READER HEALTH AND ENCOVRAGEMENT in his Holy Fayth COurteous Reader before thou peruse this litle Booke I would intreate thee to reade these ensuing points very necessary to serue thy selfe of with fruit and profit 1. The first point is that in the Textes of Scriptures alledged throghout this Treatise it is not specified out of which English Bible the said passages are extracted for as much as this were ouer troublesome vnto thee sith England hath set forth within these few yeares past a great number of seuerall sorts of Bibles much differing one from another So that our Aduersaries to whome I wish from very hart as I do to thee that this litle Booke may prooue profitable haue not all one sort of Bibles themselues Notwithstanding know for certaine that they are all faithfully taken forth of the Bibles in quarto octauo printed at London by Robert Barker anno 1615. So as if by chance any one shall shew thee some other Bible wherein they be not set downe word for word as heere thou findest yet rest assured and out of doubt that thou shalt find them so written faithfully cited out of the foresaid Edition of Robert Barker set forth by his Maiesties speciall Commandement 2. The second point is That thou admire the spleÌ„dor of Truth the which is such and so passing bright that notwithstanding our Aduersaries mayne and serious endeauours to obscure the same by so many varieties of TranslatioÌ„s by such a number of grosse corruptions and falsifications yet neuertheles their condemnation is so expressely set downe in this their owne Bible and is so cleere to all the world that nothing els is needfull heerto but that thou know to reade and haue thine eyes to behold the same at the opening of this their Booke This cannot choose but be an exceeding comfort vnto Catholikes agaynst their Aduersaries concerning the vprightnes of their cause to offer to be tryed and to confound them by their owne Bible the Translation whereof notwithstanding doth in a number of places and particularly in many of those that are in question swarue and differ notoriously from the authenticall Latin and to the incredible disparagement darkning and obscuring of the Catholique cause Neuer did yet nor I presume dare our Aduersaries offer to giue the like aduantage vnto vs as to stand to be tried by our Translations and that in aboue fifty maine Heads and Points of Doctrine that are this day in controuersy between vs. 3. The third point is That when thou shalt vrge or alleadge any passage in fauour of thine owne faith and doctrine if any one returne their charge be it by way of recrimination and blaming of the Roman Church or by alleadging some obscure texts and those ill vnderstoode to counterpoyze such as are brought by thee do thou shew them amiably that this is not to proceed in due order nor to deale with thee as they ought in oposing a passage darke obscure to confund another that is most cleare and euident For example when we set before their eies these few words as cleare as the Sunne at Noone day Take eate this is my body this is my bloud which shall be shed for you c. Marc. 14.25 they will straight suppose to haue found another important place yea and to haue giuen vnto vs the ouerthrow if they presently do reply that our Sauiour saith in S. Iohn 6.63 The flesh profiteth nothing the wordes that I speake vnto you they are spirit and they are life a passage far more obscure then that which is in question which affirmeth nothing lesse then that which they pretend to prooue therby For how absurd were it to say that the flesh of Christ profiteth nothing And if as they themselues say we must interpret one passage by another then doubtles it is better to explicate an obscure one by one that is clere then one that is cleere by a passage obscure and that one text giue place to many rather then many giue place to one 4. The fourth point is That if they shall reiect any of the passages which thou producest pretending the same to be Apocriphall know that to preuent this obiection no such Scriptures as they cal Apocriphall are here produced alone but that allwayes there goe accompanied with them others that be Canonicall euen by their owne confession and so far forth as Apocriphall Scriptures shall and do agree with Canonicall they themselues by their owne Rule are bound to receiue them Which will also stop their mouth in their common pretence of Conference of places for rarely hast thou heere lesse then three or foure seuerall passages cited at large besides references for the proofe of euery seuerall point All our Aduersaries put togeather being neuer able in their defence to do the like that is to produce so many in number so expresse and cleere and for so great a number of Controuersies as are heere disputed and couched in so litle a Treatise 5. The fift point is that if they shall contend with thee not about the wordes themselues as being cleere but about the sense and meaning of them for such places I say as may be subiect to this cauill thou shalt forthwith haue recourse vnto that which the Scriptures call The Rule of Faith to wit vnto the euer-constant and vniforme IudgemeÌ„t of the Church and Ancient Fathers who in euery age since Christ haue vnderstood the points in question in that sense which Catholiques do An example wherof thou maist lay downe before them out of that learned Treatise intituled The Summary of Controuersies debating the question of the Blessed Sacrament Which thou hauing done bid them do the like and thou wilt yield vnto them a thing which they can neuer do in their defence So as no man of reason will reiect this Rule grounded so cleerly in holy Scripture and preferre the priuate interpretation of some silly Cobler before S. Chrysostome of a Baker before S. Basill of some Tinker before Tertullian or of any Nouellist whatsoeuer before the iudgement of the Church and the whole streame of ancient Fathers This point therfore being â—â— important shall be the first which I will fortify and proue by the word of God in this present Treatise I meane this Rule and therfore in no wise forget allwayes to inuolue thine Aduersary within this Rule as often as he shall become so vnruly and thou shalt be sure to get the victory 6. The sixt last point is That I heere protest in
the presence of God whome I call to witnes in this behalfe and pray thee also to call vpon for the saluation and reduction of all those that walke astray that it is not in the power of any one no not of all our Aduersaries that are in England to find in their owne Bible one only expresse Text I say one only I say in their owne Bible by which they cā possibly proue one only point of their false Doctrine without their vsuall art of adding diminishing chopping or changing it by some interpretation or other which yet should be to alter the Text it selfe and to employ mans fancy insteed of the pure word a thing by their owne Confession flatly forbidden vnto them protesting that the Word of God doth in such sort containe all that which is necessary to saluation that it is not lawfull neither for men nor Angells to adde diminish or alter ought therof and commanding their followers and adherents vtterly to renounce all Antiquity Custome Multitude Humane Wisedome Iudgement Decrees Edicts Counsailes Visions yea and Miracles themselues to the contrary THE TOVCH-STONE of the Reformed Ghospell Protestants affirme I. That there is not in the Church one that an infaillible Rule for vnderstāding the holy Scriptures and conseruing of Vnity in matters of Faith COntrary to the expresse wordes of their owne Bible Rom. 12.6 Hauing then giftes differing according to the grace that is giuen to vs whether Prophecy that is interpretation according to the proportion or Rule of faith Whence we gather that Prophecy according to the Rule of faith is one of the giftes which God bestoweth on his Church Therefore there is in the Church one and that an infallible Rule for vnderstanding to the holy Scriptures Philip. 3.16 Neuertheles whereto we haue already attained let vs mind the same thing Loe how plainly the Apostle speaketh in this second place of a certaine Rule to be walked by cleerly presupposing that in matters of faith we can neuer be of the same mind vnles we walke by the same Rule Gal. 6.16 And as many as walke according to this Rule Peace be on them and mercy And 2. Cor. 10.15 Hauing hope when your faith is increased that we shall be enlarged by you according to our Rule aboundantly to preach the ghospell in the Regions beyond you and not to boast in another mans line Lo heere againe because that euery man is to direct and order his beliefe according to the doctrine of the Church therfore it is called by S. Paul both the Rule and Line of our holy Faith Againe 1. Cor. 11.16 But if any man seeme to be contentious we haue no such Custome nor the Churches of God Loe how S. Paul still pleadeth the Rule and Custome of the Church agaynst the contentious which if it could then by the sole prescription of twenty or thirty yeares and by the authority of so few Pastours stop the mouthes of new Sect-maysters what ought not the Custome of sixteene hundred yeares and the Decrees of so many hundred Pastours gayne of reasonable modest and humble men And heer I would haue it to be noted that this Analogy or Rule of Fayth besides the tytles already recited the holy Scripture in other places calleth by the name of Forme of Doctrine Rom. 6.17 A thing made ready to our hand 2. Cor. 10.16 The Depositum or Treasure committed to the Churches trust and euer most carefully to be kept by her 1. Tim. 6.20 And withall in the very selfe same places alwayes stileth that which is contrary to this Rule by the name of Disunion Discord Disobedience forsaking of our first vocation Diuision Contention Prophane and vayne babling Opposition of sciences c. Whence plainly appeareth how great the necessity is for euery Christian to keep this Rule the least breach wherof doth presently crack his Christian credit with the Church of God and with all good Christians See more Rom. 6.17 Gal. 1.6 Rom. 16.17 Actes 15.2 1. Tim. 6.20 Rom. 12.16 ¶ According to this very Rule the Ancient Fathers affirme the same S. Irenaeus l. 4. cap. 45. Tert. de praescrip And Vincent Lyr. in suo Commonitorio saith It is very needfull in regard of so many errors proceeding from the mis-interpretation of Scriptures that the Line of Propheticall and Apostolicall exposition should be directed according to the Rule of the Ecclesiasticall and Catholique sense Thus writeth this most worthy witnesse Tertul. praescrip adu haeres cap. 15. cap. 19. saith We do not admit our aduersaries to dispute out of Scripture till they can shew who their Ancestors were and from whom they receiued the Scriptures For the orderly course of doctrine requires that the first Question be whose the Scriptures are by right from whome and by whom and to whom the Forme of Christian Religion was deliuered Otherwise prescribe against him as a stranger c. Thus he Loe how these two last ancient Fathers lay hold off and vrge these two very termes Rule and Forme of Faith and Religion euen as before the Holy Scripture did from whēce doubtles they tooke the phrase And with very great reason for the knowledge of Tradition which is this Forme or Rule goes before the knowlege of the Scripture for the Rule must be first knowne before the thing ruled can be assuredly knowne as the Carpenter cannot knowe certainly that he hath measured his timber nor the Taylor that he hath measured his cloth aright except he first assuredly know that his measure be both true right but the Rule of Faith to wit the Summe of those points that euery Christian is bound expresly to know as deliuered to him from hand to hand is the knowledge of Tradition Protestants affirme II. That in matters of Fayth we must not rely vpon the Iudgment of the Church and of her Pastours but onely vpon the Written Word COntrary to the expres wordes of their owne Bible Mar. 23.2 The Scribes and the Pharises sit in Moyses seat all therfore whatsoeuer they bid you obserue that obserue and do In which wordes Christ not onely commandeth vs in matters of Faith to haue recourse to somwhat else besides the only written word to wit to the Pastours of the Church but biddeth vs moreouer to obey them and that not only in some principall matters but in all whatsoeuer without distinction or limitation Therfore in matters of fayth we are not tyed to rely only vpon the written Word Luc. 10.16 He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me Heere againe Christ our Lord honoureth and giueth as much authority to the Preachers of the Word as he can possibly do to the word it selfe saying He that heareth you c. Matt. 16.19 Whatsoeuer thou shalt bind on earth shal be bound in heauen and whatsoeuer thou shalt loose on earth shall he loosed in heauen Where it is to be noted that he doth not say whosoeuer but