Neuerthelesse we protest against the slanders of our aduersaries that albeit wee abhorre all false and counterfait Reliques and refuse to worship with adoration those that are true yet for these last sort when they are certainely knowne vnto vs wee giue vnto them a due honour and reuerence that is wee confesse them to bee holy as the members of Christ and Temples of the holy Ghost if they bee the parts of Saints and Martyrs wee say with S. Augustine That their memories are to be celebrated to the end not that they may be worshipped but that thankes may be giuen to God for their victories and we may be stirred vp to the imitation of their crownes by calling vpon God to our helpe We acknowledge with Cassander that Vowes and Pilgrimages vnto places famous for the Relickes of Martyrs were in olde time profitable Whilest that the memory of the Martyrs was yet fresh and certaine and as long as God by vndoubted myracles did manifest that their soules did liue who were thought to bee dead and whilest all these things were referred to this end that the Christian faith which they by dying professed might bee confirmed as it were by these signes Yea we affirme with Agrippa that as the abuse of Relicks is an execrable wickednesse so the irreuerent contempt of true Relickes is a detestable herfie onely the matters we speake against are these corruptions first a superstitious confidence in the worship of true Relickes secondly a sacriligious forging of false ones and thirdly and lastly an immoderate expending our riches in adorning and guilding the bones and Relickes of dead men when in the meane while we suffer the poore that liue to famish for hunger or to go naked for want of clothes As the heads of Peter and Paul are inclosed in so much siluer as weigheth foure thousand pounds besides Iewels and precious stones of inestimable price And the golden Tombe of Thomas of Canterbury was couered with Diamonds Vnions and Carbuncles the basest part of it was Gold How much better might these treasures haue been imployed to the reliefe of the poore and other charitable vses This is all we finde fault withal and this is inough to prooue them senslâ—sse and blinde Idolaters and their Church which maintaineth all these things an Idolatrous synagogue 42. The fourth maine arme of Idolatry issuing out of the body of the Romish Church and the roote of their religion is their doctrine and practice touching the Inuocation of Saints and Angels They maliciously slaunder vs and say that we are enemies to the Saints and that we deny them all honour and reuerence comparing vs therefore to the Caianian and Eunâ—â—ian Heretickes for our wicked and sacrilegious contempt of the Saints of God as they falsly affirme but we returne this reproch vpon themselues and confidently affirme that they wrong the blessed Saints more in making them Idols and giuing them more honour then is their due then we doe in giuing them too little if that were true that we did so for what can be more iniurious to the honour of those blessed Creatures who liue in the presence of God and sing Haleluiah to him continually with all honour praise and glory be ascribed to him that sitteth vpon the Throne and to the Lambe for euermore whose chiefe ioy and delight is to aduance the honour of the eternall God then to haue any part of that honour due vnto him ascribed vnto them they had rather be deuested of all theirs then any iot of his glory should be diminished More iniurious therefore are they to the Saints if they giue them too much and that in derogation from God then we if we giue them too little 43. But wee deny that wee giue them too little wee giue them their due honour and respect For first we giue God thankes for them and for the benefits which God vouchafed by them to his Church as the Church glorified God for the conuersion of Saint Paul and Paul gaue God thankes for the graces of the Thessalonians Secondly we highly extoll and commend the Saints departed and magnifie the graces and gifts of God in them wee account them blessed as the Virgin Marie prophesied of her selfe that all Nations should call her blessed And wee keepe a perpetuall and a reuerend remembrance of them as our Sauiour promised to that Marie that powred the boxe of precious oyntment vpon his head And Salomon confirmeth also to all the iust that their memoriall should be blessed And thirdly we propound them as examples for imitation that their vertues may bee as patternes for vs to imitate and their falls as markes to make vs warie and their conuersation as guides and directions for vs in the way to the heauenly Canaan Thus much honour we willingly attribute vnto the Saints but no further dare we goe lest we derogate from the honour of God and in so doing not please or content but vexe and grieue the blessed Saints who cast downe their Crownes that is strippe themselues of all honour before the Throne of him that liueth for euer But the Church of Rome are so lauish and prodigall in their honouring of them that they despoyle God of his honour and inuest them therewith committing Idolatry vnto them And this they doe three waies principally first by outward adoration secondly by inuocation and thirdly by reposing their trust and confidence in their merites and mediation 44. Touching outward adoration which consisteth in these things principally to wit in bowing the knee prostrating the body dedicating Temples consecrating Festiuall daies and making vowes to the Saints departed all which outward worship the Romish Church alloweth and the Popish crue affoord vnto the Saints departed it cannot by any meanes bee esteemed any whit lesse then a practice of Idolatry seeing by their owne confession it is more then a ciuill adoration and being more then ciuill it must needes be religious for there are but two kinds of worship commanded by the law of God the one enioyned in the first Table namely the diuine worship of God and the other in the first commandement of the second Table which is the honour wee ought to giue to our superiours Now this worship of Saints must of necessity be one of these but it is more then ciuill say they therefore it must needes bee a religious and diuine worship For thus I reason This worshipping of Saints is either an iniunction of the first Table or of the second or of neither if they say Of the first then it is diuine and religious worship for the first Table of the Law containeth vnder it onely diuine and religious duties the obiect whereof is God himselfe and none other as the seuerall precepts thereof doe declare if they say Of the second then it is meere ciuill and politike for the second Table is onely a bond of ciuill duties if they say It is of neither theÌ„ it
vpon the same though they bee now both made dumbe by their expurging Index speake asmuch for in them we fiude this proposition Anciently Priests were permitted to marry 41. For history to omit the Priests and Prophets of the old Testament Peter whose successours they claime to bee carryed a wife about with him in his preaching which was put to death at Antioch for consessing lesus Christ as witnes both Clemens Alexandrinus and Eusebius which writers do also affirme that Paul had a wise also and left her at Philippos a City of Macedonia that hee might with lesse cumbrance preach the Gospell abroad That Philip the Euange list was marryed Saint Luke testifyeth in the Acts of the Apostles for it is said there that he had foure daughters which were Prophetisses thus was it in the first age of the Church then afterward we read that Hilary a French Bishop was marryed and of Saint Basils Father that hee was a Bishop and in the state of marriage held that function and the like of Synesius the Bishop of Pâ—olomais and Athanasius reports that Bishops and Monks liued marryed and had children and Eusebius that in the Easterne Churches it was counted a yoke too heauy to bee borne to binde Church-men from marriage yea Gratian boldly affirmeth that except they will brand some of the Popes with bastardy and adultery they must confesse that Bishops were and might then bee marryed for Gregory the first was grand-child to Pope Felix the third and Alexander the sixt had two sonnes begotten of his owne body and Boniface Felix Gelasius and Agapetus were all sonnes of Bishops yea their owne Vicelius reckoneth vp a number both of Bishops and Priests that in the Primitiue Church were marryed In briefe though in all ages the Deuill by his instruments laboured to bring disgrace vpon Gods holy ordinance of marriage and by that meanes to make way to adulteries fornications and vnlawfull lusts and some learned and godly fathers were too lauish in commending virginity before marriage yet they were alwayes gainsaide by other some as learned godly as themselues whoÌ„ God stirred vp for the desence of his own ordinance neither was it euer propounded as a Law vntill Pope Siricius time who was the first that forbad and interdicted Priests to marry and afterwards Pope Nicholas the first or as some thinke the second about the yeere 867 did the like against whose proceedings Haldericus the Bishop of Ausbrough wrote that learned and pithy Epistle where of mention is made before and yet it was not vniuersally receiued vntill the time of Pope Calixtus about the yeere 1108. History is so cleare for this matter that it admitteth no iust exception and thus both by their owne confessions and by the light of history this doctrine is conuinced of nouelty 42. Another article of the Popes Creede is concerning Images to wit that God himselfe may bee represented by and worshipped before an Image and that the Images of Christ and the Saints are to be adored with the same worship which is due vnto their pâ—tternes or at least wise that they are to be worshipped in or at the Image This is the generall doctrine of that Idolatrous Church which that it hath no true warrant from antiquity is so cleare that none that is but meanely seene in ancient writers can doubt thereof For first in the Church of the Iewes it was vnlawfull either to make any Image of God beeing an inuisible and incomprehensible essence or to worship the Image of any other thing whatsoeuer this was the prescript of the second Commandement which was no ceremoniall Law As Azorius and Vasques two Iesuites haue not ashamed to auerre but morall and naturall as the grand Iesuite Bellarmine confesseth and may be further confirmed by the sentence of Varro alledged by Saint Augustine in his fourth book de Ciuitate who sayth that the Iewish nation worshipped God without any Image that they had no Image in the Temple ordained for worship Also Iosephus doth write that when Caius the Emperour would haue caused his statue to haue been set vp by Petroniâ—s to be worshipped in the Temple of Ierusalem the Iewes had rather expose themselues to present death then to admit that which was forbidden by the Law 43 Secondly in the age of Iesus Christ and the Apostles there was no precept nor example for the worshipping of Images nei her did they commend vnto the Lay people Images and Pictures as fittest bookes for their capacities but the word preached and committed to writing by which they should bee brought to saluation And when as they abolished the worship of Idols and brought in the worship of the true God wee doe not read that either they translated those Idolatrous statues to the worship of the true God or substituted other Images of God himselfe for of holy men to succeed in their roome but taught that God who is a Spirit ought to bee worshipped in Spirit and truth Now surely if it had beene so necessary as the Church of Rome maketh it our Sauiour Christ and his Apostles would neuer haue concealed it from them 44. Thirdly the age also after the Apostles was free from Images for amongst those Ecclesiasticall rites which are recorded to haue been vsed in the first 300. yeeres after Christ there is not so much as any mention made of Image-worship except it bee amongst those that were condemned for Heretikes as the followers of Simon Magus who worshipped his Image and of his harlot Selene and the Disciples of Basilides whom Irenaeus affirmeth to haue vsed Images and Inuocations and the Carpocratians and Gnosticks who burned incense to the Images of Christ and Paul Homer and Pithagoras c. as testifyeth Saint Augustine but the true Church of God condemned these and abhorred all such kind of worship and therefore amongst the accusations which the Heathen obiected to Christians in that age this was one that they professed a Religion without Images as witnesse both Clemens Alexandrinus and Origen the one whereof liued 200. yeeres after Christ and the other 240. which trueth their Cassander confesseth in direct words that at the first preaching of the Gospell there was no publike vse of Images in the Church 45. Fourthly in the next age of the Church after the three hundreth yeere that Images were not approued wee haue the witnesse of the Councill of Eliberis which decreed that no Image should bee made in the Church lest that should be adored which is painted on walles and of Ierome who affirmed that it was condemned of all ancient Fathers and of Origen who called that worship a foolish and adulterous profanation and of Epiphanius who finding a painted Image in a Church rent it downe and said that it was against the authority of the Scripture that any Image should bee in the Church and of Augustine who condemned the vse of them in Churches as vnlawfull and lastly
must needs be a wil worship deuiâ—ed by their own braines and not warranted by the word of God which is also confessed by Eckius in his Enchiridion and insinuated by the Councill of Trent when in setting downe that decree it alleageth no Scripture but onely the ancient custome of their Church consent of Fathers and decrees of Councels 45. But to the poynt I say that seeing by the rule of Gods word we find but two kinds of worship one religious and diuine contained in the first Table the other ciuill and humane inioyned in the second If therefore the worship of Saints be not a meere ciuill worship belonging to the second Table of the Law then it must needes be religious and pertaine to the fiâ—st and so consequently Idolatrous This twofold worship and no more is approued by Saint Augustine who by that distinction of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 putteth difference betwixt the worship that must bee giuen to God and that ciuill honour which is due vnto men for by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee meaâ—eth that kind of worship and honour which wee may and must performe to those that excell either in place of authority or in gifts and graces of God which is meerely humane and ciuill and by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that dâ—uine worship which the creature oweth vnto the Creatour onely and that former is that which he alloweth onely to the Saints and that in that acception of the word which is before specified to wit as it is a ciuill and humane worship as appeareth more euidently by that which he affirmeth in another place in these words Colimus Martyres eo cultu dilectionis societatis quo in hac vita coluntur Sancti Dei homines sed illos tanto deuotiùs quantò securiùs post incerta omnia superata In which words it is plaine that the kinde of the worship exhibited to Saints triumphant and Saints militant is all one but the extension of it is greater to the one then the other according to tâ—e proportiâ—n of gifts and graces more apparent in one then the other 46. But the Romish Doctours and principally the Iesuites adde a third kinde of worship yea a fourth to these two albeit therein they neither agree with themselues nor with their fellowes as it commonly falleth out when men build vpon their owne fancies a rotten foundation and not vpon the word of God which is the ground of truth For Bellarmine saith that there is a ciuill worship due vnto men for some ciuill respect and there is a religious worship due vnto Saints in respect of their Sanctity and holinesse which he calleth dulia and a diuine worship proper onely vnto God which he calleth latria and that middle hee subdiuideth into two degrees the first he saith is dulia propriè dicta so properly called which agreeth to the Saints and the second Hyperdulia which belongeth onely to the humanity of Christ and the blessed Virgin his Mother and so hee maketh foure distinct kinds of worship whereof two are without the compasse and reach of Gods Commandements and therefore I know not where to place them except in the diuels The like doctrine is deliuered by Vasques another Iesuite and Canisius and almost all the rest of that Iesuiticall raâ—ble but marke their harmony Bellarmine saith that this worship oâ— Saints is Cultus and therefore an acte of Religion though in a secondary respect Vasques denyeth it flatly to be an act of Religion at all but of sâ—me other vertue Thomas Aquinas Bonauenture Gabriel and Albertus are of mind as testifieth Vasques that it is one and the same kind of worship wherewith wee honour men aduanced in ciuill dignity and the Saints and that the difference is in the degrees of proportion not in diuersity of kind And in this they fully consent with vs as also with Saint Augustine and with the truth but this is contradicted by Bellarmine Vasques and all the rabble of the Iesuites as may appeare in the places before quoted 47. Paluda nus makes three kindes of Hyperdulia the first due to the humanity of Christ for it selfe the second to the blessed Virgin the third to the rest of the Saints but as for dulia that he applyeth onely to that honour which we owe to all reasonable creatures except the damned but this is crossed by all the rest Againe Durandus as Vasques reporteth is of opinion that the worship of Saints departed and men in ciuill dignity proceedeth from one and the same vertue and differeth onely in the act applyed vnto the degrees of excellency But Bellarmine Vasques and all of that stampe renounce vtterly that opinion as I haue shewed Lastly Vasques that acute Iesuite as they brag of him affirmeth that the worship of Saints is not an act of Religion and yet in the same Chapter he calleth it cultus sacer religiosus A holy and religious worship then which what can be more contradictory for if it be a religious worship then must it needs be a worship of religion and an act of religion and if no worship of religion then no religious worship for coniugata by the rule of Logicke se inuicem ponunt tollunt And that which iâ— to bee noted aboue all the rest hee is constrained to deuise a new speciall habite of vertue to which this worship of Saints may be referred neuer heard of before neither in Morall Philosophy nor yet in diuinity and that without name and so without nature and being except in the Iesuites braine onely Thus wee may see how errour like Proteus turneth it selfe into many shapes and at last is strangled with it owne halter 48. But that this outward adoration of Saints departed is Idolatrous appeareth ouer and aboue that which hath beene said by these reasons first because they ascribe vnto them a presence not onely in one place but in all places where they are worshipped secondly a power of hearing seeing and helping and thirdly an ability of knowing and seeing the heart all which imply an infinite power and such as is properly diuine And therefore it is nothing but a vaine shift when they say they giue diuine worship to God and no more but a certaine kinde of seruice to the Saints when in truth they giue that which is Gods to the Saints besides touching kneeling and prostrating the body in a religious manner Peter refused to haue it done vnto him by Cornelius and the Angell rebuked Iohn twice for offering it vnto him if it had beene lawfull sure they would not haue refused it for neither did Cornelius take Peter to be a God but for a holy man nor Iohn the Angell for the Creator but for an excellent creature as euidently appeareth in the Texts and therefore they intended not to worship them as Gods yet because the manner of their worship was more then befitting a creature hauing in it a
they done it to gaine any thing thereby in disputation but onely to keepe the common people from infection whereas they spare none neither Fathers nor Councels nor moderne Writers and that not so much lest the common sort should bee infected as that the learned might be depriued of those weapons wherewith they might fight against them and wound their cause Seeing the case now so stands that hee which can muster vp together the greatest armie of Authours to fight vnder his colours is thought to haue the best cause their dealing then with vs is like that of the Philistims against the Israelites who despoyled them of all weapons and instruments of warre that they might dominiere ouer them with greater securitie but ours is not so towards them And therefore both in this and all the former respects it is a miserable vntruth and a desperate cuasion to say that wee are more guiltie of this crime then they are 107. Lastly whereas in his first answere hee pleadeth the lawfulnesse of the fact let vs heare his reasons to moue thereunto and in the interim remember that in prouing it to bee lawfull hee confesseth it to bee done But why is it lawfull Mary first because the Church being supreme Iudge on earth of all Controuersies touching faith and Religion hath authoritie to condemne Heretikes And therefore also the workes of Heretikes and if this then much more to correct and purge their Bookes if by that meanes shee can make them profitable for her vse and beneficiall to her children To which I answere two things First that it is not the Church that doth this but the sacred Inquisitors to wit certaine Cardinals and Lawyers deputed to that office who for the most part are so farre from being the Church that they are often no sound members thereof Iâ— it be said that they haue their authoritie from the Pope who is vertually the whole Church why doe they then speake so darkly and say the Church hath this authoritie when as they might in plaine termes say that the Pope hath it but that hereby they should display the feeblenesse of their cause and the fillinesse of this reason for thus it would stand Why is it lawful for Books to be purged because the Pope thinkes it lawful And must not he needs think so when the Authors crosse his triple crowne and speake against his state and dignitie Adde hereunto that it is a fallacie in reasoning when that is taken for granted which is in question For we deny their Synagogue to be the true Church and much more the Pope to bee the supreme Iudge and therefore till those things be proued the reason is of no effect 108. Secondly most of those things which are purged by them are so farre from being heresies or errours that they are the most of them sound doctrines of faith grounded vpon the authoritie of Gods sacred truth for they blot out many things in both olde and new Authours that they themselues dare not accuse to bee hereticall as that place in Saint Cyril before mentioned touching the power of faith which is no more in direct termes then that which is said in the Scripture Act. 15. 15. that faith purifieth the heart and that in the Basil Index of Chrysostome The Church is not built vpon a man but vpon faith and those propositions which are commanded by the Dutch Index to be wiped out of the Table of Robert Stephens Bible to wit that sinnes are remitted by beleeuing in Christ that he which beleeueth in Christ shall not die for euer that faith purifieth the heart that Christ is our righteousnes that no man is iust before God and that repentance is the gift of God with a number of like nature These they purge out of Stephens Index which notwithstanding are directly and in as many words recorded in the Booke of God and so it may iustly be thought that they are so farre from clenfing Bookes from the drosse and dregs of errour that they rather purge out the pure gold and cleare wine of truth and leaue nothing but dregs and drosse behind 109. His second reason is because nothing is more dangerous to infect true Christian hearts then bad Bookes Therefore it is not onely lawfull but needfull and behoouefull to the Church of God that such Bookes should bee purged and burned too if it bee so thought meete by the Church to the end that the sinceritie of one true faith and Religion might be preserued I answere all this is true which he saith but are they heresies which they purge no they are sound and orthodox opinions for the most part as hath beene proued in the answere to the former reason And doe they it to keepe Christian men from infection no their chiefe end and drift is to depriue their aduersaries of all authorities that make against them that so they might triumph in the antiquitie of their Religion and noueltie of ours which is one of their principall arguments which they vse though with euill successe for defence of their cause dealing herein as Holofernes did with the Israelites at the siege of Bethulia breaking the Conduits cutting the pipes and slopping the passages which might bring vs prouision of good and wholsome waters out of the cisternes of olde and new Writers this is their purpose and no other whatsoeuer they pretend for if they meant any good to Gods people for preuenting of infection they would haue purged their lying Legends of infinite fables their Canon Law of horrible blasphemies and their Schoolemen of many strange opinions Yea they would haue condemned the Bookes of Machiauel and of that Cardinall that wrote in commendation of the vnnaturall sinne of Sodomie and a number such like filthy and deuillish Writings which are printed and reprinted among them without controulement And againe is it vnitie in the true faith and religion that they seeke no it is conspiracie in falshood and consent in errour and not vnitie in the truth till the Romish Religion bee proued to bee the true Religion which can neuer be this reason is of no force to iustifie their proceedings Lastly is it Christian policy no it is deuilish subtletie and craftie forgerie for the case so stands betwixt them and vs as in a tryall of land betwixt partie and partie wherein hee that bringeth best euidence and witnesse carrieth the cause now if one partie either suborne false witnesses or corrupt true or forge euidences to his purpose or falsifie those that are extant all men will count him as a forger and his cause desperate and iudge him worthie the Pillorie so betwixt vs the question is who hath the right faith and the best title to the Church Our euidences are first and principally Gods Word then the writings and records of godly men in all ages now then they that shall purge pare raze blurr falsify or corrupt any of these must needs bee thought to bee subtle and craftie companions and not honest
Popish superstition doe say that it is an ordinarie matter A wonderful superstitiō that is nourished by Images so apparent that it cannot be denied Now if this were a scandall taken and not giuen they might in some sort bee excused but it is eūidently not onely occasioned but caused by reason that both the doctrine is inuolued with so many intricate questions and distinctions that it is impossible for an ignorant person to discerne thereof and also because the Image it selfe as the Prophet Habacuck telleth vs is a teacher of lyes For which cause as Polidore Virgil reporteth the Fathers of all vices condemned the worship of Images for feare of Idolatrie the most execrable vice of all The second offence is to the vnconuerted Iewes who are most zealous in this point of the Law against Images insomuch as Iosephus reports of them they did hate the verie Images of men in their Heathenish Trophees as being forbidden them by God Now it is well concluded by a iudicious obseruer of the Westerne Religions and without doubt is a most true obseruation that there is no one thing in outward respects that doth ingender in the Iewes such a detestation of Christian Religion and keepe them from being conuerted as the worship of Images in the Church of Rome for they and that by good reason may thus dispute If this Religion of Christians were of God then they would not oppose themselues to the expresse Commaundement of God in worshipping Images which he hath so plainly forbidden but they oppose themselues to Gods Commandement and worship Images therefore their Religion cannot bee of God Hence it is as the former learned Relator doth report that at Rome though all the Iewes in the Citie are constrained once a yeere to come to a Christian Church and there heare a Sermon for their pretended conuersion yet when as a Fryer before the beginning of his Sermon holdeth vp a Crucifix and prayeth vnto it in their open sight they are more alienated from the Christian faith by this odious spectacle then all the reasons and arguments that he can vse are able to perswade them to the same Behold two dangerous and fearefull scandals which arise from this doctrine one to their owne weake ones of which our Sauiour saith that it were better for a man that a milstone were hanged about his necke and that hee were throwne into the Sea then that hee should offend one of them the other to the obstinate Iewes whose conuersion shall be so beneficiall to the whole world as that Saint Paul calleth it life from the dead Now our Religion is farre from giuing any such offence to one or other either in this or any other point thereof if it bee not vtterly misconstrued and misconceiued 24. Againe in their worship of Relickes there is no securitie at all both in feare of Idolatrie which may bee well committed to them if they bee true in giuing them a higher measure of adoration then they themselues allow of which is easio to bee done by the ignorant multitude and also in feare of worshipping false relickes in stead of true whereof there is no small number in the Church of Rome as hath bin alreadie declared and lasty in feare of neglecting the true members of Christ by a too sumptuous prodigalitie towards the bones of I cannot tel what dead men or other creatures as is most vsuall in their Church and that in great excesse in which respects it is without question a more safe course that all such Relickes were buried vnder the earth with due honour of Christian sepulture then that they should thus indanger both godly pietie Christian charitie And this is the conclusion of their Cassander who sayth that it is more safe rather honourably to burie those corruptible relickes and to draw the World to the worship of their spirituall relickes which neither time can corrupt nor fraud counterfeit 25. Againe they hold and teach that traditions are to bee honoured with equall affection and deuotion as is due vnto the olde and new Testament and that there are many things belonging to the doctrine and faith of Christianitie which are neyther expressely nor obscurely contained in the Scriptures And therefore by their owne confession they build many doctrines of their Religion vpon tradition onely without Scripture and acknowledge that without tradition many of them would reele and totter The Protestants hold the contrarie and constantly affirme that the Scripture is an all-sufficient directorie and a most absolute and perfect rule for faith and manners and therefore that wee ought not to relye our faith vpon any thing but Scripture alone Now let vs consider and examine whether of these two doctrines are more safe for a man to repose his soule vpon And that our doctrine is so may appeare first by the nature of the question it selfe which is controuerted betwixt them and vs for the question is not whether the Scripture bee the Word of God or no therein wee shake hands as an vndoubted truth but whether traditions bee the Word of God or no the affirmatiue they hold wee the negatiue and that by great and strong grounds which our aduersaries themselues cannot deny but that they carrie great shew of reason and probabilitie Now whether is the safer course to relye our faith vpon those principles that are vnquestionably Gods Word or vpon those that are controuerted disputed and called in question Any man that goeth about to buy a purchase will sooner venture vpon such a title which was neuer called in question nor can indeed bee doubted of then vpon a broken disputable and vndecided title he will looke twice vpon his pennie before he part with it in such a case lest caueat emptor proue him to bee of little discretion and teach him to repent when it is too late This is the case of euerie Christian wee are to buy the truth and not to sell it as Salomon counselleth Now who will not that hath any graine of wisedome in his heart rather lay out his monie that is his soule and conscience which as Augustine calleth it is numisma Dei Godscoyne because his Image is imprinted therein for the purchase of that truth which is without all exception in the holy Scriptures then for that which is said to be in traditions but mixed with many doubts and ambiguities It is a rule in Law that abundans cautela non nocet a man cannot be too warie in making sure his title to any thing whatsoeuer How much more then should it preuaile in cases of conscience where the damage is not of house and land but of our soules which to euery man ought to be more precious then the whole world Here is an euident direction for our choice if we eyther loue the truth or our own soules which must liue by it 26. Secondly it may appeare by the perpetuall certaintie of the holy Scripture and variable