those things which are for direction of all the parts of our life needfull and not impossible to be discerned by the light of nature it selfe are there not many which few mens naturall capacitie and some which no mans hath bene able to find out They are sayth Saint Augustine but a few and they indued with great ripenes of wit and iudgement free from all such affaires as might trouble their meditations instructed in the sharpest and the subtlest points of learning who haue and that very hardly bene able to find out but onely the immortality of the soule The resurrection of the flesh what man did euer at any time dreame of hauing not heard it otherwise then from the schoole of nature Whereby it appeareth how much we are bound to yeeld vnto our creator the father of all mercy eternall thankes for that he hath deliuered his law vnto the world a law wherein so many things are laid open cleere and manifest as a light which otherwise would haue bene buried in darknesse not without the hazard or rather not with the hazard but with the certaine losse of infinite thousands of soules most vndoubtedly now saued We see therefore that our soueraigne good is desired naturally that God the author of that naturall desire had appointed naturall meanes whereby to fulfill it that man hauing vtterly disabled his nature vnto those meanes hath had other reuealed from God and hath receaued from heauen a law to teach him how that which is desired naturally must now supernaturally be attained finally we see that because those later exclude not the former quite and cleane as vnnecessary therefore together with such supernaturall duties as could not possibly haue beene otherwise knowne to the world the same lawe that teacheth them teacheth also with them such naturall duties as could not by light of nature easily haue bene knowne 13. In the first age of the world God gaue lawes vnto our fathers and by reason of the number of their daies their memories serued in steed of books wherof the manifold imperfections and defects being knowne to God he mercifully relieued the same by often putting them in mind of that whereof it behoued them to be specially mindfull In which respect we see how many times one thing hath bene iterated vnto sundry euen of the best and wisest amongst them After that the liues of men were shortned meanes more durable to preserue the lawes of God from obliuion and corruption grew in vse not without precise direction from God himselfe First therefore of Moyses it is sayd that he wrote all the words of God not by his owne priuate motion and deuise for God taketh this act to himselfe I haue written Furthermore were not the Prophets following commanded also to do the like Vnto the holy Euangelist Saint Iohn how often expresse charge is giuen Scribe write these things Concerning the rest of our Lords Disciples the words of Saint Augustine are Quic quid ille de suis factis dictis nos legere voluit hoc scribenduÌ„ illis tanquaÌ„ suis manibus imperauit Now although we do not deny it to be a matter meerely accidentall vnto the law of God to be written although writing be not that which addeth authority and strength thereunto finally though his lawes do require at our hands the same obedience howsoeuer they be deliuered his prouideÌ„ce notwithstanding which hath made principall choice of this way to deliuer them who seeth not what cause we haue to admire and magnifie The singular benefit that hath growne vnto the world by receiuing the lawes of God euen by his owne appointment committed vnto writing we are not able to esteeme as the value thereof deserueth When the question therefore is whether we be now to seeke for any reuealed law of God other where then onely in the sacred Scripture whether we do now stand bound in the sight of God to yeeld to traditions-vrged by the Church of Rome the same obedience and reuerence we do to his written lawe honouring equally and adoring both as Diuine our answer is no. They that so earnestly pleade for the authority of Tradition as if nothing were more safely conueyed then that which spreadeth it selfe by report and descendeth by relation of former generations vnto the ages that succeed are not all of the them surely a miracle it were if they should be so simple as thus to perswade themselues howsoeuer if the simple were so perswaded they could be content perhaps very well to enioy the benefit as they accompt it of that common error What hazard the truth is in when it passeth through the hands of report how maymed and deformed it becommeth they are not they cannot possibly be ignorant Let them that are indeed of this mind consider but onely that litle of things Diuine which the Heathen haue in such sort receiued How miserable had the state of the Church of God beene long ere this if wanting the sacred Scripture we had no record of his lawes but onely the memory of man receiuing the same by report and relation from his predecessors By Scripture it hath in the wisedome of God seemed meete to deliuer vnto the world much but personally expedient to be practised of certaine men many deepe and profound points of doctrine as being the maine originall ground whereupon the precepts of duty depend many prophecies the cleere performance whereof might confirme the world in beliefe of things vnseene many histories to serue as looking glasses to behold the mercy the truth the righteousnesse of God towards all that faithfully serue obey and honor him yea many intire meditations of pietie to be as patternes and presidents in cases of like nature many things needfull for â—â—plication many for applicatioÌ„ vnto particular occasions such as the prouidence of God from time to time hath taken to haue the seuerall bookes of his holy ordinance written Be it them that together with the principall necessary lawes of God there are sundry other things written whereof we might happily be ignorant and yet be saued VVhat shall we hereupon thinke them needlesse shall we esteeme them as riotous branches wherewith we sometimes behold most pleasant vines ouergrown Surely no more then we iudge our hands on our eies â—â—perfluouâ— or what part soeuer which if our bodies did want we might notwithstaÌ„ding any such defect reteine still the complete being of men As therfore a complete man is neither destitute of any part necessary and hath some partes wherof though the want could not depriue him of his essence yet to haue â—hem standeth him in singular stead in respect of the special vses for which they serues in 〈…〉 all those writings which conteine in them the law of God all those â—â—nâ—râ—ble bookes of Scripture all those sacred tomes and volumes of holy wriâ— â—â—ey are with such absolute perfection framed that in them there neither 〈◊〉 any thing the lacke whereof might depriue vs of life
for vs so small is the ioy we take in these strifes to labour vnder the same yoke as men that looke for the same eternall reward of their labours to be ioyned with you in bands of indissoluble loue and amity to liue as if our persons being many our soules were but one rather then in such dismembred sort to spend our few and wretched daies in a tedious prosecuting of wearisome contentions the end whereof if they haue not some speedy ende will be heauie euen on both sides Brought alreadie we are euen to that estate which Gregorie Nazianzene mournefully describeth saying My minde leadeth mee sith there is no other remedie to flye and to conuey my selfe into some corner out of sight where I may scape from this cloudie tempest of malitiousnesse whereby all parts are entred into a deadly warre amongst themselues and that little remnant of loue which was is now consumed to nothing The onely godlines we glory in is to finde out somewhat whereby we may iudge others to be vngodly Each others faults we obserue as matter of exprobration and not of griefe By these meanes wee are growne hateful in the eyes of the Heathens themselues and which woundeth vs the moâ—e deeply able we are not to denie but that we haue deserued their hatred With the better sort of our owne our fame and credit is cleane lost The lesse wee are to maruell if they iudge vilely of vs who although we did well would hardly allow therof On our backs they also build that are lewd and what we obiect one against an other the same they vse to the vtter scorne and disgrace of vs all This we haue gained by our mutuall home-dissentions This we are worthily rewarded with which are more forward to striue then becommeth men of vertuous and mild disposition But our trust in the almightie is that with vs contentions are now at their highest floate and that the day will come for what cause of despaire is there when the passioÌ„s of former enmitie being allaied we shal with ten times redoubled tokens of our vnfainedly reconciled loue shewe our selues each towards other the same which Ioseph and the brethren of Ioseph were at the time of their enteruiew in Aegypt Our comfortable expectation and most thirstie desire whereof what man soeuer amongst you shall any way helpe to satisfie as we truly hope there is no one amongst you but some way or other will the blessings of the God of peace both in this world and in the world to come be vppon him moe then the starres of the firmament in number VVhat things are handled in the Bookes following THe first Booke concerning lawes in generall The second of the vse of diuine lawe conteined in scripture whether that be the onely lawe which ought to serue for our direction in all things without exception The third of lawes concerning Ecclesiasticall Politie whether the forme thereof be in scripture so set downe that no addition or change is lawfull The fourth of generall exceptions taken against the lawes of our politie as being popish and banished out of certaine reformed Churches The fift of our lawes that concerne the publike religious duties of the Church and the maner of bestowing that power of order which inableth men in sundrie degrees and callings to execute the same The sixt of the power of iurisdiction which the reformed platforme claymeth vnto lay-elders with others The seauenth of the power of iurisdiction and the honor which is annexed thereunto in Bishops The eighth of the power of ecclesiasticall dominion or supreme authoritie which with vs the highest gouernour or Prince hath as well in regard of domesticall iurisdictions as of that other forreinly claimed by the Bishop of Rome The first Booke Concerning Lawes and their seuerall kindes in generall The matter conteined in this first Booke 1 THe cause of writing this generall discourse concerning lawes 2 Of that lawe which God from before the beginning hath set for himselfe to doe all the things by 3 The law which natural agents obserue their necessary maner of keeping it 4 The lawe which the Angels of God obey 5 The lawe whereby man is in his actions directed to the imitation of God 6 Mens first beginning to vnderstand that lawe 7 Of mans will which is the first thing that lawes of action are made to guide 8 Of the naturall finding out of lawes by the light of reason to guide the will vnto that which is good 9 Of the benefit of keeping that lawe which reason teacheth 10 How reason doth lead men vnto the making of humane lawes whereby politique societies are gouerned and to agreement about lawes whereby the fellowship or communion of independent societies standeth 11 Wherefore God hath by scripture further made knowne such supernaturall lawes as do serue for mens direction 12 The cause why so many naturall or rationall lawes are set downe in holy scripture 13 The benefit of hauing diuine lawes written 14 The sufficiencie of scripture vnto the end for which it was instituted 15 Of lawes positiue conteined in scripture the mutabilitie of certaine of them and the generall vse of scripture 16 A conclusion shewing how all this belongeth to the cause in question HE that goeth about to perswade a multitude that they are not so well gouerned as they ought to be shal neuer waÌ„t attentiue fauourable hearers because they know the manifold defects whereunto euery kind of regiment is subiect but the secret lets and difficulties which in publike proceedings are innumerable ineuitable they haue not ordinarily the iudgement to consider And becâ—â—se such as openly reproue supposed disorders of state are taken for principall friendes to the common benefite of all and for men that carry singular freedome of mind vnder this faire and plausible colour whatsoeuer they vtter passeth for good and currant That which wanteth in the waight of their speech is supplyed by the aptnes of mens minds to accept and beleeue it Whereas on the other side if we maintaine thinges that are established wee haue not onely to striue with a number of heauie preiudices deepely rooted in the hearts of men who thinke that herein we serue the time and speake in fauour of the present state because thereby we eyther hold or seeke preferment but also to beare such exceptions as minds so auerted before hand vsually take against that which they are loath should be powred into them Albeit therefore much of that we are to speake in this present cause may seeme to a number perhaps tedious perhaps obscure darke and intricate for many talke of the truth which neuer sounded the depth from whence it springeth and therfore when they are led thereunto they are soone weary as men drawne from those beaten pathes wherewith they haue bene inured yet this may not so farre preuaile as to cut off that which the matter it selfe requireth howsoeuer the nice humour of some be therewith pleased or no.
his maker resembleth him also in the maner of working so that whatsoeuer we worke as men the same we do wittingly worke and freely neither are we according to the maner of naturall agents any way so tied but that it is in our power to leaue the things we do vndone The good which either is gotten by doing or which consisteth in the very doing it selfe causeth not action vnlesse apprehending it as good we so like and desire it That we do vnto any such ende the same we choose and preferre before the leauing of it vndone Choice there is not vnlesse the thing which we take be so in our power that we might haue refused and left it If fire consume the stubble it chooseth not so to do because the nature thereof is such that it can do no other To choose is to will one thing before another And to will is to bend our soules to the hauing or doing of that which they see to be good Goodnesse is seene with the eye of the vnderstanding And the light of that eye is reason So that two principall fountaines there are of humaine action Knowledge and Will which will in things tending towards any end is termed Choice Concerning knowledge Behold sayth Moses I haue set before you this day good and euill life and death Concerning Will he addeth immediatly Choose life that is to say the things that tend vnto life them choose But of one thing we must haue speciall care as being a matter of no small moment and that is how the will properly and strictly taken as it is of things which are referred vnto the end that man desireth differeth greatly from that inferiour naturall desire which we call appetite The obiect of appetite is whatsoeuer sensible good may be wished for the obiect of wil is that good which reason doth leade vs to seeke Affections as ioy and griefe and feare and anger with such like being as it were the sundry fashions and formes of appetite can neither rise at the conceipt of a thing indifferent nor yet choose but rise at the sight of some things Wherefore it is not altogether in our power whether we will be stirred with affections or no whereas actions which issue from the dispositioÌ„ of the wil are in the power therof to be performed or staied Finally appetite is the wils sollicitor and the will is appetites controller what we couet according to the one by the other we often reiect neither is any other desire termed properly will but that where reason and vnderstanding or the shew of reason prescribeth the thing desired It may be therfore a question whether those operations of men are to be counted voluntary wherein that good which is sensible prouoketh appetite and appetite causeth action reason being neuer called to councell as when we eate or drinke or betake our selues vnto rest and such like The truth is that such actions in men hauing attained to the vse of reason are voluntary For as the authoritie of higher powers hath force euen in those things which are done without their priuitie and are of so meane reckening that to acquaint them therewith it needeth not in like sort voluntarily we are said to do that also which the will if it listed might hinder from being done although about the doing thereof we do not expressely vse our reason or vnderstanding and so immediatly apply our wils thereunto In cases therefore of such facility the will doth yeeld her assent as it were with a kind of silence by not dissenting in which respect her force is not so apparant as in expresse mandates or prohibitions especially vpon aduice and consultation going before Where vnderstanding therefore needeth in those things reason is the director of mans will by discouering in action what is good For the lawes of well doing are the dictates of right reason Children which are not as yet come vnto those yeares whereat they may haue againe innocentes which are excluded by naturall defect from euer hauing thirdly mad men which for the present cannot possibly haue the vse of right reason to guide themselues haue for their guide the reason that guideth other men which are tutors ouer them to seeke and to procure their good for them In the rest there is that light of reason whereby good may be knowne from euill and which discouering the same rightly is termed right The will notwithstanding doth not incline to haue or do that which reason teacheth to be good vnlesse the same do also teach it to be possible For albeit the appetite being more generall may wish any thing which seemeth good be it neuer so impossible yet for such things the reasonable will of man doth neuer seeke Let reason reach impossibilitie in any thing and the will of man doth let it go a thing impossible it doth not affect the impossibility thereof being manifest There is in the will of man naturally that freedome whereby it is apt to take or refuse any particular obiect whatsoeuer being presented vnto it Whereupon it followeth thâ—t there is no particular obiect so good but it may haue the shew of some difâ—icultie or vnplesant qualitie annexed to it in respect whereof the will may shrinke and decline it contrariwise for so things are blended there is no particular euill which hath not some appearance of goodnes whereby to insinuate it selfe For euill as euill cannot be desired if that be desired which is euill the cause is the goodnes which is or seemeth to be ioyned with it Goodnesse doth not moue by being but by being apparant and therefore many things are neglected which are most pretious onely because the value of them lyeth hid Sensible goodnesse is most apparent neere and present which causeth the appetite to be therewith strongly prouoked Now pursuit refusall in the will do follow the one the affirmation the other the negation of goodnes which the vnderstanding apprehendeth grounding it selfe vpon sense vnlesse some higher reason do chance to teach the coÌ„trary And if reason haue taught it rightly to be good yet not so apparently that the mind receiueth it with vtter imâ—ossibility of being otâ—erwise still there is place left for the will to take or leaue Whereas therefore amongst so many things as are to be done there are so few the goodnes wherof reasoÌ„ in such sort doth or easily can discouer we are not to mâ—ruaile at the choyce of euill eueÌ„ then when the coÌ„trary is probably knowne Hereby it cometh to passe that custome inuring the mind by loÌ„â— practise so leauing there a sensible impression preuaileth more theÌ„ reasonable perswasioÌ„ whâ—t way so euer Reason therfore may rightly discerne the thing which is good yet the will of maÌ„ not incline it selfe theruâ—to is oft as the preiudice of sensible experience doth ouersway Nor let any man thinke that this doth make any thing for the iust excuse of iniquity For there was neuer sin coÌ„mitted wherein a
in all partes of decent demeanor So that the law of Angels wee cannot iudge altogether impertinent vnto the affaires of the Church of God Our largenesse of speech how men do finde out what thinges reason bindeth them of necessitie to obserue and what is guideth them to choose in things which are left as arbitrary the care we haue had to declare the different nature of lawes which seuerally concerne all men from such as belong vnto men eyther ciuilly or spiritually associated such as pertaine to the fellowship which nations or which Christian nations haue amongst themselues and in the last place such as concerning euery or any of these God himselfe hath reuealed by his holy worâ— all serueth but to make manifest that as the actions of men are of sundry distinct kindes so the lawes thereof must accordingly be distinguished There are in men operations some naturall some rationall some supernaturall some politique some finally Ecclesiasticall Which if we measure not each by his owne proper law whereas the things themselues are so different there will be in our vnderstanding and iudgement of them confusion As that first error sheweth whereon our opposites in this cause haue grounded themselues For as they rightly maintaine that God must be glorified in all thinges and that the actions of men cannot tend vnto his glory vnlesse they be framed after his law So it is their error to thinke that the only law which God hath appointed vnto men in that behalfe is the sacred Scripture By that which we worke naturally as when we breath sleepe mooue we set forth the glory of God as naturall agents doe albeit we haue no expresse purpose to make that our end nor any aduised determination therein to follow a law but doe that we doe for the most part not as much as thinking thereon In reasonable and morall actions another law taketh place a law by the obseruation whereof we glorifie God in such sort as no creature else vnder man is able to doe because other creatures haue not iudgement to examine the qualitie of that which is done by them and therfore in that they doe they neither can accuse nor approue themselues Men doe bothe as the Apostle teacheth yea those men which haue no written lawe of God to shewe what is good or euill carrie written in their hearts the vniuersall lawe of mankind the law of reason whereby they iudge as by a rule which God hath giuen vnto all men for that purpose The lawe of reason doth somewhat direct men how to honour God as their Creator but how to glorifie God in such sort as is required to the end he may be an euerlasting Sauiour this we are taught by diuine law which law both ascertaineth the truth and supplieth vnto vs the want of that other lawe So that in morall actions diuine law helpeth exceedingly the lawe of reason to guide mans life but in supernaturall it alone guideth Proceed wee further let vs place man in some publique societie with others whether Ciuill or Spirituall and in this case there is no remedie but we must adde yet a further lawe For although euen here likewise the lawes of nature and reason be of necessary vse yet somewhat ouer and besides them is necessary namely humane and positiue lawe together with that lawe which is of commerce betweene grand societies the law of nations and of nations Christian For which cause the lawe of God hath likewise said Let euery soule be subiect to the higher powers The publique power of all societies is aboue euery soule contained in the same societies And the principall vse of that power is to giue lawes vnto all that are vnder it which lawes in such case we must obey vnlesse there be reason shewed which may necessarily enforce that the lawe or reason or of God doth enioyne the contrarie Because except our owne priuate and but probable resolutions be by the lawe of publique determinations ouerruled we take away all possibilitie of sociable life in the worlde A plainer example whereof then our selues we cannot haue How commeth it to passe that wee are at this present day so rent with mutuall contentions and that the Church is so much troubled about the politie of the Church No doubt if men had bene willing to learne how many lawes their actions in this life are subiect vnto and what the true force of each lawe is all these controuersies might haue dyed the very day they were first brought forth It is both commonly said and truly that the best men otherwise are not alwayes the best in regard of societie The reason wherof is for that the law of mens actions is one if they be respected only as men and another wheÌ„ they are considered as parts of a politique body Many men there are then whom nothing is more commendable when they are singled And yet in societie with others none lesse fit to answere the duties which are looked for at their handes Yea I am perswaded that of them with whom in this cause we striue there are whose betters among men would bee hardly found if they did not liue amongst men but in some wildernesse by themselues The cause of which their disposition so vnframable vnto societies wherein they liue is for that they discerne not aright what place and force these seuerall kindes of lawes ought to haue in all their actions Is there question eyther concerning the regiment of the Church in generall or about conformitie betweene one Church and another or of ceremonies offices powers iurisdictions in our owne Church Of all these things they iudge by that râ—le which they frame to themselues with some shew of probabilitie and what seemeth in that sort conuenient the same they thinke themselues bound to practise the same by all meanes they labour mightily to vpholde whatsoeuer any law of man to the contrarie hath determined they weigh it not Thus by following the law of priuate reason where the law of publique should take place they breede disturbance For the better inuâ—ing therefore of mens mindes with the true distinction of lawes and of their seuerall force according to the diâ—ferent kind and qualitie of our actions it shal noâ— peraduenture be amisse to shew in some one example how they all take place To seeke no further let but that be considered then which there is not any thing more familiar vnto vs our foode What thinges are foode and what are not we iudge naturally by sense neither neede we any other law to be our director in that behalfe then the selfe-same which is common vnto vs with beastes But when we come to consider of foode as of a benefite which God of his bounteous goodnes hath prouided for all thinges liuing the law of reason doth here require the dutie of thankefulnesse at our handes towards him at whose hands we haue iâ— And least appetite in the vse of foode should leade vs beyond that
narrow roome as that it should bee able to direct vs but in principall points of our Religion or as though the substance of Religion or some rude and vnfashioned matter of building the Church were vttered in them and those things left out that should pertaine to the forme and fashion of it let the cause of the accused bee referred to the accusers owne conscience and let that iudge whether this accusation be deserued where it hath bene layd 5 But so easie it is for euery man liuing to erre and so hard to wrest from any mans mouth the plaine acknowledgement of error that what hath beene once inconsiderately defended the same is commonly persisted in as long as wit by whetting it selfe is able to finde out any shift bee it neuer so sleight whereby to escape out of the handes of present contradiction So that it commeth here in to passe with men vnaduisedly fallen into errour as with them whose state hath no ground to vphold it but onely the helpe which by subtle conueyance they drawe out of casuall euents arising from day to day till at length they be cleane spent They which first gaue out that Nothing ought to be established in the Church which is not commanded by the word of God thought this principle plainely warranted by the manifest words of the lawe Ye shall put nothing vnto the word which I commaund you neither shall ye take ought therefrom that ye may keepe the commaundements of the Lord your God which I commaund you Wherefore hauing an eye to a number of rites and orders in the Church of England as marrying with a ring crossing in the one Sacrament kneeling at the other obseruing of festiuall dayes moe then onely that which is called the Lords day inioyning abstinence at certaine times from some kindes of meate churching of women after Child birth degrees taken by diuines in Vniuersities sundry Church-offices dignities and callings for which they found no commaundement in the holy Scripture they thought by the one onely stroke of that axiome to haue cut them off But that which they tooke for an Oracle being sifted was repeld True it is concerning the word of God whether it be by misconstruction of the sense or by falsification of the words wittingly to endeuour that any thing may seeme diuine which is not or any thing not seeme which is were plainely to abuse and euen to falsifie diuine euidence which iniury offered but vnto men is most worthily counted haâ—nous Which point I wish they did well obserue with whom nothing is more familiar then to plead in these causes The law of God The word of the Lord who notwithstanding when they come to alleage what word and what lawe they meane their common ordinarie practise is to quote by-speeches in some historicall narration or other and to vrge them as if they were written in most exact forme of law What is to adde to the lawe of God if this bee not When that which the word of God doth but deliuer historically we conster without any warrant as if it were legally meant and so vrge it further then we can proue that it was intended do we not adde to the lawes of God and make them in number seeme moe then they are It standeth vs vpon to be carefull in this case For the sentence of God is heauy against them that wittingly shall presume thus to vse the Scripture 6 But let that which they doe hereby intend bee graunted them let it once stand as consonant to reason that because wee are forbidden to adde to the lawe of God any thing or to take ought from it therefore wee may not for matters of the Church make any lawe more then is already set downe in Scripture who seeth not what sentence it shall enforce vs to giue against all Churches in the world in as much as there is not one but hath had many things established in it which though the Scripture did neuer commaund yet for vs to condemne were rashnesse Let the Church of God euen in the time of our Sauior Christ serue for example vnto all the rest In their domesticall celebration of the passeouer which supper they deuided as it were into two courses what Scripture did giue commaundement that betweene the first and the second he that was Chiefe should put off the residue of his garments and keeping on his feast-robe onely wash the feete of them that were with him What Scripture did command them neuer to lift vp their hands vnwasht in prayer vnto God which custome Aristaeus be the credite of the author more or lesse sheweth wherefore they did so religiously obserue What Scripture did commaund the Iewes euery festiuall day to fast till the sixt houre The custome both mentioned by Iosephus in the history of his owne life and by the words of Peter signified Tedious it were to rip vp all such things as were in that Church established yea by Christ himselfe and by his Apostles obserued though not commaunded any where in Scripture 7 Well yet a glosse there is to colour that paradoxe and notwithstanding all this still to make it appeare in shew not to be altogether vnreasonable And therefore till further reply come the cause is held by a feeble distinction that the commandements of God being either generall or speciall although there be no expresse word for euery thing in specialtie yet there are generall commaundements for all things to the end that euen such cases as are not in Scripture particularly mentioned might not be left to any to order at their pleasure onely with caution that nothing be done against the word of God and that for this cause the Apostle hath set downe in scripture foure generall rules requiring such things alone to be receiued in the Church as do best and neerest agree with the same rules that so all things in the Church may be appointed not onely not against but by and according to the word of God The rules are these Nothing scandalous or offensiue vnto any especially vnto the Church of God All things in order and with seemelinesse All vnto edification finally All to the glory of God Of which kind how many might be gathered out of the Scripture if it were necessary to take so much paines Which rules they that vrge minding thereby to proue that nothing may be done in the Church but what Scripture commaundeth must needs hold that they tye the Church of Christ no otherwise then onely because we find them there set downe by the finger of the holy Ghost So that vnlesse the Apostle by writing had deliuered those rules to the Church we should by obseruing them haue sinned as now by not obseruing them In the Church of the Iewes is it not graunted that the appointment of the hower for daily sacrifices the building of Synagogues throughout the land to heare the word of God and to pray in when they came not vp
continuance of it must then of necessitie appeare superfluous And of this we cannot be ignorant how sometimes that hath done great good which afterwardes when time hath chaunged the auncient course of thinges doth growe to be either very hurtfull or not so greatly profitable and necessary If therefore the end for which a lawe prouideth be perpetually necessary the way whereby it prouideth perpetually also most apt no doubt but that euery such law ought for euer to remain vnchangeable Whether God be the author of lawes by authorizing that power of men wherby they are made or by deliuering them made immediately from himselfe by word only or in writing also or howsoeuer notwithstaÌ„ding the authority of their maker the mutabilitie of that end for which they are made doth also make them changeable The law of ceremonies came from God Moses had commandement to commit it vnto the sacred records of scripture where it continueth euen vnto this very day and houre in force still as the Iewe surmiseth because God himselfe was author of it and for vs to abolish what hee hath established were presumptioÌ„ most intollerable But that which they in the blindnes of their obdurate hearts are not able to discerne sith the end for which that lawe was ordained is now fulfilled past and gone how should it but cease any longer to bee which hath no longer any cause of being in force as before That which necessitie of some speciall time doth cause to be inioyned bindeth no longer theÌ„ during that time but doth afterwards become free Which thing is also plain euen by that law which the Apostles assembled at the counsell of Ierusalem did froÌ„ thence deliuer vnto the Church of Christ the preface whereof to authorize it was To the holy Ghost and to vs it hath seemed good which stile they did not vse as matching theÌ„selues in power with the holy Ghost but as testifying the holy Ghost to be the author and themselues but onely vtterers of that decree This lawe therefore to haue proceeded from God as the author therof no faithful man wil denie It was of God not only because God gaue theÌ„ the power wherby they might make lawes but for that it proceeded euen froÌ„ the holy motion suggestion of that secret diuine spirit whose sentence they did but only pronounce Notwithstanding as the law of ceremonies deliuered vnto the Iews so this very law which the Gentiles receiued from the mouth of the holy Ghost is in like respect abrogated by decease of the end for which it was giuen But such as do not sticke at this point such as graunt that what hath bene instituted vpon any special cause needeth not to be obserued that cause ceasing do notwithstanding herein faile they iudge the lawes of God onely by the author and maine end for which they were made so that for vs to change that which he hath established they hold it execrable pride presumption if so be the end and purpose for which God by that meane prouideth bee permanent And vpon this they ground those ample disputes coÌ„cerning orders and offices which being by him appointed for the gouernment of his Church if it be necessary alwaies that the Church of Christ be gouerned then doth the end for which God prouided remaine still and therefore in those means which he by law did establish as being fittest vnto that end for vs to alter any thing is to lift vp our selues against God and as it were to countermaund him Wherin they marke not that laws are instruments to rule by and that instruments are not only to be framed according vnto the generall ende for which they are prouided but eueÌ„ according vnto that very particular which riseth out of the matter wheron they haue to worke The end wherefore lawes were made may be permanent and those lawes neuerthelesse require some alteration if there be any vnfitnes in the meanes which they prescribe as tending vnto that end purpose As for exaÌ„ple a law that to bridle theâ—â— doth punish the ones with a quadruple â—estitution hath an end which wil coÌ„tinue as long as the world it self coÌ„tinueth Theft will be alwayes and will alwayes need to be bridled But that the meane which this law prouideth for that end namely the punishment of quadruple restitution that this will be alwaies sufficient to bridle and restraine that kind of enormity no man can warrant Insufficiency of lawes doth somtimes come by want of iudgement in the makers Which cause cannot fall into any law termed properly and immediatly diuine as it may and doth into humaine lawes often But that which hath bene once most sufficient may wax otherwise by alteratioÌ„ of time place that punishment which hath bene somtimes forcible to bridle sinne may grow afterwards too weake and feeble In a word we plainely perceiue by the difference of those three lawes which the Iewes receiued at the hands of God the morall ceremoniall iudiciall that if the end for which and the matter according whereunto God maketh his lawes continue alwaies one and the same his laws also do the like for which cause the morall law cannot be altered secondly that whether the matter wheron lawes are made continue or coÌ„tinue not if their end haue once ceased they cease also to be of force as in the law ceremonial it fareth finally that albeit the end coÌ„tinue as in that law of theft specified and in a great part of those ancient iudicials it doth yet for as mush as there is not in all respects the same subiect or matter remaining for which they were first instituted euen this is sufficient cause of change And therefore lawes though both ordeined of God himselfe and the end for which they were ordeined continuing may notwithstanding cease if by alteration of persons or times they be fouÌ„d vnsufficieÌ„t to attain vnto that end In which respect why may we not presume that God doth eueÌ„ call for such change or alteratioÌ„ as the very coÌ„dition of things theÌ„selues doth make necessary They which do therfore plead the authority of the law-maker as an argument wherefore it should not be lawfull to change that which he hath instituted and will haue this the cause why all the ordinances of our Sauiour are immutable they which vrge the wisdome of God as a proofe that whatsoeuer laws he hath made they ought to stand â—nlesse himselfe from heauen proclaime them disanuld because it is not in man to correct the ordinaÌ„ce of God may know if it please theÌ„ to take notice therof that we are far froÌ„ presuming to think that meÌ„ can better any thing which God hath done eueÌ„ as we are from thinking that meÌ„ should presume to vndo some things of men which God doth know they cannot better God neuer ordeined any thing that could be bettered Yet many things he hath that haue bene changed and that for the better That which succeedeth as better now wheÌ„
the house of God did therin establish lawes of gouernmēt for perpetuity lawes which they that were of the houshold might not alter shall we admit into our thoughts that the sonne of God hath in prouiding for this his houshold declared himselfe lesse faithfull then Moses Moses deliuering vnto the Iewes such lawes as were durable if those be changeable which Christ hath deliuered vnto vs we are not able to auoide it but that which to thinke were heinous impiety we of necessity must confesse euen the sonne of God himselfe to haue bene lesse faithfull then Moses Which argument shall need no touchstone to try it by but some other of the like making Moses erected in the wildernes a tabernacle which was moueable from place to place Salomon a sumptuous stately Temple which was not moueable Therfore Salomon was faithfuller then Moses which no man indued with reason will thinke And yet by this reasō it doth plainly follow He that wil see how faithful the one or the other was must cōpare the things which they bothe did vnto the charge which God gaue each of them The Apostle in making comparison betweene our Sauiour and Moses attributeth faithfulnes vnto bothe and maketh this difference betweene them Moses in but Christ ouer the house of God Moses in that house which was his by charge and commission though to gouerne it yet to gouerne it as a seruant but Christ ouer this house as being his owne intire possesion Our Lord and Sauiour doth make protestation I haue giuen vnto them the words which thou gauest me Faithfull therefore he was and concealed not any part of his fathers will But did any part of that will require the immutability of lawes concerning Church-polity They answer yea For else God should lesse fauour vs then the Iewes God would not haue their Churches guided by any lawes but his owne And seeing this did so continue euen till Christ now to ease God of that care or rather to depriue the Church of his patronage what reason haue we Surely none to derogate any thing from the ancient loue which God hath borne to his Church An heathen Philosopher there is who considering how many things beasts haue which men haue not how naked in comparison of them how impotent and how much lesse able we are to shift for our selues along time after we enter into this world repiningly concluded hereupon that nature being a carefull mother for them is towards vs a hard harted Stepdame No we may not measure the affection of our gratious God towards his by such differences For euen herein shineth his wisdome that though the wayes of his prouidence be many yea the ende which he bringeth all at the length vnto is one and the selfe same But if such kind of reasoning were good might we not euen as directly conclude the very same concerning laws of secular regiment Their owne words are these In the ancient Church of the Iewes God did command and Moses commit vnto writing all things pertinent as well to the ciuil as to the Ecclesiasticall state God gaue them lawes of ciuill regiment and would not permit their common weale to be gouerned by any other lawes then his owne Doth God lesse regard our temporal estate in this world or prouide for it worse then for theirs To vs notwithstanding he hath not as to them deliuered any particular forme of temporall regiment vnlesse perhaps we thinke as some do that the grafting of the Gentiles their incorporating into Israell doth import that we ought to be subiect vnto the rites and lawes of their whole politie We see then how weake such disputes are how smally they make to this purpose That Christ did not meane to set downe particular positiue lawes for all things in such sort as Moses did the very different manner of deliuering the lawes of Moses and the lawes of Christ doth plainly shew Moses had commaundement to gather the ordinances of God together distinctly and orderly to set them downe according vnto their seuerall kinds for each publique duty and office the laws that belong thereto as appeareth in the bookes themselues written of purpose for that end Contrariwise the lawes of Christ we find rather mentioned by occasion in the writings of the Apostles then any solemne thing directly written to comprehend them in legall sort Againe the positiue lawes which Moses gaue they were giuen for the greatest part with restraint to the land of Iurie Behold sayth Moses I haue taught you ordinances and lawes as the Lord my God commaunded me that ye should do euen so within the land whither ye go to possesse it Which lawes and ordinances positiue he plainely distinguisheth afterward from the lawes of the two Tables which were morall The Lord spake vnto you out of the midst of the fire ye heard the voyce of the words but saw no similitude onely a voyce Then he declared vnto you his Couenant which he commaunded you to do the ten Commaundements and wrote them vpon two Tables of stone And the Lord commaunded me that same time that I should teach you ordinances and lawes which ye should obserue in the land whither ye go to possesse it The same difference is againe set downe in the next Chapter following For rehearsall being made of the ten Commaundements it followeth immediatly These words the Lord spake vnto all your multitude in the Mount out of the midst of the fire the cloude and the darknesse with a great voyce and added no more and wrote them vpon two Tables of stone and deliuered them vnto me But concerning other lawes the people giue their consent to receiue them at the hands of Moses Go thou neerer and heare all that the Lord our God sayth and declare thou vnto vs all that the Lord our God sayth vnto thee and we will heare it and do it The peoples alacritie herein God highly commendeth with most effectuall and heartie speech I haue heard the voyce of the wordes of this people they haue spoken well O that there were such an heart in them to feare me and to keepe all my Commaundements alwayes that it might go well with them and with their children for euer Go say vnto them Returne you to your tents But stand thou here with me and I will tell thee all the Commaundements and the Ordinances and the Lawes which thou shalt teach them that they may do them in the land which I haue giuen them to possesse From this later kind the former are plainely distinguished in many things They were not bothe at one time deliuered neither bothe after one sort nor to one end The former vttered by the voyce of God himselfe in the hearing of sixe hundred thousand men the former written with the finger of God the former tearmed by the name of a Couenant the former giuen to be kept without either mention of time how long or
onely to say in the hearing of the publique magistrate I will that this man become free but after these solemne wordes vttered to strike him on the cheeke to turne him round the haire of his head to be shaued off the magistrate to touch him thrise with a rod in the end a cap and a white garment to be giuen him To what purpose all this circumstance Amongst the Hebrewes how strange in outward appearance almost against reason that he which was minded to make himselfe a perpetuall seruant should not only testifie so much in the presence of the iudge but for a visible token thereof haue also his eare bored through with a nawle It were an infinite labour to prosecute these things so far as they might be exempplified both in ciuill and religious actions For in bothe they haue their necessary vse and force The sensible things which Religion hath allowed are resemblances framed according to things spiritually vnderstood wherunto they serue as a hand to lead and a way to direct And whereas it may peraduenture be obiected that to adde to religious duties such rites and ceremonies as are significant is to institute new sacraments sure I am they will not say that Numa Pompilius did ordaine a sacrament a significant ceremonie he did ordaine in commanding the Priests to execute the work of their diuine seruice with their handes as farre as to the fingers couered thereby signifiing that fidelitie must be defended and that mens right handes are the sacred seate thereof Againe we are also to put them in mind that themselues do not holde all significant ceremonies for sacramentes in as much as imposition of handes they denie to be a sacrament and yet they giue thereunto a forcible signification For concerning it their words are these The party ordained by this ceremony was put in mind of his seperation to the worke of the Lord that remembring himselfe to be taken as it were with the hand of God from amongst others this might teach him not to account himselfe now his owne nor to doe what himselfe listeth but to consider that God hath set him about a worke which if he will discharge accomplish he may at the hands of God assure himselfe of reward and if otherwise of reuenge Touching significant ceremonies some of thē are sacramēts some as sacramēts only Sacraments are those which are signes tokēs of some general promised grace which alwaies really descendeth from God vnto the soule that duly receiueth thē other significant tokēs are onely as sacraments yet no sacraments Which is not our distinction but theirs For concerning the Apostles imposition of handes these are their owne words Manuum signum hoc quasi sacramentum vsurparunt They vsed this signe or as it were sacrament 2 Concerning rites and ceremonies there may be fault either in the kinde or in the number and multitude of them The first thing blamed about the kind of ours is that in many thinges we haue departed from the auncient simplicitie of Christ and his Apostles we haue embraced more outward statelinesse we haue those orders in the exercise of Religion which they who best pleased God and serued him most deuoutly neuer had For it is out of doubt that the first state of thinges was best that in the prime of Christian Religion faith was soundest the scriptures of God were then best vnderstood by all men all parts of godlines did then most abound and therefore it must needes follow that customes lawes and ordinances deuised since are not so good for the Church of Christ but the best way is to cut off later inuentions and to reduce thinges vnto the auntient state wherin at the first they were Which rule or canō we hold to be either vncertain or at leastwise vnsufficient if not bothe For in case it be certain hard it cannot be for them to shew vs where we shall finde it so exactly set downe that wee may say without all controuersie These were the orders of the Apostles times these wholly and onely neither fewer nor moe then these True it is that many things of this nature be alluded vnto yea many thinges declared and many thinges necessarily collected out of the Apostles writings But is it necessary that all the orders of the Church which were then in vse should be contained in their bookes Surely no. For if the tenor of their writinges be well obserued it shall vnto any man easily appeare that no more of them are there touched then were needfull to be spoken of somtimes by one occasion and sometimes by another Will they allow then of any other records besides Well assured I am they are farre enough from acknowledging that the church ought to keepe any thing as Apostolicall which is not found in the Apostles writings in what other recordes soeuer it be found And therefore whereas S. Augustine affirmeth that those thinges which the whole Church of Christ doth hold may well be thought to bee Apostolicall although they be not found written this his iudgement they vtterly condemne I will not here stand in defence of S. Augustines opinion which is that such thinges are indeede Apostolicall but yet with this exception vnlesse the decree of some generall councell haue happily caused them to be receiued for of positiue lawes and orders receiued throughout the whole Christian world S. Augustine could imagine no other fountaine saue these two But to let passe S. Augustine they who condemne him herein must needs confesse it a very vncertaine thing what the orders of the Church were in the Apostles times seeing the scriptures doe not mention them all and other records thereof besides they vtterly reiect So that in tying the Church to the orders of the Apostles times they tie it to a maruellous vncertain rule vnlesse they require the obseruatiō of no orders but only those which are knowne to be Apostolicall by the Apostles owne writings But then is not this their rule of such sufficiencie that we should vse it as a touchstone to trie the orders of the Church by for euer Our ende ought alwaies to bee the same our waies and meanes thereunto not so The glory of God and the good of his Church was the thing which the Apostles aymed at and therefore ought to bee the marke whereat we also leuell But seeing those rites and orders may be at one time more which at an other are lesse auaileable vnto that purpose what reason is there in these thinges to vrge the state of one onely age as a patterne for all to followe It is not I am right sure their meaning that we should now assemble our people to serue God in close secret meetings or that common brookes or riuers should be vsed for places of baptisme or that the Eucharist should be ministred after meate or that the custome of Church feasting should bee renued or that all kinde of standing prouision for the
which they did condemne The Apostles notwithstanding from whom Stephen had receiued it did not so teach the abrogation no not of those things which were necessarily to cease but that euen the Iewes being Christian might for a time continue in them And therefore in Ierusalem the first Christian Bishop not Circumcised was Marke and he not Bishop till the daies of Adrian the Emperour after the ouerthrow of Ierusalem there hauing bene fifteene Bishops before him which were all of the Circumcision The Christian Iewes did thinke at the first not onely themselues but the Christian Gentiles also bound and that necessarily to obserue the whole lawe There went forth certaine of the sect of Pharises which did beleeue and they comming vnto Antioch taught that it was necessary for the Gentiles to be circumcised and to keepe the lawe of Moses Whereupon there grew dissention Paul and Barnabas disputing against them The determination of the Councell held at Ierusalem concerning this matter was finally this Touching the Gentils which beleeue we haue written determined that they obserue no such thing Their protestation by letters is For as much as we haue heard that certain which departed froÌ„ vs haue troubled you with words and combred your minds saying Ye must be circumcised and keepe the lawe knowe that we gaue them no such commandement Paule therefore continued still teaching the Gentiles not onely that they were not bound to obserue the lawes of Moses but that the obseruation of those lawes which were necessarily to be abrogated was in them altogether vnlawfull In which point his doctrine was misreported as though he had euery where preached this not only concerning the Gentiles but also touching the Iewes Wherfore comming vnto Iames and the rest of the Cleargie at Ierusalem they tolde him plainely of it saying Thou seest brother how many thousand Iewes there are which beleeue they are all zealous of the law Now they are informed of thee that thou teachest all the Iewes which are amongst the Gentiles to forsake Moses and sayest that they ought not to circumcise their children neither to liue after the customes And hereupon they gaue him counsell to make it apparent in the eyes of all men that those flying reports were vntrue and that himselfe being a Iew kept the lawe euen as they did In some thinges therefore wee see the Apostles did teach that there ought not to be conformitie betweene the Christian Iewes and Gentiles How many things this lawe of inconformitie did comprehend there is no need we should stand to examine This generall is true that the Gentiles were not made conformable vnto the Iewes in that which was necessarily to cease at the comming of Christ. Touching things positiue which might either cease or continue as occasion should require the Apostles tendering the zeale of the Iewes thought it necessary to binde euen the Gentiles for a time to abstaine as the Iewes did froÌ„ things offered vnto idols from bloud froÌ„ strangled These decrees were euery where deliuered vnto the Gentiles to bee straightly obserued and kept In the other matters where the Gentiles were free and the Iewes in their owne opinion still tied the Apostles doctrine vnto the Iewe was Condemne not the Gentile vnto the Gentile Despise not the Iewe the one sorte they warned to take heed that scrupulositie did not make them rigorous in giuing vnaduised sentence against their brethren which were free the other that they did not become scandalous by abusing their libertie freedome to the offence of their weake brethren which were scrupulous From hence therefore two conclusioÌ„s there are which may euidently be drawne the first that whatsouer conformitie of positiue lawes the Apostles did bring in betweene the Churches of Iewes and Gentiles it was in those things only which might either cease or continue a shorter or a longer time as occasion did most require the second that they did not impose vpon the Churches of the Gentiles any part of the Iewes ordinances with bond of necessary and perpetuall obseruatioÌ„ as we al both by doctrine and practise acknowledge but only in respect of the conueniencie and fitnes for the present state of the Church as theÌ„ it stood The words of the Councels decree coÌ„cerning the Gentiles are It seemed good to the holy Ghost to vs to lay vpoÌ„ you no more burden sauing only those things of necessitie abstinence froÌ„ Idoll-offrings froÌ„ strangled bloud and froÌ„ fornication So that in other things positiue which the coÌ„ming of Christ did not necessarily extinguish the Gentils were left altogether free Neither ought it to seeme vnreasonable that the Gentils should necessarily be bound tied to Iewish ordinances so far forth as that decree importeth For to the Iew who knew that their differeÌ„ce froÌ„ other nations which were aliens strangers froÌ„ God did especially consist in this that Gods people had positiue ordinaÌ„ces giuen to theÌ„ of God himself it seemed maruelous hard that the ChristiaÌ„ Gentils should be incorporated into the same common welth with Gods owne chosen people be subiect to no part of his statutes more then only the lawe of nature which heatheÌ„s count theÌ„selues bouÌ„d vnto It was an opinioÌ„ constaÌ„tly receiued amongst the Iews that God did deliuer vnto the sonnes of Noah seueÌ„ precepts namely to liue in some form of regimeÌ„t vnder 1 publique lawes 2 to serue call vpoÌ„ the name of God 3 to shun Idolatry 4 not to suffer effusioÌ„ of bloud 5 to abhor all vncleane knowledge in the flesh 6 to commit no â—apine 7 finally not to eate of any liuing creature whereof the bloud was not first let out if therefore the Gentiles would be exempt from the lawe of Moses yet it might seeme hard they should also cast off euen those things positiue which were obserued before Moses and which were not of the same kinde with lawes that were necessarily to cease And peraduenture hereupon the Councell sawe it expedient to determine that the Gentiles should according vnto the third the seuenth and the fift of those precepts abstaine from things sacrificed vnto idoles from strangled and bloud and from fornication The rest the Gentiles did of their owne accord obserue nature leading them thereunto And did not nature also teach them to abstaine from fornication No doubt it did Neither can we with reason thinke that as the former two are positiue so likewise this being meant as the Apostle doth otherwise vsually vnderstand it But very marriage within a number of degrees being not onely by the lawe of Moses but also by the lawe of the sonnes of Noah for so they tooke it an vnlawfull discouerie of nakednes this discouerie of nakednesse by vnlawfull marriages such as Moses in the lawe reckoneth vp I thinke it for mine owne part more probable to haue bene meant in the wordes of that Canon then fornication according vnto the sense of the lawe of
in attire to the example of their elder sisters wherein there is iust as much strength of reason as in the liuery coates before mentioned S. Paul they say noteth it for a marke of speciall honor that Epaenetus was the first man in all Achaia which did embrace the Christian faith after the same sort he toucheth it also as a speciall preeminence of Iunias and Andronicus that in Christianity they were his auncients the Corinthians he pincheth with this demaund Hath the word of God gone out from you or hath it lighted on you alone But what of all this If any man should thinke that alacrity forwardnes in good things doth adde nothing vnto mens commendation the two former speeches of S. Paule might leade him to reforme his iudgement In like sort to take downe the stomacke of proud conceited men that glorie as though they were able to set all others to schoole there can be nothing more fit then some such words as the Apostles third sentence doth containe wherein he teacheth the Church of Corinth to know that there was no such great oddes betweene them and the rest of their brethren that they should thinke themselues to be gold and the rest to be but copper He therefore vseth speech vnto them to this effect Men instructed in the knowledge of Iesus Christ there both were before you and are besides you in the word ye neither are the fountaine from which first nor yet the riuer into which alone the word hath flowed But although as Epaenetus was the first man in all Achaia so Corinth had bene the first Church in the whole world that receiued Christ the Apostle doth not shew that in any kind of things in different whatsoeuer this should haue made their example a law vnto all others Indeed the example of sundry Churches for approbation of one thing doth sway much but yet still as hauing the force of an example onely and not of a lawe They are effectuall to moue any Church vnlesse some greater thing do hinder but they bind none no not though they be many sauing onely when they are the maior part of a generall assembly and then their voyces being moe in number must ouersway their iudgements who are fewer because in such cases the greater halfe is the whole But as they stand out single each of them by it selfe their number can purchase them no such authority that the rest of the Churches being fewer should be therefore bound to follow them and to relinquish as good ceremonies as theirs for theirs Whereas therefore it is concluded out of these so weake premisses that the reteining of diuerse things in the Church of England which other reformed Churches haue cast out must needs argue that we do not well vnlesse we can shewe that they haue done ill what needed this wrest to draw out from vs an accusation of forraine Churches It is not proued as yet that if they haue done well our duty is to followe them and to forsake our owne course because it different from theirs although indeed it be as well for vs euery way as theirs for them And if the proofes alleaged for conformation hereof had bene â—ound yet seeing they leade no further then onely to shew that where we can haue no better ceremonies theirs must be taken as they cannot with modesty thinke themselues to haue found out absolutely the best which the wit of men may deuise so liking their owne somewhat better then other mens euen because they are their owne they must in equitie allow vs to be like vnto them in this affection which if they do they case vs of that vncourteouâ— burden whereby we are charged either to condemne them or else to followe them They graunt we need not followe them if our owne wayes already be better And if our owne be but equall the law of common indulgence alloweth vs to thinke them at the least halfe a thought the better because they are our owne which we may very well do and neuer drawe any inditement at all against theirs but thinke commendably euen of them also 14 To leaue reformed Churches therefore their actions for him to iudge of in whose sight they are as they are and our desire is that they may euen in his sight be found such as we ought to endeuour by all meanes that our owne may likewise be somewhat we are inforced to speake by way of simple declaration concerning the proceedings of the Church of England in these affaires to the end that men whose minds are free from those partiall coÌ„structions wherby the only name of difference froÌ„ some other Churches is thought cause sufficient to condeÌ„ne ours may the better discerne whether that we haue done be reasonable yea or no. The Church of EnglaÌ„d being to alter her receiued laws coÌ„cerning such orders rites and ceremonies as had bene in former times an hinderance vnto pietie and Religious seruice of God was to enter into consideration first that the change of lawes especially concerning matter of Religion must be warily proceeded in Lawes as all other things humaine are many times full of imperfection and that which is supposed behoofefull vnto men proueth often-times most pernicious The wisedome which is learned by tract of time findeth the lawes that haue bene in former ages establisht needfull in later to be abrogated Besides that which sometime is expedient doth not alwaies so continue and the number of needlesse lawes vnabolisht doth weaken the force of them that are necessarie But true withall it is that alteration though it be from worse to better hath in it inconueniences and those waighty vnlesse it be in such laws as haue bene made vpon special occasions which occasions ceasing laws of that kind do abrogate themselues But when we abrogate a law as being ill made the whole cause for which it was made still remaining do we not herein reuoke our very owne deed and vpbraid our selues with folly yea all that were makers of it with ouer sight and with error Further if it be a law which the custome continuall practise of many ages or yeares hath confirmed in the minds of men to alter it must needs be troublesome and scandalous It amazeth them it causeth theÌ„ to stand in doubt whether any thing be in it selfe by nature either good or euil not al things rather such as men at this or that time agree to accoÌ„pt of them wheÌ„ they behold euen those things disproued disanulled reiected which vse had made in a maner naturall What haue we to induce meÌ„ vnto the willing obedience obseruation of lawes but the waight of so many meÌ„s iudgement as haue with deliberate aduise assented thereunto the waight of that long experience which the world hath had thereof with consent good liking So that to change any such law must needs with the common sort impaire and weaken the force of those grounds whereby all lawes are made effectual
writing this generall discourse Of that lawe which God from before the beginning hath set for himselfe to do all things by Ioh. 1â— 13.14.15 a Iupiterâ— Counsell was accomplished b The creator made the whole world not with hands but by Reason Stob in eclog. phys c Proceed by a certaine and a 〈◊〉 Waie in the making of the world Ioh. 5.17 Gen. 2.18 Sap. 8.1 Sap. 11.17 Eph. 1.7 Phil. 4.19 Col. â— 3 prou 16.6 Ephe. 1.13 Rom. 11.33 prou â— 23 Rom. 11.10 Borâ— lib. 4 des Consol. philoâ— 2. Tim. 2.13 Heb. 6.17 The lawe which natural agâ—nts haue giuen tâ—em to obserue and their necessary maner of keeping it a Id omne quod in rebus creatis fit est materia legis oeternae Th 1.2 q 93. art 4 â— 6 Nullo modo aliquid legibus summi creato ris ordinationique subtrahitur a quo pax vniuersitatis administratur August de ciu deâ— lib. 19. c. 22. Immo peceâ—tum quatenus â— Deo â—ustè permittituâ— cadit â—n legemaeterâ—am Eâ—â—aâ—legâ—aeternâ— subâ—icitur peccatum quatenus Voluntaria legis transgressio poenale quoddâ— incommodum animae â—â—serâ—t â—uxta illâ—d Augustini Iusâ—isti Dâ—mine sic est vt poeâ—ia su â—sibâ— sit omnis animus inordinâ—tus Coâ—feâ— lib 1. c. 1â— Nec male scâ—olaâ—tâ—ci Quemadmodum inquiunt videmus res naturales contingentes hoc ipso quod à fine particularâ— suo atque adeu à lege aeternâ exorâ—itant in candem legem ae ernam incidere quâ—tâ—nuconsâ—q iuâ—tur alium fine â— Ã lege â—riam aeternâ ipsis in casu particulari constiâ—utum sic verisimile eâ—t homines etiam cù n peccant desciscunt à lege aeternâ â—â—praecipiente re neidere in ordineÌ„ aeternae legisvt punientis psal 19.5 Pheophr in Metaph. Arist. Rhet. 1. cap. 39. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 17 2â— a Forme in other creatures is a thing proportionable vnto the soule in liuing creatures Sensible it is not nor otherwise discernable then only by effects According to the diuersitie of inward formes things of the world are distinguished into their kindes Vide Thom. in Compend theol cap. 3. Omne quod mouetur ab aliquo est quasi instrumentum quoddam primi mouentis Ridiculum est autem eâ—am apud indoctos ponere instrumentum moueri non ab aliquo principale agente The law which Angels doe worke by Psal. 104.4 Heb. 1.7 Eph. 3.10 Dan. 7.10 Matth. 26.53 Heb. 12.22 Luc. 2.13 Matth. 6.10 Matth. 18.10 Psal. 91.11.12 Luc. 15.7 Heb. 1.14 Act. 10.3 Dan. 9.23 Matth. 1â— â—0 Dan. 4.10 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist. Metaph. 12. cap. 7. Iob. 38.7 Math. 18.10 psal 148.2 Heb. 1.6 Esa. 6.3 This is intimated wheresoeuer we finde them termed the sonnes of God as Iob. 1.6 38.7 â— pet 2.4 Ep. Iud. ver 6. psal 148.2 Luk. 2.13 Matth 26.53 psal 148.2 Heb. 12.22 Apoc 22.9 Ioh. 8.44 1. pet 5.8 Apoc. 9.11 Gen. 3.15 1. Chr. 21 1 Iob. 1.7 2 5 Ioh. 13 27 Act. 5 3 Apoc. â—0 8. The law wherby man is in his actions directed to the imitation of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist. de an lib. 2. cap. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ari. 2. de cael ca. 5. Matth. 5.48 Sap. 7.27 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mens first beginning to grow to the knowledge of that law which theâ— are to obserue vide Isa. 7.16 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Merc. Trism Aristotâ—liâ—all demonstration Aâ—misty Of mans will which is the thing that lawes of action are made to guide Eph. 4.23 Salust Matth. 6.2 Deut. 30.19 O mihi praeterâ—tos referat si Iupiter annos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Paulo post 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A cin de doge maâ— Plaâ— a 2. Cor. 11.3 coâ—ruptible body is heauy vnto the soule and the earthly mansion keepeth down the minâ— that is ful of cares And hardly can we discern the things that are vpoÌ„ earth with great labor find we out the things which are before vs. VVho can then seeke out the things that are in heauen b Luc. 9. â—4 c Math. 23.37 d Sap 9.15 Eph. 5.14 Heb. 1â— 1.12 1. Cor. 16 13. Prou 2.4 Luc. 13. â—4 Of the natural way of finding out laws by reason â—o guide â—he will vnto that which is good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aâ—â—st de an L. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist. Rhet. 1. cap. 39. b Non potest error contingere vbi omnes idem opinantur Monticat in 1. Polit. Quicquid in omnibus indiuiduis vniuâ—â—peciei communiter inest id causeâ— coÌ„munem habeat opoâ—tet quaest eorum indiuiduorum species natura Idem Quod à tâ—ta aliqua specie fit vniuersaliâ— particularisque naturae fit instinctu Ficin de Christ relig Si proâ—icerâ— cupis primo firmé id veâ—um puta quod sanmenâ— omniuÌ„ hominum attestatur Cusa in compend cap. 1. Non liâ—er naturalé vniuersaléque hominum iudicium falsum van umque existimaâ—e Teles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aâ—ist Eth. 10. cap. 2. c Rom. 2.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theoph. iâ— Metaph. â— Cor. 4.17 Matth. 16.26 Arist. Polit. â— cap. 5. a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plat. in Theaet b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist Metop lib. 1. cap. 2. c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plat. in Tim. d Arist. Ethi â— lib. 8. ca. vlt. e Deut. 6.5 f Math. 22 2â— g Quod quis in se approbat in alio reprobare noÌ„ posse â—an arenam C. de inoâ— test Quod quisque iuris in alium staâ—uâ—â—it ipsum quoque codem vti debere l. quod quisque Ab omni penituâ— iniuâ—â—â atque vi abstinenduÌ„ l. 1 § 1. quod vi autclam Matth. 22.40 On these two commandements hangeth the whole law Gen. 39.9 Mar. 10.4 Act. 4.37 Act. 5.4 â— Thes. 3.8 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Soph. Anti. Th. 1.2 q. 94. art 3. Omnia peccata sunt in vniuersum contra rationem naturae legem Aug. de ciu dei lib. 12. â—ap 1. Omne vitium naturae nocâ—t ac per hoc contra naturam est De doctr Christ. lib. 3. cap. 14. Psal. 35.18 Sapi. 13.17 Sâ—pi 1â— 12 Eph. 4.17 Esay 44.19.18 The benefit of keeping that law which reason teacheth Voluntate sublaâ—â omnem actum parem esse l. â—oedissimam C. de adult Bonam voluntatem plerunâ— que pro facto reputari l. si quis in testamen Diuoâ— castâ— adeunto piâ—tatent adhiâ—bento Qui secus faxir Deus ipsi â—inâ— dex crit How reason doth leade men vnto the making of humane lawes whereby politique societies are gouerned and to agreement about lawes whereby the fellowship or communion of independent societies staÌ„deth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist. Rhet. 1 1. Tim. 6.8 Gen. 1.29 Gen. 2.17 Gen. 4.2 Gen. 4.26 Mat. 6.33 Gen. 4.20.21 â—2 Esay 49.15 1. Tim. 5.8 Gen. 18.19 Gen. 4.8 Gen. 6.5 Gen. 5. 2. Pet. 2.5 Arist. Pol. l â— 4. Arist. polit lib. 1. cap. 3. Vide platonem in 3. de