gotten by our merits but freely given although not without our worke and labour for to come and to bye note our labour without money and without change note that reconciliation is not due but flatly free O Bellarmine why then doest thou teach merits of congruitie lib. 1. cap. 21. I end this poynt with the Lords speech Esai 43. v. 25. I even I am he that putteth away thine iniquities for my owne sake and will not remember thy sinnes Of meriting Heaven They Papistes teach that a man by his good works may deserue heaven behold how the Scripture hath anticipated this ungodly opinion psalme 130. thus doth the servant of God pray Lord heare my voyce let thine eares attend to the voyce of my prayers the Lord might say vnto him thou art not worthy to be heard it is true saith he for if thou O Lord straightly markest iniquities who shal stand but mercy is with thee that thou mightest be feared to proceed thus likewise doth David pray psal 143. Heare my prayer O Lord and harken unto my supplication answer me in thy truth and righteousnes The Lord might say vnto him thou hast no merits nor deserts it is true saith he therefore I pray Enter not into iudgment with thy servant for in thy sight shall no man that liveth be iustified Heere some may say if good workes deserue not heaven what is the use of them the scripture is plaine for the use of thē 2. Ephe 10. v. For by grace are yee saved through faith and that not of your selues it is the gift of God Now the Ephesians might haue sayd we acknowledge thus much but doe not our workes comming from grace deserue No saith the Apostle not of workes least any man should boast himselfe what is then the vse of good workes it followeth for we are his workmanship created in Christ Iesus unto good workes which God hath ordayned that we should walk in them To this suteth the speech of Barnard Opera sunt via regni non causa regnandi Good workes are the way to the kingdome of heaven not the cause S. Peter also excellently setteth out the use of good workes 2. Pet. 1. v. 10. In these wordes Wherfore brethren giue rather diligence to make your calling election sure for if these thinges be in you you shall never fall for by this meanes an entrance shall be ministred unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdome of our Lord Iesus Christ And christian reader what neede the Papistes pleade for merites seeing Bellarmine writeth thus lib. 5. de iusti ca. 14 Ius habemus We haue right to an euerlasting inheritance before we begin to doe good workes further Infantes Baptised by that grace alone before all good workes are saued and therefore Christ hath merited for us the inheritance seeing he hath merited for us the grace of regeneration adoption And againe in the 17. chap. Infants merit not by the merites of workes but by the merits of the person Now what are infants merits but Gods mercies as Barnard saith Meritum meum miseratio Domini My merits are the Lords mercyes I conclude this therefore with the saying of S. Barnard 68. serm in cant Nam et de meritis ecclesia quid sit sollicita cui de proposito Dei firmior suppetit securiorque gloriandi ratio why should the Church be carefull touchinge merits and deserts seeing it hath a more firme and sure matter to boast of to wit the purpose of God Of fulfilling Gods commandements THe Papists teach that a man regenerate may fulfill Gods commaundements the Apostle taketh it for granted that no man can doe so Gal. 3. v. 10. For as many as are of the deedes of the law are vnder the curse for it is written Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the booke of the law to doe them In which words the Apostle doeth thus reason They which cannot fulfill the law are vnder the curse but no man can fulfill the law ergo by the sentence of the law every man is under the curse If this be not the Apostles Assumption the Galathiās might haue answered Paul that they could fulfill the law and so cut the sinewes of the Apostles reason To this argument Bellarmine in his 4. booke of iustifi chap. 14. answereth that this is the Apostles Assumption No man by his owne strength without faith and grace can keepe the whole law but alas in the 2. chap. and last verse thus doeth the Apostle reason If righteousnes be by the law then Christ dyed without a cause Now if the Galathians cleane iustled out Christ from iustification then it had bin no absurditie for thē to haue sayd Christ dyed in vayne for by nature we can do these things which the law requyreth Againe who knoweth not that the Galathians were Christians chap. 6. v. 1. and chap. 3. v. 3. therefore would they vtterly exclude Christ from iustification It is impossible to beleeue In the same place it is worthy to be marked that this text being obiected In many things we offend all Bellarmine confesseth that Vega and those that hold veniall sinnes to be against the law cannot answer this argument therefore he saith that veniall sinnes are not against the law but besides the law But I would know whether veniall sinnes be sinnes or no. Sinne is every breach of the law Veniall sinne is sinne Ergo It is a breach of the law Bellarmine himselfe in his first book of the losse of grace chap. 9 proveth veniall sinnes out of these words in the 5. chap. of Mathew He that is angry with his brother unadvisedly is culpable of iudgment Now our Saviour sheweth that these degrees of anger are forbidden in the commandement of murther Hence I thus dispute That which is forbidden in the commandement of murther is against the law But this veniall sinue of anger is forbidden in the commandement of murther Ergo It is against the law Christian reader I desire thee to reade the 4 booke chap. 10. there he confesseth out of Augustine that veniall sinnes are forbidden in this commandement thou shalt not couet This commandement commandeth perfection for saith he Eius generis est vt simul media et finem comprehendat It is of that kinde that it cōprehendeth both the meanes and the end Againe These thinges are spoken accordinge to Augustine his minde who in the precept Thou shalt not covet doth understand that all motions of concupiscense are forbidden even those that are not voluntary after a sort Of Images THe Papist teacheth that Images of God are not forbidden Bellarmine de sanct Imag. lib. 2. cap. 8. and that they are meanes to put vs in minde of God Let vs see how God preventeth this remēbrance Deut chap 4. v 23. Take heed lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God which he made with you Now might the people say we will not forget for we will make an
Image of God to remember him this cavill is cut off in the next wordes And lest you make you any graven Image or likenes of any thing as the Lord thy God hath charged thee and in the 15. verse Take heed to your selues for yee saw no Image in the day that the Lord spake vnto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire Now where as God saith Bellarmin may be painted imperfectly I would faine knowe how God can be so painted seeing he hath reuealed himselfe in the blessed Trinity Thus writeth Bellarmine vbi tamen notandum etc. Where notwithstanding it is to be noted that such Images are not to be multiplyed neither is it to be suffered that Paynters dare of their owne heads faine Images of the Trinitie as when they paynt one man with three faces or one man with two heads and in the midest of them a Doue These are monsters and doe rather offend by their deformitie then helpe by their similitude Thus farre Bellarmine and truly by the same proportion so are all other Images of God wherefore I say with Durand lib 3. distinct 9 quaest 2. It is impietie to Paynt that which is Divine and if any man say that the holy Ghost did appeare in the forme of a Doue we must say that those formes were not taken into unitie of person wherefore no reuerence is due to them This hath Durand written with many more words which I haue omitted for brevitie sake God teach vs to remember him aright to detest our owne inuentions I deale onely with the scriptures and therfore I medle little with humane testimonyes Of persevering in grace whether faith and righteousnes be proper to the elect and whether saving faith being once had may be wholly and finally lost The papists hold that it may be lost Bellar. lib. 3. de iustif ca. 14. SAint Peter in his first Epistle cap 1. v. 3. Thus writeth Blessed be God even the father of our Lord Iesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten vs againe vnto a liuely hope by the resurection of Iesus Christ from the dead unto an inheritance immortall undefiled and that fadeth not away reserued in heauen for you Thus farr S. Peter Now some might obiect and say as the papists doe we may leese this hope inheritance Nay saith S. Peter in the next wordes verse it is not so we are kept by the power of God thorough faith unto saluation which is prepared to be shewed in the last time So then the power of God preserveth vs thorough faith if our Saluation were suspended vpon our owne selues then no doubt we might leese the same The same S. Peter in his 2 epistle 1 chap. 10 verse exhorteth the dispersed Iewes to make their calling and election sure Some might say and cavill it cannot be so for we may wholly and finally fall nay saith S. Peter that cannot be For if you doe these things ye shall never fall He doth not meane they shal not sinne but they shall not wholly or finally fall from grace all the Saints sinne yet a true Saint cannot totally for ever fall from grace And as S. Peter hath met with these cavills so likewise hath S. Iohn 1 epist chap. 2. v. 19. They went out from us but they were not of us some might say that it is not so for they might be both nay saith S. Iohn that is not so For if they had ben of us they had remayned with us but this commeth to passe that it might appeare they were not of us In the same Epist cap. 3. v. 9. it is thus written Whosoever is borne of God sinneth not for his seed remaineth in him I but saith the papist it is true so long as charity is in him but he may lose it nay saith S. Iohn Neither can he sinne because he is borne of God And whereas they say faith is not peculiar to the elect I marvell that they will not see these plaine scriptures Titus 1. v. 1. Paul a servant of God an Apostle of Iesus Christ according to the faith of Gods elect And Act. 13. v. 48. As many as were ordayned to eternall life beleeved Of Purgatory THe papistes teach Purgatory a place after death in which the godly must be purged from their sinnes having not perfectly satisfied in this life Now let vs see how the Scripture meets with this conceite In the 7. chap of the Romans Paul cryeth out after this manner O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death I thank God through Iesus Christ our Lord. Some might say Paul if thou beest so miserable then thou art in the state of damnation marke how the Apostle answereth this doubt Now then there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Iesus which walke not after the fleesh but after the spirit Nay saith the Apostle though I am miserable in my selfe yet am I happy in Christ Iesus and not only I but all that are godly And heere by the way let vs obserue a poynt in Divinity we teach that sinne is euery breach of Gods law deseruing the curse This must be vnderstood with this exception except a man be in Christ Iesus sinne of it self deserueth the curse but in Christ it is taken away To proceed as this place preuenteth purgatory so doth another place also in the 2. of the Cor. 5. Chap. 1. vers For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolued we haue a building giuen of God that is an house not made with hands but eternall in the heauens In the 17. v. of the former chapt these are S. Paul his words For our light affliction which is but for a moment causeth unto us a farre more excellent and eternall weight of glory Some man might demand when shall we haue this glory the Apostle answereth when our earthly tabernacle is dissolued But heere some will say why did the Fathers pray for the dead although I haue answered this obiection in another treatise yet here I will speake somewhat of it Hildebert in his 4 epistle being exhorted by his friend to pray for a Queene saith that he did preuent his exhortation Oratis saith he quidem orari pro ea sed credimus eam plus posse suis adiuuare quà m agere nostris precibus adiuuari We beleeue that she rather helpeth vs by her prayers then that she neede be helped by our prayers Yet saith he Vestram tamen praecessimus exhortationem We preuented your exhortation ergo they prayed for those that were in heaven Alcuinus in his booke De diuints officiis cap. 43. hath these words Aliquibus in locis generaliter pro omnibus defuncttis omni tempore exceptis Penticostes et festis diebus oratur in officio vespertinali At evēing prayer in some places they pray generally for all the dead at all times except the dayes of Pentecost festivall dayes Ergo
A PROBLEME PROPOVNDED by Francis Dillingham in which is plainely shewed that the holy scriptures haue met with Popish Arguments and opinions Iohn 5.39 Search the Scriptures for in them yee thinke to haue eternall life LONDON Imprinted by WILLIAM IONES and are to be sold by ED. WEAVER TO THE MOST REverend Father in God George by the Divine providence Archbishoppe of Canterbury Primate and Metropolitan of England and one of his Maiesties most Honorable privie Councell Grace and peace THE Apostolicall times from the Apostolicall doctrine Most Reverend haue incited me to write this Probleme It may seeme strange to some that future heresyes should be thus preuented but howsoeuer it seeme strange to some it is not strange to the enlightened and sanctified for first he that knewe what was to come endited the holy scriptures he I say that knoweth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Quae sunt et erunt quaeque ante fuere Secondly in those tymes in which the holy Scriptures were written there were the same wits the same corruption the same enemy of mankind namly the diuell which are in our tymes therefore no maruell if there be the same opinions The heathen philosopher said that the same opinions in philosophy were renewed and so it is in diuinity the Anabaptists haue renewed the opinions of the Enthusiastes the Libertines defend Pelagius his opinions and haue not the Vbiquitaryes also brought Eutyches his opinion againe vpon the stage Cut off Hydras heads and more will springe vp I will not answer this pointe in any more words It remayneth then that I craue pardon for that I haue troubled your Grace with so small a Treatise but your Lord-shipe knoweth that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If therefore Bene be in this booke and Well be in this worke it is certaine that much is in the same But this I leaue to your Grace to iudge of as I doe allso to the Church of God The spirits of the Prophets are subiect to the Prophets The Lord of Lordes multiply his graces vpon you to the good of his Church and your euerlasting Saluation Your Graces in all duty FRANCIS DILLINGHAM A Probleme propounded by Francis Dillingham in which is plainely shewed that the holy Scriptures haue met with popish arguments and opinions Of reading the holy Scriptures THe papistes will not haue the lay people to reade the Scriptures because they may take hurt by reading of them Bellarmine lib 2. de verbo dei cap. 15. the wordes of Bellarmine are these quid quod populus non solum non caperet fructum ex scripturis sed etiam caperet detrimentum acciperet enim facillime occasionem errandi tum in doctrina fidei tum in praeceptis morum The people not only receiue no good out of the Scriptures but hurt for they would easily take an occasion to erre both in the doctrine of faith as well as in the doctrine of manners Let vs see how the Scriptures meete with this sottish obiection Revel chap 22. v. 10. And he sayd unto me seale not the words of this prophesie for the time is at hand Now some men might say the vniust will abuse this prophesie S. Iohn answereth he that is uniust let him be uniust still and he that is filthy let him be filthy still Hence it is playne that the cavill of Papistes is met withall who thus dispute they which will abuse the scripture must not read the same the lay people will abuse the scripture ergo they must not reade the same S. Iohn answereth by a distinction some will abuse it some will not He that is filthy let him be filthy he that is holy let him be holy still But I desire to know of the Papist if the learned also will not abuse the scripture it cannot be denyed it is but bad arguinge from the abuse of a thing to take away the lawfull use of the same Many abuse meate and drinke to surfetting drunkennes yea the Sunne and Moone to Idolatry must these thinges therefore be taken away Images are abused to Idolatrie yet will not the Papists take them away which is a shamefull thing Nocturne vigils were abused being but the deuise of men therefore they were takē away I wish the Papists would doe so with Images which are mens inventions and not take away the reading of the Scriptures which is Gods ordinance A second obiection answered A Second obiection against reading of the Scriptures is taken from the darknes and obscuritie of the same thus doe the Papists argue The Scriptures are obscure therfore the lay people ought not to read them This argument is answered by the Apostle 2. Cor 4. chap 3. v. If our gospell be then hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this world hath blinded the mindes that is of the infidels that the light of the glorious Gospell should not shine vnto them Thus standeth the obiection Many heare the gospell yet are they not enlightned therby therfore the doctrine is not so cleare as thou Paul makest it Paul answereth the fault is not in the Gospell but in men thēselues the Deuill who blindeth their mindes Excellently writeth Picus Mirandula Scriptura affibilitate parvos nutrit altitudine superbos irridet profunditate attentes terret veritate magnos pascit the Scripture doth nourish those that are smale by affability it scorneth the proud by the loftines by the depth it terrifieth those that are atteent and by truth it feedeth great ones Of prayer in an vnknowne tongue THe Papists teach and practise prayer in an vnknowne tongue The Apostle hath prevented this error 1. Cor. 14. chap. v. 15. what is it then I will pray with the spirit but I will pray with the vnderstanding also I will sing with the spirit but I will sing with the vnderstanding also The obiection answered is this Is it not therfore lawful to pray with the spirit S. Paul answereth it is lawfull if it be vnderstood Now by spirit as every man knoweth is ment a strange tongue which the spirit did endite So then the Apostle hath plainly prevented the cauill for praying in a strange and vnknowne tongue directly affirming that men must not so pray except they vnderstand the tongue Of workes of Congruitie that is deserving of Congruitie HO every one that thirsteth saith Esa 55. v. 1. come yee to the waters and yee that haue no silver come bye and eate come I say bye wine and milke without siluer and without money All that are a thirst are here called to the waters that is to Gods graces Now they might say we haue no merrits or desertes ye that haue no silver saith the Lord come bye and eate I say bye wine milke without silver and without money Touching this text thus writeth Bellarmine lib. 5. de insti ca. 5. Wine milke signifie not everlasting glorie but the grace of this life we doe confesse that the grace of God is not