that pronouncing nowe this nowe that of the same thing he was neuer constant to himselfe but thought that such leuity and inconstancy might be vsed in the word of God as shamelesse jesters commonly vse playing at dice. Againe Luther saith he doth not only bring his former doctrine in suspition but also giueth the Papists a most fit occasion to condemne him by sending in this present controuersie his reader only to those bookes which he wrote within foure or fiue yeares before For who hauing heard or read these things wil not say that if so be that we expect other fiue yeares without al doubt they being past he wil cal into doubt those bookes which he wrote in these last fiue yeares Thus farre Zwinglius of Luthers inconstancy Erasmus also Whitaker in his answer to Campians reason 8. p. 208. a man denied by Whitakers to be a writer of our side and by the martir-maker Fox canonized for a Saint of the newe religion of Luther his disciples writeth after this sort * Erasmus lib 3. de libero arbitrio What should I recount here the dissention that is among these Gospellers their bloudy hatred their bitter contentions nay their singular inconstancy Luther himselfe hauing changed his opinion so often and yet newe paradoxes springing vp from him daily Hitherto Erasmus Finally Field although he extol Luther for a worthy diuine as euer the world had any in those times wherein he liued Field booke 3 c. 24. p. 170. or in many ages before yet confesseth that by degrees he sawe and discried those Popish errours I vse his wordes which at first he discerned not But to excuse the matter he first auoucheth that in sundry points of greatest moment as of the power of nature of free-wil grace justification the difference of the law and the Gospel faith and workes Christian liberty and the like he was euer constant Which assertion of his howe false it is that which I haue before said touching free-wil doth demonstrate An other of his excuses is that it is not so strange a thing as his aduersaries would make it seeme to be that herein Luther proceeded by degrees and in his later writings disliked that which in his former he did approue And his reason is because S. Augustine wrote a whole booke of retractations S. Ambrose complained that he was forced to teach before he had learned and so to deliuer many thinges that should neede a second reuiewe And S. Thomas of Aquine in his summe corrected and altered many things which he had written before Against this I first reply that it excuseth not Luthers building of his new beliefe vpon his owne judgement nay it proueth manifestly that he came not to it by the infallible direction of any external guide but by the discourse and search of his owne wit and moreouer Caluin Instit booke 4. ch 3. The Apology of the church of England part 4. p. 123 124. c. that he vvas not extraordinarily by internal inspirations instructed and sent by the spirit of God as diuers of these men seeme plainely to affirme for the workes of God are perfect and they whome he immediately sendeth directeth in faith erre not in any point of that argument but that his inconstant reason was the principal ground on which he built his said faith and religion Secondly I adde that the examples brought by Field in excuse of Luther make nothing for his purpose For what if S. Augustine vvriting vvhen he was yet a nouice in Christian religion and not fully instructed erred in some points which errours hauing receiued better instructions he reclaimed What if the like happened to S. Ambrose being miraculously chosen to be a Bishop and a teacher before he was a Christian What if S. Augustine before some articles of Christian religion were so throughly discussed and defined in the Church as afterward vpon the rising of new heresies spoke not so aptly and properly as was needful in succeeding times and therefore retracted what he had vttered What if he and S. Thomas of Aquin in diuers matters disputable and not determined by the Church altered and corrected their former opinions So hath Cardinal Baronius nowe done who hath runne ouer the first ten tomes of his Ecclesiastical history and made as it were a booke of retractations recalling such thinges as he judged amisse What I say if also these thinges be so as without doubt they were no otherwise shal it therefore be lawful for Luther or any other person to leape vp and downe hither and thither and to chop and change his faith according as his fancy leadeth him in any articles of Christian religion verily I thinke to no man of judgement such a fault vvil seeme excusable But was Zwinglius who as we haue seene so peremptorily reprehendeth Luther for his inconstancy him selfe free from this crime Truly he vvas not and because breuity suffereth me not to runne through his works and to shewe the change and alteration of his opinion concerning al particuler points in vvhich he shewed himselfe inconstant I wil only conuince him of inconstancy touching one or two and that by his owne confession It cannot be denied but before his fal from vs he held the Catholike doctrine concerning the baptisme of infants otherwise vvithout al doubt his nouelty vvould haue beene noted and censured His first alteration therefore concerning this matter was from vs to Anabaptisme his second from Anabaptisme in some sort to our beliefe againe That he was once an Anabaptist thus he confesseth Wherefore I my selfe also confesse frankely saith he that a fewe yeares since I being deceiued with this error thought it better to deferre the baptisme of young children vntil they come to perfest age thus Zwinglius That he partly recanted afterwards this heresie he declareth in the same place I say partly because he alwaies denied the necessity of baptisme to saluation That he was likewise inconstant in his beliefe of the Eucharist these his owne wordes testifie Zwingl tom 2. commēt de vera salsa religione cap de Eucharist fol. 202. We haue written two yeares since of the Eucharist where we haue written many thinges rather according to the time then the truth of the matter And soone after If reader thou finde certaine thinges here otherwise then in the former bookes doe not thou wonder we would not giue foode out of season nor set pearls before swine Finally We retract therefore saith he and reuoke those thinges which we haue said there in such sort that those which we set forth in the two and fortith yeare of our age counterpoise those which we set forth in the fortith when as we said we serued more the time then the truth of the matter that we might by that meanes the more edifie thus Zwinglius of himselfe Who then can deny but he also was inconstant and at the least in outward shewe altered his beliefe yea doth he not confesse to
deuised by the said author or done by the power of the deuil or by some natural causes wherfore may not then Atheists say that either it is a fable that e Iohn 11. Act. 9. Math. 9. v. 20. c. Christ raised Lazarus others or S. Peter Tabitha or that our sauiour cast out deuils or that a woman was healed of an issue of bloud by touching the hem of his garmēt or else that these things were done as the Iewes said by the power of Belzebub prīce of the deuils or by the application of some natural causes Surely he wil haue as litle regard of scriptures as they haue of the works of Sulpitius Seuerus and therefore if they grant it of the miracles of S. Martin and others he wil affirme it of al the rest although mentioned in the said scriptures In like sort f August lib. 22. de ciuit cap. 8. S. Augustine in his books de ciuitate Dei which no man wil denie to be of as great authoritie as any other of his vvorks g Sermo de diuersis 31. 32. 33. epist 103. and else where relateth diuers miracles vvrought by the reliques of S. Steeuen the first Martir as that by touching them a blinde vvoman receaued her sight that a Bishop by carying them in procession was cured of a fistula and that two by praying in the place where they were reserued were cured of a palsie And both S. Ambrose and S. Augustine doe the like Ambr. serm 5. de Sāct et l. 7 ep 53. 54. eau Romanae Aug. l. 9. confess c. et l. 22. de ciu c. 8 c. Lib. 4. or 2. Reg. cap. 13. Act. 19. v. 12. concerning the reliques of S. Geruasius and Protasius martirs as that a blind man was cured by touching of the beire or coffin wheron the reliques were caried vvhich miracles with the same answere are rejected by our aduersaries But who seeth not that an Atheist may with the like reason reject the miracle which was done by the reliques or dead body of Elisaeus by the touching of which as we reade in the bookes of the Kinges a dead man was raised to life and others wrought by napkins and handkerchers which had touched the body of S. Paul which are said to haue done miracles in the acts of Apostles The like discourse might be made concerning the cure of Naaman Sirus by washing himselfe seauen times in the riuer of Iordan at the commandment of Elizeus the prophet 4. Reg. 6. the said Prophets making of the iron of an hatchet to swimme vpon the vvater of the said riuer and diuers other miracles recorded both by holy writ the monuments of ecclesiastical writers of al ages against al which our aduersaries offer an occasion to Atheists to pronounce the selfe same censure Moreouer whereas the apparitions of soules departed according to the judgement of al the learned both auncient and moderne yeeldeth a most strong proofe of our soules immortallitie these Sectaries deny that euer there haue beene any such apparitions and consequently seeke to bereaue vs of this important argumēt their words are so plaine that this cannot be denied Luther himselfe writeth thus Luth. in explicat Euangelij de Diuite et Lazaro Idem in Euā dominicae 24. a Trinitate No mans soule euer since the beginning of the world hath appeared for neither doth God permit it Againe There is no doubt but it is wholy the Deuils worke or doing Quic quid vspiam est spirituum apparentium whatsoeuer is any where of soules or spirits appearing Zuinglius is of the same mind for these words he hath in his answere to one Valentinus a zuing resp ad Valentinū comparem Those things which thou babblest of the apparitions of soules are vaine and idle for the soules which are seperated from their bodies are in heauen or in hel Those which dwel in heauen neuer come downe those which are in hel cannot be deliuered the like hath b Bullīger decad 4. ser 10. Bullinger and others Finally their denial of freewil the merit of good works doe weaken the proofe of the immortallity of the soule the doctrine of the Apostle that god is a rewarder of our actions consequētly of the proofe also of heauen hel as euery man wil confes therefore I cōclude the whole discourse of this chapter that these Sectaries Church is a seminarie of Atheisme and that by their doctrine they shake and euen ouerthrowe the verie groundes of al religion vvhich their assertions being supposed as true they can neither proue nor defend against Atheists and enemies of Christianitie Chapter 2. The newe Sectaries debase the true Christian faith and in place of it extol a presumptuous faith by themselues inuented OVR aduersaries doe not only as I haue nowe shewed ouerthrowe or at the least weaken the principal grounds of al religion but also in some sort destroy the verie nature of faith it selfe by which we first come to a supernatural knowledge of God Chap. 5. For wheras in the first part of this treatise I haue proued that faith which concurreth to our justification and saluation and is the ground of religion and the foundation of spiritual life in this world to be a vertue infused by God into our vnderstanding by the helpe and force of which we giue a most firme assent vnto al those thinges vvhich are reuealed by God to his Church because they are so reuealed the followers of the newe religion I thinke partlie because as I haue noted in the chapter next before they haue weakned the authority of miracles which is the principal supernatural proofe of such misteries debase and as it were despise this faith and in place of it magnifie a newe inuention of man a Chimerical kinde of faith ful of presumption which hath neither ground in holy scripture nor in any approued author but is repugnant both to the vvord of God and the authoritie of al antiquity For they distinguish two especial kindes of faith the one say they is historical See Caluī Institut booke 3 § 9. 10. Calu. l. 3. Instit c. 2. § 7. by vvhich we beleeue the blessed Trinity the incarnation passion death resurrection and ascention of Christ and other articles of the Creed the other is a justifying faith vvhich Caluin defineth to be a stedfast and assured knowledg of Gods kindnesse or beneuolence towards vs which being grounded vpon the truth of the free promise in Christ is both reuealed to our minds sealed in our harts by the holy ghost Caluī ibid. § 16. see Luth. ī serm domī 2. quadrages In explicating this more at large the same Caluin affirmeth that there is none truly faithful but he who being perswaded with a sound assurednes that God is his merciful and louing father doth promise himselfe al things vpon trust of Gods goodnesse but he who leaning vpon the assurednesse of his owne saluation doth
painted reasons make some doubtful who of al these haue right and a just title to the thing challenged yet certaine it is and most easilie to be proued that the first challengers only who through the whole vvorld are tearmed Catholikes haue justice and right on their side The proofe of this would aske a long discourse of the definition and notes of the Church but in this present treatise I purpose only to declare that we Catholikes only haue true faith and build our said faith and religion vpon most sure and firme groundes Contrariewise that al sectaries are bereaued of this supernatural gift and build their whole beleefe and religion vpon their owne fancies Hereafter if it please God shal followe a more ample discourse of the definition and notes of the true Church One reason which moued me to take this course is that the principal controuersie betweene vs and our aduersaries is concerning matters of faith which is manifest because we condemne them of heresie which proceedeth of mis-beleefe in faith for he that erreth not in faith may be a Schismatike but he cannot be an Heretike wherefore if I proue that we Catholikes haue true faith and that our aduersaries haue no faith the controuersie betweene vs and them is after some sort decided An other reason is because faith doth especially incorporate vs in the Church and make vs members of the same It is the lincke and glewe yea the sinnewe which vniteth and bindeth vs to this body It is the roote and foundation of al true religion and justification a Ioh. 3 18 Marc. 16. vers 16. He that beleeueth not according to the verdict of our Sauiour is already judged and shal be condemned and damned b Hebr. 11. vers 6. without faith saith the Apostle it is impossible to please God Wherefore by S. Iohn Chrisostome c Chrisost in serm de Fide Spe Charit faith is called the of-spring of justice the head of sanctity the beginning of deuotion and the ground of religion By S. Ciril Bishoppe of Hierusalem d Ciril catech 5. and eie lighting euery conscience and causing vnderstanding By the other Ciril Bishop of Alexandria e Ciril l. 4. in Ioā c. 9. the doore and way to life also a certaine leading or bringing home againe from corruption to immortalitie With the like titles it is honoured f Aug. ser 38. de Tēpore by S. Augustine and other holie Fathers Like as therefore no material house or Castle can be erected vvithout a foundation first laid vpon vvhich al the burthen of the vvorke may rest so no spiritual edifice can be built in the soule of man vvithout faith the ground of al spiritual vvorkes Hence S. Athanasius that great piller of Christes Church beginneth his Creede which is receiued by the whole Church with this notable and famous sentence Whosoeuer wil be saued before al thinges it is necessary that he hold the Catholike faith which except euery man shal keepe wholy and not corrupted without doubt he shal perish euerlastingly This is the censure of that holy Father The reason of this is because we cannot attaine to a certaine knowledge of the first groundes and principles of Christian religion they being supernatural by the force of our natural and weake vnderstanding wherefore a supernatural knowledge of them being requisite it is necessary that this be done by supernatural faith which giueth vs power and lifting vp our vnderstanding maketh vs able to beleeue them because they are reuealed by God and of this necessity excellency of faith it followeth that without it there can be no true Church or religion for how can the true Church or true religion be without the ground and foundation of al true vertue and Christianity Contrariwise where true faith is found there is the principal ground of true religion of which I inferre that if I proue the new sectaries to haue no faith I likewise proue them to haue no church nor religion but on the other side if I proue our faith to be true I proue also that the ground of al religion is among vs and consequently that if we build hope and charity vpon this foundation we are members of the true Church trulie religious and in the sure way to euerlasting saluation Let vs therefore briefly behold both our groundes and theirs and according to the strength or weakenesse of them decide the whole controuersie betweene vs. But to proceede the more plainely and distinctly I wil first adde a word or two of the nature and conditions of true faith Chapter 5. Of the definition and conditions of true faith SECTION THE FIRST FAITH is a vertue infused by God into our vnderstanding by the helpe and force of which we giue a most firme assent vnto al those thinges which are reuealed by God to the Church because they are so reuealed Wherefore although a Christian should beleeue neuer so firmely any article of his faith vpon any other ground then the authority of almighty God who hath reuealed it yet he should not haue faith because faith biddeth vs beleeue such articles not because reason or any other such motiue perswadeth vs that they are true but because God who being the first verity and truth it selfe cannot deceiue hath so said and reuealed But for the better declaration of this definition or description the nature it selfe of faith let vs treate of it a litle more at large and first shewe that the act of faith is a most firme and certaine assent of the vnderstanding secondly that it is of thinges surpassing the reach of natural reason and consequently obscure Thirdly that by it we beleeue such misteries as haue bin reuealed vnto the Church by God Fourthly that it must needes be built vpon diuine authority Lastly that it is necessary that the articles of our faith be propounded vnto vs by some infallible authority and that the propounder of them is the holy Catholike Church SECTION THE SECOND That faith is a most firme assent of the vnderstanding TO beginne therefore with the first that the act of faith is a most firme assent of the vnderstanding to the thing beleeued without any doubt or feare of falshood or staggering the Apostle himselfe testifieth in this his description of faith Hebr. 11. vers 1. Faith saith he is the substance of thinges to be hoped for the argument of thinges not appearing That is to say faith is the substance or ground of hope a certaine argument or conuiction and most firme perswasion of the vnderstanding through the authority of God of things not appearing to our senses or not knowne by natural reason Verily that the word argument in this place doth not signifie euery kind of argument but an argument certaine and infallible the greeke word it selfe which is here vsed declareth Wherefore a Aug. tom 9. tract 89 in Ioā tom 7. de peccat merit remiss l. 2. ca. 31. 2. Pet.
1. vers 19. S. Augustine in place of the word argument vseth the word conuiction affirming faith to be a most firme proofe and demonstration of thinges not appearing Hence S. Peter hauing declared that he sawe with his eies the glory of Christ in his transfiguration and heard with his eares the voice of God the Father addeth these wordes And we haue the prophetical word more sure By which he doth insinuate vnto vs that the knowledge of holie misteries by faith in the Scripture is more certaine then the knowledge which we receiue by the benefit of our senses Basil in ps 115. in moral reg 80. ca. 21. which perhaps moued S. Basil to affirme that no knowledge in vs is so firme and certaine as faith And the reason of this is because as I wil proue in the fift section faith is built vpon the infallible authority of God SECTION THE THIRD Faith is of thinges incomprehensible by natural reason and consequently obscure THE Diuines most trulie affirme that the object or subject of our supernatural faith is God as God because al thinges which by it are knowne and beleeued tend to this that by supernatural and reuealed groundes we attaine to as ful a knowledge of him as can by vs be had in this life Wherefore I may wel say that by faith we beleeue misteries aboue our reason although none cōtrary to our reason for faith only leadeth reason further then of it selfe it can reach and maketh it stoope and submit it selfe to the most certaine reuelation of God notwithstanding that he doth manifest vnto it misteries which in some sort seeme to resist our sense and reason This is signified vnto vs in the description of faith euen nowe alleaged out of the Apostle by those wordes of thinges not appearing for like as a Rom. 8. vers 24. hope according to the same Apostle that is seene is no hope For that which man seeth saith he wherefore doth he hope So faith of thinges seene and most certainely knowne by natural reason is not faith For that which a man seeth knoweth howe can he beleeue Neither doe those wordes of our b Ioh. 20. vers 29. Sauiour to S. Thomas the Apostle because thou hast seene me Thomas thou hast beleeued make against this For S. Thomas c Greg. ho. 26. in Euang as S. Gregory noteth sawe one thing and beleeued an other he sawe Christes humanity and beleeued his diuinity For this cause further the Apostle aboue cited telleth vs d Rom. 10. vers 17. Hebr. 11. vers 3. that faith is by hearing and that by faith we vnderstand that the worldes were framed by the word of God c. S. Augustine also auoucheth that e Aug. tra 79. in Ioā the praise of faith standeth in this that the thing be not seene which is beleeued f Aug. tra 43. in Ioā For what a great thing is it saith he if that be beleeued which is seene Againe faith is to beleeue that which thou seest not truth to see that which thou hast beleeued yea S. Athanasius plainely telleth vs Athanas tract de aduent cont Apol. 1. Cor. 13. vers 12. that faith conceiued of an euident matter cannot be called faith Hence it proceedeth that faith is obscure and cannot be found in heauen where al thinges are seene most clearely We see saith the Apostle nowe by a glasse in darke sort but then face to face nowe I knowe in part but then I shal knowe as also I am knowne And this obscurity of faith proceedeth aswell from the height and sublimitie of the misteries themselues reuealed which are without the compasse of our natural reason as also from the feeblenes and weakenesse of our vnderstanding which in this life being tied to our corporal senses cannot clearely apprehend thinges spiritual but only after a dimme sort by thinges visible commeth to some smal apprehension of thinges inuisible God likewise would haue it so not only to manifest vnto vs his owne Majestie and that he wil be beleeued at his word but also for mans greater humiliation and merit But although the object of faith so farre surpasse our reason and by this meanes cause obscurity in our vnderstanding yet certaine it is that God if he would might haue so declared and apparantly proued the misteries of our faith that the truth of them might haue bin farre more manifest then it is yea he might haue made it so apparant that no man of sense could haue denied them As for example Christ might if it had pleased him haue appeared after his resurrection to the whole Citie of Hierusalem yea to the whole world and by force of miracles perswasions and other such like motiues haue presently made Christian faith seeme euidently true to euery mans eie So likewise at this present it is in his power to doe for the manifestation of the truth of Catholike religion wherefore then did he not in old time and doth he not nowe proceed after this manner wherefore leaueth he the object of faith in this sense also inuironed with some obscurity I answere that most certaine it is that euery man hath or may haue if he please sufficient motiues and reasons to perswade him to imbrace the true religion and beleeue the whole summe of christian doctrine For God requireth only at our handes as the Apostle tearmeth it a reasonable obsequie or obedience Neuerthelesse he hath not vsed Rom. 11. nor doth vse al meanes possible to manifest the truth that man may merit the more by cōcurring by his free wil aided with Gods grace to the beleef of such misteries sufficiētly although not so fully as was possible proued to be reuealed by God himselfe For the more reason and proof that the wil hath to perswade her the lesse thankes she deserueth for obeying and so much the lesse reward shal be reaped by man in heauen by howe much the stronger arguments he hath to moue his vnderstanding to beleeue because one only argument infalliblie prouing any article to be reuealed by God is sufficient to make it the object of faith although the matter seeme neuer so obscure yea although it seeme in some sort repugnant to the ordinary course and nature of sensible creatures and thus much of the second point SECTION THE FOVRTH By true Christian faith we beleeue such misteries as God hath reuealed to his Church THIRDLY I am to proue that by faith we beleeue such misteries as it hath pleased the diuine Majestie of God to reueale vnto his Church and this likewise is easily proued out of the foresaid description of faith deliuered vnto vs by the Apostle For what other thinges are those which not appearing to our senses and vnderstanding faith causeth vs to beleeue but the articles of our faith and what doe these containe but such misteries as God hath reuealed to his Church yet least the peruerse humour of any man might otherwise vnderstand his wordes he hath
most firme and certaine assent of the vnderstanding to thinges aboue the reach of reason and the object of it be the misteries of our beleefe it must needes follow that the authority of almighty God whose knowledge and wisdome are infinite and whose sayinges are of infallible truth must cause vs to beleeue the said misteries If any wil denie this I wil demand of him howe we can possibly attaine to a certaine knowledge of so high misteries but by the reuelation of God and this is that which al Christians commonly professe when as being demanded why they beleeue this and that they answere because God hath reuealed such doctrine I confesse that men are commonly first induced to faith by certaine reasons which the Diuines cal arguments of credibility such are miracles vvhich proceeding from God can giue no testimony to falshood the authority wisedome learning and consent of the professors of our religion in al ages since it beganne the strange manner of the propagation of our said religion being so strict throughout the vvhole vvorld by a fewe fisher-men the miraculous preseruation of our Church oppugned by so diuers and mighty enemies the constancy of our Martirs the great change to the better vvhich our religion causeth in those that embrace it the purity of doctrine and sanctity of life shining in the Prelates and Children of our Church the conformity of our faith vvith natural reason in not being contrary to it although aboue it and other motiues which I haue related in the third Chapter of this treatise which make the object of faith in the judgement of any prudent man credible and of which either one some or al induce men first to beleeue But al these arguments are only inducements to the true act of supernatural faith by vvhich the misteries of our beleefe are afterwardes beleeued not for any such reasons but only because they are reuealed by God This moued Saint Basil to describe faith after this sort Basilius in ser de fidei cōfess siue de vera pia fide in Asceticis Faith saith he is an assenting approbation of those thinges which through the benefit of God haue beene preached thus Saint Basil Hence I inferre that although faith and also other arguments haue the same effect in our vnderstanding vvhich is to make it giue a firme assent to some verity which is done by sundry arguments especially by such as are called demonstrations yet there is this difference betweene such arguments and faith that they doe this through euidence of the matter faith doth it through the authority of the reuealer leauing stil the matter obscure And this doctrine is consonant to that of Diuines who hold the first and supreame verity of God to be the formal object of our faith the sence of which their assertion is that the chiefe reason or cause on which as on a foundation the habit of our faith relieth and resteth and into which both it and the assent of it proceeding is lastly resolued is the diuine and infallible reuelation of God or which is al one God infallibly reuealing some truth by some Canonical writer or other lawful definer of faith of which it followeth that faith of his owne nature doth assent to no proposition which is not propounded by diuine reuelation SECTION THE SIXT Besides the reuelation of God some infallible propounder of the articles of our faith is necessary and that they are propounded vnto vs by the Catholike Church IN the precedent sections of this Chapter I haue declared that faith is a most firme assent of the vnderstanding to such misteries as God hath reuealed to al Christians to be beleeued Nowe I must further lay this most certaine and vndoubted ground to this that according to the ordinary proceedings of God besides the reuelation by him heretofore made of the misteries of Christian beleefe by the habit of faith we giue assent to the articles reuealed it is also necessary that the said articles be propounded vnto vs by some infallible authority assuring vs that they are so deliuered This reason it selfe teacheth vs for seing that Christ hath with-drawne his visible presence from vs and he himselfe immediately after a sensible manner instructeth no man but al by some common rule or meanes seing also that the reuelation of such misteries is obscure and no man by the strength and force of natural reason can assure himselfe that such and such articles haue beene reuealed it was necessary that God should ordaine some infallible authority to be the Mistris of faith which might infallibly teach the truth in al such matters doubtful neither had he otherwise sufficiently prouided vs meanes necessary for our euerlasting saluation I adde also that although it were so that we were certaine at the beginning of our beleefe of such a reuelation yet that the weakenesse inconstancy of our vnderstanding is such that without a sure guide and directour it easily erreth and straieth from the truth receiued This notwithstanding we make not this proposition or propounding of such verities as are reuealed by God any essential part of the formal object of faith of which I haue spoken before for we affirme such misteries in themselues before any such proposition to be credible and worthy of beleefe but because this is vnknowne to vs we require such a proposition only as a necessary condition to this that we infallibly knowe that they are so reuealed which must of necessity be knowne before that we can actually assent vnto them by supernatural faith What infallible authority then haue we without al feare and doubt of falshood assuring vs that al the articles of our faith haue beene thus reuealed by God Verily no other but the Spouse of Christ our Mother the Church vvhome our Lord hath made our Mistris and guide in such matters And trulie that we are to learne our beleefe of the Prelates and Pastors of the Church we are aboundantly taught by the sacred word of God For first the Apostle S. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans discoursing of this point vseth these wordes Rom. 10. vers 14. Howe shal they beleeue whome they haue not heard and howe shal they heare without a preacher as though he should say No man can attaine to the knowledge and beleefe of the articles of faith except by some preacher they be propounded vnto him And that these preachers are the Prelates and Pastors of the Church it is manifest because they are the true successors of the Apostles who in the beginning of Christianity from Christ receiued authority commandement Mar. 16. vers 15. Iere. 3. vers 15. to teach al nations through out the whole world For the proofe likewise of this truth it maketh that in the old Testament God promised that in the newe he would giue vs Pastors according to his owne hart vvho should feed vs in knowledge and doctrine Moreouer like as in the old lawe he pronounced this sentence of
the sonnes of Aaron Malac. 2. vers 7. The lippes of the Priest shal keepe knowledge and they shal require the lawe of his mouth so of the Bishops and Priestes of the newe who are to enjoy as great if not a greater prerogatiue the Apostle telleth vs Ephes 4. vers 11. that our Lord hath giuen and euer wil giue as long as the world shal stand some Pastors and Doctors in his Church to direct vs that we be not carried away with euery winde of doctrine And hence proceedeth this notable sentence of the holy Father S. Ireneus vvho for Christian religion suffered Martirdome about the yeare of Christ two hundred and fiue Iren. li. 3. cap. 4. We ought not saith he to seeke among others the truth which we may easilie take and receaue from the Church seing that the Apostles haue most fully laid vp in her as into a rich treasure house or place where the Depositum of the Church is kept of which hereafter al thinges which are of truth that euery man that wil may take out of her the drinke of life For this is the entrance of life but al the rest are theeues and robbers for which cause they are verily to be auoided But those thinges which are of the Church are with great diligence to be loued and the tradition of truth is to be receaued Hitherto S. Ireneus We say therefore that by the Church we learne as certainely what misteries haue beene reuealed by Christ as we should doe by our Lord himselfe if he were conuersant with vs on earth and the truth of this wil be made most apparant by the discourse of the next Chapter following Chapter 6. Of the supreame and infallible authority of the Catholike Church SECTION THE FIRST MY principall intent in this treatise is as I haue before declared to proue that vve Catholikes only haue true faith and that al Sectaries are bereaued of this supernatural vertue vvherefore hauing set downe and made euident in the Chapter next before the nature and conditions of true faith it remaineth that I now beginne in particuler to discourse of these points And seing that it is of the essence of faith that it be most assuredly built vpon diuine authority let vs first behold the groundes of the Catholike Roman beleefe and see whether they are able to make a sufficient foundation for such a faith in the followers of that religion then let vs doe the like concerning the groundes of the newe Sectaries But first I must note that although as I haue proued before we must trulie say that we knowe infallibly the misteries of our faith to be reuealed by God because we are so taught by the Church yet that her authority is not limited to the decision of this matter only for it extendeth it selfe also to the definition of al particuler matters of faith and may haue for her object the verities themselues reuealed It also condemneth heresies and prescribeth general preceptes of manners touching good and il wherefore the ancient Catholike buildeth vpon her authority not only his faith touching the point mentioned but also in some sort his whole beleefe and consequently al his internal vertues grounded vpon the same He relieth likewise on her doctrine for his externall carriage concerning vertue and vice and finally accepteth al her faith as infallibly reuealed by God himselfe who hath made her supreame judge of al controuersies touching matters of religion and assured vs that her judgement is not only certaine and infallible but also through the perpetual assistance and direction of the holy Ghost diuine so that God directeth her in al truth and by her as a sensible guide he bestoweth the same benefit vpon vs in al thinges necessary to saluation wherefore our whole beleefe and religion in such sort dependeth of her infallible authority that if this be proued it conuinceth that to be true sincere and diuine For no man can denie but in building vpon the tradition decision or definition of the Church we ground our faith and religion vpon diuine authority if her decrees be Gods and her doctrine warranted to be his Let vs therefore endeauour to shewe this that so with fewe wordes we may decide the whole question and to auoide confusion let vs diuide the whole discourse of this Chapter into the proofe of some three or foure assertions SECTION THE SECOND The whole summe of Christian doctrine by word of mouth not by writing was committed by Christ to his Apostles FIRST therefore I affirme that Christ cōmitted the whole summe of Christian doctrine by word of mouth not by writing to his Apostles ordained that they should deliuer the same to their successors the Bishops and Pastors of the Church This is manifest both because diuers points of Christian doctrine which the Apostles receaued from Christ are not recorded by the Euangelists in their Gospels and also because S. Luke witnesseth Act. 1. v. 3. that Christ after his passion and resurrection shewed himselfe aliue to his Apostles in many arguments for fortie dayes appearing to them and speaking of the kingdome of God of which his speach litle or nothing is recorded I adde moreouer that not long before his ascention he gaue his Apostles this commission Going said he teach ye al nations Mat. 28. v. 19.20 baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost teaching them to obserue al thinges whatsoeuer I haue commanded you These places I say manifestly proue that Christ by word of mouth instructed his Apostles concerning the misteries and articles of Christian religion and according to his instruction commanded them to teach the whole world Neither is there any record extant that Christ gaue them these instructions in writing or that he commanded them to set them downe and publish them after that sort yea if we wil not say that the Apostles transgressed Christes commandement we must absolutely say that he neuer bid them doe any such thing because neuer any one of them as I wil declare hereafter set downe in writing the whole summe of Christian doctrine No man likewise wil or can deny but that it was the ordination of Christ that the Apostles should deliuer this whole summe of Christian doctrine to their successors for otherwise Christ should haue instituted a Church only for the Apostles daies not to continue to the end of the world according to the predictions of the Prophets And hence this summe of Christian doctrine by the Apostle S. Paul was most earnestly commended to Timothie 1. Tim. vlt vers 20. O Timothie saith he keepe the depositum that is the pledge or pawne left with thee auoiding the prophane nouelties of voices and oppositions of falsly called knowledge He calleth it depositum or a pledge or pawne because it is as it were a thing laid into the Apostles and Bishops handes and committed vnto them to keepe which euery one of them with great
sentences in it are prophetical many parabolical many metaphorical which commonlie are ful of obscuritie Thirdly it is proper to Scripture to haue many senses vnder one letter as the literal sense which is that which the holy writer first intended and this sense sometimes is signified by proper words sometimes by wordes metaphorical and improper yea sometimes the literal sense of the same wordes is diuers It hath also a spiritual sense which is that which is signified by the thinges vnder the letter And this sense is either moral which is called also tropological when it tendeth to manners or allegorical when it tendeth to faith or the Church or anagogical when it tendeth to heauen or life euerlasting For example this vvord Hierusalem literally signifieth the Cittie so called morally the soule of man allegorically the Church militant and anagogically the Church triumphant Al these senses the wordes of Scripture beare and diuers of them not seldome were intended by the holy Ghost in the same sentence And what a difficult matter is it to discerne them I adde finally that sundrie misteries deliuered vnto vs in holy writ are high and aboue the reach of our natural reason Wherefore it is no meruaile if the sentences in which they are disclosed be hard and obscure Hence the prophet Dauid desired of God vnderstanding Psal 118. Iohn 5. verse 39. Luke 24. vers 45. that he might search his lawe Our Sauiour also willed the Iewes to search the Scriptures opened his Apostles and disciples vnderstanding that they might vnderstand the Scriptures c which places plainly conuince the Scriptures to be hard SECTION THE THIRD The Scriptures may be falsly vnderstood and that euery priuate man may erre in the vnderstanding of them IN the second place I must proue that the Scriptures may be falsely vnderstood and that euery priuate man may erre in the translation or interpretation of the same This followeth of that which hath beene already said touching their obscuritie for if the Scripture be so obscure as I haue shewed these things must needs ensue And verily that the wordes of Scripture may receiue false interpretations 2. Pet. 3. verse 16. S. Peter aboue cited plainly auoucheth affirming that the vnlearned and vnstable euen in his daies depraued the epistles of S. Paul and other Scriptures to their owne perdition And it is a thing so manifest that it needeth no proofe for it is euident that al Heretikes heretofore haue alleaged Scriptures falsly expounded to confirme their heresies and this I wil declare more at large hereafter See part 2. cap. 8. sect 8. It is apparant also that in these our daies some in the world either Catholikes Lutherans Zuinglians Anabaptists or Libertines doe not giue the true sense of holy Scripture because it is impossible that more then one of these can haue the truth their expositions in diuers points be so diuers and contrary August tract 18. in Iohan. Aug. tom 3. de Gen. ad litterā li. 7. ca. 9. Vincent Lirin lib. cōtr propha haeres nouitates cap. 2. Barlow in his relatiō of the said conferēce pag. 61. Se part 2. c. 5. sect 1. yea S. Augustine affirmeth that heresies haue no other ofspring or roote then that good Scriptures are badly vnderstood In another place to the same effect he telleth vs that al Heretikes read Catholike Scriptures neither saith he are they for any other cause Heretikes then for that not vnderstanding them truly they defend obstinately their false opinions against the truth of them The same is declared by Vincentius Lirinensis in these wordes Al saith he take not the Scripture in one and the same sense because of the deepnes thereof but the speeches of it some interprete one way and some another way so that there may almost as many senses be picked out of it as there be men For Nouatus doth expounde it one way and Sabellius another way otherwise Donatus otherwise Arrius Eunomius Macedonius otherwise Iouinian Pelagius Celestius lastly otherwise Nestorius Hitherto Vincentius Lirinensis Hence our King in the conference held at Hampton Court betweene the Protestants and Puritans most discreetly affirmed that he would not wish al Canonical bookes to be read in the Church vnlesse there were one to interprete them Moreouer that the judgement of euery priuate man as before is subject vnto errour and falshood in his translation or interpretation of holy Scripture it is graunted by some of our aduersaries and likewise easily proued First because he Scripture it selfe warranteth no priuate mans judgement from errour Nay S. Peter in expresse termes telleth vs 2. Pet. 1. verse 20. Se sect 5. following 1. Ioh. 4. verse 1. That no prophecie of Scripture is made by priuate interpretation that is to say that no Scripture ought to be expounded according to any priuate mans opinion for the vvord Prophecie signifieth the interpretation or exposition of holie Scripture as shal hereafter be proued The Apostle Saint Iohn teacheth vs the same lesson vvilling vs not to beleeue euery spirit but to proue the spirittes if they be of God And howe are vve to proue the spirittes vvithout al doubt not by our ovvne judgement vvhich is subject to errour but by considering vvhether they be consonant or no to the doctrine of the Catholike Church or the rule of faith receiued by tradition from the Apostles This appeareth by the discourse of the said Apostle following In vvhich to confute Cerinthus Ebion Basilides and other Heretikes vvho denied the diuinitie humanitie or vnion of two natures in Christ and to proue their spirits not to be from God he setteth downe the doctrine of the Church concerning those pointes and addeth these vvordes He that knoweth God heareth vs that is to say he that hath the knowledge of God by true supernaturall faith heareth and obeieth the Church But vvhat doe I vse many wordes in a matter so euident gathered out of our aduersaries owne proceedinges For the holy Ghost teacheth men but one truth seing therefore that there are among the newe Sectaries now in the vvorld so great dissentions and differences in opinions concerning the exposition of the selfe same wordes of Scripture it necessarily followeth that some of them expound the Scriptures falslie and seing that one of them hath no better warrant for his direction in truth then another vve may vvel affirme them al to be subject to errour and falsehood I adde also that euerie Sectarie must needes confesse euerie one of his Captaines I meane Luther Zuinglius Caluin and the rest to haue erred in some point or other touching the true sense of Scripture for almost no one Sectarie followeth any one of these in al pointes and approueth al his interpretations but if vve graunt them al to haue erred in some pointes vve may vvel inferre that they are subject to errour in al because their vvarrant is equal for al. Finally if we admit euery priuate mans spirit as a judge in such
neither be deceiued nor deceiue wherefore although the misteries be obscure let vs alwaies be mindeful by whom we are informed of their truth and not make the depth of our owne capacity the rule and measure of Gods power and of our faith but beleeue them When either the diuel or his instruments object any thing against our beliefe let vs say with S. Augustine Aug. serm 147. de tempore Ambrose in cap. 5. Lucae Ambr. de Abraham cap. 3. Why doe we wonder why doe we not beleeue it was God that did it and with S. Ambrose If we beleeue not God whom wil we beleeue If a grauâ—â—onourable personage I vse the same holy Doctors comparison in this life especially if he be of high degree and our better would scorne to be asked of vs a proofe for that which he affirmeth how much more ought God to be credited without proofe of humane reason when he propoundeth vnto vs a matter aboue mans reason and capacity thus in effect S. Ambrose And howe weake and feeble our reason and vnderstanding is vve may easilie perceiue by this that it is not able to comprehend the nature or causes of diuers thinges vvhich we daily behold with our eies Hence arise so many intricate difficulties in natural philosophy which the deepest wits and most learned philosophers could neuer hitherto vnfold For example what philosopher hath euer hitherto yeelded a certaine cause without any contradiction of the ebbing and flowing of the Sea Yea howe manie thinges are there in mans bodie it selfe vvhich moue no smal difficulties to philosophers as the forming of it in the mothers vvombe the concoction and distribution of nourishment the growing of it to a due proportion and stature c. What shal we say of the fiue senses by which our vnderstanding cometh to the knowledg of external and corporal thinges howe strange is their operation vvhat great and huge bodies are together truely represented in the litle compasse of the aple of the eie But I can not stand to discourse of them in particuler If we looke vp to the heauens howe can we conceiue the huge bodies of the planets seeming to our senses so smal their certaine and swift motion and their nature it selfe most admirable And if we cannot without great difficulty and discourse comprehend these ordinarie matters how dare we by our weake wit measure the omnipotent power of God and think him able to doe no more then we can conceiue Moreouer if God had not made al thinges of nothing by his onlie word we should hardly imagine such a creation to be possible seing that it is a rule among natural ageÌ„ts that of nothing nothing is made If God himselfe had not reuealed vnto vs that in the most blessed Trinitie the same simple essence or substance is in three persons vvhich therefore make but one God we should hardly haue beleeued it seing that among vs euery person hath a distinct substance or essence If faith did not teach vs that in Christ two natures the one of God the other of man make one person it would seeme incredible seing that among vs eâ—â—â—ie nature maketh a distinct person Come a litle lower if our Sauiour had not told vs Mat. 19. verse 26. Iohn 20 19. 26. that a camel by the power of God may be made to passe through the eie of an needle who would haue beleeued it If Christ had not entred into his disciples the dores being shut vvho would haue thought it possible If then our vnderstanding can not naturally comprehend these misteries which neuerthelesse euery Christian must confesse to be true we may very wel thinke vvith our selues that other such like which Heretiks deny may likewise be euen as certaine although our vnderstanding can not reach to the apprehension of them seing that they are no more repugnant to reason then the former but like as they aboue reason and proceed from the same omnipotent power of God Certainly The workes of God as we are taught by S. Gregory if they were comprehensible by reason Gregor hom 26. in Euan. were not admirable neither hath faith saith he any merit when humane reason yeeldeth an experiment or maketh the thing euident for the lesse euidence that our reason hath in matters of faith so that the things be propounded vnto vs vvith sufficient prudential motiues prouing diuine reuelation the more we merit in beleeuing according to those wordes of our Sauiour Iohn 20. verse 29. Blessed are they who haue not seene and haue beleeued And therefore concerning those workes of God principally which by faith vve are bound to beleeue Chrisost homil 21. in Genes let vs followe the learned aduise of S. Iohn Chrisostome contained in these his words following When God doth any thing saith he doe not thou examine those thinges which are done by human reason for they exceed our vnderstanding and mans thought or imagination can not reach and comprehend the reason of those thinges which are made and done by God Wherefore it is meet that we hearing what God commaunded obey and beleeue those thinges which are said by him for seing that he is the founder of nature he doth order and transforme al thinges as he thinketh good hitherto Saint Iohn Chrisostome FINIS THE SECOND PART OF THIS TREATISE SHEWING THE GROVNDES OF the newe religion In which is proued that the newe Sectaries build their faith vpon no diuine authority but that the ground of al their beliefe and religion is their owne judgement and consequentlie that they haue neither true faith nor religion Chapter 1. That by their doctrine they deny or at the least weaken the three principal and general groundes of Christian religion set downe in the three first chapters of the first part SECTION THE FIRST The number of Atheists among them is great and of the causes by them giuen of this impiety IN the three first chapters of the first part of this treatise I haue proued three principal grounds of our religion to wit the being of God and his diuine prouidence the immortallity of the soule of Man and the truth of Christianity Now perhaps the title of this chapter to some may seeme verie strange and my accusation of our aduersaries that by their doctrine they denie or vveaken these grounds verie slanderous and injurious but I desire no more credit in this matter then the reasons I shal bring wil yeeld which if I obtaine of my reader I doubt not but I shal free my selfe of al suspition of offering them any wrong But first I must declare that in this section I intend not to accuse al the newe Sectaries of Atheisme for I know very wel that they teach commonly beleeue there is a God neither doe I intend to affirme that the same man can properly be termed a newe sectarie and Atheist but mine assertion onlie is that a great number of such as are in outward shewe professours of the newe religion are
testifie that they are from God they cary a sacred and diuine authority with them and they doe also agree in al points with the other books of god in the old testament hitherto are his words b Field booke 3. cap. 44. §. The errour Field if I doe not mistake him differeth only from others in this that whereas most of them reject al supernatural habits in our soules and attribute our beleeuing to supenatural inspiratiōs of the spirit he acknowledgeth a supernatural habit of faith which he calleth also a potential ability c Book 4. c. 13. § This judgment the light of diuine vnderstanding d Book 4. c. 8. § Thus then and the light of grace And moreouer he doth explicate himselfe a litle more in particuler then others for he distinguisheth two sorts of thinges beleeued e Book 4. c. 8. § The schoole men whereof some saith he are such as are beleeued and neuer knowne as al the matters of fact that are reported in the Scripture which we can neuer know by the immediate euidence of the things themselues but mediatly in that we knowe they are deliuered vnto vs by him that cannot lie Others are first beleeued Ibidem § Thus then and afterwards the vnderstanding being enlightned and the heart clensed they are discerned of vs to be true And he concludeth that in thinges of the first sort the formal reason of our faith or inducing vs to beleeue is the authoritie of God himselfe whome we doe most certainelie discerne to speake in the word of faith which is preached vnto vs. But in thinges of the second kinde he vvil haue the said formal reason to be the euidence of the things appearing vnto vs being enlightened by the light of grace this is the opinion of Field But in which of these two sortes of thinges he placeth the knowledge of the authority of holie Scripture I cannot so plainelie as I vvould discerne by his words this onlie I gather as certaine out of his discourse Book 4. c. 7. § Thus then first that the principal cause of our knowledge and beliefe concerning the Canonical bookes proceedeth from the habite or light of faith For this al his assertions insinuate and principally these The spirit induceth moueth and perswadeth vs to beleeue By the light of diuine vnderstanding Chapt. 13. § This judgement Chap. 7. § Thus then Chapt. 8. § Thus then Chapt. 8. Caluī book 1. of Institut chap. 7. § 4. we judge of al thinges c. Secondlie he affirmeth in plaine vvordes that besides the habit of faith or light of diuine grace are required some reasons or motiues or some reason or motiue by force whereof the spirit setleth the minde in the perswasion of the truth of thinges vvhich were formerly doubted of And this reason as we haue heard him say before in some thinges is the euidence of the thinges appearing vnto vs in others the authority of God He explicateth himselfe more plainely by these sentences of Caluin If we bring pure eies and perfect senses the majesty of God presently presenteth it selfe vnto vs in the diuine Scripture and beating downe al thoughts of contradicting or doubting of thinges so heauenly forceth vs to obey Againe After we are enlightned by the spirit we doe no longer trust either our owne judgement or the judgement of other men that the Scriptures are of God But aboue al certainty of humane judgment we most certainly resolue as if in them we saw the majesty glory of God as Moises saw in the mount that by the ministery of men they came vnto vs from Gods owne most sacred mouth Thirdlie We finde a greater light of vnderstanding shining vnto vs in this doctrine of faith then is found within the compasse of nature a * I finde not these wordes following in Caluin satisfaction touching manie thinges which humane reason could not satisfie vs in a joy and exultation of the heart such and so great as groweth not out of nature hitherto Field out of Caluin He addeth that this maketh vs assure our selues the doctrine which so affecteth vs is reuealed from God That they are the only people of God and haue the means of happinesse where this treasure of heauenly wisdome is found that these books are the richest jewel that the world posesseth and ought to be the Canon of our faith which this people deliuereth vs as receiued from them to whome these thinges were first of al made knowne and reuealed thus Field And this is the common doctrine of diuers of our Sectaries To ouerthrow this opinion I must first lay this ground To moue vs to beleeue any article of Christian religion ordinarily besides the habite of faith or some supernatural illumination of the spirit some other reasons or motiues must of necessity concurre by force of which our vnderstanding may be perswaded that the thinge propounded is credible and according to prudence may be beleeued This may be proued by authoritie of Scriptures for if no such motiues are necessary to what end did our Lord during the time of his being here on earth work such strange miracles Surely of them he saith Iohn 5 36. Iohn 10 25. Iohn 15 24. The very works themselues which I doe giue testimony of me that the Father hath sent me Againe The works that I doe in the name of my Father they giue testimony of me Finally If I had not done among them workes that no other man hath done they should not haue sinne Out of which places I may wel infer both that our Sauiour propounded his doctrine with sufficient arguments of credibility and also that if he had not so done the Iews generally had not offended God in refusing to beleeue it which is expresly affirmed by S. August tract 91. in Ioānē Augustine I adde generally because vnto the learned sort it was otherwise sufficiently proued therefore they had sinned although Christ had done no miracles yet not so grieuously This caused him likewise Mark 3 15. Luk 9 10. Mark 16. v 20. See also v. 17. 18. to giue his Apostles disciples power to doe miracles and they as S. Mark reporteth after his ascētion going forth preached euery where our Lord working withal confirming the word with signes that followed Moreouer commonly al that are said in the Gospels to haue beleeued beleeued vpon some credible motiue as the Centurion Luke 23. the Lord whose sonne was cured at Caphernaum Iohn 4. verse 46.53 and diuers others And so those wordes of S. Rom. 10.14 Paul are vnderstood Howe shal they beleeue him whom they neuer heard and howe shal they heare without a preacher that is without one both expounding the rule of faith vnto them and also propounding such reasons as are sufficient to moue them to beleeue This also al the Apostles practised as appeareth by their sermons recorded in the acts of the Apostles Nay further in the old
of free-wil and merit of workes The like haue e Whitgift in his defence p. 472. 473. Whitgift f Adam Scultet in Medulla Theolog. p. 48. 122. 151. Adamus Scultetus and others Nay Field although he also tearme S. Augustine the g Field booke 3. chap. 42. pag. 170. greatest of al the Fathers and worthiest Diuine the Church of God euer had since the Apostles times yet he telleth vs that h Ibid. chap. 15. pag. 93. his manner of deliuering this article of justification is not ful perfect and exact as they are forced to require in these times against the errors of the Romanists For that when he speaketh of grace he seemeth for the most part to vnderstand nothing else thereby but that sanctification whereby the holy spirit of God changeth vs to become newe creatures seldome mentioning the imputation of the righteousnesse of Christ hitherto Field And thus we see that the letter of holy Scripture not only according to the plaine and open confession of our aduersaries but also according to the tradition and belief of the ancient Fathers our said aduersaries likewise being witnesses doth teach not with them that faith only doth justifie vs by the imputation of Christs justice but with vs that workes also concurre to our justification I could joyne vnto this another argument sufficient in any wise mans judgement to condemne these Sectaries doctrine of falsehood and consequently to proue it not to be build vpon the letter of holie Scripture to vvit the dissention which is among them in explicating this article but breuity causeth me to omitte it Only I wish my reader to peruse that which a Field of the Church booke 3. chap. 44. pag. 177. Field hath in his third booke of the Church concerning this matter and to conferre it with the doctrine of Luther b Caluin in his Institutions Caluin c Perkins in his reformed Catholike pag. 48. 315. Perkins d Willet in his Synops controuers 19. part 2. pag. 827. part 4. pag. 877. 885. 887. Willet and others For there he shal finde that the said Field maketh that act of faith which obtaineth and worketh our justification an act by way of petition humbly intreating for acceptation and fauour not an act in the nature of comfortable assurance consisting in a ful and assured perswasion that through Christs merits we are the children of God as is taught by the rest SECTION THE THIRD The like discourse is made concerning a place of Scripture alleaged for the real presence AN other principal article controuersed betweene vs and our aduersaries is that touching the real presence of Christes body and bloud in the Eucharist For the affirmatiue part which we Catholikes defend especially against the Sacramentaries I haue alleaged in the first Section of this Chapter among other those wordes of our Lord This is my bodie I wil therefore proceed and discourse of this sentence as I haue already done of that of S. Iames touching justification by workes Melancthon for his learning and piety is much commended both by a See Bullēger in Firmamēto firmo cap. 4. fol. 27. colloquium Altemberg an 1568 fol. 203. Lutherans Sacramentaries Luther himselfe judged his booke of common places b Luth. tom 2. de seruo arbitrio fol. 424. in colloq cōuiualibus ca. de Patribus Eccles worthy to be placed in the Ecclesiastical canon of holy Scripture and * Luther in praefat to 1. affirmed that God raised him that he might haue a companion in his labours combats and daungers in the propagation of the sincere doctrine of the Gospel Caluin tearmed him c Caluin admonit 3. ad Westphalū admonit vlt. fol. 23. the great ornament of the German Churches and with great vehemencie affirmed that Philip Melancthon in the controuersie touching the supper could be no more plucked or diuided from him then from his owne proper bowels Peter Martir calleth him d Martir in dialogo de corpore Christi in loco fol. 107. contra Gardinerum de Eucharistia pag. 768. a man incomparable and most instructed in al kind of vertue and learning he maketh him equal in learning and piety with S. Augustine S. Hierome S. Leo and the auncient Fathers Beza finally saith he was instaurator Beza in Iconib in Creophag pa. 80. the repairer againe of Euangelical doctrine he tearmeth him likewise the singular ornament of our age and together vvith * Lauather in histor Sacrament fol. 47. Lauatherus likeneth him to the Phoenix What then vvriteth this great schollar of so rare vertue touching this matter thus he discourseth There is no care that hath more troubled my minde then this of the Eucharist and not only my selfe haue weighed what might be said on either side but I haue also sought out the judgement of the old writers touching the same Melancth li. 3. ep Zwinglij Oecolampadij fol. 132. And when I haue laied al together I finde no good reason that may satisfie a conscience departing from the propriety of Christes wordes this is my body You gather many absurdities he debateth the matter with Oecolampadius a Sacramentary which followe this opinion but absurdities wil not trouble him who remembreth that we must judge of diuine matters according to Gods word not according to Geomatry And soone after I finde no reason Ibid. fol. 140. howe I may depart from this opinion touching the real presence Wel it may be an other opinion more agreable to mans reason may please an idle minde especially if the said opinion be furnished and commended with arguments wel handled but what shal be come of vs in tentation when our conscience shal be called to an account what cause we had to dissent from the receiued opinion in the Church Then these wordes this is my body wil be thunderbolts hitherto Melancthon Luther as al the vvorld knoweth out of the same vvordes gathered and defended the real presence in so much as he condemned the Sacramentaries as Heretikes for auouching the contrary but let vs rehearse some of his wordes Luther to 7. in defens verborum coenae fol. 388. Ibid. fol. 390. Wheras Gods power saith he surpasseth al cogitation and worketh that which is to our reason incomprehensible and which only faith beleeueth and the same God said This is my body which shal be deliuered for you howe can I perswade my conscience that God hath neither meanes nor ability to doe as his wordes sound Againe These good Sacramentaries by their loathing and abhorring such thinges make way to the denial of Christ and God himselfe and of al articles of our faith And truly for a great part they haue already begunne to beleeue nothing for they bring themselues within the compasse of reason which is the right way to damnation And themselues knowe that these Ethnical cauils either are nothing worth against this article or if they conclude any thing against this they doe the like
may likewise belieue as we doe and be barred from neither and consequently it cannot be said that our faith is opposite to the vvord of God I may vrge this a little further for seing that the Sacramentaries beliefe is so hardly censured both by vs and the Lutherans and the Lutheran opinion both by vs and the Sacramentaries seing moreouer ours by the Lutherans is esteemed better then that of the Sacramentaries as al the vvorld knoweth and it appeareth true by this that the Lutherans condemne it not as heretical yea * Luth. de captiuit Babylon Itē serm de Eucharist serm de venerabili Sacramēto c. tom 7. Germ. fol. 20. in Visitat Saxonica Luther alloweth of it as tollerable and by the Sacramentaries preferred before that of the Lutherans a man according to the rules of wisdome is rather to thinke ours comformable to truth and the written word of God then that either of the Lutherans or Sacramentaries But it may be vrged against vs that diuers a See Whitakers reprehension against Martin p. 11. learned Sacramentaries censure our doctrine to be of thinges incredible and impossible I answere although some of this sect be so blaspheamous against the omnipotent power of God as so to affirme it yet others protest that they neuer doubted of Gods power herein that he is able to effect it but they say he neuer did it as may be seene in b Iewel in his reply against Harding art 10. §. 9. M. Iewel and others Wherefore according to these men our faith is of thinges by vs in this life incomprehensible and aboue the ordinary course of reason not of thinges impossible Neither is this peculiar and proper only to this mistery but also common to other articles of our faith as to our beliefe touching the most blessed Trinity the Incarnation of Christ the resurrection of our bodies c. Nay if Caluin and some of his disciples say true this is verified euen in their doctrine concerning the Eucharist For Caluin himselfe discourseth thus Although it seeme incredible Caluin Institut booke 4. cha 17 §. 10. that in so great distance of places the flesh of Christ reacheth to vs that it may be meate to vs for they hold the body and bloud of our Lord to be alwaies as farre from vs as is the highest heauen yet let vs remember howe much the secret power of the Spirit surmounteth aboue al our senses and howe foolish a thing it is to goe about to measure his vnmeasurablenesse by our measure That therfore which our mind comprehendeth not let our faith conceiue c. Againe Ibid. §. 24. The doctrine it selfe which I haue declared doth clearely enough shewe that I doe not measure this mistery by the proportion of mans reason nor doe make it subject to the lawes of nature He addeth that he is more then senselesse that perceaueth not many miracles to be contained in this mistery as he deliuereth it and that nothing is more beside nature or more incredible Finally Ibid. §. 32. nowe if any man saith he aske me of the manner howe Christ is joyned to vs in the supper I wil not be ashamed to confesse that it is a higher secret then that it can either be comprehended with my wit or vttered with my wordes and to speake it more plainly I rather feele it then I can vnderstand it Therefore I doe herein without controuersie embrace the truth of God in which I may safely rest Hitherto are Caluins wordes The like hath the French Confession French cōfession art 36. in Harmony of confess sect 14. pag. 426. in which his disciples affirme that this mistery of our vnion with Christ in the supper is so high a thing that it surmounteth al our senses yea and the whole order of nature that it being diuine and heauenly cannot be perceaued nor apprehended but by faith Nowe if these thinges be so vvho can make any great difference betweene Caluins doctrine and ours in this that his is of thinges credible and possible ours of thinges incredible and impossible Are not both according to his sayings of thinges incomprehensible Verily whosoeuer considereth wel his vvordes and obserueth his rules vvil not be very much moued vvith any of the Sacramentaries arguments conuincing as they imagine the real presence by vs taught to be impossible Thus then we see that by the confession of our aduersaries the vvordes of our Lord This is my body according to their literal and plaine sense are an euident proofe of the real presence against which their sense no humane or Philosophical reasons as they likewise auouch are to be admitted Let vs nowe see howe our said aduersaries relate al our Predecessours especially the Christians of the first ages after Christ to haue expounded the said wordes And in this point I neede not be long or spend much labour because the Lutherans haue not beene altogither negligent in gathering such testimonies of antiquity against their enemies the Sacramentaries as make for the real presence and ouerthrowe the Sacramentary doctrine This appeareth in diuers of their * Se the Magdeburgians in their cēturies and others bookes published to the view of the vvhole vvorld in which they declare euen to the eie that al the auncient Fathers held and taught the true real and corporal presence of Christes body and bloud in the Eucharist Nay some of them grant certaine of the Fathers to haue belieued transubstantiation so the Century writers affirme a Centur. 5. c. 4. col 517. that S. Chrysostome seemeth to confirme it and that b Centur. 4. c. 4. col 294. see also ca. 6. col 480. S. Athanasius S. Ambrose and S. Gregory make for it Luther himselfe telleth vs that c Luth. tom 7. in defens verborum coenae fol. 391. this is worthy of admiration that none of the Fathers of whome there is an infinite number did euer speake of the Sacrament so as doe the Sacramentaries but cleane contrary And vvhat say the Sacramentaries d Martir in defens ad object Gardiner part 4. p. 724. See also his epist annexed to his cōmon places pag. 106. to Beza and p. 98 to Caluin Peter Martir plainely refuseth to subscribe to S. Cyrils doctrine touching this matter Beza auerreth that e Beza epist. Theolog. 8. pag. 73. 74. most of the most auncient Fathers thought it meete to hide or keepe secret the holy misteries of the Christians he meaneth the celebration of the Eucharist no otherwise then the misteries of Ceres in so much as they admitted not the Catechumenes that is such as belieued yet vvere not baptized to behold them And vvhy so if Christ be not really and corporally present in the Eucharist Field also confesseth that f Field booke 3. chap. 34. pag. 149. in the primatiue Church the manner of many was to receaue the Sacrament and not to be partakers of it presently but to carry it home with
precisely as they are the object of our faith they al haue no other euidence then diuine reuelation as is proued before which is alwaies obscure What then is this medium or meane according to Field Is it any humane conjecture motiue or probability This cannot be according to his owne doctrine as appeareth in the same place and the chapter before Nay in another place he telleth vs Book 4. chap. 20. § Much contention that the books of Scripture winne credite of themselues and yeeld sufficient satisfaction to al men of their diuine truth and therefore he seemeth to exclude al external proofe Is it then any thing contained in the things themselues Neither can this be said for euery thing contained in the thinges themselues belonging to their essence is as obscure as the things themselues be and consequently no such thing contained in the things themselues can be such a meane to manifest themselues vnto vs. And vvhat accident he vvil assigne in the articles of our faith making them manifest vnto vs I cannot imagine Secondly I cannot see how this assertion of Field doth agree with that his common principle Field book 4. chap. 13.8 book 3. chap. 42. auouching that the Scripture is the Canon and ground of their beliefe and that they rest in the determination of the word of God as in the rule of their faith For how can this be if the euidence of the things appearing vnto vs be sometimes the formal reason of our faith as is in like sort by him auerred But to make this discourse a litle more manifest let vs demaund a question or two in particuler of M. Field and see howe he vvil resolue them according to his doctrine deliuered I aske therefore of him why he beleeueth there be three persons and one God two natures in Christ and one person and the resurrection of our bodies Wil he answere that the euidence of the thinges appearing vnto him is the formal cause of his faith or inducing him to beleeue these misteries If he doe not he contradicteth his own doctrine If he doe he contradicteth both al sense and reason and also himselfe making the Scripture the ground of faith except he affirme these misteries to be euident not in themselues but in the medium or meane by force whereof they are beleeued For which medium if he wil be constant to himselfe he must assigne the holie Scripture vvhich Scripture he must say is beleeued through the authority of God himselfe whome vve doe most certainly discerne to speake in the word of faith which is another cause of beliefe assigned by him for such thinges as we beleeue and doe not knowe so that this authority of God is the last motiue not the holy Scripture and what other processe he wil make I cannot perceiue But what doth he and Caluin vnderstand by that other reason which he tearmeth The authority of God himselfe whome we doe certainly discerne to speake in the word of faith which is preached vnto vs and Caluin The majesty of God which doth present it selfe vnto vs What is this authority and majesty of God and how doe we so certainly discerne it Verily for my part I am so farre from knowing how to discerne it as I cannot vvel imagine vvhat they meane by it yet if I be not deceiued they affirme that the authority of God or his majestie is seene in the letter of holie Scripture vvhich moueth vs by a supernatural and most infallible assent to acknowledge it to be his holy word But first this is said gratis and vvithout any ground or reason for what authority or majesty can a man discerne in such bookes as our aduersaries receiue as Canonical more then in those which they reject For example what appeareth to vs more diuine in the bookes of Ecclesiastes then in the bookes of Ecclesiasticus surely nothing much lesse so much as may be an infallible and knowne meane to moue vs to beleeue the one as diuine and to reject the other as Apocriphal Moreouer howe doe vve knowe that this representation of diuine majestie or this diuine authoritie vvhich as vve conceaue doth represent it selfe vnto vs is not either some illusion of the Deuil or some strong imagination of our owne proceeding onlie from some affection which vpon some other motiues we beare to such and such bookes of Scripture Trulie we haue great cause to feare that it may proceed from some such affection seeing that Luther and most of al his Lutherans confesse al the Sacramentaries generallie to be deceaued in such their apprehensions concerning the epistle to the Hebrewes the epistle of Saint Iames the Apocalipse of S. Iohn and other parcels of Scripture And why not concerning others as vvel as these Vnto vvhich I adde that they commonly make their doctrine a rule whereby to try which is Scripture and vvhich is not as I vvil demonstrate hereafter and appeareth by the causes assigned by Luther vvhich moued him to reject the epistle of Saint Iames. It may also be objected against this their doctrine that of it it seemeth to followe that no man can be assured of the diuine authority of any other bookes of Scripture then of those which he hath read himselfe or heard others read For first no man can possibly proue to another that in reading such and such books he did discerne in then the authority of God himselfe speaking or that the diuine majesty did in them present it selfe vnto him vvherefore vnto this that a man may judg of holy Scripture he must himselfe read or heare the words and sentences read and this he must doe before he can haue any faith For seeing that they make the Scripture the rule and ground of their beliefe the Scripture must first be knowne before they can beleeue and seeing that no one booke containeth al things necessary to be beleeued but such things are dispersed through al it is necessarie that he know the whole Canon of Scripture and consequentlie that he reade or heare it al rehearsed sentence by sentence And what a Laborinth is this how can the vnlearned that cannot reade doe it Nay how many Protestants in the world haue euer performed it Wherefore I conclude that this rule or meane how to know holy Scripture is neither easie plaine certaine nOr vniuersal Perhaps it may be thought by some that Field assigneth the euidence of the thinges appearing vnto vs in holy Scriptures as the formal cause of our beleefe concerning their authority but this cannot be both because our beleefe concerning their Canonical authority seemeth to be concerning a matter of fact to wit vvhether they vvere penned by the instinct of the holie Ghost or no as also because a great part of them rehearseth matters of fact which Field denieth to be knowne by the authority of God himselfe whome we doe certainly discerne to speake in the word of faith Field book 4. chapt 15. Adde likewise that by his confession
they are obscure which obscurity partlie as he saith ariseth through the high and excellent nature of the thinges in them contained which if we admit the thinges contained in the Scripture be no good meane for vs to come to the knowledge of Scripture And moreouer certaine it is that the euidence of thinges contained in the Scripture is no more manifest vnto vs then the Scriptures themselues and therefore for this reason also it cannot be any good Medium to proue these Canonical Field and al his fellowes to al these reasons objected against them seeme to answere that in very deede these motiues of themselues are not sufficient to perswade euerie man of the diuine truth of these bookes yet that they are fullie sufficient to perswade him that is endued with the habite of faith or hath a diuine illumination or inspiration of the spirit and commeth to reade the Scriptures vvith pure eies and perfect senses yea Caluin in his whole discourse touching the knowledge of canonical Scripture seemeth altogether to flie to diuine inspiration whence proceed these his sentences Caluin Insâ—it book 1. chap. 7. § 4. and 5. The manner of perswasion touching the diuine truth of Scriptures must be fetched euen from the secret testimonie of the holy Ghost They doe disorderly that by disputation trauaile to establish the perfect credite of the Scripture The word of God shal neuer finde credit in the hearts of men vntil it be sealed vp with the inward witnesse of the holy Ghost They whom the holy Ghost hath inwardly taught doe wholie rest vpon the Scripture Though by the only majesty of it self it procureth reuerence to be giuen to it if then only it throughly pearceth our affections when it is sealed in our hearts by the holy Ghost hitherto are Caluins wordes I reply first that this taketh not away the necessity of reading or hearing read euery sentence of these diuine bookes before we can knowe them to be Canonical or discerne what we are bound to beleeue Secondly of this it followeth that before a man can discerne whether any booke be Canonical or no he must not only haue faith or a supernatural light of the holy Ghost but must also most assuredly and infallibly knowe himselfe to haue such a faith or such an illumination And how wil they make vs beleeue this and also perswade vs that the Scripture is the ground and rule of our beliefe which likewise they euen as earnestly teach can pure eies perfect senses and the light of faith be had without knoweledge of that which is the verie ground and rule of faith Must not the ground be knowne and had before vve can attaine vnto that which is built vpon the said ground If it must and the whole Canon of Scripture be the ground of our faith as they say then must the whole Canon of Scripture be infalliblie knowne before vve can haue such faith and consequently the light of faith cannot be a meane whereby we are to come to the knowledge of the said Canon of Scripture or any parcel thereof But because al Sectaries vsually both in this and other pointes seeme most to relie vpon the inspiration and illumination of the spirit by which as they say al matters are made euident vnto them and they are assured of the diuine truth of them although to others not enlightened the same matters seeme doubtful from vvhence it proceedeth that Field affirmeth themselues to rest in the light of diuine vnderstanding Field booke 4. chapt 13. § This judgement as in that whereby they judge of al things Let vs confute the certainety of this illumination or inspiration concerning such particuler pointes especially touching the knowledge of diuine Scripture a litle more at large And first thus I argue If there be such a certaine illumination or inspiration either God by this illumination or inspiration doth so teach and direct euerie man concerning euery article of faith that they cannot erre or some men only and those only touching some articles That he doth not so direct al concerning al articles it is euident and confessed by our aduersaries who acknowledg some to be Heretiks as the Anabaptists and Swencfeldians others to erre as diuers of sundry sects c. That he doth not likewise direct some concerning al points it is euident for there is no one Sectary can be named but hath erred in some point or other especially if we admit the judgment of other of his brethren to be true yea Caluin himselfe confesseth that euery man is subject to errour Calu. iÌ„ 1. Cor. 2. v. 15. See and no man is exempted from it But euery one saith he as he is regenerated according to the measure of grace giuen him doth judg truly and certainely but no further thus Caluin of the same opinion are others Lubbertus de priÌ„cipijs christian dog p. 563. HieroÌ„ Zauchius de script pag. 411. 412. If some only be so infallibly directed those only concerning some articles first it followeth that god hath not sufficientlie prouided for the direction of men in matters of beliefe for he hath prescribed and giuen no certaine guide in al points or certaine meane to know when their direction is infallible concerning any and when it is not Of vvhich it may secondly be inferred that no man can assure himselfe that he is at any time concerning any point infallibly inspired which vncertainty is also increased not only by this that the deuil doth oftentimes as the Apostle saith transfigure himselfe into an Angel of light 2. Corinth 11. vers 14. but also by the experience of the fal and error of diuers of their owne company and that by their owne confession concerning some when they thought theÌ„selues to be inspired by the spirit as it falleth out in the Anabaptists and diuers others Nay in al the Lutherans if we beleeue the Sacramentaries and in al the Sacramentaries if we may giue credit to the Lutherans but certainly in one side or other of these because their opinions or illuminations be opposite but we may vvel say on both because one bringeth no stronger proofe for his illumination then the other What wise man then wil or can build his faith vpon such an illumination or direction Besides this Part. 1. chap. 7. Sect. 3. I haue shewed in the first part of this treatise that no priuate person or Prelate of the Church is ordinarilie so directed by the holy Ghost that he cannot erre of vvhich it followeth that no man ordinarily hath such a diuine inspiration I adde also that God doth ordinarily proceed in the gouernment and direction of men by common rules directions not by priuate and particuler and not without cause for the first causeth charity vnity order and humility of the other springeth enmity diuision confusion and pride which reason is touched by Hooker a wise and learned Protestant Hooker book 5. of Ecclesiastical policy § 10. who rejecteth such