where as he allowes it to haue beene so till the Councell of Trent as appeareth in all this Discourse Now for Bellarmine I am sory such a superficiall Reader should meddle with him to the shame of our whole Nation Marke how hee reasoneth Bellarmine disclaimeth these three as proper markes of the Church Ergo the Church of Rome hath them not I pray what consequence is here First may not a man disclaime that which he hath for some siâ—ister respects best knowne to himselfe as pride and presumption in medling in causes and with persons too high for him and the like Secondly doth Bellarmine disclaime them simply and not onely in comparison of meere proper markes Thirdly may not the Church of Rome haue them as markes common to all Churches true and false though not as proper to the true Church Fourthly doth not Bellarmine De Eccles. lib. 3. cap. 2. § Nostra autem sententia contradicting himselfe put these three into the definition of the Church and doth hee not by them distinguish the Church from all other sorts of men whatsoeuer Professione verae fidei Sacramentorum communione subiectione ad proprium Rastorem Fiftly is it not a Maxime of Bellarmines lib. 1. de Sacrament in genere cap. 26. § Respondeo Sacramenta that the Sacraments and the word of God and the rest semper solius esse Ecclesie etiamsi interdum extra Ecclesia in inueniantur what dealing then is this to play the Sophister so palpably à dicto secundum quid ad 〈…〉 This is his third Argument The fourth you shall finde pag. 35. to this purpose If the Church of Rome cannot demonstrate it selfe to bee a true Church then it is no true Church But it cannot Ergo 〈…〉 To this many things are to be answered because both propositions are to be denyed The former because it is inconsequent First because want of demonstration takes not away the truth and true being of any thing if it did there are infinite things in the world which should haue no being or not be that which they are euen the Scripture it selfe should not be the word of God because it cannot be demonstrated so to be to a naturall man Secondly because want of ability to make demonstration especially of the parties owne being is much lesse able to doe it for how many millions of men and women are there in the world which should cease to be that they are if that were true being vtterly vnable to demonstrate themselues so to be The latter proposition is to be denyed because it is vntrue for if by demonstration you meane the proofe of those three marks mentioned in the Homily the church of Rome can by them demonstrate her selfe to be a true Church according to the kinde and proportion of truth as well as any other Church And all that will acknowledge her to bee a true Church will and must acknowledge her to haue the true markes of the true Church in the same degree of truth wherein she is acknowledged to bee a true Church But you can proue by two arguments that she cannot doe it First because Bellarmine is constrained to confesse that all his 15. markes cannot make it euidently true but onely euidently credible that it is a true Church I answer First this is not true Bellarmine saith no such thing hee hath not the word Onely but thus he speaketh Though they make it not euidently true yet doe they make it euidently credible yea hee distinguisheth betweene Heathens which admit not the Scriptures and Christians which doe and saith that to them it makes them euidently credible but to these euidently true as well as euidently credible Lib. 4. de not is Eccles. cap. 3. § Dicimus ergo This therefore is not good dealing Secondly this is the same fallacy of arguing à dicto secundum quid ad dictum simpliciter wherein you offended afore He cannot doe it by these his fifteene markes say you Ergo he cannot doe it at all Is this a good kinde of reasoning Indeed it argueth his folly or rather madnesse in forsaking those markes which can demonstrate it and cleaning to those which cannot doe it but it doth not proue that he cannot doe it by any other meanes In the second place therefore you indeauour to proue it by Romes owne doctrine and confession about her baptisme the onely relique say you which some suppose is sufficient to proue her a true Church which is this That the efficacy of baptisme depends vpon the Priests intention whereof because no man can be certaine therefore no man can bee certaine whether hee were rightly baptised and so cannot bee certaine that he is a true member of the Church From which confession you reason thus That which no one Papist can demonstrate all of them put together cannot demonstrate But no one of them can demonstrate himselfe to be a true member of the Church Ergo not all together And what the That Church whose members either seuerally or together cannot demonstrate themselues to bee members of the true Church cannot demonstrate her selfe to be a true Church But the members of the Church of Rome neither seuerally nor together can doe it Ergo She her selfe cannot doe it That I may giue a full and sufficient answer to this large argument which is taken from Romes owne doctrine and confession I must signifie vnto him that it seemes to me that he knowes not what Romes doctrine and confession in this point is First therefore hee must know that the Church of Rome hath not yet determined fully what the intention of the Priest in baptising or of the Bishop in ordaining is They say indeed that a virtuall intention is sufficient without the actuall or habituall But what is that virtuall intention Some say that the very pronouneing of the words I baptise thee c. are sufficient thereto Nec aliud requiri ex parte ministri and that there is no more required on the behalfe of the Minister So Thomas Part. 3. de Sacr. qu. 64. art 8. ad 2. and so Catharine the Bishop of Minori in the Councell of Trent held and affirmed And Bellarmine himselfe though of the contrary opinion viz. that the inward intention of the Priest is required yet is constrained to distinguish de perfectione Sacramenti simpliciter absolutè de perfectione eiusdem coram hominibus and so agreeth that if wee respect the perfection of the Sacrament before men the outward prolation of the words is sufficient Lib. 1. de Sacr. in genere cap. 28. § Ad locum obiectum Secondly hee must know what certainty it is which the Church of Rome meaneth when she confesseth that no man can be certaine of the intention of the Priest for shee distinguisheth of certainty in this case One is certainty of faith which is infallible another humane and morall the former shee confesseth cannot ordinarily bee had but the latter may which she accounteth to be sufficient and this comes
vseful to ioyne vs together again in one communion The former whereof is false as hath beene shewed in the former answers The latter dependeth vpon the scandals of the Author for the better vnderstanding whereof wee are to know That the reformed Churches neuer made a full and totall separation from the Church of Rome but onely partiall from her corruptions Non tam ab ea quam ab eius erroribus discessimus saith Iewel in his Apologie which is the common voice of all euen of Perkins himselfe in his Reformed Catholike who shâ—wes in euery head of doctrine how farre wee may and must hold communion with that Church and to this and no more hath the Reuerend Author respect in this assertion Now this Calumniator would make the world beleeue that his intent is to vse a meanes by help of this distinction to ioyne vs together againe in one communion in those things wherein we are already separated which as it was far from his heart and meaning for his whole Treatise tends to the contrary so indeed it were a vaine thing for him to endeuour it by this distinction For it would be all one as if hee should say As she is a visible Church wee may communicate with her in her corruptions But as she is Babylon we may not Which is indeede the folly which hee illustrateth by his two similitudes of societie with a strumpet and the deuill Thus you see the honesty and wisedome of the man and by this you may iudge of his zeale for the glory of God Author They haue not well heeded the charitable profession of zealous Luther Nos fatemur c. We professe saith hee that vnder the Papacie there is much Christian good yea all c. I say moreouer that vnder the Papacie is true Christianitie â—â—a the very kernell of Christianity c. BVRTON Luthers speech then was true But euer distingue tempora Luther wrote that before the Councell of Trent till which the Church of Rome had not altered the rule of Faith But now wee that liue after that Councell cannot say so for in that Councell the nut was crackt the kernell reiected yea anathematized and now they haue retained no more but the broken shell of a Church Answer It is a strange thing to see how men are enamoured of their owne conceits Qui amant ipsi sibi somnia singunt saith the Poet I warrant you if M. Burton were braied in a morter yet would not these toyes depart from him Huartus in his Tryall of wits reporteth of a Noble-mans Page in Spaine that being distracted of his wits imagined himselfe to be a King in which conceit he so pleased himselfe that when hee was cured hee was displeased with the Physitian that restored him to his right minde and so I doubt M. Burton will be with those that shew him the vanities of these his imaginations Well howsoeuer it be wee must be content and suffer him to abound in his owne sense till Time the Mother of Truth reueale his grosse mistakings and in the meane while lâ—t it bee sufficient answer to this long discourse that here is nothing but idle repetition of those things which haue beene already answered And hâ—â—herto we haue answered what hee hath obiected to what was said in the Booke of The old Religion concerning this argument Author Nothing can be so well said or done but may be ill taken BVRTON Now God forbid But is it well said or done to affirme that the Church of Rome is yet a true or a true visible Church Now let the Reuerend Author iudge indifferently hauing well weighed the former reasons whether we doe ill or no in taking his saying ill or whether wee had not reason to haue expected an ingenuous Palinodie or Augustine-like Retractation rather then such an Apologie which whether it be rather to be pitied then any vncharitablenesse in the Reader in taking such a saying ill let indicious charitie it selfe iudge Nor need we stretch the saying to imply that the Church of Rome is a true beleeuing Church Suffice it we except against any being yea or visibility of a true Church in the Synagogue of Rome Answer Some men are like Nettles which if a man handle softly they sting him but if hardly and roughly they are not felt Our Reuerend Antistes hauing but glanced at the zeale of some transported to such a detestation of the Romane church as if it were all error no church is deeply censured as if preferment had changed his note and taught him to speake more plausible language of the Church of Rome then eyther hee did or ought Hereupon he frames an Apologeticall milde and Christian Aduertisement to rectifie their iudgement lest their preiudice may turne more to their sinne then to his wrong What 's the issue Nothing but scorne for sooth they expected that the Reuerend Author well weighing the former reasons would haue made a pittifull Retractation and not such an Augustine-like Apologie Nay they will not acknowledge any the least mistaking in the matter yea those words Nothing can be so well said or done but may be ill taken which are the ordinary preamble to reconciliation are taken amisse and so proue themselues to be true through their frowardnesse What then is to be done Haec non succedit alia ineunda est via The Reuerend Author must vse them like hounds which the more a man beateth the better they loue him or like the wilde Irish which are most seruiceable when they are most slauishly vsed And so they shall haue their desire a Palinodie or Retractation which is That is repenteth him that hee hath dealt so fauourably with them For as for their reasons if they were not as bold and blinde as Bayard himselfe they would be ashamed to commend them to the iudgement of iudicious Charity Author Who sees not that visible referres to outward profession true to some essential principles of Christianitie neyther of them to soundnesse of beleefe BVRTON Is outward profession a sufficient marke of visibilitie for a Church This is none of those markes which the Church of England takes notice of a Church by Answer No Are not they the preaching of the word administration of sacraments and Ecclesiasticall discipline And what outward profession of Christianitie can any visible church make without these Outward profession therefore comprehendeth them all and so is a sufficient marke of visibilitie for a Church BVRTON Againe the Scripture calls them the Synagogue of Satan which call themselues Iewes and are not Answer True yet were they true Iewes in the flesh and outwardly Rom. 2. â—8 29. and so may a true visible Church of Christians be also BVRTON The Samaritanes sometimes professed themselues to bee of the Iewes religion and professed the worship of the Lord were they therefore a visible Church Answer The reason is not like because they neuer were in the Couenant of Gods grace but were aliens from the Common wealth of Israel
his due as we say It is good therefore that all men be well aduised in this point in speaking of the Church of Rome Pro or contra as a true church or no it being a matter not to be maintained by finenesse of wit or quaint rhetoricall discourse but vpon sound ground substantiall demonstration Answer This is your anticipation wherein you answer a supposed obiection therby to free your selfe from fault in crying downe the truth and true visibility of the Church of Rome It is no fault say you because it is no vntruth But you know that is the question And besides haue you so soone forgotten your owne policy That though it were true yet the countenancing or pressing of it in these times might very well bee spared Can you imagine that in these lukewarme indifferent neutralizing dayes you shall not find enow that will take vp the bucklers against you will you giue the onset and bee faultlesse and shall they only that oppose you be the offenders there is no reason at all for that In a mutiny it is hard but both sides will bee found faulty well then Let the Deuill haue his due say you and so say I too yet it is good say you that all men be well aduised in this point c. Let this word stand Only I craue that it may not be taken for granted which you rhetorically beg of your friends that you haue the sound grounds and substantiall demonstrations and that wee haue nothing but finenesse of wit and quaint rhetoricall discourses and vpon these termes let the cause bee determined And so much for the quality of the question BVRTON Now for the more cleare and full yet briefe discussion of the point it shall suffice onely to answer such arguments as are vsed for it whereupon the positiue truth will easily be concluded Answer Now you come to the second argument of your Exordium by which you scrape acquaintance with your Readers which is a promise to handle this question well that is clearly fully and briefly to which end you thinke it sufficient to answer such arguments as are vsed against you But how you offend herein I haue shewed already BVRTON Wherein I must craue pardon hauing to deale in so weighty a cause and with such mighty Authors as haue already tanquam e Cathedra defined it But God forbid that the try all of truth should depend vpon the opinion of any mans person though neuer so great or esteemed in the opinion of the learned My brethren saith Saint Iames haue not the faith of our Lord Iesus Christ the Lord of glory with respect of persons And 〈…〉 Saint Augustine against Maximinus an Arrian Bishop said Nec â—u mihi Ariminense nec ego tibi Nicenum Concilium objiciam c. Answer This is the third argument taken from the condition of your person being so weake and vnworthy to deale in such a cause and with such Authors wherein first you craue pardon of your boldnes and after cleare your selfe of such imputations as may be laid to your charge For the former it is counted the part of an vnwise man to craue pardon of a fault when it is in his owne power not to offend If it bee a fault why would you runne into it if it be none why do you craue pardon But indeed it cannot be denied to be a great fault for any man to meddle in matters too high and with persons too great for him if Dauid Psalm 131. 1. and Siracides Ecclus 8. 1. say true For as Pyâ—â—acus counselled his friend in the case of mariage to doe as the â—â—ies playing w th top scourge said one to another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tâ— tibi su 〈…〉 rem Take to thy selfe thy peere 〈…〉 is it good 〈◊〉 euery man to contend with his match and not to meddle with his betters vnlesse he will befoole himselfe in the end But it is the triall of truth you say and God forbid that should depend vpon the opinion of any mans person True But first a man must be sure of a warrant for his doing for euery man may not contend with his betters in triall of truth vpon his owne head Secondly he must not behaue himselfe laweâ—ly as you do here saying they haue defined the contrary tanquam è Cathedra Else it may fall out as you say to the Papists pag. 24. that God forbid will not serue the turne neither will S. Iames who would not haue many mast 〈…〉 s speake for you nor Saint Augustine who contended with his fellow Bishop plead for you And so much for your petition BVRTON Nor let any man here impute presumption to the weakness or vnworthinesse of my person as though I tooke a pride to bee 〈…〉 edling with such high matters and wherein great ones are interessed Alas God knowes I take so little pride herein c. Answer Come wee now to your purgation wherein you cleare your selfe of pride and presumption by way of anticipation Some man perhaps would say Vbi dolor ibi digitus and that where men are guilty of greatest weaknesse there they make greatest preparation and that when a man cleares himselfe without an accuser Aliquid latet quod non patet But seeing you call God to witnes I had rather beleeue you then suspect you yet giue me leaue to tell you what I could say against you if I were disposed notwithstanding all you can say for your selfe to the contrary First Dauid vbi supra makes it an infallible note of pride to be exercised in matters and with persons of this quality Secondly many passages in this your second Viall to goe no further do send forth a ranke sauor of some such thing as first those words Though it were true that the Church of Rome were a true Church yet the countenanting or pressing it in these times might very well bee spared which are very high So those It is good for all men to be well aduised in this point it being a matter not to be maintained by finenesse of wit c. wherein you couertly praise your selfe and dispraise your aduersaries intollerably So those I must craue pardon hauing to deale with such Authors as haue already tanquam 〈◊〉 Cathedra defined the cause Insolent words Then those Cucullus non facit Monachum which is as much as if you had said A Rochet makes not a Bishop And those What a strange doctrine is this for a learned Doctor and more then so of the Church of England to teach Doth he not deserue to be the Popes white sonne for it which are words of reproach Finally those Now let the Reuerend Author iudge indifferentlie hauing well waighed the former reasons whether wee doe ill or no in taking this his saying ill or whether wee had not reason to haue expected an ingenuous Palinodie or Augustine like retraction rather then such an Apologie which whether it be rather to bee pitied then any vncharitablenesse in the
Rome without respect to the orthodoxe truth maintained therein Now to apply this to our purpose when wee say a papist may bee saued wee vnderstand it in the former more large sense And when the saith a papist cannot be faued he vnderstands it in the latter and more strict sense and so we are all agreed for as a theefe or a murderer or any other malefactor cannot be saued as he is such a one no more can a Papist as hee holdeth his errours for no vncleane thing shall enter into the kingdome of heauen this is the former point of his sophistrie The other is in the word renouncing For there are two kindes of renouncing One actuall and expresse another virtuall and infolded The actuall is when a man doth both in word and practice separate himselfe from the religion of the Church of Rome The virtuall is when in preparation of minde a man is ready to doc it so soone as it shall appeare to him to be sinfull and damnable when therefore he requireth that a Papist that must be saued should renounce his popery if he vnderstand the actuall renouncing thereof we acknowledge that it is necessary so soone as hee shall know and be conuicted of the euill of Popery but if he neuer be conuicted thereof so long as he liueth then we say the virtuall is sufficient which is included in generall repentance otherwise wee must confound sinnes knowne with vnknowne and generall repentance with particular This being considered a man may easily perceiue how a simple ignorant Papist whether learned or vnlearned may bee said to renounce his poperie and to be saued though he liue and die in the communion of that faith and religion So much for Sophistry Now his folly appeareth in this that he would haue us to hold that a Papist which we say may be iaued by a generall faith and repentance is saued as a Papist by vertue of his Popish ignorance idolatry and other trumpery and not as a true beleeuer by faith in Christs merits And that wee would haue some Godamercy to be giuen to Popery or silly ignorance for his saluation which ought to be so farre from the conceit of any well disposed Christian that all of vs must acknowledge that no Protestant as a Protestant communicating with the corruptions of seuerall Churches Dutch French Germane or the rest none of which are free from some enormities No Protestant I say as a Protestant can bee saued without this generall faith and repentance so as there can be no God amercy giuen to our Protestancy but onely to faith in Christs merits by which we come to be saued not as Protestants but as true beleeuers renouncing the corruptions of seuerall Churches And so a Protestant liuing and dying a Protestant may bee damned and a Papist liuing and dying a Papist may be saued BVRTON My conclusion is to be briefe No Papist as a Papist whether learned or ignorant can be saued My reason is because Popery denyeth the sauing faith of Christ and they want the meanes of faith therefore if they bee saued it must be extraordinarily c. Answere All this which followeth in this Section is nothing but an idle repetition of those things which haue beene formerly vrged and answered at large and therefore with reference thereto I pass it ouer The same also I say to the next wherein he takes it for granted that he speakes the truth and that his aduersaries do diuorce themselues from sound iudgement and right reason and haue no right charity but such as calleth euill good Because they say It is an hard sentence yea malicious and rash to say That in the Church of Rome there is no saluation All which I leaue to the discretion of the Reader So much for the two questions and the two former Authors BVRTON But others would not have it denyed that the Church of Rome is a true visible Church though not a true beleeuing Church Answer Hauing rid his hands of his two former Authors with a kinde of neglect as I said afore hee comes now to his meeke and sweet spirited Author a Reuerend Antistes of the Church of England our diuine Seneca c. against whom he bends all his forces and yet like Iudas as you see betrayeth him with kissing May not I say to him as Horace to Lydia in another case Lydia dic per omnes Te deos oro Sybarim cur properas amande Perdere So Burton for Gods sake tell me I thee pray Why thou so louingly dost Exon flay I acknowledge my poetry may bee blamed but the conceit may bee prety and tolerable though I say it my selfe for to say the truth he laboureth to kill him with kindnesse in that as much as in him lyeth hee blemisheth his well deserued Reuerend and Honorable name in the Church with his flattering opposition But he must be pardoned for he hath done it to the glory of God and the confusion of Babylon which if it might proue to be true I dare bee bold to say his Author would not only be ready to make an humble and ingenuous palinody or retractation as he sawcily requireth but euen to sacrifice his goods good name soule and body for euer But I doubt hee hath done Gods glory more hurt and Babylon more good then any Babylonian Papist hath done these many yeares Author That which Laertius speakes of Menodemus that in disputing his very eyes would sparkle is true of many of ours whose zeale transports them to such a detestation of the Romane Church as if it were all errour no Church affecting nothing more then an vtter opposition to their doctrine and ceremonies because theirs BVRTON What if we should deny this that the Church of Rome is a true visible Church Must we at the first dash be censured as men transported with zeale out of the detestation of the Church of Rome as if it were all error no Church c Answer How are you not ashamed to abuse your Reuerend Author doth hee censure all of them that deny the Church of Rome to be a true visible Church in this sort and manner are not his expresse words that it is true of many of them not of all Master Burton this dealing beseemes not one that contends for the glory of God and confusion of Babylon In my conscience no truly religious wise man will deny but many of them doe well deserue this censure and you for one BVRTON Because theirs that 's not it but because wholly Antichristian therefore we detest the whore Answer Is not that it M. Burton why then said you before in the depth of your policy that though it were true that the Church of Rome were a true Church yet the countenancing or pressing of it in these times might very well be spared haue you so soone forgotten your selfe and are the doctrine and ceremonies of that Church wholly Antichristian when you haue proued it say so but till then lay your hand
Christ and the Church of Rome is vtterly abrogated and abolished which I suppose heâ— will neuer be able to doe BVRTON But if the diuorce be sued out then you will say she ceaseth to be a spouse to her former husband well and is nor that diuorce betweene the Church of Rome and Christ yet sued forth yet certainly and that on both parties First on the Church of Romes part When say you In the Councell of Trent say we It is the duty and prâ—perty of Christs spouse to hearken to her husbands voice onely and to honour him Psal. 45. 11. Luke 9. 35. But the Church of Rome in the Councell of Trent hath taken out a bill of diuorce and hath emancipated her selfe wholly to the Pope as her husband to heare him in all things from that time forwards And this diuorce is ratified by the Bull of Pope Pius 4. super forma iuramenti professionis fidei in the end of the Councell Answer If I were disposed to picke quarrells I might haue excepted against many of your absurd phrases since I beganne to deale with you and against one here of a wiues emancipating her self to another husband But I ayme at the maine point I make no doubt then but the church of Rome hath long agone euen many hundred years before the Councell of Trent broken the Couenant of her God and still abideth in that transgression and so deserueth well enough to be diuorced from Christ for euer But that it was euer her desire to separate her selfe from Christ it will neuer be proued Nay rather it hath euer bin her cunning to make him a couer and cloake of all her whoredomes and abominations as a subtile adultresse dealeth with her long suffering and patient husband that so she may seeme to be a Matrone though she bee indeed a notable Strumpet and this is the highest point of the mystery of iniquity Now how you proue the contrary by the forme of oath of Obedience to the Bishop of Rome and of the Profession of the Romane faith decreed Sess. 24. cap. 12. of the Councell to be administred and taken and accordingly performed onely of such Clergy men as are to be preferred to Ecclesiasticall dignities or benefices with cure of soules doe you your selfe at your farther leisure consider As if a Schismatick should argue by the oathes of Supremacy Allegiance and Canonicall Obedience and by the subscription which are to be performed in the same case of all that are to be made Ministers or admitted to any preferment in the Church of England that the Church of England also hath sued out a diuorce from Christ and so is no true visible Church which God forbid As the fanaticall Brownists and Anabaptists say vpon the selfe same reason BVRTON Now if any will require a proofe on Christs part that he hath also publickly giuen the Church of Rome a bill of diuorce let him but search in Gods records Doth not Christ Reuel 17. openly declare the Church of Rome to be the Whore of Babylon and is there not a plaine bill of Diuorce Reuel 18 and that by a voice from heauen saying Come out of her my people c doth not Christ here separate his owne people his owne spouse out of Babylon And this diuorce on Christs part came to bee of force vpon the Councell of Trent when the Church of Romes second mariage was solemnly concluded and Christ excluded what need be said more to proue this Diuorce and that on both sides Answer What need bee said more quoth you marry much more then either you haue said yet or euer will bee able to say I trow what is it I pray you haue said now that you need to say no more Is it this That Rome and the Romane Church is the whore of Babylon Wee allow it Or that Christ would haue his people to separate from her we grant it But that the Church of Rome was maried to a second husband in the Councel of Trent Christ excluded or that those words Come out of her my people are a bill of diuorce or that Christ by them separateth his Spouse from her we vtterly deny To the first enough hath beene said in the last answer To the second wee say first that if Brightman your best master say true this place must not be vnderstood spiritually but literally of the locall departure of Gods people out of Rome and Gods calling them thereto at the last ouerthrow and destruction thereof as he called Lot out of Sodom and the Iewes out of the Easterne Babylon in the same words the Church out of Ierusalem when it was to be vtterly destroyed so that as Mice I vse his owne similitude perceiuing the house will fall doe leaue it and runne away so the people of God warned by the Angell will leaue Rome and shift for themselues which being so this Prophesie is not yet fulfilled Secondly if it be taken spiritually it is so far from prouing a diuorce that it proueth the quite contrary for first so long as Babylon hath a being this euocation will bee of vse and force because so long God shall haue a people in Babylon and so long there can bee no diuorce because God begets not children of any but of his Spouse the Church Secondly these words declare not what Christ himselfe either doth or will doe but what hee would haue his people to doe Now a Diuorce is not a separation of the Familie from the Mother or Mistris but of the husband from the wife Ergo here is no Diuorce intended To the third we say that seeing the wife is the whore and the whore is Babylon Christ intendeth not here to separate his Wife or Spouse from Babylon because in so doing he should separate his wife from his wife and Babylon from Babylon which implies a contradiction Author As it is a visible Church we haue not detracted to hold communion with it as Babylon we can haue nothing to doe with it BVRTON This distinction comes too late after the sentence of the diuorce is giuen on both sides Christ hath disclaimed her for his Spouse bidding his Spouse to come from her therefore whom God separateth let no man ioyne together yea in this case no distinction will serue to ioyne vs together againe in one communion Herein we must not hearken to the voice of any man bee he neuer so Reuerend before or against the voice of Christ By what distinction I pray can an honest and chaste Matrone salue her credit by keeping company or hauing communion with a notorious Strumpet Would it not seem a strange distinction to say The Deuill in his essence being good wee detract not to hold communion with him but as a Deuill wee can haue nothing to doe with him Answer You abuse your selfe and the Reader too bad and that in two things First in blaming the distinction Secondly in scandalizing your Author The distinction you say comes too late and is not