he should protest confesse openly ten thousand times that he admitteth all the words and euery syllable therof 8. It is also to be considered that it is most worthy of a Christian man his obseruation especially if he hath eyther care or make any conscience to preserue himselfe sound in the faith and therby to saue his soule that albeit the ancient Fathers do with vniforme verdict affirme that these articles of the Apostolicall Creed were set downe by the holy Apostles replenished and directed with no small measure of the holy Ghost as now hath bene obserued I will not stand to discusse at this present whether euery seuerall article of the twelue which it conteyneth were set dowue by seuerall Apostles though diuers graue and ancient Fathers do affirme it yet were these articles neuer held for Canonicall Scripture no nor yet are they at this day eyther by Catholicke or Protestant And if any man reply that they are consonant vnto Scriptures and may be thence deduced I deny not that only I say this is nothing to argue that authority that they haue obteyned in the Church since that all other writings of orthodox men are both consonant vnto Scriptures and to be deduced from them and yet they are not held in that esteeme as the Creed but my consequence that hereupon I inferre is this that something must be graunted of necessity besides Canonicall Scriptures to haue bene necessarily belieued in the Christian Catholicke Church and that by tradition only without any other foundaation and that from the very beginning of Christian Religion 9. This appeareth by the former words of S. Augustine that this Creed came down along through the Cēturies of the Church by tradition and Ruffinus saith in his exposition of this Creed Idcirco haec nonscripta funt chartulis atque membranis c. therfore did the Apostles deliuer these thinges not written in paper and parchment but to be retayned in mens hartes to the end it might be certaine that no man should by reading haue the same for that writinges are accustomed to come also into the handes of Infidels aswell as Christians but that it should be sufficient to haue learned the same from the tradition of the Apostles And this is the reason that Ruffinus giueth of the tradition of the Creed 10. The very same hath S. Hierome his wordes are cleare In Symbolo fidei spei nostrae saith he non scribitur in chartis atramento sed in tabulis cordis carnalibus c. In the Creed that conteineth our fayth and hope which being deliuered by tradition from the Apostles is not written in paper and inke but in the fleshly tables of our harts c. And all this doth euidently conuince vnto the iudgement of any vnderstanding man that these articles of the Apostolick Creed were deliuered by word of mouth vnto Christians and the Church was put in trust with them to teach them vnto her children before that any Scripture of the new Testament was committed to writing and that many thinges of great moment about the mysteries of Christian Religion were left to be vnderstood and expounded therin and that according to the wisedome learning and iudgment of the whole Catholick Church especially concerning Sacraments which are not expressed And this is the cause why S. Augustine and other Fathers before him do often reiterate and frequently vse that impsoving kynd of speach Norum fideles the faithful do know what belongeth vnto these matters which purposely they did not reueale vnto the eares of new Christians least infidels might take any aduantage thereby to the disaduantage of the Church So as my conclusion of this must of necessity hould correspondence with that former conclusion touching the argument of Scriptures to wit whosoeuer he be that neuer so opēly plainly professeth that he doth accept admit and belieue this Creed of the Apostles but refuseth the vnderstanding thereof expounded by the Church and deliuered in her sense he belieueth it not at all to saluation neither shall it auaile him any more to admit the words and not receiue the sense then if at once and altogeather he reiected both wordes and sense 11. And here may some demaund But where now shall we be sure to find this exposition of the Church esspecially in these distracted times of schisme whē so many seuerall Sects plead for the Church crying out according to Christ his Propheticall prediction Here is Christ and there is Christ heere is the Church there is the pure Chospell here is the word truly preached there are the Sacraments sincerely administred c To this I answere we shal easily come by this orthodox exposition of the Creed if we haue recourse vnto the publike doctrine of the Church deliuered from age to age euen vntill our time throughout euery Century of the Church and this Church is euer visible vnlesse it be vnto such as are blind as S. Augustine hath already obserued 12. S. Ambrose in his tyme remitted vs vnto the Church of Rome the supreme Pastor whereof was then Siricius for our direction herein Credatur Symbolum Apostolorum saith he quod Ecclesia Rom ana intemeratum semper custodit seruat Let faith be giuen to the Apostles Creed which the Roman Church hath euer kept and preserued inuiolated yet was this vpon the very point of 400. yeares after Christ his Ascension So as in that tyme and in this great Saint and Doctors iudgement the Roman Church was then the best and surest direction to know the true contents and meaning of this Apostolicke Creed and consequently if our English ministry who at their Ordination do subscribe vnto this Creed would follow also the same direction for the true vnderstanding and sense thereof all matters would quickly be reconciled controuersies accorded but in default of this and for that pride and selfe will hath so be witched the minds of many that they cannot in humility stoop downe their priuate censures vnto the publike iudgement of the Church it commeth to passe that this great discord and difference that now is raygneth betwixt Catholicks Protestants and amongst Protestants themselues concerning the exposition thereof And this shall appeare in part in the next ensuing Consideration of this Chapter But yet before we enter into the other Consideration we shall speake a word or two of the other Creedes mentioned here by his Maiesty 13. The other Creedes then are the Nieene concluded as S. Ambrose noteth with the suffrages of 318. renowned Fathers alluding to the iust number of Abrahams souldiers when he rescued Lot and of S. Athanasius And these were written vpon occasion of heresies afterwards arising and impugning some fundamentall poynt consequently were but explications of the former as his Maiesty doth learnedly and excellently obserue and therefore these do principally depend theron This is euident if we reflect a litle vpon the principall subiect of the 2.
of the first fiue hundred yeares which his sayd Maiesty most Royally offereth to follow For opening the window vnto which light I haue thought it my bounden duty both before God and man to take this small labour and to lay these few heades of Considerations before the eyes of his Highnes most wise Iudgment and vnderstanding THE SIXT CHAPTER CONTEYNING A BRIEFE CONTEMPLATION of what hath beene hitherto sayd with the Conclusion of the whole to his most Excellent Maiesty AND now hauing handled these points at some more length then at the beginning I had purposed I hope the benignity and Clemency of his Maiestie will take in good part that leauing the Reader I do returne vnto him againe as vnto my most dearly beloued reuerenced and dread Soueraigne to lay before the eyes of his Prudent Consideration the summe of that which hitherto hath beene considered of 2. First then the point of being a true Catholicke according vnto the name and nature of the word is of such importance necessity and consequence as hath beene shewed in the first Chapter that no riches in this world no wealth no treasure no state no power no policy no human felicity may be compared with it as rightly S. Augustine doth intimate And for that your Maiesties eternall weale after the briefe and transitory passage of this life dependeth therof I cannot but most humbly most hartily and most dutifully falling prostrate at your feet beseech you to giue some serious attendance and attention to this high and mayne point of euerlasting saluation to seeke out what is truely Catholicke both in the Church for whose Epitheton the Name was first by the Apostles inuented as also in particuler men who is a true Catholicke and who followeth the rule which the Name describeth to wit he that in Christian Religion followeth vniuersality and not singularity the whole and not a part ancienty and nouelty that which hath bene deliuered and conserued from time to time and not inuented framed and set sorth in later times 3. And for that on the other side heresy is the opposite and contradictory vnto Catholicke Religion for that it maketh choyce of a part to it selfe and therby is held to be the highest sin in the sight of Almighty god that is or can be committed vpon earth for that it ouerthroweth the very foundation of fayth vnder pretence to establish and reforme fayth My desire is so ardent in this point that your Matie should enter into due consideration therof as almighty God beareth wirnesse vnto my soule and spirit that nothing in this life stādeth more neere my hart considering the eternity of the next world the immutable weale or woe therof the vae or euge that ech man is to receaue as well Princes as others and that these earthly Princedomes will seeme but shadowes at that day and not worthy one houre of that glory or misery that is to be gotten or lost by Catholick Religion or heresy in this life And this is my first contemplation and I shall pray Almighty God that it may be also your Maiesties 4. The second is about those foure wayes proposed by your Maiesty for auerring Catholicisme and clearing frō heresy which are the admitting and belieuing of all Canonicall Scriptures the receauing of the three Creedes the approuing the foure first Councells and the acceptance of the Ancient Fathers of the first foure or fiue hundred yeares In all which if with the admitting in words there be also a true Catholicke sense no doubt but they do make a man to be a Catholicke and do condemne heresy But the importance of all standeth in the exposition for to belieue the Scriptures in the sense that I thinke best my selfe or to acknowledge them for Canonicall or not Canonicall as I or some few with me of later times shall please to prescribe or to admit the three Creedes with that exposition of the articles as I and mine shall best allow or the first foure Councells in some thinges and not in other or the first foure hundred yeares of Fathers so farre forth as they in my censure do agree with Scriptures is to reduce all to my owne iudgment a thing most opposite to Catholicisme and proper to heresy as we haue at large declared 5. Wherefore vpon my knees I do most humbly supplicate your Maiesty to consider well of this and especially of the last poynt concerning the ancient Fathers which doth in effect cōtaine all the rest for that these men deliuered vnto vs the Scriptures togeather with the true vnderstāding therof according to the sense of the Church in their dayes these men deliuered vnto vs the three Creedes the first as from the Apostles the other as from the Church the third as from a priuate man but yet approued by the Church these men deliuered vnto vs the first foure generall Councells wherein diuers of themselues sate as Iudges and Bishops and had voyees and suffrages in the same these men were they that examined the controuersies determined the Catholicke doctrine condemned heresies an athematized hereticks and cleared the coastes of all these wicked and turbulent incumbrances which seditious and headstrong spirits had raysed in the Christian world by their contentions 6. And finally these were they whom our Sauiour Christ did vse as sannes to winnow his corne to purge the flore of his Church separating the chaffe from the wheat and eroneous doctrine from the truth wherin they were so zealous and diligent labourers as not the least weed could spring vp in this field of the Church but that these carefull good watchmen and faithfull gardeners did presently note and pursue the same vntill it was eyther rooted out or condemned by the Church and therby as branches cut of from the body of the vine suffered to wither away and to consume of themselues For proofe wherof we may alleadge as many examples as there haue bene different heresies and hereticks in the Christian Church for the space of fifteene hundred yeares which albeit they ruffled much mightily for the time and had often great Princes Kinges Emperors and Potentates to fauour and patronize them as the Protestants haue now your Matie yet are they so consumed in tyme and by vertue of the holy Ghost as the very names of many of them are now scarce remembred and much lesse their arguments reasons proofes and Scriptures which they brought for the same and were it not that in these Fathers bookes who were their enemies some mention is made therof we should scarce know that there had bin such men in the world 7. But on the contrary side the Church that condemned these men and the Fathers and Doctors liuing therin remayned euer both then and after victorious and shal do to the worlds end and still by succession and continuatiō the same Church hath come downe frō age to age one age giuing testimony to another of the purity of the said Church
A notable speach of Vincentius Lyrinensis Prem p 3â— His Maiesties honorable offer Aug. l. 3. de bapt coÌ„t Donat. cap. 15. How the first three Creeds why they were ordained how greatly they are to be reuereÌ„ced The cause of ordayning the Apostles Creed Aug. ser. 181. de teÌ„p Cap. 2. coÌ„t haereses Vbi supra serm 181. de temp Signification of the word Symbol or Creed The great substance of the Apostolicall Creed The Apostolicall Creed no Scripture yet necessary to be belieued Ruff. in Symbolum The force of tradition in the Church A questioÌ„ solued where the voice of the Church may be found De fide ad Gratian. The creed of the couÌ„cel of Nice of S. Athanasius Conc. Nicen l. 4. p. 565. edit Venet. Ambros. de fide Hos. de expresso Dei verbo The great authority left in the Church for deciding Controuersies That the Ministers of EnglaÌ„d belieue notwholy entirely the faith of the 3. Creeds No saluation without belieuing the whole Catholicke sayth entirely ProtestaÌ„ts do not receaue the whole faith but mingled with many heresies Diuers ancient Heresies held now by Protestants * M HuÌ„frey Liech About the Nicene Creed Passim in Epist. ad Polonos l. cont Gentilem 2. lib. de Christ. c. 19. Caluin his Autotheisme hereticall In what particuler article of the Creed English ProtestaÌ„ts do not agree with vs. About Christs desceÌ„ding into hell Lib. 1. hist. cap. vlt. In epist. ad Trallian Bucer in cap. 27. Matth. Caluins horrible opinion about the article of Christs descensioÌ„ into hell Cal. 2. inst c. 16. 6. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Item in Catechismo paruo iteÌ„ psych. item in harmo Euangelica cap. 27. Math. 2. Inst. cap. 16. §. 10. 2. Instit. c. 16. §. 9. A story of the contention of English Ministers about the descent of Christ into hell Psal. 15. Tertul. de praescript A strange ridiculous exposition of the Article DesceÌ„dit ad inferos Tho. Rogers in his 39. articles pag. 15. 16. c. The Church of England aduersary to many of her owne for many hould that Christ desceÌ„ded not into hell at all Thaddaeus Ignatius Iustinus Martyr Irenaeus all antiquity are dreaming Papists in M. Rogers definitiue opinion Credo Ecclesiam Catholicam The visible beginning of the Catholicke Church Lib. 25. in ob c. 24. 5. Vincent Lyrinensis aduersus hareses c. 3. Tertull. de praescript cap. 32. Thè Protestantly meaning about this 9. article 1. Later propositions of the Protestáts about the Church Rogers ar 19. pag. 86. 2. 3. 4. 5. Markes of the Church 6. Ridiculous proofs that the Church may erre Rogers p. 96. Lib. de PoÌ„t à cap. 8. ad finem vsque ad cap. 15. Premonit pag. 35. How the ParlameÌ„t Church of EnglaÌ„d do admit the first foure Generall Councels Why and how these foure first Councels were gathered and how therby it is conuinced that the church caÌ„not err Vide Aug. de vnit Eccles in pluribus locis Mat. 18. 15 16. 17. 18. 1. Tim. 3. 15. Chrys. l. 3. de sacerdot Councell of Nice assembled anno 327. De fide ad Gratian. Anno. 252 Anno. 308 Adno 311. The secoÌ„d generall Councell of ConstaÌ„tinople an 383. The third generall Councell of Ephesus Ann. 434. Lib. 1. Inst. c. 13. §. 9. 23. 24. The 4. generall Councell was that of CalcedoÌ„ 20. yeares after An euideÌ„t declaratioÌ„ that the whole Church cannot erre Aug. in Psal. 101 S. Aug. excellent speach of the perpetuity of the Church Matth. 29. â—0 Application of S. Augustins speaches vnto our Sectaries Aug. in psal 47. That the Church shall neuer Apostatate De vnit Eccles. The inuincible strength of the Church Matth. 23. Why ProtestaÌ„ts do not nor can remedy their diuisions by any Generall or Nationall Councell ProtestaÌ„ts can abide parly and treaty neither with Catholiks nor amoÌ„g theÌ„selues Vide Conc. Calced act 3. p. 163. edit Venet. The terginersation of the heretick Eutiches fully represeÌ„ting the ProtestaÌ„ts Lib. 4. Iust. cap. 9. §. 1â— Vide resp Gaspar VillapaÌ„di ad bas causas ProtestaÌ„ts shifts to auoid comming to Councels Stan. Resc l. 1. de Atheism c The ProtestaÌ„ts disagreemeÌ„to in their meetings Tertul. de praescript Aug. l. 3. cont epist. Parmen c. 4. ser. 11 de verb. Domini c. Particuler points of differeÌ„ces betweene these 4. generall Councels the Protestants of our tyme for doctrine and manners Conc. Neocaes can 1. an 316. The decree of the CouÌ„cel of Nice and Neocaesaraea against the Marriage of Priests Ann. 711. Basil. epist. 1. ad Amphi c. 3. Epiphan hares 59. The answere vnto Caluins obiection about Paphnutius Another Canon of the Councel of Nice about the Reall presence A Canon of the second CouÌ„cell much making against Protestants VinceÌ„tius LyrineÌ„sis his relatioÌ„ of the CouÌ„cell of Ephesus CoÌ„c Ephes. tom 1. cap. 22. in epist. Imperat. Secular men may not meddle in Ecclesiastical consultations CoÌ„c Ephes. tom 1. c. 16 Con. Eph. tom 2. c. 17 The Supremacy of the Pope of Rome coÌ„firmed by the councell of Ephesus The CouÌ„cell of ChalcedoÌ„ CoÌ„c Calc act 1. Ibidem Act. 2. in libel Theodor Ischir SophoÌ„ c Ibid. in subscript coÌ„t DioscoruÌ„ Conc. Calc act 3. tom 2. p. 252. edit Venet. Marriage of Monks and NuÌ„ns forbidden by this Councell Prem p. 35. Aug. l. 2. cont Crescon c. 31. A complaint against the Ministers of EnglaÌ„d for misinforming his Maiesty ValeÌ„t l. 8. Ana. c. 8. Lib. con hareses The opinion of Iesuites about the authority of the Fathers A consequence of great incoÌ„uenience How S. Augustin did not admit the authority of S. CypriaÌ„ in a particuler case The different esteeme that Catholicks Protestants do make of ancieÌ„t Fathers wheÌ„ they agreâ— in one Aug. l. 2. coÌ„ Iulian. Pelag. ver sus finem S. Augustines opinion for the esteem of the Fathers Aug. l. 3. â—ypo Lib. 2. de nuptiis concupis Cap. 29. Scoffes of PelagiaÌ„ hereticks against ancient Cerimonies of Baptisme Aug. ibid. ProtestaÌ„ts become Pelagians in deriding ancient Cerimonies Aug. l. 2. coÌ„t Iulian. Pelagiau How contemptible the authority of heretickes was to S. Augustin in respect of the ancient Fathers Lib. 2. coÌ„t Iulian. circamed Aug. l. 2. coÌ„t Iulian. propefineÌ„ An excelleÌ„t reason of S. Augustine How Catholicks ProtestaÌ„ts do esteem of the testimonies of particuler Fathers Aug. l. 1. coÌ„t Iulian. Pelag. cap. 2. Lib. 1. cont Iulian Pelag cap. 2. Thesurest rule how to iudge of particuler Fathers opinions or assertions about matters of faith When any priuate Father did erre he was presently noted by others Aug. l. 3. de bapt coÌ„tra Donatist c. 4. l. 2. conâ— Cresconâ—â— cap. 32. Aug. lib. 1 contr Iulin cap. 2. One Doctors opinion the doctrine of the Church That the Fathers of euery age for the first 500. yeares did make for catholicks against ProtestaÌ„ts in matters now in coÌ„trouersy Cap. 4. 42. coÌ„t haereses Diuers things may lead vs to discerne the true Church though they be not articles of necessary beliefe Centur. prima lib. 2. cap. 4. 1. About the Reall Presence Magdebur Cent. 2. c. 4 pag. 55. 56. 57. c. 2. About Free will 3. The Doctrine of good workes 4. Whether the Commandements be impossible 5. Externall sacrifice of Christians 6. About traditioÌ„s The primacy of the church of Rome 8. Excellency merit of martyrdome 9. IntercessioÌ„ of Saints 10. About the state of Virginity The conclusion of this age 11. Inuo catioÌ„ of Angels Magd. ceÌ„t 3. c. 4. p. 75 76. deinceps Hom. 1. in EzechieleÌ„ 12. Iustification by good workes 13. The merit of good workes Scriptures Fathers reiected togeather wheÌ„ they fit not the ProtestaÌ„t fancy 14. About peÌ„nance Magd. ceÌ„t 3. c. 4. p. 81. 15. Blessing of the water of baptisme 16. Chrisme and holy vnction in baptisme 17. Prayer vnto Saints Cent. 3. c. 4 p. 85. 86. CeÌ„t. 3. c. 4. pag. 85. 18. The doctrine of Purgatory Cet 4. c. 4. pag. 242. HieroÌ„ ep ad Demetriadem Lib. 8. coÌ„ in Isaiam CeÌ„t. 4 cap. 4. p. 293. Cent. 4. p. 301. Cent. 5. c. 4 p. 501. 502. c. Gregor in 1. Reg. c. 1. Cent. 5. pag. 506. Hom. 34. in Euang. The Fathers iniuriously handled by the Magdeburgians The conclusion ImportaÌ„ce of being a Catholicke The horror of heresie The 4. heads proposed The great profit receiued by the ancieÌ„t Fathers The dangerous estate of belieuing the ProtestaÌ„ts in EnglaÌ„d A strange pittifull case happened to his Maiesty How God coÌ„curreth with the actions of euill men but not with their intentioÌ„s The mark aymed at by the first Ghospellers in Scotland concerning his Maiestie The Epilogue of all Of persecution Persecutor
DVTIFVLL AND RESPECTIVE CONSIDERATIONS VPON FOVRE SEVERALL HEADS OF PROOFE AND TRIALL IN MATTERS OF RELIGION PROPOSED By the High and Mighty Prince IAMES King of Great Britayne France and Ireland c. in his late Booke of Premonition to all Christian Princes for clearing his Royall Person from the imputation of Heresy By a late Minister and Preacher in England August lib. contrae Iudaeos Pagan Arian cap. 20. You must know deare brethren that true faith sincere peace perpetuall saluation is only by the Catholicke faith for it is not in a corner but euery where all If any man depart from it and deliuer himselfe vp to the errors of Heretickes he shall be iudged and condemned as a fugitiue bond-man Permissu Superiorum M. DC IX THE FOVRE HEADS OF IVST TRIALL mentioned by his Maiesty of England as touching his owne Person 1. THE reuerencing and belieuing of the Canonicall Scriptures as they ought to be and so also the not Canonicall 2. THE admitting of the first three Creeds of the Apostles of the Nicen Councell of S. Athanasius 3. THE acknowledging accepting the first foure generall Councels of Christendome to wit of Nice of Constantinople of Ephesus of Chalcedon 4. THE crediting of the Fathers of the first fiue hundred yeares after Christ eyther iointly or seuerally in points of moderne controuersies Euery head is handled by diuers Considerations as by the sequent Catalogue of Chapters will appeare THE GENERALL CONTENTS OF THIS BOOKE THE Epistle to his Maiesty declaring the motiues which the Author had to write this Treatise THE FIRST CHAPTER Conteining an entrance into this Treatise or Triall how much it importeth to be a Catholicke and no Hereticke And with how great reason his Maiesty endeuoureth to cleare him selfe and his Royall Person from the imputation of heresie FIVE CONSIDERATIONS 1 About the wordes Catholicke and Hereticke and that they can neuer agree in one 2 Of the dreadfull misery of being an Hereticke 3 How a man may certainely and without errour discerne what is Catholicke and what is Hereticall 4 How out of the premisses euery man may iudge in what state he standeth for being Hereticke or Catholicke 5 The Conclusion of all this whole Chapter to his Maiesty THE SECOND CHAPTER THat treateth the first head touched by his Maiesty for tryall of a Christian Catholicke which is the belieuing of holy Scriptures FOVRE CONSIDERATIONS 1 The belieuing of Scripture not sufficient to make a mā a Catholick 2 That Scriptures were not writtē for many yeares after the Church began 3 How to know what is truly Scripture 4 How the true sense of Scripture may be tryed THE THIRD CHAPTER COncerning the secōd point or generall head professed by his Maiesty cōcerning his belieuing of the three Creeds receiued by the Church THREE CONSIDERATIONS 1 How the first three Creeds and why they were ordayned and how greatly they are to be reuerenced 2 That the Ministers of England belieue not wholy entirely the faith of the three Creeds 3 In what particuler articles of the Creeds English Protestants do not agree with vs. THE FOVRTH CHAPTER COncerning the approbation allowance of the first soure generall Councels which is the third generall head of triall offered proposed by his Excellent Maiesty of England THREE CONSIDERATIONS 1 VVhy and how these foure first Councels were gathered and how thereby it is conuinced that the Church cannot erre 2 VVhy the Protestants do not nor can remedy their diuisions by any Generall or Nationall Councell 3 Particuler points of differences between these first foure Generall Councels and the Protestants of our time for doctrine manners THE FIFTH CHAPTER COncerning the admittance acceptance of the anciēt Fathers of the first fiue hundred years after Christ which is the fourth last head of triall offered alledged by his Maiesty of England THREE CONSIDERATIONS 1 The different esteeme that Catholicks Protestāts do make of ancient Fathers when they agree in one 2 How Catholicks Protestants do esteeme of the testimonies of particuler Fathers 3 That the Fathers of euery age for the first fiue hundred yeares did make for Catholicks against Protestants in matters now in controuersy THE SIXT CHAPTER COnteyning a briefe contemplation of what hitherto hath byn said with a Conclusion of the whole to his most Excellent Maiesty TO THE HIGH AND PVISSANT PRINCE MY DREAD LORD AND SOVERAIGNE IAMES BY THE GRACE OF GOD of Great Britayne France Ireland KING c. AFTER I had bent my selfe vnto a serious Suruey and diligent perusall of your Maiesties new Booke bearing the inscription of a Preface or Premonition to all Christian Princes diuers were the apprehensions and impressions it made in the different faculties of my soule Reuoluing therefore and reflecting vpon the premises by a second reuiew I resolued and in fine concluded being now as it were wonderfully affected partly with sollace partly with sollicitude 2. My solace was to consider yea sensibly as it were before the eyes of my soule in the impartiall glasse of my recollectedst vnderstanding and most retyred iudgment to behould so many rare Princely talents of nature literature and other highly esteemed partes in your Maiesty which as they are seldome found in such potent Princes so residing habitually in your Royall breast as in their proper and peculiar subiect they cannot but minister iust matter of meruailous ioy content and comfort vnto all your leige people your loyall and louing subiects especially since they are accompanied and attended yea adorned nay beautifyed with the irradiant lustre of that burning fire of zeale I meane an extraordinary feruour in matters of your Religion Now if these so rare parts of nature literature and zeale wherwith your Noble Person is habitually inuested shall be directed by the singer of God his holy spirit the high hand of heauen vnto the sole-sacred and soule-sauing knowledge of Catholicke Religion which I verily hope in time to see and shall incessantly pray for they will exceedingly aduance his glory and gaine vnto your Maiesty an immarcessible neuer-fading Crowne of eternity 3. My spirit also reioyced within me my hart exulted for ioy my perplexed thoughts retyred reposed themselues in hope whē I tooke but a iust view of that commendable carefull diligence that pious and religious industrie vsed by your Maiesty in vindieating your noble Person from the least imputation of herefy and in remouing the very suspition of such a contagious and soule quessing leprosy since that this loud-crying synne loud-crying in the eares of heauen is the greatest crime that can be committed against God or his Church separating betwixt God and man grace and the soule dissoluing the mysteriall vnion and sacramentall communion betwixt the head the members Christ his spouse reiecting God for Father denying the Church for mother taking away the very name of a Christian as ancient Tertullian speaketh depriuing our expectation of all hope and
vseth his owne election siue ad instituendas siue ad suscipiendas haereses whether it be to be an authour of Heresy or a follower as Tertullian speaketh in the place before cyted and all this he doth according to his owne iudgment and fancy ascribing litle or rather nothing at all to the authority of the Church in any thing that misliketh his owne iudgment so that in conclusion these two men are most opposite the one to the other 11. The first cleare knowledg that euer the Church had of this peculiar and Ecclesiasticall appropriation of these two words Catholicke Hereticke was from the holy Ghost inspirer of all truth as hath byn formerly noted and to beginne first with the last the very first intimation giuen of that odious and pestiferous appellation of Heresy or Hereticke was by the Apostles theÌ„selues as namely S. Paul to the Corinth There must be heresies that those who be approued may be manifested amongst you which manifestation Tertull. saith is meant aswel of those tam qui in persecutionibê° steterint quaÌ„ quiad haereses exorbitauerint who haue remained constaÌ„t in persecutions as they who haue not declined out of the right path to follow heresies So he Secondly the same Apostle in his Epistle to Titus writeth thus Auoid an Hereticall man after one or two reprehensioÌ„s knowing that such a one is subuerted and sinneth as daÌ„ned by his owne proper iudgement Id non tam infirmitate ac ignorantia quà m spontanea malitia de obstinata industria peccat For so I may well expound it that is he sinneth not so much of infirmity and ignorance as he doth of voluntary malice and obstinate industry or els eligit sibi in quo damnatur as Tertullian giueth the sense his owne election maketh good his owne daÌ„nation And as S. Paul inueighed thus against Heresy Hereticks so did S. Peter as you shall read 2. Pet. 2. branding them for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 damnable heresies and the teachers of them for such as brought vpon themselues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 swift damnation or as it is rendred in another place immediatly following 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and their damnation sleepeth not Can any thing be spoken more terrible to forwarne vs of heresy and hereticks then this Excellent therefore is the counsaile of Tertullian wishing vs to auoid an hereticke post vnam correptionem non post disputationem adeo interdixit disputationem correptionem designans causam haeretici conueniendi hoc vnam scilicet quia non est christianus ne more Christiani semel iterum sub duobus aut tribus testibus castigandus videretur cum ob hoc sit castigandus propter quod non sit cum illo disputandum After one reprehension and not after a disputation for that the Apostle did therefore forbid disputation because the speaking with an Heretick should be for his reprehension and this onely once because he is no Christian least after the manner of a Christian he should seeme to be chastised once and againe and that by two or three witnesses when for this cause he is to be chastised because there is no disputation to be had with such a one 12. And although the word Heresy be vsed two or three times in the Actes of the Apostles where the sectes of the Scribes and Pharisies be called Heresies and though S. Paul himselfe speaking out of the opinion of the Iewes most willingly vndergoeth the imputation where Christian Religion was branded with the termes of Sect or Heresy yet was not the word taken in such a heynous signification here in these places as in the other places of the Apostles before mentioned for that of no kind of sin or sinner did they euer pronounce so grieuous a sentence as namely that he was to be fled from as subuerted and damned by his owne iudgment that they brought in daÌ„nable Heresies that they brought vpon themselues swift damnation and that their damnation slept not which they feared not to pronounce nay they bouldly pronounced of an hereticall man they bring vpon themselues swift damnation Here is nothing but damnation and all to giue vs a terrible admonition to beware them and auoid them And thus much I thought good to say of this dreadfull name for stirring vp my former brethren of the Ministry to beware therof but much more to decline the cause and occasion of the same 13. As for the word Catholick it came from heauen and was first reuealed from the holy Ghost by the mouth of all the Apostles in their common Creed For being assembled togeather to compose a perfect platforme of true and sauing-beliefe and to keepe out Heresy whilest they dispersed themselues abroad to sow the sacred seed of EuaÌ„gelicall verity they being at this time and for this purpose assembled and their tongues being the pennes of a ready writer when they came vnto that article which concerned the Church they by the instinct of the neuer-erring spirit laid downe the forme thus Credo in Spiritum Sanctum SanctaÌ„ Ecclesiam Catholicam I beleeue in the holy Ghost the holy Catholicke Church where they did not thinke it sufficieÌ„t to say they belieued the holy ChristiaÌ„ Church but they thought the word Catholicke to be more eminent significant and effectuall for the purpose Neither could this be done without the singuler care prouideÌ„ce wisdome of that all-seing spirit that vndoubtedly inspired theÌ„ guided theÌ„ For as Tertull. obserueth that S. Paul forseeing that heresies would afterwardes spring vp in the Church as the weedes vsually do amongst the purest and rankest corne foretold and forewarned them to come yea pointeth out as it were with the finger to some heresies particulerly euen so the Apostles foreseeing that all heresies were to shroud themselues vnder the names of Christian Churches Assemblies and Congregations they thought it most conuenient for preseruation of vnity and verity to set this remarkable stamp of Catholick vpon the Church for the more manifest conuincing and detecting of all heresy which badge or cognisance being once set vpon the sleeue of the Church impossible it was that any Hereticke that euer was is or hereafter shall be can euer fasten vpon this title And since it is more then apparant that the genuine description of Catholicke requireth more particulers and more easie to be discouered then doth the name of Christian in generall most pertinent if not necessary is the imposition of this name vpon Christes Church for the better excluding and keeping forth of all hereticall and particuler Sectaries whatsoeuer 14. From these two fountaines then of sacred Scripture and common Creed originally flowed the knowledge and vse of these two wordes of Catholick and Heretick both of them came from heauen both were particulerly inspired by the holy Ghost breathed into the Church for her better preseruation as hath beene formerly noted the very consideration wherof
great doubt that then arose in the Church to wit whether the obseruation of the ould law of Moyses should be ioyned necessary with the new law of Christ and because they would leaue a patterne for all succeeding ages to follow they determined the matter and thēselues I meane the Apostles and Prelates of that first age decided the doubt by those high wordes of authority taken from the foresaid commission of our Sauiour Visum est spiritui Sāto Nobis it seemeth good vnto the holy Ghost and vs for the Church and the true spirit of the holy Ghost go inseparably togeather in regard of Christ his promise made vnto the Church so that the holy Ghost euer keepeth his residence in her guideth her gouerneth her directeth her and sitteth as President in all her consultations and assēblyes and therefore this vmpiring and determining forme of speach hath euer since beene vsed in the lawfull succession of the said visible Church vntill our daies will be frequented still especially in generall Councels euen vnto the worlds end to put a firme period and full conclusion vnto all controuersies that come in question And the reason is for that the same authority and assistance of the holy Ghost which that first Church had for directing of mens soules vnto their saluation the very self same and none other hath the visible Catholicke Church of our age and hath had in all ages and shall haue in all to come Verum enim non variat It is an ancient prescription and no more ancient then true Gods giftes and graces conferred vpon his Church are without repētance the holy Ghost is euer one and the selfe same spirit of truth in Patriarkes Prophets Apostles Martyrs and other succeding Pastours and Doctors and Christ his promise was not for one age only he shed not his pretious bloud for those of his age alone but for all all were alike neere vnto him all were alike deare vnto him he tooke our nature in generall to saue mankind in generall and therfore the care he had for one age of the Church the same he had for all succeeding ages of the same as well for the last as for the first and this care of his continueth so long as the sunne and the moone endureth 60. This remittance then and reference vnto the Authority of the Church originally proceeded from the Apostles themselues was continually perpetuated by all succeeding ages of the Catholicke Church and therfore as S. Paul in a controuersy of lesser importance writing to the Corinthians about women being veyled in the Church saith to shut vp the dore to all further cōtention that If any man will seeme to be contentious we haue no such custome nor yet the Church of God repressing the contentious man as you see with the Authority and Custome of the Church so did all subsequent Fathers of the orthodox Church whether it were in the priuat writings or in the worlds grand Parlament in Generall Councells in all their conflicts with Hereticks they euer vsed to repell and represse them by one and the selfe same meanes and that was with the authority of the knowne Catholicke Church And looke what sentence they pronounced against thē for their contumacy see what censure they inflicted vpon them for their heresy it remayned good against them and irreuocable it was ratyfied as the law of the Medes and Persians which could not be altered their authority was grounded immediatly vpon those wordes of Verity VVhat soeuer you bynd on earth shall be bound in heauen and the Tribunall of heauen confirmed the authority of the Church vpon earth nay standeth expecting what is done by it vpon earth such is the mysticall dependency betwixt the one and the other such is the mutuall correspondency betwixt the head and his members Christ and his Church Dare then any man hereafter oppose his priuate spirit against the authority of this Church Or will he impudently presume to preferre his owne conceipt and opinion before her publicke tradition 61. Ancient S. Irenaeus who was in manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apostolorum for he liued in the very next age after them writing against the heresies of his dayes and hauing first declared how the primitiue Church was visibly planted by Christ and his Apostles and how it was continued to his time doth then pourtraict out vnto vs discourse at large of the authority sufficiency treasury tradition and absolute perfection of this Church for the repelling of all heresy and deliuering of all truth his wordes are these Tantae igitur ostensiones cùm haec sint c. Wheras these thinges which I haue said are so great demonstrations of the truth we must not yet seeke the truth from others which is easely taken from the Church wheras the Apostles did most fully lay vp in her all thinges belonging to the truth as in a certaine rich treasure-house so as euery man that will may take from thence the liquor or sustenance of life for that is the intrance vnto life euerlasting to belieue the Church all others that flie this way are theeues and murtherers and therfore we must auoid them that are such but with great diligence we must affect those things that are of the Church and from her take the tradition of truth And truly if our contention were but about some small question in Religion yet ought not we to haue recourse vnto the most ancient Churches wherin the Apostles had once bene conuersant and so take from them that which is certaine and cleere for deciding of the question And what if the Apostles had left vnto vs no Scriptures at all had it not bene needfull notwithstanding to follow the order of tradition which they haue left vnto vs to whome they to wit the Apostles had committed those Churches 62. Thus farre S. Irenaeus which I haue of purpose chosen to cite more at large for that it is sufficient alone to disclose his iudgement and the Iudgment of that first age next after the Apostles how farre the authority of the visible vniuersall Church then stretched and was esteemed for especially for clearing soluing and deciding of all doubtes that possibly could arise in religion And the reason there rendred by the same Father is this She is the store-house wherein Christs merits and the Churches treasure is laid vp She is the way of life whereby we may come to eternall life and escape euerlasting death that all are theeues yea murtherers of soules that doe impugne her or seeke other wayes of tryall then her and her tradition from hand to hand That this tradition is sufficient though there were no Scripture That from her and her alone the truth is to be taken and not els where That by her and her authority alone all doubts and questions are to be so ued and decided Can any thing be spoken more effectuall then this Or is there any more playne easy euident
all ancient rules and Canons of the Church fayle not is first to admit and reuerence that for Scripture which the vniuersall Catholicke Church hath by lineall descent of tradition deliuered and commended vnto vs for Scripture and that after all doubts and controuersies discussed about the same and not that which Luther or Caluin who could make vnmake Scripture at their pleasure or our owne priuate spirit shall conceipt to be Scripture and secondly for the sense and true meaning of the Scripture if we haue any care of that or imagine that it doth import vs at all we are no lesse to stand to the iudgement of the sayd Church for the exposition and interpretation therof then we did before for the deliuering of Scripture vnto vs. And so much for this Chapter THE THIRD CHAPTER CONCERNING THE SECOND POYNT OR GENERALL HEAD PROFESSED BY HIS MAIESTY Concerning his belieuing of the three Creeds receiued by the CHVRCH AS the former offer so constantly auerred by his Matie of England concerning the belieuing of all Canonicall Scriptures was a signe and liberall token of a Religious inclination Zealous affection and Pious disposition as before hath beene intimated and related euen so no lesse Religious Zealous and Pious is this assertion also here so coÌ„fidently asseuered by his Highnes touching the acceptance and admittance of the Three ancient Creeds and that in the very same sense as the ancient Fathers Councells that made them did vnderstand them For these are his Maties very words which I haue thought good heere to relate wishing them to remaine vpon an euerlasting and time-out-wearing Record And that for these two principall reasons first that I may not vndutiâ—ully forget to deferre and bring the iust descrued honour and the most highly respected commendation vnto my Soueraigne Lord the King most due to his Grace for this his Confession which also out of a true Subiects loue and loyalty towards his Prince I could sincerely wish might neuer by any the least cloud of errour in his Royall vnderstanding be eclipsed or obscured and secondly for that I trust my former brethren of the Protestanticall Church of England will eyther now at last stand to their grounds of Creeds Councells Fathers Scriptures voluntarily chosen by the Lord and Head of their Church that hitherto vpon my knowledg would neuer be confined within the lists and limyts of any euen tryall or els that my Lord the King will easily out of the depth of his iudicious Vnderstanding vnmaske and discouer these men for such as they be euen wolues in sheeps cloathing false Ghospellers Antichrists deceauers seducers impostors And now to come to the words theÌ„selues as they are substantially couched together in his Maties Booke of Premonition they are laid downe as followeth 2. And now for the point of Heretick I will neuer saith he be ashamed to render an accompt of my profession and that hope that is in me as the Apostle prescribeth I am such a CATHOLICK CHRISTIAN as belieueth the three Creedes that of the Apostles that of the Councell of Nyce and that of Athanasius the two later being Paraphrases to the former and I belieue them in that sense as the Ancient-Fathers and Councells that made them did vnderstand them To which three Creedes all the Ministers of England do subscribe at their Ordination And I also acknowledge for Orthodoxall those other formes of Creeds that eyther were deuised by Councels or Particuler Fathers against such particuler Heresies as most raigned in their times Hitherto extend the wordes of his Maiesty And can any thing be spoken more honorably then this This forme of Confession punctually and so substantially deliuered by his Highnes I can neuer sufficiently coÌ„mend for that this is so farre from sauouring of any spice of Heresy as that here is nothing els but true Catholicke Diuinity For what can be more required for more full supplement of a Catholicke Christian mans Confession then to belieue the three Creedes in the very selfe same sense as the holy Apostles ancient Fathers and generall Councells did vnderstand them And now if the Ministers of England that do subscribe vnto them in their Ordination would keepe and confine themselues within that sense which the ancient Christian Church did both constantly and religiously hold and would not of their owne fancy presume to add any other new glosse or priuate interpretatioÌ„ of their own brayne the world should neuer haue seene and heard such breaches and tumultes such vproares and out-cryes such inundations and innouations and all about Religion as now there are 3. But the truth is as S. Augustine affirmeth Quòd fieri potest vt integra quis teneat verba Symboli tamen non rectè credat de omnibus Symboli articulis A man may hold and professe all the wordes of the Creed he meaneth the Apostles Creed and yet not haue a true beliefe of all the articles of the said Creed Nay S. Augustine in his booke de fide Symbolo goeth yet further saying Sub ipsis paucis verbis in Symbolo constitutis plerique haeretici venena sua occultare conati sunt Most part of Heretickes haue gone about and endeauoured vnder these few wordes of the Apostolicall Creed to couer their poysoned heresies So as the belieuing of these Creeds in generall they conteyning but Capita credendorum Vniuersall heades of thinges to be belieued is not sufficient to make a man a Christian Catholick except also we giue our firme asseÌ„t vnto all the particulers that necessarily may be reduced or deduced from those generall heades For better explication wherof I haue thought it conuenient in this place to addresse certayne Considerations that heere ensue The first Consideration AS the skilfull and carefull Phisitian imployeth noe lesse industry sparing neither Counsaile in phisicke nor prescription in dyet for the conseruing and continuing of the bodily health of his patient vntill he haue brought him to former health and full strength then he did bestow paines and trauaile in recouering him of his infirmity and raising him from the bed of his malady euen so the Apostles as so many soueraigne soules best phisitians most painefully and diligently watched ouer the soules of men their sick patients to vphould and continue them in Christian piety and Catholicke verity as well as they had cured them of their spirituall leprosy and raysed their soules which had long laine sick vpon the bed of heathenish infidelity and all that they might recouer full strength in sauing and belieuing faith and grow to be perfect and whole men in Christ Iesus And here you haue the occasion motiue drift reason intention of Christs holy Apostles in compiling the perfect platform of wholsome faith and Christian beliefe I meane this methodicall and Apostolicall forme of Creed which inuolueth in it eyther explicite or implicite in plaine wordes or necessary supply whatsoeuer belongeth to the obiect of our faith And therfore saith S.
Augustine Sancti Apostoli certam regulam fidei tradiderunt quam secundum numerum Apostolorum c. The holy Apostles did deliuer a certaine rule of faith which rule being comprehended in twelue sentences according to the number of the 12. Apostles was called by them by a Greeke word and borrowed metaphor Symbolum a Symbole or collation of many thinges togeather And their intention as is before intimated was that by this Symbole signe and summe of Christian faith and doctrine Catholicae fidei veritas ab haereticae prauitatis falsitate discernatur as Vincentius Lyrinensis speaketh of his goulden rule of faith deliuered vnto him from all his ancestors that the truth of Catholicke faith and verity might be discerned from the falshood of hereticall prauity This haue our ancestors left vs by tradition And for the first in stitution of it it was in this sort as the history of Antiquity the very life of memory hath by writing registred and commended it vnto vs. 5. After the glorious visible Ascension of our Sauiour from the lowest pitch and vale of the earths misery into the highest toppe of heauen and bosome of his Fathers eternity this being terminus ad queÌ„ aswell as it was terminus à quo in that great motion of heauen Christs Incarnation and mans Redemption the place whither he ascended as it was the place whence he descended according to that Exiui à Patre veni in mundum relinquo mundum vado ad Patrem I say after this Ascension descension of the holy Ghost in the visible shapes of fiery tongues vpon the Apostles in abling them and qualifying them with the tongues of nations for the conuerting of nations then the Apostles being ready to separate themselues and to depart into all parts of the earth to preach the Ghospell for the conuersion of the whole world they did compose and lay down a perfect platforme of their future preaching and others belieuing by deuising a certaine squared rule and Canon of fayth and that not so much for their owne direction being so assisted with the inward inspiration of the spirit that they could not possibly erre in their doctrine though their teaching was euer to be conforme vnto these heades as for the Christian Churches instruction and premunitioÌ„ that by hauing recourse vnto these general heads of fayth commeÌ„ded vnto them by the true Apostles they might more easily discerne and auoyd the hereticall doctrine of all false disciples VVherefore the Apostles being assembled togeather and met as it were the second time in Councell being ech of them seuerally replenished with the holy Ghost and all of them ioyntly directed by the selfe same neuer-erring spirit who was both now and euer in such assemblies as these to sit as President in the Church I say being thus prepared euery one proposed as he belieued and all being put togeather in the vpshot did make the shot or symbole of a breife yet entire methodicall summe of Christian doctrine including all points of faith either to be preached afterwardes by the Apostles or to be belieued by their disciples And this summe did the Apostles theÌ„selues appoint to be deliuered by tradition or from hand to hand vnto euery one that belieued ad directionem ad distinctionem both for a direction vnto that which they were to preach and others were to belieue as also to discerne and put a difference betwixt all faithfull Christians and misbelieuing Infidels 6. Thus S. Augustine whose sense I haue kept though I haue somewhat dilated vpon his wordes relateth the matter which before him had beene recorded by Ruffinus in the Exposition of this Creed so that S. Augustine borroweth not only sense but the selfe same words also for the most part are taken from Ruffinus And further the said Ruffinus doth adde another signification of the word Symbole besides a collation or contribution of many things vnto one saying that it signifieth also a signe or badge wherby one sort of souldiers are distinguished from others And in this acception also of the word it consorteth well to our present purpose that by this briefe summe of Doctrine as by a badge or cognisance true Catholicke Christian men may be distinguished heere from Infidels and Hereticks since after death there is such an externall distinction and separation to be made And for this purpose at the beginning this Creed serued but afterwards charity the loue of God and Christian piety decaying and the malice of men exceedingly multiplying vpon the earth this breife and playne summe would not serue the turne against infernall and hereticall subtility for that as S. Augustine before hath well obserued sundry sortes of Hereticks presumed to shrewd their heresies vnder the articles of this Creed peruerting also the meaning and misunderstanding aswell the wordes thereof as the sense so as in fine the bare and outward profession of belieuing this Creed became at last to be no certaine argument of prouing a man to be a true Christian Catholicke except other due conuincing circumstances concurred as we haue before shewed of the Canonicall Scriptures themselues 7. Furthermore the Fathers and Doctors of the Church do ioyntly affirme and expresly S. Augustine in the place before cyted that albeit the wordes be few and briefe of this Creed yet are they so substantiall punctuall and materiall as that they containe the full and entyre summe of whatsoeuer is to be belieued by vs his wordes be these Quicquid praefiguratum est in Patriarchis quicquid denunciatum in Scripturis quicquid praedictum in Prophetis de Deo ingeniâ—o vel ex Deo in Deum nato c. Whatsoeuer was prefigured in the Patriarkes whatsoeuer was denounced in the Scriptures whatsoeuer was foretold in the Prophets eyther of God the Father vnbegotten or of God the Sonne begotten or God the holy Ghost or of receyuing any Sacrament or of the death of our Lord or of the mystery of his Resurrection all this is briefly contayned in this Creed so that the obseruation hence deduced must needs be this that albeit in the bare wordes of the Creed many thinges belonging to fayth are not literall and syllabically expressed yet were they implyed comprehended and intended by the Apostles and namely and particularly about the admitting of Sacraments of their nature number necessity efficacy manner of administration and the like as S. Augustine doth here expound which yet in the wordes are not expressed but were locked vp with in the sacred breast and closet of the Church as in the safest treasury there to be expounded dilated amplified more largely and particulerly vnto the faithfull as eyther the Churches necessity requiring or hereticall pertinacy and importunity oppugning should at any time or occasion require which exposition of the Church as the soundest Commentary vpon the Creed he that in all humility of iudgment and opinion submitteth not him selfe to belieue obay cannot be truly said to belieue this Creed notwithstanding
Creedes for do not they both expound and vnfould that high and obstruse mystery of the Godhead of Christ his identity and equality of substance power and glory with God his Father witnesse those wordes added and vsed in the Councell of Nice about 310. yeares after Christ Deum de Deo Lumen de Lumine Deum verum de Deo vero genitum non factum consubstantialem Patri God of God Light of Light very God of very God begotten not made being consubstantiall to the Father c. Witnesse S. Athanasius his Creed that was made by him in Rome for Confession of his fayth some 15. yeares after that againe wherein there is found that exact manner of speach distinguishing the persons of the Blessed Trinity Qualis Pater talis Filius talis Spiritus Sanctus Such as the Father is such is the Sonne and such is the holy Ghost and then he setteth downe more particulerly the distinctiue appellations and peculiar proprieties belonging vnto euery person as the Father vnbegotten the Sonne begotten of the Father the holy Ghost proceeding asmuch as if in plaine tearmes he had said the Father distinguished with this personall propriety of begetting a Sonne is a Father and no Sonne the Sonne distinguished with his personall propriety of being begotten is a Sonne and not a Father the holy Ghost distinguished by his personall propriety of proceeding is an holy Ghost neyther Father nor Sonne 14. By all which we see the exceeding great authority of the Church in determining these different manners of speach in disclosing this ineffable and inutterable mystery of the Trinity which are not found at all totidem verbis in the Scriptures and therefore were denied by the Scripturian Heretickes for as learned Hosius noteth and it is the obseruation of S. Ambrose against one only article of our Sauiours consubstantiality with his Father they alleaged 50. places of Scripture I meane the Arians who did beare great sway and insinuated themselues into the fauour of the Emperors for the better supporting of their damnable heresies as the Protestants do creepe into the fauour of our King at this day for the vphoulding of their errors and therefore great pitty it was that the Protestants and Arians had not liued in one age togeather that they might haue ioyned hands ech one with another who do so neare resemble ech one the other in their behauiour and manner of proceeding 15. VVell then we see that the former mysteries of the Diety and Trinity could be determined by no other power and authority vpon earth then by that supreme power of the Church for that expresse warrant of Scripture there was none in their pretence for many of these wordes that are now vsed and frequented by the Church in the explication of these Creedes were not then in vse but inuented and applied afterwads by the Church according to the present necessity And yet notwithstanding haue they beene so acknowledged and receaued euer since by all Christendome that the authority of the Church in that behalfe determining and expounding hath stood inuiolable and such as haue not admitted the same haue euer beene reputed and accompted for wicked and damned Heretickes And this is to be noted with attention as before I haue partly touched in generall that albeit the Councell of Nice representing the whole Christiā Church of that age did not nor could not make any new article of beliefe that was not true before but only did more fully and plainely explane and declare such things as the impudency and importunity of Heretickes called into doubt and question so did not the said Councell explayne all that belonged to the diuine persons for they left at Credo in Spiritum sanctum I belieue in the holy Ghost and there brake of not vnfoulding any thing particulerly touching the procession of the holy Ghost from the Father and the Sonne about which there was afterwards so great strife and contention and is to this day with the later obstinate Greekes affirming the same Person to proceed only from the Father not from the Sonne but left that by Gods prouidence to be expounded afterwardes by other Councells when that poynt should be called into question and so it was So that it is more then euident vnto euery one that will not wilfully shut his eyes against the cleare sunne shine of truth that there is left continuall power in the Church to explayne and determine with authority and that irrefragable and vnresistable any doubt neuer so weighty about the Persons of the Trinity or any other article of beliefe or any other high point of diuine mystery that shall arise among Christians and that vnto the worlds last ending euery one vnder paine of dānable obedience against Christs spouse and the holy spirit the director thereof is bound to submit and captiuate his iudgment and vnderstanding thereto and not to stand in contention against the same And thus much of these three Creedes in generall how they are to be reuerenced now let vs descend vnto the seuerall articles and positions therof in particuler The second Consideration NOvv succeedeth our second Consideration about the examining of certaine particulers of these three Creedes how they are receiued and belieued You haue heard before how the Ministers of the Church of England do subscribe vnto the same at their Ordination Now let vs examine whether this English Cleargy notwithstanding all their subscription thereunto do indeed truly belieue them and expound them in the selfe same sense interpretation and meaning as the Generall Councells and ancient Fathers that collected them meant them as they do perswade his Matie they do A man would think that so solemne an Oath taken before an Ecclesiasticall Iudge at the Tribunall of the Church and that for preseruation of Religion and conseruaaion of the integrity of ancient faith laid downe in ancient Creedes and generall Councells should religiously bynd before God and men people of their quality and condition but behold heresy that neither feareth God nor reuetenceth man obserueth no band at all but draweth euery thing to euery mans particuler iudgment and censure and therefore it doth little auaile the ministers of the Church of England to reuerence and receaue the wordes of the Creed whilst they reiect the Churches sense and true meaning of the same to sweare vnto them in wordes by subscription at their Ordinatiō but to forsweare them in deedes by a peruerse and sinister interpretation and exposition And this God willing shal be made good against them in the subsequent Considerations directed and addressed for this especiall purpose 17. First then it is set downe and denounced in the Creed of S. Athanasius read euery sunday in the English Church by order of the communion booke that VVhosouer doth not belieue wholy and inuiolably the Catholicke fayth shall without doubt perish euerlastingly By which Catholicke fayth he vnderstandeth the whole Catholicke fayth and euery article or
by Moyses the first pen man of the holy Ghost and so successiuely vpon sundry occasions continued 49. M. Rogers his first proposition is That the markes and tokens of their visible Church are the due and true administration of the VVord and Sacraments but these markes are not admitted by the Catholickes but worthily reiected for that they are as hard and obscure to find out and as much controuerted as the thing it selfe whereof they should be markes for that all partes yea all sectes and heresies doe pretend to haue due and true administration of the word and Sacraments and it is as hard a matter to determine this controuersy as the other viz. to find out which is the true Church But the Markes of Antiquity Vniuersality Vnity and Succession before mentioned and giuen by Catholickes for such were Tertullians 1400. yeares ago when he wrote that excellent booke of Prescriptions and Vincentius Lyrinensis 1200. years since to take away your late imputation and denomination of Papist vnto Catholickes are so cleare and euident in themselues that presently they will distinguish betwixt one Church and another betwixt Roman Catholickes and all hereticall Sectaries And albeit some Sectaries being pressed therewith will pretend to haue these markes in their Church and will set a good face vpon the matter and challenge them also yet are these wordes out before they be aware for the matter being so euident against them they presently giue ouer their clayme they are content to hold hāds of running to other obscure markes the common Plea of all condemned Heretickes of the due and true administration of the Word and Sacraments when God wotteth they haue neyther Word nor Sacrament according to the Catholicke integrity and sincerity 50. M. Rogers sixt proposition about the Church is That the visible Church to wit the true Catholick Church may and hath from time to time erred both in doctrine and conuersation which assertion the Catholick in his sense doth hold for so blasphemous and absurd yea ridiculous also as nothing can be more For if this be true that the true visible Catholicke Church spread ouer the whole Christian world can erre and induce into errour then is there no surety or certainty in the world no not in the promises of Christ and his Apostles who assured vs the contrary 51. But let vs take a view of M. Rogers proofes out of Scripture for confirming this his sixth assertion which surely are so fantasticall and impertinent for any consequence to be drawne from them so absurd in reason and ridiculous in religion that no man of iudgement or conscience can read them without indignation and laughter as by the view will appeare For thus he setteth them downe in his owne wordes only I will add the inference vpon euery probation out of Scriptures His first place is Take heed Matth. 24. 4. therefore the Church may erre Belieue it not Matth. 23. 26. therefore the Church may erre Beware of the leauen of the Pharisyes and of the leauen of Herod Mar. 8. 15. therefore the Church may erre Many shall be deceiued yea the very elect were it possible Matth. 24. 11. therefore the Church may erre Shall he find faith vpon the earth Luc. 18. 8. therefore the Church may erre VVe know in part 1 Cor. 13. 12. therefore the Church may erre Beware of Dogges therefore the Church may erre Beware of euill workes beware of concision Philip. 3. v. 2. therefore the Church may erre God shall send them strong illusions that they should belieue lyes 2. Thess. 9. 10. therefore the Church may erre And is not this a sound proofe out of the Scriptures 52. These are those cleare texts that M. Rogers bringeth forth to proue that the vniuersall Christian visible Catholicke Church for that only we now treat of may be deceiued and hath erred determining matters of doctrine and yet as you see here is not one word that is spoken or may be applyed to the said vniuersall Catholicke Church but only caueats giuen to the Church to beware of particuler deceauers Heretickes Pharisies Herod the like And consequently these places are so idly vrged and so absurdly applied by the Authour that I should wast time in spending any more labour about perusing them any further Only one of his places I will but touch in one word Many saith Christ shall be deceiued yea the very elect if it were possible out of which place for the ouerthrowing of M. Rogers proposition and inferring the cleane contrary assertion I reason thus and let Tribunal Syllogismi vmpire betwixt vs both which is the better and fitter consequence deduced out of this place if it be impossible that the elect shall be deceiued though many be deceiued then the Church comprehending the elect as a part of her cannot be beceiued sed verum primum for truth it selfe hath spoken it and this is the true meaning of those wordes if it were possible c. ergo secundum The like consequence I would inferre out of all the rest but the places are so absurdly and against all common sense and reason vrged that they are not longer to be stood vpon 53. The like miserable course or rather more pitifull if possibly it may be doth he take to proue the second part of his proposition which is that the said Catholicke visible Church may erre in determining matters of life and manners for that is the question and not his ydle word of erring in conuersation And first he doth alleag the words of Christ Iniquity shal be increased and the loue of many shall wax could Matth. 24. 12. therefore the Church may erre in determining matters of life and manners Secondly he citeth that of S. Paul Restore c least thou also be tempted Gal. 6. 1. therefore the Church may erre in determining matters of life and manners Thirdly I do not the good thing which I would but the euill which I would not that doe I if I doe that which I would not it is no more I that do it but the sinne that dwelleth in me Rom. 7. 19. 20. therefore the Church may erre in determining matters of life and manners Fourthly There is a fight euen in the best men and mēbers of Christ Rom. 7. 23 therfore the Church may erre in determining matters belōging to lyfe and manners for this must be his conclusion out of euery one of these places as his former of doctrine was out of the other And are not these goodly argumentes to proue his assertion His assertion as you haue often heard was that the visible Catholicke Church might erre in determining matters belonging to manners to wit in defining and finally determining this is good that is bad this is lawfull that vnlawfull and the like and he commeth in with his misapplied texts to proue that particuler men may haue infirmities in them and fight of their passions or concupiscence Doth he not hit the naile on the head
thinke you 54. But now lastly let vs come to his seauenth and last exposition vpon this article of the Creed The Church of Rome saith he hath most shamefully erred in life Cerimonies and matters of sayth this he should haue proued according as he vndertaketh in other articles from the warrant of diuine Writ but here he leaueth Gods word and runneth to Poets that say Roma mares c. Rome loueth boyes as who would say that this horrible and execrable sinne if it be or haue bene in Rome is not also in other Citties of the world or as if this alone were sufficient to proue his purpose if he could shew that there were many lewd liuers in Rome The thing he ought to proue is this that the whole Church of Rome that is to say the Catholicke Roman Church spread ouer the whole world acknowledging Rome for the chiefe head and member thereof had erred from her publike decrees set forth to be deliuered throughout the whole Church eyther for position of faith or direction of manners for this only is the point in controuersy and not whether any man haue liued loosely in Rome or any Popes haue bene naughty men or may be hereafter So as for the point controuerted he bringeth not one word of proofe and all that he hath scraped together of spitefull slanders contumelious reproaches against diuers Popes and other Prelates of that Citty as in consequence of argument they are nothing to the purpose nor can make any inference at all against the matter in question so are they in fact proued by diuers Catholicke Authours to be shamefull lyes contrary to the testimony of the best and most Authenticall authours that haue written whereof the reader may see effectuall proofes in Bellarmine and others that do answere those slanders against Rome 55. Now then we see how out of this one article of the Apostles Creed which all parts do admit what different doctrine there is drawne by different expositions and I might shew the same in sundry other articles as namely in that which ensueth immediatly after Credo remissionem peccatorum I beleeue the remission of sinnes which article those of the Roman fayth do vnderstād accordingly as the ancient Fathers do and this is not only of the remission of sinnes by our Sauiour his passion and grace thereby merited to this effect but also of the ordinary meanes left by our said Sauiour in the Church for ordinary remission of sinnes and namely by faith and baptisme for such as enter first into the Church and the holy Sacrament of Pennance which is according as anciēt Fathers do call it secūda tabula post nausragium the second table of the soule after baptismes ship wrack for such as sin after baptisme and other Sacraments all which Sacraments other meanes to this effect do worke their effects in the power and vertue of the said passiō of our Sauiour So houldeth the Catholicke But the Protestant that commeth forth with a not imputation saith that this remission of sinnes consisteth only in this that they are not imputed and consequently draweth a farre other sense vpon this article so as I must perforce conclude with that which often hath bene said and repeated that it is not sufficient to admit these Creeds in words as the Ministers of Englād are said to do in their Ordination but the true sense and meaning is especially to be stood vpon which meaning being farre dissonant frō the vnderstanding of the knowne Catholicke Church as lately we haue shewed their orall and verball admission of the said Creeds cannot be sufficient to make them Christian Catholicks or deliuer them from the imputation of being Hereticks for that this very choice and election which they do make of particuler senses and interpretations of the Articles of these Creeds opposite vnto our former rules and Considerations before set downe at large properly and effectually conuince them to be hereticks indeed And so much of this matter for the present THE FOVRTH CHAPTER CONCERNING THE APPROBATION AND ALLOVVANCE OF THE FOVRE GENERALL COVNCELS Which is the third generall head of tryall offered and proposed by his Excellent Maiesty of England AS in the former two grounds of belieuing Canonicall Scriptures admitting the three vsuall Creedes and that only vpon the Churches publicke tradition his Matie hath giuen forth a declaration vnto the whole Christian World of his confident perswasion of being a Christian Catholick and no Heretick euen so in this third generall head I meane in the admitting and receyuing of the foure first Generall Councells his Royall Grace hath not only continued and perseuered in the former declaration of his good intention and perswasion but hath further and much more ratified and confirmed the same as appeareth by these his words where he writeth I reuerence and admit saith he the foure first generall Councells as Catholicke and Orthodoxe And the said Generall Councells are acknowledged by our Actes of Parlament and receiued for orthodoxe by our Church In which words though I must ingenuously confesse that I cannot retayne the least scruple or doubt of the sincerity and candor of his Maiesties meaning but that according to his Noble apprehension and the information giuen him by his Doctors he doth indeed for his Princely part and Person reuerence and admitt the foure first Generall Councels and wil be ready like a pious meaning Prince to receaue al the particuler points of faith concluded therein when they shal be discouered vnto him Yet since this Parlamentary admission of Councells is thē ground of all and must proue the admitting and reiecting of them either good or bad on the Church of Englands behalfe my first demaund shal be but this What hath lay parliaments to do with Religion What busines make they with the Councells of the Church Who designed vnto them this authority to alter chop and change Religion at their pleasure Vpon what ground do they admit some Councells and reiect others Especially hauing excluded from Parlamentall suffrage all their Catholicke Bishops and Clergy men as it is euident they did the thing remayning yet registred vpon Authenticall record fresh in the memories of many now liuing when at the first and second lay Parlaments in the first yeare of the late Queene they banished Catholick Religion out of the land 2. But supposing these foure Councels to be admitted and receiued if we consider how these Councels indeed are acknowledged by our Acts of Parlament how reuerenced and in what manner receaued for Catholicke and Orthodoxe by our English Congregation at this day we shall be fo farre from iustifying the Protestant Parlamentary admission of these Councels or any other of their actions whatsoeuer though neuer so outwardly veiled and couered with a colourable shew of piety as that in very deed we shall discouer nought els throughout the passages of their whole proceedinges but fraud imposture collusion dissimulation hypocrisie and heresie Which
saluation as S. Augustine that great pillar of the latin Church noteth a sinne the soule guilt whereof nec sanguine abluitur nec passione purgatur to close vp the period with that renowned Martyr S. Cyprian his wordes 4. The last but not the least nay the greatest cause of my comfort was when I really apprehended the candor serenity humility and sincerity of your Noble hart in submitting your selfe by remitting the tryall and decision of the foresaid imputation and suspition of heresie vnto the sacred Canon of holy Writ common Creedes the first foure generall Councels and the blessed Fathers of the first foure or fiue hundred yeares to all which vpon an assured I may rather say a supposed innocency integrity of your cause you appealed for the finall vmpiring and determining of any point in controuersy betwixt the Catholicks and your Maiesty Which impartiall and substantiall grounds as they were very prudētly religiously and with great maturity of iudgment proposed by your Maiesty according to the greatnes and soundnes of your Iudicious Apprehension so if they shall stand inuiolable and irreuocable like to the law of the Medes Persians which could not be altered backed by the word authority of so potent a Prince as your Maiesty is which may not be reuoked for the word is gone forth from the King you shall not only auert and auoid all sinister imputation and suspition whatsoeuer from your Royall Person but withall you shall giue a sufficient testimony by publike declaratiō of your Maiesties gratious disposition for matter of religion And that if ought haue bene exorbitant extrauagant or irregular in matter of your beliefe it is rather to be ascrybed to your violent education then anyway to be imputed to your owne voluntary obduration These things were of wonderfull comfort exceeding solace vnto me 5. But in the midst of this sweet repose whilst my wearied and perplexed thoughts seemed to refresh themselues with some kind of promised hope vpon the forsaid premises behold diuers other pointes of great anxietie sollicitude interposed themselues nay suddainly interrupted my former solace I meane not generally such pointes of your Maiesties Booke as may concerne other Christian Princes people and States how these thinges would be taken amongst them for in this behalfe I might not presume to preiudice your Maiestyes Graue Wisedome and I could not but imagine but that your Maiesty out of the depth of your owne Prouident Iudgement had duely and prudently preponderated all such probable ensuing sequeles and taken farre better counsaile then myne could be but such as particulerly respected and by necessary deduction of a certaine ineuitable consequence reflected properly vpon my selfe For wheras I had with the greatest deliberation that I could possibly imagine grounded vpon my owne peculiar experience of many yeares trauayle in the sacred volumes of Orthodoxe Antiquity made before a firme irreuokable resolution to abandon the Protestant Religion vpon inuincible arguments of great solidity and notorious discouery of execrable blasphemy palpable and detestable heresy against God his Christ his Church his Saints building my foundation vpon the mayne rocke of Auncient Primitiue Church Canonicall Scripture truly sensed by them Creedes and Councels digested collected established by them I now descried that your Maiestie intended to ground the cleane contrary Plea vpon the same heades for vindication of the protestant Religiō from the guilty crime of heresy the very intimation whereof inforced me I confesse before the all-seeing iudge and vnto your Soueraigne Maiesty my supreame terrene Lord next vnder him to looke about me and to enter into a second and more serious consideration and meditation of the foresaid heades againe least I might happily in a matter of the greatest moment and weightiest consequence in this world haue runne awry to the euerlasting wracke and ruine of my soule 6. Now for ought that may concerne your Maiesties Royall Person touching the imputation of heresie let that loud-crying sinne of open Rebellion against the soueraignty of heauen rather light vpon the enemies of God his Christ his Church and the enemies of my Soueraigne then vpon my Lord the King whom the God of Angels make as an Angell of God to discerne betwixt hereticall noueltie and Catholicke antiquity In the meane time I find no difficulty nay I do with all alacrity and sincerity of soule admit the difference betweene an Hereticke and him that giueth credit vnto Hereticks which S. Augustine admitted in the behalfe of his friend Honoratus seduced by the Donatists as your Maiesty is supposed to be mis-led by Protestants It is in that excellent Tract of his de vtilitate credendi written to his said friend Si mihi Honorate vnum atque idem videretur esse Haereticus credens Haereticis homo tam lingua quà m stylo in hac causa conquiescendum esse arbitrarer c. Cùm haec ergo ita sunt non putaui apud te silendum esse c. If I were perswaded O Honoratus that an Hereticke and the man who doth belieue Hereticks were all one and that there were no difference I should suppose that I might spare both tongue and penne in this point But now since there is no small difference betwixt the two forasmuch as he is an hereticke in my iudgement who for some temporall commodity and especially for renowne and soueraignty eyther bringeth forth false and new opinions of himselfe or els adhereth vnto them that are brought forth by others but he that giueth credulity to these kynd of men is such a one as is deluded with a certaine imagination of verity and pietie wherefore these thinges being so I haue thought good not to be silent or to hold my peace with you what my iudgment is concerning the finding out and retaining of truth 7. We then that be your Maiestyes Catholicke Subiects dutifull in mind though different in iudgment do out of the aboundance of our most loyall affection and to mitigate matters what may be vntill Almighty God of his infinite goodnes shall vouchsafe to put further remedy in your vnderstanding hart by a more cleare reuealing of his truth most cheerfully and charitably fasten vpon that pious religious true distinction of S. Augustine not ascribing that hatefull name of Hereticke vnto your Maiesty howsoeuer you seeme for the present to adhere and patronize such opinions of Protestant Religion as we vpon contrary groundes of Catholicke diuinity do hold to be heresies but rather we esteeme your Maiesty for a Prince that from your natiuity and tender infancy after the vnfortunate losse of your thirce Noble Catholicke Mother haue byn misguyded in matters of Religion by such as had your Noble Person in their gouerment whome yow haue belieued and consequently haue byn deceyued imaginatione quadam veritatis pietatis illusus to end the sentence with S. Augustine his wordes 8. And heere in all dutifull submission as a true English-harted man and loyall subiect to
his Soueraigne I most humbly prostrate my selfe at your Maiesties Princely feete beseeching you euen out of that Royall disposition Princely benignity of good nature wherwith Almighty God hath byn pleased plentifully to enrich you First that you will vouchsafe to heare these pointes or heades seuerally and soundly debated and discussed by the equall match tryall of learned men on both sides either your Maiestyes naturall subiects or strangers as shall best likeyou and by no mans perswasion or disswasion to go backe from so Honorable an offer already made vnto the whole Christian world and secondly not to condemne me of any audacious or head-long presumption in this my interprize tending only to Gods glory and your owne soule-sauing Honour Nor yet lastly in the meane space to take in euill part or sinister sense this my charitable and well-meaning attempt of laying some moderate and modest Considerations before your iudicious graue Wisdome And the rather I presume to begge this at your Maiesties hands since I haue resolued to limit my discourse within the lists and boundes of those foure principall heads mentioned by your Maiesty and worthy of eternall memory 9. And if vniust causes now and then vpon due conuincing circumstances admit a iust defence then pardon me dread Soueraigne and giue me leaue to bring my most iust defēce vnto so iust a cause I want not reasons of the greatest weight to induce me For first my owne interest of soule goeth therein highly impawned and engaged in this very point as hauing amongst other my motiues made my owne resolution for matter of Religion vpon the consideration and foundation of these most Catholick groundes to wit of Scriptures Creeds Councels and ancient Fathers and therefore it importeth me not a litle touching me so neerely to looke them ouer againe since the euer-liuing weale or neuer-dying wo of my soule dependeth necessarily therupon And secondarily my loyall duety vnto your Maiesty and charity to my natiue Countreymen pleadeth for my defence and this is such that it inforceth me to encounter all kind of difficultyes in the vndergoing of this busines For since vpon my second reuiew of the former foure groundes I found that no other foundation could be layd no other rule of faith deuised by any no Angell from heauen teaching the contrary to be belieued For quod vnum est verum est verum quod nonvariat according to that most sure and ancient prescription I thought my selfe in all conscience and duety both before God and man obliged to impart the same with your Maiesty being my naturall borne Prince King Father Lord and Soueraigne and I your dutifull deuoted Subiect 10. Finally if that renowned Moralist Plutarch compiled a speciall Treatise to instruct a man how he should reape benefit vnto himselfe euen by the admonitions endeauours of his professed enemies If that perfect patterne of patience Iob for so the Scripture decyphereth him vnto vs pleading his innocency out of the integrity of his conscience and appealing vnto the Tribunall of heauen for an impartiall doome insinuateth vnto vs by way of demaund that he listened vnto the counsaile of his seruant or handmaid contending with him his words as they lye in the English are expostulatory If I haue refused the counsaile of my seruant or hand-maid contending with me And the answere implied is negatiue that he had not as euidently appeareth by his summoning himselfe to the barre of diuine iustice How much rather should we accept the same from our friends and how much more so great a Monarch as your Maiesty is may be pleased to take in good part the dutifull counsayle of such of your loyall Subiects who from their innermost soules wish all possible good euen externall internall eternall prosperity vnto your Maiesty notwithstanding any malicious clamours suggestions detractions and calumniations of Aduersaries to the contrary or any difference of iudgment on parts in matters of religion Wishing and praying with pure handes and innocent hartes lifted vp vnto Almighty God that this may be one and the selfe same also in tyme that as there is but one God one faith one baptisme and one Lord IESVS CHRIST which is aboue all and in all and ouer all so there may be but one vnion and communion in Catholicke Christian Religion that is one Catholicke Mother Church for euery sinfull wandring and distressed soule to fly vnto for her spirituall repose that after our sea-faring peregrination we may all arriue safely in the hauen of Heauen 11. To conclude of this number of subiects do I ioyfully professe my selfe to be most sincerely promysing and protesting vnto your Maiesty by the faith of a Catholicke Christian the only interest whereby I hope to lay clayme to heauen that I am in verity and indeed without all fraud or collusion euen such a one as sincerely I haue set downe my selfe heere to be that is neyther Priest nor Iesuite nor yet of any other Religious Order but only of the Order and Society of the English Ministry whereof I was made by a Bishop of your Maiesties Realme and licenced to preach by publicke authority for diuers yeares togeather wherein as I trauailed painfully so I should haue continued constantly had I not euidently discouered euen in Caluin the first authour of that schisme and in all his followers nouelty herefy blasphemie insteed of antiquity verity piety And albeit my iudgment in Religion now must needes be changed from theirs vnlesse to the eternall perdition of my soule I should with a guilty conscience fight against heauen in fighting against the knowne Catholicke truth as I feare me too many of the learneder sort of Protestants in England do yet remayne I still and euer shall by God his sauing grace with all dutifull obseruance towards your Maiesty out of which duty of a subiect towards his soueraigne I shall incessantly powre forth my prayers and teares before the throne of heauen implore the God of Truth to lead your Maiesty into all truth that you may heere according to that high place wherin God hath set you help to reare vp the ruines of the Church militant that you may become a glorious member of the triumphant 12. And now hauing bene longer and more prolixe in this my Epistle dedicatory then at the beginning I had purposed I shall most humbly supplicate your said Excellent Maiesty to licence me for a time to depart from your Royall Presence and to turne my speach to the Christian Reader in treating of the heades that are to be handled For so much as it seemeth not conuenient for me to continue my speach for so long time vnto your Maiesties own Person but rather with due reuerence declining the same to lay forth before the discreet Reader these things which seeme to me to be of most consideration and ponderation in the points proposed by your Maiesty whereby many may be informed though one be named And with this I beseech the
informed my iudgment that I could not do otherwise then giue my full consent vnto it Nor did I possibly see how the same might be any way denyed or probably with any colour of reason impugned And was there not cause now that I should looke about me examin the groundes whereupon I stood seriously debate with my selfe of my late resolution and change made in religion weighing pondering all things with mature deliberation and serious meditation 31. Wherefore retyring my selfe to the sacred Scriptures and blessed Fathers which according to Vincentius direction I had euer resolued vpon for the infallible rule and Canon of my faith to see what they said in this matter since that other foundation theÌ„ this can no man lay I fouÌ„d the same seuerity in their assertions iudgments which argued that the Schoole Doctors had originally drawne the matters of their doctrine froÌ„ the most pure fountaine 32. And first I found that the said Heretickes and heresies were foretould and prophesied of by Christ and his Apostles in the Scriptures of God as namely that they should enter into the Church immediatly after Christs time and his Apostles and so that they should continue from time to time as Matth. 24. 5. Ioan. 5. 44. 1. Cor. 11. 19. 1. Tim. 4. 1. 2. 3. 2. Tim. 2. 17. 18. 2. Pet. 1. 2. 1. Ioan. 2. 18. 19. and else-where throughout the whole volume of Gods booke All which as large Commentaries discouer vnto vs the nature and condition of Heresies and Heretickes But I will confine my selfe within shorter straiter bounds and at this time I will especially ponder vpon these three ensuing places namely Matth. 7. 15. 16. 3. â—it 10. and 11. the Epistle of S. Iude almost throughout the whole Epistle 33. And first he that spake as neuer man spake the Wisdome of the Father and the soules best Phisition that euer was giueth vs both a serious admonition and a perspicuous description of Heretickes Attendite à fâ—lsis Prophetis c. Beware of false Prophets which come vnto you in sheeps clothing but inwardly they are rauening wolues you shall know them by their fruites Beware there is the admonition of false Prophets there is the deception and circumuention which come vnto you in sheeps clothing there is their frauduleÌ„t hypocrisy but inwardly they are rauening wolues there is their violent cruelty you shall know them by their fruttes there is a manifest discouery of their impiety Againe Beware that is take heed looke about you there is imminent perill and hazard of your soules hangeth ouer your heads of false prophets false deceauers false Apostles Antichrists Heretickes which come vnto you in sheeps clothing pretending outwardly to be Angels of light but inwardly they are rauening wolues messengers of Sathan and spirits of darkenesse you shall know them by their fruites if not by their wordes yet by their workes if not by their sayings yet by their meaning Lastly beware neuer was there any more need of circumspection of false Prophets I poynt you to the poison that coÌ„meth from the persons which come vnto you in sheeps cloathing hauing nothing in their mouthes but Euangelium Christi Euangelium Christi the pure Ghospell of Christ the pure Ghospell of Christ but inwardly they are rauening wolues corrupters of his Ghospell and soule-quellers deuouring the innocent sheep of Christ you shall know them by their fruits for the liberty of their Ghospel shal argue to their faces the impiety impurity of their harts 34. The text of Scripture is excellently expounded both by Tertullian and Vincentius Lyrinensis And first what is this sheeps clothing sayth Tertull. but the extrinsecall name of a Christian and what be these rauening wolues but deceiptfull glosses and spirits inwardlly lurking and infesting the flock of Christ who are these false prophets but false preachers who are these false Apostles but adulterous Euangelizators who are these Antichrists now and allwaies but rebels against Christ hurting and persecuting the Church with the secret impiety of their heresy asmuch as Antichrist shall then doe with his open cruelty and tyranny So he 35. Secondly Vincentius goeth further and though he liued twelue hundred yeares agoe yet speaketh he so particulerly to this point of vnmasking heresy hereticks as if he had liued in the very dayes of Luther Caluin and the ProtestaÌ„ts Apostasie which inforceth me vpon an often scrious meditation to conclude that his spirit was inspired and his pen guided by the immediate hand finger of God Let vs heare him then speake interpret What is this sheepes cloathing saith he but the oracles of the prophets and Apostles who be these rauening wolues but the cruell virulent violent interpretatioÌ„s of Hereticks who alwaies infest the fouldes of the Church and teare in peeces the flock of Christ by al meanes that possibly they can But that they may deceiptfully steale vpoÌ„ thevnwary sheep they put of their wolwish shape continuing in their woluish cruelty and they wrap and couer themselues with sentences of holy Scriptures as it were with certaine fleeces that when any man shall perceiue the softnes of their woll he may not feare the sharpenes of their teeth But what saith our Sauiour You shall know them by their fruits that is when they beginne not only to bring but also to expound the places of Scripture nor yet to brag of theÌ„ only but further to interprete them then their bitternesse then their sharpenes then their madnes is perceyued then their new poison shal be vented forth then their prophane nouelties shal be detected then shalt thou see the hedge fence to be cut and broken downe then shalt thou see the ancient meares and boundes of the Fathers to be translated and remoued then Catholicke faith shal be violated then Ecclesiasticall doctrine anihilated and destroyed Hither to my Authour 36. And can any thing be spoken more effectually Or is it possible that men or Angels can interprete this place more truly Are not all Heretickes here vnmasked Are not the ProtestaÌ„ts palpably discouered couering their hereticall faces with the visard of Scriptures when otherwise they durst not appeare in their woluish and theeuish shapes If this be not so or that I wrong theÌ„ in ought nay if they be not guilty in their owne consciences of much more then I can charge them withall let the iust doome of heauen reuenge it vpon my soule and let me neuer see the face of God haud ignotaloquor what I speake I speake vpon long practice and experience which I haue had amongst them And if this be so then are they of the number of those false Prophets concerning whome our Sauiour giueth vs admonition heere Beware of false Prophets which come to you in sheeps clothing but inwardly they are rauening wolues you shall know them by their fruites c. Why but the ProtestaÌ„ts will plead in generall that they haue Scriptures to confirme euery assertion of their
Religion To this I answere in generall that the Diuell and all Heretickes had their Scriptures as well as they as many and more then they but the truth is sheeps clothing belongeth not to wolues nor Scriptures to them their possession of thē is meer intrusiō into thē therfore according to that excellent prescription of Tertullian first they should prooue their right of possession of them before they so bouldly aduentured vpon the interpretation of them which since they could neuer yet do it is apparant and out of questiō that they haue no more right vnto the Scriptures then the Diuell himselfe and all former Heretickes haue had vnto them 37. Yf besides the Scripture they plead the spirit for this is their other ground and these two be all the groūds that euer I could perceyue they had for their Protestāticall Religion I answere this spirit is a spirit of priuate interpretation their owne proper inuention and election it is not the spirit of the Church it is not the spirit of the holy Ghost that breathed these Scriptures and therefore it is the spirit of the Diuell the spirit of all their Grādprogenitors ancient Hereticks And now to cut of with one blow the heades of all pryuate spirits let S. Bernard himselfe speake for me and strike for me Nonnulli adesse putant spiritū cùmnon adest suumque sensum prosensu spiritus sequūtur deuiantes Many thinke they haue the spirit when they haue it not and fall into error following their own sense for the sense of the holy Ghost Dare any man hereafter vaunt of his priuate spirit All this and much more is implied in the heauenly admonition of our Sauiour Beware of false prophets and which was my first place of Scripture against Hereticks I come to the second which followeth thus 38. The Apostle S. Paul that trumpet of the Apostles Preacher of the world and discloser of heauenly mysteries thundereth out a terrible commination against an Hereticke whereby he insinuateth to leaue a premonition to all succeeding posterity to be ware of heresy And albeit I haue touched the place somwhat in the former Consideration in disclosing the nature of heresy yet here I must returne to the same againe for better laying forth the miserable effectes therof and the care the said Apostle had to haue it eschued Auoid saith he an hereticall man after the first or second reprehension knowing that he that is such a one is peruerted and sinneth as damned by his owne iudgment Vpon which place S. Hierome writeth thus Haeretici sententiam in seipsos ferunt suo arbitrio ab Ecclesia recedenies quae recessio propriae conscientiae videtur esse damnatio Heretickes giue sentence vpon themselues and are damned vpon their owne iudgment for that they depart from the Church euen out of their owne selfe will and this departure seemeth to be the damnation of their owne conscience expressely mentioned by S. Paul So S. Hierome And can there be any thing more terrible or dreadfull then this Againe Auoid an Hereticke propter periculum propter consortium propter poenam so S. Thomas vpon this place First auoid them in regard of the perill of infection serma enim illorum serpit vt cancer Secondly auoid them in regard of their fellowship and communion that you be not wrapped and intangled in their sinne whilest you seeme by your familiarity with them to consent vnto the same Lastly auoid them propter poenam euen for feare of the punishment of condemnation which hangeth ouer their heads and yet moneatur let him be admonished to see whether he will amend If he amend not after once or twice admonition auoyd him si curari poterit non est vitandus si non dimittend us est If he can be healed of his heresie he is not to be auoided If he cannot be cured he is to be shunned Hitherto S. Thomas 39. My third place is out of S. Iude conteining a very dreadfull description of Hereticks yea so terrible that the very consideration therof were able to make a man to treamble lest he should be any way intangled and infected with this fearefull sinne of heresie either in being an Hereticke himselfe obstinate and malicious or in beleeuing them as being seduced by them For after the Apostle had premised the salutation togeather with the motiue of his Epistle which was to beseech them Supercertare semel iraditae Sanctis fidei to stand fast and fight for the faith once deliuered vnto the Saintes which were the first Christians presently he giueth a most serious warning to all sorts of Christians of the approach and intrusion of Heretickes Subintroierunt enim quidam homines c. There haue crept in certaine men saith he prescribed or prepared from the beginning vnto this terrible iudgment wicked men who haue turned the grace of God into wantonnes c. And then he thundreth out a terrible commination against them sāying VVoe be vnto them that haue gone in the way of Cain and haue for reward powred out themselues with the errour of Balaam and haue perished in the contradiction of Chore. So he And that this contradiction of Chore against Moyses Aaron for which he his conspirators were by Gods iust wrath swallowed quicke vp into hell the earth opening her mouth deuouring thē represented the contradictiō of all Hereticks against the Catholicke Church and Gouernours thereof no man that hath any insight into Deuinity can deny and therfore our Apostle S. Iude who alludeth and compareth betwixt them denounceth Gods vengeance yet further against them Quibus procella tenebrarum seruata est in aternum for whom a tempest of darknes or of torments in darknes is reserued for all eternity And this being so will any one call another hereticke in iest Or is there any cry me so dreadfull as this 40. But if we passe from the Apostles and Scriptures them selues vnto the succeeding Primitiue Church and withall hould their iudgment sense and feeling concerning Heresy we shall find that all of thē without exception of any one had this very spirit of detesting anathematizing flying and auoiding Heretickes aboue all other sinners and malefactors vpon earth yea wheras towardes others neuer so great greieuous and heyncus offendours wee are exhorted willed and ioyned to be benigne sweet meeke compassionate and the like the cleane contrary is counsailed vnto vs against Heretickes to witt not to salute them not to eat or drinke with them not to receiue them into our houses not to conuerse with them but to fly them abhorre them detest and auoid them as pests and plagues and poysoned serpents infecting vs with the inuenomed poyson of hell as damned soules already vpon earth damned by the guilt of their owne conscience and by the irreuokable sentence of diuine Iustice as before we haue signifyed And that which is most worthy our obseruation such seruantes of God as were otherwise
my brethren of the English Ministry who in like manner some of them with great zeale grounded themselues vpon Scriptures euen as I did which concurrence in opinion did not a little cōfirme me in this my owne headstrong imagination 7. But afterwardes vpon better insight of matters many occurrences and circumstances of no small importance for the shaking and ruinating of this false and tottering foundation interposed themselues to the view of my vnderstanding and these greatly calmed this feruour of mine and abated the edge of my appetite vnto the bare letter of the Scripture and my owne Commentaries therupon 8. For first I found that euen Luther himselfe that did thus confidently triumph vpon alleadging of Scripture against all ancient Fathers Thomists Sophists Henricistes and the like is not admitted nor followed by our English Church in many of his maine positions of Religion though we of England did and do hould him for a great Saint a flying Angell one that had Primitias spiritus the prime spirit of the new Protestant Ghospell whereupon I haue heard some that haue presumed in their popular pulpit declamations amidst their owne Sectaries to inuest him with the tytle of a fifth Euāgelist I say he is not belieued by vs though he cyte neuer so many Scriptures and neuer so confidently in sundry weighty positions and cōtrouersies now in hand as namely about the Reall presence wherein he most of all pretended yea and had indeed foūded himselfe vpon cleare and euident Scriptures And is it any meruaile when heresy departing from vnity must needes breed variety and cause diuersity betweene the Sect-maister and the Sectaries the Father of innouation and the followers the author of Schisme and the mantainers the inuentors of nouelties and the imbracers thereof Let vs heare what old Tertullian saith to the same aboue 1400. yeares agoe when heresies were yet but yong and as it were in their infancy Mentior saith he si non etiam à regulis suis variant inter se dum vnusquisque proinde suo arbitrio modulatur quae accepit quemadmodum de suo arbitrio eadem composuit ille qui tradit Agnoscit naturam suam originis suae morem prosectus rei Idem licuit Valentinianis quod Valentino idem Marcionitis quod Marcioni de abitrio suo fidem innouare Denique penitus inspectae haereses omnes in multis cum Auctoribus suis dissentientes deprehenduntur I am deceaued if they do not yet differ from their owne rules amongst themselues whilest euery man therfore tuneth the things which he receaued after his owne fashion as the author deliuered them according to his fancy The issue of the thing agniseth her nature and argueth the manner of her origen The same is lawfull for the Valentinians that was lawfull for Valentinus and for the Marcionites that was lawfull for Marcion to bring in an innouation in Religion at their pleasure To conclude all heresies being throughly looked into are found in many things to dissent from the first Authors and broachers of them Hitherto Tertullian Can any more effectually prescription be made then this against the Heretickes of our daies Do they not seeme to expresse and present the conditions and qualities of their ancient progenitors and forerunners This then was my first cogitation that albeit our English Protestants did well allow and admire that insolency in Luther of pressing Scriptures neuer so madly vnderstood against Catholickes yet when he vrged neuer so cleare Scriptures against themselues and their opinions they reiect and contemne both him and his Scriptures 9. Secondly I considered that when the Diuell tempted Christ he came not without his Scriptum est he had the Word for his warrant and therefore the lesse I meruailed that all Sectaries and Hereticks from the very first foundation of Christan Religion had principally founded themselues and their heresies vpon pretence of Scripture as may appeare by the seuerall workes of all the ancient Fathers that confuted them Frequentes sunt in citandis Scripturis saith Tertullian they are frequent in citing Scriptures They runne ouer the Law Psalmes Prophets Ghospells Epistles and the residue of holy Scripture with great facility sayth Vincentius Lyrinensis and euen in compitis conuiuijs in market places and banquets amongst their owne Sectaries amongst strangers priuatly publickly in their bookes in sermons will they be full of Scriptures Nihil vmquam penè de suo proserunt quod non etiam Scripture verbis adumbrare conentur they bring nothing in manner of their owne which they shaddow not and cloake with some Scripture or other not vnlike our London Dames and the wiues of other great Towns and Cytties at this day I had almost added Shrewsbury Omnes tument c. all of them swell with pride all of them promise knowledg they are perfect Catechistes before they can their alphabet Ipsae mulieres hereticae quà m procaces quae audeant docere contendere c. their very hereticall women how saucy and malepert they are which dare teach contend c. So Tertullian And then further as S. Nazianzen before alledged well noteth these hereticall Scripturians running ouer all the corps of sacred Writ nay galloping ouer the whole field of the Scriptures as though the whole were but a horserase they do here and there vno verbo vel altero tamquam veneni gutt a inficiunt with a word or two of false exposition as with a drop of poyson infect the whole peruerting the true faith of Christ by their false sense of the Scripture and that to their owne damnation and damnation of their followers as the Apostle S. Peter doth signify 10. Thirdly I considered that not onely the ancient Hereticks but also the moderne Schismatickes and Sectaries of our time did by the one and the same spirit appeale to the tribunall of Scriptures and that both generally against those of the Roman beliefe particulerly among themselues the one against the other as Lutherans against Sacramentaries and Sacramentaries against Anabaptists and those against these and euery Sectary against his fellow and all directly against God his Church and his Truth And though ech Sectary professe to alledge Scripture and pretendeth neyther to build vpon the sandes nor vpon the shore of priuate fancy or his owne vnstable iudgment but vpon the mayne rocke of God his word yet Heresies grow on all sydes and thereupon controuersies become endlesse and interminable I remember not long since that lighting vpon a little booke of the Anabaptists I fell vpon thirty places of plaine Scripture and euery one of these places seemed by the externe letter to make perspicuously for the aforsaid Anabaptists and their heresies which yet in England we do condemne and consequently doe hold all those places of Scriptures to be misalledged abused and falsely interpreted by them be they neuer so many seeme they neuer so plaine or pregnant 11. But here I would demaund of any ingenious Protestant how
children and after the said law was written also euery man and woman was not remitted promiscuously hand ouer head to the reading of those bookes but he was sent to take his instruction and institution from the ordinary Superiours Doctors Gouernors of that Church and these were to expound the law vnto him For which direction and tradition we find this warrant and commaunding yea prescribing authority Aske thy Fathers and they will tell thee thy elders and they will declare vnto thee Againe The lipes of the Priest preserue knowledge And yet in a third place I know that Abraham will demaund and teach his sonnes and househould that they walke in my wayes c. 17. And now to come from the law to the Ghospell from Moyses vnto Christ and so to proceed orderly with the history of the Church as God is no changling but euer like himselfe euen so the beginning proceeding establishing of the new Christian faith and Church was not much vnlike if not altogeather resembling the former For first this Church was planted by our Sauiour at Hierusalem and speedily by the industrious ministery of the holy Apostles assisted by the instinct of the holy Ghost spread ouer the face of the earth and yet neyther the Church nor the Apostles the principall pillars of the Church had as at this time any written instruction or methodicall institution deliuered vnto them concerning their teaching preaching or beleeuing except only the articles of the Creed deliuered by tradition in the Church as will appeare in the subsequent Considerations Secondly the institution that they had they receyued it by instruction from our Sauiour his mouth and from the immediate instinct suggestion and inspiration of the holy Ghost who was promised by Christ himselfe who could not lie nor deceaue to assist the Church continually vnto the worldes end and by this institution and inspiration alone they taught and conuerted both Iewes and Gentils instituted Churches establishing lawes and orders of life by word of mouth and tradition only from hand to hand before any thing of the new testament was committed to writing And this was the condition of the Church for some yeares and that in the infancy and purity of Christian Religion as the Protestant must perforce confesse Thirdly when the Wisdome of heauen thought it expedient that somthing should be written the first thing cōmitted vnto writing in the new Testamēt was the Ghospell of S. Matthew and this was collected and digested in that very order as it is now presented to the Church and that some eight yeares after the ascension of our Sauiour then the Ghospell of S. Marke some fiue yeares after that then that of S. Luke written twelue yeares after the former wherin diuers thinges omitted in the other Ghospell of are recorded And last of all was written the Ghospell of S. Iohn conteyning in it many great and important matters which are not found in any of the rest and this was not written of 66. yeares after the first visible Christian Church was planted and established by the comming of the holy Ghost 18. And now as all the rest were written vpon particuler occasions so especially was this famous Ghospell of S. Iohn which is the very key opening the dore vnto the vnderstanding of all the rest and particulerly vpon the occasion of Ebion and Cerinthus their heresy which impugned the Diuinity of the Sonne of God Whereupon I do inferre that for that which concerneth the new Testament the Church was for diuers yeares without any Scriptures at all and for 66. yeares which is the age of a man the points related by S. Iohn more then were vttered in the other Ghospells which are many and most important were receiued and belieued in the Church by tradition onely And now for Conclusion of all I would demaund but one thing of the Protestants that make such shew of appealing vnto Scriptures and the Primitiue Apostolicall Church this was demāded aboue 1400. yeares agoe by S. Irenaus before cyted who liued in the very next age after the Apostles vpon the very like occasion Sineque Apostoli Scripturas reliquissent nobis c. If the Apostles had left vnto vs no Scriptures at all yet ought not we to follow that order of tradition which they left to those to whom they committed their Churches So that holy Bishop and Martyr especially ought we not to follow that order of tradition since the true worship of God and the sauing doctrine of the Ghospell of Christ cōtinued for 2000. yeares in the time of the law and for many other yeares in the dayes of the Ghospell and that in the brest of the Church to be deliuered by tradition only without the help of any word written 19. Wherby we cannot but discerne and must acknowledge that Scriptures or the written word of God were not so absolute necessary for the reuealing of God his will vnto man kind and the continuing of man in that sauing knowledge of him but that his Diuine Maiesty might haue propagated and preserued his doctrine and man in the truth by tradition only of word of mouth without any Scriptures at all if it had so pleased him as he did for many ages and generations togeather both before the first great diluge by water in the dayes of our first Patriarkes vntill Abrabā his time whome he chose for the head of his people as also afterwardes when he directed the same people by like tradition as well in Egipt where they remayned in most cruell bondage for 400. yeares as else where before Moyses wrote his forenamed bookes And the like he might haue done with Christiās to the worlds great generall consummation last inundation by a flood of fire according to S. Irenaeus his sentence if he had listed as hauing instituted a more orderly exact and authorized Church yea and hauing indued it with greater priuiledges according to the perfection of the new law aboue the old then he had done vnto the former of the Iewes Whereupon it must needes follow by force of necessary consequence that the tradition of this Church and pure authority therof both in propounding Scriptures vnto vs and discerning the same which are truly Scriptures and which are not as also for deliuering vnto vs the true sense and meaning therof in their interpretation and exposition is much more to be respected by vs then was that of the Iewes Forasmuch as Christ our Sauiour promised the continuall assistance of his spirit vnto this Church and that in such measure as that it should alone be able to withstand all the infernall power of Sathan and the gates of hell idest the very entrance of all kynd of errour or herely into it whatsoeuer 20. These then that neuer so solemnely and neuer so confidently professe that they for their partes do belieue and follow the Scriptures without due reference or respect to the Church forsomuch as all Sectaries and Heretikcs that
are no Catholicke Christians do professe the same as hath bene already euidently shewed that is to say they will openly beare the world in hand that they build their whole Religion vpon the maine foundation of the Scriptures wheras notwithstanding it is out of question that they rather build vpon their owne idle heades and fanaticall spirits forsomuch as they deduce their acknowledgement of Scriptures and the interpretation thereof from their owne braine sense and priuate fancy and not from any more stable authority at all 21. This is made euident and perspicuous if we exnmine any the least sect or sectary in the world or compare many of sundry sectes togeather for that euery one of them though as opposite among themselues as heauen and hell light and darkenes God and Beliall yet will all pretend to build vpon God his word all will appeale vnto Scriptures the Lutheran Caluiuist Anabaptist Brownist Protestant and euery other sectary but when you tye them to the point bring them to the examination of the Scriptures question them concerning these two particulers to wit which is Scripture how it is to be vnderstood then do they appeare in the liuely colours of Heretickes then do they discouer their owne hereticall fancies to be both all and the chiefe groundes that euer they had to build their religion vpon as by the ensuing Considerations will better appeare in both the heads before touched The third Consideration IF the Oracle of the Prophets and Apostles the diuine VVrit I meane so called because the holy Scriptures were written by the ministery of Propheticall and Apostolicall men be in their owne nature of that sublime excellency and transcendent eminency as hath bene formerly decyphered and discouered vnto vs If the authority of the said sacred Writ be not humane but diuine not the word of any mortall mā nor proceding frō any earthly spirit but the word of the immortall God breathed nō his heauenly spirit and consequently if it be not in it selfe most holy sacred sure certaine and of infallible truth then let vs assuredly know that as on the one side it is a capitall crime of sacriledge to decree any thing for Scripture which is not or to intrude any humane writing into the participation or association of Gods Diuine word so it is a sinne no lesse damnable on the other side to call rashly into question or to disauthorize any part or parcell of that which is Scripture indeed or to deny therunto the honour due to diuine and sacred Writ and therfore it highly importeth vs aswell in the one as in the other to mannage our selues with all humility sobriety modesty and circumspection in a matter so weighty as the Scripture is and so neerely concerning the eternall saluation or damnation of our soules 23. Now then if the point standeth thus it behoueth vs indeed if in any other matter then especially in this to vse all carefull and exact diligence that we may find out that certaine rule and infallible direction before mentioned that by the immediate guidance thereof we may most certainely attaine vnto this to wit to know what is truly Scripture and what is not if euer this were necessary then much more in these later and worser daies and times of schisme and heresie when as no small controuersies are stirred vp about the same 24. For wheras so many dangerous Sects and heresies of perdition to speake in the phrase of the holy Ghost are raised vp from hell in these our vnfortunate times vnfortunate indeed in respect or them and that within the compasse of one age since one luxurious Luther opened the first gappe to the generall detection all which schismes and heresies as before hath bene notifyed couertly shroud themselues vnder the name and pretensed veile of Scripture the first contention and now most necessary question to be discussed with them is what books of the Bible or partes therof are truely Scripture what are to be wiped away to be cut offrō the sacred Canō of holy writ and all to this end that we may vndoubtedly know vpon what groundes we may stand safely in citing authorities from thence 25. Furthermore forasmuch as all the bookes of the sacred Bible Gods holy volume haue cōmonly anciētly hitherto bene deuided into these three orders or rankes the first into such as were neuer called into questiō by Catholick men though there neuer wanted hereticks calling thēselues Christians reformed Christians as the Protestants do at this day that impugned the same as the Basilidims and the Marcionists reiecting the ould Testament as indited by an euill God and Faustus Manichaeus contemning all the foure Ghospelles as written by impostors 26. The second into such bookes as albeit some men did for some time doubt whether they were Canonicall or not yet afterwardes they are receiued into Canon by the whole Church that is held for diuine books written by the spirit of God and of such infallible truth as they may be a Canon or rule or sure direction vnto our infirmity for any thing that is found in them For so S. Augustine from the Etimology of the word describeth the meaning of the word Canonicall being applied as a fit Epethete vnto the Scriptures 27. The third order is into such bookes which notwithstanding they go ordinary in the common Bibles and containe in them many good morall instructions of piety and were sometimes by some particuler men esteemed for essentiall partes of the Scripture yet were they neuer so accompted by the vniuersall Church and therfore they are called Apecrypha that is hidden or obscure for that their authority was neuer receaued or published generally in the Church and for such are reckoned the third and fourth of Esdras the Appendix of the booke of Iob the booke of Hieremy intituled Pastor the prayer of King Manasses and finally the 151. Psalme 28. I say now this tripartite diuision of holy Writ being thus generally admitted and receiued by all orthodoxe Deuines doth it not concerne euery man that is carefull of his soules saluation to inquire diligently after the pursuite and knowledg of these things especially in this generall sommoning and appealing of all vnto the Scriptures for the finall decision of all Controuersies 29. And now to speake something to the point concerning these three rankes and orders of books The third of these is generally reiected by all as well Catholickes as Protestants the first is admitted by all All the question then is concerning the second and this comprehendeth sundry bookes both of the old and new Testament as of Hester Baruch certaine parcelles of Daniel the bookes of Tobias Iudith Sapientia Ecclesiasticus and the first and second of Machabees out of the ould Testament and certaine parts of the Ghospell of S. Marke S. Luke and S. Iohn with the Epistles of S. Iames S. Iude the 2. of S. Peter the 2. and 3. of S. Iohn and the Apocalyps
concurre and conioyne themselues with Caluin and the Caluinists in defence of the Apocalyps 39. And yet I do not perceiue how his Maiesties assertion here about these bookes doth not rather agree with the Lutherans then with the Caluinistes for so much as he holdeth all those bookes for Apocrypha no Canonicall Scripture which are named by Bellarmine to be secundiordinis in which second order as before hath beene declared the Cardinall comprehendeth also these Epistles to wit the Epistles to the Hebrewes that of S. Iames and the Apocalyps and consequently it is necessarily deduced and inferred vpon his Maiestyes wordes and discourse that he houldeth these for no Canonicall Scriptures And this is contrary vnto Caluin and vnto the Church of England and vnto his Maiesty himselfe for he auoucheth them to be Scriptures and so vpon my knowledge doth the present Church of England And lastly his Maiesties so long standing vpon the Apocalyps in this his Premonition doth well shew that he esteemeth it for Scripture and this contradiction also must light vpon him who against knowledge and conscience if he hath eyther wrongfully suggested the place of Bellarmine vnto his Matie 40. But my maine Conclusion of all is this that nothing can be certaine as here it is sufficiently prooued when a man once departeth from the Authority of the Church for this is a certaine rule vnto all such a rule as is authorized by God himselfe for then euery man may make and vnmake Scripture at their pleasure vpon their owne perill But sure I am that he can neyther giue nor take away diuine authority from the Scriptures And if you say that neyther the Church can do this I demaund first who art thou that comparest thy self with the whole Church I graunt it to be true but yet let me tell thee this withall that though the Church cannot giue diuine authority to any writing which from the beginning was not truely Scripture nor take away the same from any part of that which from the very beginning was Scripture yet may the Church declare what bookes were written by Propheticall or Apostolicall men as before hath bene said and consequently by the finger of the holy Ghost and so were Canonicall Scriptures and of infallible truth and this might the Church know partly by tradition others not knowing the same might without suspition of heresy doubt of their authority before the said declaration of the Church and partly also by the euer guiding assistance of the holy Ghost in her Synodes when any such weighty matters for direction of the whole Church were treated in which Councells the said Church after due inquisition made and inuocation of the holy Ghost as her common custome is might no lesse conclude and bind all with Visum est Spiritui Sancto Nobis then did they of the first Councell in the Actes of the Apostles which no priuate man hath authority to do though Luther and Caluin presumed to determine the same The fourth Consideration THE briefe summe of all hitherto treated of in this second Chapter concerning the Scriptures is in effect thus much first euery belieuing appealing vnto Scriptures is not sufficient to proue a man a Christian Catholicke for that ech Sectary doth offer this Secondly that tradition without Scriptures might haue continued as sufficient for instruction if God had so pleased according to that of S. Irenaeus before cited and this is proued for that both the Church vnder the law and vnder the Ghospell were instituted ordayned by tradition without Scriptures as appeareth by the very time of the writing of the Scriptures both of the old and new TestameÌ„t after that the Church was first planted Thirdly the written Scriptures are distinguished discerned what is Scripture and what not what Canonicall and what Apocrypha and that by tradition and this is all about the letter of the Scripture only There resteth yet the greatest point of all and of most importance behind and this is how true Scriptures are to be rightly sensed and interpreted For if that of Tertullian be true in the 17. Chapter of his Prescriptions Tantùm veritati obstrepit adulter sensus quantùm corruptor stylus A false glosse marreth the truth as much as a naughty text Or that of S. Hierome Nec putemus in verbis Scripturarum esse Euangelium sedin sensu non in superficie sed in medulla non in sermonum foliis sed in radice rationis Neither let vs thinke that the Ghospell resteth in the wordes of the Scriptures not in the sense of the Scriptures not in the rind or barky letter of the wordes but in the marrow of the meaning not in the wordy leaues but in the root of reason by a right vnderstanding thereof Or that of S. Augustine to the same effect Si in Scripturis fanctis profunda sunt mysteria quae ad hoc absconduntur ne vilescant ad hoc quaeruntur vt exerceant ad hoc aperiuntur vt pasâ—ant if there be profound mysteries in holy writ which are therefore hid that they become not vile therefore sought after that men may be exercised and set on worke therefore disclosed that they may feed Lastly Si mare sit diuina scriptura habens in se sensus prosundos altitudinem Propheticorum aenigmatum as S. Ambrose auerreth If diuine Scripture be a sea contayning in it bottomles depth of profound senses that is the depth of propheticall riddles questions and predictions c. Si machera c. as the same author hath it If it be a sword with a sharpe and cutting edge oh then how warily ought we to walke in this way of sensing Scriptures Quae nihil aliud est nisi Epistola quaedam omnipotentis Dei ad creaturam suam as S. Gregory speaketh which is nothing else but a certaine Epistle of the omnipotent God vnto his owne creature 42. If a subiect should eyther maliciously or negligently misinterprete the letter of his Prince and that in a matter of some great moment should he escape seuere punishment And shall the treacherous hereticke who wilfully and maliciously vpon his owne peruerse choice depraueth corrupteth and misinterpreteth the Scriptures the letter Epistle and proper hand-writing of his God escape deserued condemnation Grande periculum est in Ecclesia loqui ne fortè interpretatione peruersa de Euangelio Christi hominis fiat Euangelium aut quod peius est Diaboli So S. Hierome It is no small hazard to speake in the Church least happily the Ghospell of Christ become the Ghospell of man or that which is worse the Ghospell of the Diuell and all by a peruerse and naughty interpretation Is the Scripture a bottomlesse sea and is there no daunger of drowning nay damning in hell if men be to busy with it to abuse it Is the Scripture a sword as S. Ambrose resembleth it or a two-edged sword for so S.
Paul to the Hebrewes compareth it is there no danger of cutting and wounding and killing by this sword if it be vnwarily handled Scriptura sancta saith S. Ambrose attento animo legenda ne quis has cum legerit quasi puer macheram tractare per injantiam fortiora arma nesciret magique vulnus ex imprudentia quà m salutem ex lectione sentiret Infirmos enim tela sua vulnerant nec potest bene vti armis qui ea ferre non nouerit Sacred Scripture must be heedfully read least any man that readeth them be vnskilfull to handle these stronger weapons as a child by reason of his infancy skilleth not how to handle a sword and consequently rather receaueth and incurreth the wound of damnation through his imprudency abusing them then the help of saluation by the right reading of them For the weake are wounded by their owne weapons neyther can he vse weapons well who knoweth not to weild them 43. It is excellently obserued by Theophilact and it is the common obseruation of all the Fathers that when the Apostles curiouslly inquired nondum enim ex Alto Spiritu sancto repleti for as yet the holy Ghost was come vpon none of them afterthe knowledge of the day and houre of iudgment when the time precisely should be occultat Christus non ignorat diem he hideth the day he is not ignorant of the day let Caluin and his sectaries blaspheme as long as they will against the knowledge of Christes sacred humanity and the reason rendred of this Ne cognitio diei iudicij tanquam machera c. Least the knowledge of the day of iudgment reuealed by Christ vnto his Apostles should proue a sword put into a childes hand Thus then you see both by all former examples and especially by this last of the Apostles themselues what a dangerous way the path of the Scriptures is to walke in if we be not warily guided therin For as by the natiue and genuine interpretation of Gods sacred Epistle as S. Gregory stileth holy VVrit men are directed aright through the sourges of the seas of this world to ariue securely at the hauen of saluation euen so by the erroneous and false exposition of the same Scripture men are deceiptfully misguided wrongfully lead as it were blind-folded into the brakes and briers of pestiferous and pernicious heresies to the euerlasting damnation both of the beginners and followers 44. S. Paul calleth the Scripture the sauour of life vnto life and the sauour of death vnto death which as it is true in that place in respect of the sauing of some and the perishing of others so it is most true in regard of the right sensing of it by the sonnes of the Catholick Church who follow Catholicke interpretation and the wrong interpreting of it by others as are out of the Church and adhere vnto false exposition and hereticall innouation 45. Tertullian of opinion that the Scriptures themselues are so disposed by the will of God that they should minister matter vnto Hereticks his reason is because he readeth in Scripture that there must be Hereticks which without Scriptures could not be and yet his meaning is not that the Scriptures are the cause thereof Christs propheticall prediction was no cause of Iudas treason but rather mans temerarious presumption vpon Gods word and precipitate intrusion into his booke by erroneous and false conceipted opinion is the true cause of all errour and heresy 46. S. Augustine writing to Consentius doth excellently discouer the cause of heresy in these words Omnes Haeretici Scriptur as sibt videntur scrutari cùm suos potiùs scrutentur errores per hoc non quòd eas contemnant sed quód eas non intelligant Haeretici fiant All heretickes to seeme to themselues to follow Scriptures when in very deed they rather follow their owne errours and hereby it commeth to passe that they are made hereticks not for that they contemne the Scriptures but for that they vnderstand them not 47. But heere me thinks I heare the Hereticks obiect as I haue heard them often whilest I did frequent their hereticall Conuenticles and Sermons that the Scriptures are easy to be vnderstood That the Word is neare vs not farre from vs That it is a lanterne vnto our stepps and a light vnto our pathes And thus will they fly through the law and the psalmes the Prophets and Apostles as Vincentius noteth of the Heretickes of his time to proue the facility of the Scriptures To this I answer and grant it to be true in respect of sundry passages of holy Writ where the lambe may wade as well as the Elephant may swymme yet that other places of Scripture are hard intricate mysticall and very apt to be mistaken besides many proofes and those most pregnant that might be brought out of the Scriptures and Fathers the experience of our vnfortunate dayes doth most clearely euince 48. For otherwise how commeth it to passe that all Christendome is in an vprore about the exposition of Scriptures How grow so many contentions amongst the learned at this day Why haue we so desperate and obstinate heresies grounded as the heretickes thinke vpon such apparent and pregnant places of Scripture as that the Authors thereof being deceaued themselues and deceiuing others by the Scriptures will rather desperatly choose to loose their liues their soules togeather then to forgoe and abiure their opinions in matter of religion which once by the least apparent shew of Scripture they haue begunne to defend These men though neuer so learned neuer so wise neuer so morally vertuous yet are they deceiued Shall I say by Scripture nay rather they wilfully by their owne hereticall choice against the knowne interpretation of Catholicke Church Roman Church ancient Church abuse the Scriptures and so are deceaued intangled blindfolded and this they could neuer be brought vnto if the Scriptures were so easy that a priuate spirit might interprete without the publicke spirit and interpretation of the Church And to this S. Augustine alludeth saying Multis multiplicibus obscuritatibus ambiguitatibus decipiuntur qui temerè legunt Scripturas aliud pro alto sentientes They which do rashly read Scriptures are deceaued with many and sundry obscurityes and ambiguities taking one sense for another which would not be if all were easy in the holy Scriptures as all Sectaries do pretend 49. The vnderstanding then and true sense of the Scriptures is the very mayne point which importeth and importuneth vs for our saluation and in seeking out this if euer by seeking we meane to find it we must first abandon our owne iudgment and particuler election and imbrace the common publicke iudgment of Christ his Church This is the interpreter of the Scriptures this is the controller and guider of all certayne and sure exposition Expetitque hic sensus certae interpretationis gubernaculum to cite the whole sentence out of Tertullian this
of Triall offered and alledged by his Maiesty of England HAVING discoursed at large of the three generall heades to wit Scriptures Creedes Councells in the three precedent Chapters we are now according to order and method both offered vnto vs and accepted of vs to treat of the last generall head in this subsequent Chapter And the subiect we haue how in hand is touching the high esteeme credit and authority to be giuen to the ancient Fathers vnto which his Matie doth appeale in this last place saying thus I do reuerence the ancient Fathers as much and more then the Iesuites do and asmuch as themselues euer craued For what euer the Fathers of the first foure hundred yeares did with an vnanime consent agree vpon to be belieued as a necessary poynt of saluation I eyther will belieue it also or at least wil be humbly silent not taking vpon me to condemne the same But for euery priuate Father his opinion it byndes not my conscience more then Bellarmines euery one of the Fathers vsually contradicting others I will therefore in that case follow S. Augustine his rule in iudging their opinions as I shall find them agree with the Scriptures what I find agreeable thereunto I will imbrace what is otherwise I will with their reuerence reiect So the King And that his Maiesty for his part hath also a good meaning in this as farre as his education and instruction can possibly permitt and further that he is perswaded that he speaketh and meaneth like a good Catholicke and orthodox Christian I do with all diligence and due respect of loyall duty vnto his Royall grace endeauour to perswade myselfe 2. And yet neuerthelesse it is more then euident and apparant yea obuious vnto the eye of any discreet indifferent iudicious and vnderstanding man that his Excellent Grace hath bene notoriously abused and very sinisterly an erroneously informed in sundry passages of this poynt and mayne head concerning the reuerence respect and authority due to the Fathers of Gods Church and that by such Statizing and temporizing Ministers that being no longer able to sustaine their weake false cause quaeipsissimo suo ruit pondere would deriue the shame blame and burden of their now present tottering Religion vpon the person of his Princely Maiesty ingaging him thus in their hereticall quarrell and therefore they suggest from time to time such particulers out of euery generall as serue rather for their owne sinister respects then eyther for the preuention of errour or decision of truth or preseruation of the honour and soueraigne reputation of his Princely Person whence it commeth to passe that they impressionate his Princely hart with their owne particuler humorous passions exagitate his grace with their odious and malitious calumniations bent against the vpright and the innocent in a word they rather auert his affection from ancient Catholicke verity and peruert his iudgement by their erroneous fancy and late vpstart nouelty then lay forth the playne and simple truth vnto his Maiesty though they professe themselues to be Ministers of simple truth eyther in sound substance or sincere circumstance And this God willing we shall discouer by many particuler passages in this present busines and poynt of ancient Fathers that we haue now in hand 3. And first to proceed in order and to beginne with the accusation and imputation laid vpon the lesuits for that they are here charged according to that which hath bene suggested vnto his Maiesty for I will neuer lay this imputation and false accusatioÌ„ vpon his Princely Person that they do not reuerence the authority of the ancient Fathers indeed not so much as his Maiesty doth who saith here as you haue heard That when the Fathers of the first soure huÌ„dred years do with an vnanime consent agree vpon any thing to be belieued as a necessary poynt of saluation his Highnes will belieue it also or at least wil be humbly silent and not condemne the same But he that will peruse and read ouer the learned and manifould laborious volumes of the Iesuites shall find theÌ„ to go much further in this point teaching and constantly asseuering with Vincentius Lyrineusis and with the ioynt agreement of antiquity that the vnanime consent of Fathers vpon any point maketh it an infallible truth Quod Patres Doctores saith Gregorius de Valentia vnanimi consensu circa religionem tradunt infallibiliter verum est VVhatsoeuer the Fathers and Doctours deliuer with one consent about religion that is infallibly true And the same do hold all other Iesuites which also Vincentius Lyrinensis more then a thousand yeares before them doth confirme in these wordes Hos ergo in Ecclesia Dei diuinitus per tempora loca dispensatos quisquis in sensu Catholici dogmatis vnum aliquid in Christo sentientes contempserit non hominem contemnit sed Deum These therefore he meaneth the ancient Fathers and Doctors of the Church giuen and granted by God throughout all ages and places whosoeuer shall contemne them agreeing vpon any one point in Christ in the sense of Catholick Doctrine he contemneth not man but God 4. And this is grounded and proued as the said Valentia noteth vpon that discourse of S. Paul Ephes. 4. where he sheweth how Christ ascending into heauen left his Church furnished and fenced with all kynd of necessary furniture for her present instruction future direction and perpetuall prescruation as with Apostles Prophets Euangelists Pastors Doctors and this vnto the worldes end And the reason of this is that which the foresaid Authour obserueth out of the Apostle himselfe Vt non circumferamur omni vento Doctrinae that we should not be carried hither and thither and tossed vp and downe with euery blast of Doctrine 5. And finally he confirmeth the same by shewing that this great absurdity would otherwayes follow that if the whole consent of Fathers may erre then may they induce the whole Church to erre yea inforce her therunto for that the Church is bound to follow and belieue the vnamine consent of her Pastours Doctors Gouernours and teachers and that throughout all ages of the Church 6. This is the doctrine which I find amongst the Iesuites concerning the accompt and reckoning that is to be made of the vniforme and vnamine consent of Fathers For with Gregory de Valentia as now I haue said doe agree all the most eminent and principall writers of that Society as for example Doctor Petru Canisâ—us in his later Catechisme Cap. 11. Cardinall Bellarmine in his fourth booke de verbo Dei cap. 9. Vasquez tom 1. in primam part Disp. 12. Cap. 1. Maldonatus in 6. Ioan. Tolet vpon the 6. Chapter of S. Iohn and many others which as I take it is a great deale more then here is granted by ProtestaÌ„ts vnto the Fathers since there is no more yet promised and professed then eyther to belieue them or to be humbly silent and not condemne them 7.