whom all the promises of God are Yea and Amen to the glory of God the Father yet withall it doth not restraine its generall influence of beleefe from any part of Gods Word no more than the eye of the body doth shut it selfe from seeing any other thing present before it than that particular obiect to which the radius or beam directly pointeth What need more testimonies yet the ancient Fathers of the Church haue not left vs without witnesse in this point I will vse but one or two for breuity Chrysostome saith This is the propertie of true Faith when aâ— the promise being made not after a manner customary or familiar with men we confidently beleeue the power of the promiser Thou seest how euen before the euent and accomplishment of the promises Abraham in as much as he beleeued receiueth a sufficient reward For to beleeue the promise of God was imputed to him for righteousnesse Therefore to beleeue Gods promise is both able to make vs iust and shall cause vs to obtaine the promises By Faith we procure righteousnesse and obtain the good promises And the same Father vpon the tenth to the Romanes saith Hoc potissimum peculiare est fidei vt promissa Dei cunctacomplectamur This is chiefly peculiar to Faith that we embrace all the promises of God Thus we see this holy man placeth the promises of God in Christ as the prime obiect of iustifying Faith St. Ambrose saith Si exclusa fuerit promissio sine dubio frustratur Fides Abrahae Quod ne audire quidem se patiuntur Iudaei scientes quia promissio ex Fide est Abrahae Quae promissio ex Fide iustificat non per Legem sicut Abraham iustificatus ex Fide est Hi ergo haeredes sunt promissionis Abrahae qui illi succedunt suscipientes Fidem in qua benedictus iustificatus est Abraham Testimonium ergo promissionis Abrahae testamentum appellatur vt post mortem eius Haeredes essent in promissione Filij eius factiper Fidem That is If the promise be excluded without doubt the Faith of Abraham is made voyde which not euen the Iewes themselues endure to heare knowing that the promise is of the Faith of Abraham Which promise doth iustifie by Faith not through the Law as also Abraham is iustified by Faith They therefore are Heires of the promise to Abraham which succeede him by entertaining the Faith wherein Abraham is blessed and iustified Therfore the testimonie of the promise to Abraham is called a Testament that after his death they might bee Heires in the promise beeing made his Sonnes by Faith So Ambrose Thus wee haue the testimonies of two faithfull witnesses testifying this most Catholicke doctrine of Faith not onely of Abraham but consequently of all the faithfull That the promises of God in Christ are the maine obiect of sauing and iustifying Faith And these witnesses shall stand in stead of many Hence it is that Faith in Scripture is called Confidence or Assiance because it embraceth the promise of God in Christ as the proper obiect of it as we touched before In a word those famous ancient Creeds vniuersally receiued in the Church especially the Apostolicall the Nicene and Athanasius his Creede all of them called the obiect of Faith as being the abridgement of the Word of God what do they commend vnto vs as the maine and sole obiect of sauing and iustifying Faith but Iesus Christ his incarnation passion resurrection ascention session at Gods right hand c. together with the fruits we reape from this tree of life as to bee made his liuing members beleeuing the holy Catholicke Church the Communion of Saints the Remission of sinnes the Resurrection of the body and the life euerlasting all the effects and fruits of Gods promises in Christ. But say the Pontificians faith is an act of the vnderstanding as being seated in the intellectuall part of the soule and not in the will and therefore it is but a bare assent to the truth of Gods word in generall and so also of the promises contained therein and no speciall affiance in the goodnesse of God particularly towards a mansselfe And so they make onely the truth of God reuealed as being apprehended and assented vnto by the vnderstanding to be the obiect of faith and not the goodnesse of God contained in his promises as being entertained and embraced by the will But for the clearing of this point we may first obserue how the Church of Rome as in other points of doctrine so in this maine point of Faith doth most pitifully interfeere For which cause let me here insert a passage in the Prouinciall Councell of Colen celebrated Anno 1536. some nine years before the Councell of Trent which will partly confirme what hath beene formerly said concerning the nature of true Faith and confront this Pontifician obiection now in hand This Prouinciall Synod setteth downe a three-fold kinde of beleeuing following therein St Augustine vpon the Creed Credo in Deum which we haue a little before cited We will set down the very words of the Synod which acknowledgeth Duplicem seu triplicom esse fidei sâ—u credendi rationem Siquidem vna est qua Deum esse ac caetera quae Scriptura commemorat non aliter quam historica quadam fide recitata vera credimus Vnde historica fides appellatur quam nobiscum Damones communâ—m habent Altera qua Deo credimus quae persuasio constans opinio est quae fidem promissionibus comminationibus diuinis adhibemus quam habent iniusti cum iustis communem Tertia fidei ratio est qua in Deum credimus solis pijs peculiaris quae certissima quaedam fiducia est qua tâ—tâ—s nos Deo submittimus totique à gratia misericordia Dei pendemus Haec spem complectitur charitatem indiuiduam comitem habet Prima credendi ratio seu fides illa Historica si solam accipias informis est veluti adhuc mortua Altera verò qua Deo tantum credimus nec dum tamen erga Deum religiosa pietate assicimur manâ—a Sedtertiâ— qua in Deum credimus pioque affectu in â—um tendimus ea demum viuida atque integra fides est c. That is There is a two-fold or three-fold sort of faith or beleeuing One is whereby wee beleeue that God is as also other things which the Scripture relates wee beleeue to be true no otherwise than by a kinde of Historicall faith recorded whence it is called an Historicall faith which the Deuils haue in common with vs. The second is whereby wee beleeue God which is a perswasion and constant opinion whereby wee giue credit both to Gods promises and threatnings which faith the wicked haue in common with the righteous The third sort of faith is that whereby wee beleeue in God which is peculiar onely to the godly being a kinde of most certaine confidence or affiance
they vtterly renounce all Certainety of Faith and of Saluation For what certainty of Faith can there bee if the holy Scriptures the obiect and ground of Faith be not certaine And what certainty can there bee in the Scriptures if they must depend vpon the authority of the Church for their certainetie And what certainty can there be in the Church if this Church be no other than the Church of Rome And what certainety can there bee in the Church of Rome when it wholly depends vpon a the only breast of a sinfull man vpon whose infallibilitie notwithstanding the whole Pontifician Church cannot finde no not the least footing for any Certainty of Saluation to stand vpon But to remoue this heape of Rubbish although for multiplicity of Controuersie it be growne to a mighty Mountain which may seeme to exceede the strength and labour of Hercules himselfe to remoue yet I trust with one small graine of Faith to ouerturne this Mountaine into the Sea For first whether was the Word of God or the Church more ancient Was not Gods Word For by the voyce thereof was the Church first called Where was the Church when the Gospell began first to be reuealed Gen. 3. 15. As yet the whole world in Adam and Eue lay buried in Apostacy and now totus mundus in maligno positus the whole world lay in wickednesse till this Word of the Gospell of the promised and blessed seede of the woman made a separation and did constitute a Church So that the first ground and foundation of the Church is the Word of God as it was also of the first frame of the Creation Hereupon the Apostle saith That the Church is built vpon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Iesus Christ being the chiefe corner stone in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth vnto an holy Temple in the Lord. The foundation of the Apostles and Prophets is the Old and New Testament whereof Christ Iesus is the chiefe corner stone Away with the blasphemy of the Councell of Lateran that calleth the Pope Leo the tenth the corner stone and the Lyon of the Tribe of Iuda and many such blasphemous titles which are proper and peculiar only to the person of Christ. But that eyther the Church or the Pope of Rome had any such authority and power ouer the Scriptures it was neuer known in those purer times of the Church when the sweet and salutiferous streames of the waters of life were not as yet poysoned and imbittered with that Luciferian wormewood starre that fell from heauen It was in those primitiue and virgine times the Catholicke Doctrine of the Church That the Church was to be ruled by the Scriptures and not the Scriptures by the Church much lesse by any one man St Augustine saith De Catholica Ecclesia id credant homines quod Diuinae Scripturae dicunt non quod linguae humanae maledicunt Let men beleeue that concerning the Catholicke Church which the Diuine Scriptures doe say and not which mens tongues doe mis-say By which place we see that the Catholicke Church is to bee estimated according to that which the Scriptures testifie of it Therefore not contrary And in his Booke of the vnity of the Church Ecclesiam suam demonstrent c. Let the Donatists shew mee their Church not in the tales and rumours of the Affricans not in the Synods of their Bishops not in the learning of their disputants not in their deceitfull signes and prodigies for wee are fore-warned and fore-armed against such things by the word of the Lord but in the prescript of the Law in the predictions of the Prophets in the songs of the Psalmes in the Shepheards owne voyce in the preachings and labours of the Euangelists to wit in all the Canonicall authorities of the holy Bookes Nor so saith hee as that they collect and quote such places as are obscurely or ambiguously or figuratiuely spoken which euery man interprets at his pleasure according to his owne sense For such places cannot be truly vnderstood and expounded vnlesse first those which are most plainely deliuered bee by a firme Faith entertained Note here the Catholicke doctrine of those times teaching that the authority and sense of the Scriptures depended not vpon the Church but the authority of the Church vpon the Scriptures and the Scriptures were to bee interpreted by themselues to wit the more obscure places by the more plaine as he speaketh often elsewhere in his Bookes De doctrina Christiana I will adde one place in steed of many Quit autem nesciat c. Who can bee ignorant saith hee that the holy Canonicall Scripture as well of the Old as of the New Testament is contained within its owne fixed limits and that it is so preferred before all the latter writings of Bishops as that it may not bee disputed or doubted off whether it bee true or salse whatsoeuer is found written in it and for the writings of Bishops which eyther haue beene or are written after the establishment of the Canon of Scriptures they haue beene subiect to the wiser iudgements and grauer authorities of some more skilfull and learned Bishops and might bee censured by Councels if ought therein swarued from the truth and those very Councels themselues which are prouinciall doe without scruple submit to the authority of plenary Councels assembled from the vniuersall Christian world of those plenary generall Councels often times the former are corrected by the latter when by some better experiment of things that which was shut is opened and that which was hid is made known without any swelling of sacrilegions pride without any strouting of arrogancy without any contention of bleake enuie with holy humility with Catholicke peace with Christian charity So that Bishops are corrigible by prouinciall Councels these by generall Councels and these also by some latter Councels as being all subiect to imperfection But the holy Scriptures come vnder the fâ—rula of no Bishop or Councell to bee censured Nay as Augustine saith Titubabit fides si diuinarum Scriptunar â—â—â—â—cillat authoritas Faith will stagger and stumble if the authority of the diuine Scriptures doe wauer And hee taxeth the Manicheans of this impiety and sacriledge that they went about quite to take away the authority of the Scriptures approuing any thing not because they found it written in that supreame authority but because their fancy tooke a liking to it therefore they approued the Scriptures And so their priuate sâ—â—sâ— must giue authority to the Scriptures which they frame to their owne fancy and not the Scriptures giue authority to their Doctrines What difference then is there betweene the Pontificians and the Manicheans in this maine point But the Pontificians of old obiect vnto vs one speciall authority out of St. Augustine to ouerthrow all that hee hath said for the supreame authority of the Scriptures aboue the Church His words are which they obiect and wherein
they greatly triumph to proue the authority of the Church aboue the Scriptures Ego Euangelio non crederem â—isiâ—e Catholicae Ecclesiae câ—â—mâ—â—eret authoritas that is I should not beleeue the Gospell vnlesse the authority of the Catholicke Church did moue me Now if we obserue the occasion of this saying of Augustine it will easily appeare that hee had no such meaning as to preferre the authority of the Catholicke Church before the authority of the holy Scriptures for then hee should with one breath contradict the whole tenure of all his writings wherein hee still aduanceth the authority of the Scriptures aboue all as irrefragable supreame and subiect to no authority Now the occasion of this speech of Augustine was this Manicheus a grand Heretique writes an Epistle to Augustine wherein he stiles himselfe Manichaeus Apostolus Iesu Christi prouidentia Dei Patris that is Manicheus the Apostle of Iesus Christ by the prouidence of God the Father Whereupon Augustine saith Haec sunt salubria verba de perenni ac viâ—â— fonte These are wholesome words from the eternall liuing fountain But with your good patience saith Augustine if it please you obserue what I require Non credo istum esse Apostolum Christi quaeso ne succenseatis maledicere incipiatis c. I doe not beleeue that this is an Apostle of Christ I pray you bee not angry and fall a reuiling for you know that I am resolued to beleeue nothing rashly that you say I aske therefore who this Manicheus is you will answer me an Apostle of Christ. I doe not beleeue it Now thou hast nothing what to say or doe for thou didst promise me the knowledge of the truth and now thou constrainest mee to beleeue that which I know not But haply thou wilt reade the Gospell vnto me and out of that thou wilt assay to proue the person of Manicheus Now if thou shouldst finde any man who as yet doth not beleeue the Gospell what wouldst thou doe if he said vnto thee I doe not beleeue it Ego vero Euangelio non crederem nisi c. For I should not beleeue the Gospell vnlesse the authority of the Catholicke Church did moue me Quibus ergo c. whom then I haue obeyed when they said Beleeue the Gospell why should I not beleeue them saying vnto me Doe not beleeue Manicheus Elige quid velis Choose which thou wilt If thou wilt say Beleeue the Catholickes they admonish mee to giue no credit to you Wherefore giuing credit to them I cannot but not beleeue thee if thou shalt say Doe not beleeue the Catholickes thou goest not the right way to compell me by the Gospell to the faith of Manicheus seeing I beleeued the Gospell it selfe being preached vnto mee by the Catholickes And so forth to this purpose Augustine pursueth his discourse So we see the question is about the truth of Manicheus his title calling himselfe an Apostle of Iesus Christ c. This hee obtrudes and thrusts vpon Augustine to giue credit to it Augustine and that worthily makes question of it Hee would haue him proue it by the Gospell Well But Manicheus foylteth in some counterfeit Gospell wherein he stiles himselfe an Apostle of Iesus Christ a Gospell that was neuer acknowledged for Canonicall Scripture But Manicheus will haue it receiued for Gospell How shall it be tryed Is it therefore Gospel because Manicheus saith it Or doth the Gospell depend vpon the testimony of one man No saith Augustine Pagan-Infidels are brought to receiue and beleeue the Gospell by the preaching of the Catholicke Church which hath from time to time kept the Canon of Scriptures intire without the mixture of counterfeit Gospels By this authority of the Catholicke Church to wit by the preaching of the Gospell by the Church Augustine himselfe when hee was a Manichee was wonne to the faith of the Gospell Hence it is that instancing himselfe for one that as yet beleeued not the Gospell hee saith Ego non crederem Euangelio c. I should not that is I if I were as once I was an vnbeleeuing Manichee I should not beleeue the Gospell vnlesse the authority of the Catholicke Church did moue me So that hee makes the comparison betweene the authority of the Catholicke Church and the authority of one man Manicheus The question is Whether Augustine if he were a neutrall beleeuer as yet neyther beleeuing that Gospell which Manicheus bringeth neuer heard of before nor that which the Catholicke Church preacheth and hath euer taught should rather bee induced by the peremptory authority of one sole man to beleeue a new Gospell than by the authenticke authority of the Catholick Church of Christ to beleeue the euerlasting Gospell of Iesus Christ comprehended in both the Testaments and perpetually receiued preserued professed preached and beleeued of the Catholicke Church from all ages In this case Augustine inclines cleaues to the authority of the Catholick Church And what true Catholicke doth not reuerence the authority of the Church of God bringing him to Christ by the preaching of the Gospell as the Samaritan woman brought her neighbour Citizens to Christ But being brought vnto Christ after they had heard him themselues they said to the woman Now we beleeue not because of thy saying for wee haue heard him our selues and know that this is indeede the Christ the Sauiour of the world So euery beleeuer may say I was first induced and as it were led by the hand and voice of the Church to beleeue the Gospell of Christ but after that I haue heard receiued and beleeued Christ himselfe speaking in the Scriptures I now beleeue not for the Church or any mans saying but for the authority of Christ and the Scriptures themselues As Augustine ingeniously saith to Paulina Nolo authoritatem meam sequaris vt c. I would not haue you follow my authority that you should therefore thinke it necessary to beleeue any thing because it is spoken by mee but beleeue eyther the Canonicall Scriptures or the truth that doth inwardly teach and giue testimony thereof For if a truth bee once confirmed by the euident authority of holy Scriptures to wit those which in the Church are called Canonicall it is without all doubting to be beleeued And in his third booke against Maximinus an Arrian Bishop disputing about the word Homousion Augustine saith Nec ego Nicenum nec tu debes Ariminense c. Neyther ought I to vrge the authority of the Nicene Councell nor you that of Ariminum for neyther am I bound to the authority of this nor you of that but both of vs are bound to the authorities of the Scriptures common witnesses to vs both and vnpartiall to eyther So let thing with thing cause with cause reason with reason contend Such was the Catholicke Doctrine of those times wherein Augustine liued that the authority of the Canonicall Scriptures was aboue all other authority eyther of Bishops
or prouinciall Synods or generall Councels In those times the man of sinne had not thus exalted himselfe aboue all that is called God or that is worshipped as to vsurpe authority ouer the sacred Scriptures whose authority is venerable as Augustine saith Omnia quâ— proferâ—â—tur à sanctis Scripturis plena veneratione suscipere debemus All things whatsoeuer are deliuered out of the holy Scriptures wee ought to entertaine with all reuerence As Tertullian saith Adoro Scripturae plenitudinem I adore the fulnesse of the Scriptures But what need we further testimonies to vindicate thisi Catholick truth that the authority of holy Scriptures was euer aboue the Church yet we will only adde a testimony or two that in the mouth of two or three witnesses euery word may be established In St. Chrysostomes workes the vncertaine author but allowed of all euen of the Pontificians themselues vpon the 24. Chapter of St. Matthew vpon these words Then when yee shall see the abomination of desolation stand in the holy place let them which are in Iudea flee to the mountaines saith thus that is When ye shall see wicked heresie which is the Army of Antichrist standing in the holy places of the Church then they which are in Iudea let them flye to the Mountaines that is they which are in Christianity let them betake themselues to the Scriptures For as a true Iew is a Christian as the Apostle saith Hee is not a Iew that is one outward but hee that is one inward So the true Iudea is Christianity whose name doth signifie Confession And the Mountaines are the Scriptures of the Apostles and Prophets as it is said of the Church her foundation is vpon the holy Mountaines And why at this time doth hee command all Christians to betake themselues to the Scriptures Because at this time since Heresie hath inuaded the Churches there can be no triall of true Christianity nor other refuge for Christians which desire to know the truth of faith but the holy Scriptures For formerly it was knowne many wayes which was the Church of Christ and which was Gentilisme but now those which would know which is the true Church of Christ cannot know it by any other meanes but by the Scriptures Why Because all those things which are proper to Christ in the truth the same also heresies haue in a figure or similitude they haue likewise Churches they haue likewise the Diuine Scriptures themselues likewise Bishops and other Orders of Clerkes likewise Baptisme likewise the Eucharist and all other things and in a word Christ himselfe Therefore if any would know which is the true Church of Christ how can he in the confusion of so great a similitude discerne it but only by the Scriptures And many other things to this purpose doth the same author there set downe sending vs to the Scriptures as the only touch-stone to try the true Church from the false counterfeit Antichristian Church If therefore the true Church of Christ be known onely by the Scriptures then surely the Scriptures depend not vpon the authority of the Church But that must needes bee the Antichristian Church that challengeth and vsurpeth an absolute power ouer the Scriptures which for their authority and sense must be beholden to the Church to wit the Church of Rome to wit the Pope And the same Authour in the 44. Homily vpon the 23. of Matthew saith Hereticall Priests doe shut the gates of truth to wit the holy Scriptures for they know that if the truth should once bee made manifest then their Church is to be forsaken and themselues must come downe from their sacerdotall dignity to a popular basenesse and neither themselues doe enter into the truth of the Scriptures because of their auarice nor suffer others to enter by reason of ignorance But in a point so cleare and not once called into question among the Fathers of former ages but onely by a sort of Heretiques as the Arrians and Manichees and the like still the authority of the Scriptures was preferred aboue all till of late dayes the Church of Rome hauing called from the dead the old hereticall vsurpation hath cryed downe this authoritie of the Scriptures We shall not need to produce more authorities out of the Fathers to vindicate the Scriptures authority aboue the Church or any man whatsoeuer Let vs conclude the controuersie onely with one question The Church of Rome challengeth authoritie ouer the Scriptures I would faine know who gaue her this authoritie For whatsoeuer authority the Church of Rome hath if shee haue it not from the Scriptures of what worth is her authority And if she haue her authority from the Scriptures how comes shee to challenge authority ouer that from whom shee receiueth her authority vnlesse the Church of Rome deale with the Scriptures in the case of authoritie as she hath dealt with the Emperours in the case of supremacy For the Bishop of Rome first receiued his supremacy ouer other Bishops from the Emperour hauing it confirmed by that vsurping Parricide Phocas This supremacy not long after grew to that height as that it ouer-topt the imperiall Soueraignety it selfe and so the Pope began to vsurpe authority ouer the Emperour of whom hee receiued his supreame authority Thus he dealeth with the Scriptures For the Pope cannot but confesse that what authority hee hath is grounded vpon the Scriptures else his authority is of no value yet notwithstanding the Pope is not ashamed to auouch that now the authority of the Scriptures doth wholly depend vpon him But if the Popes authority bee such as it hath no ground nor foundation in the Scriptures then he must proue it to bee some diuine Numen falling vnto him immediately from Heauen like the image that came downe from Iupiter so adored of those Ephesians whose Goddesse Diana was so famous Nor euer was that image nor that great Goddesse Diana more adored of the Ephesian world than this imaginary vnlimited transcendent power of the Pope ouer Scriptures and all adored of the Pontifician world But say some Angell from heauen brought him this power in a boxe Vnlesse this power haue vtterly taken away all power and Authoritie yea and truth from the Scriptures it cannot escape Pauls Anathema which Augustine applyeth and wherwith we will shut vp this point Siue de Christo c. Whether it be of Christ or of his Church or of any thing whatsoeuer pertaining to our faith and life I will not say Wee for wee are not to be compared to him that said Although that wee but as he addeth there If an Angel from heauen shall preach vnto you besides that which you haue receiued in the Legall and Euangelicall Scriptures let him bee accursed Now what can be of greater moment concerning faith and life than the Popes authority ouer the Scriptures which being not found in the Scriptures it is together with the Pope and all his worshippers branded with Anathema Which
iust namely of him who iustifieth the vngodly that of impious he may be made righteous Or surely it is so said They shall be iustified as if it were said They shall bee accounted iust they shall be reputed iust So he Thus we see though St. Augustine following the etymologie of the word take iustificare to iustifie or make iust yet hee meaneth nothing else but the accounting or reputing iust and not the infusing of grace whereby to be made iust And Bernard also saith Adde huc vt credas quod per ipsum tibi peccata donantur Hoc est testimonium quod perhibet in corde nostro Spiritus sanctus dicens Dimissa sunt tibi peccata Sic enim arbitratur Apostolus Gratis iustificari hominem per fidem Adde to this that thou beleeue that by him thy sinnes are forgiuen thee This is the testimonie which the holy Ghost beareth in our heart saying Thy sinnes are forgiuen thee For so the Apostle concludeth That a man is iustified freely by faith But let vs heare from the holy Ghosts own mouth in the Scriptures he will leade vs into all truth To iustifie in Scripture is vsually taken in a iudiciall sense as beeing properly a iudiciall word iustification beeing opposed to condemnation The Hebrewes haue one word which signifies to iustifie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and it is still applyed to such a iustification as a man stands vpon in a iudiciall tryall As Genesis 44. 16. Mah nits tadhac how shall wee iustifie our selues said Iudah to his brother Ioseph in regard of the cup found in Beniamins sacke which seemed now to be brought to aiudiciall Tryall So 2. Sam. 15. 4. Absolon wisheth hee were Iudge of the Land that hee might doe euery man iustice or iustifie him Reade also for this purpose Deut. 25. 1. Psal. 51. 4. 1 Kings 8. 32. Pro. 17. 15. Esay 5. 23. 43. 26. Matth. 12. 37. 1. Cor. 4. 4. and many other places in Scripture to this purpose doe plainely shew how this word Iustifie is properly taken namely to acquit or cleere to pronounce or declare one iust by the sentence of the Iudge This sense of iustification the Church of Rome cannot endure they smother or at least smooth it ouer by slight of hand as a matter of no moment Whereas indeede there is nothing that will more directly leade vs to the true vnderstanding of the nature of iustification than the consideration of this word taken in a iudiciall sense wherein the holy Ghost doth vse it namely to acquit and absolue a man and pronounce him iust by sentence of iudgement This sheweth that the point of iustification of a sinner is not so light a matter as Papists and profane persons would make it No it is a Case to be tried at the barre of Gods iudgement-seate in whose sight shall no man liuing bee iustified Holy Iob while hee pleaded with his opposite friends hee wanted not matter for his iustification but when once the Lord God summons â—im out of the whirle-winde before his throne and bids him girde vp his loynes like a man Iob stands not now vpon his vprightnesse but confesseth I am vile what shall I answer thee I will lay my hand vpon my mouth c. Iob 40. 4. and 42. 5. I haue heard of thee by the hearing of the eare but now mine eye seeth thee Wherefore I abhorre my selfe and repent in dust and ashes Yea hee had said before Chap. 9. 15. Whom though I were righteous yet would I not answer but I would make supplication to my Iudge for God is a righteous and seuere iudge and who may stand in his sight when he is angry when hee sits to iudge For the heauens are not cleane in his sight how much more abominable and filthie is man which drinketh iniquitie like water Iob 15. 16. If therefore our iustification be such as must proceede from Gods iudgement seate and must be sentenced by Gods owne mouth it neerely concernes euery Mothers Sonne to bee well aduised vpon what ground we stand what euidence wee can bring to cleare our selues to satisfie our vnpartiall Consciences to stop the mouth of the accusing Diuell and to abide the fierie triall of that Iudge who is euen a consuming fire and will condemne euen the least sinne to the pit of hell But that wee may not mistake the true acception of iustification we are to consider iustification in a two-fold relation or respect either as it hath relation to God or to man before whom also we are said to be iustified but in a different yea opposite respect whereof we shall haue occasion to speake hereafter Here wee speake of Iustification in the first relation Now this iustification of a sinner in the sight of God whereof wee speake proceedeth from a iudiciall tryall In this sense it is vsed by the holy Ghost Rom. 8. 33 34. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect It is God that iustifieth who is he that condemneth It is Christ that dyed yea rather that is risen againe c. This iustification the Lord Iesus doth oppose to condemnation Iohn 5. 24. where speaking of iudgement vers 22. he inferreth Verily Verily I say vnto you Hee that heareth my word and beleeueth on him that sent me hath euerlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death vnto life And like as Iesus Christ was condemned by a iudiciall proceeding Pilate giuing sentence though according to such euidence as was most vntrue in it selfe so all those for whom Christ was thus iudicially condemned shall be iudicially iustified and acquitted But this wil appear more clearly in setting down the formall cause of our iustification To speake to the capacity of the simple By formall cause is meant that which giues a being to iustification as forma dat esse the forme of a thing giues being vnto it That therefore which makes a man perfectly iust is called the formall cause of his iustification Now the Pontificians would hence conclude That inherent qualities must be the formall cause of iustification alledging the authority of Philosophers who say That the formall cause is the thing or quality which is in the subiect as the soule of man is in the body And therefore they exclude the righteousnesse of Christ whereby he is formally iust from being the formall cause of our iustification because say they Christs righteousnesse is in himselfe not in vs. But no maruaile if these Pontificians doe wrest the Maximes of Philosophers from their natiue sense when they dare so familiarly force the Scriptures themselues The Philosophers speake of a physicall formality but the holy Scriptures speake of the iustification of a sinner in the sight of God the forme whereof is relatiue and not physically inherent in vs. But be it so that the formall cause must alwayes be in the subiect to which it giues a being the formall cause then of iustification must be inherent Wherein
on earth he might exalt vs thither whither else not euen Adams best obedience could euer haue brought him much lesse ours Which may answer to a question that here may be fitly moued Quest. Whether the obedience of the whole Law of God wrought by Christ for vs is auaileable as to redeeme vs from the punishment of sinne so to purchase vnto vs eternall life in heauen The reason of the question is because not the Law if it had beene for euer perfectly fulfilled by Adam had any promise of that eternall life and immediate vision in heauen but only of this life Heauen is not within the Couenant of workes Answ. True it is that the fulfilling of the Law in it selfe simply considered hath no proportion with that endlesse life aboue For the first Adam was of the earth earthly and all his happinesse promised vpon the condition of keeping the Law for ought is reuealed or can be demonstrated was terrestriall But now forasmuch as the Law is fulfilled by Christ this obedience reacheth to a higher reward because there is a higher promise made than that of the first Adam Because Christ the second Adam is the Lord from heauen the Eternal whose Kingdom is not of this world but of a better a heauenly whose house is not made with hands So that his obedience to the Law in regard of his person becomes a rich and inestimable purchase of that better Kingdome for vs. For as is the heauenly such are they that are heauenly to wit the generation of God in and by Iesus Christ 1 Cor. 15. 48. 49. 50. vide Iohn 3. 13. No man ascendeth vp to heauen but he c. Thus haue we proued out of the holy Scriptures how the formall cause of iustification or that which giues a perfect being to our iustification making vs perfectly iust in the sight of God is the imputation of Christs righteousnesse vnto vs and that euen of his whole righteousnesse actiue in his life and passiue in his death And that the formall cause of our iustification is not within vs but without vs not inherent but by imputation may easily appeare from the maine difference betweene the first Couenant and the second The first Couenant was that which was made with Adam in Paradise Doe this and liue the second that made with man after his fal Beleeue and liue So the first Couenant was of workes the second of faith the first of an inherent righteousnesse of our owne the second of a righteousnesse without vs not our owne simply but by relation namely made ours to wit Christs righteousnesse who of God is made vnto vs righteousnesse called in Scriptures the righteousnesse which is of faith Not to obserue and know this difference well is the ready way to leade men into all errour of this mysterie of God The Apostle doth notably set downe this difference between the first and second Couenant as termes infinitely opposite and admitting of no reconciliation Rom. 10. 3. when hee saith that the Iewes being ignorant of Gods righteousnesse and going about to establish their owne righteousnesse haue not submitted themselues to the vnrighteousnesse of God For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousnesse to euery one that beleeueth For Moses describeth the righteousnesse which is of the Law that the man which doth those things shall liue by them But the righteousnesse which is of Faith is to confesse with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and to beleeue in thy heart that God raised him from the dead and thou shalt be saued Also Rom. 11. 6. If it be by grace it is no more of workes otherwise grace is no more grace but if it bee of workes then it is no more grace otherwise worke is no more worke Also Rom. 4. the Apostle setting downe this same opposition betweene the Couenant of workes and of faith saith on this wise v. 2. c. If Abraham were iustified by workes he hath whereof to glory but not before God For what saith the Scripture Abraham beleeued God and it was counted to him for righteousnesse Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt but to him that worketh not but beleeueth on him that iustifieth the vngodly his faith is counted for righteousnesse Euen as Dauid also describeth the blessednesse of the man vnto whom God imputeth righteousnesse without workes saying Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiuen and whose sinnes are couered Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sinne What clearer Testimonies Yea this did God himselfe teach vs not obscurely by his own act Gen. 3. For when Adam had forfeited the first Couenant which was of workes made with him in Paradise before his fall and after his fall had made with him another Couenant to wit of faith in Christ the promised seede of the woman What doth God thereupon Hee shuts man out of Paradise and from the Tree of life lest putting forth his hand hee should take of it and liue for euer What is meant hereby Paradise was not only the place but also did signifie the happy condition of Adams blessednesse which he was to enioy in his innocencie the Tree of life was a sacrament and symbol of life appointed as a speciall meanes to preserue man from dying or decaying in his naturall strength so long as he continued in his obedience But by disobedience hee forfeited the Couenant brake the condition lost his former happinesse and was depriued of the meanes of that life wherein hee should haue liued for euer vpon earth Now God shutting him out from the earthly Paradise the place of earthly blisse and from the Tree of life the sacrament and symbol of immortalitie and hauing shewed vnto him another Tree of life in the middest of the Paradise of God to wit Iesus Christ who is very God and eternall life which whosoeuer by reaching out the hand of Faith eateth of shall liue for euer God I say doth hereby plainely teach vs that in attaining to the heauenly Paradise by the Tree of life Iesus Christ wee must not haue any more to doe with the things pertaining to the first Couenant now altogether forfeited and from which Adam and his posteritie is for euer banished neuer to returne or intermeddle there any more Gen. 3 22. 23. 24. Therefore to teach and beleeue the doctrine of an inherent righteousnesse whereby to attaine eternall life is euen as it were in despite of God and of his holy Angels the Cherubims keeping the way of the Tree of life to reuiue the old Couenant of workes againe and with the hand of the body to wit good workes reach out to take of the tree of life This is a Babylonish confounding of the two Couenants which stand vpon such irreconcileable termes of difference Is there no more difference betweene Do this and liue and Beleeue and liue betweene mans owne righteousnesse and Gods righteousnesse the establishing of the one being the abolishing
Abraham is iustified so euery sonne of Abraham to wit euery beleeuer is iustified namely by faith and not by workes Now was not beleeuing Abraham a regenerate person Did he not bring forth many fruits of faith many good workes of charity piety mercy hospitality obedience humility and the like yet none of these come within the account of his iustification in the sight of God For to him that worketh not but beleeueth on him that iustifieth the vngodly his faith is counted for righteousnesse Therefore though the Pontificians would neuer so faine foist and croud in by head and shoulders their workes comming after faith whereby they may be iustified yet they are all thrust out by the Apostle as those workers were shut out of Heauen by Christ Mat. 7. 22. 23. except they could either bring the Text within the compasse of their Index expurgatorius as they haue done the glosse and sentences of Fathers in the like kind or proue Abraham an vnregenerate person or force the Apostle to say that though Abraham were not iustified by workes but by faith yet Abraham was iustified first by faith and then by workes Yea but say they although Paul make no mention of Abrahams iustification by workes yet Iames another Apostle saith plainly Was not Abraham our father iustified by works when he had offered Isaac his sonne vpon the Altar Therefore Abraham was iustified not onely by faith but by works also Therefore to loose this Gordian knot wherein the Pontificians so much triumph wee will vse no other sword not Alexanders but the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God to cut it asunder At the first sight Paul and Iames seeme to be at great oddes the one ascribing iustification to faith without workes the other to faith and workes In both the Pontificians vnderstand one and the same iustification in kinde but to differ only in degree or order as Pauls iustification to be the first and that of Iames the second but both iustifying in the sight of God But we shall finde it far otherwise namely that these two Apostles doe speak of two different iustifications differing not in degree or order but in kinde and quality So that Paul speakes of that iustification whereby a man stands iust in the presence of God which is attributed to faith and not to workes at all and Iames of another iustification namely of a testification of a mans faith declaring a man to be a true beleeuer by good workes which are the proper fruits and effects of sauing and iustifying faith For if Iames should-vnderstand by being iustified by faith and workes together such a iustification as makes a man iust in the sight of God then he should directly crosse his fellow-Apostle who shuts out all workes from hauing any thing to doe in our iustification in Gods sight For Paul saith Rom 4. 2. If Abraham were iustified by workes he hath whereof to glory but not before God But Iames saith Abraham was iustified by workes therefore this iustification of Abraham by workes was not that iustification which makes a man to reioyce before God to wit the iustification by faith which Paul directly opposeth to iustification by workes Rom. 4. Now that Iames speaketh of iustification by workes and not by faith onely as vnderstanding a testification and demonstration of sound and sauing faith is euident by the whole passage of his second Chapter where the Apostle exhorting to workes of mercy and charity and meeting with false professors that turned the grace of God into wantonnesse professing they had faith but made no conscience of a Christian conuersation to testifie the truth and life of their faith by good workes hereupon he inferreth ver 14. What doth it profit my brethren though a man say hee hath faith and haue no workes can the faith saue him No that faith which is without workes is dead and cannot saue a man Yea such a faith is no better than that of Diuels Well yet thou saist thou hast faith But there is as well a dead faith as a liuing faith a faith common with Diuels as a faith proper to beleeuers a sauing faith as a deceiuing faith Shew mee therefore whether thou hast that-liuing sauing faith of true beleeuers or no. It is not enough to say thou hast this faith vnlesse thou canst proue it It is one thing to say it another to haue it Now the proofe of it is by the fruits of it to wit good workes as the tree is knowne by the fruits For the liuing sauing Faith is not an idle but an operatiue working Faith it is a Faith euer working by loue Therefore as the man saith to his Neighbour vers 18. Thou hast Faith and I haue workes shew me thy Faith without thy workes and I will shew thee my faith by my workes In which words the Apostle puts a plaine difference betweene a dead and a liuing faith which yet we are not able to iudge of or to discerne one from another but by good workes and so speakes here of no other iustification by workes but only such as is declaratiue or demonstratiue in the sight of men as it is said here Shew me thy Faith by thy workes So that wee see here how it is the Apostles drift to discouer the true sauing liuing Faith from a false counterfeit and dead faith which notwithstanding vaine professors so much glory of Hereupon the Apostle instanceth the Faith of Abraham and Rahab which was proued to bee a liuing and sauing Faith by the fruits and effects of it Note the Apostles Context seriously and with iudgement In the 20. vers Wilt thou know O vaine man that Faith without workes is dead Was not Abraham our father iustified by workes when hee had offered Isaac his sonne vpon the Altar Seest thou how Faith wrought with his workes and by workes was Faith made perfect And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith Abraham beleeued God and it was imputed vnto him for righteousnesse and he was called the friend of God Ye see then how that by workes a man is iustified and not by Faith onely First Faith without workes is dead But Abraham was iustified by Faith But by what Faith Was it a liuing and sauing Faith that Abraham had Yes How doth that appeare By his workes euen by the workes of Faith which gaue testimony to his Faith that it was a liuing sauing and iustifying Faith for by workes his Faith was made perfect not that his workes added any being of perfection to his Faith but by way of demonstration and testimony onely As we haue the like phrase in Matth. 21. 16. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfited praise not that Gods praise and glory receiued any addition of perfection by the mouth of those babes but onely in respect of the promulgation and declaration of his praise So here As also the Apostle inferreth in the next words vers 23. Thus the Scripture
was fulfilled which saith Abraham beleeued God and it was imputed vnto him for righteousnesse Note here how Iames varieth not one iot from the truth of the Scripture which ascribeth iustification to Abrahams Faith without workes for hee vseth the very same Scripture which Paul vseth to shew iustification by Faith without workes Yea but he addeth in the next verse Ye see then how that by workes a man is iustified and not by Faith only This conclusion seems to smile vpon the Papists but in truth it derides theirfolly for we see the Apostle doth no other here but conclude the former premises shewing what is that Faith which is imputed to a man for righteousnesse to wit not a dead and idle Faith but a liuing and working Faith testified by the proper fruits and effects of it good workes So that Abraham being said to be iustified by workes and not by Faith onely it is but to proue his Faith by his workes and that hee was declared to be iustified by Faith through the euidence of his workes whereby hee was declared iust in the sight of men to whom Faith comes to be testified only by good workes The like is to bee vnderstood of Rahabs iustification by workes for it is another instance seruing to the same purpose of the Apostle to distinguish a liuing and sauing Faith from a dead and vnprofitable Faith And this the Apostle concludeth together with the Chapter with a reason drawne from a similitude For saith hee as the body without the Spirit is dead euen so Faith without workes is dead also Note here how the Apostle most aptly concludeth the constant and vniforme current of this Chapter concerning the difference betweene a dead and a liuing Faith which are as it were the two hinges of the Chapter As the body without the spirit is dead euen so Faith without workes is dead also The Pontificians vpon this place doe ground their informing of Faith by charity as if Faith were altogether without forme and life vntill charity be infused into it but their collection is most improper and swarueth not onely from the property of the comparison but also from the maine purpose of the Apostle For the Apostle saith As the body without the Spirit is dead he saith not As the body without the soule is dead 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without spirit or breath for so the word signifieth Now if they would herein as they doe vpon other occasions altogether impertinent consult with Philosophy it would tell them that there are three things concurring to the composition of a liuing man the soule the body and the spirit The soule is that which informeth and giueth life to the body but the spirit by which they say the soule body are vnited is that whereby also the man doth breathe and whereby he is knowne to liue For so long as there is breath in a man wee know him to be aliue when a man Iyes in a swoune or trance without any motion to know whether he be dead or no we take a Chrystall glasse or such like to discerne whether hee breathe or no if he breathe not we giue him for dead but if he breathe neuer so little we know hee is yet a liuing man To this purpose doth our Apostle apply this comparison that as we cannot know a man from a dead carkasse but by his spirit or breathing so no more can wee know a liuing Faith from a dead Faith but by good workes which are as it were breathed from it Obiect But will some say The word vsed by St. Iames for spirit may be as well taken for the soule which giues life to the body for so it is often taken in Scripture for the soule as Luke 23. 46. and elsewhere Besides doe not most Interpreters take it generally for the soule Why should wee not then rather take it for the soule and spirit of a man that is within him than only for the breath which proceedeth from him Answ. I answer First as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is taken sometimes for the soule as well as for the spirit so also it is vsed sometime for breath or winde as our Sauiour alludeth Ioh. 3. 8. And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is taken for the praecordia or lungs whence the breath is deriued But the question is how it is to be taken in this place of St. Iames. For the true meaning of this word in that place wee must as in the true interpretation of other Scriptures obserue the tenure of the text and context Now the tenure of that whole Chapter of St. Iames is chiefly to discerne true Faith from counterfeit To demonstrate this he instanceth the body of a man Now by what speciall signe is the body of a man known to liue By the spirit saith S. Iames. What spirit the soule or the spirit within a man or his spirit to wit his breath for Spirit may signifie all these By that spirit which doth most liuely plainly shew a man to be aliue that is the breath For when all other signs do faile as speech and motion of any limbe or member in so much as a man is senselesse lyes for dead yet if he breathe it is an euident token that he yet liueth But when he comes once to be as the same Apostle saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without this spirit or breath then he is certainly dead Euen so Faith without the breathing of good workes is dead And this agreeth with that he saith there Shew mee thy Faith by thy workes The soule indeede giues the body to liue but it is the breath that shewes the body to liue when the soule cannot Therefore it seemeth to my reason an vndeniable conclusion that Saint Iames speakes there of the breath of the body the most demonstratiue signe of life And deuout Bernard also excellently to this purpose and place of Iames Vt corporis huius vitam ex motis suo dignoscimus ita fidei vitam ex operibus bonis As we discerne the life of this body of ours by the motion of it so also the life of faith by good workes Nor are we ignorant that St. Augustine Lib. 83. quaestionum quaest 76. to reconcile these two Apostles saith that Paul speakes of workes done before faith and Iames of workes after faith which opinion and conceit of his although it not onely want but crosse the euidence of Scripture sith Abrahams offering vp his Sonne was a worke of and so after faith and yet did not iustifie him before God as Paul plainely teacheth and where Augustine doth neuer so little swarue from the Scripure we must craue leaue there to leaue him being else followers of him as he is of the Scriptures according to his owne law yet St. Augustine going about to reconcile Iames with Paul saith not there nor any where else in all his writings that good works done after Faith doe iustifie vs in the sight of God but only that
There is one faith of all which hath one particle that a very small one concerning the promises Alas what a poore diminution is here Particula non pars is not this diminitiue enough but hee must put small yea perexigua very small vnto it and so leaue a very small not part but diminitiue particle for faith in the promises of God But Romane-Catholikes must bee content with this poore pittance of faith no otherwise beleeuing Gods promises but as other Histories reuealed in the Word as the Councell of Trent teacheth in her sixt Session and sixt Chapter But else she makes no mention at all of beleeuing in the promises of God and by faith applying them to our owne soules No the Church of Rome is of another spirit she wants that can did ingenuity to acknowledge this gracious mysterie of Christ and of the Gospell So that these Pontifician Romane-Catholickes place onely the truth of God and well too if they ioyned not their owne lying traditions as the generall obiect of faith namely as a true History to be beleeued As Soto commenting vpon the forenamed place of the Councell saith Ratio Christianis credendi est summa infallibilisque Dei veritas haec autem eadem perlucet in reuelatis omnibus siue ad Historiam pertineant siue ad Promissiones The reason inducing Christians to beleeue is the soueraigne and infallible truth of God and this same sâ—ineth in all those things that are reuealed whether they pertaine to the History or to the Promises But how doth he vnderstand the faith of these promises Sanè quas credimus saith hee non solum verè esse factas sed esse firmissimas quantum ex parte Dei nisi nos renitamur which promises indeed we beleeue that not only they were truely made but are most firme as touching Gods part vnlesse we resist But as for speciall Faith in beleeuing and applying the promises of God quòd non pertineat that it appertains not to Catholick Faith saith Soto is most easie to demonstrate Fides enim Catholica ex sola diuina assertione vel promissione pendet quod autem quisque aptus sit idoneus promisso beneficio suscipiendo ex humano sensu cooperatione etiam pendâ—t For saith he the Catholick Faith depends vpon Gods onely affirmation or promise but that any man may be apt or fit to receiue the benefit promised doth depend vpon the sense and also the cooperation of man And so he concludes Ergo huius Fides non est Catholica therefore this mans Faith is not Catholicke So that by Romane-Catholicke Doctrine a speciall Faith in the promises of God in Christ is not the Catholicke Faith for by Catholicke Faith they vnderstand a generall Faith such as is the Catholicke Faith of all Romane-Catholickes And hence it is also that they place Faith onely in the vnderstanding as assenting vnto the truth of God in his Word and not in the will in applying and apprehending the goodnesse and grace of God reuealed in the Word Now to cleare the truth in this point The Catholick Faith is so called not in respect of the generality of it as if iustifying Faith were onely a generall Faith or because the generall obiect of it is whatsoeuer is reuealed in the Word as a Historie but because the true Catholicke Faith is the Faith of all the Elect of all times to the end of the world and because this Faith comprehends all Faith in it For the true Catholicke Faith doth both credere Deum beleeue that God is and credere Deo beleeue that whatsoeuer is contained in the holy Word of God written is true and also credere in Deum beleeue in God that is in especiall beleeue the promises of God in Christ reuealed in the Gospell that they are not onely true in respect of God who promiseth but that they doe belong to euery beleeuer in Christ in particular As Saint Iohn saith speaking of the blessed estate of Gods children both here in that they are now the Sonnes of God and hereafter in the perfect vision of God Euery man that hath this hope in him purifieth himselfe euen as he is pure The Apostle Paul setting forth the nature of iustifying Faith in the example of faithfull Abraham hee bounds it mainely vpon the promise of God in Christ as the speciall obiect of Faith As Rom. 4. 13. The promise that Abraham should be the heire of the world was not to him or to his seede through the Law but through the righteousnesse of Faith for if they which are of the Law bee heires Faith is made voide and the promise made of none effect Therefore it is of Faith that it might be by grace to the end the promise might be sure to all the seede not to that onely which is of the Law but to that also which is of the Faith of Abraham who is the father of vs all And vers 20. Hee staggered not at the promise of God through vnbeliefe but was strong in Faith giuing glory to God So wee see that the promise of God is the speciall obiect of iustifying Faith And hence it is that all true beleeuers who are the children of Abraham are called the children of the Promise Rom. 9. 8. They which are the children of the flesh these are not the children of God but the children of the Promise are counted for the seed heires of the Promise Heb. 6. 17. Yea the promises of God in Christ are the very sum of the Gospel as the Apostle declareth very amply in the third Chapter to the Galathians As vers 8. The Scripture foreseeing that God would iustifie the Heathen through faith preached before the Gospell vnto Abraham saying In thee shall all Nations be blessed So we see plainly that the speciall obiect of Faith is the Gospell of God and the Gospel of God is the promise of God in Christ. This was the summe of all Christs preaching The Kingdome of God is at hand repent yee and beleeue the Gospell And so Gal. 3. 22. the Apostle sweetly concludeth this heauenly Doctrine The Scripture hath concluded all vnder sin that the promise by faith of Iesus Christ might be giuen to them that beleeue Hence also was the Land of Canaan being a type of the Kingdome of Christ called the Land of Promise and Abraham and his sonnes coheires of the same Promise What Promise For hee looked for a City which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God Heb. 11. 10. And by faith he waited for this promise vers 9. The Pontificians would faine haue that faith whose prayses are so predicated in that 11. Chapter to the Hebrewes to be vnderstood of their kinde of Catholicke faith to wit a generall historicall faith And they alledge the third Verse and the sixt Verse c. Vers. 3. Through faith wee vnderstand that the worlds were framed by the word of God Hence they conclude their Historicall faith And Vers.
it selfe from sinne is faithfull because the iust man liueth by Faith Hence it is that Bernard saith Credere in Deum est in eum sperare eum diligere To beleeue in God is to hope in him and to loue him And againe Vera plenâ— fides vâ—iuersa praecepta complectitur A true and complete Faith comprehendeth all the Commandements Hieronymus Osorius in his first Booke de Iustitia hath these words Fides continet omnem religionem atque pietatem omnes enim virtutes ex fide aptè nexeque sunt cum illa sanctissimo vinculo colligatae atque implicitae sunt That is Faith containeth all religion and pietie for all vertues are by Faith consorted and connexed together and with it are bound and intwined in a most holy knot But yet I dare not warrant the Reader that he shal finde these words in Osorius from henceforth seeing in the Index at Madrid these very words are commanded to passe the flames of their Index expurgatorius And in the second booke hee saith Ergo cum Fides totum animum regat in Verbi diuini studium rapiat consequens necessario est vt non cernatur solum in credendo sed etiam in obediendo Therefore seeing Faith doth gouerne the whole soule and drawe it to the study and loue of Gods Word it followeth necessarily that it is seene not onely in beleeuing but also in obeying But these words also vndergoe the same doome with the former Yea why should Pontificians make it so strange that Faith should haue all other graces inseparably coupled with it seeing that euen their Doctors Aristotle and Cicero doe teach that all morall vertues are conioyned and combined in one and he that hath one hath all and that Iustitia est omnis virtus Iustice is euery vertue It is a maruaile that they haue escaped Purgatory seeing that not euen Gratian himselfe hath had the grace to be fauoured of them his Glosse but bordering vpon Tullies Offices for where he saith Sed quomodo possum habere talem Fidem that is to remoue mountaines non charitatem cum qui habeat vnam virtutem habeat omnes * Nonpossem quidem nisi miraculosè that is But how can I haue such a Faith to remoue mountaines and not charity sith hee that hath one vertue hath all I could not haue it but miraculously All these words must out as yee may see in Collat. censurae in Gloss. iuris canon num 84. His excellent Maiesty also in his peerlesse Paraphrase of the Reuelation Chapt. 20. saith That God by Faith onely iustifieth man which notwithstanding is done according to his workes because they as the fruits of Faith cannot be separated from it and bear witnesse of the same to men in the earth S. Augustine saith Quid est ergo credere in eum credendo amare credendo diligere credendo in eumire eius membris incorporari What is it then to beleeue in him by beleeuing to loue him by beleeuing to affect him by beleeuing to goe into him and to be incorporated into his members Paulus Fidem quae per dilectionem operatur approbat atque commendat quae vtique sine spe esse non potest proinde nec amor sine spe est nec sine amore spes neque vtrumque sine Fide Paul approueth and commendeth that Faith which worketh by loue which cannot bee without hope therefore neyther is loue without hope nor hope without loue nor both without Faith And vpon the 139. Psalme hee saith Fides sic est in anima vt radix bona quae pluviam in fructum ducit Faith is in the soule as a good roote which bringeth the raine into the fruit And St. Chrysostome saith Fides est Religionis sanctissimae fundamentum charitatis vinculum amoris subsidium Haec sanctitatem firmat castitatem roborat gubernat sexus gradus prouehit officia cunctâ—custodit Fides mandata tenet praeceptâ— seruat promissa consummat Faith is the foundation of the most holy Religion the bond of charity the supply of loue It confirmes sanctity it strengthens chastity it gouernes all sexes it promotes all degrees it obserueth all offices Faith keepeth the commandements practiseth the precepts accomplisheth the promises And much more to this purpose according to his golden elegancy Ambrose also saith there are in Faith great prerogatiues and dignities What bee they Piety Iustice Sobriety Charity Discipline or good Gouernment And in a word St. Augustine saith In ipsa Fide sunt omnia opera quae diligit Deus in Faith it selfe are all those works which God loueth Thus Faith being in the heart as in the proper subiect of inherency and so consequently in the whole soule and euery faculty thereof as the life and soule of the soule animating euery power and property of it it followeth that as morall iustice is euery morall vertue as the Philosopher speaketh so iustifying Faith which is reckoned for righteousnesse is euery grace and holy vertue as being the liuing roote and holy seede sustaining quickening supplying sanctifying all other graces which are as so many fruits growing vpon this Tree of life as Reuel 22. 2. holy Faith being the foundation whereon all graces are built the ground whereon they grow Hence they haue all their rise motion yea their formall and essentiall goodnesse For whatsoeuer is not of Faith is sinne If we hope not from Faith if we loue not from Faith if we be not patient because wee beleeue and so in the rest Hope Loue Patience and the rest are so many â—ins For as Faith is the ground or foundation of things hoped for so of things loued of things suffered and the rest And why may not so many habits of grace grow vpon the same roote and stemme of Faith as so many distinct fruits vpon the same Tree of life Yea the Apostle elsewhere also tels vs that from Faith doe spring not onely peace of conscience towards God but accesse vnto all grace reioycing vnder hope of the glory of God Patience Hope Loue c. Thus it is euident by the authority of the holy Scriptures and by the testimonies of ancient Fathers that sauing and iustifying Faith is not a Faith common with Deuils and Reprobates as being in nature and kinde a dead Faith but it is proper and peculiar onely to the Saints and Elect as being a holy and liuing Faith which receiueth not life from any infusion of charity into it but is a liuing roote from whence doe spring and wherein do liue all holy graces as Charity Hope Patience Meeknesse c. That this is called also the Catholicke Faith not because it is common to good and bad or because it hath for the generall obiect of it the Word of God as it is a true History containing things done and to be done whether they be acts precepts threatnings or promises one with another but because it is the Catholicke Faith of
ipse in quibus operaretur velle Et similia multa dicuntur propter huius vtilitatem secreti ne fortè quis extollatur sed omnes etiam qui bene currunt timeant c. that is Hold that which thou hast lest another take thy Crowne they are the words of the holy Ghost Now that these things are so spoken euen to the Saints that shall perseuere as if it were vncertaine whether they should perseuere they ought not to heare of this otherwise whom it behooueth not to be high minded but feare Hence also it is said to the Apostles If you shall abide in me himselfe speaking it who knew full well that they would abide in him And by the Prophet If ye be willing and will harken vnto me when himselfe knew in whom hee would worke euen to will And many such things are spoken for the profit of this secret lest any should be puffed vp but that all euen those that runne well should feare Hence it is that the Apostle saith 2. Tim. 3. 16. All Scripture is giuen by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine for reproofe for correction for instruction in righteousnesse that the man of God may be perfect throughly furnished vnto all good workes Note here how the holy Ghost vnto the Doctrine of the Scripture ioyneth reproofe and correction as necessary meanes to bring Gods seruants to perfection So that those places of Scripture which deterre men from presumption and security Gods Children make vse of them as meanes to keep them in the way not as stumbling blockes to take offence at whereby to fall If any here obiect that of Gregory Video Paulum c. I see Paul called out of that cruelty of persecuting to the grace of Apostleship and yet he so feareth amidst Gods secret iudgements as that euen after he is called hee feareth to be a cast-away For he saith Castigo I chastise my body c. 1. Cor. 9. and Phil. 3. I follow if I may comprehend c. Yea it was now said of him by the voice of the Lord He is a chosen vessell vnto mee and yet for all that chastizing his body hee feareth lest hee should be reproued or cast away Doth Gregory hence conclude that the elect is vncertaine of saluation or that it is possible for him to become a reprobate Nothing lesse For note what the addeth there Debet profecto in spe esse non solum securitas sed etiam timor in conuersatione vt illa certantes foueat iste torpentes pungat There ought surely there ought to be not onely security in our hope but also feare in our conuersation that both the one security in hope may cheere those that fight and the other feare checke and spurre them that faint Vnde c. Whence saith he it is well spoken by the Prophet They which feare the Lord let them hope in the Lord. As if he said plainly That mans hope is vainly confident who refuseth to feare God in his conuersation And lib. 9. cap. 27. he further cleareth his minde herein Seâ—â—ndum est quod viri sancti ita incertâ— sunt vt confidant atque ita confidunt vt tamen ex securitate non torpeant We are to know that holy men are so vncertaine as that they are confident and are so confident as that notwithstanding they droope not through security So that such like places of Scripture as teach vs to feare and tremble being rightly vnderstood and applyed they are so farre from shaking the certainty of our election and perseuerance in grace that they tend exceedingly to the establishing of it Yea they serue also to stoppe all foolish and carnall mens mouthes that would forsooth in Christian policy haue this Doctrine of God smoothered and suppressed as tending to make men carelesse of the meanes of saluation Whereas on the contrary seeing the wisedome of God hath tyed the meanes of saluation so inseparably and conditionally to his own purpose and good pleasure in our election therefore all men being alike indangered vnto God should not persist in their rebellion to their further damnation but should vse all diligence in the vse of those meanes by which God doth worke saluation vnto vs. Tell me if politick respects may take such place A Kings subiects being all fallen without exception into a Premunire hauing forfeited their estates and all if now the King out of his speciall grace and fauour haue resolued with himselfe to pardon such a number of them as seemeth good vnto him whose names he enrolleth in his booke of Arcaâ—a regni not purposing to pardon any moe but these onely yet withall hath appointed such and such meanes to be vsed and conditions to be obserued as he prescribeth and so thus farre publisheth by Proclamation to all his subiects that such is his determination and good pleasure to pardon and spare a certaine number of his subiects such as himselfe out of speciall grace hath made choiee of but the number of the persons and who they be he â—onâ—â—aleth in his brest but reuealeth to them the meanes whereby hee will saue them will any of his subiects be so desperately minded as to say thus with himselfe The King hath resolued to pardon a certain number and no more and to receiue them to fauour by such meanes as hee commandeth by obeying such and such Lawes but sith I am vncertaine whether I be one of that number or no I will not take the paines to vse any such meanes nor so much as endeauour to obserue those conditions though neuer so easie which he requireth in that behalfe Nay will not all rather harken to the conditions being all of them gracious and no way grieuous euery one for his part hoping that he may be one of that number whom the King hath resolued to receiue to grace and fauour againe yea and highly to aduance in his Kingdome If it bee but a running Lottery wherein the whole Countrey is coosened though there be but a few prizes to many blankes yet how forward are men to aduenture their money some pawning their very beds and all to bee cheated Wee see there is no Papist so vncharitable that though his neare kinsman be it Father or Mother or so dye neuer so wicked yet at the least in hope he is but in Purgatory how will he empty his purse yea how often for so many Masses to release him out againe although it be a most desperate aduenture nay he will not stick perhaps to go a long Pilgrimage and to doe some tedious Penance inioyned him by a sinnefull Priest and all for the pardon of that sinne whereof notwithstanding neyther the Priest can giue nor himselfe receiue any assurance of pardon by such meanes at Gods hand And shall not all men indangered to God for soule and all be ready to entertaine and obserue all such conditions prescribed by God whereby they may be saued and without which they