proposeth it resolued and de fide and I knowe no man that doubteth of it that God tempteth no man Quasi aut ignoret fidem cuiusque aut deijcere sit consentiens as out of Ignorance what hee can performe or as consenting to vndoe him But this passage there is nothing in Tertullian that I can ghesse at that we should see And Sir doth this passage come home to purpose of decree vnto life or death Or knowe you any Protestant not so perswaded No thou fore-head of brass and tongue of Say wee are fully resolued with Tertullian that Diaboli est infirmitas et malitia beeing taught by the Prophet to professe Our destruction is of our selues our saluation of the Lord. S. Cyprian they may see that think it worth their labour Lib. 4. Epist 2. or as other Editions haue it Epist 52. and there is nothing to purpose but by consequence hauing cited that saying euen now remembred Wisd 1. 13. God made not death thus he inferreth against the Nouatians rigorous men that denied repentance to lapsed Christians after Baptism Vtique qui neminem vult perire cupit peccatores poenitentiam agere et per poenitentiam denuo ad vitam redire Because he would not that any should perish his desire is that Sinners should repent and by Repentance reuert to life againe Doe Protestants deny Returne of the Lapsâ—d vnto God or Grace to Repentants after Fall If we doe this testimony may gagge our mouthes if not as we do not then gaggeth it your owne mouth Sir Goose Saint Ambrose will not nor Saint Augustine nor any else whose brains are his owne as yours are not God fore-sawe it in Adam and in Iudas but Prescience inferreth not Predestination For not because foreseene therefore effected but because effected therefore foreseene The Treason of Iudas the Fall of Adam God fore-sawe and suffred this is certaine God was Author of neyther Positiuely That Good which they had they had from God this Woe and Vnhappinesse came from themselues Priuate opinions we vndertake not you should not in discretion much lesse in honesty impute it vnto vs. Your ayme is against the Church of England Quarrell that if you can vndertake against it if you dare For what my word is past I will make it good against all your Bandogges of Belzebub whatsoeuer That Church maintaineth nothing against the Faith of the antient Church of Christ resolued on for 500 yeeres XXII That euery one ought infallibly to assure himselfe of his saluation and to hold that he is of the number of the Predestinate NOw you ramble indeed your penne runs too fast your malice sent your wit I suppose on wooll-gathering Where finde you this conclusion in the Church of England where in any mans mouth or writings in the Church of England that Euery one ought so to assure himselfe Hee that saith Euery one excepteth none not genera singulorum any kinde of men not singulos generum no particular man Be you well in your wits to bely your selfe in belying of vs and so soone to forget what you said but now For those that maintaine as you say the Protestants doe that some are damned and some are saued by an ineuitable decree cannot bee of opinion except their braines were made like yours of the pap of an apple that Euery one ought infallibly to assure himselfe of his saluation which implieth a contradiction vnto that other Tenet So that in one of these two auoyd it if you can you haue belyed your selfe to bely vs. And bely vs you do For where do you find it thus concluded by the Church of England Answere on your Honesty if you can nay bely them you doe that come somewhat to your purpose whose priuate opinions you make publique decisions of Faith Bellarmine your grand Dictator of controuersies from whose tables you or your Informers haue swept together all these scrappes and fragments in your bare abbridgement proposeth the assertion honestly and truly in restrained tearms of Verè fidelis and Iustificatus That not Euery one but Euery true beleeuer ought so to be assured that no man is or can bee so assured but the man that is iustified before God And that is not euery one as you bely them They teach not that euery man is iustified This opinion is an inference vpon that former of Necessity of Election vnto life and therefore those Protestants who make not the former an Article of their Creed build vpon no such infallibility vnto themselues nor prescribe it to be beleeued of others And those that so doe are not peraduenture so forlorne as such a simple man as you may imagine hauing Papists of reckoning to beare them company and Fathers Reasons and Scriptures therefore Ambrose Catharine was no Baby as great a Stickler as any in the Councell of Trent in his owne opinion superior to most in all mens iudgement inferior to none who for ought I knowe went as farre as any in particular and ordinary assurance of saluation Before In After the Councell of Trent against Dominicus a Soto that maintained the contrary Silly man as you are you can play in ambiguities and talk at randome freely when no man is neere to oppose or contradict you Your Masters can teach you that Assurance is twofold in this discourse In respect of the Obiect knowne belieued in regard of the Subject beleeuing knowing As man relieth vpon his Euidence or as is his Euidence to rely vpon Euidence is diuine or humane from God or Man Euidence diuine if apprehended is euer certaine and infallible both for the necessity of our object God in whom is nor change nor shadow of change as also for the manner of determining the Euidence whereby that is certaine and necessary for effect which is but contingent otherwise in it selfe Euidence most cleere assurance most certaine in it selfe is contingent vncertaine as we may both vse it or dispose it that are heere and there of and on because man is irresolute in his waies and vnconstant in his works God is to vs as wee are to him knowne as farre as wee can reach to apprehend him Thus then for those men that assert infallibility of assurance Their meaning may bee for ought you know I am sure for ought you haue said to the contrary that in regard of God faithfull and true in respect of his promises Yea and Amen euery Childe of God renued by Grace may and ought infallibly assure himselfe of his owne Saluation procured in Christ who yet in regard of his owne Infirmity and Inconstancy cannot chuse but wauer in his assurance and feare the worst though he hope the best This was Austens resolution if Bellarmine say right Ex promissione Christi potest vnusquisque vt S. Augustinus rectè docet colligere se transusse à morte ad vitam et in iudicium non ventre Euery man may collect thus out of the promise of Christ but with what assurance the question is thereto
the Roman Church For Saint Gregory vpon the 6. of Ezechiel said If the vnderstanding of holy scripture were playne to all men it would come in time to bee of no reckoning Where hee giueth a reason of that obscurity that is in it Who yet vpon the 6. of Iob more atfull interpreteth his owne meaning thus Sacra scriptura cibus est in locis obscurioribus quia quasi exponendo frangitur et mandendo glutitur Potus vero est in locis apertioribus quià ita sorbetur sicut invenitur The holy Scripture is Meate in the more obscure places because in the expounding thereof it is broken as it were and in chewing swallowed Drinke it is in the more perspicuous places because it is as easily swallowed downe as it is found Thus the doctrine and beliefe of the Roman Church was sometime Scripture in some places is hard in some places easie Hath that Church now forsaken her former faith if not we differ not for we maintaine the easinesse of holy Scripture no otherwise then Saint Gregory the Pope did This Goose may fit the Gagge for his Ganders mouth the Gospell will soone enough be rid of it II. That in matters of faith wee must not relye vpon the iudgement of the Church and of her Pastors but onely vpon the written Word I Know no such tenent exclusiuely I know no such Assertion negatiuely the Church of England hath no such faith as this You set vp a Shawfoule for a marke and shoot your bolt at it your selfe alone In our 11. Article put on your spectacles and see if you can reade it we professe The Church hath authority in controuersies of Faith The written word of God is the Rule of Faith with vs. And hath beene so with all our Fathers of old Vnto the Law and vnto the Prophets was a direction of a perpetuall Morallity and is continued in that of our Sauiour Ioh. 5. Search the Scriptures for in them you hope to haue eternall life A rule absolute in it selfe a rule most sufficient vnto vs for that end entended To make the man of God perfect in euery good worke Sufficiunt sanctae et diuinitus inspiratae scripturae saith Athanasius ad omnem institutionem veritatis Truth is of two sorts amongst men manifest and confessed truth or more obscure and inuolued truth In his quae aperte posita sunt in scripturis inveniâ—ntur illa omnia quae continent fidem moresque viuendi spem scilicet charitatem Plainely deliuered in Scripture are all those poynts which belong vnto Faith and manners Hope and Charity to wit And accordingly I doe know no obscurity vpon these I know none of these controuerted inter partes the Articles of our Creede are confessed on both sides and held plaine enough The controuerted poynts are of a larger and an inferiour alloy of them a man may be ignorant without any danger of his soule at all A man may resolue or oppose this way or that way without perill of perishing for euer Now if a question be moued iuris controuersi in controuerted matters who shall decide and settle the doubt you say The Church and so say I nay so say we You say wee say the Scriptures but without the Church that is each priuate mans opinion and interpretation of the Scriptures euen against the Church No such thing Sir you mistake vs. We say the Church must doe it explaining declaring resoluing the Scriptures as the direction is from God himselfe to purpose Deut. 17. 8. and as your Texts and Fathers doe pretend it and no otherwise And yet the Scripture may well be called iudge As the Law determineth Controuersies betwixt man and man In plaine cases iuris positiui no deciding Iudge or legall proceeding shall neede But such as are iuris ambigui controuersi must be determined by the Court by the Iudge according vnto Law So is it in Scripture according to the Protestants opinion In points of Faith they disclaime not the iudgement of the Church nor yet appeale to Scripture alone vnderstood by themselues without a iudge but referre it vnto the Church And they haue reason for it enough seeing Gods Word and the ancient practise of the Catholike Church that is both Law and Iudge are both for them In the name of the Church of England I will be tried thereby and maintaine it against all Papists liuing Take one for all Cyril of Hierusalem in his fourth Catechisme saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In any poynt concerning the diuine and holy mysteries of our Faith not any the least thing must be tendred without warrant of diuine Scripture And he addeth Belieue mee not that speake and deliuer these things vnto you vnlesse for proofe of them I doe bring plaine and euident demonstration out of diuine Writ Was this man a Protestant or a Papist Those Bibles he had then which we haue now and it seemeth that addressing his owne beliefe and doctrine accordingly varied not in iudgement any whit from vs who make Scripture the rule of our beliefe And in doubtfull poynts that require determination appeale vnto the Catholique Church for iudgement in that Rule This is not contrary to any deduction from much lesse to the expresse words of our owne Bible Matt. 23. 2. The Scribes Pharises sit in Moses Chaire all therfore whatsoeuer they bid you obserue that obserue and doe Therefore c. Doe you finde eyther Faith or Iudgement Pastors or Church expresly named in this text Looke once more and looke back vpon your vndertaking Their refutation by expresse words of their owne bible For words expresse you faile vndertaking more than you can performe an ordinary tricke of Catholike Braggadochioes Let vs see if Consequents will hold the tewghing any better Those that answere the Church and her Pastors in your Thesis are the Scribes Pharises in your proofe who whole and some head and taile be Doctors and Pastors of the Church with you But of the Church of Rome it must be supposed for wee disclaime any Conformation at all with them And doe you suppose that our Sauiour approued them so well as that hee would haue had the Iewes in matters of Faith to relye vpon them and their decisions as Pastors of the Church in points of Faith If this were his meaning what meant he then to giue warning elsewhere Take heede of the leauen of the Pharises that is as the holy Ghost expoundeth it Of their doctrine If the question had bin put Art thou the Christ would he haue sent them vnto the Scribes or Pharises for resolution or aduised the people to belieue on them we finde it not practised the contrary we doe What then is this text in consequence vnto the poynt Surely hee meant no more but this and in that hee will declare himselfe a Protestant Whatsoeuer they bid you obserue out of Moses obserue that is so long as they teach but Scripture they must he heard if there they faile
ciuill state of men but which doe also touch Religion and Piety Thus he so we in our Profession ouer all persons in all causes Not In all Causes alone and singular as you traduce vs. Hoc posito Now see wee your Texts of Scripture contrary to this in our owne Bibles 1 Tim. 2. 11. Let the woman learne in silence with all subiection Therefore a woman heire or otherwise cannot be Gouernour in her Realmes Doe you thinke that the Lady Infanta no Protestant Princesse will be so confinde because shee may not say Masse nor speake in the Congregation therefore as Dutchesse of Burgundy or Countesse of Flaunders may shee not meddle with the State Marke your owne words But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to vsurpe authority ouer the man Therefore shee cannot be supreame Gouernesse Let Catholicke Ladies looke to this Such Fellowes if they had their due would haue their mouthes gag'd with an halter I their tongues cut out and cast to Dogges If this were intended by Saint Paul I maruell why the Eunuch returning home into Ethiopla did not put downe Candace from being Queene If you take it not as you speake it for Equiuocators say one thing and meane another generally of all authority nor yet of any subiection but as Saint Paul restraineth it onely to Teaching and speaking in the Church we subscribe vnto you wee are of the same minde with you we say the same thing that you doe but then wee call your honesty into question and affirme you deale perfidiously with vs in belying vs and falsly with your Proselites in seducing them Did euer any Allen or Saunders or Parsons or Kellison heare Queene Elizabeth Preach Did euer any see her administer the Sacraments take vpon her to expound Scripture appoint Faith or denounce Excommunication Shee claimed and might and had authority commanding coerciue coactiue ouer Church-men Did shee euer challenge or vse it or was it giuen her in Church-seruice as Saint Tecla did and Saint Katherine of Siena in your Legends as Pope Ioane did if there sate such a strumpet in Saint Peters Chayre as Prioresses and Abbesses haue and exercise by your Canon Law or with Dispensations An Abbatesse may command the Priests that are subiect to her to excommunicate her rebelling Nunnes and the Priests are bound to obey her So Tabiena Armilla Panormitane Astensis The Canonists are of this minde saith Stephanus de Aluin that the dignity of Prelacy and excellency of Office may giue to Ecclesiasticall women therefore howsoeuer to women spirituall and Ecclesiasticall iurisdiction which they may enioy not onely by right delegated and committed vnto them but by ordinary also Now good Sir Gagger how digest you this good Catholicke Doctrine gaue wee euer so much to Queene Elizabeth Is this according to your Bibles or are your Bibles and ours not the same That of 1 Cor. 14. 34. is not cited according to our Bibles of the last Transation which you yet pretend to follow and howsoeuer cited it is not to purpose onely it discloseth your leud demeanor Saint Paul forbiddeth women to speake or teach in Churches so doe we And in conuenticles also you may see it inquirable presentable punishable in our visitations if any such presume to expound or interpret Scripture in priuate Houses You may sooner heare Pope Vrban preach then any Woman with vs to execute any function Ecclesiasticall who with you doe ordinarily baptize For satisfaction to poore misled Catholikes in this point if yet they will be satisfied take the resolution of our Church Art 37. The Queenes Maiesty it was made you know in Queene Elizabeths time hath the chiefe power in this Realme of England and other her Dominions vnto whom the chiefe gouernement of all Estates of this Realme whether they be Ecclesiasticall or ciuill in all causes doth appertaine and is not nor ought to be subiect to any forraigne iurisdiction 2. Where wee attribute to the Queenes Maiestie the chiefe gouernment by which titles wee vnderstand the mindes of some slanderous folke to be offended wee giue not to our Princes the ministring either of Gods Word or of the Sacraments The which iniunctions also lately set forth by Elizabeth our Queene doe most plainly testifie But that onely prerogatiue which wee see to haue beene giuen alwayes to all godly Princes in holy Scriptures by God himselfe that is that they should rule all estates and degrees committed vnto their charge by God whether they be Ecclesiasticall or temporall and restraine with the Ciuill Sword the stubborne and euill doers This is all that Queene Elizabeth had or challenged Publike Records publike notice publike testimony of the State and all that then liued are of greater credit I hope with all moderate and honest Romish Catholikes then the leud lying aspersions of a partiall Factionist such as this Fellow is and many of his companions are who haue taken vp this course as of inheritance and kinde to dare say any thing in despight of honesty and truth in ordine ad Deum for the Catholicke cause X. That Antichrist shall not be a particular man and that the Pope is Antichrist THat Antichrist was to come and so prophecied of that he is called That man of sinne is in my Creed and an Article of my Beliefe as being plainly and directly expressed such in Scripture And this I know no Protestant but beleeueth But whether he was to be One particular man or a State a succession opposite to Christ I know no Article Canon or Iniunction that tyeth mee to beleeue The Church of England leaueth me to my opinion Euery man may abound in his owne sence and beleeue it or not beleeue it as he will For who dareth peremptorily define what God himselfe hath not but left at liberty The Fathers I grant runne most vpon one man So doe your Masters of the Roman Church The Protestant Writers doe most of them encline rather to a Succession and a state of men but not all Not all so peremptorily as not to encline notwithstanding vnto one man who more then any of his rank shall oppose himselfe to Christ in that state and Succession Antichristian vnto whom all those markes and descriptions set downe in holy Scripture shall perfectly agree as Zanchius and many others doe hold For in point of Prophecie and that so obscure as this vntill plaine euent doe make it manifest iudgements doe and may well sauing the peace of the Church vary nor should wee condemne or censure Dissenters any way from our priuate opinions Whether the Pope bee that Antichrist or not the Church resolueth not tendreth it not to be beleeued any way Some I grant are very peremptory too peremptory indeed that he is He for instance that wrote and printed it I am as sure that the Pope is Antichrist that Antichrist spoken of in Scripture as that Iesus Christ is God But they that are so resolute peremptory and certaine let them answere for themselues they
in that sort as our Masters tender it vnto vs to bee beleeued at this day XLII That there is no Purgatorie fire or other prison wherein sinnes may bee satisfied for after this life NOt resolued of by Antiquity out of Scripture nor determined by Scripture olde or new as certaine and necessarily to be beleeued You say Yes therefore we contrary the expresse words of our owne Bibles 1. Cor. 3. 13. The fire shall try euery mans work of what sort it is Is this so expresse in your opinion Sir Gagger It seemeth not for neither haue wee your Therefore c. for the conclusion nor your ordinary expresse words but barely thus Contrary to their owne Bible Your conscience checked you or did Bellarmine stumble you or what is the cause you faint in your Euidence Bellarmine confesseth it is one of the hardest places in Scripture And such are not expresse Directors or Concluders therefore no good proofes in points of faith without euident conspiring of some more perspicuous place For points of faith must haue manifest assurance to proue obscurity by more obscurity your Logick can tell you if you haue not forgot it is a fault Wee doubt and make a question vnto you of Purgatory Your Euidence for it is from that of which wee more doubt at leastwise as much as wee doe of Purgatory For beside the confession of the Master of controuersies and the diuers senses and expositions by him confessed and produced the latest I think I am sure one of the learnedst of your owne expositors Estius both confesseth as much and resolueth against your intent for Purgatory out of this place The Fire saith hee which the Apostle in this discourse hath named three seuerall distinct times is variously expounded by diuers men Augustine and Gregory vnderstand it of the afflictions of this life as in the 65. Psal We haue passed through fire and water Others take it for Hell fire Some for Purgatory Some for the fire of Conflagration which shall eyther proceed or accompany Christ the Iudge at the day of Doome Others imagine a threefold fire answerable vnto fire thrice named by the Apostle The first that fire of Conflagration The second the fire of Gods seuere Iudgement The third of Purgatory an absurd interpretation saith your owne Estius the fire is the same in all places saith hee That fire is eyther that of Conflagration or Gods seuere Iudgement or both according to the opinion of Caiâ—tan no Protestant in his owne opinion rather that of Conflagration which shall set the world on fire at the last which hath a threefold effect vpon three different sorts of men for probation vpon the throughly cleane for Purgation vpon the yet defiled for reuenge vpon the cast-awayes vngodly For which exposition hee citeth Basil in three seuerall places Hilary in second Canon vpon Mathew Ambrose Lactantius Eucherius and others but in no case your Purgatory fire because Purgatory receiueth men after Iudgement particular and is vtterly amolished before the generall Iudgement finished Secondly because Purgatory trieth no mans worke but punisheth the euill works of such as shall bee saued If such men your owne bee not resolued for it nay resolued against it would you haue vs instantly professe a Purgatory because you say Saint Paul meant so and cannot prooue it Prooue it you can out of Saint Ambrose Ser. 20. in Psal 118. Bellarm. saith that Idem habet on the place of S. Paul in his Commentaries and Estius Ser. 3. vpon the same 118. Psal Which testimony hee alleadgeth for against the Conceit of Purgatory extracted hence so that if these testimonies are all one Ignis Conflagrationis is intended at the end of the world to beginne not the fire of Purgatory which is to bee consummated at the worlds end Post consummationem saeculi are Saint Ambrose words missis Angelis qui segregent bonos et malos hoc futurum est Baptisma quando per caminum ignis Iniquitas exuretur vt in regno Dei fulgeant iusti sicut Sol in regno Patris sui et si aliquis vt Petrus sit vt Iohannes baptizatur hoc igni This is a purging fire as well as a proouing and consuming fire as your Estius hath well obserued In which sense Saint Ambrose speaketh vt per ignem purgatus fiat saluus So you bely Saint Ambrose for explicating this very place of Purgatory in your sense Secondly you prooue it out of Hierome vpon the fourth of Amos 11. You were as a firebrand plucked forth of the burning where what Hierome hath for Purgatory I would willingly vnderstand of your Gagger-ship for I professe my disability to conceiue Hierome compareth that place of the Prophet with the other of Saint Paul and onely compareth it no more Hierome doth not determine Fire in eyther place to be your Purgatory fire all that can bee collected is That by fire Saint Hierome meant the seuere Iustice of God Cùm subuer si fuerint ob similitudinem criminum Sodomae et Gomorrhae pessimaque in ijs aedificia diuinus ignis exusserit ipsi liberentur quasi torris raptus de incendio Et quomodo Lot Sodomâ pereunte seruatus est amittens substantiam et partem corporis sui quam intelligimus vxorem sic omnes isti Sodomorum diuitias amittentes euadunt nudi iuxta illud quod in Apostolo legimus Si cuius opus arserit c. Si ergo saluatur per ignem quasitorris de incendio rapitur If there bee no fire but that in Purgatory I confesse this fire must bee that of Purgatory but if there bee many fires beside this of your Imagination it is rather any fire then that of Purgatory For I neuer yet heard that an Heretick dying an Heretick may haue his Heresie purged in Purgatory and so leauing that there as a snake her slough himselfe may stie vp to Heauen but without all controuersie out of that fire in Saint Hierome Hereticks be saued into Heauen Postquam in eo opera arserint in antiquum restituatur locum See the place Reader and tell mee thy opinion of this Gagger Saint Augustine cannot possibly vnderstand this place of your fire of Purgatory except hee will and doe contradict him For by your owne confessions Saint Augustine conceiued it of the Tribulations of this life therefore not of Purgatory after this life The words you meane in Saint Augustine vpon 37. Psal are It is said Hee shall bee saued yet as it were by fire And because it is said Hee shall bee saued therefore that fire is not regarded No maruell and yet that fire is more vnsufferable then any torment which a man can possibly vndergoe in this life Heere no doubt the game is vp for Saint Augustine Fire after this life and yet not eternall therefore of Purgatory no question Yes Sir a question Indeed no question what Saint Augustine meant For first he calleth it plainly Emendatorium ignem fire that correcteth men and
also in his right â—its who in 5. against Marcion writeth thus Ascendit in sublimitatem id est Coelum Captiuam duxit captiuitatem id est mortem vel humanam seruitutem See then Fathers expounding it of nor Diuels nor Saued and yet this confident Ignorant that scarce euer read Father it is probable but who so bold as blinde Bayard pronounceth that These freed Captiues heer could bee no other than the soules of the Fathers whom Christ deliuered forth of hell because they were nor Diuels nor Saued in his opinion They were not Diuels very magisterially spoken and pro Imperio because this learned Theologue saith They were not Athanasius saith It was the Diuell that he captiued 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hauing made captiue the Tyrant of captiuity To. 1. de salutari aduentu Iesu Christi and yet Athanasius neuer feared to be challenged for bringing back the Diuels into heauen vnto whom God Almighty had sworne in his wrath They should neuer more return into his Rest Might he not lead them along the aire and shut them our cast them off at heauen-gates Captiuity is actiuely or passiuely taken Those that held in captiuity or such as were held Christ led them both death and damnation the Diuell the graue the Chief and Principal in the dwellings of Ham the Commanders of the Prince of darknes of whom hee made a shew openly and triumphed ouer them in his flesh They might be the Righteous the Saued though you deny it that were formerly in captiuity vnto their enemies and now freed deliuered to serue Christ Iesus which the Fathers call if you euer read it a better captiuity whether you hould them in their right wits or no I knowe not I am sure your wits and wisdome are far asunder though no great substance in either Very farre or could it haue dropped from your penne They cannot be the soules of the Saued and yet Therefore they were the soules of the Fathers whom Christ deliuerd out of hell who peraduenture were not saued but cast into another hell being taken thence Goe learn to speak and write Sir giddy Goose-gagger and then vndertake to stop the Protestants mouthes You must not look to prate and talk idlely to them as you doo to your Proselytes poore fooles that are hood-winked willingly by each Buzzard to blinde obedience You may let these freed Captiues be these or those deliuered saued so or so you cannot inferre they were deliuered by Christ therefore they were freed out of hell Let them not haue been in heauen before our Sauiour I deny it necessary they were therefore in hell Hell is one thing saith Tertull. lib. 4. against Marcion Abraham ' s bosome is another thing For Abraham saith A great depth is betwixt these two Regions which permitteth not any to passe to and fro Neither could the rich man haue lift vp his eies but to places aboue him and farre aboue him by reason of that infinite distance betwixt that height and that depth That Region then I call Abraham ' s bosome which though it be not heauen is yet higher than hell Thus hee vpon warrant of our Sauiours words who placeth Abraham farre aboue that place of torment and so the one no part of the other And so likewise resolueth that profound Diuine Saint Augustine in his 99 the memorable Epistle to Euodius instantly rehearsed by the Discourser Non vtique sinus ille Abrahae id est secretae cuiusdam quietis habitatio aliqua pars inferorum esse credenda est Then without doubt the Bosome of Abraham which is an habitation of secret rest cannot be thought to haue been any part of hell You dare oppose Saint Augustine dare you not It is true which that illuminate Doctor auerreth in the same Epistle None but an Infidell will deny Christs descent into hell and as true that none but an Asse or an Idiot will say that therefore necessarily hee went thither to fetch vp the fathers that were there in hel Saint Augustine denieth them to haue been there it is plain and not denied by your Masters Indeed it is answered that Saint Augustine did not knowe what the besome of Abraham was but that hee applieth that Text Acts 2. 27. to the pains of Purgatory is but a coniecture at the best S. Augustine saith that Christ deliuered some from the pains of hell and interpreteth himself not to mean That of those holy soules that were in the Bosom of Abraham nor of the souls of the Damned that were in hell-torments out of which is no redemption Heerupon you think wisely he must needs mean the pains of Purgatory and no other It is the doctrine of your owne Schools that such as were raised at any time from death to life were not certainly doomed nor confined into their stations but in regard GOD foresaw they should liue again extraordinarily he suspended their determination this way or that way irreuocably Why might not Saint Augustine mean some such thing Without doubt he did not mean it of Purgatory For Saint Thomas 3. p. q. 52. ar 8. resolueth that the soules of Purgatory were not freed nor deliuered by Christs descent thither his merit extending vnto eternall deliuerance and vnto no partiall or temporall freedome But somewhat you would say though poor man you be to seek in the manifold labyrinths of Purgatory Limbus and Hell out of which wiser than you cannot winde The word Hell is ambiguous in the Writings of the Fathers Sometime it is put for the state and condition sometime for the place and receptacle of soules and that in a different manner in opposition to a twofold heauen For earth is respectiuely called Superi and the state of men liuing by the selfe-same name and so in opposition any Dead are Inferi and their place and receptacle Infernus Secondly Superi is the highest heauen and they that do liue there are so stiled In opposition heerto the name of Inferi hath a two fold interpretation First for a place or state contrary to the state and place of the highest heauen this is hell properly or of the Damned Secondly for a state or place negatiuely opposed and not contrary to heauen and so euery place and state which is not that highest in the highest heauen is called Inferi and may so be as Pamelius hath obserued vpon Tertullian lest you take it for a Protestant deuice This Fellow perchance knew not this before and therefore wheresoeuer the Fathers speak of Christ's descent into hell and carrying thence the Fathers into the highest heauens hee faineth Limbo vnto himself euen as the Bell tinketh whatsoeuer the foole thinketh when the Fathers meant nothing lesse then so but alteration of state and place See then as many places as the booke will hold They may prooue the descent of Christ into hell which as an Article of our Creed wee willingly embrace The descent to Popish Limbus they doe not prooue the which no Father euer dreamed of