agreed about this point without any doubting Or if there were any doubt it was on the Papists side rather then on ours because they require not true faith to make a man a member of the Church but onely the outward profession of beleefe Yea the Pope may be head of the Church though he beleeue not with his heart And therfore it may not seeme strange to vs that a Iesuited Priest in Wisbich castle should affirme That one that was no Christian might be Pope of Rome But such a glorious title of the necessitie of faith maketh a goodly shew to the ignorant yet let no man deceiue himselfe herewithall For this faith which the Papists in words so magnifie is not that beleef in Iesus Christ whereby a Christian man resting on him for pardon of his sinne is iustified but onely an agreeing to the truth of Scripture So that a man may be full of this their faith and yet be euerlastingly damned A. D. §. 2. This ground is set downe by S. Paul himselfe who saith Sine fide impossibile est placere Deo without faith it is vnpossible to please God The same is confirmed by S. Augustine who saith Constat neminem ad veram posse peruenire beatitudinem nisi Deo placeat Deo neminem placere posse nisi per sidem Fides namue est bonorum omnium fundamentum Fides est humanae salutis initium Sine hac nemo ad filiorum Dei consortium peruenire potest quia sine ipfa nec in hoc seculo quis quam iustificationis consequitur gratiam nec in futuro vitam posside bit aeternam It is certaine that none can come to true hap pinesse vnlesse he please God and that none can please God but by faith For faith is the foundation of all good things Faith is the beginning of mans saluation Without this none can come to the fellowship of the children of God because without this neither doth any in this world obtaine the grace of iustification neither shall â—e in the next possesse eternall life Thus saith S. Austen A. W. Well might this whole chapter haue bene spared especially since your proofe is no more direct for your purpose For Saint Paule in that place speaketh of a true iustifying faith which presupposeth a beleefe of all things knowne to be reuealed by God and requireth that a man should not onely acknowledge God to be a rewarder of them that come vnto him that is beleeue in him but also that he should rest vpon him as vpon such a one without which questionlesse no man can please God though he assent neuer so stedfastly to the truth of those and such like points But if you will needs expound the Apostle of assent onely I must put you in mind that by this place you can proue necessitie of faith no farther then for the beleeuing of those two points he specifieth That God is and That he is a rewarder of them that come vnto him Indeed whosoeuer doubts of these particulars thus declared in Scripture can neither be saued nor please God but it doth not follow hereupon that therefore there is a necessitie of faith to the beleeuing of other matters many whereof haue no dependance vpon either of these A. D. §. 3. And the same might be confirmed out of other Scriptures and Fathers but that the matter is cleare enough A. W. The first of these places Rom. 2. is I take it misquoted by the Printer 2. for 3. In the second there is not one word of faith the Apostle there labouring to conuince both Gentiles and Iewes of sin against God by the breach of the law of nature Moses The other two are to be vnderstood of true iustifying faith which must needs be more then assenting to the truth of that which God speaketh as the very phrase of beleeuing in Iesus Christ proueth which cannot with any likelihood of reason be takeÌ„ for giuing credit to those things which are spoken by or of our Sauiour Christ It is one thing to beleeue that God is Credere Deum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 another thing to beleeue in God Credere in DeuÌ„ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though the latter alwayes imply the former and the former sometimes the latter Irenaeus hath not a syllable of the necessitie of faith in the place which you quote and where he speakes of it he onely shewes it was necessary that God should reueale his truth by his Word which was his Sonne because by the light of naturall reason all things necessary to saluation could not be found out This knowledge Irenaeus tyeth to the Scriptures Had it not bene better for you to haue spared these needlesse allegations in a matter that was out of question A. D. §. 4. Onely this I will adde that when the Scriptures do require faith as a thing absolutely necessary to saluation the common tradition of Councels and Fathers do interprete not onely that there is a positiue precept of faith for if it were but a positiue precept ignorance might excuse in some case but that at least some kind of faith is necessaria necessitate medij that is to say is ordained as a necessary means without which no man can attaine saluation in any case and that in this matter si quis ignorat ignorabitur if any man by ignorance do not know he shall not be knowne as S. Paul speaketh A. W. This interpretation of the Scriptures meaning in requiring faith as a thing absolutely necessary to saluation is altogether vnnecessary For who knowes not that there can be no saluation without that which is absolutely necessary therunto Therefore it was more then enough to name the common tradition of Councels and Fathers But such gay termes make a goodly shew in the eies of the simple But I pray tel me what haue you got by this learned interpretation Is there any Christian man so ignorant as to deny that some kind of faith is ordained as a necessary meanes without which men cannot attaine to saluation in any case Sure this can neither hurt vs who acknowledge faith to be necessary and if you speake of iustifying faith altogether sufficient to iustification nor helpe you who allow no faith but that which depends vpon the authoritie of the Church But the Councels and Fathers say that kind of faith is necessary What of that Do they therefore hold it necessary to saluation for a man to beleeue whatsoeuer the Church shall teach though without the warrant of Scripture Can a man in no case attaine to saluation without this faith May not the very reading of Scripture without any ministery of man be a meanes by the worke of Gods spirit in his heart to breed true faith to iustification and saluation The necessitie of faith is double First concerning faith as you take it for an assent it is not possible for any man to be
Leo faith that is true is a strong bulwarke to which faith nothing may be added by any man from which nothing may be taken because vnlesse it be one it is not faith sith the Apostle saith one Lord one faith one baptisme Is it not euident that he speakes of the points of faith that are to be beleeued For to them may a man adde I speake of power not of lawfulnesse from them may he take wheras the qualitie of faith seated in the soule is free from all such danger The learned father had found by experience that hereticks from time to time tooke vpon them to diminish and augment the faith of the Church that is the articles of religion and therefore denieth them to haue any faith that hold not firmly and onely the truth of doctrine according to the faith of the Church agreeable to Scripture A. D. §. 3. Omni studio saith S. Hierome Laborandum est primùm ocurrere in fidei vnitatem We must labour with all diligence first to meete in the vnitie of faith A. W. Ieroms testimonie wherein either the printer or you reade vnitatem for vnitate which is also the word in the text is to the same purpose that Leos was There are saith Ierome many winds of doctrine and by their blast when the waues are raised men are caried hither and thither in an vncertaine course and with diuers errors then follow the words you alledge Therefore we must labour with all diligence first to meete in the vnitie of faith then in the same vnitie to haue the knowledge of the sonne of God Which last point is added because of Sabellius who denied the distinction of the persons and against whom Ierome speaketh professedly in that chapter as also against Arius Macedonius and Eunomius about the holy Ghost and our Sauiour Christ A. D. §. 4. Hanc fidem saith Irenaeus ecclesia in vniuersum mundum disseminata diligenter custodit quasi vnam domum inhabitans similiter credit ijs quasi vnam animam habens vnum cor consonanter haec praedicat docet cradit quasi vnum possidens os Nam quamuis in mundo dissimiles sint loquelae tamen virtus traditionis vna eadem est This faith the Church spread ouer the whole world doth diligently keepe as dwelling in one house and doth belieue in one like manner those things to wit which are proposed for points of faith as hauing one soule and one heart and doth preach and teach and deliuer by tradition those things after one vniforme manner as possessing one mouth For although there be diuers and different languages in the world yet the vertue of tradition is One and the same Thus saith this Father By whose words we may vnderstand not onely that there is but one faith but also how it is said to be one which might seeme not to be one considering there are so many points or articles which we beleeue by our faith and so many seuerall men who haue in them this faith yet One saith this Father it is because the whole Church doth beleeue those points in one like manner That is to say because the beliefe of one man is in all points like and nothing different from the beliefe of another or because euery faithfull man beleeueth euery point or article for one and the like cause or for mall reason to wit because God hath reuealed it and deliuered it to vs by his Catholicke Church to be beleeued For which reason euery one should beleeue whatsoeuer he beleeueth as a point of Christian faith A. W. Irenaeus as the two former speaketh of the articles of religion many wherof he had recited in the next chapter before whereupon he infers the words you set downe The Church saith he hauing receiued this doctrine or preaching of this faith though it be spread ouer the whole world keepes it diligently c. And this your selfe acknowledge in these words To wit which are proposed for points of faith whereby you expound that which Irenaeus said The Church beleeues those things which is all one with his former words in sense This faith the Church holds So doth Feuardentius one of your learnedst Fryers vnderstand Irenaeus telling vs that he sets the consent of all Churches as a brasen wall that cannot be ouerthrowne against hereticks Of the same things saith Feuardentius they thinke beleeue write and teach the same By this place it is manifest that you take faith as it is a qualitie because you distinguish the points we beleeue from our faith by which we beleeue and so speaking of faith in that sense neuer a one of your proofes is either plaine or certaine But let vs see how you interprete Irenaeus He saith The whole Church doth beleeue alike meaning that all beleeue the same things not that the habit by which they beleeue is of like force like strength in euery particular Church or man which neither belongs to his purpose nor is true The intention or inward strength euen of the Catholick faith may be greater in one mā saith Domingo à Soto then in another and according to that increase our faith Therefore your former reason which you giue why faith is said to be one namely because the beleefe of one man is in all points like the beleefe of another must be vnderstood of likenesse in regard of the articles they beleeue not of any equalitie in the habit or qualitie it selfe and in that sense onely doth Irenaeus say that faith is one Which saith he no man by his eloquence maketh greater no man by his weaknes in speaking of it lesse We see saith Feuardentius that Irenaeus vehemently vrgeth the vnitie of doctrine and consent of faith which we affirmed to be one of the notes of the true Church Therefore whereas you said of Irenaeus that he affirmes faith to be one because the whole Church doth beleeue those things points of faith in one like manner you mistake his meaning and auow that which is vntrue It is great pitie but that such as you are coming in the name and by the authority of the Church should haue absolute credit giuen to that you teach without doubting or examining it at all Your second reason why faith is said to be one neither agrees with Irenaeus meaning as appeares by that which hath bene alreadie said and in the latter part is false too for both it is a fansie of yours that God hath deliuered it to vs by the Catholicke Church since the Prophets Apostles and Ministers are not the Catholicke Church but members of it the last all of them seuerally and ioyntly subiect to many errors though not fundamentall And the reason of beleeuing is simply and onely the authoritie and will of God made knowne to vs by the ministerie of men the holy Ghost enlightening our vnderstanding and enclining our hearts to beleeue But
certainly and plainly knowen but that euerie man must be able to perceiue that this or that is the rule What is your meaning That the rule must not be hard to be vnderstood Thirdly your terme of vniuersalitie is not so plaine as it might haue bene because it is commonly I thinke euery where in this Treatise saue in this one chapter taken for that which belongs to all persons times and places no where for all points of doctrine no not there where you speake of the entirenesse of faith And I pray you tell me why as you apply infallibilitie to faith and the rule you do not in like sort deale with entirenesse and say that the rule must be entire because faith must be entire I come now to your proposition which I denie because it is not necessarie that the rule of faith should be such as may be certainly and plainly knowen that is vnderstood in euery point It is sufficient if it may be vnderstood in those points that are necessarie to saluatiō Who would say that he which is to measure out timber in length had not a perfect rule to that purpose hauing an ordinarie Carpenters rule because there are vpon the rule some figures circles triangles squares and such like the vse wherof he vnderstandeth not If you runne backe to the entirenesse of faith I will follow you for a refutation of my answer thereunto and a founder proofe of that your conceit A. D. CHAP. VII That Scripture alone cannot be this rule of Faith A. W. The title of this chapter as it shall appeare by and by agreeth not with the discourse in the chapter and besides propoundeth very craftily a matter which is no way in question betwixt vs and the Papists For there is no Protestant diuine that thinks the Scripture alone that is without the ministerie of man a sufficient meanes for the saluation or instruction of all men to which the fond example of this Author tendeth where he talketh of locking vp an vnlearned man that cannot read alone without any helpe but a Bible A. D. §. 1. Out of these former grounds foure conclusions The first conclusion is that Scripture alone especially as it is by Protestants translated into the English tongue cannot be this rule of faith This I prooue First for that these translations faile in the first condition that is to say they are not infallible as the rule of faith must be for neither were the Scriptures written in this language immediately by the holy Ghost neither were the translators assisted by the same holy Ghost infallibly Infallibly I say that is in such sort as it were vnpossible that they should erre in any point Sith therefore the translators as being but men may erre To say nothing of that which by Gregory Martin is prooued and by the often changes of new and variable translations is shewed that some haue erred how can a man and especially an vnlearned man who hath not sufficient meanes learning nor leisure to compare the translations with the prime authenticall originall how can I say such a man be infallibly sure that this particular translation which he hath doth not erre And if in some places it erre how can he be infallibly sure that in those places which do seeme to fauour that sect which he followeth it doth not erre vnlesse he wil admit an vnfallible authoritie in the Church to assure vs that such or such a translation doth not erre in any point of which authoritie I shall speake more hereafter A. W. The Scripture is in it selfe such a rule or meanes and no doubt so made effectuall to some by reading without any other outward helpe of man but this is not the ordinarie course that God hath appointed for the instruction of the people in the knowledge of his truth Therefore if at any time we say that the Scripture alone is the rule of faith by Alone we seuer it from the traditions and authoritie of men not from their ministerie and ascribe vnto it sufficiencie in respect of the matter to be beleeued not simply of the meanes to bring men to beleefe The assumption which you should prooue as also the title of your chapter professeth is this That the scripture alone cannot be the rule of faith By what reason do you prooue it Truly by none at all but leauing the question you dispute against the English translation Wherefore I take it for granted that in your conscience you acknowledge the sufficiency of the Scripture to direct vs in all matters and questions of faith And thereupon I inferre that the infallible authoritie which you would tie to the Church is needlesse because without it there is a sufficient rule of faith prouided by Almightie God whereby euerie man learned and vnlearned may be instructed in all points of faith what is to be holden for true Hence it followeth that the first of your maine points set downe in the preface is false and so your whole Treatise void vntrue You tell vs indeed afterward that some of your reasons against the English translation haue also force to prooue that the Scripture alone in what language soeuer is no sufficient meanes but you neither shew vs which those reasons are nor are there any of sufficient weight to that purpose Let them iudge that will read my answer But first I will propound certaine testimonies of the Fathers concerning the infallibility sufficiency of the Scriptures VVhen heresie saith one hath once gotten footing in the Church there can be no refuge for Christians which desire to know the true faith but onely to the Scriptures And afterward Christ commaunds that they that desire to haue certaintie of faith flie to no other thing but to the Scriptures In the same place three seuerall times in one halfe page he assureth all men that in the most dangerous daies of Antichrist there will be no way to know the true Church of Christ but onely by the Scriptures If certaintie of faith knowledge of the true Church may be had from the Scriptures in time of heresie cannot else where be had out of doubt the Scripture is certaine and infallible and so consequently the rule of faith Irenaeus tels vs that the Gospell is left to vs in the Scriptures to be the foundation and pillar of our faith Tertullian cals to Hermogenes for proofe of that he said out of the Scriptures and warneth him and his complices to beware of the woe that is threatned against them which adde to or take from the Scriptures If they bring any doctrine that is not written therein Origen is ours euery where in this question allowing not any expositions or senses but those that are warranted by the Scriptures requiring of vs to bring not our owne but the sayings of the holy Ghost when we teach This was the rule which Constantine the Emperour enioyned the Fathers of that first famous Councell
Ierome before Poperie was hatched shall alwaies be open to them that desire to be saued that entrance may not be denied either in prosperitie or aduersity to them that will beleeue Thus this place of Esay will not prooue the visibilitie of the Church to all men at all times A. D. §. 7. Sixtly the onely reason and ground by which heretickes hold the Church to be inuisible is because they imagine the Church to consist onely of the elect or onely of the good But this is a false ground as appeareth by the name of Church in Greeke Ecclesia which euen by the Etymology of the word doth signifie the companie of men called now sure it is that moe are called then elected as our Sauiour saith Multi vocati pauci electi Againe this ground is shewed to be false by those parables in which the Church is compared to a floare wherein wheat and chaffe are mixed And to a mariage to which came good and bad And to a net wherein are gathered all sorts of fishes good and bad And to ten Virgins wherof fiue were foolish and excluded from the celestiall mariage This ground is also shewed to be false out of Saint Paule who commaundeth the Corinthians to expell an incestuous person out of the Church Ergo before this expulsion there was such a person in the Church and therefore the Church doth not consist onely of those that be good A. W. Because your owne reasons are not strong enough to proue the point in question you thinke to helpe the matter by ouerthrowing the ground whereupon onely as you confidently auouch we build our deniall of the Churches visibility at all times But neither is that our onely ground and if it were you are not able to shake it Concerning the former we denie the visibilitie of the Church as it is vnderstood in those places where our Sauiour promiseth spirituall graces to it and as it is taken in the Creed because that Church is the mysticall bodie of Christ and therefore can consist of none but those that are truly iustified and sanctified as none but the elect are But we farther denie the same visibilitie because you would haue vs beleeue that the Catholicke Church is visible To which we answer that this Catholicknesse let the Church be what it will maketh it inuisible because that which is Catholicke is generall consisting of many particulars and we haue learned that vniuersals are not subiect to sense but onely to be conceiued by the minde as hauing no outward shape which can be seene or knowen by any of the fiue senses Moreouer if we take the question in the most reasonable sort that may be and so it is verie seldome handled by you Whether there must alwaies be some one or other companie of men that may be famously knowen of all the world to be a true Church of Christ Still we continue in denying that visibilitie First as it is propounded by you for an Article of Faith and an essentiall propertie of the or a true Church Secondly because we are taught in the Scriptures that the true Church that is the professours of Christs true Religion shall be faine to flie into the wildernesse and so must needes be out of the sight of at least the greatest part of the world I am loth to repeate these things so often but you driue me to it my helpe is to do it as shortly as I can All the forces you bring to ouerturne the ground vpon which our denial of the Churches visibilitie stādeth are diuided by you into two bands with the former whereof thus you set vpon vs. The companie of men called consisteth not of the elect onely The Church is the companie of men called Therefore the Church consisteth not of the elect onely I denie your Minor many men are called that are not of the Church which consisteth of such onely as being called are also elect It is true that the word Church is sometimes so generally taken that it compriseth all such as make profession of faith in Christ but this is not the Church of which the Creed speaketh and to which our Sauiours promises apppertaine yea besides this Church there is the true Church of Christ whereof he is head whose bodie hath neuer a rotten or dead member such as ouer many perhaps the greatest part of them that make profession of beleefe commonly are In a word the whole course of your Treatise failes in this point that whereas the word Church is diuersly taken you apply that to it in the generall meaning of the word which was spoken of it by our Sauiour the Prophets and Apostles in that speciall signification by which it containeth none but the elect To your proofe I answer farther First that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the verie nature of it doth not signifie The companie that is any certaine companie called but generally a company that is any such companie whatsoeuer Secondly I adde that the word is also sometimes taken for a companie whether called or not called as I haue hated the companie of the wicked Where the Prophet speaketh not of any companie called together but absolutely of the wicked howsoeuer assembled or not assembled Thirdly I say it is enough in respect of the nature and Etymology of the word that the Church be a companie of men called neither can it any way be enforced from the signification of it in Greeke that the Church must needs comprehend all that are in any sort called Indeed the elect onely may truly be said to be called in an especiall manner because they haue besides the outward sound of the preacher the inward voice of the spirit and are not onely called to beleeue the truth of the Gospell but also to beleeue truly in Iesus Christ to saluation This is your rereward with which you charge vs afresh and that as it were both with foote and horse First you throng together many places of Scripture as if your confidence were greater in your number then in vour valour Let vs encounter you That which is compared to a floare wherein wheat and chaffe are mixed To a mariage to which come good and bad To a net wherein are gathered all sorts of fishes good and bad To ten virgins whereof fiue were foolish and shut out from the coelestiall mariage consisteth not of the elect onely The Church is compared to such a floare marriage net virgins Therefore the Church consisteth not of the elect onely A verie hot assault but your bullets fall a great way short of the marke you do or should aime at For all you prooue by this reason is onely this that the Church taken for the whole companie of them that make profession of the Gospell consisteth not onely of the elect Who euer dreamed it did You are so farre from ouerturning our ground that you neuer once come neare it for all this braue shew
the truth to flie to the Scriptures And Tertullian reiects that which is brought if it be not in the Scriptures Origen saith Christ is no where to be sought but in the mountaines of the law and the Prophets Yea Ierome makes the Scriptures the bounds of the church beyond which she may not go Are you able to shew this authority in all particuler points of Controuersie whereof a man may doubt Are you not faine in many particulars to deny the sufficiency of the Scriptures and to run a madding after traditions What talke you then of shewing sufficient authority The bestauthority you can alleadge for many matters is the Popes will who cannot erre as you ridiculously imagine And this authoritie is all the reason you haue in diuers points except such stuffe as Durād brings in his Rationale diuinorum officiorum wherof many of your own men are ashamed I had thought your Friers vow of obedience to their superiours or at least the Iesuits special vow of blind fold obedience head bene the height of all perfection in this life but I perceiue now that there is a greater opinion of holinesse in these vowes then there is cause why For you tye the obedience of euery Christian in such sort to the authoritie of the Church and indeed of his particular pastor yea of euery Priest or Iesuite that comes licenced by Blackwell or some new Garnet that be must beleeue without enquiring any reasō whatsoeuer such a fellow shall deliuer to him for truth This is the obedience one of your Cardinals speakes of Obedience without reason saith Cusan is full and perfit obedience namely when a man yeelds obedience without requiring any reason as a beast horse or other obeies his maister So doth your Popish Clergie vse the people as men do their Asses make them beare and do what they list yea euen to the attempting of most horrible and incredible treasons against their Soueraigne and countrey I will not now dispute what agreement there is betwixt faith and reason nor whether of them is the former nor in what case a man may require reason onely that no man may conceiue amisse of our doctrine concerning our demanding of proofe for that we are enioyned to beleeue he is to vnderstand that we aske no farther proofe but to be perswaded that the point deliuered to vs is warranted by Scripture Let it be neuer so much in seeming contrary to reason if it be agreeable to Scripture we hold our selues bound in conscience to take it for truth though we be no way able to answer such reasons as we know are brought against it Neither yet do we rest satisfied as soone as some place of Scripture is alledged in a doubtfull matter but here indeed we hearken after reason Yet not to prooue that true which we find affirmed in Scripture but to make vs perceiue that such and such is the meaning of the Scripture Whatsoeuer the Scripture saith we acknowledge to be absolutely true so farre as it is deliuered for true by the holy Ghost But what the sense of the Scripture is we thinke it must be prooued by the true vse of reason according to the certain principles of diuinitie and such helps as obseruation of circūstances vnderstanding of the tongs conference of like places logical discourse with such other helps reasonably affoord vs. But why should you find fault with demanding reason or not be most willing ready to ioyne it to your authority since as Cusan saith faith is not abased by reason but exalted euen as water in a vessell supports and lifts vp oyle As for your proofe that therfore we may not demand a reason nor so much as enquire whether the points that are taught vs be sutable to the Scripture or no because Christian beliefe must onely be grounded vpon the authority of God speaking by the mouth of the Church we say that you auouch that which is not true For Christian faith must be grounded vpon the authoritie of God speaking by the pens of his Apostles and Prophets in the Scripture not vpon the authoritie of any company of men liuing from time to time in the world The Church you dreame of will I doubt not in another part of my answer be shewed to be nothing but a fancy and a gay word to deceiue the simple when as by it you meane no more but your clergie or perhaps your Bb. onely assembled in a Councell or the Pope himselfe alone who can with no more reason be called the Church then the head may be tearmed the body or the whole man if I should grant you that he is the head which is both false and absurd The Lord vseth not the authoritie of men to enioyne what they list for a matter of faith but their ministery to beget faith by declaring what he hath reuealed in the Scripture through euidence of truth and power of exhortation testified and made effectuall by the mightie grace of the holy Ghost in the hearts of them that shall be saued A. D. §. 11 The which briefe and compendious resolution of faith whosoeuer will as euery one may securely and as in the discourse following shall be declared must necessarily embrace beside the ease he shall also reape this commoditie that cutting off all occasions of needlesse and fruitlesse doubts questions and disputes concerning matters of faith wherin vnsettled minds spend their time and spirit he shall haue good leisure and better liking then ordinarily such vnquiet mindes can haue to employ his endeuours more fruitfully otherwayes to wit in building vpon the firme foundation of stedfast faith the gold and pretious stones of Gods loue and other vertues in practise whereof consisteth that good life which maketh a man become the liuing temple of almightie God the which temple Gods spirit will not onely visite with holy inspirations and blessings oftentimes in this life but he wil also inhabite and dwell continually in it both by grace here and by glory in the other most happy and euerlasting life A. W. The securitie that ariseth from resting vpon the authoritie of the Church is freenesse not from danger but frō care This latter I confesse will easily be wrought by this perswasion in the heart of a carelesse worldling or a man superstitiously ignorant if he can be senslesly obstinate inough in keeping his eyes and eares from seeing and hearing the truth of God in the Scripture for to such men God sends strong delusions to beleeue lyes that they may be damned which haue not receiued the loue of the truth that they might be saued But alas what shall this ease aduantage them but onely that they may go laughing to destruction as a foole doth to the stocks and whip What necessitie can there then be of embracing such a dāgerous resolution Besides the ease you tell vs now of another commodity that may be reapt by embracing that
compendious resolution of faith Which before I examine let me here againe put you in minde that you condemne the greatest part of all your Schoolemens writings as needlesse and fruitlesse doubts questions and disputes and call them vnsetled minds that spend their time and spirits in such matters And surely such were many of the points they handled hauing nothing in them but vanitie and vexation of spirit as may appeare to name one for all by their articles and questions vpon Lombard and Thomas about the Masse But is anie man to be found so shamelesse as that he dare call it a needlesse and fruitlesse labour to search the Scripture for the finding out of the truth in such matters as are necessarily to be beleeued for the attaining to saluation Doth the neglect of this dutie bring a man good leisure and liking to build himselfe vp in the loue of God What loue of God can there be where there is no delight in his word Dauid makes it his meditation day and night and preferres the sweetnesse he finds in it and the account he makes of it before honie and the honie combe fine gold and all maner of riches But what should I heape vp vnnecessarie testimonies in a case not doubtfull Is it possible they should be Christians that make so small reckoning of the testament of Iesus Christ Can he be said truly to loue his father that neuer cares to see what his fathers loue to him is but contents himselfe with so much knowledge of it as men list to impart to him yea that knowes not whether he had such a father or no but onely as other men haue told him We say not that euery man is bound vpon hazzard of his saluation to know euery point of difference betwixt you and vs or to vnderstand the sense of euery place of Scripture but that all true Christians must labour for as much knowledge as by diligent hearing reading and meditating of the Scirptures they can attaine to Neither shall they by this study and endeuour either abate their loue to God or depriue themselues of the sense of his loue to them Nay rather both the one and the other shal be increased when a man shall feele the work of Gods spirit in his heart kindling in him a desire to vnderstand the mystery of his redemption by Iesus Christ to comprehend the infinitenesse of the loue of God the Father and enlightning him to conceiue that which by his owne skill he neuer were able to discerne But they that follow your resolution neuer come rightly to vnderstant what the loue of God to them is but if they will consider things aduisedly must needes thinke God hath dealt hardly with them as with seruants not with sonnes whom he shuts out from the knowledge of his will and view of his wisdome maiestie manifested in the writings of the old and new Testament affoording them no more of that heauenly Manna but such chippings and parings as their idle and prowd prelates will vouchsafe to cast them He that finds the loue of God toward him in opening to him the true sense of the Scripture in matters concerning his euerlasting saluation doth beare more true loue to God for it then any Papist can do that glorieth in his blind obedience to men maketh the end of his louing God the deseruing of euerlasting life by his ignorance of the Scriptures As for true holinesse of life whence doth it arise but from the feeling of Gods loue to vs whereby the spirit of God which dwels in vs inflames our hearts with the affections of kind children to so louing a father Can you imagine that he who hath at most but a kind of perswasion of I know not what holy inspirations blessings of Gods spirit vpon some Priests or Iesuits word can loue God as truely and feruently as he that knowes by the truth of God in the Scripture that the spirit of God dwels in all Gods children one of whom the same spirit assures him he is Your Papist must liue holily that he may become the temple of God a true Christian knowes he cannot liue holily but by the holy Ghosts dwelling in him and making him the temple of God And can it be a question whether of these two loueth God more deatly But I haue bene too long in your Preface Now to the Treatise it selfe A. D. A TREATISE OF FAITH CHAP. I. That true faith is absolutely necessary to saluation A. W. TRue faith whether we take it for an assent to the truth of that which God hath reuealed or for beleeuing in God is absolutely necessary onely for those which are come to yeares of discretion not for them that die in their infancie Which I deliuer not by way of confutation but of explication because I am perswaded you and I agree in this point A. D. §. 1. Whosoeuer hath a true desire to please God and an earnest care to saue his owne soule the which should be the chiefest desire and care of euery Christian man must first resolue and settle himselfe in a sound beliefe of matters of faith holding it for a most assured ground That there is a faith which whosoeuer wanteth cannot possibly please God nor consequently be saued sith none are saued that do not please God A. W. Faith being so diuersly taken both in Scripture and other writings it had bin fit for him that professeth plainnesse either to haue set downe the seuerall significations of the word or to haue shewed in what sense he himselfe vseth it in this treatise Bellarmine giues it foure significations Sanders six Vega nine Yea this author himselfe as it shall appeare taketh it not alwayes in one and the same sense but diuersly as it best fitteth his present purpose especially in one of these two significatiōs either for the habit or quality of faith whereby we are enabled to beleeue or for the obiect of the same faith that is for the things that are to be beleeued Example we haue of both in this first Chapter Matters of faith are such points as we are bound to beleeue That faith which whosoeuer wanteth cannot please God is the qualitie of faith in the soule And these diuers vses of the word are within the compasse of three lines To which I may adde a third sense out of this same chapter where by faith actuall beleeuing is vnderstood as in the places of Scripture alledged For i. is not the hauing but the vsing of faith that iustifieth So thē where he saith that true faith is absolutely necessary to saluation his meaning is that no man can be saued vnlesse he do assent to the truth of those matters which God hath enioyned all men to beleeue or that there are certaine points to be beleeued without assent to the truth whereof no man can be saued But what need was there of this discourse since both parties that were to conferre
the points that are deliuered by our teachers and receiue those that are agreeable to the Scriptures and reiect those that are diuers from them Other things that men inuent of their owne head saith Ierome as it were by Apostolicall tradition without the authoritie and witnesse of the Scriptures the word of God smiteth A. D. §. 4. Secondly that man which beleeuing some points should denie others cannot while he doth thus haue one and the same faith which other Christians haue Sith he doth not as Irenaeus requireth to the vnitie of faith beleeeue the points of faith in a like but in a different manner from other Christians That is to say Neither doth he beleeue all the points which they doe neither doth he beleeue those points wherein he doth agree with them for the same reason that they doe that is to say He doth not beleeue those points which he seemeth to beleeue precisely for that God hath reuealed them and by his Church propounded them for if he did sith this reason is common to all points of faith he should assoone beleeue all as any one He hath not therefore I say one and the same faith which other Christians haue who notwithstanding haue the true faith And sith as S. Leo said Nisi vna est fides non est If it be not one faith it is no faith at all It followeth that he that beleeueth not entirely all points of faith hath no faith at all and consequently sith one that hath no faith can no way be saued it is euident that he that beleeuing some articles doth obstinately denie others cannot be saued A. W. Your second reason to prooue that faith must be entire is thus to be framed If faith cannot be one vnlesse it be entire then it must be entire But faith cannot be one vnlesse it be entire Therefore faith must be entire I denie the consequence of your proposition For it is not absolutely necessarie to saluation that faith should be one in such sort as you imagine There is indeed an absolute necessitie that all men should agree in the beleefe of certaine points without the beleefe whereof there can possibly be no saluation But that there should be such an agreement in all points though it be necessarie positiuely to speake as you doe because Gods truth is in euery particular to be beleeued yet it is not required as a meanes without which a man cannot be saued as I haue already shewed I grant the assumption in that sense you vnderstand being one otherwise I denie it Faith may be one in all points necessary to saluation and yet not entire in beleeuing all things that God hath reuealed To your allegation out of Irenaeus I answered before the exposition you make of it as I then signified in regard of the latter part thereof cannot be drawne out of Irenaeus who speakes not a word of the reason whereupon men beleeue but onely of the principall articles of faith euery where beleeued in regard whereof there was as he saith an vnitie of beleefe Neither is your proofe sufficient if we grant your exposition For a man may beleeue that which he doth beleeue because God hath reuealed it and in that respect haue one faith with other Christians and yet doubt of or denie some other points which are commonly held because he cannot perswade himselfe that they are reuealed by God though it be generally so beleeued I may say the like of matters propounded also by the Church because the decrees thereof are not so plaine but that they may admit diuers senses But I respect not that clause as being a point foisted in by you without any warrant of Scripture or reason Though it be no great matter what you build vpon so slipperie a foundation because it cannot long stand yet perhaps it is not amisse to push it downe presently that it may not continue to make a shew Thus you build He that hath no faith at all cannot be saued But he that beleeues not entirely all points of faith hath no faith at all Therefore he that beleeuing some articles doth obstinately denie any others cannot be saued I denie your assumption A man may doubt of and denie many points as I haue shewed and yet both haue faith and be saued Your proofe to the contrarie out of Leo was answered before Your conclusion is not so large as it should be For you restraine it to obstinately not beleeuing which cannot barre a man from saluation but in those points alone which are necessarie as meanes to bring him to euerlasting life A. D. §. 5. Thirdly to beleeue some points of faith and to denie others or any one is heresie as to denie all is absolute Infidelitie But it is sure euen out of Scripture that Heretickes shall not be saued no more then Infidels For as it is said Qâ—i non credit iam indicatus est he that beleeueth not is alreadie iudged so the Aposile Saint Paule reckoneth heresies among the works of the flesh of all which he doth pronounce Qui talia agunt regnum Dei non consequentur Those which doe such like things shall not attaine the kingdome of God A. W. Hereticall faith is liable to damnation That faith which is not entire is hereticall Therefore that faith which is not entire is liable to damnation I must intreate the Reader to call to minde what I answered before in generall concerning this point about liablenesse to damnation There is no heresie nor error in matter of Religion but it is a sinne and being so makes the partie that doth erre liable to damnation But yet many errors and heresies are of so small moment in comparison of other that hee which holdeth them may notwithstanding such his error or heresie be saued I gaue examples before and will not stand to repeate them So then the proposition is thus farre true and no farther Hereticall faith in matters necessarie to saluation is simply damnable so that he which continueth in such an estate cannot possibly be saued Againe Hereticall faith in any point of Gods truth whatsoeuer of it selfe deserueth damnation yet he that doth erre in some points may be saued else I thinke there are fewe men liuing or euer haue bene that could haue come or shall come to heauen As for the authoritie of the Church it is not of force to make that simply damnable which in it selfe is not so though it much increase the sinne whensoeuer it determineth truly of any point in question You will say Saint Paule reckoneth heresie amongst the works of the flesh So doth he contentions c. yet may a man in ignorance be contentious thinking he doth well and contends for the true faith as he ought to do and for all this contention not depriue himselfe of the interest he hath to the kingdome of heauen in Iesus Christ I deny your assumption A man may be
no man euer dreamed of viz. that we commonly build our faith vpon our English translation So that the Scripture may well be the rule of faith for ought that you haue said against it concerning the first propertie of certaine truth which it were blasphemie to denie of the scripture For the second that the rule must be easie to vnderstand I haue shewed that there is no necessitie of that condition and that the scripture is easie in matters necessary to saluation In the last point of the scriptures defect touching many things that must needs be beleeued you do both wrong God in making his word writtē so vnperfect and by a foolish craft insteed of proouing that the scripture containeth not all matters of faith needfull to saluation vndertake to shew that which no man denieth that all points of beleefe are not expresly set down and determined by scripture And lest we should forget your shuffling in this point you offer new proofe of a needlesse matter from the authoritie of Austin Basil and Epiphanius whose testimonies I alledged before to prooue the sufficiencie of the scripture in all matters necessarie to saluation The places by you alledged are not of such matters neither speake of things not expresly contained but onely shew that for matters of fact ceremonie the Apostles haue not determined al particulars The Apostles saith Austin haue commaunded nothing touching not rebaptising them which haue bene baptised by hereticks but the custome which was pleaded against Cyprian is to be beleeued to haue had beginning from their tradition as there are many things which the Church euery where holdeth that we wel beleeue therefore to haue beene enioyned by the Apostles though they are not found written What is this to prooue that there are matters necessarie to be beleeued to saluation which are not exprest in the scriptures Basil was not the the author of that Treatise at the least of the latter part of it from about the 17. chapter and so forward That appeareth first by obseruing the difference of style being neither like Basils writing nor in one place like an other as Erasmus hath truly obserued who translated it Secondly by the fond discourse he maketh propounding one thing handling an other and concluding a third which not onely Basil would neuer haue done but no man of any discretion Last of all he bewraieth himselfe to be a counterfeit by speaking of Meletius as one dead long before who liued in his time ouerliued him as it is manifest by the Ecclesiasticall historie But admit the booke were Basils what is there in it to proue that all points of doctrine which appertaine to true Christian faith are not expresly set downe in Scripture This Author saith that we must beleeue oraditions VVhat In matters of doctrine There is no such word in him He speaketh of outward carriage in ceremonies and phrases of speech The question in that part of his Treatise is of the preposition with that is to speake that euery man may vnderstand whether it be lawfull to say in the Church seruice and otherwise Glorie be to the Father and to the Sonne with the holy Ghost or whether we must needs say and to the holy Ghost not with For this speech that author pleades tradition Do we denie any such matter Or do we not acknowledge the libertie and authoritie of the Churches in such matters Who sees not that our custome now is to say Glory be to the Father to the Sonne and to the holy Ghost Not that thereby we condemne the other kind of speech but because in matters left to our libertie we take that which seemeth fittest Epiphanius speaking of praier for the dead which hath no warrant of Scripture is glad to helpe himselfe with the authoritie of tradition telling vs that some things must be held by tradition and not all taken out of the scriptures But Epiphanius doth not say that this is a doctrine or action necessarie to saluation A. D. §. 6. Some obiect against this conclusion that place of S. Paul Omnis Scriptura diuinitùs inspirata vtilis est ad docendum c. vt perfectus sit homo c. But this place prooueth nothing against that which I haue said For it saith not that scripture alone is sufficient to instruct a man to perfection but that it is profitable for this purpose as it is indeed and the rather because it commendeth vnto vs the authoritie of the Church which as I shall afterwards proue is sufficient Now it is certaine that to be profitable and to be of it selfe alone sufficient be farre different things Stones and Timber be profitable to the building of an house yet they alone without a worke-man to square them and set them in order be not sufficient for this purpose A. W. Of this place I haue spoken sufficiently otherwhere and shewed that the Scriptures are able to make vs wise to saluation and therefore sufficient to that purpose Now the Apostle hauing giuen that commendation to the scripture vers 15. proceedeth in the next to exemplifie that in particular which he had before said in generall It is able to make thee wise to saluation it is able to fit thee to teaching reproouing correcting instructing Can any reasonable man thinke that the Apostle deliuering by way of amplification his former commendation of the scripture that he might the rather stirre vp Timothie to the studie of it would say lesse then he had done before But it is a great deale lesse to say no more but the scripture is profitable to such purposes then to commend it as able to make a man wise to saluation Therefore though the word indeed doe not expresly signifie sufficiencie yet it cannot be doubted but the profit mentioned implieth such a sufficiencie especially since he addeth perfection which must arise from this word of God And so as I haue shewed elsewhere do Chrysostome and Theophylact vnderstand it who make the Apostle speake to Timothie to this effect that he being now to be offred vp leaueth the scriptures in his steed of which he may in all things take aduise and counsell as if the Apostle himselfe were present with him But you forsooth would make vs beleeue that the scripture is indeed profitable to this end but not sufficient Is not the knowledge of arts tongues philosophy and history of verie good vse also to this purpose Slender then too slender is the commendation our Apostle giueth the scriptures if it be of no greater excellēcy then these humane furtherances but only in a certain degree of profit To helpe the matter you propound one particular for which the scripture is profitable namely to commend vnto vs the authority of the Church But neither doth it cōmend to vs any such authority as you imagin if that be the rule of the scripture one sentēce had bin as good better then
iniuriously you deale with vs herein a blind man may see For we neither claime any such priuiledge of being free from errour in citing and vnderstanding Scripture nor desire to be any farther beleeued for translation or interpretation then we can approue them by euident reason And this you knew well enough and are ready with the rest of your complices to accuse vs of referring all to euery mans priuate spirit But malice is as wel without sight as without shame That of Saint Austin we acknowledge to be most true and find it verified by your Rhemish translation and the applicatiō of Scripture in your Canon law and Schoole-mens writings out of which it is easie to bring a cloud of witnesses to this purpose For the other place of Austin you quote two treatises his 18. tract vpon Iohn and his 222. epistle to Consentius In the former whereof there is no such word to be found nor any such epistle either in the Basil or the old Paris print But in your late edition of Austin at Paris both the epistle and the words are wherein Austin maketh the misunderstanding of the Scriptures the occasion of heresie Who denieth it This may serue vs to proue that the ignorance of the Scriptures is exceeding dangerous euen as Chrysostome saith the cause of all euils In another place the same Austin telleth vs that men are for nothing else hereticks but because not rightly vnderstanding the Scriptures they obstinately maintaine their owne opinions against the truth of them And Tertullian goeth somewhat further shewing that heresies durst not peepe vp without some occasion taken by the Scriptures But he addes that those very heresies may be conuinced by the Scriptures If we misinterprete the Scriptures why do not you great Clearkes that haue the spirit tied to your Church refute our false interpretations by the Scriptures Do we refuse this triall Is it not that we stil vrge to haue all things examined by the Scriptures or is there any thing you more feare then to be confined to the Scriptures What though the diuell and hereticks alledge them Did not our Sauiour himselfe say so too What plea can you make wherein some heretickes haue not gone before you Will you brag of the Church Hereticks also both thinke and say they are of the Church yea they are in all things so like true professors that in Antichrists time as an ancient author speaketh there is no meanes of triall left but the Scripture If you vrge tradition so do heretickes too running vp and downe right like you Papists from tradition to Scripture and from Scripture to tradition They pleade Councels as well as you The Arians obiect diuers against Austin and other writers As for the Fathers was not Austin prest by the Donatists with Agrippin and Cyprian Did not the heretick Dioscorus cry out in the Councel of Chalcedon I haue the testimonies of the holy Fathers Athanasius Gregorie Cyrill I vary not from them in any point I am cast out with the Fathers I defend the fathers doctrine I haue their iudgement extant in their bookes Neither may we rest vpon miracles To let passe what before I said of that point remember what Austin saith Pontius say the Manichees did a miracle Donat prayed and God answered him from heauen The Scripture onely is the true touchstone in these cases if it be hard Let him that hath an heart saith Austin reade those things that go before and those that follow and he shall find the sense A. D. § 7. Wherefore there is no reason whereby we may be assured that such men haue the spirit of God but we may find many reasons to conuince that they haue not this spirit And to omit for breuitic sake the seeking out of any other euen the singularitie or priuatnesse of their spirit is sufficient not onely to moue vs to suspect it but also to condemne it and to assure vs that it cannot be the spirit of truth as it is very well signified by Saint Austin who saith Veritas tua Domine nec mea est nec illius sed omnium quos ad eius communionem publicè vocas terribiliter admonens nos ne eam habere velimus priuatam ne priuemur ea Nam quisquis id quod tu ad fruendū omnibus proponis sibi propriè vendicat suum esse vult quod omniū est à communi propellitur ad sua id est à veritate ad mendaciū Thy truth O Lord is neither proper to me nor him but common to all whom thou doest publikly call to the common partaking of it warning vs terribly to take heed that we will not haue it priuate to our selfe least we be depriued of it For whosoeuer doth challenge that to himselfe priuatly which thou doest propose publickly to be enioyed of all and will haue that his owne which is common to all he is driuen from the common to his owne that is to say from the truth to a lie A. W. To refute this conceit of a priuate spirit which was not worth this ado you argue from the singularitie or priuatenesse of it as if it could not be true because it is not agreeable to the common opinion And surely he that shall be so arrogant and shamelesse as to denie all the points of Religion commonly held vpon a presumption that himselfe onely hath the spirit of God is fitter to be cut off by the Magistrates sword then confuted by the word of Scripture But it is very possible that in some points and places some one man without any reuelation by diligent searching and prayer may finde out that which no other man yet knoweth at least for interpretation of Scripture as it falleth out euery day amongst both Protestants and Papists Therefore your Cardinall Caietan doubteth not to say that God hath not tied the exposition of the Scriptures to the senses of the Fathers and therefore asketh no more then reason when he willeth the Reader not to be offended or mislike it if sometimes himselfe hit vpon a new sense agreeable to the text though it go against the streame of the fathers For which though Canus reproue him without cause Andradius iustly defendeth him And why should he not since as Domingo a Soto witnesseth one mans authoritie and learning draweth numbers after him to his opinion By reason of a saying of Saint Austins saith Soto all the fathers after his time and all the Diuines with one consent haue worthily affirmed that the glorious Virgin neuer committed any actual sinne for all Chrysostome auncienter then he thought the contrary Yet was Austins iudgement in this case but priuate and for truth inferiour to Chrysostomes If publicknesse or generall consent should cary the matter how chance Paphnutius withstood all the rest of the famous Councel of Nice and preuailed We ought saith Picus Earle of Mirandula to
also in the forgiuenesse of sinnes and the meaning is all one And in a third Sermon he giueth vs this caueat we must know saith he that we must beleeue the Church not beleeue in the Church that is must beleeue there is a Church So then To beleeue the Catholicke Church is not to beleeue all that the Church saith which neither the Greeke nor the Latin will beare but to beleeue there is a Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Credo esse Ecclesiam which in the phrase of the new Testament for the Greeke might be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which is word for word I beleeue that there is a Church Now if any man shall demaūd of me what the meaning of this article is or what we beleeue by beleeuing there is a Church and what that Church is to which so many gracious promises are made and of which so many glorious things are spokē in the scripture I will indeuor to satisfie him as briefly as I can with plainnesse First then leauing the holinesse and catholicknesse of this church to be discussed in due place I say that by beleeuing the Church we beleeue that there is a company of men called to true faith in Iesus Christ and to the participation of those priuiledges which belong to all the true members of his mysticall bodie some of the principall whereof are recited in the articles following But we may not imagine as the Papists doe without any likelihood of true reason that this company is their Pope and Bishops assembled in a generall councel or that they of this companie make one visible congregation but that they are all one Church in regard of the common meanes of saluation which they embrace and their dependance vpon on mysticall head Iesus Christ of whose bodie they are all members So that by Church in the Creed we vnderstand such of the elect as are by faith liuely members of our Sauiours bodie or at the least are by the baptisme of the spirit and water in corporated into that bodie howsoeuer as yet they haue not faith I denie not that all the elect euen those which are yet vnborne belong to the Church of Christ but I thinke the Creed doth not stretch so farre but onely to them that are actually members of Christ not to all that are so in Gods euerlasting predestination In this sense namely for the liuing members of Christs bodie the word Church is often vsed in the Scripture Vpon this rocke will I build my Church The Church which he hath purchased with his blood God hath giuen Christ ouer all things to be the head of the Church which is his bodie the fulnesse of him that filleth all in all things Christ is the head of the Church and the same is the Sauiour of his bodie So is it taken in the same chapter diuers times He is the head of the bodie of the Church Thus doe the ancient writers speake of the Church Austin denieth that he dares take any for the Church of Christ but those that are iust and holy no though they haue bene baptised For as he saith in another place they that are condemned by Christ are not now in his bodie which is the Church because Christ cannot haue members condemned As for the reprobate saith the same Author whether they seeme to be within the Church or be apparantly out of it they are alwaies diuided from the vnitie of the Church which is without spot or wrincle The Church saith Clement of Alexandria is the company of the elect Therefore saith Cyprian that the vnitie of Christ and the Church is coupled together with indiuisible links For as he saith otherwhere the Church that beleeueth in Christ and holds that which once it hath receiued neuer departeth wholy frō him they are the Church that cōtinue in the house of God but they are not a planting planted by God who are not setled with the fastnesse and soundnesse of wheat but are scattered like chaffe by the breath of the enemie Sathan The Church standeth on the right hand saith Ierome and hath nothing in it belonging to them on the left hand And againe He that is a sinner and defiled with any filthinesse cannot be called one of Christs Church nor be said to be subiect to Christ There are many such sayings in the writings of the Fathers grounded vpon the booke of Canticles which all men know intreateth of the true church There is no doubt saith Bernard vpon the Canticles but the elect are the Church of God But the reprobat as one of your Cardinals saith are not truly mēbers of the Church Of many beleeuers purged from their sinnes there is made one Church saith Albertus magnus Thomas his master Thomas himselfe expounding that place of the Reuelation In the Temple of my God saith that by the temple of God the Church of the faithfull is vnderstood which is the speciall temple of God and to that purpose he alledgeth that of the Apostle The temple of God is holy which you are And in an other place he saith that the mysticall bodie of Christ is the Church Now the vnion of this mystical bodie is spiritual by which through faith and charitie they are vnited to God and one to another As the godly or they that are holy are the members of Christ so the wicked saith Ambrose are the members of the Diuell The congregation of them that beleeue aright is the Church saith Altissiodorensis Who can reasonably doubt whether this be the Church spoken of in the Creed or no As for the promises and commendations giuen to the Church in the Scripture to what other Church should they appertaine The Doue and the perfect one praised in the Canticles is as Epiphanius truly saith the holy spouse and Catholicke Church Whereas the Church in the Canticles saith Austin is described to be a garden inclosed a fountain sealed vp a wel of liuing water c. I dare not vnderstand this but of the holy and righteous not of couetous men not of deceiuers extortioners vsurers drunkards enuious persons although they haue receiued the same baptisme but haue not the same charitie or sanctifying grace The promises praises belong either seuerally to euery one of the elect called as that the gates of hell shall not preuaile against the Church that the Church is loued and cherished by Christ her husband head or to the congregations of beleeuers in regard of the elect amongst them Once this I dare boldly affirme let any Papist disproue it if he can that the Church is no where in all the Scripture taken for one companie through the world in respect of any outward gouernment or dependance which is the foundation of all your doctrine touching the Church but in regard of the common meanes of saluation by faith in Christ And here I might
Let vs therefore proceede in examining this discourse A. D. §. 1. Hitherto I haue shewed that the rule of faith which all men ought to seeke that by it they may learne true faith is the doctrine of the Church of Christ and that this Church doth continue and is alwayes visible that is to say such as may be found out and knowne Now the greatest question is sith there are diuers companies of them that beleeue in Christ euery one of which challenge to themselues the title of the true Church how euery man may come to know assuredly and in particular which companie is indeed the true visible Church of Christ whose doctrine we must in all points beleeue and follow To this question I answer that euery companie which hath the name of Christians or which challenge to themselues the name of the Church are not alwayes the true Church For of heretickes we may well say as S. Austin doth Non quia Ecclesiae Christi videntur habere nomen idcirco pertinent ad eius consecrationem They doe not therefore pertaine to the consecration of the Church of Christ because they seeme to carry the name of the Church of Christ. For as the same S. Austin saith in another place heretickes are onely whited ouer with the name of Christians when indeed Si haeretici sunt as Tertullian sayth Christiani esse non possunt If they be heretickes the cannot be true Christians The reason whereof the same Tertullian insinuateth to be because they follow not that faith which came from Christ to his Apostles and Disciples and which was deliuered by them from hand to hand to our forefathers and so to vs but they follow that faith which they chose to themselues of which election or choise the name of hereticke and heresie did arise A. W. Hitherto you haue laboured to proue the maior of your maine syllogisme propounded in your preface namely that the faith which the authoritie of the true Catholick Church commends vnto vs is to be held for the true faith What successe you haue had in this proofe let them say that haue compared your arguments and my answers together Now you are to proceed to the proofe of your maine assumption that they onely are the true Church which make profession of the Romane faith Your syllogisme is thus framed They onely are the true Church to whom the certaine marks by which the Church is to be knowne belong But they that professe the Romane faith are they to whom those markes belong Therefore they onely that professe the Romane faith are the true Church The proposition or maior of this Syllogisme is not exprest by you but necessarily implied in this thirteenth Chapter where you say that the way to discerne which is the true Church is first to set downe which be the certain marks whereby all men may easily know the Church The assumption or minor you endeuour to proue in the fiue Chapters following by a Syllogisme thus concluded They onely who are one holy Catholicke Apostolicke Church are they to whom the certaine markes of the true Church belong But they that professe the Romane religion are they who are one holy Catholicke Apostolicke Church Therefore they onely that professe the Romane faith are they to whom the certaine markes of the true Church belong Your proposition or maior is in the two next Chapters your assumption or minor in the sixteenth In handling the proposition first you labour to disproue the markes of a true church which we assigne and that in Chapt. 14. then you assay to propound and confirme other of your owne as we shall see hereafter if God will when we come to Chap. 15. Whereas you expound what you meane by a visible Church viz. such a one as may be found out and knowne you straighten the question and auow that which no man denieth For the question betwixt vs is not whether the Church may be found out or no but whether it be so visible and famous a congregation that it may at all times be knowne of all men If this be not that you should proue what will become of your grand reason that therefore there must alwayes be a knowne Church the doctrine whereof euery must rest vpon in all matters of faith because otherwise it cannot be vniuersally true that God will haue all men to be saued It is indeed a matter worth the enquiring which companies of them that professe Christian Religion are the true Churches of Christ For that all are not it is apparent by your Antichristian Synagogue and that all true Christians are bound as much as lieth in them to become members of some true church of Christ it is manifest because else they cannot ordinarily performe the duties of his true outward worship which are no where done but in his true churches If the choise of any doctrine not receiued from Christ be sufficient to make men heretickes and churches hereticall what may the world thinke of your synagogue which is not ashamed openly to professe that she holdeth many points of doctrine which haue not proofe out of the written word of God For whereas to shift off the matter you come in with deliuerie of I know not what from hand to hand by the Apostles and your forefathers who sees not that this conceit of yours both condemneth the Scriptures of insufficiencie and maketh the reports of men the rule of the true faith and openeth a wide gate to let in all deuices of mans corruption What auailes it to know that all doctrine is heresie which comes not from our Sauiour Christ if we must beleeue that all came from him which your Pope and his Councell tell vs they haue receiued by tradition why should we not rather hearken to your Occham who truly affirmed that heresy is an opinion chosen by a man contrary to the holy Scripture Surely there is great cause to suspect them of heresie who refuse to make triall of their doctrine by Scripture whatsoeuer they talke of tradition from the Apostles by their forefathers A. D. §. 2. The way therefore to discerne which is the true Church is irst to set downe which be the certaine markes by which all men may easily know the Church and then to examine to whom these markes doe agree The which that I may the better performe in the Chapter following here I thinke good first briefly to note what belongeth to the nature of a good and sufficient marke Note therefore that two things are required in euery sufficient marke The first is that it be not common to many but proper and onely agreeing to the thing whereof it is a marke As for example it is no good marke whereby to know any particular man to say he hath two hands or two eares because this is common to many and therefore no sufficient note or marke whereby one may be distinguished or knowne from all other But a marke whereby we may discerne
as you taught vs before of necessitie to saluation that we beleeue entirely all points of faith without misbeleeuing any one what hope of saluation shall be left to any Papist who cannot by any meanes know what is determined by the Church and what is not Or if he may be sure that matters defined by the Pope and a Councell are decided by the Church yet since it is not so determined whether the Pope alone be sufficient to determine of points in controuersie he may refuse to obey some constitutions of the Pope or to beleeue some questions decided by him and thereby shut himselfe out of heauen for not giuing credit to the determination of the Church if that authoritie of determining be in the Pope and he commaund men so to beleeue But if this determination of the Church be ioyntly in the Pope and Councels and that nothing is a matter of faith but that which is so determined to be then was there almost no matter of faith at all in the Church till within these last 800 yeares For it is more then euident to any man that will not be wilfully contentious that the Pope neuer bare any extraordinarie sway in Councels till he had proclaimed himselfe vniuersall Bishop which was by the grant of the murtherer Phocas six hundred yeares after the beginning of the Gospell What shall we thinke of the Churches in the Apostles times and so forward till the Councell of Nice in which the Popes supremacie was not heard of Had Christians then no matters of faith to beleeue How should they if all depend vpon the Pope and a general Councel Let me grant that those Councels in the Acts were generall what was there determined but that the Gentiles were to abstaine from things offered to Idols and bloud and that which is strangled and from fornication VVas nothing a matter of faith but these few points which also till this time were not matters of faith Either shew some good reason why matters of faith were not at this time of the Apostles liuing to be tied to generall Councels and the Pope yet now must be or confesse the truth to the glorie of God that matters of faith haue their authoritie to be matters of faith from the word of God and not from the determination of Pope or Councell or both Neither thinke to shift of the matter by saying they are indeed matters of faith in themselues but not to vs. For so it will come to passe that we shall say the first Christians had no points that were matters of faith to them because they had none determined by the Church in a Councell which opinion is I know not whether of more absurditie or impietie Now that you agreement in matters of faith after the determination of the Church is not so great as you would make the world beleeue it may appeare by the verie ground of religion the Canon of the Scripture which was determined of by your iudgement in the Councell of Carthage wherein the Apocryphall bookes say you were allowed for Canonical yet saith Bellarmine Nicholas Lyra Denys the Carthusiā Hugo de sancto victore Thomas de Vio both these at least the last Cardinals follow Ierom in reiecting thē as Apocryphal But if this Councel may be excepted against sure in your iudgment the Councell of Trent may not which hath receiued those books into the canō of the scripture Yet for all that Sixtus Senensis keeper of the Popes library maketh bold to deny thē such authority euen since that Coūcel as Bellarmine himself confesseth And Arias Montanus since that time doubteth not to say that the Orthodoxe or true Church following the Canon of the Hebrewes accounteth those bookes of the old Testament written in Greeke to be Apocryphal What say you to your Bishop Catharin who being one of the Councell of Trent after the determination of the Councell against assurance of saluation defendeth that such assurance notwithstanding that decree of the Councell may ordinarily be had by them that beleeue You would perswade vs that it is a ruled case of your Church long ago that the Scriptures are not sufficient without tradition What saith Scotus in this case Whatsoeuer pertaineth to heauenly and supernaturall knowledge and is necessarie to be knowne of men in this life is sufficiently deliuered in the holy scriptures The holy scripture saith Gerson is sufficient for the gouernment of the Church or else was Christ an vnperfect Lawgiuer I might runne on in the like course touching other points but these shal serue for a tast and so I passe ouer to your proofe that the learned on your side cannot possibly dissent one from another They which acknowledge that the definitiue sentence of the Pope is to be rested vpon as an vndoubted truth cannot possibly dissent in matters of faith But all Catholick learned men acknowledge that the Popes sentence is such Therefore no Catholicke learned men can possibly dissent in matters of faith All you conclude is that in matters determined by the Pope and a Councell your learned men cannot disagree because they hold that such a determination is certainly true yet for all this as I haue shewed your Church may be rent in peeces with contrarie opinions in matters of as great moment as most are in religion if for all this it cease not to be a true Church why should not the Protestants haue the like priuiledge who haue the same opinion of the Scriptures that you haue of the Pope Be not so iniurious to reason or blasphemous against God as to auouch that no controuersie can be ended by the word because diuers men will expound it diuersly For it is contrarie both to religion and sense to imagine that the Lord would giue his people such a Scripture as cannot be certainely vnderstood in all points necessarie to saluation but by I know not what reuelation to some one man More particularly I denie your Maior They that acknowledge such an authoritie in the Pope may yet differ in opinion about matters of faith I bring you example in that point of assurance wherein Catharin disputed against that doctrine which Sotus and your writers generally since the Councell of Trent affirme to haue bene the certaine decree of the Councell Yet were they both present in the Councell and none of the meanest there assembed The reason of that their dissent and the possibilitie of the like betwixt other men ariseth from this that decrees of Councels and Popes being set downe in writing may be diuersly interpreted and so the meaning of them mistaken as Catharin saith that he foresaw some men would misunderstand the Councell of Trent in that point This is all the inconueniences you can alledge in admitting the Scripture for Iudge and this followeth the decrees of Councels and Popes at the least as much as the writings of the holy Ghost