spiritually vnderstood it shall giue you life Otherwise as Origen saith There is in the new Testament a letter Orig. in Leuit. hom 7. which killeth him that doth not spiritually vnderstand it For if thou follow according to the letter that that is written Except ye eate the flesh of the sonne of man drinke his blood that letter killeth For saith S. Austen it seemeth to commaund a horrible fact and hainous Aug. de doctr christ lib. 3. c. 16. matter Therfore it is a figure willing vs to communicate of the passiō of Christ and profitably to laie vp in our memory that his flesh was crucified and wounded for vs. Be hold and consider well what these men teach you that the spéeches which are vsed as touching eating and drinking the flesh and blood of Christ are figuratiue speeches that they are not literally to be vnderstood that we doe not bodily eate Christs flesh and drinke his blood And this is the plaine truth and simplicitie of the Fathers teaching the euidence whereof cannot be auoided but by those shifts which I mentioned before We extenuate them we excuse them by some deuised lie we oft denie them or faine of them some conuenient meaning But you vrge the circumstance of the text Which shal be giuen which shal be shead c. Marke well the speeches say you An argument péeuishly alleaged by Friar Campian and nothing at all to the Camp Rat. ◠purpose For when we say that bread and wine are the Sacraments of the bodie and blood of Christ do we not meane of the bodie which was giuen and the blood that was shead for vs Do we teach the receiuing of the bodie blood of Christ by faith any otherwise then being broken and shead for the forgiuenesse of our sinnes When S. Aushen saith The signe of the bodie Tertullian a figure of the bodie expounding the words This is my bodie do they not vnderstand Which is giuen c. This reason you may verie well spare hereafter The speeches you say are wonderfull as most true Yet the spéeches M. Spence are not so wonderfull as the things themselues that our wretched and sinfull bodies should by these Sacraments through the working of the holie Ghost be really and indéed vnited ioyned vnto the bodie of Iesus Christ being in heauen so as to be his members flesh of his flesh and bone of his bones and receiue thereof such vertue and power as that though they be buried in the earth and consumed to dust and ashes yet they should be raised vp againe and made partakers of immortalitie and glorie that God should hereby effectually communicate and impart vnto vs the inestimable riches of his grace and the whole fruite and benefite of whatsoeuer Christ hath done or suffered in his bodie for mankinde forgiuenesse of sinnes iustification sanctification the blessing fauou◠of God and euerlasting life You may know M. Spence what your owne Oration saith Some not without probabilitie expound the truth of the flesh and blood of Christ to be the efficiencie thereof De consecr dist 2. cap. species that is the forgiuenesse of sinnes We adde somewhat to this probabilitie when we teach in the Sacrament a true and effectuall vniting of vs to the bodie of Christ whereby he dwelleth in vs and we in him he is one with vs and we with him whereby as he hath taken vpon him what is ours sinne and death so he yéeldeth vnto vs what is his righteousnesse and euerlasting life Which vnion with Christ is wrought in all those and in those only which do with true and liuely faith receiue these holie mysteries where as that Capernaitish eating and drinking of Christs bodie and blood which your doctrine yéeldeth is common to all gracelesse and prophane persons that I say nothing of those monstrous blasphemous and horrible conceits which some of your captaines haue fallen into by defence thereof But yet further you alleage the vniformenesse of the wordes of Christ in the Euangelists Mat. Mar. Luc. And in S. Paul 1. Cor. 11. all saying This is my bodie wheras the scripture where it meaneth not a thing literally doth vary in the vttering of it Which you speake vppon the warrant of some Allen or Parsons or Seminarie reader telling you so and you haue beléeued it But they haue deceiued you both in the on and in the other For in the like matter you shall find in Moses law by an vniforme and constant spéech that the sacrifices of the law are called expiations propitiations and attonements for sinne which were not so indéed but they were so called sacramentally because they were types and figures seales and assurances of the true attonement which should be wrought by the bloodsheading of our Lord Iesus Again if you had looked in S. Luke and Luc 22. 20. 1. cor 11. 25. S. Paul you should haue found the words This is my blood expressed by such maner of spéech as tendeth directly to the ouerthrow of your transubstantiation For there it is said This cup is the new Testament in my blood c where I hope you will not say that the cup is transubstantiated into the Testament but that the wordes must be figuratiuely vnderstood Then you must say that the cup that is the outward and visible element of wine deliuered in the cup is the seale of the new Testament couenant of grace which is dedicated and established by the bloodsheading of Iesus Christ by which seale we haue assurance offered vnto vs to be partakers through Christ of those benefits which God hath promised vnto the faithfull in the same Testament the summe whereof is set downe by the Prophet Ier 31. 32 c. Now if any man should take it thus Ier. 31. 32. This cup that is this my blood in the cup is the new Testament in my blood your selfe would say he spake foolishly and absurdly Thus therefore your collections from the text are no collections Some of your owne side no meane men haue confessed indéed that transubstantiation cannot be enforced by the words of the text In truth it cannot God open your eyes that you may sée his truth and subdue the affections of your heart that you may yéeld vnto it By that litle spéech which I haue had with you I perceiue you are too too far in loue with that whoore of Rome She flattereth you and maketh shew of goodly names and pretendeth great deuotion as the harlot in the Prouerbes I haue peace offeringes to day haue I paide my Prou. 7. 14. vowes and you beléeue whatsoeuer she saith vnto you I shewed you the expresse testimonies of the Fathers gainsaying her as touching the bookes of Canonicall scriptures but you thinke she may approue them for Canonicall which were not so with the Fathers I declared the impudencie of the Rhemish glosers in auouching the storie of the assumption of the virgin Mary controlled by their owne computation of
hid vnder the ground and neuer seen as now being allowed of But the Church plaieth herein like a Lapidarie who by his long a The great skill of the Church of Roome to discerne those bookes to be canonicail which the Apostles and primatiue Church could not discerne to be so skill discerneth a true diamond from the counterfeit but the vertue he giueth not to it but that came of the first creation And so the Church by the illumination of the holie ghost is taught not to make scriptures nor to giue trueth to the books of the holy Ghost but to discerne which be the holie Ghosts books and which be not I aske you whether the Apocalyps and S. Iames Epistle besides other books of Scripture be not as Caluin and Beza against Luther confesse them to be Canonicall Scripture I am sure you will say they be Then whether were they b If they had not been receiued at the first they might not haue been receiued afterward at the first receiued of the whole Church for such or no I aske you further whether the Churches generall acceptation of them after due examination of them by the helpe of the holy ghost had made them any truer or better then they were before If not why then did not the Church receiue them generally at the first or why do you rather wrangle about it that all the world seeth was done in these bookes The cause why you would not haue the Church determine the canonicall Scriptures is because your priuate spirite being enemy to c That is to the wilful fansies of a few Romish prelates the general spirite and sentence of the whole Church you will rather seeme to preferre your owne iudgement then accept the worke of the holy ghost R. Abbot 34. AS touching the books of scripture Hierome testifieth thus of those bookes that we seclude from the canon a Hiero. in prolo Galeato They are not saith he in the canon they must be put amongst the Apocryphall writings And again b Idem praefat in libros solomo The Church readeth them but yet receiueth them not amongest canonicall Scriptures c Ruffin in expos symb apud Cypri Ruffinus that liued at the same time expresly witnesseth the same and that as he sayth out of the monuments of the Fathers So doth d Euseb eccle hist lib. 4. c 25. Eusebius out of Melito So e Athanas in synopsi Athanasius So f Epiphan de mensu ponderi Epiphanius So the g Concil Laodi ca. 59. councell of Laodicea And must we now in the end of the world beléeue the Roomish Lapidarie that these are Canonicall bookes Her obedient children may be so foolish as to beléeue her warrant herein but we know her héereby to be not a true Lapidarie but a false and presumptuous harlot The canonicall bookes that truely are such haue béen receiued for such from the beginning So doth S. Austen terme them h Augustin cont Cresco lib. 2. cap. 31. de bap con Dona. lib. ca. 3. canonem constitutum and confirmatum the canon appointed set downe and confirmed Whatsoeuer bookes were not then set downe deliuered and receiued for such they cannot now be warranted to be such If any man through simplicitie did afterwardes call in question any of those bookes as some did the Reuelation the Epistles to the Hebrewes and of S. Iames the Church did rightly correct their errour in that behalfe not newly approouing them for canonicall which were not so taken before but defending them to be canonicall as they had béen before receiued And therefore the world doth not sée that the Church of Christ did that then which the Synagogue of Roome presumeth now in that contrarie to the iudgement of that Church she taketh vpon her to make them canonicall which were not from the beginning deliuered to the Church for such Neither doe we in the canon of scriptures follow our own priuate spirite but the expresse testimonie and consent of the ancient Church As for his hypocriticall spéeches of the help and work of the holy Ghost they are but the same that the Moâ—tanistes the Marcionites the Valentinians and other olde heretickes did vse who when they taught against the holy ghost yet pretended the instinct and inspiration of the holy Ghost P. Spence Sect. 35. INdex Expurgatorius altereth no Doctours wordes but where it is certaine that heretickes haue corrupted or a T 〈…〉 tâ— say where the church of R 〈…〉 seeâ—â— any 〈◊〉 coÌ„trary â—o her faâ—â—e doctrine The Fathers speake like heretickes when they say any thing contrary to her learning where all the worlde knoweth their priuate opinions were amisse and erronious there it giueth a note thereof truly In later writers it noteth what is suspicious and to be taken heed of in forged bookes heretickes bookes and hereticall editions and hereticall prefaces censures and notes or hereticall commentaries it controlleth them and great b It is great charitie in the church of Râ—me to blot out as hereticall whatsoeuer is contrary to their damnable heresieâ— charitie so to do All which is good and therfore vniustly to be found fault with but of such whose backes being galled do winse at that booke set out with great iudgements to teach vs to beware of heretickes corruptions and traps R. Abbot 35. THis defence of the Index Expurgatorius is shamelesse The authours of it knew so much well inough and therefore would haue had it kept close but the prouidence of God hath to their reproach brought it to light It is not méete that the iudgements of learned men either old or new should be subiect to the fancies of a few wilful persons that they may dislike in them and put out what pleaseth them But welfare a childe that though his mother plaie the théefe and the harlot neuer so much yet will boldly stand in defence of her that she is an honest woman And indéed I maruell not that this dealing séemeth verie tollerable and lawfull with these men because I know that the corrupting and deprauing forging of bookes is a very speciall meanes and helpe for the vpholding and patronaging of the Roomish abhominations Falshood cannot be vpholden but by falshood and he that taketh a bad cause in hand must néeds vse bad meanes to colour and cloake his euill doing Thus a Francise Iunius in praefat indic Expurga Franciscus Iunius reporteth that being at Lyons in France in the yeare of our Lord 1559. and comming to the Correctour of Frelonius his print with whom he was familiarly acquainted the same Correctour shewed him a very faire print of Ambrose his workes Which when Iunius commended the Corrector told him that notwithstanding the fairenesse of it yet if he were to buy Ambrose he would rather buy it in any other copie theÌ„ in that The reason wherof he told him for that whereas they had printed the booke faithfully according to
to you Bishops Priests and Deacons concerning the mysticall seruice Now if this were in this solemne manner agreed vppon shall we thinke that the same saint Iames would of his priuate authoritie without cause publsh another Liturgy to the Church And would not the Church vniuersally accordyng to the sanction and designement of the Apostles haue practised that forme of seruice which it cannot be proued to haue done Or if either of those Liturgies had bene of authority from such an Authour would Basill Chrysostome and others haue giuen forth other formes of Church-seruice not haue cleaued to the receiued and enioyned Apostolicke forme It were wel that these doubts were sufficiently cleared But the testimony of Gregory Bishop of Rome is inough to cracke the credit of these Liturgies who assureth vs t Gregor Mag. in Regist li. 7. cap. 63. that it was the maner of the Apostles to consecrate the sacrifice with saying onely the Lordes praier This giueth vs sufficiently to vnderstand that those pretended Liturgies vnder the name of saint Iames the Apostle where much is sayd beside the Lords prayer either were not at all or at least were not déemed authenticall at that time and therefore are of the same stampe with an 〈◊〉 number of â—ther forgeries and counterfeit writings which haue bene put foâ—th in the name of the Apostles and other famous meâ— Of that Liturgy also which the sixth Councell mentioneth vnder the name of S. Iames Theodorus Balsamon testifieth yâ— in his time so long ago it was u Theodor. Balsa in concil Constant 6. can 32. not founde nor knowne but quite worne out amongst them Whereby we haue iust cause to thinke that these that now are are other counterfeits set forth since that time Basils Liturgy w Chemnie in exam Trident concil de canone missae by the old translation is one by the new translation another and yet it is sayd also that the Syrians haue a third differing from both the former This is iust cause to make a man suspicious of them all Of Chrysostomes Liturgy how often haue they bene told that although it be likely inough that he left some forme of seruice in his Church yet that there is now no certaintie what it was the differenâ—e of copies being such as it is one published by Leo Tuscus another by Erasmus another by Pelargus and yet Pelargus affirmeth that he hath séene another copie at Rome differing from all these In one of these Chrysostome himselfe is prayed vnto and these togither with yâ— other Liturgies are alleaged for inuocation of saints But x Epiphani haeresi 7 5. contra Aeriâ—nos Epiphanius testifieth that the Church in his time did pray for Saints Martyrs Apostles c. To pray for them and to pray to them stand not togither Epiphanius his testimony is true Therefore these Liturgies are certainly false Againe Chrysostome himselfe is prayed for yea Pope Nicholas and the Emperour Alexius are prayed for also who neither of them were borne some hundreds of yeares after S. Chrysostomes time If they will say that these names were put in as the maner is to put in the names of Princes and Bishops to be prayed for while they liue then how commeth it to passe that those names continue there still vnto this day and that the names of those that succéeded were not put in place of them It appeareth vndoubtedly that there was patching and adding not only of names but of prayers and ceremonies also according to the â—ustome of times and places and the will of those hucksters that had these things in handling Now séeing that although Proclus and others do mention such Liturgies of Basill and Chrysostome yet by meanes of such alterations patcheries and forgeries it cannot be certaine vnto vs what Basill and Chrysostome left in their Liturgies what folly is it in the Answ and his fellowes to face vs out with the names of Basill and Chrysostome in such sort as they do That many steps of antiquitie are yet remainyng in them it is not denyed but those are directly contrary to the practise of the Roomish faction in these dayes and therefore yéeld not any allowance to their proceedings And whereas there are diuers particles translated from those auncient Liturgies into their Masse by occasion wherof they vaunt themselues as followers of antiquity surely they deale no otherwise herein then y Irenae lib. â— cap. 1. Irenaeus reproteth the Valentinian heretickes to haue dealt with the holy scriptures Who gathered here and there wordes names out of the scriptures with the which they painted their horrible and accursed heresies yâ— men might beléeue that the scripture spake of those things which they wickedly taught against the scripture As if a man should take a precious and â—ostly image of a prince facioned by a cunnyng workeman and breakyng it in péeces should of the péeces of it make an il-fauoured image of a Foxe say that the same is the goodly image which such a cunnyng workeman made to resemble such a Prince For so haue they taken diuers péeces of the auncient Liturgies and turned them to other vse and meaning then euer was dreamed of by their Authors and as Irenee speaketh From that which is according to nature to that which is against nature and yet forsooth tell vs that their Liturgie hath example and warrant from all those that were vsed in former times The prayers which then were made to God for the accepting of the peoples gifts and offerings for the celebration of the Sacrament these men absurdly apply to the body and blood of Christ and appoint the Priest to entreate God that he will looke downe mercifully thereupon and accept them The old Liturgies vsed an open commemoration of the death passion and resurrection of our Lorde Iesus Christ that the people might be put in minde therof according to his commandement The Popish priest vttereth the words but is enioyned to vtter them in silence so that the people neuer haue the hearing of them The old Liturgies craued of God grace and heauenly benediction in behalfe of the people who togither were partakers of the communion the Masse kéepeth the words but excludeth the people from the communion The like dealing I noted before concerning the mixture of water and the like follâ—weth in the next place concerning the name of the Masse By these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such spéeches and doings borrowe â—or 〈◊〉 rather from the old Church-seruice they go about to daâ—le the eyes of â—en thâ—t they may not sâ—e their fraude and falshood But an ape will be an ape still though he be â—clothed in purple the Masse though it firmeth thus to be decked with â—â—oures of antiquitie shall remaine nothing else but â—â—ish this and abhominable idoll It is but apish 〈…〉 tation truly to keepe the words of the Fathers and so absurdly to vary from the 〈…〉 tise and meaning of the Fathers P. Spence Sect. 6. VVHether
be mercifull to the sinnes of all not only liuing but also dead And I wonder with what face you alleage S. Augustine who distinctly b But that which he telleth he learned rather out of the schoole of Plato then out of the schoole of God He elsewhere speaketh far otherwise as shall appeare telleth you of some verie good some verie bad some neither verie good noâ— verie bad but of a middle sort and because hee would not leaue you any thing to helpe your selfe in this ease he telleth you how the Church vseth and in what seuerall sort for all three Where as though S. Augustine were no bodie you would helpe Dulâ—itius reason as well as you could but that verie reason confoundeth you For if the praier of the Church had not bene to craue Gods mercie for the dead but only to giue thanks for them what needed either that question to be made by Dulcitius of that which was not or that answer to be made by S. Augustine when he might haue denied that vse but the question of the one and the answere of the other proueth the Churches c But it proueth not the lawfulnesse of the churches practise practise What need I to answere herein our bookes are infinit to whom I referre you R. Abbot 7. AS touching praier for the dead we take that for a sufficient cause to refuse it which a Epiph. haer 75. Ephiphâ—nius confesseth that it is not taught by the holy scripture but obserued by traditioÌ„ receiued from the Fathers without scripture What men haue said or thought good in this behalfe we take not for Canonicall but examine it by the Canonicall scriptures according to that rule which the Fathers themselues haue prescribed The scripture telleth vs that b Apoc. 14. 13. they which die in the Lord are blessed and rest from their labors and therefore they néede not the helpe of our praiers If they die not in the Lord then no praiers can stand them in stéed So that praier for the dead is a matter of no effect and consequently a vaine vsage of the name of God That which the Fathers say according to this truth of Gods word we willingly embrace as that of Hierom c Cansa 13. q. 2. cap. In praesenti In this present worlde wee know that we may be helped either by the praiers or counsels each of other But when we shall come before the tribunall seate of Christ neither Iob nor Daniel nor Noe can make request for any man but euerie one must beare his owne burthen And that of Austâ—n d August in Ioh. trac 49. The rest which is giuen straightwaies after death euerie man then receiueth when he dieth if he be woorthie thereof Which worthinesse e Bernaâ—d in dedic eccle seâ— 5. Bernard declareth to be dignatione dinina non dignitate nostrae by Gods vouchsafing to accept vs as woorthie not by our worthinesse in our selues For as Chrysostom saith f Chrysost in ep ad colos hom 2. No man sheweth such conuersation of life as that hee may be worthie of the kingdome of heauen but it is wholy the gift of God himselfe To which effect Hierome also saith g Hierony in Esai lib. 6. c. 14. When the day of death or of iudgement shall come all hands shall faile because there shall no worke be found worthie of the iustice of God neither shall any man liuing be found righteous in his sight Now he that is not by Gods acceptation in Christ Iesus holden worthie when he dieth he neuer shall be by S. Austens iudgement For saith he h August epist 80. Such as euerie one dieth in this day such a one shal he be iudged at that day Now then if euerie one that is thought worthie of this rest do receiue it immediatly after death and he that is not thought worthie thereof at his death shall neuer be it followeth that euery one that receiueth the same rest receiueth it immediately after death and therefore néedeth not to be furthered vnto it by the praiers or deuotions of the liuing If contrary to this they haue taught other-where a place of paine where faithfull men are deteined from that rest they 〈…〉 here i◠〈◊〉 as men â— we 〈◊〉 not but they haue found wisedome in Jesus Christ to iouer their errour But the Papists have dealt with them here is as i Gen. 9. 22. Châ—m dâ—â—lt with his father Noe who in stéed of hâ—ding did rather publish and make knowne the nakednesse shame of his father For so haue they not sought to hide but to blaze abroad the imperfections and ouersightes of the auncient Fathers as k Vincent Lyâ—â—n cont haereses Vincent 〈…〉 Lyrinensis telleth the Donatists that they did when in the very like sort 〈◊〉 the Papists they cloaked their errour with the name of Cyprian and sundry other Bishops of former times We may say now of the auncient Fathers and the Papists as the same Vincentius said of Cyprian the Donatists l Ibid. 〈◊〉 chaunge of things The authoâ—rs of the same opinions are iudged Catholiâ—ke but the followers thereof are heretikes the maisters are pardoned but the schollers or learners are condemned the writers of the bookes wherin these opinions are shall without doubt be the children of the kingdome but hell shall be the place for the mainteineâ—s and abettours therof We doubt not indéed but that the auncient Fathers we â—â— Catholicke and godly Bishops and Pastors notwithstanding that as men they erred sometimes in their iudgements But we know the Papists to be wicked Apostates and Heretickes who wilfully and stubburnly maintaine the same errours against the plaine truth laide euidently before them out of the word of God That Aerius was condemned for an hereticke we know but we know withall that there were greater matters of heresie to condemne him for then deniall of praier or offering for the dead not only for two or thrée pretie Puritane points as the Answ speaketh but also for certaine points of Popery concerning mariage and eating of flesh as Philaster recordeth So that the Answ in condemning Aerius for such a knowne and notorious hereticke must pluck himselfe also by the nose m Basil de spir sanc ca. 2. 3. 4. Basil n Epiphan haer 75. Epiphanius and others note him also to haue bene a partaker of the heresie of Arius to haue sought further matter for defence thereof There was therefore sufficient cause for A 〈…〉 sme and Popery to condemne Aerius without any touching of him for gainsaying praier for the dead S. Austen noteth this indéed in the o August de haeres cap. 53. report of his heresie but yet giueth no such censure of those many in his time who auouched in effect the same that Aerius did that the oblations of the liuing were not auaileable for the dead whose words to that purpose I reported out of Austen to Dulcitius in my former
Remission of sinnes is perfectly wrought and obtained by the once offering of Christ vpon the Crosse therefore after the once offering of Christ vpon the Crosse all offering or sacrifice for sinne is vaine and therefore it is none at all As for that which the Answ excepteth that remission of sinnes doth come by Baptisme repentance praier c. And yet wée doe not thereby exclude Christes death intending thereby as it séemeth that it followeth not that Christes death is excluded though remission of sinnes be affirmed to be wrought by the sacrifice of the Masse it is a friuolous and vaine shifte For what comparison is there betwixt the sacrifice which it selfe is defended to be a propitiation for sinne and repentance faith praier baptisme which doe not themselues worke forgiuenesse of sinnes but onely serue vs to receiue forgiuenesse of sinnes wrought onely by the death and bloudshedding of Iesus Christ As hunger prouoketh a man to desire meate so repentance stirreth him to séeke forgiuenesse of sinnes As a man craueth meate to relieue his hunger so praier craueth the forgiuenesse of sinnes As in a vessell meate is set before a man and offered vnto him so God in the word and Sacraments though in other sort setteth before vs and offereth vnto vs the effect of the bloud of Christ to the forgiuenesse of sinnes As the hande and mouth receiue the meate to the satisfying of hunger and comfort of the body so faith receiueth the benefite of Christes bloud to the forgiuenesse of sinnes But as neither the desire of meate nor the crauing for meate nor the vessell wherein meate is offered nor the hand and mouth that receiueth the meate haue themselues any vertue to féed the body but the force thereof belongeth onely to the meate so neither repentance nor praier nor the sacraments nor faith haue any vertue themselues of the remission of sinnes but onely are either occasions of séeking or meanes of offering and receiuing the death and passion of Christ to which only and entirely in it selfe is to be attributed the forgiuenesse of our sinnes Neither is it any other but a fantasticall toy which the Answ imagineth that these by an influence as he speaketh of the passion of Christ haue in themselues the efficiency of the forgiuenesse of sins in like maner if at least he will giue me leaue to expresse his minde by a comparison as the aire being warmed by the fire warmeth the body wherunto it is applied A méere deuise of Satan that men whilest they séek for forgiuenesse of sinnes where it is not may faile of it where it is and whilest they follow after a shadow by these deuises of influence from the bloud of Christ may misse of the substance in Iesus Christ himselfe The Scripture hath not taught vs that either our repentance or praiers or faith or sacraments are propitiations for our sinnes and therefore it is but a fonde shifte to gather from hence any maintenance for the propitiatory sacrifice of the Mosse I resolue therefore as before that séeing Christ Iesus by one offering hath perfected vs as touching the propitiation and attonement for our sinnes there is not now remaining any manner of offering whatsoeuer for propitiation of sinne But to goe somewhat further in this matter séeing they will néedes haue vs to beléeue a reall offering of the bodye of Christ what Priest will they appoint vs to offer the same Forsooth vnder pretence that this is r Concil Trident sessi 6. cap. 1. a cleane offering and such as cannot be defiled by the vnworthinesse of him that offereth they will haue vs to beléeue that euery varlet Priest comming blowing from the Alehouse or sweating from the stewes hath Christ at his becke to bring him from Heauen euery morning as ofte as hee list to offer him vp for the forgiuenesse of whose sinnes it pleaseth him But we will not beléeue this because the Scripture nameth vnto vs in this behalfe but one onely Priest which is ſ Heb. 3. 1. the high Priest of our profession one which is t Cap. 7. 26. holy harmelesse vndefiled seperated from sinners made higher then the heauens And séeing it maketh this difference betwixt the Priesthood of the law the Priesthood of Christ u Cap. 7 26. that the law maketh men high Priests that haue infirmity but the worde of the othe maketh the sonne who is consecrated for euer opposing Christ the sonne of God the Priest of the newe Testament to men of infirmity that were Priests by the law either this difference is idle and without ground and men of infirmity are Priests as wel in the Priesthood of Christ as in the priesthood of the lawe or else al men that haue infirmity and therefore all Popishe Priests are vtterly excluded from the priesthood of Christ Therfore as the councell of Ephesus saide so say we w Concil Ephes Epist ad Nestor We assigne not the name and office of priesthood to any other man but to Christ For he is made the mediatour betwixt God and man and the reconciler to peace offering himselfe a sacrifice of a sweet smelling sauour to God for vs. Whereas they say for the better countenancing of this their sacriledge that x Rhem. Annot Heb. 7. 23. marg Christ concurreth with the Priests in this action of offering vp himself they spurn at the text of the Scripture which telleth vs that y Heb. 7. 27. Christ needeth not daily to offer vp sacrifice and that hee z Cap. 9. 25. is gone into Heauen to appeare in the sight of God for vs not that he should offer himselfe often Nay when it saieth a Cap. 1. 31. Hauing by himselfe purged our sinnes he sitteth at the right hand of the maiesty in the highest places and againe b cap. 10. 12. This man after he had offered one sacrifice for sinnes sitteth for euer at the right hand of God expecting thenceforth till his foes be made his footestoole it opposeth Christes offering himselfe for sinne to his sitting at the right hand of God making the one a matter of humiliation the other of exaltation the one of infirmity the other of glory And therefore as humiliation and infirmity standeth not with exaltation and glory so the offering of Christ for sinne standeth not with his sitting at the right hand of God the Father This Chrysostome and Theophylact and out of them Oecumenius haue rightly obserued c Oecumen He. 7. ex chrysost in Heb. ◠hom 13. Theophyl ibid. When thou hearest him called the high Priest doe not thinke that he doeth still sacrifice himselfe for sinne For when he had done so once he ascended to his fathers Throne For it belongeth to the Minister and Priest to stand but this sitting signifyeth that he brought sacrifice once euen his owne body and afterward sate downe to be ministred vnto of the heauenly powers So Theodoret also d Theodor. in Hebr. 8. What
not that because Christ taking y◠bread said thereof This is my bodie therefore the bread was turned into his bodie And this is so good Logicke that diuerse great maisters of his side haue plainly confessed that the wordes of the Gospell notwithstanding the aforesaid consent do not enforce Transubstantiation as I told him before and he answereth nothing to it Yea Bellarmine himselfe who hath taken vpon him to be the Atlas of Popery at this time after that he hath sweat and trauailed to proue it by the scripture when he hath all done is content to confesse so much For being vrged that Scotus and Cameracensis do say that there is no so expresse place of scripture that it can enforce to admit of Transubstantiation he answereth a Bellar. tom 2. contr 3. li 3. cap. 23. This indeed is not altogither vnlikely For although the scripture which I haue alleaged before seeme to vs so cleare that it is able to force a man that is not ouerthwart yet whether it be so or not it may worthily bee doubted for that most learned sharpe witted men such as Scotus especially was do thinke the contrary It is sufficient for our discharge that the Iesuit confesseth that it may iustly be doubted whether Transubstantiation may be proued by the scripture or not and that it is likely that indeed it cannot The matter then is come to this passe that Transubstantiation must be beléeued because of the authoritie of the Church of Rome but otherwise that it cannot be prooued by the authoritie of the scripture But we dare not trust the Church of Rome so farre as to receiue any doctrine of her without the warrant of the scripture For we are of Chrysostomes minde b Chrisost in Psal 95. If any thing saith he be spoken without scripture the minde of the hearer halteth or hangeth in suspense But when there commeth out of the scripture the testimony of the voyce of God it confirmeth both the minde of the hearer and the words of the speaker They must prooue it vnto vs by the scripture or else wee cannot bee assured of it But they cannot agrée how to expounde the wordes of scripture for it and the scripture it selfe is manifestly against it Christ saith This is my bodie The word This doth demonstrate and point to somewhat And what may that be One of them saith one thing and another saith another thing in fine they cannot tell So that we must suppose that Christ said This I know not what is my bodie Bellarmine commeth after all the rest to resolue the matter and he telleth vs that we must vnderstand it thus c Bellar. tom 2 cont 3 lib. 1. ca. 10. 11. This that is conteined vnder the formes is my bodie But the question is the same againe what is that conteined vnder the formes To say it is the bodie before all the words of consecration be spoken they themselues will not allow But except the bodie it can be nothing else but bread It is bread therefore to which the word This is referred perforce must the words be thus taken This bread is my body which again must néeds haue this meaning This bread is the signe and Sacrament of my bodie and consequently ouerthrow Transubstantiation Moreouer what Christ brake bid his Disciples take and eate that they did take and eate It was bread which he brake and bid them take and eate for the words of consecration were not yet spoken Therfore it was bread which they did take and eate But that which they did eate Christ called his bodie Therefore Christ called bread his bodie and meant This bread is my bodie So likewise as touching the other part of the Sacrament we say that what Christ willed them to drinke that they did drinke But Christ willed them to drinke wine saying Drinke ye all of this and this was wine because there was yet no consecration Therfore they did drinke wine That which they did drinke Christ called his blood The words therefore of Christ must be thus meant This wine is my blood And so he expoundeth himselfe immediatly when he calleth it This frute of the vine shewing hereby to what we must referre the word This when he saith This is my blood namely to the frute of the vine that is to say wine To auoyd these things thus plainly gathered from the circumstances of the text many blind shifts haue bene deuised but one especially most worthy to be noted d Tho. Aquin. pag. 3. q. 78. art 1. that the Euangelists doe not report these matters of the institution of the Sacrament in that order as they were spoken and done by our Sauiour Christ Thus to serue their turne the Euangelists must be controlled and vpon their word we must beléeue that these things are not so orderly set downe as the matter required I might adde hereunto how the scripture vsually calleth the Sacrament c Act. 20. 7. 1. Cor. 10. 16. 11. 26. 27. 28 bread euen after consecration in the breaking distributing and eating thereof then which what should we require more to assure vs that in substance it is bread indéede And of this spéech they can giue no certaine reason neither but are carried vp and downe from fancie to another as appeareth by Lanfrancus saying f Lanfran lib. de sacram Euchar◠It is called bread either because it was made of bread and retaineth some qualities therof or because it feedeth the soule or because it is the bodie of the sonne of God who is the bread of Angels or in some other maner which may be conceiued of them that are better learned but cannot of me They care not what they say it is so that they grant it not to be that that it is in truth But thus do they deserue to be led vp and down from errour to errour and follie to follie as it were after a dauncing fire who refuse to be guided and directed by the cleare and shining light of the euident word of God By this that hath bene said it may appeare sufficiently how litle hold the Answ hath in the consent of the Euange lists for the proofe of his Transubstantiation euen by the confession of his owne fellowes to whose wisedome and learning he doth greatly trust But yet once againe to proue it by the Gospell we haue another argument wherein the Answ as a sawcie fellow taketh vpon him to censure controll M. Beza and M. Fulke in a matter of Gréeke construction as he did M. Caluin and B. Iewell in other matters before But what may it be that he presumeth so much on Forsooth the Gréeke in Luc. 22. is so plaine against our doctrine and for proofe of Transubstantiation that Beza was greatly troubled there with and was faine to say that either S. Luke spake false Gréeke or else that somewhat was foisted into the text This argument Gregory Martin and others haue runne out of breath
enough against a naked and bare collection from a point of doubtfull construction Which séeing they haue diuers of them béen alleaged by maister Fulke and others directly against the Answrers demaund and yet haue not receiued any tollerable answere it was but a scape of his wit to say that maister Fulke doth steale away from the state of the question and medleth not with it His other cauill out of the wordes of S. Luke that Christ before the sacrament said l Luc. 22. 17. he woulde drinke no more of the fruite of the vine till in his kindome and yet dranke after in the Sacrament whereby he would prooue the sacrament to be no wine was long agoe preuented by S. Austen who affirmeth that S. Luke m August de consen Euangeli lib. 3. ca. 1. according to his maner setteth downe the former mention of the cup by way of anticipation putting that before which is to be referred to somewhat following after and therfore vnderstandeth it of the cup of the new testament by and by after instituted and so reconcileth him to the other two Euangelistes Mathew and Marke But to helpe this argument the Answ is faine to varie from his good maisters of Rhemes For he expoundeth the kingdome of God to be after the resurrection but they vnderstand it n Rhem Annot Luc. 22. 17 of the celebration of the Sacrament of Christes bloud Whereof it followeth that Christ in the Sacrament dranke of the fruite of the vine as both Mathew and Marke set it downe and the auncient fathers doe expound it Let him go and be agréed with his fellowes before he vrge this argument againe P. Spence Sect. 32. IN the end you giue me councell how to behaue my selfe in these controuersies In all Christian charitie I thanke you and loue you for the same for you aduise me no worse then your selfe followe and in good faith I accept of it as proceeding from your great good will towards me and therefore againe and againe I thanke you And I will follow you in genere that is to haue care of my poore soule to feede it with the trueth of Gods word but expounded by his Catholique Church I must tell you plainly and therefore in specie in the particulars of the points of our beliefe I will not followe you You and I endeuour both to come to one resting place at night but in our daies iourney wee goe two sundrie waies I pray God send vs merily to meet in heauen Amen R. Abbot 32. MY councell M. Spence must stand for a witnesse against you at that day if you go on forward still to walke in the counsel of the vngodly In the meane time I againe aduise and counsell both you and your maister to cease to rebell fight against God or to say when he offereth himselfe vnto you we will none of thy waies I councell you indéede as you say to no other thing but that which I follow my selfe and I most humbly thank almightie God who hath giuen me his grace to follow the same and hath preserued me from that daunger wherein I haue béen oft falling away from him You will followe me you say in generall to haue a care to féed your soule with the trueth of Gods word Do so M. Spence doe so that is the foode of life that is the riuer of the water of life the heauenly Manna he that féedeth there shal surely finde life b August de pastor Feede there saith S. Austen that yee may feede safely and securely But you marre and poison this good foode with that which you adde You will feede your soule you say with the word of God but expounded by his Catholicke Church you meane the Church of Roome Which is as much as if you should say you wil not follow the word of God it selfe but that which it pleaseth the Church of Roome to make of the word of God Take héede of M. Spence Assure your selfe that though the Church of Roome doe maintaine c 2. Pet 2. ◠damnable heresies and d 1. Tim. 4. 1. doctrines of deuils contrarie to Gods word yet being wise as she is according to this worlde she will neuer expound the word of God against her selfe if it be in her to make the meaning of it When she expoundeth the Scriptures to make her selfe the Catholike Church and no such thing is to be found in the words of the scripture will you beléeue her in her owne cause It shal then be verified of you which Salomon saith e Prou. 1◠15. The foole will beleeue euerie thing Take the simplicitie of the word of God it self and be directed thereby f Prou. 8 9. The waies of God are plaine to him that will vnderstand God g Hiere in psal 8◠hath not written as Plato did that few should vnderstand but for the vnderstanding of all saith S. Hierome So that although there be depth enough in the word of God for the best learned to bestow his studie and labour in yet as Chrysostome and Austen teach vs h Chrysost in 2. Thess 2. August ep 3. Whatsoeuer things are necessarie they are manifest and i Aug. de doct Christ li. 2. c. 9. in those things which are manifestly set downe in the Scriptures are contained all things that pertaine to faith and conuersation of life Lay before you therefore those things which néed not the exposition of the Church of Roome When the scripture saith There is now no offering for sinne wil you take her exposition to say that there is When the scripture saith no man liuing shal be found iust in the sight of God shal she by her exposition make you beléeue that it is not so When the scripture saith Thou shalt not bow downe to or worship a carued or grauen image will you be perswaded by her expositions that you may I passe ouer the rest Iustly doe they deserue to be giuen ouer to errour and to be deluded with lies and lewd expositions which will not yéeld vnto God when he speaketh vnto them so plainly as néedeth no exposition It were worth the while to set downe héere a Catalogue of Romish expositions but that the conscience of you all that way appeareth sufficiently in this whole discourse You pray that we both going sundry wayes may méete in heauen But maister Spence it will not be in that way wherein you go Either you must say that there is no heauen or els that your way is not the way to heauen because the God of heauen hath gainsaid it God open your eyes that you may sée the right way that so we may ioyfully méete in heauen P. Spence Sect. 33. AS touching the escape of our Rhemistes in the account of our Ladies assumption The matter is verie sleight not tending any way to our saluation I meane to erre in that computation especially when they haue a The more impudēt they that hauing no certaine
some space professors of the faith of Christ the false Apostles had perswaded to ioyne with their beléeuing in Christ the kéeping of the law thereby to be iustified Concerning these men and the like conuerted to the faith of Christ baptised into Christ being Disciples and brethren the Apostle determineth this matter that c Gal. 2. 16. Rom. 3 21. 28. they must be iustified by faith and not by the workes of the law yea without the workes of the law and that not of the ceremoniall law onely but of that law also d Rom. 3. â—0 by which commeth the knovvledge of sinne which saith e Cap. 7. 7. Thou shalt not lust which pronounceth f Gal. 3. 10. Cursed is euerie one that continueth not in all thinges that are vvritten in this lavve which saith g Rom. 1 5. Gaâ— 3. 1â— Hee that doth these things shall liue in them that is to say of the morall law as S. h Augâ—st de spir â— ca. 8. 14. Austen also gathereth by the same places Therfore not onely ceremoniall workes nor onely workes of nature and fréewill but all workes whatsoeuer either before baptisme or after baptisme either before grace or in grace are secluded from iustification and onely faith in Christ is our righteousnesse before God Yea and that so as that the Apostle against that distinction of workes done in the grace of Christ saith expresly i Gal. 5 4. Ye are abolished from Christ yee are fallen from grace whosoeuer are iustified that is doe séeke iustification by the lavv So that hee which being come to the grace of Christ shall thenceforth séeke to be iustified by the works of the law done in the state of the same grace voideth himselfe of Christ and falleth away from the grace of God And therefore Abraham himselfe is set forth vnto vs as a paterne of iustification by faith wthout workes not in his first iustification as the Roomish language hath taught men to speake but k Gen. 12. â— 5. 6. 7. 8. c. after that he had obeied the voyce of God to depart out of his owne countrey had trauailed many countries as God directed him had built many altars vnto the name of the Lord had called vpon him and serued him a long time as appeareth in Genesis from the twelfth chap. to the fiftéenth Euen then was it said l Gen. 15. 6. Abraham beleeued the Lord and he counted that to him for righteousnesse Whence the Apostle thus reasoneth m Rom. 4. 2. If Abraham vvere iustified by vvorkes he had to reioyce but not vvith God For vvhat saith the Scripture Abraham beleeued God and that vvas counted to him for righteousnesse Wherein he inferreth that because the scripture pronounceth of Abraham after his long seruing of God and many good workes done yet that not his workes as n Chrysost in Epist ad Rom. hom 8. Chrysostome rightly gathereth but onely his fayth was counted to him for righteousnesse therefore that howsoeuer he might with men by works yet with God hee was not iustified by workes but onely by faith Abraham was the o Rom. 4. 11. Father of the faithfull and therefore all that are iustified must be iustified according to that patterne which the word of God hath set forth concerning him and therefore not by workes but by faith onely Now that the true iustifying faith is not separated from charitie and good workes we willingly confesse because it p Gal. 3. 14. receiueth the promise of the spirite the effect whereof is noted in the declaration of the promise q Ezec. 36. 27. I vvill put my spirite vvithin you and cause you to vvalke in my statutes and yee shall keepe my iudgementes and do them Yet notwithstanding as the diuers members of the bodie necessarily concurring for the perfecting of the whole haue euery one their seuerall office so these vertues of the soule namely faith and charitie though they alwaies méete in the regenerate man yet in office and function are distinct ech from other The office of iustifying belongeth only vnto faith euen as the office of séeing belongeth onely to the eie the office of hearing onely to the eare c. And therefore the defining of beleeuing in God by the hauing of faith hope and charitie as the Answ setteth downe is a verie preposterous and vnorderly definition and no other then as if a man taking in hand to tell what it is to sée should say it is to haue eies eares and nose Beléefe in God is set forth by the Créede charitie and workes by the ten Commaundements they may not be confounded one with the other Doubtlesse it were verie strange to thinke that when a man saith I beleeue in God the father c. he should meane thereby I haue faith hope and charitie or that Christ when he said to the blinde man in the Gospell r Iohn 9. 3 5. Doest thou beleeue in the sonne of God did intend to aske him whether he had faith hope and charitie Cyprian telleth vs what it is to beléeue in God namely Å¿ Cypria de dup martyr to place the confidence of our whole felicitie in God onely which though it neuer be without the loue of God yet euerie mans vnderstanding may giue him that the act of beléeuing is one the act of louing is another Whereas hee saith that faith without works though it be dead yet it is a true faith he speaketh indéed Roomishly but that is ignorantly and absurdly For that onely is the true faith whereby a man is called truely faithful so that the saints of God in whom it is are by a speciall and proper name termed t Ephes 1. 1. the faithfull and u col 1. 2. faithfull brethren which it selfe is called by the Apostle w Tit. 1. 1. the faith of the elect by which he saith x Gal. 3. 26. we are the children of God which hath this promise y Ioh. 3. 3â— that euerie one that beleeueth in Christ hath eternall life which hath no place in the carnall worldling as our sauiour noteth saying z Ioh. 5. 44. How can ye beleeue which receiue honour one of another and seek not the honour that commeth of God onely whereby a man not onely beléeueth that God is or that God is true in that which he saith but also aplieth vnto himselfe the promises of God assuring himselfe of the benefite thereof to the forgiuenesse of sinnes and eternall life by the mediation of Iesus Christ S. Bernard therefore saith that a man a Berna ser 1. in Annunc Mar. hath but the beginning of faith vntill hee come to this to beleeue that his sinnes are forgiuen him by Iesus Christ and that this is that which the Apostle saith that a man is freely iustified by faith Ferus the preacher of Mentz as he smelled diuerse corruptions in the doctrine of the Church of Roome so hee noted the misconstruing
of true faith for one b Ferus in Mat. 8. It is not alwaies faith saith he which we call faith For we call it faith to assent vnto those things which are proposed in the diuine histories and which the Church teacheth to be beleeued This the schoolemen call an vnformed faith and S. Iames a dead faith But what faith is that which is dead and wanteth his forme Verily this is not faith but a vaine opinion Farre otherwise doth the Scripture speake of faith For according to the scripture faith is no◠without confidence of Gods mercie promised in Iesus Christ This he sheweth by examples and places and concludeth thus To be short the faith which the scripture commendeth is notliing else but to trust vpon the free mercie of God This saith he is the true faith and in c In Mat. 27. another place To beleeue is to trust that God for Christ sake will not impute thy sinnes Thus the light of trueth caused Ferus to speake and to controll that senslesse fancie and imagination of faith which the schoolemen and Iesuites haue deuised and defended to delude the true doctrine of Christian faith His saying that faith is quickened and formed by charitie should haue béene prooued because I take not his saying to be a sufficient answere The d 1. Cor. 13. 13. Apostle reckoneth that faith whereby a man is called faithfull as a vertue distinct from charitie and therefore not formed by charitie but hauing a proper act and being by it selfe And so by it selfe it doth iustifie and though in the iustified man there be not onely faith but charitie and good works doe also necessarily follow yet in iustifying no work but faith onely taketh place e Aug. de fide oper cap. 1◠Good works saith Austen followe the iustified man they goe not before while he is yet to be iustified And therefore y◠which he addeth that works done by a iustified man do iustifie and as he saith anon after doe make more iust or encrease our iustice is méerely absurd For to speake of morall or inherent iustice of which he speaketh séeing that the iust man is as the trée and iust or good workes are as the fruite it is alike absurd to say that the good workes of a man do iustifie him or make him more iust as to say that the fruites do make the trée good or encrease the goodnesse of the trée f Mat. 7. 17. The good tree bringeth forth good fruite saith our sauiour Christ and the better the trée waxeth the better waxe the fruites but who euer heard that the betternesse of the fruits did worke the bettering of the trée But such vnreasonable fanties are fit enough to possesse the heads of vnreasonable men Yea but faith is made perfect by workes as S. Iames saith of Abraham that by his workes his faith was made perfect We graunt the same and expound it by the like phrase vsed by S. Paul g 2. cor 12. 9. The power of God is made perfect in weakenesse not for that the weaknesse of man addeth any perfection to the power of God but because in the weakenesse of man it is perfectly declared and approoued to be indéed the power of God according to that which he sayth in another place h 2. cor 4. 7. We haue this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellencie of this power might be of God and not of our selues So faith is made perfect by workes that is it is perfectly shewed or declared to be true and perfect as S. Iames teacheth vs to expound it when he saith I will shew thee my faith by my workes Thus doth Beda expound it manifestly i Beda in epist Iaco. cap. 2. His faith was made perfect by workes that is to say it was prooued by the practise or execution of workes that his faith was perfect in his heart Whereas it is vrged out of the same place of S. Iames that Abraham was iustified by workes I haue alreadie answered by the exception that S. Paul hath set downe k Rom. 4. 2 If Abraham were iustified by workes he had to reioyce but not before God The Gréeke Scholiast out of the Gréeke fathers sayth thus vpon those wordes l Oecumen in Rom. 4. What then Had not Abraham workes Yes But did they iustifie him God forbid Indeede he had workes so that if hee had beene brought in iudgement with the men with whom hee liued he should easily haue been iustified and preferred before them but to be iustified by his workes before God as worthy of the kindenesse and bountifulnes of God towards him he should neuer haue attained c. By what meanes then was he accompted worthie heereof By fayth onely c. Heereby saith he the answere is manifest how S. Paule saith that Abraham was iustified by faith and S. Iames that he was iustified by workes A man then we say is iustified by workes and must be iustified by workes but not before God Thus saith the Apostle manifestly and thus hath the auncient Church subscribed the wordes of the Apostle Now against these the Answ telleth me vpon his owne bare word that we are iustified by works in the sight of God but I cannot beare his word against the worde of God Further I must adde that that iustification before men by workes is nothing else with S. Iames but a proofe and declaration that a man is the same that he professeth himselfe to be a true christian man a true seruaunt and friend of God He speaketh to this effect Thou sayest thou hast faith but I would haue thée shewe it me For I beléeue it not except thou iustifie and prooue it to me by thy workes And that there is no other iustification by works let Thomas Aquinas himselfe teach vs m Thom. Aqui. i◠epist ad Gala cap. 3. lect 4. Workes saith he are not the cause that any man is iust with God but they are the practising and manifesting of iustice For no man is iustified by works with God but by the habite of Faith And anon after obiecting to himselfe the wordes of S. Iames was not Abraham iustified by workes he sayth that iustification is heere vnderstood as touching the exercise and declaration of iustice and that thus a man is iustified that is declared iust by his workes This iustification we require in all the faithful and affirme that there is no man a true professor of true pietie and religion but he that iustifieth himselfe so to be by the carefull ordering of his life and conuersation Yet he obiecteth that as touching onely faith S. Iames saith The deuils beleeue and tremble It is manifest héereby say I that S. Iames speaketh not of that faith which S. Paul meaneth when hée saith that a man is iustified by faith without workes For S. Paul speaketh of such a faith as n Act. 15. 9. whereby the heart is purified whereby o R◠10. 13. 14
God is inuocated and called vpon whereby p Bernar. ser 1 in AnnuÌ„c Mar. we beleeue that our sinnes are forgiuen vs by the bloud of Iesus Christ which is not a faith incident to deuils or vngodly men But S. Iames speaketh of such a faith as is incident not onely to euill men but euen to the deuill himselfe This difference of the vnderstanding of fayth is obserued by Oecumenius of whom I spake before that q OecumeÌ„ in ep â—ac cap. 2. S. Iames speaketh of a bare assent according to which we know the deuils beleeued that Christ was the sonne of God but that S. Paul by faith importeth some further consequence arising out of the affection of man ioyned with a firme stedfast consenting to that which he is said to beléeue The one speaking of iustification before God teacheth vs that we are iustified by faith onely according to the true meaning of fayth which the scripture intendeth The other speaking of iustificatioÌ„ before men teacheth that a man is not iustified or shewed to be a true christian man by a naked and bare assenting vnto some points of religion which hypocrites call faith but hee must by his fruites testifie and shew that he is a true follower of Iesus Christ For men doe not accompt a man religious for a bare profession of faith but they estéeme of a mans faith and profession as they sée it appeare in his conuersation and doings And therefore as Abrahams fayth wrought with workes to iustifie him to be the friend of God so must our profession of fayth also haue good workes concurring with it to shew vs to be the true Disciples of Iesus Christ Otherwise as the bode without the soule is dead So Faith without workes is dead also Where hee compareth faith to the bodie and works to the soule not as faith importeth vnfained trust and confidence towardes God but as it is a profession of faith and religion before men as he himselfe teacheth vs in saying What auaileth it that a man saith he hath Faith c. For if we will consider faith and workes as touching the eyes of God then faith is the soule and workes are the body so that no workes are liuely and acceptable vnto God séeme they neuer so beautifull before men except they be quickened and made aliue by a true and liuely faith so that as S. Austen r August de nupt â—ouen li. 1. cap. 3. cont 〈◊〉 â—el l. 4 c 3. Retract 〈◊〉 c. â— oftentimes affirmeth and the Å¿ Heb. â—1 â— Apostle to the Hebrewes confirmeth they deserue not those names of vertue and iustice by which they are vsually called so long as they grow not from this roote But if we will speake of faith and workes as they are referred vnto the eyes of men there faith is indéede the body and works are the life and soule so that no wordes or profession can make men beléeue that thou hast in thée faith or religion so long as sinne and filthinesse hath sway and dominion in thy life Such a faith therefore or rather a saying that thou hast faith as S. Iames termeth it is dead and so farre are men from approouing it or thée for it as that they rather abhorre and loth it as a rotten and stincking carion and take occasion thereby to blaspheme and speake euill of that faith and religion which thou takest vpon thée to professe Thus I haue the more at large discoursed this place of S. Iames because the Answerer and his fellowes thinke they haue greatest hold therein for their iustification by workes From iustification he choppeth to merite and there defieth Pelagius which said that we might merite the first grace and forgiuenesse of sinnes But let him take Pelagius by the hand be friends with him againe for hee knoweth that it is the doctrine of his part that though not ex condigno yet ex congruo a man may merite the first grace As touching merite we are satisfied by the wordes of Christ that wee haue none at all t Luc. 17. 10. When yee haue done all that is commaunded you say We are vnprofitable seruants wee haue done that that was our duetie to doe But the Answ expoundeth these wordes as not making against merite We are called vnprofitable seruauntes not because we merite nothing but because we doe not yéeld any profite vnto God who was as happy and glorious before the foundation of the world as euer since And héere like a drunken man depriued of wit and reason and not knowing whither he goeth he bringeth Christ as man within the number of vnprofitable seruantes because he doth not profite God anie way nor yéeld him any benefite or good But that very example should haue put him in minde to séeke another meaning of vnprofitable seruaunts Christes owne wordes would haue taught it him if hée would haue listened thereto Doth the maister thanke his seruant because he did that that he commanded him I trow not So likewise when you haue done all that is commaunded say we are vnprofitable seruaunts c. Whereby Christ giueth vs to vnderstand that though we did all which is commaunded vs which no man doth yet that we cannot require so much as thanks at the handes of God because in doing all we do but our duetie and that that we are bound vnto and in that respect are vnprofitable seruauntes And therefore if he giue vs thankes or any reward or call vs not seruaunts but friends it is of his owne kindnesse and goodnesse not of any merite or desert of ours whereby hee should stand bound vnto vs. Thus did Chrysostome take it u Chrys in Epist ad colos hom 2. No man saith he sheweth such conuersation of life as that he may be worthy of the kingdome but it is wholly the gift of God Therefore he also saith when yee haue done all say we are vnprofitable seruauntes So doth Beda expound it w Beda in Luc. 17. We are vnprofitable seruauntes because the sufferings of this time are not worthie of the glorie to come as in another place Which crowneth thee in mercie and compassion He saith not in thy merites because by whose mercy we are preuented that we may humbly serue him by his gift we are crowned to reigne with him on high So is it vnderstood by Marke the heremite x Marc. HereÌ„ lib. de his qui puâ—ant se operibus iustificari Our Lord willing to shewe that wee are debters of the whole law that the adoption of children is freely giuen vs by his bloud saith when ye haue done all say wee are vnprofitable seruauntes Therefore the kingdome of heauen is not the wages of vvorkes but the grace of our maister prepared for his faithfull seruauntes This is then our vnprofitablenesse that we do not merite or deserue any thing at Gods handes for any thing that we doe which I hope agréeth not to Christ who though hee