did the former Ioh. 16.13 Certainly the Spirit that leadeth into all truth is yet and euer shall bee amongst vs vnto the end of the world And as before the writings of the Fathers were hee directed his Church vnto the true sence of Scripture so now I doubt not but if all whatsoeuer they haue written were vtterly lost he would still guide vs therein as hee did them And verily vnlesse wee will bee too vnthankfull wee cannot but confesse that as age through Gods bounty hath had more meanes then those heretofore so through his blessing it hath made further proceedings also in the knowledge of Scripture For besides that wee haue whatsoeuer helps they had we haue ouer and aboue the benefit of all their works together with much skilfulnes in the Originall of the old Testament which most of them wanted and of the new also wherewith some were but little acquainted In regard whereof whosoeuer shall duly compare the ancient Commentaries with those of latter times must needs bee either weake in iudgement or obstinate in preiudice if hee preferre not these Your owne men ingenuously acknowledge so much Art 18. cont Luther It cannot bee vnknowne to any saith Fisher B. of Rochester that there are many things as well in other Scriptures as the Gospels now more cleerely discussed and throughly vnderstood then in ancient times namely because the Ancients had not the yce broken vnto them or because their age sufficed not exactly to sound the whole sea of Scripture In Rom. 5. disp 51. And Salmeron God hath not giuen to all men all that euery age might enioy some truths which the former knew not Euery age hath euer ascribed much to antiquity yet this wee auouch the yonger the Doctors the cleerer sighted And Dominicus Bannes Jt is not necessary that the more remote the Church is from the Apostles times the lesse perfect knowledge of the mysterie of Faith should bee therein because after the Apostles time there were not the most learned in the Church which had dexterity in vnderstanding the matters of Faith Wee are not therefore enwrapped in the more darknesse for that in respect of time wee are more distant from Christ but rather the Doctors of these latter times being godly and treading in the steps of the ancient Fathers haue attained more expresse vnderstanding in some things then they had For they are like children standing on the shoulders of Giants who being lifted by the talnesse of Giants no maruell if they see further then they themselues In Luc. 10. This similitude Stella also vseth to the same purpose God forbid saith he that I should condemne what such and so many wise men haue with one accord affirmed yet wee know well that Pigmies set on the shoulders of Giants see further then the Giants themselues doe Thus they Whereby you see the Fathers haue no prerogatiue aboue vs because they were before vs but wee rather haue the aduantage because wee come after them In a word bee they whatsoeuer you will their seruants wee are not but their fellow seruants sent from God with the same commission to the same end and with the same promises that they were Neither doth their authority more bind vs in that they are our predecessors then our authority shall bind them who many ages hereafter may be our successors But draw we a little closer The ancient Fathers say you are the ground of your Faith What seuerally and single by themselues 〈◊〉 12. I suppose no for there is not one of them as your owne side confesseth but hath his error and I presume you would bee loth to follow them therein The Fathers therefore either all iointly or the more part of them agreeing in one So Canus Loc. lib. 7. c. 3. What the greater part of the Fathers iudgeth that wee professe to bee of the Catholicke Faith So Salmeron also In 1. Ioh. 3. disp 25. When all or almost all Fathers agree in one it is an ineuitable argumeÌ„t And Gregory of Valentia It is infallibly true which they deliuer with one consent Anal. l. 8. c. 8. â—ea an infallible rule iudging And Onuphrius Prim. Pap. p. 1. c. 6. It is rash and foolish and terrible rashnesse to goe against a sense giuen by the Fathers for the vnderstanding of the Scriptures And finally the Councell of Trent which peremptorily chargeth that no man dare to interprete the Scriptures against the vnanimous consent of the Fathers This then vndoubtedly being your assertion as euery way according with the Tenet of the Church of Rome let vs in Gods name trie the strength thereof and see with what security and safety a man may aduenture his Faith and consequently his eternall saluation vpon this ground And first whosoeuer will stedfastly repose his Faith vpon consent of Fathers had need be right well assured which are the authenticall writings of the Fathers For if these bee doubtfull and vncertaine the whole frame raised vpon them must of necessity shake and totter Now that there are bookes more then a good many which in their forefronts are inscribed and entitled vnto the Fathers yet in truth are meerely suppositious and apocryphall I know you cannot bee ignorant Nor Origen nor Athanasius nor Basil nor Chrysostome nor Cyril nor Tertullian nor Cyprian nor Ambrose nor Hierâ—me nor Augustin nor any one almost of all the Fathers but hath suffered notorious wrong in this kind hauing base brats and misbegotten bastards fathered vpon him Which also is so cleere and manifest that Posseuin and Salmeron and Maldonat and Baronius and Bellarmine and all the rest of that side though too frequently they make vse of such refuse stuffe yet euery where in their writings are constrained to acknowledge so much Biblioth l. 4. But amongst the rest Sixtus Senensis especially who purposely recording the works of all the Fathers taketh vpon him to demonstrate as much in euery one of them as in his Catalogue hee passeth from one Father to another So that indeed it would bee but an idle wasting both of oile and time if I should spend many words in proofe of that which is denied of none and therefore I forbeare further to trouble you with particularity Only because in our Conference you so confidently affirmed that Dionysius the Areopagite euen he who was Saint Pauls conuert and Scholler was the right Author of all those books that are now extant vnder his name I must entreat you to haue a little patience while I maintaine against you the negatiue which I then held and for which I stand still engaged vnto you That this Denise is but a counterfait but Diuines proue by sundry vnanswerable arguments I will not vrge them all but cull out the choicest Omitting therefore the Stile sauouring more of three hundred yeeres after then those Apostolicall times and his curious speculations in the secrets of heauen as if hee had beene surueyer thereof or had taken a muster
holy Virgin to bee Genitricem Dei the Mother of God let him bee anathema The Councell of Chalcedon confirmed the same Act. 5. ratifying the Acts of the Ephesine Councell And the fift Councell of Constantinople thus defines If any say the glorious Virgin Mary is not truely but abusiuely Genitrix Dei that is the Mother of God let him bee Anathema or accursed Secondly by ancient Fathers both before and since Nestorius In ad Rom. who all stile her Deiparam the Mother of God Origen largely discourses and renders many reasons why shee should bee so called Eusebius Pamphili saith that the Empresse Helena honored Deiparae partum In vita Constantini the birth of the Mother of God Cyrill of Alexandria president in the foresaid Councell of Ephesus in his Anathematismes sent to Nestorius saith that Marie genuit In Conc. Eph. carnally begat him that was made flesh euen the Word of God and anathematizeth them that deny her to bee Genitricem Dei Epist 1. ad Chelid the Mother of God Gregory Nazianzen If any belieue not the Virgin Mary to be Genitricem Dei the Mother of God Ep. 97. ad Leon. Aug. let him bee separated from God Leo Accursed bee Nestorius who belieued not the Blessed Virgin to bee Dei Genitricem the Mother of God Iohn Cassian It is not lawfull to say Christ and not God is borne of Mary L. 2. de Incar Prosper of Aquitani The Virgin Mary bare Christ who is God of Heauen Hesychius L. 1. com in Lev. 2. Therefore to note the Natiuity of Christ the Sacrifice is said to bee baked in an ouen to wit in the Wombe Genitricis Dei of the Mother of God Augustin Mary therefore begat Cont. Faelic c. 12. and begat not the Sonne of God She begat him when Christ was borne of her according to the flesh Shee begat him not when the Sonne without beginning issued from the Father Vincentius Lirinensis Anathema to Nestorius denying God to bee borne of the Virgin Many more Fathers I could easily alledge Ca 21. but I presume one Decade of such witnesses is euidence sufficient Thirdly by latter writers of the reformed Churches Inst l. 2. c. 14. §. 4. who maintaine the same Faith of the Fathers Caluin We are to abhorre the Heresie of Nestorius that was that Mary is not the Mother of God Againe Hee that is the Sonne of God the same is the Sonne of Mary Beza Referr Scr. The Church hath rightly defined against Nestorius In Luc. 1.35 that Mary should be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Mother of God Peter Martyr Wee confesse that the Sonne of God is borne of the Blessed Virgin neither doubt wee to call Mary 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dial. de Corp. Christ loc the Mother of God Sadeel Iustly was Nestorius condemned denying the holy Virgin to bee Deiparam the Mother of God seeing our ancestors haue constantly defended that Mary is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Mother of God De ver hum nat Christ though not the Mother of the Diuinity Danaeus In Aug. de haer c. 91. Part. l. 1. It is manifest that Mary may and ought to bee called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Mother of God Polanus It is rightly said of Christ that hee is God borne of the Virgin Loco de Christ Bucanus placeth among doctrines repugnant to diuine truth this of Nestorius that Mary is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Mother of God Tilenus The Blessed Virgin is truly called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Mother of God Synt. de Nat. Christ n. 19. Ser. c. 18. On Creed Perkins Hence Mary is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Mother of God though shee be not the Mother of the Deity And Shee must bee held to bee the Mother of the whole Christ God and Man and therefore the ancient Church hath called her the Mother of God yet not the Mother of the Godhead Praemonit Finally the great Defendor of the ancient Catholicke and Apostolicke Faith King IAMES I acknowledge her to bee the Mother of God seeing in Iesus Christ the humane nature cannot bee separated from the Deity Fourthly by the Creed of the Apostles so vniuersally receiued of all Churches wherein all true Christians professe that they belieue in Iesus Christ the onely begotten Sonne of the Father and that he was conceiued of the Holy Ghost and borne of the Virgin Mary If the eternall sonne of God were borne of the blessed Virgin then must shee needs bee the Mother of God The Creed therefore of the Councell of Chalcedon thus expoundeth and openeth it Borne of the Blessed Virgin and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mother of God Neither may wee thinke that the holy Church of Christ hath vnaduisedly or rashly beléeued this doctrine but vpon firme and vnmoueable grounds both of Scripture and the analogie of Faith For first Scripture euidently teacheth it That holy thing which shall bee borne of thee shall bee called the Sonne of God saith the Angell Gabriel and Elizabeth whence commeth thus that the Mother of my Lord should come to me By which place saith Beza it is expresly manifest against Nestorius that Mary is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Mother of God Againe if Mary bee the Mother of Iesus Christ and Christ be God it followeth of necessity that she must be the Mother of God Nay doth not the Prophet directly say that the child borne vnto us is the mighty God In a word Esa 9.6 it will not I trust be denied but that Mary is the Mother of him that was Crucified that died that shed his bloud that was seene with the eye and felt with the hand 1. Cor. 2.8 Phil. 2.8 Act. 20. 1. Ioh. 1.2 But it was the Lord of glory that was Crucified that was obedient to the death that shed his bloud it was the Lord of life that was both seene and felt And therefore is Mary also the Mother of the Lord of glory the Mother of the Lord of life the Mother of him that is equall with God and consequently God seeing none is equall vnto God but God As Scripture so the Analogie of Faith also confirmeth it For no reason can be rendred why Mary should not be the Mother of God but eyther because Christ is not God or because the humanity was the subject of Conception and Birth before it was assumpted by the Word or lastly because the Humanity was neuer assumpted into the Vnity of the same Person but remayned a distinct person by it selfe all which were the damnable blasphemies and heresies of Arius Photinus and Nestorius the first of Arius the second of Photinus the third of Nestorius Therefore contrarywise I argue thus If Christ bee God and the Humanity were at the first creation thereof preuented from subsisting in it selfe and neuer had subsistence but in the Word so as both Natures constitute one onely Hypostasis or
things Hence the ancient Fathers inuented the word Trinity to signify the plurality of persons in one substance Homousios to expresse the consubstantiality of the Sonne with the Father Theotokos to maintaine the personall vnion of both natures in Christ and six hundred such like words vtterly vnknown vnto former ages Ibid. old matters as the same Athanasius saith Cap. 18. receiuing new names those new names couching vnder them no new meaning According whereunto Vincentius Lirinensis though he would not haue his Timothie to broach new things yet giueth him leaue to teach the same things he hath learned after a new manner Being therfore warrāted both by the precept practice of the Primitiue Church I see no cause but that euen in this point also I may be permitted to vse new tearmes Perhaps you will say that not only the tearme wherewith it is inuested but the matter hereof is also new for so much your questions out of Hierome and Tertullian and the floud of words following with not a drop of reason in them seeme to import Whereunto though I haue already sufficiently answered yet now I adde by way of surplus that many Truths lye a long time hidden in their principles and vnheeded of the wisest which being at length disclosed and brought to light are not therefore new in themselues but onely vnto vs comming newly vnto our knowledge euen as the countrey of America is called the new world not because it is of a latter creation then Europe Asia or Africa but only because it is of a later discouery These Conclusions vntill their dependency and coherence with the principles doe manifestly appeare vnto vs it sufficeth to beleeue them implicitly and in the preparation of the Minde but when they shall bee vnfolded out of their principles and clearly demonstrated vnto vs by necessary deduction from them we are bound to yeeld distinct and expresse assent vnto them And then as it would haue been great folly in the Spaniard to haue refused the gold and treasures of the new world because it was found out not by the old Argonauts but by Christopher Columbus a late sailer so would it bee great sinne in vs to disclaime and renounce the benefit of a truth because it is made known vnto vs not by an ancient Father but by a man of yesterday or to day Iam. 2.1 For this were to haue the faith of God in respect of persons as S. Iames saith and to restraine the gift of the Spirit of Wisdome and reuelation vnto the times of our predecessors as if they only had eyes giuen them to spie out truths and it were impossible for vs to see what they saw not although wee caried the Sunne in our hands as Lactantius speaketh Now then to apply this vnto the matter in hand if the point you quarell at bee not onely new vnto the present custome De Ciuit. Dei lib. 22. c. 7. as S. Augustin speaketh but also contrary vnto reason and the grounds of Faith I confesse it is erronious and iustly may you come vpon mee with your demaunds out of Hierome and Tertullian Ep. 23. ad Paulin. De veland virg cap. 1. who are you whence when that after 400. yeeres you should goe about to teach vs what wee knew not before But if it bee new only vnto vs and not in it selfe then doe I answer your Hierome with Hierome Weigh not truth by time and Tertullian with Tertullian Nor space of times nor patronage of persons nor priuiledge of places may prescribe against truth For that which is no otherwise new is true and as the truth of God is with all reuerence and submission to bee embraced Howbeit this I say not as if I would be thought to bee the first discouerer hereof or that it had laine hid as it were in the pit of Democritus vntill this time For that there is a Faith whose obiect is the Person of the Mediator was neuer yet vnknowne in the Church but hath euer beene manifest euen from the beginning Search the Scriptures and you shall find therein nothing more cleere then this For as in the treatise sent you I haue shewed the whole tenor of them runs thus Hee that beleeueth in mee shall not perish Ioh. 3.16 Ioh. 14.1 Ioh. 1.12 yee beleeue in God beleeue also in mee As many as receiued him to them hee gaue power to bee the Sonnes of God that is to them that beleeue in him c. Rom. 3.22.26 Gal. 2.16.3.22 Phil. 3.9 Iam. 2.1 Reu. 2.13.14.12 Whereunto I adde that in sundry places it is expresly called the Faith of Iesus Christ not because it inhereth in Christ as in a Subiect but for that it hath relation and respect vnto Christ as vnto the right Obiect And that at length it appeareth both that the matter is euery way old though the tearme bee new and that new tearmes may bee giuen to old matters euen of this kind so as they bee proper determined and adequated thereunto It remaineth onely to shew that such is the tearme which here I vse For proofe whereof I say no more but this that if our best Diuines haue conueniently distinguished other Faiths according to their obiects calling one Faith of story because Scripture story another Faith of Promise because the Euangelicall promise a third Faith of Miracles because miracles are the proper obiect of them I see no reason why I may not as freely and as fitly call that Faith of Person which hath for its Obiect the Person of Iesus Christ Neither can I conceiue if this bee an inkhorne tearme as it pleaseth your elegancy to tearme it why Faith of Story Faith of Promise Faith of Miracles should not bee inkhorne-tearmes also But you are a very nice and dainty man you can tast no wine how old or generous soeuer vnlesse the cup out of which you drinke it bee grauen by Myron or Polycletus N. B. But this hath beene the course of all fanaticall spirits in all ages moued with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil 1.14 selfe-loue contention hypocrisie and couetousnesse De Haeresibus ad Quodvult Deum to condemne all others to set vp and stablish their owne fantasies Read Augustine yea see the Ecclesiasticall histories Eusebius Sozomen Euagrius Dorotheus Vincentius c. there shall you see whereupon these Schismes in the Church began Let mee therefore intreate you if you will needs deale in these graue causes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet that you will deale also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 well as becommeth a wise man For otherwise you shall bewray your mind desirous of nouelties hazard your credit offend the Church yea as hee saith take vpon you to glew an egge Diogenianus loosing your labour and making your selfe ridiculous to the best I. D. What hath beene the course of fanaticall spirits in all ages and whereupon they haue been moued to beginne their Schismes in the Church I am not now to learne
number of those wherein because wee all know many things but in part wee may vary in iudgement and yet the foundation of orthodoxall Faith stand safe But you take it I meane de adultis and as I haue said you doe not mistake mee and therefore you deny my Minor which when you say I proue by an instance and six reasons it seemes you passed ouer my reasons perfunctorily and without attention or cared not to let drop of your pen at aduenture whatsoeuer came next to head For I proue the Minor by one instance onely and the arguments following are no more but fiue and conclude not the Minor but the maine Question to wit that Assurance doth not iustify The instance is this Treatise I instance in those our Brethren of Germany who hold that Faith may totally and finally fall away and consequently that there can bee no certainty of Saluation whom yet the Church of God calleth and counteth Brethren and it were vncharitable to censure of them otherwise Therefore or at leastwise probable Faith is not an Assurance N. B. Whatsoeuer our Brethren of Germany hold is true but they hold that a man may be saued without this Faith Therefore this position is true O hominis acumen argumentum lepidum What mood and figure I pray you was this Syllogisme borne in But proue your Maior for we haue learned Christ otherwise then to tie our Faith vnto the opinions of any one particular Church Yea this argument sauoureth mightily of Popery which I thought you had beene as far from as I know you are in this point from Christs verity and Christian vnity For why I pray you might I reason thus as you doe to proue that works doe iustify a man before God and merit eternall life The Church of Rome holdeth so Ergo the Position is true Ob. But you will say they are no Brethren A. I answer they bee the Church of God if wee belieue M. Caluin and M. Bunny citing this place Antichrist sitteth in the temple of God Ep. Tract of Pacif But hee sitteth at Rome Therefore Rome is the temple of God But I pray you let vs not bee bound to defend the errors of our Brethren neither too hasty to discouer them And that this opinion is an error let the whole course of the Scripture declare Darij Darij Whosoeuer liueth byaboue4 Faithaboue5 liuethaboue3 foraboue1 eueraboue2 But the Saints of God liue for euer Therefore they liue by Faith for euer All the gifts of God be without repentance Faith is the gift of God Therefore without repentance That which continueth vnto the end and is made perfect cannot finally fall alway Perficiet vsque ad finem bonum Phil. 2. Fides est opus Dei Ioh. 6. Ambr. 2. Cor. 6. Aug. in Ioh. Tract 106. col 513. But Faith continueth vnto the end and is made perfect Therefore it cannot finally fall away See what the Fathers say Neque fides vera est si non sit perpetua sed possit deficere Neither is Faith true Faith except it bee perpetuall and cannot fall away Credere verè est credere inconcussè firmè stabiliter fortiter To belieue truly is to belieue without wauering firmely stedfastly and strongly I. D. There is a little triobolar pamphlet commonly called Baxters Logicke the Authour whereof I thinke you esteeme as skilfull in that Art as euer was Zeno or Aristotle himselfe Though I could neuer find in my heart to loose an houre or twaine in perusing it yet I perswade my selfe no man can better resolue you in what mood and figure this Syllogisme was borne But if not satisfied herewith you will needs know my opinion also thus I thinke without all figure it was borne in a peeuish mood For it is farre from my thought and purpose to maintaine that Whatsoeuer our Brethren of Germany hold is true or that Faith once infused can either finally or totally fall away and if you were not either desperately impudent or brutishly ignorant you would not so haue forced my words and obtruded such vnreasonable reasons vpon mee For thus I argue Our Brethren of Germany may bee saued yet they haue not this Assurance Ergo some that haue not this Assurance may bee saued The Maior is grounded vpon the iudgement of Charity and the censure of Gods Church calling and counting them Brethren Such is the iudgement of Beza Sadeel Iewel Epist 2. ad Dudith Posnan Assert conf in notà vnitatis In Apol. and Defence of Apol. De Eccles q. 5. c. 8. In thesi 5. On the Creed Whitaker Reinolds Perkins and whosoeuer is borne within the temperate zone of Christian loue and not vnder the burning region of intemperate zeale or frozen climate of vncharitablenesse The Minor is thus proued because they hold that Faith may finally and totally fall away For whether this Position bee true or false is not materiall in this place onely if they hold so as questionlesse they doe then can they not bee assured which is my Assumption For to bee certaine of Saluation and in possibility of damnation are incompatible and cannot stand together These things being so to what end take you so much paines to shew that it is not alwayes true which some one Church holdeth troubling the Reader with your needlesse Obs and Sols and why doe you alledge so many Scriptures to proue that Faith cannot faile a truth I neuer doubted of For herein you doe but plow the Sea-shore and let flie at Sempronius when it was Titius that strake you Neither is it a matter of any hardnesse or difficulty to refell the most of your arguments if I would spend time and oyle about it for like a bungling work-man you haue marred a good cause with ill handling For example to giue you a little tast of your weaknes this way that wee are not to tie our Faith vnto the opinions of any particular Church you proue because the contrary sauoureth mightily of Popery And yet Popery teacheth not that a particular Church cannot erre nay doth not define that the particular Church of Rome cannot erre but only alloweth that priuiledge vnto the Catholicke or Vniuersall Church Againe to proue that Faith cannot finally or totally fall away thus you reason Whosoeuer liueth for euer liueth by Faith But the Saints of God liue for euer Therefore they liue by Faith for euer May I not now in requitall of your scoffing exclamation crie out O hominem obtusum argumentum stupidum For first you conclude that the Saints liue by Faith which is not the point in question Secondly you haue one tearme in the Conclusion not found in the premisses namely liue by Faith for euer and so your Syllogisme is a meere Paralogisme Lastly if to perfect vp the Syllogisme you vnderstand the Maior Proposition thus Whosoeuer liueth for euer liueth by Faith for euer then doe I flatly deny it for they that liue for euer liue onely in this life by Faith
source of all Rebellion and Disobedience N. B. Your Genus is that Faith iustifying is a Rest which is false when you speake more learnedly I will deigne you farther answer I. D. That Rest is not the Genus of Iustifying Faith I easily grant you for as appeares manifestly in my Treatise I make Affiance or which is all one Rest to bee the Act or Forme of Faith and not the Genus thereof If I had thought it fitting to haue troubled the Definition therewith I was not so ignorant but I could haue called it either an infused grace or a gratious habit or a Theologicall vertue but because the Philosopher taught me that Habits are sufficiently defined by their Acts in reference vnto their proper Obiects I held it needlesse to expresse it But suppose I had made it to be the right Genus how doe you disproue it Forsooth it is sufficient for such a Pythagoras as you are to say it is false an inexpiable wrong would it be to demand a reason of your sayings Onely you adde Plut. in vitâ Alex. that when I shall speake more learnedly you will deigne me farther answer Brauely againe spoken and Alexander-like for neither would hee being a King contend with any but Kings neither may you being so transcendent for your learning and surmounting the most of men as farre as the Sun doth the lesser lights without impeachment of honour vouchsafe disputation with any but your Peers much lesse with such a one as is scarce to bee found in any Predicament Yet seeing the Sunne so surpassing in glory is no way enuious of his light but imparteth bountifully of his beames to the enlightning of the rest of the starres it may please you also with whom wisdome must liue and dye Ioh. 12.2 out of your benignity to send forth some influence of your learning vpon mee that I may more cleerely discerne at least in this question betweene truth and that which is onely seeming so N. B. Shew mee for your warrant one place of Scripture that so tearmeth it any one Father of the Church old or new for these 1600. yeeres Greeks or Latins that will auouch it and I will yeeld to your Genus The Hebrew word for Faith and the Greek word whereof you haue heard before doe vtterly condemne you they both signifying a perswasion and an Assurance and neuer a Rest I maruell you will teach the Holy Ghost to speake and the Church now to vnderstand what Faith is and that by such a woodden Definition which may rather moue to choller then consent I. D. If by denying vnto mee the warrant of Scriptures of Fathers old and new Greeke and Latin for 1600. yeeres and of the Greeke and Hebrew words for Faith you intend to proue that Affiance or Rest is not the Genus of Faith it shall without more a-doo bee yeelded vnto you for as appeares in the former section I make it to bee not the Genus but the Act or Forme thereof But if you would thereby perswade that Rest or Affiance is not the Act of Faith I must tell you that these reasons are cleane out of date and that you doe too much abuse your Readers patience setting againe before him these Coleworts now more then twice sodden For both in the beginning of this disputation and in the last section saue two before this I haue throughly scanned cleered this businesse shewing that I am so farre from teaching the Holy Ghost to speake and the Church to vnderstand what Faith is as you vnchristianly lay vnto my charge that I vse no other tearme but that which the Spirit of God hath in Scripture sanctified to this purpose and the Holy Church hath euer spoken and vsed But because I am loth to pester my paper with so many Tautologies and needles repetitions as you vse to doe thither must I entreate the courteous Reader to repaire for satisfaction In the meane season seeing both by expresse testimony of Scripture and cleere euidence of reason I haue warranted euery part of my definition and yet you without disprouing the weakest of my proofes tauntingly call it a woodden Definition you must pardon mee if I tell you plainely that this wood-kinde of answering deserues to bee reformed with a little woodden correction But where you say my Definition may rather moue to choler then consent a man would thinke reading this your answer that either your principles were so incurably hurt or your braine dam'd and ram'd vp with such a deale of dull and tough flegme that it were as easy almost to remoue a mountaine as to moue you either to the one or the other And yet indeed I find you of a cleene contrary complexion euen the most pettish and waspish gentleman that euer I met withall euery small petty occasion stirs your choler and works you presently out of temper But because I see it is your impotency disease I beare with you the more praying you notwithstanding to haue as much patience as you may if at times for the purging of this humor I play the Physician and minister some small quantity of rheubarb vnto you N. B. For alas Master Downe what Rest can a man haue vpon Christ without Assurance to bee saued by his death and Passion and knowledge of his Lord and Sauiour A full assurance therefore as a cause worketh Rest vpon Christ as an effect and is therefore the Generall word in the Definition of Iustifying Faith I. D. Your argument if I mistake not standeth thus That which is an Effect of Assurance cannot be the Act of Faith But Resting vpon Christ is an Effect of Assurance Ergo it cannot bee the Act of Faith I distinguish of Assurance for it is either of the generall proposition or of the Speciall and indiuiduall of the Generall when wee are assured that Whosoeuer Belieueth on Christ shall bee iustified and saued of the Speciall when wee are certainly perswaded that We are iustified and shall bee saued If you meane the former then I deny the Maior for such Historicall Assurance is a necessary pre-requisite vnto Iustifying Faith and is the cause without which wee cannot belieue on Christ and therefore that which is such an effect of Assurance may bee the Act of Faith If you vnderstand the latter then doe I grant the Maior for if such Assurance be as I haue demonstratiuely proued it selfe the Effect of Faith it is more then manifest that That which is an effect of such Assurance cannot bee the Act of Faith But then I deny the Minor that Resting vpon Christ is an effect of such assurance affirming that contrarily Resting vpon Christ is the cause of such Assurance and Assurance is the Effect of that Resting But what rest say you can a man haue vpon Christ without Assurance to be saued by his Death Passion Surely vnlesse wee know his Death and Passion to bee the onely meanes of saluation wee cannot rest vpon him for it but to
sinne of their owne Neither doth God thinke it agreeable with his iustice to exact of them a proper and particular Faith of their owne Infants then are holpen by anothers Faith Whose Faith will you say The Faith of the Parents as also of the Church who is the common mother of vs all and in whose wombe as it were they are conceiued borne This of old was Saint Augustins sentence and this all sound Diuines haue agreeably with the Scripture euer held Onely it may be demanded how and in what sort the Parents Faith auaileth them Whereunto I answer not by particular applying of Christs merits and obedience vnto them for this is done onely by a mans owne Faith vnto himselfe but by bringing them within the compasse of the Couenant of Grace Thus The Couenant was made not with Abraham onely Gen. 17.19 Act. 2.39 but with his seed also and the Promise saith Saint Peter was giuen both to the Parents and to the Children The Parents therefore by Faith apprehending this Promise and Couenant by their Faith interest their Children also thereunto For as it is in ciuill negotiations the bargaine that the Father maketh for himselfe his Children is firme and good although the Children bee not present at the bargaine-making nor vnderstand what is done euen so in this spirituall Couenant and contract with God the Parents Act is sufficient force to confederate their Children also and to giue them a right vnto all the benefits of the Couenant And as I conceiue this is imputed vnto them in lieu of all those Acts and Habits which otherwise are required in those that are Adulti How farther the Holy Ghost worketh in them is a deepe and inscrutable secret Et de occultis non iudicat Ecclesia the Church is no iudge of things that are hidden Onely I affirme that by the Faith of the Parents the Children are made a holy seed and members of Christs body But what if one of the Parents bee an Infidell What if either of them or both be notorious hypocrites or openly sinnefull hauing not in them true Iustifying Faith are the Children therefore without the compasse of the Couenant and vniustified before God I answer No For first if but one of the Parents belieue yet are the Children holy 1. Cor. 7.14 So saith Saint Paul The vnbelieuing husband is sanctified by the belieuing wife and the vnbelieuing wife is sanctified by the husband else were your Children vncleane but now are they holy Againe though neither of the Parents belieue with iustifying Faith yet being in the Church by the profession of Christian Religion their Children are within the Couenant For first the Soule that sinneth it shall die Ezech. 18.20 the sonne shall not beare the iniquity of the Father neither shall the Father beare the iniquity of the Sonne So that the impiety of the Parents preiudiceth not the Child that is borne in the Church Secondly by Parents are to bee vnderstood not those alone of whom Children are immediatly begotten and borne but their Progenitors and Ancestors also who feared God and liued in the Church though many generations before For God made not his Couenant with Abraham and his immediate seed onely but with all his seed after them in their generations Gen. 17.7 Ex. 20. and promiseth to shew mercy to the thousandth generation of them that loue him and keep his Commandments Whence it followeth that these are as it were a root vnto all their posterity borne in the Church and therefore Rom. 11.16 if the root be holy so are the branches also saith Saint Paul Lastly bee the next Parents whatsoeuer they will bee yet their Children being borne in the Church the Church is their Mother and the Faith and piety of the Church interesteth all such as are borne in her vnto the Couenant And thus you see how Children are iustified and Saued by anothers Faith If Children may not those that are Adulti so bee iustified and saued also No verily For as the Prophet saith The iust man shall liue suâ fide not by anothers Hab. 2.4 but by his owne Faith And hence is it that in the Lords prayer we are taught to say Our Father but in the Creed I belieue because Prayer is an Act of Charity extending it selfe vnto the good of others also but Belieuing is an Act of Faith onely benefiting a mans selfe Can the cloths that another weares warme mee or the meat another eates nourish mee or the potion another receiues cure mee or the soule that is in another man quicken mee Nor more can the Faith of another man iustify or saue mee As one man shall not beare anothers fault sed anima quae peccat ipsa morietur the soule that sinneth it shall die so shall not one man bee acquitted for anothers Faith sed anima quae credit ipsa saluabitur the soule that belieueth it shall bee saued Saluation euery where in Scripture is promised to him who himselfe belieueth and damnation is euery where threatned to him that belieueth not so And he belieueth not so who hath not a Faith of his owne Yea but if Adams sinne bee imputed vnto vs for Condemnation and the Obedience of Christ for Iustification why may not anothers Faith also bee imputed for Saluation The case is not alike for they were publicke persons and stood in our steed but so doe not others In the Couenant of works Adam was our Head and therefore his sinne is counted the common act of all those that were in his loines In the Couenant of Grace Christ is our Head and therefore his Obedience is esteemed the common Obedience of all those who are vnited vnto him by Faith Others are not our Heads nor represent our persons in regard whereof neither can their Act bee accounted ours It will further bee obiected that Christ forgaue the palsie-sicke man his sinnes for the Faith of them that brought him Luc. 5.20 and so as Thomas saith both Ambrose and one Iohn a Bishop vnderstand it Caten in cum loc But Saint Chrysostome otherwise and that more rightly vnderstanding it both of the sicke mans Faith and theirs who brought him For our Sauiour intending to bestow a double benefit vpon him namely the cure both of body and soule this could not bee effected but by the interuention of his owne Faith but the other might by the Faith of those that presented him So wee read that the Centurions seruant Mat. 8.13 15.28 and the woman of Canaans daughter were healed the one for his Masters the other for her Mothers Faith And who knowes not that vnbelieuers oftentimes temporally fare the better for the sake of the Faithfull Saint Ambrose therefore imputing the remission of sinnes vnto the Faith of others must bee vnderstood with a graine of Salt as they say that one mans Faith may obtaine Faith vnto another and so consequently by the interuention thereof Iustification also as did the
Ecclesiasticall Hierarchy should bee this Denys In Act. 17. Erasmus further reporteth that one William Groâ—in an incomparable man both in Diuinity and all other humane learning beginning his Lectures in Pauls Church in London vpon the books of the Heauenly Hierarchy maintained with great vehemence that it was the worke of Denys the Arâ—opagite wondring at the impudence of them that denied it But before he had past halfe way into the worke he grew to be of another opinion and freely confessed that it seemed to bee none of this Denysses Finally Biblioth l. 2. L. 6. a. 22.9 Sixtus Senensis although hee professe himselfe to thinke otherwise yet hee acknowledgeth that not onely Cajetan but diuers others also doubt much whether those books bee his whose name they beare And thus hâ—ue I at length fully disengaged my selfe as touching this Dionysius hauing with many vnanswerable arguments maintained the Negatiue I vndertooke against you which if reason may preuaile with you are I am sure sufficient to conuince you if not yet sufficient to make you stagger But let vs returne into the lists againe and resume the argument which we began to vrge Many Counterfaits there are passing vp and downe and masking themselues vnder the names of ancient Fathers This is confessed of all hands I demaund then what infallible rule you haue whereby to discerne and that without mistaking which of them are spurious and which legitimate Neither blame mee for demaunding so much seeing your selues are not afraid to aske vs how we discerne the Gospell of S. Matthew to be Canonicall rather then that of Nicodemus Whereunto if I should answer with you that the Church hath resolued vpon the Canon of Scripture can you returne the like answer vnto my demand that the Church hath agreed vpon a Canon for the Fathers also If you cannot as I know you neither can nor will what further security I pray haue you Is it your owne iudgement But I haue already shewed you both in Dionysius Areopagita and Athanasius how much that hath deceiued you And not to flatter you I suppose you haue not so throughly attended and studied this point but that many other of these Counterfaits by bearing the name of the Fathers may bee entertained by you as the very Fathers themselues Is it then the iudgement of other learned men Alas they are distracted among themselues and one admitteth him whom another reiecteth For example the Constitutions of Clemens De author Le. l. 2. c. 11. Hist tom 2. p. 15. Enchir. tract de Euch. De Euchar. l. 2. c. 9. In 1. Tim. 3. De Euchar. l. 2. c. 14. Of Purg. l. 9. L. 4. in Hier. saith Stapleton is a booke full of of Apostolicall spirit yet saith Baronius it is reckoned among these that are Apocryphall Againe Echius voucheth Cypriâ—â—ide Caena Domâ—ni for Transubstantiaâ—â—on but Bellarmine denieth that booke to bee Cyprians The Iesuites of Rhenes also cite the Commentaries of Ambrose vpon the Epistles for the Popes supremacie yet Bellarmine holdeth it was neither written by Ambrose nor any Catholicke Cardinall Allen alledgeth Hierome on the Prouerbs for Purgatory but Sixtus Senensis denies those Commentaries to be Hieromes Tom. 4. d. 45. S. 1. n. 30. Finally for I will only giue you a tast Snares quoteth Augustin ad fratres in erome for Suffrages but the Censors of Louan tell him plainely that it is a counterfait booke Besides this if you will needs trust the iudgement of others herein perhaps when you thinke you heare a Father speake you may bee pitifully deceiued For whether it bee out of ignorance or retchlesnesse or set purpose to beguile I cannot tell but sure I am it is most vsuall and ordinary in all Popish writers to quote for Fathers those that are not Fathers and of ancient credit but I know not what Foundlings and Changelings borne in Fairie land and yesterday or three dayes agoe brought amongst vs. What adooe keepeth Master Harding with his Amphilochius Abdias Leontius Martialis Hippolytus Simeon Metaphrastes and other such knights of the poste What a rumble doe others make with the Epistles of Clemens Euaristus Telesphorus Hyginus Anicetus Soter Calixtus Vrbanus Pontianus Anterus Fabianus and the like the barbarousnesse of whose stile bewrayes that they were written rather by some illeterate clerke then learned Bishop But aboue all I cannot sufficiently wonder at Doctor Bristow and the whole Colledge of Rhemes Def. of Allen. Purg. In Pref. in Ioh. 10.29 Heb. 10.26 who knowing that of the twelue books which Cyril of Alexandria wrote vpon Iohn foure are perished namely the fift sixt seuenth and eigth and that one Iodocus Clichtoueus a mushrom of yesternight supplied them out of his owne braine yet cite these books of Clichtoueus againe and againe and that vnder the name of Saint Cyril himselfe And this you may please to bee aduertised of by way of Caueat also because as it seemed in our Conference you often read Saint Cyril and peruse him To vrge this point no further I conclude seeing you are not any way infallibly certaine which are the writings of the Fathers which not and the ground of Faith must be that which is infallibly certaine you cannot safely build vpon consent of Fathers vnlesse you will build vpon vncertainty But suppose there were no doubt at all of their writings which they bee yet you cannot with any security rest vpon them vnlesse you are in like manner certaine that after so many ages they still retaine their natiue purity and are come to your hands without any corruption But such certainty you can haue none for all the world knowes how shamefully the Fathers haue beene abused and how intolerably corrupted and that both of old and of late also Cap. 23. De Christo l. 1. c. 10. L. 4. tit Orig. Vincentius Lirinensis saith that diuers of the ancients thought the works of Origen had beene miserably depraued Bellarmine sayth it is very credible many blasphemies were inserted into them by Hereticks And Sixtus Senensis that they had defiled all his works with innumerable Heresies Id. ib. tit Leo. Pope Leo much grieued that his Epistles had beene polluted with the vnwashen hands of Hereticks And the Recognitions of Clemens were by them also corrupted Id. tit Clem. Id. ibid. l. 2. sayth Ruffin It is manifest also saith Sixtus Senensis that the Canons of the Apostles were contaminated by the Nicolaitans Tit. Iohan. Chrysost And the imperfect worke of Chrysostome vpon Mathew abounds with sundry strange monsters of Heretiks The same Sixtus further sayth Praefat. in l. 5. that Pamphilus Martyr Eusebius Caesariens Didymus and Ruffinus much complained that very many writings not only of Clemens Dionysius Origen and Athanasius but of other noble Doctors also were pitifully handled by Heretiks Pref in Basil de Sp. S. Erasmus not onely complaines that many things were foysted in by others into the middle of treatises as namely of Athanasius
Duraeus Con. Whitel◠p. 140. The Fathers are not counted Fathers when they either write or teach of their owne and what they haue not receiued from the Church p. 1. pa. 75. And Dominicus Bannes The more part of Doctors if some few bee against them make no infallible argument in matters of Faith De iurisd p. 4. Dr Marta also The common opinion of Doctors is not to bee regarded when another contrary opinion fauoureth the power of the keyes and the iurisdiction of the Church De vorb Dei l. 3. c. 10. Likewise Bellarmine The Fathers expound the Scriptures not as Iudges but as Doctors now not to this but that authority is required And De conc In expounding the Scripture the Catholike Church doth not alway and in all things follow the Fathers The writings of the Fathers are no rules and haue no authority to bind vs. In Rom. 14. Finally Tom teltroth Cornelius Mus To speake freely I would yeeld more credence to one chiefe Bishop in those things which concerne the mysteries of Faith then a thousand Augustins Hieromes or Gregories And thus as a right learned writer saith Reinol Conf. c. 2. d. 2. you vse the Fathers as Marchants are wont to vse their counters Sometime they stand with you for pence sometime for pounds as they bee next and readiest at hand to make vp your accounts So that I cannot but maruell how you dare to make that the ground of your Faith which the learnedst of your side so ordinarily reiect as an vnsure foundation to build vpon Shall I tell you M. Bayly you haue been fouly gulled and beguiled by your new Masters For notwithstanding all this faire pretence of Fathers yet in the end not Consent of Fathers but the authority of the present Church must bee your surest anchorhold So saith Gregory de Valentia a man well seene in the Romish mysteries Tom. in Thom. 3. d. 1. q. 1. p. 7. §. 3. De Sacram. l. 2. c. 25. Neither the holy Scripture nor yet tradition alone if yee separate from it the present authority in the Church is that infallible authority and mistresse of Faith So Bellarmine also The firmity of all ancient Councels and Doctrines depends vpon the authority of the present Church And this reason they render because without the authority of the present Church yee can neuer haue infallible certainty either of Scripture or Councels or Traditions which they bee or what is the true meaning of them So that now you must of force remoue your Faith from the ancient Fathers and rest it vpon the present Church But what are you now more safe then you were before Neuer a whit vnlesse you may further bee resolued what is the present Church For it is taken three seuerall wayes by you and is either the Church essentiall consisting of all Catholicks whatsoeuer Prier in Luth. tom 1. fund ◠or Representatiue of Bishops in a Coūcell or Virtuall the Pope who is head of the Church Now which of these three must you pitch vpon The first So say some But the most part of this Church is the Vulgar who are not comprehensiue of those matters which are controuerted neither is it possible for you to gather the voices of such a diuided and dispersed body Others therefore direct you to the second But what to a Councell with the Pope or without the Pope For here is such confusion of tongues and part taking of each side that I feare you will hardly find any rest for the sole of your foote this way Howbeit if the most voices of the new cut now adayes may sway it not a Councell without the Pope but the Pope whether with a Councell or without it it mattereth not much Tom. 3. p. 24. must bee the iudge and ground of Faith In this question saith Gregory de Valentia by the Church wee meant the Roman Bishops in whom resides the full authority of the Church when hee pleases to determine matters of Faith whether hee doe it with a Councell or without And Greiser Def. Bellarm. 10. 1. p. 1450. b. when wee affirme the Church to bee iudge of all controuersies of Faith by the Church wee vnderstand the B. of Rome who for the time being gouernes the ship of the militant Church And Albertin I say that besides the first verity there is an infallible rule liuing and endued with reason such as is the Church and this rule liuing and endued with reason is the chiefe B. of Rome So that Tom. 1. dis 44. Sect. 1. the Popes determination is the truth saith Suares and were it contrary to the sayings of all the Saints yet were it to bee preferred afore them nay if an Angell from Heauen were opposed against him the Popes determination were to bee preferred By all which you see that as you haue once already remoued your Faith from the ancient Fathers to your Mother the present Church so must you bee faine now againe to remoue it from your mother the present Church vnto your holy Father the present Pope But besides that it is altogether vnprobable that the Spirit of Truth should bee chained vnto the chaire of those men who many of them haue beene monsters rather then men and not only Heretiks but very Atheists and Infidels I would willingly learne why the Pope is so seldome in the humour to decide controuersies Why haue wee not from him an exact Commentary on the Bible that wee need no longer stand in doubt of the meaning thereof And why doth hee not stint the deadly fo-hood that now is on foot betweene the Iesuites and Dominicans But suppose hee bee both able and ready to resolue what must I trauell from England so farre as Rome for resolution and when I am arriued before him hath hee clouen tongues sitting vpon him to speake vnto mee in the language I vnderstand Or if I vnderstand him how am I assured that speaking to mee hee intendeth to teach the whole Church for otherwise hee may erre as Bellarmine shewes Innocent the eighth did De Rom. Pont. l. 4. c. 14. permitting the Norwegians to celebrate the sacrifice of the Masse without wine Shall I tell you a mystery Whatsoeuer your Priests and Iesuits prate either of Fathers or Church or Pope yet to an ordinary man who cannot of himselfe be resolued by them the authority of his Diocesan is sufficient yea and hee merits by belieuing it although what hee teach bee false This perhaps may seeme strange to you L. 3. d. 25. q. v. art 1. yet thus saith Gabriel Biel If a simple and vnlearned man heare his Prelate preach any thing contrary to the Faith thinking that what his Prelate hath so preached is belieued by the Church Instr Sacer. l. 4. c. 3. such a one not only not sinneth but by belieuing that which is false meriteth And Tolet Againe if a Countrey-man belieue his Bishop propounding some hereticall Doctrine about the
to deserue or not to deserue credit Con. Parmen l. 5. And Optatus B. of Milenis you affirme wee deny betweene your yea and our nay the soules of the people wauer and stagger Let no man belieue either you or vs Wee are all contentious men Wee must seeke out iudges If Christians both sides cannot yeeld them and part taking would hinder truth Wee must seeke for a iudge without If a Pagan hee knowes not the mysteries of Christianity if a Iew hee is an enemie to Christian Baptisme Therefore vpon earth no iudgment touching this matter can bee found Wee must seeke a iudge from heauen But why knocke wee at heauen seeing herein the Gospell wee haue his will and testament With these Fathers your owne men accord The holy doctrine saith Thomas of Aquin Sum. p. 1. q. 1. a. 8. ad 2. vseth such authorities of profane writers as forraine and probable arguments but the authorities of Canonicall Scripture it vseth arguing properly and necessarily and the authorities of the Doctors of the Church as disputing indeed properly yet onely probably For our Faith relyeth on that reuelation which was made to the Apostles and Prophets who wrote the Canonicall books De verb. Dei l. 1. c. 2. but not on reuelation made to other Doctors if any such haue beene And Bellarmin The sacred Scripture is the rule of Faith most safe and certaine and God hath taught vs by corporall letters which wee may see and read what he would haue vs belieue concerning him And Stapleton Del. con Whit. l. 2. De rat Con. l. 2. c. 19. The diuine Scriptures alone yeeld infallible testimony and such as is meerely diuine And Persius also The authority of no Saint is of infallible truth for S. Augustin giues that honour onely to the sacred Scripture But why vouch I human authority hauing diuine God himselfe by the Prophet summons vs vnto the law and to the testimony Esa 8.20 affirming that if any speake not according to this word it is because there is no light in them Ioh. 5.39 Our Sauiour Christ commandeth to search the Scriptures as which testify of him and wherein eternall life is to bee had Luc. 16 3◠Abraham referred the rich gluttons brethren to Moses and the Prophets assuring himselfe that if they refused to heare them neither would they be perswaded though one rose from the dead The holy Apostle Paul chargeth vs not to presume aboue that which is written 1. Cor. 4.6 in as much as the Scriptures are able to make vs wise vnto saluation through the Faith that is in Christ Iesus 2. Tim. 3.15.16.17 and are profitable for doctrine for reproofe for correction for instruction in righteousnesse that the man of God may bee perfect Luc. 1.3.4 throughly furnished vnto all good works To what end did Saint Luke write his Gospell was it not that we might know the certainty of those things wherein wee are instructed Phil. 3.1 This saith Saint Paul is a very safe course And hence was it that the Bereans searched the Scripture so carefully Act. 17.11 that they might bee fully assured of those things which were taught thē We haue a more sure word of Prophecy 2. Pet. 1.19 saith Saint Peter whereunto yee doe well that yee take heed as vnto a light that shineth in a darke place vntill the day dawne and the day starre arise in your hearts But S. Paul is yet more peremptory Though we saith hee Gal. 1.8 or an Angell from heauen preach any other Gospell vnto you then that which wee haue preached vnto you let him bee accursed Contra Haer. c. 12. What is it saith Vincentius Lirinensis that hee saith though wee Why not rather though I His meaning is though Peter though Andrew though Iohn yea though the whole Colledge of Apostles preach vnto you otherwise then wee haue preached let him bee anathema A fearefull straine for the maintenance of the first Faith neither to spare himselfe nor his fellow Apostles It is but a little Although saith hee an Angell from heauen preach otherwise then wee haue preached vnto you let him bee Anathema It sufficed not for the preseruation of the Faith once deliuered to mention the nature of humane condition vnlesse he comprehended Angelicall excellency also Though saith hee wee or an Angell from heauen Thus you see that the Faith which was first deliuered and is now contained in the Scripture is the soueraigne rule and iudge of all the doctrines both of men and Angels For whatsoeuer the Apostles preached the same is written as Irenaeus testifieth Lib. 3. c. 2. Whereupon Saint Augustin As touching Christ or his Church Cont. Petil. l. 3. c. 6. or any other thing pertaining to our Faith or life I will not say if wee who are no way to bee compared with him that said Though wee but as it is added if an Angell from heauen preach vnto you otherWise then what yee haue receiued in the Legall and Euangelicall Scriptures let him be accursed Happily you will say the Scripture is indeed the rule of Faith and the law of the Church but not the Iudge or if Iudge yet but a mute and dumbe Iudge and if there bee not some externall visible audible infallible vnerring Iudge to interpret Scriptures and to stint all controuersies there will neuer bee an end of quarels neither will there euer bee peace and vnity in the Church Indeed the name of vnity and peace is a goodly thing and a finall end of all controuersies might it bee had were much to bee wished for But I feare the Church will not bee so happy so long as it dwelleth in tabernacles and is militant here on earth 2. Cor. 11.18.19 Otherwise the holy Apostle would neuer haue written thus to the Corinthians I heare that there bee diuisions among you and I partly belieue it For there must bee also heresies among you that they which are approued may be made manifest among you And the generall experience of former ages confirmeth the same wherein God continually hath exercized his Church either with the fire of persecutions that it might appeare who they are that loue him more then the present world or with the tempests of contrary doctrines that it might bee knowne who are chaffe and who wheat who sound in the Faith and who not Besides this mee thinks the facilnesse and easinesse of the way which your new Masters prescribe vnto you should make you much to suspect the goodnesse of it For whereas it is the good pleasure of God that all men should carefully diligently studie the holy Scriptures Psal 1.2 119. reading them and meditating in them night and day to the end they may grow rich in all knowledge and vnderstanding you by your rule may spare all this paines and though you sit still take your ease and fold your hands yet if you belieue whatsoeuer your externall human iudge
shall dictate vnto you you are safe and cannot miscarry Now among simple and vnlettered Papists who is this Iudge but some Priest or Iesuite for other Iudge I am sure they meet with none A plausible course I confesse to many specially those that are idle and loth to take paines or weake and dare not trust their owne iudgement or superstitious and thinke they merit much by their blind obedience vnto their teachers But how plausible soeuer it may seeme to flesh and blood sure I am it is too broad to bee the narrow way that leadeth vnto life and the Kingdome of Heauen will neuer be attained vnlesse it suffer more violence then so I adde further it is too presumptuous to tie Diuine Prouidence vnto humane policy and for man first to deuise what in his wisdome seemeth fittest and then to resolue that therefore God hath ordered it so Yet this is the course your side ordinarily holdeth you loue rather to giue lawes vnto God then to take lawes from him and in this particular to prescribe what meanes God should appoint to settle vs in the knowledge of his truth rather then to vse the meanes which hee himselfe hath to that end appointed If you thinke this too hard a censure be it knowne vnto you that Bellarmine the Prince of Iesuits reasoneth so God saith hee De verb. Dei l. 3. c. 9. was not ignorant that many difficulties concerning the Faith would rise vp in the Church hee ought therefore to prouide some Iudge for the Church What Iudge Such a one doubtlesse as by his sole authority and sentence must bee able to resolue all difficulties Which for as much as neither Scripture noâ— any secular Prince can doe therefore it must needs bee the Prince of Ecclesiasticall that is the Pope See I beseech you how peruersly and preposterously they deale with you first they take vpon them to direct God whâ—â— what he should doe or else forsooth he shall not be prouident and discreet enough and then thrust their owne fancy vpon you as a point of Faith that God hath done it But to answer this yet a little more fully I affirme three things First that holy Scripture knowes not secondly that the ancient Fathers acknowledge not thirdly that as long as wee haue the Scripture there needs not any such standing humane Iudge in the Church as you dreame of As touching the first if you know any passage of Scripture wherein God hath authorized such a Iudge as you dreame of I require you to shew it for my part I know none Expresse Scripture I am sure you cannot shew deductions and consequences by your owne rule I haue no reason to admit For example if for proofe hereof you vrge that of our Sauiour to S. Peter I haue prayed for thee that thy Faith faile not Luc. 22.32 I would demand who shall bee iudge of the meaning of these words for I heare that Christ hath prayed for Saint Peter but I heare not that hee hath prayed for the Pope that his Faith fayle not and I know Saint Peter was firme and constant in the faith vnto his liues end but it seemes by Ecclesiasticall Hystory that sundry Popes haue made shipwracke of the Faith and become Hereticks If there be no Iudge to determine this doubt why doe you thrust such a Iudge vpon vs If there bee who is hee you will say the Pope Then thus you reason Christ prayed for S. Peter that his Faith might not faile by S. Peter the Pope also is vnderstood and this appeares because the Pope saith so therefore neither can the Popes Faith faile and consequently he is the ordinary infallible Iudge of the Church More briefly thus the Pope is that Iudge because the Pope will haue it so Nominate what other Iudge soeuer you list and what other Text besides you please and the argument is still the same too weake to persuade what you intend vnlesse by some new priuiledge out of any premisses you may conclude what you will In a word search the Scriptures throughout and you shall finde the Ministery and seruice of men established to bring vs to the Faith but an infallible humane magistery and Lordship to command Faith it knowes none That prerogatiue Royall it reserues onely vnto Christ himselfe Neither doe the ancient Fathers acknowledge any such Iudge which is the second point If they doe point I pray to the place for hitherto it hath beene vnknowne Many and sharp bickerings had those ancients with diuers and sundry Heretiks as Arius Macedonius Eutyches Nestorius and the like yet neuer did they either obiect vnto them that they wanted an infallible Iudge as you doe vnto vs or conuent them before the tribunall of such a Iudge which doubtlesse had beene a readier way then disputation to stop their mouths had there been such a soueraigne Officer in the Church Sundry and manifold are the writings of the ancient Fathers touching the Christian Faith of which some also were purposely written to instruct vs in all the doctrines of our religion and is it not strange that such men in such books remembring carefully all other points should forget so maine and principall a point as this is Nay more then this Tertullian long agoe wrote a booke of Prescriptions or Fore-pleadings against Hereticks Saint Augustin also wrote foure books of Christian Doctrine wherein his direct intent is to prescribe rules how to vnderstand and interpret Scripture And Vincentius Litinensis also hath written a short Commonitory for the Antiquity and Verity of the Catholike Faith against the profane nouelties of all Heresies If these Fathers had acknowledged this your imaginary Iudge how commeth it to passe that they no where mention him in these books For certainly here was the proper place and they could not without extreame supinity and negligence omit him had they knowne such a one such a one I say as vpon whom the security of Faith and vnity of the Church dependeth But this deep silence of theirs and that in so due a place and of matter so important euidently argues that they neuer were acquainted therewith and that it is but an Idole of these latter times Now if neither Scripture nor Fathers know such a Iudge I hope I may bee bold to inferre that the Church needs him not which is the third point For I trow this is both a safer and sounder kind of reasoning then that of yours Such a Iudge wee conceiue to bee necessary Therefore such a one hath God ordained But to cleere this point also I affirme that the Scriptures by themselues through Gods blessing vpon our endeauour is a sufficient outward meanes to bring vs to saluation and therefore there is no necessity of your externall Iudge The Consequence is plaine and euident the Antecedent thus I proue because all whatsoeuer is necessary to saluation is so cleerely and manifestly deliuered in them euen to the capacity of vulgar and ordinary men that if they
Iewes more then the Epistle to the Hebrewes neither were they all written to all Catholicks for the second and third of Iohn were sent vnto priuate persons onely and all the rest as vniuersally concerne all Catholicks as these few tearmed Catholicke doe I conclude therefore the word Catholicke being latter then the Apostles so must the Creed bee also which vses it Thirdly the different relation of the story bewrayes the vncertainty of it for they giue not all the same article vnto the same Apostle Some marshall them iust as S. Luke doth in the first of the Acts others thus Peter Andrew Iohn Iames the elder Thomas Iames the younger Bartlemew Mathew Simon Iude Mathias Againe some of them attribute vnto Peter part onely of the first article I belieue in God the Father almighty and vnto Iohn the other part Maker of Heauen and Earth But others attribute the whole article vnto Peter and giue another vnto Iohn The like may bee obserued in other articles If then they bee certaine of the tradition why doe they differ thus in their reports If they differ thus one from another who can bee certaine of the tradition Fourthly if the Creed both for matter forme were from the Apostles and they deliuered it precisely in those words in which we now haue it why is it not placed in the Canon of Scripture Certainly in the Church although it euer haue been much esteemed yet was it neuer counted Canonicall Neither hath it been preserued so safe from addition detraction mutation as the rest of the Scriptures always haue been For euen in the ancientest times we find great variety in it Ruffin writing a iust comment on it omits that clause Maker of Heauen and Earth And who knowes not how many there are who relating this Creed leaue out the article of Christ descending into hell De Christi anima c. 6 Euen Bellarmin himselfe confesseth that it was not found anciently in all Creeds and hee voucheth for it Irenaeus Origen Tertullian and Augustin though fiue times he expoūd it and finally the Creed of the Roman Church also as Ruffin witnesseth vnto whom if hee had been so pleased he might haue added a whole armie of others whom for breuities sake I omit Finally the ancient Doctors were so farre from equalling it with Scripture that they appealed from it thereunto as to an higher authority Catech. 4. Cyril plainely affirmeth that wee may not beleeue the Creed without Scripture Biblioth sanc Patr. tom 9. And Paschasius against Macedonius shrowding himselfe vnder some words of the Creed appealeth vnto the Canonicall Scripture for that of it saith hee the text of the Creed dependeth Which had they thought it had been from the Apostles in such forme and as now we haue it without question they neuer would haue done Fiftly the reason which they assigne why they composed this Creed discouers the vanity thereof What was that That it might be forsooth vnto the Apostles a canon rule according to which they should square and conforme their preaching What vnto the Apostles to whom Christ promised his blessed Spirit that should lead them into all truth And that himselfe would put into their mouths a ready answer vpon all occasions so that they should not need to bethinke themselues what to say Could they possibly doubt lest any difference or discord should grow among them in matter of Faith who were so guided by the Spirit of truth and vnity that they could not in any point either erre themselues or lead any other into error Surely so to thinke derogateth much from the truth of Christ and imputeth much weaknesse vnto the Spirit of God and detracteth from the certainty of our Faith which dependeth on their preaching So that for this cause it is vnlikely they made this Creed at leastwise to this end De Symb. ad Cat. l. 1. c. 1. Lastly Saint Augustin saith thus not that false Augustin vpon whom those Sermons de tempore are fathered and whose authority is vsually alledged to warrant this legend but the true S. Augustin saith Illa verba Symboli qua audiuistis per Scripturas sparsa sunt inde collecta ad vnum redacta those words of the Creed which you haue heard are dispersed through the Scriptures and being gathered from thence are reduced into one With him agreeth Paschasius De Spirit Sanct. c. 1. De sacris omninò voluminibus quae sunt credenda sumamus de quorum fonte symboli ipsius series deriuata consistit Let vs take out of the sacred volumes what things wee are to belieue out of which fountaine the order of the Creed is deriued Centur. 1. l. 2. c. 4. And Marcellus a Bishop in a letter to Iulius Bishop of Rome professeth hauing rehearsed the words of the Creed Se hanc fidem ex Scripturis accepisse a maioribus secundum Deum accepisse candem in Ecclesiâ Dei praedicare that he receiued this Faith out of the Scriptures and next after God from his ancestors and that hee preached it in the Church of God If then as these Fathers affirme the Creed bee gathered out of the Scriptures how can the Apostles bee authors thereof For out of the old Testament they could not gather that Christ was borne of the Virgin Mary or that hee suffered vnder Pontius Pilate And as for the new many of the Apostles were dead before all was written and Iames before any was written besides that no part of it was written when the Creed was compiled if it bee true which the legend saith And these are the reasons for which it seemeth vnto me more then probable that the Apostles were neuer Authors of this Creed If it be so will some say why doth it then beare the Apostles name I answere because as out of S. Augustin and others we haue shewed the matter therein contayned is perfectly agreeable with the Apostles writings and was collected out of them Moreouer Apostolicall is a terme extended by writers vnto the first three hundred years after Christ Haet sola fides saith Damasus Ep. 5. quae Nicaeae Apostolorum authoritate fundata est perpetua est firmitate seruanda this only Faith which was established at Nice by the authority of the Apostles is firmely and perpetually to be held So Scythianus and Terebinthus are said to haue liued temporibus Apostolorum in the time of the Apostles Epiph. Haer. 66. who yet liued in Aurelians time towards three hundred years after Christ And Isidor distinguishing betweene Apostles and the First Apostles saith that Apostles continued downe vntill Pope Syluester and that the times before the great Councell of Nice were Apostolicall Although therefore the first Apostles were not the founders of this Creed yet those succeeding Apostles were of whom it may be called the Apostles Creed These things being so let it bee obserued thereupon first how friuolously Papists cauill and quarell with vs affirming that wee hold
not the Faith of the Creed because we question it whether the Apostles were authors of it or no. As if to doubt of the author were to doubt of the truth of the matter or as if all those Ancients reiected the epistle to the Hebrewes for Apocryphall which were not resolued who wrote it whether Paul or Barnabas or Luke or Clemens Secondly how weaklie Popish traditions are supported by the tradition of this Creed For not being the Apostles how can it be a tradition of the Apostles or if it be a tradition of theirs yet is it such a tradition as is written contayned in Scripture and such wee willingly receiue Let them proue the rest of their pretended traditions to be such and we will readily embrace them also But returne wee to our purpose This Creed by whomsoeuer it was made is intituled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Symbol the reason whereof we are now to inquire To let passe those barbarous and iocular notations which ignorant Monks haue giuen of it lest relating them I should both spend time defile my paper some deriue it from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying as they say a shote or reckoning Ruff. Symb. Aug. ser de tem 115. for that the Apostles meeting together to compile it did each conferre his article as it were his symbole for defraying of this heauenly banket But first the Apostles as we haue declared neuer compiled this Creed Secondly if they compiled it yet as Antonius Nebrisensis saith Quinquag c. 40. it is neither credible nor likely that each of them conferred his particle seeing in those things that are constituted and decreed by many it is not the manner for euery one seuerally to put his word or saying into it but for all iointly to agree vpon the whole Adde hereunto that if it were so men would neuer haue diuided the Creed as they haue done some into seuen articles because of the seuen gifts of the holy ghost very many others into fourteen but onely into twelue according to the number of the Apostles who dictated each of them his article Lastly not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth a shote as the learned know neither can it bee shewed to bee otherwise in any Greeke writer Indeed in Latine writers yee shall sometimes find Symbolum so vsed yet that it is found so in any skilfull Criticks impute it to the ignorance of Notaries and by the warrant of the best Manuscripts restore the Feminine Symbola into the roome thereof Others fetch it from Symbolum signifying a Pledge or token and first such a pledge whereby persons espoused bind themselues to bee faithfull and true one vnto another because likewise in our spirituall espousals with Christ as he giues vnto vs his blessed spirit as an earnest of his constant loue to vs so wee returne backe againe the profession of our faith as a firme pledge of our loyalty and subiection to him This reason caries good likelyhood and proportion with it So doth also the next when it signifieth tesseram hospitalem such a token as Cities were wont to giue vnto their friends that shewing it they might find friendly entertainment in confederate townes or such as one friend was wont to giue vnto an other to the like end Which how it fits the amitie and frienship betweene Christ vs who sees not Neuerthelesse I rather thinke it is so called from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it signifieth a watchword For the Primitiue Church seemeth much to haue beene delighted with militare terms I suppose because in Scripture Christians are so often compared vnto souldiers And hence it is that the Church is distinguished into Militant and Triumphant that Heathen are called Pagans in opposition vnto souldiers that the two mysteries of the Church are termed Sacraments a word importing that oath of obedience which souldiers take vnto their Generals In like manner may the Creed be called a Symbole because it is as a watchword by which true Orthodoxe Christians many discerne one from the other Painims Iewes Turks and Hereticks Heerwith agreeth Maximus Taurinensis Symbolum tessera est signaculum quo inter fideles perfidosque secernitur Hom. de trad Symb. the Symbole is a watchword or marke by which Faithfull and Faithles men are discerned And Ambrose De voland Virg. l. 3. Symbolum cordis signaculum est nostrae militiae sacramentum the Symbole is the seale of the heart and the sacrament of our warfare In Symb. And Ruffin Nequa doli surreptio fiat symbola discreta unusquisque dux suis militibus tradit quae Latine vel signa vel indicia nominantur ut si forte occurrerit quis de quo dubitetur interrogatus symbolum prodat si sit hostis an socius lest there should be any surreption or deceit euery captaine deliuereth vnto his Souldiers a distinct watchword that if they meet with any of whom they doubt by demanding the watchward they may discouer whether hee bee a friend or an enimy And this hee accommodateth vnto the present purpose Now seing the Gentiles were wont to giue for their watchword the names of some of their Gods Xenoph paed l. 3. 7. Pausan l. 10. Suet. Calig c. 18. as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Minerua Iupiter and the like what fitter Symbole could Christians haue then their Faith in the holy indiuiduall Trinity And thus much of the title of the Creed proceed wee yet further Besides this Creed there are diuers others verie ancient both Generall of the whole Church such as are those foure famous ones of Nice of Ephesus of Constantinople of Chalcedon and Particular either of seuerall Churches or of priuate men among which that of Athanasius is most renowned All which though in forme of words they vary yet for substance are all one there being Eph. 4.5 as S. Paul saith but vna fides one faith Neither yet was this number of Creeds needles or endles For when heresies began to encrease and preuaile the Church thought it necessary to set forth some short Confessions by which the people as by a touchstone might discerne the gold of Orthodoxe truth from the copper of errors and heresies Saith S. Hilarie Nihil mirum videri debet fratres charissimi quod tam frequenter exponi fides caeptae sint necessitatem hanc furor haereticus imponit you ought not to maruell much beloued brethren that nowadayes Creeds are so frequently set forth the fury of hereticks hath layd this necessity vpon vs. Thus against Arius denying the diuinity of Christ was the Nicene Creed framed against Macedonius and Eudoxius denying the Deity of the holy Ghost and his proceeding from the Father and the Sonne the Constantinopolitane against Nestorius denying the vnion of both natures of Christ in one person the Ephesine against Eutyches confounding both natures and swallowing vp the humane in the diuine that of Chalcedon Thus of late the reformed Churches to quit
his goodnesse eftsoones to reduce you Two grounds you say there are whereon you haue built your Separation the first whereof you lay downe in these tearmes That the Hierarchie and Ministrie of Arch-bishops Lord Bishops c. and Priests may not bee set ouer the Church of Christ nor retained therein From whence as I vnderstand it you would argue and conclude thus Where are such Church Officers as may not bee set ouer nor retained in the Church there is no true visible Church and consequently Separation must bee made from it But here in England are such Church Officers as Arch-bishops Bishops c. and Priests Ergo here in England is no true visible Church and consequently Separation must bee made from it To this argument thus formed I answer first by denying the Maior Proposition which in that you goe not about to proue you commit that fault in reasoning which Logicians call Petitionem Principij taking that for granted which is most questioned For suppose that Archbishops Bishops and Priests were superfluous officers yet it is not euery superfluity in a Church that takes away the nature and essence thereof and euen they who mislike the present Church gouernement doe not all of them as you Separatists doe inferre thereupon a nullity but onely a corruption or aberration in the Church It would haue beene much more to the purpose if you could haue demonstrated that the Church of England is defectiue in such officers as are essentiall and without which a Church cannot be Here therefore I must entreat you either to acknowledge your rashnesse or else to bestow a little more paines in the proofe of that which without euidence of reason will neuer be yeelded you Againe I deny the Minor Proposition affirming contrarily that Archbishops Bishops and Priests are lawfull Church-Officers and may bee both set ouer and retained in the Church For I hope you vnderstand these tearmes not cauillingly and equiuocally but according to the meaning and definition of the Church of England Otherwise you shall but iangle about words and bewray that you haue more desire to picke quarels then ability to iustify your Separation But you endeauour to fortify your Minor by twelue reasons supplying in the tale if ought bee wanting in the weight Let vs examine them seuerally The first is this 1 No Antichristian ministrie may bee set ouer the Church of Christ nor retained therein 2. Thes 2.3.4.11.12 Ro. 14.9 10. with Ex. 4.5 Deut. 7.26 Ps 119.21.128 But the Ministrie of Arch-bishops Lord-Bishops Priests is Antichristian because the Churches of Antichrist cannot bee compleate if they haue not this Prelacy as appeareth by the Popes Canons and Pontificall and by their Church-Constitution Therefore they are not to bee set ouer the Church of Christ nor retained therein What meane you by the word Antichristian For although I know well what properly it signifies yet I doubt much what you vnderstand thereby it being your manner either through negligence or ignorance too often to speake improperly If you vnderstand it properly and as you ought for that which is against Christ and his ordinance or as your men sometimes expresse themselues which is a speciall part of Antichrists apostasie then I yeeld you your Maior and confesse that no such Ministrie may bee set ouer the Church nor retained therein But if you meane thereby either that which was first instituted and deuized by Antichrist or that which being formerly instituted is vsed and approued in the Church of Antichrist then I deny the Maior For first euery thing by Antichrist ordained is not presently vnlawfull and Antichristian no more then euery act of a tyrant is vniust and tyrannous How many good and wholesome lawes were enacted vnder the raigne of Richard the third who yet was a most bloody and cruell tyrant Neither were they afterward repealed by succeeding Kings but stand still in force notwithstanding his tyranny for they proceeded from him non quà tyrannus not as hee was a tyrant but as hee was a wise and politicke gouernour In like manner not euery thing ordained by Antichrist is foorthwith to bee reiected but onely that which hee doth quà Antichristus as hee is Antichrist and is meerely Antichristian It is a great folly to refuse good counsell because it is giuen by an euill man Wise men will consider non quis sed quid not so much who doth a thing as what is done For as truth is Gods in whose mouth soeuer it bee found so is good also whosoeuer bee the Author thereof Againe if those things whereof Antichrist is the first founder bee not therefore by and by vnlawfull much lesse are those things so which being of a former institution are onely vsed and obserued by him Were it otherwise how many ordinances of God himselfe and wholesome constitutions of the primitiue Church would proue vnlawfull being still retained in Popery This Maior you endeauour to fortify with sundry passages of Scripture But as Cassius of old was wont to say Cui bono to what end For if you would proue it in the sense granted you they are alledged needlesly if in the sense denied friuolously and to speake the truth euery way vainely and impertinently as the very reading of them will manifest to any one that will but take the paines to peruse them But this is the manner of your men to paint your margents with multitude of quotations nothing to the purpose whereas one allegation directly concluding is more then a hundred demonstrations as being the words of the first and infallible verity What you intend hereby I wot not whether to amuse the Reader and ouerwhelme him with your numbers or to win you credit and estimation with the vulgar as if you were the onely skilfull Text-men But sure I am that such sleighting of Scripture is no lesse then the taking of Gods Name in vaine which whosoeuer doth the Lord professeth he will not hold him guiltlesse Scripture is not made nor appointed for pompe and shew but for conquest and victory To the Minor Proposition I answer negatiuely The ministrie of Arch-bishops Lord-Bishops and Priests is not Antichristian whether you vnderstand it as first inuented by Antichrist or against Christ That it is not of Antichrists inuention is as cleere as the Sunne For first Priests are of diuine institution being no other then those Presbyters or Pastors to whom the administration of the Word and Sacraments is committed and who are ordained by Christ for the building vp of his Church vnto the end of the world The Priests of the Church of Rome indeed are of Antichrists founding whose office is to sacrifice and offer vp Christ himselfe in the Masse vnto his Father both for the quicke and the dead But our Priests haue nothing common with them saue the name onely their idolatry wee detest and abhorre although wee retaine the name Theirs are Masse-Priests ours are Preaching or Ministring Priests Neither let the name offend you for
Againe may not I with as good reason as you argue thus The state and Kingdome of Antichrist cannot be compleate without the authority of Ciuill Magistrates Ergo Ciuill Magistrates are Antichristian If this kinde of reasoning bee not good neither is yours for they are both of one mould Lastly Antichristianity being a Mysterie and not an Heathnish or Turkish opposition vnto Christ it cannot be compleate except it retaine many of Christs ordinances which therefore I trust you will not say to bee Antichristian A lie cannot subsist but vpon truth nor euill but in good nor Antichrists hypocrisie but vpon the Religion and discipline of Christ And thus haue I fully answered your first argument whereon I haue been the longer because it is the Basis and ground as it were of all the rest and the answer thereunto will in a manner serue them all or the most part of them Your second argument is this 2 Because it cannot be approued by the testament of Christ as the Ministrie had in his Church may and ought to bee * Eph. 4.11.12 1. Cor. 12.4.5.6.28.29 Ro. 12.7.8 1. Tim. 3. 5.3.9.17 6.13.14 And if such as could not proue by their genealogie that they were of Aaron were deposed from their Ministrie under Moses Law * Ezr. 2.62.63 Heb. 3.2.3 2.1.2.3 12.25 much more should such bee now deposed as haue not their offices warranted by Christs Testament If wee reduce your argument into forme it is this That Ministrie which cannot bee approued by the Testament of Christ is not to bee allowed in the Church But the Ministrie of the Church of England cannot bee approued by the Testament of Christ Ergo it is not to bee allowed in the Church The Minor which you might be sure we would deny you haue left naked to the wide world without proofe the Maior which you saw wee could not well deny you endeauour to fortifie with a double reason Let it be supposed then that it is denied how proue you it First The Ministerie had in the Church may and ought to bee so approued How doth this appeare By the places quoted in the margent Nothing lesse They approue indeed certaine officers in the Church but affirme not that euery officer ought to bee so approued Secondly if say you such as could not deriue their genealogy from Aaron were deposed much more are they to be deposed who cannot warrant their offices by Christs Testament A poore argument God wot For in the law there was an expresse commandment that none might execute the Priests office but hee that was of the linage of Aaron but that no office might bee admitted nor retained in the Church vnlesse it were so commanded I find no where in Scripture Wherefore to argue thus Nothing that is against Gods Word may bee allowed Ergo nor any thing that is not commanded is a plaine Non sequitur and it followes not Thus you see if a man were so disposed how easie it is to quarell with your Maior which yet simply I deny not Briefly therefore to cleare all I distinguish of these tearmes Approued and Warranted by the Word A thing may bee said to bee warranted or approued by the Word two wayes both when it is commanded and when it is not forbidden for things neither commanded nor forbidden are indifferent and subiect vnto the Churches power Hereupon thus I answer if you meane it in the former sence only then proue your Maior that what is not by commandment approued is vnlawfull if in the latter then I grant you the Maior that whatsoeuer is forbidden is vnlawfull But withall I deny the Minor that Archbishops Bishops Priests are forbidden requiring you to proue it which I know you can neuer doe For as touching so much of their dutie as is common to them all to wit the preaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments they are all Pastors and Teachers and so warranted in the Texts by you quoted but in regard of preeminence and superiority one aboue another Bishops are no other then were the Angels of the seuen Churches as wee haue aboue demonstrated Howsoeuer if Bishops bee not commanded yet are they not forbidden and their office making not against edification but for it rather it cannot being ordained by the Church but be lawfull Your third argument 3 Because the Church is the Spouse Kingdome and Body of Christ and therefore may not haue Antichrists Hierarchie and ministrie set ouer it or retained in it For what concord hath Christ with Beliall Antichrists Hierarchie and Ministrie may not beset ouer the Church nor retained in it Archbishops Bishops Priests are Antichrists Hierarchie and Ministrie Ergo Archbishops Bishops Priests may not bee set ouer the Church nor retained in it The Maior of this Syllogisme you are very carefull to maintaine because the Church is the Spouse the Kingdome the Body of Christ as also because there can bee no concord betwixt Christ and Belial But to what end all this and with such a stirre to proue that which no man gainsayes for wee confesse Christs Kingdome may not be gouerned by Antichrists policie You should rather haue laboured to strengthen the Minor that Archbishops Bishops and Priests are Antichrists Hierarchie and Ministrie for you might be well assured wee would neuer yeeld you that vnlesse by strength of reason you constrained vs. Here therefore against the rule of Logicke againe you beg the principall matter in question taking for granted that those offices are meerely Antichristian But you must proue it and not looke that whatsoeuer you fancie to be true others vpon your bare word must presently belieue and take to bee true See the answer to the first argument I proceed to the fourth 4 If when a King substituteth Iudges Iustices c. no subiects may either refuse to bee gouerned by these or set ouer themselues officers of other Kingdomes as the Roman tribunes c. how can it be lawfull for any Christians c. It is an old saying that Symbolical diuinitie is no argumēt of proofe and that Similitudes serue rather to illustrate and cleare a mans meaning then to proue and conuince the vnderstanding In regard whereof if I had so pleased I might well haue sleighted this fourth reason and not haue vouchsafed it any answere at all For what is it other then a bare and naked Similitude neuertheles for further satisfaction let vs trie the strength thereof Two things you auouch first that Christians may not refuse to bee gouerned by those officers which Christ hath set ouer them secondly that Christians may not set ouer themselues officers of Antichrists kingdome The former I confesse is true but nothing to the purpose For we reiect not the officers ordained by Christ nor refuse to be gouerned by them If we doe so haue all Churches also done downe from S. Iohns time vnto this present age within which compasse you cānot name any one Church at any time moulded after
commanded if of things indifferent accidentally only inasmuch as it is referred to the worship of God and therefore cannot without sacriledge be giuen to any creature 5. Theol. Pract. comp tract 2. c. 8. art 33. How then can the Popish Church vowing vnto Saints quit herselfe of notorious Idolatrie specially seing by the confession of Molanus a principall champion of hers a Vow is an act of latria that is of such worship as is due vnto God Neither can she cloake her Superstition with any shew of Scripture De cult Sanct. c. 9. for Bellarmin himselfe freely acknowledgeth that when the holy Scriptures were written the custome of vowing vnto Saints was not yet begun 6. The matter of a vow is things lawfull whether they be necessary as being commanded or arbitrary as being neither forbidden nor commanded For that duties commanded may be vowed appeareth euen by the vow in Baptisme In Psal 46. And although vertues as Chrysostom saith be due vnto God albeit they be not promised yet what letteth but what God bindeth vs vnto by precept we by vow as by a new knot may also bind our selues vnto De Monach. c. 19. 7. Bellarmin indeed is bold and affirmeth that it is the common opinion of Diuines that the Promise in Baptisme is not properly a vow Instit Mor. l. 11. c. 14. but Azorius his fellow Iesuite can tell him otherwise that the ancient Diuines together with the Master of the Sentences seeme to thinke that Baptisme is a vow properly and truly so called 8. That things of an indifferent and middle nature may also be Vowed is granted of all hands God hauing permitted vnto the Church and members thereof iudgement and dispensation of them Yet this must be vnderstood with caution for seeing as Saint Paul saith those things that are lawfull are not alwayes expedient and things otherwise lawfull may in regard of circumstance become vnlawfull those indifferent things that are inuested with such circumstances cease during the while to be the matter of a Vow 9. Iustly therefore are excluded from being the matter of a Uow first all such actions as are in their owne nature euill next such as hinder a greater good then those that crosse the generall Vow made in Baptisme farther such as are impossible and out of our power moreouer such as are friuolous and vnprofitable finally those things that are naturally necessary and if there be any other besides of the like quality 10. I adde farther by such as haue power so to doe for none may Vow but they who by their vocation haue liberty thereunto Now this vocation in regard of things commanded extendeth vniuersally vnto all and therefore it is free for euery man to vow them But in respect of things indifferent it stretcheth not so farre For first they who by reason of age or distemper haue not the vse of reason or iudgment secondly they who are vnder the authority and iurisdiction of others hauing not power of themselues because of their calling may not nor cannot lawfully vow without the consent and good liking of their superiors Num. 30. 11. This condemnes the impious practice of Popish Friers who inueigle yong youths from the obedience of their parents and without their consents intangle them in the vow of Monasticall life treading directly in the steps of their Great-grand-father Eustathius against whose wicked doctrine the Councell of Gangra thus decreed Can. 16. If any children shall forsake their Parents especially being faithfull vpon occasion of Religion thinking it iust so to doe and shall not rather performe due honor vnto them reuerencing euen this in them that they are faithfull let them be accursed 12. Finally the End of a Vow is partly to testify our affection to God as namely our thankfulnesse for benefits receiued and partly our duty in carefulnesse to preuent sinne and to preserue and increase Gods graces in vs. In a word it serues as an instrument or helping meanes to further our obedience to Gods Lawes And because the End it selfe is of greater importance then the meanes conducing vnto the End surely Obedience must needs bee better then Sacrifice that is then the Vow which fitteth only vnto it 13. The Romish Church therefore teaching that vowes are of greater perfection in this life and deserue an higher degree of glory in the next then the very works of the Morall law cannot be excused of manifest blasphemie Comment in Mat. 19. Which it seemes Cardinal Cajetan also saw when he said that Christ prescribeth no vow to him that will obtaine perfection of life because the obtaining of perfection consisteth not in the bonds of vowes but in the works themselues 14. This being the true nature and definition of a vow I conclude as touching the Obligation or bond thereof that euery vow thus made vnto God in such Forme of such Matter by such Persons to such End as wee haue said bindeth the Conscience vnto performance in so much as the breach thereof is no lesse then mortall sin and very dishonorable vnto God For if lawfull promises are to bee held with men much more with God Psal 15. And if we bee slack to pay them hee will surely require them of us and so should it be sin vnto us Deut. 23.21 15. But what if a man haue rashly vowed that which is vnlawfull Surely in such a case it is better to retract the vow then by keeping it to adde sin vnto sin For a vow saith the Canon may not be the bond of iniquity and excellently to this purpose counselleth Philo the Iew De leg spec Let such a one therefore abstaine saith he and humbly entreat God of his Clemency to pardon the vnaduised rashnes wherby he was so headlongly carried to sweare for to double the offence when thou mayst discharge thy selfe of the one halfe is extreame madnes and scarcely euer curable 16. Now let vs apply what hath beene said vnto the particular vow of virginity or single life And first whereas nothing may be the Matter of a vow but that which is lawfull and things lawfull are of two sorts eyther simply and morally good or arbitrary and indifferent surely Virginity cannot be ranked in the first order For to vse no other then Gersons reasons P. 3. de Consil Euang. stat perfect Morall vertues are commanded and are not destroyed but by vice and being lost may bee recouered by repentance But Virginity is no where commanded and is destroyed by Matrimony which is no sinne although Pope Syricius heretically call it vncleannesse and pollution of the flesh and being lost cannot possibly be recouered And therefore howsoeuer it may giue a kind of luster and grace vnto vertue yet vertue it can be none 17. Hereupon it followeth that Virginity and Mariage are not in themselues acceptable vnto God one more then another but that it is the mind which rightly vseth both the one and the other which