of the Romish Church will not admit Reconciliation SECTION VII The Romish Heresie concerning Iustification SECTION VIII Concerning Free-will SECTION IX Concerning Merits SECTION X. Concerning Satisfaction SECTION XI Concerning Purgatorie SECTION XII Concerning Pardons SECTION XIII Concerning the distinction of Mortall and Veniall sinne SECTION XIV Concerning the Canon of the Scripture SECTION XV. Concerning the insufficiencie of Scripture SECTION XVI Concerning the authoritie of Scripture SECTION XVII Concerning Transsubstantiation SECTION XVIII Concerning the Multi-presence of Christs bodie SECTION XIX Concerning the sacrifice of the Masse SECTION XX. Concerning the number of Mediators and the Inuocation of Saints SECTION XXI Concerning the Superstitious Heathenish and ridiculous worship of the Papists SECTION XXII Concerning the impossibilitie of the meanes of Reconciliation THE OPINION OF George Cassander A LEARNED PAPIST AND GRAVE DIVINE That by two seuerall Emperors FERDINAND and MAXIMILIAN was set on worke to compose these quarrels of the CHVRCH In his consultation pag. 56. 57. YEt J cannot denie but that in the beginning many out of a godly zeale and care were driuen to a sharpe and seuere reproofe of certaine manifest abuses and that the principall cause of this calamitie and distraction of the Church is to bee laid vpon those which being puffed vp with a vaine insolent conceit of their Ecclesiasticall power proudly and scornefully contemned and reiected them which did rightly and modestly admonish their reformation Wherefore my opinion is that the Church can neuer hope for any firme Peace vnlesse they make the beginning which haue giuen the cause of the distraction that is vnlesse those which are in place of Ecclesiasticall Gouernment will bee content to remit something of their too much rigor and yeeld somewhat to the Peace of the Church and hearkening vnto the earnest Prayers and Admonitions of many godly men will set themselues to correct manifest abuses according to the rule of Diuine Scriptures and of the ancient Church from which they haue swarued NO PEACE WITH ROME SECT I. The state of the now-Roman Church THERE is no one question doth so racke the mindes of men G. Cassand l. de Consult Art 7. Ex articulo hoc de Ecclesia omnis haec distractio quae hodie est in republica Christiana originem ducit at this day as this of the Church The infancy of the Church was sore and long vexed with heresies of an higher nature concerning God concerning Christ which stil strook at the head but her vigorous hoary age is exercised with a slighter quarrell concerning our selues which yet raiseth vp the greater broyles euery where by how much euery man naturally loues himselfe more than God Not to meddle with any forraine questions of this nature Too many seeme vnto me to mis-conceiue the state of our Church the Romish as if they had beene alwaies two as if from their first foundations they had been sensibly seuered in time and place like to Babylon and Hierusalem Aug. de Ciuit. or those two famous Cities opposed in S. Austens learned discourse Hence are those idle demands of some smattering questionists Where our Church hath thus long hid it selfe What yeere and day it came to light in which age that other Church lost it selfe Why we haue withdrawne our selues no further from them What is become of our sorefathers Which was the religion of the former world From hence haue those sharpe and rigorous censures passed on both sides whether of nouelty or of the desperate condition of those soules which haue departed out of our owne way Alas what monsters both of opinions and questions haue risen hence and haue vexed not their owne Authors onely for the Delphick Oracle said well It is fit a man should haue as he doth Iulian Caes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iudicum si quis quae secit perferat aequum est but together with them the whole Church of God How many silly soules haue splitted vpon this rocke which had neuer needed any votiue monument of their wracke if they had but learned to hold no other difference betwixt vs and Rome than must needs be granted betwixt a Church miserably corrupted and happily purged betwixt a sickly languished and dying Church and one that is healthfull strong and flourishing Neither therefore did that Valdus of France nor Wickliffe of England nor Hierom of Prague Anno. Do. 1160. nor Luther of Germany euer goe about to frame a new Church to themselues which was not but onely endeuoured not without happy successe to cleanse scoure restore reforme that Church which was from that filthy soyle both of disorder errors wherewith it was shamefully blemished Al these rather desired to be accounted Physitians to heale than parents to beget a Church And the same haue we carefully done euer since do seriously and ingenuously professe of our selues this day Rome is alike to vs as it was of old to Hierome with Eugubium Rhegium Alexandria saue that this citie is both more famous Hierom. Epist ad Euagr. more neere vs Places do not varie either faith or title What Church soeuer God shall call daughter wee will call sister and so we safely may How many honest and chaste matrons haue we knowne that haue beene ashamed of a lewd sister and haue abhorred filthinesse in one of their owne bloud So it fareth now with vs Rome is ouergone with heresie with Idolatrie Let her practise her whoredome at home by her selfe It was not for vs with the safegard of our honestie to dwell with such a partner Not onely her wickednesse hath thrust vs out but her violence We yeeld therefore and sorrowfully complaine with the Prophet Esa 21.22 How is the faithfull citie become an harlot It was full of iudgement and iustice lodged therein but now it is full of murderers Thy siluer is become drosse and thy wine is brewed with water Away with the imperious name of a mother Wee are all the same Church by the virtue of our outward vocation whosoeuer all the world ouer worship Iesus Christ the onely Sonne of God and Sauiour of the world and professe the same common Creed some of vs doe this more purely Iren. l. 1. c. 2.3 others more corruptly In the meane time we are all Christians but sound Christians wee are not But how harslhly doth this sound to a weake Reader and more than seemes to need reconciliation with it selfe that the Church should be one and yet cannot be reconciled certainly yet so it is The dignitie of the outward forme which comprehends this vnitie in it selfe auailes nothing to grace nothing to saluation nothing to the soundnesse of doctrine The net doth not straight make all to bee fish that it hath dragged together ye shall finde in it vile weeds and whatsoeuer else that deuouring Element hath disgorged The Church is at once One in respect of the common principles of faith and yet in respect of consequences Cyp.l. 3.
there should bee granted by Iohn 22. a Pardon for no lesse than a million of yeeres Who can endure since by their owne confession this fire must last but till the conflagration of the world that yet in one little Booke there should be tendred vnto credulous poore soules Pardons of but eleuen thousand thousands of yeeres What should we make many words of this There is now lying by me a worme-eaten Manu-script with faire Rubrickes in which besides other absurd and blasphemous promises there is power giuen to one little prayer to change the paines of hell due perhaps to him that sayes it into Purgatory and after that againe the paines of Purgatory into the ioyes of Heauen Lib. de Indulg Bellarmine had wisely respected his owne reputation if hee had giuen his voice according to that which he confesseth to haue beene the iudgement of some others That these like Bills were not giuen by the Popes but lewdly deuised by some of his base Questuaries for an aduantage But that which he should excuse hee defends What ingenuity of shame is to be expected of Iesuites and how cleane hath an old Parrot as he said of old forgotten the wand Who may abide this vniust and inhumane acceptation of persons that the wealthier sort may by their purses redeeme this holy treasure of the Church and by money deliuer the soules of themselues and their friends from this horrible Prison while the needy Soule must be stall frying in this flame without all hope of pardon or mature relaxation vntill the very last Iudgement day Lastly who can endure that whiles it is in the power of Christs Vicar to call miserable soules out of this tormenting fire which hell it selfe is said to exceed onely in the continuance yet that he should suffer them to lie howling there and most cruelly broyling still and not mercifully bestow on them all the heapes of his treasure as the spirituall ransome of so many distressed spirits Ambr. de Nabâ—th A wretched man is he as Ambrose said of the rich man which hath the power to deliuer so many soules from death and wants the will Why hath God giuen him this faculty of Indulgences if hee would not haue it beneficiall to Mankinde Auth. operis imperfect and where the Owner of the house will bee bountifull it is not for the Steward to bee niggardly Let that Circè of Rome keepe these huskes for her hogges SECTION XIII Concerning the distinction of Veniall and Mortall sinnes PArdons doe both imply and presuppose that knowne distinction of Mortall and Veniall sinne which neither hath God euer allowed neither whiles he gaine-sayes it will euer the Protestants That there are certaine degrees of euill we both acknowledge and teach so as we may here iustly tax the dishonesty and shamelesnesse of Campion Durcus Coccius and the Monkes of Burdeaux who haue vpbraided vs with the opinion of a certaine Stoicall and Iouinianish parity of sinnes yea Bellarmine himselfe hath already done this kinde office for vs. Some offences are more hainous than other yet all in the malignitie of their nature deadly As of poysons some kill more gently and lingringly others more violently and speedily yet both kill Moreouer if wee haue respect vnto the infinite mercy of God and to the obiect of this mercy the penitent and faithfull heart there is no sinne which to borrow the word of Prudentius is not veniall but in respect of the Anomy or disorder there is no sinne which is not worthy of eternall death Euery sinne is a Viper there is no Viper if we regard the nature of the best but kils whom she bites but if one of them shall haply light vpon the hand of Paul she is shaked into the fire without harme done Let no man feare that harmefull creature euer the lesse because he sees the Apostle safe from that poyson So is sinne to a faithfull man Saint Iohns word is All sinne is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Transgression of the Law 1 Ioh. 3.4 Rom. 6. Saint Pauls word is The wages of sinne is death Put these two together and this conceit of the naturall pardon ablenesse of sin vanishes alone Our Rhemists subtill men can no more abide this proposition conuerted than themselues All sinne indeed say they is anomia a transgression of the Law but euery transgression of the Law is not sinne The Apostle therefore himselfe turnes it for vs All vnrighteousnesse saith he is sin But euery 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is vnrighteousnesse saith Austen vpon the place For the Law is the rule of righteousnesse therefore the preuarication of the Law is vnrighteousnesse Yea their very owne word shall stop their owne mouth for how is sinne vniuocally distinguished into Veniall and Mortall if the Veniall be no sinne and the wages of euery sinne is death That therefore which the Papists presume to say that this kinde of sinne deserues pardon in it selfe vnlesse they will take the word merit catachrestically with Stapleton And that which Bellarmine and Nauarus adde that Veniall sinnes are not against but beside the Law and lastly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Fr. à Vict. summa sacr Poenitentiae nu 100. p. 63. That which Franciscus à Victoria writes that a Bishops blessing or a Lords Prayer or a knocke on the breast or a little holy water or any such like slight receipt without any other good motion of the heart is sufficient to remit Veniall sinne is so shamefully abhorring from all piety and iustice that these open bands both of nature and sinne must be eternally defied of vs. It is an old and as true a ride Decr. 23.4.4 est iniusta c. Petr. Alagâ—â—nae Comp. Manual Nauarri p. 91. p. 267. p. 140. p. 191. p. 352. p. 100. Socr. l. 5.21 â—asinesse of pardon giues incouragement to sinne And beside what maner of sinnes doe they put in the ranke of Venials Drunkennesse adultery angry curses or blasphemies couetousnesse yea stealing lying cursing of parents horrible offences shroud themselues with them vnder this plausible title of veniall He must needs be shamelesly wicked that abhorres not this licentiousnesse Surely Socrates the Historian prophecied I thinke of these men There are some saith he that let goe whoredome as an indifferent matter which yet striue for an holy-day as for their life The ordinarie and not slight Controuersie as Cassander thinketh of the name nature condition punishment of the first sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Originall as Chrysostome calls it I willingly omit Neither doe I meddle with their Euangelicall perfection of vowes nor the dangerous seruitude of their rash and impotent Votaries nor the incoueniences of their Monkerie which yet are so great and many that the elect Cardinals of Paul the third doubted not with ioynt consent to affirme All the Orders of Couents we thinke fit to be abolished but for the condition of that single and solitary life let that be done which Cassander and
it bee easie or obscure 616 Whether all men may or must reade the scriptures 617 Whether the scriptures depend on the authority of the Church 618 Concerning the Cannon of scripture 653 Of its insufficiencie 654 And authoritie 655 They that wrest the scriptures see of what race they come 1197 Scornes They with taunts are the best answeres for serious Idolatry 1338 Sea Euery affection is the good mans Red Sea 883 Seasonablenesse It is best in all things 137 138 Secrets How to doe in holding and disclosing them 28 To whom to reueale a great secret ibid. et in finem Hee that doth not secret seruice with delight doth but counterfeit his publike 144 A note of sinnes secresie 954 The hope of secresie what it doth with sinners 955 Secresie the cause of corruption 970 Great mens sins are seldome secret 1140 Security secure mindes neuer startle till God comes home to their senses 931 The most secure heart hath its flashes of feares 951 Wee can neuer bee secure in the strongest places that are without God ibid. The worldlings security laid out in Iaels entertainment of Sisera 974 The close bordering of securitie and ruine 1005 Security and presumption euer attend at the threshold of ruine 1043 Sedition Pride is its ground 914 Selfe Men that cannot endure to examine themselues are like vnto the Elephant 23 None hurt vs so much as we doe our selues 37 Of condemning others in that of which wee are faultie our selues 58 Wee should know our selues ibid. Not to loue our selues before the publike-good 976 Selfe-loue doth sometimes borrow the face of true zeale 1121 Selfe-conceipt He that hath it is a foole 16 It makes a man vnreasonable 914 Selling A rule in buying and selling 697 Separation and Saparatists vide Brownists Their iniury to the Church and censure with aduice 315 A disswasion from separation 389 The kinds of separation and which is iust 552 The antiquity of separation 553 What separation is to be made in Churches in their planting or restauration 555 What separation the Church of England hath made 556 573 576 577 578 The maine grouÌ„ds of separation 574 Separation from the world how required 600 The issue of separation 607 Serpent he was seene in Paradise much more in our corruption 816 Of the brazen serpent 928 The application of that serpent 930 Seruant The freedome of Gods seruants 9 Many weare Gods cloth that are none of his seruants 50 Seruants what they must be 243 To bee Gods seruant is an high style 477 The happinesse of seruants that haue vertuous Masters 1110 A good thing to haue faithfull seruants 1386 Seruice The homeliest seruice in an honest calling with conscience to the commandement of God shal be crowned 137 He that doth not secret seruice with delight doth but counterfeit his publike 144 Feare and seruice must goe together 474 Our seruice must be grouÌ„ded on feare 476 What the life of seruice is ibid. Seruice briefly described ib. Sinne makes God to serue vs. 476 477 How men cozen themselues in doing seruice to Satan 477 Gods seruice must bee true and totall ibid. The voluntary seruice of the wicked is often more painfull then the duties enioined by God 1066 A religious seruice must partake of feare and ioy 1295 Seruice-booke Whether ours be made an Idol 584 Shamelesse they that once breake the bonds of modesty grow euen shamelesse in their sinnes 938 Sheba Of her Salomon 1270 Shebae His rebellion 1240 Shemei of him and his cursing 1231 His execution 1261 Shunamite of the Shunamitish woman 1378 Sight the sight or beholding of sinners how it infects 901 Silence Its prayse 63 Simon he is called 1199 His humility rewarded with an Apostleship 1201 Sinne its power 7 No sinne small 24 A most thanklesse office to be a man Pandor vnto sinne 49 Sinne hath commonly beene accounted to haue two roots Loue and feare 51 Since sinne came in wee are sent to the silliest to learne our duty 54 Sinne is sometimes an euill and a punishment 65 Sollicitations to sinne remedied 79 It is seldome seene that all affect all sinnes 136 Its vse 137 Remedies against sinne and meanes to auoyd it 386 Sinne makes God to serue vs. 476 477 It makes a forfeiture of all fauours 484 No sin but hath punishment ibid. 485 Of hiding and shifting off sinne 505 Of giuing foule sinnes fine names ibid. The distinction of veniall and mortall sinnes 652 Sinne paid home in its owne coyne 846 What difference God puts between sinnes of wilfulnesse and infirmitie 851 One sinne commonly made a vayle for another 853 He that would bee free from the acts of sinne must fly the occasions ibid. Sinnes shamelesnesse ibid. c. Grosse sinnes cannot preiudice the calling of God 900 Foule sinnes seeke faire pretences as is instanced in the Golden Calfe 901 No sinne so vnnaturall but that the best is subiect vnto without God 914 Behold a circle of sinnes and iudgements 925 Sinne is no lesse crafty then Satan 937 Wee must stop the beginnings of sinne ibid. As the sinnes of great men are exemplary so are their punishments 937 Those that haue once past the bounds of modesty they grow shamelesse in their sins 938 Whether wee may sinne for for the promotion of a good cause 946 A note for sinnes secresie 954 It is to no purpose to pray against punishment whilest the sinne remaines 955 Sinnes round circle 970 Gods iustice makes one sinne the punishment of another 971 Sinnes not afflictions argue Gods absence 977 Sinne is steepe and slipperie 1006 All sinnes haue power to befoole a man 1006 Sinnes wages 1018 Where it is suppressed it will rise but where it is encouraged it will tyrannize 1019 Our sinne doth not only strip vs of our hope in earth but heauen also 1064 Sinne beâ—ots the wisest 1075 Sinne a good heart how easily stayed from sinne and how glad to be crossed in ill purposes 1104 Sinne is not acted alone 1138 Sinnes deceit 1140 Great mens sins are seldome secret ibid. How easily wee get into it how hardly out of it 1143 In that that a man sinneth in that is he punished 1144 How God censures sinnes 1246 Where euer sinne is Satan is 1186 Sinner hee is like the Larke in stooping at a feather whilest he is caught of the Fouler 26 A sinner so foule as that hee is halfe a Beast halfe a Deuill 39 So is his Pandor 49 The sottishnesse of wilfull sinners 530 Sinners oft paid home in their owne coyne 846 One sinner how pernicious to thousands 954 Nothing so worthy of pitie as the sinners peace 1006 It must be a strong euidence that must make a sinner conuict himselfe 1061 Nothing but violence can perswade a resolued sinner 1146 Two chaines fit for outragious sinners 1294 Singularitie A disswasion from the affectation of it â—95 Sisera and Iael 973 Of Sisera's entertainment with Iael 974 Slandâ—rer His exercise and entertainment 217 Sloth Its character 192 The properties
if her husband should containe and she would not hee were bound to pay her the debt of mariage beneuolence and that God would impute it to him for continence notwithstanding Hence is that of Chrysostome Hom. in 1 Cor. 7. that the wife is both the seruant and the mistris of her husband a seruant to yeeld her body a mistris to haue power of his who also in the same place determines it forbidden fraud for the husband or wife to containe alone according to that of the Paraphrast Let either both containe or neither Hierome contrarily defines thus But if one of the two saith he considering the reward of chastity will containe he ought not to assent to the other which containes not c. because lust ought rather to come to continency then continency decline to lust concluding that a brother or a sister is not subiect in such a case and that God hath not called vs to vncleannesse but to holinesse A strange glosse to fall from the pen of a father which yet I durst not say if it were more boldnesse for me to dissent from him then for him to dissent from all others He that censures S. Paul to argue grosly to his Galatians may as well taxe him of an vnfit direction to his Corinthians It shall be no presumption to say that in this point all his writings bewray more zeale then truth whether the conscience of his former slip caused him to abhorre that sex or his admiration of Virginity transported him to a contempt of mariage Antiquity will afford you many examples of holy men voluntarily sequestred from their wiues Precepts must be our guides and not patternes You may tell mee of Sozomens Ammon that famous Monke who hauing perswaded his bride the first day to continuance of Virginity liued with her 18 yeares in a seuerall bed and in a seuerall habitation vpon the mountaine Nitria 22 yeares you may tell me of Ieromes Malchus Austrins Edicia and ten thousand others I care not for their number and suspect their example Doe but reconcile their practice with S. Pauls rule I shall both magnifie and imitate them I professe before God and men nothing should hinder me but this law of the Apostle whereto consider I beseech you what can be more opposite then this opinion then this course of life The Apostle sayes Refraine not but with consent for a time your words and their practice saith Refraine with consent for euer hee saith meet together againe you say neuer more hee saith meet lest you be tempted you say meet not though you be tempted I willingly grant with Athanasius that for some set time especially as Anselme interprets it for some holy time we may and in this latter case we must forbeare all matrimoniall acts and thoughts not for that they are sinfull but vnseasonable As mariage must bee alwayes vsed chastly and moderately so sometimes it must be forgotten How many are drunke with their owne vines and surfet of their owne fruits either immodesty or immoderation in man or wife is adulterous If yet I shall further yeeld that they may conditionally agree to refraine from each other so long till they be perplexed with temptations on either part I shall goe as farre as the reach of my warrant at least perhaps beyond it since the Apostle chargeth Meete againe lest you be tempted not meet when you are tempted But to say absolutely and for euer renounce by consent the conuersation of each other what temptation so euer assault you is directly not beyond but against Pauls diuinity no lesse then my assertion is against yours The ground of all these errors in this head of Matrimony is an vnworthy conceit of some vnchristian filthinesse in the mariage-bed Euery man will not vtter but too many hold that conclusion of Hierome It is good for a man not to touch a woman therefore to touch her is euill whom I doubt not but S. Austin meant to oppose while he writes Bonum inquam sunt nuptiae contra omnes calumnias possunt sana ratione defendi De bono coniug cap. 16. Mariage I say is a good thing and may by found proofe be defended against all slanders well may man say that it is good which God saith is honourable and both good and honourable must that needs bee which was instituted by the honourable author of goodnesse in the state of mans perfect goodnesse Let vs take heed of casting shame vpon the ordinance of our Maker But there was no carnall knowledge in Paradise But againe in Paradise God said Increase and multiply there should haue beene if there were not Those that were naked without shame should haue been conioyned without shame De bono coniug cap. 9. c. 16. because without sinne Meats and drinks and acts of mariage saith Austin for these he compares both in lawfulnesse and necessity are as they are vsed either lawfull veniall or damnable Meats are for the preseruation of man mariage acts for the preseruation of mankinde neither of them without some carnall delight which yet if by the bridle of temperance is be held to the proper and naturall vse cannot bee tearmed lust There is no ordinance of God which either is of more excellent vse or hath suffered more abuse in all times the fault is in men not in mariage let them rectifie themselues their bed shall be blessed Here need no separation from each other but rather a separation of brutishnesse and close corruption from the soule which whosoeuer hath learned to remoue shall finde the crowne of matrimoniall chastity no less glorious then that of single continence To M. WILLIAM KNIGHT EP. X. Incouraging him to persist in the holy calling of the ministery which vpon conceit of his insufficiency and want of affection hee seemed inclining to forsake and change I Am not more glad to heare from you then sory to heare of your discontentment whereof as the cause is from your selfe so must the remedy We Scholars are the aptest of all others to make our selues miserable you might be your owne best counsellor were you but indifferent to your selfe If I could but cure your preiudice your thoughts would heale you and indeed the same hand that wounded you were fittest for this seruice I need not tell you that your calling is honourable if you did not thinke for you had not complained It is your vnworthinesse that troubles you Let me boldly tell you I know you in this case better then your selfe you are neuer the more vnsufficient because you thinke so if we will be rigorous Pauls question 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will oppose vs all but according to the gratious indulgence of him that cals things which are not as if they were we are that we are yea that we ought and must be thankfull for our any thing There are none more fearfull then the able none more bold then the vnworthy How many haue you seene and heard of weaker
vnholy places vnholy garments persons beasts fowles vessels touches tastes Vnder the Gospell all is holy All was made vnholy when the first Adam sinned when the second Adam satisfied for sinne all was made holy Moses the seruant built his house with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ephes 2.14 A partition wall in the midst Christ the Sonne pulled downe that screene and cast all into one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iewes and Gentiles whole hoofes and clonen dwell now both vnder a roofe Moses branded some creatures with vncleannesse he that redeemed his children from morall impuritie redeemed his creatures from legall What should S. Peters great sheâ— let downe by foure corners teach us but that all creatures through the foure corners of the world are cleane and holy S. Paul proclaimes the summe of Peters vision Omnia munda mundis It is an iniurious scrupulousnesse to make differences of creatures iniurious to God to the creature to our selues To God while we will not let him serue himselfe of his owne To the creature while wee powre that shame vpon it which God neuer did To our selues while wee bring our selues into bondage where God hath inlarged vs. When Iulian had poysoned the wells and shambles and fields with his heathenish Lustrations the Christians saith Theodores are freely of all by vertue of PAVLS Quicquid in macellâ— To let passe the idle curiousnesse of our Semi-Anabaptists of the feparation at whose folly if any man bee disposed to make himselfe sport let him reade the Tragicomicall relation of the Troubles Excommunication of the English at Amsterdam There shall hee see such warres waged betwixt brothers for but a buske or whale-bone or lace or cork-shooe as if all Law and Gospell stood vpon this point as if heauen and earth were little enough to be mingled in this quarrell Nec gemina bellum Troianum To passe ouer all other lighter nicenesse of this kinde Who can choose but be ashamed of the Church of Rome which is here in a double extremitie both grosse In denying wiping out holinesse where God hath written it and in writing it where God hath not written it In the first how doe they driue out Deuils out of good creatures by foolish exorcismes I would hee were no more in themselues How doe they forbid meats drinks dayes mariage which God hath written holy Hee that reades Nauâ—rs Manuall shall finde cholericke blasphemie a veniall sinne pag. 91. some theft veniall p. 140. Common lying veniall p. 191. Cursing of parents if not malicious veniall p. 100. and yet the same Author chap. 21. nu 11. p. 209. to eat of a forbidden dish or an allowed dish more than once on a forbidden day is a mortall sinne And now these venials saith Francis a Victoria by a Pater-noster or sprinkling of holy water or knocke of the breast are cleared but that mortall eater is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 guiltie of iudgement yea of hell it selfe Scribes Pharisies Hypocrites which prate of Peters chaire but will neuer take out Peters lesson That which God hath sanctified pollute thou not In the other What Holinesse doe they write in religious Cowles Altars Reliques Ashes Candles Oyles Salts Waters Ensignes Roses Words Graines Agnus Dei Medalls and a world of such trash So much that they haue left none in themselues Let mee haue no faith if euer play-booke were more ridiculous than their Pontificall and booke of holy Ceremonies It is well that Ierome reads these words super froenum not super Tintinnabulum Else what a rule should wee haue had tho hee had said Equorum not Templorum What comparisons would haue beene If Holinesse to the Lord must bee written on the bells of Horses much more on the bells of Churches What a colour would this haue beene for the washing anointing blessing christening of them What a warrant for driuing away Deuils chasing of ghosts stilling of tempests staying of thunders yea deliuering from Tentations which the Pontificall ascribes to them By whose account there should be more vertue in this peece of metall than in their holy Father himselfe yea than in any Angell of heauen But their vulgar bridles them in this which reads it super froenum which some superstitious man would say were fulfilled in Constantines snaffle made of the nailes that pierced Christ How worthie are they in the meane time of the whip not of men onely but of God which thus in a ridiculous presumption write Holinesse where God would haue a blanke and wipe out Holinesse where God hath written it For vs there is a double holinesse for vse for vertue All things are holy to vs for vse nothing is holy for vertue of sanctification but those things which God hath sanctified to this vertue his Word his Sacraments We may vse the other and put no holinesse in them we must vse these and expect holinesse from them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nothing vncleane is Peters rule but with Pauls explication Munda mundis All things are cleane in themselues to thee they are not cleane vnlesse thou be cleane Mine owne clothes shall make me filthy saith Iob. 9.31 Many a one may say so more iustly The proud mans gay coat the wanton womans beastly fashions both shew them to be vncleane and make them so But the lewd man makes his owne clothes filthy his meats drinks sports garments are vncleane to him because he is vncleane to God they are cursed to him because he is cursed of God God hath written on the outside of his creatures Holy to the Lord wee write on the inside Vnholy to men because our outside and inside is vnholy to God yea we doe not onely deface this inscription of holinesse in other creatures toâ—â—â— but wee will not let God write it vpon vs for himselfe O our miserie and shame All things else are holy Men Christians are vnholy There is no impuritie but where is Reason and Faith the grounds of Holinesse How oft would God haue written this title vpon our foreheads and ere he can haue written one full word we blot out all One sweares it away another drinks it away a third scoffs it away a fourth riots it away a fift swaggers it away and I would to God it were vncharitable to say that there is as much holinesse in the Bridles of the Horses as in some of their Riders Oh holinesse the riches of the Saints the beautie of Angels the delight of God whither hast thou withdrawne thy selfe where should we finde thee if not among Christians and yet how can we be or be named Christians without thee I see some that are afraid to be too holy and I see but some that feare to be too prophane We are all Saints 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 1.2 All by calling and some but by calling By calling of men not of God As the Church of Rome hath some Saints which are questioned whether euer they were in nature others whether they be not in Hell burning Tapers to
sinnes be not attributed to them Thirdly That the Church bee not troubled with their multitude Aug. Epist 86. In his enim rebus de quibus nihil certâ— statuiâ— Scriptura Diuina mos populi Dei vel instituta matorum pro lege tuâ—â—da sunt Liuius Dcca l. 4 Nulla lex sâ—tis â—â—â—moda omnibus est id modo quaeritâ—â— si matorâ— partâ— in suâ—â—â—ma proâ—est Fourthly that they be not decreed as necessarie and not to be changed And lastly that men be not so tied to them but that by occasion they may bee omitted so it be without offence and contempt you see our limits but your feare is in this last contrary to his He stands vpon offence in omitting you in vsing As if it were a iust offence to displease a beholder no offence to displease and violate authoritie What Law could euer be made to offend none Wise Cato might haue taught you this in Liuie that no Law can bee commodious to all Those lips which preserue knowledge must impart so much of it to their hearers as to preuent their offence Neither must Law-giuers euer foresee what constructions will be of their Lawes but what ought to bee Those things which your Consistory imposes may you keepe them if you list Is not the willing neglect of your owne Parlour-Decrees punished with Excommunication And now what is all this to infallibility The sacred Synod determines these indifferent Rites for decencie and comlinesse to be vsed of those whom it concernes therefore it arrogates to it selfe infallibilitie A conclusion fit for a Separatist Cum consedissent sancti â—cligiosi Episcopi â—in Tom. 1. p. 239. Sancta Synod Câ—rthagi 4. sub Anastasio 553. Sancta Pacifica Synod Antiochen 1. p. â—20 Sancta Dei Apostolica Synodus 413. Peruenit ad Sanctam Synodum Can. Nic. 18 309. Sancta Synod Laodâ—ccoâ— 288. You stumble at the Title of Sacred euery straw lies in your way your Calepine could haue taught you that Houses Castles Religious businesses old age it selfe haue this stile giuen them And Virgil vittasque resoluit Sacrati capitis no Epithere is more ordinary to Councells and Synods The reason whereof may be fetched from that Inscription of the Elibertine Synod of those nineteene Bishops is said When the holy and Religious Bishops were set How few Councels haue not had this Title To omit the late The Holy Synod of Carthage vnder Anastasius The Holy and peaceable Synod at Antioch The Holy Synod of God and Apostolicall at Rome vnder Iulius The Holy and great Synod at Nice and not to bee endlesse The Holy Synod of Laodicea though but prouinciall What doe these Idle exceptions argue but want of greater SEP To let passe your Ecclesiasticall Consistories wherein sinnes and absolutions from them are as veniall and saleable as at Rome Is it not a Law of the Eternall God that the Ministers of the Gospell the Bishops or Elders should bee apt and able to teach 1 Timoth. 3.2 Titus 1.9 and is it not their grieuous sinne to bee vnapt hereunto Esa 56.10 11. And yet who knoweth not that the Patrons amongst you present that the Bishops institute the Archdeacons induct the Churches receiue and the Lawes both Ciuill and Ecclesiasticall allow and iustifie Ministers vnapt and vnable to teach Is it not a Law of the Eternall God that the Elders should feed the stock ouer which they are set labouring amongst them in the Word and Doctrine Acts 20.28 1 Pet. 5.1 2. And is it not sin to omit this duty Plead not for Baall Your Dispensations for Non-residencie and Pluralities of Benefices as for two three or more yea tot quot as many as a man will haue or can get are so many Dispensations with the Lawes of God and sinnes of men These things are too impious to bee defended and too manifest to bee denied SECTION XXXIII SOME great men when they haue done ill out-face their shame with enacting Lawes to make their sins lawfull While you thus charge our practise Sinnes fold in our Courts you bewray your owne Who hauing separated from Gods Church deuise slanders to colour your sinne Wee must bee shamfull that you may bee innocent You load our Ecclesiasticall Consistories with a shamelesse reproach Farre bee it from vs to iustifie any mans personall sinnes yet it is safer sinning to the better part Fie on these odious comparisons sinnes as saleable as at Rome Who knowes not that to be the Marâ— of all the World Periuries Murders Treasons are there bought and sold when euer in ours The Popes coffers can easily confute you alone What tell you vs of these let me tell you Mony is as fit an aduocate in a Consistorie as fauour or malice These some of yours haue complained of as bitterly as you of ours As if we liked the abuses in Courts G. Iohns Trouble and Excommunications at Amsterdam as if corrupt executions of wholesom Lawes must bee imputed to the Church whose wrongs they are No lesse hainous nor more true in that which followeth True Elders not yours should be indeed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This wee call for as vehemently not so tumultuously as yourselues That they should feed their Flockes with Word and Doctrine we require more than you That Patrons present Bishops institute Arch-Deacons induct some which are unable we grant and bewaile But that our Church-Lawes iustifie them wee deny and you slander For our Law if you know not requires that euery one to bee admitted to the Ministery should vnderstand the Articles of Religion Can. 34. not only as they are compendiously set downe in the Creed but as they are at large in our Booke of Articles neither vnderstand them onely but be able to proue them sufficiently out of the Scripture and that not in English onely but in Latine also This competencie would proue him for knowledge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If this bee not performed blame the persons cleere the Law Profound Master Hooker tels you that both Arguments from light of Nature Lawes and Statutes of Scripture the Canons that are taken out of ancient Synods M. Hookers fift booke of Ecclesiasticall Politic. Pag. 26.3 the Decrees and Constitutions of sincerest times the sentences of all antiquity and in a word euery mans full consent and conscience is against ignorance in them that haue charge and cure of soules And in the same booke Did any thing more aggrauate the crime of Ieroboams Apostasie than that he chose to haue his Clergie the scumme and refuse of his whole Land Let no man spare to tell it them D. Dâ—wnâ—m of the office and dignitie of the Ministery Counterpoys pag. 179. Dist 34. Can. Lector Papa potest contra Apostolum dispensare Caus 25. q. 1. Can. sunt quidaÌ„ Dispensat in Euangelio c. De concess praebend Tit. 8. Ca. they are not faithfull towards God that burden wilfully his Church with such swarmes of vnworthy Creatures Neither is
seuerall members without distinction a substance without quantity and other accidents or substance and accidents that cannot bee seene felt perceiued So they make either a Monster of their Sauiour or nothing A Religion that vtterly ouerthrowes the perfection of Christs satisfaction If all be not paid how hath he satisfied If temporall punishments in Purgatory be yet due how is all paid and if these must be paid by vs how are they satisfied by him A Religion that makes more Scriptures than euer God and his ancient Church and those which it doth make so imperiously obtrudes vpon the world as if God himselfe should speake from heauen while it thunders out curses against all that will not add these Bookes to Gods regards not Gods Curse If any man shall add vnto these things God shall adde vnto him the plagues that are written in this Booke A Religion whose Patrons disgrace the true Scriptures of God with reprochfull termes odious comparisons imputations of corruption and imperfection and in fine pin their whole authority vpon the sleeues of men Papa facit protestationem ante Canonizationem se nihil intendere facire quod fit contra fidem aut Ecclesiam Catholicam Aliqui tamen clarissimi viri dicunt c. Quia Papâ— quodammodo cogebatur ad Canonizandum quendam contra suum voluntatem lib. Sacr. Ceremon A Religion that erects a throne in the Conscience to a meere man and giues him absolute power to make a sinne to dispense with it to create new Articles of Faith and to impose them vpon necessitie of saluation A Religion that baffoules all Temporall Princes making them stand bare-foot at their great Bishops gate lye at his foot hold his stirrup yea their owne Crownes at his Courtesie exempting all their Ecclesiasticall Subiects from their Iurisdiction and when they list all the rest from their Allegiance A Religion that hath made wicked men Saints and Saints Gods Euen by the confession of Papists lewd and vndeseruing men haue leapt into their Calendar Whence it is that the Pope before his Canonization of any Saint makes solemne protestation that he intends not in that businesse to doe ought preiudiciall to the glory of God or to the Catholike Faith and Church And once Sainted they haue the honour of Altars Temples Inuocations and some of them in a stile fit only for their Maker I know not whether that blessed Virgin receiue more indignitie from her enemies that deny her or these her flatterers that dâ—ifie her A Religion that robs the Christian heart of all sound comfort whiles it teacheth vs that we neither can nor ought to be assured of the remission of our sinnes and of present grace and future saluation That we can neuer know whether we haue receiued the true Sacraments of God because we cannot know the intention of the Minister without which they are no Sacraments A Religion that rackes the conscience with the needlesse torture of a necessary shrift wherein the vertue of absolution depends on the fulnesse of confession and that vpon examination and the sufficiencie of examination is so full of scruples besides those infinite cases of vnresolued doubts in this fained penance that the poore foule neuer knowes when it is deare A Religion that professes to be a 〈◊〉 of sinne whiles both in practise it tolerates open stâ—wes and preferres fornication in some cases to honourable Matrimonie and gently blanches ouer the breaches of Gods Law with the name of Venialls and fauourable titles of Diminution daring to affirme that Veniall sinnes are no hinderance to a mans cleannesse and perfection A Cruell Religion that sends poore Infants remedilesly vnto the eternall paines of Hell for want of that which they could not liue to desire and fâ—ighâ—s simple soules with expectation of fained torments in Purgatory not inferiour for the time to the flames of the damned How wretchedly and fearfully must their poore Layicks needs die for first they are not sure they shall not goe to Hell and secondly they are sure to be scorched if they shall goe to Heauen A Religion that makes nature namely proud in being ioyned by her as copartner with God in our Iustification in our Saluation and idlely puffed vp in a conceit of her perfection and abilitie to keepe more Lawes than God hath made A Religion that requires no other faith to iustification in Christians than may bee found in the Deuils themselues who besides a confused apprehension can assent vnto the Truth of Gods reuealed will Poperie requires no more A Religion that instead of the pure milke of the Gospell hath long fed her starued soules with such idle Legends as the Reporter can hardly deliuer without laughter and their Abettors not heare without shame and disclamation the wiser sort of the World read those Stories on winter Euenings for sport which the poore credulous multitude heares in their Churches with a deuout astonishment A Religion which lest ought should bee here wanting to the Doctrine of Deuils makes Religious Prohibitions of meat and difference of dyet superstitiously preferring Gods workmanship to it selfe and willingly polluting what he hath sanctified A Religion that requires nothing but meere formalitie in our deuotions the worke wrought suffices alone in Sacraments in Prayers So the number be found in the Chappelet there is no care of the affection as if God regarded not the heart but the tongue and hands and while he vnderstands vs cared little whether we vnderstand our selues A Religion that presumptuously dares to alter and mangle Christs last Institution and sacrilegiously rob Gods people of one halfe of that heauenly prouision which our Sauiour left for his last and dearest Legacie to his Church for euer as if Christs Ordinance were superfluous or any Shaueling could be wiser than his Redeemer A Religion that depends wholly vpon nice and poore vncertainties and vnproueable supposals that Peter was Bishop of Rome that hâ—e left any heires of his graces and spirit or if any but one in a perpetuall and vnfaileable succession at Rome That hee so bequeathed his infallibilitie to his chaire as that whosoeuer sits in it cannot but speake true that all which sit where he sate must by some secret instinct say as hee taught That what Christ said to him absolutely ere euer Rome was thought of must be referred yea tyed to that place alone and fulfilled in it That Linus or Clemens or Cletus the Schollers and supposed Successors of Peter must bee preferred in the Headship of the Church to Iohn the beloued Apostle then liuing That hee whose life whose pen whose iudgement whose keyes may erre yet in his Pontificall chaire cannot erre That the Golden Line of this Apostolicall Succession in the confusion of so many long desperate Schismes shamefully corrupt Vsurpations and Intrusions yeelded Heresies neither was nor can be broken Denie any of these and Poperie is no Religion Oh the lamentable hazard of so many Millions of poore soules that stand vpon these slipperie
present their best seruices to God and yet alas they say they know not what they heare they know not what they doe they know not what returning empty of all hearty edification and onely full of confused intentions and are taught to thinke this sacrifice of fooles meritorious Look their Chemarims vpon the sacred actors in this religious Scene what shall you see but idle Apishnesse in their solemnest worke and either mockery or slumbering Looke into their religious houses what shall you see but a trade of carelesse and lazy holines houres obserued because they must not because they would What doe they but lull piety asleepe with their heartlesse and sleepy Vespers Looke into the priuate closets of their deuout Ignorants what difference shall you see betwixt the Image and the Suppliant If they can heare their beads knacke vpon each other they are not bid to care for hearing their praiers reflect vpon heauen Shortly in all that belongs to God the worke done sufficeth yea meriteth and what need the heart be wrought vpon for a taske of the hand Looke into the melancholike Cels of some austere Recluses there you may finde perhaps an haire-cloth or a whip or an heardle but shew mee true mortification the power of spirituall renouation of the soule How should that bee found there when as that sauing faith which is the onely purger of the heart is barred out as presumptuous and no guest of that kinde allowed but the same which is common to Deuils what Papist in all Christendome hath euer beene heard to pray daily with his family or to sing but a Psalme at home Looke into the vniuersall course of the Catholike life there shall you finde the Decalogue professedly broken besides the ordinary practise of Idolatry and frequence of oathes Who euer saw â—â—dâ— day duly kept in any city village houshold vnder the iurisdiction of Rome Euâ—â— obscure holy-day takes the wall of it and thrusts it into the channell Who sees not obedience to authority so slighted that it stands only to the mercy of humane dispensation and in the rest of Gods Lawes who sees not how foule sinnes passe for veniall and how easily veniall sinnes passe their satisfaction for which a crosse or a drop of holy-water is sufficient amends Who sees not how no place can be left for truth where there is full roome giuen to equiuocation All this though it be harsh to the conscionable man yet is no lesse pleasing to the carnall The way of outward fashionablenesse in religion and inward liberty of heart cannot but seeme faire to nature and especially when it hath so powerfull angariation It is a wonder if but one halfe of Christendome be thus wonne to walke in it Those which are either vngrounded in the principles of Religion or the vnconscionable in the practise are fit to trauell into these miserable errors But though Israel play the harlot yet let not Iudah sinne Come ye not to Gilgal neither goe ye vp to Bethanen SECT XXI FRom the danger of corruption in iudgement let vs turne our eyes to the deprauation of manners which not seldome goes before Apples therefore fall from the tree because they be worme-eaten they are not worm-eaten because they fall and as vsually followes Satan like the Rauen first seizes vpon the eye of vnderstanding and then preyes freely vpon the other carkase We may be bad enough at home certainly we are the worse for our neighbours Old Rome vvas not more iealous of the Grecian and African manners then we haue reason to be of the Roman It were well if wee knew our owne fashions better if we could keepe them What mischiefe haue we amongst vs that we haue not borrowed To begin at our skin vvho knowes not whence we had the varietie of our vaine disguises As if vvee had not wit enough to be foolish vnlesse we were taught it These dresses being constant in their mutabilitie shew vs our masters What is it that we haue not learned of our neighbours saue onely to be proud good cheape vvhom would it not vex to see how that other sexe hath learned to make Antiks and monsters of themselues Whence came their hips to the shoulders and their brests to the nauill but the one from some ill-shap't Dames of France and the other from the worse minded Curtizans of Italy Whence else learned they to dawbe these mud-wals vvith Apothecaries morter and those high washes which are so cunningly lickt on that the vvet napkin of Phryne should be deceiued Whence the frisled and poudred bushes of their borrowed excrement as if they were ashamed of the head of Gods making and proud of the Tire-womans Where learned we that deuillish Art and practice of Duell vvherein men seek honour in blood and are taught the ambition of being glorious butchers of men Where had vve that luxurious delicacie in our feasts in vvhich the nose is no lesse pleased then the palate and the eye no lesse then either wherein the piles of dishes make barricadoes against the appetite and with a pleasing encombrance trouble an hungry ghest Where those formes of ceremonious quaffing in which men haue learned to make Gods of others and beasts of themselues and lose their reason whiles they pretend to do reason where the lawlesnesse mis-called freedome of a wilde tongue that runnes with reines in the necke thorow the bed-chamber of Princes their Closets their Counsell-Tables and spares not the very Cabinet of their brests much lesse can be barr'd out of the most retired secrecie of inferiour greatnesse Where the change of noble attendance and hospitalitie into foure wheeles and some few butterflies Where the Art of dishonestie in practicall Machiauelisme in false equiuocations Where the slight account of that filthinesse which is but condemned as veniall and tolerated as not vnnecessarie Where the skill of ciuill and honourable hypocrisie in those formall complements which doe neither expect beleefe from others nor carie any from our selues Where that vnnaturall villany vvhich though it vvere burnt with fire and brimston from heauen and the ashes of it drowned in the dead sea yet hath made shift to reuiue and cals for new vengeance vpon the actors Where that close Aâ—heisme vvhich secretly laughs God in the face and thinkes it weakenesse to beleeue wisdom to professe any religion Where the bloody and tragicall science of King killing the new diuinity of disobedience and rebellion with too many other euils vvherewith foraine conuersation hath indangered the infection of our peace Lo here deare Countrymen the fruit of your idle gaddings Better perhaps might be had but he was neuer acquainted at home that knowes not our nature to be like vnto fire vvhich if there be any infection in the roome drawes it straight to it selfe Or like vnto iet which omitting all precious obiects gathers vp strawes and dust Ilanders haue beene euer in an ill name Wherefore saue onely for the confluence of forainers vvhich neuer come without the fraight
true Messias Let now all the Doctors of those obstinate Synagogues answer this doubt of their owne obiecting But how past all contradiction is the ancient witnesse of all the holy Prophets answered and confirmed by their euents whose foresayings verified in all particular issues are more then demonstratiue No Art can describe a thing past vvith more exactnesse then they did this Christ to come What circumstance is there that hath not his perâ—â—ction Haue they not fore-vvritteâ— who shoâ—â—â— be his mother A Virgin Of what Tribe of Iuda Of vvhat house of Dauid What place Bethleem vvhat time vvhen the scepter should be taken from Iuda Or after sixtie nine vveekes What name Iesus Immanuel What habitation Nazareth What harbinger Iohn the second Elias What his businesse to preach saue deliuer What entertainment reiection What death the Crosse What manner piercing the body not breaking the bones What company amidst two vvicked ones Where at Ierusalem Whereabouts vvithout the Gates With vvhat vvords of imploration What draught of Vineger and Gall vvho vvas his Traitor and vvith vvhat successe If all the Synagogues of the Circumcision all the gates of Hell can obscure these euidences let me be a proselyte My labour herein is so much lesse as there is lesse danger of Iudaisme Our Church is vvell rid of that accursed Nation vvhom yet Rome harbors and in a fashion graces vvhiles in stead of spitting at or that their Neapolitan correction vvhereof Gratian speaks the Pope solemnly receiues at their hands that Bible vvhich they at once approue and ouerthrow But vvould God there vvere no more Iewes then appeare Euen in this sense also hee is a Iew that is one vvithin plainely vvhose heart doth not sincerely confesse his Redeemer Tho a Christian Iew is no other then an Atheist and therfore must be scourged else-where The Iew thus answered The Turke stands out for his Mahomet that cozening Arabian vvhose Religion if it deserue that name stands vpon nothing but rude ignorance and palpable Imposture Yet loe here a subtill Diuell in a grosse religion For when he saw that he could not by single twists of Heresie pull downe the well built walls of the Church hee vvindes them all vp in one Cable to see if his cord of so many folds might happily preuaile raising vp vvicked Mahomet to deny vvith Sabellius the distinction of persons with Arrius Christs diuinity with Macedonius the Deity of the Holy Ghost with Sergius two wils in Christ with Marcion Christs suffering And these policies seconded vvith violence how haue they vvasted Christendome O damnable mixture miserably successefull vvhich yet could not haue beene but that it meets with sottish Clients and sooths vp nature and debars both all knowledge and contraction What is their Alcoran but a fardle of foolish impossibilities Whosoeuer shall heare me relate the stories of Angell Adriels death Seraphuels trumpet Gabriels bridge Horroth and Marroths hanging the Moones descending into Mahomets sleeue the Litter wherin he saw God caried by eight Angels their ridiculous and swinish Paradise and thousands of the same bran would say that Mahomet hoped to meet either vvith beasts or mad-men Besides these barbarous fictions behold their lawes full of licence full of impietie in which reuenge is incouraged multitude of vviues allowed theft tolerated and the frame of their opinions such as vvell bewrayes their whole religion to be but the mungrell issue of an Arrian Iew Nestorian and Arabian A monster of many seeds and all accursed In both vvhich regards Nature her selfe in vvhose breast God hath written his royall Law tho in part by her defaced hath light enough to condemne a Turke as the worst Pagan Let no man looke for further disproofe These follies a wise Christian will scorne to confute and fearce vouchsafe to laugh at The Greekish Church so the Russes tearme themselues put in the next claime but with no better successe whose infinite Clergy affords not a man that can giue either reason or account of their owne doctrine These are the basest dregs of all Christians so we fauourably terme them tho they perhaps in more simplicitie then wilfulnesse would admit none of all the other Christian world to their font but those who in a solemne renunciation spit at and abiure their former God Religion Baptisme yet peraduenture wee might more iustly terme them Nicolaitans for that obscure Saint if a Saint if honest by an vnequall diuision findes more homage from them then his master These are as ignorant as Turkes as idolatrous as Heathens as obstinate as Iewes and more superstitious then Papists To speake ingenuously from that I haue heard and read if the worst of the Romish religion and the best of the Moscouitish bee compared the choice will be hard whether should be lesse ill I labour the lesse in all these whose remotenesse and absurditie secure vs from infection and whose onely name is their confutation I descend to that maine riuall of Truth which creepes into her bosome and is not lesse neere then subtle the religion if not rather the faction of Papisme whose plea is importunate and so much more dangerous as it caries fairer probability Since then of all religions the Christian obtaineth let vs see of those that are called Christian which should command assent and profession Euery religion beares in her lineaments the image of her parent the true Religion therefore is spirituall and lookes like God in her puritie all false religions are carnall and carie the face of Nature their mother and of him whose illusion begot them Satan In summe Nature neuer conceiued any which did not fauour her nor the spirit any which did not oppugne her Let this then be the Lydian stone of this tryall we need no more Whether Religion soeuer doth more plausibly content Nature is false whether giues more sincere glory to God is his Truth Lay aside preiudice Whither I beseech you tendeth all Popery but to make Nature either vainly proud or carelessely wanton What can more aduance her pride then to tell her that she hath in her own hands freedome enough of will with a little preuention to prepare her selfe to her iustification that she hath whereof to reioyce some what which shee hath not receiued that if God please but to vnfetter her she can walke alone She is insolent enough of her selfe this flatterie is enough to make her mad of conceit After this That if God will but beare halfe the charges by his cooperation she may vndertake to merit her owne glory and braue God in the proofe of his most accurate iudgement to fulfill the whole royall law and that from the superfluitie of her owne satisfactions shee may bee abundantly beneficiall to her neighbours that naturally without faith a man may doe some good workes that we may repose confidence in our merits Neither is our good onely by this flatterie extolled but our ill also diminished our euils are our sinnes some of them they say are in their
nature veniall and not worthy of death more that our originall sinne is but the want of our first iustice no guilt of our first fathers offence no inherent ill disposition and that by Baptismall water is taken away what euer hath the nature of sinne that a meere man let mee not wrong Saint Peters successor in so tearming him hath power to remit both punishment and sinne past and future that many haue suffered more then their sinnes haue required that the sufferings of the Saints added to Christs passions make vp the treasure of the Church that spirituall Exchequer whereof their Bishop must keepe the key and make his friends In all these the gaine of Nature who sees not is Gods losse all her brauery is stolne from aboue besides those other direct derogations from him that his Scriptures are not sufficient that their originall fountaines are corrupted and the streames runne clearer that there is a multitude if a finite number of Mediators Turne your eyes now to vs and see contrarily how we abase Nature how wee knead her in the dust spoiling her of her proud rags loading her with reproaches and giuing glory to him that sayes he will not giue it to another whiles we teach that we neither haue good nor can doe good of our selues that we are not sicke or fettered but dead in our sinne that we cannot moue to good more then we are moued that our best actions are faulty our satisfactions debts our deserts damnation that all our merit is his mercy that saues vs that euery of our sinnes is deadly euery of our natures originally depraued and corrupted that no water can entirely wash away the filthinesse of our concupiscence that none but the blood of him that was God can cleanse vs that all our possible sufferings are below our offences that Gods written Word is all-sufficient to informe vs to make vs both wise and perfect that Christs mediation is more then sufficient to saue vs his sufferings to redeeme vs his obedience to inrich vs. You haue seene how Papistry makes Nature proud now see how it makes her lawlesse and wanton while it teacheth yet this one not so vniuersally that Christ dyed effectually for all that in true contrition an expresse purpose of new life is not necessarie that wicked men are true members of the Church that a lewd mis-creant or infidell in the businesse of the Altar partakes of the true body and blood of Christ yea which a shame to tell a brute creature that men may saue the labour of searching for that it is both easie and safe with that Catholike Collier to beleeue with the Church at a venture more then so that deuotion is the seed of ignorance that there is infallabilitie annexed to a particular place and person that the bare act of the Sacraments confers grace without faith that the meere signe of the Crosse made by a Iew or Infidell is of force to driue away Diuels that the sacrifice of the Masse in the very worke wrought auailes to obtaine pardon of our sinnes not in our life onely but when we lye frying in purgatory that we need not pray in faith to be heard or in vnderstanding that almes giuen merit heauen dispose to iustification satisfie God for sinne that abstinence from some meats and drinkes is meritorious that Indulgences may be granted to dispense vvith all the penance of sinnes afterward to bee committed that these by a liuing man may be applyed to the dead that one man may deliuer anothers soule out of his purging torments and therefore that hee who vvants not either money or friends need not feare the smart of his sinnes O religion sweet to the wealthy to the needy desperate who will now care henceforth how sound his deuotions be how lewd his life how hainous his sinnes that knowes these refuges On the contrary we curbe Nature we restraine we discourage we threaten her teaching her not to rest in implicit faiths or generall intensions or external actions of piety or presumptuous dispensations of men but to striue vnto sincere faith without which we haue no part in Christ in his Church no benefit by Sacraments prayers fastings beneficences to set the heart on worke in all our deuotions without which the hand and tongue are but hypocrites to set the hands on worke in good actions without which the presuming heart is but an hypocrite to expect no pardon for sinne before we commit it and from Christ alone when wee haue committed it and to repent before we expect it to hope for no chaffering no ransome of our soules from below no contrary change of estate after dissolution that life is the time of mercy death of retribution Now let me appeale to your soule and to the iudgement of all the vvorld whether of these two religions is framed to the humour of Nature yea let mee but know vvhat action Popery requires of any of her followers which a meere Naturalist hath not done cannot doe See how I haue chosen to beat them with that rod wherewith they thinke we haue so often smarted for what cauill hath beene more ordinary against vs then this of ease and liberty yea licence giuen and taken by our religion together with the vpbraidings of their owne strict and rigorous austerenesse Where are our penall workes our fastings scourges haire-cloth weary pilgrimages blushing confessions solemne vowes of willing beggery and perpetuall continencie To doe them right we yeeld in all the hard workes of will-worship they goe beyond vs but lest they should insult in the victory not so much as the Priests of Baal went beyond them I see their whips shew me their kniues Where did euer zealous Romanist lance and carue his flesh in deuotion The Baalites did it and yet neuer the wiser neuer the holier Either therefore this zeale in workes of their owne deuising makes them not better then we or it makes the Baalites better then they let them take their choise Alas these difficulties are but a colour to auoid greater No no to worke out stubborne wils to subiection to draw this vntoward flesh to a sincere cheerefulnesse in Gods seruice to reach vnto a sound beliefe in the Lord Iesus to pray with a true heart without distraction without distrust without mis-conceit to keepe the heart in continuall awe of God These are the hard tasks of a Christian worthy of our sweat worthy of our reioycing all which that Babylonish religion shifteth off with a carelesse fashionablenesse as if it had not to doe with the soule Giue vs obedience let them take sacrifice Doe you yet looke for more euidence looke into particulars and satisfie your selfe in Gods decision as Optatus aduised of old Since the goods of our father are in question whither should we goe but to his Will and Testament My soule beare the danger of this bold assertion If we erre wee erre with Christ and his Apostles In a word against all staggering our Sauiours rule