doth reach it foorth vnto vs when they preach the glad tidings or deliuer the promise of free pardon vnto all that shall beleeue in Christ crucified and deliuer the seales of the doctrine euen Baptisme and the holy Supper God doth accompanie the ministration of these things by his spirit so dooth ratifie the same For which cause the ministrie of the Gospell is called the ministrie of the spirit 2. Cor. 3. The spirit of the Lord giueth vs our freedome by loosing the bonds of our sinnes when through faith wee lay hold of the promise And hee that beleeueth not is still bound Then when Christ sayth Whose sinnes ye shall forgiue they are forgiuen and whose sinnes ye shall retaine they are retained This is the sense that to those whom God doth send publishing the Gospell and setting to the seales in those which imbrace it and so bringing free pardon of sinnes he doth communicate this honour which belongeth to himselfe that they are sayd to forgiue sinnes As I sayd before he giueth away nothing herein from himselfe because it is not giuen vnto them as to the authors of the pardon but as to the instruments and ministers by whome hée doth reach it foorth as by his hand and by whose ministrie hee doth ratifie yâ— same vnto vs. Likewise wheÌ„ they denounce iudgment agaynst the impenitent he doth confirme it What do you tell vs then of that rule of admonishing and pardoning Luk. 17. These be things differing It is also very true that the power of binding and loosing is wholly from the word not depending vppon the excellencie of any man and that the dignitie and power of the word if wee respect it in it selfe is all one out of whose mouth so euer But yet Master Barrow you should knowâ— that it is Gods ordinance and good pleasure to giue a special operation and power vnto it by the ministrie Baptisme doth seale vp the forgiuenes of our sinnes and hath he not ordayned that this seale shal be set to by the ministry I would you saw how â—old your ignoraÌ„ce hath made you euen agaynst Gods ordinance as to giue no more efficacie vnto the word in the mouth of the moâ—t excellent minister then in the mouth of any true Christian Your other demaund is to no purpose seeing nothing doâ—th binde or loose but onely the word and the binding or loosing by men is no more but when men by authoritie from God in a ministrie which hee dooth ratifie pronounce remission of sinnes or iudgement rightly according to the word as the word pronounceth Shall we then beleeue that euery true Christian hath the same and equall power of binding and loosing that Paule or Peter had You say so and would prooue it and not onely haue here set downe your blinde reasons but in your other booke which you entitle a briefe discouerie of the false Church and in the page 124. You say that by the place Iohn 20. wee cannot prooue this power of binding and loosing to bee giuen onely to the Apostles there being many disciples both men and women in the place when Christ gaue it This appearing indeed of our Sauiour was the same day at night in which hee rose from the dead as the Euangelists do expressely declare It is plaine also by S. Luke 24. 33. that there were some other with the Apostles when he appeared vnto them But yet Master Barrow consider the place well and if there be any forehead remayning it will make you blush a little at your owne bolde speach when you say that to challenge the power of binding and loosing as giuen or annexed to the ministrie by these words whose sinnes ye remit c. is by an old worthles title For was the Commission of the Apostleship giuen vnto all that were there both men and women Because you say There were both men and women there besides the Apostles and that he gaue the power of binding and loosing vnto them all alike and sayd vnto them all whose sinnes ye shall remit they are remitted c. Marke all his words together Agayne Peace be with ye as the father hath sent me so I send you And when he had said this he breathed vpon them and sayd receaue the holy Ghost Whose sinnes ye shall remit they are remitted and whose sinnes ye shall retaine they are retained Did he say to all there present yea euen to the women as the father hath sent me so I send you I pray ye whether sent he the women vpon that message vpon which he was sent by the father These former words are onely to the Apostles vpon whome hee layeth the charge or the ambassage which his father had committed vnto him As Paule 2. Cor. 5. declareth that the Apostles were Ambassadors from GOD in Christs stead If you will shame then to say that Christ layd the charge which the father committed to him vpon the women as you say there were some women there and it is not vnlike or if you dare not affirme that the women are sent vpon this ambassage to be Apostles which is in these former words as the father sent me so I send you how dare you say the latter words are spoken vnto all For to those onely he sayth receaue the holy Ghost whose sinnes ye shall remit they are remitted To whom he had sayd As the father hath sent me so I send you And tell me Master Barrow is there not some part of this power of loosing or remitting sinnes by the Sacraments I meane doâ— not the Sacraments effectually seale vnto vs the remission of sinnes And is that power committed to any but Ministers Hath God giuen a power to the Ministers aboue other to set to the seales and no power aboue others in deliuering the word of the couenant which is sealed It is no meruaile that you dare goe about to ouerthrowe all the power of the Ministrie of the Gospell which Saint Paule setteth foorth to be so glorious 2. Cor. 3. in affirming that the greatest Minister hath no more power to binde the least member then the sayd member hath to binde him when you are thus grosly ignorant as to affirme that our Sauiour spake those words vnto women Whose sinnes ye shall forgiue c. Ioh. 20. and see not that God hath ratified a power of deliuering the word and Sacraments by a ministrie which hee vseth as his hand reached foorth vnto vs. They that will further and more fully see into this wicked error of yours must looke vpon that which the learned haue written agaynst the Swinckfeldians about the same And now Master Barrow to come to the very poynt indeed that is in controuersie betweene you and me I wished that you were as weary of lying and slandering as you should bee in seeking vntill you should finde one blasphemie or heresie in all the Collects of the booke and therefore you haue here gathered together a whole packe You tell me first that I haue in
therefore the Epistle to the Galathians is spent in declaring the righteousnes by fayth and ouerthrowing the righteousnes by the law The Church in Ierusalem obserued the ceremonies not placing righteousnes in them but to the end that God had ordayned them to shadow out heauenly things being ignorant in this that they were ordayned but vnto the time of correction as the holy Ghost speaketh Hebr. 9. And therfore in that Epistle to the Hebrues there is no charging or blaming of them touching the matter of iustification but onely a reducing of them from that fore sayd error in which they did stick â—â— long When Saint Paule speaketh of obseruing the ceremonies which was but at sometimes as occasion fell out 〈◊〉 so farre from deeming it a fault that hee reckoneth it among his vertues and sayth to those that are vnder the lawe I became as if I were vnder the law that I might win those that are vnder the law 1. Cor. 9. The Synagogue of Antichrist in more haynous and detestable manner then the false Apostles against the Crosse of Christ euen against the righteousnes by fayth in his blood obserue dayes and times and a number of ceremonies of their owne inuention by which they seeke remission of 〈…〉 and the merite of eternalllife Our Church doth renounce and accurse all such doctrine neither doe we maintaine any Iudaisme And touching the paying of tithes that I may conclude this poynt if I say there might bee somewhat morall in it though it were annexed to the Lâ—uiticall Priesthood I doe not see how you shall be able to disprooue the same In the visitation of the sick there is a forme of absolution set downe Thus you Master Barrow write agaynst it Let the Reader vnderstand that nothing can be more popish and blasphemousthen it is wherein a sacrilegious priest taketh vpon him by the authoritie committed vnto him to absolue the sick from all his sinnes Hath any mortall man power to forgiue sinnes Or is it not the office of God alone Hath the priest power to forgiue all sinnes such as are not made vnto him what horrible blasphemie is this to him that hath power to forgiue all sinnes to him we may make our prayers and supplications him onely may we worship Hath the greatest minister of the Church any more power to retayne or loose the sinne of the least member then the sayd member hath to binde or loose his sinne Doth not this rule of our Sauiour Christ as well extend vnto him as vnto the least in the Church If thy brother sinne agaynst thee rebuke him and if hee repent forgiue him Luke 17. 3. Hath not the Church power to reprooue and cast out their Pastor if he deserue Is not all this binding and loosing done by the worde of God and not by any power or excellencie of man Hath not the word of God the like power and effect against sinne in the mouth of the least of Gods seruants as in the mouth of the greatest Let this collect then whereby the priest in their leiturgie by the power committed to him absolueth the sick of all his sinnes remaine one witnes among many other of their popery and vntill more come of most high blasphemie Thus farre be your wordes Master Barrow Then this absolution you say nothing can be more popish or blasphemous you cry out at it as horrible blasphemie And will haue this collect remaine as one witnes of most high blasphemie If it be so I haue done you great wrong by charging you as false accusers But in very deede while you go about to make the Reader vnderstaÌ„o that nothing can be more popish or blasphemous yea that it is horrible and most high blaspeâ—ie you bewray so darke ignorance and confusion as I think wee may tearme deepe horrible as shal appeare by the reasons you bring But now for this absolution take this by the way that I doo not vndertake to dispute vpon or to iustifie euery circumstance thereof as namely the vndisâ—reet and vnskilfull dealing of some that may practize it but onely deale about the substance of the matter it selfe against which your reasons are brought to prooue it to be popery and blasphemie You aske first Hath any mortall man power to forgiue sinnes or whether it be not Gods office alone Why Master Barrow will you denie that mortall men haue power to forgiue sinnes doth not our Sauiour Christ say vnto his Apostles Whose sinnes ye shall forgiue they are forgiuen and whose sins ye shall retayne they are retayned Ioh. 20. ver 23. Dare you contradict the flat testimonie of the scripture And for your other question it is most certayne and the contrary cannot bee held without blasphemie and sacriledge that God onely hath power and authority to forgiue sinnes if we respect the author of forgiuenes And men doo but in his name and from him as ministers bring the same vnto vs. If wee respect the thing iâ— selfe it is peculiar vnto the most high God but the ministrie is his hand by which he reacheth it foorth vnto vs and therefore they bringing the message and word of reconciliation are adorned with this title that they forgiue and retayne sinnes yet â— is but instrumentall It is most vndoubted that God alone doth begethis Children by the immortall seede of his worde And yet Saint Paul sayth to the Corinthians that he was their Father and that he begat them All this is but ministeriall God is robbed of no honour You demaund whether the priest hath power to forgiue all sinnes such as are not made vnto him I answere that the minister of the Gospel is the minister of reconciliation I meane to bring it and hath power to forgiue all sinnes annexed to his ministrie or rather it is the fruite and effect and power of his ministrie in deliuering the promises You seeme to speake of forgiuing of trespasses which are done against our selues which declareth also your want of skill as namely that you know not what this is whose sinnes ye shall forgiue they that are forgiuen We may make our prayers vnto him worship him only that hath power to forgiue all sinnes This is true if we looke to the author of this grace which is God alone But not when we looke to those which are but ministers and the earthen vessels in which this treasure is brought You aske whether the greatest minister in the Church hathanie more power to retayne or loose the sinne of the least member then the sayd member hath to binde or loose his sinnes And then you bring certaine reasons to prooue that he hath not any more power then the least member Is it not a straunge thing Master Barrow that such geare should come from you will you take away the whole efficacie and power of the ministrie which Christ hath ordayned By the ministers of the Gospell as I sayd before God sendeth the word of reconciliation they be his hand by which he
haue this power whole and seuerall by it selfe I take it you shall neuer be able to prooue that it ought to be much lesse shall you be able to prooue them to bee no true Churches which haue not in euery seuerall congregation established the power of excommunication For touching excommunication there be Churches which are true Churches of Christ which haue it not nor iudge it needefull Master Beza in his booke against Erastus pag. 2. sayth that he was charged by some to esteeme them to be no Churches which wanted excommunication or such a Presbyterie which was vniustly layd to his charge as he sayth the perpetuall conuiction of him and those Churches did sufficiently witnes You haue more worke in hand here Master Barrow then you bee wate of For if you had proued that the Church of England hath no power to excommunicate yet there remayneth a further thing which is not so easie as you take it to bee conuinced namely that it is no true Church of Christ which hath no excommunication All Churches are against you in this poynt and the light of the truth will be as strong agaynst you as it hath beene agaynst the Annabaptists Here you make the chalenge anewe and say If I would vouchsafe to take mine aduersaries with me into the field and giue them leaue to bring and to vse their owne weapons I answere that for all your outcries yet there hath been no one weapon taken from ye nor yet cut shorter That speciall weapon which you now haue drawen and burnished wherein you repose your trust is this Where all the prophane and vngodly are receiued into and retayned in the Church as members thereof there cannot bee sayd the true established Church of Christ But in the Church of England all the prophane multitudes vngodly of the land were receiued into are retayned in their Church as members thereof Therefore the Church of England in this estate cannot be sayd the true established Church of Christ You doo here conclude a new question for there may bee a true Church of Christ and yet not in all things rightly or truly established Agayne there be foure terminie in this your Sylogisme because this clause all the prophane vngodly is taken more largely in the maior then it is in the minor or else your maior is false also the scriptures which you quote falsely applied It is certain that God did separate his Church from the Heathen Nations that did not call vpon his name Such were not compelled to enter But if you looke vpon the Church of Israel the Nation of the Iewes which had the couenant when they fell into Idolatry and horrible impietyes you shall see that all the godly Kings of Iuda that reformed and restored the true worship of God compelled all to the same Doo you reade that the Idolaters or their seede which still after a sorte professed the God of Abraham and had the seale of the couenant vpon them were cast foorth You may sée in the Prophet Sophonie that in the dayes of the godly King Iosias many of those Idolaters did turne but feynedly for feare of punishment and secretly worshipped Idoles The nation of England did professe Iesus Christ and were all sealed with the seale of the couenant but yet ouerwhelmed generally in Idolatry and many horrible sinnes Our Noble Quéene Elizabeth placed by God vpon the Regall throne compelleth them all being her subiects according to their vow in Baptisme to renounce Idolatry and to imbrace the holy fayth and Religion of Christ appoynting sharpe penaltyes for such as shall obstinately persist either in Idolatrie or other horrible sinnes Now tell me Master Barrow what doth she herein other then the godly kings of Iuda did She receiueth not in nor compelleth Turkes Iewes or heathen but onely such as are Christians by profession And therefore you may see that if you will haue your maior proposition agree with the Scriptures it must needes be taken more largely than your minor And thus you are come forth into the field with your choyce weapon which deceiuethye vtterly But yet here to make some face of true zeale you reckon vp a number of horrible sinnes Indeede God requireth that al his seruants should vtterly abhorre and condemne such vices and speak against them but he alloweth not any to take occasion thereby to condemne his Church Such vices abound but yet there are many thousands which cannot â—e charged with any one foule vice whose conuersation in the profession of the true fayth is hath been with much more sobrietie and modesty then yours Master Barrow vnlesse your time past haue beene better spent then the present And when God shall open your eyes his terror shall be vponye ye shall know that I haue not by the deuill blasphemed yee but shewed by Gods worde that you haue with horrible presumption and intrusion into Gods iudgement seate and with most sauage crueltie sought to rend vp and to teare the Lordes tender plants In the next place commeth the Baptizing the Children of prophane men which professe Christ and remaine in the Church Here Master Barrow you are in a wonderfull displeasure and can not satisfie your selfe with all the varietie of odious tearmes which you doe euen fome out The heresie which I haue vttered about this matter is so foule as you take it that after many extreame wordes you say you may by the direct warrant of Gods word hold me and mine ordinary most heynous falsefiers and corrupters of the whole law and worde of God most blasphemous and peruitions false Prophets A man would thinke at the reading of these words that the whole Church were on fire especially if I should repeate but the one halfe of your speeches but that we know Master Barrow it is but your fashion If it please God he may giue you some spark of modestie But touching the matter it selfe I did affirme that the children of prophane men which remayn in the Church professing Christ whether they bee close hypoerites or openly wicked in conuersation do belong to the couenannt are to be baptized so that the Church take care for their instruction and education in the true fayth Your cauills here about verball confession which God alone can iudge about parish assemblies which are members of a Church though euery one by it selfe seuerally hath not the full power and so to becalled a Church about expresse contrariety error and sacriledge in my proposition as you say are not worth the mention Touching the Scriptures which I alleage to prooue that the interest in the couenant doth not depend vpon the syncere fayth or godlines of the next parents youcrie out of so many errors mischines and blasphemies that you doubt not as you say to pronounce and reiect these doctrines of this false Prophet most blasphemous and deuilish But now if it be true which I say and proue agaynst whom haue you powred foorth your poyson And what bring
you to disproue it But that then all the world is within the Church holy all being sprong within farre lesse then a thousand generations of many faithfull and lineally come from the Patriarch Noah And that then ought the Israelites vnder the lawe to haue circumcised all their captiue Cananites and heathen that came into their power Then ought the Church now to baptize al the seed euen of the most wicked and vngodly whether Turkes Papists Idolaters c. You are out of the way Master Barrow and the faster you runne the further for you should remember that I spake of the seede of such prophane men as remayne in the Church and professe Christ and are sealed with the seale of the Couenant Will you make no difference betweene those which were or are without the Church â—ncircumcised or vnbaptized not professing the God of Abraham or the faith of Christ and those which were or be in the Church circumcised or baptized professing the the God of Abraham and the faith of Christ The Cananites and other heathen if they forsooke false Gods and imbraced the religion of the true God were circumcised so may the Turks and heathen be baptized at this day But while they are without and blaspheme and renounce Christ what hath the Church to do with their children which are not vnder her gouernment and power to bring vp The Church is to take care that al those children may bee instructed in the faith and guided in the way of godlines which she admitteth vnto baptisme For the places of Scripture where I sayd that the couenant with Abraham was made thus I will bee thy God and the God of thy seede and that to a thousand generations Exod. 20. And that because of this S. Peter calleth all the Iewes in generall the children of the Prophets and of the couenant Act. 3. 25. and Paule Rom. 9. 4 For which respect they are called holy Rom. 11. And the childreÌ„ of Idolaters among them are called Gods children Ezech. 16. The whole nation of the Iewes a very fewe men excepted did at sundrie times very grieuously sinne agaynst the Lord and the greater part of those neuer returned by true repentance but yet remayned in the profession of the God of Abraham and were circumcised If the couenant had been disanulled to their seede how could Saint Peter say they were the children of the Couenant Or how could Saint Paule say that theirs was the adoption and the Couenant If none were outwardly to stand vnder the Couenant but the elect how should this haue been spoken Or if the Couenant had been disanulled by their fathers sinnes Unto this Master Barrow you haue made none answer at all But you take occasion at that which I alleage out of Exod. 20. to make some colour or shewe of matter and say that I wittingly suppresse the next words of the sentence which are these of them that loue me and keepe my commandements which shew to whom this couenant is made and belongeth and the condition on our part And you require that I should â—heâ— one plate through the whole Scripture where the Lords Couenant is made vnto vs without this condition and then you say I may peraduenture cléere my selfe and mine ordinarie for publishing this wicked and diuellish heresie so directly contrary to the whole Scriptures in more then a thousand places Thus it is your pleasure Master Barrow euen in your deepe ignorance and that in the grounds of Religion to impugne the stablenes of Gods couenant made vnto his people It is a thing indeed which any godly mind may with horror tremble at when with such furie you terme it a diuellish heresie which is indeed that doctrine of grace deliuered in the Scriptures whereby the glorie of the Lord is most highly magnified It is certayne that the Couenant or promise of God dooth not profite any vnlesse they receiue it as the holy Ghost speaketh mixed with faith Heb. 4. 2. Then where true faith is there is sanctification there is obedience according to the measure of that faith greater or lesse Hereupon it followeth that as God is become their God so they are become his people and this is required on our part But now to inferre vpon this that the stablenes of Gods couenant dependeth vpon this condition if we keepe his commandements and that a man yea a whole Church doth forfeit the couenant as your phrase is if they shewe rebellion is most wicked For what is more manifest then this that if it had been so the couenant had been forfeited almost vnto all Israel and that very often for they oftentimes rebelled agaynst God most grieuously and brake promise on their part The complaints of the Prophets are many sundrie Psalmes doo set it forth the booke of the Iudges declareth how oft they rebelled and fel vnto foule Idolatrie and how oft he plagued them and humbled them by deliuering them into the hands of heathen Kings You will say they rebelled but repented And in the dayes of euery godly Iudge and godly King were the visible Church But in the times of their defection when they committed Idolatrie you say they were not the visible Church Yea you alleage testimonies of Scripture to prooue that in their defection they were not the Lords people as Deuteronom 32. 19. Micha 2. 7 8 9 Amos. 8. 2. Ezech. 16. Alas Master Barrow would any man looke for such matter at their hands that had but euen read ouer the Byble It is declared by Moses that God chose them to be his people not for their owne righteousnes but of free mercie and made his couenant with them Likewise it is most certayne that hee continued his faith towards them not for that they kept couenant with him for they often rebelled but for his own names sake To say that they forfeited the Couenant by transgressing his commandements and recouered it agayne by repentance and so to be now out now in is that I may say no worse most foolishly spoken For they did not enter agayne into a couenant which was lost because they repented but contrariwise they repented because they were in the couenant That is because he had sworne vnto them to bee their God hee not onely brought them downe by afflictions chastising them as a father but gaue them the graces of repentance This is shewed Psalm 106. where the Prophet hauing set foorth their manifold rebellions and the plagues wherewith he plagued them he sayth When they were brought downe by affliction he looked to their distresse and heard their cry And remembred for them his couenant and repented for the multitude of his mercies The Lord sayth also He foreknewe them to be an hard people that their necke was as a barre of yron and their forehead of brasse and that they would deale vnfaithfully Esay 48. vers 4. 8. Yet he sayth I will be long suffering for my names sake and for my praise I will refraine mine anger towards