Gouernours of Norimberg touching the reviving and re-establishing of Auricular Confession amongst them vpon a pretence that since that custome was left off their Common-wealth swarm'd with sinne much more then formerly Which proposition of theirs the Emperour in effect did but scoffe at and deride euen by the Confession of Lorinus the Iesuite who reports it Intimating vnto them that they would neuer haue sought so much at his hands but that it seem'd they wanted a sufficient engine to examine Malefactors supposing that the Ecclesiasticall Rack when the Preist should vndertake them in an Auricular Confession would make them discouer more theÌ„ the politicke Rack or all the tortures the publicke Executioner could giue them Let them object to vs as Eugenius the Fourth in the Councell at Florence did to the Greekes ur vestri sacerdotes Pontifices non confitentur Why doe not your Preists exact this Confession As we refuse not priuate Confession made to God nay sometimes a priuate Confession to our ghostly Father the Minister who hath authoritie to divest vs of any scruples which may arise in our Consciences and to pronounce an Absolution vpon our hearty Repentance Yet we will not loose or betray our Freedome so much as to do that Act by Constraint which ought to be as free and voluntary as Davids resolution in this place I said I will confesse We haue no reason to stand to the courtesie of Rome for that Pardon which Christ hath freely giuen vs nor yet to suffer her MerchaÌ„ts to erect a new Staple or put an Impost vpon our saluation which is exempt from all Custome from any acknowledgment saue onely to Christ whose worke it was We haue no cause but to be very well assured that we may be saued without Auricular Coufession since in that sacred Booke which we beleeue containes all that may conduce to our saluation we finde no tracke or mention of it Bonaventure grants that howeuer the Formall part of Confession i. the power of Absolution were instituted by Christ yet the Materiall part which is the Detection of the sinne and the necessity of disclosing it was not so For at the most it was onely insinuated by Christ but promulgated by St Iames. Confesse your sinnes one to another In which place as Bullinger well inferres they that vnderstand aright will finde a reciprocall obligation layed vpon the Preist to confesse to the People as well as the People to the Preist And for any better Evidence then this to confirme their opinion out of the Gospell I am confident they haue none We finde when our Sauiour cleansed the Leper hee bad him goe and shew himselfe to the Priest and offer the gift which Moses commanded but he bad him not confesse to the Priest And to the adulterous woman he giues a Vade Goe but not to any Confessor Nay we finde no Confession taken from her by himselfe the whole Condition of her Absolution in that place is Vade noli ampliùs peccare Goe and sinne no more But Eckius and others answere that the power of Absolution was not as yet assign'd ouer by Christ vnto his Church and therefore our Sauiour neither practised it himselfe nor sent them vnto any Priest which had it been 't is likely he would haue done Well then graunt him as much as he alleadgeth that the Commission to Absolue was not as yet giuen to the Apostles and it shall appeare that in those very words wherein Christ conveyes this Authority to them Auricular Confession receiues it's deathes wound In the Gospell of St. Iohn when he tels them As my Father sent me so send I you Hee there giues them authority to remit or to retaine sinnes but not to exact any Auricular Confession Hee doth not there erect any Tribunall for the Priests where they should sit as Iudges ouer mens Consciences to acquite or condemne at their pleasure This is not the meaning of to Remit and to Retaine They do not import a Iudiciary power as the Church of Rome vnwarrantably assumes but a Ministeriall power to publish the mercies of God to repentant Sinners and to denounce his vengeance against the obstinate and impenitent This is St. Ieromes Interpretation vpon those words Quicquid ligaveris in terris c. whatsoeuer thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in Heauen and whatsoeuer thou shalt loose c. Where he sayes that as the Leviticall Priest is said to make the Leper cleane or vncleane because he pronounced him so euen thus the Evangelicall Priests in the Gospell Remit or Retaine sinnes because in their preachings they declare which sinnes are remitted and which retained by God Pro offcio suo cúm peccatorum audierit varietates scit qui ligandus quique solvendus Euen thus Peter Lombard distinguishing Gods way of Binding and Loosing from the Churches sayes that God by himselfe remits sinnes who cleanseth the Soule from all spots and looseth it from the Debt of eternall Damnation but he hath not granted this to his Priests to whom notwithstanding hee hath giuen power of Binding and loosing that is of shewing men to be bound or loosed Thus you may see by how vniust a Title the Church of Rome would vsurpe a Dominion over mens Consciences as she pretends a Soueraignty ouer the world ayming at Supremacy in all Either wilfully or ignorantly mistaking our Sauiours Commission for Binding and Loosing as Hierome complaines Istum locum Episcopi Presbyteri non intelligentes aliquid siâ—i de Pharisaeoorum assumunt supercilio c. Let me but mention to you likewise vpon what slight pretences they ground their necessity of Auricular Confession cosening the ignorant people with that smooth and plausible imposture wherein they say the Priest cannot remit sinnes vnlesse he know them and he cannot know them vnlesse men wâ—ll confesse them vnto him Then which Proposition nothing can be more false For the Priest may Preach and Publish Remission or Retention of sinnes to those whose faults he knowes not And those men by a faithfull application of what they heare may receiue the Remission of their sinnes who neuer reuealed them to the Minister but confessed them vnto God alone Sola enim cordis confessio poenitenti ad salutem animae sufficit veraciter which way of Confession is truely and onely necessary vnto Saluation I said I will confesse my sinnes vnto the Lord. But I vrge this point no farther Cassanders temperate conclusion shall bring me off I am of opinion saith he There had beene no Controversie about this point of Confession had not some ignorant and importunate Physitians corrupted this wholesome Medicine with their drugges of Tradition Est enim multis invtilibus traditiunculis infecta c. quibus conscientijs quas extricare levare debebant laqueos iniecerunt tanquam tormentis quibusdam excarnificârunt By which meanes they haue made it onely a snare to entangle and involue the simple
sancti gratia saith S. Ambrose He that knowes all things is ignorant only of wayes to delay his Mercies which are as instant as his worke was in the first Creation Said and Done at once How doe his winged blessings out-flie our suites chiding our sluggishnes in that no diligence we can vse is able to keepe pace with him nor our earliest importunity speedy enough to ouertake his bounty who giues oftner then we can aske and more then we haue capacity to apprehend 'T is not enough that he tarry till we come vnto him vnlesse he preuent vs by comming vnto vs ere we set out that he suspends his blessings till we seeke him vnlesse he first seeke and call vpon vs as he did vpon Eliah What doest thou here Eliah that he stay till our petitions wooe him vnles his favours first sollicite vs and giue vs cause to thanke him not to aske He thinkes his goodnes hath no aduantage no victory ouer our necessities if he should onely heare vs when we call vnles as he prophesses by his Prophet Esay Antequam clametis ego exaudio he begin to vs and make our answeare before we speake He thinkes his mercy would proue tardy if it expected our suit vnles he granted it before our motion Therefore in the 2 Sam 12. when Nathan admonishes Dauid of two great sinnes he no sooner in a religious humiliation deiects himselfe crying He had offended but the Prophet speedily raises him with the comfortable tidings of his Absolution and in such a Phrase as if God had antedated the pardon before the sinne was committed For he tells him the Lord hath also put away thy sinne Not he will or does but already he hath put away thy sinne You may perceiue a gratious hast too in the remission of his sinne in this place he but confesses and God forgiues him nay saith S. Austin he makes no confession but a promise onely Non iam pronunciat sed promittit se pronunciaturum ille iam dimittit He sayes he will confesse and vpon that promise God immediatly grants him a large pardon Turemisisti Thou forgauest the iniquity of my sinne The extent of his grace is as large as vnlimitted as his mercy is sudden God as he is no slow dilatory God so neither is he a sparing close-handed God as he doth not suspend his fauours or hang long in the deliberation of his pardon to sinners so neither doth he giue them in a lame imperfect fashion but large and full and ample as is himselfe In quo omnis plenitâ—do who is the spring of all bounty He doth not veniam dimiâ—iare distribute his mercy by halfes keepe men betwixt life and death panting betwixt hopes and feares as if he should send a pardon when the prisoner is halfe hanged no Non de dimidiâ sed perfectâ remissione hîc disserit Propheta God doth not lease his pardons for life onely adiourning the short punishment in this world with a purpose to inflict it aeternally in the next His hand is not so scant non arctatur non clauditur fine nullas habet metâ—s Diuina clementia saith Bernard And Hierome in his translation dates this remission with a semper to signifie the duration the continuance of it which is as long and lasting as his goodnes that hath none end Nor yet doth he remit the Eternall punishment and retaine a Temporall to be paid in this world in an imposed pilgrimage or a purgatory hereafter Non solum excluditur satisfactio sed Purgatoriâ—m boldly saith a writer Therefore one of our English Translations reads Thou forgauest the punishment of my sinne Let those then that list to be abused commute or sine for their release at Rome suffer the Pope to pare their saluation and take fees out of Gods Pardons which he bestowes freely we will receiue our Absolution neerer hand and lesse wasted in the carriage Let our Israel trust in the Lord for with the Lord there is mercie and with him is plenteous Redemption Copiosa Redemptio a bounteous remission for he shall wipe out all our sins neither take vengeance on vs in this life nor in the life to come If he do lay a crosse a calamity vpon vs in this life as he did vpon Dauid for the scandall he brought vpon Israel by Vriahs death and the adulterating of his wife afflict vs as he did him in the losse of a child or send a Pestilence to scoure the land as he did his In which sense Euthymius sayes of him Mors remissa est sed noxa vel damnum exigebatur per subsecutas calamitates Yet for all this God doth not inflict this Sub ratione poenae as a vengeance but a chastisement not as a punishment but a fatherly Correction not as a Minister of his wrath but an euidence of his loue For he chasteneth the Children whom he best loues And so you see he corrects the bitternes of his Iudgements with intermingling mercy amongst them Pellit pestem à peste saith one he takes out all malignity from his iudgements as S Paul saith he pluckt out the sting of death O mors vbi aculeus tuus Last of all he doth not onely remit the punishment of the sinne and reteine the Guilt treasuring vp that in diem irae to presse against vs in the last day but he forgiues that too he doth not quench the flame and leaue a sparke behind to kindle his wrath or to incense him hereafter no Tu remisisti iniquitatem peccati mei Thou forgauest the very iniquity of my sinne the enormity the Obliquity as Aquinas calls it So that Intempestiuâ— est hîc Poenae Culpae distinctio that distinction of the punishment and of the guilt is friuolous and out of season here God forgiues the sinne at the very roote And as Elisha when he cured the waters cast salt into the springs so God to make a perfect cure by his Absolution heales vs at the heart because that is the roote of sinne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Septuagint thou forgauest the iniquity the impurity of my heart Thus you may perceiue there are no Arrerages left in Gods Audit he forgiues both the Guilt of the sin the punishment both the suit the damages for he requires nothing but a true confession If we confesse he is faithfull and iust to forgiue vs. This makes a full expiation and attonement for all our sinnes Therefore he that confesses and repents as it were Levies a fine with God to cut off all punishment in the present or in the world to come For this Remisisti is â— remisisti in aeternum our euerlasting quietus est a generall acquittancc for the breadth and extent of it like his mercy which is exceeding broad exceding large and againe like vnto his mercie for the duration and date of it which endureth for euer I am at my farthest euen lost and
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And because he would be sure not to be vnderstoood here short of his meaning he puts sinnes in the plurall which enwraps all greater and lesser For so Marlorat in his Ecclesiasticall Exposition renders the word Praevaricationes Praeuarications which are not onely facts of malice but collusions too and may containe our intended sinnes as well as committed For so he explicates himselfe Dauid eoram Deo se sistens sensus omnes suos effudit Wilt not thou confesse thy riots as well as thy Murthers the pollution of thy thoughts as well as of thy Actions Christ thy Sauiour suffered for both he bled for both Though thy great sinnes opened the wide Riuer in his side and the curreÌ„ts in his hands and feete thy smallest sinnes scracht him in the thornes which he wore vpon his head or at least opened a Pore in his sacred Bodie For how knowest thou but that as he bled for thy crimson sinnes as Esay calls them through those larger wounds so he sweat bloud for the sinnes of thy thoughts that as he suffered for thy great offences vpon the Crosse so he suffered for thy lesser crimes in the Garden that as he did vndergoe a publique passion for the one so he had an antepassion for the other in his Agony that as for thy foulest transgressions he became a red Sea a true Iordan a sanguine Riuer the head of which streame began at Mount Caluary So before his Ascent thither in a lower place not farre from the Brooke Cedron he suffered his body to become a Marish when for thy sake the bloud wept out at euery Pore Take heed therefore how thou vnderratest any sinne since in the Inuentory of thy Sauiours passion they were all rated He dyed for all And do not neglect those faults which are the smallest in thy Catalogue For euen that sinne which whispers now and is only peccatum susurrans carried about in a still report and in the common fame wounds and traduces thee but closelie will in a litle time become Peccatum clamans a shrill and crying sinne That which is now a Grane in weight may proue a Pound and that which was but a single fault at first by an vnblest faecundity may multiply into Sinnes For culpa culpaÌ„ excutit one sinne is strooke out of another like sparkes they conuey fire one to the other Doe not suffer therefore the Embers of sinne any loose thoughts or vitious Imaginations to lurke within thy bosome least at length those subterraneous fires breake out like Aetâ—â— and burne thee in their hot Flames Minutae guttae pluuiae nonne flumina implent domos deijciunt Thou seest the raine which causes the land floud at first onely distills in small drops take heed then how thou lettest any vice drop in vpon thy senses If a temptation insinuate into thine eares or onely beat in at the casements of thy eyes those litle flawes those cranies if not stopt betimes will make way for the ruine of the whole Fabrâ—ke Marcus Eremita excellently saies that Sinne is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like a subtile net consisting of many foulds which if not warily avoided will entangle the whole body Whensoeuer therefore that Fowler whose taske hath bin to ensnare soules offers his Net at thee seekes to fasten a small sinne vpon thee quit thy selfe betimes by a Repentance and in a true confession discharge thy selfe of all thou knowest euen to thy smallest trespasse Remembring that wise saying in Ecclesiasticus Qui spernit modica paulatìm decidet he that contemnes small faults shall fall insensiblie And to make this confession of thine more perfect as thou acknowledgest the Offence so acknowledge the Offender Qui rem non tacuerit non tacebit authorem If thou confesse the Fact and yet deny the Author say thou hast sinned but blame some others as an Occasion or Accessory to thy sinne thou do'st not then accuse thy selfe but endite another thou do'st not make a just confession but by a Recrimination seeke to excuse thy selfe Dauid here makes no such 〈◊〉 or faint confession He doth not say onely what was done but who did it coÌ„fesses a Propriâ—ty makes title to those sins My sins We are all naturally prone to transfer our sins vpon others Adam cries The woman which thou gauest me And Gabriel Biel mentions some that vsed to blame the Planets which raigned at their Natiuities for the sinnes vnto which they were enclined If they had ill dispositions Satarne was in fault if they were Theeues Mercurie made them so if incontinent and amorous Venus was to be blam'd not they A folly worthy of no refutation but laughter did I not see it possessed some in that high nature that they do not onely accuse the Influences of Heauen but pronounce God himselfe who gaue motion to those starres as the Author of their sinne Most strange and fearefull illusion that any should imagine God a Plotter for Damnation that he should combine with the Deuill to sâ—pplant soules that he should make a Prison and then make Offenders for that prison that he should build a Hell and cause men to sin that they might be condemned vnto that place of Torment O farre be the thought of this from our hearts Let God be glorified and all men reputed blasphemous Lyars that speake or imagine thus Let vs say with the Psalmist I haue sinned and I alone and in these words acknowledge I will confesse against myselfe those sinnes which I haue committed against thee resting vpon that excellent conclusion of Fulgentius Non potest esse illius Author cujas est 〈◊〉 It is impossible that God should be an Agent in sinne whose office is to avenge sinne and to punish the sinner For if thou say or thinke otherwise thou wilt proue a deuill to thy God slander and accuse him to his face of sinne who is the Confessor to receiue the acknowledgement of thy sinne The Lord. I said I will confesse my sinnes vnto the Lord. We take a liberty to tell God those things which for shame we dare not communicate vnto men Multi quod scire homineÌ„ nolunt Deâ— mirrant saith Seneca He spake in the worst sense 't is true in the best We need not be ashamed to discouer our selues our Actions our Thoughts to God who as he delights not in the death of a sinner so neither glories he in the shame of a sinner When we shrift our selues to men we aduenture our credits vpon their secrecy and confesse to our owne disadvantage since it is in their power to betray vs. If the Conclaue of Cardinals would haue suffered S. Chrysostomes Cauear to haue bin entered amongst them they neuer would in the Laterane Councill haue decreed a necessity of Auricular Confession nor in the Trent Councill haue established that former Decree Take heed how thou tellest thy defects to a man saith Chrysostom least he cast
thee in the teeth with them and in the very next words he â—â—atly prohibits the necessity of such priuate confession leauing 〈…〉 vpon the scope of this text Thou art not to confesse to thy fellow seruant least he may divulge it but to him that is thy Lord that careth for thy soule to him that is most mild and curteous to him that is thy Physitian I said I will confesse my sinnes vnto the Lord. But doth God need an informer Did he not know Dauid's sinne before his confession or cannot he know mine vnlesse I tell him Yes surely he knew them before But he knew them as my Iudge not as my Confessor He knew them but not that way which most delighteth him and is best for me in a repentance In a word he knew them before but he knew them to my Condemnation He knew them not to my Comfort so as to forgiue them till he receiued them from mine owne mouth I said I will confesse my sinnes and thou forgauest Like the tidings of release vnto a Captiue or a repriue vnto a coÌ„demned man so is the sound of this word Tu remisisti thou forgauest It is the savour of life vnto life a reuiuing or recouery from the death of the soule Sinne and an earnest of a new-life both in the Body and the Soule in the new Ierusalem 'T is the voice of the Turtle the true language of the Gospell deriued from his lippes that left the blessing of his peace vpon all that loue the Peace of his Church that legend of mercy which Christ commanded his Apostles to divulge in all parts of the world for the remission of sinnes This was the end of Christs comming into the world to saue sinners his owne peculiar worke who alone as he hath the property to haue mercy so hath he the sole power to forgiue Quis potest peecaâ—ae dimittere nisi solus Deus That the Church hath a power to remit sinnes also is true in a subordinate sense that is a Ministeriall a Declaratory power as our Liturgie fully expresses it and hath giuen power and commandement to his Ministers to Declare and Pronounce to his people being penitent the Absolution and remission of their sinnes c. But he hath giuen them no Iudiciary or Authoritatiue power to pardon absolutely of themselues This is Gods prerogatiue he alone doth that act the Church but reports it he signes the deed the Church as a witnes testifies it he hath the originall power to absolue the Church hath power not to dispence but to pronounce his absolution he grantes and seales the pardon the Church conveyes and publishes it he hath the possession the true inheritance as of the Throne so of the keyes of Dauid the Church hath but the vse and custody of those keyes by which she opens and shuts yet not at her owne pleasure as if she could hang new locks where she listed or make new dores for sinners to goe out at but with a limitation Shee must not presume to goe farther then those Keyes lead her So many roomes as Christ hath opened by those keyes she may opeÌ„ or she may shut The Ministers who are his Dorekeepers should take too much vpoÌ„ them if they should presume beyond this Mistake me not I doe not in any sense of diminution call the Ministers Dorekeepers as if I would inferre their office determined at the Church-doore No their keyes open farther then so and by vertue of them they may goe as high as Gods Presence Chamber the Church there to receiue and to deliuer his messages to his people to signifie his pleasure to them either for the Remission or Reteining of their sinnes but beyond this their keyes will not lead them They cannot open Gods Priuy Chamber where all his secret Counsellâ— â—his Acts of mercy or of iudgement of Pardon or Condemnation are concluded this is accessible to none but God himselfe They are not able with any key in their bunche to open that doore And if by violeÌ„ce they shall attempt to breake it open as the Successors of Peter haue done for many yeares sitting there as Counsellours 〈◊〉 in Commission with God nay sitting 〈◊〉 Godâ—â—aith â—aith St. Paul to condemne or to absolue 〈◊〉 him let them know in this they haue committed a Riot not lesse then Lucifers and their aspiring insolence muâ—t expect a Praecipitation as violent and deepe as his I haue almost lost my selfe in this Labyrinth of Pâ—pâ—ll vsurpation I retrait to my teâ—t in S. Ambrose his words who hath briefly stated and limited the Power of Preists Absolution In the forgiuenesse of sinnes saith he men vse their Ministery but exercise no right of any Authoritie men aske an men pronounce but the Deity graunts Tu remisisti Thou forgauest Which speech doth not onely intimate his Power but his readines to forgiue See in what a forward terme Dauid expresses Gods alacriâ—â— and propension to mercy setting it downe in the Prâ—terperfect tense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thou hast forgiuen as a thing past in graunt before the suit was commenced Seneca spake it of the Court 〈…〉 praecipâ—â—s beneficia lenta sunt They were prone and speedy to doe injuries but their benefitâ— came slowlie from them and with difficulty ' â—is otherwise with God he is of no 〈◊〉 Power nor doth he for slow his faucâ—â—s 〈…〉 price vpon them by delay God is not slow or 〈◊〉 concerning his promise saith S. Peter Or if he be slow he is slow to nothing but to wrath only In that Act which was the swifâ—est exclusion of his vengeance the Floud howsoeuer theâ— that suddaine Inundation surprised the World came vpon it vnawares whilst they were eating and drinking as our Sauiour saith yet when it was done He is sorrie Though he repented he had made man and from that repentance put on a resolution to destroy him Yet after his destruction he relents into mercy he is sorry he had demolished and annihilated his creature by water though most deservedly and then makes a Promise and Couenant neuer to destroy him so againe Did he not giue Abraham leaue to dispute and argue Sodom's reprieue to plead a Pardon for it after his sentence was past and the Executioner ready to giue fire Yet for all that he heard him cut till haâ—â— said all he could say till he had made all his Abatements from Fiftie euen to the last Ten. And when he sate downe before Niniveh and had beleaguered it with his Iudgements yet you see he giues them faire Quarter Fourty Dayes to parley and to make their Composition with Him Nay he allowed Rebellious Israel Fourty yeares Fourty yeares long was I grieued with this generation so slow is he to wrath so loath to execute his vengeance And yet He is not so slow to punish but he is by many degrees swifter to shew mercy and to forgiue Nescit tarda molimiâ—a spiritus
man must not yeeld to though the Rack or other most exquisite torments should be vsed to extort his consent Therefore it was a noble resolution of one of the Princes of Condee to whom the French King Charles the 9th made this offer and bid him make his choice whether he would heare a Masse or suffer preseÌ„t death or perpetuall Imprisonment He was as suddaine as religious and zealous in his answere Primum Deo juuante nunquam eligam As to the first I detest the Idolatrous Masse and for the other 2. I leaue them and my selfe to the will of the King yet hope the Lord will order and dispose these also to the best With such courage did that mother happy in the number and constancie of her 7. children choose rather to vndergoe all torments then to prolong their liues by eating swines flesh And the feruent zeale of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego for the true and liuing Lord burn't within them so much hotter then the fierie fornace Nebuchadnezzar threatned them with that his golden image wanted worship from them and himselfe wanted their obedieÌ„ce in his vnlawfull commands Non oportet nos hâc de re respondere We are not carefull to answere thee in this matter For in all such cases we are to hold that principle out of which Peter and Iohn framed their answere to the Iewes Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken vnto you more then vnto God iudge yee We may not hearken to men nor Angells nor suffer freinds to haue any interest in vs but with subordination to the Lawes of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nay we must not hearken to ourselues when our owne lusts would tempt vs and drawe vs away from the Lord though they whisper in our eares neuer so many apparant goods that may accrue vnto vs for our priuate ends and commodities But in these what strait can there be where it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the broad way into which we should not so much as enter our foote our affections our sensitiue appetite which are the feet as it were and the inferior part of our soules There are some that put themselues vpon straits where there are none such as with those foolish Galatians are bewitched to make question of the well settled truth and to perplexe themselues whether they are in the truth or no and to call Father Lessius into consultation with them quae sides capessenda whether they should more safely liue still Protestants or be reconciled to the Church of Rome and dye Papists I may vse to them the words of Eliah vpon the like occasioÌ„ Vsque quò claudicatis How long halt yee betweene two opinions If the Lord be God follow him and follow him there where he is worshipped as God in spirit and truth without that will worship of carnall delightfull pompous ceremonies which through the eyes of the simpler sort steale away their hearts to beleeue any thing which is imposd vpon them Follow him there where he is still a God and nothing detracted or derogated froÌ„ him Where true Faith and good workes as the fruits of faith are preached yet no merit pleaded in either Where thou art taught that thou doest but thy duetie and receiuest aboue thy reward Where Christ's satisfaction is thought to be so full for the coâ—ering of all thy sinnes that it needes not to be peiced out with any of thiâ—e owne to help the scantines of it But on the other side if Baal be God or God be in that part of the Baalitish religion that teaches me to fall downe before stockes and stones that are so much my inferiours because insensible and my selfe in doing so degenerate and become as insensible as they or that teaches me to adore my aequals and fellow seruants Angels or Saints or that teaches me to nullifie him that is so much aboue me to eat my God nay to giue this priuiledge to a mouse that shal nibble at the SacrameÌ„tal bread to deface his Image there with my Canniball like teeth crucifying him as it were afresh againe to deface his Image in the King with a murtherous Assasinate's hand or buâ— a bloudâ—e and treacherous heart I say if God be in such superstition or rather sacrilege or such a seditious sect follow him there There is also another straine of strait-lac'd brethren that thinke the comelie garments of our Church are too full and flaring and come too neere the meretricious attire of the Whore of Babylon therefore they are in a strait whether they should reach their consciences so farre as to a conformity and subscription or suffer a proscription or suspension or deprivation to passe vpon them But Dauid did not vnnecessarily put himselfe vpon any such straites as these In things absolutelie euill or in things indifferent he might soone haue quitted himselfe of all distraction and anxietie of minde But here there was an ineuitable necessitie of choosing one of the three which were all mala poenae As the Angell tooke Balaâ—m in a narrow place where he could not turne to the right haÌ„d or the left But you will aske mee what choyce can be of those things of which there can be no desire And who euer hated himselfe so much that he should haue any inclination to vndergoe his punishment Here then must that Vulgar Maxime take place Emalis minimum If I must needes smart that which is least painâ—full is most welcome I would rather be chastised with whips then as Rehoboam threatned with scorpions And our great Master Aristotle could answere that the lighter and more tollerable euils compared with the greater haue the semblance and appearance of good and therefore may he the objects of election Plerumque genus mortis in alterius mortis consideratione levamen est So did Dauid in his resolution cast himselfe into the hands of the Lord rather then into the hands of men As thinking it his best and safest way For the Vulgar translation reades it comparatiuely Melius est vt incidam c. it is better for me to fall into the hand of the Lord c. Although he would by his good will haue escaped the hands of both Secondly these three punishments proposed to King Dauid howsoâ—uer no way pleasing to flesh bloud for no chastening for the present seemeth to be ioyous but grieuous saith the Apostle yet because they belonged to the discipline which the Lord vseth ouer men and were workes of his iustice therefore in themselues good and good for vs also whensoeuer the Lord inflicts any such vpon vs had we that good consideration of them which this Kingly Prophet else-where professeth Bonum mihi quia humiliatus It is good for me that I haue beene afflicted that I might learne thy statutes amongst which this is one Statutum omnibus semel mori It is a poenall statute enacted by that high court of Parliament which made