nor that hath the Spirit of God in equall measure nothing remaineth more for us but to be instructed by their writings wherein the Apostles speake unto us and their word is yet alive and full of efficacie since their death and departure It is a profane presumption or affected negligence to speake of these writings divinely inspired as of unnecessary scripts and scroles for they which talke that language doe it for this end to withdraw the people from the holy reading thereof as from a frivolous businesse and for the end to distribute the rules therein contained unattentively and in hugger-mugger Shall we call them unnecessary meanes which God hath chosen to informe us concerning his will The which if they were not absolutely necessary of their owne nature yet they are made altogether necessary by the will of God and by the counsell of his providence for hee hath left but this infallible meanes to instruct us And men that speake in the Chaires may erre they are likewise subject to avarice and ambition the two ports thorow which errours doe enter by troops and throngs the Pastours ever accommodating religion to their profit And truly whosoever shall know what was the estate of the Romish church some six score yeres passed and how it consisted only in fabulous Legends in adoration of Reliques in miracles made by images in vertues and perfections of the Frocke or Cowle of S. Francis and Saint Dominick and that Iesus Christ scarce appeared amongst the S t s and that the holy Scripture was utterly estranged unknown will easily acknowledge that the maine barre which hath hindred Papistrie that it should not passe into Paganisme whereinto it was running post hath beene that these holy Bookes were drawne forth of darke ignorance and translated into the vulgar Tongues He will I say acknowledge that the people of the Romish Church owe unto us that little knowledge which remaineth with them and that we have diminished their servitude CHAP. XIX That the Church of the old Testament after the Law given by Moses untill Iesus Christ hath had no unwritten Traditions To the maintenance and increase of their Traditions our Adversaries doe joyne some examples of them which they say have been received in the Church of the old Testament without forme of Scripture since the Law written by Moses Cardinall Perron putteth forward Du Perron coÌ„tre le Roy de la Grand ' Bretagne Pag. 776. some histories and certaine commandements made to particularmen as the commandement to carry the Arke of the Covenant in procession the transferring of the Arke of God from Shilo to another place the charge made to Salomon to build a Temple and yet neuerthelesse the first of them is found in the 3. chap. of Ioshuae verse the 3. and 6. the second at the 78. Psalme verse the 60. the thrid in the 2. of Sam. chap. the 7. verse the 13. and 1. of Kings 5. 5. So little was this Cardinall versed in Gods booke A and though these passages were not found in the Scripture yet could it not bee preiudiciall to vs for they are Histories and commaundements made to particular men not rules and doctrines of Religion Also he octiecteth vnto vs and others after him the immortality of the soule which they say appeareth not in the fiue bookes of Moses these men without doubt scaree turne ouer the Sacred Pages of the Scripture At the 23. chap. of Numbers Balaam speaketh Let mee die the death of the righteous and let my last end be like vnto theirs He that calleth death a dissolution acknowledgeth that the soule suruiueth the body he that accompteth the death of the Righteous to bee blisse-full doeth not beleeue that their soules perish as they do of Beasts At the 59. chapter of Gen. verse the 18. Iacob dying speaketh O eternall I haue vnderstood thy salnation And at the 35. of Gen. 18. it is sayd of Rachel dying and as her soule was in departing Which perpetuity cannot be sayd of soules in Beastes for they perish with the body At the 31. of Deut. 16. God speaking to Moses Behold thou shall keepe with thy Fathers Which doth fully make good that the soules haue their repose after death Neuer did man in his right wits call the estate of some horse after death a sleepe At the 47 of Genef Iacob calleth his life in this world and that of his fathers a pilgrimage and acknowledgeth himselfe a stranger in the world The Apostle to the Hebrews chap. 11 14. declareth that they which say such things declare plainly that they seeke a countrey that is to say a cel estiall one as it appeareth by the 16 verse Icsus Christ at the 22 of S. Matthew to the same purpose and to prooue the Resurrection alleageth the words of God himselfe at the 30 of Exodus I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac the God of lacob for saith hee God is not the God of the dead but of the living But what moveth these men to perswade that the immortalitie of the soule is not fovnd at all in the bookes of of the Law of God except it bee because they themselues doubt of it or because they endeavour to make the Sacred bookes contemptible as failing in a point without the which the same that is called Religion is a meere fallacy and imposture and all the seruice of God is a supersluous toyle and care To the same purpose they adde Iohn Iâ—â—bert chap. 26. p. 324. that the resurrection of bodies the finall Iudgement Paradice and Hell are not contained evidently in all the old Testament whereby it appeareth that the whole study of these men is to reade onely the writings of their doctors in coppying forth their reasons without the paines of comming to the fource which is to finger ouer the leaues of the Scriptures for when should wee have done collecting together the passages of the old Testament which speakes of these things the very Psalmes alone might suffice and consider with me some passages among the rest Psal 16. 12. Thou shalt shew me the path of life in thy presence is the futnesse of toy and at thy right hand there is pleasure for euermore And at the 17. Psal 16. I will behold thy presence in righteousnesse and when I awake vp after thy likenesse I shall bee satisfied with it Gods face is not to bee seene with satiety but after the last alarme of the resurrection And in the 49. Psal 16. God shall redeeme my soule from the Tyranny of Hell meaning of death When hee shall take me vnto him And at the 73. Psal 23. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsell and after that receiue me with glory At the 31. Psal 6. Into thy hands I commend my spirit for thou hast redeemed me O Lord thou God of truth At the 50 Psal 3. 4. 5. Our God shall â—â—me having a consuming fire before him and a mighty tempest shall bee stirred vp round about him
commandement of God speaking Exod. 20. 9. sixe dayes shalt thou labour Or the power of the Pope to set at liberty under ground and to give Indulgences to the dead upon that which Iesus Christ sayth Math. 18. 18. Whatsoever yee shall bind and loose on earth c. Or cases reserved to the Pope upon the words of our Saviour uttered to all the Apostles Whose sinnes soever yee shall pardon they shall Iohn 20. 23 be pardoned Or images of the Almighty upon that which God discoursing to the People of Isreal giveth the reason why in speaking to them from heaven he suffered none to see any image or resemblance For Deut. 4. 23. feare sayth hee Lest yee might forget the Covenant which he made with you and make you a graven image or the likenesse of any thing male or female Or establishing of brothell-houses at Rome by the authority of his holinesse vpon the commandement Thou shalt not commit adultery Deut. 4. 13. Or the doctrine of the Councell of Trent affirming in the fift Session that covetousnesse is no sinne upon the law of God speaking Thou shalt not covet and upon the Deut. 5. 21. testimony of the Apostle saying that he hath learnt out of the law that covetousnesse is sinne Rom. 7. 7. Or forbidding the People to read the Scripture upon that which is written in the Apocal. Blessed is Apoe 1. 3. he that readeth and they that heare the words of this prophecy and upon the example of the people of Berea who Acts 17. 11. searched the Scriptures daily and upon the commandement made to Kings to reade carefully the booke of Deut. 17. 18. the law of God Or swearing by reliques upon the commandement of God Thou Deut. 10. 20. shalt feare the Eternall and sweare by his name Or Purgatory upon that which the Lord sayd unto the Thiefe upon the Crosse Thou shalt be with me Luk. 23. 43. this day in Paradise and upon the Luk. 17. 22. example of Lazarus whose soule was carried by the Angells into Abrahams bosome imediately after his death and upon the Apostle Saint Iohn speaking That the blood 1 Iohn 1. 7. of Iesus Christ purgeth us from all sin Or the sacrifice of the body of Iesus Christ in the Masse upon that which the Apostle to the Hebrews speaking of the sacrifice of the death of Iesus Christ made up on the Crosse declareth that We Hebr. 10. 10 14. are sanctified through the offering of the body of Iesus Christ once for all Hebr. 9. 25. 26. and that Iesus Christ offereth not himselfe ofien for as it is ordained for all men to dye once so Christ hath beene offered once to take away our sinnes making the sacrifice of Iesus Christ no more reiterable then the death of men Without all doubt if contrariety to the Scripture can give authority to the Romish Traditions these traditions which I have specified ought to bee of great authority Yea to summe up all our adversaries are too licencious and rash in their conjectures and I cannot conceave that they beleeve it themselves when they would have vs to beleeve that Iesus Christ speaking in private with his Disciples did conferre about the service of Images and great Pardons to bee made by the Pope of Chaplets and Blessed-beads of lessening the torment of Soules in Purgatory by Masses and Indulgences c. To what may this tend but to expose Iesus Christ to laughter or to delight themselves in faining matters without proofe and to allure those that will bee deluded to beleeve things that are incredible for such kind of presuppositions worke their effect according as he is awed that propoundeth them CHAP. XIII That our adversaries to distinguish the good Traditions from the bad doe give vs a Plea wherein they wholly convict themselves TO discerne the good Traditions from the bad our adversaries lay downe certaine Pleas which wee hold fit to have strictly examined They say that the Traditions ought to bee both receaved and beleeved to be divine which have alwaies beene approoved by the vniuersall Church as Vincentius Lyrinensis confirmeth it allowing that to bee received for truth which hath ever beene beleeved wholly and by all and Saint Augustine in his Epistle 118. If the Si quid horuÌ„ rota per orbeÌ„ frequentat Ecclesia hoc quin it a facienduÌ„ sit disputare insolentissima insaniae est Quod vâ—iversa tenet Ecclesia nec CoÌ„cilijs institutuÌ„ sed semper retentuÌ„ non nisi au horttate Apestolica tradituÌ„ certisimè creditur Church throughout the world observe any thing it is a distracted impudence to dispute whether it ought to be so or no and in his 4. Booke against the Donatists Chapter 4. That which the universall Church holdeth and hath not beene instituted by Councells but ever maintained is to bee beleeved in all just reason not to have beene ordained by other power then the Apostolique Authority Now though these passages of Saint Augustine bee unseasonably alledged because they speake of customes not necessary to salvation indifferent in their nature or of opinions without the knowledge wherof a man may be saved as we shall hereafter discover yet I say that by this Plea the Traditions of the Church of Rome doe fall to the ground and are not currant or receiueable for it is easie to prove that they have not beene received from the beginning by the Catholike Church How is it that Purgatory which 1. Purgatory is by interpretation a subterraneall fire where the soules of the faithfull are purged by orment could be beleeved in the ancient church seeing that a great part of the Fathers did beleeve that the soules could not be tormented without the bodies And that the Masse prayeth for soules that sleepe in a peaceable rest it being a cleere case that when this piece was patched to the Canon of the Masse the Church of Rome did not beleeve that the soules of the faithfull were tortured in a fire Pope Gregorie the 1. In his Dialogues sâ—ateth Purgatory in the smoake of baths and in the wind for this underground fire was not yet devised and yet this time was so far advanced as to the yeere 590. of our Lord. Invocation of Sts. was unknown 2. InvocatioÌ„ of Saints under the three first ages of the Christian Church and more then halfe of the fourth Cardinall Befla in his third booke of worshipping Saints Chap. 9. saith that When the §. Pratercacum scribetentur scriptura sancta 〈◊〉 coeperat usus vovends sanctia holy Scriptures were written the custome was not yet to make vowes to Saints Which is as much to say in plaine termes that about the Apostle time Saints were not called on nor did the Apostles who survived the Virgin Mary addresse their vowes unto her And Cardinall Perron to whom this commendation Du Perron coÌ„rre le Roy de la Grand Bretagne
who are full of Schoole brambles and doe subject Saint Paul to the positions of Aristotle and clothe Divinity with a Philosophicall habite Yet these very menwho forbid us to dispute doe make arguments after their manner to the which it is impossible to give answere by the sole words of the Scripture For we are constrained to say I deny the major or the minor which are words not so much as touched in the Scripture What man but a senslesse is ignorant that when two Propositions are soddered together as they should bee the conclusion or inference must necessarily follow And this is not an invention of Aristotle but a worke of God and a naturall impression for peasants make good arguments though il accommodated If of two propositions in an argument one bee drawne from the Scripture the other be knowne by the sense and allowed by the Adversary the conclusion shall follow of necessity As for example speake according to Scripture that every man is a lyer To this proposition Iadde another well knowne by the sense and confessed by the Adversary Philip is a man whereupon the conclusion that followeth therefore Philip is a lier cannot bee denied but by some witlesse Idiot and such a one as will not sticke to contradict himselfe in denying that which necessarily followeth upon the proposition which he hath confessed And to the end it may not bee thought that this Conclusion hath no certainty but by vertue of the two propositions I say that without a formall syllogisme this conclusion Philip is a lyer is contained in that proposition every man is a lyer just as one crowne is contained in ten though there bee no man to say it Thomas ought to have instructed Quaest 1. art 8. Theologiam esse argumeÌ„tatiuam ex articulas fidei procedâ— re ad aliquâ— aliud oâ—â—endendum Sâ— cut Apostolus 1. Cor 1â— a resurrect one Christi argumentaâ— ad 〈◊〉 rosurrectionem probâ—â—dam them hereupon who in the first part of his Summe Quest 1. sheweth that Theologie is disputative and that by the Articles of faith it proceedeth to shew some other thing as when the Apostle in I Cor. 15. disputeth of the resurrection of Iesus Christ to prove the resurrection to bee common Vpon which place Vasquez in the 12. Disputation Chap. 2. maintaineth that in Theologie if one proposition be taken out of a passage of Scripture and the other known by naturall light a conclusion may bee drawne from thence which may serve for a definitive position in the faith It is true say these men that humane reason may be deceived and they say true The same may bee said of the sight and of the hearing But would they dig out their owne eyes under colour that their eyes doe sometimes deceive them Vnder the pretext that reason is sometimes abused shall they withhold us from the use of reason Are there no good consequences and necessary Because some are evill shall they reject those that are good If they will have it so when the Doctors reade to us some passage of Scripture May not we tell them Perhaps it is not there as you reade it you must not beleeve your eyes for the sight of a man may often be deluded and mistaken Therefore the manner of making arguments where reason is not deceived and whence the conclusion cannot bee denied is that which I have said by joyning to a proposition drawne from the Scripture a second that is knowne by the sense or by a naturall light and is allowed by the Adversary The way to put these Disputants of our age to a non plus to stave them off from interrogations and keepe them to a syllogisticall method for then they shall make an argument wherein the second propositon shall bee thus in substance You are obliged by your owne confession to say nothing but what is in the Scripture totidem verbis the which ought to bee denied them It would be easie for vs to touch our Beliefe in termes extracted word by word out of the Scripture fastning one passage to another without knot or connexion The language indeed would ill cohere having neither the word for nor then nor wherefore nor all that serveth to dispose its discourse into parts and to shew the prosecution of the reason Buâ— in doing this we should close up the mouthes of these harebrained spirits who take it in indignity and are offended if a word for used which is not in the Scripture In one thing they speake reasonably But If say they Ye be permitted to make use of consequences why shall it not bee lawfull for us to doe the same This cannot bee contradicted but on condition that they obtrude not unto us non seqâ—itâ—rs for consequences drawing all things out of all things like so many Chymists You may see some paterns of theâ— consequences Christ hath sayd I have to tell you many things but you cannot for the present beare them away Therefore Christ hath taught that Saints ought to be invoked images to bee served and the Trinity to be painted Christ hath sayd doe this therfore the Priest sacrificeth the body of Iesus Christ in the Masse Christ hath sayd tell it to the Church therfore the Churcâ— of Rome cannot erre Christ hath sayd All that you shall loos◠〈◊〉 shall bee loosed in heaven therefore the Pope can let loose vnder ground and release soules out of Pugatory God hath made man after his owne image therfore images ought to be adored Likewise Sin against the holy Ghoast is neither pardoned in this world nor in the world to come therefore there is a fire of Purgatory to purge the soules Consequences that would provoke laughter were it not that thereby the word of God is troden under foot and the service of our Lord vtterly depraved CHAP. XXIII Testimonies of the Fathers touching the perfection of the Scripture AS the authority of the word of God contained in the holy Scriptures is not supported by the authority of men so also its perfection hath no want of their restimony Iesus Christ spake at the 5. of Iohn â—4 I seeke not testimony from men To beleeve that the word of God is perfect because men affirme it is to kindle a lampe to light the noone day for God is not to be therefore trusted because men say the word it must bee so The word of God is as forcible alone as in company yea being alone it better guardeth its owne authority How grosse then and absurd our adversaries should shew themselves in attempting to prove the insufficiency of the Scripture out of the Fathers seeing that to defend her sufficiency by warrant of the Fathers is to derogate from her authority But before we listen to the ancient Doctors in this question give us leave to protest that we alledge them not to defend the Scripture but by way of their justification for they are made the advocates of error contrary to their owne intentioÌ„ They are alledged to