such as the Apostle speakes dwelling in Christ and incorporate in his substance this spirite of prophesie if without preiudice so wee may call it did neuer waine was neuer eclipsed alwayes most splendent in him as light in the Moone at the full As hee neuer foretold any thing which came not to passe so could hee at all times when he pleased foretell whatsoeuer at any time should befall his friends or foes with all the circumstances and signes consequent or precedent From this brightnesse of his glory did Iohn Baptist who was sent from God as the morning starre to vsher this Sunne of righteousnesse into his Kingdome become more then a Prophet for distinct illuminations concerning matters to come A Prophet hee was in the wombe and bare witnesse of that light which enlightneth euery man that commeth into the world before hee came into it himselfe or saw this bodily Sunne when he could not speake he daunced for ioy at his presence and at his first approach after Baptisme hee thus salutes him Behold the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world What Prophet did euer so distinctly prophesie of his passion and so fully instruct the people what was foresignified by the sacrifice of the Paschall Lambe yet was Iohn himselfe secured by the former rule that he spake this by the spirit of the Lord not out of fancy not presumptuously For til this Baptisme he knew him not but he that sent him to baptize with water he said vnto him Vpon whom thou shalt see the spirit come down and tarrie still vpon him that is hee which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost And he saw it so come to passe and bare record that this was the sonne of God From this more then Propheticall spirit of Iohn manifested by this and the like testifications of Christ all afterwards approued by the euent did the people gather Christ not Iohn to be that great Prophet mighty in wordes and deed For after hee had escaped the violence offered him at Ierusalem and went againe beyond Iordan into the place where Iohn first baptized Many saith the Euangelist resorted vnto him and said Iohn did no miracle but all things which Iohn spake of this man were true And many belieued in him there For his workes sake not doubt but for these as accompanied with the former circumstances of place and Iohns predictions Iohn had witnessed hee was the sonne of God mighty in deed and word and reason they had to think his works were the works of his father that his priuiledges were the priuiledges of the onely begotten sonne and heire of all things When Iohn though a Prophet and more then a Prophet for his portion of the diuine spirit was yet restrained by reason of his approach that was before him from doing such wonders as meaner Prophets had done To such as rightly obserued this opposition betweene Iohns power in words and his defect in deedes or Christs superabundant power in both the case was plaine Iohn was but the Cryer the other in whose presence his authority decreased the Lord whose wayes hee was sent to prepare 13 If vnto the variety of Christs miracles compared with Iohns predictions and other prophesies wee ioine his arbitrarie vsuall manner either of foretelling future or knowing present matters of euery kind many such as no Prophet durst euer haue professed to belong vnto himselfe our faith may clearely behold the sure foundation whereon it is built That hee euen hee himselfe who had said by the Prophet I am the Lord this is my Name and my glory will I not giue vnto another neither my praise to grauen Images Behold the former things are come to passe and new things do I declare before they come forth I tell you of them did at the fulnesse of time manifest his Glory in our flesh by the practise there mentioned of fortelling things strange and vnheard of to the world Prophesies of former times were fulfilled in his personall appearance and made their period at the beginning of his preaching Whatsoeuer concernes the state of the world chiefly the Gentiles since came from him either as altogether new or was refined and renewed by him For what man among the Nations yea what Master in Israel did from the Law or prophets conceiue aright of the new birth by water and the spirit or of that euerlasting Kingdom whereunto onely men so borne are heires predestinate These were the new things which he only could distinctly declare before they came forth 14 That their Messias was to bee this God here spoken of by Isaiah dwelling and conuersing with them in their nature substance might haue beene manifested to the Iewes had they not beene hood-winked with pride and malice from that common notion euen the most vulgar amongst them had of his diuine spirit in declaring secrets and foretelling things to come What one miracle done by Christ did euer take so good effect with so great speed in best prepared spectators as his discouery of Nathaniels heart in presence and outward cariage in so great distance Rabbi saith Nathaniel thou art the sonne of God thou art the king of Israel Though faith be the true gift of God onely wrought by his spirit yet no question but Nathaniel was more inclined to this confession from the generall notion of the Messias diuine spirit euen by it hee was capable of that promise habenti dabitur And our Sauiour highly approues and so rewards this his docility Because I said vnto thee I saw thee vnder the figge tree belieuest thou thou shalt see greater things then these What were they Miracles Yes for so hee saith to him and the rest of his hearers Verely verely I say vnto you hereafter shall you see heauen open and the Angels of God ascending and descending vpon the sonne of man Then miracles it seems were more effectuall to confirme faith then this experience of his Propheticall spirit not of themselues but ioyned with it or as thus foretold by him and foresignified by Iacobs vision which compared with the euent whether that were at his ascension or no I now dispute not did plainely declare him to be the way and the doore by which all enter into the house of God 15 Vpon the first apprehension of like discouerie made by him did the poore Samaritane woman acknowledge hee was a Prophet and vpon his auouching himselfe to be more then so she takes him indeed for the expected Messtas of whom shee had this conceit before That when hee came he should tell them all things From this preconceiued notion working with her present experience of his diuine spirit able to descrie all the secrets of her hart shee makes this proclamation to her neighbours Come and see a man that hath told mee all things that euer I did is not he the Christ Vpon their like experience fully consonant to the same common notion or conceit
other portions of Scripture is not grounded vpon any preheminencie incident to these words as they are Gods as if they were more his then the rest in some such peculiar sort as the Tenne Commaundements are in respect of other Mosaicall Lawes nor from any internall proprietie flowing from the wordes themselues as if their secret character did vnto faithfull mindes bewray them to be more Diuine then others nor from any precedent consequent or comitant circumstance probably arguing that sence the Romish Church giues of them to be of it selfe more perspicuous or credible then the naturall meaning of most other Scriptures all inspired by one and the same spirit all for their forme of equall authoritie and perspicuitie All the prerogatiue then which these passages can haue before others must be from the matter contained in them and that by our aduersaries position is the Churches infallibilitie Wherefore not because they are Gods word or were giuen by his Spirit in more extraordinarie sort then others but because they haue more affinitie with the Roman Lord in late yeares exalted aboue all that is called God Father Sonne or Holy Ghost these places aboue cited must bee more authentikely beleeued then all the wordes of God besides As I haue read of pictures though not more artificiall in themselues yet helde in greater estimation amongst the Heathen and freer from contemptuous censure then any other of the same Painters doing onely because they represented their great God Iupiter 11 Another difficultie whereunto we demand an answere is whether whiles they assent as they professe not onely to the infallibilitie taught as they suppose in the fore cited places but also vnto the infallibilite of Scriptures which teach it they acknowledge two distinct assents or but one If but one let them shew vs how possibly the Church can bee said to confirme the Scriptures if two let them assigne the seuerall properties of either whether is more strong whether must bee to the other as Peter to his brethren or if neither of them can confirme the other let them declare how the one can be imagined as a meane or condition of beleeuing the other 12 An Heretikes beleefe of the minor proposition in the former Syllogisme saith Bellarmine is but weake A Romanists beleefe of the same most strong Let this bee the Minor Peter feed my sheepe or Peter I haue prayed for thee that thy faith should not faile what reason can be imagined why a Romanists beleefe of these propositions should bee so strong and ours so weake The one hath the Churches authoritie to confirme his faith the other hath not What is it then to haue the Churches authoritie onely to know her decrees concerning those portions of Scriptures If this were all we know the Romish Churches decrees aswel as the Romanists but it is nothing to know them if we doe not acknowledge them To haue Churches authoritie then is to beleeue it as infallible and for this reason is a Romane Catholikes beleefe of any portion of Scripture more certaine and strong because hee hath the testimonie of the Church which he beleeues to be most infallible and beleeuing it most infallibly he must of necessitie beleeue that to be Scripture that in euery place to be the meaning of the Holy Ghost which this Church commends vnto him for such Let the most learned of our aduersaries here resolue the doubt proposed whether there bee two distinct assents in the beleefe of the forementioned propositions one vnto the truth of the proposition it selfe and another vnto the Churches infallibilitie It is euident by Bellarmines opinion that all the certaintie a Roman Catholique hath aboue a Sectarie is from the Churches infallibilite For the proposition it selfe he can beleeue no better then an Heretique may vnlesse hee better beleeue the Church i. he beleues the Churches exposition of it or the Churches infallibilitie concerning it better then the proposition it selfe in it selfe and for it selfe And so it is euident that the Churches authoritie is greater because it must be better beleeued 13 Suppose then one of our Church which beleeues these propositions to be the word of God should turne of Roman Catholique his former beleefe is by this meanes become more strong and certaine This granted the next question is what should be the obiect of this his strong beleefe the propositions beleeued Peter feed my sheepe I haue prayed for thee or any other part of Gods written word or the Churches authoritie not the propositions themselues but onely by accident in as much as the Church confirmes them to him For suppose the same man should estsoones either altogether reuolt from the Church or doubt of her authoritie his beleefe of the former propositions becomes hereby as weake as it was before which plainely cuinceth that his beleefe of the Church and this proposition were two distinct beleefes and that this strong beleefe was fastened vnto the Churches authoritie not vnto the proposition it selfe immediately but onely by accident in as much as the Church which he beleeueth so firmely did teach it for his beleefe if fastened vpon the proposition it selfe after doubt mooued of the Churches authoritie would haue continued the same but now by Bellarmines assertion assoone as hee begins to disclaime his beleefe of the Churches infallibilitie his former strong beleefe of the supposed proposition begins to faile and of this failing no other reason then alreadie is can be assigned The reason was because the true direct and proper obiect of his stronge beleefe was the Churches authoritie on which the beleefe of the proposition did intirely depend as the conclusion doth vpon the premisses or rather as euery particular doth on the vniuersall whereunto it is essentially subordinate CHAP. III. Containing a further Resolution of Romish faith necessarily inferring the authoritie of the Romish Church to bee of greater authoritie then Gods Word absolutely not only in respect of vs. IF we racke the former syllogisme a little farther and stretch it out in euerie ioynt to it full length wee may quickly make it confesse our proposed conclusion and somewhat more The Syllogisme was thus Whatsoeuer God hath spoken is most true But God hath spoken and caused to be written all those wordes contained in the Canon of Scriptures acknowledged by opposite religions of these times Therefore these wordes are most true The certaintie of the Minor depends as our aduersaries will haue it vpon the present Romish Churches infallibilitie which hath commended vnto vs these Bookes for Gods Word Bee it then granted for disputations sake that we cannot know any part of Gods Word much lesse the iust bounds extent or limits of all his words supposed to be reuealed for our good but by the Romish Church The Spirituall sence or true meaning of all most or many parts of these determinate Volumes and visible Characters as yet is vndeterminate and vncertaine whereas all points of beleefe must bee grounded on the determinate and certaine sence of
cum pecuniae onere produxit in forum quasi pro sponsoribus praesens pignus Macrob. Saturn l. 1. c. 6. Why Peter was called Cephas Math 16. v. 13. 14. 15. c. Iohn 1. v. 49. a PronomeÌ„ hanc non potest referri ad Christum Petram sed ad Petram Petram debet enim referri ad aliquod proximum non ad remoâ—um proxime ante dictum fuerat non Christo sed Petra tu es Cephas id est Petra deiâ—de licet Christus dici pâ—sset Petra tamen hoc in loco non est vocatus petra à Petro confitente sed Christus filius Dei viui debet autem referri Hanc cum qui nominatus est Petra non ad cum qui non est appellatus hoc nomine Bellar. lib. 1. de Rom. Pont. cap. 10. Vide Deut. 32. Ps 18. â—s 19. vlt. Tu vero considera verborum Prophetae amplitudinem poteratâ—d cere Miâ—tam vobis Messiam seâ— voluit tam insigne beneficium verbis insignibus Metaphoricis explicare Est autem transtatio sumpta ab â—icantibus quae verborum amplitudine minuit rei magnificentiam maiestatem Plinius in 28. Isaâ—e ver 16. See the latter Annotation out of Bellarmine aâ— the 25. §. of this Chapter and Malâ—onat in Matthei 21. ver 42. * Omnes quos â—egi praeter Hilarium existimant sensum esse sore vt diaboli potentia Ecclesiam quidem exerceat vunquam vero apprimat Sed non solent portae vincere sed resistere itaque non potuâ—t offendendendi vis per portas significari sensus igitur nisi fallor est fore vt Ecclesia super Petram à Christo fundatae omnem diaboli potentiam expugnet ita vt nulla arte nullis viribus possit resistere Hoc enim multo maius est verbis magis consentaneum Portas enim inferi non praeualituras aduersus Ecclesiam phrasis Hebraica est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non poterunt ad versus illam id est non poterunt illi resistere * Vid. Maldonatum in versum 42. cap. 21. Math. Bellar. lib. v. de Pont. Rom. cap. 17. d Psal 18. v. 31. v. 46. e Psal 19. v. 14. * Isa 28. v. 16. Vide Forerium in hunc locum * The word in the Originall signifieth to make haste therefore any kind of haste according to the difference of the matter or obiect in this place aequiualent to the latine proripiat a word signifying haste but haste caused by shame or feare of mens presence from which the party ashamed seeks with coÌ„fused speed to hide himselfe Et cum damareÌ„ quo nunc se proripit ille Tityre coge pecus tu post carecta latebas This is true of faith which the Apostle saith of loue 1. Ioh. 4. v. 17. Herein is loue perfect in vs that we should haue boldnes in the day of iudgement for as he is euen so are we in this world Vid. Luc. 21. v. 25. 26. of the confused state of the wicked * Rom. 10. v. 9. a Rom. 10. v. 11. * Math. 16. 23. a Psal 118. v. 23 * Acts 4. v. 10. Math. 21. * Ver. 40. * Ver. 41. * Ver. 42. c. 1. Pet. 2. 7. 8. 1. Iohn 4 v. 1. Vide Tyram in hunc locum * Psal 50. v. 16 Psal 50. v. 25. * No man hath seene God at anytime If we loue one another God dwelleth in vs his loue is perfect in vs. Hereby know wee that wee dwell in him and he in vs because hee hath giuen vs of his spirit And we haue seen and doe testifie that the Father sent the sonne to bee the Sauiour of the world Whosoeuer confesseth that Iesus is the sonne of God in him dwelleth God and he in God Vide cap. 2. ver 16. Iohan. In what sense the Papist deny Christ to be come in the flesh * 1. Cor. 3. v. 11 * Eph. 2. 20. Nor doth that place Reu. 21. ver 14. proue any more then that by the Apostles ministery the Church was erected * Dicuntur fundamenta omnes Apostoli ratione gubernationis Omnes enim suerunt capita rectores pastores Ecclesiae vniuersae sed non eodem modo quo Petrus Illi enim habuerunt summam atque amplissi nam potestatem vt Apostoli seu legati Petrus autem vt Pastor ordinarius Deinde ita habuerunt plenitudinem potestatis vt tame Peteus esset caput eorum ab illo penderent non é contrario Bellar. lib. 1 de Rom. Pont. c. 12. * Cephas Syriace significat â—etraÌ„ vt nos supra docuimus Hieronymus test â—tue in cap. 2. Epistolae ad Galat. Graeâ—d autent significat caput vt lib. 2. conâ—ra Paâ—menianum annotauiâ— Optatus de demum vnum est ex celeberinis Christi nominibus Nihil enim frequentius in Scripturis Christâ—s appellitur qùam Petra Christus ergo cum solo Petro suum ipsius nomen communicans nomea illud quo ipse significutur vt 〈◊〉 caput Ecclesiae vniuersae quid aliud indicare voluit quam se faccre Petrum fundamentum caput Ecclesiae 〈◊〉 Ibidem cap. 17. a Heb. 8. v. 13. * The differeÌ„ce betweene Christ and the Pope much lesse by the Papists opininion then betweene the Pope and other Bishops * Nâ—s non negamus imo defendimus contra negantes verbuÌ„ Dei ministratum per Apostolos Prophetas esse primum fundamentum nostrae fidâ—i Ideo enim credimus quidquid credimus quia Deum â—d per Apostoles Prophetas reuelauit sed addimus praeter hoc fundamentum primum requiri aliud fundameÌ„tum secundarium id est Ecclesiae testificationem Neque enim seimus certò quid Deus reuelauerit inisi ex testimo monio Ecclesiae propterea sicut legimus Christum esse lapidem fundamentalem fundamentum primum Ecclesiae ita legimus Matth. 16. de Petro super hanc Petram aedisâ—abo Ecclesiam meam Itaque sides nostra adheret Christo primae veritati reueclanti mysteria fundamento primario adhaeret etiam Petro id est Pontifici praeponenti explicanti haec mysteria vt fundamento secundario Bellar. de Verbi Dei Interpret cap. 10. Respons ad 13. * Of all Peters prerogatiues those most vrged by the Romanists as alike appertaining to his successors are most personal * Vide Bellar. lib. 2. de Romano Pontif. cap. 12. Parag. vltitimo and the annotation §. 21. * The Papâ—sts either admit many foundations or build all the Apostles beside S. Peter vpon their moderne Popes v. cap. 8. §. 13. * The Papists conceiue of Christ but as of another Romulus * Daniel 2. v. 44. * 2. Thes 2. cap. 8. ver * The Pope successor vnto the checke not to the promise giueÌ„ by Christ to Saint Peter * Math. 16. v. 22. c. * Bellarmâ—ne apphes all that is spoken in Peters commeÌ„ dacions vnto-his successors whom he will not haue sharers in his reproofes Ea quae
there any thing too hard for me The Lord had stricken Iacob with the wound of an enemy and with a sharpe chastice meÌ„â— for the multitude of his iniquities wherefore hee cryed for his affliction and said My sorrow is incurable not considering who it was had done all this vnto him for because the Lord had killed they must belieue hee would make aliue againe Their present wounds inflicted contrary to the rules of politique defence where the best pledges of their future health beyond all hope of State-Surgeons And this is the very Sâ—ale of Ieremiahs assurance from the Lords own mouth Thus sayeth the Lord like as I haue brought all this great plague vpon this people so will I bring vpon them all the good I haue promised them And the fields shall be possessed in this land whereof ye say It is desolate without man or beast and shall be giuen into the hand of the Caldeans Men shall buy fields for siluer and make writings and seale them and take witnesses in the land of Beniamin and round about Ierusalem So absolute and all-sufficient was Moses law in particular actions much more in generall or doctrinall resolution that God himselfe for confirmation of his Prophets this distrustfull peoples faith in a point by humane estimate most incredible thought it sufficient to be a remembrance to the Law-giuer For the Lord here saith to Ieremiah concerning this particular Moses many generations before had vniuersally foretold Now when all these things shall come vpon thee either the blessing or the curse which I haue set before thee and thou shalt turne into thine hart among all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath driuen thee then the Lord thy God will cause thy Captiues to returne and haue compassion vpon thee and will returne to gather thee out of all the people where the Lord thy God had scattered thee Though thou wâ—rst cast vnto the vttermost part of heauen from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee and from thence will he take thee And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed and thou shalt possesse it and he will shew thee fauour and will multiply thee aboue thy fathers By this rule of Moses according to the prediction of Ieremiah doth Nehemiah afterwards frame his prayers to God direct his enterprise for restauration of Ierusalem Wee haue grieuously sinned against thee and haue not kept the commandements nor the statutes nor the iudgements which thou commandest thy seruant Moses I beseech thee remember the word that thou commandest thy seruant Moses saying Ye will transgresse and I will scatter you abroad among the people But if yee turne vnto me and keepe my commandements and doe them though your scattering were to the vttermost part of the heauen yet will I gather you from thence and will bring you vnto the place that I haue chosen to place my Name there Now these are thy seruants and thy people c. O Lord I beseech thee let thine eare now hearken to the praier of thy seruants who desire to feare thy name and I pray thee cause thy seruant to prosper this day and giue him fauour in the presence of this man He saw the truth of Moses diuine predictioÌ„ confirmed by the Kings present grant of his petition speedy restauration of Ierusalem albeit a Prophet by profession had disswaded the enterprise as likely to proue dangerous to his person CHAP. VIII That the societie or visible Company of Prophets had no such absolute authority as the Romish Church vsurpes 1 DId the Records of antiquity afford vs any the least presumption to thinke that absolute beliefe or obedience might safely be tendered by inferiors as due to any visible Company of men without examination of their proposals by Moses writings since they were extant the society of Prophets in all respects the Romanists can pretend had the most probable title to this prerogatiue Their professioÌ„ or calling was publike and lawfull their distinction from all others eminent their persons and places of residence visible and knowne their promises for enioying the extraordinary presence or illuminations of Gods spirit peculiar many of them venerable for their integrity in ciuill dealings and sanctity of priuate life some of them endued with the gift of miracles In all these and many like considerations that fraternity or collegiate society might iustly haue pleaded all the priuiledges a publike spirit can grant to one sort of men before others For if the more or lesse expresse testimony of Gods word for extraordinary assistance of his spirit or the different measure of his illumination or manner of immediate teaching be that which makes som mens spirit more publike then their brethrens this difference was greater betweene the Priests or Prophets and people of old then since God spake vnto the world by his sonne yet what Prophet did once intimate the necessity of his proposall for notifying the truth of Scriptures What one did euer bewray the least desire to haue his interpretations of them vniuersally held authentique or his particular predictions absolutely assented vnto without further triall then his bare assertion without examination of them by Moses doctrine already establisâ—ed 2 Had they beene the infallible Church representatiue had their assertions though giuen by ioinct consent ex Cathedra or in the most solemne manner vsed in those times beene of such authority as the Romanist would perswade vs a Councell of their Prelates lawfully assembled is Gods people had stood bound to embrace whatsoeuer a maior part of that profession had resolued vpon but this inference though necessarily following the supposed premises the Iesuit I know dare not affirme lest Ahabs bloud vntimely shed by confidence in their infallibility cry out against him Yet Bellarmine too well knowing the liquorish temper of this present age for the most part acquainted with none but table-talke Diuinity to bee such as will swallow down any doctrine bee it neuer so idle prophane or poisonous so it bee sauced with pleasant conceit and merriment would put vs of with this iest That as in Saxonie one Catholiques verdict were to be taken bâ—fore sowre hundred Lutherans so should one of the Lords Prophets haue beene followed in those times before fiue hundred of Baals And Ahab no doubt had so done had not the Diuell taught his Diuines then as hee hath done Bellarmine and his fellowes since to take vniuersality as a sure note of the Church traditions and customes of the Elders for the rule of faith and which is the vndoubted Conclusion of such premisses to follow a multitude to any mischiefe So mightily did the opinion of a maior part being all men of the same profession sway with the superstitious people of those times that Ahabs Purseuant conceiued hope of seducing Micaiah whilst they were on the way together by intimating such censures of schisme of heresie of
ones dealing was I confesse most vnusual so was the others death yet a liuely document to cause all that should heare of it vntill the worlds end take heede of dispensing with the word of the Lord once made known vnto themselues vpon beliefe of more manifest reuelations or instructions by what meanes soeuer giuen to others either for recalling or restraining it Hence may the Reader discry aswell the height of our aduersaries folly as the depth of their impietie making their Churches authority which by their own acknowledgement cannot adde moe bookes to the number of the Canon already finished but onely iudge which are Canonicall which not farre greater then theirs was that did preach and write these very bookes which both wee and they acknowledge for Canonicall For the Prophets words were no rule of faith vntill examined and tried by the written word precedent or approued by the euent the Popes must be without triall examination or further approbation then his owne bare assertion CHAP. IX That the Church representatiue amongst the Iewes was for the most part the most corrupt Iudge of matters belonging to God and the reasons why it was so 1 BVt was the neglect of Moses law or this peoples inward corruption abounding for want of restraint by it the sole cause of their dulnesse in perceiuing or of their error in peruerting the things of Gods spirite This ouerflow of wickednesse serued as a tide to carry them but the continuall blasts of such vaine doctrine Templum Domini Templum Domini the Church the Church was like a boisterous wind to driue them headlong into those sands wherein they alwayes made shipwracke of faith and conscience The true Prophets neuer had greater opposites then the Priests and such as the Papists would haue to be the onely pillars yea the onely materiall parts of the Church representatiue Notwithstanding whom the Fathers had traduced for impostors or Sectaries and oftimes murdered as blasphemers of the Deity or turbulent members of the state the Children reuerenced as men of God and messengers of peace vnto the Church and common weale What was the reason of this diuersity in their iudgement or doth it argue more stedfast beliefe in posterity No but more experience of the euents foretolde oftimes not fulfilled vntill the Priests and other opposites either coaeuals or ancients to the Prophets were couered with confusion The childrens motiues to belieue particulars oppugned by their parents were greater and the impediments to withdraw their assent from them lesse That the children should thus brooke what their fathers most disliked in the Prophets is no more then wee may obserue in other Writers Few much reuerenecd in any faculty by posterity but had eager detractors in their flourishing dayes vicinity alwayes breeding enuy And euen of such as did not aemulate them for their skill nor would haue beene moued with enuy at their fame or glory they were not esteemed as they deserued being defrauded of due praise by such of the same profession as better pleased the predominant humor alwayes next in election to the lauish Magnificates of present times but vsually reiected by posterity when that particular humour euermore shorter liuth than the humorous beganne to change Thus in euery faculty haue those authors which most applied themselues to solidity of truth neglecting new-fangle trickes or flashes of extemporary wit endured in greatest request and best credit throughout all ages as meates strongest and most nourishing not most delicate are fittest for continuall diet What the Latine Poet said of his Poems euery Prophet might haue more truely applyed vnto his writinges Mox tibi si quis adhuc pretendat nubila liuor Occidet meriti post me referentur honores Though cloudes of enuy now may seeme thy splendent rayes to choake These with my ashes shall dissolue and vanish as their smoake VVhat whilest I breath sharpe censures blast when my leafe fals shall spring Thy fame must flourish as I fade graue honour forth shall bring It was a Methode most compendious for attaining such eternity of fame as the continuall succession of mortality can affoorde vs which is giuen by another Poet but in prose Dum viuas virtutem colas inuenias famam in Sepulchro Hee that hunts after vertue in his whole course of life shall bee sure to meete with fame after death but hardly sooner least of all could these Prophets bee much honoured in their owne Country whilest men of their owne profession carnally minded possessed the chiefe seates of dignity sometimes the best stay and pillars of faith in Gods Church most capable of that infallibility which their proud successors did more boast of Yet were euen these seducers alwayes willing to celebrate the memory of ancient prophets because the authority giuen to their sayings or reuerence shewed vnto their memory by the present people ouer whome they ruled did no way preiudice their owne dignity or estimation which rather increased by thus consorting with the multitude in their laudatoes of holy men deceased Thus from one and the same inordinate desire of honour and praise from men did contrary effects vsually spring in these masters of Israel The dead they reuerenced because they saw that acceptable vnto most likely to make way for their owne prayse amongst the people but feare lest the liuing Prophets should bee their coriuals in suites of glory whereunto their soules were wholly espoused did still exasperate and wher the malice of impatient mindes conscious of their own infirmities against their doctrine which could not be embraced but their estimation must be impaired their affections crossed their politique proiects dashed The higher in dignity the Priests and Rulers were the more it vexed them such poore men as the true Prophets for the most part were should take vpon them to direct the people Their obiections against those men of God their scurrilous taunts and bitter scoffes their odious 〈◊〉 forged to make way for bloudy persecutions are most liuely represented by the like practizes of the Romish Clergy continued almost as many yeares against the Albigeans Huâ—sites and generally against al whom they suspect to haue any familiarity with the spirit whose testimony against them is as authentique as euident onely ouerborne through Gods permission in the worlds sight by preiudice of priuatenesse Thus when poore Michatah would not say as the King would haue him the politique State-Prophet Zidkiah sonne of Chenaanah gaue him a blow on the cheeke to beate an answere out to this demand When went the Spirit of the Lord from mee to thee As many proud Prelates would in like case reply vpon his poore brother that should crosse his opinion specially in a matter belonging though but a farre off vnto the State Sirrha I am your better know your place before whom and in what matter you speake Nor did Zidkiah onely but 400. more no otherwise discernable for false Prophets then by such triall as wee contend for as
Gods appointment so to instruct their brethren in doubtfull cases as they should not need to consult sorcerers or entertaine familiarity with wicked spirits Christ to omit the eminency of his Propheticall function till hereafter besides this common fraternity with his people was in more especiall manner Abrahams seed and in particular sort raised vp by Iehouah his God by intrinsique assumption into the vnitie of his person not by externall assistance or impulsion of his spirit Raised likewise hee was in a strict and proper sense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from amid this people being as it were extracted out of the pure virgin as the first woman was out of the man by Iehouahs owne immediate hand from his craddle to his crosse most exactly answering to that delineation of the Great Prophet and Mediatour to bee reuealed which was exhibited first in Moses when hee stood before the Lord in Horeb his strange deliuerance from Herodian butcherie whiles al the Infant males besides did perish was fully parallel to the others exemption from Pharaohs cruelty like to Moses hee was in the number of his Disciples in communication of his spirit vnto them in admitting them to more speciall participation of his secrets in the peculiar testifications of his familiarity with God in his fasting in his transfiguration in multitude of miracles But these and the like I leaue to the Readers obseruation 10 The peculiar and proper vndoubted notes of the great Prophet there spoken of will bee most conspicuous in our Sauiour if we compare him first with Moses then with ordinary Prophets according to that difference the Lord himself made between these and Moses If there be a Prophet of the Lord among you I will bee knowne to him by a vision and will speake vnto him by dreame My seruant Moses is not so who is faithfull in all mine house Vnto him will I speake mouth to month and by vision not in darke words but he shall see the similitude of the Lord. Wherefore then were yee not afraide to speake against my seruant euen against Moses It is said signanter he should see the similitude of God not God for as the Euangelist saith No man hath seene God at any time so was it told Moses from the Lords owne mouth that hee could not see his face and liue Yet saw this great Prophet more of God then all the Prophets beside Herein then was Christ like vnto him but farre aboue him that hee was in the bosome of his father not admitted to see his backe parts onely and hath declared him to the world Moses from the abundance of his Propheticall spirit so perfectly foretold the perpetuall estate of his people from the Law giuen to the time of their Messias as the best Prophets may seeme to be but his schollers From participation of that fulnes which was in Christ hath that Disciple whom hee loued farre exceeded Moses as well in the extent waight and variety of matters foretold as in the determinate manner of foretelling them And I know not whether if it were possible to call both Christ and Moses from heauen their presence though more glorious then it was vpon Mount Tabor would be more forcible to illuminate the Iew or Atheist then serious reading the bookes of Deutoronomy and the Reuelation comparing the one with the Iewes known misery the other with Ecclesiasticall Stories the late abominations of the Papacy and Romanists more then Iewish blindnesse The one shewes Moses to haue been the father of Prophets the other Christ from whose immensurable fulnesse Iohn had that extraordinary measur of the spirit to bee the fountaine of Prophesies whose supereminencies and inexhaustible fulnesse may yet bee made more apparent by comparing him not with Moses the symbole or meane but with the other extreame to witte the ranke of lesser Prophets 11 It is rightly obserued by the Schoolemen Lumen Propheticum erat aliqualiter aenigmaticum these ordinary Prophets illuminations were not so euident or distinct as certaine they discerned rather the proportion then featur of truth which they saw but as it were through the couer or in the case not in it self And albeit the euent did alwayes proue their answeres true oftimes in an vnexpected sence yet could they not alwayes giue such answeres when they pleased Nor did the light of Gods countenance perpetually reside vpon them as the Sunnes brightnesse doth by reflexion vpon the starres they had their vicissitude of day and night dayly Eclipses ouercastings many their chiefe illuminations came but as it were by flashes Thus Ieremy in the late cited controuersie dares not aduenture to giue the people a sign for confirmation of his doctrine or other more distinct or determinate prediction besides that of the generall euent about which the contention was That hee knew because the Lord had put it into his mouth would in the end condemne his aduersarie of presumption But after Hananiah had outfaced him with a sensible signe of his owne making breaking the yoake which he had taken from Ieremiahs necke on which the Lord had put it and boldly auouched in the presence of all the people Thus saith the Lord euen so will I breake the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babel from the necke of all nations within the space of two yeeres the word of the Lord came vnto Ieremiah again and sends him backe with this message to his aduersarie Heare now Hananiah the Lord hath not sent thee but thou makest this people to trust in a lie Therefore thus saieth the Lord Behold I will cast thee from off the earth this yeere thou shalt die because thou hast spoken rebelliously against the Lord. So Hananiah the Prophet died the same yeere in the seuenth moneth Not long after this euent were both Prince and people of Iudah rooted out of the land the Lord had giuen them because contrary to Moses admonition they reuerenced the Prophet that spake presumptuously and would not hearken vnto the words which the Lord had put in Ieremiahs mouth Elisha likewise to whom Elias had giuen a double portion of his spirit in respect of his fellowes of all the Prophets vnlesse Elias might be excepted most famous for the gift of miracles a liuely type of the Messias in raysing from death and giuing life had his spirit of Diuination but by fittes and needed Musicke to tune his spirites vnto it He gaue the barren Shunamite a sonne of whose death notwithstanding hee knew not as the Lord of life did of Lazarus in his absence nor ruled hee by her vnusuall gesture or strange signes of sorrow distinctly diuine the true cause of her comming onely when Gehezi went to thrust her away he said as much as hee knew Let her alone for her soule is vexed within her and the Lord hath hid it frō me and hath not told it me 12 But from the perpetuall and internall irradiation of the Deitie bodily or personally
grace it selfe would rather haue held the Negatiue For if wee beleeue as the Papists generally instruct vs that wee our selues all priuate spirites may erre in euery perswasion of faith but the Church which onely is assisted by a publike spirite cannot possibly teach amisse in any Wee must vpon termes as peremptory and in equall degree beleeue euery particular point of faith because the Church so teacheth vs not because wee certainely apprehend the truth of it in it selfe For wee may erre but this publike spirite cannot And consequently wee must infallibly belieue these propositions Christ is the Redeemer of the world not Mahomet There is a Trinity of persons in the diuine nature for this reason only that the Church commends them vnto vs for diuine reuelations seeing by their arguments brought to disproue the sufficiency of Scriptures or certainety of priuate spirites no other means possible is left vs. Nay were they true wee should be onely certain that without the Churches proposall wee still must be most vncertain in these and all other points because the sonnes are perpetually obnoxious to error from which the mother is euerlastingly priuiledged The same propositions and conclusions we might condicionally belieue to be absolutely authentike vppon supposall they were Gods word but that they are his word or reuelations truly diuine wee cannot firmely belieue but onely by firme adherence to the Churches infallible authority as was in the second Section deduced out of the Aduersaries principles Hence it followes that euery particular proposition of faith hath such a proper causall dependance vpon the Churches proposall as the conclusion hath vpon the premisses or any particular vpon it vniuersall Thus much Sacroboseus grants 3 Suppose God should speake vnto vs face to face what reason had wee absolutely and infallibly to belieue him but because wee know his words to bee infallible his infallibility then should be the proper cause of our beliefe For the same reason seeing he doth not speake vnto vs face to face as hee did to Moses but as our aduersaries say reueales his will obscurely so as the Reuealer is not manifested vnto vs but his meaning is by the visible Church which is to vs in stead of Prophetes Apostles and Christ himselfe and all the seuerall manners God vsed to speake vnto the world before he spake to it by his onely sonne this Pantheas infallibility must bee the true and proper cause of our beliefe And Valentian himselfe thinks that Sara and others of the old world to whom God spake in priuate eyther by the mouth of Angels his sonne or holy spirit or by what meanes soeuer did not sinne against the doctrine of faith or through vnbeliefe when they did not belieue Gods promises They did herein vnaduisedly not vnbelieuingly Why not vnbelieuingly because the visible Church did not propose these promises vnto them 4 If not to belieue the visible Churches proposals be that which makes distrust or diffidence to Gods promises infidelity then to belieue them is the true cause of belieuing Gods promises or if Sara and others did as Valentian sayth vnaduisedly or imprudently in not assenting to diuine truthes proposed by Angels surely they had done only prudently and aduisedly in assenting to them their assent had not beene truely and properly beleefe So that by this assertion the Churches proposall hath the very remonstratiue roote character of the immediat and prime cause whereby wee beleeue and know matters of faith For whatsoeuer else can concurre without this our assent to diuine truthes proposed is not true Catholike beliefe but firmely beleeuing this infallibility we cannot erre in any other point of faith 5 This truth Valentian elsewhere could not dissemble howsoeuer in his professed resolution of faith hee sought to couer it by change of apparrell Inuesting the Churches proposall onely with the title of a condition requisite yet withall so dissonant is falsity to it selfe making it the reason of beleeuing diuine Reuelations If a reason it be why wee should belieue them needs must it sway any reasonable mind to embrace their truth And whatsoeuer inclines our minds to the embracement of any truth is the proper efficient cause of beliefe or assent vnto the same Yea efficiency or causality it selfe doth formally consist in this inclination of the mind Nor is it possible this proposall of the Church should moue our minds to embrace diuine Reuelations by any other meanes then by belieeuing it And beliefe it selfe being an inclination or motion of the mind our minds must first be moued by the Churches proposall ere it can moue them at all to assent vnto other diuine truthes Againe Valentian grants that the orthodoxall or catechisticall answere to this interrogation Why doe you belieue the doctrine of the Trinity to be a diuine reuelation is because the Church proposeth it to me for such Hee that admits this answere for sound and Catholike and yet denies the Churches proposall to bee the true and proper cause of his beliefe in the former point hath smothered doubtlesse the light of nature by admitting too much artificiall subtlety into his braines For if a man should aske why do you belieue there is a fire in yonder house and answere were made Because I see the smoake go out of the Chimney should the party thus answering in good earnest peremptorily deny the sight of the smoake to bee the cause of his beleefe there was a fire hee deserued very well to haue eyther his tongue scorched with the one or his eyes put out with the other Albeit if wee speake of the things themselues not of his beliefe concerning them the fire was the true cause of the smoake not the smoake of the fire But whatsoeuer it be Cause Condition Circumstance or Effect that truly satisficeth this demand Why doe you belieue this or that it is a true and proper cause of our beleefe though not of the thing beleeued If then we admit the Churches proposall to bee but a condition annexed to diuine reuelations yet if it bee an infallible medium or meane or as our aduersaries all agree the only mean infallible whereby we can rightly beleeue this or that to be a diuine reuelation it is the true and only infallible cause of our beleefe That speech of Valentian which to any ordinary mans capacity includes as much as we now say was before alleadged That Scripture which is commended and expounded vnto vs by the Church is eo ipso euen for this reason most authentike and cleare He could not more emphatically haue expressed the Churches proposall to be the true and prime cause why particular or determinate diuine reuelations become so credible vnto vs. His second Sacroboscus hath many speeches to be inserted hereafter to the same effect Amongst others where Doctor Whittaker obiects that the principall cause of faith is by Papists ascribed vnto the Church he denyes it onely thus far What we beleeue