done the like you had never rambled on such a Collection as this to say Christ had erroneously taught him the way to life by vade vende omnia if this bee not a Counsell of voluntary poverty Your sequell is out of ioint and absurd rather Christ would haue never applied this plaister if he looking through the windowes of this young mans soule into his inward most retired roome had not found covetousnes to be his hinderance and encombrance And this proveth it selfe in the Text for he went away sorrowfully I cannot but note the malice and virulent dealing of your ignorant contradicting spirit traducing Calvine for a blasphemous interpreter who taught no more then he learned of the Fathers and if among those that did interpret Scripture since the fathers time any one is worthy to be accounted fidus interpres Horat. Art Poet. for his soūdnesse and profoundnesse blessed Calvin is who was as Eramsus wrot of Tonstall a world of learning Eras epist 84. Claud. Verderius conscio in Autores pag. 174. and as Theodorus Gaza testified of Plutarch that if any mā were so limited that he could only read one humane authors bookes he would read Plutarch so many renowned Divines next vnto sacred Scripture haue of all other authors choisly and cheefly selected this holy servant of God So that in this Paragraph you blaspheme God iniure truth accuse your knowledge and abuse your conscience Mr LEECH Lastly I would but demand what S. Paule meant 2. Cor. 7.25 Vid. Damas dict Gnomi in Indice to distinguish plainely betwixt Precepts Coūsells thus praeceptum non habeo consilium do for so the vulgar readeth which all the latine Church followeth and all the Greeke Fathers haue so taken it if there be no Counsells For he groundeth this his distinction vpon his Masters wordes Non omnes capiunt and therefore S. Paul had no precept But qui potest capere capiat And hence floweth the second branch consilium do as S. Hierom S. Basill and divers others of both Churches doe obserue ANSVVER Discourses that grow tedious are odious and such is this your frequent and too often querulous quaere The distinction in S. Paule is betweene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 betweene a precept and sentence no word signifying Counsell in that place I haue already shewed how Antoninus maketh S. Dominick the Author of Evangelicall Counsells Anton. parte 3. vt ante and S. Paul the teacher of faith and the law and yet you produce S. Paul as a speciall bullwark for your Counsel house Many Fathers haue I confesse read that Text so but the originall ministreth no such interpretation nor doe the Fathers themselues otherwise hence ground but that qui potest being enabled is qui debet hee that is commanded You and Coccius teach the Fathers to speak very preposterously Beware of the Fathers curse or rather of Gods curse seeing you call them to beare false witnesse against the Law Gospell and God himselfe Mr LEECH And that this point may be every way full and perfit builded vpon so many seuerall rockes as there bee seuerall places of Scriptures let the Doctors of the Church speake Vincentius Lyrin in cōmonitorio being the most probable Maisters and teachers in the Church against quot capita tot sensus the very bane of all religion mother of innovatiō let the church interpret Scripture and hee that will not heare the Church you know what followeth 2. Pet. 1. vlt. sit tibi tanquam haereticus Nay sit tibi tanquam ethnicus For as it is said of the letter of the scripture that it is not of any private inspiration For it came not in old time by the will of man but holy men spake as they were moved by the holy Ghost Serm. 17. in Cantic So may it be as truely saide of the sense of the Scripture that it is not of any priuat spirits interpretation And the reason why every man should flie from a private spirits interpretation A sentence that striketh the Religion in England as dead as a dore naile is this as it is excellentlie rendred by that mellifluous Father S Bernard Nonnulli adesse putant spiritum cùm non adest suúmque sensum pro sensu spiritus sequuntur deviantes suásque sententias magistrorum sententijs praeferūt that is for I cānot but translate it many men thinke that they haue the spirit of God when they haue it not erroneouslie following the sense of their owne private spirits for the meaning of the holy Ghost preferring their owne private opinions before the publique iudgements of their masters and teachers ANSVVER You haue suffered shipwracke vpon your rockes They be severall indeed Psal for they are severed far from you which is manifest in that you rocke to and fro in your preposterous building like a tottering wall or like a broken hedge You call for advocates the Doctors of the Church Num. 23.38 and fetch them in as Balaac did Balaam but they answer as there hee did but with a more holy spirit We are come vnto thee and can we nowe say any thing at all The worde that God hath put in our mouthes that shall we speake But if this helpe you not you call the Church to testifie with you To the church we leaue as much as the spowse hath made her iointer in the interpretation of Scripture by the Church Tertull. libro de praescrip haereticorum that of Tertullian is to be remembred who warneth of some Qui non ad materiam Scripturas sed materiam ad Scriptur as excogitant and thereby run into one of those two miseries which S. Austin observeth Aust Comm. Faustum lib. 22. cap. 32. Caiet in praef Com. in lib. Mosis aut falli imprudenter aut fallere impudenter you say the Fathers of the Church are for you yet Caietā beleeveth that God hath not tyed the exposition of the Scriptures to the senses of the Fathers And if the Fathers serue not you saie let the Church interpret Scripture We distinguish the Church from the Synagogue of Antichrist and seeing wee hold that Scriptures must tell which is the Church wee must deny that the Church must tell vs the sense of Scripture Gerson doth disclaime the iudgement of Pope Gerson de exam doct part 1. cō 5. Councell or Church cōcerning interpretation of Scriptures and trial of doctrine when hee delivereth that the examination of doctrine concerning faith belongeth not to the Councell or Pope but to every one that is sufficiently learned in Scriptures Cus Ep. 2. pag. 833. And Cusanus cannot deny but that by the iudgement of the Church the Scripture is fitted to the time and the sense altered as the time altereth We make the spirit of God speaking in Scripture to be iudge of the Scripture and Act. 17.17 as the men of Berea sought the Scripture to approue the
a mā of good esteeme who was acquainted both with the proiect and the day of lecture whereof hee gaue me a particular intimation ANSVVER As S. Paul speaketh of some widdowes h 1. Tim. 5.11 that being idle they go from house to house not only idle but pratlers busie bodies so no doubte we may iudge of some intelligencers or relators that bestow only their time in condemning the time in accusing of their Bretheren abusing of their betters But Mr Russell whom you quote in your margent is none such and the learned Doctor did desire him to certifie this to you because you might take notice he red against Bellarmin not against you Mr LEECH This lecture I both heard and noted in writing But such an other lecture so false so Hereticall with such violent wresting of sacred write such impudent reiecting of holy fathers quite besides the drift of the one cleane cōtrary to the resolution of the other I seldome or never heard in that famous and renowned Academy ANSVVER Quousque tandem how far shall the bounds of your froathy and foaming waues passe a Iob. God hath set land markes to the sea and the b Arist in Ethic. Philosopher hath set limits to that salt sulphureous humour of raging and will neither Divinity Plut. nor humanity confine you Plutarch setteth downe the difference betweene the sea and those that be tēpestuous sailers ever in the storme of vnsavory winde of words The sea raging in a Tempest casteth mire dirt sed mare tum purgatur but the sea is then purged of the filth and froath scumme But the heart of such when it rageth casteth their stomacke of bad and boiling virulent speeches Ea dicentis animum conspurcant the wordes that come from them defile them saith c Math. 7.23 Christ And they foame out their owne shame saith d Iude. 13. Iude. Helvidius saith S. e Hier. cont Helvidium Ierome thought his conscience then best discharged when by reviling his stomacke was most disgorged But doe you not so for God knoweth I wish your good and salvation in Christ Iesus and these kinde of actions will much impeach and impaire your spirituall good Yet seeing you haue blowne out such a Tempest of disgrace I will in the rugged sea of your last Paragraph cast Ancor for this worthy Doctor and to vindicat him whom soundnes of iudgement in learning sincere conscience in his actions and singular mildnes in his deportment doe immure and compasse from anie iust imputation Know that his learned reading vpon the point now in hand his lecture is extant reade it answere it or acknowledge that you haue vncharitably and vnchristianly traduced him who never injured you he hath wrested no Scriptures rejected no Fathers falsified nothing in his lecture Mr LEECH The text by him treated vpon was goe sell all that thou hast and giue to the poore and thou shalt haue treasure in heaven and come and follow me A maine ground pregnant text as I take it I take it aright if all ancient Church mistake it not to build vp rather thē to batter downe to confirme rather then to confute Evāgelicall Counsailes The Fathers which he cited and named to stand for Counsailes were divers hee might haue vrged all both of the Greeke and Latine Church all of them being resolute for Counsailes and that vpon those words of our Saviour go sell all c. As also vpon that distinction of the Apostle Now cōcerning virgins I haue no precept from our Lord but I giue my advise or Counsaile which is a weighty consideratiō if their iointe consent and vniforme authority might haue borne anie sway with this noble Inceptour ANSVVER The text and interpretation therof by al Ancients as is by him most amply proved maketh against you Some Friers he named that mainetained the point but no Fathers professing then neither to name nor nūber those authorities that Bellarmin vnsitly collected out of the Fathers How plainly yet profoūdly he hath delivered the opinion of al ancient moderne Fathers and Sonnes both in his Text and that place of S. Paul 1. Cor. 7. I desire every honest ingenuous reader to obserue and your selfe to examine his Lecture and Appendix Mr LEECH But this novitiate Doctor if yet he deserue that title who dealt thus rudely with the true Doctors of the Church as he perverted the sacred writ of God his revealed wil in his word so reiected the Fathers blasting them all with this one hereticall breath that they were all bewitched deceived and carried away as men with the errors of the time wherein they lived Thus Calvin Luther the fowre good fellow Germans who composed their false and fond Centuries in a stone of Magdeburge taught their novice to blaspheme O times ô ages wherein we now liue when Calvin Luther fowre carowsing Almans nay rather Ale-men and one puny Doctour dare thus openly in the eares of Christendome and in the publike eie of so famous an Vniversity blaspheme God his holy spirit promised by Christ to lodge in the bosome of these venerable and sober aged Fathers chiefe pillars of the holy Catholike Church ANSVVER f Ambros in Psal 118. S. Ambrose observed of an adversary of the truth Quē veritate non potest laceret convitijs It is your practise whom you cannot taxe with vntruth you torment with slanderous reproaches It was a base retaliation of him in the g Terent. in Andria Comedy Si mihi pergit quae vult dicere ea quae non vult audiet It were vile if you should heare againe such wordes as you spake h Eph. 4.29 S. Paule mentioneth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epes 4.29 corrupt speech which is as a stinking breath outwardly breathed corruptiō a signe as Phisitians hold of inward putrefaction When you make your throate thus an open sepulchre to belch out such vnsavorynesse it is an argument that like a graue you are full of dead mens bones and I feare that your inward parts are full of wickednes D. Benefield vsed no such vncivill speeches of bewitched Fathers vnlesse you were bewitched you would not so accuse him Concerning your scornfull speeches against Calvin Luther and the Magdeburgenses I say not as Zachary said to the Angell The Lord rebuke thee but from my hart I wish the Lord to forgiue it you Of that rare and blessed instrument of God Reverend Calvin I may truly speake as Mr i Hooker in the pref to Church Polity Hooker doth in the preface to his Polity For my part I thinke he was incomparably the wisest man that ever the French Church did enioy since the houre it enioyed him And for Luther let k Eras lib. 11. Epist ad Car. Eborac Erasmus who was his familiar giue testimony of him that his life was approued with great consent of all men and that the integrity of his manners was so great that his verie enimies could
vnto thee Arise and if you heare not this I ingeminate his speech yet to a third yong man i Act. 9.4 Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Mr LEECH O what an exchange had this yong man made what an offer did Christ make him what counsell did the wisdome of the father giue him how much doth it now repent him In a word ô how happy had he beene both in body and in soule since he had beene secure of the salvation both of body and of soule and not only secure of that but thesaurū habuisset in coelo his penny had beene of pure gold he had had measure for measure yea aboue measure heauens remuneration heaped vpon him in lieu of Christian perfection if he had parted with himselfe and abandoned the worlds trash to haue partaked with Christ and heauens treasure ANSVVER It had beene a royall exchange if he hereby for riches that are transitory had obtained heauens blisse his soules security I am glad that all your lamp is not leavened that yet you beleeue a man may bee secure and certaine of his salvation which is a point vncertainely delivered among you What meane you by his now repenting Thinke you that he is in hell I doubt not but you may easily know seeing in Rome you haue news every day from hell and purgatory Certainty of salvation howsoever it be opposed by the Iesuits in generall yet k Medina 1. 2 q. 112. art 5. p. 630. Medina averreth that he would haue every beleeuer certainely to hope he shall obtaine eternall life Vega saith l Greg. de Valentia tom 2. pag. 957. Gregory de Valentia holdeth that some spirituall men may be so certaine that they bee in grace that this their assurance shall be without al feare and staggering And m Cathar assert apolog Catharinus holds the same certainty of faith which we teach I might vrge much out of n 3. d. 23. p. 46. Scotus o Par. 3. q. 61. mem 7. art 3. Alexander of Hales p Lib. 3. distin 20. q. 1. art 2. Bacon others whō you claime yours And q Stap. de Iustif pag. 341. Stapleton commeth so nere to the point as that hee professeth thus wee leaue not a sinner hanging in the midst of wavering doubtfulnesse but wee place him in good and firme hope Your penny of pure gold I will not stand to waigh if I should bring it to the ballance of the sanctuary I should find it scarce sense and much lesse Scripture Mr LEECH And yet this being a counsell not a precept it is not enioined as a precept to all but giuen by way of counsaile vnto perfecter men as the Fathers teach And the reason is excellently rendred by S. Gregory the great to be this It is not enioined as a precept to all for then were it sin either to marry or to possesse any of the worldes goods but yet it is counselled vnto men of more holy rancke For these haue an arbitrary and voluntary choice in their things ANSVVER That your owne advocate should giue evidence against you is great disadvantage S. Gregory himselfe calleth it praeceptum a precept not a counsaile I desire all indifferent readers to looke on the 25 Chapter of his 26. booke of Moralls Greg. Mor. lib. 26. where as I saide before you borrowed this distinction there is only the word precept neither counsel nor counselled is there mentioned And in your place vrged but not quoted not found in S. Gregory suppose it were so it may haue a good meaning for that which you call a counsell is nothing but a particular praecept which though it bind not all yet it must bee observed of those who are furnished with gifts and find themselues fitted thereto by Gods spirit Mr LEECH Such were the Apostles and those Apostolicall mē that hauing possessions sold them brought in the mony laid it downe at the Apostles feete ANSVVERE What Apostles did so Indeed Peter and Andrew forsooke their nets Mat. 4.20 a Mat. 9.9 Matthew forsooke his custome Reliquerunt non vēdiderunt saith one b Luk. 19.8 Zaccheus did restore al Luk. 19.8 c Mat. 19.27 The Disciples did forsake all Mat. 19.27 S. d Phil. 3.8 Paule did vilie value all Phil. 3.8 Only the Merchant did sell all Mat. 13.46 But that is but a parable Laert. Plut. Heathens did somewhat in this kinde e Mat. 13.46 Diogenes neglected all Socrates contemned all Crates cast awaie all and yet these were as farre short of the disciples as the Disciples of Angelicall perfection But to the purpose that the Apostles sold all it is not so they sold nothing for they had nothing to sel That the Apostolical mē sold their possessiōs Act. 4.35 Act. 4.35 it is true but it was not by Evangelicall counsaile nor for Angelicall perfection but to supplie the present want of the Church Mr LEECH Such was holy Antony that ancient Monke of Egypt S. Paul the Hermite S. Benedict S. Hierom S. Basil S. Gregory Nazianzen S. Gregory the great S. Bernard and many other Doctors and Fathers the most renowned lights of learning and greatest pillars of the Church ANSVVER For your Catalogue of Saints f Trithem Anthony was no such Monke nor Benedict the former lived in the year 330 the later in the yeare 500. I marvaile not that you make these to be Monkish Counsellors seeing before you haue so reckoned the Apostles themselues You ioine the Saints very vnequally and claime kindred of some that never knew your religion I examine not the sanctitie of some of them but denie all their bils of Sale or if they sold al I hope you wil be accōptable what they did with the mony I acknowledge the reverence of those blessed Fathers S. Hierom S Basil S. Gregorie Nazianzen c. I marvailed why you brought not in S. Francis till I remembred that g Canus loc Theol. l. 11. c. 7. Canus calleth him a lowsie Saint and yet hee instructed a Cade lambe so wel that it would kneele at Masse and the Saint was wont to preach to geese which heard him with devotion Or why remembred you not S. h Baron ano 1208. n. 5. Fulbert a man of Evangelicall perfection who being sicke the virgin Marie came gaue him sucke from heaven Or among many others i Ant. part 3. art 23. c. 1. §. 1 S. Dominicke whō Antoninus maketh the first inventor of Evangelicall Coūsailes Of whom he affirmeth that before he was borne there were two images founde in a church at Venice the one of S. Paul the other of Dominicke on S. Pauls image was written By this man you may come to Christ on Dominickes image But by this easier Antoninus giveth the reason because Paules doctrine led but to faith and keeping of the commādements but Dominicke should teach the observing of Evangelical Counsailes which is the easier way Risum
teneatis amici This storie might haue fitted you Mr LEECH And was not Christ himselfe Master Regius Professor of this spirituall poverty spirituall I call it because the contempt of this worlde for the hope of heaven is the worke of Gods spirit wrought within our soules Witnesse his entrance into this world when his house was a stable his cradle a cratch witnes his continuance in the worlde living meerely vpon almes ministred vnto him by certaine godly women and deuout persons Witnesse his complaint the foxes haue holes and the birds of heaven haue nests but the sonne of man hath not whereon to rest his head And was hee any richer at his departure out of this worlde when wanting a sepulcher of his owne he was enterred in an other mans tombe ANSVVER â—riâ—â— Mot. 6. It is blasphemous in k Bristow to affirme that no man is able to put difference betweene the miracles of Christ and of his Apostles and of Thomas Aquinas Bernard Bonaventure Becket Francis Dominicke others It is almost as much in you to paralel Christ Iesus blessed for ever ever with your Saints I meane not with the Fathers that were more tollerable though vnfit but that his sacred name person functioÌ„ birth life death his precepts actions passions all his conversations should be paraleld with false vtopicall Annalogicall Imaginarie statuary Saints Know and heare and feare and tremble Hee will not holde him guiltlesse that taketh his name in vaine But I wil catechise you in this point farther was that practise of poverty in Christ performed by any Evangelicall Counsaile or not If by counsaile from whom received he counsaile that was the wisdome of his father and himselfe the great a Esay 9.6 counsellor If not by Evangelicall counsaile why do you bring Christ for an example of the practise We confesse to our endlesse comfort his willing and gracious readines to become poore to make vs rich in that he borrowed a stable to be borne in a cratch to be laide in a pitcher to drinke in a parlour to sup in and a toombe to lie in but this is not to your purpose Mr LEECH Finally though he were Lorde owner of all beeing God the Lord and creator of all and the sole heire-apparaÌ„t of heaven and earth yet was he content to forsake all of rich he became poore teaching aswell opere as ore by example of liuing as manner of teaching reall practising as or all instructing first doing then teaching and all to this end vt conversatio magistri forma esset discipuli as blessed LEO speaketh that is that he might generally weane all Christians from the loue of this world but especially that he might become vnto his disciples and all Apostolicall men a perfit patterne of this spirituall poverty the maisters conversatioÌ„ being the schollers best instruction ANSVVER Every action of Christ serueth for our instruction but not every action for our imitation It were ridiculous in vs if we should presume to thinke we might b Mat. 14.15 walke on the water as he did or c Mark 8.3 endeauor to cleanse the leapers or d Mat. 9.25 to raise vp the dead or e Iohn 9.1 giue sight to the blind or f Mat. 4.1 to fast forty daies and forty nights or to goe about to liue in such hunger and thirst and want as our blessed Saviour did it is impossible we should performe them Wee haue no lawfull warrant for these more the Apostle teacheth whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne As for poverty it is no where in Scripture enioined vs. A blessing spirituall pouerty hath g Mat. 5.3 Blessed are the poore in spirit it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but for the want of temporal things it afflicteth so many that none need to affect it h Hugo de claustro animae Hugo de claustro animae sheweth how some affect a monkish pouerty that they may come to some spirituall dignity and giueth the reason Et in Ecclesia honorari volunt qui in sua domo non nisi contemptibiles esse poterant You knowe by practise among you this to bee true that among the Monks and Monkies of Rome Poverty is made the first step to ambitious vain glory masked humility the vsher to obtaine aspiring dignity The words in Leo in the end of that sermon make not for you They only shew the humility of Christ in all passages of his life and in that close exhort vs therevnto as he himself did by his own mouth learne of me to be humble and meeke Mr LEECH For Christ came not downe from heauen to earth from the bosome of the Father by his eternal generation God to the wombe of his Mother by temporall incarnation Man when he deigned to stoope downe so low nay vouchsafed exinanire seipsum to put of the garment of his Fathers and heauens glory investing his incomprehensible deity with the base ragges of finite mortality I say Christ did not performe all this only to fulfill the morall Decalogue but ouer and aboue the lawes righteousnes Se S. Basil de vera virginit hee taught that which the law wanted of the merit of perfection ANSVVER The conclusioÌ„ of this is nothing else but this Christ did more then the law required therefore there is somewhat more then is required in the law I answer he did more then the law required of him for himselfe by his passiue iustice in suffering that which was due vnto vs whereas his actiue iustice was enough to satisfie for himselfe and whereby also the law is satisfied by vs. But this argument is like Mephibosheth lame in both feet for neither did Christ all this to practise Evangelicall counsells as you inferre nor did he hereby manifest any want of perfectioÌ„ in the law as you do vrge out of Basil de vera virginitate which book is misdoubted to be his because it is one of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which are fathered on Basil of which workes Eustathius one violent against Marriage was the author as i Sozom. l. 3. cap. 13.14 Sozomen witnesseth Besides the disallowing of the booke receiue this satisfaction If the booke were S. Basils and that it were his speech that Christ did adde perfection to the law it must so bee vnderstood as that he added fulfilling perfect observing to the law not thereby manifesting that the law did want perfection For if that be perfect as the Philosopher defineth it to which nothing can bee added and that God himselfe gaue that especiall command in three several places in k Deut. 4.2 5.32 12.32 Deuteronomy that nothing should be added to the law how dare you accusing the law of imperfection stand out against Gods wisdomes proclamation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is commonly translated transgression may also be interpreted outlawry 1. Ioh. 3.4 you are subiect to the sentence and punishment of
desire to be taught the rule of faith out of an humble and a religious meaning here you may learne it it was a question worth his asking a point worthy your learning Mr LEECH Why said he what other ground of faith then the pure word of God I demaunded then who shall interpret this word Hee replied the spirit What spirit good Sir The spirit of God only which privat men thinke they haue Against which rule I except for that it was the common plea of all condemned Heretiques Wherefore I required a triall of this pretended spirit for I cannot admit that to be God his spirit in any private man which consenteth not with the spirit of the Catholique Church And thus you see M.D. Airay that what you formerly reiected out of my rule as Popish you must necessarily admit as true that is Ecclesiasticall Tradition annexed to the sacred Canon for the discerning of private spirits Otherwaies each Heretique will sense Scripture in the mould of his owne braine ANSVVER That the word of God is the ground of beleefe in God sacred Scripture it selfe proveth in manifold and pregnant places as in the olde Testament in the Proverbs Prov. 2.9 They make a man vnderstand righteousnes and iudgement and equity and every good path Esay 8.19.20 in Esay should not a people enquire at their God at the law and at the Testimonie they that speake not according to this word there is no light in them by Malachie Mal. 4.4 Remember the law of Moses which I commanded all Israell with the statutes and iudgements in the new Testament in S. Paul 2. Tim. 3.15 The Scriptures are able to make a man wise vnto salvation through the faith which is in Christ Iesus in S. Peter 2. Pet. 1.19 We haue a most sure word of the Prophets wherevnto we must giue heed as to a light that shineth in darknesse till the day starre arise in our hearts Luc. 1.4 in S. Luke They containe the certainty of those things whereof we are instructed and in S. Iohn Ioh. 5.39 These things are written that yee might beleeue that Iesus is that Christ the sonne of God and in beleeuing yee might haue eternall life and by Christ himselfe sealing this point Search the Scriptures for in them you haue eternall life and they are they which testifie of mee but to this also the Fathers with all reverence haue agreed Basil Ep. 80. ad Eust Med. Let the Scriptures be arbitrators betweene vs saith Basill in his 80 Epistle and whosoever holds consonant opiniōs to those heavenly oracles let the truth bee adiudged on their side We are to enquire for iudges saith Optatus Contra Parmenianum de coelo quaerendus est Iudex Optat. cont Parmen l. 5. the Iudge must bee had from heaven but saith hee wherefore need we to knock at heauen when we haue a iudge wohm wee finde in the Gospell The Scripture is the rule of faith saith Tertullian contra Hermogenem Tertull. cont Hermog Chrysost in 13. Homil. in 2. Corinth It is a most exquisit rule saith Chrysostome in his 13 homily vpon the second to the Corinths It is an inflexible rule Greg. Nyss Grati. de ijs qui adeunt Hierosolymā saith Gregorius Nyssenus And S. Austin ample for this in many places in his booke de bono viduitatis testifieth that the Scripture pitcheth downe the rule of our faith And not only the Ancient Fathers but the Schoole-men haue succeeded in the same resolution Aquinas writeth expresly Aq 1. qu. 1. art 8. that our faith must rest vpon the Canonicall bookes of Scripture Durand agreeth with this Durand pref in senten that the maner of our knowledge exceed not the measure of faith and the holy Scripture expresseth the measure of faith Sum part 3. tit 18. c. 3. Nay Papists haue acknowledged this Antoninus confesseth that God hath spoken but once to vs and that in Scripture so plentifully that hee voucheth Gregory in the 22 book of his Moralls thus God needeth to speake no more concerning any necessary matter Al. 1. sent quaest 1. art 3 1. Coroll seeing all things are found in Scripture Alliaco consenteth to this The verities of Scripture bee the Principles of divinity quoniam ad ipsas saith he fit vltima resolutio Theologici discursus Bell de verbo Dei lib. 1. c. 2. In one word Bellarmin agreeth to all these Testimonies in his first book de verbo Dei Sacra Scriptura est regula credendi certissima tutissima This may serue to shew you that there is no other ground of faith then the worde of God Scriptures Fathers Schoolemen nay even our Adversaries being witnesses Deut. 32.31 as Moses speaketh You demaund who shall interpret this word It is replied the spirit of God which spirit the elect doe know certainly that they haue not only thinke as you traduce the speech of this reverēd Doctor but they assure thēselus that they haue the spirit and hee that knoweth not this ◠Cor. 3.16 is ignorant as Paul teacheth by an interrogatiō Knowe yee not that yee are the Temples of the holy Ghost and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you But against this rule you except for this was you say Chrysos prolog in Epist ad Rohan 3. de Lazar. the plea of al Heretiques It is false Heretiques and the devill did vrge Scripture but these could never for wāt of Gods spirit compare Scriptures together The privat spirit even every Priuat man of himselfe saith Chrysostom only by reading may vnderstand yea need nothing else but to read Chrysos hom 13. in Gene◠by which he meaneth to confer one place of Scripture with another And the same Father giveth the reason Scriptura seipsam exponit auditorem errare non sinit The scripture expoundeth it selfe and suffereth not the hearer to be deceived Distinct 37. Relatum So speaketh Chrys 13. hom in Genes The Canon Law is most plaine herein Non enim sensum extrinsecus alienum extraneum sed ex ipsis Scripturis sensum capere veritatis oportet For we must not from without them seeke a forraine and strange sense but wee must out of the Scriptures themselues receiue the meaning of the truth And a clowde of witnesses do testifie the same Wherefore it is no way necessary that we aske helpe of Tradition which is as I formerly spake the cittie of refuge for all runnagate points in your religion Popish Tradition in the Church soiourning only as the deuill doth to deceiue as a treacherous stranger not to be acquainted with or as an Infidell not to be conversed with and therefore D. Airay taught you the truth when you heretically thought you might mould the sense of scripture in the brain of the brasen head Tradition Mr LEECH And now M. D. Airay being thus overthrowne in the rule of his faith proposed vnto me a question of
his Lordship thereof as hee had inioined me in his said letters ANSVVERE MAny offende as much in obtruding themselues as others in retyring especially when their doctrine is vnsounde In this is your condemnation rather then commendation more that you acted the best part with so bad a minde seminare zizaniam as the old Seminary Sathā had done long before You were silenced not for assiduous but erroneous preaching and being desirous to vtter some such point in a more eminent place though wise men hold our Vniuersitie sermons to be as solemne and more censorious then any other in the land you by great meanes obtained letters from some Chaplaine to be sent for to preach a vacation sermon the Common course of which letters was that they passe in name of the Bishop who often knoweth not the men or their worth I must confesse that the Right Reuerend Bishop the Angell of that Church did know your person and your no worth and had bestowed vpon you a Chaplaines place by the earnest suite of some of Reuerend eminent place in Oxford but not for your first sermō as you arrogate His Lordship did not request you at al nor enioin you not to faile your summons as you boast They be the cursary Tearmes of every of those missiue letters Mr LEECH The Vicechancellour getting notice of these summons sent for me immediatly and requested that he might haue a view of the Bishops Letters which in curtesie I then cōmunicated vnto him howbeit I had iust reason to suspect for his countenance expressed much perturbation in his hart that he would plot some meanes to hinder this designment And as in all probability he did coniecture that I would haue constantly asseuered my former doctrine in the greatest audience of the kingdome so I must acknowledge that this was my resolued determination ANSVVER The Reuerend Bishoppe most earnestly required the Vicechancellor to call for those letters and the first notice that he had was from the Bishops owne mouth whereby it is manifest that his Lordship sent no such letters nor knew of them at first for he was so earnest with his worthy successor that in a zealous vehemencie hee desired that vpon his comming home to Christ-Church you might be expelled grieving he had beene a meanes to giue any encouragement to any so stubborn disobedient ignorant The letters being demanded by the Bishop it was not curtesie as you cal it but duty to communicate or rather to render vp those letters There was no perturbation expressed by the faithfully zealous in this wisely iealous Goueror he only grieved that such a shame was like by your scandall to be imputed to Oxford Howsoever what he did in this was by the direction yea obsecration of that Reuerend Bishop of London And durst you intēd againe to presūe to appeare I say not in the face of mē but in the sight of God to deliver a doctrine so confuted so cōdemned for preaching of which you were twise inhibited censured silenced This determination as you cal it came not from God no motion of his spirit But the truth is this how ever you brag here you avowed with all earnestnes and the most eager protestations imprecations against your selfe that if you might bee suffered this time to preach at the Crosse you woulde neither preach this nor any point of controuersie Mr LEECH But Master D. King fearing least with so publike a promulgation of this truth I shoulde also blazon his shame which now neither Oxford nor London nor our divided world it selfe shall containe within hir limits handled the matter so by his policie and authority that my Lord of London through his misinforming suggestions countermaunded the former by second letters discharging me from the performance of that duty And now Maister Vicechancellor thought that he had not only inconvenienced me but also secured himselfe ANSVVER Had the inke that wrote this been mixed with the poison of spiders it could not haue beene more venemous then this is malitious I grieue to thinke how little in this booke doth savor of a Minister nay of a Christiā What son of Zerviah can vtter more reproachfull shamefull speeches And what roapes can be vsed to drawe downe more speedy vengeance vpon your head then these false accusations against him that is true of heart He to feare his shame whose conscience is murus ahaeneus Hee receiue any disparagement from the mouth of any railer that by reviling of the most bright fixed starres in the firmamēt of our Church hath manifested an infallible demonstration of his degenerous and degenerate minde Shall not Oxford and London or the divided world only containe the promulgation of this I will not iniure Scripture but I hope I may safly apply that speech of Christ to the woman and therefore to counterblast your vnsavory breath I say wheresoeuer the Gospell shall be preached mention shall be made of him no way but in honor for the cleerenesse of iudgemēt sweetnesse of stile gravity of person grace of conversation and true hearted soundnesse in religion let them al backbiting Dogges spit out livor liuer and heart and all For what Erasmus spake of Prudētius shall be true of him Ibis quovis seculo inter Doctos Prudenti There was no suggestion vsed by the Vicechancelour against you it was the Bishops owne motion and earnest impetrature who also in his second letters manifested his reasons of disliking and disabling you for that service Mr LEECH For this end and purpose also he repaired then vnto a Doctor of principall place and eminent worth a man not vnder any if not over all with whom he intertained long discourse touching the Doctrine of Evangelicall Counsailes complaining that in Oxforde it had beene lately broached and obstinatly defended And now I pray you good Sir said he what is your opinion concerning this point ANSVVER To this Reverend Deane he was with many other Doctors invited to dinner he repaired not to him as to a Coūsellor in this businesse as you falsely enforme The worth and eminency of this Oracle of Textuall Schoole divinity is acknowledged with reverēce but from his owne mouth I haue received it that he protesteth against you in this imputation absolutely denying that the Vicechancellor ever asked counsell or opinion of him Only among many other discourses at Table this questiō was repeated but not debated Besides this false imputation here it is confessed by you that you obstinately defended the point and obstinacy is offensiue whatsoever the defence be Mr LEECH Here by the way giue me leaue good Reader to propose two things vnto thy discreet consideration First that D. King either had no knowledge at al or not well groūded in that point wherein he condemned me by violence of authority and not by force of reason Secondly that as I suffered with a good conscience so hee punished mee with an evill For I had not the least scruple nor
the third in the Lateran Councell within these 400 yeeres that the Councell of Trent proposed Images not only to be worshipped Pol. Virg lib. 6 c. 13. de inventi which as Polydor confesseth all the Fathers condemned but it also inioined men to yeeld them divine honour These and infinit more alterations in religion falling from God truth falling from them doe shew that the name of their opinions deserueth not a Catholique title but is meere Popery You lay for your ground that it is probable only that Popery truly conceiued is the very Catholique faith yet notwithstanding you conclude for your finall resolution that Popery is the necessary consequent vpon the true grounds of divinity Can this stand together that Popery dependeth necessarily vpon the grounds of divinity and yet it is but probable that it is the Catholike faith This your third vnconsiderat consideration is my absolute resolution that either the Catholike faith is not a necessary cōsequent as the grounds of divinitie which is absurd to thinke or Popery is not the Catholique faith which I verily beleeue and haue proued by many testimonies Mr LEECH The fourth Motiue The Protestants subvert the truest meanes of piety and perfection PErfection is not absolute in this life but graduall that is to say men are perfit in a degree some more some lesse according to their cooperatiō with divine grace To which ende and purpose there are Consilia perfectionis Counsailes of perfection as Virginity Pouerty c. which remoouing the impediments of perfection are excellent meanes to conduct vs therevnto in as much as they withdraw vs from the loue of the flesh and of the world which are our capitall enemies assaulting vs with their continuall delights and pleasures But the Protestants being in the number of them of whom the Apostles by prophetick spirit spake long before that they would not suffer wholsome doctrine renounce the advise of their Saviour qui potest capere capiat they reiect the monition of S. Paul consilium do they cast behinde thē the common iudgement of ancient Fathers in this point And whereas themselues are now caried away with the evill current of this worst age they feare not not only to disclaime the Fathers but irreligiously to slander them D. Benefield in his lecture as as men bewitched with the errors of their time Hence it is that the plausibilitie of the fift gospell seeketh not to cast any raines vpon the fervour of nature but yeeldeth passage rather and helpe vnto her precipitate course S Paul was of a contrary opinion witnesse his owne words castigo corpus c. Antiquity was of another disposition witnesse S. Hierom in his epistle vnto Pope Damasus and vnto the virgin Eustochium Witnesse S. Gregory Nazianzen in his funerall oration vpon S. Basill witnesse the whole quire of ancient Church Carnem legibus fraenavit which with a sweet heauenly harmony aswell in practise as in doctrine hath commēded vnto vs the restraint of lawfull things with a singular austerity of life These things being wholly opposite vnto the delicacy of Luthers spirit are reputed Popish by him and by his carnall sectaries whose single faith not clogged with the burthen of pious workes can more easily mount vnto heauen Thus are they lulled a sleepe in the cradle of security dreaming of a victory without any striving at all If this be the way vnto happinesse the Way it selfe hath misled vs our guides haue seduced vs our teachers haue misinformed vs the austerity of so many Saints registred in the canon of Gods word and recorded in the Calender of the Church hath beene practised in vaine and the late gospell is more profitable then the former But whether I may rely more safely vpon the first or last I remit me vnto the consideration of any man that hath the sense of true piety lodged in his breast ANSVVER PErfection wee teach thus All true beleevers haue a state of perfection in this life and that this perfection hath two parts first the imputation of Christs perfect obedience which is the ground and fountaine of all our perfection whatsoever Secondly sincerity or vprightnesse And this standeth in two things first in the acknowledging of our imperfection and vnworthinesse in respect of our selues secondly in a constant purpose endeavor and care to keepe the commandements of God So farre are we from perverting the true meanes of perfection as hath beene often answered needeth no more to be answered but that your odious Tautology doth expect some kind of answer We refuse not that which is called by the Apostle wholsome docrine but that which the same spirit hath called Doctrinam Daemoniorum Doctrine of Devills the texts of Scripture are often and fully satisfied and the Fathers plainely and truly interpreted so that it is most contrary to our practise to disclaime the Fathers to slander them as you slander vs But especially seeing herein you cast this imputation on D. Benefield his Lecture see his answer Praefatione ad Academicos Oxonienses § 4. ad 7. where how vntruly you taxe him and how vnworthily the Papists haue dealt with the Fathers may appeare How many points of the Popish Religion doe directly tend to subversion of pieety to maintenance of sinne and liberty of life Haue not they variety of dispensations for any sinne licēces for all things vnlawful and as if Popery consisted but of this triplicity impudence ignorance and indulgence it is maintained they may beleeue as the Church beleeveth never need to learne what the Church holdeth they may iustifie the allowance of Stewes for a common wealth so Harding teacheth Hard. confut Apol. p. 161. they professe that Papists are discharged of all bond of allegeance towards Princes if they be not of the same religion so the Iesuits hold they professe that debtors may except against their creditors choose whether they pay them if they be not of the same Religion Ovand 4. d. 13 Sam Ang. p. 101. nu 15. Caiet 22 ae p. 144. Greg. de val Tom 3. pag. 1090. so Ovandus professeth that prisoners may breake iaile as Caietan averreth that Children may marry without consent of their Parents as Gregory de valentia maintaineth that the Sabaoth may be broken obedience neglected an oath infringed murther iustified and what not Your fifte Gospell wee are not to bee taxed with we only acknowledg the 4 rivers of that Paradise of God The fift was the worke of a monk of your own of the same stamp with Alcoranum Frāsciscanum and our Ladies Psalter all manner of blasphemies abound in both You vrge S. Paul his castigo corpus doth not every true Christian seeke to practise this among vs letting blood in the swelling veines of pride launcing the impostume of greedy desires quenching the fire of filthy lusts and all the firy darts of the Devill Saint Hieroral whom you vrge did worthilie practise this I confesse and had that good father not