to doe as the noble man the Queene Candaces Treasurer did to seek to a faithful Philip that is a godly and learned man by him to seeke to haue them opened and expounded so did Fabiola other godly women to Saint Hierome So Augustine saith Scripturarum expositio ab ijs petenda est qui earum doctores se esse profitentur that is The exposition of the Scriptures is to be sought of them which professe themselues to be doctors and teachers of them Yet with Saint Paul we say that as we are not to despise prophesying that is the expounding of Gods word so we are not rashly to receiue whatsoeuer is deliuered to vs but we are to proue all and to hold that which is good and to abstaine from all apparance of euill for the eare trieth the words as the mouth tasteth meate So also Saint Basil saith Quod in edulijs est sensus qualitatis vniuscuiusque edulij hoc in verbis sanctae scripturae est intellectus Gula enim inquit cibos gustat mens verba dijudicat that is That which in meates is the tast of the qualitie of euery meate the same is the vnderstanding or minde in the words of the holy Scripture For the throate saith he tasteth the meates and the minde iudgeth the words Now I will retort your argument vpon you in this manner Whosoeuer buildeth his faith vpon priuate and false expositions of the Scripture is an infidel The Papists build their faith vpon priuate and false expositions of the Scripture as I haue shewed before and can proue in many places moe ergo the Papists be infidels And thus much to your second article of faith The Pamphlet All Protestants who are ignorant of the Greeke and Latine tongues are Infidels 3. Article WHosoeuer relieth his faith vpon the ministers credit and fidelitie hath no faith at all But all those in England who are ignorant of the Greeke and Hebrew tongues rely their faith vpon the ministers credit Ergo. All those in England who are ignorant of the Greeke and Hebrew tongues haue no faith at all The Maior is manifest because they themselues confesse that euery man may erre and doth erre neither haue they any warrant why the ministers doe not erre since they constantly doe defend that whole generall councels yea and the vniuersall Catholike Church may erre and hath erred The Minor I proue for all such Protestants ground their faith vpon the Bible translated into English the which translation they know not whether it be true or false whether the minister Tindall for example erred or no either vpon ignorance as Broughton one of the greatest linguists among the precisians affirmeth in an epistle dedicated to the Lords of the Counsell or vpon malice to induce the people to protestancie or to cause them to leaue the Catholike Religion as Gregorie Martin in his discouerie most pregnantly prooueth These errors I say they know not and consequently cannot discerne a true translation from a false and therefore must needes rely their faith vpon the sillie ministers faithles fidelitie which conuinceth that they haue no faith at all Answere I Deny the Minor or second proposition of this Syllogisme and say that we rely not our faith vpon the Ministers credit and fidelitie but vpon the word of God translated the which we know to be true and holy not so much for that it is by publike authoritie and generall assent of men allowed as for that it containeth most holy doctrine agreeable to true faith and godly life whereby any that readeth or heareth it may behold the Maiestie of Gods spirit appearing in it As for example I beleeue these sayings to be true that Iesus Christ came into this world to saue sinners that he is the Lambe of God which taketh away the sinnes of the world that the grace of God which offereth saluation to all men hath appeared and teacheth vs that we deny vngodlinesse and worldly lust and liue soberly righteously and godly in this present world c. not for that this or that man hath translated them but because the spirit of God doth beare witnes vnto my hart that most holy pure and diuine doctrine is contained in them And therefore to say that those which vnderstand not the Hebrew and Greeke tongues because they vse the word of God translated to them into other languages doe rely their faith vpon the Ministers credit and fidelitie and haue no faith is most foolish and absurd And let the Christian reader marke and consider how this sottish reason tendeth to the discrediting not only of vs but also of the most part of all godly and faithfull Christians in all ages yea and to the most of the godly Doctors and Fathers of the Church who were almost all ignorant of the Hebrew tongue and some of the Greeke also The holy Scriptures were translated into many tongues in the which the people of God did reade and heare them As Theodoritus writeth Hebraici verò libri non modò in Graecum idioma conuersi sunt sed in Romanam quoque linguam Aegyptiacam Persicam Indicam Armenicamque Scythicam adeoque Sauromaticam semelque vt dicam in linguas omnes quibus ad hanc diem nationes vtantur that is The Hebrew bookes be translated not onely into the Greeke tongue but also into the Romaine Aegyptian Persian Indian Armenian and Scythian and also the Sclauonian tongues to say at a word into all languages which the nations vse vnto this day Did the ancient faithfull Christians which read and heard the holy Scriptures in these sundrie languages rely their faith vpon men that did translate them or vpon the diuine doctrine and precious promises of God contained in them And let this cauiller shew sufficient reason why we are not either to be acquited with them or they condemned with vs. They could no more iudge of the truth of the translations then our people can yet they did to their great comfort and godly instruction and edification reade and heare the holy Scriptures grounding their faith not vpon the translators who might be and sometimes were euill men but vpon the sound holy and heauenly doctrine therein contained Saint Hierome exhorted ladies and gentlewomen not onely to reade the Scriptures themselues but also to bring vp their young daughters when they were but seuen yeares ould in that holy exercise They were not able to iudge of the translations otherwayes then to discerne and perceiue that the doctrine by them deliuered was pure and holy agreeable to true faith and godly life And euen so they that be godly in these dayes although they hauing not the knowledge of the Hebrew and Greeke tongues cannot iudge so exactly of translations and of the truth of them as those that vnderstand them can yet they may discerne whether the translations deliuer sound and holy doctrine consonant to true faith good manners and the generall heads and
but I leaue them Saint Augustine faith Sine bonorum operum meritis per fidem iustific atur impius that is The wicked man is iustified by faith without the merits of good works Againe Quia sola fides in Christum mundat c. that is Because onely faith in Christ doth make cleane they that do not beleeue in Christ be voide of cleanenes He hath also often this fine saying Fides impetrat quod lex imperat that is Faith obtaineth that which the law commaundeth that is to say the law commaundeth a righteousnes of workes faith obtaineth the righteousnes of Christ which onely is able to hide and discharge all our vnrighteousnes This doctrine which this disdainfull man so much disdaineth is acknowledged of the Greeke Fathers Basil saith This is perfect and sound glorying in God when a man doth not boast himselfe for his owne righteousnes but knoweth himselfe to be voide of true righteousnes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. And is iustified by only faith in Christ 〈◊〉 Chrysostome saith Nobis pro cunctis sola fides sufficiat that is Onely faith is sufficient to vs for all other things Againe Illud vnum asseuerauerim quò sola fides per se saluum fecerit that is This I may affirme that only faith by it selfe saueth Againe Rursus illi dicebant qui sola fide nititur execrabilis est hic contrà demonstrat qui sola fide nititur eum benedictum esse that is They said he that leaneth only to faith is accursed but Paul on the contrarie part sheweth that he that leaneth to faith onely is blessed Many such other places out of the Latine and Greeke Fathers I might produce but I omit them I hope he will not say that these Fathers which deliuered this doctrine of solifidian faith as he disdainfully termeth it did ouerthrow repentance mortification and all other vertues Nay this true faith which neither falsely nor fantastically but truly and effectually apprehendeth Christs death and pastion and applieth the same as a most soueraigne salue to cure all the sores of our soules is that which grueth life to repentance mortification and all other vertues For as faith without workes is dead as S. Iames saith so workes without faith are dead as Cyril and Chrysostome say And we truly auerre that this true faith in Gods mercifull promises by the which Christ doth dwel in our hearts cannot be seuered from charitie vertues and good workes as he falsely affirmeth but faintly and foolishly prooueth that it may His first reason is taken from experience because few or none of vs haue faith for that few or none of vs haue these workes How many or few of vs haue faith and good workes you are no competent iudge for to determine And therefore wee appeale from your affectionate and erronious iudgement to the true and iust iudgement of God I doubt not but before I haue ended this article to proue that we be not so void of good workes so full of abominable wickednes as your Popes and spitefull spiritualtie hath been Your second proofe you will draw out of the Scripture that all faith yea and the most noble faith which hath force to remoue mountaines may be without charitie I answere that Saint Paul speaketh not there of the faith of Gods elect but of that which is a gift to worke miracles which may be in wicked reprobates such as Iudas was and so doth Oecumenius the Greeke Scholiast expound it in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. He speaketh not of the common and Catholike faith of the faithfull but of a certaine gift of faith For there was a certaine kinde of gift which by an equiuocation was called faith So that S. Paul as he had before compared charitie with the gift of tongues and with the gift of prophesying so here he compareth it with the gift of doing miracles And as those gifts may be in the wicked seuered from charitie so also may this Some writers also in the former chapter where S. Paul saith To another is giuen faith by the same spirit do expound it of the particular faith of doing miracles As Theophilactus Non fides dogmatum sed miraculorum que montes transfert that is He speaketh not of faith of doctrine but of miracles which moueth mountaines And therefore S. Paul meaneth that if the whole faith which is in doers of miracles were in him separated from charitie as it may be he were nothing But that faith by which Christ dwelleth in the hearts of his elect neither is nor can be separated from charitie but worketh by it And therefore S. Paul in his gratulations in the beginning of his Epistles doth alwaies ioy ne them together as being such graces of Gods spirit which be neuer separated asunder Hearing of the faith which ye haue in the Lord Iesus and loue towards all the Saints To conclude this point that this doctrine doth not tend to loosenes of life we teach that they which doe not follow peace and holines shall neuer see God and that good workes are the waies wherein wee must walke to the kingdome of God and eternall life to the which they that doe not walke in them shall neuer come For without the holy Citie shall be dogs and enchaunters and whoremongers and murtherers and idolaters and whosoeuer loueth or maketh lies And although good fruites make not the tree good yet they be necessarie effects of a good tree so euery tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut downe and cast into the fire The third doctrine of ours which you vntruly charge to tend to loosenes of life is That faith once had can neuer be lost the which vaine securitie you say openeth the gap to all libertine sensualitie and hereat you make great exclamations Here I will first cleere the doctrine and afterward answere your vaine cauillations and needlesse exclamations Faith is diuers waies taken in the holie Scriptures First it is taken for the doctrine of faith or the Gospell which wee beleeue as By whom wee haue receiued grace and Apostleship to the obedience of faith among all Gentiles that is that all nations might obey the Gospell Also to the Galathians This onely would I know of you Receiued ye the spirit by the workes of the law or by the hearing of faith that is by hearing the Gospell preached So wee call the Christian faith and the Apostolicall faith In this sense faith being taken for the doctrine of the Gospell we confesse that many may know it make profession of it and historically beleeue it and yet afterwards may fall from it as Iudas and many in Asia did Secondly it is taken for that promise which wee make in Baptisme whereby wee binde our selues to professe true religion and to beleeue in God in whose name we be baptized
Hereof S. Paul speaketh Refuse the younger widowes for when they haue begun to waxe wanton against Christ they will marrie hauing damnation because they haue broken the first faith The which is to be vnderstood of the first profession of faith in Baptisme and not of the latter vow of single life as the Papists falsely and foolishly expound it From this faith all they doe fall which turne either on the right hand to false doctrine or on the left hand to wicked life Many other waies faith is taken but this question is of that true liuely and iustifying faith which is the faith of Gods elect whereby Christ dwelleth in their hearts and they receiue nourishment and life from him This faith may be couered by temptations and falles as fire in the night with ashes but neuer vtterly extinguished For they in whom this true faith is are like a tree planted by the riuers of waters that will bring forth her fruite in due season whose leafe shall not fade And they that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Sion which cannot bee moued but remaineth for euer They that by this faith are built vpō the rocki Iesus Christ hell gates shall neuer ouercome them Christ saith He that beleeueth in the Sonne of God hath euerlasting life He that heareth my word beleeueth in him that sent me hath euerlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but hath passed from death to life He that beleeueth in me shall neuer thirst Saint Paul saith Wherein after ye beleeued ye were sealed with the holy spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance for the redemption of that libertie purchased vnto the praise of his glorie These places sufficiently shew that that faith which is common to all Gods elect and proper onely to the elect can neuer perish nor be vtterly lost in them And this true comfortable doctrine bringeth no vaine securitie nor openeth the gap to any libertine sensualitie For they that by this faith haue tasted how sweete the Lord is cannot but loue and feare God and greatly delight in his commaundements And that faith which swimmeth in mens lips but is not printed in their hearts nor shineth by godlines and good workes in their liues is a dead faith and is no more that true faith whereby we liue vnto God then a dead man is a man To conclude this matter although we distinguish betweene iustification and sanctification yet we acknowledge that they be inseparable and the one doth necessarily follow the other For whosoeuer are iustified by Gods grace and mercie through faith in Christ Iesus be also sanctified with Gods holy spirit to abhorre that which is euill and to cleaue to that which is good and to serue God in true holines and righteousnes all the daies of their life And therefore we teach that they which without repentance persist in sinne wallow in wickednes and commit vngodlines with greedines haue no faith nor haue any assurance of the remission of their sins but may be assured that the wrath of God hangeth ouer them and if they doe not truly repent and bring foorth fruites worthie amendement of life will fearefully fall vpon them So that you might haue spared your vaine and foolish exclamations concerning Epicures Heliogabalus Bacchus and Venus which are more honoured in Rome as hereafter I will shew then allowed of vs. For of whom did Mantuan the Italian Carmelite Frier an 100. yeeres past write this but of your Popes and his fauourers Neglecto superum cultu spretoque tonantis imperio Baccho indulgent Venerique ministrant that is Neglecting the worship of God they serue Bacchus and Venus Concerning the fourth point of doctrine of keeping Gods commaundements I haue spoken sufficiently before Onely now I say that our doctrine tendeth hereunto to shew vs our miserie by transgressing of them that wee may thereby bee moued to hunger for Gods mercie in Christ and although we cannot perfectly fulfill them for in many things wee sinne all yet wee ought according to the measure of Gods grace giuen to vs haue a care and conscience to walke in them and to frame our liues to the obedience of them Whereas fiftly you charge vs that wee deny the Sacrament of Penance thereby to make men careles how they liue I answer that although we deny your penance to be a Sacrament because it hath no outward visible signe and reiect your clancular confession your absurd absolution and your superstitious or rather blasphemous satisfaction thereby to answere Gods iustice and discharge your sins yet we truly teach y e doctrine of repentance as it is deliuered vnto vs in the word of God We teach men to come to the knowledge of their sins by y e law of God which is the glasse to shew vs our spots and the first step to repentance then to lament their sinnes whereby they haue offended their gracious God and mercifull father to confesse their sinnes with remorse of conscience both to God and men whom they haue offended and especially wee call vpon men for amendement of life in bringing forth fruits worthie of repentance without the which there is no repentance One part of which amendement is satisfaction to our brethren for iniuries committed and restitution of goods vnlawfully and vngodly gotten As touching our iniuries against God we plead not our owne satisfaction but craue Gods mercie in Christ Iesus who is our only satisfaction and by whom only we seeke to haue remission of them Whereas you say that your confession rubbeth the sores of sinne and causeth remembrance of them I say that this more truly and effectually is wrought by the preaching of Gods word whereby sinne is more shewed and the wrath and iudgements of God against sinne are more threatned and thereby the conscience more pricked and wounded then by your confession So Dauid was brought to repentance for his foule sinnes of adulterie and murther by Nathans preaching and thundring Gods iudgements against him and not by his secret confessing So the people hauing heard Peter preach the word of God were pricked in their hearts and said vnto Peter and the other Apostles Men and brethren what shall we doe This is Gods holy ordinance the other a plant which God hath neuer planted but an inuention of man as euen your own Canonists against your Schoolemen do confesse And what wickednes hath come of it the ecclesiasticall historie partly sheweth and God who seeth al secrets knoweth To your sixt accusation I answer that we exclude and banish our Sauiour Christ neither from the Sacrament of his supper nor from the hearts of the faithfull but acknowledge that as by faith he dwelleth in the one so by the same he is receiued of the godly in the other Your false and grosse doctrine of Transsubstantiation which the Greeke Church neuer beleeued and the Latine Church lately defined as
quenched but there remained sparkes of Gods spirit which afterwards being stirred vp and blowne by Nathans bellowes kindled and flamed to Gods glorie and Dauids eternall comfort and saluation Shall we thinke that Dauid had lost all loue of God of his law and of man was he cleane depriued of Gods spirit it appeareth by his owne words that he was not Who vpon Nathans preaching and reprouing of his sinne prayed and said Take not thy holy spirit from me Whereupon I reason thus He that was not cleane depriued of Gods spirit had not wholy lost faith and charitie But Dauid was not cleane depriued of Gods spirit therefore he had not wholy lost faith and charitie The first proposition is euident by the words of Dauid the second is manifest For it is absurd to say that the spirit of God should continue in him that hath lost all graces and gifts of the spirit It is with Gods elect and chosen children as it is with fire which in the night is so hid and couered that none appeareth and yet in the morning is stirred vp and is made to burne and to flame and as with a tree which in the winter hath neither fruite nor leafe vpon it yet it hath a sappe fallen into the roote which in the spring springeth and bringeth forth both leafe and fruite So is it with Gods holy Saints they be sometimes so ouertaken and ouercome with temptations that they seeme to be as trees without fruite withered and perished yet there remaineth a sappe of Gods spirit and grace in them which afterward riseth and buddeth forth good fruite And therefore to the second proposition of your secoÌ„d Syllogisme I say that although Dauid by those foule and fearefull offences deserued eternall death yet he did not remaine in death and although God hated those sinnes yet hee neuer hated Dauid For whom God loueth he loueth to the end and the giâ—ts and calling of God are without repentance If we loue a man and yet hate some sinne that he committeth might not God who is loue it selfe hate Dauids sinne and yet loue him and keepe some sparkes of his spirit and grace in him and so preserue as the externall life of the body so the internall life of the soule in him So that neither Dauid remained in death neither was his loue no not to Vrias altogether extinguished in him No doubt but he did loue him as his true and faithfull subiect and might loue him as the seruant of God yet in that temptation his owne selfe loue and desire to couer his owne sinne and shame did preuaile against his loue to Vrias and did draw him to doe an act which was no fruite nor effect of loue and charitie and yet did not wholy quench loue in him The Maior of your latter Syllogisme which needeth no proofe you seeke to proue by a false assertion in barely saying According to your manner but not by any place of Scripture prouing that charitie is the life of the â—oule I say that faith is the life of the soule the which I proue by these two sayings of the Scripture The Prophet Habacuk saith The iust shall liue by his faith Saint Paul saith In that I now liue in the flesh I liue by the faith in the sonne of God who hath loued me and giuen himselfe for me Let this man shew two such plaine places of Scripture to proue charitie to be the life of the soule Properly Christ is the life of our soules Saint Paul in the place before alledged saith Christ liued in me And when Christ which is our life shall appeare And our Sauiour himselfe saith I am the way the truth and the life For when wee were dead in sinnes hee hath quickned vs and at he hath restored life vnto vs so hee doth continually nourish and preserue life in vs. But this is attributed to faith because by it Christ dwelleth in vs and we by it be put into the possession of Christ and of all the benefits of his passion Concerning the place of Ezechiel because you doe not vrge it I will not stand vpon it We doubt not but men may and doe fall from God and iust actions vnto wicked and vngodly deedes and may haue a temporall faith and fall away from the grace of God But this we say that true faith in Gods elect which are sealed with the spirit of adoption and to whose spirit Gods spirit doth beare witnes that they are the sonnes of God is neuer wholy lust in them and the same spirit worketh by charitie which in them may bee cooled but neuer cleane quenched But of the losing of faith and of the coniunction thereof with charitie I haue before intreated Now to returne this argument in some sort vpon you whereas the Papists auerre that the Popes faith cannot faile I reason thus He that loseth his charitie may lose his faith the Pope may lose his charitie Ergo the Pope may lose his faith The first proposition I haue proued alreadie and haue shewed that true faith is not separated from charitie but worketh by it And most manifest it is by Saint Iames that the faith which is without charitie and good workes is dead So that if the Pope be without Charitie then hee hath but a dead faith And a dead faith is as much faith as a dead man is a man That the Pope may bee without charitie I thinke they will not deny and if they doe it may be proued by many examples Pope Iohn the twelft or as Platina reckoneth the thirteenth tooke two of his Cardinals and cut off the nose of the one and the hand of the other as witnes Platina Blondus and many others Stephanus the sixt did take the bodie of Formosus his predecessor out of the graue after he was dead put him out of his pontificall habite and put on him a lay mans attire cut off the two fingers of his right hand where with he did consecrate and threw them into Tiber. Pope Sergius the third tooke vp againe the body of the same Formosus did cut off his head as if hee had been a liue and threw the bodie into Tiber as vn worthie of buriall Boniface the seuenth tooke Iohn a Cardinall and put out his eyes Vrban the sixt of seuen of his Cardinals which hee apprehended at Nuceria tooke fiue of them put them in sackes and cast them into the Sea Innocentius the seuenth caused by Lewes his nephew certaine citizens of Rome which sought the restitution of their ancient liberties and the reformation of the Common-wealth decayed by his euill gouernment to be throwne out of windowes and so killed Alexander the sixt caused both the right hand and tongue of Antonius Mancinellus to bee cut out because hee had written an eloquent oration against his wicked and filthie life Many such other pranckes of Popes might bee alleadged which were no more fruites of
surely for to attribute remission of sinnes or any part of saluation to the merits of any other but only of Iesus Christ crucified is to coine a new and false gospell for it is not that gospell of God which he promised afore by his Prophets in the holy scriptures which is concerning his Sonne Iesus Christ our Lord c. To conclude this point I say woe woe vnto them that accept or affect any new coined gospell And whereas you wonder that men indued with iudgement and a religious conscience could affect or accept the gospell that we preach which you falsely call a new coined gospell we may well wonder that any man that hath any sparke of knowledge or conscience should beleeue these foresaid false gospels We may also wonder that men indued with reasonable soules and senses being the handy worke of God should bow downe and worship a stone and stock which hath neither soule nor life hath eyes and seeth not eares and heareth not c. and is the workemanship of mans hands especially being so plainely and expresly forbidden in Gods commaundements infinite places of the scriptures We may wonder that any man should be so mad as to worship and thinke that which he doth eate to be his God and maker which is so absurd that euen Tully not without reason could say sedecquem tam amentem esse putas qui illud quo vescitur deum credat esse Doest thou thinke any man so mad as to beleeue that to be his God which he doth eate yet into this madnes by a spiritual phrensie be these men fallen We also may wonder that they should beleeue such false fables and lying miracles as abound in poperie as for example to cast the dung of their abominations vpon their faces That Images did speake did sweate did roll their eyes did bleede that the head of a dog being cut off from the body by theeues which vpon Saint Katherines day came to rob a Priest who was a deuout worshipper of her did still barke That the virgin Mary did for many yeares in a Nunnery keepe the keyes and supply the place of one Beatrix whilest she went away and played the whore These and many such absurd fables were preached published printed and beleeued as may appeare by Sermones discipuli Antoninus the Archbishop of Florence stories Mariale Summa praedicantia the festiuall Vitas patrum and that monstrous booke the Legend written by Iacobus de Varagine Archbishop of Genua Which yet was in so great reputation with them that it was published in print in the English tongue when the holy Bible was suppressed and had this title set before it The golden Legend for as gold excelleth all other mettals so this booke excelleth all other bookes to the which title that worthy and right worshipfull Knight Sir Andrew Corbet of blessed memory did adde these words In lying and so of a false and blasphemous title made it a most true title Yea I haue a booke in English in Folio translated out of French and printed in London in King Henry the 8. dayes Anno 1521. intituled The flower of the Commaundements fully fraighted with such sottish and worse then old wiues fables which yet in those dayes were preached and beleeued And we may wonder that men of any wisedome knowledge or iudgement should be deluded and mocked with such false fained reliques as were and are in Popery as with Saint Peters finger at Walsingham as big as if it had been of some Giant and also the virgin Maries milke there which seemeth by Erasmus to haue been the white of an egge and chalke mingled together and a vessell of the same at Rome as writeth Blondus the bloud of Hales the which was proued and declared at Paules Crosse by the Bishop of Rochester in King Henry the 8. dayes to haue been clarified honey coloured with saffron In Geneua there was worshipped for the arme of Saint Anthonie that which afterward was proued to be the pisle of a Stagge for a peece of S. Peters scull that which was found to be a pumish stone But this will not be beleeued of this writer and of his fellowes because Caluin did write it But why Caluin should write and publish euen in the French tongue in Geneua such a thing of Geneua vnlesse it were true which the Inhabitants thereof might know to be false I see no reason it could purchase no credit to him or to his doctrine But why might not that as well be true as the things before alleaged or as that which Gregorius Turonensis who liued sundry hundreth yeares past writeth that there was found in a boxe of reliques of a certaine Sainct rootes of trees the teeth of a Mole the bones of Mice and the clawes of Beares which were worshipt for holy reliques But of these iuglings I will write no more at this present God may giue occasion hereafter more largely to intreate of them At these things we may wonder but yet we do not ouermuch meruaile and wonder at them for that the spirit of God by Saint Paule hath foreshewed vs that the time would come when men should turne away their eares frō the truth and be giuen to fables and that the comming of Antichrist should be by the effectuall working of Satan with all power and signes and lying wonders and in all deceiueablenes of vnrighteousnes among thē that perish because they receiued not the loue of the truth that they might be saued therefore God should send them a strong delusion to beleeue lyes that all they might be damned which beleeued not the truth but had pleasure in vnrighteousnes Whereas you request that he that shall answere this your pamphlet will do it briefely orderly and seriously I will indeuor to do the two last as God shall inable me But concerning breuitie I will vse my libertie and peraduenture more largely lay downe your absurdities then you would be willing I should do But whereas you say that you make this request for that you perceiue that the Protestants cannot answere with breuitie because their religion lacketh both certaintie and perspicuitie I say that with one breath you do vtter two vntruthes or to speake plaine English lyes The first that we cannot answere with breuitie which how vntrue it is let it be tried first by the briefe and pithie answeres of that great learned man Doctor Fulke who answering many of their bookes which yet to this day stand vndefended how briefely and pithily he answered the same let any man that hath but a graine of indifferent iudgement consider and iudge And particularly I referre them to his answere to Rishtons challenge and to Allens booke of Purgatorie both in one volume yea many times in his writings he called them from long and impertinent discourses to short syllogismes whereunto he could neuer bring them How closely that pretious Iewel and excellent ornament of this
Christ and applied vnto our soules by the hand of faith by the which Christ doth dwell in our harts and is made ours We beleeue that we are true members of that holy Catholike Church which is Christes mysticall body and whereof he is the head which is his spouse and he the bridegroome which is his flock and he the shepheard which is the heauenly Hierusalem the Mother of vs all finally which is the number of Gods elect and chosen people that shall rest with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the Kingdome of Heauen And we know that we haue perticular and visible Churches wherein Gods word is more truly preached the Sacraments seales of the word are more purely ministred and Gods name more faithfully inuocated and called vpon then in any or all the Romish Synagogues Indeede we haue no Idolatrous altars to offer either carnall or externall sacrifices vpon as though Christs sweete smelling sacrifice were not yet offered but we haue Mensam Domini the Lords Table whereupon we minister the Supper of Christ which is a holy Sacrament of Christs body and bloud giuen for vs a memoriall of his death and passion and a pledge of our redemption and saluation purchased thereby We haue that sweete smelling and sufficient sacrifice which Iesus Christ by his eternall spirit offered without fault vnto God to purge our consciences from dead workes to serue the liuing God As for the sacrifice of the masse as being iniurious to the said sacrifice of Iesus Christ which he once for all and for euer offered vpon the Altar of the Crosse we deny and defie We haue no thauen nor greased priests to offer the said false and forged sacrifice of the Masse but we haue priests pastours or ministers howsoeuer we terme them according to the ordinance of Christ to preach his holy Gospell and to administer his sacraments to his Church We haue and vse that religion which hath the testimonie of the law prophets and wherein the true worship and seruice of God according to his will reuealed in his holy word is contained your 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and superstition we flee and forsake Finally we haue that Christ which came into this world to saue sinners and which is that Lambe of God that taketh away the sinne of the world whom we acknowledge more soundly to be our onely high prophet to instruct vs in the will of his father whose onely voyce we must heare our onely high priest with the sacrifice of his body and bloud once offered to redeeme vs and reconcile vs vnto God our onely mediator and intercessorto sit for euer at the right hand of God to make intercession for vs and our onely high king to deliuer vs out of the hands of our enemies to giue lawes vnto our consciences and to rule vs with the scepter of his holy word then the Pope and all his adherents doe This our true confession whereunto God and our consciences be witnesses we oppose to your false and slaunderous obtrectation and accusation saying with Saint Paul We passe very little to be iudged of you or of mans iudgement and with him also exhort you not to iudge before the time vntill the Lord come who will lighten things that are hid in darkenes and make the counsels of the harts manifest and then shall euery man haue praise of God Further I doe exhort you that take vpon you so seuerely to censure and iudge others carefully to take heede to your selues that you haue not a false faith grounded not vpon Gods promises contained in his word but vpon mans deuises and traditions which as Epiphanius saith as worse then no faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that you be not voyde of true hope by teaching the doctrine of doubting whereof I shall speake hereafter and by fearing to be after death throwne into the firie torments of purgatorie and that you want not true charitie in iudging so falsely and maliciously and persecuting vs so cruelly as you vse to doe when time and power serueth you and that you haue no true repentance nor remorse of conscience for sinne in persisting so obstinately in damnable doctrine and abominable idolatrie and that by leaning to your owne righteousnes and the merites of other men which were sinners themselues you lose not that true iustification which is the righteousnes of God by the faith of Iesus Christ vnto all and vpon all that beleeue which is onely able to stand and discharge vs before the iudgement seate of Iesus Christ and is the onely strong staffe to leane vpon to leap ouer the ditch of damnation and beware I say that you leaning vpon the weake reede of your owne merites and others fall not into the middest thereof from which there is norising take heede you be not of the malignant Church which heareth not the voyce of Christ and wherein that man of sinne and sonne of perdition sitteth and raigneth and that you haue not such Idolatrous altars as Ieneboam had against which the man of God cried and vpon which the like iudgement of God fell as hath done vpon yours now And that you haue not a false forged sacrifice which appeaseth not but daily prouoketh Gods wrath against you and that you be not without priests to teach the law of God truely but haue swarmes of such priests as say not where is the Lord and know not God but prophesie in Baal which haue gone out of the way and haue caused many to fall by the law c. Beware that you be not without religion remembring the saying of Lactantius Quare non est dubium quin veligio nulla sit vbicunque simulachrum est that is wherefore there is no doubt but that there is no religion wheresoeuer an Image is Finally I say againe and againe beware that you forsake not the true Christ and worship Antichrist sitting in the westerne Babylon built vpon seuen hilles which in the dayes of Saint Iohn raigned ouer the Kings of the earth wherefore be not so rash in iudging so hardly and vncharitably of others but examine and iudge your selues that you be not iudged of the Lord. But I now come to your pithie probation of this your vncharitable and shameles assertion The reason you say is For if they haue then the world was without them for a thousand yeares as they themselues must needes confesse videl all the time their Church was eclipsed and for 1500. as we will proue by the testimonie of all records of antiquitie c. Whereunto I answere that if we take the world in that sense which the scripture sometimes doth for the multitude and societie of them whereof the Diuell is prince which hateth Christ and his true disciples which is set vpon wickednes for the which our Sauiour Christ refused to pray saying I pray not for the world and where
of Iudas not Iscariot did say what is the cause that thou wilt shew thy selfe to vs and not vnto the world In this sense I may grant that the world hath not had these gifts of Gods grace these thousand yeares and put another thousand and more vnto them But if we take the world more generally for this great globe and all the inhabitants thereof then proue by the testimonie of all antiquitie that the doctrine which we teach and professe hath not been these 1500. yeares in the world and we will yeeld and you shall winne the victorie But it is vsuall with you and your fellowes to make great and braue bragges to amaze the simple and ignorant and to bring small and poore proofes as you doe here none at all to perswade the wise and learned great braggers are no great doers In deede we confesse that the Church is well compared by Saint Augustine to the Moone For as the Moone receiueth her light from the Sunne so doth the true Church receiue her light from Iesus Christ the sunne of righteousnes And as the Moone is sometimes in the full and shineth in full brightnes and sometimes is in the waine and sometimes is eclipsed and doth little appeare euen so the Church is sometimes in the full and shineth in full brightnes and glorie as in the Apostles times and diuers hundreth yeares after it did sometimes it is in the waine and eclipsed as for many hundred yeares last past it hath been in which that Apostasie from the faith is come which Saint Paul by the spirit of God foreshewed and the euent hath proued by Mahometisme in the East and Papisme in the West During which time although the Church hath been driuen into the wildernes and the light of true doctrine which is the soule of the Church hath been eclipsed yet they haue neuer vtterly perished For in all ages God in mercie hath reserued a remnant according to the election of grace by whom the light of his truth hath been preserued and in whom those admirable promises of his mercie haue been performed These haue been not proude Popes treading vpon Emperours neckes deposing them from their Crownes and Kingdomes raysing bloudie battels and pouling and spoyling Christian countries with greeuous and horrible exactions and deuises as might be shewed not carnall Cardinals Princes peeres hauing 200. and 300. benefices apeece as Gerson and Clamangis Parisian Doctors before named doe affirme not popish blinde prelates Abbats Monkes priests c. wallowing in all worldly wealth and for the most part in great filthines of life as hereafter I will shew but such as the Apostle speaketh of that haue been tried by mockings and scourginges yea by bondes prisonment which were stoned hewen asunder tempted slaine with the sworde wandred vp and downe in sheepe-skinnes and in goates skinnes destituted afflicted and tormented whom the world was not worthie of which wandred in wildernesses and mountaines and dennes and caues of the earth Such were those good people in the time of the foresaid apostacie the Waldenses and Pauperes de Lugduno dispersed in diuers countries as namely Calabria Sauoye Prouence in Fraunce of whom many both long agoe in sundrie places and diuers times were burned as it is written in the old booke called Fasciculus Temporum and also of late yeares were most cruelly and vnmercifully perse cuted in Merindoll the valley of Angrone Luserne and Saint Martin Such were they that were called Begardi of whom to the number of 114. were burnt at Paris as the foresaid booke Fasciculus Tempo sheweth Such were they that were called Albingenses inhabiting especially about Tholossa in Fraunce of whom by the procurement of that false Frier and superstitious Hypocrite Dominicus an hundreth thousand were destroyed as writeth Bernardus Lutzenburgus and an 180. were together burned as both Antoninus the Arch-bishop of Florence writeth and Bellarmine himselfe confesseth Such were they of whom Albertus Crantius writeth which in Sueuia publikly preached that the Pope Bishops and prelaces were heretikes and Simoniakes that the begging Friers did peruert the Church with their false preachings for the which they were persecuted and some burned Such were they in Bohemia and Morauia in great number with whom Aeneas Syluius who was Pope called Pius the second hauing had conference writeth thus of one of them Finitis sermonibus istis assurrexit vnus de primoribus Thaboritarum animo satis inflato quid tu nobis inquit apostolicam sedem tot verbis amplificas Nos Papam Cardinales anaritiae seruos nouimus impatientes inflatos tumidos ventri ac libidini deditos ministros scelerum diaboli sacerdotes Antichristi praecursores quorum deus venter est pecunia caelum That is when these speeches were ended there did rise vp one of the chiefe of the Thaborites and with an hautie minde said What dost thou amplifie to vs in so many wordes the Apostolicall seate we know that the Pope and the Cardinals be slaues to couetousnes imputient proud arrogant giuen to the bellie and filthie lust the ministers of wickednes the priests of the diuell and the forerunners of Antichrist whose God is their bellie and whose heauen is money Such also was Arnoldus Brixianus persecuted by that proud English Pope Adrian the fourth anno 1155. Iohn Rochetailada burnt at Auinion by Pope Clement the sixt 1345. Michael Cesenas burnt 1322. Iohn Wickliffe who died 1387. and after his death his body was burnt Two Franciscan Friers burnt at Auinion by Pope Innocent the sixt 1354. Two others burnt at London 1357. William Swinderby burnt 1401. William White burnt 1428. Peter Clarke and Peter Paine 1433. persecuted and forced to flee into Bohemia Thomas Rhedonensis burnt at Rome 1430. Mattheus Palmerius burnt at Florence as witnesseth Sabellicus Dulcinus of Nouaria and Margaret his wife burnt about the yeare of our Lord 1304. Iohn Hus and Hierome of Prage burnt at Constance 1415. 1416. Hieromus Sauonarola burnt at Florence 1499. These and many such other that might be produced with their faithfull fauourers and followers were the true Church of God in whom his mercifull promises were performed These are they that haue mourned in Zion that haue lamented and cryed for all the abominations that haue been don in Ierusalem or rather in Rome that were killed for the word of God and for the testimonie which they maintained and which came out of great tribulation and haue washed their robes in the bloud of the Lamb. But these now haue beautie for ashes the oyle of ioy for mourning the garment of gladnes for the spirit of heauines and are trees of righteousnes the planting of the Lord in whom he is glorified they be now vnder the altar and are in the presence of the throne of God and serue him day and night in his temple and he that sitteth
this disputation that our Lord Iesus Christ hath as he speaketh in the Gospell put vs vnder his easie yoke and light burthen whereupon he hath bound together the societie and communion of his people by Sacraments in nūber fewest in obseruation easiest in significatiō most excellent as is baptisme consecrated in y e name of the Trinity the cōmunion of his body bloud if there be any thing els commēded in the canonical scriptures The like he writeth in his 3. booke de doctr Christiana cap. 9. by the which it appeareth that he thought these two Sacraments to be sufficient for faithful Christians to communicate in And if he had acknowledged any mo it is maruell y t writing of purpose of thē he did not name them Yet S. Augustine did not deny this article of the cōmunion of Saints Bessarion a Cardinal of Rome a learned man dissenteth frō you saith Haec duo sola sacramēta in Euāgelio manifestè tradita legimus i. We read that these only 2. sacraments are plainly deliuered to vs in the Gospell yet did he not deny this article of faith Your own doctor Alexander de Hales flatly affirmeth that neither Christ nor his Apostles did institute ordain the Sacramēt of Cōfirmation but y t it was afterward ordained in the Councel called Meldense yet he denied not this Article And therfore you ouershot your self in saying that they which beleeue not y t Christ did institute 7. sacramēts deny this article of faith The cōmunion of Saints But to proceed with you concerning y e true real presence of Christ in the Eucharist we denie the same not to the faith of the godly worthy receiuer but to the mouth teeth of y e car nal eater We beleeue and say that Christs bodie bloud in as much as they were offred vpon the crosse for our redēption are the spirituall food of our soules without which we can neither liue vnto God here nor liue with God here after that y e same is offred to vs partly in the promises of the Gospel partly in y e sacramēts of Baptisme Christs supper and is in both apprehended of vs by faith without which neither the word nor Sacraments can profit vs. But here I must put you in mind that you corruptly alleage a place of Saint Paul 1. Cor. 10. 17. foisting in this word Bodie for Bread S. Paules words bethus We that are manie are one bread and one bodie because we are partakers of one bread This shifting of the words of the holy Ghost is too vsuall with your companions Bunderius a Louaine Frier alleaging the words of Saint Paul in the next chapter verse 27. Quicunque manducauerit panem hunc c. He that eateth this bread c. putteth out the word panem and foisteth in the word carnem flesh alleaging it thus Qui manducat carnem bibit calicem Domini indignè c. He that eateth the flesh drinketh the cup of the Lord vnworthily c. D. Harding in his Confutation of the Apology intreating of Purgatorie alleaging the words of S. Paul 2. Cor. 7. 1. to proue satisfaction for sinnes by that fained fire putteth out Sanctification and in place therof putteth Satisfaction alleaging it thus making perfect satisfaction in the feare of God Cardinall Hosius changeth the words of Saint Paul alleaging them thus Neque ferre possunt vt per verbum Dei signo crucis vlla creatura sanctificetur that is They cannot abide that anie creature should be sanctified by the word of God and signe of the crosse He putteth out prayer and putteth in the signe of the Crosse as a more holie thing The foresaid Bunderius doth most shamefully alleage a place of the Apostle in this sort Nam si cinis vitulae conspersus populum sanctificauit atque mundauit quantò magis aqua sale conspersa diuinis precibus sacrata populum sanctificat atque mundat that is If the ashes of an heifer sprinkled haue sanctified and cleansed the people how much more shall water sprinkled with salt being hallowed with diuine prayers sanctifie and cleanse the people c. The words of the Apostle be these If the bloud of bulles goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling them that are vncleane sanctifieth as touching the purifying of the flesh how much more shall the bloud of Christ which through the eternall spirit offered himselfe without fault to God purge your conscience from dead works to serue the liuing God Is not this horrible handling of Gods word blasphemous attributing that to their salt water which is proper peculiar to the bloud of Christ I could shew in like maner how they haue clipped the coine of Gods word in leauing out words of purpose which serue not their turne but I wil omit them only this I say y t if they which counterfeit clip the kings coin deserue hāging what do they deserue y t counterfeit clip the word of the eternal God king of al Kings but corrupt doctrine cānot be maintained without corruptiō of Gods word But to returne to S. Pauls place he there disswadeth the Christians of Corinth from going to Idolatrous feasts by a reason taken from the Supper of our Sauiour Christ shewing that as the faithfull by eating that bread which there is broken drinking that Cup are made partakers of Christ Iesus so they that did eate those feasts ordained to the honoring of Idols were partakers of Idolatrie there committed or rather of the Diuell that was there serued And as the faithfull by being partakers of that bread haue communion together and be made one body to wit the mysticall body of Christ so they that receiue those Idol bankets haue communion together and shew themselues to be of one body videl of the Diuell Now as there needed no transubstantiation for the one no more there doth for the other Also this bread which S. Paul calleth the communiō of the body of Christ is broken yet I trust they wil not say that Christs body is broken although Pope Nicholas caused that excellent man Berengarius so to confesse But of the grosse and absurd doctrine of transubstantiation I will speake no more at this present You say moreouer that we deny the communion of the Church militant and triumphant by exclaming against inuocation of Saints by which holy exercise those blessed Saints in heauen and we in earth communicate we by prayer glorifying them and they by meditation I thinke it should be mediation obtayning our requests Hereunto I answere first that this inuocation of Saints is vnlawfull and cannot bee proued by the holy Scriptures And this offer I doe make you that if you can bring one plaine place out of all the holy Scriptures wherein it was euer commaunded or of any faithfull man or woman vsed I will yeeld vnto you not onely in this but also in all matters of Religion You quote
vsuall amongst you and your fellowes in such sort to abuse the word of God The words of Saint Iohn be these Iohn to the seuen Churches which are in Asia Grace be with you and peace from him which is and which was and which is to come and from the seuen spirits which are before his throne and from Iesus Christ c. What meaneth this man to alledge this for inuocation of Saints will he by these seuen spirits vnderstand the Saints either he knoweth little or he cannot be ignorant that this is expounded of the holy Ghost who although he be in person one yet by the communication of his vertue and demonstration of his diuine workes in those seuen Churches doth so perfectly shew himselfe as though there were so many spirits euery one working in his peculiar Church Ambrose set out by Doctor Tunstall Bishop of Duresme writeth vpon these words thus Hic tota trinitas demonstratur that is heere the whole Trinitie is shewed and a little after Per septem autem spiritus spiritus sanctus eò quod sit septiformis intelligitur that is By the seuen spirits the holy Ghost is vnderstoode because he worketh seuen manner of wayes And hard it were or rather absurd to pray for grace and peace from Saints and that before Iesus Christ But vpon this I will not stand onely the reader may consider how barren this cause is which hath no plainer proofes and driueth this man to such priuate and false exposition of Gods word Now whereas you say that by prayer you glorifie the Saints in heauen I say that by prayer we doe glorifie God Call vpon me in the day of trouble and I will deliuer thee and thou shalt glorifie me But that by prayer we should glorifie Saints I doe not finde in all the holy Scriptures If this man can why doth he not shew it I finde that God will not giue his glorie to any other and that the Saints with Dauid say Not vnto vs O Lord not vnto vs but vnto thy name giue the glorie for thy louing mercie and thy truths sake And that the Angell would not be worshiped or glorified but said vnto Iohn worship God As touching the Saints mediation when Iesus Christ shall cease to be our mediator and to sit at the right hand of God to make intercession for vs then we will seeke to your mediation of Saints In the meane time take you heede that in attributing that to the Saints which is proper and peculiar to the sonne of God yea which he hath bought with his bloud you doe not deny the Lord which hath bought vs and that you doe not horribly dishonor those Saints and make Idols of them Furthermore you say that we deny the communion of the Church militant and the soules in purgatorie c. Whereunto I answer y t when you shal plainely and pithily proue this your fayned fire of purgatorie which the Greeke Church alwayes hath denyed then we wil yeeld vnto you and graunt our selues to be to blame in not helping these seely soules with dirges masses c. out of the paines of this forged fire You quote in your margent for proofe thereof 1. Cor. 3. v. 15. 15. v. 29. Alas poore purgatorie that hath no better proofes The words of S. Paul in the first place be these If a mans worke burne he shall lose but he shall be saued himselfe neuerthelesse yet as it were by fire Here is mention of fire and therfore it must needs be the fire of purgatorie for such is the great iudgement of these worthie writers that if they reade in the Scriptures or Fathers this word fire it is none other but the fire of purgatorie if sacrifice it is the sacrifice of the Masse if confessiō it can be nothing but auricular confession to the priest if tradition it is vnwrittē verities or vanities But touching these places of S. Paul because the author of this Pamphlet doth not alledge them but barely quote them I will but briefely touch them To the first I say that S. Paul there speaketh not of all men but onely of teachers and preachers which be builders of Gods house and Church which euen Bellarmine confesseth Secondly he speaketh not of all their workes but onely of their doctrine whereby they build the Church of God Thirdly he speaketh not of the purging of workes or persons but of the probation of doctrines Fourthly the works are said to be proued and not the persons Lastly if this place should be vnderstood of purgatorie then euery man should bee throwne into it for it is said the fire shall try euery mans worke of what sort it is but this is contrarie to the doctrine of the papists who will not haue all men come into purgatorie These things plainly shew that this place cannot be vnderstoode of purgatorie Saint Augustine in many places doth vnderstand it of the afflictions and troubles sustained in this life and not of the paines of Purgatorie after this life Enchir. ad Laurentium cap. 68. de ciuit Dei lib. 21 cap. 26. de side operibus cap. 16. in Psal 80. But S. Paul speaketh of triall of doctrine shewing that as the fire trieth mettals so the light of Gods truth trieth doctrines and as gold and siluer abide in the fire and hay and stubble be consumed so true sound and holy doctrines abide the light and triall of Gods word when either vntrue doctrines or vaine speculations perish and be consumed So doth S. Ambrose expound it Mala doctrina in igne omnibus apparebit nunc enim quosdam fallit that is Euill doctrine shall appeare vnto all in the fire for now it deceiueth some Againe Mala enim adultera doctrina idcirco in ligno foeno stipula significata est vt ostenderetur ignis esse esca that is Euill and counterfeit doctrine is therfore signified by wood hay and stubble that it might be shewed that it is but meate to be consumed of fire And againe Ignis ergo hic Christi sermo est bonus ignis c. This fire is the word of Christ and it is a good fire which warmeth but burneth not but onely sinnes By this fire that gold of the Apostle laid vpon the good foundation is tried By this fire that siluer of manners or workes is proued By this fire those pretious stones are lightened but the hay and stubble is consumed Therefore this fire clenseth the soule and consumeth error Hitherto S. Ambrose whereby we may see y t neither S. Augustine nor S. Ambrose expound this place of Purgatorie much lesse the Greeke Fathers who neuer acknowledged it Therfore to expoūd it of Purgatorie as the Papists do whether it be not a priuate false exposition let y e godly reader vprightly iudge The words of the other place here quoted are these Else what shall they doe which are baptized for the dead if the dead rise not at all why
c. If any shall say that it is necessarie for euery man to the obtaining of remission of sinnes to beleeue certainly and without doubt of their owne infirmitie and indisposition that their sins be forgiuen them be he accursed But more plainly and pregnantly doe the Doctors of Louaine lay downe this doctrine of doubting Fides qua quis firmiter credit certò statuit per Christum sibi remissa esse peccata seque possessurum vitam aeternam nullum habet in Scripturis testimonium imo eisdem aduersatur that is The faith whereby a man doth firmely beleeue and is certainly assured that his sinnes by Christ be forgiuen him and that he shall possesse eternall life hath no testimonie in the Scripture yea is contrarie vnto them Hereupon I conclude by this writers owne reason that the Papists in maintaining this doctrine of doubting teach infidelitie But whereas these Louainian Doctors say that this doctrine of the certaintie of forgiuenes of our sinnes by Christ and of our possession of eternall life is not testified in the Scriptures but contrarie to them how false this is I referre it to be tried by these places here following They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Sion which cannot be moued but remaineth for euer Being iustified by faith we haue peace towards God through our Lord Iesus Christ by whom also through faith we haue had this accesse vnto his grace wherein wee stand and reioyce vnder the hope of the glorie of God Ye haue not receiued the spirit of bondage to feare againe but ye haue receiued the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father The same spirit beareth witnes with our spirit that we are the children of God Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods chosen it is Christ that iustifieth Who shall condemne c. Who shall separate vs from the loue of Christ shall tribulation or anguish or persecution or famine or nakednes or perill or sword c. I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come neither height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate vs from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. It is God which stablisheth vs with you in Christ and hath annointed vs who hath also sealed vs and hath giuen the earnest of the spirit in our hearts In whom also ye haue trusted after that ye heard the word of truth euen the Gospell of your saluation wherein also after ye beleeued ye were sealed with the holy spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance c. Let vs therefore goe with confidence or boldnes vnto the throne of grace that wee may receiue mercie and finde grace to helpe in time of neede So God willing more abundantly to shew vnto the heires of promise the stablenes of his counsell bound himself by an oth that by two immutable things wherein it is impossible that God should lie we might haue strong consolation which haue our refuge to lay hold vpon that hope that is set before vs which hope we haue as an ancre of the soule both sure and stedfast and it entreth into that which is within the vaile c. Let vs draw neere with a true hart in assuraÌ„ce of faith our hearts being pure from an euill conscience and washed in our bodies with pure water let vs keepe the profession of our hope without wauering for he is faithfull that promised Therfore by faith that by grace the promise might be sure to all the seede And he not weake in the faith considered not his owne bodie which was now dead being almost an hundred yeeres old neither the deadnes of Saraes wombe neither did he doubt of the promise of God through vnbeleefe but was strengthened in the faith and gaue glorie to God being fully assured that he which had promised was able to doe it and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousnes Hereunto I will adde to the confuting of this doctrine of doubting two or three sayings of the Fathers Chrysostome saith Spes humana subinde intercidit sperantem pudore afficit Nostra verò eiusmodi non est sed firma immobilis perdurat c. that is The hope that is had in man sundrie times falleth away and shameth him that hopeth but our hope is not such but abideth firme and vnmoueable Augustine saith Gaudium ergo nostrum fratres nondum est inâ—e sed iam in spe Spes autem nostra tam certa est quasi iam res perfecta sit 1. Our ioy O brethreÌ„ is not as yet in possession but in hope And our hope is so certaine as though the thing were alreadie done Bernard saith Ergo aut dixi fides ambiguum non habet aut si habet fides non est sed opinio Faith hath no doubting or if it haue it is not faith but an opinion Hereby the indifferent reader may see both how false this desperate doctrine of doubting is against the which Ambrosus Catherinus an Archbishop a great doer in the Councell of Trent did earnestly write and also that the Papists by this principle of their doctrine teach infidelitie And withall let him consider whether is a more true godly and comfortable doctrine to beleeue by faith our saluation or to be vncertaine and to doubt therof as they teach But now let vs see how S. Paul exhorteth vs as this man saith to doubt of our saluation He saith Cum timore tremore salutem vestram operamini which is thus translated With feare and trembling worke your saluation This text was alleadged by hearesay and not by sight For this worthie writer who so highly thinketh of himselfe and so greatly disdaineth others quoteth in the margent 1. Cor. 2. whereas it is not in that chapter nor in all that Epistle but it is Philip. 2. 12. But the fault hereof will be laid vpon the Printer Yet that the Printer should so much erre and set 1. Cor. 2. for Philip. 2. it is not likely And that this error is not of the Printer but of this mans fine memorie it may hereby appeare y t it is not in the vulgar editioÌ„ which they both do and are bound to follow cum timore but cum metu Hereby the reader may see with what care these men alleage the Scriptures not looking vpon the words nor considering the simple sense and meaning but snatching at the words and wresting them contrarie to the purpose and meaning of the Apostle Whose intent is not to teach the Philippians that they be saued by their workes which is contrarie to his doctrine in many other places but to disswade them from carelesse securitie and to exhort them to walke in good workes and to runne on the race of their life in the feare of God vntil they
were indued with it for els he would not haue acknowledged the effectuall faith the diligent loue and patient hope of the Thessalonians and that they were elected of God Which gifts of Gods spirit could not be in them without the grace of God Now by this mans diuinitie what a madnesse was it for him to pray for grace vnto them whom hee did beleeue to bee endued with Gods grace alreadie And where as Saint Iohn saith These things haue I written vnto you that beleeue in the name of the sonne of God that yee may know that yee haue eternall life and that ye may beleeue in the name of the sonne of God By this mans deepe doctrine it might seeme madnesse for Saint Iohn to write vnto them that did beleeue in the name of the sonne of God that they should beleeue in the name of the Sonne of God But it seemed not so to S. Iohn who writeth to them that as they had blessedly begunne to beleeue in the name of the Sonne of God so they might still continue grow and increase in the same faith Moreouer also I would aske of this man and his fellowes whether they praying do beleeue the forgiuenes of their sins if they doe not then are they Infidels and deny the article of the creede I beleeue the forgiuenes of sinnes which before he falsely obiected to vs. If they doe beleeue the forgiuenes of their sinnes why doe they then by this mans doctrine pray for it If he say that he beleeueth that there is in generalitie a forgiuenes of sinnes but particularly he is not assured by faith of the forgiuenes of his owne sinnes then what doth his faith differ from the Diuels faith who beleeueth and trembleth as Saint Iames saith and what is this his doubting but as he himselfe here saith flat infidelitie And no meruaile though these men feele in their harts no assurance of faith for that they ground it not vpon the vnmoueable rocke of Gods promise but vpon the vnsure sand of their owne workes and satisfactions by the which indeede neither can their faith be assured nor their consciences quieted The which false doctrine while they beleeue I would know how they can aske forgiuenes of their sinnes for whosoeuer maketh satisfaction to God for them needeth not to aske forgiuenes of them But the Papists maintaine that they make full satisfaction to God for them as I haue before shewed therefore I may much more iustly say then he doth here that it is madnes to aske forgiuenes of them For what man not being mad owinge a summe of money and paying it will desire the same to be forgiuen him Concerning your scoffing in the proofe of your Minor or second proposition we indeede beleeue that we are iustified by faith without the workes of the law and that Christ dwelleth in our hearts by faith and that by this hand of a true and vnfained faith in Iesus Christ we apply the plaister of his precious bloud shed for our sinnes to cure all the sorances and sores of our soules And take you heede that you trusting in your owne workes and merits in your Masses agnus deis holy water pardons and manifold other such paltries fall not into the ditch of damnation And this shall suffice for this article which is so absurd that it deserueth not so much The Pamphlet The Protestants are bound in conscience to auoyde all good workes 2. Article EVery man is bound vpon paine of eternall damnation to auoyde all deadly sinnes But fasting praying almes deedes and all good workes according to the Protestants religion are deadly sinnes Ergo according to the Protestants religion all men are bound vpon paine of eternall damnation to auoyde fasting praying almes deedes and all good workes The Maior is manifest for the wages of deadly sinne is death Stipendium peccatimors The Minor is euident for according to the Protestants religion and common exposition of this text of Scripture Factisumus vt immundi omnes nos tanquam pannus menstruatae omnes iustitiae nostrae We are made all as vncleane and all our iustices are as stayned cloth That is to say the best workes we can doe are infected with deadly sinne and consequently deserue eternall damnation and therefore to be auoyded Answere AS Hannibal said of Phormio that he had heard many doting fooles but he neuer heard any that so much doted as did Phormio so may I say that I haue heard and read many foolish disputers but any that did so foolishly disoute and reason as this man doth I neuer heard nor read For what man in his wits will reason thus that because the corruptions of men doe creepe into these workes of fasting praying and almes giuing therefore the workes themselues bee deadly sinnes Our doctrine is first that these workes and such other being done by vnfaithfull hypocrites and wicked men be turned into sinne as Dauid saith for they be so corrupted and defiled with their infidelitie and wickednes that they be but splendida peccata that is glittering sinnes before God as Saint Augustine tearmeth them For euen as most pure water flowing through a filthie sinke or priuie is made foule filthie and stinking euen so these workes prayer fasting c. which be good workes commaunded of God flowing from their faithles and wicked hearts and bodies be so defiled that they be but filthie sinnes in the sight of God Salomon saith the sacrifice of the wicked is abomination to the Lord but the prayer of the righteous is acceptable to him God saith by the Prophet Esay Bring no moe oblations in vaine incense is an abomination vnto me I cannot suffer your new moones nor Sabboths nor solemne dayes it is iniquitie nor solemne assemblies My soule hateth your new moones your appoynted feasts c. He that killeth a bullocke is as if he slew a man he that sacrificeth a sheepe as if he cut off a dogges necke c. These sayings shew that euen the sacrifices commaunded in the law of God were wicked and abominable when they were offered of wicked and prophane persons voyde of true faith and repentance So it is in the prophet Haggai Thus saith the Lord of Hostes Aske now the priests concerning the law If one beare holy flesh in the skirt of his garment and with his skirt doe touch the bread or the pottage or the wine or ale or any meate shall it be holy And the priests answered and said no. Then said Haggai if a polluted person touch any of these things shall it be vncleane and the priests answered and said it shall be vncleane Then answered Haggai and said so is this people and so is this nation before me saith the Lord and so are all the workes of their hands and that which they offer here is vncleane Agreeable to this is that which Saint Paul saith Vnto the pure are all things pure but vnto them
that are defiled and vnbeleeuing is nothing pure but euen their mindes and consciences are defiled Christ our Sauiour saith Doe men gather grapes of thornes or figges of thistles and a corrupt tree bringeth forth euill fruite Whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne and without faith it is impossible to please God Here of we conclude that euen those workes which God hath commaunded and commended to vs in his word being done by the vngodly and reprobate be so corrupted by their infidelitie and wickednes that they bee not acceptable but rather abominable before God So saith Saint Augustine Sine qua fide quae videntur bona opera in peccata vertuntur that is Without faith those workes which seeme to be good are turned into sinne Saint Ambrose saith Sine cultu veri dei etiam quod virtus videtur esse peccatum est nec placere vllus deo sine deo potest that is Without the worship of the true God euen that which seemeth to be vertue is sinne neither can any please God without God Anselme saith Omnis vita infidelium peccatum est nihil bonum sine summo bono i. The whole life of the vnfaithfull is sinne and there is nothing good without the chiefest good which is God By this the Christian reader may sufficiently see how false the doctrine of the Papists and namely of our fine and delicate Iesuites is who teach as their proctor Andradius one of that coate blusheth not to auouch that all actions of those which bee voyde of the true knowledge of God bee not sinne yea that they may doe workes defiled with no fault but worthie of great praise and that we are not to thinke that all the workes of them which be voyd of faith do so displease God that they be crimes worthie eternall punishments Let the godly reader compare these sayings of this Iebusite with those alledged before out of the Scriptures and ancient Fathers and discerne which is more sound and agreeable not to the blinde reason of man but to the will of God reueiled in his word Secondly concerning the workes of there generate that belong to Gods election and mercie we say that although they be done with imperfection and not so fully with their whole soule hart and minde as they should be but carrie the touch of mans corruption and are not able to abide the strict streight iudgement of God yet because they proceede from harts purified by faith and sanctified in some measure with Gods holy spirit they please God and the imperfections of them being pardoned in Iesus Christ they bee accepted for pure and holy Christ saith A good tree bringeth forth good fruite to the pure are all things pure The prayer of the righteous is alwayes acceptable to God The faithfull be an holy priesthoode to offer vp spirituall sacrifices acceptable to God by Iesus Christ To doe good and to distribute forget not for with such sacrifices God is pleased This therefore is a falsely which this man with a brasen brow affirmeth that fasting praying and almes deedes according to our religion be deadly sinnes These workes be commaunded of God who commaundeth no sinnes We say that the corruption of our nature which is but in part and imperfectly regenerate in this life doth creepe into them and therefore they be not so purely perfectly done of vs as God requireth whereby we acknowledge that euen the best workes we doe had neede of Gods mercie So Saint Augustine saith Vae etiam laudabili vitae hominum si remota misericordia discutias eam that is Wo be to the laudable life of man if thou O God examine it without mercie Now what reasonable man will reason or imagine vs to reason thus that because we doe good workes not so purely and perfectly as Gods righteousnesse requireth and deserueth that therefore good workes as prayer almes deedes c. be deadly sinnes or are to be auoyded of vs. But let vs come to examine the proofe of your Minor or second proposition You say that according to our religion and common exposition of this text of Scripture we are made all as vncleane and all our iustices are like a stained cloth the best workes we can doe are infected with deadly sinne and deserue eternall damnation and therefore to be auoided We indeed expound this place not only of wicked hypocrites but also of the regenerate and faithfull and say that all our owne righteousnesse of works is so stained with the corruption of our sinfull nature that it is not able to stand before Gods iudgement seate nor abide his seuere triall and examination For when wee haue done all those things which are commaunded vs we must say that we are vnprofitable seruants And if thou O Lord streightly markest iniquities O Lord who shall stand and therfore we must pray and say Enter not into iudgement with thy seruant for in thy sight shal none that liueth be iustified And with Daniel we say O Lord vnto vs appertaineth open shame to our Kings to our Princes to our Fathers because we haue sinned against thee yet compassion and forgiuenes is in the Lord our God Whereupon we acknowledge that our Iustice and righteousnesse consisteth not in the perfection of our vertues but in the forgiuenes of our sinnes Bernard thus expoundeth and applieth the place of Esay Nostra si qua est humilis iustitia recta for sitan sed non pura nisi forte meliores nos esse credimus quà m patres nostros qui non minus veraciter quà m humiliter aiebant omnes iustitiae nostrae tanquam pannus menstruatae mulieris Quomodo enim pura iustitia vbi adhuc non potest culpa deesse i. Our humble or base iustice if it be any is peraduenture right but not pure vnles we beleeue our selues to be better than our Fathers who no lesse truly then humbly said all our righteousnesse is as the cloth of a menstruous woman for how can righteousnesse be pure where sinne as yet wanteth not And againe Sed quid potest esse omnis iustitia nostra coram Deo Nonne iuxta Prophetam velut pannus menstruata reputabitur si districtè iudicetur iniusta inuenietur omnis iustitia nostra i. What can all our iustice be before God Shall it not according to the Prophet be reputed like the cloth of a menstruous woman and if it be streightly iudged all our iustice shall be found to be vniust How you expound this place I know not belike you satisfying Gods iustice so fully with your owne pure workes that he can aske no more of you as I alleaged before out of Bishop Fisher thinke that this place is not to be vnderstood of you and your iustice which is pure and perfit but of the iustice of Lutherans Caluinists and such other prophane persons Wherein take you heede that you shew not
malarum cogitationum ordinator est tamen malarum voluntatum de malo opere cuiuslibet mali non desinit ipse botum operari 1. Although God be not the author of euill cogitations yet is hee the orderer of euill wils and of the euill worke of euery euill man he ceaseth not to worke a good worke Therefore these wonderfull workes of God whose iudgements are vnsearchable and waies past finding out are not curiously to be discussed but reuerently to be adored For O man what art thou that pleadest against God In the probation of his minor he first vntruly according to his custome saith that wee deride Gods permission the which is false for we neither deride no deny Gods permission God said to Abimelech I kept thee also that thou shouldest not sinne against me Non permisi te vt tangeres eam therefore I haue not permitted thee to touch her Againe God permitted him not to hurt me But we say first that God permitteth not sinne inuitus against his will but of his will for els he were not omnipotent Secondly that he doth not onely permit sinnes but also by his infinite wisedome and almightie power draweth good out of them and directeth them to his glorie So S. Augustine saith Hoc quippe ipso quod contra Dei voluntatem fecerunt de ipsis facta est voluntas eius c. In that thing which they haue done against the will of God the will of God is done in them Therefore the workes of the Lord are great and are to be sought out of them that loue them So that by a wonderfull and vnspeakeable manner that is not done without his will which is done against his will because it could not be done vnlesse he did permit it nec vtique nolens sinit sed volens neither doth he permit it against his will but with his will Neither would he being good permit euill to be done vnlesse hee being omnipotent could also of euill doe good S. Hierome saith Dicā quicquam sine te fieri ô Domine Deus te nolente tantum posse impium Hoc sentire blasphemum est Quum itaque tu sis vniuersitatis rector Dominus tu necesse est facias quod sine te fieri non potest i. Shall I say that any thing is done without thee O Lord God and that the wicked can doe so much thou being vnwilling To thinke this is blasphemous Seeing therefore thou art the ruler and Lord of the world thou must needs doe that which cannot be done without thee Wee say indeede that Gods workes be energeticall and effectuall not onely in the faithfull but also in the wicked and reprobate whose hearts he hardeneth and eyes blindeth whom he giueth vp to a reprobate minde and to whom hee sendeth a strong delusion to beleeue lies These be Gods iust iudgements wherby he punisheth the wicked who yet are not impelled or coacted of God to these sinnes but willingly harden their owne hearts by the deceit of sinne shut their eyes that they may not see giue vp their members seruants to vncleannes and iniquitie and delight in delusions and in beleeuing lies as Papists now doe We doe not desperatly auerre but you doe falsely and impudently affirme that we teach that Pauls conuersion and Dauids adulterie were in like manner the workes of God This shamelesse saying you haue picked out of Campians reasons out of which you haue like a goodly Rapsodist gleaned a great part of this lying Libel but you cannot shew it in the writing of any Protestant This is calumniari non ratiocinare to slaunder and not rightly to reason But you know your friends and fauourers will beleeue you though it be neuer so false And you haue learned that lesson Audacter calumniare semper aliquid adhaeret We say that Pauls conuersion was a worke of Gods mercie agreeable to his will reuealed in his word Dauids sinne of adulterie was a work which he hateth and repugnant to his said will God wrought mightily in Paul by his holy spirit in conuerting his heart in drawing him out of darknes and in making him of a persecuter a preacher of his Gospell and a minister of his mercie God did not so work at that time in Dauid but left him to himselfe to be tempted drawne away and ouercome of his owne corrupt concupilcence yet wee say that God did draw good out of that sinne of Dauid in making him a patterne of true repentance and example of Gods mercie in forgiuing his sinnes and thereby teaching vs to walke warily and flee carnall securitie For if so excellent a man that was according to Gods heart did so fouly and fearefully fall what may fall vnto vs if we walke not circumspectly and pray not feruently to God to vphold vs with his hand and to guide vs with his holy spirit Touching Gods permission you write as though you neither did know what we teach nor regard what your selfe doe write Doe we teach that God elected some to glorie before the preuision of workes and reiected some from glorie before the preuision of sinnes You shall find this false assertion in our bookes when you finde the former shameles slaunder We do not teach that God elected any to glorie before he did foresee their workes For from euerlasting he to whom all things be present did foresee both the good workes of his elect and the wicked workes of the reprobate But this we say that the foundation and cause of Gods election and reprobation is not his prescience and foreseeing of the good workes of the one and the wicked workes of the other but his owne purpose will and pleasure and that good workes be not causes of Gods election but fruits and effects of it Saint Paul saith Before the Children were borne and when they had neither done good nor euill that the purpose of God might remaine according to election not by workes but by him that calleth It was said to her The elder shall serue the younger At it is written I haue loued Iacob and haue hated Esau Againe As he hath chosen vs in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in loue Who hath predestinate vs to be adopted through Iesus Christ in himselfe according to the good pleasure of his will in whom also we are chosen when we were predestinate according to the purpose of him which worketh all things after the counsell of his owne will Againe God hath saued vs and called vs with an holy calling not according to our workes but according to his owne purpose and grace which was giuen to vs through Christ Iesus before the world was Where we may see that the foundation and cause of Gods election is his owne will pleasure and purpose and not the foreseeing of our workes Saint Augustine saith Quod si futuros
eorum mores dicitur diuinum discreuisse iudicium profectò illud euacuabitur quod praemisit Apostolus dicens c. i. But if it be said that the iudgement of God did discerne the manners of Esau and Iac̄ob which afterward would be then surely that which the Apostle said before shall be made frustrate and in vaine Not of workes but by him that calleth it was said The elder shall serue the younger For he saith not by the workes past but hauing said generally Not by workes he would thereby haue vnderstoode workes both past and to come workes past which were none to come which as yet were not Iacob was predestinate a vessell vnto honour because not by workes but by him that calleth it was said The elder shall serue the younger Againe Nam quid est quod ait Apostolus sicut elegit nos in ipso c. i. For what is that which the Apostle saith As he hath chosen vs in him before the foundation of the world The which if it be therefore said because God did foresee that they would afterward beleeue and not that he would make them to beleeue against this foreseeing the sonne speaketh saying You haue not chosen me but I haue chosen you A little after he saith Elegit ergo Deus fideles sed vt sint non quia iam erant i. God hath chosen the faithfull that they might be not because they now were Againe Vt essemus sancti immaculati Non ergo quia futuri eramus sed vt essemus i. That we might be holy and without blame therefore not because we should be but that we might be Againe Quos elegit c. i. Whom hee hath chosen before the foundation of the world by the election of grace not of workes either past or present or to come for then grace were no grace Thus Saint Augustine sheweth that Gods election is not his prescience and foreseeing of workes to come but his owne grace good pleasure and purpose Now I come to your illations which vpon these false assertions you falsely inferre To the first I answere that God impelleth no man to sinne and therefore God is not the author of sinne Secondly God inforceth not men vpon necessitie to sinne but they sinne willingly and by the instigation of the diuell who worketh in the children of disobedience therefore God is not the author of sinne In your third inference where you say that sinne is free or no sinne belike you hold with Pighius and some other Papists that originall sinne is no sinne for it is not free for vs to be without it And whereas you aske how man can sinne in conforming his will with Gods will I answere that they that sinne doe not conforme their will to Gods will but doe disobey it and oppose themselues vnto it This is the will of God saith Saint Paul your sanctification and that ye should abstaine from fornication Finally for as much as you can neuer shew that it is the Protestants confession that God moueth perswadeth and induceth men to sinne therefore you make a false and blasphemous collection for the which the Lord rebuke thee Satan Lastly whereas you thus charge vs to hold that God is the author of sinne I would desire you to shew where we doe write more hardly of this matter then Iohn Fisher Bishop of Rochester hath written hereof whose words be these Neutrum sane potest sine Deo nec ad bonum se parare neque malum opus facere Neque enim adulter absque generali fluxu Dei potest adulterandi facinus committere sed neque postquam ipsum admisit sine speciali auxilio Dei conari valebit vt resurgat i. Man can doe neither without God neither prepare himselfe to good nor doe that which is euill For the adulterer can neither commit adulterie without the generall influence of God nor after he hath committed it can hee endeuour to rise without the speciall helpe of God And againe Nam quantum ad substant iam actus etiam operibus malis cooperatur Deus Neque tamen recte quisquam Deo peccatum imput abit quia tametsi cooperetur Deus ad substantiam actus non tamen ipsam deficientiam operatur sed hoc agit sola voluntas i. As touching the substance of the acte euen God doth cooperate or worke with euill workes yet may not any man rightly impute sinne vnto God for although God doth cooperate to the substance of the deede yet he doth not worke the defect of the deede but onely mans will doth that Either shew where we haue written more hardly hereof or else condemne this Bishop and Martyr for the Popes cause with vs. I trust you will not say that hee taught Atheisme which is so rife in Rome as I haue before shewed c. The Pamphlet That faith once had may be lost 6. Article WHosoeuer leeseth his charitie leeseth his faith But Dauid when he killed Vrias lost his charitie Ergo Dauid when he killed Vrias lost his faith The Maior is a principle vndoubted of in the schooles of Protestants for they peremptorily affirme that true faith such as was in Dauid one of Gods elected can no more be seuered from charitie then heate from fire or light from the sunne and therefore if Dauid killing Vrias lost his charitie no doubt but therewithall he lost his faith The Minor I proue for whosoeuer remaineth in death is without charitie but Dauid when he killed Vrias remained in death Ergo Dauid when he killed Vrias was without charitie If he was without that which once he had no doubt but then he lost it for he was depriued thereof for his sinne The Maior proposition of this last Syllogisme thus I proue for charitie is the life of the soule and it is as impossible for a man to haue charitie and remaine in death as it is impossible to be dead in body and yet indued with a resonable soule The Minor cannot be denied to wit that Dauid by killing Vrias remained in death for it is the expresse word of God Qui non diligit manet in morte He that loueth not his neighbour remaineth in death but certaine it is that Dauid loued not Vrias when he killed him Ergo likewise certaine it is that Dauid remained in death The same position might easily be proued out of the eighteenth chapter of Ezech. vers twentie foure Si autem aucrterit se iustus a iustitia sua c. Answere I Deny the Minor or second proposition that Dauid in procuring Vrias to be killed lost his charitie For although in this cōbat betweene the spirit and the flesh in Dauid the spirit retired and the flesh preuailed the new man was foyled and the old man ouercame yet was not the spirit vtterly extinguished nor the new man cleane killed In deede Dauids faith fainted his charitie was cooled and his other gifts and graces couered yet not cleane