Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	flesh_n	fulfil_v	law_n	6,597	5	5.9828	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A16174	A reproofe of M. Doct. Abbots defence, of the Catholike deformed by M. W. Perkins Wherein his sundry abuses of Gods sacred word, and most manifold mangling, misaplying, and falsifying, the auncient Fathers sentences,be so plainely discouered, euen to the eye of euery indifferent reader, that whosoeuer hath any due care of his owne saluation, can neuer hereafter giue him more credit, in matter of faith and religion. The first part. Made by W.P.B. and Doct. in diuinty.	Bishop, William, 1554?-1624.	1608 (1608)	STC 3098; ESTC S114055	254,241	290

haue to euery place picked by M. Abbot out of S. Paul in fauour of their religion opposed another out of the same Epistle that speaketh more plainly against them for vs I vvil here out of the aboundance of testimonies vvhich the same S. Paul vvhom the simple Protestants take to be wholy for them beareth to our doctrine set downe some store euen in defence of those very points vvhich M. Abbot hath made special choise off to object against vs. To beginne with the first there is plaine testimony that we are justified before God by vvorkes vvhich I cited before Rom. 2. v 13. With God the doers of the law shal be justified There is much for freewil witnesse this Ibid 6. vers 12. 13. Let not sinne therefore raigne in your mortal body that you obey the concupiscence thereof but neither doe you exhibite your members instruments of iniquitty vnto sinne but exhibite your selues to God of dead men aliue and your members instruments of justice to God for sinne shal not haue dominion ouer you for you are not vnder the law but vnder grace See how the Apostle maketh it in the power and vvil of euery man indued with Gods grace either to doe wel or to doe euil and that sinne hath no such dominion ouer them but that they may doe wel if they wil concurre with Gods grace Item that it is not grace which doth al but a man must worke with grace and exhibite the powers of his soule as instruments towardes the producing of good workes vvhich is flatly our doctrine of freewil And before we depart from this matter of justification as M. Abbot doth very quickly you shal heare more of it out of the same Apostle he teacheth expresly that a man in the state of grace may fulfil the law in these wordes Ibid. cap. 8. vers 3. For that which was impossible to the law in that it was weakned by flesh God sending his Sonne in the similitude of the flesh of sinne euen of sinne damned sinne in the flesh that the justfication of the law might be fulfilled in vs who walke not according to the flesh but according to the spirit Which is seconded in the thirtenth chapter where he concludeth Ibid. vers 9. 10. loue to be the fulnesse of the law hauing before said that he who loueth his neighbour fulfilleth the law And as for that certainty of saluation vvhich many Protestants bragge off the Apostle doth vvholy dispossesse them of it first in the place before cited vvhere he willeth Rom. 11. vers 20. them that stand right in the true faith to beware that they fal not and assureth them that they shal fal as others had done before them if they did not diligently looke vnto it Else vvhere he aduiseth vs Philip. 2. vers 12. with feare and trembling to worke our saluation Marke how two points of the Protestant doctrine be wounded in one sentence and two of ours confirmed both that vve must worke our saluation it comes not then by only faith and that with feare and trembling we are not then assured of it before hand by the certainty of faith which excludeth al feare and doubt of it Now that we ought to haue a firme hope of saluation S. Paul teacheth vs Rom. 5. v. 2. We haue accesse through faith in to this his grace wherein we stand and glory in the hope of the Sonnes of God Also Ibid. 8. v. 24. For by hope we are saued Item vve giue thankes to God c. Colloss 1. v. 5. for the hope that is laid vp for you in heauen With whom S. Peter consorteth 1. Pet. 1. vers 3. Blessed be God and the Father of our Lord IESVS Christ who according to his great mercy hath regenerated you into a liuely hope vnto an incorruptible crowne c. laid vp in heauen Not to prosecute al the particular points of justification which haue euery one good ground in the Apostle S. Paul as in that question may be seene the very faith whereby Abraham was and we are justified is no such kind of faith as the Protestants claime to be justified by that is by an apprehension and drawing of Christs righteousnesse to themselues but that faith vvhereby we beleeue al thinges to be true which God hath reuealed as S. Paul declareth in the fourth to the Romans where he reporteth Rom. 4. v. 19. Abraham to haue beene justified by beleeuing that God according to his promise would giue him a Sonne and make him the Father of many nations so that finally there is not a word in S. Paul vvhich in his owne meaning maketh for any one peece of the Protestants justification but heapes of testimonies for euery branch of justification as we beleeue it Now I come to the other points named by M. Abbot There is nothing saith he in S. Paul for the merit of single life But he is greatly mistaken for the Apostle saith 1. Cor. 7. vers 32.33 34. That the care of the single and vnmarried is to please God and their study to thinke vpon those thinges that appertaine vnto God and how they may be holy both in body and in spirit vvhich must needes be more acceptable in Gods sight then to be carping for this world and caring how to please their yoke-mate To this we adde Monkish vowes of which if he were worthy to be a good Abbot he vvould speake more respectiuely somwhat S. Paul hath of the vow of chastity which is one of their principal vowes for he auoucheth 1. Tim. 5. vers 12. certaine widowes worthy of damnation because they broke the same former vow of chastity And S. Paul himselfe Act. 18. vers 18. shoare his head in Cenchris because he had a vow vvhich was the vow of a Nazarite not much vnlike for the time though much inferiour vnto the vow of religious persons see of that vow the sixt Chapter of the booke of Numbers There is nothing saith M. Abbot in S. Paul of praier for the dead vvhich is not true for he teacheth that some of the faithful who haue 1. Cor. 3. v. 13 built vpon the right foundation hay stubble and such like trash shal notwithstanding at the day of our Lord be saued yet so as through fire Which the ancient * SS Aug. in ps 37. Hier. l. 2. cōt Iouin 13. Ambros in hūc locū Gregor in psal 3. poenit entialē Doctors doe take to be the fire of Purgatory Now if many vvhiles the drosse of their vvorkes be purged doe lie in fire it wil easily follow thereof that euery good soule who hath any Christian compassion in him vvil pray for the release of their Christian brother out of those torments I come now to Images and Relikes of vvhich he affirmeth that S Paul saith nothing vvhere was the good-mans memory vvhen he wrote this or remembring the matter vvel enough was he so

in another place It is certaine that we may keepe Gods Commandements if we wil. Againe Grace is giuen vs not because we did good workes before but that we may be able to doe them De Spirit Liter ca. 10. that is as he expoundeth himselfe Non quia legem impleuimus sed vt legem implere possimus Not because we did before we receiued grace fulfil the law but that we may be able afterward to fulfil the law Can any thing be more manifest then that according vnto S. Augustines opinion a man indued with Gods grace may keepe al his Commandements and fulfil the law The very same doth S. Hierome confesse in that very Treatise cited by M. Abbot adding this reason We confesse that God giueth vs Commandements possible to be fulfilled least God should be authour of injustice if be exacted of vs to doe that which cannot be done so that the present Church of Rome doth herein follow S. Augustine and S. Hierome a noble paire of most learned Patrones of the ancient Church of Rome And doth nothing lesse then agree with Pelagius in his errours about that matter which were two The first That without the helpe of Gods grace a man may keepe al Gods Commandements The second That a man could keepe al the Commandements so perfectly that be needed neuer to sinne so much as venially Which two erronious branches of Pelagius doctrine we doe condemne as roundly as did the most holy Fathers and consequently that a man comming to yeares of discretion is anamarticos without sinne for if the justest man aliue say that he is without sinne that is some venial sinne he is euen thereby made a liar as S. Iohn witnesseth and therefore a sinner Al this Pelagian doctrine the present Church of Rome doth as wel reproue as did the former Marry to affirme as M. Abbot doth that Pelagius was of old cōdemned for affirming children to be made without sinne by baptisme is sauing your reuerence a starke lie confronted and confuted by S. Augustine in formal tearmes these be his wordes De Peccatis Meritis Remissione lib. 10. ca. 9. They that is the Pelagians wil not beleeue that baptisme doth cleanse Infants from original sinne vvhat a notable tale then was it to say that the Pelagians vvere therefore accounted Heretikes because they held men by baptisme to become vvithout sinne vvhen they flatly denied baptisme to cleanse them from sinne That which I said of the state of man newly baptised that there was no sinne left in him is S. Augustines and S. Hieromes doctrine word for word thus saith S. Augustine * Cont. duas Epist Pelag. lib. 3. cap. 3. Baptisme doth wash away al sinnes vtterly al of deedes wordes and thoughts whether they were originally contracted or afterward committed either of ignorance or wittingly The same he repeateth treating of the Creede De Simbol ad Catech. lib. 3. cap. 10. Omnia prorsus delicta delet sanctum baptisma originalia propria dicta facta cogitata cognita incognita omnia dimittuntur vvhich he doth inculcate in many places I wil cite but one more which containeth also an explication of that other Pelagian proposition how a good Christian may be without sinne these be his wordes L. cōt Iulian. ca. 13 15. Cōt duas Epist Pelag. lib. 10. c. 14. Multi baptisati fideles sunt sine crimine sine peccato autem in hac vita neminem dixerim c. Many of the faithful baptised are without crime that is without mortal sinne but I wil say no man to be without sinne to wit venial how much soeuer the Pelagians doe rage against vs for so saying not that anything of sinne doth remaine which is not forgiuen in baptisme but because in vs remaining in the frailty of this life there ceasseth not to be committed some-thing that is daily to be pardoned to them that pray faithfully and doe the workes of mercy In this one sentence of S. Augustine there is declared first that al manner of sinne is wholy pardoned in baptisme and that therefore a man newly baptised is as free from al sinne as were our first parents in Paradise as I said Secondly that though many of the better sort of the baptised doe continue without mortal sinne yet none at al without some kind of sinne the blessed Virgin MARY only excepted De Natur. Grat. cap. 36. Of whom saith S. Augustine for the honour of our Lord I wil haue no question when the matter of sinne is handled S. Hierome is as cleare for the vertue and efficacy of baptisme as in many other places so specially in his Epistle to Oceanus vvherein he proueth by many texts of holy writ That al manner of sinne is drowned in the water of baptisme Hieron in Epistol ad Oceanum not one being left to swimme out aliue And doth cal it the heresie of Cain To hold the woundes of our sinnes to be so venimous and incurable that the medicine of Christ in baptisme cannot heale them Thus much out of learned Antiquity to shew how ignorant M. Abbot is therein who thought that he had hit me home and giuen me some great blow vvhen he produced these my wordes M. Bishop in plaine tearmes telleth vs that there is no more sinne left in the newly baptised man then was in Adam in the state of innocency vvhereas you now see that the best learned among the auncient Fathers had 1200. yeares before maintained the same doctrine against the Pelagian Heretikes Concerning the Sacrament of Penance we in deede teach the very same touching the ful and absolute purgation from sinne and the eternal punishment due to the same which euery true penitent making his humble confession doth obtaine by the absolution of his ghostly Father which is no late inuention of ours but we learned it out of these our Sauiours owne vvordes Iob. 20. vers 23. Whose sinnes you forgiue on earth they shal be forgiuen in heauen Al antiquity hauing vnderstood thereby that Christ gaue to his Apostles as Pastors of his Church ful power to pardon sinnes and by them vnto al other Pastors that should lawfully succeede them vntil the worldes end This matter I haue handled in a Question by it selfe to which I referre the reader that desireth to heare more of it in particular As M. Abbot reserues the Pelagian doctrine of Free-wil and Satisfaction to their due place so doe I where it shal appeare that therein the now Church of Rome doth no more approue those points then it doth these which he hath here touched but that therein he is as fouly deceiued and goes about to deceiue others as here he hath done And if one D octor Bignee hath beene so much ouerseene as to commend a fauourer of the Pelagian heresie let it be inquired of the learned what thanke the present Roman Church doth yeeld him for his labour for I haue heard that it hath laid a

the Church of Rome so cruelly surely there was no agreement betweene them Wherefore as the Catholikes of Africa then so they that were taken into the communion of the Church of Rome cared little for the Donatists as witnesseth S. Augustine saying of Cecilianus Bishop of Carthage August Epistola 162. He neede not to care for the multitude of his conspiring enemies the Donatists when he saw himselfe by communicatory letters joined with the Roman Church in which alwaies the principality of the Apostolical chaire flourished c. So we at this time neede as little to care for the bitter reproches and deceitful arguments of the Protestants so we stand stable and firme in the like society of faith and religion with the same Church of Rome ROBERT ABBOT Cont. Epist. Fund cap. 4. THERE vvas reason why Augustine should be moued with the name of Catholike vvhen they that were called Catholikes had testimony of their faith from the communion society of the Church throughout the vvhole vvorld and were therefore so called Breui collat diti 3. cap. 2. Quia communicant Ecclesiae toto orbe diffusae Because saith S. Augustine they communicate with the Church spread ouer al the whole world But most sottishly it is alleaged for a motiue to vs being now Donatistically applied to one particular Church of Rome and to men bearing the name of Catholikes only for communicating vvith that Church Surely as the name of Iewes was of old a name of honour and the proper title of the people of God but afterwardes by their Apostacy who bare it was left for Esai 65. vers 15. a name of curse and reproch so the name of Catholike was an honourable name and the peculiar title of the true children of the Church but now by their abuse who haue vnjustly taken that name vnto themselues it is become a name of curse and shame vvith the people of God and the proper badge of Apostataes and Heretikes And as the Apostle Rom. 2. v. 28. denieth the name of Iewes to them vvho yet according to the letter were so called because of the circumcision of the flesh and applieth the truth of the nam● to them vvho vvere so according to the spirit albeit according to the letter they were not so named so the name of Catholikes in deede belongeth not to the Romish faction who according to the letter take vpon them to be so called but the true meaning thereof belongeth to them vvho although they joy not in the litteral name c. yet doe follow the same faith vvhich they followed vvho first were called by the name of Catholikes Let them haue the shel so that we haue the kernel c. the name in his true vse importeth them that imbrace the faith of the Catholike that is the vniuersal Church that hath beene from the beginning of the world that is through the vvhole vvorld and shal be to the worldes end WILLIAM BISHOP S. AVGVSTINE indeede was so much moued with the name of Catholike that he alleageth it to haue beene one principal cause Cont. Epist Fund cap. 4. De vera relig cap. 7. which kept him in the lappe of the Church And else where very often exhorteth al Christians To hold the communion of that Church which both is Catholike and knowne also by that very name not only to her owne followers but also to others And the self● same reason alleaged by M. Abbot himselfe vvhich caused that most holy vvise and learned Father to esteeme so highly of that title Catholike is now of great force to perswade al reasonable men to make themselues members of the Roman Church for by joining in society of faith with the Church of Rome they shal cōmunicate with the Church spred ouer the whole vvorld because the faith and religion of the Church of Rome hath beene generally receiued al the world ouer as our aduersaries themselues doe confesse The name Catholike is by the Protestants Donatistically applied to their Schismatical congregation that neither are nor euer were scattered al the world ouer but be inclosed and confined vvithin certaine countries of Europe as the Donatists were within the boundes of Afrike Most sottishly then to vse his owne wordes doth M. Abbot affirme the name Catholike to be applied by vs of the Roman religion vnto the particular Church of Rome when as we cal al other Churches of what country soeuer that with the Church of Rome keepe intirely the same faith Catholike And men of al other nations doe we cal Catholikes as vvel as those vvho are Romans borne because they al beleeue and confesse the same one Catholke faith that is extended ouer al the world Secondly M. Abbot is much mistaken in his comparison of the name of Iewe with the name Catholike for to omit first that such examples proue nothing but doe only serue for shew or explication and moreouer that it can hardly be shewed that the name of Iewe was a name of such honour at any time for that peoples honourable name vvas Israelites and vvere not called Iewes til towardes the declination and wane of their estate Neither was it euer any peculiar and proper title of the people of God for God had many good seruants that were neuer called Iewes as may be gathered by Iob the Husite Naaman the Sirian the widow of Luc. 4. vers 26. Sarepta a Sidonian and by a great number of Prosilites and finally by that which the Apostle teacheth Rom. 2. vers 14. Many Gentils were saued without the law Lastly most vncertaine it is of what name the Prophet Isay speaketh when he saith Cap. 65. vers 13. It shal be left for a name of curse Al these impertinencies of his example being too too many I doe remit him but cannot pardon his grosse fault in the maine point of the comparison for the name Iewe according to the vsual signification of the word being the name of a certaine people of one race and kindred and hauing a law giuen them by Moises which should continue only for a prescript time and end at the comming of Christ is not like the name of Catholike which is no special name of the people of any one country but is attributed and doth agree to al sortes of men of what country or nation soeuer that doe embrace the true Christian faith And is inseparably linked and so fast joined and riueted with the Christian profession and religion that it shal neuer faile fal or be separated from it so long as Christs faith standeth nor euer be contemned of the faithful whiles Christs true religion flourisheth vvhich is proued inuincibly out of the very Etimology of the name Catholike and that according to M. Abbots owne interpretation in the same place who doth expound it to signifie that Church which is through the whole world and shal be to the worldes end If the name Catholike shal continue to the worldes end the true title of

greedinesse and couetousnesse of their familiars their bretheren their nephewes vnder which name commonly goe their bastards but because they asscribe to marriage as the old Heretikes did Bellarm. de Cler. lib. 1. cap. 19. pollution and vncleanenesse which cannot stand with the sanctity and holinesse of the Priestly function WILLIAM BISHOP IF M. Abbot did not euery vvhere almost shew himselfe to be a shamelesse man and one that careth not how corruptly so he may somewhat colourably cite the ancient Fathers sentences this passage were alone more then sufficient to proue him to be no better then a cosening counterfeit In these few lines there are foure euident vntruthes vttered by him The first is that a man is not repelled from being a Bishop for hauing wife children but only for feare of dilapidation of the Church goods This is most euidently false for though the feare of spending the Church goods vpon prophane vses be one cause vvhy it is not expedient that a Bishop or Priest should be maried yet the more principal reason thereof is the purity of the single life and the freenesse of it from al such vvorldly affaires and temporal troubles as are necessarily linked vvith the care of prouision for wife children This you heard before out of S. Leo who was predecessor to Pope Pelagius the first by more then an hundred yeares These be also the reasons of S. Augustine and S. Hierome vvho vvrote thereof vvhole volumes against the Heretike Iouinian and were giuen first by S. Paul himselfe when he teacheth that 1. Cor. 7. vers 31. he who is without a wife is careful for the thinges that pertaine to our Lord how he may please God but he that is with a wife is careful for the thinges that appertaine to the world how he may please his wife and is diuided And Vers 32. Vers 34. the woman vnmaried and virgin thinkes on the thinges that pertaine to our Lord that shee may be holy both in body and spirit See the more special groundes of the single life of clergy-men wherevpon euen by the confession of M. Abbot himselfe Page 42. A law was made in the Church of Rome by Pope Siritius who was 150. yeares before Pelagius that al Priests and Deacons should either be chosen single men or else promise to abstaine wholy from the company of their wiues which is also decreed in the second Councel of Carthage holden about the same time where the holy Bishops there assembled doe say Canon 2. That we may keepe that which the Apostles did teach and Antiquity herselfe obserued giuing al men to vnderstand that the single and chast life of the Clergy vvas taught by the Apostles and obserued in most pure Antiquity It being then so notorious and wel knowne a thing that whosoeuer would be a Bishop must needs refraine from the company of his wife no caution was required for that by Pope Pelagius because there was no question or doubt of it And M. Abbot dealeth deceitfully to argue out of the not mentioning of that vvhich was vnderstood of al men as necessary to be presupposed and is in most of the Canons of the very same distinction Distinct 28. expresly deliuered and also in two other vvhole distinctions going next before His second false tricke is in the citation of the glosse and that a very foule one for he chops it off in the middest leauing out that which wil marre al his market The glosse saith vpon that caution against dilapidations that it is to be vnderstood when be that is chosen to be a Bishop doth loue his wife and children so tenderly that it is to be presumed he would for their sakes dilapidare the Church goods c. otherwise a man is not repelled for wife and children to wit for that point of dilapidations whereof the glosse there speaketh This to be the sence any vnderstanding man vvould easily perceiue if the glosse had gone no further But it addeth as it were to meete with M. Abbots cauil Dum tamen longa continentia praecesserit A man that hath a wife may be admitted to be a Bishop putting in good surety that he wil not dilapidare the Church goods yet with this prouiso That he hath long before liued continently that is refrained wholy from the company of his wife as it is before said in the Canon Priusquam of the same distinction See how expresly the glosse excepts that which M. Abbot auoucheth it to affirme His third false tale is That the Church of Rome now wil by no means admit maried men to be bishops priests which is not true for in those very cases vvherein they vvere at any time admitted before they vvould be admitted now that is If there were want of other able men and some such eminent learning and vertue in a maried man as were not to be found in a single then he might be made both Priest Bishop so that he and his wife would liu● continently for there is no Canon of the Church to the contrary His fourth lie is a luculent and bright one That we forsooth asscribe pollution and vncleanenesse to marriage as the old Heretikes did for neither Cardinal Bellarmine vvhom he quoteth nor any other Catholike doth teach the act of matrimony to be the worke of the Deuil or damnable sinne as the Manichees and some other Heretikes did Nay he declareth there plainly that it may be without any sinne at al though most commonly concupiscence beare to great a sway in it both preuenting the rule of reason and somewhat exceeding the measure of it as a Lib. 14. de Ciuitat c. 17. Item lib. 5. cont Iulian. cap. 8. 10. S. Augustine testifieth and doth make a man more dul and heauy to spiritual exercises and not so pure holy as the office of a Priest doth require as b Hier. lib. 1. cōt Iouinian S. Hierome and c Chrysost l. 6 de Sacerdot S. Chrysostome doe witnesse And that a man thereby is made lesse holy and pure both in body and spirit S. Paules owne vvordes doe intimate ¶ 1. Cor. 7. vers 34. The woman vnmarried thinketh how shee may be holy both in body and spirit so that within the compasse of not many lines M. Abbot le ts flie two cast of lies and yet as it were not content vvith so few he interlaceth three other lies to furbish and smooth vp the rest The first is that now a daies married men are not repelled from Bishopricks to auoide dilapidations which is false For that is one cause as I shewed before and is also touched euen by that most renowmed Father Bellarmine euen in the same place cited by M. Abbot De Clericis lib. 1. cap. 19. in his fifth reason vvhere he teacheth That the marriage of Bishops and Priests doth hinder much that hospitality and tender care of the poore which men of the Church ought to haue for the

Rome vvhereas neither that Church then nor vve now doe reject the true fasting which the Scripture teacheth but only those opinions of fasting vvhich the Montanists first deuised and the Papists haue receiued against the Scripture to forbeare continually by way of religion such and such daies from such and such meates with a minde there in and by their very forbearing to doe a worship to God to satisfie for sinne to merit and purchase the forgiuenesse thereoff and to deserue eternal life WILLIAM BISHOP BEFORE we come to joine issue let this maxime of arguing be obserued He that vvil proue one to be the proper disciple of any Sect-master must doe it by producing the proper and peculiar doctrine of the same sect and not by alleaging such points of doctrine as are common to that sect vvith many others For example if I would proue a Protestant to be an Arrian I must not thinke to performe it by prouing that they beleeued in one God as the Arrians did or that they flie to the touch-stone of the Scriptures as the Arrians did refusing Traditions and that they relied much on the power of temporal Princes setting the Bishop of Romes authority at naught c. for none of these be proper branches of the Arrian sect but common to them with others Marry if I could proue them to affirme the Sonne of God touching his diuinity to be lesser then his Father or after his Father or not of the same substance vvith his heauenly Father I must needes be taken then to speake to the purpose Euen so if M. Abbot doe insist vpon those points of the Montanists errors which were proper to themselues and not common with others prouing vs to maintaine the same I then wil graunt that he acquiteth himselfe like a braue champion But if he doe make al his instances in such general circumstances of fastinges as the Catholike Church then did maintaine as vvel as the Montanists Yea that the Protestants themselues doe in part vphold and defend as wel as the Catholikes then euery man must needes acknowledge and take him for a wrangling Sophister and a vaine bragging writer that crakes of wonders and performes nothing Let vs now descend to his particulars and try what sharpnesse of wit and soundnesse of judgement he sheweth therein The Montanists saith he appointed certaine and standing daies for fasting and forbearing of certaine meates so doe the Papists I graunt vvhat be they therefore Montanists then the Protestants be also Montanists because they appoint certaine and standing daies of fastes as Friday Saturday the Imber and Lent-fasts and many feasts eues vvhich daies they appoint for the forbearing of flesh Is not this a proper peece of Montanisme that is common to so many Nay the Apostles themselues did the like as Tertullian in the same place graunteth vvere they also therefore Montanists see how M. Abbot beginneth to shame himselfe To the next The Montanists did not take any creature or meate to be vncleane but did only by way of deuotion forbeare at certaine times and the Papists doe also the same vvhich I also graunt And doe not the Protestants agree vvith them in the former part thinking no meate to be vncleane Now in the later they doe vvorse for they forbeare flesh at certaine times not of deuotion to chastise their bodies and to please God as the Montanists pretended but for worldly pollicy of fauouring the increase of flesh for the vpholding of the trade of fisher-men and to please their Prince Here let any Godly man be judge whether of these two endes of pleasing God or the Prince be more Christianlike and whether of them doe more sauour of the spirit of God he shal no doubt finde that herein it is much better to concurre with Tertullian then consort with the Protestants And that the best learned in the primitiue Church so thought and so taught I haue proued in the Question of fasting The Montanists being vrged with that place of S. Paul that it was the doctrine of Deuils to command to abstaine from meates answered that it touched Marcion and Tatianus who condemned meates as vncleane in their owne nature the same answere doe the Papists giue which I acknowledge vvillingly What are they thereby become Montanus disciples then vvas S. Augustine as a great Papist so no smal Montanist for he doth in most expresse tearmes so expound that place these be his wordes The Apostle doth in these wordes properly point at Aug. cōt Adimant Manichaeū c. 14. 1. Tim. c. 4. not them who therefore abstaine from such meates that they may thereby bridle their owne concupiscence or spare another mans weakenesse but those who thinke the flesh it selfe vncleane Doe you see how S. Augustine interpreteth those wordes of S. Paul euen as we doe who also answereth to euery of the Protestants objections against set fasting aboue a 1000. yeares before they troubled the world In like manner doth S. Hierome in the very wordes that M. Abbot sets downe for ours thus he writeth Lib. 1. cont Iouin ca. 41. The Apostle doth condemne them that forbidde to marry and command to abstaine from meates c. true but he aimed at Marcion and Tatianus and such other Heretikes that command perpetual abstinence as though the creatures of God were abhominable but we commend euery creature of God and doe only preferre fasting before fulnesse c. So that by this exposition of S. Paules doctrine vve are not proued Montanists but doe imitate therein the principal pillars of the ancient Roman Church S. Augustine and S. Hierome and doe therein also wipe away a sluttish imputation of Iouinian reuiued and set a foote againe by the Protestants that forsooth Lib. 1. cont Iouin cap. 3. We teach the doctrine of Deuils condemned by the Apostles and doe fal into the opinion of the Manichees because we command to abstaine on fasting daies from some kinde of meates which God created to receiue c. but of this more exactly in the Question of fasting Now to the rest of M. Abbots text The Montanists tooke that their fasting to be a seruice and worship to God vvherein they were not deceiued for it is written in the word of God Luc. 2. That Elizabeth a blessed widdow departed not from the Temple by fasting and praier seruing night and day seruing in Greeke Latreuousa that is doing seruice and worship to God as by praier so by fasting Againe by fasting watching and other bodily austerities we doe according to the common exposition of the auncient Fathers Rom. 12. exhibit our bodies to God a liuing bost as the Apostle speaketh holy pleasing God and a reasonable seruice It must needes then be a very holy and most acceptable seruice and vvorship of God that is resembled by S. Paul vnto a liuing and pure sacrifice Canon 5. And in the Councel of Nice it is said That we may offer to God the pure and solemne fast of Lent