appeare Saintes in the eyes of indifferent iudges in comparison of them If any man else doubt let him reade the actes of the Conuenticle of Constance against Iohn the 23. the reportes of Iohn the 12. Sergius the 3. Landus Gregory the 6 and 7. Alexander the 6. Paul the 3. Leo the 10. other Popes set downe in Histories To speake generally there is great difference betwixt the men of Geneua and Rome of England and Italy Finally he concludeth if faith onely doe iustifie that if a man retaine faith all the vilanyes in the world cannot hurt him that hee may assure himselfe he is iust howsoeuer he liueth And this hee goeth about to confirme by Luthers wordes which he reporteth thus Sola fides Christi necessaria est ad salutem cetera omnia liberrimaneque praeceptaneque prohibita Onely faith is necessary to saluation all other thinges are free and neither commaunded nor forbidden But as his dealings are dishonest so his conclusion concerning vilanies is most vilanous For albeit we hold that a Christian man is to be iustified by faith alone in Christ Iesus yet wee teach also that he abuseth Gods grace and deceiueth himselfe which walking after the flesh and not after the Spirit and liuing loosely and vngodly supposeth notwithstanding that he retayneth true faith Furthermore none of vs euer taught that euerie one is presently iustified that beleeueth himselfe to bee iust as this K. boldly auoucheth but hee that indeede truely beleeueth in Christ Iesus Lastly this sycophant dooth most vniustly wrest and misreport Luthers words For in his commentaries in Gal. 2. hee hath not the words alleadged by Kellison albeit hee boldelye affirme it Nay hee seemeth to write plaine contrarie Iustificato sic corde per fidem saith hee quae est in nomine eius dat eïs deus potestatem filios dei fieri diffuso mox spiritu sancto in cordibus eorum qui charitate dilatei eos ac pacatos hilaresque faciat omnium bonorum operatores omnium malorum victores etiam mortis contemptores inferni Hic mox cessant omnes leges omniū legum opera Omnia sunt iam libera licita lex per fidem Charitatē est impleta His meaning therefore is that those that are iustifyed by faith haue charitie and doe all good workes and auoide sinne not by constraint of lawes but mooued by Gods spirit working by faith and charitie and beeing stirred to doe well of their free choice And after the former wordes he addeth that a sinner looking for righteousnesse at Gods handes is not to looke vpon his owne workes but vpon God through Christ Are not these fellowes then strange collectors that conclude contrarie to a mans words and meaning and would make Luther a fauorer of licentiousnesse of life and an enemie of good workes who expressely condemneth al wickednes and commendeth good works detracting nothing from them but that they doe not iustifye before God but are rather fruites of iustification In the third Chapter hee affirmeth that Luther and Caluin in assuring men by an assured faith of electiō remission of sinnes justice and perseuerance in the same loose the bridle to all iniquitie But had not hee loosed the reines of his malicious tongue and suffered the same to range without restraint against such as defend the truth he would neuer haue vttered so much falsehood and villany against Luther and Caluin For they say not that whatsoeuer mens liues be they may boldly rely on Christ or else that men beeing clogged with al the sins of the world are to beleeue that they are iust as this surueying sycophant giueth out but rather that no mā is to presume of his faith or of Gods mercie or iustice without repentance and good life which are the fruites markes of a good faith And Luther albeit he say that life cannot be lost by any sinnes vnlesse a man will not beleeue yet hee doth not speake of sinnes to come but of sinnes past and doone away by the grace of Christ through baptisme and repentance Further out of Luthers wordes lib. de capt Babyl concerning the effect of faith he collecteth that howsoeuer a man liue though he bee neuer so incredulous in the Articles of his beleefe yet if he beleeue that hee shall be saued that it shall bee so But no such conclusion can bee drawne from his wordes or Doctrine Nay hée sheweth that good life cannot bee separated from true faith and neuer ment to disioyne the faith of the articles of the Creede from iustifying faith this beeing deriued from that faith Lastly albeit Christians being iustifyed by faith hope they shall bee saued yet no man euer beleeued that iustification is nothing else but an assurance that he shall bee saued as the Surueyor surmiseth Page 540. he calleth the faith of a mans owne saluation phantasticall as if the Apostle Saint Paul beleeuing that nothing should separate him from the loue of God were phantastical Furthermore how can a man professe himselfe a Christiā if he beleeue not remission of sinnes and eternall life and if he beleeue this how can hee chuse but beleeue his owne saluation againe how can we pray without doubting if we doubt of remission of sinnes which wee craue in the Lordes Prayer finally the Sacraments are seales of this assurance of saluation when they are applyed to euerie particular Christian His last reason or rather reasonlesse argument to prooue that assurance of faith bringeth foorth loosenesse of life is this because a man as hee thinketh may apprehend Christes justice to bee his eyther being mooued to sinne or being in the act of sinne But this is his owne weake surmise For hee that truelye apprehendeth Christ is clad with his iustice and guided by his grace and preserued from sinning And he that walloweth in sin and yet presumeth of Christes grace is not partaker eyther of his grace or iustice In his 7. Booke and 4. Chapter hee inueigheth against vs for teaching that sinne is not imputed to a faithfull man But all Christians are rather to exclaime against him that beleeueth that sinnes are neither doone away by repentance nor purged by faith in Christes blood but alwaies imputed vnto true beleeuers To helpe foorth with a bad matter hee saith that Caluin lib. 3. instit c. 14.17 and chap. 18.8 saith plainely that all iust and faithfull mens workes are sinnes But this is a plaine lye and sheweth that this surueyor dooth vse but little iust and plaine dealing For in those places no such thing is to be found Nay it implyeth contradiction to bee a good worke and a sinne both together After this hee concludeth because sinne is not imputed vnto them that beleeue that Christians are not to feare theftes or adulteryes or other sinne But his conclusion doth but lewdly follow vpon his premisses For albeit former sinnes are doone away by true faith and repentance yet all true Christians beeing once cured are to take heede they sinne
the aduersaries that wil haue Christ as God to act nothing but ascribe the whole office of Christes Preest-hood to the humane nature doe deuide the person and not onelye the two natures approching neerer to Nestorius then our teachers to error Finally hee alleadgeth the testimony of Egidius Hunnius against Caluin as if in expositiō of scriptures he did Iudaizare or fauour the Iewes But neither is the testimony of a sworne enemie to be much regarded nor hath any man that felicitie in expounding Scriptures that he fayleth in nothing In the second chap. he chargeth vs that we make Christ an absurd redeemer these are the words of this absurd surueyor And why so I pray you forsooth because we hope onelye to be iustified by Christes iustice But this doth not touch vs onely but the holy prophets apostles also God by his prpophet Isay c. 53. saith that his iust seruant shall iustifie many by his knowledge shal beare their sins The Apostle 1. Cor. 1. teacheth vs that he is made vnto vs wisdome righteousnesse sanctification redēption To make his matter good page 257. hee maketh vs to say that there is no justice but Christes justice nor good workes but Christes workes nor merit but his merit nor satisfaction but his satisfaction But these are his owne sottish ideotismes and not our wordes For wee doe not denye that there is a certaine imperfect iustice in man sanctified by Gods holy spirit and that such doe good workes pleasing vnto God We confesse also that man by sinne doth merit death albeit his workes be not so perfect that they can deserue eternall life Finally we know that the Fathers sometime accompt the obedience of the law to bee a satisfaction and so cal the performance of penalties enioyned by the Church But did we attribute all the honor of our iustification and saluation vnto Christ our Sauiour yet this is neither absurditie nor dishonour to him But this absurd and kettle Diuine dooth dishonour and blaspheme Christ ioyning the wordes absurd and redeemer together He doth also contradict the Scriptures where hee saith that Christ with one word or teare or drop of blood might haue redeemed vs. And therein he passeth the impudency of his holy Father Clement the sixt in the chap. vnigenit extr de poenit remiss for he saith one drop of blood would haue sufficed But this dropping dreary dunse addeth a teare or a word How cōtrarie they are to scriptures these testimonies declare Isay 53. therfore shal he deuide the spoiles of the strong because he hath giuen his soule to death Mat. 20. We reade that he came to giue his life a ransome for many and Luc. 24. that so Christ must suffer and 1. cor 15. that Christ dyed for vs according to the Scriptures Gal. 3 We learne that to deliuer vs from the curse of the law he was made accursed and Hebr. 2. that it was fitting that the author of our saluation should by suffering be cōsummated Heb. 9. that his testamēt could not bee fulfilled without the death of the testator Absurdly also he talketh of a storme raysed in heauen for the Sonne of God when Lucifer wold be like the highest For it is ridiculous to thinke of any stirre or storme raysed in Heauen where there is and alwaies was such quiet and content or to suppose that Lucifer contended with the Sonne of God Hee might doe well to tell vs what Deuill tolde him this For in holy Scriptures no such thing is found Finally describing the blessed state of man in Paradice and of his miserie being throwne out of Paradice vnawares he ouerthroweth with his boysterous eloquence two bulwarks of Popery to wit Freewill and Purgatory For if euery sinner bee a slaue to his flesh and a captiue to the Diuell and a slaue to sinne and the Diuell as hee saith then hath hee not freewill For to bee free and bound at one time implyeth contradiction Againe if the deuill hold sinners in hell perpetuallye as page 254. hee confesseth then there is no redemption out of Purgatory which as Papists teach is in hell Pag. 258. he chargeth vs farther that we teach that good workes are not necessary and thence inferre that no Lawes eyther humane or diuine can bind vs in conscience And lastly he sayth that we hold that no sinnes nor euill workes can hurt vs because Christes justice being ours no sinne can make vs sinners And so he runneth on in a course of wild eloquence like a Colte that hath broken his halter But as Hierome sayth in his Booke against Vigilātius stultum est fingere materiam cui rhetorica declamatione respondeatur It is a foolish and dizardly thing to feine matters thē in a rhetorical surueying declamatiō to answer In his fictions certes this man seemeth neither to haue reason nor conscience For first albeit we say that we are not iustified by workes yet we teach that as many as are iustified by faith in Christ are also sanctified by his grace and that workes are necessary effects of our iustification Secondly we directly affirme that Gods Lawes doe bind in conscience and mans Lawes as farre as they commaund for Gods Lawe albeit through Christ Iesus we are deliuered from the curse of the law being iustified by fayth and walking no more after the flesh but after the spirit Thirdly we beleeue that all sinnes and euill workes do hurt those that doe them Although we also beleeue that he who is borne of God and iustified by fayth sinneth not vnto death Finally most falsely he maketh vs to teach first that Christ hath redeemed vs because no sinne can hurt vs and next that we are deliuered from the Law because no Law can binde vs and thirdly that we are deliuered from the Diuel and Hel because howsoeuer we liue they cannot hurt vs. Nay we pronounce him anathema that shall hold that eyther sinne cannot hurt or that the Law bindeth not or that howsoeuer Christians liue they cannot be damned to Hell And thus much may serue to cleare vs from this barking curres slaunders But Popish Doctrine concerning our redemption is not so easily defended For Papistes beleeue that the Pope by his indulgences can redeeme soules from Hell They teach also that euery man is to satisfie for his sinnes committed after Baptisme But then Christ is but halfe a redeemer Neither do they sticke to say that the sonne of God assuming the nature of Thomas Aquinas or some other might haue redeemed the world which is contrary to all the promises made to the Fathers concerning the Messias to come of the seede of Abraham Kellison pag. 261. sayth that Christes Passion was not our formall justification nor satisfaction he should haue said Christes Passion obedience and iustice if he would formally haue crossed our Doctrine but only the meritorious cause of our redemption and saluation which deserueth for vs at Gods hands grace by which together with our cooperatiō we may
of Iude. But his writings doe refute these slaunders and nothing doth K. bring to iustifie them Lastly he sayth Caluin and Luther will haue the bare letter or joyned with their voluntary exposition to be Iudge of controuersies matters vtterly vntrue and improbable For neither doe we admitte the letter without the sence nor doe we allow voluntary or priuate expositions Pag. 46. he falsifyeth the testimony of Scriptures where he sayth Her selfe confesseth her owne obscurity For S. Peter 2. Epist 3. doth not say that the Scriptures are obscure as this K. pretendeth but only that certaine thinges in S. Pauls Epistles are difficult And psal 119. the Prophet compareth Gods word to a Lanterne and to light Lucerna pedibus meis verbum tuum sayth he lumen semitis meis If any obscuritie and difficultie be attributed to Scriptures by Fathers it is only in such poyntes as are not necessary to saluation Finally he reciteth the words of Luther concerning the plainnesse of Scriptures partially and obiecteth vnto vs the testimony of Osiander about the differences concerning mans iustification by Christ But neither is Luther to be blamed if he reprooue those that call Scriptures obscure nor is any credite to be giuen to Bellarmine citing Osiander nor to Osiander where he writeth against those that differ from him in the Article of mans iustification Long may he declayme against Luther and Osiander and others But nothing doth his reasoning or rather rayling against reading of Scriptures effect For who will not rather folowe the exhortation of Chrysostome exhorting lay-men to get them Bibles and to read Scriptures then regarde the babling of this Popish parasite that calleth readers of scriptures Biblists and sayth we holde that to be the true meaning of Scriptures which euery ones priuate spirit imagineth In the third chapter of his first book he disputeth against those which make their owne priuate Spirit supreme iudge in earth of the interpretation of Scripture The which as it lanceth the Pope deepely whose priuate and satanical spirit is the supreame iudge whome all Papists are bound to follow so it toucheth not vs at all For albeit wee refuse the Pope and his adherents for iudges yet we relye not vpon our owne priuate spirit in expounding scriptures but vpon the spirit of God that eyther speaketh plainely or expoundeth himselfe in some other place and for atteining the right vnderstanding of Scriptures vse the hope of tonges the exposition of fathers and all learned men the discourse of histories and all other good meanes Neither did Luther thinke or proceede otherwise Why then doth noth this superlunaticall Surueyor declare who they bee that doe attribute the publike and iudiciall interpretation of Scriptures to euery mans priuate spirit and in what place why doth he forge to himselfe an absurde opinion held by none that I knowe saue the Papists who in matters controuersed hold the Popes priuate definition for a supreme resolution would hee therein shew his triumphant eloquence if this were his purpose let vs see I beseech you what he performeth First he saith selfe loue is a good as guilding and then talketh of the goodmans Cowe Pans pipe Appolloes harpe painting of womens faces Hens and Chickens and such like fooleries But his horrible eloquence declareth him to bee the Chicken of a Buzzard and a blinde Harper that cannot discerne betweene selfe loue priuate spirits His reader also may see that hee hath as much skill in painting of faces as in expounding of scriptures And yet all his Cow eloquence wil not serue to couer the deformities of the painted whore of Babilon of whome hee is a deuoute seruant and vppon whome he bestoweth much complextion to no purpose Luther regardeth it not albeit some of the Fathers should speake against a point of faith neither would hee submitte his Doctrine to be iudged by the Romish antichristian prelates But that sheweth not that he preferred himselfe before any but rather that hee preferred the Scriptures and articles of Christian faith before all And to them he exhorteth all to submitte themselues ascribing nothing to his owne opinion But what if Luther shold haue spoken out of square what is that to the new Religion he speaketh off doth our religion depend vpō euery word of Luther certes no more then the faith of the Church of Rome vpon the idle discourses of Kellisons Suruey As for Caluin hee referreth nothing to his owne spirrit but to the rule of Gods word to which he submitteth his interpretations as well of these wordes hoc est corpus meum as of other places of Scriptures else where interpreted by him Finally we neither reiect Fathers nor Councels nor godlye pastors The skip-iacke surueyor therefore that calleth Luther and Caluin Skip-iacks and like a skip-iack running from matter to matter makes so long a declamation against selfe loue and ouer-weening a mans selfe did herein seeme to loue himselfe but too much and much to offend in ouer-weening and surcuydrie that pleased himselfe in this Chapter that is so farre from the purpose so false in respect of vs and so contrarie to himselfe and his owne cause His fourth Chapter he beginneth as his manner is with a pedanticall declamation against Parricides shewing how strangely they were punished being sowed into a sacke with a Cocke a Viper an Ape and a Dogge But to what purpose is all this doth he thinke that it is no lesse then the crime of Parricide to reiect some Fathers why then the Pope and his agents by the confession of this K. are all parricides and for their dogged and viperous apish and cockish natures deserue to be sewed in sackes as Vrbane the sixt did deale with certaine Cardinals with the beastes of like nature to be throwne into the sea As for vs wee reiect no Fathers that consent one with another and with holy scriptures in matters of faith but rather the bastardlye writinges of falsaries and of such as take vppon them the names of Fathers or else such as hold singular opinions or varie from the Doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles of Christ Luther had no reason in matter of the Sacrifice of the Masse to disclaime the fathers which all with one voice as I haue iustified against Bellarmine make against the carnall sacrifice of the Popish Masse for quicke and dead But if hee or Caluin or any other speake against Fathers it is not against all nor against the Bookes which are certainely knowne to bee theirs but against counterfet fellowes and some particuler opinions If Caluin should call the men of Trent Hogges and Asses he did them a speciall fauour For they shewed themselues to bée worse being open enemies of the Christian faith and moste obstinate oppugners of the truth But they are none of our Fathers nor of the Fathers of the Church Nor is the synagogue of Rome maintaining the abuses which we refuse our Mother but the Mother of fornications or as Petrarch calleth her the
no more Further repentance bringeth with it newnesse of life and a care to auoide sinne afterward and not as K. surmiseth a boldnesse in sinning The fift Chapter conteineth nothing almost but vaine repetitions and odious calumniations against Maister Luther and Caluin and other Godly mē First he saith that they condemne the iust mans good deedes as mortal sinnes But this hath bin declared to bee a mortall or rather capitall slaunder For althogh they hold that euen in the workes of good men there are imperfections and that many actes to vs seeming good are euill yet they no where say that the iust mans good deedes are mortall sinnes in the wordes by K. alleadged partially there is no such matter Secondly hee chargeth them to teach that the faithfull mans euil deedes are good and honest But therein hee dealeth vnfathfully and dishonestly For they doe not diminish mens sinnes but commend Gods great mercy that imputeth them not albeit they be very great and heynous Thirdly hée affirmeth that Caluin teacheth that originall sinne hath blotted out the image of God in man But if all the vntruthes of this slauderous Suruey were blotted out the rest would scarce serue to stoppe one Vinegar bottle Caluin saith that the image of God in man is not lost by his fall but onely blemished and defaced The same man where he speaketh of the workes of Infidels saith not that all of them are sinnes but that they sinned all in their morrall actions And this he prooueth out of Augustine lib. 4. contr Iulianum Finally none of vs teaching that our will is vnable to performe any good worke tending to the attaining of eternall life dooth eyther teach contrarie to scriptures or ouerthrowe Artes or extinguish reason or make all sinnes equal albeit this K. in his brablement dooth charge vs therewith In the sixt Chapter he runneth beside himselfe and entreth into a tedious declaration concerning free-will and diuers odious repetitions of the same matters But what will you say is this to the purpose Forsooth no more then if hee should tell you what commaund he had in time past ouer the Hogsheades in my Lord Vauxes Sellar For we do not deny free-will in all thinges as did the Manachees who held that sinne proceeded not from our will but from the substance of the euill soule and therfore are iustly refuted by Saint Augustine in his Booke de duab anim c. 11. neither did Luther deny free-will simply but only in thinges that concerne the attaining of the Kingdome of heauen Furthermore neither doth Luther teach that free-wil goeth necessarily that way which either the spirit spurreth it or the Diuell vrgeth it as this lewd Sycophant ridden and spurred on by no good spirit shamefully lyeth nor doth Caluin affirme that Gods prouidence and predestination taketh away free-will as hee desperatly and imprudently chargeth him neither do we either teach that man sinneth vnwillingly or deny that he hath his will free in naturall ciuill matters What thē is it that pincheth this thick-skind fellow Forsooth because we say that the naturall man neither discerneth the thinges that are of God nor by his free-will is able to performe them This is it which the semipelagian Papistes mislike and against which Doctrine Kellison marshalleth all his forces if such weake stuffe at the least may bee termed forces And first he endeuoreth to prooue free-will But if by this word he vnderstand only an abilitie wil to doe wickedly then we deny not but mā hath free-will If by free-wil he vnderstand that will and power in spiritual matters and concerning eternal life which the conuenticle of Trent and other Romish teachers doe meane then he may do well to take a larger terme to prooue his Doctrine That conuenticle sess 6. c. 1. et 5. speaking of free-will in matters concerning eternall life saith it is only attenuated and weakned and not extinguished or lost by the fall of Adam Gabriel Biel Lib. 2. d. 27. 4. teacheth that a man by force of free-will may remoue the barre of Gods grace that is mortall sinne because hee may cease from the consent and act of sinning yea hate sinne and frame his will not to commit sinne Homo existens in peccato mortali saith he potest remouere obicem hoe est peccatum mortale quia potest cessare à consensu et actu peccandi imò odisse peccatum et velle non peccare Commonly they hold that man in his naturall faculties was left sound after the fall that the will by the force of nature is able to dispose it selfe to receiue grace that the same is able by the force of nature to auoyde euery mortall sinne and to fulfill the Law of God as touching the substance of the act But the Scriptures teach vs that the vnregenerate man is dead and sould vnder sinne 1. Cor. 2. Wee read that the naturall man vnderstandeth not the thinges that are of God and that they are foolishnesse vnto him And 2. Cor. 3. that all our sufficiencie is of God Si ad aliquid idonei sumus id ex deo est saith the Apostle Secondly he saith if man haue no free-will that then all vice may goe for currant But if hee meane free-will and the power therof according to the Doctrine of the Papistes then his conclusion wil not passe for currant nor will his vize-ship prooue more vicious holding with vs according to the Doctrine of the Scriptures and Fathers then he now is esteemed defending the decretales of Popes and Copper Doctrine of Schoole-men The seauenth Chapter of his 7. Booke containeth an inuectiue against vs as if we taught that all Gods commaundements are simply impossible But heerein it seemeth that wilfully he◠mistaketh our Doctrine that hee might the better vent his swelling eloquence to his gaping and witlesse Diciples For we neither hold that the Law is simply in it selfe impossible nor teach that it is impossible simply for the regenerat man to performe the Law of God in part But we say that the vnregenerate cannot performe any Law of God in such sort as hee should and that the regenerate cānot so perfectly performe the whole law as he ought And this we know is the doctrine of the holye Apostles Fathers of the Church Saint Peter Act. 15. saith the Law was a yoake which neither the Disciples of Christ nor their Fathers were able to beare Quid tentatis deum saith he vt imponatur iugum super ceruices discipulorū quod neque patres nostri neque nos portare potuimus Saint Paul Rom. 7. speaking of himselfe saith the Law was spirituall and he carnall sold vnder sinne And Rom. 8. the affection of flesh is death and enmitie against God and is neither subject to the Law of God nor can bee Saint Ambrose in Galat. 3. saith that the commaundementes of God are so great that it is impossible to keepe them Tanta sunt mādata vt impossibile sit seruari ea Likewise lib.