question bee indeed as they seeme vnto me sound and necessary you may as well chide the Sun for mouing towards the west or the earth for resting stedfastly on her center as me for being swayed and perswaded by them And yet by your leaue I was not so transported with Confidence but that I still kept my selfe within the bounds of Modesty For although it pelase you in the former section to charge me with â—oasting that scarce Archimedes could better and more liuely haue painted his Theoremes then I iustifying Faith yet was I in truth as farre from it as you are from truth in affirming of it submitting my selfe in all humility vnto the censure of Gods Church and promising vpon conuiction of my error to reuerse what euer I had said Yea but very insolently I haue bidden battell to all the learned men of Christendome bitten snapt and snarled at Melancthon Martyr c. yea all Fathers and Writers both old and new for these 1600. yeeres 1 Sam. 17.26 Intolerable arrogance I confesse if your accusation be iust for who but a presumptuous and proud Goliah would in such opprobrious manner defie and reuile the host of the liuing God But tell me I beseech you what are those despitefull and contumelious tearmes wherewith I haue so reproched those famous and excellent men Nay did I in my Sermon so much as name either Melancthon or Martyr or Caluin or Beza or Grynaus or Pelanus or Whitaker or Perkins whom yet you say I snapt and snarled at For that you adde particularly of M. Perkins as if I had boasted by my sudden arguments to haue driuen him so hard to the wall as hee knew not what to answer is but a blacke drop of your slanderous pen. The truth is this that in a priuate conference I told you that he being demaÌ„ded if Faith be an assurance of our present state in grace and future saluation what comfort remained for him who not feeling this assurance thinks himselfe to bee without Faith and consequently in the state of damnation his answer was which also in his books he hath published that desire of assurance is in the acceptation of God as assurance indeed to the which I sayd I could no way yeeld seeing by the couenant of Grace actuall Faith it selfe is absolutely required vnto Iustification and therefore actuall assurance if Faith bee assurance Besides this priuate speech all I haue publikely said or written is no more but this in generall that though my opinion differ from the writings and doctrine of most learned and worthy Diuines to whom as farre inferiour I owe all respect and reuerence yet being Gods freeman I cannot endure to bee mans Bondman and sweare to all they say And is not this the same in effect which all our Diuines answer when they are charged by the aduersary to dissent from the Fathers Let one Whitaker speake for them all We are saith he not the seruants but the Sons of the Fathers Contrà Duraeum if out of the law and from diuine authority they prescribe any thing vnto vs wee obey them as Parents if they command ought against the voice of the heauenly doctrine wee say wee must harken not vnto them but God You Iesuits like bondmen and base slaues admit without iudgement and reason all the sayings of the Fathers fearing I thinke the gibbet or whip if yee refuse any Now M. Baxter say if you dare that glorious Whitaker with the rest of our Diuines bite and snap and snarle at the Fathers as well as I if you dare not and yet I vse no other language then they doe then are biting and snapping and snarling but your owne doggish tearmes arguing rather notorious Sycophancie in you then such barbarous inciuility in me Well yet sith you will needs say you come barefoot to these mountaines giue me leaâ—e to sift your arguments and to shape you an answer for the defence of Iustifying Faith Exod. 3.5 Sir it was reason I should pull off my shooes and come barefoot to these mountaines because the ground on which I was to stand is holy Neuerthelesse in this encounter with you I trust you shall find my feet so well shâ—â— with the preparation of the Gospell of peace Ephes 6.15 that I need not care what briers or thornes soeuer you plant in my way And therefore good leaue haue you sift my arguments in Gods name at your pleasure for to that very end sent I them you in writing But I am afraid least insteed of sifting I find from you nothing else but meere shifting as indeed I doe not For to some of my arguments you shape no answer at all some you unshape and turne cleane out of the forme I set vpon them to not one of them doe you shape so much as probable or tolerable answer So that although you seeme very ambitious and greedie of the title yet if you haue no better skill in sifting arguments and shaping answers you will hardly obtaine so high an honor as to bee stiled Defender of the Faith Further you tell me that shortly I shall receiue the writings of other most learned men and grasple with them They shall bee welcome M. Baxter whensoeuer they come for the more you are that impugne the truth the more honorable will the victory be But I beseech you Sir when will that shortly you speake of be expired for it is now more then two yeeres since you first threatned me with them as by the date of your writing appeareth and yet hitherto could I neuer heare either from them or of them whether they be white or blacke Only it seemes they are very angrie Pismires that a man cannot spit among them without sore lips But when I shall speake with these enemies in the gate as the Psalmist saith I hope they shall finde my lips so seasoned with the salt of grace and so well prouided of an answer Psal 127.5 Col. 4.6 that I need not feare if they proue a nest I say not of Ants onely but euen of Waspes and Hornets also In the meane season if they bee so deeply learned as you pretend how is it that you so hastily preuent them and haue not the manners to stay till your betters haue spoken It is not you say vpon presumption of your greater learning being one of the least but out of a greater measure of zeale as being the most offended But M. Baxter they that doe the works of Zimri haue not lightly in them the affection of Phinees And seeing you will needs bee the most offended shall I say being the most offending Certainly hauing no iust cause of offence giuen you it is not so much either the glory of God or the satisfaction of your people as your own factiousnesse and vaineglory that sets you so forward in this busines and makes you so impatient to thinke of the second place Of a colder temper it seemes are those learned Rabbies you scarre me
withall who while you hazard your selfe in the forlorne hope wisely prouide for their owne security in the reerward And as the Turke vses to marshall the basest of his nations in the front of the battell that the enemies armes being wearied swords blunted vpon them his â—aâ—jâ—ars may find the lesse danger and â—esistance so these I thinke are not vnwilling that you with your wrangling a while comber and annoy mee that hauing spent my strength vpon you I should not be able to endure the force of their second charge But vnto 〈◊〉 â—â—ish policy I oppose the old Roman wisdom Veget. l. 1. c. â—1 and as thâ—â— exercising their young souldiers to skirmish and 〈…〉 Martiall actiuities against a post â—repared 〈…〉 â—hereby with more readines and skill to encounter a true enemie so will I by trying and experiencing my selfe vpon you fit and prouide my selfe to the better entertainment vnto those learned aduersaries whensoeuer they shall please to assaile me N. B. Your writings are well polished and shew whence you came and where you were bred Plutarch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but as smooth as they bee they cannot helpe you nor saue you from blemish except you speedily which I wish snetch the new hatched Mansters For the faire shooe helpeth no man of the Gowt I. D. Here M. Baxter you bestow vpon me once for all a few drops of your holy water sprinkle telling me that my writings are smooth and well polished sauouring something of the place whence I came and where I was bred but withall remembring me I thinke lest I should grow too proud of your praises that though the shooe be faire the foot is gowtie that is though the stile and manner of handling be Schollerly yet the argument and matter is erronious if not hereticall And so as Hierome spea◠〈◊〉 you cast vpon me an honorable kind of contumely Ep. 6 ad Pam. Ocean commâ—â—â—ing mee a little for some good parts but vtterly bereauing one of the truth of Faith Which commendation also here vousafed mee in grosse anon you rob mee of againe by retaile allowing mee nothing but ridiculous vnlearned and inkehorne speeches and scarce affording me skill enough to compose a Syllogisme But the best is your iudgement is not the truest touch to trie desert by and therfore whether you praise or dispraise it no way moues me the one cannot better me the other cannot disparage mee Neuerthelesse if you can plainly and directly shew that like another Ixion embracing a cloud insteed of Iuno I meane my owne fancie insteed of Gods truth I haue begotten thereupon these monsters as you tearme them of opinions I will as you wish mee speedily snetch them Psal 137.9 and dash their heads against the stones that they grow not vp to the strength and stature of Giants to the further danger and disturbance of the Church But till then pardon mee if I neither snetch them 1 Pet. 2.2 nor feare blemish by them nay if as the blessed ofspring of celestiall verity I still feed and cherish them with the sincere milke of the word that they may grow thereby to the further comforting of distressed soules Iude 20. and building vp of the Saints in their most holy Faith And thus much in briefe for answer to your Prologue now take wee a view also of the Disputation it selfe Wherein if you obserue due proportion and Decorum as that is no other then a head without wit or braine so this can bee no better then a body without heart and spirit N. B. But that I may orderly proceed I will briefely 〈◊〉 the state of the Question betwixt vs and next shewing how it is holden by you and denyed by mee The Quest The Question is whether iustifyâ—â—g Faith by the Church for 1600. yeeres bee rightly dâ—fined you deny it I affirme it I. D. In word you promise orderly proceeding but indeed you lay the foundation of Babel and by peruerting the state of the Question disorder and confound the whole Disputation For whereas I inquire What is the true Nature and definition of iustifying Faith and determine that that act whereby a man stands iustified before God is not Assurance in the Mind but Affiance in the Will you to forestall the reader on your side and to worke all the preiudice you can against mee substitute insteed thereof this enuious demaund Whether iustifying Faith by the Church for 1600. yeeres bee rightly defined and boldly auerre that I maintaine it negatiuely you affirmatiuely How you can quit your selfe of manifest preuarication herein I see not vnles perhaps you say that albeit directly in precise tearmes I affirme not so much yet defining otherwise then the Church hitherto hath done indirectly and by consequence I auouch no lesse But this figleafe is not broad enough to couer your nakednesse For suppose it were so yet was it your dutie to haue retained the Question in that very forme of words I propounded it vnto you and not in lieu of my Conclusion to place a Consectary of your owne collection If whereas you hold that Faith is Assurance I should state the Question thus Whether God commaund a lie to bee beleeued as true and then peremptorily pronounce that you affirme it and I deny it would you not think your selfe much wronged and abused And yet this absurditie necessarily following vpon that opinion as in my fift Argument is firmely proued I should so doing but serue you with your owne sauce and repay you in your owne coine How forcible therefore soeuer your Consequence may be in this place it is very vnseasonable and with more credit should you haue performed your promise of orderly proceeding if you had reserued it thither where you meane to argue against mee But Camels saith Pliny loue not to drinke till they haue troubled the water Hist Nat. l. 8. ca. 18. nor Sophisters to dispute till they haue clouded the Question Neuerthelesse because you vaunt so much and so often of all the learned men of Christendome all the Church all the world all Fathers all Writers old and new Greeke and Latin for these 1600. yeeres giue mee leaue in this place once for all to apply mine answer thereunto I say therefore that it is but a vaine and idle brag full of Arrogance Temerity and Vntruth Arrogance in that you would seeme to haue read all Authors that haue wrtten these 1600. yeeres which if you were such a glutton of bookes and withall had the strength of an oke and the time of Mathuselah yet could you not by any meanes performe Temerity in that you thinke with the countenance of one inartificiall argument to outbraue so many sound Demonstrations grounded on Gods Word and according with right reason Vntruth in that you beare the world in hand as if all Writers both old and new were cleerely against me not so much as one giuing his suffrage and voice with mee whereas in my
by one that is iustified must needs presuppose the partie before to be iustified N. B. O. O. O. O. O. I. D. What mum Master Baxtar Hath Sigalion now instantly sealed vp your lips that you cannot or are you suddenly become a professed Pythagorean that you may not speake For me thinkes you that haue beene so vocall and wastfull of your breath in so many impertinent and friuolous excursions should not now bee so sparing and niggardly of a word or twaine vpon so necessary a point But the truth is the argument is vnanswerable and inuincible and therefore you held it better to say nothing and slily to passe it ouer then to marre all by saying nothing to the purpose Which course if you had also vsed in the rest of this disputation you should haue saued this scribling labor and I had receiued virgin paper from you And so as Galba in the iudgement of all might haue beene thought worthy of the empire if hee had not beene Emperor Tacit. 1. Hist you also in the opinion of some might haue beene counted able to write if you had not written But now that after so much loudnesse and clamourousnesse you are become so dumbe and silent it argues that though ability faile yet will should not haue beene wanting vnlesse the euidence of truth had perforce made vp your mouth And so construeing your silence to bee in this point no lesse then plaine yeelding I passe on to the next argument Treatise 4. Arg. In conditionall Promises there can bee no Assurance of the thing promised before the performance of the condition v. g. This is a conditionall Promise in the couenant of works Doe this and thou shalt liue Life is promised but on condition of Doing and therefore vntill wee haue performed the condition wee may not looke that God should bee reciprocall and giue vs Life Now in the Couenant of Grace Iustification is promised but vpon condition of Faith so saith the Scripture Belieue and thy sins shall be forgiuen thee Therefore the condition of Belieuing must first bee performed before wee can assure our selues our sins are forgiuen If so then Faith going before and Assurance following after Assurance connot bee Iustifying Faith N. B. I deny your Minor and say there may bee an Assurance of Saluation in some measure before there can bee the performance of Faith actuall in the highest measure Therefore your Minor is vtterly false For Faith in his true defined state is a firme Assurance and Perswasion and a firme Assurance and Perswasion is Faith and both the Greeke and Hebrew words signifieth Faith before cited doe declare Yea this Assurance is giuen vnto vs together with the hearing of the Word of God Habitualiter and will shew it selfe Actualiter in due time and therefore sometime is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and sometime is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first in the beginning the next in the Lords due time and this can neuer be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but secundùm magis or minùs shall externas vel internas exerere vires shew forth his forces either within man or without I. D. To make all plaine my argument reduced into the right forme standeth thus That which goeth before iustification is not that which followes after iustification But Faith goeth before iustification and Assurance followes after Ergo Faith is not Assurance The Minor of this Syllogisme is that which you deny affirming it to be vtterly false and you confirme it to bee so by this reason There may bee Assurance of Saluation in some measure before there can be Performance of Faith Actuall in the highest measure Ergo Faith goeth not before Assurance nor doth Assurance follow after Faith The Antecedent of which Enthymeme I grant for as much as there may bee Assurance in this life but not the performance of Faith actuall in the highest measure wee here Belieuing only in part as the Apostle saith But if hereupon it follow Therefore Faith goeth not before Assurance it will also follow Faith goeth not before Charity or good works because Charity and good works may be in some measure before Faith actuall bee in the highest measure or thus The elder Sonne is not borne before the yonger because the yonger may waxe as tall as a Pygmee before the elder bee growne to the stature of a Giant Which Consequences if they be absurd and ridiculous as absurd and ridiculous is it to inferre that Faith cannot bee before Assurance because Assurance may bee in some measure before Faith bee in the highest measure Nay farre better doth it follow from hence against your selfe that Faith is not Assurance nor Assurance Faith For if as you expresly say Assurance may bee in a lower measure when Faith is in a higher how can they possibly differing so in degrees but bee differing things For although it be true that more and lesse doe not diuersify the kind yet is it as true that the same indiuiduall quality cannot at the same time bee both intended and remitted no more then the same string in a Lute can at once bee strained vp and let downe and yeeld at the same time both a base and treble sound In the residue of this Section you shew your selfe to bee one of those idle Oratours of whom Quintilian speaketh Inst Orat. l. 11. who neuer regard where the point or issue of the Question lieth so they may besides the cause either from the persons or out of some common place find occasion of declaiming Lib. 6. Epig. 19. Such as was Postumus the Aduocate in Martiall who being entertained to plead the cause of one who had three Goats stolen from him by his neighbour left the proofe of this and fell a discoursing of the battell of Cannae of the Mithridatike and Carthaginian wars and other such impertinent matters But neuer was there any offended more notoriously in this kind then you all those speeches are nothing els but extrauagances and by-matters For I pray you how doth it concerne my argument to talke of the origination of Faith in Greeke and Hebrew how Assurance is giuen how it shewes it selfe of Oligopistie Plerophorie and Apostasie of the intention and remission of it and finally of the inward and outward forces thereof Surely De arte Poët as much as a Cypres-tree concernes a table of shipwrack as Horace speaketh And therefore giue mee leaue to plucke you by the eare and to say vnto you as did the poore Client vnto his Lawyer aboue named Now I pray thee Postume say some thing at length touching my three Goats N. B. Where it pleaseth you to make remission of sinnes a Promise vpon a Condition I tell you with all the Church of God in all ages it is rather an encouragement to belieue assuredly in Christ as if hee should say Thy sinnes bee forgiuen thee therefore bee of good comfort that both the former and latter to wit forgiuenesse of sinnes and Beliefe might bee ascribed to
like a boat in a storme without a Pilote answering tumultuarily what euer comes next to head and scorning like another Cassius Seuerus to keep either in method your matter Tacit. vel potiùs Quintil. de causs corrupt eloq or modestie in your words But as you lead the dance so must I needs follow Thus therefore you argue No man can be damned hauing iustifying Faith A man may be damned resting his will vpon Christ his merits Ergo Resting of the will vpon Christ and his merits is not iustifying Faith The Maior I grant the Minor thus you confirme Hee that wanteth sanctification may bee damned A man resting his will vpon Christ and his merits may want sanctification Ergo a man resting his will vpon Christ and his merits may be damned The Maior againe I grant if you vnderstand it either thus Hee that finally wanteth sanctification shall bee damned or thus Hee that wanteth present sanctification is for the present in the state of damnation for otherwise the Elect vntill their effectuall vocation want sanctification and yet shall neuer actually be damned The Minor you barely affirme but confirme not thinking it as it seemes proofe inough if you say it and subscribe thereunto Witnesse our selfe vnto this argument therefore I answer two things First that you are a very vnkind and vngratefull man that hauing now the third or fourth time borowed arguments of me to serue your need haue not the good manners to say mee God a mercy for it or to acknowledge to whom you haue beene beholding For in my Treatise thus I obiected against my selfe If Faith be Affiance then the wicked may haue it for Balaam desired to die the death of the Righteous and some receiue the Word with ioy belieuing for a time And vnto this obiection in the same Treatise I gaue a sufficient and full solution distinguishing betweene that Affiance which is sleight and superficiall and that which is setled and grounded as there you may read more at large for thither I referre you But because Hecub act 2. as Euripides saith the same speech spoken by diuerse persons is not alike entertained peraduenture this answer would be better accepted if you might haue it from the mouth of greater authority Read then M. Perkins exposition of the Creed whereupon the first word I Belieue hee intreats of the nature of Faith and you shall find in effect the same obiection in like manner answered and distinction made betweene the fleeting motions desires of them who liue still in their sins after the course of the world the Desire of reconciliation that comes from a bruzed heart brings with it alwayes reformation amendment of life This solution howsoeuer now you haue cunningly dissembled yet I must pray you the next time not to ouerslip it for otherwise you shall bee counted but a miching disputer and no whit at all disaduantage your aduersary fighting against him with no better weapon then a rusty sword both edge and point rebated Secondly I answer vnto your Minor negatiuely denying that such Resting of the will vpon Christ and his merits as wee haue described and in the definition vnderstand can at any time bee separated from Sanctification For besides that it is contrary vnto your owne Positions as anon in the due place shall bee obserued it is also flatly repugnant vnto the rules of holy Scripture For doth not the Scripture pronounce them all Blessed that retire themselues vnto the Lord Psal 2.12 Psal 25.2 Psal 125.1 that they shall not bee ashamed that put their trust in him that they shall be like vnto mount Sion which can neuer bee remoued but standeth fast for euermore 2 Chron. 16 8.9 that to rest vpon the Lord is to bee of a perfect heart Finally doth it not affirme that whosoeuer receiueth Christ and belieueth in him Ioh. 1.12 Rom. 4.5 Ioh. 3.36 1 Ioh. 5.1 Rom. 8.1.14 is the Son of God is iustified before God hath euerlasting life is borne of God is led by the Spirit of God and walketh not after the flesh but after the Spirit vnlesse therefore vtterly stripping your selfe of all modesty you will put on the forehead of an harlot and say that all these things may bee affirmed of the Vnsanctified man how can you possibly auouch that a man resting his will vpon Christ retiring vnto him trusting on him belieuing in him and accepting of him to bee his Mediator can be without sanctification and for want thereof bee damned eternally Nay whosoeuer accepteth Iesus Christ for his Mediator submitteth himselfe as wee haue shewed not onely vnto his Prophecy and Priesthood but also vnto his Kingdome and if hee submit himselfe vnto his Kingdome that is vnto his rule and gouernment how can hee bee Vnsanctified for the Vnsanctified man subiecteth himselfe vnto the Flesh and not vnto the Spirit of Christ Act. 15.9 where by the way you may obserue defining Faith in this sort how and after what manner it purifieth the heart and begetteth in vs sanctity and newnesse of life whereas defining it by Assurance as you doe it doth not readily appeare how such Assurance can bee the principle and reason of our Sanctification True it is that Assurance may bee vnto vs a strong motiue to proceed on in Sanctification and holynesse of life but it is so farre from causing it that it is rather caused by it For by our holy life and conuersation as by the fruites doe wee necessarily gather that Faith which is the cause thereof is in vs and so grow to an Assurance of our Iustification and present state in grace In regard whereof Saint Peter as it is in the vulgar translation and some Greeke copies commandeth by good works to make our calling and election sure 2 Pet. 1.10 And although in sundry copies and translations By good works is omitted yet the addition thereof misliketh not Beza In loc praed Ibid. and Fulke confesseth that the circumstance of the place doth of necessity require that good works bee vnderstood though they bee not expressed in the text On the other side if you define Faith with mee to bee that Act whereby wee accept and make choice of Christ to bee our Mediator that is to say our Prophet Priest and King who seeth not that this Faith working in vs a free and voluntary subiection vnto the Kingdom of Christ is the very purifier of our hearts and the cause of all our holy studies and indeuours whence also it appeareth what the reason is why our Sauiour vnto belieuing in the Sonne opposeth Disobedience vnto him when hee saith Ioh. 3.36 Hee that belieueth in the Sonne hath euerlasting life and hee that obeyeth not the Sonne shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him namely because as Acceptation of him to bee our King is the root of all Obedience so the reiection and refusall of him to bee our King is the very
with him But if you vnderstand Faith in the second Act and as it is in operation and action then may you iustly call it a labour for as our Sauiour saith Ioh. 6.29 to belieue in him whom the Father hath sent is a Worke which God requireth vs to doe in regard whereof the Apostle Paul calleth it the Worke of Faith 1 Thess 1.3 And because Faith iustifieth not as it is in the first but in the second act that is not as it is an Habit but as it is in action accepting and applying vnto vs Christ and his merits hence is it saith Bucer that Protestants vsually define it by a motion De iustific Let the Maior therefore in this sense bee granted vnto you The Minor which you thinke to bee so cocksure I flatly deny confidently affirming that Rest is a labour prouided you vnderstand no other Rest then that which in my Treatise I haue expressed and declared For if by Rest you meane Quiet such Rest without all question is not Labour for it is the end of labour and a cessation from it and therefore well did you say that when eternall rest is wrought then the labour of Faith ceaseth But you cannot bee ignorant that by Rest I vnderstand not Quiet but Affiance in as much as I render the Latin word Fiducia by it and make the Act thereof to bee Inniti which as I haue shewed in some of our English translations is oftentimes turned by Resting and Staying vpon And this Rest that is this Relying this Reposing this Trusting or Belieuing on Christ is not a Quiet but a motion or operation and therefore a labour True it is that whosoeuer commeth vnto Christ and setteth his whole Affiance vpon him shall thereby finde refreshment and Quiet vnto his soule yet neuerthelesse it is apparant that Affiance it selfe is an act or motion of the Will and not a Quiet euen as the inclination of a mans selfe vpon his staffe or the laying of him downe vpon his bed is an action of the body In a word remember what a little before I haue deliuered to cleare this tearme from all ambiguity and take it in the same sense which there I giue vnto it and vnlesse you will say that light is darknesse you cannot but confesse that such rest is a labour and so that notwithstanding this argument Faith may be a Rest But now giue mee leaue to take vp the weapon which you are forced to lay downe and to trie whether a blow therewith from my arme will pearce any deeper for thus I retort your owne reason against you Faith is rather a labour then a rest Assurance is not so but rather a rest then a labour Ergo Faith is not Assurance The Maior is your owne and you may not deny it The Minor I proue thus Intellection or knowledge saith Aristotle is more like vnto rest and quiet then vnto motion for although the mind while it is inquiring seeking for knowledge is euer in motion and so laboureth yet when the Habit of knowledge is once acquired and gotten then is there no farther motion of the vnderstanding thereunto but a sweet rest and Quiet therein Whereupon saith the same Philosopher By the quieting setling of the soule doth a man become intelligent and wise meaning by Quiet as Iulius Scaliger expoundeth him Exerc. in Card. 307. 13. nothing else but the assent of the minde I assume But Assurance is such intellection or knowledge for it is an habituall assent vnto this truth that wee are in the present state of grace and shall infallibly bee saued Wherefore I conclude that Assurance is rather a rest or quiet then a labour whence also it farther followeth that Faith being as you confesse rather a labour then a rest cannot be Assurance Againe Faith you say ceaseth when eternall pacification and rest is wrought I grant for the Obiect of Faith as the Apostle saith are things which are not seene whereupon Saint Augustin elegantly Heb. 11.1 Si vides non est Fides Beholding is not Belieuing As therefore while we liue here in these earthly tabernacles and are absent from the Lord wee walke not by Sight but by Faith so when wee shall be clothed vpon 2. Cor. 5.4.7 Vers 4. and mortality shall bee swallowed vp of life then shall wee walke not by Faith but by Sight Neither is the ceasing of Faith any losse or disaduantage but an exchange for the better namely vision for Seeing vnto Belieuing is as the full brightnesse of the Sunne is to the glimmering light of a candle I assume then But Assurance ceaseth not when eternall pacification and rest is wrought for then the certainty of our Election of our adoption of our acceptation into grace and finally of our Saluation is so farre from ceasing that it is by so much the more confirmed vnto vs as intuitiue apprehension and the sight of the eye is more infallible then heare-say or seeing by reflexion I conclude therefore out of your owne principles that Faith ceasing and Assurance not ceasing Faith is not Assurance But as touching Affiance or Resting vpon the mediation of Christ for iustification and Saluation it is euident that that ceaseth when wee shall haue obtained eternall rest and pacification For being perfectly quitted of our sinnes and in full possession of Saluation how can wee farther set out Affiance vpon him for it Especially seeing hee shall then cease to bee vnto vs a Mediator of Redemption and Reconciliation in regard whereof only hee is the Obiect of Affiance or Iustifying Faith and shall bee vnto vs no otherwise then he is vnto the Elect Angels a Mediatour of Conseruation to confirme preserue vs eternally in the most blessed state of glory For neither shall hee Prophecy any more vnto vs by the ministry of the Gospell nor propitiate for vs by the sacrifice of his death and Passion nor gouerne vs by the scepter of his word as here hee doth 1 Cor. 15.24 but in this respect shall hee deliuer vp the Kingdome vnto his Father and the Godhead in the holy Trinity shall without all meanes bee immediately vnto vs all in all N. B. Rest therefore in Christ is the Effect of Faith and Faith is the cause of Rest and so consequently Faith is not Rest nor Rest is not Faith I. D. If say you Faith bee the cause of Rest and Rest bee the Effect of Faith then is not Faith Rest nor Rest Faith This I yeeld you But Faith is the cause of Rest and Rest is the effect of Faith How proue you this It seemeth by the illatiue particle Therefore that you referre vs for this vnto some former premisses What then haue you formerly said That a full assurance as a cause worketh rest vpon Christ as an effect But neither is Assurance Faith and I haue sufficiently proued that Assurance is not the cause of Rest nor Rest an effect of Assurance Againe you say that Faith
Bâ—llâ—rmine Lest in time of persecution they should bee made a scorne and contempt vnto infidels saith Sanders Allen Turrian De adorat l. 2. d. 5. c. 2. n. 131. and Bellarmine But this exposition agreeth not with the intention of the Canon saith Vasques Lest by the decay of the wals they might loose their lustre saith the same Vasques Ib. n. 132. The Councell was but prouinciall and neuer confirmed by the Pope Ib. n. 121. Bell. Imag. l. 2. c. 36. Bin. de Conc. in hunc Can. Biblioth l. 5. ann 247. say diuerse of late being oppressed with the obiection But Baronius and Binius affirme that it was a lawfull Councell and free from errour And whatsoeuer the occasion of the prohibition was this is sure The Councell of Eliberis did absolutely forbid the worship of images saith Sixtus Senensis What say you now to this language of Babel Can you gather any certainty for your Faith out of such confusion Certainly you cannot And if many Fathers laying their heads together in a generall Councell may euen in then decrees of Faith vse inconuenient speech either by superfluity of teâ—â—mes or disorderly placing them and the like so that noâ—â—â— much the words as the sâ—â—â—e is to bee regarded De Concil l. 2. c. 12. as your Bellarmine affirmeth 〈◊〉 you reâ—deâ— any reason why some few of them writing funderly one from another may not also faile in their tearmes and thereby leaue the Readers mind in suspence and douth what their true meaning should bee The very Syâ—â—â— of Trent hath not spoken so plainely but that it hath left scruples in the mind of some And yet Good God faith Campian what variety of Nations Rat. 4. what choice of Bishops out of the whole world what Maiesty of King and States what marow of Diuines what holynesse what teares what fasting what flowers of Vniuersities what tongues what subtilty what industry what infinite reading what richesse of vertues and studies replenished that more then humane Sanctuary All which notwithstanding Bellarmine and Sixtus Senensis accord not in the meaning of the third Session touching the number of the Canonicall books De verb. Dei l. 1. c. 7. For Bellarmine thinks that the seuen last chapters of Hester following after the tenth are by the Councell admitted into the Canon Biblioth l. 1. 8. but Sixtus thinketh no. Neither yet are Bellarmine and Ambrose Catharin agreed about the eleuenth Canon of the seuenth Session concerning the necessity of the Priests intention to make a Sacrament the one affirming it De Sacram. in gen l. 1. c. 27. Opusc de intent minist Ib. de laps pecc or c. 6. the other denying it Nor lastly are they resolued of the Councels mind touching Originall sinne Catharin who had beene in the Councell a great stickler Bell. de amis grat l. 5. c. 1â— defining it onely by the Imputation of Adams sinne others affirming it to be more then so and that vpon the words of the Councell too I could easily instance in sundry other points but these are enough to let you see that the Oracles of Loxiaâ— went 〈◊〉 more perplexe then the Decrees of this Tridentâ—â— conuenticle Whether they were framed so of purpose or no I cannot tell many shrewdly suspect it Sure I am it hath beene so farre from stinting of quarels that in many things it hath beene and still is the matter and fewell of contention Howsoeuer seeing the Fathers oftentimes write so darkly and ambiguously that there is great doubt made not onely betweene you and vs but amongst your chiefest Doctors also what their right meaning should bee I conclude and that according to your own rule that Consent of Fathers cannot bee a sufficient ground to build vpon But what if the more part of Fathers consent in error euen in those points which the Church of Rome herselfe condemneth Will you not then freely confesse that such Consent is not so firme and sure a ground as you tooke it to bee Doubtlesse you will vnlesse you be too too wilfull and obstinate in your opinion Let vs therefore a little examine this point That Christ after the first Resurrection shall liue with his elect hereupon earth for a thousand yeeres in all peace and happynesse vntill the second Resurrection is the error of the Millenaries and iustly condemned by the Church of Rome Yet Papias Saint Iohn the Apostles auditor Sixt. Senens l. 5. ann 233. 6. ann 347. Apollinarius Irenaus Tertullianus Victorinus Pitabionensis Lactantius Seuerus Sulpitius Iustin Martyr and a great multitude of other Catholicke men were of the â—â—me opinion all being deceiued by misunderstanding that in the Reuelation And they shall raigne with him a thousand yeeres S. Augustin speaketh very tenderly of it De ciuit Dei l. 20. c. 7. In Ier. l. 4. calling it neither error not heresy himselfe hauing sometimes held it And Hierome durst not condemne it because so many Church-men and Martyrs had said it That the soules of iust men after their dissolution see not the face of God vntill the day of iudgement is an error and condemned by the Church of Rome Yet the Liturgie fathered vpon Saint Iames Irenaeus Iustin Tertullian Clemens Romanus Origen Lactantius Victorinus Martyr Prudentius Ambrose Chrysostome the Authour of the Vnperfect worke on Mathew Augustin Theodoret Arethas Oecumenius Theophylact Eâ—thymius Pope Iohn the two and twentieth and Bernard held the same whose particular words Sixtus Senensis recordeth in his Library Lib. 6. annot 345. Stapl. de auth Sc. l. 1. c. â— I am not ignorant how Sixtus there laboureth to excuse them but others of his pewfellowes find their words so pregnant that they can by no meanes salue them That the thrice blessed Virgin Mary was conceiued in Originall Sinne the Church of Rome holdeth to bee an error 3. d. 117. n. 148. for not onely the vnskilfull vulgar but the Doctors and Diuines and all Catholiks with one consent fight for the Immaculate Conception saith Vasques And why hath your Church by her authority commanded the feast of â—â—r Conception to bee celebrated vnlesse shee were conceiued without sinne De consecr d. 4. Firmissime n. 11. Yet Cardinall Turrâ—cremata affirmes that all the Doctors in a manner maintaine the contrary and that hee had gathered together the testimonies of three hundred to that effect noting the very places and words wherein they affirme it Part. 1. q. 1. d. 5. And Dominicus Bannes saith that it is the generall consent of the holy Doctors that shee was conceiued in sinne and yet the contrary is held in the Church to bee not onely probable but very godly That Angels and the Soules of men are bodily Actione 5. visible and circumscriptible is an error and condemned by the Church of Rome Yet three hundred Fathers such as they were and fifty vpon the head of them in the second Councell of Nice auouch it and alledge the