Men preach such as they print with Publick Allowance and therefore they ought to provide better for their Souls elsewhere Especially they say That the Doctrine of Justification is Articulus stantis vel cadentis Ecclesiae an Article with which the Church falls or stands This Article say they in the Parish where we live is quite demolish'd by the Doctrine of Justification by Works We are bound therefore to provide for our safety and depart and when We are once out We will advise upon another Church not which is tolerable but which is most eligible and in all things nearest the Word p. 161 Sect. 5. They plead That there 's no Obligation upon them to own the Churches Power to impose new Terms of Communion unless the Church can prove her Power from Christ. It 's not for them to disprove it it lies upon her to prove it and to prove it substantially too or else it will be hard to prove it their duty to own it p. 181 Sect. 6. They say The World is pestered with Disputes about Worship about Religion and therefore since All cannot be in the right they are willing to go the safest Way and worship God according to his Word If the things disputed be lawful to be done let them be so they are sure it is lawful to let them alone And they think there 's no great hazard in keeping to Scripture Rule nor can believe that Christ will send any to Hell because they did not worship God in an external Mode more neat and spruce them God commanded p. 190 Sect. 7. They pretend That the things impos'd are parts of Worship which none can create but God nor will God accept of any but such as are of his own creating and whether they be Integral or Essential parts They do not know but in the Worship of God they find them standing upon even ground with those that are certainly Divine or at least as high as Man can lift them p. 196 Sect. 8. They do not find that God ever commanded the things imposed either in General in Special or their Singulars If God has commanded a duty to be done the Church must find a place to do it in But though the Church must find a place for the Duty a time for the Duty she may not find new Duty for the Time and Place p. 216 Sect. 9. They are the more cautious of all Ceremonies because the Old Church of England in her Homilies Serm. 3. of Good Works tells us That such hath been the corrupt Inclination of Man superstitiously given to make new Honouring of God of his own head and then to have more Affection and Devotion to keep that than to search out God's holy Commandments and do them p. 247 Sect. 10. They say They have read over all the Books that have been written in Justification of those things and they find their Arguments so weak their Reasons so frivolous that setting aside Rhetorick and Railing there 's nothing in them but what had been either Answered by others or is contradicted by themselves which hardens them in their Errour who are gone astray into the right Way p. 254 Sect. 11. They say It 's their Duty to endeavour a Reformation according to the Word which if others will not they cannot help it and hope they will not be angry with the Willing p. 262 A Fresh Inquiry Into the PLEA of the NON-CONFORMISTS c. SECT I. THey plead that some things are imposed upon their Faith tendred to subscription as Articles of Faith which are either false or at least they have not yet been so happy as to discover the truth of them In Article 20. they are required to subscribe this Doctrine The Church hath Power to decree Rites and Ceremonies Which Clause of the Article as we fear it hath been by some indirect means shuffled into the Article it not being found in the Authentick Articles of Edw. 6. so it proves also that the Terms of Communion have been enlarged since the first Times of the Reformation The Answer The Articles of the Church of England are not imposed under Oath nor required to be received with a like affection and piety as the holy Scriptures are nor to be believed as Articles of Faith further then they can approve themselves to be contained in the Holy Scriptures For the Sixth of those Articles declares thus Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation so that whatsoever is not read therein nor may be proved thereby is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an Article of the Faith or be thought requisite and necessary to salvation The moderation of the Church of England herein is evinced in another Treatise viz. The Proselyte of Rome called back c. p. 7. to the 10. There is no Protestant Church of any creditable denomination more moderate and ingenious in this point then ours is To keep them from Sects and Corruptions and tie them up close to the Doctrine of the Augustan Confession we find it decreed among the Lutherans Nemo quicunque sit That no man whatsoever shall be admitted to any Office or Ministry in their Churches Schools or otherwise nor shall any such be tolerated therein unless they shall approve and receive such a body of Doctrine as there mentioned and shall persevere therein and neither by word nor deed oppose the same And it is further decreed and established That if any shall be but suspected as contradicting those Doctrines and the unanimous consent therein if they refuse to be better instructed and give no place to the Fatherly admonitions of others their Superiours they shall be removed from their Offices or Employments or else their names shall be signified that due execution of punishment may proceed against them as persons refractory and contumacious And 't is their practice too upon occasion to make their Ministers and Professors to renounce such opinions as are declared to be erroneous sub jurisjurandi sacramento even under the Sacrament of a solemn Oath And the Calvinists are no less strict in this point The Proxies or Deputies to be sent from the Provinces to the National Synod as is expressed in the Form of the Letters written à Synodo Victoriacensi in Brittain are tied to this Solemn Engagement Promittimus coram Deo c. that is We do promise before God that we will submit our selves to all things which shall be agreed and decreed by your holy Assembly and will execute the same with all our power because we are persuaded that God presides over it and that he will direct you by his Holy Spirit according to the rule of his Word into all truth and equity Here we have a promise of submission made before God by a kind of implicit Faith and blind Obedience to the Decrees of a Synod of Calvinists before the Convention of it And this is grounded upon a Divine persuasion else with what confidence can they
THE VERDICT UPON THE Dissenters Plea Occasioned by Their MELIVS INQVIRENDVM To which is added A LETTER from Geneva to the Assembly of Divines Printed by His late Majesties Special Command with some Notes upon the Margent under His own Royal and Sacred Hand ALSO A POSTSCRIPT touching the Union of Protestants LONDON Printed for Robert Clavel at the Peacock in St. Paul 's Church-Yard 1681. THE INTRODUCTION TO A Person of HONOVR ASSoon as a tedious Distemper would give leave I have returned you the Inquisition taken at your Command upon the Melius Inquirendum which you sent me To deliver my Opinion freely as you have Conjur'd me The Author seems to have very little of that Tender Conscience which he pleads sor If we may take our Measures from him who is a Judge beyond exception such as will strain at a Gnat and swallow a Camel scruple at a Ceremony and play the Wanton with deadly sin Schism and Rebellion who with the Scribes and Pharisees of old will make no difficulty to sacrifice the Fifth Commandement to their own superstitious Phansies These are Men of no Conscience Matt. 23. 24. with Chapter 15. 5 6 7. This Author makes himself an Advocate for the Dissenting Party and he manages their Cause with as much artifice and advantage as his Confidence Wit or Malice can afford He takes upon him all shapes and insinuates himself by Fables Metaphors and Similitudes He is often Scurrilous and sometimes worse He drolls quibbles and makes sport for Men of no Religion the Tribe into which he seems to be adopted and this is the farce of his Discourse as if he were not serious or the Subject he treats of not worth a sober Thought This begets a vehement Suspicion His design is not to satisfie the Judicious but to impose upon the Weakness of the Common Reader and by tickling his Imagination to delude his Understanding To follow him step by step is no part of my concern let the Compassionate Enquirer who trod out the way for him look to that if he thinks fit But to make short work He hath reduced All the Dissenters insist upon to Eleven Sections And if this their Advocate understands their Principles their whole Cause and Plea being so concisely sum'd up and comprised within the compass of less than four Pages in Octavo I shall attentively consider it to give you and my self the better satissaction And herein I shall neither Cant nor Rail nor Rhetoricate but with such Arms and Weapons as the Holy Scriptures the light of Reason and the Writings of Learned Men especially those of the Protestant Churches have provided I shall presently approach the Trenches of these profest and implacable Adversaries of this most Primitive and excellent Church of England MELIVS INQVIRENDVM Page 163 164 165 166. What Dissenters usually insist upon for their Justification I shall reduce to these Heads Section 1. THey plead That some things are imposed upon their Faith tendered to subscription as Articles of Faith which are either false or at best they have not yet been so happy as to discover the truth of them In Art 20. They are required to subscribe this Doctrine The Church hath power to decree Rites and Ceremonies which clause of the Article as we fear it has been by some indirect means shuffled into the Article it not being found in the Authentick Articles of Edward 6. so it proves also that the Terms of Communion have been enlarged since the First times of the Reformation p. 1 They Object also against the Doctrine in the Rubrick That it is certain from the Word of God that Children baptized and dying before the commission of Actual Sins are undoubtedly saved The Scripture the Protestant Churches nor any sound Reason have yet given them any tolerable satisfaction of the truth of the Doctrine about the Opus operatum of Sacraments That Doctrine laid down in the Catechism That Children do perform Faith and Repentance by their Sureties is also as great a stumbling to our Faith and we cannot get over it How the Adult should Believe and Repent for Minors or Infants Believe and Repent by Proxie I omit many others Sect. 2. They plead That they are not satisfied in the use of any Mystical Ceremonies in God's Worship and particularly they judge the use of the Cross in Baptism to be sinful A Sacrament of Divine Institution according to the definition of the Church in her Catechism is an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible Grace given to us ordained by Christ himself as a means whereby we receive the same and a Pledge to assure us thereof Where we have 1. The Matter of a Sacrament An outward and visible sign of an inward and Spiritual Grace 2. The Author of a Divine Sacrament Christ himself 3. The End of it to be a means to convey the thing signified and a Pledge to assure us of it Hence it 's evident that it 's simply impossible that any Church should institute a Divine Sacrament because they cannot give it a Causality to those Graces it is instituted to signifie Nevertheless it 's possible for Men to institute Humane Sacraments which shall have the Matter of a Sacrament that is An outward visible sign of an inward Spiritual Grace and they may pretend to ascribe an Effect to it also To stir up to excite or increase Grace and Devotion And yet because it wants the Right Efficient Cause it 's no lawful Sacrament though it be an humane Sacrament Such an Institution say they is the Sign of the Cross. An outward visible sign of an inward Spiritual Grace ordained by Men as a means to effect whatever Man can work by his Ordinance Here is the matter without Divine Signature which is the thing they condemn it for p. 49. Sect. 3. They plead That since Communion with the Church is suspended and denied but upon such terms as take away Christian Liberty in part and by consequence leave all the rest at Mercy they dare not accept of Communion upon those Terms There are some things which in the General God has left free and indifferent to do or not do yet at some times and in some Cases it may be my great sin if I should do some of them as when it would wound the Conscience and destroy the Soul of a weak Christian. If now I shall engage my self to the Church That I will never omit such an Indifferent thing and the Soul of that weak Christian should call to me to omit it I have tied my hands by Engagements I cannot help him though it would save his or a Thousand Souls out of Hell because I have given away my freedom to the Church p. 60. Sect. 4. They plead That they ought not to hazard their Souls in one Congregation if they may more hopefully secure them in another for that their Souls are their greatest concernment in this World and the next Now say they there 's no question but
the exercise of that Right and Power in every Christian Common-wealth ought to depend upon the Authority of the Supream Civil Magistrate Wherefore that Learned and Ingenious S. P. in The Case of the Church of England p. 264 265. hath very well observed That the Bottom we build upon is this That the Church own'd by the Law of England is the very same that was establisht by the Law of Christ. For unless we suppose that the Church was Originally settled by our Saviour with Divine Authority we deny his Supremacy over his own Church and unless we suppose that the Supream Government of the Kingdom has power to abet and ratifie our Saviours establishment by Civil Laws we deny his Majesties Supremacy over his Christian Subjects and therefore both together must be taken into the right State and Constitution of the Church of England There are some Rites and Ceremonies whose Original cannot be trac'd out having bin in use in the Church of God at all times and places These are supposed with great Reason to have been derived from the Apostles themselves for such an Vniversal practice could not be introduced but by a Common and Vniversal Authority as an Vniversal effect must have a Cause of no less efficacy to produce it Now for any Particular Church to attempt a Change of such Rites and Ceremonies is as if a Quarter Sessions in a private Corporation should take upon them to dissolve or over-rule what has been regularly done and settled in a Full Parliament 3. We should consider whether there be any need of such Reformation as they endeavour There are some Rites and Ceremonies which no Person no Particular Church should presume to alter because the Vnity and Vniformity of the Catholick Church is preserved hereby and if we will possess our selves to continue in her Communion we must observe them upon the account of our Conformity to her practice But other particular Rites and Ceremonies are left to the prudence of Particular Churches to exercise their Power and Liberty with respect to the Manners and Temper of the People But That there is no Necessity of Reformation of the Publick Doctrine of the Church of England hath been made good against Doctor Burges by the Right Reverend Learned and Judicious Doctor Pearson now Lord Bishop of Chester And that there is no Need of such a Reformation of the Publick 1. Doctrine 2. Worship 3. Rites and Ceremonies 4. Church Government 5. Discipline as is pretended hath been proved by H. S. D. D. 1660. But we shall not take it for granted tho we know no Answer returned to these and several other Learned Men who have wrote in Justification of the Church of England to that effect but give our proof for it That Church which is already Reform'd and establisht according to the Word as far as a state of Frailty and Humane Prudence will admit That Church hath no need of further Reformation But such is the Church of England I would not be mistaken For I know there ought to be a proficiency in Grace and Holiness and the practice of all Christian Vertues till we arrive at such a Degree of Perfection as this Mortal condition is capable of But for a further Reformation of Doctrine or Government of Liturgy Rites and Ceremonies or of Laws and Canons if what are already enacted were duly inforced and executed we have no need of it It is duly observed by that Worthy Person even now mentioned That if every defect from Christs Institution should forfeit the Rights of a Christian Church there never was as we may find by the Apostles account of the Churches in their times nor ever will be such a thing as a Church in the World For in this life it is not to be expected that any thing should be absolutely perfect the very nature of Christianity supposes Imperfection and accepts of Integrity and as long as with sincere Affections men adhere to the Principles of the Church they are within the Promise of the Grace of God That the Church of England is not Reformed up to those Principles who can make good the Charge against her Where was the failure Did not our Reformers use sufficient Means 1 Did they not search the Scriptures according to the Rule of our Blessed Saviour Did they not understand the sense and latitude of the Scriptures Had they not an eye to the Rules of Decency and Order to God's Glory and the Edification of the Church 2 Did they not consult Antiquity according to Divine Direction Job 8. 8 10. Jer. 6. 16. 3 Did they not use a Moral Diligence to search into the nature of things for their full satisfaction 4 Did they not make this Inquiry after the Truth with a Christian Simplicity and Godly Sincerity We appeal to the Searcher of Hearts to witness this and to their own Learned and Judicious Writings to assert the other 5 Had they not as full Authority both Ecclesiastical and Civil as was needful to establish that Reformation And 6 and Lastly Have we not had God's Blessing while we Conform'd obediently to it to assure us he was well-pleased with that Establishment King James tells us in his Proclamation even now mentioned We had no reason to presume that things were so far amiss as was pretended because we had seen the Kingdom under that Form of Religion which by Law was established in the days of the late Queen of Famous Memory blessed with a Peace and Prosperity both extraordinary and of many years continuance a strong Evidence that God was therewith well-pleased But 't is an ill sign of a growing Reformation when the times afford us as they have done a long while so many Evil men and Seducers who wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived 2 Tim. 3. 13. A Reformation of Manners and Practice we acknowledge highly needful but for Ecclesiastical Orders and Constitutions about the Worship and Service of God there wants nothing but a hearty Observation to improve them 4. It is to be considered with great attention Whether such as are in Authority and are satisfied that there is no need of Reformation should alter Legal Constitutions to gratifie whether the Humor or Importunity of Dissenters In the management hereof I shall consult no Passion or Interest nor be swayed by any prejudice resolving only to give the sense of other Protestants and I shall begin with the Lutherans 'T is the Resolution of David Rungius After a faithful account given of the free use of things indifferent such as will not submit to a just Authority nothing is to be done in their favour but as Persons persisting in their purpose out of Hypocrisie or Stubborness out of a love of Contention or some other Mental distemper they are sharply to be reproved Brochmand another eminent Man of that Party saith Some respect is to be had of the Weak in order to their Information but to such as are obstinately Superstitious
will never edifie the Church but most certainly deform it Rome we say was not built in one day The Apostle left something unsettled till a further consideration 1 Cor. 11. last And when he departed from Crete he left Titus his Vicar saith Crocius to supply what the shortness of his stay would not allow him to accomplish and as St. Hierome observes to super-correct what he could not then bring to perfection Zanchy observes very well That it is the Duty of the Bishops to take care of the whole Church and whatsoever may conduce to the welfare of it whether it be in point of life and manners in the Ministery of the Word and Sacraments or in the Discipline of Pennance or in the wants of the Poor or in matters of Ceremonies and to give diligence that whatsoever has been constituted in such matters either by the Lord himself or by his Apostles or by the after-Church may be observed But if there be any thing that is not appointed and yet may concern the edification of the Church Let Laws be appointed concerning those things that they may be confirmed in the Name of the whole Church and by the Authority of Pious Princes and be observed of all respectively subject to their Jurisdiction 2. I Answer That according to the Common Prayer-Book in King Edward the Sixth's time the Church injoyn'd the Priest at the Consecration of the Eucharist to sign the Elements with the sign of the Cross and so if she did not declare her Power in her Articles yet she declared it sufficiently in her Practice In ordering the Priest to make the sign of the Cross upon the Symbol in the Patin and Chalice she did exercise her Power in decreeing and practising that Rite which has since been taken away tho' it has proved of very little consequence to avoid Scandal and consequently the Terms of Communion have been somewhat contracted since those times and not inlarged as is pretended However that Rule of St. Austin will certainly hold His enim causis id est aut propter fidem aut propter Mores vel emendari oportet quod perperam fiebat vel institui quod non fiebat For these Causes that is either for the Faith or for Manners sake that ought to be amended which was done amiss or appointed to be done which was not done at all But this is not all in this Section They object also against the Doctrine in the Rubrick That it is certain from the Word of God That Children baptized and dying before the commission of actual Sin are undoubtedly saved The Scripture the Protestant Churches nor any sound Reason have yet given them any tolerable satisfaction of the Truth of the Doctrine about the Opus Operatum of Sacraments That Doctrine laid down in the Catechism That Children do perform Faith and Repentance by their Sureties is also saith he as great a stumbling to our Faith and we cannot get over it How the Adult should believe and repent for Minors or Infants believe and repent by Proxy Thus the Dissenters The Answer 1. The silence of other Protestant Churches if they be all silent herein is but a Negative Argument from Authority and that 's of no validity But we are sure the most Learned amongst Protestant Writers do favour this Article The Form of a Sacrament they say is the Sacramental Conjunction of the signs and the things signified which Conjunction consists not only in the signification and obsignation but also in the exhibition of the things signified by the signs So Wendelin And he makes the effect and end of the Sacraments to be not only The Confirmation of our Faith in Christ but also the Obsignation of his gracious Promise touching our Communion with him and our participation of the benefits purchased by his death And particularly among the effects of Baptism Zanchy reckons these 1. Our admission into Covenant with God 2. Our ingraffing into his Church and the Communion of Saints which are the Faithful 3. The Remission of Sins and the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness And Calvin upon those words 1 Cor. 7. 14. else were your children unclean but now are they holy Comments after this manner This is a high point of Divinity For it teacheth that the Children of the Faithful are segregated from others by a special Prerogative and are accounted Saints in the Church And to reconcile this with those other words of the same Apostle Eph. 2. 3. We are all by nature children of wrath He saith thus Aequalis est igitur in omnibus naturae conditio The condition of nature is alike in all They are all obnoxious both to sin and death eternal But this privilege which the Apostle attributes to the Children of Believers that flows from the benefit of the Covenant upon the intervention whereof the malediction of Nature is blotted out and they are consecrated to God by Grace who are Prophane by Nature From which Testimonies we shall draw an Argument presently that Children baptized and dying before actual Sin are undoubtedly saved But first let us consult the holy Oracle The Scripture tells us That Christ tasted death for every man Hebr. 2. 9. for Children vers 14. And to what end did he do this to reconcile them vers 17. to sanctifie them v. 11. to free them from the bondage of the Devil v. 14 15. and to bring them unto glory v. 10. Can Christ fail of his end without any Obstacle in the Subject Has he done enough to save a drunken Noah an incestuous Lot an idolatrous Manasses and a perjur'd Peter and yet left a poor innocent Babe without a Remedy 'T is our Saviour's comfortable assertion with a gracious invitation thereupon Mat. 19. 14. Suffer little Children and forbid them not to come unto me for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven If these Dissenters be of a Cross opinion That of such is the Kingdom of Satan They should in modesty keep their faith to themselves till they can find a better proof than the Post-poning of Esau whose person notwithstanding Learned Men do think was saved In the Discourses of our Saviour little children are Candidates for Heaven and set forth as a pattern to such as shall undoubtedly inherit it Mat. 18. 3. and he tells his Disciples v. 14. It is not the will of your Father which is in Heaven that one of these little ones should perish which in all Reason must be understood of little Children literally according to the first intention of the words But 2. Baptism is the Laver of Regeneration Eph. 5. Tit. 3. Hereupon St. Peter makes his Exhortation to the People Repent and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost For the promise is unto you and to your children Act. 2. 38 39. Whence I argue thus such as are admitted to the benefits of the Covenant remission
he treats more mildly and gently in His Epistle to the Romans but more severely and sharply a great deal in his Epistles to the Galatians and Colossians Was it out of Condescention to their weakness at his first Writing which was not to be continued when success of time might have afforded them sufficient means of better Information So the Author of the Synopsis thinks but then the Epistle to the Romans should be more early written then the Learned do allow it was Soto is of Opinion That the Mystery of St. Peter's Vision which directed him to converse with Cornelius and other Gentiles Act. 10. 10 c. was not yet published to the Romans or at least that they did not understand the meaning of it and thence he Collects also that the Council mentioned Act. 15. was not then assembled In the Epistle to the Romans the Controversie chiefly lay between Grace and Nature but in that to the Galatians it was betwixt the Law and Faith saith Ambianus The Apostle was angry with the Galatians because tho' they were very well instructed yet they were easily seduced But he ought not to be angry with the Romans but to commend their Faith quia nulla virtutum videntes insignia susciperunt fidem Christi saith the Comment of St. Ambrose because they had embraced the Faith tho' they had seen no Miracles and tho' they mistook the sense it was because they had not yet been sufficiently instructed in the Mystery of Christ's Cross. The Epistle to the Galatians was written only to Gentiles that to the Romans was written both to Jews and Gentiles as S. Hierom has observed The Jewish Converts tho' they embraced the Faith yet they thought themselves still obliged to Moses Law to abstain from certain Meats and to observe certain days according to the Jewish Customs On the other side the Gentiles and such as were better instructed in the Truth of the Gospel they embraced the faith of Christ but would not be concern'd in those Mosaical Observances to which they had never been addicted Hereupon heats and animosities did arise which kindled into a despising and condemning of one another Now in this Epistle to the Romans it was the great Temper and Prudence of the Apostle to carry an even hand betwixt the two contending Parties and amicably to compromise the difference between them We must remember St. Paul had not yet been at Rome And altho' upon Information and Complaint from some other Churches He gave Orders at a distance for the redress of some particular Miscarriages yet some other things he thought fit to reserve till his own personal presence should give him an opportunity to inspect the Temper and Conditions of the People that he might be the better able to settle such Rules and Orders as should appear to be most convenient Thus he did in the Church of Corinth Many undecent Carriages he corrected by his Epistle Coetera autem quae ad aedificationem Ecclesiae pertinent praesentiâ suâ Ordinare se promisit saith St. Ambros. ad 1 Cor. 11. ult Other things which concern'd the Edification of the Church He promised to set in order by his presence And thus de did touching the Church of Rome Some Points of Doctrine he carefully stated as Justification by Grace through the Faith which is in Christ Jesus c. He Taught the Jew and Gentile-Converts likewise how they should carry themselves respectively to one another That the strong should not despise the weak nor the weak judge and condemn the strong But these were Directions for Common use among private Christians but for Decrees and Orders of publick use and practice he gave out none to this Church because as yet here was no Jurisdiction settled no Laws made no Governours appointed to put them in Execution This Grotius Collects from Rom. 16. 4 5 17. This makes me believe that there were then no Common Assemblies of Christians saith he or no Presbyterie at Rome Otherwise in stead of commanding to mark such as caused those Scandals or Schisms He would have had them Excommunicated For when the Church is without such Government single Persons can do no more than avoid familiar Conversation with such as live not according to the Rule of Christ. Thus Grotius Catharinus seems to Collect no less from the Apostles expostulation Rom. 14. 4. Who art thou that judgest another man's Servant Cùm non sis Pastor aut Dominus ejus seeing thou art neither his Pastour nor his Lord and therefore thou hast no right to pass Sentence on him And as much is to be concluded from the 22 Verse Hast thou faith have it to thy self before God Had there been a Bishop settled there it had been their Duty in any Matter of Hesitation to consult him to resolve their Doubts and settle their Persuasions But as yet there was no such Establishment hereupon he does advise them to be sincere in their Profession and to carry themselves uprightly between God and their own Conscience Catharinus to this purpose saith thus Thou hast Faith that is thou hast a clear knowledge of thy Liberty in matters indifferent But have this Faith to thy self before God that thou mayest not hurt thy weak Brother And this is always to be the Practice in such things as the Church does tolerate They are to be dissembled or concealed and we must yield to Infirmity for a time till the matter comes to be made more clear But then we ought to dissemble or conceal our persuasion no longer but freely to declare and boldly to follow what the Church hath established Thus Catharinus for then Obedientia praecepti est our Obedience is under Precept as Tolet hath observed The Apostle doth Predict and Promise them a happy Conquest over all adversary Power whether exercised by subtlety and imposture or otherwise Rom. 16. 20 The God of Peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly He means the false Apostles Deceivers and Disturbers of the Churches Peace the signal Instruments of Satan and their overthrow should be by his speedy comming to them to ordain what was wanting to their settlement The design of this Digression is to shew that the Apostle did never give colour to set up Christian Liberty against the Laws and Authority of the Church And 't is further evident that the Church did from time to time prescribe and limit the use of things indifferent as they judged it most expedient to avoid Scandal and promote Edification And to this purpose they did observe times and determine things and distinguish persons 1. They did observe times For the People of the Jews had been so long Wedded unto Moses had so great a veneration for all his Laws Rites and Ceremonies and these were so constantly inculcated into them every Sabbath Day as St. James observes Act. 15 21. That they could not suddenly be weaned from the Practice of them And they were a People so perverse
is evident he dissents not out of weakness but out of Pride Animosity and Stubbornness Ferus could say very truly and pertinently on Rom. 14. Non loquitur de his quae ex impudentia pertinatia aut destinatâ malitiâ committimus The Apostle speaks not of such things as we commit out of impudence obstinacy or prepensed Malice and Design For if he who takes offence does it out of Malice Nempe quòd vel nullâ offuscatur ignorantiâ vel illâ penitus cujus potest facile convinci sed aut per vafritiem aut per obstinationem Scà ndalizatur neutiquam tenemur morem gerere nequitioe ejus saith Soto if he be not clouded with ignorance or with such ignorance only as he may easily be convinced of and yet is scandalized either out of craftiness or through obstinacy we are by no means bound to satisfie his wickedness For otherwise as he says we should be bound to connive at Hereticks and for instance to abstain from flesh for fear the Jovinians should take offence at us And because the Dissenters take Sanctuary upon all occasions in the Fourteenth Chapter to the Romans we shall the more particularly consider it That the Doctrine therein delivered was peculiar to the Jews is the affirmation of the Learned Estius and he has it twice for failing and our Synopsis says the same after him De Ceremoniis Judaicis non Christianis Apostolus Loquitur The Apostle speaks of Jewish not of Christian Ceremonies saith Matthisius and Mr. Perkins is of the same judgment For he saith That Commandement Rom. 14. 22. was given by Paul for those times when men were not fully persuaded of the use of God's Creatures as Meats Drinks c. but to these times it is not Nor indeed can it directly be applied to us for this Reason The Apostle there gives Directions to accommodate the differences betwixt private persons But among us the contest is between Authority and Faction the Church and Private Dissenters from her Communion Now when from an indifferent action or the omission of it one of two Evils will necessarily follow right Reason dictates that I must so act or omit acting that I may avoid the greater evil But certainly being under her Jurisdiction 't is a greater evil to offend the Church than any private person or persons who are but Members of it And as when the competition is betwixt them I must obey God rather than Man So when the Competition is between the Church and private persons Common Reason will soon determine which is to be prefer'd The right stands presumptively for the Governing Party who are in Possession of their Authority and I am certainly obliged in Law and Conscience to adhere and submit to them because the Law concludes Melior est conditio possidentis They that are in Possession have the fairest Right Especially where the Possession began upon so good a Title and has been of so long continuance without interruption Give none offence saith the Apostle neither to the Jews nor to the Greeks nor to the Church of God 1 Cor. 10. 32. which we must interpret by that other Rule of the Apostle Gal. 6. 10. Let us do good unto all men especially to them who are of the houshold of Faith If I cannot please all I must be sure not to offend the Church to which I stand more strictly obliged than to any Conventicle or private Person whatsoever I would fain know also of these Dissenters under what Form they will place themselves If they be strong in the Faith then they are so well instructed in the Nature of Christian Liberty and things indifferent they cannot be offended at the use or forbearance of such things If they be weak that weakness proceeds from ignorance ' and a proneness to Superstition as was observed above and 't is their duty to seek for better information and acquiesce in the Sense and Resolution of Authority when they have it But they should do well to remember there is another sort of Men a Faction that is a sort of obstinate Men and how little value is to be set on such we have heard from Mr. Perkins 2. But it will be alleadged that the Apostle will have us to receive him that is weak in the Faith but not to doubtful Disputations Rom. 14. 1. We must use them gently as we do by sick persons the weakness of whose Constitution will not indure stronger Medicaments we must apply remedies that are more mild take care of their Diet and attend them with great Care and Diligence But we must not forget that this was only a Temporary provision to keep the Peace among private Christians Itaque suscipiendi erant ad tempus non spernandi saith Catharinus quoad usque securis ad radicem poneretur They were not to be despised but to be received for a time until the Axe was laid to the Root That is saith he until the Apostles had made a perfect Determination and by that means had cut off those Leaves of the Law which were without Fruit and the wholsom Sap of Truth We know it is the office of the Bishop not only to instruct in meekness but to reprove rebnke and by sound Doctrine both to exhort and convince Gainsayers And when Authority hath settled matters of difference The Subjects Rule is express and Positive Phil. 2. 14. Do all things without murmuring and disputing V. Act. 16. 4. 3. But it is objected as the charge of the Apostle That no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brothers way Rom. 14. 13. But this is to be understood of an Active Scandal design'd as a Mouse-trap set and ready baited on purpose to entice and catch the unwary Mouse as Tirinus notes from the word It is to be understood saith Cajetan of putting a stumbling block formally Secundum propriam rationem Scandali according to the proper account of Scandal to the Mortal ruine of another person This Scandal is in a matter that is in my own Choice and Power Rom. 15. 1. And it is to be understood in Cases wherein Authority has not interposed her Determination for that does Supersede my Choice 'T is very well observed therefore by G. Ambianas That Liberty is Promiscuous both to the strong and to the weak but with this Limitation Vbi nec Pietas violatur Conscientiae nec Ecclesiae temeratur Auctoritas where the Piety of Conscience is not violated nor the Authority of the Church infring'd But here we must observe some Rules to direct our Practice 1. I must not omit a Duty to avoid Scandal for that were to do evil that good may come which the Apostle says is damnable Rom. 3. 8. Nor 2. Can I properly be said to give Scandal by performing that which is my duty antecedently to that Scandal for then my duty should be my sin and I should be under a necessity of
4. ult 3. There is something attributed unto Man He is the subject of this great benefit and some qualification is required in him towards his own justification Christ is set forth to be a Propitiation but it is through faith in his Blood tho we are said also to be justified freely by God's grace See Rom. 3. 24 25. And with the heart man believeth unto righteousness Rom. 10. 10. and to the saving of his Soul Heb. 10. ult 'T is out of controversy on all sides that Believers are justified freely through God's mercy and that Believers are justified for the Merits of Jesus Christ. All the matter of Question amongst sober men is this Whether in our justification Faith be our own Act whether considered as our Act and as a lively Act and fruitful of good works As we own no other Author of our justification but God no other Merits but Christ so likewise do we acknowledge no other Condition but Faith But that is not a dead Faith for St. James tells us flatly that 's unprofitable Jam. 2. This Faith must be an Evangelical Faith which though the Holy Ghost maks a Change not only in our Relations but in our Habitude in our Hearts and Practice Act. 15. 9. He that pretends to remission of sin before repentance may with as much reason pretend to a Pardon as some do before he is guilty We must not confound the Condition with the Cause either Efficient or Meritorious The presence of some disposition may be requisite as a qualification in the person to be justified and yet have no efficiency into his justification I think it is agreed among all Men learned and sober minded That 't is a lively Faith which is the Condition of our Justification And if we be agreed in this to wrangle about Notions Quae Quâ is not of so great importance as to study to be quiet and to follow the things which make for peace and the things whereby we may edify one another 'T is true St. Paul in the matter of justification does exclude the works of the Law Rom. 3. 28. But there are works of Faith 1 Thes. 1. 3. Are they excluded too By what Law The Apostle prays That the work of Faith may be fulfilled 2 Thes. 1. 11. To say we are justified by the efficiency of these works of Faith That 's against God's Prerogative To say we are justified by the merit of them that is against Christ's Mediation But will you deny the Presence and Concomitancy of them to attend to evidence and to attest our justification If it be Faith only yet it is not Faith alone of all qualifications which the Gospel requires Faith must have the respect of Soveraign but it stands not with her Enemies to be solitary Faith therefore may be considered in a double Capacity 1. Receptivè as she has the Office of a Receiver 2. Redditivè as she has the Office of a Dispenser 1. As a Receiver so taken Joh. 1. 12. she receives Christ in all his Capacities and Offices as a King as a Priest as a Prophet in his state of Humiliation in his state of Exaltation In this Habitude or Capacity to believe in Christ is the most Natural act of Faith her Elicite Act and as much a work as is the Elicite Act of Hope or Love or of any other Virtue The People ask John 6. 28. What shall we do that we might work the work of God Our blessed Saviour Answers This is the work of God the work commanded by God 1 John 3. 23. but to be performed by you That ye believe on him whom he hath sent 'T is Mans Duty at God's Command and by his Assistance 2. Take Faith Redditivè in the Capacity of a Dispenser so it is much more a work and the Mistress of it for so she disburses all her Talents and she sets all other virtues a work and so pays homage to Christ in all Capacities As he is a Prophet so she hears his Voice and own 's his Doctrine as he is a Priest so she trusts to his Atonement and relies upon his Merits and Mediation as he is a King so she obey's his Laws and observes his Institutions she renders up the whole Man to the dispose of his Redeemer and makes him resolve with full purpose of heart to cleave unto the Lord and to submit to all his Commands and Impositions Take Faith therefore in the whole habitude and capacity of it and for a qualification to justification and life I may say 't is all in all It comprehends the sense of the word is so large the whole Principle of Grace and all the Effluxes and Egressions of it This Dr. Owen does acknowledge for speaking of Habitual Grace which dwels in us and makes it abode with us He saith thus This according to the dictinct faculties of our Souls wherein it is or the distinct Objects about which it is exercised receiveth various Appellations being indeed all but one New Principle of life In the Vnderstanding it is Light in the Will Obedience in the Affections Love in all Faith He that desires to be fully satisfied in this point let him consult the Learned and Judicious Divine Mr. Thomas Hotchki's in his Second Part of a Discourse of Imputed Righteousness Chap. 28. and especially the 29th where he treats hereof solidly and perspicuously St. James gives us a double instance or example of Justification by works Abraham and Rahab and concludes with a kind of demonstration thereupon ye see then how that by works a man is justified and not by Faith only Jam. 2. 21. to the end We must not therefore deny the Proposition in every sense For it is more modest to throw that Epistle quite out of the Canon as Luther did then to question the truth of this Doctrine in it But does not St. Paul contradict St. James No in no wise For in Christ Jesus he tells us neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Vncircumcision and these two divided the whole World but Faith which worketh by love Gal. 5. 6. if nothing but Faith which worketh by love then no dead nor idle no other kind of Faith and if not avail to any thing then not to our Justification And 't is the Observation of P. Martyr Talem semper Apoâ—â—olus describit fidem cum de justificatione agit quae necessario Confessionem opera bona habeat Conjuncta Where the Apostle treats of Justification he always describes such a Faith as has Confession and Good-works necessarily joyn'd with it And Calvin upon the same Text tells us That the Apostle notes there which is the true Faith from which this fruit of Justification flows lest any man should pretend to an empty title of Faith instead of it For the true Faith ought so to affect the heart with the glory of God that the flame may break out and appear openly And a little after Caeterum viderint quid
he is not offended Hence proceeds that tremulous aversion to such things as God has no where forbidden as if the use of them were sinful This the Apostle reproves in the Colossians Touch not taste not handle not Coloss. 2. 20. Whence this Observation does naturally arise That such as are afraid they should offend God and wound their Conscience by the use and practice of such things as God hath not forbidden are Superstitious And into what absurdities and extravagant Whimsies this humor will carry men we may read as has been said in Mr. Calvin if our own Experience were not pregnant with Examples to that purpose How many men have formerly and do still trouble themselves and the Church of God upon this account Sensi enim saepe dolens gemens multas infirmorum perturbationes fieri per quorundam fratrum Contentiosam Obstinationem Superstitiosam timiditatem c. They are the Complaint of the Great St. Austin I have seen with grief and sorrow that the weaker sort are much disturb'd by the Contentious Obstinacy and Superstitious timorousness of certain Brethren who in matters of this indifferent nature which can be brought to no issue either by the Authority of the Holy Scripture or the Tradition of the Universal Church or upon the account of their being beneficial towards the amendment of life but only because they fancy they have some reason for them or some forreign practice which they esteem so much the more learned because it is the more remote Tam litigiosas excitant quaestiones ut nisi quod ipsi faciunt nihil rectum existiment They raise such litigious Questions and Disputes hereupon that they will allow nothing to be right but what they do themselves Which is as true a Character of our Dissenters as if St. Austin had been alive and acquainted with their disposition and practice before he wrought it Fear is a Passion very apt to enthral us and a fear upon the account of Religion most of all This Fear many times sets up strange Opinions in mens minds and when these are once framed Humanum ingenium quod suum est illic recognoscit recognitum libentiùs amplectitur quà m optimum aliquid quod suae vanitati minùs conveniret 'T is the Nature of man to recognize his own Conceptions and not only to acknowledge them but to be fond of them and prefer them before the best things which contradict their Vanity 3. Being wedded to these New Fangles the issue of their own imaginations out of devotion to them they Sacrifice they offer up the very Commandments of God and perhaps by this means they run into Idolatry as well as Superstition though such as are most concern'd therein are not presently sensible of the guilt of it I am sure St. Austin and St. Hierome are both of this Judgment Perverse Opinions says Hierome are the Graven and Molten Images which are adored by such as frame them in their Imaginations Comment l. 1. in Habak 2 and in Dan. 3. Qui falsum Dogma componunt They which set on foot a false Opinion set up an Image and as much as lies in their power by their Perswasion they compel others to fall down and worship the Idol of their Falshood And again in his Commentary upon Jerem. 32. Sed usque hodiè in Templo Dei quae interpretatur Ecclesia c. Even at this day saith he in the Temple of God which is interpreted to be the Church or in the hearts and minds of Believers an Idol is set up when a New Doctrine is broached and as is said in Deuteronomy the 4th is worshipped in secret Nor does that Doctor rest here but he saith further in that second of Habakuk Si quando videris aliquem nolle cedere veritati c. When thou seest a man that will not yield to Truth but persist still in his Error and studied opposition when the falshood of his Doctrines is made manifest thou maist very fitly say Sperat in figmento suo facit simulachra muâ—a vel surda He puts his trust in his own figment and frames to himself dumb or deaf Idols Nor does St. Austin differ in his Judgment for he says plainly They are involved in a baser kind of Superstition Idolatry and Servitude who worship their own Fancies than they who worship the Host of Heaven His words are these Est alius deterior inferior cultus simulachrorum c. There is another inferiour and baser kind of Idolatry when men worship their own Fancies and whatever the Imagination sets up in the mind through pride or fear Religionis nomine observant They observe it strictly as their Religion Now whether these Dissenters out of zeal to their Negative Superstition Touch not a Surplice sign not with the Cross kneel not at the Sacrament c. do not peremptorily reject the express Command of God for Obedience to their Governours let all sober men and the World judge 4. I would ask this Question Do these Dissenters value those Homilies or do they not If they trust our Reformers for that Observation they have reason also to believe them that there is no such peril of Superstition in those Ceremonies which the Church then enjoyned and they themselves practised for I hope their insinuation should not be more prevalent to keep them from Superstition than their constant practice to keep them in Obedience especially when 't is evident that their Disobedience runs them into one sort of Superstition which in the general they pretend to be so very shy of that they can overlook an express and necessary duty to avoid it The Dissenters Tenth Section THey say they have read over all the Books that have been written in justification of those things and they find their Arguments so weak their Reasons so futilous that setting aside Rhetorick and Rayling there 's nothing in them but what had been either answered by others or is contradicted by themselves which hardens them in their Error who are gon astray into the right way The Answer 1. He saith they are gon astray into the right way This is no time for Bullbaiting therefore if they have a mind to gad let them take their jest along to make merry with But Corah had as fair a way and as safe a Convoy too in his own conceit Yet St. Jude was of another Judgment and we know he fell into the Pit at last And 't is somewhat an unlucky expression To go astray into the right way For we read of wandring stars whose Motion if we may believe any old Philosophy is very Regular in respect of the first mover and so they are in the right way But they have Erratick Motions of their own and to these were those false-teachers resembled by St. Jude who are said to wander because really they do so by their fluctuation in their Doctrines Deviation from the common Practice of the Church and
maliciously Treacherous or falsé Brethren there ought not to be the least yielding His Reasons are these Lest hereby we should confirm the Superstitious in their Superstition or Minister Scandal and an occasion of Errour to such as are conformable or afford such false Brethren matter to glory in The Learned Meisner has muster'd up no less than Seven Arguments to the same purpose which I shall collect as briefly as is possible 1. The first is drawn from the Nature of things Indifferent which is such as that they may be freely used or freely disused or abrogated but when the disuse abrogation or practice is obtruded as of Necessity and Coaction the nature of such Indifferent things is violated 2. From the Nature of Christian Liberty This is a valuable Treasure and of Christs own purchasing but 't is endanger'd by a double Invasion 1. When things not commanded by God's Word are imposed as absolutely necessary to be observed 2. When things not forbidden by God's Word are restrain'd as sinful to be practised There is Errour and Superstition on either side and Christian Liberty is equally betrayed in them both which Authority therefore should neither abet nor tolerate 3. From the Duty of true Christians An ingenuous Profession of the Gospel to assert the whole Truth thereof with the Priviledges which accrue to us thereby especially when assaulted and opposed and such is our Christian Liberty with the free use or disuse of things Indifferent not determined by Authority whose Power the Gospel has established This is a Christians Duty A flat denial whereof is against that Profession which Christ requires Matt. 10. 33. and to dissemble it is unwarrantable and we ought to avoid the appearance of it as one of the unfruitful works of darkness that we betray not our Profession 4. From the general Command touching the lawful use of Ceremonies and things Indifferent Wherein three things are to be observed Order Decency and Edification Good Order is not kept in tumultuous Alterations All Change is dangerous in Church and State No man can foresee what disturbance will ensue upon an inconsiderate variation of indifferent and inoffensive Ceremonies especially in a time when such Christian Priviledges and Publick Authority ought to be own'd and preserved inviolable What Doubts may arise upon such a Change and what Confusion may follow it who will take upon him to determine Is not the Confusion great when things Indifferent are exposed for Necessary and things Absolutely necessary accounted but Indifferent Can it be inservient either to Order or Decency when there is no degree of Superiority and Subordination among the Ministers of the Church No distinction of Habits between the Laity and the Ministers of the Gospel observed Who can think the Church is Edified where all Genuflexion all Reverence all evidences of a Devout mind are out of practice When all the Proper Lessons that should inculcate the Great Mysteries which are to be represented for our Memory our Devotion and Gratitude on the Festivals of the Nativity the Resurrection and Pentecost c. are abrogated and perhaps the History of Lot's Incest and the like things most incongruous for such Sacred Solemnities shall be surrogated and read in their stead 5. A Fifth Argument is drawn Ab incommodo from the great Incommodiousness of it As the general Command requires in matters of Indifferency that all things be done to edification so the Law of Charity forbids us to do any thing that may either offend the Weak in the practice of their Conformity or confirm the Adversaries in their Errour the Example of the Great Apostle affording us signal Instances to these purposes The Mischiefs of such a Scandal are sufficiently collected from the Woe our Saviour has denounced against the Authors of them Matt. 18. 6 7. And the Mischiefs of such a Confirmation of obstinate Dissenters are too evident saith he by Experience The Peace of the Church is not hereby obtained but the safety thereof much endangered for the Adversaries do not acquiesce in such Concessions but take occasion from thence to proceed in defending their Errours and disturbing the Church an Example whereof has given us a late Experiment in the Dukedom of Anhalt If they can obtain to have things abrogated because they are pleased to load them with the reproach of Superstition and Sinfulness they cannot with a fairer occasion to traduce other Matters and by this specious Argument of yielding in such Cases among the weaker and worse sort of Men to render Them suspected in their Principles whom they had formerily treated with all respect and reverence as the Ministers of God Hereupon such as are not well Confirmed will be apt to fall away and others will be offended at their defection and so the Church saith he will not be edified but destroyed the Course of the Gospel not promoted but hindred and at last Truth it self not asserted but weakened and subverted 6. A Sixth Argument he draws from The Practice of the Primitive Church Circumcision being then but a thing indifferent as he observes St. Paul according to the Rule of Charity and Christian Liberty did sometime practice it but when false Brethren did fraudulently intrude to spy out and betray the Liberty of the Church and attempted to impose it as a matter of Necessity St. Paul did absolutely reject it and condemn it Simile ergo c. In like manner the Rites and Ceremonies used in the Lutheran Churches are Adiaphora things indifferent neither commanded nor forbidden either by any Divine Law or Prohibition God leaving them as a middle sort of things which the Church may either freely use or not use at her pleasure Now saith he seeing the Calvinists would put a necessary abstention and restraint upon us as to the use of these things 't is out of all question they would in effect betray our Liberty Wherefore such as are faithful Asserters of the Christian Liberty ought not to yield to them in the least that according to their duty the Truth and Priviledges of the Gospel may be preserved inviolable from all bondage and dissimulation Such as do otherwise by a tame and cowardly Cession do betray our Liberty give scandal to the weak and offer a manifest violence to Apostolical Practice 7. His last Argument is drawn from the insufficiency and weakness of the Adversaries Reasons to make good their pretensions which he does clearly evince as will appear to any man that shall take the pains to examine the Discourse it self to which I remit the Reader I have studied to be concise in the Abridgment of his Arguments which he concludes thus That the Calvinists may obtain what they desire 't is necessary that they urge their abrogation upon an honest Title and prove by evident Reasons that the Rites received in our Churches are not purged from the Superstitions and abuses of the Romanists but serve to nourish them Which since they never did attempt because Experience is a clear
Evidence to the contrary therefore according to the Liberty purchased for us saith he we do retain these Ceremonies which are indifferent in themselves and no where forbidden by the Word of God And that the Nature of things indifferent may remain entire Christian Liberty safe and the Truth unshaken we are resolved not to yield no not so much as for one moment to the intemperance of our Adversaries who under a pretence of Zeal do nothing in matters of Religion but with tumult and an immoderate Asperity Thus the Learned Meisner on behalf of the Lutherans Yet I cannot omit another pregnant Evidence of their strictness in adhering to their establishment which we find in an Extract out of the National Synod held by the Churches of France at Charenton in September 1631. In the Chapter which contains their General Acts their Answer made to an Address of some of the Lutheran Perswasion Translated into English either by Mr. Samuel Hartlip or Mr. John Dury Printed 1641. runs in these very words viz. Touching the request made by the Province of Burgoigne that such of the Faithful as embrace the Augustane Confession might be permitted to Contract Marriages and bring their Children to be baptized in our Churches without abjuring the former Opinions which they hold contrary to the Belief of these Churches The Synod doth declare that seeing the Churches of the Confession of Ausburg do agree with the other Reformed Churches in the Principles and Fundamental Points of true Religion and that in their Discipline and Form of Divine Worship there is neither Idolatry nor Superstition Such of the Faithful of that Confession as shall with the Spirit of Charity and in a truly Peaceable way joyn themselves unto the Publick Assemblies of the Churches in this Kingdom and desire to Communicate with them may without the Abjuration aforesaid be admitted to the Holy Table Contract Marriages with the Faithful of our Confession and present themselves in the quality of God-Fathers to the Children which shall be baptized Upon their Promise given to the Consistory that they will never solicite them to Contradict or do any thing directly or indirectly against the Doctrine believed and professed in our Churches but shall content themselves with giving them Instruction only in things wherein we all agree The Note in the Geneva Bible at 1 Cor. 14. 38. is worth our observation The Church ought not to care for such as be stubbornly ignorant and will not abide to be taught but to go forward notwithstanding in those things which are right Nay in their Books of Discipline as was observed above they Decree That such as will not acquiesce in the Decision of their National Synod and expresly cast of their Errours shall be cut off from the Communion of the Church And this we find practised in Genevah with great severity for Goulartius and the rest of the Consistory deprived Rotarius one of their Ministers and thrust him out of their City and which is more they hunted him by their Letters out of a Town not far from thence which had entertain'd him for their Pastour And all this was done because he gave the Cup in his own Church with his own hand not permitting a Lay-man to deliver it This Fact of his was not the breach of any Ancient Canon of the Church but consonant to our Saviour's own Practice at the Institution of the Sacrament yet being against the Custome of that place they did thus sharply punish it And Mr. Calvin does seem to justifie such rigour upon a Rule of the Apostle 1 Cor. 11. 16. which affords him this Observation Authoritate magìs compescendos esse pervicaces rixandi cupidos quà m refellendos longis disputationibus that is Such as are stubborn and addicted to dispute and wrangle and refuse to sit down quietly by the Publick Determinations and Practice of the Church are not to be treated with Disputations but to be bridled by Authority And there 's AN END AN ANSWER Sent to the Ecclesiastical Assembly at LONDON By the Reverend Noble and Learned Man JOHN DEODATE THE Famous professor of Divinity And most vigilant Pastor of GENEVAH With some Marginal Notes by the late King Printed at Newcastle by Stephen Bulkley 1647. The Translators Preface To the Simple Seduced Reader Reader MAy the Father of Lights open thine Eyes to see over this Strangers shoulders and by this Impartial perspective what thou whilst kept down thus low by the new Masters and through thy Seducers false Mediums hast not hitherto been suffered to perceive it being till now purposely hid from thine Eyes Behold a meer Stranger that notwithstanding his manifold Obligations and personal ingagements to a contrary Discipline in the Church and different form of Government in the State yet overruled by the manifest Truth and Honesty of the Kings Cause breaks through all those Restraints of his Liberty as far as he may to tell the thus much plain English Truth Behold here Geneva's veneration and full vindication too of thine own Mother the Church of England as it stood under Episcopacy traduced here at home by her own spurious Brood for Superstitious Popish Antichristian what not And this Apology directed to the Assemblymen in answer to their Letter what ever it was Behold here again a clear Justification of the King vilified by his own for that for which strangers do admire him his Clemency his Inclinations to Peace his Acts of Grace c. Behold here the Root of Gall that which hath brought forth all these National Mischiefs the Popular Tumults and Conspiracies pointed at there as the only Evident Cause of the Kings Divorce from the Parliament See here by whom poor Ireland was deserted one thing also thou mayst here take notice of from these standers by That the Clergy in their own proper Sphere may be as fit and as honest and perhaps in some respect more able for the good speed of a Treaty than those that do slight them with utter preterition Last of all behold here the Loyal and Religious Subjects only Militia or his own proper Magazine to witt the known Laws of the Land that and Prayer and Submission are the only defensive weapons allowed here by this Master of Fence I say no more to thee save only that I do heartily pity thee and therefore I do still pray for thee and for all thy fellow-bondmen That God will bring into the way of Truth all such as have erred and deceived Amen Reverend Godly and worthy Sirs our Dear Brethren and Companions in the work of the Lord. IF proportionably to the grief we have conceived at your Letters wherein you have expressed the most sad face of your Affaires we had but as much Ability either by our Consolations to asswage your sorrows or by our Counsels to ease your Burthens or by any our Co-operation to help your Extremity we should think our selves very happy in so well corresponding with your Honourable and most