vnto them to deuour without controle This was the politique practise of that detestable Arrius who that hee might make clearer passage for his blasphemous Heresie laboured mainly and at length wrought the Banishment of Arhanasius Socrat. lib. 1. Eccl. hâ—st Cap. 23. and of certaine of the stoutest and most learned Bishops who resisted him But if they goe out to Ioyne with the Priests of Baal and like Balaam bee drawen by reward to curse Gods people whome hee hath blessed they become more dangerous and noysome then the Enemy And because they betray the Gospell of CHRIST sitting in Heauen they are little better in this then their Father Iudas the Traytor who betrayed his person to his enemies the Iewes when hee liued vpon Earth and their Sinne being alike their censure should not bee different but the same Therefore let their dwelling bee Desart and let other take Act. 1. their Office and that without retractation For thy cruelty against thy Brother Iacob shame shall couer thee and thou shalt bee cut off for euer saith God of Abdias Edom. Whereby in an Allegory hee sheweth that Haeretickes ought to bee cut off for their cruelty against the Church by corrupting the true Faith thereof by renting the coate of the Spouse by labouring to destroy the Vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth by persecuting banishing circumuenting the Ministers thereof by corrupting many of them either by violence or deceipt or reward and promotion O let the Children of Edom bee remembred in the day of Ierusalem how they said Downe with it downe with it euen Psal 137. to the ground O Daughter of Babilon wasted with misery yèa happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast serued vs Blessed shall be bee that taketh thy Children and throweth them against the stones For why should not wee bee as forward to auenge the Truth against those who Sinne of malitious wickednes against the same As those trayterous Apostates are earnest to impugne the same with the proude violence of the engines of falshood Therefore let their trauaile come on their owne head and their wickednes fall on their owne paâ—e And such is their end for the most part for as Iudas after he had betrayed his Master with a kisse hanged himselfe and thereby preuented his true repentance So those Iudascall Apostates take away away hope of repentance from themselues by Sinning directly against the knowne truth and their end is often despaire or confounding selfe-will obstinacie and perish out of the Church as it hath beene obserued in all ages yea it should seeme that God hath immediatly by his owne hand according to their desert intercepted them Obscrus Arrius that Monster his filthy death most fir for so wretched a Miscreant as he serued his body his bowels Ruffâ—â— lib. 1. hist Eccl. cap. 13 gushed out Mâ—ntanus began well as did Iudas their end was not Euseb hb. 5. cap. 14. much different he strangled himselfe and Maximilla his Trull with a Halter and Theodotus that begat this haeresie in them was so besotted that hee perswaded himselfe hee should be exalted and assumed into Heauen but in his Exaltation into the ayre perished miserably Nestorius his tongue was eaten vp by the wormes his Socrat. lib. 6. cap. 23. seigned recantation espied procured his deserued depriuation and exile whereas he dyed out of the Church Though Marcion did publikely repent at Rome yet was he receiued into the Church but on condition that is if he Tertul. lib. de prâ—script aduersus har restored and brought backe againe into the Church those whom he had before seduced He was preuented by death and not performing the condition forfaited his peace I could exemplifie the like in this last age and that in many both domestick and forraigne since the Church hath bin reformed but I list not to plucke dead men by the beard I haue onely annexed the History of Francis Spiera by way of an Appendix to this tractate to restifie this truth in stead of the rest What must all then perish the ignorant as the learned the weake as the strong I wish onely that the Bondwoman were cast out with her Bastard Farre be it from me to murmure at the Church her Maternall clemencie toward my brother who was once lost but hath returned againe vniust indignation were that which should growe from my brothers ioyfull reconciliation I mourne for their departure and pray for their returne who haue gone out from vs by Haereticall feduction or haue bin seduced by a surreptitious error or haue beene occasionally carried away by Terror and violent compuision Let their vnfaigned penitence with true humiliation procure them indulgence so they may truly pleade for themselues Simple ignorance and dreading infirmity Against those onely let it be an irreuocable Canon and indispensable decree who haue gone out from vs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Conc. Nio. Can. 11. Ioh 15. not through subtill seduction or violent constraint but of their owne peruerse will Let them be cast out as dead branches let them wither let men gather them and cast them into the fire and there let them burne with the first Apostata Let no man obiect the lenity of the Councell of Nice to voluntary Reuolters they held them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vbi supra vnworthy of any fauour or humanity to be extended toward them they enioyned them a three-fold pennanet to be performed for the space of twelue yeares without any mention of restauration to their holy function Conceit it notwithstanding by way of implication thou canst not so shake off the bands The Church tempered her Decrees according to the necessity of the Time But heare what the Canon saith Quod pro remedio ac necessitate temporis institutum fuit constat at primitus non fuisse quod ergo necessitas pro remedio 1. q. 7. cap. quod pro romed reperit cessante vtique necessitate debet cessare pariter quod vrgebat c. A dispensation enforced by the necessity of the time may not be obserued as a common law that cannot be altered for the cause which vrged being ceased the dispensation likewise must be voyde for a lawfull order is one thing and an enforced vsurpation is another Who did euer reade any auncient Canon which receiued such kinde of Apostates who went out for some temporall commodity or for aduancement to high dignity Sure I am I may vse Augustine his words truly of most of our perfidious Apostates Expertus credo multorum fict as poenitentias per affectatas Dist 50. cap. Sacerdos honorum potentias Experience maketh mee confident to auerre that many went out in hope they should vpon their false repentance be entertained into the Church with some high preferment to an honourable office therein They deceiue themselues The Church meaneth nothing lesse They may flatter themselues with a vaine hope to clime vp to the Pinnacle of the Temple But let the remembrance
the simple may finde what to learne and the learned what to admire as Inâ—omprehensible Wherein if by Gods assistance I doe happily finde ought whereof before I was ignorant I doe willingly impart the same vnto others Apertae MusaruÌ„ Ianuae The vnstable dissolutenesse of sundry deboshed Varlets in this decrepit Age of the world wherein wee liue who halting betweene two opinions spare not to belch forth blasphemies against the Truth whereof they are assured hath mooued mee to search into that fearefull Sinne of Apostacy that those who repute it a small matter to depart from the Truth of the Gospell to the Tents of Antechrist may consider the danger and retire before they fall into that Sinne against the Holy Ghost which is Irrecouerable Againe the tender Consciences of other who captiuated with a conceit of this Sinne haue beene swallowed vp in Despaire How necessary the Subject is I referre to thy Iudgement In the meane time I feare that least as Painters who limbe a satre creature in vgly forme deserue iust rebuke So I should drawe on my selfe deserued reproach by cloathing so wrothy a matter in a rude and vnpolished stile Tet this may not with-hold mee for I binde no man from more curious performance hereof whom my harsh phrase offendeth But this I craue If any suppose that I haue set abroath herein any thing different from the Truth let him not presently condemnt me as a presumptuous publisher of Nouelties or a broacher of falshood vntill he hath first consulted with the Authors herein alledged Howsoeuer if I haue not attained my purpose herein yet I reioyce in seeking laboriously though the length and difficulty of the way cause me to faile This I am sure I may truely say I haue done my vtmost I haue sought if not sound I haue called if not receaued an answer Take it gentle Reader as it is if it answer my desire it cannot displease thee Howeuer I publish it to Gods glory and thy good Thine in Christ Iesvs John Meredyth The Sinne OF BLASPHEMIE against the Holy Ghost Scholastically examined the reasons of the absolute Irremissibility thereof displayed An admonition to all Reuolting Apostataes annexed HEB. CAP. 3. VER 26. For if wee Sinne wilfully after wee haue receiued the knowledge of the Truth there remaineth no more Sacrifice for Sinne. THis Scripture is one of those places whence certaine of the * Epipha lib. z. cont haer tom 1. haeres 59. Auntient tooke occasion to improue the authority of this Epistle Hence was it that Nouatus the Catharist laboured to maintaine that mercilesse position * Cyprian Epist lib. 3. Epist 23. That whosoeuer had once after Baptisme fallen into persecution though afterward he praesented himselfe before the throne of Gods grace with fountaines of teares yet had hee the Gates of his mercy shut vp against him for euer Hence is that which Mr. * Institut lib. 3. Cap. 3.21 Caluin obserued that Quidam boni viri hanc supposititiam Epistolam crediderunt That certaine worthy men speaking of some of his owne time being offended at the roughnes austerity of this Doctrine admitted not this Epistle as Authenticall when as notwithstanding the profound Mysteries and impregnable arguments therein contained doe maintain * Theophilact in expos vers 3 Cap. 1. ad Hebr. Nullius alterius esse posse nisi Pauli that it can be fathered vpon none other but St. Paul in whom Christ himselfe spake Wherefore that all occasion of doubt and obscurity may be remoued which partly crept vp by Abuse partly for want and neglect of that due respect which ought to haue beene had vnto that dependency which these wordes haue on the prÄ™cedent without which they cannot be read vnto any true sence in themselues I will display the scope and drift of the Author in this Epistle Whose generall intention is to set forth and declare vnto vs the Dignity and Excellency of our Sauiour Christ the Sufficiency of the Gospell and the Insufficiency of the Law And to this end he diuideth his Epistle into foure parts In the first hee sheweth the Excellency of our Sauiour by comparing him but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by way of prÄ™heminence and superiority First with the Prophets Secondly with the Angels Thirdly with Mosâ—s Fourthly by way of Allusion vnto the Leuiticall Priesthood and this in the first seauen Chapters of this Epistle Secondly by way of recapitulation of certaine pointes premised in the former Chapters he doth more at large expresse the Insufficiency of the Lawe and that by comparing it First with the New Testament Secondly by the figure of the Tabernacle Thirdly by the conditions of the Legall Sacrifice and this from the beginning of the Eight Chapter vnto the nineteenth Verse of the tenth Chapter Thirdly out of the former Doctrine he draweth certaine morall precepts which extend vnto the 18.th Verse of the last Chapter Wherein first he exhorteth them to imbrace the Gospell and to make his Doctrine more effectuall and persuasiue hee declareth the vtility redounding to those who persist therein the 23. Verse of this Chapter Secondly hee propoundeth the dangerous and dreadfull fall of those who after they haue once beleeued it and knowne it to be the Truth become notwithstanding of their owne accord backsliding Apostates and malicious Aduersaries thereunto and this in my Text. Wherein I note the aggrauation of this Sinne of Apostacy by three Circumstances First because it proceedeth from a firme resolution and malitious will and purpose to Sinne in this kinde In this word Wilfully Secondly because it is against the Euangelicall Truth before beleeued and knowne In these wordes After wee haue receiued the knowledge of the Truth Thirdly because of the Inexpiability of it In the last wordes There remaineth no more Sacrifice for Sinne. There is no one place in the whole body of the Holy Scripture which doth so euidently explaine that dreadfull Math. 12. Mark 3. Luk. 12. Sinne spoken of by our Sauiour in the Gospell that Sinne I meane against the Holy Ghost with the circumstances and sequell thereof as this briefe Text if it were throughly examined and exactly discussed I am I confesse in euery respect vnworthy to vndertake a matter so holy so indifficult so Diuine so farre aboue the reach of my capacity who am euery way vnmeete to be named with those who haue laboured before mee to vnmaske the face of this obscurity But I doe humbly beseech the true Lord and Master of vs all that hee would vouchsafe to instruct mee herein either by the Sacred Scriptures or by the writings of the holy Learned and by the Assistance of his holy Spirit that I may so propound so affirme that in my assertions I may alway cleaue vnto the Truth So that what proceedeth from mee may principally be acceptable in his sight and consequently accepted by the faithfull To enter therefore into the handling of this obscure question I obserue these pointes First
the mercy of God and it would not be grieuous vnto me to be tormented in the pit of Hell many Millions of yeares so that I might haue any hope of deliuerance Whereupon Doctor Gribaldus said Oh Francis I am not desperate of thy deliuerance Happily it pleaseth God to make thee feele his wrath in this life and in the life to come to shew thee his mercy Hee answered I doe certainly know that I am a Reprobate Gribaldus asked him whither he would kill himselfe if a knife were deliuered vnto him seeing he desired so earnestly to die he said lend me one and you shall see what I will doe Notso said Gribaldus but declare thy minde wholy vnto vs He answered I know not the reason of my will or minde Vergerius the Bishop spent much labour in vaine to comfort him and could hardly draw him to call vpon God in the Lords prayer wherein though at length he assented vnto him yet it was not done with the like earnest zeale as before but he confessed that his minde was so alienated from God that he could not call him Father Hee entreated all that were present that they would no longer spend their labour in vaine in comforting him for that all hope of obtayning Faith and Mercy at Gods hands was cut off So that it was more likely that a Craine of Mustardseed should fill vp the whole world then that God should giue him Faith and Grace As hee was carried into a Horselitter to be transported to Citadell casting about his eyes in a furious manner by chance he espied a knife whereon he laid hold and had slaine himselfe therewith had not two of his Sonnes who were about him wrested it perforce out of his hands Soone after he died at Citadella This is the fearefull History of Francis Spiera which I present to the consideration of all such who thinke it a small matter to dally with Religion I doe not say that hee was damned neither doe I say that he was saued howsoeuer hee standeth or hath fallen to his Rom. 14. owne Master I will not presume to iudge another mans seruant But I will take heede to my selfe and aduise all my brethren to the same least that while wee thinke that wee stand we should fall Let vs not be high minded but feare 1. Cor. 11. Rom. 11. If he perished through vnbeliefe was hee broken off Tu autem fide sta Stand thou fast by faith if thou doest stand fast it is Gods mercy not thy merit for thou bearest not the roote but the roote thee Lastly I will conclude with a consolation to all such tender consciences who are rapt into despaire by giuing ouermuch eare to the Soule slaughtering Doctrine of the austere Nouatians and furious brainsicke Anabaptists of our time Who would perswade that Repentance is not auaileable to those who fall into any notorious Sinne after Baptisme Aepin Sup. Psal 9. and hearty conuersion vnto GOD as if hee would by no meanes pardon the Repentant Soule when as the Scriptures confirme in Doctrine and examples the contrary As is manifest in Dauid notwithstanding his Adulterie 1. Sam. 12. Math. 9. Luk. 19. Gal. 1. Math. 26. 2. Chron. 33. and Murther in Mathew and Zacheus though Vsurers and Extortioners In St. Paul though he persecuted the Church In St. Peter though he denied Christ with Imprecations and Oathes and aboue all in Manasses though he fell away from God and followed all the abominations of the Heathen and vsed Witchcraft and Charming and Sorcerie and familiar Spirits and Southsayers Yet when hee humbled himselfe and prayed vnto the Lord The Lord was entreated by him and heard his prayer and forgaue him his sinne Heare the Lord himselfe As I liue saith hee I desire not the death of the wicked but that hee turne from his way Ezech. 33. and liue If thy Sinne be Great his Mercie and Goodnesse is Greater If thy Sinnes be Many according to the Multitude of Psal 51. his mercies he will doe away thine affences Were thy Sin more weighty thē the heauē thē the earth then the Sea hee who created these can peize thy Sinne and Rom. 5. where Sin hath abounded cause grace much more to abound Though thou fall backe neuer so often through infirmity yet he is Almighty and both can will raise thee vp againe if thou put thy trust in him For who so putteth his trust in the Lord mercy embraceth him on euery side Psal 31. Excellently spake Chrysostome against the Nouatians Apud Chytr Sup cap. 2. Apccalyps 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Though thou fall backe neuer so often through Infirmity yet vpon hearty Repentance thou shalt be receiued and no lesse comfortably St. Augustine Toties apparet opus Dei Ibid. miserentis quoties fit confessio poenitentis God doth as often take compassion as the penitent Sinner maketh his confession Magnitudinem morbi vides Medici potentiam non vides If thou art terrified by the greatnesse of thy Sinne yet August Sup. Psal 55. be comforted by the power of the Physitian When thou art in greatest despaire Grata superueriet quae Psal 68. non sperabitur hora God will come vnto thee in an houre when thou lookest not for him hee will bring thee from the deepe of the Sea Hee calleth as well in the last houre as in the first I will iudge no man I will despaire of no man I will pray for all men while Gods patience in this life leadeth them to repentance A man saith Augustine may be a Pagan to day an vnbeleeuing Iew to day an Haereticke to day a Schismaticke to day Quid si cras amplectatur Catholicam fidem c. What if the next day hee doth embrace the Catholick faith Aug. apud Lumb 1. Sent. dist 43. and follow the Catholicke truth What if so be those whom thou doest see tainted with any kinde of Error and doest condemne them as most desperate fellowes should repent before they end this life and finde true rest and life in the world to come Iudge no man before the time therefore I know not why any man should despaire seeing God is louing true and powerfull but that we may be confident in him with the holy Father because of the Truth of his promise Bernard the loue of his Adoption and the Ability of his performance Pater eligit filius diligit Spiritus Sanctus coniungit et vnit The Father hath chosen vs the Sonne loueth vs the Cyprian Ser. de Baptisma Christi tom 2. Holy Ghost ioyneth and knitteth vs vnto God who then shall be able to separate vs from the loue of Christ I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities Rom. 8. nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to seperate vs from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. I conclude the whole with the words of our Sauiour All sinnes shall be forgiuen vnto the children of men and Blasphemies wherewith they blaspheme But he that blasphemeth Mark 3. against the Holy Ghost shall neuer haue forgiuenesse but is culpable of eternall damnation from the which Sinne God keepe vs in Iesus Christ our onely Lord and Sauiour To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be ascribed praise and glory and wisedome and thankes and honor and power and might for euermore Amen FINIS