were ordeined Bishops Presbyters and Deacons as is evident in the new Testament The next succession is cleer by testimony of Clement and other Apostilic Men beyond exception or evasion al which entring by the Dore are as tru Shepherds Stewards Fathers Rulers and Watchmen over the Flock being caled the Light of the World Salt of the Earth Fishers of Men Stars in his right hand Angels of the Churches c. who are charged to Preach the Word in season and out to feed Lambs to care for the Flock to fulfil their Ministry to exhort command and Rebuk with al Authority to whom Christ gav many peculiar privileges and promises of special assistance Hence 't is cleer as the Noonday that som not al and thos ordeined not voluntiers are sent successivly by Christs authority to doo the work of the Ministry which dreadful imploiment injoined with a bitter Wo if neglected the very Angels wil not undergo unles sent nor then without horror much less should sinful Men to whom a duple Wo is du desperatly dare to intrud being unsent uncaled unordeined and unfurnished which is proud presumption As then som are duly invested with Ministerial power and strictly injoined to use it for the Churches good so al others not impowered tho never so wel gifted are flatly forbid to usurp that sacred Office or confer what they never received on others which neither Melchisedec Moses Aaron Samuel nor any of the Prophets no nor Christ John Baptist the Apostles Evangelists or any tru Bishops and Presbyters ever durst to arrogat without divine mission or commission mediatly or immediatly derived from Christ This Ministerial Ordination hath continued abov sixteen Centuries by lawful succession even to wonder amidst al Persecutions Confusions and changes of Human affairs For Christ promiseth to be with his Church and Ministers to the Worlds end and Helâ—gates shal not prevail against them This laying on of Hebr 6. 1 3. Hands in Ordination is reckoned among the fundamental Principles of Religion joyned with Faith Repentance Baptism Resurrection and last Judgment nor can Confirmation be duly doon to the Baptised and Catechised sav by such as are ordeined therto which to gainsay is as if Men should reject thos other grand Articles forecited Surely al divine Ministrations of Preaching Celebrating the Sacraments and other Ordinances necessary to the being so wel as wel being of a Church had ceased long since if God had assigned no peculiar Men to hold forth the great Salvation which leavs Men excuseless sith they are taught by such as hav special Characters or Letters of Credence from Christ if they wil not hear Moses and the Prophets or Men sent by him whom wil they beleev Ther be four sorts of Laborers in Gods harvest som sent by him soly as Moses most Prophets the twelv Apostles St. Paul som by Gods assignation but Mans Ordination as Aaron Josua Elisha Timothy som by Ordination of the Church yet of Christs institution as al Evangelical Ministers duly ordered som not sent by God or Man but run or rush in of themselfs as fals Prophets Deceivers Intruders Sectists and al Satans Disciples who boast of extraordinary Enthusiasm as Angels of light saying Thus saith the Lord When he never sent nor spak by them For no Beleever though indued with great Gifts and Graces as St. Ambros had before he becam Bishop ought to assum Ministerial power for then every Christian of both Sexes as ther be sundry She-Preachers which pretend to the Spirit in thes licentious times may claim the Keis to themselfs and dispens Holy things to others or rule Christs Houshold in his stead which repugns common Reason as if every domestic Servant or Scullion should chalenge the Stewards place or every Member arrogat the office of Eys Toung or Hands becaus they belong to the same Soul Body and Head Sith then no Natural Moral or Religious gifts or abilities can instate any to be a Magistrat Judg Ambassador or public Officer unles he be invested by the Fountain of Civil power So ther should be a right derivation of Spiritual Power from Christ Jesus as Head either immediatly as the Apostles had or mediatly as Bishops and Presbyters since who without fraud force or unjust Usurpation received it from the Apostles by Praier Benediction and imposition of Hands in Christs name Which pregnant truth morosely to deny is as if an Hog should answer al Arguments with grunting Yea to act against so strong a stream of authority befits only Ranters Seekers Shakers and Enthusiasts or Jews Turcs and Infidels but not sober Christians or Members of the Church which ever enjoyed a tru succession of ordeined Ministry wherby the Gospels light is continued to this day amidst al Pagan persecutions Heresical confusions and Schismatical Fractions bent to undermine it Al Nations by Natures lore owned som Deity and had peculiar Persons to execut Religious Rites nor did ever any sober Men reject Gods service for Ministers faults frailties or infirmities For a Divine must be distinguish'd from the Man sith Gods power works with human weaknes nor need we be more nice or nauseous Lastly ther is a necessity of ordeined Ministry sith none of free accord wil undergo so hard and hazardous a task in times of primitiv Persecutions to hold forth the doctrin of a crucified Saviour as al carnal Men deemed it unles they had the duty of divine caling laid on their Consciences Yet however in the Gospels Halcyon serenity many new Teachers out of avarice or popular ambition rush rashly upon it which the best Men durst not weild without weeping as St. Austin did when he was made Presbyter and trembling thos rigid storms of yore would hav quenched the now so forward flashes of thes Sparks when to be a Prelat or Presbyter was to expose themselfs to fire and fagot wild Beasts jaws and a thousand tortures So unles divine authority had imposed and special Grace assisted together with promises of eternal Glory doubtles the glorious Gospel of salvation had yet this time bin buried in oblivion fith none had heard or beleeved that report if none had dared to preach or publish it as Men sent and ordeined did Nor would any els be so fool hardy to hazard al worldly interests honor estate liberty life on such an uncouth unwelcom unsafe message unles they had bin conscious of a special duty laid on them by divine authority derived in that solen sacred Ordination of Ministry Whence St. Paul denounced a Wo to himself if he preached not the Gospel For every one that can handle the Hod Hammer or Trowel is not instantly an Architect Nor can every gifted Man supply the place of such a Workman as hath both Materials Tools Art and Approbation Ther is great ods betwen plausible cunning to draw Disciples and sincere conscience to make folowers of Christ betwen intruding popular Masters and tru ordeined Ministers betwixt clambring over the wal like Robbers or Plunderers and
pressed St. Austin Chrysostom with others against Erastus giving general Councils glorious titles when they served his turn or els slighted them and Cartwright cals such citing of Fathers a raking of ditches 11. They allege against Bishops preeminence over Ministers that both are caled by one name and therfore one Function when 't is answered That community of title takes not away â—â—stinction of Offices sith even Princes are stiled Deacons Apostles and Priests yet far disparat in power this wil not content Yet Erastus proved That the name Elder is ever appropriat to Ecclesiastics not to Laics Beza borowed that distinction for his defens how the name of Bishops and Elders are common but their Offices not al one nor is it a good consequent every Bishop is a Presbyter Ergo every Elder is so for al names of Ecclesiastic Officers Deacons Apostles Prophets Prelats Pastors Presbyters are sometime used generaly or promiscuously 12. They aspers our State for suffering Bishops to retain som parts of the Canon Law crying out 't is Popish and Develish yet if ought sit their humors they secretly stole it out of the Decretals as in their draught of Disciplin more then seven parts of eight are borowed from it Hence Viret finding how Princes by cashiring the Canon Law assumed Ecclesiastic power to themselfs condemns their rashnes or rigidnes who depraved the same Thus by this Jury of Criminations it appeers how palpably partial al mortal Men are in their own behalfs yea their factious folowers wil hardly beleev half and justify the other moity as proceding of piety Next shal be shewed how they wrest the Fathers to their own sens Ignatius wils That nothing be doon in the Church without 〈◊〉 the Bishops consent who as Prince of Priests hath power over al Can ought be plainer Yet Cartwright counterfets That by Priests he means ruling Elders Lay ones he never know by Prince the Moderator chosen to propone matters at one meeting only and by power over al his authority over the Elders in the same Parish when no such precincts were yet bounded just after their new cut Justin Martyr stiles every Bishop Prelat as preposited over Priests and People Cartwright consters it That he was Prelat of the People not over Presbyters or at most a Moderator to propos matters only Yet if he was superior over Ministers how fondly is it inferred to be lawful becaus he was so for even in thos dawning daâ—â— som things deviated from the Gospels purity as the name Prelat common to al Elders was appropriat to one Thus like Wind-millers they make every wind serv their turns Ireâ—â—â—â— saith the Apostles appointed Bishops in thos Churches which they planted Beza clean contrary to his mind and meaning interprets it of Pastors Doctors and ruling Elders not constituted by their authority but chosen by the Parishes For when any Officer was elected the Apostle present consecrated him to the Lord by laying on hands in the name of the Presbytery Jerom testifies That from St. Marc to his time a Bishop was placed in higher degree abov Presbyters as a Captain in an Army Cartwright seeks strange shifts to shadow it 1. That the Presbyters did it without Marcs order 2. That the words from Marcs time are exclusiv as if that superiority began after his time which is flatly fals for he cals Marc Bishop of Alexandria and his successors superior in degree oâ— dignity 3. That in saying it was so at Alexandria he implies it was not so elswher Is not his a goodly gloss 4. He cries ouâ— against the pravity of thos primitiv times which is a more ingenuous agnition but a silly shelter or Sanctuary for no wit of Man can evade or exclude it Jerom saith farther It was ordered by Decrce of the whol World That to suppreâ—â— Schisms one should be chosen by the Priests abov the rest Beza boldly givs him the ly which the testy old Man if he theâ— lived would retort in his throat that it was not so Many Antients Irenâ—us Cyprian Tertullian Jerom Ambros Austin cal Bishops the Apostles Successors And Ecclesiastic Writers draw long Catalogs of their names in several Sees which thos Father 's urged against upstart Heretics in their dais but when Papists press such succession at Rome and elswher we deny not the truth of it but answer that personal succession is very effectual if Doctrinal concur and thos Fathers in urging the first had a special ey to the last becaus such Heretics oppugned som points of Apostolic Doctrin Yet Cartwright and his Cru contend that by Bishops are meant Parochial Pastors stiled the Apostles Doctrinal successors and al Episcopal Catalogs are of Parish Priests Yea Sadeil excluding al personal succession grants Doctrinal to Laics if they hold the Apostles precepts and walk in their paths O dainty When swarms of Authors are cited that Timothy was Diocesan of Ephesus Cartwright givs the ly to al becaus St. Paul saith he was Evangelist So was S. Marc yet a Bishop When for Antiquity of Archbishops Clemens Anacletus Anicetus Epiphanius Ambros c. are urged together with St. Austins rule That wher a name is so old and origin not extant it should seem Apostolic Cartwright cals the citing of antient Authors a raking of Hel and saith thos times were not pure Virgin-like branding Clemens Anacletus and Anicetus as conterfet cranks haply som forgeries were vented in their names and slights Epiphanius that he wrote according to his time but rejects Ambroses Book de dignitate Sacerdotum as foisted When for the Office of Archdeacon Damasus Sixtus Sozomen and Socrates are quoted Cartwright answers That Damasus spake in the Dragons voice the best ground bears thistles and thos times were corrupt Thus they either wiredraw the Fathers words to their own fancy or deny their authority which are easy evasions When Ignatius terms a Bishop Prince of Priests and Cyril and Tertullian high-Priest Cartwright cursedly censures that such Proctors presum to put our Saviour out of his Office yet they are only stiled his Substituts on Earth when al confes it to be the joint judgment of the Catholic Church and Councils that Bishops are the best remedies to repel Schisms and Heresies Beza and Cartwright cry they are al deceived for ther were great controversies and contentions stil under their regiment 'T is tru for Christ foretold it wil be so stil til the end When a cloud of primitiv witnesses is produced for the lawful use of Holy dais Cartwright complains That Truth is measured by the crooked yard of time and appeals from authority to Scripture wherof he wil be sole Judg and Interpreter When the whol stream of Fathers and Councils is urged to prov the Churches power in al indifferent things not prescribed by Gods Word he carps how he is pestered with human authorities instead of the Prophets and Apostles shaking them off as St. Paul did the Viper with one blast that the things asserted are now questioned
as if their cavilling were sufficient When Cyril saith That Moses Law to punish Adultery with death is out of date he comptrols his Opinion as corrupt May it not more justly be said Nomine mutato narratur fabula de se The Tale change but the Name Of them is stil the same When Theodoret testifies That Chrysostom Patriarch of Constantinople had the charge of other Churches in Asia Thracia Pontus beside his own See and Sozomen saith he deposed thirteen Bishops for Simony Cartwright cogs an answer That he had no other care over them then al Godly Ministers ought to hav over al Churches in Christendom or if he took rule over them he was a proud Prelat like the Pope yet haply he deposed thos Bishops by consent of the Presbytery not by his own authority al which bewray gross ignorance contrary to known truth When the first Nicen Synod which placed Patriarchs over Primats is urged for the antiquity and authority of both Cartwright scofs at it as no famous Council taxing divers Decrees of error specialy in points of Disciplin yet al Churches receiv them as authentic and Arrians or other Heretics may so wel cavil at the Doctrins When Antioch Council caled fifteen yeers after Decreed That inferior Bishops shal not act without their Metropolitan sav what pertains to their own Dioceses He glosseth that a Metrapolitan was only set over a chief City and the name makes no more difference then to say a Minister of London and Newington but by Dioces is meant a Parish so he stil translats the Greec word becaus it bears a Parochial and Episcopal division though generaly used for the later wher a chief Minister had som Mercat-Town with vicine Villages appendent to his Church as at Hitchin and elswher Sic parvis componere magna solebat What fine foists and brazen bolts are thes to bolster a bad caus When Athanasius avers That Denys Patriarch of Alexandria to which Jurisdiction Egypt Thebais Mariota Lybia and other Provinces pertained had the Churches of Panâ—apolis committed to his care as Epiphanius saith the same of Peter another Patriarch to whom the Archbishop of Miletus was subject Cartwright consters it of a voluntary care not authoritiv which every Minister ought to take of Churches round about him When Theodoret Bishop of Cyprus saith Heself had Government of eight hundred Churches Cartwright checks him for a vain boaster upbraiding his writing against Cyril quid ad rhombum When the Councils of Nice Antioch Carthage and Sardis declare that only Bishops hav authority to excommunicat Cartwright from Calvin the chief Coryphee declares That in so doing they fomented ambition Thus they speak Magisterialy from their Chair what they list which their partial poor blind Proselits hold for Oracles When Mr. Fox provs Archbishops to be abov Bishops and them abov Ministers Cartwright givs a dor That he writing a Story was more diligent to deliver what is doon then how wel or il doon Yea he censures al learned Men under Edward 6. that they knew only in part and being sent out in the morning dawn yer the Gospel Sun was risen high might oversee much which som not so quick eyd can better discry for what they had in acutnes of sight others enjoy by cleernes of the Suns light He prescribes two learned observations 1. That in the Nicen Synod and others within two hundred yeers after many Canons and Cautions were made touching a Metropolitan in every Province what honor or title he shal hav what limits of Jurisdiction and what place to sit in which shews that it was opposed in thos dais intimating that som Schismatic Spirits opposed the Ecclesiastic Hierarchy then as Disciplinarians did since which is no warrant so to doo 2. That among Pastors Elders and Deacons in every Church one was chosen by the rest to propone matters whether doubts to be debated censures to be decreed or elections to be determined who gathered voices and was the common mouth to moderat the whol Assembly A learned lesson to shew that Episcopal Government jumps just like Germans lips with Genevan Presbytery as if they should shake hands who shape al to their own cut as an old Dotard at Athens deemed al ships his own which cam into the Haven Howbeit they differ diversly among themselfs For Cartwright 〈◊〉 draws the Elderships origin from Moses and Aaron who assembled the Elders at Gods command which he interprets of Laics but Gallaesius of Preachers Peâ—â—itan Berâ—ram and Siniler of Civil Rulers Senators and Princes Beza brings proof out of Moses Pentateuch Chronicles and Prophets But Calvin the Founder saith The Jews Sanedrim was founded after their Captivity being then inhibited to creat a King yet the seventy being instituted by Jethros advise were a lawful Polity allowed by God to censure maners and Doctrins The titles given to Ministers in the new Testament Acts 10. 28 Acts 26. 16. Rom. 15. 16. 1 Cor. 14. 32. Phil. 1. 1. 1 Tim. 3. 2. Beza Junius and Cartwright ascribe to their Elders which Calvin applies to al Ministers Thus they run som into Egypt before the Law som to Mount Sinai in the Wildernes som elswher to seek their Eldership yet cannot find it but agree like Saâ—sons tail-tied Foxes Wher any mention is made of Elders Congregation Church Court Bishops Rulers Thrones Christs Kingdom c. Beza Junius Danaeus Cartwright and that cru imagin it to ring a peal for their Presbyterian platform suting the Scriptures to their tunes For as poor folks beget Children but know not how to keep them so Sectists breed or broch new Opinions and seek Scriptures to maintain them who as Hilary saith care not what the words mean but put their own meaning on them Lastly Listen how highly they prais themselfs and Hyperbolicaly Eudogâ—es extol their Disciplin We hav Christ and his Apostles with al the Prophets for us We striv for everlasting truth which God hath left and may not leav it the matters we meddle in are according to Gods Wil in his Word We propound his Caus faithfully and for it are persecuted We are his poor Servants painful Ministers zelous Professors feeders of his Flock Christs litle ones the foolish things of this World chosen to confound the wise of immortal seed lawful successors to thos who by Faith quenched the violence of fire unreprovable modest most worthy Watchmen We hold nothing not taught in Scripture but what old and new Writers affirm and exemples of primitiv times confirm We seek not to pleas Men or pleasure our selfs but patiently abide til the Lord bring our righteousnes to light and just dealing as the noon day We merit prais of the Law and of Gods Church seeking only to doo good our zele is parallel to that of Moses Elias the Prophets John Baptist Paul the Apostles and Christ Our side detests sin and wickednes our Ministers suffer al evil at Magistrats hands for refusing to doo evil at their commands professing to
Dominions to whom the chief Government of all estates whether Ecclesiastic or Civil in al Causes doth appertain nor ought to be subject unto any forren Jurisdiction Whereas we attribute chief Government to the Kings Majestie wherby we understand the minds of som slanderous folks to be offended we giv not to our Prince the ministring of Gods word or Sacraments which thing the Injunctions also somtime set forth by our late Queen Elizabeth doe plainly testify But that only Prerogativ which was ever given to al Godly Princes in holy Scripture by God himself which is That they shal rule al Estates and Degrees committed to their charge whether Ecclesiastic or Temporal and restrain with the Civil Sword al stuâ—born and evil doers The Bishop of Rome hath no Jurisdiction in this Realm of England The Laws of the Land may punish Christian men with death for hainous grievous offences It is lawful for Christians at commandment of the Magistrat to wear Weapons and serv in Wars Article 38. The Goods of Christians are not common touching the right title and possession of the same as Anabaptists falsly boast yet every man ought of such things as he hath liberaly to give Alms to the Poor according to his ability Article 39. As we confess vain and rash swearing to be forbid in Christian men by our Lord Jesus Christ and James his Apostle so we judg that Christian Religion doth not prohibit but a man may swear when a Magistrat requires it in a caus of Faith and Charity so that it be done as the Prophets teach according to Justice Judgment and Truth for the composing of strife Articuli Lambethae cusi The Articles of Lambeth An Appendix of nine Articles touching Praedestination agitated by John Archbishop of Canterbury and others An. 1595. at Dr. Whitakers instance against three Propositions of Dr. Baro a Frenchman Lady Margarets Professor at Cambridg Article 1. GOd from eternity predestinated som men to life and reprobated the rest to death or damnation Article 2. The moving or efficient caus of Predestination to life is not any foresight of Faith Perseverance good Works or any thing in the persons praedestinated but only in the Wil of Gods good pleasure Article 3. Of the Predestinat ther is a prefined certain number which can neither be increased nor diminished Article 4. They that are not predestinat to salvation shal necessarily be condemned for their sins Article 5. Tru livly justifying Faith and sanctifying Spirit of God is not extinguished doth not fall off nor vanish in the Elect either finaly or totally Article 6. A man truly beleeving or indued with justifying Faith is certain by or with ful perswasion of Faith of his sins forgivenes and everlasting salvation by Christ Article 7. Saving Grace is not given nor communicated nor granted to al men whereby they may be saved if they will Article 8. No man can come to Christ unles it be given to him and unless the Father draw him nor are al men drawn of the Father that they come to the Son Article 9. It is not in the free choice and power of every man to be saved These Assertious or Positions like many mo are obtruded in general obscure ambiguous terms subject to divers interpretations Animadversio apposita A usefull Animadversion THe first Proposition is tru de facto but treats not of the order and manner why God elected som and reprobated the rest which is the debate The second designs the moving efficient caus of election but mentions not the object whether it be man simply or man a sinner or man repentant or man persisting obstinat and obdurat which is al the question for Gods foresight is no efficient caus of his Predestination but his Wil. The third of a set number not to be increased or diminished is a very verity in regard of Gods infallible foreknowledge and immutable Wil. The fourth is a bifront Janus most ambiguous for if it suppose non-praedestination to necessitat condemnation for sin it puts non causam pro causa but if it make non-praedestination a meer negativ in God and supposes sin unrepented the caus God may in true Justice condemn the sinner that neglects the remedy for every one perisheth by his own default as Preachers inculcat dayly The fifth is generally granted That the elect doo not fal away finaly or totaly but who they are no mortal man knows and al men may fal The sixth in a tru sens is tru That Beleevers being reconciled to God by repentance may be certain of their present condition by a ful perswasion of Faith yet must not presume of infallible perseverance sith many Saints through frailty have faln dangerously The seventh is tru in part That effectual saving Grace is not given to al that they may be saved if they wil but sufficient is offered to al and that seriously or intentionaly if they wil use and not refuse reject or resist the means working out their salvation with fear and trembling The eighth is to be rightly expounded that no man can com to the Son unless the Father draw him and al men are not drawn by him but 't is becaus he foresees that they be obdurat and wil not com when caled for his prescience is the condition not the caus of proceeding The last is indubitat that 't is not in every mans nay in no mans free choice and power to be saved without Grace but by help thereof and use of the means prescribed in the Gospel any man may be saved if he wil cooperat with Gods Grace and not wilfully reject the same Dr. John Rainolds at Hampton-Court Conference beside many mo both before and since petioned that thes 9 Lambethian Articles might be annexed to the other 39 by public authority but could never obtain it becaus their meaning or construction was very dubious or dissonant to the tru sens of our Churches seventeenth Article which handles the point of Predestination more plainly and perfectly then thes 'T is said that Dr. Whitgift Archbishop granted this discussion to gratify Dr. Whitakers importunity and pacify that present Cantabrigian fury but left it in such doubtful terms that no prejudice might occur to the said Article of Predestination predefined THESIS I. Animae Humanae productio Production of Mans Soul 1 A solen Question Whether every Mans Soul since Adams be created or procreated THE Case is cleer for creating Adams Gen 2. 3. Soul God breathed into his nostrils the Spirit of life whereof S. Austins Axiom respect stil had to this first Souls production is infallibly tru 't is created in infusing and infused in creating Of Eve 't is said God in a deep Gen. 2. 21. 23. sleep took one of Adams ribs closing up flesh in its stead and the Rib he made a Woman The learned say it was no dead bone but animat the material part being extended to a shapeful human body and the spiritual at the same instant diffused over
we hold the Scriptures Scripture tru Canon as Oracles of God delivered by divine inspiration according to the tru testimony of the old Jewish and later Christian Church but cashire som Apocryphal Additions of the Romists and Remists from being Rules of Faith yet allow most of them as useful morals for instruction of life In privat Praiers and public Liturgies Papists use the Latin language Public Praies under pretext of uniformity with many vain Tautologies which we dislike but approv the holy custom of public Assemblies to worship God by Praiers and Praises in the Mother Toung as St. Paul commends and commands In som particulars we dissent both in judgment and practis Other Poinâ—â— as in their profitable Purgatory popular Image-worship Orisons and Oblations for the dead Invocations of Saints and Angels Auricular Confession works of Supererogation Indulgences and al such bran brought in by avarice and ambition being but Human superstructures not warranted by the Word nor confirmed by general consent Precept or practis of al Churches Touching the Popes claim of universal Supremacy Infallibility Papal Primacy and Superiority over al Churches and Councils we flatly forbid the Banes as unjust Usurpations got by Princes favors or Popes fraud flattery power and policy yet grant a Priority of place as Peter had among the Apostles either in his Roman Dioces as Bishop or in Councils as Bishop of that antient imperial Metropolis as other Patriarchs Primats and Prelats hav precedence by antiquity of their several Sees For the sacred Function of Ministry we hold the antient form Ministry derived from the Apostles to Bishops and Presbyters to preach the Word celebrat Sacraments reconcile Penitents anathematise Delinquents use the Keis in Jurisdiction or Government excluding al others from thes duties as impudent Intruders who are noâ— ordeined by just CoÌ„mission We renounce al imaginary power or Wil-worship annexed to the Office by Human superstition with al spurious spawns of Mens inventions Scriptureless Opinions and groundless Traditions dashing thos Babylonish Brats against the stones yet stil foster the Sons of Sion or Israel of God in al divine Institutions which were long led Captiv and laid in Antichrists Dungeon within the Wals or Suburbs of Babylon In a word we hold the tru Faith holy Mysteries Catholic Orders constant Ministry and commendable Customs continued in that Church nor doo deem it a matter of Conscience or Prudence to debar any thing divine though delivered by Mens impure hands For divine Ordinances are incorruptible nor can pollution of Mens Minds or maners defile them no more then putrefaction pollut the Sun when it shines on Carrion we may be corrupted but holy Ordinances like God are stil the same when restored to primitiv purity We must not cast away Gods provision though sent by Ravens nor abandon al Romish Tenets of saving Truth though Trent Council anathematised som Truths Popes were ever too wary to abject or abrogat tru Religions Essentials Scripture Sacraments Ministry Church Polity on which the overgrown structures of Pontifician pomp pride profit power and policy through Peoples credulity are raised or sustained Nor can ought conduce more to their content then that rash Reformers should reject al Rites of Religion retained by them They know how meager a Sceleton or meer shadow it wil shew both for Doctrin Disciplin Duties and maners if fanatic Reformers reject al Principles as Popish Or if som Mens rapacious avarice may prevail to bereav Ministers maintenance leaving them nothing to liv on but bare scraps of arbitrary grudging contributions Certes Church-reformation is to be carried with al accurat rigour in cleer points of saving Truths but with much eandor charity and circumspection toward Christians in other things wherin we differ or dissent 'T is a laudable Schism to separat gold from dross not retaining both in confusion nor rejecting both in passion wherby they shal not only reform abuses but invite Men to embrace or approv our wel tempered zele making them see their own defects or deformity For Reformation is best doon not by cutting off Religions head but by taking off the Visors which hide its beauty sith Men wil best see their errors not by tearing out their eyes but by fairly removing the films or beams of prejudice and pertinacy which obvele or hinder their sight By this shield of moderat charity proving al things and holding what is good we justly defend al Reformed Churches from the sin and scandal of Schism when we truly declare to separat no farther from them then we are perswaded they hav swerved from Christ and the Catholic Church We are bid to com out of Babylon but not to run out of our wits to act as Gods People with meeknes and charity not with firy fiercenes and cruelty like sons of Belial running from one Antichrist to another For Papists hav much of Antichrist in som kinds and so may many mo in others either by innovations confusions or chiefly uncharitablenes For if nothing savours more of Christ then Charity nothing hath less of Christ then the contrary which many Men mistaking for zele nourish a Cockatrice for a Dov and a Serpent for a Phaenix This freeth us from the brand of Schismatics such as the Novatians and Donatists were like our modern Sectists who so claimed to be a tru Church as to exclud al others from communion or accord Som cry out upon Papists cruelty which hath bin too barbarous yet they use more both against them and their Brethren longing for such a Kingdom of Christ as shal consist in War Blood and Massacres against al except thos of their own side or Sect. We may not imput the errors or enormities of every Popish Doctor to al that Profession nor take them at the worst sith ther is much difference betwen their public disputs and privat practises nor are their death-bed Tenets alwais conform to their Chairs or Pulpits Yea many are much more modest and moderat then hertofore wherin we ought to rejoice But for the People most are ignorant of thos Disputs wherin to er wilfully is dangerous which if they hold being so taught yet 't is under perswation or lov of Truth retaining the foundation of Christ crucified and expecting salvation by his sole merits of whom we should judg charitably that God in Mercy accepting their lov to truth which they know wil pardon particular errors which they know not to be such judg as you wil be judged We are loth or should be to differ from any Christians unles Conscience tels they are in evident error who like not Faction nor delight in separation nor hold any bloody Tenets against thos of advers Opinion but wish like charity from them that we may be al united to Christ and his Church Tru Reformation is but a return to Gods way by retaining such Principles as pertain to al Beleevers for we may use the Temples holy Vessels if restored from prophane hands of quaffing
hath produced sad events and given their Enimies great advantage so they hav work enough to keep the Lepry from their own Heads which they told the People had so fouly infected Bishops hands as could never be clensed unles cut off but al mortals are apt to doo amiss and 't is never too lat to rectify miscarriages Most Men confes nor can impudence gainsay it that the Order or Office is lawful wherby al Christian Churches were Governed however som inconveiniences yea mischiefs too arise from corruption of finful Men in al Professions Tho then Episcopy hath bin much shaken or depressed by power passion or privat ends to the impairing and indangering of the whol fabric or function yet wise Men may after this thick dust of disput see what is of God therin and regulat it by paring off what is depraved or deformed and restore it to primeval purity 'T is now no need to fear or flatter Bishops faces whos glory is gon but meer matter of Conscience to testify truth sith thos of different judgments take freedom to bespatter them so unjustly and unsavourly as they hoped by their il breath to blast that venerable caling and render it odious or execrable to weak Christians which to wise Men was ever like Aarons Ointment poured out Nor doth it lose divine fragrance by the fracture of il times which passionatly break the Alablaster boxes of civil protection which preserved it for many ages from vulgar insolence and Schismatical violence The like liberty is lawful to vindicat it by pregnant places of Scriptural precepts and precedents secunded with Catholic custom and practis of the Church and confirmed by the Laws of this Land To omit the main controversy of its lawfulnes and to whiten two Wals with one Trowel two points principaly shal be handled 1. To remov a popular Odium or Plebeian passion and prejudication taken up by weak yet haply wel minded Christians against Bishops Presidential authority over Presbyters 2. to justify the holy Ministerial Ordination duly doon by their hands One rub riseth from their lat disasters whom if Arguments and Words could not yet Arms and Swords hav suppressed For vulgar minds are apt to judg thos unjust that are unprosperous and cursed who are punished as Turcs use to doom Yet in tru sens their many miseries may no more be urged against their Persons or Places then Jobs afflictions which Satan never alleged against his integrity Many wish that al Prelats and Presbyters were chief Suffâ—rers yea that the Word Sacraments and al holy Ministrations should ceaf but Religious Rites must not be mesured by Mens passions or prevalences nor any secular sanctions For ther were pious Prelats preposited abov Presbyters before any Civil power protected them and by Gods Grace may so continu maugre al oppression or persecution The things of Christ and tru Religion may not be received or refused as Ushered in or crowded out by Civil power nor doth Christ steer his Ship by that compass sith at the same rate of Worldly frowns we should hav no Scriptures Sacraments sound Doctrins or holy Ordinances but al had bin turned into Heathenish barbarity Hereticla errors and Schismatical confusions if conscience to God and Christ had not conserved thes sacred things by the pious patience of holy Bishops and Ministers whom wicked Worldlings ever hated seeking to destroy root and branch through the sides of Episcopacy Bishops Government as referred to the chief office of Ordination is no way Popish or Antichristian as too many ignorantly or malitiously chatter tho the pride ambition or avarice of some Prelats might make them justly odious becaus contrary to Christs precept and patern whos place Bishops as cheif Pastors or Parents among Presbyters hav alwais since the Apostles eminently held in the extern polity or Regiment of the Church So that the antient Presidentship over the Clergy in several Diocesan precincts as it was justly exercised in pâ—rer times is no less Christian then several Churches in al ages and places of the World Yea far beyond any form which hath not charity to brook or bear regulated Prelacy suting with Scripture and Antiquity For Lutheran Superintendents are Bishops in truth tho not title yea the most learned Genevins Calvin Beza Moulin Salmatius Bochartus Blundel acknowledg Episcopat a pious institution succeding in the Apostles steads by the Churches counsil and Consent So far is any sober impartial uninteressed Man from dooming or deeming it unlawful unles they be blinded with blockish ignorance or possessed with peevish arogance Certes the learnedst Presbyterians are best Friends and blind Zelots bittrest Foes to tru Episcopat who want science prudence humility and charity which is the best condiment of Christianity Orderly Presbytery which admits one to Preside is a lesser Episcopy to oversee particular Flocks yet not to expel or extirp Bishops nor is headless or many headed Presbytery necessary by divine right but primitiv Prelacy which imports one grav worthy Person chosen by consent and assisted by counsil of sundry Presbyters to preside over them is to be preferred before al other forms for many weighty Reasons insuing 1. Becaus al Apostolic Antients Ignatius Justin Martyr Reason 1 Polycarp Tertullian Cyprian Irenaeus jointly attest that one stil Episcopized in every City For at first a few Presbyters served in ech by Apostolic appointment but as converts increased they constituted several Colleges Companies or Consistories as the Churches Colonies which one Supervisor as Captain or Commander overruled Aerius upon envy against Eustachius who got a Bishoprick from him was the first that pressed Clerical parity contrary to the Churches old Order but if the Apostles had not instituted it how could al Churches uniformly conspire therin al the World over For tho at first the name was common to al Church Ministers even Apostles yet after their deaths it was peculiarly confined to their Successors in place and power 2. To avoid scandal of other Churches which for far a major part are governed by Bishops in degree dignity and authority abov Presbyters For 't is no prudence or piety to widen differences wherby Papists gain great advantage to esteem us less Christian in utterly abolishing that Catholic Order and by consequent tru Ordination of Ministers together with sacred Ordinances Yea Reformed Churches allow a Presidence among Presbyters nor doo the learned hold it caus enough to seperat from any Church for having Bishops as Peter Martyr Zanchius Vidâ—lius Gerard Groâ—â—us Dâ—oâ—at and Alsted agree 3. To preserv the power of Ministerial Ordination and Succession which som sober Presbyterians specialy Blondel hold to be best strengthned by Episcopy becaus it was the universal way wherby Ministry and Christianity hav bin derived to this day the resecting wherof is most advantageous to al Cavillers against Godly Ministry 4. Tru Episcopat never had had a free ful or fair hearing as so great a matter requires nor was it ever convicted to repugn Scripture as som shamelesly assert
11. 15. Christs who shal reign for ever What can be cleerer Ergo the Time which the Angel swore shal be no more is the period of al four Monarchies in general or Roman in special which is one effect of a time times and half This consummation of Gods mystery is the matter of the seventh trumpet attended with seven thunders which uttered their voices while the Angel proclamed it and synchronize with that trumpet But John is bid to seal up thos things of the thunders being inscrutable til the proper times that God shal revele it This trumpet discovers the mystery reserved to another place but both Prophecies of the Seals and litle Book are concluded with one issu which this trumpet exhibits the ful opening wherof is deferd til a ful passage be made to the litle Books new Prophecy and then the seventh trumpets mystery which is the Catastrophe is aptly and amply declared as shal be shewed Hence this busines is undertaken by no other Angels but by that excellent one who held in his hand the litle Book eaten by John If that Angel be Christ as his Roial attire and furniture imports this suspending the last sound in favor of the other Prophecy agrees to none so wel as him but if it were Michael the great Prince or another Angel clothed in linnen and his Dan. 1◠〈◊〉 Dan. 1â— 6. â—oins girded with fine gold of Vphaz as appeered to Daniel the case alters not being from God Here the first part or Prophecy of Seals ends touching the 2 Part. Empires affairs the next or nobler concerns the Churches fate to be agitated John proceds herein The voice which I heard Rev 10. 8 9â— 10 11. from Heaven spake to me again saying Take the litle open Book in the Angels hand who oat it up as he was bid wherby he was prepared to Prophecy again before many People Nations Toungs and Kings but the mystery to be reveled was sweet as hony in his mouth and the secret part of the Churches woful condition bitter as Aloes in his maw the representation is taken from Ezekiel The Prophecy proceds which begins from Ezek 3. 1 2 3. his work about Gods Templeâ— which presents the Churches duple state by two Courts one measured and another cast out Ther was given me a reed like a rod and the Angel said Rev. 11. 〈◊〉 measure Gods Temple and Altar and them that worship but the Court without measure not for 't is given to the Gentils who shal tread the holy City under foot forty two Months Here the primitiv state of Christs Church conformable to Gods Word is described by measuring the inner Court the type wherof an Angel shewed to Ezekiel The outer Court not to Ezek 〈◊〉 be measured sets forth Gods holy City or Christian Church which must be given to new Idolaters caled Gentils becaus they defiled it with Antichristian Apostasy fourty two annal months as shal be fully handled in the Story of the two horn'd Beast contemporizing herwith Jerusalems Temple had two Courts 1 Inner wher the burnt Offrings Altar stood at the 2 〈◊〉 Temples entry which was open only to Priests and Levits 2 Outer or great Court common to the People cald the Court of Israel The first termed Thyasterium or Altar of Sacrafice John is bid to measure but ths outer is given the Gentils to prophane fourty two months If it be said 't is the holy City not out Court which must be troden under foot 'T is answered that both are one and cald the holy City becaus People assembled here for holy Services To thos Herod at rebuilding the Temple added a third for Gentils and unclean persons who were prohibited the two others I wil giv power to my two witnesses V. 3 4 5. who shal Prophecy in sackcloth one thousand two hundred threescore dais thes are two Oliv Trees and two Candle sticks standing before the God of the Earth If any wil hurt them fire proceds from their mouths to devour their Enemies and if any wil hurt them he must thus be killed Thes mourning witnesses are Preachers or Patrons of divine truth which shal bewail the filthy pollution of Christs Church Idolizing like Gentils as Monitors to desist from their abomination and guids for the Saints to persist pure They are named two according to three famous Pairs in the old Testament viz. Moses and Aaron in the wildernes Elias and Elisaeus under the Baalitic Apostasy Zerobabel and Jesua at the Babylonish Captivity For they sympathise with thos types in number power and acts as the state of the Church when thes Prophecied suting with that of Israel is resembled to the wildernes Baalatism and Babylon V. 6. Thes hav power to shut Heaven that is rain not during their Prophecy as Elias and Elisaeus had and to turn waters into blood as Moses and Aaron had and to smite the Earth with al plagues so oft as they pleas Thes are caled Oliv Trees and Candle sticks standing before the Lord like Zerobabel Prince of Juda and Jesua the high Priest whom God annointed to restore Zech. 4 3 11. the Jewish Church under Captivity as Zechary alluds This Prophecy til the seventh trumpets sounding is not presented in Vision but dictated by an Angel personating Christ The witnesses are caled two as the Law requires to confirm every word and in regard of Gods two Tables or Testaments which they used in Prophecying They shal Prophecy one thousand two hundred threescore dais being forty two months which are not natural dais nor three dais and half when they shal ly dead so meant becaus the Beast whos time they contain contemporized with the hundred fourty four thousand sealed and they with the six first trumpets which cannot run out in so short a space as 1260. dais If any ask why the Gentils prophanation Note is measured by months the witnesses defending Gods pure Worship by dais 't is becaus Idolatry is the power of darknes or night which the Moon rules but tru religion compared to light or day which the Sun governs So Paul is said To turn the Gentils from darknes to light from Satans Acts 26 18. power to God Sith then Months are measured by the Moons motion but dais and yeers by the Sun the Beasts blasphemy is stil reckoned by months and the Womans stay in the wildernes by dais or yeers Zechary likens the two Oliv trees to the Zech. 4. 14. two annointed Zerobabel and Jesua which stand by the Lord but he mentions only one Candlestick signifying the Temple of that time and John two implying haply the East and West Church as it was divided during the witnesses mourning Thes did not avenge or afflict their Enemies by war and weapons but by fire from their mouths or denouncing Gods wrath on the abusers of his Ministers As the Lord speaks to Jeremy I wil make my Words in thy mouth fire and this Peo-ple Jer
signify the same cannot be proved by Scripture thes few pregnant Texts shal serv to vindicat the truth Politia Ecclesiastica An Ecclesiastic Polity 2. THat the Church is no different or distinct Oeconomy or Corporation from the civil Common-wealth but subject and subordinat to it in al things nor hav Clergy Men except they be temporal Princes any spiritual Government or coerciv jurisdiction unles delegated by suprem Magistrats special Commission but al their function is to Preach Teach administer Sacraments and doo other Ecclesiastic duties Which the Soveraign Magistrat may also execut if he pleaseth so wel as perform a Constables Office or any other civil faculty yea he can constitut what Books of the Bible shal be Canonical and which Apocryphal binding the Subjects to observ the one or other as he shal dictat direct or determin under pain of civil obedience or disobedience For Ministers are only our Ghostly instructers and School-Masters not Rulers or Governors no not in spiritual sanctions which concern the life to com whos precepts are pious Counsils not positiv commands This â—latly contradicts my third Tenet touching Church-Government 3 Thesis from the Creation to the first Century after Christs Birth and consequently to our times who defend that for divers of the first generations al Rule both sacred for Soul and secular for Body consisted in Fathers and Elders of Families but after when Men gathered like Partridges in Covies into several Societies public Poliâ—y grew up to two distinct Bodies which had sundry privileges of Rule but subordinat or subalternat one to another This is â—atified at large in the unwrested History of both Bodies drawn down from the first times to our modern ages which to reâ—terat wil be tedious if not nauseous Yet som few proors or places of Scripture shal be briefly subjoined as in the former Moses who first instituted Government over Gods people Israel Deut 17 9 12. erected by divine dictat or direction two distinct Courts one for Church-matters caled a Consistory another for Common-wealth affairs clyped a Judicatory as Jeremy Jer. 26. 8. 16. was arraigned accused and condemned to dy by the first but acquited and released by the last Thes two in process of time by long slavery of the Jews to sundry Nations were much pared or impaired yet som prints remained til Christs coming Who cals the secular Councils and spiritual Synagogs Mat 10 17. yea if any offend a Man and he tel him of it privatly but the other wil not hear Christ bids the party tel it to the Church Mat. 18 17. which if he also neglects to obey let him be as a Pagan or Publican Mat. 5 22. He describes both Courts in thes words Who ever is angry with his Brother causlesly shal be culpable of Judgment meaning the lesser Court who cals him Rhaca in scorn shal be liable to a Council or cheif Consistory but who shal say thou Fool shal be in danger of Hel fire Thus far of Church government under the Law which had power to punish Blasphemy Idolatry Adultery and som other crimes with death Now under the Gospel Christ as suprem Head held al rule soly to himself but after his death and departure into Heaven the Apostles in a joint Copersigniory governed al who toward their deceas appointed Bishops or Prelats to preside over Presbyters which were ordained before like the sâ—vâ—nty Disciples sent abroad by Christ to Preach Baptise and doo other spiritual duties for suppression of Sâ—hisms and Heresies sowen by Satan in thos dawning dais Men of pervers minds Who despise dominion and speak evil of dignities St. Paul being Judâ— v 8 Acts 19. 21. to leav the Eâ—st and go to Rome substituted Titus in his stead as Bishop of Crete a large I le To ordein Elders in every 2 Câ—r 8 6 16. Titus 1. 5. 1 Tim. 1 3. 1 Tim 5 20 21 22. Tit. 2. 15. City so he appointed Timothy about the same time to abide at Ephesus that he might charge som to teach no other doctrin The Rules which he prescribes to both being before but common Presbyters plainly indicat that he gav them coerciv power over other Elders to over see censure rebuke or silence them with al Deacons under their charge but to doo nothing partialy nor lay hands on any suddenly St. Jâ—hâ— after his return from Patmos exile constituted som supervisors in divers Cities planted whol Churches and ordained Presbyteries in several places as Paul and Timothy used to doo the like did other Apostles in divers Dioceses as many antient writers and authentic Historians truly testify Much more might be added for proof of the premisses which is omitted to avoid prolixity De regno Fidelium aterno Of Saints eternal reign THat no elect Saints when their Bodies shal be raised to life at last day according to Gods iterated promisses shal reign in the Kingdom of Heaven or third Heaven Gods highest Throne but only here on a new Earth with our Lord Jesus Christ as King not for a thousand yeers before or at the day of Judgment as Chiliasts conceiv but for ever and ever For it sutes not with the Majesty of so great a King that his Subjects or Servants shal hav place so high as his Throne or abov the Earth his Footstool which yet is commonly caled the Kingdom of Heaven in reference to that place of Eternity wher God reigns in glory This diametraly opposeth my seventh Theorem against the 7 Thesis Millenar reign of Christ with his Martyrs and som Saints at Earthly Jerusalem who hold that Christ shal com in the Clouds to judg al mankind whos bodies shal then be raised every one reunited to its proper identic Soul according to their works but shal carry his Saints with him into Heaven ther to reign or remain in ineffable jois eternaly Which position is proved by thes pregnant places without descant division or distortion Earthly Jerusalem shal be never restored no more then Sodom Acts 6. 17. or Samaria as the Prophets inform but eternal life in new Jerusalem which is Metaphoricaly meant of his Spous the Church is the reward of just Men at last day as St. Paul testifies 2 Tim. 4 6. Ergo none shal reign on Earth with him much less he with them in Jerusalem new built The holy Martyrs Souls Rev. 6 9. rest under the Altar in Heaven but shal not return to reign here on Earth either temporaly or everlastingly For al the Godly at Christs secund coming shal rise immediatly to glory 1 Thes 4. 16 17. upon sound of the Trumpet and thes then living caught up in the Clouds with them together to meet the Lord who coms not to reign or reside with them here but to carry them with him into Heaven ther to reign and remain for ever Now if it sutes not with the Majesty of God so great a King that his Subjects and Servants shal sit
that Christ went into the Wildernes freely and the carying to or fro was a very Vision as St. Lukes words in the Spirit apertly indicat or demonstrat Ob. Satan entred into Judas Iscariot who communed with Luk 22 3. 4. the chief Priests and Captains how to betray Christ Ergo Satan is a Spirit Sol. Satan signifies Enimy who is said to enter into Judas when he intertained a traâ—terous hostil intention to sel his Lord and Master for Satan cannot be said to enter before he harbored any such hostil design and 't is impertinent to say he entred in afterward therfore his wicked plot or purpose and Satans entring was one and the same thing but Incorporeal real Spirits be none Why then did not Christ and his Apostles instruct silly Quest People so plainly that they might no more doubt the truth therof Becaus such questions are more curious then salutiferous Answ and it may so wel be asked why he gav faith piety and obedience to som only but not to al which he could so easily doo Hereto reason may be rendred that as God when he brought the Israelits into Canaan did not instantly destroy al Neighbor Nations but left som as thorns in thâ—ir sides to awaken their industry and piety so Christ in conducting us toward his Heavenly Kingdom did not destroy al difficulties of natural questions but left them to whet our industry intellect and Judgment his chief scope being to shâ—w this one Article that he is Christ Son of the living God sent to sacrifice himself for sins and at next coming to reign gloriously over the Elect and to sav them from their Enimies eternaly Ther be Angels or Spirits good and evil but not incorporeal Confession such as Men suppose they see in the dark or a dream or vision which the Latins cal Spectra and took for Demons Yea ther be corporeal Spirits subtle and invisible yet not that they possessed any Mans Body and Saints Bodies shal be such viz. spiritual as St. Paul cals them Howbeit the doctrin of incorporeal Spirits prevailed in the Church and Introduced Exorcism which is not fully extruded Then were many Demoniacs but few mad Men now many mad Men but few Demoniacs which proceds not from any change in Nature but only of Names It may be asked whether the bad Spirits be they comparatly 〈◊〉 coporeal or incoporeal shal realy torment the damned with fire for ever or what els they doo Another Relique of Gentilism not brought in but left Images when they gav their names to Christ is Image-worship not instituted by Moses or Christ being meer Ideas Idols Phantasms Conceipts or Representations of extern Bodies extant in their Brains from the Organ of Senses though they seem realy without us being like things in a dream which intruth are nothing as St. Paul tels For tho their metal or mattet Gold Silver Copper Stone Wood be somwhat yet the very Figure or Sculpture which they honored or adored was a meer figment having no habitation existent of it self but only in the motions of Mens brains the worship of which is in Scripture flat Idolatry or Apostasy from God who was the Jews sole King and Moses his first Lieftenant His prime Law was that they should hav no other Gods but or beside himself The next that they should make no carved Image of their own invention to worship it For 't is al one in deposing a King and setting up another whether he be set up by a Neighbor Nation or the Subjects To honor is highly to valu any Persons power by comparing him with others but none can compare with God therfore we dishonor him by any valu less then infinit Honor properly is internal in the heart but Mens thoughts which appeer outwardly in words and actions by praying genuflexion obeying serving are signs of honoring commonly caled worshâ—p latinly Cultus Worship is duple 1. Civil du to Men as to Kings by Subjects Worship to Masters by Servants Fathers by Sons Pedagogs by Scholars Captains by Souldiers c. 2. Divine which we render to God soly or things consecrat to his service To seek a distinction of Divine and Civil worship in the words Latria Doulia and not in the worshipers intention is very fallacy or foppery For ther were two sorts of Servants 1. Such as their Masters had absolut power to kil upon discontent or disobedience as Slavs with their issu who were caled Douloi and their service Doulia being sold like Beasts 2. Thos that served spontaneously for hire or hope termed Thetes Domestic Servants upon mutual Covenants Both kinds hav their labor appointed by others and such stiled Latres as work for others So latria signifies al service in general but doulia only of Bondmen both are used promiscuously in Scripture to signify Gods service sith we al are his Sons Servants and Slaves in al which sorts is contained not only Obedience but worship with fit words and gestures An Image is the representation of somthing visible finit Image what and figured which is a quantity every way determiend so ther can be no proper Image of God Angels Spirits or Souls sith they hav no definit dimensions but only of visible bodies in fantastic forms shapes or seemings The species or shew of things in water by reflexion or refraction or of the Sun and Stars in the Air which are not wher they seem to be nor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or figures the same with that of the Objects 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 termed Ideas Idols Phantasms or Apparitions whence one inward Sens is stiled Imagination for a man can Fiction what fancy shapâ—â— he never saw like Dreamers as Poets fain Centaurs Chimera's and other Monsters so can he frame them in matâ—er of wood clay stone metal stiled Images not to resemble any real thing but only som phantastic Inhabiters of the devisers brain sith ther is a similitud of one to the other as 't is painted carved melted or moulded in matter by Art like the Image of that Idol conceived in nature Image in an ampler acception implies any resemblance of one thing by another as a King is caled Gods Image and an inferior Magistrat a superiors yea Pagans adored such for Gods as had no semblance of the Idol in their phansy as an unhewn stone for Neptune and Images of the same Saint diametraly differ yet serv their turn wel enough as names doo in History to present the Persons described Idol is extended farther in Scripture Idol what to signify Fire Sun Star or any other Creature visible or invisible worshiped as God but to put worship and Image together divers doctrins wil occur To worship an Image is Idolatry voluntarily to doo such extern acts as are signs of honoring either the matter wood Stone metal or phantasm of the brain for which it was formed or figured or both together as one animat compound of both Body and Soul To be bare before a Prince or
consequent yet in objects reducible to action it hath a compound notion caled Proposition or Enunciation immediatly annexed to the former simple notion and superadded as a Conclusion which is caled Practical Judgment as when it judgeth Hony sweet it ads a secund complex notion if sweet 't is to be tasted and infers instantly a Conclusion that Hony may be tasted Now becaus practical objects are singulars the Intellect givs judgment that this present Hony is sweet and secundly infers that 't is to be tasted wherto the wil assents and chuseth it Hence Aristotlâ— L. de motu Animal c. 7. allows no distinction between an action or execution and a Conclusion becaus this resulting from two Propositions is the very action which he provs by several exemples So this Conclusion which is the action it self wherto the execution coheres is caled Practical Judgment This action or execution of a Judgment cannot succed unles the appetit or wil concurs so that every judgment or notion of Good hath annexed an appetition of that Good and every judgment of Evil an aversion from it So soon then as the Intellect judgeth a thing to be sweet and therfore to be tasted up riseth the appetit and wils actual degustation of this sweet presented wher both Intellect and wil conjoin Thus when the Intellect givs judgment of Good which is the Wils proper object the Wil is instantly incited to desire fruition which folows on the heels of Judgment as a shadow attends the Suns body so that if the one judg it good the other desires it if evil the Wil declines it Now becaus the Intellect is mostly fickle or inconstant in judgment the Wil no less wavers or varies in appetition so that when the one to day judgeth a thing good and to morow evil the other affects it to day and abhors it to morow so the Wil conforms wholy to the Intellects judgments concerning Good or Evil. Good is duple 1. Tru or real 2. Seeming or counterfet So evil is either realy so or gilded with the specious shew of Good Hence Cicero aptly compares it to a Ballance which if Geometricaly adjusted by dimidiation is indifferent to be depressed at either end or extrem and so forced from its equilibry or depressed at that side on which the greater weight is laid As the contrary end may be depressed by over-poising it with a greater weight Semblably the Intellect is in it self indifferent and inflected to that object wherto the greater appeerance of Verum Bonum Truth or Good adheres as it can upon a greater appeerance of either reflect to a secund being stil led by verisimility for the Wil is as the Needle and Intellect the Magnet by whos verticity it turns parallel to the point of Good whether real or apparent Or the Wil is as a Mariner and Intellect the compass by which she steers For the Wils indifferency is but a shadow or representativ of that indifferency congeneal to the Intellect and consequently the determination of that indifferency in the Mistriss causeth a like determination of indifferency in the Maid to this or that object For oftimes our Minds are equilibrated betwixt two judgments or waver betwen two objects equaly attractiv which fluctuation riseth becaus the weights of reason are equal on either side that the Mind can acquiesc in the election of neither Hence three excellent consequents occur 1. That so oft as the Intellect having embraced tru judgment quits it to pursu a fals one so oft somthing intervens which diverts the genuin appeerance from a good object to an evil one and so causeth a mutation of the Intellects assent or judgment 2. That the change of the objects appeerance is sole immidiat caus of the Intellects varying in judgment and assent 3. That the Wil is hereby obliged to conform to the Intellects guid or conduct whos flexility flows from the others flexibility So 't is in vain to attempt a change of the Wils appetition til care be had to change the Intellects judgment Or to make the one constant in appetition unles the other be setled in judgment Thus he of Free-wil in general 14. Of Grace and Free-wil jointly which cooperat in every 14 Grace and Freewil Phil. 2. 13. spiritual work wherin three Principles or Axioms are to be declared 1. That in all their operations at our first conversion or in every good work Grace is stil prime principal Leader from first to last But Mans Wil never works first not alone being as a wheel in a Mil which is kept going by the waters motion and that staying it soon stops So is this kept working by Gods Grace which flows from his goodnes or desire of our salvation 2. That when Grace works on Mans Understanding Wil or Affections it preservs the natural powers properties and motions of a Reasonable Creature for it destrois not Nature but helps it nor doth Nature repel Grace but receivs it Though then the habits of Faith Hope Charity be infused by God and not acquired by human industry yet are inspired after the manner of Acquisits becaus instilled by means of hearing praying meditating reading studying and endeavoring For so saith S. Austin not I but Gods Grace 〈◊〉 Grat. 〈◊〉 â—â—b c. 5. with me that is not I alone nor his Grace alone but both jointly sith he that made thee without thee wil not sav thee without thee 3. That in al operations of Grace Mans Wil is to rely on God as the Creature on the Creator Receiver on the Doner Weak on the strong Imperfect on the Perficient and Supplicant on the Lord as the Earth depends on Heaven for rain heat and influence which when Man neglects rejects or forgets he is dry void and barren of al spiritual fruits by his own fault The imperfect work on Mat. 6. saith Lo how appositly Homil. 14. Christ speaks he saith not Father sanctify thy name in us bring thy Kingdom to us thy Wil be doon of us lest God should seem to sanctify himself by Men or bring his Kingdom on whom he lists or make his Wil be doon of whom he pleaseth and in that regard be an accepter of persons Nor did say Let us sanctify thy Name take thy Kingdom doo thy Wil lest it should seem to proced from Man only But he speaks indefinitly or impersonaly Holowed by thy Name thy Kingdom com thy Wil be doon to shew how needful the work of both is becaus Man hath need of God and he is helpful to Man in performing righteousnes For as Man can doo no good without Gods help so he works no good in Man except he be willing as if he had said if ye doo thes things if ye pray for thes ye are worthy of such a Father who wil giv them To try the truth take thes four Propositions 1. Mans Wil without Grace can and doth Wil and perform spiritual good this is Pelagius's Heresy condemned by the
whol Church 2. Mans Wil without Grace cannot wil good but being inabled by it can after sans farther Grace both wil and perform alone this is the Massiliens or Semipelagians error 3. By or through Gods Grace working on the Wil it can both wil and doo good but not without it nor can continu without farther assisting Grace this is truly orthodox which subjoins Mans Wil to Gods Grace in willing and acting good 4. The Wil by or through Grace working on it cannot but wil and perform good this S. Austin held in heat of arguing against Pelagians and Massiliens who fel too far into the extrem like such as bow a crooked stick back to make it streight as S. Chrysostom compares S. Austin asserted that Grace affords such help to the Predestinat as they were not only unable to persever without it but by means of it could not chus but persever The state of the Question which if rightly put is like an Hebr. 6. 16. Oath to end strife consists about the maner and measure how Grace works on the Wil or with it whether the Wil cooperats as the third Proposition holds or whether it so works that the Wil must needs concur as the fourth avers For explaining wherof Grace meant in the third shal be stiled efficient that in the fourth which works necessarily or infallibly causing the Wil to consent efficacious Which in tru terms is whether Grace be resistible or not If it be so prevalent or Of resisting Grace prepotent as it carries the Wil to obey willingly if that be willing which cannot doo otherwise the fourth is tru But if Grace be only an efficient adjuvant prior Caus and Mans Wil prepared by it a cooperant secund Caus in the work of Conversion which may fail resist or disobey then the third is more authentic To prov it for brevity sake read Acts 5. 32. Acts 7. 5. Rom. 10. 16. 2 Cor. 9. 13. Gal. 3. 1. Gal. 5. 7. 2 Thes 5. 8. Al which places are most plain that one may disobey Gospel Grace Dr. Ward a stif Stickler for effectual Grace defines thus We freely confess that neither operating nor cooperating Grace at Conversion or after doth take off from Mans Wil the power to resist if it wil for resistibility is natural born with us and inseperable from the Wil as a nativ faculty but 't is not questioned simply whether God in the work of Conversion or any other doth mov the Wil resistibly for that 's granted only the maner of resistibility is in controversy wherin we say when God works in the Wil ipsum Velle to wil Grace produceth non resilience which is effected by certain knowledg and prevalence of delight as S. Austin saith Therfore we avow actual resistence to be taken away for that time sith 't is impossible such should stand with effectual Grace for two opposits the Wil to be wrought on by effectual Grace and to resist it at once cannot coexist which were to make the Wil obey and resist at one instant Thes shifâ—s pass current among Partialists but he saith al the Controversy is about the maner or resistibility which indeed is none at al for al grant resistibility or power to resist is not removed by Grace the Question only is of actual resistence or maner of not resisting wherin none is so silly to say that when the Wil yeelds actualy to Grace ther is then any renitence sith contingence is not when things are in Esse but before they were so whether they might not possibly be otherwise that is resist when it did obey so the debat lies in resistibility before the act of good or evil not in it for a Regenerat may sin resistibly not in the very moment of willing it but becaus he could hav resisted yer he willed it So a Convert obeyeth Grace or willeth his conversion resistibly becaus yer he willed it he could hav resisted els why doth S. Paul so seriously exhort not to resist the Spirit Sin may be resisted but not after consent so may Grace but not when the Wil haâ—h embraced it for to be actualy received and then resistible cannot cohere Howbeit if non-resistence be granted 't is dubâ—ous what the caus is and wherin it consists whether in effectual Grace or effectual Wil for what is said of the one may be verified of the other sith when it obeys 't is impossible it should wil to resist but it may before Nor can any tel by the very act of obeying which is caus of non-resisting for put either to remov resistence 't is surely gon by consenting and it seems Wil is â—hâ— proper caus which ends resistence 1. Becaus effectual Grace is nâ—men sine re which cannot determ in the Wil without destroying it whos nature is to determin it self 2. Becaus to resist or not are special acts of the Wil as to convert repent beleev belongs to Man who converts repents beleevs for God promiseth only to circumcise Deut. 30. 6. the heart and Man is bid to circumcise his own heart so Deâ—t 10. 16. God promiseth to put a new Spirit into Man and Men are injoined Jer. 4. 4. Ezek. 11. 1â— to make them a new heart and Spirit both being evangelical So the promiss implies or supposes an impotence in us to doo supernatural acts tendering Gods power assistance and operation to incourage us but the Precept imports som power in us under his assisting Grace to indeavor or doo somwhat toward thos acts which appeer to be ours becaus they savour of our imperfections Hence we stil accuse our selfs complaining on the weaknes of Faith Lord I beleev help my unbelief coldnes of lov pride of heart yet God givs Faith Lov Humility who is al perfect Why then doo we not rather magnify his Goodnes and Graces if he doth al then ingratly disgrace them as being impotent or imperfect sav only becaus we hav impaired or made them defectiv by being wanting to Grace Let sweet Bernard a magnifier of Grace end this point Grace so operats with Free-wil as it only prevents in the first act and accompanies in the rest but is so far preventing as it even cooperats with Grace yet so that what is begun by Grace alone is perfected by both alike so they work jointly not severaly together not by turns in particular degrees not partly Grace partly Free-wil but ech jontly performs the whol Free-wil doth al and Grace al but as the whol is wrought in the Wil so is it wholy doon by Grace Thus he which is the tâ—u state of the whol debate This wil better appear by consistence of Grace and Free-wil in Mans four estates 1. Of Nature sound 2. Of Nature lapsed 3. Of Nature renewed 4. Of Nature glorified which shâ—l be particularly agitated together with the order of a sinners Conversion Man at Creation had to wil or nil naturaly by supernatural Grace to wil more fully which took not away
Freewil accept the same Nor can they being so holpen accomplish or perform things for their saving health but with much labor and endevor For though Reasons light remains yet 't is much dimmed or darkned and hardly discerns inferior things of this life but utterly unable to understand spiritual belonging to a better So though ther is left a freedom of Wil in works of this present life yet to act high and Heavenly 't is of it self insufficient and being wounded or maimed needs help Psal 119. 18. to heal and repair it Hereto David reflected Open thou my eys that I may see the wondrous things of thy Law and Jeremy Heal me Lord and I shal be made whol S. Austin avers the same That Free-wil is in Man since the Fal which no Catholic can deny But in spiritual desires and works to pleas God 't is so frail and feeble that it cannot begin or perform them unles it be prevented and excited by Grace the principal Agent without which Man can doo nothing good or Godly as thes places prov Without me ye can doo nothing No Man coms to me except John 15 5. John 6. 44. 2 Cor. 3. 5. the Father draw him and unles it were given of my Father We be not sufficient of our selfs to think any good So Free-wil must be helped by Grace preventing but being so enabled may freely cooperat with it and being by the same susteined may persist or increas in Grace Surely 't is soly by it that we be first inspired incited or moved to good But to resist tentations and go forward in goodnes is both of Gods Grace and our own Free-wil jointly Lastly when we hav persevered to the end 't is Gods free gift and Mercy to Crown us with glory who hath graciously ordained to reward Men after this life according to the good works doon by his Grace Therfore al are to be monished chiefly Preachers that in this deep dark point they neither so teach Gods Grace as to exclud Free-wil nor extol Free-wil to impeach Grace Thus they very orthodoxly Here is no Free-wil to spiritual good without Grace nor Grace so prepotent or violent but may be resisted or refused yet enough to glorify Gods goodnes and convince Mans ingratitud Al which is sound Theology and shews that they were learned in thos dais 16. Perseverance or Assurance to the end is Gods special 16 Perseverance gift or Grace becaus no Man of himself alone can continu against al assalts of the World Flesh and Satan yet no doubt the Elect doo finaly persist in Faith and Sanctification by Grace els they are not of that number whom God infallibly foreknew wil so persever Nor is the Question whether every Beleever may lose his faith for many fal from som degrees and not lose al Graces at once retaining only such as be essentialy necessary to Salvation but 't is whether tru Faith working by Lov can be lost for ther is a strong vigorous rooted Faith which cannot fal or fail and a feeble green tender yet tru salvific which may Such was Peters which a silly Damosel shattered but after the Holy Ghost given at Pentecost his Faith and Lov were so corroborated as he despised the Whips and wounds of al Persecutors yea death it self by preposterous crucifixion of his heels upward Hence two Questions arise 1. Of Men not Elected whether Two Questions som such doo not attain tru Faith Repentance Justification Sanctification yet lose them and not finaly persever but perish 2. Of the Elect Whether som of those doo not somtimes fal into hainous sins Theft Adultery Murder and if so whether they be then justified or in state of Salvation For perseverance is of two sorts or degrees either continued by constant holding Faith and a good Conscience to the end which is rare or interrupted with fals and risings or renewings by Repentance which brings Salvation at last For the first which are not Elect 't is said He that endures to Mat. 24. 13. the end shal be saved Here he that hath Salvation promised if he persist finaly is supposed to be in a right cours wherin he should continu and so be saved but it implies that he may possibly fal from Faith or wax cold in Lov and not be saved Herof S. Bernard saith falendued with Lov had persevered our Lord in vain exhorts his Disciples to continu therin for if they did not yet Lov he would not say continu but be in Lov or if they did Lov already he needed not exhort to perseverance according to som Opinions Els wher he saith such hav no root who for a while beleev but in time of tentation fal away Whence or whether doo they fal even from faith to unbeleef I ask could they be saved in that Faith or not If they could not what prejudice had our Saviour or Satan profit by their faling away S. Jerom saith If every one born of God cannot sin nor be tempted why doth Christ warn us to fly tentation Som say such Exhortations Precepts and Promises are used to uphold Perseverance But if it be infallible they are used in vain unles obedience to them be in Man who failing on his part thos means often fail David knew the two Commandments as means to restrain his two sins but they failed through him Peters forewarning of his denial was a means to humble his confidence but he made no use of it Others say In regard of our weaknes we may fal and means must be used for support but by Gods Election and Christs Mediation we shal stand sure Tru But the Question is of those which 'tis uncertain whether thâ—y be Elect or no Or if a few means be infallible al other supplies are superfluous and we may securely rely on them Ezekiel speaks more plainly to the purpose If the wicked Ezek. 18. 21 26 27. wil turn from al his sins and keep my Statuts he shal surely liv and not dy When a righteous Man turns from his wais and commits iniquity he shal dy Again When a wicked Man turns from his iniquity and doth what is lawful and right he shal sav his Soul What evasion can be here if the comparison be wel observed For if it be denied that a righteous Man can fal and dy it may also that a wicked can turn and liv which is to giv the Holy Ghost a ly If the wicked ther meant or mentioned be truly and legaly wicked then are the Righteous truly and Evangelicaly Just For legaly just none but one ever was If then any wicked Man ever turned from sin and lived a justified Man may turn from his righteousnes and dy els Ezekiel speaks untruth The Dort Divines answer not this place being too hard a knot but say to others that the Apostles speak of initial degrees of Faith from which Men a little entred may go back But not of tru justifying from which they that hav attained cannot finaly
fal Let the Touchstone try the truth 'T is impossible Heb. 6. 4 5 6. saith S. Paul for thos who once being illightned tasted of the heavenly Gift and partaked the Holy Ghost and tasted Gods good Word and powers of the World to com if they shal fal away to renew them unto repentance He speaks not of non Entities nor of Novices but such as were illightned and tasted the heavenly gift Gods good Word and powers of the World to come and partaked the Holy Ghost which metaphors of Sens tasting seing c. imply in Scripture no slight superficial sens of spiritual things So S. Peter If after they hav escaped the 2 Pet. 2 20 21 22. Worlds pollutions through knowledg of the Lord Jesus they be again intangled and overcom the laâ—ter end with them is wors then the beginning For it had bin better not to hav known the way of righteousnes then having known to turn from the holy Commandments delivered to them But it hapned to them according to the tru Proverb the Dog returned to his vomit and the washed Sow to hir walowing in the mire To escape the Worlds pollutions through knowledg of our Lord Jesus is no smal fruit of the Spirit but a ful cleer certain fruition whence it is so hard or impossible for such as fal from so great a measure of Grace to be renewed by Repentance but from De Cor. Gr. c. 6. lesser lapses ordinary S. Austin saith 'T is much to be marveled why God givs not perseverance to som of his Children whom he regenerated in Christ and gav Faith Hope Lov when he forgivs so great wickednesses to others and confers the grace of Sons on them he wonders why God did not snatch such away as lived Godly from the evil to com lest their il inclinations should caus a change So he holds if thos Men had dyed while they lived justly and piously they had been saved Ergo their Faith was more then initiated and they more then outside Christians As God first cals Man before he folows so Man first fals from God before he forsakes who is stil ready to receiv al into Grace upon tru repentance So saith our sixteenth Article After we hav received the Holy Ghost we may depart from Grace and fal into sin and by Gods Grace rise again and amend our lifes Therfore they are to be condemned which say they can no more sin so long as they liv here or deny to tru Penitents place of forgivnes Touching the terms of faling totaly and finaly it is certain only to Gods Prescience but unknown to us for the Faithful may fal and God alone knows whether they wil repent or rise again but we must stil work with fear and trembling If they cannot fal why doth Christ bid us pray Lead us not into tentation but deliver us from evil or why doth our Liturgy say Suffer us not at last hour for any pains of death to fal from thee For the Elect thos of Dort grant that a Regenerat faling into grievous sins is not actualy reconciled til he repent but in state of damnation and unapt to enter into Gods Kingdom but they ad 1. Though the Regenerats so sinning be guilty yet they shal be in Gods purpos absolved Tru So they were before they beleeved 2. That God deals not with them in rigour No more doth he with many Reprobats falen from Faith whom he would bring to repentance by long suffering 3. That they hav not lost Jus ad Regnum but usum Juris as a Lepet loseth the use of his hous not right But similituds are no sound Arguments Hath an Elect committing murder jus ad Regnum then S. Paul speaks fals I tel you they that doo such 1 Cor. 6. 9. things shal not inherit Gods Kingdom but al that hav right James 2 10. shal inherit 4. That their universal Justification is not made void by sinning surely their absolution from former sins is not frustrated but this new sin which makes them Sons of wrath and guilty of the whol Law needs Absolution and Justification from it But universal Justification is no remission of sins past present and to com For what need then Repentance 5. That their state of Adoption remains immovable Tru In Gods purpos not in act but that they may fal 6. That som seeds remain by which Life may spring again It may for sooner then in an habituated Sinner Yet this alters not the Case if he be guilty of death no more then a Noblemans crime who hath many friends to beg his life S. John saith Whoever is born of God 1 John 3 9. commits not sin for his seed remains and he cannot sin becaus born of God Hence Calvinists infer if Gods seed remain in a Regenerat and he cannot sin deadly then can be no intercision of his Justification Certes his scope is not to prov that thos born of God cannot fal from righteousnes to sin or that a Member of Christ cannot becom the member of an Harlot by Adultery and he that hath bin the member of an Harlot becom the Member of Christ by Repentance But he means that to be born of God and commit deadly sin cannot consist nor can any be a Member of Christ and an Harlot at once being Asystats S. Jerom writing against Jovinian who abused this Text as Men doo now interprets thus S. John saith He that is born of God commits not sin becaus ye should not sin not that ye cannot but so long as ye commit not sin ye are Gods Children yea such as persist his Sons cannot sin For ther is first a faling from God before we fal into sin sith thos two cannot cohere Tertullian tels how som say They hav God sure enough in Heart and Mind yet shew no sign in their actions and so commit sin thinking their fear and Faith safe as if they committed Adultery yet deemed their chastity not impaired or poisoned their Parents thinking to doo God good service Thus while they continu in sin notwithstanding their fear they shal be cast into Hel notwithstanding their Faith Bishop Ridley saith S. John means He cannot sin so long as Gods seed abides in him but Faith Hope and Charity cannot stand with evil living nor without good Works David while he stood guilty of a duple crime could not be in state of Regeneration nor Peter til he repented his denial Yet som say it was salvo amore fide becaus as we are born but once so we are new born no oftner This metaphor holds not for S. Paul saith Litle Children of whom I travel in birth again til Christ be formed in you meaning so oft as we fal into hainous sins we must stil be renewed by Repentance but Men wil expound Scripture as they list As to the certainty of Perseverance Election Salvation this concerns not God whos knowledg is infallible and purpos immutable but us while we liv here