exception And one Mistake tho never so absurd does commonly beget another and so it happens here for Where is the heavy Sentence which the Doctor passeth And What is it Certainly it cannot be less than the Sentence of Damnation which he blames with so much noise in Dr. Womock I find indeed at every turn the Reconciler is sending His Dissenters to Hell for their wretched Schisme not by single Persons only but by Sholes and Myriads and then he rebukes Dr. Pag. 55. Womock for so doing when he does it not Just as he shoots his Censures at his Governours in the very same Breath wherein he inveighs against Judging But the Reconciler is Catcht again in a sorry Fallacy and I am almost perswaded he is not aware of it If his Argument were put into Form it must run thus Whosoever saith That the Dissenters have lost the Title of Weak Brethren and are under the Sentence of Damnation he is rash Presumptuous and Uncharitable But does Dr. Womock make any such Assumption Then let the Reconciler who takes great freedom in that kind tell him of his foolery and that he wants Logick as well as Charity But Dr. Womock knows that here is Sophisma Plurium Interrogationum which perhaps is more then the Reconciler has considered In effect he puts the question thus Have the Dissenters lost the Title of Weak Brethren and fallen under the Sentence of Damnation If the Dr. affirms it then he concludes them under the Sentence of Damnation and is rash and Uncharitable in so doing If he denies it then he grants that they are Weak Brethren and are to have all the Indulgence and tenderness that belongs to Persons under those Circumstances But Dr. Womock is able to distinguish in this Case and to separate such as have lost the title of Weak Brethren from the present sentence of Damnation For the Dr. meddles with no mans Person having so well considered the Advice of Bishop Taylor that learned Prelate whom the Reconciler pretends to admire while he does abuse him in his writings Be not hasty sayes he in pronouncing damnation Adv. 52. against any man or Party in a matter of Disputation It is enough that you reprove an errour but what shall be the sentence against it at the day of Judgment thou knowest not and therefore pray for the erring Person and reprove him but leave the sentence to his Judge But touching those Weak ones among Ad Rom. 14. in Principio the Romans I shall acquaint the Reader with Peter Martyrs Opinion of them The question is Whether the Weakness of their Faith were an impediment to their Justification He thinks not because it is not the strength or Excellency of our Faith by which we are justified but the Merit and Dignity of the Object and although Faith be weak yet 't is Faith still if it be true But it might be said that they did not believe all things which were to be believed For they did not believe the Ceremonial Law of Moses to be abrogated And that Faith which does not believe all the Articles of Faith is no true faith Fateor equidem saith Peter Martyr I do confess it Si id accidat vitio Credentis if the fault be in the Believer if he will not admit of those Truths which he hears out of Holy Writ but contemns them and makes himself the Judge and Arbitrator how much of Scripture he ought to believe and attributes more to himself then he does to the Word of God Non est ista Fides vera that is not true Faith nor is the Holy Spirit wont to inspire any such Sence or Judgment But if there be something which a man does not believe because it has not been clearly propounded to him and he carries a mind sufficiently prepared to receive the Truth when it is made known to him in this case the Truth of his Faith may be a means to justify while the Weakness of it doth excuse him I wish the Dissenters may consider this Judgment of Peter Martyr that they may not make matters of Decency and Order under the Gospel to be Sin as if we were still under that Mosaical yoak of Bondage the Law and not under Grace But to follow the Reconciler who justifies his Denial of the Conclusion by several Arguments 1. He says what Dr. Womock does Pag. 105. alledge is a Plea that will serve all Parties Papists Dissenters Arminians Calvinists and almost all Disputers Now what the true ground of the Dispute is I cannot well imagine I have reason to think he is offended with the Major Proposition which contains the Character of such as ought not to claime the Right or Title of Weak Brethren but that is so expresly the words of Holy Scripture that he cannot in modesty avow his dislike thereof and therefore he makes an Assumption or Minor Proposition in Dr. Womocks name and then blames him for it That Dr. Womock did not assume upon the Dissenters the Reader will be convinced v. Pag. 100. 101 102. if he please to consult the place in the Verdict However let us weigh the strength of his discourse which we have in this Syllogisme All Arguments that may be used by other Parties as Papists c. they are ill Arguments But Dr. Womocks Argument may be used by other Parties Papists c. Therefore 't is an ill Argument Here I deny his Major Proposition All Arguments used by other Parties and particularly by the Papists are not ill Arguments for their Arguments to prove the Divinity of Christ are good Arguments and many of them the very same that are used by Protestants And that of Bellarmine is celebrated for a great Truth among all the Learned even by Amesius himself Propter incertitudinem proprioe justitioe perticulum inanis gloriae tutissimum est fiduciam totam in sola Dei misericordiâ benignitate reponere that is In regard of the Uncertainty of our own Righteousness and the danger of Vain-glory it is the safest way to put our whole Trust and Confidence in the sole Mercy and Favour of God This is a great Gospel-Truth and yet it fell from the Pen of Bellarmine And therefore he is out of the story when he concludes all Arguments to be ill because they are used by Papists or other Parties That his Argument may conclude effectually against Dr. Womock it must be framed thus Those Arguments which will as well and with equal Truth and Light of evidence maintain the Points of Popery c. as they do the Doctrine of the Church of England Those must needs be ill Arguments But such are the Arguments produced by Dr. Womock Here I utterly deny the Minor The Argumens there used by Dr. Womock have not an equal Truth or Light of Evidence to prove the Points of Popery as they have to prove the Doctrine of the Church of England For let me ask the Reconciler these few Questions Have the Popish
Horse-Raceing meaning at another Time and Place Again if I say the King forbids that men should keep Grey-Hounds to Ride with Swords and Pistols c. meaning Persons of an Inferiour Rank and Quality and another say the King does not sorbid Men to keep Grey-Hounds or to Ride with Swords and Pistols meaning Persons of a Higher Rank and Quality here 's no Contradiction no giving of the Lye to one another And thus it is between St. Paul and Meisner for St. Paul speaks to private Persons whom he forbids to Usurp Power to give Law or to Judge and Censure where they have no Authority But Meisner speaks to Governours who are invested with Authority and Obliged to keep out Schisms and to preserve good Order within their Jurisdiction 2dly St. Paul speaks of a Church which was Inorganical that wanted a due Settlement of Laws and Governours but Meisner speakes of a Church that was Organized in all its Parts and Members having Rules of Decency and Order and a setled Discipline with Governours and Officers to execute the same And this among such as have a little skill to apply it will be sufficient to justify at least Meisners first and second Arguments without giving the Lye to the Apostle In his second Answer Pag. 156. and 157. the Reconciler would oblige our Governours to betray their own Consciences out of Commiseration and to betray the Dissenters too by a pitiful Gratification for he would have our Governours quitt the stedfast Perswasions of their own Minds in Favour to the Dissenters not to Correct the Errour of their Judgments but to Caresse them in their Superstition At Meisners third Objection Pag. 158 the Reconciler grows very Froward and somewhat Ruder again than becomes him towards such an Adversary but as 't was observed of the Cynick that he checkt the Pride of his great Visitant but with another Pride no less Insolent so may we truly say that this Reconciler checks those things which He 's pleased to call Fooleries in Meisner He Loves to Rhetoricate but is not very good at distinguishing which makes him at a Loss and Blunder in his Answers he was told in the Verdict Pag. 125. that a man has a Lock and Key in his own Bosom and there he may keep his Christian-Liberty safe enough from being plundred and there also he may Lock up his Private Opinion when the Broaching of it may Offend but cannot Edify But what 's this to a Publick Constitution When See 2 Mac. 6. 24. c. Multa sunt quae de se seu natura sua sunt Adiaphora licent quidem sed dedecent quia viro probo indigna quia viro sunt incongrua Christiano the Authority of Prudent and Careful Governours has established Rule and Order if it be in my Power I hold it my Duty to defend them In calling the denial of this Gospel Truth a Work of Darkness Meisner saies no more than Calvin doth whose words are these Necessitate servandae Legis obstringi piorum conscientias silentio sepeliri Libertatis Doctrinam haec erat indigna merces Unitatis Ad Galat. 2. 14. He has no Patience at his own Suspicion of Meisners Sawciness for here he charges him with giving the Lye unto the Fathers especially to St. Chrysostom who sayes that St. Pauls advice to the Romans was not Dissimulation but Condescention pag. 159. and Dispensation Her 's Ignoratio Elenchi the Reconciler snar'd in his own Fallacy for we are discoursing what is fit to be done under the State of Christianity where the Church is daily setled by Authority with Convenient Liturgy and Discipline but the Reconciler carries us back to reflect upon what was rather conniv'd at than Establish'd what was tollerated by Condescention and special Dispensation when the Church was in her Non-Age This is just as if upon an Enquiry what Orders were given out to be observed and what the Custom and Practice was when the Temple was Erected and God's Solemn Worship fetled and performed in Jerusalem I should run back and give him the History of what was Permitted in the Wilderness But it may be a Question whether the Rcconciler does perfectly understand what St. Chrysostom means by Condescention Chrysost ad Gal. 2. apud Massut in Vit. St. Paul Lib. â— Cap. 7. and Dispensation for St Peters dissembling at Antioch He calls a Dispensation as Massutius has observed of him Et duo inquit per Dispensationem agebat Petrus Alterum ne offenderet eos qui erant ex Circumcisione Alterum ut Paulo justam proeberet occasionem increpandi Unde et Paulus Objurgat et Petrus sustinet ut Dum Magister objurgatus obticescit facilius Discipuli mutarent Sententiam Two things saith he St. Peter did by Dispensation One that he might not offend those of the Circumcision The other that he might give St. Paul a just occasion to reprove him Hereupon St. Paul rebukes and St. Peter bears it that while the Master takes his chideing with a meek humble Silence the Disciples may the more easily be brought to change their Opinions By the Reconcilers Doctrine St Pauls Rebuke was a rash Affront for St. Peter was not Blame-Worthy the Dissimulation of his Belief was out of Condescention to the Jews Weakness his practice was a Dispensation and fit for his Successors and all worthy Governours to imitate And it would make good Hierom's Argument Cur damnasset in altero Paulus quod sibi laudi ducit nam gloriatur se Judaeis factum esse Judoeum 1 Cor. 9. 20. But Mr. Calvin Answers Longe aliud Petrum fecisse Neque enim aliter se accommodabat Judaeis Paulus quam salva Libertatis Doctrina Calvin ad Galat 2. 11. But whether Commiseration should out-weigh the peace of the Church and of a good Conscience as the Reconciler would have it whether the Bowels of Compassion towards such as call themselves Weak-brethren be sufficient to supersede all the obligations that lye upon Christian Governours to advance God's Glory in the Settlement of his publick Worship I shall leave them to consider who are so highly concern'd in it If we may believe the Assembly of Divines the Civil Magistrate hath Authority Confession of Faith cap. 23. Num. 3. and 't is his Duty to take Order that Unity and Peace be preserved in the Church that the Truth of God be kept pure and intire that all Blasphemies and Heresies which include Schisms too be suppress'd all Corruption and Abuses in Worship and Discipline prevented or reformed and all the Ordinances of God duly Setled Administred and Observed This is the Magistrates Duty according to the Faith of the Presbyterians who shall acquit them from it It is Mercy sayes Mr. Hales to pardon Serm. on Rom. 14. 1. in Fine wrong done against our selves but to deny the Course of Justice to him that calls for it Peccatum in Deum Vocatur quod imediate in Contumeliam Dei redund at P.
Severity was it because he loved them not this he refers to the searcher of hearts 2 Cor. 11. 11. to judge This was sound Doctrine and wholsom Discipline without question in the Apostles time But perhaps the case may be altered now no it was not we are sure in St. Austins time Quid igitur hic faciat Ecclesiae Ep. 167. medicina salutem omnium materna Charitate conquirens tanquam inter phreneticos Lethargicos aestuans nunquid contemnere nunquid desistere vel debet vel potest utriusque sit necesse est molesta quia neutris est inimica Nam Phrenetici nolunt ligari Lethargici nolunt excitari sed perseverat diligentia charitatis Phreneticum castigare Lethargicum stimulare ambos amare Ambo offenduntur sed ambo diliguntur ambo molestati quandiu aegri sunt indignantur sed ambo sanati gratulantur Now what remedy can the Church which with the tenderness of a Mother seeks the good of all her children apply in this case whilst she is embroiled in the contentions of the Frantick on the one hand and the Stupid and Sullen on the other She neither can well nor indeed ought she utterly to cast them off or cease admonishing them which course soever she takes it must needs trouble her because she has a kindness for both But so long as neither the Frantick and unruly will be restrained by her Laws nor will the sullen be provok'd to observe them she in charity to them both proceeds to chastise the one and rouze up the other and yet retains a love for them both Both take offence and yet what is done is in love to both both are apt to fret and murmur and are angry in their sickness as if they were wronged but upon recovery are glad to find the wholsom effects of those means applyed to them I shall trouble the Reader but with one praemonition more which concerns the Reconcilers dealing with Dr. Womock The Body of his discourse this Champion of Dissention found solid and of too high proof for the little strength of his Assault and Battery and therefore with great wisdom and forecast he never attempts it but yet to shew his good will to the cause and because some sort of men out of their great zeal must be medling he acts the part of the old Serpent and falls a nibling at the Heels of it But that verdict was drawn up with so much evidence of truth that the Dr. dares venture it before any Bench and present it to any that bears the Character and Title of a Judge except the Protestant Joyner or an Ignoramus Jury With the Readers Patience we will try how this Reconciler does attaque it He begins in reference to the fourteenth and fifteenth chapters of the Epistle to the Romans and at pag. 89. of the Verdict Where the Dr. laid down this Position That the Rules of Advice in those Chapters were directions for common use among private Christians and here I am afraid the Reconciler had no honest meaning in changing the Drs. words saying and not Decrees whereas the Dr. goes on thus but for Decrees and Orders of publick use and practice He the Apostle gave out none to this Church because as yet here was no Jurisdiction setled no Laws made no Governors appointed to put them in Execution To prove this the Dr. alledged four Arguments tho the Reconciler takes notice but of three 1. The first of those Arguments was taken from Grotius and it is built upon the Apostles command to those Romans which was only to mark such as caused Divisions and Scandals and not to excommunicate them From whence that Learned man collects that there was not then at Rome any Presbytery or setled Jurisdiction In answer to this Plea the Reconciler pag. 69. saith 1. That it is manifestly false 2. That were it true it alters not the case nor doth it take off from the strength of the present Argument But to mollifie the sharpness of his stile in saying 't is manifestly false he is pleased to be a little more civil and that is much in him and to say only 1. That it is not true For says he can any man imagine yes he knows Grotius and Aretius and others as well as Dr. Womock do imagine it that in such a Church whose Faith was spoken of throughout the World there should be no Ministers to Baptize to Preach the Word to administer the Sacrament of the Lords Supper to them and if there were such there must be a standing Order of Presbyters licensed by the Apostles or their Bishop or exercising their Ministerial Function without licence Before I return my Answer I must in Charity deliver the Reconciler out of his own snare or at least preserve the unwary Reader from it or exercising their Ministerial Function without Licence This is a fallacy which the Logicians call petitio principii whether there were such a Ministerial Function setled as yet at Rome is the thing in question but the Reconciler takes it for granted and so disputes upon it He should have proved it first and then he might very fairly have made his Inference In the mean while I shall tell the Reader for his satisfaction That Rome being the Imperial City and having Commerce with all the World 't was no wonder that all the world should soon have intelligence that the Gospel was brought and entertained amongst them But as a very learned and judicious person observes the Church or rather the Christians at Rome when S. Paul wrote his Epistle thither seems as that also at Antioch was for the most part to be made up of Foreigners both of Jews and Gentiles whom business Acts 28. 17. Rom. 1. 15. 16. drew thither from other converted Provinces as appears both from the Apostles salutations of former Acquaintance Anon. Paraphrase Annot on the Rom. in the preface chap. 16. and from his writing the Epistle in Greek Whether the Sacraments were as yet commonly administred there is not asserted in that Epistle for the mention of Baptism in the sixth Chapter will not evince it that it was but the Gospel of the Resurrection could not want Apostles and Evangelists in a large sense to publish it The good women who brought the glad tidings of our Saviours return from the Grave with life and glory are somewhere stiled Apostolorum Apostolae the Apostles of the Apostles After the death of S. Stephen the Disciples who were scattered abroad Acts 8. 4. went every where Preaching the Word But were all Apostles properly so called Had all power to Plant and Establish and Govern Churches This Reconciler Tit. 1. 5. knows the Gospel was Preached in Creete before any Discipline or Government was established The Schoolmen tell us with great truth and reason that Potestas Ordinis Potestas Jurisdictionis are too several things There are several parts of the holy Function I will recite them as they
are reckoned up by Dr. Sclater There is ad 2 Thes 3. 6. Potestas Ministerii at large Authority to Preach the Gospel and administer the Holy Sacraments Mat. 28. 19. 2. there is Potestas Ordinis a power to Ordein Ministers and make Laws for external Government 1 Tim. 5. 22. Tit. 1. 5. 3. there is Potestas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Censurae to administer Censures less or greater according to the quality of Offences Every mans zeal and knowledge where there is no Organical Church setled was licence enough for him to report what had been done at Jerusalem and what was the present Faith and Practice there If they had any Ministers to Preach with Authority amongst them no doubt they had their Holy Orders and a Divine Mission and were put in Office to that purpose but 't is most likely they had none because tho they had knowledge to admonish one another of the Doctrine they had received yet they had no Authority to teach as S. Ambrose has observed Rom. 15. 14. non dixit ut invicem se doceant sed admoneant and if there had been any such spiritual guides doubtless in such a case of difficulty and danger the Apostle would have referred the Christians to their Conduct as he did in other places And yet every man that hath a licence as well as ability to preach the Gospel has not presently the Authority of a Governor Philip was an Evangelist and Preached Christ to the City of Samaria Baptiz'd Converts and wrought Miracles amongst them yet he had no Jurisdiction there The Apostles sent Peter and John from Jerusalem to lay their hands upon them to Confirm them Acts 8. 14. to 17. Secondly saith our Reconciler The Apostle among many others whom he calls his Helpers in Christ approved in Christ labourers in Christ Rom. 16. 3 9 12. who may all rationally be deemed to be Church-Officers and as rationally deemed to be none Presbyters Deacons and Diaconesses makes mention of Andronicus and Junias of note amongst Christ's Apostles i. e. saith our Reconciler among the Preachers of the Gospel the Teachers of the Christian Faith If these be his Church-Governors then there was a woman got into the Chair at Rome before Pope Joan was heard of for Theophilact saith that Junias was the name of a woman and Grotius thinks she was wife to Andronicus But what is all this to a setled Jurisdiction to establisht Laws and Governors appointed to put them in execution which was the thing he was obliged to prove and now to pay him back a little of his own coin of the finer mettal who could imagine this Reconciler would have had the confidence to oppose a deliberate Verdict upon a Melius inquirendum and pretermitting all the solid Grounds of Truth Reason and Authority upon which it is established think to quash it by his own vain Imaginations All the Ancients that write of the Church of Rome do conclude that it was founded by those two great Apostles S. Peter and S. Paul and S. Paul being the Apostle of the Incircumcision and above all the rest adorned with the title of a chosen vessel to bear the name and Gospel of Christ among the Gentiles Acts 9. 15. in all reason we should allow him a good share in the establishment of that Church which was the most considerable in his whole Province but 't is evident when he wrote his Epistle he had never been at Rome to do it and tho he sent Phaebe with his Epistle I hope no man will be so ill advised as to think he gave her any Commission to Govern If there had been any such Governors there where should we look for them but among those persons of such excellent note whom S. Paul salutes and yet if the Reconciler will needs have them to be Church-Governors the first of the Catalogue is a Woman Rom. 16. 3. Priscilla so likewise 2 Tim. 4. 19. She is called Prisca and set before Aquila and 't is thought what e're the rest were that her Husband was her Convert Priscillam quidem priori loco ponit cujus ratio certa vix reddi potest Si tamen conjecturis locus est illustrior fortussis fuit uxor magis nota omnibus vel prior ad fidem conversa maritum postea instituit Gualt ad Rom. Homil. 93. in p. 225. 2. in fine He sets down Priscilla in the first place for which no certain Reason can be given but if we may conjecture probably the Wife might be of the more honourable extraction and so more publickly known or being first converted to the Faith her self afterwards instructed her Husband in the same That S. Peter was there to plant a Church and settle Governors so as to make a Coalition of Jew and Gentile into one united body before S. Paul wrote this Epistle if he can prove it solidly the present Church of Rome shall thank him for it but the generality of Protestant Writers are against it Take Gualterus instead of all the rest ad Rom 16. 7 16. Homil. 94. Non parum facit hic locus ad confutandum impudens Papistarum figmentum c. This place saith he makes strongly for the confutation of that impudent Fiction of the Papists who dream of S. Peters coming to Rome in the second year of Claudius and that he first constituted a Church there over which he himself did preside for five and twenty years together Now if they say true in this He must be at Rome when S. Paul wrought this Epistle Why then makes he no mention of him or what reason can be alledged why the name of Peter only should be left out of that long and honourable catalogue of those men who were famous in that Church at that time was it because he was ignorant of his being there But this cannot well be seeing that the Faith of Rome was published in most parts of the World and how could so great an Apostle escape S. Paul's knowledge who was acquainted with so many of far meaner quality or shall we think that he concealed S. Peter's name out of emulation But far be such a thing from the sincerity and uprightness of an Apostle and why should he envy Peter his honour who speaks so honourably of many others far inferior to him Therefore our Romanists will never be able to make good this fancy of theirs For what Answer will they give S. Luke who says that Peter was present at the Council of Jerusalem which as St. Paul witnesseth in his second Chapter to the Galathians was held in the eighteenth year after his Conversion which according to true computation falls on the ninth year of Claudius besides these men are not aware how great mischief they do S. Peter when they talk of his sitting as Bishop of Rome for full five and twenty years who according to Christs command ought to have travelled up and down and preached the Gospel in several places And truly
5. 3 12 13. of which we have given account already They may not despise or set at nought a Weak Brother but I hope being invested with a just Authority you will allow them to reprove and upbraid such as are wilfully ignorant upon a supine Carelesness or something worse Upon such an account sure they may say with the Royal Prophet Psal 94. 8. O ye fools when will ye understand and have they not our Lords example to say to such O fools and slow of heart to believe and they have the great Apostles practice I am sure to bear them out if they should say to such as trouble and disturb the Peace of the Church O Gal. 3. 1. foolish Dissenters who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth But so far are they from putting a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in their Brothers way that they endeavour to put him into the right way wherein if he has eyes in his head and will follow their Direction he shall be sure not to stumble But when our Superiours they have made the way plain and smooth and easie according to the truth of the Gospel If such as this Reconciler shall throw in their Rubbish and Stones of offence to obstruct it and then these Brethren will dash their foot willingly against it and stumble at it Their Fall is willful and they must thank themselves for the hurt they take by it I deny not but Governors in some sense are concerned to please the Subjects But a man may please others both to his own and to their destruction as Theod. ad Rom. 15. 1. I must not gratifie him in his Schism and Sedition to please him for that would betray him to damnation I must please him only to his good to his edification in the obedience of the Gospel that he may be saved to this end it may be a Governors Duty to grieve him 2 Cor. 2. 2 for there is a godly sorrow which worketh repentance unto salvation not to be repented of 2 Cor. 7. 10. And he that can bring a soul to this tho his methods may seem severe yet among wise and sober Christians his Discipline as well as his Liberty will be well spoken of When he tells us of destroying him with our meat for whom Christ died that to return him some of those Givilities which he bestows on his Meisner is but one of his repeated fooleries for it can concern no man but a Jew or a Jews fellow in whose account some meats and drinks are still common and unclean and this Reconciler does acknowledge p. 74 75. that now the Apostles instructions of forbearance are out of date as to them their stubbornness having cut them off from all Title to our Charity in that kind And for the Roman-Catholicks tho they abstain sometimes from such and such meats yet they profess they do it Non quod conscientiam polluant suâ immunditie sed inobedientiâ Conte ad Rom. 14. And therefore when we eat with them we see they are in no more danger to be destroyed by our liberty than we are upon the account of their forbearance And thus it was among the Christians in Theodorets * Hee consuetudo in hunc usque diem mansit in Ecclesiis haec quidem abstinentia amplectituri ille vero omnibus esculentis absque ullo scrupulo vescitur nec hic illum judicat nec ille alterum reprehendit sed eos claros insignes reddit Lex Concordiae Theod. ad Rom. 14. Lat. ver Parisiis 1608. time See the Margin If that would serve his turn we readily grant that S. Paul was most certainly an excellent Church-Governor and had as much power as any of his Successors in Church-matters and we will allow him something more but did he never vary his Rules and shift his Battery according to the condition of the Persons whom he attempted to subdue to the obedience of the Gospel He did sometimes condescend when it was Prudence and Charity so to do but when out of weakness he perceived men became Head-strong when from tenderness they grew restive and obstinate then he became resolute and positive He was a notable Orator as S. Chrysost observes of him and used all the innocent Haec autem dicit ut eos anticipet blandiendo ut laudum Cupidine capti tales praestare se studeant ut digni possint haberi quos efferant omnes Laudibus prosequantur Inter. Theophilact ad Rom. 15. 29. Arts of Rhetorick to insinuate and gain upon the people and many times he used Hyperbolies vehemency and excesses of expression that his perswasion might be the more powerful and make the deeper impression Such is that to the Galathians for I bear you record that if it had been possible Gal. 4. 15. ye would have plucked out your own eyes and have given them to me And such is that to the Thessalonians So being 1 Thes 2. 8. affectionately desirous of you we were willing to have imparted unto you not the Gospel of God only but also our own souls because ye were dear unto us Such is that 1 Cor. 8. 13. to the Corinthians Wherefore if meat make my Brother to offend I will eat no flesh while the world standeth lest I make my Brother to offend And of the same 1 Cor. 9. 19 20 21 22. kind is that For though I be free from all men yet have I made my self servant to all that I might gain the more And unto the Jews I became as a Jew that I might gain the Jews to them that are under the Law as under the Law that I might gain them that are under the Law To them that are without the Law as without Law being not without Law to God but under the Law to Christ that I might gain them that are without Law To the weak became I as weak that I might gain the weak I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some Here was great truth and sincerity in these Condescentions but we must understand these pro hic nunc When he had to deal with a Jew apart he treated him with all possible lenity and sweetness and Christian compliance and so he did by the Gentile when he had him by himself but this was by way of Dispensation to draw them in to embrace the Gospel But when the Jew and Gentile came together these methods of compliance were useless and unpracticable we have the very Case reported by S. Paul himself upon the congress of the Jew and Gentil Christian at Antioch where the Apostle was not nay he could not be so compleasant as to be all things to all men He withstood S. Peter to the face c. Gal. 2. 11 12 13 14. And thus a man may carry himself toward Dissenting Parties he may privately Coax and Flatter a Dissenter in his errors and comply with his weakness thinking
and whereas he saith let us judge this rather that no man do so Oblique malignos istos Censores perstringit saith Beza after Calvin he does obliquely nip or has a back blow at those Malignant Censurers who bend all their Will to Carp at their Brothers Conversation However I am well assured 't is not so unworthy of a Gospel Minister to declare a necessary truth tho it draws enemies upon him thereby as to speak perverse things to draw Disciples after him This is like enough to be the design of the Reconciler but the other was the case of the Apostle Gal. 4. 16. Hieronym ad Gal. 4. 16. Haec est conditio veritatis ut eam semper inimicitiae sequantur sicut per adulationem perniciosam amicitiae conquiruntur libenter enim quod delectat auditur offendit omne quod nolumus This is the condition of sober truth saith S. Hierome Strife and Envy do always dogg her whilst a pernitious Flattery shall purchase Friendship But can any man of Reason think it pag. 78. lawful saith the Reconciler to do an unnecessary and uncommanded action which he knows will minister occasion to the Damnation of many thousand souls c. To which we can reply that we plead for nothing but what is commanded either by positive Laws or General Custom which among us is Common Law too and therefore necessary and so determined in the first Council of the Church at Jerulalem and we are so far Acts 15. 28. from knowing that those things will minister occasion to any mans Damnation that we hope they will as well as intend they should minister to their Duty and eternal Happiness He that has the Conduct of an Army in a just War if all that perish by his Sword should perish everlastingly their blood and destruction must be upon their own heads he is under command and has done no more than his bounden Duty and if his own Souldiers mutiny and in their disorder the Enemy falls upon them to their ruine they perish likewise upon their own score their General and Officers whom they would not obey are blameless Christ himself says Ye shall die in your sins to John 8. 24. such as would not obey his Conduct Let no man therefore fly in the face of Authority 't is not the Impositions of their Governors that Damn them but their singularity * Quisquis Ecclesiae Ministerium rejicit jugum quod ejus manu Deus vult suis omnibus imponi detrectat nec ullam cum Christo Communionem habere nec Dei filius esse potest Calvin in Isa 49. 23. Luke 10 16. 1 Thes 4. 8. and Faction in choosing a Doctrine and way of Worship by themselves which is directly Heretical both in practice and notion in opposition to the Ministry of those persons their Guides whose Faith and Conduct they ought to follow For in despising them They do interpretativè despise their Lord and Master and 't is warning enough to prevent their ruine if they would be pleased to take it that he has solemnly told us so And what other course hath God prescribed to prevent Rebellion but to tell us They that resist their Lawful Governors Rom. 13. 2. shall receive to themselves Damnation If men will be so incredulous and desperate as not to believe God herein they must make out the experiment at their own Cost and Peril But there are a sort of men who weigh their Religion only by their Scruples and they think there is no Scandal but in a Cross or Surplice 'T is fit therefore to consider what is meant by Scandal 'T is called a stumbling-block and to let us know what he means by that Metaphor he doth Interpret it by an additional expression calling it an Rom. 14. 13. occasion of falling upon which Hyperius grounds this Description Tunc enim ad Rom. 15. in principio offendiculum praebetur ubi per nos committitur vel in Doctrina vel in moribus quo conscientia alterius moveri queat ad deficiendum à doctrina seu Religione semel suscepta vel certè ad eam minoris quam anteà aestimandum Then is a stumbling-block or scandal laid in the way when we commit something in Doctrine or manners whereby the Conscience of another Person may be moved to depart from the Religion he has once received or to esteem it less than he did formerly Now he should be a man of a strange temper that should think the worse of my Religion for the decency of its address and my reverence in the performance of Gods publick and solemn Worship We should consider that as there is a woe denounced to those who give offence so there is one belongs to them that capriciously take it and there is a blessing promised to them who take it not Blessed is he saith our Soveraign Lord Mat. 11. 6. who is not offended in me which Me reacheth beyond his Person to all his Dispensations Yet how many of his harmless actions were the Pharisees offended at He could not work a Cure or a Miracle but they made a Scandal of it especially if it were performed on Their which indeed they made more their own than Gods Sabbath It is not to be denied there was an excellent man once offended at Divine Providence for I was Envious at the foolish Psal 73. 3. when I saw the Prosperity of the Wicked But this was only by Surprize he was soon rectified in his judgment when he went into the House of the Lord and if our Dissenters who are offended at matters of a far inferiour nature would find in their hearts to go to Church they might soon meet a happy cure of all their fond and needless Scruples However your Action saith this Reconciler doth minister occasion to their Damnation and tho they be destroyed without your formal or express designation of their Ruine yet they are as much ruined by your action as if you had performed it to that end This seems to be somewhat hard that I should be guilty of their ruine or blamed for it when I never designed it never intended it but always by my discourses by my perswasions by my prayers and tears endeavoured to prevent it yet so it is saith our Reconciler you have done an action though lawful enough and harmless in it self yet this weak Brother has taken offence at it and is gone to Hell for it and you must answer for your want of Charity But what if one of our Brother Dissenters what if Amesius after he is cast Cas Cons l. 5. c. 11. n. 6. in his fresh Suit against the Ceremonies Resolves that the Mouse-Trap must be ready set and baited as well as Tirinus What will you say if when he is handling this very Case of Conscience he requires a Formal Scandal as well as Cajetan to make a man guilty of our Saviours Vae vobis of giving Scandal This is
usque procedit pervicacia ut quispiam sibi addictus vel discessionem faciat a Corpore vel a grege quosdam subtrahat vel impediat sanae Doctrinae cursum hic strenue obviandum est When the Obstinacy proceeds so far that a man enamour'd of himself departs from the Body of the Church or draws others from it or hinders the Course of sound Doctrine in this case a strenuous Opposition is to be made against him In summa In short sayes Calvin Haeresis vel secta ecclesiae unitas res sunt inter se oppositae Heresie or Schism and the Unity of the Church are things opposite and this Unity being so precious in the sight of God it ought also to be in the highest esteem with us and those Sects and Heresies ought to be no less detested Thus Calvin He that contemns all Admonitions saith Hyperius He that is distempered in his mind incurabili laborat contagio and when he is sick of an incurable Contagion refuses and derides the Remedy that is charitably offer'd to him This is the Party affected And how is he to be treated Must the Bishop flatter him Or is the Bishop alone obliged to avoid him No saith Hyperius the Bishop is to admonish Hyperius others to beware of him as a pernicious Wolf But what is the Civil Magistrate concerned herein Why sayes Aretius the Charge is here given to Titus who wanted a faithful Magistrate to assist Aretius him But doubtless St. Paul would have wrote otherwise to the Magistrate or to Titus if he had had such a faithful Magistrate to take care of Gods Church He speakes here of the Bishops Office how far he may how far in Duty he ought to proceed We now understand saith Mr. Calvin whom the Apostle means by a Heretick but we are not to determine who is such a Heretick or to reject him till we have first indeavoured to reduce him to a sound Judgment He must have a first and second Admonition not from Private Persons but from the Publick Authority and Ministry of the Church for the Words of the Apostle do import thus much Graviter quasi censoria correctione reprimendos esse That such Persons are sharply to be restrained by the Rod of Discipline for he is condemned of himself because being so Hyperius carefully instructed and so frequently admonished He has no body to impute his condemnation to but to himself and his own Malice But may we proceed no further against such Sectaries and Disturbers of the Churches Peace and Settlement They that think so do not argue to the purpose saith Mr. Calvin For the Bishop and the Magistrate have their several parts assigned them in this Work And St. Paul writing to Titus does not discourse of the Magistrates Duty but what is incumbent upon the Bishop What the Judgment of the most Learned and Pious Protestants was a Hundred years agoe I shall give you Ad Titum 3. 10 11. the account from Bullinger to whom Hyperius also refers his Reader That Bullinger was a man of so great Esteem that his Decades were translated into English and thought fit to be read in the Publick Congregations where they wanted able Preachers and this Doctrine of his passed for Currant till the Socinian Heresy which does so much impreach the Satisfaction Merits and Divinity of our Saviour prevail'd so much among us And this has hapned because the Canons of 1640. were not duely enforced to prevent the growth of it But to return to the business in hand I shall give the sence of Bullinger in Hen. Bullinger Commentar in omnes Pauli Epistolas a clear Translation of his own Commentary upon the Text which begins thus Quaerat aliquis quid agam cum eo c. Some perhaps may ask what I would do with Him that obeyes not Tiguri 1582. Hic Ad Titum 3. 10 11. the Truth but continues to be contentious and to stir up Faction The Apostle answers after the first and second Admonition if he will not obey your advice take heed and separate your self from such an hopeless Deplorato But adding the Reason why he commands Us to abbor the Communion and Fellowship of such an Heretick He sayes He that is such a one as will not admit of good Advice is rather exasperated by continual Admonitions and can never be brought to embrace the Truth For a simple Errour is quickly healed but Stubborness is uncurable But such a Man is subverted by Prejudice and therefore swerves from the true Faith and being intangled in Perplexity he remains in invincible Ignorance Hereupon Theophylact explaining these words sayes The Apostle understands by an Heretick an incorrigible Fellow and one that is on every side so entangled with Difficulties that He knows not which way to free himself Therefore such a One will never be perswaded to embrace the Truth but rather attempt to draw his Charitable Adviser into his own Opinion Wherefore here is a great deal of Danger but little Hope For when Hereticks are so wicked and hardned in those Things which are manifestly False there 's none or very small Hopes of their recovering nay on the contrary it oftentimes happens That they impose upon him who advises them if weak though otherwise a good honest Man Therefore He advisedly commands that they should be avoided But some perhaps will Object That it is a sad thing if we should thus neglect the Sheep that is gone astray our Lord did not so it 's to be feared his Destruction will be required at our Hands The Apostle answers If such a Man Perish he perisheth not by your Fault but by his own for Why did he not obey his Teacher Moreover they that gather from hence That it is against the Scriptures for the Civil Magistrate to restrain Hereticks that is to say not only such as are perverted from the Faith but such as Study to pervert others They do not consider That the Apostle here doth not Dispute about the Offices of a Lawful Magistrate but what the Bishop should do For in these and other of the Apostle's Prescriptions the Occasion is to be consider'd But they 'l say The Apostle's Command is Not Compel or Kill but avoid an Heretick It 's very true For no Man is rashly to be Condemned or Rejected but rather to be Endeared and Instructed This is the peculiar Work of Bishops But if after such an amicable and endearing Treatment and Admonition he refuseth to Repent and endeavours still to draw whole Multitudes into the same Sedition and Ruine with himself Here again it is the Bishops concern not only to Oppose that setitious Doctrine and Practice but also to lay down his Life for the Sheep against the assaults and incursions of such Wolves to defend and preserve his Flock with the Sword of Truth and manfully to Repel and Subdue them If the Apostle had written an Epistle to Cornelius or Sergius and had inform'd them of
1 Tim. 4. in Principio From these and sundry other Evidences it may appear that although St. Paul in matters of Indifferency did sometimes both Advise and Practice out of Condescention and special Dispensation yet he came to a Standing-Rule at last and 't was no less his Judgment than his Practice that such things were finally to be setled by Authority Lastly the Reconciler having shuffled aside some other of Meisners Arguments he concludes with that drawn ab incommodo which he endeavours to Baffle by putting it into the Mouth of a Strong Christian among the Romans but that Argument concerns the State of a setled Church and is Pleadable only by such Persons as are Conformable to the Constitutions of it and this the Reader that has but half an eye and a few grains of Discretion may observe But if you deny the Reconciler his groundless Suppositions and what he vainly beggs you deflower the Beauty of his whole Harangue which consists not so much in Truth as Plausibility To conclude this Rencontre in behalf of Meisner I have proved already that the Christians at Rome were not yet Incorporated that they had no Establishment by Laws Discipline and Government St. Paul for some weighty Reasons no doubt was pleased to Defer this Settlement till his coming which they say was the very next Year after the Writing of this Epistle to them Anonym Paraphrase and Annotations on the 2 Cor. 11. 13. Note the second In the mean while he directs them as Private Persons how they should demean themselves towards one another This Mr. Hales himself was convinced of after some Meditation upon Sermon on Rom. 14. 1. in fine that Text Him that is weak in the Faith c. Rom. 14. 1. Wherefore having laid down the Method of his Discourse tho he resolved after he had given an Account First Who those weak ones are of whom the Apostles speaks And Secondly Who those Persons are to whom the Precept of entertaining is given having named two the Private Man and the Publick Magistrate tho he had promised some Instruction for the Publick Magistrate yet upon second Thoughts with the Pardon of his Audience he takes Leave to break his Promise and gives this Reason for it Because saith he I suppose this Precept to Concern us especially if not only as Private Men and that in case of Publick Proceeding there is scarce room for it Private Men may pass over offences at their Pleasure and may be in not doing it they 'l do worse But thus to do lyes not in the Power of the Magistrate who goes by Laws Prescribing him what he is to do By this time Meisner I hope may be set at Liberty and in a condition to keep the Field But being obliged to the Reconciler more than a little for some Civil Intreaties Dr. Womock is loth to die in his Debt upon that account and commands me to pay that Score for him Wherefore I beg of him to consider 1. Whether in his Attempt to overthrow the Practice of Uniformity he does not contradict the Grammatical Sence of Scripture and the Judgment of the most Learned and Pious Protestants For whereas 't is alledged that Unity of Judgment and Uniformity of Practice are not onely desireable in themselves but also required by those Scriptures which Conjure us by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ to be perfectly joyned together in the same Mind and in the same Judgment and that we may the Better prevent Schisms to walk by the same Rule and to speak the same Thing that we may with 1 Cor. 1. 10. Philip. 3. 16. Rom. 15. 16. one Mind and one Mouth Glorifie God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ This Reconciler to elude this Evidence tells the Reader if these Places Pag. 320. be considered seriously they will be found not to exhort so much which if he had spoken Congruously and made good Syntax should have been not at all to Unity of Judgment but of Affection not to Uniformity but to Unanimity But for the Primitive Christians we are well assured that they were not only of one Heart and of one Soul which implies their 〈…〉 that they continued stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrine and Conduct which was the Fellowship of Pastour and Flock and in breaking of Bread and in Prayers which Acts 4. 32. C. 2. 42. implies their Uniformity in all Offices of Church Communion And Gualter upon the Apostles Prayer for the Romans Now the God of Patience grant you to be like-minded that ye may with one Mind and one Mouth Glorify God hath this Observation Servit-Locus iste jis confutandis qui ut omnibus Homines Commodi videantur omnes Gualter Ad Rom. Hom. 87 quoque Religiones aut cultus Divini Formas probant This Place saith he serves very fitly to confute them who that they may seem compliant to Men of all Humours do also approve of all Religions or Forms of Divine Worship And by his Writings it appears that Trimmers and Phanaticks are of the sâ—me standing and came early into the Church after the Reformation and he observes another Practice of theirs which may be no less worth our Notice Ubi Papatus regnat saies he In those Places where the Papacy Reigns these men do searce ever appear or at least never set their hands to the purging of Religion and freeing it from Superstition 〈…〉 as ever any Reformation is begun and the Liberty of the Gospel takes Footing thro the Care and Pains of Pious Ministers then they Creep in without delay Give disturbance to the Church while it is young and tender Et Ministris adhuc Idem Hom. 90. cum Superstitione Idolatria Pugnantibus nova Certamina excitant And while the Faithful Ministers of Christ are yet in Conflict with Superstition and Idolatry they step in also to contend and make fresh assaults upon them If these Men think themselves obliged under Peril of Damnation as they pretend they are to Exercise their Gifts where Ignorant or Seduced Souls may stand in need of their Ministry I wish their Zeal would carry them into France or Italy to set up Conventicles there and discharge that Duty 2. Let me intreat this Reconciler to Consider whether he does not Style himself the Protestant-Reconciler by a Figure For there seems to be an Antiphrasis in the Title because the Book speaks a Design and looks like an Attempt to set the Governours and People together by the Ears in that it represents the one Vntractable and the other it proclaimes Rigorous 3. Let 〈◊〉 intreat him to 〈◊〉 whether when he meditated to Compete his Book he did not walk upon the Borders of the False Prophets and borrow Ezek. 13. 10. some of their untempered Morter to Daâ—â—e up the Dissenters Walls and Breaches Eâ—gebant Populum Falsa Doctrina â—â—â—m 〈◊〉 Lenocinio verboram saies Lavater And has he not borrowed Lime and Sand from the Morals of
Party as good Reason for their Aversion to our Communion as we have for our Aversion to theirs Have they as great Objections against us as we have against them Has the Pope any lawful Jurisdiction over us By what Scripture or Council was it settled Did we break off from their Communion Or rather Did not they leave and interdict Ours Who is now the Friend to Jesuites I would have the Reconciler to consider That although the same Sentence for Words and Syllables may pass against an Innocent as well as against a Malefactor yet I hope he will not say it is done with equal Truth and Justice But he is so ingenuous at last as to confess the truth in these words It will be hard to shew why either Party may not almost with equal plausibility Pr. Recon p. 107. make this pretence Whence we must conclude that this his Argument like the rest of his Book is but almost to the purpose 2. He Answers Secondly but to what Proposition of Dr. Womock's I cannot Divine but thus he saith If any of these things be offer'd as I hope they are onely to prove that there be men of this malicious proud stubborn temper among the body of Dissenters we have cause to fear the thing is too true This Fear of the Reconciler yields the Argument for it runs thus All that are under such and such qualifications have lost the title of Weak Brethren But Some of the Dissenters are under such and such qualifications Therefore Some of the Dissenters have lost the title of Weak Brethren which is all that Dr. Womock is concerned to prove and more than he did positively affirm in his Verdict But then the Reconciler saith That the Arguments will hold good for a Dispensation towards all those of whom we cannot Charitably pronounce this Sentence I say this does not follow according to the Common Rules of Government Tho every Part be not alike Culpable yet every part must follow the common condition of the Whole and if men will follow such Leaders tho they be not led with the same Pride Malice or Design as their Leaders are led by yet making themselves of the Party and acting therein accordingly they are involved in the same guilt and liable to the same Condemnation I know as Bullinger saith There is a great difference betwixt one that errs In Epist ad Tit. 3. 10. not out of malice and one that to his errour joyns malice and a study to do mischief But if he is to be punished as no doubt he deserves it Cum errandi pervicacia ultro in Religionis Legumque eversionem manifeste tendit when the stiff-neckedness and obstinacy of his erring manifestly tends to the Overthrow of Religion and the Laws established How can that man in Reason be dispensed with who joyns and abetts him in * Idem enim omnes credimur operati in quo deprehendimur eadem omnes Censurae Disciplinae consensione Sociati Cler. Roman Cypriano Inter Epistol 31. it 'T is a Rule in Law Ubi Lex non distinguit nec nobis regulariter distinguere Licet Where the Law makes no distinction there we cannot regularly distinguish what ever simplicity they may pretend we cannot in prudence give them a dispensation to contrive our ruine which we have reason to suspect as long as they adhere to the Communion of those who design it Such as set up to make a Party against the Government they have strange Arts of Insinuation to work upon the flexible temper of the People and some follow their pernicious wayes out of simplicity some out of a love of Novelty and others out of an admiration or fondness for their Persons Does God give a Dispensation in this case when he comes to visit for such things The Prophet tells us otherwise For the Leaders of this People cause them to err and Isa 9. 16. Agreeably St. August upon Christs words If the Blind lead the Blind saith thus Vae caecis ducentibus Ve caecis Sequentibus they that are led of them are destroyed 'T is worth our observing That the Original hath it They that call them Blessed which notes the Flattery of such false Teachers They bless them in their Sedition and errours and they that are called Blessed of them are swallowed up tho their simplicity is imposed upon that is no Dispensation no Plea at all to secure them against destruction I cannot perswade my self that Corah and all the Company that adhered to him were equally Proud Stubborn and Malicious yet I find no Dispensation in the Case They were all involved in the same Guilt and fell under the same Condemnation Their Wives and their Numb 16. 27. Sons and their little Children I alledge this the rather because as Bullinger hath observed by this horrible In Ep. Jud. 11. v. example of Corah St. Jude does demonstrate to all the World what they are to expect who being seduced by the Spirit of Pride and Arrogancy are not content with their own Station in the Church but raise up Tumults and Factions against the Ministers of Truth To this Corah he compares the Seducers not of his own time onely but of all ages Qui sibi Functionem docendi vendicant repulsis Doctoribus veritatis who casting out the Ministers of Truth do challenge the Function of Teaching to themselves Wo unto them for they have gone in the way of Cain and ran greedily after the errour of Balaam for reward and perished in the gainsaying of Corah Ep. Jud. v. 11. Dr. Dicson has the like upon the place Calvin wonders that he should inveigh so sharply against these false Teachers when he had told us but a few lines before that the Archangel was so modest he would not reproach the Devil But this shews saith he that their Rage and Fury is intolerable who disturb the Well composed State of the Church To paint such seducing Teachers to the life the Apostle makes use of three notable examples and then he illustrates their Character by several similitudes He begins with Cain who was the first that made a Divorce from the Church of God In him we may observe Envy Malice and Hypocrisy The second is Balaam who turn'd his Prophetical Office into a Trade and made himself a wretched Hireling for his Divination and in him we have Covetousness and the liberty of Prophesying set up for filthy Bullinger Lucre. The third is Corah In whom we have an example of Ambition and Arrogance of Disobedience and Sedition He blasphemed the Magistracy and attempted to Level all degrees among the Ministers of God and he Hemming used a very specious and plausible Argument to this effect All the Congregation are Holy and 't was an unworthy thing that so holy a People should be subject to any Head on Earth But the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them Numb 26. 10. up and they became a sign A dreadful example of