man by bread Now the soveraigne prime cause of Faith is God God worketh it by his word The word worketh as a Doctrinall or Morall instrument by way of argument perswasion Before it can perswade it must be revealed God therefore revealeth it and that sometimes without meanes by an immediate impression of light and grace vpon the soule as he did vnto the Apostles on the feast of Pentecost and to S. Paul in his iourney towards Damascus But generally and for the most part he revealeth it mediately and by the intervention of meanes The Ordinary meanes is that which is setled and established to continue in the Church for ever That is the Ministerie of the Church whose office is by all meanes to publish the word whether by Writing or by Speaking and this againe whether by Reading or Interpreting All which if they haue in them an ability and fitnesse vnder God to convey into our hearts the knowledge of his word then vndoubtedly are they all Ordinary meanes to beget faith And such an ordinary meanes among the rest doe I affirme Reading to be Which hauing thus fully explained the tearmes I now come to demonstrate and first in that faith whereby we yeeld assent vnto the Scripture that it is the very word of God The last and highest principle whereinto Faith is resolued and wherevpon it finally stayeth it selfe is the Scripture yet is it not so vnto vs vntill we be perswaded that it is the word of the eternall verity which can neither erre nor lead into errour But how come we to bee perswaded hereof By Sermons I deny not but Sermons are vnder God a sufficient meanes to perswade it But when did you ever heare a Preacher treat of this argument or goe about to proue it Or if any haue done it did they not perswade you to that whereof you were already perswaded Yes questionlesse For besides the testimonie of the Church in the publike reading of the Scriptures as the word of God there shineth forth in them such a Majestie and divinenesse as is not to be found in other writings and when by Reading yet take notice of so many oracles and miracles and predictions and sundry other things farre exceeding the power of nature doth not reason it selfe tell you saith Whitaker that they must needs bee of God The same saith D. Iohn White Many times Pagans and Atheists without the Ministery come to Faith by only Reading whence but being convinced by Scripture it selfe If then the very Reading of holy Scripture may bring vnto our knowledge such remonstrances and arguments as convince the minde that it is the word of God certainely it is an ordinary meanes to beget this faith for what can be more ordinary then arguments and demonstrations But the former is true as we haue proued therefore the latter also If so then much more is it apt and fit to beget that Faith whereby we yeeld assent to those articles which are built vpon Scripture especially if two things may be granted first that it is perfect secondly that it is facile easie to be vnderstood That it is all-sufficient and containeth whatsoeuer is necessary either to bee beleeued or done vnto saluation none but a Papist will deny And surely if it be defectiue either it is from God or from the pen-men Not from the pen-men for they were but hands and could not but write what the head indited to them If from God then either because he could not or because he would not perfect it To say he could not is to derogate from his wisdome and power to say hee would not is to detract from his loue and to taxe him of envie But what need mee to spend more time in this point seeing I now deale against those who challenge vnto it such a perfection that nothing may be done no not to the taking vp of a straw without warrant from it The Scripture then is perfect is it also facile and easie to bee vnderstood Aristotle saith of his Acroamaticks that they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 published in that they were writtē not published because of their darknesse In the books of Heraclitus there was so great obscurity that he was therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Obscure May wee iustly say the same of the Scriptures and the pen-men thereof Surely it cannot be denied but that some things are difficult yet as there are deepe places where the Elephant may swim so there are shallow where the Lamb may wade and as there is harder meat which the strong man may chew so there is milk also which the infant may suck And I boldly affirme that all fundamentall points and duties necessary to salvation are in Scripture so clearely delivered that if they were written with a sunbeame they could not bee more cleare God hath spoken so that not a few but all may vnderstand saith Hierom. Hee speaketh to the heart both of learned and vnlearned saith Augustin Scriptures are so plaine as they need not to be expounded saith Iustin Martyr They exceed no mans capacity saith Cyril of Alexandria They are easie not to the wise onely but women and boyes saith Chrysostome And againe They are easie to bee vnderstood to the Servant to the Countryman to the widow to the stripling to him that is very simple The same say all our Divines against Papist The Scripture saith Whitaker may easily be vnderstood of any if he will And Zanchie will a Father speake obscurely to his children in things concerning their salvation that they shall need to seeke interpreters No verily But God being wise was able to expresse himselfe and being good he would and it was necessary to speake plainely in things so necessary If then to come to a conclusion Scripture containe all what is necessary and that in such plaine tearmes that whosoeuer readeth may easily vnderstand how can it be but Reading should be an apt and fit meanes and consequently an ordinary meanes to beget this Faith For if once we beleeue that Scripture is the word of God we cannot but yeeld assent vnto those verities that are so plainely deliuered therein and which we knowe to bee witnessed by the truth it selfe The same doe I also affirme of that Faith which wee call iustifying and of the fruits thereof Repentance and New obedience that the Reading of Scripture is an apt fit meanes to beget that also For it presenteth vnto vs store of strong motiues to perswade sweet promises to allure terrible threatnings to affright notable examples to imitate and the like then which there cannot be a better outward meanes and there needs no more but the inward concurrence of Gods spirit to worke a perfect conversion Read among other places the 28 of the book of Deuteronomie and then tell mee whither the Sermons of any man nay whither the tongue of men and Angels be able to perswade more effectually Sermons you
of names only insteed of the Whole ranke of Fathers bearing witnesse and giuing evidence for you I hope as it ought so it will proue a sufficient Retentiue against your Motiue This that it may yet more plainely appeare giue me leaue before I conclude to recapitulate what hath beene said and as it were in a briefe Synopsis to lay before your eyes the weaknesse and impertinence of all your allegations First you vouch the authority of some who are vehemently suspected even by your owne Rabbies not to bee the men whose names they beare and therefore cannot bee very authenticall Such are Ignatius Cyril of Hierusalem in his Catechismes Ambrose de Sacramentis my sterijs initiandis Eusebius Emissenus Cyprian de coenâ Domini the Canon of the Councell of Nice and Magnetes Againe some you alleage who by reason of their nonage deserue not to be reckoned in the number of the Fathers and so are too young to beare witnesse in these businesses Such are Damascen Theophylact Euthymius Nicephorus and Rupertus who besides his minority was also in this point little better then an Heretike Thirdly among the true Fathers some affirme the Sacraments of the old Testament to be Figures of ours Yet thereby they acknowledge no more Transubstantiation of bread into the Eucharist then of Water in Baptisme Fourthly others affirm that Christs true body is in the Sacrament and we affirm the same also But that hee is there corporally in such sort as you imagine they affirme not Fiftly they say that the bread is changed and made the body of Christ wee say the same with them But that it is done by a substantiall change of bread into body they say not Sixtly they forbid vs to doubt of Christs words to enquire the manner How We doubt not of them thinke the manner to be inexplicable But they say not that to reiect your grosse and Capernaiticall manner is to doubt of Christs truth Seauenthly some of them say it is not common Bread nor only a Figuration of Christs body and we readily yeeld vnto it But they say not that whatsoeuer is sanctified and more then figureth is therefore transubstantiated Lastly some say that the Vnion and Coniunction betweene Christ and vs is reall naturall and bodily We hold the same that we are bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh But they say not wee are so vnited by receaving Christs flesh into our mouthes nor deny but that it may be done by Faith without euer partaking of the Sacrament And this is the full summe of all whatsoeuer your witnesses testifie for you besides which they say nothing at all Whereby you may now easily perceaue how sleight and impertinent your Motiues are and how little cause of comfort your Catholikes haue in beholding them Rather you haue great cause to be ashamed confounded that haue suffered your selfe thus to bee deluded by your Author who to proue the subsistence of Accidents without subiect hath brought you nothing else but meere Shewes without substance But alas we poore Protestants are so farre from having the consent of all expositions and the whole ranke of Fathers standing by vs that wee haue not so much as one authority nor can produce any one at this day that expresly saith that Christs Real body is not in the sacrament or that it is only a Figure Signe or Token thereof I beseech you Sir and can you Papists produce any one of the Fathers that expressely saith Bread is transubstantiated into Christs body If you cannot and yet thinke it sufficient to vouch that which you conceaue to bee equivalent why doe you so vrge the word Expressely vpon vs doe not leaue vs that liberty which you assume vnto your selues But to leaue this advantage we freely confesse we cannot produce any one Father who either expresly or by consequence saith so Nay we farther say that they affirme the cleane contrary namely that Christs Real body is in the Sacrament and that it is not only a Figure Signe or Token thereof But be it knowne vnto you that wee affirme the same together with them and it is but your dreame to imagine otherwise For as oftentimes you haue heard we deny not the Presence of Christs Body but that manner of Presence which you obtrude vnto vs. Neither doe wee say that it is only a Figure for besides signification wee acknowledge that it also exhibiteth Christ Iesus himselfe and sealeth vp all his Promises vnto vs. As for those impertinent peeces of some Fathers speeches which you say we now and then pretend to alleadge I hope you shall by by finde them so pertinent and direct that your Author who ever he be with all his learning and skill shall never be able to satisfie them For now hauing fully answered and dispatched all what you haue said for your selfe in behalfe of Transubstantiation it remaineth that I performe the promise made you in the beginning and demonstrate that this Doctrine of yours first crosseth the truth of Scripture secondly overturneth the Articles of Faith thirdly destroyeth the nature of a Sacrament fourthly gainesayeth the perpetuall consent of antiquity and lastly implieth in it infinite contradictions I will finish all in as few words as I can First it crosseth the truth of Scripture I instance only in the words of institution which you so often vrge against vs This is my body Wherein I demand what that is wherevnto the article This hath reference For it must either be something or nothing If nothing as some of you say then is the Proposition thus to bee supplied Nothing is my Body then which what can be more palpably absurd If something I demand what Your common sort of Catholikes answer that which is contained vnder this But so the speech would bee Tropicall the Continent being put for that which is contained which hitherto you could never endure And I thinke neither in Scripture nor in any other writer whether sacred or prophane shall you be able to shew the like example where This is put for that which is vnder This. Yet he it so Then I againe demand what that is which is vnder this If you know it not then neither doe you knowe what it is that is turned into Christs Body If you knowe it let me entreat you to expresse it Certainely it must either bee Christs Body or Bread Christs Body it is not for that is not made vntill the last syllable of those words be spoken and therefore not assoone as the word This is vttered To say nothing that then the Proposition would be very ridiculous This is my Body that is My body is my body It is bread therefore and though your side for the most part will not haue it so yet will they nill they the meaning is and must be this This Bread is my Body for they cannot name at hird This may yet farther be demonstrated by the circumstances of the Text. For
the bookes de Sacramentis was wont to say thus If there bee so great force in the speech of our Lord Iesus that the things which were not began to be how much more operatiue is it that things still be what they were and yet bee changed into another things But now because that clause that things still bee what they were make sore against Transubstantiation in the Roman Edition and that of Paris an 1603. that clause is cleane left out and S. Ambrose must no longer say so S. Chrysostom or the Author of the imperfect worke vpoÌ„ Mathew was wont to haue these words If it be so dangerous to transferre vnto private vses those holy vessels in which the true body of Christ is not but the mystery of his body is contained how much more c. But what is become of them now In the edition printed at Antwerp by Ioannes Steelsius anno 1537. at Paris by Ioannes Roigny 1543. and by Audoenus Parvus 1557. not a syllable of those words in which the true body of Christ is not but the mystery of his body is contained appeares Why Because they make so strongly against your Reall Presence So likewise where he vsed in the elder impressions to say the sacrifice of bread and wine now in these latter editions hee is forced to change his language and to say the sacrifice of the body and bloud of Christ. More examples I might easily produce but these are sufficient to shew that Vincentius Lirinensis had good reason when hee gaue this Caveat But neither alwaies nor all kind of heresies are to bee impugned after this manner but such only as are new and late when they first arise while by straightnesse of time it selfe they be hindred from falsifying the rules of the ancient Faith and before that their poison spreading farther they attempt to corrupt the writings of the Ancient But farre spread and inveterate heresies are not to be set on this way forasmuch as by long continuance of time a long occasion hath layne open vnto them to steale away the truth But returne we againe to the matter from which we haue a little digrest The Fathers say you differed not in points essentiall True Neither doe we as is aboue shewed yet by your leaue their differences were not alwaies in petty matters vnlesse Rebaptization Communicating of infants the Popes vniversall iurisdiction and the like bee of small consequence with you Their differences were not so bitter as ours No were When they proceeded not only to curse one another but to fire bloudshed and banishment also And when casting off the rule of pietie they did nothing but increase strife threats envy and quaâ—rels every man with all tyranny pursuing his ambition whereby as S. Basil saith the Church of God was vnmercifully drawne in sunder and his flock troubled without all care or pittie Lastly say you they differed in matters vndecided by a generall Councell What then No danger No danger Then belike a man may safely beleeue all he lists before a Councell determine it The very high way to Atheisme For so the very Articles of the Creed during the first three hundred yeares after Christ should be but disputable points and not necessary For vntill Constantine the great there were no generall Councels By the same reason your Adoration of Images was no matter of Faith till the second Councel of Nice about 800 yeares after Christ nor Transubstantiation till the Councell of Lateran some 1200 yeares nor Merit nor Iustification by workes nor the most of your Tenents till the Trent Councell aboue foureteene hundred yeares after Christ. If they were I require you to shew what generall Councell had before determined them If you cannot then are you but novellers and hold not the ancient Faith The truth is Councells cannot make that an Article which was not but whether they decree or not decree whatsoever God affirmeth in his word as soone as it commeth to our knowledge is absolutely and vpon paine of damnation to be beleeued And it is horrible sacriledge and impiety to thinke that it is not necessary to beleeue God vnlesse a Councell of the Pope say Amen vnto it Yea but say you we nor haue nor can haue generall Councels No more can you nor any Church in Christendome without the generall consent of Christian Princes Synods of our owne Churches we may haue and haue had by the indulgence of our Princes More then this you cannot haue For you are but a handful of the Christian world and the greatest part thereof neither is nor will bee subject vnto you When you can get the Greek Church and that in Prester Iohns countrey with the Armenians and others to submit themselues vnto the Popes omnipotent and vbiquitaâ—y power then may you peradventure haue hope to call a generall Councell But that I think will be at the Greek Kalends that is in plaine English at Nevermasse Howsoever say you if you may not relie on the Fathers because of their differences neither may you on vs because of ours If this be a sound reason as I confesse it is neither may you rely on the Church of Rome because of theirs But you mistake the matter much if you thinke wee require men to relie on our bare authoritie That privilege belongs vnto Christ only and vnder him to those holy Pen-men of the Bible that wrote by inspiration To vs appertaineth to proue what we say by their authoritie and when wee haue so done to require assent and not before If Scripture and sound deduction from it according to the art of reasoning together with the proofe of the sense thereof by the circumstances of the place and the analogie of Faith will not moue you we can but pittie your wilfulnesse and leaue you vnto God till he turne your heart and haue mercy vpon you For certainely miserable is the case of that man who knowing the Scriptures to be Gods word and hauing the vse of right reason shall refuse triall both by the one and the other preferring therevnto the authoritie of man which may erre it selfe and lead others into errour N. N. Your conclusion is you meane not to forsake the religion taught in that Church which is descended from Christ and his Apostles by succession but with Litinensis to preferre it before all things That you will follow vniversality Antiquitie and consent in your beleefe that faith which hath beene held from time to time in all places in all seasons by all or the most Doctors of Christianity That Church which as S. Augustine saith had her beginning by the entring of nations got authority by miracles was increased by charity and established by continuance and hath had succession from S. Peters chaire to our time That church which is knowne by the name of Catholike both to friends and foes even Heretikes tearming her so calling themselues for distinctions sake Reformers Illuminates Vnspotted brethren In
of Angels or that they who are not wise for themselues by teaching may affect it in others as Noahs carpenters built an Arke for the sauing of others being drowned themselues and the braine imparts sense to the other members being insensible in it selfe I know that a key of iron may open a locke as well as of siluer and that water may be as commodiously conuaied through leaden as golden pipes yet withall I beleeue that Almighty God much rather and more frequently vseth the ministerie of those who are truly wise and are turned themselues for the making of others wise and the turning of them to righteousnesse as water they say in its naturall course cannot be brought to mount higher then the spring so neither can a man well speake to the heart but from the heart Our teaching then should not be for the winning of applause from men or the gaining of credit to our selues but for the winning of glory to God and the gaining of soules to him The talents which he hath bestowed vpon vs and instructed vs with should be put forth vpon interest not so much for our owne worldly profit as our masters best aduantage Generare sibi simile est perfectissimum opus naturae saith the Prince of Philosophers For a naturall body to propagate another in the same kinde like it selfe is the most perfect worke of nature and so regenerare sibi similem est per fectissimum opus gratiae for a regenerate man to be an instrument vnder God or as God himselfe is content to speake a fellow-workeman with him in the regeneration of another is the most absolute worke of grace There cannot likely be a more apparent marke of a reprobate mind then an endeauour to diuert and turne men away from righteousnesse a◠the apostate Angels which beeing falne from God themselues labour by all meanes to plunge mankinde in the same gulfe of perdition with themselues neither can there well be a surer pawne and pledge of a regenerate minde then a study of drawing men to God and of turning many vnto righteousnes The fire hath in it an inclination of turning all things it toucheth into its owne nature and it cannot be but an heart truly enflamed with holy zeale as with fire from heauen should desire to make all it toucheth or comes neere vnto like it selfe The Alchymists they talke and bragge much of turning iron into gold by vertue of the Philosophers stone as they call it but sure it is that the best Alchymie we can practise is the turning of mens iron hearts into the gold of righteousnesse and that by teaching the true Philosophers stone ordained by God himselfe for the transmutation of such mettalls by it euen whiles we walke in the flesh but warre not after the flesh are we made partakers of the diuine nature we are transformed metamorphized as it were from tares into wheat from wolues into lambs from kites into doues from bryars and thistles into faire and fruitfull trees to be transplanted into the Paradise of God which all the teaching of the Gentiles could neuer effect they might perchance turne men to a seeming kind of righteousnesse but to true righteousnesse they did not they could not But this was it that the Prophet Dauid in his teaching aymed at and no doubt accomplished Then shall I teach thy wayes vnto the wicked and sinners shall be converted vnto thee the end of his teaching was the conuersion of sinners as they through the suggestion of Satan and wicked men their owne inbred corruption working therewith had by sinne turned themselues from the Creator to the Creature so he by teaching endeauoureth their returne backe againe from the Creature to the Creator This was it which S. Paul proposeth to Timothy and would haue Timothy in his teaching propose to himselfe Take heede to thy selfe and to Doctrine continue therein for in so doeing thou shalt both saue thy selfe and them that heare thee Take heede to thy selfe that so thou maist saue thy selfe Take heede to thy Doctrine to thy teaching that thereby thou maist saue others And this is it which S. Iames seemes to cōmend vnto vs as a great worke indeede Let him know saith he that he who converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall saue a soule from death and hide a multitude of sinnes Let him know that he hath done a great a glorious a noble a worthy worke such a worke as he hath great reasō seriously to reioyce triumph in as no doubt S. Peter did in the conuersion of those three thousand which by one Sermon of his were turned vnto righteousnesse more then if he had beene put into possession of both the Indies or of all the Kingdomes of the world and the glory of them It is worth our obseruation that in the message of the Angel touching the Baptist sent to his father Zachary it is said that he should haue great ioy and gladnesse and many should reioyce at his birth and withall that he should be great in the sight of the Lord now from whence should this ioy arise to his parents this comfort to his friends this greatnesse to himselfe It followes many of the Children of Israel shall he turne to the Lord their God that is he shall by his teaching turne many vnto righteousnesse here then was matter indeed of true joy to his Parents of true comfort to his friends and of true greatnesse to himselfe No mary aile then if our Sauiour accounted this his meat if the life of S. Paul was not deare vnto him in respect of this nay if he were willing to dye in this imployment Though I be offered vp vpon the sacrifice and service of your faith I am glad Finally he accounted this his hope his joy and the crowne of his reioycing at the comming and in the presence of the Lord Iesus 1. Thess. 2.19 Then shall Andrew come in with Achaia by him converted to the saving knowledge of the truth Iohn with Asia Thomas with India Peter with the Iewes and Paul with the Gentiles and what shall we then plead for our selues if being called to yeeld an account of our stewardship we cannot bring forth so much as one soule converted by vs in the whole course of our ministerie Surely it is either because we teach not at all or our teaching is not grounded vpon wisedome or it is grounded vpon carnal and not vpon spirituall wisedome revealed to vs in the sacred oracles of Gods word Some there are who so are aloft in the clouds filling the peoples eares with swelling words and their heads with frothy speculations Others who feed them with the husks of vnsavoury tales and jests thus whiles the one sort seeke to be admired rather then vnderstood the other make themselues ridiculous rather then venerable both sorts so teaching as if neither the teachers themselues nor the people taught had soules to be saued they rather turne men out of
of his faith not onely to the satisfaction and instruction but admiration of his hearers Among the rest two things there were which he much and often insisted vpon the one that he hoped onely to be saued by the merits of Iesus Christ the other that he constantly perseuered in the faith and religion professed and maintained in the Church of England in which he was borne baptized and bred and this he many times and earnestly protested in a very serious and solemne manner pawning his soule vpon the truth thereof His glasse being now almost runne and the houre of his dissolution drawing on though his memorie and senses no way failed him he desired to be absolued after the manner prescribed by our Church and according to his desire hauing first made a briefe confession therevpon expressing a hearty contrition together with an assurance of remission by the pretious bloud of his deare Sauiour he receiued absolution froÌ„ the mouth of a lawfull minister having receiued it professed that he found great ease coÌ„fort therein withall that he was desirous likewise to haue receiued the blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist if the state of his body would haue permitted him not long after imagining with himselfe that he heard some sweete Musike calling vpoÌ„ Christ Sweet Iesus kill me that I may liue with thee he sweetly fell asleepe in the Lord as did the Protomartyr who ready to yeeld vp the Ghost prayed and said Lord Iesus receiue my spirit Thus he liued and thus he dyed neere approaching the great climactericall of his age And by this time I am sure you find and feele with me that we haue all a great losse in the losse of this one man His flocke hath lost a faithfull pastor his wife a louing husband his children a tender father his seruants a good master his neighbours a freindly neighbour his freinds a trusty freind his kindred a deare kinsman this whole countrey a great ornament The king hath lost a loyall subject the kingdome a true-hearted Englishman the Cleargy a principall light the Church a dutifull sonne the Arts a zealous Patron and religion a stout Champion we haue all lost onely he hath gotten by our losse he hath made a happy exchange instead of his congregation singing of Psalmes with them here he is now ioyned to the congregation of the first borne whose names are written in heauen with whom he beares a part in the euerlasting Halleluiahs instead of the Church militant he is inrooled in the Church trivmphant hauing his palme in his hand in token of victory instead of his freinds and kinsfolke here he is become the companion of the blessed Saints and glorious Angels instead of his wife and Children and lands and goods and attendants here he now enioyes the blisfull vision of the face of God and the full fruition of Iesus Christ by meanes whereof no doubt he shines as the brightnesse of the firmament nay as the brightest starre in the firmament and â—o shall shine for euer and euer Sic mihi contingat viuere sicque mori God graunt we may so liue as with him we may dye comfortably and so dye as with him we may liue againe shine in glory euerlastingly Who so is wise will ponder these things and they shall vnderstand the loving kindnesse of the Lord Consider then what I haue said the Lord giue you vnderstanding in all things SACRAE TRINITATI GLORIA This Sermon being presented to the veiw of the Right Reverend Father in God the Lord Bishop of Exeter together with the Authors purpose of publishing these ensuing workes of his deceased friend it pleased his Lordship to returne this following answere which together with the Sermon may serue in part to let the world know his great worth though in a manner buried in obscurity Worthy Mr Dr Hakewill I Doe heartily congratulate to my dead friend and Colleagian this your so iust and noble a commemoration It is much that you haue said but in this subiect no whit more then enough I can second every word of your prayses and can hardly restraine my hand from an additionall repetition How much ingenuity how much learning and worth how much sweetnesse of conversation how much elegance of expression how much integrity and holinesse haue we lost in that man No man euer knew him but must needs say that one of the brightest Starres in our West is now set The excellent parts that were in him were a fit instance for that your learnedly defended position of the vigour of this last age wherevnto he gaue his accurate and witty astipulation I doe much reioyce yet to heare that we shall be beholden to you for some mitigation of the sorrow of his losse by preseruing aliue some of the post-hume issue of that gracious and exquisite brayne which when the world shall see they will marvell that such excellencies could lye so close and shall confesse them as much past value as recovery Besides those skillfull and rare peeces of Divinity tracts and Sermons I hope for my old loue to those studies we shall see abroad some excellent monuments of his Latine Poesie in which faculty I dare boldly say few if any in our age exceeded him In his Polemicall discourses some whereof I haue by me how easie is it for any judicious Reader to obserue the true Genius of his renowned Vncle Bishop Iewell such smoothnesse of style such sharpnesse of witt such interspersions of well-applyed reading such graue and holy vrbanity shortly for I well foresaw how apt my Pen would bee to runne after you in this pleasing track of so well deserued praise these workes shall be as the Cloake which our Prophet left behind him in his rapture into heauen What remaines but that we should looke vp after him in a care and indeauour of readinesse for our day and earnestly pray to our God that as he hath pleased to fetch him away in the Chariot of Death so that he will double his spirit on those he hath thought good to leaue yet below In the meane time I thanke you for the favour of this your graue seasonable and worthy Sermon which I desire may be prefixed as a meet preface to the published Labours of this happy Author Exon Palace Mar. 22. 1631. Fare-well from your loving friend and fellow-labourer Ios. Exon. TWO TREATISES 1 Concerning the force and efficacy of reading 2 Christs prayer for his Church OXFORD Printed by I.L. for E. F. 1633. ACT. 15.21 For Moses of old time hath in every Citty them that Preach him being read in the Synagogues every Sabbath day OMitting for the present whatsoeuer else might profitably be observed out of these words I will at this time only inquire these three things The first whether preaching in this place be distinguished from Reading The second whether Reading be a kind of Preaching The third whether reading be an ordinary meanes to beget Faith and convert a soule
brethren According to this commandement hath the practice both of the Iewish and Christian Church ever beene and is duly continued amongst vs to this day Now all this cui bono and to what end such a world of bookes but that by reading them we may attaine to knowledge Surely if wee poore schollers were no better furthered in our studies by Reading then by Sermons small would bee our knowledge and poore God wot the entertainment yee were like to receiue from vs. Our Saviour Christ thought that Reading might instruct when hee said Qui legit intelligat let him that readeth vnderstand and Saint Paul when he wrote By reading ye may vnderstand my knowledge in the misterie of Christ. But what need wee to multiply arguments seeing it is not only confessed that Reading is after a sort a publishing of Gods word but also such a publishing as prepareth way vnto faith and furthereth it when it is obtained which cannot bee but by teaching and notifying the truth I conclude therefore that reading is a meanes whereby the will of God is made knowne and consequently is Preaching Which if any yet againe purpose to gainesay let me intreat them not to say one thing to wit that Reading is not Preaching and to meane another thus Reading is not Sermoning or all the Preaching required but to speake to the purpose and punctually to demonstrate that reading is not a publishing of Gods word which I know they can never doe and I thinke they will bee ashamed to goe about And so I passe from the second vnto the third part The third and last Quere is touching the vertue and efficacie of Reading whether it be an ordinary meanes to beget faith and to convert a soule That it should haue such a faculty is with much confidence denied Faith and conversion by all meanes must be restrained to Sermons and the Preachers mouth Some little of their holy water sprinkle are they content to bestow vpon reading It may pretily fit a man to heare a Sermon and further him when he hath heard it may serue to nourish set forward and increase faith when it is gotten but to begin to breed to worke faith where it is not that belongs vnto a Preacher nothing can effect it but a Sermon If wee say many haue beene converted by reading only as namely St Augustine if either we may beleeue himselfe or Martyr Iewell and others testifying of him and Antonie the Eremite who as Hierom saith was brought to the faith lectione Evangelicâ by reading the Gospell and Iohn Isaac a Iew both by his birth and religion who professeth that he became a Christian by reading the 53. of Esay and Iunius who if I misremember not imputeth his owne conversion to the reading of Saint Iohns Gospell and finally many of our fore-fathers vnlesse wee will damne them all into the pit of hel who liuing in the blind times of Poperie came to the light of the truth as Mr Foxe saith either by reading themselues or hearing others read yea as Hieron himselfe confesseth by parcels of Scripture the writings of good men conference with others though seldome and secret nay by knowing little more then the Lords prayer these I say and sundry others if we obiect vnto them their answere is ready it was Extraordinarie it was miraculous For ordinarily reading saith T. C. cannot deliuer a soule from famishment from the wolfe from destruction yea saith Hieron knowledge so gotten is but vaine iangling and swimmeth in the braine but converts not the heart So that had wee verbatim written all those heavenly Sermons which St Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles preached among them had we that famous Sermon of St Peter by which three thousand soules at once were added to the Church nay had we all the gratious words sanctified by our blessed Sauiours owne mouth while he liued here in the flesh yet could they not beget faith or convert a soule but only extraordinarily and by way of miracle A strange and incredible assertion and they had need to be armed with mighty demonstrations to persuade it Let vs therefore examine the force of them First they vrge that of Elihu in the booke of Iob If there be a messenger with him an interpreter one among a thousand to shew vnto man his righteousnesse then is he gratious vnto him and saith deliuer him from going downe to the pit I haue found a ransome Here deliuerance is by a messenger this messenger is a minister and that not a Reader but Preacher there being in Iobs time no Scripture and consequently no reading Wherevnto I answere first that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies also an Angell that therevpon some interpret it of a good Angell others of the Angell of the covenant rendring the words thus If there be an Angell speaking for him and shewing for man his righteousnesse If so as it is very probable then is the argument of no force here being no speech of a Minister but mediator nor of a Preacher speaking to man but of an advocate interceding for man Secondly be it that a Preaching Minister is meant yet not every one but one among a thousand For to say that not one among a thousand Ministers but one Minister among a thousand men is vnderstood is too sleight Mercer is of another minde and Oecolampade conceiues it of a graue intelligent and wise teacher such as is rarely to be found And so by this reckoning Faith should be tied very sâ—ort and the Sermons of vulgar and ordinary Preachers should not be able to beget Faith Lastlie he that attributeth such efficacy to Sermons doth not so doing deny it vnto other meanes and who saith Iunius hauing any Christian sense or zeale dare say that Faith is not to be advanced by all meanes yea but in Iobs time Reading could not bee a meanes True yet it followeth not but now it may bee a meanes Then it was not when there was nothing to be read now it is as we haue shewed the whole Canon being written In the next place they vrge that of Solomon where there is no vision there the people perish Heere by vision vocall preaching is meant but without vision no saluation Ergo nor without Preaching or Sermons I answere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or vision imports not the act of the seer or a SermeÌ„ but the obiect or thing which he sees Otherwise when it is said the vision which Isaiah saw we might read it thus the Sermon which Isaiah saw so to see a vision shall be no other then to make a Sermon which is absurd By vision then are we to vnderstand the law as it is in the latter clause of the verse or the revelation of Gods will as if the wise man had said where God revealeth not himselfe there the people perish which is vndoubtedly true And as vndouted is it that God revealeth himselfe
say ordinarily beget Faith work Repentance and breed sanctity and newnesse of life not so Reading May it please you then to tell vs for our better satisfaction what such coherence there is betwixt Sermons and Faith which is not betwixt it and Reading And what that intrinsicall and proper quality of Sermons is whereby Faith is begotten which is not also to be found in Reading Is it in the doctrine and matter of Sermons It is the very same which wee read Is it in the arguments and motiues whereby they perswade We read either the same or as forcible in the Scripture What then Is it in the vtterance voice gesture behauiour or credit of the Preacher Much lesse for then should we be beholding for our Faith to accidents more then substance to the plausible inticements of humane wisdome rather then the evidence demonstration of the spirit Wherein then lies the vertue Forsooth in Gods blessing for Preaching is the ordinance of God and he hath promised to blesse it But stay my bretheren is not Reading Gods ordinance also And doth God having imprinted in it such an aptnesse and fitnesse ordinarily to beget Faith either curse his owne ordinance or suspend the operation of it so as it shall never worke but only extraordinarily What shall I say When they haue answered what they can vnto the question the summe of all as Hooker obserueth will be this Sermons are and must be the only ordinary meanes but why and wherefore we cannot tell And so I passe from the first argument drawne from the aptnesse and fitnesse of Reading to produce all these kindes of Faith Now in the second place I dispute ex concessis from that which is yeelded and granted by the adversarie First it is granted by Hieron and we haue proued it by the testimonie of M. Fox to be true that many of our forefathers in the blinde time of Popery were converted to the true Faith by reading only This say they was extraordinary but I infer that therfore it was ordinary For if reading be excluded sermōs be the only ordinary means it will follow that the Church at that time was without the ordinary meanes for wholsome Sermons then were not to bee had But it is a strange point in Divinity that the Ordinary meanes should at any time fayle in the Church and I presume when that fayleth the Church of God will fayle also If so then is there some other ordinary meanes besides Sermons and what can that bee but the written word and the Reading thereof It is further granted and that rightly that whosoever readeth the Scriptures or heareth them read is therevpon bound to beleeue And this is so cleare a truth that Whitaker could not forbare to charge his adversary Stapleton with much folly for holding the contrary Sic tu planè desipis saith he Art thou so very a foole as to thinke that the word of God hath no authority or bindeth no man to beleeue but then when it is preached Certainely if the doctrine of Christ and his Apostles was to be beleeued when it was deliuered by them in their Sermons it is as much now to be beleeued when it is convayed vnto vs by way of writing and reading Wherevpon saith Caluin Although the Apostles be dead yet their doctrine liueth flourisheth and it is our dutie to profit by their writing as much as if themselues were now publikely speaking before our eyes Vnlesse therefore Gods word cease to bee his word when it is read an obligation in reading is laid vpon vs to yeeld all credence and obedience vnto it Now God bindeth not but by a commandement He commandeth therefore to beleeue by Reading What Doth he command vs to beleeue by a meanes that is vtterly vnable and vnfit to worke beleefe And doth hee daily and hourely tye our Faith vnto that which hee meanes not to blesse vnto that end but once as it were in an age and extraordinarily Questionlesse seeing God hath ordained that his holy Scriptures be ordinarily read both in publike and private and hath bound vs all to beleeue whensoeuer we either read them or heare them read it cannot be but that Reading is an ordinary meanes to beget faith and that God will alwaies vouchsafe to blesse his owne ordinance to the same end In the third place I vrge the testimonie and authoritie of holy writ But happily so doing I may be counted in the number of those vile men who like venomous spiders suck poyson out of the sweetest flowres 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the die is cast and angry speeches may not hinder me from maintaining truth by the word of truth When all Israell saith Moses is come to appeare before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall chuse thou shalt read this law before all Israell in their hearing Gather the people together men and women and children and thy stranger that is within thy gates that they may heare and that they may learne and feare the Lord your God and obserue to doe all the words of his Law Here in expresse tearmes the Reading of the law is commanded and it is particularly commanded to this end that men may learne thereby What the feare of God and obedience to the Law God therefore hath appointed Reading to be an Ordinary meanes of conversion It is answered that such Reading is meant as was accompanied with interpretation So they dreame indeed but in the text there is no mention of interpretation Neither is it likely seeing now the whole law was to be read at once as is aboue said and the scantling of time would hardly beare any exposition Howsoeuer sure I am the holy Ghost ascribeth the effect vnto Reading and I thinke hee both knewe and meant what hee said In the Prophecie of Ieremie God commandeth the Prophet to write all his Prophecies in a booke that all the house of Iudah might heare them read for it may bee saith God that hearing they may returne every man from his evill way that I may forgiue their iniquity and their sinne According to this commandement Ieremie dictates all the Prophecies vnto Baruch Baruch writes them and being written reads them in the house of the Lord. Here againe Reading is commanded by God and to the same end that the people thereby might bee moued to repentance To this they answer first that God speaketh after the manner of men True when he saith it may be as if he knewe no more then man what the effect would bee Yet is it plainely intimated that Reading is an ordinary meanes of repentance Secondly say they Ieremie had preached the same before and so they are Sermons that are commanded to be read Be it so Yet then the very Reading of Sermons may worke Repentance which the Preaching of them could not To say nothing that these Sermons written were Gods word both for matter and manner so that if the Reading of them might be
his glorious estate to make Intercession for vs. Yet this is not all for it is further to be observed that Christ is not Priest as Man only but as Emanuell on God-man This the Apostle to the Hebrewes carefully demonstrateth The law saith he maketh men high Priests which haue infirmity but the wâ—rd of the Oath which was since the law maketh the sonne who is consecrated for ever more And againe Christ saith he by his eternall spirit offered himselfe without spot to God And if he were a Priest after the order of Melchizedecke as he was without Father or Mother without genealogie hauing neither beginning of daies nor end of life as also being Vntithed in the loines of Abraham it cannot be that he should be Priest as Man only for of Man only these things cannot be verified therefore as God also If so then Prayer being an act of Christs Priest-hood it followeth that it is Emanuel God-man that prayeth and that his Prayer is a Theandricall action as Divines terme it Divinely-humane or Humanely-divine This speech haply may sound harshly in some eares there are who sticke not to charge it with â—tat Arrianisme as if thereby we made Christ inferiour to his Father whereas hee himselfe thought it no robbery to be equall vnto him Giue mee leaue therefore to bestow a few words for the clearing of this difficulty the rather because it is being rightly apprehended the ground of singular comfort vnto vs. It is a Fundamentall article of the Christian Faith that in Christ there are two distinct Natures his Divinity his Humanity that both these concurre to the constitution of one Person God-man Whence it followeth that the Agent or Principle which acteth all the workes of Mediation is but one by reason of the Vnitie of the Person even Christ God-man according to that protrite Maxime Actiones sunt suppositorum all actions issue and proceed from the Subiect or person Howbeit seeing the Person alwaies worketh by his Natures and they as wee haue said in Christ are two it followeth by reason of this Dualitie that there are two distinct Principles by which Christ worketh or mediateth according to that other rule in nature Natura est principium motus quietis nature is the principle both of rest and motion This for further illustration may be exemplified in Humane actions For as it is Man or the Person of Man consisting of Soule and Body that vnderstandeth reasoneth moueth speaketh yet it is the Soule by which he vnderstandeth and reasoneth the Body by which he moueth and speaketh so in the actions of Mediation it is Christ God-man that worketh them all yet some by his Godhead and some by his Manhood Here therefore are wee to distinguish The workes of Mediation are either of Soueraignty and Authority or of Subiection and Ministrie Of Soveraignty and Authrity as to send the Holy Ghost to illuminate the Mind to raise from death of Subiection and Ministrie as to suffer to dy to be raised from death All these things did Christ as he was God-man both doe and suffer but yet the former by the Principle of his deity the latter by the Principle of his humanity It is further to be observed that although both the Natures in Christ remaine distinct and consequently their severall operations also yet as Leo truly saith Agit vâ—raque forma cum communione alterius quod cuiusque proprium est both Natures doe that which is proper vnto them but with Communion of each with other This Communion is the concurrence of both Natures in the same Person by their severall proper actions to the producing of one Apotelesma or outward effect pertaining to our Salvation In which concurrence the Deity is ever the principall and the Humanitie is the Organ or Instrument of the Deity so that it never moueth to any thing but as it is acted and moved by the Deity and from it receiues all its value dignity and efficacy as in Man the Body doth from the Soule These things being thus demonstrated let vs in a word applie them to our particular This Prayer of Christ is an act of his Priesthood Heâ— therefore prayes that is the Priest The Priest as we haue shewed is Christ God-man Christ therefore prayeth as God-man But the act is Ministeriall not Soveraigne He prayeth therefore not by the Principle of his Deity but in his Humanitie Howbeit with Communion of the Deity the Instrument partaking with the Principall Agent and deriuing all its vertue and efficacy from the concurrence thereof Which being so the more either ignorant or malitious are our adversaries of the Church of Rome who slander vs as if we held Christ prayed in his Divine nature Nay we know Prayer is a worke of Ministry and implies inferiority whereas the Word is coequall to his Father If may be the dreame of Iewes in their Talmud that God prayes certaine houres every day or of Turkes in their Alcoran that he prayeth for Mahomet But we know that God hath no superiour to whom he should pray and that his will is omnipotent and the effectuall cause of all things so that he needs not pray But it pleased the sonne of God to assume our nature and in the same to make himselfe lesse then his Father and to become obedient vnto him in all things So that although it bee God-man that prayes yet praying non qua Deus sed qua homo not in the forme of the Word but of a Servant it can be no impeachment to his Deity Now if it be God-man that prayes is it possible hee should misse of his suit Surely he himselfe saith I knowe thou hearest me alwaies And the Apostle affirmes that in his Prayers and Supplications he was still heard If hee bee the only Sonne in whom the Father is well pleased will he thinke you deny him any thing Nay if wee that are so vnworthy are yet heard for his sake how can hee that is of such infinite worth but bee heard when as himselfe praies He is therefore alwais heard What is it then he here sues for To himselfe Glorification to his Apostles to know and teach all sauing truth to vs that beleeue through their word Sanctification Vnion with him Perseverance in grace and the blessed-making vision of his Clory Doubtlesse therefore hee himselfe sitteth at the right hand of his Father and swayeth all things both in Heaven and earth to his Churches good His Apostles both knew and taught all the counsells of God and wee may safely build vpon the Foundation they haue laid As for vs all those things shall surely bee made good vnto vs. And though Sathan desire to winnow vs yet Hell gates shall never prevaile against vs. For he that never faileth to be heard hath prayed for our Faith that it faile not then which what surer ground of peace and ioy to the conscience can there be As it is the ground of comfort so is it
beseech you beloued brethren tandem hoc agamus let vs at length attend the businesse which Christ hath charged vs withall What errand hee hath put into our mouthes that and no other let vs freely deliuer And let vs striue to deliuer it in such manner as may make most to our end that is the building vp of men in their most holy Faith This shall we the better doe if we looke vnto Christ and what forme he vsed A better precedent can we not possibly follow for neuer spake man as he did Him did the holy Apostles make their patterne and by vertue thereof converted the world vnto the Christian Faith If we looke vnto any other and for the pleasing of them forme our Sermons after the humour of those whose humour we should rectifie neither shall we please God nor happily in the end them A certaine Painter hauing with all his skill drawne two pictures as like as possibly hee could reserued the one in his chamber and set forth the other on his stall to the view and censure of all that passed by and whatsoeuer they misliked he would with his pencill alter according to their iudgement vntill it was growne every way deformed At length setting forth his other picture by it and the people commending it as an exquisite peece condemning the other as a deformed monster yet that quoth hee I drew according to your judgement this according to my owne art and skill Certainely certainely if we shall attend the seuerall censures of our auditors and patch vp Sermons according to their liking monstrous and enormious must they needs bee Much better were it therefore by our owne art our art being learned from the example of Christ and his Apostles to frame all our Sermons so shall wee gaine many soules vnto Christ and purchase to our selues true praise with God and in the consciences of all good men What though this way we cannot make so much shew of learning and eloquence Yet therein shall we be like the Apostle S. Paul whose preaching was not in the entising words of mans wisdome but in demonstration of the spirit Yea like vnto Christ himselfe who though hee were rich yet made himselfe poore that he might make many rich In a word let vs duly remember that although we be dispensers of heavenly treasures yet is it the pleasure of God wee haue them in earthen vessels that the excellencie of the power may be of God and not of vs. But of what Iesus spake enough After he had spoken these things then hee lift vp his eyes and prayed Not but that without Prayer he was able to effect what he prayed for For being perfect God and the absolute dispencer of all grace wee cannot without fearefull impiety thinke that out of infirmitie he seekes that by request which of himselfe he could not accomplish No but as Ambrose saith though he were Potestatis author Lord of power yet would be Obedientiae Magister the teacher of obedience by due performing his owne dutie For as we haue said he was a Priest and the duties of Priesthood are three Docere Orare Sacrificare to teach to pray to sacrifice As for the first he hath already carefully taught them and giuen them the words which his Father gaue him As touching the third hee was now ready to offer vp himselfe as a propitiatory sacrifice for the sinnes of the world for so saith he by and by Father the houre is come Betwixt these two intercedit intercessio he maketh humble suit that both the one and the other might be effectuall to the eternall saluation of all those whom his Father had chosen out of the world and giuen vnto him And thus as in Christs Priesthood so also in his practise Preaching and Prayer were vsually ioyned together What Christ therefore hath conioyned let no man dare to put asunder The dispensation of the Word and Prayer are by the ioint testimonie of all the Apostles the two principall offices of the Ministery Hardly therefore can they bee divorced without maiming or mangling thereof As in Preaching we are the mouth of God vnto the people so by Prayer ought we to bee the mouth of the people vnto God By the one we teach them the will of God by the other we blesse them in the name of God As we are bound to plant and water by Preaching so are we by Prayer to mediate vnto God for increase For that will affect but coldly except this quicken and inflame it It is not the Word or Prayer severally but the Word and Prayer ioyntly that both sanctifieth the Creature vnto vs and the people vnto God Whence it followeth also that as the Minister is to Preach and Pray so are the People to Heare and Pray For Preaching is to no purpose without Hearing and to what end Praying in the Congregation if none concurre with him Heare therefore they must that they may beleeue for Faith commeth by hearing and hearing by the word of God And Pray they must both for their Pastors faithfully and diligently to dispense the word of truth amongst them and for themselues that God would open the eares of their hearts also that what they heare may be even the savour of life vnto life vnto them This condemneth all those who either out of a disrespect of Preaching are all for Prayer such as were the ancient Euchetae and too many also amongst vs now adayes or out of a contempt of Common Prayer are all for Preaching seldome presenting themselues in the Church vntill the Preacher be in the Pulpit No marvell if the Hearing of the one be fruitlesse seeing they despise the Prayers of the Church by which the blessing is obtained and if the Prayer of the other be vneffectuall seeing they little regard Preaching by which it is to be guided But here happily it will be demanded whether of the twaine Preaching or Prayer is the more noble A question much debated of late and with too much faction and vehemence Wherevnto this I haue to say that if the cōparison be intended betweene Preaching and the Prayer of private men without doubt Preaching is the more excellent For it is publike and therefore more profitable A publike embassage from God and therefore more honourable then a private supplication vnto God To say nothing of the more solemne promise made vnto it of shining as the brightnesse of the firmament and the starres for ever and ever Yea but Preaching is subordinate to Prayer and the end is more worthie then that which is subordinate thereto Nay but it is preordinate rather as the Intelligences are to their orbs or Prudence vnto vertuous actions Or if it be subordinate yet is it in order to the chiefest good as the kingly office is vnto meaner trades for the publike weale and the Mediation of Christ to the salvation of man for the glory of Gods grace which yet are not therefore inferiour But if
to his full consistence and strength declined not so we should also grow from faith to faith from grace to grace till we come to our full 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Christ never more afterwards to feele any decay Lastly to shew as St. Augustin probably conjectureth in what age or stature we shall rise againe how young or old soeuer we die namely in that wherein Christ himselfe dyed and rose againe And so much touching the yeare of his age The time of the yeare wherein he suffered was the day of the feast of Passeouer even the fifteenth of the month Nisan For the evening before he eate the Passeouer with his Disciples which by the law of God ought to be done vpon the fourteenth of Nisan the next day after he dyed Here perhaps it will be objected that the Iewes began not their Passeouer till after Christ was crucified as plainly appeares Before the feast of Passeouer supper being ended saith St Iohn And againe It was the preparation of the Passeover and about the sixt houre And yet againe they themselues went not into the hall of iudgement lest they should be defiled but that they might eate the Passeouer Wherevnto I answer that by this it seemes to mee more then manifest that Christ and the Iewes did not both eate the Passeouer at once but our Saviour the euening before and the Iewes the euening after he was crucified What then Did Christ as Lord of the Passeouer prevent the due day prescribed by his Father So some say but very vnprobably For Christ came to fulfill the law therefore without doubt he precisely obserued it How then Surely the Iewes fayled not he For the day of the Passeover and the weekly Sabbath falling immediatly this yeare one after the other they according to their old custome translated the Passeouer vpon the Sabbath and obserued both on one day But our Saviour preferring his Fathers order vnto humane traditions tooke order it should be prepared for him on that very day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in which as St Luke saith the Passeouer ought to be sacrificed So that as we haue said the feast day it selfe was the day of his suffering Then which no time could be more cōvenient or seasonable For as by other Leviticall ceremonies so was he also typed by the Paschal lambe And therefore what time more fitting the sacrifice of the true Lambe then that which presently followed vpon the slaying of the typicall Wherevnto St Paul alluding for euē Christ saith he our Passeouer is sacrificed for vs. Adde herevnto the assertion of some that as Adam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same day he was created sinned so the same day after the revolution of some yeares mans sin by the death of Christ was done away and hee againe created anew Which if it could clearely and infallibly bee demonstrated would argue a speciall providence of God in the dispensation of this day Adde lastly that at this time all the Iewes wheresoeuer were to appeare at Ierusalem to celebrate this feast before the Lord and that in this regard also it was fit he should at this time suffer that more publike notice might be taken thereof and it the better be divulged and spread abroad And thus also you see in what time and season of the yeare he suffered The consideration of this circumstance of time may serue first to convince the Iewes of obstinate incredulitie For if God haue by his eternall decree determined a set houre vnto the comming and suffering of the Messias that houre be now many hundred of yeares past then is Christ already come or God fayleth of his purpose But that such a precise houre was set and that God cannot fayle of his purpose the Iew knoweth well enough Obstinate therefore needs must he be still denying that the Messias is come Secondly it may serue to confirme and settle our Faith in the truth of the promised seed For they that came before or after the appointed houre could not be the true shepheard but theeues only and robbers But Iesus the sonne of Mary came and suffered in that very time and in him were fulfilled all whatsoever was by the Prophets foretold concerning the Messias He therefore is the true Christ neither are wee to looke for another Thirdly not whithstanding this appointed time wee are to remember for our further consolation that Iesus Christ is yesterday and to day and evermore And therefore as he was virtually the lambe slaine from the beginning of the world so the vertue of his death and passion reacheth downe to these times also and evermore will be available to the iustification of a sinner whosoever shall bee provided of true Faith thereby to apprehend it Fourthly as vnto this particular of Christs passion so vnto other things also as namely our vocation conversion repentance hath he appointed a due time This is called the acceptable time and our Hodie to day which if wilfully we neglect we may with Esau seeke the blessing with teares and never after recover it Take wee heed therefore while it is called to day that we harden not our hearts but harken vnto his voice and duely obey it that wee may be admitted into his rest Lastly as God out of his deepe wisdome so are wee in imitation of God to doe all things in due season For as nothing is contented out of its proper place so nothing is welcome or gratious that is done out of due season It is not every word how true soever that is like an apple of gold with pictures of silver but that only which is Seasonable Learned is the tongue of that man that speaketh a word of comfort in fit time and thrice blessed is hee who like a tree planted by the rivers of waters bringeth forth his fruite in his proper season And thus much touching the time when Christ suffered The next point to be considered is the worke of that houre what worke will you say The bitter passion of our Lord and saviour Iesus Christ. what Passion The suffering of that punishment which was due to sinne for the satisfaction of his Fathers iustice What was hee a sinner and deserved such punishment No by no meanes For as touching Originall sinne the passage of that was so stopped vp in his conception by the Holy Ghost that it could no way enter into him And for Actuall sinne there was not so much as guile found in his mouth But hee was to suffer for our Sinnes and to satisfie his Father We had eaten sower grapes and his teeth were set on edge yea but what iustice is this that Titius shall sinne and Sempronius be punished The cause is not alike For Christ vndertooke to be our Surety and to satisfie all our debts And to this end the Word became Flesh that being otherwise impassible hee might in it suffer the punishment due vnto vs. But might not God if he had beene
so pleased haue vsed some other meanes for the appeasing of his wrath Yes doubtlesse for he had abundance of spirit wisdome But he chose this as the best course for the declaration of his iustice and mercy justice in the rigorous exacting of satisfaction for sinne yea even from his owne sonne mercy in the free pardon of sinne by the death and passion of his sonne Excellently to this purpose Cameracensis God in the beginning gaue vnto man truth to instruct him iustice to direct him mercy to preserue him and peace to delight him But he rebelling against his creator they all fled from him returned vnto God Where iustice called vpon him for satisfaction and truth required performance of his word but Peace sought mitigation of wrath and mercy sued for pardon In this difficulty wisdome interposed her selfe and found out a meanes to content all namely by the incarnation and suffering of the sonne of God Wherevnto the Father yeelding all were soone accorded and so mercy and truth met together and justice and peace kissed each other For further ratification whereof it pleased the Father solemnely and vnalterably to decree that his sonne should suffer in the flesh Wherevpon our Saviour saith it was so determined and the Scriptures as they foretell it so they affirme that thus it must be and that Christ ought to suffer And according to this determinate counsell and fore-knowledge of God when the houre appointed was come he was delivered and taken and by wicked hands crucified and slaine Of which great worke being now to speake and to enquire into the Punishment fore appointed vnto him by his Father because some extenuate it too much as if he seemed only to suffer or suffered not what indeed hee did others againe too much aggravate it as if he suffered the very paines of the damned in hell wee will as warily and as carefully as we can steere betweene that Scylla and this Charybdis And to this end wee will diligently enquire foure things the species or kinde of punishment he suffered the extention the intention and the duration thereof And of each of these briefely in a word The kind of punishment was that which was due to sin and every way equivalent for the expiation thereof howbeit so farre forth and no further then was convenient for such a person First therefore he suffered not that Punishment of sinne which is sinne for God many times and that iustly punisheth one sinne by another The reason for that then he should haue beene a sinner either by inherent or actuall sinne and so could never haue made sufficient satisfaction for the sinnes of others Neither secondly did he suffer the personall punishment of this or that man as the gout the stone the dropsie and the like For he tooke not the person but the nature of man into him and so made himselfe subiect not to Personall but to Naturall infirmities only To say nothing that those paines are many of them so contrary and repugnant one vnto another as they are incompatible in the same person Nor yet thirdly did he suffer those punishments which proceede either from the conscience of inherent sinne or the eternall continuance of sinne such as are Remorse and despaire For in him was never any sinne whether Originall or Actuall Only it was imputed vnto him inasmuch as he vndertooke to satisfy for it These foreprised and excepted all other sorts of Punishment were laid vpon him And because in Sinne there is a double act an Aversion or turning away from God the chiefest good and a Conversion or turning vnto that which is only a seeming good and consequently the desert of a double Punishment the one of losse to be depriued of the true good in regard of the Aversion the other of sence to feele smart both in body and soule in regard of the Conversion our blessed Lord and Sauiour suffered both The Punishment of Losse being in regard of present comfort and ioy left vnto himselfe and in a sort forsaken of his Father of which againe anon in the due place The punishment of Sence for he felt during the while extreame both torment and paine outwardly in the body and horror and anguish inwardly in the Soule The Extension whereof was also exceeding generall for he suffered from all that any way could afflict him and in all whatsoever belonged vnto him From his Father therefore he suffered who for a time abandoned him and delivered him into the hand of sinners from the powers of darknesse who laid vpon him whatsoever their malice could devise from the Iewes who stumbled at him and despised him from the Gentiles who made a game and laughing-stocke of him from Magistrates who convented and condemned him from the people who arrested and accused him from the Clergie who charged him with cozinage and blasphemy from the Laity who cryed out crucifie him crucifie him from his enimies who cruelly persecuted him from his friends who in his greatest need started aside from him from forrainers who disdainfully shooke the head at him from those of his owne houshold who most treacherously betraied him and in a word from all sorts both of men and women yea from the Heaven which denied to giue him light from the aire which refused to vouchsafe him breath from the earth which would not so much as beare him frō what not And as from all so hee suffered also in all In his goods being stript even of his raiment and lots cast thereon in his good name being esteemed a deceiuer a blasphemer a drunkard a glutton a magitian a traitor to Caesar in his friends who were scattered as soone as the shepheard was smitten in his mother through whose heart a sword was driuen in his soule by strong feare before his passion and extreame sorrow in his passion in all the parts of his body his head being crowned with thornes his face spit vpon his cheekes buffited his hands feet nailed his sides peirced his backe armes scourged and the whole vpon the crosse barbarously stretched and racked in all his sences the touch by wounds the tast with myrre and vineger the smell with the loathsome savour of Golgotha the hearing with shamefull taunts and revilings and the sight with mowes and disdainefull behaviour finally in the whole person by death the separation of the soule from the body The Intension of all which was likewise exceeding vehement even proportionable vnto the desert of sinne wherefore he sticketh not to say Behold and see if there be any sorrow like vnto my sorrow And againe the sorrowes of hell compassed me round about Not that he felt the flames of hell fire or the same kind of torment which the damned suffer in hell farre bee such impiety from our thoughts but that which is equivalent therevnto Had he suffered only the death of the crosse and no more his martyrs might seeme to haue endured more bitter paines
Adam the tenour whereof runnes thus Hoc fac vives Doe this and thou shalt liue hee gaue it not vnto the person of Adam alone but vnto all those that were in his loines even to all his posterity who had the law printed in their hearts by nature In like manner when Christ commanded the Gospell of Faith and repentance to be preached he limited it not vnto a few but said vnto his Apostles Goe teach all nations and goe into all the world and preach the Gospell vnto every creature Neither from the law nor from the Gospell was any man excepted God is no accepter of persons the hand that swaies a scepter and that diggeth with the spade are both alike vnto him Idem ius Titio quod Seio one rule vnto all whether they be high or low noble or base rich or poore learned or vnlearned bond or free young or old of what state age sexe or condition soever they be God hath not strowed the way to Heaven with roses for great ones to dance vpon and with thornes for the meaner sort to tread vpon neither hath hee appointed a spacious and broad way for some and a strait narrow way for other some to passe vnto life everlasting by For the waies of the Lord are strait waies and as betweene two points there can be but one strait line drawne so can there bee but one strait way that leadeth vnto life Vno quisque modo bonus est mutisque nefandus a man may be wicked many waies but he can bee good only one way A thousand byâ—pathes are there which lead vnto destruction and but one only right path that leadeth to salvation For there is but one body and one spirit and one hope in which all are called one Lord one faith one baptisme one God and father of vs all in a word one Blessednesse which is the end and one Religion which is the way to that end through which way every man of necessity must passe that meaneth to arriue at that end Now I beseech you all that heare mee this day of what place soever you be whether high or low that you will be pleased every one to apply this individually and singularly vnto himselfe and to take notice that none of you can come after Christ but only by the same way Every one must deny himselfe every one must take vp his crosse daily every one must follow Christ or else yee cannot possibly come after him There is none of you so meane whom God overseeth or neglecteth none so great whom he priuiledgeth or exempteth And thus much of the generality of the Counsell The Forme of words in which the Counsell was deliuered is if any will let him which as wee haue said importeth the liberty of them that are counselled For it is as if our Saviour should thus haue said Behold I tell you all plainely no man can come after me vnlesse hee deny himselfe take vp his crosse daily and follow me Now if any will thus come after me I giue him good leaue let him doe so for my part I will neither force him from me nor after me if he come he shall come willingly If any will let him First therefore Christ putteth off and forceth no man from him For God would haue all men to be saved and to come vnto the knowledge of the truth neither is he willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance I haue no pleasure in the death of him that dieth saith the Lord God nay he sweares as he liues hee will not the death of a sinner but that the wicked turne from his way and liue And certainly seeing man is the creature of God and creation is the first emanation issue as it were of his loue it cannot be that hee should delight in his destruction He made not death as the wise man saith and when he inflicts it alienum opus facit he doth a worke not so pleasing him for he had rather shew mercy then execute iudgement Hence is it that he standeth at the doore of our heart and knocketh yea that he continueth knocking vntill his head be filled with dew and his lockes with the drops of the night that he requesteth vs so louingly to giue him entrance Open vnto mee my sister my loue my doue my vndefiled promising so bountifully that if wee shall open vnto him he will come in vnto vs and sup with vs and wee with him and threatning vs that as if we come vnto him wee shall finde refreshment so if wee draw backe his soule shall haue no pleasure in vs. Neither let vs thinke but that God meaneth seriously in all this for otherwise he should but mocke and deceiue vs pretending one thing and intending another and which I tremble to speake playing the hypocrite and dissembler with vs. Besides this he should make vs the ministers of the Gospell no better then false witnesses vnto him testifying things that are vntrue and which he never purposed whereas God being omnipotent needeth not our lye and being truth it selfe will not compasse his end by a lye Finally if Christ with his hands should push from him those whom by his word he inviteth to him then they that come not are the more excusable for every one may plead for himselfe that he suffered violence and Christ himselfe hindred him whose force no creature is able to withstand Christ then forceth no man from him If so whence then is it that many who are invited come not I answere the fault is in themselues they will not come I called saith Wisdome yee refused I stretched out my hand no man regarded yee set at naught all my counsells and would none of my reproofe And againe I called saith God and yee did not answere I spake and yee did not heare but did evill before mine eyes and did chuse that wherein I delighted not Wherefore he protesteth by the prophet Osea Perditio tua ex te Israell thy destruction is of thy selfe oh Israell and complaineth by the prophet Ezechiell why will ye dye ô house of Israell as if he should say if yee dye it is because yee will needs dye They refused to harken saith Zacharie and pulled away the shoulder and stopped their eares that they should not heare yea they made their hearts as an adamant stone least they should heare the law In like manner in the new testament How often would I haue gathered thy children together as the hen gathereth her chickens vnder her wings and yee would not Marke the words I would therefore Christ forceth no man from him yee would not therefore the fault is in our selues The Pharisees and Lawyers saith St Luke reiected the counsell of God against themselues our Saviour testifieth of the Iewes that they would not come vnto him that they might haue life
good and Cicero saith that vnhonest men may be callidi ve◠suti subtle and crafty but Prudentes wise they can never bee The reason is evident because whatsoever is not just is not profitable nay nothing is more vnprofitable then to be hurtfully wise insomuch as Socrates seems to haue iust cause when he cursed him who first distinguished betweene profitable and honest Now to bee wise without innocence is very hurtfull vnto publike states for it overthrowes the society of man if one man may aduantage himselfe by the harme of another For as in the fable of Menenius Agrippa the whole body soone perished when the rest of the members to ease themselues wronged the belly so the whole common-wealth will quickly be dissolued if men may be wise for themselues only and hurtfull vnto others Neither is such wisdome hurtfull only to the publike but also to a mans owne selfe For sinne being the only evill that can hurt a man hee hurts himselfe most who to decline a little evill of paine or losse or disgrace commits an evill against his owne soule Whereby first hee looseth the peace of his conscience which is the happinesse of a man yea his heauen vpon earth For the iust man is as bold as a lyon and a good conscience is a continuall feast saith Salomon Nay Epicurus himselfe who placeth the chiefest blessednesse of a man in pleasure confesseth that a man cannot liue comfortably vnles he liue innocently For as oyle preserueth the light of the lampe so doth innocence maintaine peace and ioy in the conscience Againe as by sinne the peace of conscience is lost so it worketh confusion of face in the day of judgement when men shall bee judged not by their worldly wisdome but according to their innocence Oh how many will there at that day cry out with Cicero O me nunquam sapientem aliquando id quod non eram falso existimatum aye me that indeede was never wise but falsely thought to be what I was not And with those in the booke of Wisdome We fooles thought his life madnesse and his end without honor How is hee counted among the children of God and his portion is among the Saints But the innocent heart shall then lift vp a chearfull countenance as knowing that though here it were despised yet there it shall be iustified and rewarded with a crowne of glory O innocence innocence had I the tongue both of men and Angells yet were I not able sufficiently to extoll thee The man that possesseth thee nothing can hurt he is every where secure If he be tempted it maketh for his advantage if he bee humbled it is for his advancement if he fight he conquereth if he be slaine hee is crowned In bondage hee is free in danger safe in tribulation ioyfull the righteous loue him the vnrighteous in their conscience cannot but approue him and God himselfe highly esteemeth of him Alas alas that among men innocence should so little be regarded Every man desireth to haue all other things good a good house good land a good wife good apparell a good horse every thing good but a good and an innocent soule who desireth to haue I cannot but wonder wherein man hath so highly offended his owne selfe that he should thus wish all the things about him to be good and himselfe only to be evill Perhaps thou wilt say if I may be wise for my selfe no farther then innocence will giue me leaue I shall bee a right innocent indeede liuing but a poore life and nothing set by of any Nought set by of any What not of God not of his holy angells not of his blessed Saints and children For as for wicked men their honouring doth but avile and abase vs. And what talkest thou of a poore life Is not innocencie it selfe great riches If thy chest bee full of treasure thou countest thy selfe rich and canst thou be poore if thy heart be full of innocence Haue theeues and robbers and evill men store of wealth and hath hee no riches in store for thee Yes he hath already bestowed vpon thee the treasures of sanctifying graces and reserueth for thee immortality and glory and eternall life O the blessednesse of that man who is both wise and innocent But where shall a man finde such a Serpent-Doue such a wise innocent If a man should light a candle with Diogenes and narrowly search every corner of the World for him I thinke he should hardly finde any but must be faine to cry out with the Prophet David Helpe Lord for there is not a good man left Of wise and deepe Machiavillians I suppose he may readily finde more then a good many such as subordinate religion vnto policy holding that rule in Seneca Pietas honestas pudor privata bona sunt Reges quâ licet eant piety honesty modesty are the vertues of private men Princes may doe what they list vbi tantum honesta dominantilicent Precario regnatur hee is not an absolute King but raigneth at anothers pleasure who may doe nothing but what is honest and that of Lewis the 11. Qui nescit dissimulare nescit regnane hee hath not the feat of gouerning that cannot discemble These how wise soever they seeme in their own conceits are the veriest fooles in the world they say that all state-policy is built vpon pretence of religion and yet saying it is but a pretence they confesse they build but on a sandy foundation The scripture brandeth them for very fooles Dixit insipiens c. hee is but a foole that saith in his heart there is no good O miseros homines saith Saint Augustine qui cum voluntesse mali nolnut esse veritatem quâ damnantur mali Wretched men who resoluing to be evill would not there should bee a truth to condemne the evill Among these great pollititians who hauing no religion in them yet carefully take it on them our superpoliticke Iesuits may beare the bell Who more pious in shew Who more mischievous in practise Even in their doctrine vnder the title of Catholike faith they teach Treasons and murthers and lying and periuring equivocations making way to the fulfilling of Christs prophecie that in the latter time nor faith nor truth should be found on earth Vnto these wise hypocrites and all others who care more for semblance then substance in religion giue me leaue to say with S◠Chrysostome O hypocrite if it be good to be good why wilt thou seeme to bee that which thou wilt not be If it be evill to be evill why wilt thou bee that which thou wilt not seeme to be If it bee good to seeme to be good it is better to be so if it be evill to seeme to be evill it is worse to be so wherefore either seeme as thou art or be as thou seemest to be But let vs come home to our selues and apply this doctrine a little more closely and particularly That you my Lords are wise as Serpents
fearfull ends And indeede to what end hath God put into the heart of man this passion of feare but to decline and avoid all such euills as would destroy him or afflict him Take away feare and men will 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 despise all danger and run headlong into all mischiefe but feare is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of a preseruing nature as saith the philosopher inclining and perswading man carefully to keepe himselfe from dangers If then to come to an issue yee will not worke mischiefe vnnaturally vnto your owne selues if yee will avoide the Magistrates fury if yee will not incurre the rigour of the law nor fall vpon the edge of the sword of justice yee must needs be subiect But what need will some man say so much to feare the Wrath of the Magistrate May not a man hide his counsells so deepe and carry his actions so cunningly that nor witnesse nor Iudge shall know them If they come to light and bee discouered doth not greatnesse breake through lawes as wasps doe through cobwebs May not judges jury witnesses by friends fauour bribes be corrupted Are pardons impossible to bee obtained from Princes Nay suppose the worst that the penalty of the law can by no meanes be escaped what care they for fines and amercements who are content to beggar themselues to enioy their pleasures What for shame and ignominy who are growne impudent in all wickednesse What for death who count it worse then death not to liue as they list and to bee barred from their desires For there haue beene who haue said moriar modo regnet let mee dye so he may be King and aut Caesar aut nihil an Emperour or nothing To all this I answere briefly first trust not vnto secrecy but remember what wise Solomon saith Curse not the King no not in thy thought neither the great one in thy bedchamber for the foule of the Heaven will carry the voyce and that which hath wings shall declare the matter Secondly hope not for impunity many as great as gratious as wealthy as thou haue failed thereof and how knowest thou but one time or other thou maist meete with one who will accept nor thy person nor thy fee but will say vnto thee with Saint Peter thy mony perish with thee Lastly if any haue so farre put off naturall affection as not to feare Wrath chusing rather to fall into the hands of justice then to be restrained from his wickednesse let such a one know that what Wrath cannot yet Conscience should worke in him For here it must freely bee confessed that Wrath of it selfe is not sufficient it striketh at the branches not the roote and endeavoureth to reforme outward actions but reacheth not vnto the cause which is inward corruption Which remaining in vs Wrath happily may make vs more wary in offending but cannot worke in vs a loue of goodnesse and a desire not to offend at all Wherefore God in his deepe wisdome hath thought it good to binde vs vnto subiection not by a single but double tie and vnto Wrath to adde Conscience Yee must needs be subiect not only for wrath but also for conscience Conscience is that facultie or power of the Practicall vnderstanding in man whereby he is priuy to all his actions whether they be immanent and conceaued within as thoughts or emanant and issuing forth as his words and workes This Conscience is then said to be bound when by him who hath power and authority ouer it it is charged to performe its dutie that is to beare witnesse of all our actions vnto God and according to the qualitie of them to excuse or accuse vs for that these are the duties of conscience plainely appeareth by that of S. Paul their conscience bearing witnesse and their thoughts accusing or excusing This charge is then laid vpon the Conscience after that by the same authority man himselfe is bound for man being free Conscience also is free but man being bound by a law Conscience stands bound also But who is the binder of the conscience God without question He is the Law-giuer saith S. Iames that can both saue and destroy and he as S. Iohn saith is greater then the conscience But can the Magistrate also by his lawes binde the conscience Papists attribute vnto vs the Negatiue that they cannot themselues hold the Affirmatiue that they can and warrant it by this my Text Yee must bee subiect for conscience Vpon this plaine song sundry of them descant very pleasantly but none plaies the wanton more then Doctor Kellison who inferres that we despoile Princes of authority and superiority and giue subjects good leaue to rebell and revolt that we bring Iudges and Tribunall seats and all lawes into contempt that no Prince can rely on his subjects no subjects on their Prince or fellow subjects in a word that wee take away all society and ciuill conversation To all which I answere breefly First suppose the maine ground were true yet neither can they proue it out of my Text nor doe such absurdities follow therevpon Out of my Text they cannot proue it for that only affirmes that the Conscience is bound but determines not that mans lawes bindeth it Neither doe such absurdities follow for albâ—it wee should deny man to be the binder yet doe wee freely professe that the Conscience is bound which is enough But we answer farther that they much abuse vs for we deny not rem that they binde onely wee differ from them in modo maintaining that they binde not in such manner as they teach They hold that mens lawes binde non minùs guà m lex divina equally with Gods lawes so that were there not any law of God binding to Subiection yet mans law of it selfe and of its owne power would binde This we deny teaching contrarily that humane lawes binde the Conscience not immediatly but mediatly not primarily but secundarily not in themselues of their owne power but in the force and vertue of Divine law Divine law I say whether that which is imprinted in the heart by nature or that which is revealed vnto vs by Scripture both which command Subiection This truth in fâ—w words thus I demonstrate First if mans law immediatly binde the Conscience then is euery transgression thereof without farther respect vnto Gods law a mortall sinne But so it is not for according to St Iohns definition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sin is a transgression of the law meaning not mans but Gods law only in regard whereof St Augustine saith more expresly Sin is dictum factum concupitum any saying doing or coueting against Gods law Besides if man of himselfe without respect vnto Gods law can binde the conscience then either is he Lord of the conscience and may himselfe conuent it examine it take its testimonie and accordingly proceed to sentence either of life or death both vpon body and soule or he hath power to command God to sit in
calls God to witnesse so doth a Lot An Oth must be in truth righteousnesse judgement so it is in the Lot being disposed by him that is thus qualified Thus and many another way it equals an Oth. DEFENCE The forme of your Argument is this That which equals an Oth in any thing and excels it in many things may not be vsed in light matters A lot equals an Oth in any thing and excels it in many things Ergo a lot may not be vsed in light matters The Maior I readily yeeld vnto but the Minor pardon me if I speake plaine English call a spade a spade is little lesse then blasphemie For in an Oth there is a solemne appeale made vnto God both by attestation of his Omniscience and obligation of our selues vnto the severest censure of his justice if we should sweare falsely But in Ordinary lots no such appeale is made vnto him but only to a Casuall event meerely considered as it is Casuall which being so pettie a matter in regard of so sacred an Ordinance I cannot but wonder how you durst so to compare them But let vs heare your reasons and first wherein they are equall An Oth you say is of Gods ordaining and so is a lot Nay so is not a lot God indeed permitteth it alloweth it and if you will adviseth it too but commandeth it not as he doth an Oth. All the power now it hath is only from humane institution and agreement Againe an Oth say you is a meanes to decide controversies so is a lot True but not such a meanes nor of such Controversies Not such a meanes for an Oth is ordained by God to this very end but a Lot howsoeuer it may be vsed to the same end yet is it so by mans Ordinance not Gods And an Oth straitly bindeth to pronounce rightly whereas a Lot is carelesse as being but a Casualtie Nor of such controversies for an Oth determines questions of right fact which a Lot cannot and they that are wise neuer referre matters of so high a nature to so incompetent a iudge Thirdly say you an oth taken settles contentment among men so it is or should be in a lot for God doth it It doth but an Oth by vertue of that obligation wherein man stands bound vnto God to speake nothing but truth and a Lot only by reason of some compact formerly made between men Neither doth God doe it as you say but without restraining the naturall power of the Creature suffereth him to worke and doe as him listeth Fourthly an oth you say cals God to witnesse so doth a lot Nay so doth not a Lot for he that casteth the Lot respecteth not Providence but Casualtie and to expect Gods immediate hand therein is no better then tempting of him But what if the Lot fall amisse as it may doe shall God be a false witnesse God forbid Yet so it must needs be if in every Lot God bee called to witnesse Lastly say you an Oth must be in truth righteousnesse and iudgement so it is in the Lot being disposed by him that is thus qualified As touching an Oath I grant but how it may be done in a Lot I for my part vnderstand not For a Lot is but a Chance and Chance regardeth nor truth nor righteousnesse nor iudgement But he that disposeth the lot should bee thus qualified Who is that God The word qualified fits not him that is nothing but substance and to God nothing is casuall and so no Lot Man That were to contradict your owne selfe for you haue confidently affirmed againe and againe that God alone disposeth in a Lot and man hath no hand therein Sed magna est veritas praevalet errour hath but a bad memory truth at one time or other will surely breake forth Many other waies there are you say wherein a lot equals an Oth but what they are neither doe you tell vs neither will I trouble my selfe to enquire I come therefore to examine wherein a Lot excels an Oth N. N. Now it excels an Oth in these and other particulars A Lot decides that which an Oth cannot It s vnlawfull to vse a Lot if witnesse or Oth can decide it It was an order in Israel that if the vnder-officers could not decide a controversie they should bring it to the chiefe Iudge or high Priest to be determined So fares it in this which argues the hand of it When all meanes vsed by vs by prayer inquirie witnesse and oth are not able to decide a controversie bring it to me saith God the Lot shall doe it hee will doe it by a Lot DEFENCE Indeed there are some causes wherein by reason of their indifference either way an Oth is not fit to determine For example when things are as equally parted as mans wisdome can devise and the question is who shall haue which part what can Oth or testimonie doe in this case Nothing at all But a Lot can you will say True yet this advanceth not a Lot aboue an Oth but rather abaseth it For Oths may not bee taken but in weightie matters and this is so small that an idiot or child may as easily determine it as a Lot In matters of importance such as concerne right and fact deposition of witnesses is of great force What a Lot Of none at all For example a murther is committed Titius is arraigned for it Sejus Sempronius testifie vpon their Oth that Titius is the man it sufficeth to convict him Now suppose witnesses fayle and cannot be produced what can a Lot doe Can it infallibly find out the guilty person If no as indeed it cannot how is it that you say bring it to a Lot and that shall decide it For if I mistake not your comparison you make prayer enquirie witnesse oth and other meanes to be as the vnder officers in Israel but a Lot as the chiefe judge or High Priest to whom was referred what else could not bee determined and from whom there might be no appeale But good sir you knowe that comparisons proue not I deny that a Lot is Gods highest tribunall or that his immediate Providence worketh therein Were it so I demand why questions of right and fact may not bee tryed thereby For I presume no man knowes what is to bee done better then God and hee is not partiall to accept the persons of any If you say they may then I demand farther whether the Lot will alwaies fall out right If yea then would the fall of the Lot be vnalterable although it were cast a thousand times But experience telleth vs that every severall cast varieth and altereth the Chance and how then can we excuse God from mutabilitie and inconstancie If no then must God pronounce an vnrighteous sentence and how then shall the judge of the whole world passe vnblameable or not stained in his honour with foule vnjustice To avoid all which inconveniences I would advise you to put on
cause to bee confident vpon them then your selues but only to vindicate the honour and dignity of the Scriptures which of your side are too basely sleighted and neglected And as touching this particular place of Saint Augustine notwithstanding all the flourish you make therewith yet shall you never be able to proue what you intend thereby as I come now to demonstrate This booke de vtilitate credendi I haue now twice for your sake throughly read ouer and with the best attention I could In it I find the authority of the Catholik Church made the first motiue or meanes vnto Faith by which we doe beleeue but not the first principle and reason of faith for which wee doe beleeue The occasion of writing it was this Saint Augustine hauing lately through Gods grace escaped out of the toiles of the Manichean Heretiks in which for the space of nine yeares hee had beene entangled is very desirous to recouer from them his friend Honoratus also as yet continuing in his error and held fast by them This he doubteth not through the same grace of God soone to effect may hee but find him duly prepared and disposed For vntill hee be wrought from his hereticall pertinacy and stifnesse vnto a more Christian moderation and equability he shall with all his arguments but wash a bricke as they say and spend his oile and labour to little purpose That which made him so vntoward and hard to be wrought vpon was the faire and plausible insinuation of the Manichees that they pressed no man to beleeue vntill they had first cleared and manifested the truth whereas others terrified men with superstition and commanded Faith before they tendred any reason vnto them Wherefore to remoue this preiudice and to frame him vnto a more indifferent temper he employeth in this booke all his strength and skill labouring to demonstrate the Vtility of beleeuing and how requisite it is to yeeld to authority before with pure minds we can discerne the truth And this is the only drift and scope he aimeth at in this booke neither medleth hee therein with any of the Manichean heresies but reserueth the confutation conviction of them vntill some other time as appeareth by the very closing vp thereof where he willeth Honoratus to remember that he hath not yet begunne to refute the Manichees nor to seâ— himselfe against those toies nor hath opened any great matter touching Catholike Doctrine Whence thus I argue If S. Augustin in this booke dispute against Honoratus from the Churches authority as the last resolution of Faith then hath he opened therein the greatest point of Christian religion and confuted thereby the Manichean heresie inasmuch as the Catholike Church vtterly condemned it But S. Augustin in expresse words affirmeth that he hath not so much as begun to refute the Manichees nor opened any great matter touching Catholike doctrine Therefore he disputeth not from the Churches authority as the last resolution of Faith True it is he is much in commending authority setting forth the benefit of beleeving it But what authority What beleeuing that authority which is grounded vpon the Generall opinion fame and consent of people nations that Beleeuing which is Morall and only prepares the minde to divine illumination If so then certainly cannot St Augustins authoritie be the last Principle of Faith For this is infallibile and absolutelie necessarie as well to the wise as vnwise that but an vncertaine step or staire to raise vs vp vnto God not necessarie to them that are wise What then is it in S. Augustins iudgment Surely the first inducement or Introduction to the search of divine Mysteries For saith he it is authoritie only which moueth fooles to hasten vnto wisdome And againe to a man that is not able to discerne the truth that he may be made fit for it and suffer himselfe to be purged authority is at hand Had hee thought it to be more then so he would never haue considered it without certainty of truth Yet so doth hee even in the passage by you alledged They saith hee that know the Church affirme her to be more sincere in truth then other sects but touching her truth is another question In a word as in other arts and sciences He that will learne must beleeue his teachers so in these heavenly mysteries also would Saint Augustine haue all those that are not initiated such as his friend Honoratus was to beginne with Authority Not that it is a sufficient warranty for whatsoever we learne but for that it is the readiest and likeliest way to bring vs vnto learning N. N. Thus Saint Augustine teaching his friend how he might both know and beleeue the Catholike Church and all that she taught simply and without asking reason or proofe And as for knowing or discerning her from all other Churches that may pretend to be Catholike wee heare his marks that shee is more eminent vniversall greater in number and in possession of the name Catholike The second that shee may be beleeued securely and cannot deceiue nor bee deceiued in matters of Faith he proueth elsewhere concluding finally in this place If thou doest seeme to thy selfe now saith Augustine to haue beene sufficiently tossed vp downe among Sectaries and wouldst put an end to these labours and turmoiles follow the way of Catholike discipline which hath flowne downe vnto vs from Christ by his Apostles and is to flow from vs to our posterity I. D. Out of that passage of St Augustine you obserue two things first what be the Marks by which the Catholike Church may be discerned secondly that shee may be beleeued securely as one that can neither deceiue nor he deceiued As touching the former you say Saint Augustines Markes are these foure Eminence Vniversality Multitude and Possession of the name Catholike Wherevnto I answere first that Saint Augustine maketh none of these things Notes of the Church For three of them namely Eminencie Vniversality and Possession of the name Catholike he doth not at all mention Eminencie I confesse is foisted into your translation but no where appeares in the Originall Of the fourth to wit Multitude all that he affirmeth is this that in his time there were more Christians then of any other religion and that among all Sects of Christians there was one Church consisting of a greater number then all the rest which is not enough to establish it for a marke of the Church Where by the way giue me leaue to demand why whereas Saint Augustine saith Christians are more then Iewes and worshippers of Images put together you render it the Iewes and Gentiles put together For what the reason should bee I cannot conceiue vnlesse it be the same for which you raze out of your Catechismes the second Commandement But I answere secondly that as St Augustine maketh none of them Marks so neither are they Markes for Proper they are not nor Perpetuall and
it is bread saith he but after consecration of bread it is made the flesh of Christ. And againe before the words of Christ be vttered in the consecration the Chalice is full of Wine and Water but when the words of Christ haue wrought their effect there is made the bloud that redeemed the People I. D. Whether those bookes of the Sacraments here cited by you vnder the name of Ambrose be his or no is not agreed vpon by all Possevine the Iesuite affirming that all almost together with Cardinal Bellarmine hold them to be legitimate plainely insinuates by the word almost that some are of another minde Their reasons are first because the stile much differeth from that of Ambrose his being cleare perspicuous florid and elaborate this oftentimes negligent harsh rude savouring of Monkish barbarisme Secondly because no writer before Lanfrank Guitmund who liued six hundred yeares after Ambrose quote them which were strange if they be his especially considering the matter of these bookes and how commonly the rest of his writings were alleaged Lastly because repeating the Lords Prayer hee deliuereth the sixt Petition in these words And suffer vs not to bee led into temptation whereas the words of Christ are And lead vs not into temptation which it is not to bee thought that S. Ambrose either was ignorant of or meant to amend As touching the other booke de Imitandis you should say de mysterijs initiandis the same iudgement haue they as of the former But if you will let them bee Saint Ambroses For I meane not to be peremptory herein What would you conclude out of him That hee denies it expresly to bee bread after consecration Certainely in expresse tearmes he doth not All he saith is that after consecration bread is made flesh and wine bloud out of which it followeth not that it ceaseth to be bread and wine for S. Ambrose himselfe affirmeth that this notwithstāding they still remaine what they were If saith he there bee so great power in the word of the Lord Iesus that they should beginne to bee that which they were not how much more effectuall is it that they be what they were yet be changed into another thing But how may this be will you say that it should remaine bread and yet be made flesh Let S. Chrysostome resolue you The grace of God saith he sanctifying the bread it is freed from the name of bread and counted worthy of the name of the Lords body Yea and S. Ambrose himselfe also The Lord Iesus himselfe saith he cryeth this is my body Before the blessing of the heauenly words it is named another kinde after consecration the body of Christ is signified He saith his Bloud Before consecration it is called another thing after consecration it is called bloud Where by the way I cannot but marvel at the fore-head of your Cardinall Bellarmine who vouching this place changeth that clause the body of Christ is signified into this it is the body of Christ. Happily he did not brooke the word signifie because it cleareth this point of the Real Presence more then willingly he would But hereby it is evident how bread may be made flesh and yet still remaine bread namely because it is made so only typically and in a signifying mystery N. N. Whereas Christ hath said of the Bread This is my Body who will dare to doubt thereof And whereas hee hath said of the Wine This is my Bloud who will doubt or say it is not his Bloud He once turned Water into Wine in Cana of Galilee by his owne will which Wine is like vnto Bloud And shall we not thinke him worthy to bee beleeued when he saith he hath changed Wine into his Blood Our Lord Iesus Christ doth testifie vnto vs that we receiued his Body and Bloud and may we doubt of his credit or testimonie Those things that are written let vs read and what we read let vs vnderstand so shall we perfectly performe the duty of Faith for that these points which wee affirme of the naturall verity of Christs being in vs except we learne thē of Christ himselfe we affirme them wickedly and foolishly c. Wherefore whereas he saith My Flesh is truly Meat and my blood truly drinke there is no place left to vs of doubting concerning the truth of Christs body and blood for that both by the affirmation of Christ himselfe and our owne beleefe there is in the Sacrament the flesh truly and the blood truly of our Saviour Eusebius bringeth in Christ our Saviour speaking in these words For so much as my flesh is truly meat and my Blood truly drinke let all doubtfulnesse of infidelity depart for so much as he who is the author of the gift is witnesse also of the truth thereof And Saint Leo to the same effect Nothing at all is to be doubted of the truth of Christs Body and Blood in the Sacrament and those doe in vaine answere Amen when they receaue it if they dispute against that which is affirmed And finally St Epiphanius concludeth thus Hee that beleeueth it not to bee the very Body of Christ in the Sacrament is fallen from grace and Salvation I. D. Your Argument Christ saith This is my Body This is my Blood True no man denieth it The Fathers say He is worthy to be beleeued and wee may not doubt of his testimonie True also and he is an infidel whosoever questioneth any thing he saith What then Ergo by the judgement of the Fathers the flesh of Christ is Really and by way of Transubstantiation present in the Sacrament It followeth not For Christ saith not so and his Flesh without Transubstantiation may be present Sacramentally and Spiritually Saint Paul expresly saith The rocke was Christ and he is worthy to be beleeued neither may wee doubt of his credit Yet I hope you will not inferre thereupon Ergo in S. Pauls iudgement the Rocke was transubstantiated into Christ. No more can you conclude the like Change out of Christs words for the case is exactly the same In a word to argue from the Thing to the Manner It is Ergo it is so or so is meerely ridiculous With this generall answere might I at once quit all your authorities but to three of them I haue somewhat more to say in particular Christ saith Cyril hath said of the bread This is my Body and who will dare to doubt thereof Verily no true beleever Yet Papists dare For that Bread should bee Christs Body tropically figuratiuely they iest flout at and that it should be so literally and properly they flatly deny It is impossible saith your law that Bread should be the Body of Christ. And Bellarmine which sentence this is my body either must be vnderstood tropically that bread is the body of Christ significatiuely or it is altogether absurd and impossible for it cannot be that bread should
that receaue it The body of Christ not many Bodies but one Body Whence I argue as wee by receauing the Sacrament are made Christs Body so is the Bread But wee are not made his Body corporally by way of Transubstantiation Ergo neither is the Bread nay much lesse is the Bread But Saint Chrysostome saith Not by faith only but in very deed True Yet not as if he that is ioyned to Christ by Faith were not indeed ioyned for as Saint Augustine saith The Apostle deceiueth vs not who saith that Christ dwelleth in our harts by faith He is in thee because faith is in thee Nor as if he would exclude Faith and that a man might be vnited vnto Christ by some other meanes without Faith How then His meaning plainly is this that wee are ioyned vnto Christ by Faith and by charity and that this coniunction is not only imaginary as some may foolishly conceiue by the apprehension of the mind and phantasy or by participation of the spirituall gifts and graces of Christ but true and Reall by communication of his very Flesh vnto vs. Of which more in the next testimony Saint Cyril saith that wee are conioyned vnto Christ corporally by communication of his flesh and againe that in the Sacrament wee corporally and substantially receiue the Sonne of God Wherevnto I answere that Saint Cyril disputeth against a certaine Heretike who held that wee are one with Christ by Faith in his Deity and not by coniuction with his Flesh and to this purpose wrested that saying of our Saviour wherein he calleth himselfe a Vine vs the branches and his Father the Husbandman To refute this he endeavoureth to shew that wee are ioyned vnto him not only by that Faith whereby wee beleeue him to be the Sonne of God and that Charity whereby wee loue him and spiritually embrace him but also in our Flesh to his very Flesh and that therefore Christ not only in regard of Deity is the Vine and wee his Branches but also in respect of his Body May it not saith hee conveniently be said that his humanity is the vine and wee the Branches by reason of the identity of nature And to proue this he drawes his argument from this Sacrament for that by it not only the gifts and graces of his Deity but also his true reall Body is after an inscrutable and vnspeakable manner communicated vnto vs. True it is he vseth the word corporally but he saith also by the participation of the same flesh Whereby he insinuateth that hee intendeth not by that word to expresse the Manner how we are vnited but the Thing wherevnto wee are vnited after a Bodily manner but vnto the Body Else this absurdity will follow that wee by the Sacrament are after a Bodily manner in Christ as well as Christ is in vs for Saint Cyril affirmeth both that wee are corporally in Christ and Christ corporally in vs. Whereas therefore Cyril saith not only by Faith and charity but also corporally he doth not exclude the one but admitteth both as appeareth by that he saith both spiritually and corporally are wee the Branches and Christ the Vine And the plaine meaning is that not only in regard of the Spirit or Deity of Christ and our faith charity but also in respect of his very Flesh are wee truly ioyned vnto him More briefly wee are vnited not to his Divinity or Humanity alone but vnto both N. N. Wherevnto for more explication addeth Theophilact When Christ said this is my Body hee shewed that it was his very Body indeede and not any Figure correspondent therevnto for he said not This is the figure of my body but this is my body By which words the bread is transformed by an vnspeakable operation though to vs it seeme still bread And againe in another place Behold that the Bread which is eaten by vs in the mysteries is not only a figuration of Christs flesh but the very flesh indeed for that the Bread is transformed by secret words into the flesh And another Father more ancient then he aboue twelue hundred yeares past handled these words of Christ This is my Body saith It is not the figure of Christs Body and Blood as some blockish minds haue trifled but it is truly the Body and Blood of our Saviour indeed I. D. The testimonies of Theophilact I might safely if I would passe over in silence for that hee liued some nine hundred yeares after Christ and therefore is too young to be reckoned among the ancient Fathers Neverthelesse let vs heare what he brings Christ saith not This is the figure of my body but this is my body True neither was it fit to speake otherwise For in the institution of a Sacrament what forme can be more fit then that which is proper to a Sacrament That forme is to giue vnto the signe the name of that whereof it is a signe Hence is circumcision called the covenant and the Lamb the Passeover and Baptisme our Death and Buriall with Christ. The reason because of the resemblance that is betweene the Sacraments and those things whereof they are Sacraments as Saint Augustine saith As also to raise our thoughts from setling on that which is earthly and elementall in them to the contemplation of that heauenly grace which is signified and exhibited by them as Theodoret saith But of this what doth he collect That it is his very body indeed and not any figure thereof Not any Figure Those that are both his ancestors and betters say otherwise Tertullian The bread that was taken and given to the Disciples Christ made his body saying This is my body that is the Figure of my body Augustine The Lord did not sticke to say This is my body when hee gaue the signe of his body And againe The Lord at his supper commended and deliuered to his Disciples the figure of his body and blood Amhrose The new Testament is confirmed by blood in a Figure of which blood wee receiue the mysticall cup. Hierom Iesus tooke bread and giuing thankes brake it transfiguring his body into the bread Finally for it would be infinite to alledge all what more frequent in the writings of the Fathers then Signes Sacraments Figures Symbols Types Anti-types Mysteries Samplars Images Similitudes Remembrances and the like Against all whose yea Theophilacts Nay is not worth a straw Yet for all this if you will giue him leaue to interpret himselfe I see not but his Nay may easily bee reconciled to their Yea. For in the next passage by you vouched he faith It is not only a Figuration as if hee should say A figure it is but it is not only so not a bare and naked Figure but a Figure endued from on high with the efficacy of the Spirit according to that of St Cyprian The truth is present to the signe and the spirit to the Sacrament As
in Rupertus himselfe by way of Impanation N. N. Let vs therefore beleeue God alwaies and not repine against him although that which he saith seemeth absurd to our sense and vnderstanding Let his words surmount and passe both our sense and reason which thing wee ought to doe in all things but chiefly in the mystâ—ries having more regard vnto his words then to things which lye before vs. For his words are infallible but our sense may very easily be deceaued they cannot possibly bee false but this sense of ours is many and sundry times beguiled Seeing therefore he said This is my Body let vs haue no doubt but beleeue and behold it with the eyes of our vnderstanding I. D. Whatsoeuer Christ saith must be beleeued although to our sense and reason it seeme neuer so vnlikely This I grant for he is truth it selfe and can neither deceaue nor be deceaued But Christ saith This is my body And this also I grant for they are part of the words of Institution Ergo these words must be beleeued And let them bee esteemed as Gentiles and Publicans that beleeue them not But what meaneth he when he saith Let vs behold it with the eyes of our vnderstanding In the words immediatly following he declareth it thus Christ deliuered no sensible thing vnto vs but by sensible things things intelligible And this he illustrats by the Sacrament of baptisme So also in baptisme saith hee by water a thing sensible the gift is giuen but that which is wrought namely Regeneration and Renovation is intelligible By all which you may easily see what St Chrysostome intendeth namely to draw our eyes from the sensible Obiect vnto the spirituall and Intelligible Grace exhibited to our vnderstanding by it as knowing that Water and bread are now become instruments in the hand of Christ of the spirituall Renovation and Refection of our soules Which as it is effected in Baptisme without the Transubstantiation of Water so for ought St Chrysostome saies it may bee done in the Lords supper also without Transubstantiation of bread N. N. What wil you say then if I shew you that so many of vs as be partakers of the holy mysteries doe receaue a thing farre greater then that which Elias gaue For Elias left vnto his Disciples his cloake but the sonne of God ascending into heauen left with vs his Flesh. And againe Elias went himselfe without his cloake but Christ left his flesh with vs and ascended hauing with him the selfe-same Flesh. I. D. Here Christ ascending into heauen and carrying his true flesh with him is compared to Elias who also ascended and carried his flesh thither with him But the flesh that he left here with vs is compared to Elias cloake which he left with Elizeus And the comparison standeth thus that as the Cloake which Elias left was a symbol of the spirit and Vertue which fell from him vpon Elizeus so the mysticall elements in the Sacrament are pledges and tokens vnto vs of the true flesh of Christ in the Church Thus therefore is St Chrysostome to be vnderstood as if he had said Christ ascending carried his true flesh with him corporally into heaven and left his mysticall flesh here vnto vs spiritually in the Sacrament N. N. The supper then being prepared both old and new ordinances met together at the Sacramentall and mysticall delicates and the Lamb being consumed which the old tradition did set forth our Master setteth before his Disciples a meat which cannot be consumed Neither is the people invited now to sumptuous costly and artificiall banquets but the food of immortalitie is giuen which differeth from common meats keeping the outward form of the corporall substance but prouing declaring that there is present by an invisible and secret working the presence of a divine power I. D. Thâ— booke of the Cardinal workes of Christ divided into twelue Tracts among which this De coenâ Domini is one is none of Cyprians that was Bishop of Carthage Pamelius staggers For although the Words and phrases and figures and the like seeme vnto him to make for Cyprian yet he professeth that of certainety hee hath nothing to say But Possevine is peremptory that it is falsly fathered on Cyprian So is Sixtus Senensis also and Cardinal Bellarmine And they render reasons For that Cyprian never refused to set his name to his bookes which this Author doth Neither would hee haue called his writings Childish toyes or haue said that the sublimitie of Cornelius ought to be delighted with his stammering tongue Nor finally would he haue vsed so many barbarismes nor haue written things contrary to himselfe As for this particular Tract de coenâ Domini Bellarmin ingeniously acknowledgeth that not Cyprian but some one later then hee wrote it Howbeit they all conclude that the Author of these Tracts is ancient How ancient It is cleare saith Pamelius that this booke was written in the time of Cornelius and Cyprian and therefore deserueth the same authoritie with Cyprian Nay not so saith Bellarmine for the Author thereof is later then Cyprian yea without doubt later then S. Augustine that is a hundred and fifty yeares yonger then Cyprian at least And who certainely knoweth but he may yet be much younger then so In the Library of All Soules College in Oxford there is a Manuscript very ancient of all these Tracts vnder the name of Arnoldus Bonavillacensis dedicated not to Cornelius as it is now falsely inscribed but to Hadrian the fourth the which Arnoldus liued not much lesse theÌ„ twelue hundred yeares after Christ. Which inscription if it be true as it is not vnlikely then is not this author the man you tooke him for namely that graue Father and Martyr as in the next Section you tearme him to wit St Cyprian If false yet because it is vncertaine who he is and in what age he liued his authority cannot be of of any great value Neverthelesse whatsoeuer he be let vs in a word or two examine his testimonie And first be it obserued that all the Presence hee speaketh of in these words is but the Presence of divine vertue or power which falleth short of that Real Presence of the naturall Body of Christ which you intend But after the Lambe saith Cyprian was consumed our Lord set before his Disciples an inconsumptible meat which cannot be Bread Indeed it cannot and who saith it is For the meat that cannot be consumed is the Body of Christ offered and exhibited in the Sacrament together with Bread And this is also that food of immortalitie which hee speaketh of represented and figured vnto vs by Bread it being so truly Bread sacramentally But it followeth differing from common meats and keeping the forme of bodily substance and these happily are the words which you thinke strikes all dead What for Transubstantiation Suppose then your Author had said The water in Baptisme differeth from common water
retaining the forme of bodily substance by invisible working proueth the Presence of Gods power to be there would you from hence conclude Transubstantiation I knowe you would not No more can you from this And indeed the word species which you translate Forme yea and outward Forme too though the word outward be not in the text doth not signifie shew without substance or Accident without subiect but in the writings of the Fathers vsually it signifieth the truth nature or kinde of a thing So Ambrose I see not speciem the truth of bloud speaking of the Lords Cup but it hath the resemblance which afterward repeating I see the resemblance saith he but I see not veritatē the truth of bloud Again the word of Christ changeth the species of the Elements What is that The Formes or Accidents of the Elements No for they you say remaine What then but the Elements or things thēselues And St Augustin Their meat was the same with ours but the same in signification not in specie that is in kinde So that when your Author saith it keepeth the species of bodily substance it is not necessary to render it by Forme that is Accident or Shew void of substance for you may as well turne it thus it still retaineth the nature or truth of its bodily substance N. N. This graue Father and Martyr doth plainely shew how Mr Downe hath wrested Pope Gelasius For the Popes and the Doctors of the Church did agree alwaies in matters of Faith notwithstanding the great shew M. Downe hath made to the contrary For here S. Cyprian sheweth you that this food of immortality keepeth the outward forme of the Bodily Substance but prouing that there is present a divine power which is confessed by Gelasius And therefore when Gelasius saith the nature of Bread and Wine ceaseth not to be his meaning is the outward forme of the corporall Substance And with this agree many of the Fathers which are also wrested from their true meaning as appeareth manifestly by the manifold plaine places of the Fathers by me here set downe I. D. If to neglect the Premisses and to contradict the Conclusion by the right way of answering arguments then haue you taken the right course and made vp my mouth for ever replying vpon you For whereas M. Downe as you say hath made a great shew to proue that the Fathers disagree among themselues in some points you passing by all the proofes thinke it sufficient to affirme the contrary that the Popes and Doctors of the Church doe agree Wherevpon you farther inferre that M. Downe hath wrested Pope Gelasius For although hee haue proued by the expresse words of Gelasius that the Bread is not transubstantiated because the substance thereof stil remaineth yet is the conclusion false For Popes and Doctors Gelasius and Cyprian must needs agree But questionlesse if Cyprian for for the present wee will suppose him to bee the right Cyprian doe by Forme of bodily substance vnderstand nothing else but shew without Substance it is impossible to make him agree with Gelasius For Gelasius saith The Substance or nature of Bread and wine cease not to be and Substance cannot possibly be shew without substance So to interpret is to expound white by blacke and light by darknesse and would argue extreame either stubbornesse against the truth or brutishnesse But Cyprian by Forme vnderstandeth not as wee haue shewed Accidents miraculously subsisting without Subiect but them together with the Subiect or the verity and truth of the thing And so hee perfectly agrees with Gelasius and the rest of the Fathers and all of them against Transubstantiation For as for those manifold plaine places by you here set downe I hope by this time they appeare not so plaine vnto you but are all of them fully answered and that without wresting any one of them from his true meaning N. N. Therefore though the Fathers doe sometimes call the Sacrament a Figure or Signe Representation or Similitude of Christs Body death passion and bloud they are to bee vnderstood in the like sense as those places of St Paul are wherein Christ is called by him a Figure the substance of the Father and againe an image of God and farther yet appearing in the likenesse of man all which places as they doe not take away from Christ that he was the true substance of his Father or true God or true man indeed though out of every one of those places some heresies haue beene framed by ancient heretiks against his Divinity or Humanity so doe not the foresaid Phrases sometime vsed by the ancient Fathers calling the Sacrament a Signe Figure Representation or Similitude of Christs Body exclude the truth or Reality thereof I. D. That the Sacraments by the Fathers are called Signes Figures Representations Similitudes and the like is so cleare that you cannot deny it and I feare it greeueth you much to read it in them because it maketh so directly against you Wherefore to salue all some pretty shift or colour must be devised those tearms must bee vnderstood as St Paul meaneth when he saith Christ is the Figure of his Father the Image of God and appeared in the likenesse of man For as here they deny not either the Godhead or Man-hood of Christ so neither in the Fathers doe they exclude the Body or Blood of Christ from the Sacrament And doe they not indeed Why then when Cyprian ere while said Retaining the forme of Corporall Substance did you so hastily exclud Substance and fancy to your selfe shewes subsisting of themselues without it But let vs examine this a little farther A Symbole saith Maximus is some sensible thing assumed insteed of that which is intelligible as Bread and Wine for immateriall and divine nourishment and refection And againe These are Symbols not the truth Sacraments saith Augustine are signes of things being one thing and signifying another It were no figure saith Chrysostome if all things incident to the truth were found in it And Saint Augustine againe If Sacraments haue not a resemblance or Similitude of those things whereof they are Sacraments they are not Sacraments These sayings of the Fathers plainely shew that in Sacraments they never conceiued the Figure and the Truth to be one and the same thing but that the signe is one thing and the thing signified cleane another And herevpon in expresse tearms they affirme that they are two not one The Eucharist saith Irenaeus consisteth of two things an earthly and an heauenly And Saint Augustine The sacrifice of the Church is made of two and consisteth of two things the sacrament or sacred signe and the thing of the Sacrament And it is to be noted that they speake generally of all Sacraments so as in the Lords Supper the Figure is no more the same with the Truth then it is in Baptisme And indeed vnlesse you can make Sensible and Insensible Corporall and Spirituall Earthly and
beleeue and aske not How as if wee doubted of the truth of them Nay wee constantly adhere vnto them though we thinke it impossible to know the manner How But your words vnlesse you demonstrate them wee are not bound to beleeue and wee may without offence as I thinke demand How that may be which you affirme yea reiect it too if wee find it repugnant to the rule of Faith or of right reason N. N. I forgot to set downe this place of Saint Paul in his due place which is a cleare confirmation of S. Paul who for resoluing doubts as it seemed had conference with Christ himselfe after his ascension for before he could not being no Christian when Christ ascended the matter will bee more evident His words are these to the Corinthians For I haue receiued from our Lord himselfe that which I haue deliuered vnto you about the Sacrament And doe you note the word For importing a reason why he ought specially to be beleeued in this affaire for asmuch as hee had receiued resolution of the doubt from Christ himselfe and then he setteth downe the very same words againe of the institution of this Sacrament that were vsed by Christ before his Passion without alteration or new exposition which is morally most certaine that hee would haue added for clearing all doubts if there had beene any other sense to haue beene gathered of them then the plaine words themselues doe beare I. D. Omitting your amplifications of Pauls conference with Christ of his learning thereby to resolue all doubts of rendring it as a reason why he is to be beleeued in this matter of the Sacrament although I for my part know of no such conference as you speake of but only of an immediat inspiration into him by the Spirit of Christ of all truths wherein hee was to informe the Church which why you should call a Conference I cannot guesse Omitting I say all these Circumstances and by talks the substance of your argument is this If the words had had any other sense then the plaine words themselues doe beare then certainly S. Paul would haue cleared it But this hee endeavoureth not for he doth but repeat the words of institution and that without alteration or exposition Ergo the words haue no other sense then the plaine words themselues doe beare I answere the plaine words are This namely This bread is my body Which Proposition taken precisely and according to the letter cannot possibly be true The best of your owne side as hath already and shall againe bee shewed confesse so much Why therefore did not S. Paul more plainely expound it Hee needed not for it was a Sacramentall speech And whosoeuer knewe the nature of a Sacrament could not but vnderstand it Sacrameâ—â—ally thus This is the Sacrament of my Body But where you say St Paul added nothing for clearing of doubts you are much deceaued For the sixth seuenth and eight and twenty verses are added to that end In which among other things three times he calleth that Bread which wee eat in the Lords Supper And if that which wee eat then that which is consecrated And if that which is consecrated then Bread remaines after consecration which vtterly overthroweth your Transubstantiation And it is farther to be noted that Saint Paul comming after our Saviour Christ it is to be presumed that he meant rather to cleare and enlighten his words then to obscure darken them Yet he darkens them if that which we eat â—ee truely and properly Christs Body and not Bread Yeâ— hee entiâ—eth people into errour and diggeth a pit for them to fall into For it appearing Bread vnto the Sense and man naturally yeelding credit to the report thereofâ— hee should rather haue called it as it is Flesh if it be Flesh and not feed vs in errour by calling it so often Bread But to this you reply as followeth N. N. I was the more willing to set downe those words of S. Paul although not in their due place because M. Downe iâ— his writing seemeth to take so much â—old of S. Pauls words in calling it Bread in divers placâ—s wherein S. Paul meanâ— no other Bread then that Christ declared it to bee 〈◊〉 his lâ—st Supper and as one of the Fathers before cited calleth it the heavenly Bread the Bread of life I. D. What hold soeuer M. Downe tooke of S. Pauls words this answer is not able to remoue it By Bread say you the Body of Christ is meant If so then haue wee found that which hetherto you could not endure to heare of a Figuratiue speech in the Sacrament for Christs body properly is not Bread But why doth hee call it Bread Because before consecration it was Bread as some say Noâ— so for it was never Bread Or because it seemeth to bee Bread as others say Noâ— so for Christs body nor is nor seemeth Bread Why then because in Scripture all nourishment is called Bread Nor so for in that sense vnder Bread Drinke is comprehended whereas our Apostle distinguishes them as divers things Let him eat saith hee of that Bread and drinke of that Cup. Is it lastly because Christs body lies hid vnder the shewes of bread Absurd for by the same reason you may call the Casket by the name of a Diamond because it containes it The truth is S. Paul vnderstands by bread not Christs body but that which in proper speech is so For Christs true body cannot be broke but this bread even after consecration is broken For so he saith The bread which we breake is it not the Communion of the body of Christ N. N. All which laid together and the vniforme consent of expositions throughout the whole Christian world concurring in the selfe-same sense and meaning of all these Scriptures about the Real Presence of Christs true Body in the Sacrament you may imagine what motiue it is end ought to be to a Catholike man who desireth to beleeue and not to striue contend Besides this Protestants haue not one authority nor can produce any one at this day that expresly saith that Christs Reall Body is not in the Sacrament 〈…〉 only a Figure Signe or token thereof though divers impertinent peeces of some Fathers speeches they will now and then pretend to alleage So on the contrary side the Catholikes doe behold for their comfort the whole â—â—nke of ancient Fathers throughout every age standing with them in this vndoubted truth I. D. Indeed if you haue the Vniforme consent of expositions throughout the whole Christian world concurring with you and the whole ranke of Fathers throughout every age standing with you in this as you suppose vndoubted truth I must needs confesse it both is and ought to be a sufficient Motiue vnto you to perswade assent vnto the truth thereof But if vpon due examination you finde that not one of them all doth so expound as you doe and that your Author hath presented you with a list
Body And wee are stedfastly to beleeue that the Humane nature was so assumpted by the Deity that although they both constitute but one Person yet they still remaine two distinct Natures and each of them retaineth its Essentiall Properties If then as the Apostle saith Christ be made like vnto vs in all things sinne only excepted and our Bodies cannot bee without Dimension of length breadth and depth together with circumscription proportion and Distinction of parts one from the other and the like then neither can the Manhood of Christ be without them Neverthelesse you fancy vnto Christ in the Eucharist such a Body as is vtterly deprived of them all For thus saith your Angelicall Doctor and what he saith is the generall Tenent of the Church of Rome In the Body of Christ in the Sacrament there is no distance of one part from another as of the eye from the eye or the head from the feete as it is in other organicall bodies For such distance of parts is in the true Body of Christ but not as it is in the Sacrament for so it hath not dimensiue quantity O miserable Christ that art driven into such narrow straits that the whole bulke of thy Body should be emprisond and as it were frapt together in every little crum and point of the hoste And more true and seasonable may the complaint now be then it was of old that the Sonne of man hath not so much as a place wherein to rest his head But seeing as Thomas saith The true body of Christ hath distance of parts and the Body of Christ in the Sacrament hath not distance of parts I marvaile what should let but that I may boldly inferre the conclusion Ergo the Body of Christ in the Sacrament is not his true body Againe it is an Article of the Faith that Christ being ascended into Heauen hath quitted the earth and now sitteth at the right hand of his Father This the Scriptures testifie The poore saith Christ yee shall haue alwaies with you but mee yee shall not alwaies haue And I leuae the world and goe vnto the Father And againe Now am I no more in the world but these are in the world and I come vnto thee Hence saith St Peter The heauens must containe him vntill the time that all things bee restored And then as the Angell said This Iesus that is taken vp from you into Heauen shall so come againe as you haue seene him goe into Heauen The Fathers saith the same Origen According to his divine nature he is not absent from vs but he is absent according to the dispensation of the Body which he tooke As man shall he be absent from vs who is every where in his divine nature For it is not the manhood of Christ that is there wheresoeuer two or three be gathered together in his name neither is it his manhood that is with vs at all times to the end of the world nor is his manhood present in every congregation of the faithfull but the Divine vertue that was in Iesus Tertullian In the very pallace of Heaven to this day sitteth Iesus at the right hand of his Father Man though also God flesh and bloud though purer then ours neverthelesse the same in substance and forme wherein he ascended Ambrose Neither on the earth nor in the earth nor after the flesh are wee to seeke thee if wee will find thee Augustine Mee shall you not alwaies haue He spake this of the presence of his Body For touching his Maiesty providence vnspeakable and invisible grace it is true that he said I am alwaies with you to the end of the world But as for the flesh which the word tooke which was borne of the virgin fastned to the crosse laid in the graue you shall not alwaies haue mee with you And why Because hee is ascended into heauen and is not here there hee sitteth at the right hand of the father Cyril of Alexandria He could not be conversant with his Apostles in the Flesh after hee was once ascended to his Father And Notwitstanding he be absent in the flesh yet by that only meanes the power of his Godhead he is able to saue his Finally Gregory the Great The word incarnate both remaineth and departeth he departeh in Body and remaineth in his divinity Thus the Fathers And hence is it that so often in their writings they exhort vs not to settle our thoughts here on earth but to send vp our Faith into heauen and thither to follow him in heart whither wee beleeue him to be ascenâ—â—d in body Now what you The cleane contrary that the Body of Christ is still present with vs here on earth and as ordinarily as he is aboue in heauen Nay more then so For there he is confined circumscribed to one place as also he was here in the daies of his Flesh when he liued among the Iewes but now by your Doctrine he may be and is in more then a thousand places at once even when and where you will For you haue power to reproduce him as often as you list then to keepe him with you as long as you please at least vntill the mouse devoure him or he begin to corrupt and putrifie But is it impossible will you say for the Manhood of Christ to be present in many places at once Impossible if we may beleeue the Fathers neither can you produce any one of them that saith the contrarie If the argument of the Fathers aboue quoted be good Hee is in heauen Ergo he is not in earth then can hee not at one time bee both here and there too And doth not St Cyril expresly say he could not be coÌ„versant with his disciples in the Flesh after he was once ascended to his Father St Augustine likewise Christ according to his bodily presence could not be at once in the Sunne and in the Moone and on the crosse And againe The Body of Christ in which he rose againe can bee but in one place but his truth is every where diffused Vigilius a blessed Martyr and Bishop of Trent The flesh of Christ when it was in the earth was not in Heaven and now because it is in hauen certainly it is not in earth And by and by Forsomuch as the word is every where and the flesh of Christ is not every where it is cleare that one and the same Christ is of both natures that is every where according to the nature of his divinity and contained in a place according to the nature of his humanity Finally Fulgentius One and the same sonne of God having in â—â—m the truth of the divine and humane nature lost not the properties of the true Godhead and tooke also the properties of the true Manhood one and the selfe same locall by that he tooke of Man aâ—d infinite by that he had of his Father
As the heavenly bread which is the Flesh of Christ after its manner is called the Body of Christ being in truth the Sacramentâ— of Christs Body Marke that which is called Body is not so in truth but only in signe and after a manner Pope Leo Christ being lifted vp into heaven set an end to his Bodily Presence being to abide at the right hand of his Father vntill the times appointed by God for the multiplying of the Sonnes of the Church be accomplished If till then he haue set an end to his Bodily presence then till that time he is no more here Fulgentius the holy Catholike Church throughout the whole world ceaseth not to offer vnto Christ the sacrifice of Bread and Wine in Faith and Charity If a Sacrifice of bread and wine then is it bread and wine after consecration Pope Gelasius certainly the Sacraments of the body and bloud of Christ which wee receiue is a divine thing wherefore by them are wee made partakers of the divine nature and yet the substance or nature of Bread and Wine cease not to bee And verily the image and similitude of the body and bloud of Christ are celebrated in these mysteries And They passe by the worke of the holy Ghost into a divine substance continuing notwithstanding in the propriety of their nature Lo the Substance and Nature of bread remaine and the Sacrament is but an image and Similitude of Christs body What can be more plaine Theodoret Himselfe hath honoured the Visible Symbols with the name of his body and bloud not changing their nature but adding grace vnto nature And againe disputing against an Eutychian Heretike who to overthrow the Humanity of Christ had thus argued that as the signes in the Eucharist are after Consecration changed so the body of our Lord after the assumption thereof was changed into the Divine substance hee bringeth in Orthodaxus thus answering Thou art taken in thine owne nets for the mysticall signes after consecration depart not from their proper nature For they remaine in their former substance and figure and forme and are visible and tangible as formerly they were but are vnderstood to bee thee things they are made and beleeued and are honoured as being the things they are beleeued These passages of Gelasius and Theodoret are the very racke gibbet of you Papists wherevnto the best of you know not what to answere but only that by substance Accident is meant An incredible obstinacy and madnesse and needing rather a Physitian to cure it then a disputer to confute it For with as good reason may you say that by white blacke is meant and by Heaven Hell and any thing by whatsoever Lastly Gregory the Great proueth the truth of Christs body against Eutychius by those words of our Saviour Handle mee and see Can you proue the truth of Christs body in the Sacrament by the same argument Verily if that which is neither felt nor seene be not Flesh Bone neither is the Flesh of Christ in the Sacrament for it is neither felt nor sâ—ene And if bread bee transubstantiated only by vertue of those words This is my body then in the Apostles time there was no Transubstantiation at all For as Gregory saith The manner of the Apostles was only by the Lords prayer to consecrate the host of the Oblation And thus haue you a full grand Iury of the ancient Fathers all of them liuing within sixe hundred yeares after Christ and with joynt consent crossing your new vpstart fiction of the Reall Presence To these I might easily adde a long list of those who succeeded in after times as Bede Rabanus Maurus Walafridus Strabo Bertram Waleram Bishop of Medburg Druthmarus and others not one of them in their times taxed for errour in this point But I will only relate what the Doctrine of the Church of England was about seauen hundred yeares after Christ as appeareth by those Homilies that then were publikely read vnto the people The holy Font water that is called the well-spring of life is like in shape to other waters and is subiect to corruption but the holy Ghosts might cometh to the water through the Priests blessing and it can after wash the body and soule from all sin through Ghostly might Behold now wee see two things in this one creature After true nature that water is corruptible water and after ghostly mystery hath hollowing might So also if wee behold that holy housel after bodily vnderstanding then see wee that it is a creature corruptible and mutable if we acknowledge therein ghostly might then vnderstand wee that life is therein and that it giueth immortality to them that eate it with beleefe Much is betwixt the invisible might of the holy housel the visible shape of his proper nature It is naturally corruptible Bread and corruptible Wine is by might of Gods word truly Christs Body and his bloud not so notwithstanding bodily but Ghostly Much is betwixt the body Christ suffered in and the body that is hallowed to housel The body truly that Christ suffered in was borne of the flesh of Mary with bloud and with bone with skinne and with sinews with humane limmes with a reasonable soule liuing and his Ghostly body which we call the housel is gathered of many cornes without bloud and bone without limme without Soule And therefore nothing is to bee vnderstood therein bodily but all is Ghostly to be vnderstood Thus the Homily and thus much thereof haue I thought good here at large to set downe to the end you may know that our Ancestors in this Iland notwithstanding your loud craks to the contrary haue not alwaies at leastwise in this point beene Papists Besides these testimonies of antiquity wee haue their customes also against you St Hierom reporteth that in the Primitiue times after the holy Communion was ended they were wont to feast together in the Church and to spend the residue of the Eucharist that remained Hesychius saith that it was the custome not to reserue till the morrow as your manner now adaies is but to burne what fragments soeuer remained of the consecrated Elements Evagrius and Nicephorus both doe testifie that the ancient custome of the Church of Constantinople was to send for little children from the schoole such as otherwise were barred from the Communion to giue the remainders of the Sacrament to them Had the Church in those daies verily beleeued that it had been the true and Real body of Christ doe you thinke they would so haue profaned it by feasting vpon it and bestowing it on children Or that they would with such impietie and sacrilege haue burned and consumed it in the fire It is altogether incredible As incredible therefore that they held it to be the Lords Body But of Antiquity enough Fiftly and lastly it implieth in it innumerable contradictions which according to the rule of Logick cannot
later shorter and taller broader and narrower thicker and thinner greater and lesser then himselfe and such like of the same garbe But I study to be briefe it is high time to remoue my hand as they say from the Table Onely I must forewarne you that if being vnable to vntie these knots you shall attempt to cut them asunder with the sword of Gods Omnipotence you shall but loose your labour For if they be contradictions as vndoubtedly they are your Angelicall Doctor can tell you that they fall not within the compasse of Divine Power So that of force you must either demonstrate that these things are not contradictorie which I am sure you can neuer doe or as becommeth Christian ingenuity you must for ever bid farewell to Transubstantiation and yeeld vnto the truth discouered vnto you And thus at length by Gods assistance haue I finished the taske you haue laid vpon me fully answered whatsoeuer here you haue alleaged in maintenance of your Reall Presence My desire now is that laying aside all prejudice you will but with indifference read what I haue replied therevnto Which if you shall vouchsafe to doe I perswade my selfe it will make you to remit much of that confidence you had in this cause when first you sent this Schedule vnto me Especially if withall you consider that the wittiest and subtlest heads amongst you could never finde it so clearely and strongly grounded either vpon Scripture or Fathers as you pretend Scotus sirnamed the subtle Doctor affirmeth that there is extant in Scripture no place so expresse as without declaration of the Church can evidently constraine a man to admit of Transubstantiation And this saith Bellarmine is not altogether vnprobable For although the scripture may seeme vnto vs so clear as it may constraine a man that is not froward yet it may iustly be doubted whether it be so seeing most learned and witty men such as Scotus specially was haue thought the contâ—ary The same Scot farther saith that were it not for the authority determination of the Roman Church the words of Christ and of the Fathers might more simply plainely truly be vnderstood and expounded Nay hee yet farther addeth and your Cardinal Bellarmine confesseth it that before the Lateran Councell Transubstantiation was not a doctrine of Faith and he wondreth that being no principle article and such as exposeth the Christian Faith to contempt it could be receaued and beleeued The Cardinall of Cambray also doubteth not to avouch that that manner which supposeth the substance of Bread still to remaine is possible neither is it contrary to reason or the authority of scripture Nay it is easier to conceaue and more reasonable then that which saith the substance doth leaue the accidents And of this opinion no inconvenience doth seeme to ensue if it could be accorded with the Churches determination And he addeth that the opinion which holdeth the substance of Bread not to remaine doth not evidently follow of the Scripture nor to his seeming of the Churches determination Cardinall Cajetan is as peremptory that there appeareth nothing in the Gospell that can force a man properly to vnderstand these words This is my body and that were it not for the interpretation of the Roman Church they might very well admit another sense as that of the Apostle the Rocke was Christ. To these Cardinals may wee ioyne another Cardinall though happily he neuer ware the Cap I mean Fisher Bishop of Rochester who expresly averreth that in that place of Mathew where the institution of the Sacrament is recorded there is never a word whereby it may bee proued that there is made in the Masse the true presence of the flesh and bloud of Christ. Gabriel Biel also The Scriptures may be salved and expounded after a more easie vnderstanding And Occam This doctrine that the substance of bread remaineth is subiect to lesser inconveniences and is not so repugnant to reason the Scriptures And Durand It is great rashnesse to say that the body of Christ cannot by divine power be in the Sacrament but by converting bread into it Howbeit if that way which supposeth bread to remaine were indeed true many doubts which meet vs holding it not to remaine were dissolued The Master of the Sentences also freely confesseth that if it be demanded what that conversion is whether formall or substantiall or of another kinde he is not sufficient to define From these your Iesuits swarue not very much Gregory de Valentia saith that the Fathers spake of Transubstantiation somewhat obscurely simply as thinking they could not be vnderstood of Catholikes but Catholikely and least they should haue exposed the mystery to be laughed at of Infidels if in their popular Sermons they should haue vnfolded their minds Your Secular Priests affirme that it was concluded among the Fathers of the Societie and what Catholike would not beleeue them that the Fathers haue not so much as touched the point of Transubstantiation Finally not to muster vp any more it is well knowne that divers of your Priests being demanded if after sentence of death pronounced vpon them that very morning when they were to be executed they might haue leaue to say Masse to the intent they might be certaine of their owne intention to consecrate and not doubtfully depend vpon anothers whether after consecration for the confirmation of our Faith in the point of Transubstantiation they durst to say thus vnto the multitude Vnlesse that which is now in this Chalice whose Accidents you see be the very selfe same bloud which issued out of the side of Christ hanging on the crosse let mee haue no part either in the bloud of Christ or in Christ himselfe for ever and so with these last words bid farewel vnto the world being I say demanded whether they durst adventure to doe so they all with one voice denied it And Father Garnet in a conference with the Deanes of the Chappell Pauls and Westminster being in particular asked the like answered very perplexedly not daring to hazard his saluation therevpon All these testimonies duly pondered and considered you must needs acknowledge vnlesse you see better then these quick-sighted Eagles that you haue not so strong hold either in Scripture or Fathers or right reason as you imagined and that not only the name but the Doctrine also of Transubstantiation hath beene but of late created an article of your Faith It remaineth that I entreat you these things vndoubtedly being thus that you suffer not your selfe any longer to be beguilded with novelties vnder pretence of antiquitie but rather that you open your eyes and stretch forth your armes to embrace the truth now that she offereth her selfe so manifestly vnto you And this I intreat the more earnestly because of the great danger that followeth vpon this errour For if Christ bee not present in the Sacrament in such sort as you hold there
for Titius as well as for Seius I assume but many Papists allow the sense I giue This if I would follow your course I might easily proue by all those Popish writers who acknowledge those words of the Fathers which we obiect against you without mentioning any of their Answers But so doing I should shew my selfe as ridiculous and vnconscionable as your Author Thus therefore Scotus Cameracensis Caietan Roffensis Biel Occam Durand Peter Lombard with some Iesuits and the Canon Law professe some of them that they could not finde Transubstantiation in the Scriptures and some that they could not in the Fathers Their expresse words you haue in mine Answere whether I referre you for it would be too long to transcribe them If so and all these were grand Papists I haue no reason to beleeue you or your Author rather then them nay great reason haue I to cleaue the faster vnto my opinion as better according both with Scripture Fathers N. N. Your second reason There are amongst vs differences even in many essentiall and fundamentall points as namely betweene Protestants and Puritans whatsoever D. Abbat Doue Willet Powel Sr Edward Hobby Rogers others say to the contrary And this you proue by Rogers Covel Ormrode Parks Willet Powel and sundry others I. D. That there are differences and dissentions amongst vs is too true and cannot bee denied This therefore wee grant But the Consequence which you inferre therevpon Ergo you may not yeeld vnto my iudgement or any of our side I deny For to make this follow you must of necessitie hold that where there are dissentions there you may not harken to any side A dangerous and desperate Position and the very Objection of the Iewes against Christianitie We may not beleeue because of your distractions By which reason as you may not heare vs so may not we you nor Turks and Infidels any of vs all how Orthodoxe soeuer because the Christian world is still full of contentions A man would thinke that diversitie of opinions especially in matters concerning soule and Salvation should rather quicken and stirre vp the minde diligently among all to search which is the truest then to cause it sit still and forbeare assent vntill all sides be accorded Neither let any pretend inabilitie for as Chrysostome saith Seeing we acknowledge the scriptures which are so true and plaine it will be an easie matter for to iudge And tell me hast thou any wit or iudgement For it is not a mans part barely to receaue whatsoever hee heareth Say not I am a learner and may be no iudge I can condemne no opinion this is but a shift c. And Gerson rendreth the true reason hereof The triall and examination of doctrines concerning Faith belongeth not only to the Councell Pope but also to every one that is sufficiently learned in the scriptures because every man is a sufficient iudge of that hee knoweth But ô yee miserable servitude and slauery of you the common sort of Papists your eyes are puld out of your heads neither are you allowed the vse of common sense and reason The Scriptures by which you should see are wrested out of your hands as a dangerous booke If you will see it must be by another mans eyes Your Faith must depend vpon the warrant of some equivocating Priest And whatsoever is said to the contrary though never so soundly proued you may in no case harken to it for why there are dissentions among you This reason being thus fully answered I might without more adoe passe on to the next but that I see by your spinning it to such a length you make great store of it Let vs therefore bestow a word or two more vpon it There are say you dissentions amongst vs. True And was there ever or will there ever be a Church so happy as to be altogether free of them If not why doe you vpbraid them vnto vs Is it because notwithstanding them we count one another brethren members of the same Church That is an Argument of our charity and that we dare not cut off and condemne as Hereticks every one that differeth though never so little from vs in opinion whereas you presently condemne to the pit of Hell all Christians whatsoever wheresoever and how many soever that will not vaile bonnet vnto the Popes Miter and beleeue all to bee true that hee resolues vpon But what May not brethren disagree and yet continue brethren Or doth every quarrell exclude out of the Church of God I trow not For then Paul and Barnabas Peter and Paul Victor and Polycrates Cyril and Theodoret Chrysostome and Theophilus Epiphanius and Chrysostome Hierome and Ruffin and sundry others should not be brethren Nay the East and West Churches dissenting about Easter and the Roman and African about Rebaptization should be no true Churches Yea but our differences are not in pettie matters but essentiall fundamentall points And such were also in the Churches of the Corinthians and Galathians for in the one they differed about the Resurrection of the dead in the other about the necessary observation of the law of Moses together with the Gospell And yet saith Bellarmine they were true Churches and they that so erred if they were ready to learne the truth and to beleeue it being taught were true members of them also But by your leaue sir your Author overlashes when he saith we differ in points Essentiall and Fundamentall neither doe our Divines only say it as you beare vs in hand but clearely demonstrate it also And indeed all the quarrell is rather about the shell then the kernell that is the outward gouernment ceremonies of the Church rather then the Faith of the Church or at the most it is rather about some deductions and conclusions in Divinitie then the Principles themselues and those truths that are necessary vnto salvation For as for the Article of Christs descent into Hell though your Author would insinuate the contrary yet there is not one of vs but willingly subscribes vnto it and acknowledgeth that Christ hath spoiled Hell and triumphed over Principalities and Powers and all the enimies of our salvation But whether he did this by descending locally in soule into the Hell of the Damned or Virtually and by the power of his Godhead is all the Question amongst vs whereby for ought I see we neither overturne the Article nor dissolue brotherhood And your selfe must needs confesse so much vnlesse you will disclaime brotherhood with Durandus and condemne him of a Fundamentall errour together with vs. For hee held that the soule of Christ descended into Hell not in the substance thereof but by certaine effects And heare the resolution of Suares the Iesuit touching this Article If by an article of faith saith he we vnderstand a truth which all the faithfull are bound explicitly to knowe and beleeue so I doe not thinke it necessary to reckon this among the Articles
this you will remaine during life and then if your life hinder not as you hope it will not you shall enioy everlasting life I. D. What you professe you will not doe that you haue already done Very weake wavering haue you shew'd your selfe in forsaking that religion which is descended vnto vs by succession from Christ and his Apostles and hath alwaies beene taught and maintained in the Catholike Church to embrace a new vpstart superstition vtterly vnknowne to the Primitiue times and growne out of the earth but some two or three nights agoe What Motiues you then had for your revolt I knowe not They that knewe you well speake of some other thing rather then Conscience The best construction I can set vpon it is this you had beene but badly informed in the truth And now least you should incurre the imputation of levitie and inconstancie if you returned to vs againe I feare you haue obstinately resolved to close your eyes and not to see the truth how brightly soever it shine vpon So that the saying which I thinke I haue some where read in Tertullian is verified vpon you Miserable is the case of that man who was perswaded before hee was instructed and afterward refuseth to be instructed because hee is perswaded The sayings of Vincentius Lirinensis and S. Augustin we well allow of but the application of them to your selfe hath more face then forehead in it For as of old Dioscorus the Heretike cryed out in the Councell of Chalcedon I am cast out with the Fathers I defend the doctrine of the Fathers I passe not beyond them in any point and I haue their testimonies not barely but in their very bookes even so you and wish no more modesty nor truth then he I follow vniversality antiquitie and consent in my Beleefe I stand to the Faith that hath beene held in all places in all seasons by all or the most Bishops Priests Doctors in Christianitie I follow a Church begun by entrance of nations authorized by miracles encreased by charitie established by continuance in which is succession from Saint Peters Chaire and knowne of all by the name Catholike But soft good sir how is all this proued For you cannot bee ignorant that we deny al these things affirming the clean contrary that the Romish Synagogue is not the Church S. August speakes of but altogether degenerated from it that the points in difference betwixt vs were neither Vniversall nor Ancient but sprung vp of late ever as they rose vp mightily opposed by the most famous Clerks of their times If you would perswade vs otherwise you may not thinke to prevaile with your strong imaginations but you must convince vs with sound demonstrations wherein God wot the best of you all are as weake as water For as for your selfe I cannot but wonder that knowing no more then you haue picked out of the writings of two or three sneaking Friers you yet talke so coÌ„fidently and presumptuously of Vniversalitie Antiquity and consent in all places and seasons of all Bishops Priests and Doctors as if either your selfe had liued all the while to see it with your eyes or had read all the story of the Church and whatsoever monuments they haue left behind them If you thinke you may be so bold and confident vpon your Author tell vs I pray you why we may not be as bold and confident on our The rather seeing your writers are open maintainers of Equivocation and I knowe not what pious frauds and lies which our men even from their hearts detest abhorre But why should either we or you trust so much vnto deceitfull man The safest course would be with the wise â—ereans to search the Scriptures whether these things be so or not He that shall doe this with an honest heart and out of the loue of truth cannot but finde satisfaction vnlesse hee fayle that hath promised seeke and yee shall finde Verily one testimonie from the mouth of God and his sacred word wil be of more force to settle the Conscience then ten thousand of those Topicall arguments probabilities wherewith your Author gulleth and beguileth you But where you say that the Roman Church is by all both friends and enimies knowne and called by the name Catholike you shew your selfe to be a pleasant and merry man It may bee some of vs at some times may haue called some Recusants Catholikes What then Doe we therefore indeed count you so Nothing lesse for wee call you not so in earnest as if you were so but only in jest and by way of Irony because you affect to bee called so Otherwise then thus wee never either count or call you or your Church Catholike Why Should wee seeing you your selues howsoever in word you retaine it yet in effect seeme to disclaime it calling your selues Roman Catholikes For Catholike is Vniversall Roman Particular that is of the whole world this of one Citty So that Roman Catholike is as much as to say Particular Vniversall that is Not catholike Catholike Whence it followeth evidently that while you restraine your Faith to Roman you vtterly cut it off and your selfe withall from being Catholike Hauing therefore lost the kernell why are you so greedy of the shell Of the name I mean being destitute of the thing Content your selfe with Roman leaue Catholike vnto vs. For wee are indeed the true Catholikes holding all that Faith and only that Faith which the Apostles preached and was generally beleeued throughout the World An ancient friend of mine and a worthy Scholler being demanded in a Stationers shop in Venice while there he followed the Lord Embassadour what was the difference betweene vs here in England and the Catholikes answered None at all for wee count our selues good Catholikes But the party being loth to be put of so pressed him againe to know the difference betwixt vs here and them there and was answered This that wee beleeue the Catholike Faith contained in the Creed but beleeued not the thirteenth Article which the Pope had added to it But it being replied that hee knew none such the Extravagant of Pope Boniface was brought where hee defines it to bee altogether of necessity to salvation to euery humane Creature to bee vnder the Bishop of Rome The beleefe of this thirteenth Article thus patched vnto the rest by your thirteenth Apostle may perhaps make you Bonifacian or Roman but the beleefe of the other twelue makes vs I am sure true and perfect Catholikes Whether you allow vs the name or not it matters nothing as neither whatsoever nicknames you impose vpon vs. For by the grace of God wee are what wee are and it is neither the one nor the other that can make vs other then wee are As neither can you by assuming the name of Catholike or any other Sectaries by calling themselues Illuminates or Vnspotted Brethren make your selues to be that which indeed you are not For as for Reformers although such Corruptions
The truth of which three questions while I endeavour to resolue not so much with heat and vehemence of passion as strength and evidence of reason let me entreat you all Right Worshipfull Reverend and beloued Christian brethren but for the space of one houre to lay aside all preiudice and to heare with indifference what I can say When I haue done if my resolutions appeare to be grounded vpon sound and convincing arguments I hope you will according to your duties readily yeeld vnto the truth if otherwise every one may still abound in his owne sense and yee haue free liberty to carry home the same opinion ye brought hither with you In the meane season I beseech the Lord to direct your hearts and to giue you a right iudgement in all things The first Quere is whether preaching in this place be distinguished from reading In resoluing whereof I will not be so peremptory as some are only I will shew what I conceiue and vpon what grounds This I conceiue that Preaching here is no other then the publike Reading of Moses and I conceiue so vpon these grounds because there appeareth nothing in the words to force a distinction but rather something importing an identity That there is nothing to enforce a distinction appeares if either yee consider the context and reason of the words or the text it selfe and the forme of words vsed therein First therefore as touching the Context It is manifest by this particle For that these words are inferred as a reason vpon some thing premised Thus. Some of the beleeuing Pharisees had taught the brethren at Antioch that except they were circumcised and together with the faith of Christ obserued the ceremonie of Moses they could not be saved Whereof after much altercation and dispute the Apostles being advertized they summon a counsell at Ierusalem to stint the quarrell In it Saint Peter expresly affirmeth that salvation is impossible by the law and that the grace of Christ is of it selfe every way sufficient which sentence Saint Iames hauing readily approved he adds withall that for the setling of the Churches peace it would not be amisse to write vnto the beleeuing Gentiles that they abstaine from pollutions of idols from fornication from things strangled and from blood For saith he Moses of old time hath in every Citty them that preach him being read in the Synagogues every Sabbath day Now how comes in this For and what is that conclusion whereof this is a reason Heere I finde difference of opinions but among them all three seeme to me to bee most probable Of them all take which you list and the publike Reading of Moses alone will bee a sufficient proofe thereof The first opinion is Saint Chrysostoms in whose iudgement Saint Iames would proue this conclusion that it is altogether needlesse to write vnto the beleeuing Iewes touching abstinence from these things And why is it needlesse Because they perfectly know these things already But how came they to the knowledge of them By hearing Moses publikely read in the Synagogues every Sabbath day for he in such cleare expresse tearmes hath deliuered the same that whosoeuer heareth cannot but take notice thereof as besides sundry other places you may see in Num. 25. and Lev. 17. which you may pervse at your better leasure The second opinion is of the French translators this Ye may not thinke that by this decree the law of Moses will be vilipended or disesteemed Why Because the Reading of Moses saith the marginall note will not be discontinued in the assemblies of the beleeuing Iewes neyther will the beleeuing Gentiles make scruple to assist them therein The third and last is the common opinion and carries with it best likelyhood this We must for a while condescend to the beleeuing Iew in observation of the ceremonie least wee scandall them and cause them to stagger in the faith The reason because they know by the weekely reading of Moses that it is his ordinance to whom they are so strongly addicted that they cannot yet without danger to their faith be weaned from him And thus take which of these conclusions you please and the sole reading of Moses is a sufficient proofe thereof You will say so is interpretation also I denie it not only I affirme that from the context or reason of the words yee cannot force a distinction betweene Preaching and Reading No more can you from the Text and the forme of words vsed therein Indeed if the words were in the originall as Hieron to whom wee are referred englishes them debellatum esset the warre were ended For thus he renders them Moses was both read and preached then which a plainer distinction cannot bee Whether so reading he intended the advantage of his cause I will not say Demortuis nil nisi bene he was while hee liued a graue and reverend preacher Howbeit the originall reads otherwise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee hath them that preach him being read Beza turnes it thus cum legatur seeing he is read others thus in that or inasmuch as hee is read Which how it can inforce a distinction I see not rather it imports the contrary that Preaching here is no other then Reading So seemeth the Syriack also to vnderstand it Moses hath Caroze Haralds or Criers in the Synagogues who read him every Sabbath day And indeed the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here vsed whence also Caroze as Casauhon thinketh fetcheth its pettigree properly imports the art of a Praeco or Crier Now Praeco a crier as Whitaker obserueth Recitat edicta non exponit barely reads or recites his Princes edicts doth not expound them If then I should say the King hath in every towne those that preach or publish his proclamations being openly read by the Towneclarke vpon market dayes could any man of sense or vnderstanding distinguish the preaching or publishing of the proclamation from the publike reading thereof No more can he Preaching from reading in this place for the case is exactly the same Adde herevnto that such Preaching euen in the judgement of the adversarie is here meant as was ever performed in every Synagogue vpon every Sabbath day Now that Moses of old was read in the Synagogues every Sabbath day it is cleare in my text So is it also Act. 13.27 the voices of the Prophets are read every Sabbath day But that Moses in every Synagogue every Sabbath day was interpreted and Sermons made vpon him doth not appeare and I thinke will hardly be proued For as for those places where in mention is made of exhortation after reading they are to little purpose inasmuch as they only show what sometimes and vsually not what was alwaies done In the Sabbatticall yeare vpon the feast of Tabernacles the law was commanded to be read of expounding there is no mention at all Nay seeing then the whole law was intirely to be read it seemes very probable that
Heavenly Corruptible and Immortall to bee all one neither shall you ever be able to make the signe and the Thing signified in any Sacrament to be the same Adde herevnto that the Fathers not only say that Bread is a Figure of Christs body but also that when wee are commanded to eat his Body or drinke his Bloud the speech is Figuratiue For as Saint Augustine saith Hee seemeth to command an evill and wicked act it is a figure therefore instructing vs to communicate with his passion c. Now to vnderstand a Figuratiue speech literally is very dangerous for the letter killeth and it is the Death of the soule If therefore Figuratiue and Proper cannot bee the same and in Sacraments when the thing signified is affirmed of the signe the speech be Sacramentall that is Figuratiue it followeth necessarily that the signe and the thing signified are not the same And if not the same then haue you wronged the Fathers saying they are so to bee vnderstood as if they were the same N. N. I will now conclude with two authorities more The first Counsel of Nice one of the foure Counsells allowed by Protestants for sound The words of the Counsell are these Let vs faithfully beleeue with an exalted mind that there lyeth on the holy table the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world which is sacrificed by the Priests I. D. This Canon here by you alleaged came but very lately to light for it is found neither in Ruffin nor in Balsamon nor any of the Tomes of the Counsells heretofore published except those of the newest impression And in them it is set forth in a different letter signifying that it was but newly found and that in the Popes Vatican Library vnder the name of one Gelasius Cyzicenus All which cannot but breed great suspicion and much weaken the authority thereof But what saith the Canon There lyeth on the Table the Lamb of God What Corporally and Really No but Symbolically and Sacramentally Neither doth it say as you translate Let vs faithfully beleeue with an exalted mind that the Lamb of God lyeth on the table But thus Let vs not basely attend the Bread and the Cup set before vs but lifting vp our mind by Faith vnderstand the Lamb of God vpon the table which rather maketh against Transubstantiation then for it For first he plainely telleth vs it is Bread that is there then secondly it commandeth vs to lift vp our mind which needed not if Christ himselfe were there Really on the table where obserue by the way that it is a table not an altar And thirdly that wee are to conceiue Christ Sacramentally to be on the table though Really hee bee there whether wee are to advance our thoughts The last clause of the passage is cut off by the wast and mangled by you I thinke to intimate that the Masse is a Sacrifice truly and properly so called But the words at full are these which is sacrificed by the Priests without being sacrificed manifestly insinuating that it is not Properly a Sacrifice but Representiuely and by way of commemoration Not much vnlike to these words is that of Saint Chrysostome which may serue insteed of a commentarie vnto them teach you that all which the Fathers say speaking of this Sacrament is not alwaies litterally to bee vnderstood What doest thou o man saith he at the houre of the mysticall table Didst thou not promise to the Priest who said lift vp your hearts saying wee lift them vp vnto the Lord And fearest thou not nor blushest that in that very houre thou art found a Lyar The table is furnished with mysteries and the Lamb of God is sacrificed for thee the Priest is troubled for thee a spirituall fire flowes from the sacred table the Seraphins stand by couering their faces with sixe wings all the incorporeall vertues together with the Priest make intercession for thee a spirituall fire comes downe from Heaven the Bloud in the cup is drawne out of the immaculate side for thy purification Thus he N. N. Saint Cyril saith that in this mystery wee should not so much as aske how it can bee done for it is a Iewish word and cause of everlasting torment From which good Lord deliuer vs. I. D. In this mystery wee may not inquire How What of that Ergo Christ is present by Transubstantiation Indeed if the doubt had beene how Bread might be made the body of Christ or how the substance of bread might be turned into substance of his body and then resoluing that it is so Cyril had advised in any case not to inquire How as being derogatory to Gods omnipotence here you had a pregnant testimony for Transubstantiation But Cyril handling those words The bread which I will giue is my Flesh exagitateth the Iewes for demanding How hee could giue his flesh to eat For seeing Christ by his miracles had demonstrated himselfe to be God it was their duty simply to beleeue his words and to know that hee who had spoken them was able to find a meanes by which to make them good and that without such immanity and anthropophagy as they imagined Now if in these Mysteries wee may not be so sawcie malapert as to demand How how cometh it about that your selues take vpon you so magistrally to define it that it is done after an Orall manner and by way of Transubstantiation Your Cutbert Tonstall saith Perhaps it had beene better as touching the manner how it is done to haue left every one that would be curious to his owne coniecture even as it was free before the counsell of Laterane Yet I must doe you to wit that the Question how is not alwaies evill and forbidden The blessed virgin her selfe demanded of the Angell How may this be seeing I know not man And Saint Ambrose This therefore wee say How can that which is bread be Christs body Saint Augustine some may thinke with himselfe how is bread his body Neither did they offend in asking How because firmely beleeuing the thing it was only out of admiration or desire of learning that they moued that Question That How Which is forbidden is that which is demanded ouâ— of Incredulity Such as was this of the Iewes who beleeued not Christ but reiected his saying as requiring some savage or inhumane thing to be done Hence Cyril It had beene meet that they had first set the roots of Faith in their minds and then to haue enquired those things that are to bee â—uquired but they before they beleeued enquired out of season For this cause our Lord did not expound how that thing might be brought to passe but exhorteth that it be sought by faith By all which you may perceiue that these words of Cyril are obiected to little purpose For your words are not Christs words neither hath he taught vs any such Reall Presence by Transubstantiation His words wee stedfastly