which these two parties should be agreed it is clear that their debates will never be decided since it hath its birth from that same thing which this method wants to determine it For if in their common principle there should be found any such decision of their controversies they would not enter into contest about it for example the Methodists will not let any one make use of any one thing in Scripture to prove that the Pope is not the head of Church if there be not some passage which saith expresly that the Pope is not the head of the Church Who sees not that t is to flie the decision of the controversie and desire the continuation of it for ever for to demand of me to determine it is a condition according to all the appearance of reason impossible to be done it being not credible that the adversaries who acknowledge with me the Divinity and truth of the Scriptures should bare me down that the Pope is the head of the Church though it denies it formally and in so many words If we desire then to end our differences we must absolutely renounce this Method and proceed that very way which they so unjustly condemn by proving all our conclusions by the principles so well known to both parties and those are by the grace of God the oracle of the old and new Testament determining doubtful things by certain clearing the obscure by evident and perswading those things which they reject as false by the connexion and dependance which they have one with another that they confess them true This is the true Method which one ought to follow in all disputes and which indeed all masters of all Sciences have followed those of Philosophy Civil-law Physick and others St. Augustin defended it a long time against the calumnies of the Donatists who because he took it upon himself to dispute against them accused him of being a Logician †Aug. contr Crecon l. 1. c. 13. and under this pretence shunned him as a dangerous man He shewed at large that the Lord * The same chapt and 14 17 18. Aug. tom 6. l. ◠cont Circon Gramat c. 15. G. and his Apostles made use of this Method and were Logicians if this is to be a Logician to reason and from a clear thing to prove a thing that is obscure and willing to propose to us a Pattern of a wise Disputant see how he describes him First he endeavours saith he not to be cheated himself for want of discerning truth from falshood and this he cannot obtain without the help of God Then being willing to unfould for the instruction of others that which he hath in himself he first considers what it is they already know for certain to the end that from thence he might conduct them to the things they know not or would not believe shewing them these follow from those which they hold either by reasoning or faith so that by the truths which they consent to they may be constrained to confess and approve those which they had denied and by this means the truth which seemed false to them at first would be discerned from the false being found conformable to the truths which they knew before Hitherto St. Austin who could not more clearly Authorise the procedure which these new Disputants now condemn with so much injustice and passion CHAP. VII That the procedure of the methodists is the same which the Arians and other Heretiques held formerly against the antient Fathers ANd though it be a thing most unworthy those praises which they give ordinaryly to antiquity to expose a novelty to the view of the world and that on the other side t is not much honour to be thought to be esteemed the father of an invention so impertinent and so contrary as well to the practice of the Lord of his Apostles and of the holy fathers as to the common sence and reason of men nevertheless to take from them in this place all subject of vain glory I will farther advertise the readers that those of our adversaries which at this day make use of this method are not the first authors of it For I find at the bottom of it that t is an old and superannuated wrangling of the Arians and other antient heretiques who to flie the searching and decision of the truth demanded of the Catholiques of their times in the same manner formal passages where the consubstantiality of the son and other points may be expressly read this we learn by the books of the fathers In St. Athanasius the question being concerning the word consubstantial used by the Council of Nice to express the truth of the eternal divinity of the Son say the Arians is not writ And in a dialogue printed among his works though in my opinion t is none of his leave these Sylogisms say they and give us a Demonstration by writing that the Son is the true God a Atha Ep. de Synod-Arim Seleue. T. p. 911 Part. ultim 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Dialog cont Arim. p. 126. In St. Austin the Count Pascentius an Arian by Religion pressed likewise this only Doctor with whom he had the presumption to enter into Conference to shew him the word consubstantial in the Scripture not suffering him to draw it from thence by reasonings b Ep. 174.178 Aug. St. Augustine having else where proved the Divinity of the Holy Ghost by these places of the Apostle which say that we are his temple so that if he were not God he would have no Temple Maximinus an Arian Bishop against whom he disputed answered that the truth is not concluded by arguments but proved by certain testimonies c Id con Mixim l. 1 6 fol. 444. G. and in a dialogue published under the name of S. Vigil but in my judgment t is certainly Pope Gelaz's the Arian who is brought in there disputes exactly as our Methodists do now He would have one shew him the word Consubstantial expresly and properly so writ and that it be proved not by any reasonings but by the naked and pure propriety of the words Let them read it to me saith he so properly laid down or let them depart from their Confession d Dial. inter Atha Sabell Arian inter Cassand opera p. 475. Eutichus the head of another Heresie who confounded the two natures of the Lord disputed in the same manner demanding in what Scripture t is set down that Jesus Christ hath two Natures e In Act. cont chalced p. 115. A. so that one ought not to wonder if Scholarius hath long since observed that many Heretiques made use of this praetext viz. desire that they would shew them all things expressly by the Scripture f Scholar orat Henet 3. concil flor p. 590 E. CHAP. VIII That the Fathers have rejected this pretended method as impertinent and that by their examples we can retort them upon our Adversaries WHat do the Holy Fathers
them that we as well as our Doctors reject them formally and precisely and wish that they had never been spoken off and that they may be Aeternally buried in the cave of errors from whence they came For as Eating good meat is sufficient to preserve the life of man nor is it necessary for him to know Hemlock Aconite or Antimony or to know poysons 't is enough that he is not so unhappy as to eat of them even so 't is in Religion for to obtain salvation 't is sufficient for a man that he believe the holy and wholsome truths communicated to us by the Lord Jesus there is no need that he should know particularly the innumerable poysons which the enemy hath scattered in the World nor that he should know exactly to what degree every one of these false doctrines are poysonous 't is enough for him that he is so happy as to believe none of them To speak properly the express and formal rejection of an errour makes no part of Faith for then Faith would have been imperfect before the birth of the error Before Mahomet came into the World the Faith of Christians was intire and sufficient although it was ignorant of the seducements of that Impostor and though it knows nothing of Marcion of Manicheus of Arrius nor of Pelagius yet it is sufficient to salvation provided that it believes firmly that which Jesus Christ hath revealed There is then a great difference between those propositions which supposeth and affirmeth the truth and those which reject the error The reason why our Fathers have ranked them in the body of the same declaration was not because they were ignorant of this difference but another occasion obliged them to do it for being separated from the Church of Rome and afterwards having been calumniated of holding diverse very strange opinions vide Epist 10. the K. which is in the beginning of our Confession of the year 1559. in fine to make the King their master his subjects their fellow Citizens see clearly what their thoughts were about Religion they not onely declared the belief they had of Christianity and of every one of the articles of which it consisted but also what they thought of the doctrine and communion of the Pope from which they had withdrawn themselves We ought then to distinguish carefully these two sorts of articles which this reason joyns and mixeth together some affirmative and positive declaring that which we believe others negative and exclusive declaring that which we do not believe the first lays down that which is our Faith the second rejects that which is not so For example these are of the first sort that there is a God that he ought to be worshipped with all our affections that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and God Eternal that he was made man that he hath taken our nature in the womb of the holy Virgin that he dyed to expiate our crimes that his blood hath washed and purged our souls from all sin that he is risen and ascended into heaven and there reigns at the right hand of the Father that sins are pardoned to men by the grace of God when they believe in the Gospel that believers are obliged to live holily that Charity is necessary for salvation that the Lord hath ordained that we should be baptised in the name of the Father Son and holy Ghost for the remission of our sins and that he hath likewise commanded us to celebrate the memory of his death in taking eating and drinking the Sanctified bread and wine that this bread and this wine are the communication of his flesh and of his blood that those who believe and live according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ shall have Aeternal salvation and that those who believe not in him shall perish But these following are of the second sort That we ought not to adore the Host of the Church of Rome nor invoke their dead Saints that the mass is not an expiatory sacrifice for the sins of men that the Pope is not the head and spouse of the universal Church that he hath no power neither directly or indirectly over the temporals of Kings and States of the world that neither he nor the Church which adheres to him have the right of never erring in the Faith nor are they the reason and grounds of our Faith that it is not for the merits of our works that our sins are forgiven us or that grace or life is given to us that the bread which we break and the cup which we bless in the Church loseth not their substance that none of those who communicate at his table ought to be hindred from drinking of the Cup of the Lord that neither the chrism nor the penitence nor the ordainor the marriages nor the extream unction are Sacraments that believing souls departed this life are not burned in the fire of Purgatory Since we believe the first Articles and that we preach and recommend them to men we are obliged to shew the truth of them and since the most part of them are so obscure that we have not natural light enough to discover and perceive them it remains that we prove that God hath revealed them to humane kind For these are the three sources of all our knowledge sence reason and the revelation of God now 't is neither the sins nor reason of man that demonstrates to us that Jesus Christ is the son of God or that those who believe his Gospel shall have the happy Aeternity We cannot prove the truth of it then but onely by the means of revelation Now all Christians and namely those of the Church of Rome with whom we dispute in this Treatise confess that the writers of the Old and new Testaments were inspired by God and did write by the revelations of the Spirit now we cannot more clearly ground the Truth of the Articles upon which our Faith consists then by shewing that they are taught in these divine writings T is for this we acknowledg our selves obliged and of which 't is most easie to acquit our selves as we hope to make appear in this book And as for the other Articles which are of the second sort it belongs to us to justifie and make appear that the holy Scripture teacheth no where to believe what it self rejects as it teacheth no where that there is a Purgatory or that the Pope is the Monarch of the Church or that the Mass is a propitiatory sacrifice For having once shewed that we shall have clearly justified that we have been obliged to exclude such opinions of our Faith since we hold that all the things which we ought to believe as necessary to our salvation are taught in the Scriptures for that if these be not found there Rome is in the wrong to believe and preach it as necessary and have reason not to receive it in our belief T is an unjust cavilling to demand this of us further that we
should furnish them with texts in which the second sort of Articles are contained where for example it is said expresly that there is no fire of Purgatory and that the Pope of Rome is not the head nor spouse of the universal Church and to say for want of this the holy Scriptures as we have it is not perfect is an impertinence fit onely to dazle the eyes of children for the Perfection of the Scriptures according to our supposition consists in that it teacheth all things that ought to be done and believed for salvation as the perfection of a book consists in containing all the Truths necessary to the science of which it treats Will you say that the bookes which Aristotle hath left us of Philosophy are imperfect because they do not expresly reject that which the Masters of the sciences have since his time opened or that the treatises of the antient writers upon eloquence are imperfect because they did not expresly contradict these new lights which the phantasie of our moderns boast of having discovered Error is an infinite thing for which the sciences cannot nor ought not to have a good esteem T is enough for their perfection to have shewed all the truth of the things of which they treat otherwise there would never be any thing perfect in this matter For upon this account the Mussilman will reproach our Scripiure because it hath not expresly anathematized his Mahomet Mareion and the Manicheans the David Georgists and all the other impostors will impute to it as an imperfection not to have made an inventory of all their follies What need was there that it should black its paper with their names and dotages so many ages before their birth 'T is sufficient to keep me from it that she hath said nothing of them The surest and shortest means to keep the right way amongst so many confuted ones is to dispise all that which the Scripture does not recommend and not to disdain to examine what she doth not disdain to teach us It speaks to me of God and of his Christ what he hath done for me and what he requireth of me It instructs and fills my soul with that wisdome which is necessary to Salvation It is enough for me to be saved I am contented with knowing so much As for what the Pope dogmatizes besides this let him shew it me in the Scripture and I will believe it as I do the rest but if it be not to be found there who can imagine but I must be ignorant of it and cannot believe it without danger faith coming by hearing and hearing by the word of God Rom. 10.17 of which the Scripture is the first the most clear most certain and in my judgment the only infallible Doctrine CHAP. IV An answer to what our adversaries alledge that they are in possession of them BUt these new disputants make another stop here to oblige us to their pretended method saying that they have had them in possession many ages since thinking that sufficient for them without being obliged to produce any other titles or Doctrins of their Religion that it belongs to us who contest with them to make their wrongs appear by clear and inviolable proofs It is a word which they alwaies have in their mouths and which they believe cannot be answered But in truth we can say nothing more vain nor less pertinent for if this possession as they call it might be alledged in the case the Apostles of Christ would have wronged the Heathens about their Religion seeing they possessed it far long before the Jesuits would do wrong to the Chineses if they should endeavour to drive from their hearts the idolatry and worshiping of Pagods which they have possessed time out of minde truth and vertue should leave in mankind the error and vice which they found established there for fear of violating unjustly the right of their long possession The old man will have little to maintain himself against the new and philosophy ought not to yield to the Gospel upon this account we also ought to return under their yoak as that of our first and most ancient Masters But God forbid that a little word ill understood should ever make so enormous a prejudice to the right of God of his Christ and of his truth we confess clearly that where there is a question made about lands or houses or any one thing which is and which is seen in nature the possession may be alledged and that it belongs to him who turns out the possessor to shew that he held it unjustly and to make it appear by good titles that the things belongs to him in our contest with the Doctors of Rome there is nothing like this they press us to believe with them the Purgatory the Mass and other articles We desire them to shew us the truth of them of which we can yet see but little Instead of satisfying so just a request they alledge that they have them in possession and so consequently are not obliged to prove any of them certainly if they think to make the world believe things mearly upon their saying them without demonstrating the truth of them they propound to us a position evidently unjust and tyrannical For a man cannot believe before he knowes the thing to be veritable and he cannot without denying his nature yield an intire faith to that which is to him either sall or doubtful Those who will perswade him to any thing are necessarily obliged by the right of nature to demonstrate to him that it is true either by sense or reason and if the thing be above sense and reason let it be done by divine revelations it remains then that these gentlemen renounce this possession which they alledge to us since t is so contrary to the rights of our nature and that they make it their endeavour to demonstrate to us that which they desire to perswade us to They are in possession to demand belief of things doubtful and incertain and as for me I am in possession to believe nothing but those things the truth is of which they make appear to me My possession is evidently more antlent then theirs 'T is but reason then that they yield to my right and not that I submit to their usurpation Moreover in civil causes where this maxim hath place the possessor is sued and pressed to forsake that which he holds Here quite contrary there are pretended possessors which contend with us and press us to enter into possession with them for they would havee us believe what they believe and 't is this belief which they call their possession who sees not not then that Fundamentally 't is they properly who have begun this action with us and who ought by onsequence to shew us by good and lawful Doctrin that we have right to enter into this possession to which they call us we are ready to yield to them if they can make us see that that which
against the Pharises who denyed the resurrection from the dead you err said he to them not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God c. Have you never read that which was spoken to you by God I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead but of the living He blames them for not having learned the resurrection of the dead in this sentence of Scripture Certainly then they ought to have learned it there for he is too good to blame him who hath done his duty Now the sentence which he produceth saith nothing of the Resurrection of the dead expresly and directly he draws it only by the consequences of that which he layeth down We must confess then that t is our duty not only to learn and believe the things which we read in the Scriptures but also to draw from them and conclude those things which may be deduced from them although they are not read there in so many words and to embrace them with the same faith as we do the others and that without this weare ignorant of the Scriptures and are in danger of erring CHAP. VI. That the new method is contrary to the procedure and maximes of the holy Fathers in their disputes and favourable to the Heretiques and Infidels THe Holy Fathers following the command and example of Christ and his Apostles make use every where of this sort of proofs without any scruple esteeming they have sufficiently shewed their belief by the Scripture when they had drawn them from thence by good and clear consequences Those whom we have above named do not dispute otherwise injoying freely that right which they give their adversaries I should be too long should I here repeat all the examples of them as when they prove by the Scripture against the Sabellions that God the Father is not begotten and is without beginning * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and against the Arians that the Son is consubstantial with the Father †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and against the Nestorians that the Holy Virgin is mother of God * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and against the Eutichians that Jesus Christ hath two natures †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all propositions which are not found in the Scripture exactly set down in the same words and which nevertheless they profess to demonstrate by the Scripture as every one may see in their books are an evident sign that they have believed that t is a good and sufficient way to prove a belief by the Scriptures when one draws from it by reasoning although one cannot alledge any passage where it is formally and expresly set down In a word you must either forsake the cause of God and instructions and convictions of the Heretiques or proceed in this manner For otherwise how could the fathers dispute against them Let us give an Arian to one of our Methodists to be instructed or convinced which way will he take how will he prove the consubstantiality of the Son he cannot alledg one exact text for it for it is clear that in the whole Bible there is not one of that nature and he cannot take advantage of the texts which shew this truth since they do not exactly express it for the law of his Method forbids him the use of this sort of proofs Will he use the Authority of the council of Nice or of the Church which he pretends is Catholique but this would be to deceive himself and not to dispute this would be to alledge for proofe of the question the same thing which is directly in question For if the Arian should appeal either to the Nicean faith or to the authority of the Catholique Church he would not be an Arian That which made him renounce both these is the beleif that you will prove it to him You must necessarily then leave him in an error because your pretended Method hath divested you of all the means of drawing him out of it You can prevail no better against a Sabellion an Eutichian or in general against any of the Heretiques who denie the Church any of her positive beliefs not expressed in so many words in the Scripture Even the Jew will take advantage of your maximes and laugh by your example at all which you produce from the Old Testament to make him believe the New and will say as you do that the consequences are Chimeras and phancies and will protest not to yield unless that he hath a formal passage which saith expresly that Jesus Son of Mary born in Bâ—thlehem under Augustus Caesar is the Christ promised by the antient Oracles Concil Lateran sub 4. lex 3 cap. 24 Concil Lateran sub Innoc. 3. exped pro recup terr sanct p. 63. col 1.8 So he will find when all is done that your fine Method is the gagg of the Church and not Heresie and that it fortifies it instead of subdueing it And acquires to the Church nothing but losses and Funerals instead of victories and Triumphs which it promised her But if formally one hath judged them worthy of an Anathema and of the loss of liberty by the Council who should furnish these infidels with sword poinyard and cordage What thunderbolt and ex-Communication do the Fathers of this Method merit who as much as in them lies arme the Jews and Heretiques with a buckler Shot-proof and take from the Church the only arms which God hath put into her hands to scatter all sorts of enemies to wit his Holy word But this method doth not only deprive us of the use of the Scriptures against those who receive them either all or in part It renders likewise all truths unuseful to us the knowledge of which God hath imprinted in the nature of men taking from us discourse or reasoning without which it is not possible to explain them to be useful either for the instruction or conviction of the ignorant For according to these new maxims every one will demand formal proofs of that which one would perswade them and will hold himselelf obliged not to believe any thing beyond those very things which nature hath taught him The Pagans will reject the unity of the Divinity because it cannot be drawn but by consequences from our General notions he will receive none of the arguments which you will use to establish the Justice goodness and Power of God the truth of the Scriptures the Authority of the Church and other such like grounds of Christianity because you have taught him that these reasonings are but meer dreames and none of their conclusions is worthy of an assured beleif Briefly there was never any method so perplexing and troublesome as this which renders all the differences of philosophy and Religion Aeternal without leaving us any means to determine them For since that to make them agree it will not suffer us to imploy any other that an express and formaldecision by the Authority of
say then to this procedure of the Heretiques do they grant them that one ought to hold nothing but that for a doctrin of Scripture which we read there in so many words and not reading exactly there the words of which the question is have they recourse to the Church to defend by its authority that which they think cannot be proved by the formal words of the Scripture which is the point at which all the cheating blowes of our methodists aim They do nothing of all this They doe not put the infalibilitie of the Church in play They hold themselves to the Scriptures and use its authority but for the defence of their cause and confessing that the terms of their questions are not read there exactly they protest that t is enough that the thing it selfe is found there and that t is gathered and deduced lawfully from thence and prove upon discourse found upon diverse passages and after having so proved it conclude that they have demonstrated it by the Scripture T is no matter saith S. Athan. Ep. de Synod Arim. Seleuc. T. p. 913. D. Athanasius in one of his bookes above named whither the words which one makes use of be in the Scripture or not provided that the sense of them be Orthodox and in the treatise of the decrees of the Council of Nice c idem l. de decret Synod Nic. p. 270. B. although that the words saith he be not so laid down in Scripture t is no matter so long as they have a sence truly drawn from the Scripture as it hath been said before what can one call more contentious saith S. Austin answering to Pascentius then to dispute of the name when the thing is manifest a Aug. Ep. 17 T. 2. p. 150. F and a little after you see saith he to him that from those words which are not in the Scripture one may give such reason by which it may appear that they are truths b Ibid. O. Maximinus who pressed him to prove by express terms of the Scripture that one ought to adore the holy Ghost t is well said answered he as if from the things which we read there we could not learn certain other things which we do not read there c Id l. 3. contr Max. c. 3. and following this distinction he professeth elswhere to have said what he read in or understood by the Scriptures conforming himself to their authority and St. Chrysostome d Id. l. 15 de civit D. cap. 1. gives us this rule that we ought to hold those things for holy writ whose sence is found in the Scriptures although they are not found there in the same words e Chrysost Hom. 7. in 1 Cor. p. 380. S. Gregory of Nazianzen in his thirty seventh speech disputes against the Hereticks who denying the divinity of the Holy Ghost urged him with the same wrangling to produce them a passage of Scripture which testifieth it expresly a Greg Nazian c. col 37.599.605 edit paris an 1609. Our methodists would have yielded to this assault and would have granted them that there being no formal passage to shew this truth it could not be proved by the Scriptures But S. Gregory on the contrary makes to them this wise and judicious remarke with the Style and manner of the teaching of the holy Scriptures b p. 605. that there are things which are said there which notwithstanding are not there and there are other things which are not said there which nevertheless are not wanting there some others are not said there nor are they there in effect and in fine some others are there and are spoke there He puts in the first ranck sleeping wakeing and the motions of God in the second his impassibility and that he is without beginning for though the Scriptures say often that God sleepeth or that he awaketh or that he moves locally yet notwithstanding it doth not signifie so And though that be in these words 't is not in that sence And though it never sayes expresly that he is impassible or without beginning c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it signifies it notwithstanding in divers places in other words Which the Divine made his adversaries confess who held that God was not begotten and without beginning and yet they could not produce any one passage which said it formally from whence he concludes that since by their own confession own may very well prove by the Scriptures that God is without beginning although it saith no where so expresly their procedure is altogether ridiculous for concluding that the divinity of the Holy Spirit cannot be proved by Scripture under pretext that t is not expressed there Shew me these things saith he that God is not begotten and without begining written in so many words or else we will reject them because they are not written a p. 606. And a little after how saith he dost thou keep thy self so closely to the letter and how dost thou side with the Judaical wisdome tying thy self to syllables and leaving the things if thou shouldst name twice five or twice seven and I should come and conclude from thence ten or fourteen or conclude that this thing which you call a mortal and rational animal is a man should I talk idly in thy opinion in discoursing after this manner but how canst thou think so fince I say but the very same things which thou saidst before For the determination is not more from who saith it then from him who doth oblidge necessarily to speak it b p. 606. D. viz. in saying things from whence it necessarily and inevitably follows See how this great man clearly establisheth the consequences which are drawn from Scripture Theodoret in a Dialogue printed with the works of S. Athanasius brings in one of these Hereticks which they call Macedonians from Macedonius their Author who alledged likewise that t is no where writ that the holy Ghost is God a Dialog contr Macedon tom 2. operum Athan p. 276 B. edit Paris An. 1627. To which the Orthodox Divine answered let us suppose that the name of God is not attributed to him in the Scriptures do but acknowledge that he hath the nature and operations of God and that satisfies me for the confession of his divinity But saith the other why do you say that which is not written 't is sufficient answers the Orthodox if you but only acknowledge his nature for though it were not written his nature of it selfe would consequenly draw this name from it For if once one confesseth that the holy Ghost is a person subsisting sanctifying and uncreated he of necessity is God though thou will not confess it Where is it that t is written saith the Macedonian that the Spirit is God even there answers the Orthodox where it is written that he is of the same essence And upon this Groand the Heretick having replyed that the Fathers had called the Son consubstantial
is that saith the Orthodox the sense and intention of the Scripture which hath moved them to use that word which is not writ or have they said it of their own Authority it is saith the Macedonian the sence of the Scripture which hath moved them to it Now answered the Orhodox this is also the sence and intention of the Scripture which teacheth that the Spirit being uncreated and subsistant of God inlivening and sanctifying is a divine Spirit Thus far Theodoret who knew not how to maintain more clearly that one could ground the articles of our Faith upon the consequences of Scripture and not upon words onely But this same Authour in two pieces which Photius warants us to be his although by some error they have printed them also amongst the works of St. Athanasius shews us that the Spirit of our Methodists reigned at his time in certain Hereticks whom he names not Pho. biblioth cod 46. P. 31 but who in my judgment were the Eutichians He saith that they would have every one receive the words of the Scripture simply without considering the things which they signifie under pretence that they surpass the understanding of all men b Theod. tract 16. secund Phot. T. 2. Op. Athan p. 308. that they be constrained to hear some words of the Gospel those which they think favourable to them but they will not suffer them to understand and interpret them religiously that one hear the words but not search the truth and convenient sence of them that they call Faith and inconsiderate not belief which without any examen imbraceth to its own ruin things not established by any demonstration e Id. tract 23. p. 325. d. that they command to believe without reason a Ibid. to believe simply that which is said without considering what is convenient and what is not so b Ibid Tit. tract 23. without examining whither the thing be possible useful seemly agreeable to God or convenient to nature whither it agreeth with the truth whether it hath any connexion with the design of the Author whether it doth not contradict the mystery whether it be not agreeable to Godliness c Ibid. D. that they would have c Ibid. their words believed without permiting any one to examine their Doctrine for fear they should be convinced d p 326. A. Are not these the same fancies with our Methodists who receive nothing but formal words who reject all expositions evidences and reasonings but now Theodoreâ— Dispates sharply against these men accusing them of overthrowing by this means all humane affairs and of making men irrationale e p. 903. of changing them into bruit beasts making them take their nature and habitudes of making all the intentions of the Prophets and Apostles unuseful who according to this reckoning of theirs beat our ears in vain with the sound of their words the hearers not carrying away any fruit from them nor profit in the Treasury of their hearts f Ibid. D. that their procedure confounds every thing and that he who follows this Method knows not how to make those things agree which seem to clash nor answer those who desire to ask him as we are all obliged to do to them a Ibid. 3. which he verifieth at large by the induction of divers passages of eternity and of the temporal birth of Christ which seems contrary b p. 310. D. so they expose the Scriptures to the mockery of the Infidels c p. 326.327.328 and for these and such like reasons he declares at the beginning of one of these Treatises that this invention is the worst of all the Doctrines which the Devils have introduced among men d 327. D. and give us a rule quite contrary wishing that in the interpretation of the Scriptures in stead of being tied to the words made naked by their sense they should seriously consider what belongs to God what is convenient for our purpose that which the truth carries that which agreeth with the Law that which hath a just correspondence with nature the Purity and the Liveliness of Faith the firmness of Hope the sincerity of Charity that which doth no wrong to Esteem that which is above Envy that which is worthy of Grace e Ibid. p. 325. A. and that he ought not to believe without reason nor speak without Faith Let them take the pains to read these two Treatises through for they are very short and most excellent Athanasius whom the Author of the Dialogue published under the Name of S. Vigil made to Dispute against the Arians follow exactly the precedure of Gregory and Theodoret against the Macedonians For he constrained the Arians to confess that one may prove by the Scriptures many things which are not expressed there alledging to him the words which the Arians held although they were not expressed in the Scripture as when they said against the Sabellians that the Father is impassible and against the Ennomians that the Son is like the Father and against Fotinus that the Son is the Light of the Light shew me said he to him where it is written Purely Nakedly Properly and in so many words that the Father is impassible or not begotten that the Son is God of God Light of Light or like the Father It is not enough that you say that the reason of Faith requireth it piety teacheth it the inference or consequence from the Scriptures obligeth me to the profession of this Name I desire that you would not alledge these things to me since you will not suffer me to alledge them for the proof of the word consubstantial Behold at this juncture of time the volume of Divine Books in my Hand read there the Names of the Words above said in so many syllables and in the same sences either shew us where it is written that the Son is like the Father or confess that he is unlike him there is no way for you to draw your selves out of this evil path being wraped up in your own objections 't is not in your power to unty the knots of this Proposition Give me leave then to prove the consubstantiality that is to say the belief of the one Substance of God by consequences where if you will not agree with me you must also renounce those things which you confess your self since you find them no where directly set down in any place in the Scriptures a Dialog in t Sabel Photar Athan. liter opera Cassandri p. 475. med then beating him with his own weapons he pressed him to bring him some passage which speaks formally the belief of the Arians viz. that there is three Substances in the Trinity Here saith he the arguments serve for nothing where one concludes the truth by the consequence of reason they demand proper and express passages read to us three Substances expresly so laid down in the Scripture do not come hither to argue that if the Father
but those things which as well the Prophets as Moses had foretold that they would come to pass that it behooveth that the Christ should suffer †Acts 26.22 23. and finally how could he in another place assure the * 1 Cor. 15 34. Corinthians that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures that he was buried and that he rose again the third Day according to the Scriptures since it is evident that none of these propositions is literally and expresly so written in any of the Books of the Old Testament but only are gathered from thence by consequence Now if that which is drawn from the Scriptures by good consequence is really in the Scriptures why do you reject it since you confess with me that there is nothing in the Scripture but what is Holy True and Divine conclusions of Truth are not formally in their principles but one cannot deny them to be there in Vertue and Power so that admitting of a principle one admits also all things that can be inferred from it by that very act as for instance he who saith that we have four gospels saith also that we have two and two of them these numbers being evidently contained in that which he hath expressed And the Scripture saying that Jesus Christ is a man saith also by those very words that he hath a soul and body the two parts of the nature of mans 'T is very true that a man may sometimes lay down things the consequences of which he will not allow of but this proceeds from the weakness of his understanding which doth not see all the Lawful consequences which may be drawn from them God whose Wisdom is infinite never affirms any thing without Knowing all the consequences which can be drawn from it so that we need not fear that he will go back from his word or deny any Doctrine to be his that can reasonably be concluded out of his word Since then that all things that can be lawfully inferred from the Holy Scripture are unavoidably true and Divine it is clear that one doth sufficiently prove the truth and holiness of a Creed when he shews that it follows from the positions expressed in the Holy Scripture without any need as formerly the Arians and now the new Methodists pretend to shew it in so many words This is the first principle which Scholarius a Greek indeed but of the side of the Latins laid down at the beginning of his Dispute against those of his own nation concerning the procession of the Holy Ghost first a Scholar orat Henet 3. part Act. Conc. Flor. p. 580. then we must not exspect saith he to find all the proofs expresly and in so many words in the Scripture for this is an excuse which many Hereticks used to save themselves but if there be any thing that may be deduced from what is said in the Scriptures we must Also receive it with the same honour as the Scriptures it self Cardinal Bellarmin who alone hath more desert and reputation in the Roman party then all the Authors and defenders of this new Method have put them all together acknowledgeth this same truth That which one inferreth evidently from the Scriptures saith he is evidently true the Scriptures presupposing it b Bellar. l. 4. de Ec. c. 3. Melchior Canus c Can. loc Theol. l. b. c. 8. Bishop of the Canaries Vega d Veg. l. 9. dê justificat c. 39. Gabril Vasques e Vasques Tom. 1 in Thom. dispute 5.6 3. and disput 12. art 8.6 ◠Alfons Salmeron f Salmer T. 1 prolegum de Canc. 91. all very famous amongst our adversaries make the same judgment of it and the last especially speaks thus of it We ought to hold for Doctrins of Divine Authority and worthy to be received by Faith not only the things which are expresly contained in the Scriptures but those also which are inferred from them by an necessary and evident consequence Certainly 't is enough for us to prove to our adversaries the truth of our beliefs either that we read them in the Scripture or that we infer them from thence since they agree with us that 't is a book Divinely inspired CHAP. X. That this pretended Method takes away certitude from all humane Knowledge and plungeth Religion the Sciences and all the life of men into a horrible confusion But these men demand of us here how we can assure our selves that the consequences which we draw from the Scripture are good and lawful for say they reason is sometimes abused concluding from a principle that which cannot truely be inferred from it Arians and Eutichians who demand formal Passages of the Chatholicks did not they pretend to conclude their false and pernicious opinions from divers places of Scripture where notwithstanding they were not Nestorius Palagius and before them all Origen were deceived in the same manner and there is not perhaps any Heresie which hath not endeavoured to ground it self upon the Scripture by false and abusive discourse Reason then being faulty how can we be assured of the truth of the things which by its means we have discovered in the Scripture for since it is often deceived who can tell us that it is not so now I do not think it strange that an Atheist should make this objection to us since his impiety obliges him to confound all knowledge in an infinite and remedisess incertitude But that men who make profession of the Christian Religion and whose interest t is to preserve Faith Assurance and Credulity in the world should propose to us a discourse which rums all these things from top to bottome in my opinion 't is either an impudence or an extream passion For consider I beseech you how far this fine discourse goeth reason say they is faulty therefore we cannot be assured of the conclusion which it draws from the Scripture But if this consequence be good what assurance can we have First what will become of this so much bragged of certainty of the Catholick Faith which they have alwaies in their mouths it will be accounted to them no other then a meer in discretion For whether they will or no 't is our understanding which receives the things of Faith which considers them and is lead to believe them by the reasons of truth which it seeth in them If our understanding by mistakes and abuses sometimes makes its aprehensions and conclusions uncertain our faith must necessarily be so too The consent of the people the ancient and uninterrupted successions of the Bishop of Rome the Majesty and brightness of the power Beauty Order and pomp of the ministers the light of the divine protection and such like considerations may perswade you that Rome is truely the Church of Jesus Christ but I say how can you be sure of it since this reason to whose report you give credit is false and if it may be faulty in other things why not in this and
Pâ—â—asch 2. p. 96 A. B and 98. B. and 102. D. and Paschal 3 p. 109 c. 110 B. Bibl. PP T. 3. and for the Hereticks in General Chrysost Hom. 87. in Mat. 7 9. D. and Hom. 59. lat 58. in John p. 298. A. Hierom. com 2. in Mich. p. 378. F. and comm in Agg. p. 506. F. Gregro Mvg. Moral in Job l. 18 c. 14. but nevertheless so let it be since they will have it so Shall their fond imagination wrong truth and that under the pretence of thinking to see that in the Scripture which is not there I cannot assure my self of having found there all that which is there divers men have all reasoned in Mathematicks and drawn from the principles of that Sience some conclusions which are not really there But shall it be denied me under the pretence of this to hold this consequence for good and assuredly veritable that the whole is greater then the part that a triangle is bigger then the basis and the Body of a man bigger then his finger but where is the man how stupid soever he be who notwithstanding the paralogisms of Brison and all the other doth not presently see that this arguing is most true and necessary so there are Authors found in natural Philosophy Astrology and Phisick who have discoursed ill phancying to find something in the principles of these Siences which is not there Would not this be not ony injustice but Sottishness or madness to endeavour to peswade us under this pretence that we cannot receive any of the consequences drawn from these principles as certain and necessary nor assure our selves that if a horse sees hears and runs he is then an animal or if a stone hath nothing of sence then it is no animal now we are exactly upon these terms in respect to the Scripture Many have a mind to draw from it by discourse things which it speaks nothing of Gen. 1.16 and the Roman doctors more then all the others who in the two Luminaries which it placeth in the heavens have pretended to find out the power of their Pope to be above the Emperour and his spiritual monarchies in the Faith and qualifications which it attributes to S. Peter and his power to interdict States to depose Princes among animals Act. 10.13 which it represents to us to have been signified to the Apostle in a vision 'T is by the same Logick that they conclude their purgatory from the parable which saith thou shalt not go out till thou hast Mat. 5.2 paid the last farthing and their Sacrifice from the words of the Lord 1 Cor. 11.24 Matt. 26.26 do this and their transubstantiation from the other this is my Body But if their consequences are false and even absurd doth it follow that I cannot assure my self that the Scripture teacheth us that Jesus Christ hath a Body and a soul since it saith that he is a man that it teacheth that he is the God of Israel since it saith he founded the earth in the beginning and that the heavens are the works of his hands and that he was tempted by Israel in the wilderness certainly neither sense nor reason ever offended without some reasons These are saculties naturally right and every one capable of their functions but sometimes they meet with perticular causes which hinders them from acting so For as to sense who knows not that its errors comes either from the indisposition of the Organs from the Scituation of the object or from the quality of the medium which is between them as for example 't is the bilis with which the tongue of a sick man is moistned which makes it taste all meats bitter and to those who have Jaundies 't is also the spreading of that humour which dieth all objects yellow but t is the too great distance from the sun which makes it appear to us much less then it is and which blunts the Angles of a Tower which we see a far off figuring it to us round when it is really square and which makes the two sides of the end of a long Gallery seem to be very neer each other in fine 't is the diversity of the medium through which we see which makes an oare appear to us in the water as if it were bent and crooked when it is really streight except in these and the like cases the eye alwaies to doth its duty faithfully and the other senses likewise do theirs so that it being most easie to know for a truth whether the functions of our senses are so well disposed or not 't is an insupportable error to conclude that we are not able to assure our selves of any one of their reports under pretence that it happens to deceive them when they fail of any one of the conditions necessary to perform their function well Now 't is the same in reason If she concludes wrong 't is certainly because she takes that for a true thing which is not so or that for clear and certain which is obscure and doubtful As when our adversaries conclude from that which the Lord said to St. Peter thou art Peter that their Pope is by right the Monarch of the Christian Church they conclude falsly because they take that for an evident truth in Scripture which doth not so much as appear there viz first that our Lord in these words promiseth the Monarchy of his Church to St. Peter and Secondly that their Pope is the successor of St. Peter in this quality But if these two things which they take for truth were truth then that which they conclude from them must necessarily be so too and he to must be out of his senses who denies the consequences of them And this necessary connexion of propositions with their conclusions is a work not of the mind and reasoning of man but of the will of God as S. Austin expresly remarkes The truth of consequences says he and connexions which propositions have one with another hath not been instituted but considered and remarked by men to be able either to learn or teach it for it is perpetual and divinely established in the reason of the things themselves for as he who counts the degrees of time doth not make them himself and he who shewes the scituation of places the nature of animals of plants or of Stones doth not shew the things instituted by men and he who shews us the stars and their motions shews us nothing made and established by any man in like manner he who saith when the consequence is false 't is not possible but the thing from whence it follows should be false also speaks most truly and doth not make the thing to be so but only demonstrates that it is so †Aug. T. 3. l. 2. de doctr clic c. 32. From whence it comes that he observes elsewhere that no man in disputeing is reduced to a false conclusion unless he has first granted something false from whence this conclusion
of necessity and whither he will or no form it self * Id contr Crescon-Gram l. c. 20. Now every man who is in his right senses may know certainly if he gives a convenient attention whither the propositions which one first layes down to conclude something from whither I say those propositions be in the Scripture or not For as to the consequence of things themselves it is of necessity so evidently inevitable that no body can contradict it as for example since every man is composed of soul and Body if you grant that Jesus Christ is a man t is not possible but you must confess also that he hath a Soul and Body so if you know that the Scripture puts this proposition as 't is very easie to know whither it doth or not you cannot without renouncingsense and reason deny that the conclusion is also in the Scripture So all this fear which they give us of the incertitude of conclusions drawn from Scripture by reasoning is but a vain Chimera which passion alone hath made them produce to Authorise this redicule Method by which they pretend to reduce men not to discourse and without which they know well enough t is not possible for them to defend their Faith Dial. inter Sab. Pbot. ar and Athon p. 476. For to apply to them that which one of the Fathers above named said of the Arian they know very certainly that if rejecting their Method we would once prove our belief by consequence from Scripture t is very easie to overcome them and so the defiance and fears of this danger carries them to demand of us proofs consisting in Nude and formal words Shall I repeat hear the impertinent objections which they make to us upon this subject that if we believe that which our reason concludes from the Scriptures our Faith will then begrounded upon reason as if our reason in this dispute should declare the proposition from which we draw a conclusion and not the faculty of the spirit with which we draw it certainly upon this account one might say also that our Faith is grounded upon the sense of hearing since the Apostle teacheth us that Faith comes by hearing But where is there a child that doth not see that it is grounded upon the divine word which we hear and not upon the ear with which we hear the ear is the Organ which receiveth this word but the cause which moves us to believe it is the truth which is there and not the ear CHAP. XII That the faith which we add to the truths drawn from Scripture by reasoning is grounded upon Scriptures and not upon reason Rom. 10.17 REason in like manner or to use another tearm less equivocal understanding seeth in Scripture that which is there that conceives discerns and believes it But that which makes it believe it is the Authority of the Scripture in which it hath seen it and not the action which it hath made use of to see it As when the Apostle saith that Jesus Christ is a man you conclude then that he hath a Soul the ground of your conclusion is the saying of the Apostle and not the faculty or act of your reason All that your reason hath done is that it hath found in the Apostles words that which is really so Now this is not to give us Faith but to receive it and to do that which is not onely permitted but commanded If it teacheth any thing of its own growth if it makes its inventions pass for Oracles t is but just to be condemned For usurping that which belongs to God onely but if that which reason believes and perswades others to hath been taught by the word of God if that was there before she believed it that which she hath seen there and that which she hath done to the end that others might see it there cannot be imputed as a crime to her as if she attributed to her self in doing this to be the foundation of our Faith This is all which we require for her in this place that she may have leave to open her eyes to mind and see that which God hath propounded in his word We do not pretend to the gift of revealing new secrets to humane kind nor the priviledge of making articles of Faith We only beg that they would not take from us that which nature hath given to all men the faculty of seeing that which is exposed to our eyes and to understanding that which is said plainly to us and from thence conclude that which evidently follows Rom. 3.10 11 12. Hebr. 4.15 John 3.16.18 It seemeth to us that one may very well judge though he be not altogether a prophet that the Scriptures which tells us that all men have sinned except our Lord saith also that John James and Peter have sinned and that which tells us that all those who believe in Jesus Christ shall not perrish hath also said to us that Paul and Peter presupposing that they believe shall not perish Gal. 3.10 Deut. 27.26 Exod. 20.14 and that which sayeth that cursed is he that confirmeth not all the words written in the law sayeth also to us that he who commits adultery is cursed by the law since 't is written thou shalt not commit adultery Our adversaries will pardon us if we say that to deprive us of the judgment of such consequences t is to endeavour to take from us not onely the light of the Prophesie or the Spirit of perticular revelation things to which we never pretended any thing but the sense and nature of men and to transform us into Geese CHAP. XIII That t is sufficient that one of the propositions be in Scripture to infer a conclusion of divine truth BUt they produce another difficulty upon this point let it be so say they let the consequences take place then when that is done we can receive no conclusions for divine but those which one draws from two propositions both of which are layed down in Scripture if one be not drawn from the word of God but from sense or humane reason we cannot receive that which follows from it unless it be for a humane truth that is to say doubtful and uncertain because in arguing the conclusion alwaies follows the weakest part as Logicions have observed for example if you dispute thus he who hath created the heavens and the earth is the true and eternal God worshiped heretofore by the Isrealites Now Jesus Christ hath created the heavens and the Earth he is then the true God worshiped heretofore in Israel they will make no difficulty perhaps to receive this conclusion for a Divine truth and worthy of an intire and certain belief because the two propositions from which it follows are both of them in the Scripture as we shall see hereafter But if you reason thus a Body which is in heaven is not at that time in the earth now the Body of Christ is in heaven therefore it is not
Religion which he hath given us to obtain this consists in Faith and Charity that the Father appeased by his Obedience receives to mercy all those who knowing their misery and repenting of their Sins do confide in his bounty and believe in his promises that he pardons them gratis all their faults and treats them as if they had never offended and these being animated and enlivened by Faith live afterwards holily and Christianly in Piety towards God and Charity towards their Neighbours according to the Gospel of Christ For he wills that all his Faithful love and serve God with one love and soveraign adoration and that they have a true Charity towards all men carefully keeping themselves from violating their dignity Life Chastity Estates or Honour neither in Deed Word nor Thought every one subjecting themselves to their Order and Laws of their Civil Societies and to the state of the Country where they live but that they entertain a particular amity with the rest of the Faithful cherishing them as their own Brethren uniting themselves to them that so there may be but one Body in Religion and that for this end there be amongst them Pastors and Supervisers who have the overlooking of their Communion administring to them as well the divine Doctrine as the holy Sacraments which the Lord hath left as tokens of his grace and marks and seals of his Covenant having commanded that his faithful Servants should be baptized in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost for the remission of their sins and that they should eat the Bread and drink the sanctified Wine in commemoration of his Death and communication of his Flesh and Blood We believe that although the truth of these things is most clear yet men are so blinded by the Passion of their malice that they would never understand them if the HOLYSPIRIT true God eternally blessed with the FATHER and the SON did not inlighten their understanding opening their hearts that the light of this heavenly Doctrine may enter in and that God affords them this grace of his own good pleasure giving it when to whom and in what measure it seemeth good to him We believe that to those who shall have believed and lived according to this holy doctrine God will give his Salvation preserving them and taking care of them and when they depart this Life gather their Souls into his repose expecting the last day in which having raised their Bodies will lift them up with Jesus Christ their Head into an incorruptable Heaven there to live eternally in his Glory but the Wicked and incredulous shall perish being punished with the Devil and his Angels in the torments of Hell Reader if thou art conversant in reading the Holy Bible say in thy Conscience whether it be not too great a boldness to deny that these things are clearly contained there onely hearing them named do you not as soon perceive that these Divine Books and especially those of the New Testament are full of them How hard is it to find one verse which layes not down some of these instructions Nevertheless because they will have it so we verifie them Article by Article and to the end that they should not as t is their custome wrangle with us about words we will produce passages of Scripture in those very words into which the Interpreter of our Adversaries hath translated them and then say a little upon every point contenting our selves to mark the rest in the Margint For if we should gather together all the places of Scripture where these Doctrines are positively laid down or hinted we must transcribe almost all of them and as to the Scripture it self we suppose the truth of it without disputing it in this Treatise where the business is only to prove that the Articles whose belief we esteem necessary to Salvation are all found in the Book which we hold for the Rule and principle of our Faith For that is sufficient to bring to nothing the calumny of these new Disputants who to convince the Scripture of imperfection and constrain us by the same means to have recourse to the Authority of their Church crying incessantly that we our selves who make so much account of Scripture cannot prove by it all the things which we believe necessary to Salvation CHAP. II. Of the Essence and Nature of God Of his Qualities and Works 1. FIrst then as to the Article of the Essence and Divine Nature the Scripture layes down at the first word that there is one God in saying that he created the Heaven and the Earth in the beginning and speaks of him every where as of a thing whose being and subsistance every one knows and understands holding them not only for impious and irreligious but for meer fools and sense-less creatures who think there is none Psal 13. Heb. 14. 1. The Scripture makes him Act and speak in infinite wayes and manners from the beginning to the very end teaching not onely that he is but that there is none besides him who truly is all the rest not being but in him and by him So long then as there are passages in Scripture which attribute to God some quality action or word and of this kind there are an infinite number they are so much the stronger and evident proofes of this truth See Duet 4.39 6.4 â—sa 45.5.6.21 John 17.3 and many other places Heb. 11.6 It behoveth him that comes to God to believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him Act. 17.27 28. God is not far from any one of us for in him we live move and are 1 Cor. 8.6 We have one God who is the Father from whom are all things and we in him Exod. 3.14 The Lord said to Moses I am that I am then he said thou shalt tell the Children of Israel he that is hath sent me to you Esaiah 37.16 Lord of Armies the God of Israel who art set upon the Cherubims thou art alone God of all the Kingdoms of the earth thou hast made the Heaven and the earth Esaiab 43.10 11. There was no God formed before me nor shall be after me I am I am the Lord and there is none other Saviour but me Psal 89. Heb. 90. 2. Before the Mountaines were made and the earth and world were formed from age to age thou art God 2. That Godis Eternal Gen. 21.33 See Ex. 15.19 Job 36.26 Psal 9. Heb. 10 8.37 38. Heb. 90.2 Abraham c. called upon the name of God Eternal Psalm 101. Heb. 102. 27 28. The heavens shall perish but thou shalt be permanent and all of them shall wax old as a garment and thou shalt change them as a vesture and they shall be changed but thou art the same thou art and thy years fail not Rom. 16.26 Esai 41.4.43.10.44.6 and 48.12 1 Tim. 1.17 Re. 1.8 By the commandment of the Eternal God 1 Tim. 6.16 God onely hath immortality 3.
Devil Whoever doth not justice nor loveth his brother is not of God Now whoever beleiveth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God saith S. John in his first Epistle Chapter 5. verse 1. Then who ever believes that Jesus is the Christ gives himself to Holyness and good works 2. Who ever shall have eternal life is sanctified as 't is clear by that which the Apostle saith Heb. 12.14 without holiness no man shall see God Now who ever believes shall have eternal life he who believes in the Son of God shall not perish but have eternal life John 3.16 18. and 5.24 and in other places alledged here above then who ever believeth is sanctified CHAP. VII Of the sanctification of the faithful and of their principle parts Piety Charity Submission Humanity Chastity Justice Truth and others 1. Of the Charity and sanctification of the faithful and first that they ought to love God and serve him with a Soveraign adoration MAt 22.37.38 Deut. 6.5 Luk 10.27 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy Soul and with all thy thought this is the first and great command Matt. 4.10 Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Rom. 12.1 I beseech you then brethren by the mercy of God that you offer your bodies a living sacrificeâ— holy pleasing to God which is your reasonable service 2. That we must love our neighbours with an ardent and sincere affection Mat. 22.39 The second commandment is like the first thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy self Mat. 5.43 44 45. You have heard that it hath been said thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thy enemy but I say unto you love your enemies do good to them who hate you and pray for them who calumniate and persecute you that you may be the children of your Father which is in Heaven who makes his Sun to rise upon the good and evil and sendeth rain upon the just and unjust Rem 12.9 Let love be without dissembling c. Be inclined by brotherly Charity to love one another preferring one another in honor 1. John 4.7 8. Well beoved let us love one another For charity is of God and whoever loves is born of God and knoweth God he that loves not knows not God for God is charity 3. That we must honor our Superioues Eph. 6.1 2 3. Children obey your Parents in the Lord for that is just Honour thy Father and thy Mother which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with thee and that thou mayest live long upon the earth Verse 5. Servants obey them that are your Masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling in simplicity of heart as to Christ Rom. 13.7 8. Render then to all that which is their due to whom tribute is tribute to whom custome is custome to whom fear fear to whome honor honor owe no man any thing but love one another for he who loves his neighbour hath accomplished the Law 4. That we must preserve our selves pure from all murders outrages offences and batred against our neighbours Mat. 5.21 22. You have heard that it hath been said by them of Old time thou shalt not kill and he who shall kill shall be worthy to be punished by judgment but I say unto you whosoever is angry with his brother he shall be worthy to be punished by judgement and he who shall say to his brother Raca shall be worthy to be punished by the Council and who shall say to him fool shall be worthy to be punished with the fire of hell Eph. 4.31 32. Let all bitterness anger indignation clamor and evil speaking be taken from you with all malice Be ye kind one to another cordially pardoning one another as God hath pardoned you by Christ 5. That we must flie all the filthyness and stains of the flesh Mat. 5.27 28. You have heard that it hath been said to them of Old time thou shalt not commit adultery but I say unto you whosoever shall look upon a woman to covet her he hath committed adultery with her already in his heart Eph. 5.3 Col. 3.5 Fornication and all uncleaness or covetousness let it not be once named amongst you as becometh Saints neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor jesting c. 1 Thes 4.3 4 5. 1 Cor. 6.15 16 17 18 19 20 This is the will of God your sanctification that is to say that you abstain from whore dome and that every one of you possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor not being passionate with concupiscence as the Gentiles who know not God 6. That we must keep our selves from Thieving and every one work in his calling Eph. 4.28 Let him who stole steal no more but rather let him work being busied with his hands in that which is good that he may have to give to him who hath need of it 2 Thes 3.10 When we were with you we told you that if any one would not work he should not eat 7. That we must fly lying and calumny and be true in all our Actions and Words Ephesians 4.25 Put away lying and speak truth every one to his neighbour for we are members one of another Col. 3.9 Lye not one to another having put off the Old man with his deeds and having put on the new 8. That we must be subject to and humbly obey the superior powers of the Country where we live Rom. 13.1 2 5. Tit. 3.1 1 Pet. 2.13 14 17. Let every person be subject to the Higher powers for there is no power but of God The powers which are are ordained of God Wherefore he that resisteth the power resisteth the Ordinance of God and those who resist it draw damnation upon themselves c. Therefore we must be subject not onely for fear of anger but also for conscience Matthew 22.21 Render to Caesar the things which are Caesars and to God those which are Gods 9. That in a Word we live Holily and Honestly Romans 12.2 Do not conform your selves to the World but be you transformed by the renewing of your senses to try what is the good will of God well pleasing and perfect Ephesians 4.22 23 24. Put off the Old man according to the foregoing conversation which is corrupt by concupiscences which seduce it and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and be ye cloathed with the new man created according to God in justice and true holiness Phil. 4.8 Finally my brethren what ever things are true Col 3.1 2 3 4 5. what ever things are modest whatever things are Just what ever things are Holy what ever things are Lovely what ever things are of good renown if there be any vertue and any praise of discipline think of these things Titus 2.11 12. The grace of God which bringeth salvation to all men hath appeared teaching us that by renouncing infidelity and Worldly desires we should live in this present
Age Soberly Justly and Religiously expecting the happy Hope and advent of the Glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ 10. That this Holiness of life is necessary for the having a part in the Kingdome of Christ Matthew 5.20 John 3.2 I say unto you that if your Righteousness doth not surpass that of the Scribes and Pharisees you shall not enter into the Kingdome of Heaven Rom. 8.13 If you live according to the flesh you shall dy but if by the Spirit you mortifie the deeds of the flesh you shall live 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Know you not that the unjust shall not inherit the Kingdome of God Eph. 5. Heb. 12.14 Gal. 6.7 8. do not abuse your selves neither Whoremongers nor Idolaters nor Adulterers nor Effeminate nor les bougrees abusers of themselves with mankind nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor evil speakers nor ravisseurs Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdome of God CHAP. VIII Of the Vnion of the Faithful Of the means necessary to preserve it as of the order of the Ministry of the Gospel and the Discipline 1. That we must perticularly love the Faithful JOhn 13.34 35. I give you a new commandment that ye love one another as I have loved you to the end that you love one another by this all shall know that you be my disciples if you have love one to another John 15.12 13. 1 John 3.2 4.12 1 Pet. 3 8. Heb. 13.3 Mat. 18.6 10. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you None hath greater love then this viz. when any one lays down his soul for his friends Gal. 6.12 Whilst we have time let us do good to all but especially to the Houshold of Faith 1 Peter 2.17 Bear honor to all love the brotherhood 2. That the Faithful ought to meet together to pray to God and to mind other exercises of Religion Heb. 10.24 25. Let us take care of one another to incite us to charity and good works not forsaking our assembling as some have used to do but admonishing one another This appears by the examples of the first Christians in the times of the Apostles when you gather your selves together saith St. Paul to the Corinthians you hold not the form of eating the Supper of the Lord 1 Cor. 11.20 And by the promise which the Lord made us Matt. 18.20 Where there be two or three gathered together in my name I am there in the midst of them 3. That there ought to be Pastors and Overseers in the Church of the Faithful Rom. 12.6 7 8. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us whether prophesie let us prophesie according to the proportion of Faith or ministery let us wait on our ministring or he that teacheth on teaching or he that exhorteth on exhortation he that giveth let him do it with simplicity he that ruleth with diligence he that sheweth mercy with chearfulness 1 Cor. 12.27 28. Now ye are the Body of Christ and membres de membre members in perticular Eph. 4.11 And God hath set some of them in the Church first Apostles secondarily Prophets thirdly Doctors after that vertues then gifts of healing helps governments diversities of tongues interpretations of them Tit. 1.5 I have left thee in Crete to the end that thou shouldest correct the things which remain and that thou shouldest constitute Priests or elders through the Towns as I have ordered thee You have the History of the institution of the Deacons and the distinction of the Ministers serving the word from those who serve the table and Almes in the 6 Chap. of the Acts. 4. What ought to be the Morals of Pastors and other Ministers 1 Tim. 3.1 2 3. and so on Tit. 1.7 8 9. This word is certain if any one hath an affection to be a Bishop he desireth an excellent work But a Bishop must be irreprehensible the Husband of one woman onely Sober prudent modest chast willingly receiving strangers apt to teach not given to wine no striker but benigne no quarreller not covetous but governing his house honestly having his children subject in all chastity c. Not a new convert for fear he being puffed up with pride should fall into the condemnation of the devil he must also have a good testimony from them who are without least he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil Likwise the Deacons must be grave not double in words not given to much wine nor covetous of dishonest gain holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience and let these first be proved then let them serve being irreprehensible c. 5. What the Charge of Pastors is 1 Pet. 5.1 2 3. Act 20.28 1 Cor. 4 1 2 1 Tim 5.20 2 Cor. 1.23 and 13.8 5.1 2 3. I beseech the esders which are amongst you I who am an elder with you and a witness of the sufferings of Christ who am also a partaker of the glory which shall be revealed feed the flock of God which is committed to you having care over it not by constraint but willingly according to God not for dishonest gain but of a ready mind not as having Lord-ship over the people and clergy of God but so that you be examples to the flock by good will 2 Cor. 4.5 We do not preach our selves but Jesus Christ our Lord and that we are your servants for Jesus 2 Tim. 2.2 that which thou hast heard of me among many witnesses do thou commit to faithful men who shall be sufficient to teach others also and verse the 14 remember these things protesting before God c. Study to render thy self approved to God to open without confusion and handling rightly the words of truth 2 Tim. 4.2 Preach the word be instant in season out of season reprove rebuke exhort with all patience and doctrine 6. The dignity of the charge of Pastors and Supervisors 1 Cor. 4.1 Let a man esteem of us as of the Ministers of Christ 2 Cor. 5.10 and dispensors of the secrets of God 1 Tim. 3.1 This word is certain if any one hath a mind to be a Bishop he desireth a good work 7. That the Faithful ought to honour their Pastors obey and nourish them Matt. 18.17 If thy brother disdains to hear the Church let him be to thee as a Pagan and Publican Luk. 10.16 He that heareth you heareth me saith the Lord speaking to his Disciples and he that rejects you rejects me Heb. 13.17 Obey them who rule over you and submit to them for they watch for your souls as they who ought to give an account of them that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that will not become profitable to you 1 Tim. 5.17 The Priests or elders as the Louvain version renders this word Sect 5 in the passage of St. Peter 1 Ep. Ch. 5.1 who rule well let them be reputed worthy of double honor principally they who labour
understood but of his true body Cajetan ibid. From whence saith Cajetan one cannot evidently conclude that the words mentioned ought to be understood properly since that these relative words which are given for you do not shew us that it is properly the body For the relative which doth not signifie the conjunction of the predicate with the Subject but this relates to the predicate only viz. My Body and with the truth of this relation remains the true proposition mentioned This is my Body taken only in a Metaphorical sense as it appears by the example now the Stone was Christ For if the Apostle had added who hath been crucified who is risen and who is ascended into Heaven in saying now the Stone was Christ which hath been crucified c. nevertheless the underwritten Proposition now the Stone was Christ should be understood Metaphorically and not properly Even so in our dispute are the words of the Lord This is my Body which shall be delivered for you This addition which shall be delivered for you doth not restrain the precedent Proposition to a literal sense for it is nevertheless as true though it were spoken in a Metaphorical sense only Thus far Card. Cajetan So all that one can lawfuily and necessarily conclude from the words of the Lord is that the bread of the Eucharist is the Mystery the Sacrament and the memorial of his body which we believe and confess with all Christians and which the Lord expresly pronounceth himself in the following words in saying Do this in remembrance of me as from the words of St. Paul the Church is the body of Christ one cannot evidently infer any thing Mat. 13.37 38 39. 1 Cor. 10. Apoc. 4.1 20. 17.9 28. Gen. 17.15 40.12 41.27 Exod. 12.11 Judg. 7.14 2 Kin. Heb. 2 Sam. 12.7 Ezt. 37.11 Dan. 2.38 4.19 7.24 except that the Church is the Mystery of the natural body of Christ and as they say ordinarily his Mystical body For it is an ordinary Phrase in the New Testament to say That the signe is the thing which it signifieth and the Image that which it represents drawn from the stile of the Old Testament which gives always to the Signe the name of the thing signified and reciprocally the name of the Signe to the thing signified 2. They alledge in the Second place the words of the Lord in St. Luke This Chalice is the New Testament in my Blood which shall be shed for you saying that because the Cup that is to say the Liquor which is in the Cup is shed for us it is then the blood of Christ and not Wine really and in Substance it being clear that is the blood of the Lord and not Wine which hath been shed for us But we have already shewed above that we ought to apply this word shed to the blood of Christ shed really for us on the Cross and not to the Cup notwithstanding the disagreeing of the Gender which is found between these words in the Original Texts although the Lord said that this which is in the Cup is shed for us it doth not follow nevertheless that it is not Wine in substance since that without putting any Transubstantiation in the water of the Holy Baptism one may as well say that it is shed for those who are baptized with it 3. They use in the third place the words of St. Paul 1 Cor. 10.16 The bread which we break is the communication of the body of the Lord and the Chalice of Benediction which we bless the communication of his blood For say they How is it that the Bread and the Chalice consecrated should communicate to us the body and blood of Christ if they are not in substance the body and blood of Christ But this Consequence is ridicule For 't is unlikely that it should follow from these words that the bread consecrated is no more bread but quite contrary the words evidently express that it is bread the Apostle saying expresly that it is bread broken for us which is the communication of the body of the Lord in the same manner as he adds in the following Verse Ibid. ver 18. That those of Israel which eat of the Sacrifices were partakers of the Altar it evidently follows not that the Sacrifices by the eating whereof they participated of the Altar were changed into the Substance of the Altar which would be absurd and prodigious but that they were Sacrifices having a Substance different from that of the Altar and what an extragavant speech would it be to say that those who eat the Sacrifices participate of the Altar as if the Sacrifice the Altar were one the same thing in substance for this would be to say that those who eat of the Altar are partakers of the Altar so would it also be a cold and impertinent Proposition to say that the bread which we break is the communication of the body of Christ as if this bread is in Substance one and the same thing with the Body of Christ For upon this account it should be said that the body of Christ is the communication of the Body of Christ As then the Sacrifices of the Hebrews communicated the Altar upon which they had sacrificed to those who eat them for those who eat were said the Apostle partakers of the Altar without losing their substance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or being changed into that of the Altar even so the Bread and the Chalice of the Eucharist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 communicates to us the Body and blood of the Lord of which they are the Sacraments without losing their first Substance or being changed into that of the body and blood of the Lord. And as those who eat the Sacrifices of the Hebrews communicated to the Altar in as much as they had part in the vertue and sanctification of the Altar without necessity of touching corporally the substance of the Altar it self So those who eat the bread and drink the Chalice of the Lord communicate of his body and of his blood in as much as they have part in the vertue and efficacie of his body and of his blood broken and shed for the remission of our sins without necessity of touching corporally their substance 4. But they lay great force upon that which the same Apostle saith in the following Chapter where speaking of the Eucharist 1 Cor. 11.27 29. Whosoever saith he shall eat of the bread or drink of the Chalice of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. And in the Verse beneath he adds that they discern not the body of the Lord. How can that be say they if the body and blood of the Lord be not really present in the Eucharist But first they conclude not that which is in Question The Question is whether the bread and wine change Substance and they conclude that the body and blood of the Lord are
her Judgment Mat. 18.15 6 17. If thy brother hath sinned against thee c. tell it to the Church and if he disdain to hear the Church let him be to to thee as a Heathan man and a Publican And elsewhere all it saith 1 Cor. 31.21 22. that all things belong to the Church and namely Paul Apollos and Cephas and in another place speaking of the Apostles in general it calls the Servants of the Church for the love of Jesus 3. Rome esteemeth St. Peter the Master and Sovereign Lord over the other Apostles How comes it then that the Scripture speaking of him doth not name in the first place or rank 2 Cor. 4.5 but in the second only James Cephas and John having known the Grace which was given to me How comes it that the other Apostles sent him to preach in Samaria Gal. 2.9 How comes it that St. Paul preached three years without communicating any thing of his designe to him How comes it that even Paul himself said boldly Acts 8.14 Gal. 1.17 18. that those who were in esteem added nothing to him and recounts very freely that he resisted St. Peter in Antioch to his face Gal. 2.6 Gal. 2.11 because he was to be blamed Are these the terms of a Subject to his Prince And would they suffer now adays that the Bishop of Hostia should treat so with the Pope or from him 10. Vpon the distinction of Meats Rome teacheth that the use of flesh is wicked and unlawful two or three days in a week and during all Lent 1 Tim. 4.1 2 3 4. The Scripture saith that every Creature of God is good that nothing is to be rejected when it is taken with thanksgivin and that God hath created food for the faithful and for those who have known the truth to use it with thanksgiving and calls the Commandment of abstaining from it a Doctrine of Devils and qualifies them who assert it with the terms of teachers of Lyes and deserters of the faith abusing themselves with lying Spirits telling us particularly that such will come in the last days 11. Of the unmarried state of the Ministers of the Religion Rome teacheth that for the Ministers of the Christian Religion to marry is an impure and unlawful thing The Scripture testifieth that some of the Aopstles were married as amongst the rest St. Peter Mat. 8.14 and where it propounds conditions necessary for a Bishop 1 Tim. 3.2 it requireth not that he be not married at all but only that he be the husband of one wife 12. Vpon the retrenching of the Holy Cup. Rome suffers none but him only who hath consecrated the Eucharist to drink of the Cup of the Lord denying the Communion of it to all others The Scripture saith to those who Communicate Mat. 26.27 1 Cor. 11.28 Drink all of it and St. Paul Let a man prove himself and so let him eat of this bread and drink of this Cup. 13. Vpon the Exemption of the Ministers of Religion The Scripture saith in general Rom. 13.1 Let every man be subject to the Higher Powers c. For the Prince is a Servant of God for thy good but if thou doest evil fear for he weareth not the Sword in vain 1. Pet. 2.13 14. Be subject to every order of man for the love of God be it to the King as Supreme be it to Governours as to them who are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers and for praise to those who do well The Apostle Paul knowing this order submitted himself to it Acts 25.10.11 appearing before the Officers of the Emperorour and appealing to him Rome holds that all her Clerks even the least of them are exempted from this Subjection CHAP. XVI A Refutation of that which the Adversaries pretend to elude the passages of the Scripture contrary to their Beliefs by certain distinctions of their Invention WHosoever will diligently read the Scriptures will finde many other things there incompatible with the Doctrine of the Church of Rome But this little proof is sufficient for our designe I know our Adversaries endeavour to shun these blows and to that purpose use many distictions But for the most part so strange that 't is not possible to comprehend them they wrap up things in inexplicaple contradictions as 't is easie to be seen particularly upon the Subject of Transubstantiaon of the Sacrifice of the Mass of the service to Saints and their Images Secondly All of them presuppose their Opinion and live by the passion wch they have for it For example before ever they had established Transubstantiation the world never heard speak of a body which hath its quantity and not the manner of its quantity which should be in many places at a time which penetrates the dimensions of another body which hath all its parts confounded under one point and not distinctly extended the one out of the place of the other neither of Accidents which subsist without subject a roundness without any thing of a Circle a whiteness without any thing of white neither a changing of Substances where the terms in which they were confined was in its full and entire being fifteen or sixteen years before the change arrived So before they had established the Service and Prayers to the Saints humane-kinde had never heard that the Religious Services of God were distinguished into Latria Doulia and Hyperdoulia from whence it follows that before they imploy these distinctions they are necessarily oblig'd first to ground the Opinion which they have produced and out of which they cannot finde for them neither in Nature nor in Scripture any stay where they may be able to subsist I shew that the Eucharist is not a humane body because it hath not the quantity of it that it is not the body of the Lord because the body of the Lord is in Heaven To that these Gentlemen answer that the Eucharist hath the quantity of a humane body but it hath not the manner of it that is to say it is five or 6 foot long although all its length is not extended more than two fingers that the body of Christ is in Heaven indeed but according to its manner of natural existence and that it is in the same time substantially elsewhere in a certain manner of existence the which though it can hardly be expressed by words is nevertheless possible to God Now what light doth these distinctions carry to the Subjects where they are imployed Do not they confound all our thoughts Do not they redouble the darkness instead of dissipating it And indeed what other things do they except to repeat the same thing that is in Question for when a body hath its quantity and not the manner of it and that he should subsist in one place in one manner and in the same moment should be in an infinite other places in another manner this I say is not grounded but upon the Doctrine of Transubstantiation without which never any of them would have thought to affirm things so inconsistent One ought then to begin by the proof of this pretended Doctrine For till they have grounded this well their distinctions are unuseful and our proofs clear and solid Now we have shew'd here above that they cannot prove by the Scriptures any of the places which they use to this end nor infer any thing like it There is then no need to examine their distinctions Since 't is thus 't is an injustice in them to make use of them and it would be lost time to me to stay to consider confute them In a word we have imployed this second means for the abundance of proofs and not by any necessity that obligeth us to it For although the Doctrines of Rome should not oppose as they do visibly so many truths of the Holy Scriptures it should be always enough for us not to receive them since they cannot be proved by Scripture Thus have we sufficiently in my Opinion justified our faith by the Scriptures having shewed that they teach clearly the Articles which we believe and that they assert neither directly nor indirectly but rather shake and destroy those of the Doctrine of Rome which we reject From whence it appears that it is against all reason and truth which some of our adversaries reproach us with that we cannot prove by the Scriptures no not one Article of our controversed faith instead of acknowledging that it is upon them that the blame falls Being evident that of all the Beliefs which they press us to believe with them they have not been able hitherto nor will they ever be able to ground any of them upon the Scriptures Pray God enlighten them and confirm us in the knowledge of his truth and give to both of us the spirit of Peace and Charity to treat our Differences with sweetness convenient to the Profession which we make of being Christians FINIS