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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A20770	A treatise of the true nature and definition of justifying faith together with a defence of the same, against the answere of N. Baxter. By Iohn Downe B. in Divinity, and sometime fellow of Emanuel C. in Cambridge.; Selections	Downe, John, 1570?-1631.; Baxter, Nathaniel, fl. 1606.; Bayly, Mr., fl. 1635.; Muret, Marc-Antoine, 1526-1585. Institutio puerilis. English.	1635 (1635)	STC 7153; ESTC S109816	240,136	421

a true Body like vnto ours but that Body which you fancy to be in the Eucharist is not like vnto our bodies For in this Body there is no distance of one part from another as of eye from eye and head from feet neither hath it any dimensiue quantity and is all both in Heauen and here on earth in the Sacrament at once yet not in the middle region betweene nor separated from himselfe but nothing of this can bee affirmed of our bodies or of any other organicall body And if you say that you conceiue of Christs Body in the Sacrament as of a glorified Body the plaine Scripture is against you that when Christ spake these words This is my Body his Body was yet vncrucified and vnglorified Your exposition therefore crossing the Analogy cannot possibly bee good As for ours thus we shew it The text plainely saith that our blessed Sauiour in his last supper tooke Bread blessed it brake it and gaue it vnto his disciples saying This is my Body What This bread But this Proposition This Bread is my Body literally and properly is not true therefore is it figuratiuely to be vnderstood How so Thus. I looke into plaine Scripture and there I find that as the Euangelists call it Bread before Consecration so Saint Paul cals it Bread after Consecration 1. Cor. 11.26 Ib. v. 27. Ib. v. 28. As often saith he as yee shall eat this Bread and Whosoeuer shall eat this Bread vnworthily and Let a man examine himselfe and so eat of this Bread Whence I conclude that the Bread is not changed but remaineth still Bread Then I consider further that our Sauiour now institutes a Sacrament and that in Sacramentall actions Sacramentall phrases are vsuall and the outward signe is called by the name of the thing signified as in the old Testament Gen. 7.10 Circumcision is called the Couenant and the Lambe the Passeouer and in the new Ex. 12.11 the Cup is called the new Testament or couenant Whereupon I inferre there being no reason to the contrary Luc. 22.20 that these words in like manner are to bee interpreted This is my Body that is This Bread is Sacramentally my Body or the Sacramentall signe of my Body And thus you see by clearing this one passage how other darker places also may receiue light from those that are plainer You will say this is to build vpon Consequences wherein it is possible to bee deceiued Whereunto I answer three things first that whatsoeuer may bee deduced out of the Word of God by euident Consequence is certaine euen by the certainty of Faith Bell. de Iust l. 3. c. 8. and this your owne greatest clarks doe grant Secondly to banish Consequences from Diuinity is to banish the vse of right reason and discourse also and that religion must needs bee driuen to narrow shifts which cannot subsist vnlesse men turne fooles or beasts Thirdly the necessity of a Consequence doth not any way depend vpon the person of him that inferreth it but onely vpon the mutuall relation and strait coniunction betweene the premisses and it so that by him who desires to bee satisfied in the truth not the person of him that deduceth it but the Consequence it selfe is to bee looked too whether it bee rightly deduced or no. But who shall iudge that will you say Indeed if you stand resolued vtterly to renounce all the helps and directions both of reason and art nor will yeeld to any Consequence of Scripture how cleere and euident soeuer but will only rely on the mouth and sentence of your humane externall Iudge I confesse I am at Dulkarnon to vse Chaucers phrase and you are past my skill infallibly to perswade you But if as wee haue shewed nor Scripture nor Fathers acknowledge such a Iudge if all whatsoeuer is necessary to saluation bee so plainely laid downe in Scripture as a man of meane capacity may vnderstand it if what is more obscurely deliuered in one place is more plainely expressed in another if God haue appointed that out of the plainer places wee should with study and industrie picke the meaning of those that are harder if hee haue promised that those that aske shall haue those that seeke shall find and to those that knocke it shall bee opened if finally though wee misse the true meaning of those harder places yet firmely adhering vnto the plainer wee are safe and out of danger then certainely the readiest and surest way to to interpret Scripture is by Scripture and there is no other way to determine controuersies and to satisfy the conscience but onely this If any notwithstanding this list still to bee contentious 1. Cor. 11. Wee saith S. Paul haue no such custome nor the Churches of God The rule it selfe is infallible and al-sufficient if wee either through ignorance cannot or through negligence doe not vse it as we ought the fault is not in God but in our selues neither doth hee faile in his prouidence but wee in our dutie Performe wee our duty obediently and hee will performe his promise faithfully In necessaries hee will neuer faile if in other things all be not of one mind yet let vs still proceed by the same rule and instruct one another in the spirit of meeknesse and God will reueale that also in due time And now M. Bayly you haue what I intended for the present it remaines that you peruse it attentiuely The summe is The Fathers may be Ministers by whom you belieue but their Consent is no ground of Faith Your externall humane Iudge is but a Chimera of mans braine and not an Officer of Gods making The onely al-sufficient infallible outward rule of Faith is Scripture in the plainer places which places also must interpret the difficulter Besides this albeit there may be a iurisdiction in the Church to order and controll the outer man yet to satisfy the Conscience and inner man there is no authority but this Which things being so let me entreat you and that in the bowels of Iesus Christ to remember from whence you are fallen and to cast about yet againe and by this rule to examine your new Faith It is not necessary for a man to be an Euclid or some cunning Mathematician to trie by a straight rule whether a line be straight or no. But you are a Scholler and a Minister and should bee able skilfully to apply the rule your selfe To trust anothers application of it for you and that in the point of saluation is not Christian modestie but meere childishnesse and foolish credulity Remember what Lactantius saith It behoueth a man Div. Instit l. 2. c. 8. specially in that thing wherein the state of our life consisteth to trust himselfe and to rely vpon his own iudgement and vnderstanding for finding out examining the truth rather then belieuing anothers errors to be deceiued as if himselfe were void of reason God hath giuen to all men some portion of wisedome whereby

with him But if you vnderstand Faith in the second Act and as it is in operation and action then may you iustly call it a labour for as our Sauiour saith Ioh. 6.29 to belieue in him whom the Father hath sent is a Worke which God requireth vs to doe in regard whereof the Apostle Paul calleth it the Worke of Faith 1 Thess 1.3 And because Faith iustifieth not as it is in the first but in the second act that is not as it is an Habit but as it is in action accepting and applying vnto vs Christ and his merits hence is it saith Bucer that Protestants vsually define it by a motion De iustific Let the Maior therefore in this sense bee granted vnto you The Minor which you thinke to bee so cocksure I flatly deny confidently affirming that Rest is a labour prouided you vnderstand no other Rest then that which in my Treatise I haue expressed and declared For if by Rest you meane Quiet such Rest without all question is not Labour for it is the end of labour and a cessation from it and therefore well did you say that when eternall rest is wrought then the labour of Faith ceaseth But you cannot bee ignorant that by Rest I vnderstand not Quiet but Affiance in as much as I render the Latin word Fiducia by it and make the Act thereof to bee Inniti which as I haue shewed in some of our English translations is oftentimes turned by Resting and Staying vpon And this Rest that is this Relying this Reposing this Trusting or Belieuing on Christ is not a Quiet but a motion or operation and therefore a labour True it is that whosoeuer commeth vnto Christ and setteth his whole Affiance vpon him shall thereby finde refreshment and Quiet vnto his soule yet neuerthelesse it is apparant that Affiance it selfe is an act or motion of the Will and not a Quiet euen as the inclination of a mans selfe vpon his staffe or the laying of him downe vpon his bed is an action of the body In a word remember what a little before I haue deliuered to cleare this tearme from all ambiguity and take it in the same sense which there I giue vnto it and vnlesse you will say that light is darknesse you cannot but confesse that such rest is a labour and so that notwithstanding this argument Faith may be a Rest But now giue mee leaue to take vp the weapon which you are forced to lay downe and to trie whether a blow therewith from my arme will pearce any deeper for thus I retort your owne reason against you Faith is rather a labour then a rest Assurance is not so but rather a rest then a labour Ergo Faith is not Assurance The Maior is your owne and you may not deny it The Minor I proue thus Intellection or knowledge saith Aristotle is more like vnto rest and quiet then vnto motion for although the mind while it is inquiring seeking for knowledge is euer in motion and so laboureth yet when the Habit of knowledge is once acquired and gotten then is there no farther motion of the vnderstanding thereunto but a sweet rest and Quiet therein Whereupon saith the same Philosopher By the quieting setling of the soule doth a man become intelligent and wise meaning by Quiet as Iulius Scaliger expoundeth him Exerc. in Card. 307. 13. nothing else but the assent of the minde I assume But Assurance is such intellection or knowledge for it is an habituall assent vnto this truth that wee are in the present state of grace and shall infallibly bee saued Wherefore I conclude that Assurance is rather a rest or quiet then a labour whence also it farther followeth that Faith being as you confesse rather a labour then a rest cannot be Assurance Againe Faith you say ceaseth when eternall pacification and rest is wrought I grant for the Obiect of Faith as the Apostle saith are things which are not seene whereupon Saint Augustin elegantly Heb. 11.1 Si vides non est Fides Beholding is not Belieuing As therefore while we liue here in these earthly tabernacles and are absent from the Lord wee walke not by Sight but by Faith so when wee shall be clothed vpon 2. Cor. 5.4.7 Vers 4. and mortality shall bee swallowed vp of life then shall wee walke not by Faith but by Sight Neither is the ceasing of Faith any losse or disaduantage but an exchange for the better namely vision for Seeing vnto Belieuing is as the full brightnesse of the Sunne is to the glimmering light of a candle I assume then But Assurance ceaseth not when eternall pacification and rest is wrought for then the certainty of our Election of our adoption of our acceptation into grace and finally of our Saluation is so farre from ceasing that it is by so much the more confirmed vnto vs as intuitiue apprehension and the sight of the eye is more infallible then heare-say or seeing by reflexion I conclude therefore out of your owne principles that Faith ceasing and Assurance not ceasing Faith is not Assurance But as touching Affiance or Resting vpon the mediation of Christ for iustification and Saluation it is euident that that ceaseth when wee shall haue obtained eternall rest and pacification For being perfectly quitted of our sinnes and in full possession of Saluation how can wee farther set out Affiance vpon him for it Especially seeing hee shall then cease to bee vnto vs a Mediator of Redemption and Reconciliation in regard whereof only hee is the Obiect of Affiance or Iustifying Faith and shall bee vnto vs no otherwise then he is vnto the Elect Angels a Mediatour of Conseruation to confirme preserue vs eternally in the most blessed state of glory For neither shall hee Prophecy any more vnto vs by the ministry of the Gospell nor propitiate for vs by the sacrifice of his death and Passion nor gouerne vs by the scepter of his word as here hee doth 1 Cor. 15.24 but in this respect shall hee deliuer vp the Kingdome vnto his Father and the Godhead in the holy Trinity shall without all meanes bee immediately vnto vs all in all N. B. Rest therefore in Christ is the Effect of Faith and Faith is the cause of Rest and so consequently Faith is not Rest nor Rest is not Faith I. D. If say you Faith bee the cause of Rest and Rest bee the Effect of Faith then is not Faith Rest nor Rest Faith This I yeeld you But Faith is the cause of Rest and Rest is the effect of Faith How proue you this It seemeth by the illatiue particle Therefore that you referre vs for this vnto some former premisses What then haue you formerly said That a full assurance as a cause worketh rest vpon Christ as an effect But neither is Assurance Faith and I haue sufficiently proued that Assurance is not the cause of Rest nor Rest an effect of Assurance Againe you say that Faith

fo● 〈◊〉 second question I thinke you will confesse pardon ●ee if I thinke amisse that you haue not skill enough with vnderstanding to read the Greeke Fathers in their Original but are faine to trust vnto Translations But I beseech you doe not Translators many times what through ignorance or neglicence or wilfulnesse mistake and peruert the meaning of their Author L. 2. c. 1. Ruffinus translated the Ecclesiasticall history of Eusebius and in it this passage of Clemens that Peter Iames and Iohn although Christ preferred them almost before all yet they tooke not the honour of Primacy to themselues but ordained Iames who was surnamed Iust Bishop of the Apostles A shrewd testimony for the Primacy of Iames against that of Peter but the error is in the translation the Greeke Eusebius hauing not Bishop of the Apostles but Bishop of Hierusalem Yet Marianus Scotus citeth the same out of Methodius iust according to Ruffins translation from whence perhaps it was taken Hist l. 2. c. 23. Eusebius himselfe in expresse tearmes affirmeth the Epistle of S. Iames to be Spurious but your Chrystopherson renders it so as if he had meant that not himselfe but some others in the Church had so esteemed it in former times And lastly not to stand longer vpon this point that very translation of Cyrillus Alexandrinus which you haue made by Trapezuntius you haue little reason much to trust vnto For as Bonauentura Vulcanius sheweth Praef. Ann. it is a very disorderly one wherein many things are omitted much is added of his owne and much peruersly translated To conclude therefore seeing the writings of the Fathers haue so many wayes and so notoriously beene abused by addition by subtraction by alteration by misquotation by mistranslation it followeth that infallible certainty from them you can haue none and so consequently that you cannot safely build your Faith vpon them To proceed the Scriptures you say are obscure and ambiguous and therefore you may not rest vpon them saue onely as they are expounded of the Fathers If so then if the Fathers also bee obscure and ambiguous neither may you rest your Faith vpon them Now certainly the Fathers are as darke and doubtfull as the Scripture If you thinke otherwise doe but read the works of Tertullian and Arnobius and let me afterward know your minde For my part I see no reason why the Scripture should bee more subiect to diuersity of interpretations according to the difference of times as Cardinall Cusan impiously affirmeth Ep. 2. 7. Cont. Whit. l. 2. p. 45. and Duraeus the Iesuit impudently defendeth then the writings of the Fathers What doe wee not vouch the Fathers on both sides are we not as confident vpon them as you whence commeth this I beseech you if they bee so cleere that no doubt can bee made of them And why doe you professe in your Flemish Expurgatorie Index that in ancient Catholike Writers yee tolerate many errors yee extenuate and excuse them and often deny them by deuising some shift and faining a sence vnto them when they are opposed against you What need I say all these tricks and fetches if there bee no obscurity in them If literall and Grammaticall construction may cary it the Fathers are directly ours and wee suppose they ment as they wrote neither can you make any shew of answer vnlesse you fall to expound the meaning of them And so as you remoue your Faith from the letter of the Scripture vnto the exposition of the Fathers so must you of force remoue the same againe from the letter of the Fathers vnto some other tribunall to determine the sence and meaning thereof Giue mee leaue to declare this by some few examples That Faith only iustifies Origen Cyprian Eusebius Caesariensis Hilary Basil Chrysostome Ambrose Augustin Cyril Primasius Hesychius Gennadius Oecumenius in expresse tearmes affirme agreeing therein with vs whose words I will not fayle to produce whensoeuer you shall require Against hauing of Images in Churches and the Adoration of them wee haue the precise words not onely of Lactantius and Epiphanius and other Fathers seuerally Epist ad Ioh. Hicrosol but nineteene Bishops together in the Councell of Eliberis and of the whole Councell of Frankford vnder Charles the Great Against the Bishop of Romes supremacy wee haue the plaine resolution of Pope Gregory Lib. 6. ep 30. that he is the forerunner of Antichrist whosoeuer desires to bee called Vniuersall Bishop And of the Generall Councell of Chalcedon Act. 16. giuing to the Bishop of Constantinople equall priuiledges with the Bishop of Rome And of two hundred seuenteene Bishops in the sixt Councell of Carthage among whom were Saint Augustin Prosper Gresians and many other worthy Fathers all decreeing that the Pope of Rome thenceforward should haue no authority ouer the African Churches Finally against Transubstantiation thus writeth Gelasius himselfe a Bishop of Rome De d●ab nat con Eu●ych The Sacraments of the Body and Bloud of CHRIST which we receiue is a diuine thing wherefore by them wee are made partakers of the diuine nature and yet the substance of bread and wine ceaseth not to bee Thus also Theodoret Dial. 1. Hee who hath called meat and drinke that which naturally is his body and after cals himselfe a Vine he himselfe hath honoured the visible signes with the name of his Body and Bloud hauing not changed their nature but hauing added grace vnto nature And againe Dial. 10. The signes mysticall change not their nature after consecration for they remaine in their first substance figure and forme Hom. 11. Chysostom likewise if hee bee the Authour of the imperfect worke on Math. In the sacred vessels there is not the true Body of CHRIST but the mystery of his Body And Saint Augustin The Lord doubted not to say This is my Body Con. Adimant c. 12. when he gaue the signe of his Body Thus the Fathers in these few points neither is it hard to shew the like consent in the rest What Will you now subscribe vnto their words yea being taken in the right sense But who shall iudge of the 〈◊〉 on vnderstand them one way we another Shall 〈◊〉 learned Rabbies of your side Fic that were too partiall and they so enterfere in their answers that they cut and hew one the other miserably Reuerend Bishop Morton hath demonstrated this at large Preamble●ng Mitigator Take one of his examples The Councell of B●●beris forbiddeth the hauing of Images in Churches Do Imagin l. 2. c. 9. and Adoration of them Of Images representing Gods nature faith Andrad●●s No saith Bellarmine for such were not then in vse For feare test Gentiles should thinke Christians warshipped them idolatrously saith Sanders But the reason of the Canon agreeth not much with this exposition saith Bellarmine Because Christians seemed to worship those Images as Gods Ibid. saith Alen Cope But this exposition is not agreeable to the Canon saith

your platforme and I am sure all orthodoxall Churches haue euer beene gouerned by the same officers that ours is Whence it followeth that if for want of such a Politie and such Officers as you dreame of we haue in England no true Church neither hath there beene for certaine hundred of yeares aboue a thousand any true Church through the whole world Which how it can agree with the word of God affirming that of his kingdome there shall be none end I cannot conceiue For by your reckoning the kingdome of Christ ceased soone after the departure of the Apostles and suffered an interruption of about fourteen hundred yeares vntill Browne and Barrow began to play the Schismatickes The second Proposition I acknowledge also to be true but withall denie that we haue set ouer our selues any Antichristian or forraigne Officers For as we haue aboue both sayd and shewed Archbishops Bishops Priests are of diuine institution and now I further adde that they were first bred in the kingdome of Christ and not taken from any other kingdome your assertion to the contrary without due proofe argues that you build to your selfe castles in the aire and haue no ground for your presumption Your fift argument followeth 5. Because the Church being Christs spouse kingdome and body must haue his Ministrie set and kept in it and no other And if no man can make a finger or the least member of a naturall humane body or adde any other limme thereto without deformity then God hath created and can much lesse giue life to any such counterfait member of his owne making how is it possible that he can set vp another Ministrie 1. Cor. 12.12.20 27.28 The argument is thus to bee formed The Ministrie of Christ and no other is to be set ouer and kept in the Church The Ministrie of Archbishops Bishops and Priests is not Christs Ergo it is not to be set ouer nor kept in the Church The Maior I grant confessing that no office may bee allowed in the Church but that which is from Christ eyther immediately or mediatly that is from those vnto whose wisdome and discretion hee hath delegated some part of his authority to order many things in the Church For as the Church may not alter that Ministry which Christ hath setled to continue for euer so may shee by vertue of her delegate authority ordaine such offices as are not forbidden and tend to edification And being so ordeined they are though not immediatly yet mediately from Christ Neither yet doth the Church so doing presume to make as you say either a finger or any other member or limme that is essentiall vnto the body much lesse to giue life thereunto but onely to prouide a gloue as it were for the finger or a sute of apparell for the body the better to preserue it in life The Minor that the Ministrie of Archbishops Bishops and Priests is not of Christ I deny affirming the cleane contrary that they are those Pastors and Angels authorized and allowed by Christ in his word It is the greatest vanity and idlenesse that can bee in disputing onely with boldnesse to affirme that which is denied and neuer to endeauour the proofe thereof which yet is your solemne fault almost in euery argument Your sixt reason 6 Because Christians are the Temples of the Holy Ghost 1. Cor. 3.16.17 2. Cor. 6.16 2. Thes 2.4 Col. 2.18 Act. 20.17.28 and their consciences wrought vpon by Ministrie in the Church and therefore may not be defiled by the Hierarchie of Arch-bishops c. whom the Holy Ghost neuer made Ouerseers The argument in forme stands thus Those offices that defile the Temples of the Holy Ghost and consciences of men may not bee set ouer nor retained in the Church But the Hierarchie of Arch-bishops Bishops and Priests defiles the Temples of the Holy Ghost and consciences of men Ergo the Hierarchie of Arch-bishops Bishops and Priests may not bee set ouer nor retained in the Church The Maior wee readily yeeld you but how proue you the Minor that these Officers defile the Conscience Forsooth because the Holy Ghost hath not made them Ouerseers And how proue you this againe Because the Pastors of Ephesus were made such Ouerseers An Herculean argument I promise you For what letteth but that hee that made the Pastors of Ephesus Ouerseers hath made the Pastors of England Ouerseers also Alas alas that vpon such friuolous and toying reasons so dangerous and offensiue Schismes should be made And take heed how you quench or grieue the Spirit of God who if you haue in you any measure of knowledge or sparke of grace hath wrought it in you by our Ministrie For preaching which is the ordinary meanes to beget faith I suppose you haue not had elsewhere and it is no lesse then blasphemie to call the working of Gods Spirit by his Holy Word vpon the soules of men the defiling of the Conscience The seuenth argument 7 Because Christ alone is the Head of the Church in whom all fulnesse of power dwelleth Eph. 1.22.23.4.11.16 Col. 1.18.19.2.8.9.10.18.19.1 Cor. 12.4.5.6.12.27.28 1. Tim. 3. 5.8.6.13.14 Rev. 11.13.18.8.14.8.17 18. 19. and from whom alone the Church receiueth her life and power so as none may bee subiect to any power or head in Religion saue onely to him And therefore no Ministers or Officers in the Church are to bee set vp or retained who deriue not their power and functions from Christ which the former doe not and therefore they are not c. but to bee abandoned as enemies of Christs soueraigne authority and making their hearers and submitters to them guilty of high treason against our Lord Christ Iesus It is true there is but one Head of the Church from whom shee receiueth life and Power yet are there also vnder Christ gouernors in the Church who by vertue of that power which they haue receiued from him may ordaine many things touching the well gouernment thereof and to submit our selues thereunto is not to bee subiect to another power or head but to the ordinance of Christ himselfe But it is false that Bishops deriue not their power and function from Christ as we haue already manifestly proued If you haue any thing to the contrary I hope wee shall heare of it another time for hitherto you haue onely said but shewed nothing As for those words that Bishops are to bee abandoned as enemies of Christs soueraigne authority c. they sauour more of passion then reason and deserue rather to bee pitied then answered The eigth argument 1. Cor. 18.27.28 Eph. 4.11.12.13 8 Because God onely must haue this preeminence to dispose the members euery one of them in the body of the Church at his owne pleasure so as either it must bee shewed that God hath placed the Hierarchie of Arch-bishops Bishops Priests or they are not to bee set vp or retained or approued We haue satisfyed you in this already if happily you will bee

goodnesse either grant vs the Gift or sanctifie the meanes vnto vs that keeping our selues cleane both in body and soule wee may bee presented vnto thee as pure and vnspotted Virgins in the last day Amen A LETTER INsteed of a few words which I promised to write you I haue here sent this little treatise which if you diligently read and peruse it will more fully informe and resolue you then I should haue done Neuerthelesse that I may in some sort discharge my promise and not altogether faile your expectation in few words thus I would wish you diligently to remember that to bee grieued and troubled for sinne is a necessary duty and that it ought to be so For as in the poole of Bethesda there could bee no cure wrought vntill the Angell had troubled the water so neither is there any remission of sinnes and healing of the soule vntill by the worke of Gods Spirit the heart bee bruzed and broken When such an Angell as Peter was shall by his powerfull preaching haue pricked the Conscience and made men both to see their sinne and to feele the misery thereof then and not before doe they crie out Men and Brethren what shall wee doe Sorrow for sinne is a blessed sorrow A broken and contrite spirit God neuer yet despised Those and those alone who feele the heauy loade and burden of their sinnes doth Christ inuite vnto him and vnto them doth hee promise refreshment Hee that oftentimes watered his couch with his teares and as oftentasted the sweet consolations of Gods blessed Spirit hath out of his experience seriously affirmed that whosoeuer soweth in teares shall surely reap in ioy and a day of reioycing shall euer succeed the night of mourning And to speake the truth sorrow was made for nothing but for sinne A potion is made onely for that disease which it is able to cure and sorrow for that onely which it is able to remedie Losse of friends health wealth and the like were neuer yet recouered with weeping but the teares of true repentance haue euer cleansed the soule from sinne and purchased both pardon and fauour from God Sorrow therefore was made onely for sinne Mourne then in Gods name for your sinnes but yet take heed you mourne not as those that are without hope You cannot doe a greater wrong vnto the infinite mercy of God and the inualuable merits of Christ your Sauiour then to thinke them lesse then your sinnes or demerits If Satan suggest any such thing vnto you spare him not but tell him hee lies for Gods goodnes cannot bee outreached by mans wickednesse and where sinne doth abound grace doth much more abound If your sinnes were as red as scarlet yet vpon your true repentance God both can and will make you as white as snow And of your repentance you cannot well make doubt there being in you as you haue confessed vnto mee both hearty sorrow for sinnes past and vnfained resolution of amendement for the time to come which are the two essentiall parts of true repentance Yea but you haue committed that sinne which is vnto death and can neuer bee forgiuen nor in this nor in the next world If so to what end doe you seeke vnto mee for comfort And why doe I wast paper in writing vnto you But vpon what ground haue you entertayned this conceit Forsooth you haue often sworne and forsworne against your knowledge I will not extenuate your sin it is I confesse grieuous and fearefull neither would I willingly hinder you from a long pennance in sackcloth and ashes for the same Howbeit I would aduise you to steere right betweene these two dangerous gulfes for as you must not make mole-hils of mountaines nor frailties of furies so neither must you of euery sinne though otherwise heinous and enormious make that vnpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost It is not often swearing or cursing no nor forswearing or periury and the like which God neither can nor will forgiue For then what should become of that worthy Apostle Saint Peter who forswore his Lord and Sauiour euen against his Conscience and that not once but thrice with most horrible execration and cursing you haue not sinned in so high a nature as Peter did neuerthelesse now that Christ looketh backe vpon you as hee did on him touching your heart with consideration of what you haue done I giue you good leaue to goe foorth with him and to weep as bitterly as you can But despaire not of pardon nor count it the sinne against the Holy Ghost for so did not hee That sinne is no lesse then a wilfull malicious and obstinate denying of the foundation namely that Iesus is the Mediator and Redeemer of the world It is a totall apostasie from the Faith when the whole man reuolteth from the whole Christian Religion wholly with an obstinate resolution neuer to returne to it any more This sinne I know you are farre from and you dare not say you haue committed it Neither is it possible for him that is guilty thereof to doe as you now a long time haue done that is to mourne and lament for his sinnes His stubborne and reprobate heart is not so tender but being past all sorrow and feeling rather reioyceth in his desperate and malicious obstinacy More I might write but let this little booke I send you bee insteed thereof It remayneth that henceforward you play the valiant souldier of Christ and suffer not your selfe any longer to be led by passion but onely by the rules and directions of Gods blessed Word For my part I will not cease to pray vnto the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ for you that this pricke may be eftsoones taken from you or if for you further exercise and triall hee delay you a little longer that yet your Faith may settle and rest vpon that answer which God gaue vnto Paul being in the like case My grace is sufficient for thee Farewell THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY IS TRVLY Deipara the Mother of GOD. THIS Proposition either in expresse or equiualent tearmes hath euer been held by all Orthodoxe writers both ancient and moderne specially those who haue liued since Nestorius broached the contrary heresie This Nestorius about foure hundred yeeres after Christ was Patriarch of Constantinople who when his Chaplaine Anastasius had publickly taught that the blessed Virgin Mary ought not to bee called the Mother of God was so farre saith Socrates from checking in him these blasphemies against Christ L. 7. c. 32. that hee maintained him in it and reiected himselfe the word Deipara Euagr. l. 1. c. 7. or Mother of God Wherefore hee was banished into the I le Oasis where hee died miserably hauing his accursed tongue eaten out with wormes But as I say the Church of God hath euer held and defended the contrary which I proue by vnanswerable reasons And. Can. 1. First by generall Councels In the Councell of Ephesus it was thus decreed Whosoeuer confesseth not the