AN ABSTRACT OF FAYTH Grounded on Moses and applyed to the Common Creede plainely and briefly By Henoch Clapham in the beginning of his third yeares bands Heb. 11. 6. He that commeth vnto God must beleeue that God is and that he is a rewarder of them that seeke him Mark 9. 23. All thinges are possible to him that beleeueth Bernard Lib. 5. de Considerat Fides ambiguum non habet aut si habet Fidem non est sed opinio Fayth admits no doubt for if it do then it is not Fayth but opinion Printed 1606. TO THE THRICE-Excellent HENRIE Prince of Wales c. PArdon sweet Prince pardon my bold present The Hope we haue your Excellencie shall Proue to our Church a matchlesse Instrument For Gospels good and Superstitions fall That and some Grace vouchsafed to my bands Emboldens mee to giue this to your hands Some scandalized haue my Christian Fayth That so hood-winked Maiestrates may bee Though skils not much what Papal-mynor saith Yet duety mine to cause hood-wink't to see This may reproue such fore-heads as be flinted my faith b'ing such as Scotland somtimes printed Yea Priuiledged by our King An. 1595. 96. England's state haue licensed the same The selfesame faith sparsed throuhgout my bookes Which here I properly An Abstract name And vnto Moses for the tryall lookes The methode hath my prisond-sense for mensure But read sweet Prince then giue out your sensure Your Graces poore Orator Henoch Clapham AN ABSTRACT OF FAYTH c. TO the end that no soule in Court or Country be peruerted touching the trueth of my Fayth by the vnconscionable reportes of some incorrigible * Seorsiâ— ducentes Seducers I offer heere to Prince and People a summe of my Fayth with euident proofe from Moses for the groundes thereof And thus with Auncient Beleeuers I begin SECTION 1. ¶ I beleeue in God the Father Almighty maker of heauen and earth BEleife is manifold according to the thing beleiued be it true or false for false beleife it is compared to a man dreaming of Gold but being awaked he findeth a lye in his right hand As for true beleife it ouer-reacheth Fancie and Opinion and is a perswasion setled vpon Trueth as when one beleiueth rightly on God and the thinges of and from God And so Beleife or Fayth generally considered is a true assent to that which is be it a thing of Promise or Narration For much haue they erred that teach how all Fayth respecteth a promise a Heb. 11. 3 Through Fayth we vnderstand that the world was ordained by the word of God as Moses declareth in the first of Genesis which is a thing of Narration not of Promise seeing the world had his existence before man therefore could not be promised to man Touching Fayth apprehending a Promise it is twofold according to the nature of the Promise and that is Eternall or Temporary as it apprehendeth thinges of eternall abyding nature or things that be but momen taine b 2. Cor. 4. 18. This latter being of thinges visible such as Moses describeth in the sixe dayes creation The other of things inuisible and spirituall such as in the sacramentall Tree of life was taught to Adam in Gen. 2. When I say I beleeue in God for euery soule must beleeue for it selfe it is as if in moe words I should say I rest and build vpon God in all my thoughtes words and deedes The Latine therefore is not Credo in Deo but in Deum I beleeue vpon God Which God Moses deliuereth vnto vs in his first speach when he sayth God created the heauens and the earth in the beginning The Onenesse of his Essence he teacheth in the word Bara Hee created that is Hee the one God and in the Noune Aelohim of plurall Nomber signifiyng Mighties he insinuateth the Trinitie of Persons as if the words should run thus Hee the Mighties did create Which Trinitie was not obscurely represented in the three Angels repayring to Abraham the father of true Beleeuers and in the clearest Scriptures they be tearmed * Math. 28. 1. Iohn 5. Father Sonne and Holy-ghost or Father Word and Spirit Which Moses deliuereth euidently inough if scales hung not vpon our eyes when he teacheth that one God to create heauens and earth by his Word and the Spirits motion vpon the face of the creature With curious Scholastique poynts touching the sacred Trinitie in vnitie Moses dealeth not to open view neither doth this auncient Creed of the Christian Church The first Churches were satisfied with that measure of Fayths-confession which our times will not admit So wrathfull vncharitable be our times learned of the man of Sinne. The first most notorious Schisme in the Church did grow from the curious search which curious spirits did make after the bottomlesse depth of this vnitie in Trinitie thereby adding to the Creed But the secret things sayth Moses in Deut. 29. 29. belong to the Lord and to the Lord I leaue the secrets of the Godhead as the auncient Church of God hath done before me Touching this one God it is to be beleeued first that he is a Father Secondly an Almighty Father His Fatherhood is twofold First as he hath Created man secondly as he hath Purchased man after his backsliding from the excellencie of his Creation Both these Moses doth remember in Deut. 32. 6. when as he sayth Is he not thy Father that hath purchased thee He hath made thee 2. Chro. 3. 17. and proportioned thee These two Fatherhoods are to be Pillers to euery Temple of the Holy-ghost as * Jachin signifieth Stablished and Boaz in strength Jachin and Boaz were Pillers to the materiall Temple The Almightinesse of God is taught of Moses in the very terme Aelohim as before and vnto Abraham he is called El-shadaj Almightie-sufficient because no soule ought to doubt as not of his goodwill seeing he is a Father so neither of his Might and sâ—fficiencie for bringing to passe whatsoeuer he willeth in heauen or in earth specially for mankinds good Whence it necessarily followeth that no part of my Fayth is to be fastned vpon Angell or Man or any other Creature be he as bigge as Behemoth Iob. 40. or as scaly as Leuiathan seeing the greatest might and strength of the creature is not so much as a Mite to a Mountaine as also but borowed of the Creator to be drawen backe as breath is out of the nosethrils euen at his pleasure * Hebr. 11. 28 29. Moses by Fayth in this willing Almighty-sufficiencie did ordaine the Pas-ouer and effusion of blood least he that destroyed the first borne in Aegipt should touch them of the Churche Exod 12. And his people by this Fayth passed through the Red sea as by dry-land which when the Aegiptians assaied to doe they were drowned Exod. 14. Nor doe I beleeue that our late passage through the Red sea of humaine blood mixed in conceipt with Fire and Gunpowder did
befall vs by other meanes then by such Fayth truly fastned vpon God the Father his willing Alsufficiencie In the lacke whereof our Romish Aegiptians deuisors of fast and loose for aduantage did perish * About 200. yeares they haue bin shut vp from deceiuing people as afore 800. years more insuing this present they must more and more be bridled My ground is S. Iohns Reuelation and more and more must perish although by their owne hand and owne inuentions In the beliefe of this I heretofore opposed in more then an ordinarie manner howsoeuer I haue been diuersly smitten for it the Lord lay it not to their charge and the same I am still howsoeuer I expect for that the more hard entreatie where Amalekes may preuayle But he that began that Faith augment it in mee and I eare long shal see the saluation of our God God hath layde the Axe now to the roote of that Tree I hope our high right honorable senate of Parliament will take the present occasion of cutting it downe Touching the Creation of Heauen and Earth Moses hath spoken plainely in the first and second of Genesis But there he hath briefly touched the Visible Creature Spheares and Starres aboue and the Earth with her Seas and continents below But afterwardes he reuealeth the Inuisible creature inuisible in the owne proper nature because Spirits namely the Angels appoynted of God for ministring spirits vnto the good of the heires of saluation as also for the execution of corrections and punishments vpon the transgressors So that for the good of the obedient the visible and inuisible creature is appoynted The Angels to pitch their Tabernacles of defence round about them and as * Iob 5. 23 c. Eliphaz noteth from the times of Genesis the stones beastes of the field c. to be at league with them Lord encrease my Fayth vnto obedience Section 2. ¶ And in Iesus Christ his onely Sonne our Lord which was conceaued by the holy Ghost borne of the virgin Mary suffered vnder Pontius Pilate was crucified dead buried He descended into Hell The third day he rose againe from the dead he ascended into heauen and sitteth on the right hand of God from whence he shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead AS the first part of Beliefe touched God the Father so the second toucheth his Sonne the Word by whoÌ„ he made all things Which Sonne is tearmed Jesus that is Sauiour and Christ or Messiah which signifieth Annoynted because he was of God the Father annoynted to be the Sauiour of Adam and his chosen-seed which in Adam had sinned through the meanes of Satan an Apostate Angell and so could not be saued but by him that could abace himselfe as low as Adam and the seed of his loynes had sinned hie seeing Contraries must cure Contraries Mankind had sinned highly in that being but earth he laboured proudly to be a God The cure then must be wrought by God on high humbling himselfe in the behoofe of man so low as the earth The Sonne of God did this first by assuming or taking vpon him the very nature of man body and soule Secondly by vndergoing the smart of our sinnes and dying in our nature for vs. Thirdly in rysing againe from vnder the decreed death Fourthly in ascending vp to the Father carying our sinnes captiue And fifthly by shewing himselfe the Iudge As the latter Scriptures being but commentaries vpon Moses doe plainely shew all this so Moses taught this as truly though not so openly 1 That the Sonne of God should assume our nature for such purpose Moses doth intimate in Gen. 3. 15. when he sayth That the womans seed should breake the Serpents head And of him the Apostle * Galat. 4 4. Paul expoundeth it As it is said The womans seed not mans because mans hand should not cut this Stone from the Monntaine it should triumph ouer the Serpent of Hell Dan. 2. which then had acted the Serpentine beast of the fielde So the Womans seed being onely passiue could not doe that otherwise then it should receiue life from some actiue power which if not Mans then needs it must be of God seeing Angels could not vndergoe the waight of that burden the Fathers infinite iustice being so to be satisfied in mankindes nature which had so offended Neither is such conception strange in Moses when as Sarah Arch-mother of beleeuers doth by vertue of the Lords promise conceaue and bring foorth Isaac after it ceased with her to be after the manner of women 2. 3. Neither any nature but that which is infinite namely God could so liue and die for satisfaction and rayse vp our assumed nature for our iustification All which Moses hath prophetically deliuered * Heb. 11. 19. in the parable of Isaac Gen. 22. There Abraham hy-father a figure of our Hy-father in heauen hath his onely Sonne Isaac one with our nature a seed according to Promise him he hath allotted vnto death The Sonne obayes The first day Isaac dyeth in Abrahams resolution and the will is accepted for the deed but after a sort he receiued him againe from death vnto life and that on the third day And his returne home againe was as an Ascension from the earth vnto glory 4 And as Isaac so returned in a parable from death to life so he became the Sonne of his right hand when Ismael stood on the left and that Foe was made his footstoole 5 Which Isaac shewed himselfe in time a Iudge of spirituall quicke and dead when he gaue a perfect iudgement according to the decree of Abram Malachi 1. 2. 3. Hie-father of heauen in separating betweene Esau and Iaakob Rom. 9. 23. this being chosen and the other forsaken though both of one bedd and naturall generation Through all Moses the doctrine of the promised seed shineth though encompassed with cloudes of Ceremonies the full reuelation whereof awayted the fulnesse of time * Heb. 11. 40. God prouiding that better thing for vs that they without vs should not be made perfect The Article touching the seconde person in the Godhead thus cleared some will aske me Where in Moses do ye find that Christ should Descend into Hell the place of the damned there to triumph in his soule I answere I finde it not in Moses neither in Doctrine nor Shadow for any thing I could euer obserue That dying he should descend to Sheol as the Creed in Hebrew speaketh or to Hades as the Greeke speaketh or to Inferos as the Latine speaketh I find in Moses seeing he as all the slaine Sacrifices his shadowes intended was to go the way of all flesh In which sense Jaakob sayth thus in Gen. 37. 35. * Cabalistically one mâ—ght say that the letters in Aeredh that is Aleph Resh and Daleth in Hebrew numeration 205 they might import the time of his seede being in Egipt being much thereabouts so many yeares From the word Reau descend
c. doth appoynt a peculiar Oblation for the whole Congregation of Israel so sinning Let God then be true and euery man a lyer The Church of Israel was Nationall and in Exod. 19. called of the Lord an Holy Nation he hauing called and culled them from out all people vnto himselfe and so were a figure of the Church which Christ at his first comming into the world would gaine to himselfe out of all * Reuel 7. 9. Nations Tongues and Kindreds for woorshipping before his Throne And herein was Japhet returned to Shems Tabernacle as Noah foretold And the Prodigall Gentile repaired so to his Elder brothers inheritaunce namely that of the Jew as our Sauiour intimates in a Parable The Jew respecting the generall standeth without murmuring at the Gentiles acception Heauenly Father perswade him to come in that so thy Two people may become One for furthering thy glory This Catholique Church then is the whole body of people wheresoeuer * Catholique a greeke word in English Vniuersall and therefore not to be tyed to Rome or any one place citie or nation Catholiquely that is vniuersally spread vpon the whole face of the earth gathered from ludahs tribe vnto Shiloh himselfe as Jaakâ—b foretold in Genes 49. 10. when he sayd A Tribe shall not leaue ludah nor Lawgiuer from betweene his feete till Shiloh come then the people shal be gathered vnto Him that is to Christ. And whereas some vrge from the Epithet Holy that by holy Catholique Church is meant onely that part of the Church which is inuisible knowen onely vnto God each member wherof is Holy indeed I take it to be an errour First for that the auncient Writers who best vnderstoode their owne terme Catholique do vnderstande it of the visible Beleeuers wheresoeuer as may be seene specially in their forme of prouoking Heretiques Secondly the tearme Holy giuen vnto it doth no more proue that therefore euery soule in the Catholique Church is indeede Holy then the same tearme proueth all therefore in Israels people to be Holy indeed when as they be called an holy Nation For who in the Scriptures shal not perceiue that Israel howsoeuer Called to be Sainctes prooued still in fact and Fayth for the most part very prophane and Idolatrous And that is in deed a Sonne of perdition mounted in the Temple a body of Tares ouergrowing the Wheat-field Which not obserued of many it hath been cause of much errour in disputation about the visibilitie of the Church Euen as it followeth not because Jeroboam is a liuing man therefore euery member in him is liuing or hath life in it for his hand and some other parts may be dead and senslesse Then will some further obiect It followeth that as the Nationall Church of Israel and the Prouinciall Church of the Jewes had one visible Hie-priest ouer the whole so the Catholique Christian Church is to haue one visible Pastor ouer it I answere it followeth not First for that One may better rule ouer a Prouince or Nation then ouer the whole world Secondly for that God commaunded that people to repaire three times a yeare to that One place where that Hie-priest was to continue with the Arke of God but no such commaundement to vs. Nay God hath taken away that One place because in euery place he will be worshipped Our Melchi-esedek in repect of his Diuinitie is euery where therefore to be sacrificed too euery where and his Mandood is in the Heauens therefore Sur sum corda thither lift we vp our heartes As Christ is the onely head of this Church and this Church is the whole Corporation of Beleeuers of all Nations Kindreds and Tongues standing before his Throne so the life of this Church is his Spirit and the Spirit she receiueth * Galat 3. 2. 5. 8. by the preaching of Fayth Moses teacheth this euidently enough in not only introducing the Lord himselfe preaching the doctrine of Fayth to Adam and Heuah in Paradise and to other Patriarchs after but also in his giuing to auncient Mother Zion the whole Tribe of Leuj for discharging Ministeriall duties for information of Fayth besides that in desperate times he stirred vp Prophets of what Tribe soeuer without all Priestly forme of Ordination for informing Priest and people All which taking away Cerimoniall circumstaunces the Lorde doth to this catholique Church for trayning her through the worldes Wildernesse vnto the alotted Land of Promise heauenly Canaan In the meane time as the Church of Israel had her Captiuities vnder the which was an exercise of her patience and for gayning of libertie might vse no bodyly resistance euen so the Church of Christians hath her Captiuities which exact at her hands much more patience But as Jsrael deliuered by the Lords ministerie out of Aegipt had an Amalek to warr withal through all generations to the putting of his remembrance from vnder heauen Exod. 16. 8. c. And being freed from Babylon had enemies beyond the Riuer for resistaunce of whom they held a Sword in the one hand while they did the worke of the Lord with the other So the Christian Church vpon her deliueraunces hath her enemies with whom she must skirmish and against whom she must hold the swordes poynt while her people may buyld vp themselues an holy Temple Nehe. 4. 17. with 1. Cor. 6. 19. to the mightie God of Jaakob Section 5. ¶ Communion of Sainctes THe Church before being considered in the Catholique or generall or whole in these wordes Communion of * Sainctes by calling 1. Cor. 1. 2. though some amongst them were grosly Hereticall many Schismaticall and not a few Prophaine euen as in the Church of the Jewes some persecuted the Prophets and Christ himselfe thinking they did God good seruice Math. 21. 33. Sainctes or Holy-ones it is to be considered in the parts that is in her seuerall Societies and Corporations euen as from the Corporation of any whole Citie we descend to the consideration of particular Corporations or Companies included within the Cities vniuersall The Communion or Fellowship of Saincts by calling is to be considered as established or vnestablished Vnestablished as when some Beleeuers are gathered togeather in Citie or Familie but destitute of such spiritual functions as tend to absolute order And so two or three gathered together in Christs name haue him in the middest of them An Estabished Church is a competent company of Beleeuers * I say not Gathered for then no one should be a member that were not at the same season present gathering together in Christs name hauing and enioying such Ecclesiastique functions as be necessarily required for more orderly and sufficient administration of Word and Sacraments and Discipline Vnto which end the Apostle Paul is registred to haue gone too and fro establishing the Churches The Ecclesiastique functions appertayning to such orderly established Churches are of two sorts Bishops and Deacons as for Deaconistes they are rather to be serued then to serue
Beleife that euery true Christian hath First touching Remission of sinnes a benefite in this life afforded to euery penitent beleiuer Secondly two benefites after this life the Resurrection of the flesh and Eternall life Remission of Sinnes bringeth necessarily with it First that euery Christian is a Sinner Secondly the meanes whereby such forgiuenes of sinnes be had Thirdly the effect which such Remission hath in the heart of euery true beleiuer 1 That we are Sinners that is Not doers of the Law 1. Iohn 3. 4. for Amartia is Anomia Sinne is a not-doing of the Law whether it be by Omyssion or Transgression it falleth out two wayes one by Originall sinne deriued Ex traduce from our first Parents Adam and Heuah for out of such a bitter Fountaine we can draw no sweete water Besides we are Sinners Actually that is by our owne immediate act wee hauing subscribed to the law of sinne in our members both by thought word worke One of these Actions much more both are sufficient for our arraignement and condemnation 2 The Meanes whereby we are freed of both these Criminations are onely the sufferinges of the Just for the vniust and that is the sufferings of Christ Jesus for vs seeing hee alone is the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world we by his blood and by no other haue our garmentes and conuersation made white Our sinnes in the Law being resembled copiouslie by sundry pollutions and his cleansing of vs by his blood being resembled by the * Heb. 9. 21. c. blood of Animals sprinkling the Tabernacle and Alter there beeing without blood no Remission Which cannot otherwise be vnderstood by the penners of this Creed seeing no Angell or Man is in this Beleife introduced for a Sauiour in whole or in part but the Sonne of God solely who became Jesus the Sauiour and the Christ or Annoynted-one to this purpose The Manqueller in the Law Num. 32. 22. that was set free vpon the death of the Hie-priest did plainely figure out the deliueraunce of a penitent sinner by the death of our Hie-priest Iesus 3 The Effecteâ— which such Remission worketh in our hearts is Loue vnfeigned whereby we are ready to forgiue to our brethren the sinnes whereby they haue transgressed against vs euen as God hath freely forgiuen vs. Our sinnes towardes God being compared to Talents and our brethrens towards vs being assimilated to Pence Which Forgiuenesse at Gods hand as it is dayly and oft in a day so we are thereby inuited to do the like towards our neighbour To God we are to pray for their Remission though them selues doe it not and we are in Gods name to pronounce it vnto them so oft as they shall turne backe and say It repenteth mee Herevpon it is that Moses introduceth Josephs brethren saying Forgiue now the trespasse of thy brethren and their sinne Whereto Joseph replyed Feare not for am I not vnder God as if he should say Feare not my laying of your sinne vnto your charge for as I am subiect vnto God so I as freely forgiue you as he hath forgiuen to mee my trespasses Genes 50. 17. c. Nor did the Law of Sin-offrings vrge lesse Blessed is he whose wickednesse is forgiuen Psal. 32. 1. 2. and whose sinne is couered Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquitie Lord for thy Sonnes sake forgiue vs our sinnes Section 7. ¶ Resurrection of the Flesh. THe Church being considered as afore with the mayne benefite she reapeth at Gods hand in this life which is Remission of sinnes now follow two benefites after this life The first is Resurrection of the body and the second is Life eternall ensuing The Resurrection of the body is that which the Sadducies denied as Familistes amongst vs. And how doth our Sauiour prooue it From these wordes of Moses in Exod. 3. 6. where the Lord sayth I am the God of thy Father the God of Abraham the God of Isaac the God of Jaakob From whence he thus concludeth Math. 22. 32 God is not the God of the dead but of the liuing as if he had sayd in moe words neither Abraham nor Isaac nor Jaakob was onely soule but also body and therefore the Lord saying hee is their God it must necessarily follow that he was the God both of body and soule Which neither could be except the body liued to him in the assuraunce of Resurrection for being vnited to the soule in endlesse glory This stopped the mouthes of them Sadducies and I pray God also the consideration thereof may stoppe the mouthes of our Semi-atheistes denyers of the bodyes resurrection flowted of naturall Philosophers in Athens but prescisely taught of the Apostle and that with a difference of Glory in the resurrection as there is a difference of glory betweene the Sunne Moone and Starres As for the * Compare Math. 20. 1. with Chap. 21. 33. Parable of the Workemen called into the Vineyard at the sixt ninth and eleauenth hower and each receiuing a penny that medleth nothing in proprietie with the kingdome of Glory but with the kingdome of Grace in this life where the last namely the Gentile so well as Israel the first receiueth the earnest-penny of saluation which is the spirit of Adoption the spirit of our Mediatour Jesus a sufficient recompence to the first and last by the vertue of which * Rom. 8. 11. spirit our bodyes are raysed vp vnto Glory As for the Rising of the misbeleiuer it is but a rising to fall for as God will be none of their God so to the Diuell and his Angels they be referred and this is the finall Curse pronounced against the Lawes transgressers throughout all Moses Section 8. ¶ Life Euerlasting THe first benefite to the Church after this life was noted to be the Resurrection of the flesh The second and last is Eternall life both of body and soule Some like craftie smooth-faced Sadducies haue denied that Moses any where teacheth such Eternall life But I pray such Doctors to tell mee why the Lords speach to Moses which before prooued the bodyes Râ—surrection doth not also as necessarily prooue Eternall life If Jehouah be the God of Abraham and therefore whole Abraham must needes liue which cannot be if the body should not rise then his beeing the God of Abraham prooueth Euerlasting life to appertaine vnto whole Abraham seeing Jehouah liueth euerlastingly the God of Abraham And I would further know of the couetous Sadducie why is not Eternall life fitly necessarily and plainely taught of Moses in Genes 5. when as it is sayd that God translated Henoch from this world to himselfe And when Moses in Exod 32. 32. doth in his Zeale for Israel say thus to the Lord I pray thee rase mee out of thy Booke which thou hast written What Booke speaketh he off sauing of the Booke of life that contayneth the names only of such as through the Lord of life