intricate ought rather oblige him to produce them then oppose or hinder that hee should make vse of them For hee that accuseth and for proofe of his accusation alleageth reasoÌ„s too hard to be vnvnderstood that hee may seeme to speake Welch or Irish both iustifies the party accused and makes himselfe worthy to be laughed at CHAP. 6. The verification of the first meanes of Nullitie against the third and fourth allegation 3 BVt if as by the third allegation it seemes the Scripture bee ambiguous and capable of divers interpretations wherefore and with what reason is it that the Doctors that terme themselues Catholickes doe make more account of one expression of Scripture then of another grounding themselues either vpon the circumstances of the very text which is expounded or vpon some other passage of the Scripture the sense whereof is cleare manifest and certaine and not simply vpon the authority of the Church If the Scripture be as they say a nose of waxe Theramenes buskin a shoe for both feete a wethercock which turnes with the winde wherefore do they refute by Scripture the interpretations nay rather the false glosses of heretiques Wherefore do they not barely alleage vnto them the authority of the Church Verily according to their reckoning for the prooueing of transubstantiation they neede no more vrge the words of the Scripture hoc est corpus meum neither to say that they must be taken as they sound as being words of a last will and testament seing that this passage being a part of the Scripture is according to the nature of the Scripture if their allegation be true ambiguous and capable of divers interpretations and therefore they ought not to beleiue transubstantiation by reason of this place of Scripture but because it hath pleased the Church so to interpret it and so the beliefe of the Church of Rome will not bee grounded vpon the Scripture nor ruled according to it but quite contrary the sence of the Scripture is ruled and grounded vpon the knowledge of the Church so that the foundation is builded vpon the house and the building is the levell and the square And to conclude how commeth it to passe that they say that the Scripture proueth so distinctly so clearely so evidently the pretended authority of the Church that they wonder how those that do but read the Scripture can admit it if so bee that the Scripture bee ambiguous and of a double meaning as hath beene pretended by the third allegation 4 Touching the fourth defect objected against the Scripture to wit that it is imperfect and doth not sufficiently furnish vs with reasons for to proue or refute what is to be beleeued in matters of controversie betwixt vs. If this objection bee received how haue the Doctors of the Church which is called Catholique vndertaken to proue all the points of the Romish Religion by the Scripture Haue they taken vpon them rashly a thing impossible would they shew themselues in this sophisters and cavilling disputers seeking in the Scripture that which is not there to be found and prouing a truth by a lye or are there some points of doctrine beleeued in the Church termed Catholique which are not contained in the Scripture who amongst them all dare vndertake to make a catalogue of any such points what may those points of doctrine be that are not handled in the Scripture for being silent in which the Scripture is termed imperfect They are not points touching the Trinity the incarnation of the Sonne of God the redemption of mankind or of faith in Iesus Christ of hope charity and repentance of the necessity and practise of good workes of life eternall of Baptisme of the preaching of the word of the holy supper these points and those that depend on them are without doubt retained in the Scripture What then can these articles of faith bee of which the Prophets the Apostles nay God himselfe hath spoken in the Scripture Is it the article of the popes authority not only now to excommunitate but also to depose Kings his authority of dispeÌ„cing with mariages with which God dispenceth not in his word to make eating of flesh in Lent a thing of it selfe indifferent to bee a sinne and that an incestious mariage be not incestious or else the article of his imperiall dominion so soveraigne and supreme that although hee should lead whole troupes of silly soules into hell none may presume to say vnto him my Lord why do you so and of so large extent that it reacheth vnto the soules both of the liuing and the dead Or are they the articles of worshipping of Images of invocation of Saints of the fier of purgatory as hote as that of hell of workes of supererogation of merit ex congruo ex coÌ„digno that Iesus Christ hath sacrificed himselfe vpon earth twice to wit when he celebrated the holy Supper with his disciples and not once alone vpon the crosse that divine service ought to be sayd in an vnknowne tongue that Christ hath not saued by his death the litle children which dye without baptisme And if there be any other article of this sort of which the holy Ghost hath made no mention and the Prophets and Apostles haue written nothing No the holy Ghost hath dictated the Prophets and Apostles haue written the cleane contrary That the temporall authority of Kings is immediatly from God That every man is subiect to and not aboue the law of God That the very Apostles are the servants but not the lords of the Church That the soules of them which dye in Christ rest from their labours That wee must not call on him in whom we have not beleeued That wee must not bowe downe to images That when we haue done all wee can wee are vnprofitable servants That Christ hath not offered himselfe oftentimes but once That the vse of an vnknowne tongue in the Church is a curse That Christ receiued the litle Children yea before baptisme CHAP. 7. A verifying of the first meanes of nullity against the fift and sixt â—llegation AND for the fifth reproach cast vpon the Scripture to wit that those who make profession to end their controversies by its determination are disagreeing in opinion if this consideration should make that God speaking in the Scripture or by the Scriptures were not a competent Iudge to determine our controversies it would follow also from thence that neither the Church should be our Iudge since in this respect there is no difference For in the times of the Primitiue Church both Arrians and Orthodoxes Donatistes Catholiques did pretend to follow the judgement of the Church The Arrians did reject the Councell of Nice required a new Councell yea many Arrians in effect protested that they would hold themselues to the Councell of Nice so that by this account the Church it selfe shall not be the Iudge if from the discord of them who professe to referre themselues to the decision of a
those to whom the spirit hath suggested them how wicked and detestable soever otherwise they may bee So that the question is brought to matter of fact to witte who proposeth that which is contained in the Scripture which question is cleared in examining the Doctrine proposed by the Scripture as the proportion of a building is knowne by applying of the square and levell For example the Iewes of Boerea did not directly and à priori inquire whether Saint Paul when hee preached vnto them was inspired of the holy spirit or no it had beene an impossible thing for them seeing it is the property of God alone to bee the searcher of hearts But they made inquirie for all that whether Saint Paul did speake according to the Scriptures and hauing by conferring of Saint Pauls doctrine with the Scriptures discovered the conformity and how they answered the one to the other they judged truly as indeed it was to wit that Saint Paul spake not of himselfe but by the holy spirit Yea the Ancients themselues hauing to do with heretickes who made shew to hold the Scripture for their rule haue not refused to dispute before a Pagan Iudge who although by reason of his vnbeliefe hee was not capable to judge whether of two parties maintained the truth pronounced neverthelesse and very happily which of the two concluded most conformably to the Scripture which both the one and the other alleaged for their purpose but the same sufficeth vs at this day in our controversies for if it be apparant who speake according to the Scriptures no man who maketh profession of Christianity doubting of the Scripture the conclusion will bee plaine and evident that whosoever hee be speakes according to truth and by the spirit of truth There is much difference betweene beleeuing the Principles of Christian Religion and judging who teach most conformably to those principles To the first faith and the illumination of the holy spirit are absolutely necessary for the second common sense is sufficient To beleeue that the Scripture is true when it teacheth vs that there is but one God that the Father is God the Sonne God and the holy Ghost also that the Father is not the Sonne nor the holy Ghost neither the one nor the other for this faith onely is required But to inferre from thence that the nature of God is one in number that the persons of the Trinity are distinct yet not divided that they communicate in one and the same nature for this I say common sense alone sufficeth which cannot deny the consequent the truth of the antecedent once granted which without all doubt cannot bee comprehended but by faith It is then in vaine to aske who shall judge of the consequences as if a man hauing learned in a historie how many companies and how many souldiers in every company were in an army how many troopes of horse and how many horsemen in every troope one should demand who shall judge whether the number of the souldiers of which the army did consist be rightly collected frō thence In like manner if we can proue by the Scripture that that which Christ gaue to his disciples was bread broken and if wee proue by the same Scripture that the body of Christ is not broken in the Eucharist and that yet much lesse the bread brokē is Christs body to demād here who shall judge whether a man may inferre from hence that the Lord gaue not vs externally his own body in the Eucharist is all one as to aske who hath common sense Likewise when the Apostle sayth that wee are saued by grace through faith and that not of our selues it is the gift of God not of workes least any man should Boast If it bee asked here who shall judge whether it can be gathered from hence that wee are not saved by the merit of our workes but by faith wholly relying vpon this grace without hauing merited it our selues by any workes of ours is not this to aske how a man might know that hee is in his senses But if the consequence bee so obscure that it is harde to judge of it this is an argument that there is no consequence at all the nature of which is such that in a manner it forceth our vnderstanding to yeeld vnto it and to allow of it albeit we had studied in no other logicke then that of nature CHAP. 16. The verifying of the second meanes of Nullity against the eight allegation by declaring the vntrueth thereof BVT if wee proceede so farre as to demand how we may know whether the Scripture bee the coppy of the declared will of God since a man cannot know neither who hath nor whether hee himselfe hath the spirit of God or no the answere is very easie hee who knoweth not whether he hath the spirit or no belongs not to Christ and therefore it is not strange if he knowes not the voyce of Christ but all those who belong to Christ are made partakers of his spirit If any man hath not the spirit of Christ hee is none of his As many as are led by the spirit of God they are the sonnes of God they haue not receiued the spirit of bondage againe to feare but the spirit of adoption which cryeth Abba Father in their hearts The spirit it selfe beareth witnesse to their spirit that they are the children of God They are sealed vntill the redemption of the purchased possession hee is vnto them a spirit of wisdome and reuelation They are the sheepe of Christ they heare and know the voyce of their sheepheard They follow him and the voice of a stranger they will not follow but will flie from him for they know not his voyce The Father driues them to Christ they are taught of God they haue learned of the Father they are spirituall and therefore comprehend the things that are of God because the spirit hath revealed thē vnto them they are spiritually discerned They haue receiued the anoynting by the holy spirit and know all things God hath written his lawes in their hearts Christ dwels there by faith Their bodies are the temples of the holy Ghost And those who are adorned and enriched so sumptuously can they bee ignorant of the excellencie of the diamond and the magnificencie of the riches which they possesse Those who are enlightened with such a light vpon whom the Lord causeth the day to spring from on high to shine and the light of his countenance to airse to whom he is the sun and buckler the sunne of righteousnesse bearing health vnder his wings whose eyes hee hath enlightened can they doubt whether they walke in his light Shall the naturall man by his reason comprehend that he discourseth and the spirituall man shall not hee discerne by the spirit that hee hath the spirit And here some man may say vnto vs But how many may bee found who boast nay who thinke verily they haue the spirit
A TRACT OF THE SOVERAIGNE IVDGE OF CONTROVERSIES IN MATTERS OF RELIGION By IOHN CAMERON Minister of the Word of God and Divinity Professour in the Academie of Montauban Translated into English by IOHN VERNEVIL M. A. Basilius ad Eustathium medicum epist. quae est 80. ex edit Paris 1618. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let the Scripture giuen by inspiration of God be Vmpire and the sentence of truth shall wholy bee giuen to them with whom the tenents agreable to the holy w 〈…〉 shall bee found OXFORD Printed by VVilliam Turner Printer to the famous Vniversity and are to be sold by Henry Curteine 1648. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVLL S r THOMAS LEIGH KNIGHT AND BARONET AND TO THE VERTVOVS and Religious Lady Mary Leigh his deare and louing Consort I AM not vnmindfull of the favours and courtisies Right Wor ll receiued from your much honoured Grand-father S r Thomas Leigh of blessed memory at my first comming into England how in my distresse his liberall maintenance refreshed mee And in all those yeares that I had the honour to belong vnto you how gratious and bountifull I found you both should I silence these your benefits bestowed on mee and not acknowledge them to the world my conscience surely would accuse mee of ingratitude a vice abominable and hatefull both to God and good men To avoide which I haue presumed to publish and offer to the world vnder both your names this my little translation of the great and learned Cameron not for any hope I haue by this or any greater seruice to requite your favours to mee but only to testifie that I confesse and acknowledge Gods goodnesse towards mee in finding such a shelter that hath receiued kept mee safe in a land where I was a stranger For which your fauours towards mee the Lord of heauen and earth restore you an hundred fold into your bosomes and giue your VVorships grace to see as your Honourable Grand fathers haue done your childrens children like Oliue plants round about your table Receiue then this small mite as a token of the bounden seruice of him who vncessantly prayeth God to blesse you and your Noble Familie with all spirituall blessings in Christ Iesus From the publique Library in Oxford this 30. of Aug. 1628. Your Wor PS most humbly to command IOHN VERNEVIL To the Reader I present vnto your censure this tract of Monsieur Cameron in English I know the skill of many for translating out of French to bee farre better then mine owne but my request is that you respect my desire to do good and not my imperfections I hold it a matter altogether impossible to draw a picture fully to the life let Poets tell of painters and of birds deceiued by the exactnesse of their skill yet an originall ever looseth some lustre and grace though the translatours care be never so great Howsoever consider I intreate you the author of this little tract for the worke of any man is nowadayes esteemed as the workeman is and men care most for reading that whose authours they esteeme For the Author I will say this little during his naturall life his reputation was great in France and so great that all the Iesuites there did seeke and at last obtained to haue him banished nor was there any other cause thereof then his great learning the Iesuites in their conferences being not able to withstand him Quoniam aemulare non licet nunc inâ—ides He had his refuge here where by the speciall care of that great fauourer of learning K. Iames of blessed memory he was provided for in Scotland his natiue couÌ„try but so great was his harty loue to France that by the effectual mediatioÌ„ of those honorable Ambassadors then in France he gat that envious sentence reversed which being done he immediately conveighed himselfe to Montauban to bee professour there where he ended his dayes to the great losse of Gods Church and that Vniversity Now seeing the feruent loue that hee had in doing good to my owne natiue Country I haue endeauoured as much as lyeth in mee to requite his loue and to make his French worke speake English If this tract bee fauourably receiued and that I shall perceiue my English phrase tollerably to be approued your kind acceptance shall encourage mee to a greater worke my nature abhorreth idlenesse and beeing in such a place I loue to be doing and to imploy my selfe for feare to be worse imployed* Enjoy this as a prodromus till by your prayers God of his infinite grace and mercy enable mee to end my greater worke now in hand Farewell Thine in the Lord IOHN VERNEVIL CHAP. 1. The subtility of those who shunne the reformation and the sincerity of them who require it IT is sayd that Alcibiades as yet but young in yeares but in craft and subtility already aged comming on a day to visit Pericles when one had told him that hee was busie making vp the accounts which hee was to giue of his office immediately replyed it was better for Pericles to busie himselfe in seeking the meanes how hee might giue no accounts at all and so went his wayes This passage hath beene applauded by many as most sharpe and witty But there are some and of those not a few who much esteeme the vse and necessity of the councell it importeth All bankrupts pettifoggers extortioners and in a word the whole rable of impostors make vse thereof and haue recourse vnto it as to the onely soveraigne remedie of their dispaire and indeede hee that is convinced in his conscience that knoweth that hee shall come short of his accounts and in the proofe of his pretended right it is his safest and easiest way to avoid the comming to any account or triall at all Where contrariwise hee that hath a cleare conscience his reckonings ready his cause good doth flye nothing more then such shifts and desires and endeauours aboue all to bee heard throughly fearing least the prescription exceptions and pretences of cunning wranglers though hee could make vse of them should darken the equitie of his cause and leaue behind it this scruple that his cause in the issue of it will prooue like to those other vnto which it hath some resemblance in the proceeding Would to GOD all men in the controversies of religion were of the same opinion and had the same courage and true meaning which humaine and civill wisdome doth suggest to vs in our law suites that wee would bee willing to come to an issue And since wee all agree that our heauenly Father hath not left vs without a Testament that wee on both sides know by what Notaries it hath beene receiued where they haue enrolled it since wee haue the law and the testimony that wee would also haue our recourse with a joynt consent to that Testament to those Notaries to their Registers and say with one and the same voyce after the Prophet To the law and to the testimony if