doubts of Hee grants it but how No otherwise for any thing I can see then as wee doe grant it viz. that God if he please can give such a measure of grace unto men as to inable them perfectly to doe all that is commanded But Hierome immediately after shewes that none either doth or ever did so and that therefore all are guilty before God and stand in neede of his mercy If saith hee thou canst shew any that hath fulfilled all things required then thou canst shew one that doth not needs Gods merey shew that this hath been or that it now is So when Cyrill saith that even that precept Thou shalt not covet may be fulfilled by grace hee doth not oppose us nor wee him For wee doubt not but God is able to give grace whereby to fulfill it but wee deny that any onely Christ excepted ever had such grace as whereby to fulfill it Basil is cited at large no place being noted where he saith any thing about this point onely in Bellarmine I finde that upon those words Take heed to thy selfe hee saith that it is a wicked thing to say that the precepts of the Spirit are impossible Which wee yeeld so farre forth as any have the Spirit they may performe them but none have the Spirit in such full measure as to be able fully to performe whatsoever is commanded Origen in the place cited compares them to Women who say that they cannot keepe Gods Commandements Which must be understood of keeping them so as to have respect unto them and to study and indeavour to keepe them For otherwise if we speake of an exact and perfect keeping of the Commandements both men and women even the best upon Earth are farre from it For the flesh lusteth against the spirit saith the Apostle and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary the one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would Gal. 5. 17. Wee hold saith the Marquesse faith cannot justifie without workes Yee say good workes are not absolutely necessary unto salvation Wee have Scripture for what wee say 1 Cor. 13. 2. Though I have all Faith and have no Charity I am nothing And James 2. 24. By Workes a Man is justified and not by Faith onely Answ Protestants in opposition to them of the Church of Rome hold that Faith alone doth justifie and that Workes doe not concurre with Faith unto justification Yet withall they hold that Faith which doth justifie is not alone without workes Bellarmine confesseth that Calvin hath these very words It is Faith alone that doth justifie but yet Faith which doth justifie is not alone As the heate of the Sun alone is that which doth heate the Earth yet heate is not alone in the Sun but there is light also joyned with it And hee addes that Melancthon Brentius Chemnitius and other Protestants teach the same thing Therefore by Bellarmines owne confession Protestants are no enemies unto good workes Neither are they any whit injurious unto them in excluding them from having a share in justification as the Romanists are injurious unto Faith in making workes copartners with it in that respect We conclude saith S. Paul That a Man is justified by Faith without the deeds of the Law Rom. 3. 28. And in the next Chapter the Apostle proves by the example of Abraham that justification is by Faith without Workes For what saith the Scripture Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousnesse Rom. 4. 3. He confirmes it also by the words of David Even as David also describes the blessednesse of the man to whom God imputeth righteousnesse without Workes saying blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven c. Rom. 4. 6 7 8. Mens workes are imperfect and so is all that righteousnesse of man that is inherent in him as hath been shewed before and therefore by his own workes and his own righteousnesse can none be justified By the deeds of the Law shall no flesh be justified Rom. 3. 20. Bellarmine would have the Apostle when hee excludes Workes from justification onely to understand such workes as are done by the meere knowledge of the Law without grace But this cannot be his meaning For 1. when David cried out Enter not into judgement with thy servant O Lord for in thy sight shall no man living be justified Psal 143. 2. hee shewes that workes whatsoever they be are unable to justifie a man in the sight of God For it were most absurd and irrationall to imagine that David then doth onely deprecate Gods entring into judgement with him in respect of the Works which hee did without the assistance of Gods grace 2. The Apostle proves that justification is by Faith without Workes by that of David Blessed is the man whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sinnes are covered Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sinne Rom. 4. 6 7 8. Now the best man that is upon Earth hath need of this that his iniquities may be forgiven his sinnes covered and his transgressions not imputed unto him seeing there is no man as I have shewed before but iniquities sinnes and transgressions are found in him Therefore though a man be regenerate and sanctified yet his workes are not such as that he can be justified by them 3. The Apostle Gal. 3. 10. proves that none can be justified by the deeds of the Law because it is written Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the booke of the Law to doe them Now no man though indued with grace and that in great measure doth continue in all things that the Law requireth as hath also been shewed before Therefore Workes as well with grace as without grace are unable to justifie But when our adversaries speake of justification they equivocate making it indeed the same with sanctification Dureus the Jesuite calles this new Divinity to say that by grace infused into us wee get newnesse of life and sanctification but yet are not thereby justified And hee askes what Scripture doth teach us to distinguish justification from sanctification Truly I thinke that these two viz justification and sanctification are sufficiently distinguished 1 Cor. 6. 11. But you are washed but you are sanctified but you are justified in the Name of the Lord Iesus and by the Spirit of our God There the Apostle shews that they were washed viz. both from the staine of sinne by sanctification which was wrought in them by the Spirit of God infusing grace into them and also from the guilt of sinne by justification which they obtained by faith in the Lord Jesus Besides the Scripture opposeth justification to condemnation and sheweth that to justifie is as much as to absolve and acquit from guilt to account and pronounce righteous Prov. 17. 15. He that justifieth the wicked and he that condemneth the just even they both are an abomination to the Lord.
doe rather call for our care and diligence to suppresse them For answer unto this I grant that the prevailing errours of the times are mainly to be opposed yet as our Saviour said in another case this ought to be done and the other not to be left undone Yea Popery is the grand evill that doth infest the Church and by how much it is the more inveterate the more diffused by so much the danger of it is the greater and it requires the more opposition There is also a speciall warning to come out of Babylon Revel 18. 4. and certainly it will availe us little to come out except we also keepe out of it And if we would keep our selves out of Babylon we must keepe the Babylonish Doctrine from finding entertainment with us This will aske no little care no humane policy in the world I think being greater then that which is used either for the supporting of that doctrine where it is or the introducing of it where it is not embraced Shall we thinke that the Romanists are idle in these busy times Though few doe shew themselves as the Marquesse did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with open face yet we may well suspect that many are working so as that by how much they are the lesse conspicuous by so much they are the more dangerous And as David in a certaine case said to the woman of Tekoah Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this So in respect of that heape of heterodox opinions that is among us may it not be said Is not the hand of a Iesuite in all this Diverse Pamphlets in these times have admonished us to beware and among the rest one intituled Mutatus Polemo what ever the Authors designe were doth speake not a little to this purpose Before these trouble some times began some have either expressed as Mr. Archer or intimated as Mr. Mede that in their opinion Popery shall yet againe for a while universally prevaile in those Countries and Nations out of which it hath bin expelled If this be so as for any thing I see I may hope the contrary may it not be feared that as those many Antichrists as they are called 1 Joh. 2. 18. that is those many heretikes that were in the primitive times did make way for the rise of that great Antichrist so these in our times may make way for the restauration of him And whereas we have heard long since of Romes Master-peece I see not how any Romish designe can better deserve this title then so to debase the Ministery and to decry learning as the practice of many is in these times Hoc Ithacus velit hoc magno mercentur Atreidae The Chieftaines of the Church of Rome can desire nothing more then that among their adversaries the Ministery should be cast down and learning overthrown For then why should they doubt but that they may soon reduce all unto them none being now of any competent ability to oppose them It is observed by those that are acquainted with Ecclesiasticall History that when Learning was the lowest then Popery got to be highest as the one decayed so the other was advanced and on the otherside that the restauration of good literature did make way for the Reformation of Religion Surely if Popery overspread againe barbarisme and illiteratenesse is a most likely means to effect it Neither are the Papists I suppose lesse politick and wise in their generation then Julian the Apostate was who could see no fairer way whereby to re establish Gentilisme then by indeavouring to devest Christians of Learning a thing so vile and odious that Ammianus Marcellinus himselfe though a Pagan and a great admirer of Julian was ashamed of it and shewed great dislike of Julian for it calling it a cruell part and a thing to be buried in perpetuall silence But I have held Thee Reader longer then I did intend I will preface no further but praying unto the Lord to preserve his Church from errors without and to purge it from errors within I rest Thy Friend and lover in the truth C C. The CONTENTS of the FIRST PART OF THE REIOYNDER 1 OF the marks of the true Church which they of the Church of Rome assigne as Universality Antiquity Visibility Succession of Pastors unity in Doctrine and the Coversion of Nations Page 107 to 114 2 Of having recourse unto the Scriptures in matters that concern Religion 114 115 116 3 Of relying either on Fathers singly and severally considered or on a generall Councel 116 117 118 119 4 That the Apostles as Pen-men of the Holy Ghost could not erre 120 5 Of the easiness and plainness of the Scriptures 120 121 6 Of the presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper 122 to 140 7 Whether the Church hath any infallible rule besides the Scripture for the understanding of Scripture 140 to 147 8 Againe of the Scriptures being easie to be understood 147 148 9 Whether the Church can erre or not 148 to 152 10 Againe of the Visibility of the Church 152 153 11 Of the Universality of the Church 153 to 158 12 Of the unity of the Church in matters of faith 158 159 13 Of Kings and Queens being Heads or Governours and Governesses of the Church within their Dominions 159 160 14 Of the Ministers power to forgive sins 159 as 't is misprinted to 162 15 Of confessing sins to a ghostly Father 162 to 172 16 Of works of Superogation 172 to 176 17 Of Free-will 176 to 195 18 Of the possibility of keeping the Commandements 196 to 201 19 Of Justification by faith alone 201 to 211 20 Of Merits 211 to 216 21 Whether justifying faith may be lost 216 to 221 22 Of Reprobation 221 to 239 23 Of assurance of Salvation 239 to 251 24 Whether every Believer hath a peculiar Angel to be his guardian 251 to 254 25 Of the Angels praying for us and knowing our thoughts 254 255 256 26 Of praying to the Angels 256 to 261 27 Whether the Saints deceased know our affairs here below 261 to 266 28 Of the Saints deceased praying for us 266 to 269 29 Of praying to the Saints deceased 269 to 276 30 Of Confirmation whether it be a Sacrament properly so called 276 to 281 31 Of communicating in one kinde 281 to 287 32 Of the sacrifice of the Masse as they call it or whether Christ be truly and properly offered up and sacrificed in the Eucharist or Lords Supper 287 to 296 33 Whether Orders or rather Ordination be a Sacrament of like nature with Baptisme and the Lord Supper 296 to 301 34 Of Vows of chastity and of the Marriage of Ecclesiastical persons 301 to 318 35 Of Christs descending into Hell 319 to 340 36 Of Purgatory 340 to 355 37 Of extreme Unction 355 to 363 38 Of the saying of Austine Evangelio non crederem nisi me Ecclesiae Authoritas commoveret I should not believe or should not have
shall we not say repentance is a Sacrament If Christ blesseth little children and saith Suffer them to come unto me and forbid them not shall we not say that such confirmation is a Sacrament Truly I doe not understand their meaning They have taken away five which five either by God or Christ or the holy Ghost who are all one were instituted and yet they say they are not Sacraments because they were not instituted by Christ And the two that are left viz. Baptisme and the Lords Supper for the first you hold it necessary to Salvation and for the second you do not admit the reall presence so that of the two remaining you have taken away the necessity of the one and the reality of the other so farwell all Now for Purgatory I do believe we have as good ground for it out of this place of Scripture viz. He shall be purged yet so as if it were by fire as you can prove a Hell out of this place of Scripture He shall be cast into utter darknesse and into the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Neither can you make more exceptions to our inference out of this place of Scripture to prove Purgatory then the Atheist if wits may be permitted to roame in such things as these once setled and believed generally will find ground enough to quarrell at your burning lake and the vaine Philosopher Contradictions enough in the description of the effects of those hellish Torments viz. weeping and gnashing of teeth the one having its procedure from heat the other from cold which are meer Contradictions and therefore fabulous take heed we doe not take away Hell in removing of Purgatory You see not how your laughing at Purgatory hath caused such laughing at Hell and Devils untill at last you shall see them bid the Heavens come down and pluck the Almighty out of his Throne If a Text of Scripture with the Churches Exposition be not sufficient for a man to rest both his Science and Conscience upon I know not where it will find a resting place it may shoot at Randome but never take so right an ayme and for the silver hooke you talk'd of I do not justifie the abuse of any I know there is a great difference betweene the Court of Rome and the Church of Rome and if these Errours were in the Church it selfe yet the tares must not be hastily pluckt out of the field of the Church lest the wheat be pluckt up with it Now for our praying to Saints there is no body that prayes to any Saints otherwise then as we on earth desire the benefit of one anothers prayers We do not believe that they can help us of themselves or that they have power to forgive sin but we believe that they are nearer to God his favour and more deare unto him and therefore we believe that he will heare them with or for us sooner then he will hear us when we pray upon our own account as we desire the prayers of some good and holy man whom we believe to be so hoping it will be a benefit unto us All that can be said against it is that they do not hear us I will not trouble Your Majestie with the Schoolmens Speculum Creatoris but I shall desire to be plaine When there is joy in heaven over every sinner that repenteth do you think that the Saints which are there are ignorant of the occasion of that joy or do they rejoyce at they know not what If the Saints in heaven do crie How long Lord how long holy and just dost thou not avenge our bloud upon them which dwell upon the earth if they know that their bloud is not yet avenged do they not know when a sinner is converted and if they know the time of conversion do they not know the time of prayer If Abraham knew that there were such men as Moses and the Prophets who was dead so many hundreds of years before their time can we say that they are ignorant think ye that those ministring Angels who are called Intelligencers give them no intelligence or that they gather nothing of intelligence by looking him in the face who is the fulnesse of knowledge and to all these the practice and opinion of so Catholick a Church God can onely forgive sins Christ can onely mediate but Saints whether in heaven or on the earth may intercede for one another Lastly for our worshipping of Images confounded be all they that worshipped them for me God is onely worthy to be worshipped but if I kneel before the Picture of my Saviour I worship him kneeling before his Picture the worship is in the heart and not in the knee and where the true God is in the intention there can be no Idolatrie O Sir Christian Religion is not a Protestation but a Gospel it would better consist with unity then opposition we hold it a peece of popery to knock our owne breasts with the fists of constitution whilst we hold it most Evangelicall to knock at our neighbours with a Cunstables staffe a pious care in a Mother Church labours to educate her own daughter and having fed her at her owne breasts all the gratitude she returns her mother is to call her whore Antichrist Babylon and all the spitefull and vile names that can be imagined they forget that saying of the Apostle St. James If any man among you seeme to be religious and bridleth not his tongue but deceiveth his own heart that mans Religion is in vaine Pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this to visit the fatherlesse and widows in their affliction and to keep himselfe unspotted from the world What should I say more the Scriptures are made a nose of wax for every bold hand to wring it which way he pleaseth they are rejected by private men by whole books The Articles of our Creed are said not to be of the Apostles framing the Commandments not belonging to Christians impossible to be kept the Sacraments denied Charity not onely grown cold but quite starved and they will be sav'd by meanes quite contrary to what the Gospel which they seeme to professe sets down viz. by Faith without good works onely believe and that 's enough whereas the holy Apostle St. James tells us that faith profiteth nothing without good works Here the Marquesse was going on and His Majestie interrupted him King My Lord you let a flood-gate of Arguments out against my naked breast yet it doth not beare me any thing backwards you have spoken a great many things that no way concerns Us but such as we find fault with as much as you and other things to which I could easily give answer If I could take but some of that time and leasure that you have taken to compose your Arguments It is not onely the Picture of our Saviour but the Pictures of Saints which you both worship and adore
and maintaine it to be lawfull and not onely so but the Picture of God the Father like an old man and many other things which I forbeare because I feare you have done your selfe more hurt then me good in depriving your selfe of the rest to which you are accustomed for whilst our Arguments do multiplie our time lessens to that of Saint James where it is said that faith profiteth nothing without good works I hope the Doctor here can tell you that Saint Paul saith that we are justified by Faith and not by the works of the Law Marq. Sir I believe the Doctor will neither tell Your Majestie nor me that Faith can justifie without works King That question the Doctor can soone decide what say you to it Doctor you must speak now Doctor If it may please Your Majestie it would be as great a disobedience to hold my peace now I am commanded to speak as it would have been a presumption in me to speak before I was commanded I am so far from thinking that either Faith without good works or that good works without Faith can justifie that I cannot believe that there is such a thing as either No more then I can imagine that there may be a tree bearing fruit without a root or that the Sun can be up before it be day or that a fire can have no heat for although it be possible that a man may do some good without Faith yet he cannot do good works without it for though we may naturally incline to some goodnesse as flowers and plants naturally grow to perfection Yet this good cannot be said to be wrought by us but by the hand of Faith and Faith her selfe where she is truly so can no more stand still then can the Sun in the Firmament or refuse to let her light so shine before men that they may see her good works then the same Sun can appeare in the same Firmament and dart no beams And whilst Faith and good works strive for the proprietie of Justification I do believe they both exclude a third which hath more right to our Justification then either For that which we call Justification by Faith is not properly Justification but onely an apprehension of it as that which we call Justification by good works is not properly Justification but onely a Declaration of it to be so exempli gratia I receive a pardon my hand that receiv's it doth not justifie 't is put in execution and read in open Court all this did not procure it me Doubtlesse there is a reward for the righteous doubtlesse there is a God that judgeth the Earth wherefore upon this ground of beliefe I work out my Salvation as well as I can and do all the good that lies in my power I do good works Doubtlesse this man hath some reason for what he doth it is because he hath store of Faith which believes there is a God and that that God will accept of his endeavours wherefore to him alone who hath given us Faith and hath wrought all our good works in us can we properly attribute the tearme of Justification Iustificatio apprehensiva we may conceive and beare in our hearts Iustificatio declarativa we may shew with our hands but Iustificatio Effectiva proper and effectuall Justification none can lay claim unto but Christ alone that as our sins were imputed unto Christ so his righteousnesse might be ours by imputation King Doctor I thank you in this point I believe you have reconciled us both Doctor May it please Your Majestie if the venome were taken out there is no wound in the Churches body but might soon be healed Marq. Hereat the Marquesse somewhat earnestly cryed Hold Sir You have said well in one respect but there are two wayes of Iustification in us and two without us Christ is a cause of Iustification by his grace and merits without us and so we are justified by Baptisme and we are justified by the gifts of God in us viz. Faith Hope and Charity Whereupon the King spake as quickly King But my Lord both Justifications come from Christ according to your owne saying That without us by his grace and merit that within us by his gifts and favour therefore Christ is all in all in the matter of Justification and therefore though there were a thousand wayes and meanes to our Justification yet there is but one effectuall cause and that is Christ Marq. How is it then that we are called by the Apostle Cooperarii Christo Fellow-workers together with Christ King The Doctor hath told you how already If you lie wallowing in sin and Christ helps you out your reaching of him your hand is a working together with Christ Yet for all that it cannot be said that you helped yourselfe out of the ditch for then there had been no need of Christ Your apprehending the succour that came unto you no way attributes the God have mercie to your selfe no more then the declaring your selfe to be alive by action is the cause of setting you upon your leggs so that we may divide this threefold Justification as Peter divided his three Tabernacles here is one for Moses and one for Elias I pray let us have one for Christ and let that be the chiefe Marq. And Reason good King I wish that all Controversies betwixt you and Us were as well decided I am fully satisfied in this point Doctor May it please Your Majestie A great many Controversies between us and the Papists might be soon decided if the Churches revenues which were every where taken away more or lesse where differences in Religion in severall parts of the world did arise in the Church were not an obstacle of the re-union like the stone which the Crab cast into the Oyster which hindred it from ever shutting it selfe againe like the division which happened between the Greek and Latine Church Photinus intrudes himselfe into the Patriarch-ship of Constantinople over the head of Ignatius the lawfull Patriarch thereof whom the Pope preserved in his Communion and then the difference of the Procession of the holy Ghost between those two Churches was fomented by the said Photinus lest the wound should heale too soon and the patient should not be held long enough in cure for the benefit of the Chyrurgion Sacriledge hath brought more divisions then the nature of their causes have required and the Universities play with edged tools whilst hungry stomacks run away with their meat wherefore since Your Majestie was pleased to discharge the watch that I had set before the dore of my lips I shall make bold to put Your Majestie in mind of holding my Lord to the demand which Your Majestie once made unto his Lordship concerning the true Church for if once that Question were throughly determined all Controversies not onely between Your Majestie and his Lordship but also all the Controversies that ever were started would soon be decided at a short race end and without this we
Baptisme Acts 4. 35. 1 Cor. 1. 10. The Fathers are of that opinion Saint Aug cont ep Par. l. 3. chap. 5. Saint Cyp. lib. de unitate ecclesiae nu 3. Saint Hyl. lib. ad Constantium Augustum We hold that every Minister of the Church especially the supreme Ministers or head thereof should be in a capacity of fungifying his office in preaching the Gospel administring the Sacraments baptizing marrying and not otherwise this we have Scripture for Heb. No man taketh this honour unto himselfe but he that is called of God as Aaron was this you deny and not onely so but you so deny it as that your Church hath maintained and practised it a long time for a woman to be head or supreme moderatrix in the Church when you know that according to the word of God in this respect a woman is not onely forbid to be the head of the man but to have a tongue in her head 1 Tim. 2. 11 12. 1 Cor. 14. 34. yet so hath this been denied by you that many have been hang'd drawn and quartered for not acknowledging it the Fathers are of our opinion herein Saint Damascen ser 1. Theod. hist Eccles lib. 4. chap. 28. Saint Ignat. Epist ad Philodolph Saint Chrysost Hom. 5. de verbis Isaiae We say that Christ gave commission to his Disciples to forgive sins you deny it and say that God only can forgive sins we have Scripture for it John 20. 23. Whosesoever sins ye remit they are remitted and whosesoever sinnes ye retain they are retained and John 20. 21. As my Father hath sent me even so send I you and how was that viz. with so great power as to forgive sinnes Mat. 9. 3. 8. where note that Saint Matthew doth not set down how that the people glorified God the Father who had given so great power unto God the Son but that he had given so great power unto men loco citato The Fathers are of our opinion S. Aug. tract 49. in Joan. Saint Chrys de Sacerdotio l. 3. Saint Ambros l. 3. de penitentia St. Cyril l. 12. c. 50. saith it is not absurd to say That they should remit sinnes who have in them the Holy Ghost and Saint Basil l. 5. cont Eunom proved the Holy Ghost to be God and so confuted his heresie because the Holy Ghost forgave sinnes by the Apostles and S. Irenaeus l. 5. c. 13. so S. Greg. Hom. 6. Evang. We hold that we ought to confesse our sinnes unto our Ghostly Father this ye deny saying that ye ought not to confesse your sinnes but unto God alone this we prove out of Scripture Mat. 3. 5 6. Then went out Jerusalem and all Judah and were baptized of him in Iordan confessing their sinnes this confession was no generall confession but in particular as appears Acts 19. 18 19. And many that believed came and confessed and shewed their deeds The Fathers affirm the same S. Irenaeus l. 1. c. 9. Tert. lib. de Poenitentia where he reprehendeth some who for humane shamefac'dnesse neglected to goe to confession Saint Ambr. sate to hear confession Amb. ex Paulsino S. Clem. Ep. de fratr Dom. Origen l. 3. Chrys l. 3. de sacerd S. Ambr. orat in muliere peccatrice saith confesse freely to the Priest the hidden sins of thy soul We hold that men may doe works of supererogation this you deny This we prove by Scripture Mat. 19. 12. viz. There be Eunuches which have made themselves Eunuches for the Kingdome of Heaven he that is able to receive it let him receive it This is more then a Commandment as Saint Aug observes upon the place ser lib. de temp for of precepts it is not said keep them who is able but keep them absolutely The Fathers are of this opinion Saint Amb lib. de viduis Orig in c. 15. ad Rom. Euseb 1. demonstrat c. 8. Saint Chry hom 8. de act paenit Saint Greg. nicen 15. Moral c. 5. We say we have free-will you deny it we prove we have out of Scripture viz. 1 Cor. 17. He that standeth stedfast in his heart having no necessity but hath power over his own will and hath so decreed in his heart that he will keep his virgin doth well Deut. 30. 11. I have have set before you life and death blessing and cursing chuse life that thou and thy seed may live And Christ himself said O Jerusalem Jerusalem how oft would I have gathered thy children together as a Hen gathers her Chickens and ye would not where Christ would and they would not there might have been a willingnesse as well as a willing or else Christ had wept in vain and to think that he did so were to make him an impostor The ancient Fathers are of our opinion Euseb Caesar de praep l. 1. c. 7. Saint Hilde Trin Saint Aug l. 1. ad Simp q. 4. Saint Ambr in Luc c. 12. Saint Chrys hom 19. in Gen Irenaeus l. 4. c. 72. S. Cyril l. 4. in Joan in c. 7. c. We hold it possible to keep the Commandments you say it is impossible we have Scripture for it Luke 1. 6. And they were both righteous before God walking in all the Commandments and Ordinances of the Lord blamelesse and 1 John 5. 3. His Commandments are not grievous The Fathers are for us Orig Hom 9. in Josue Saint Cyril lib. 4. cont Julian Saint Hyl in Psal 118. Saint Hier lib. 3. cont Pelag Saint Basil We say faith cannot justifie without works yee say good works are not absolutely necessary to salvation we have Scripture for what we say 1 Cor. 13. 2. Though I have all faith and have no charity I am nothing and James 2. 24. By works a man is justified and not by faith onely This opinion of yours Saint Aug lib. de fide oper cap. 14. saith was an old heresie in the Apostles time and in the preface of his Comment upon the 32. Psal he calls it the right way to hell and damnation See Orig in 5. to the Rom S. Hillar chap. 7. in Mat S. Amb 4. ad Heb c. We hold good works to be meritorious you deny it we have Scripture for it Mat. 6. 27. He shall reward every man according to his works Mat. 5. 12. Great is your reward in heaven Reward at the end presupposes merit in the worke the distinction of secundum and propter opera is too nice to make such a division in the Church The Fathers were of our opinion S. Amb de Apolog David cap. 6. S. Hier lib. 3. Cont Pelag S. Aug de Spiritu lit cap. ult and divers others We hold that faith once had may be lost if we have not care to preserve it You say it cannot we have Scripture for it viz. Luke 8. 13. They on the rock are they which when they hear receive the word with joy which for a while believe and in time of temptation fall away So 1 Tim. 1. 18 19. Which some having put
Catechisme set forth by the decree of the Councel of Trent comming to explain the ten Commandements saith Although the Law was given by the Lord in the Mount to the Jews yet because by nature it was long before imprinted in the mindes of all and so God would have all at all times to obey him it will be very profitable diligently to explain these words in which by the Ministery of Moses the Law was promulgated to the Hebrews c. Here they clearly intimate that the ten Commandements do not concern Christians as published by Moses but as imprinted in the heart of man by nature which is all that Luther teacheth who both in his greater and lesser Catechisme expoundeth the ten Commandements which he would not have done if he had held that they do not bind Christians to the observing of them But this doctrine he expresly disclaimeth as I have already shewed 14. Luther is taxed for saying that faiâ—h except it be without even the least good works doth not justifie and is not faith Nothing is alleadged out of Luthers writings for proof of this but onely Câ—vels defence of Mr. Hooker is cited which book I have not to peruse yet I finde Bellarminâ— citing Luthers own words to this very purpose But Luthers meaning I suppose was onely this that in the work of justification faith is altogether without works so that no works concur with it unto justification not but that otherwise faith is accompanied with good works so that where faith true justifying faith is there wil be good works also Bellarmine indeed doth tell of some rigid Lutherans who so hold faith alone to justifie as not to admit other vertues so much as to be present with it And this he saith they would have to be Luthers opinion yet he confesseth Chemnitius a famous Lutheran to agree with Calvin in this that though faith alone doth justifie yet faith that doth justifie is not alone even as the heat of the Sun alone doth burn yet that heat is not alone but hath light joyned with it And for Luther himself his writings plainly shew that although he exclude works from having any thing to do in our justification as generally Protestants do yet he was no enemy to good works After that we have taught faith in Christ saith he we also teach good works And again We do not reject works and love as the adversaries do accuse us And again Faith not fained nor hypocritical but true and lively is that which doth exercise and urge good works through love So also again Some say if faith without works do justifie then let us not work onely let us beleeve and let us do what we will Not so ye ungodly saith Paul It is true that faith alone doth justifie but I speak of true faith which when it hath justified is not idle but doth work through love 15. Luther is charged with saying That we are equal in dignity and honour with St. Paul St. Peter the blessed Virgin Mary or all the Saints The Edition of Luthers Works which the Marquesse citeth not agreeing in the folio's with that which I meet with I cannot tell whether Luther saith thus or no or if he do in what sense he saith it but if he have such words I presume he meaneth in respect of imputed righteousnesse which is one and the same to all that beleeve not in respect of inherent righteousnesse which is more in some then in others In respect of imputed righteousnesse the Spouse of Christ here upon earth is all fair and there is no spot in her But in respect of inherent righteousnesse just men are not made perfect until hereafter in the life to come Heb. 12. 23. In this respect the inward man is renewed day by day 2 Cor. 4. 16. 16. That all the holinesse which they have used in fasting and prayer enduring labours chastising their bodies austerity and hardnesse of life may be daily performed by a hog or a dog Whether this charge be true I cannot examine for the reason even now alleadged Neither do I see how Luther or any rational man should make prayer a thing performable by a hog or a dog Otherwise who seeth not but that these bruit creatures may be made to fast see Jon. 3. 7. 8. and to endure bodily hardnesse The Apostle clearly distinguisheth betwixt bodily exercise and godlinesse 1 Tim. 4. 8. And both Scripture and experience shew that all these things mentioned by the Marquesse may be performed by the wicked as well I mean for the outward act as by the godly See Isa 1. 11. to 15. and Isa 58. 3. c. 17. Another charge against Luther is that he holdeth That in the absence of a Priest a woman or a boy or any Christian may obsolve It seems then that Luther doth not say that any may do it as well as a Priest for then what need to say in absence of a Priest And may not any Christian declare the glad tydings of salvation unto an afflicted conscience Doth not the Apostle speaking to Christians in general bid them comfort the feeble-minded 1 Thess 5. 14. As for that confession to and absolution by a Priest which the Romanists contend for we know no ground nor warrant in Scripture for it 18. The next charge is that he saith They onely communicate worthily who have confused and erronious consciences I finde this objected by Campian and answered by Dr. Whitaken so as to aknowledge the truth of the assertion in this sense that they only are meet for the Sacrament who are sensible of their sins and so of the need they have of Christ for the remission of them according to that of our Saviour The whole have no need of the Physitian but they that are sick Mat. 9. 12. 19. That a Priest especially in the New Testament is not made but born not consecrated but created Where Luther saith thus I cannot finde nor can I conjecture what he meaneth if he do say it 20. That the Sacrament were true though it were administred by the Devil How Luther is baited for this by Hospinian and Covel his fellow-Protestants as the Marquesse saith he is I wanting their books cannot see but it Luther meant of such a Devil as Christ spake of viz. a Judas Joh. 6. 70. neither Protestants nor Papists can justly oppose him they holding as generally they do that the vertue of the Sacrament doth not depend upon the dignity of him by whom it is administred 21. That among Christians no man can or ought to be a Magistrate but each one is to other equally subject and that among Christian men none is superior save one and only Christ This same charge is also brought against Luther by Mr. Breerley who yet hath that which is a sufficient answer to it For he cites Luther admonishing to obey the
the Lord Jesus The ancient Fathers also give testimony to this truth Hilarie hath these very words Fides sola iustificat i. e. Faith alone doth iustifie Austine in effect sayes the same when hee saith Our righteousnesse in this life is so great that it consists rather in forgivenesse of sinnes then in perfection of vertues And so when hee saith Woe even to the landable life of men if thou O Lord laying aside mercy shall enter into the examination of it To this purpose also is that which hee saith upon those words of David Enter not into judgement with thy servant O Lord c. How right soever saith hee I thinke my selfe thou bringest forth a rule out of thy treasure and triest me by it and I am found crooked Thus also Bernard Lord saith he I will make mention of thy righteousnesse onely for it also is mine seeing that thou of God art made unto me righteousnesse Must I feare lest this one righteousnesse will not suffice us both No it is not a short cloake that cannot cover two And againe It is sufficient for mee unto all righteousnesse to have him onely propitious against whom onely I have sinned Not to sinne is Gods righteousnesse mans righteousnesse is Gods indulgence Thus then in the point of justification wee have both Scriptures and Fathers yea and divers Papists also concurring with us As for the two places of Scripture alledged by the Marquesse the former viz. that 1 Corin. 13. 2. speaketh not of justifying Faith but of a Faith of working miracles as is cleare by the words themselves being fully cited which run thus Though I have all faith so that I could remove mountaines and have not charity I am nothing Oecumenius upon the place notes that by Faith there is not meant that Faith which is common to all Believers but a Faith peculiar to such as had the gift of working miracles And though Estius a learned Romanist in his Commentary upon the place seeke to draw it another way yet commenting upon 1 Cor. 12. 9. hee saith that the Greeke Expositors doe rightly understand it of that Faith which is spoken of Chap. 13. If I have all Faith c. that is of the Faith of signes and miracles as they call it which Faith hee saith is not properly a sanctifying grace but onely such a grace as is given for the benefit of others The other place viz. Jam. 2. 24. doth seeme to make against us but indeed it doth not For S. Iames saying that a man is justified by Workes and not by Faith onely meanes onely thus as Cajetan himselfe doth expound it that we are not justified by a barren Faith but by a Faith which is fruitfull in good Workes This appeares to be his meaning by his whole discourse from vers 14. to the end of the Chapter wherein hee bends himselfe against those who presume of such a faith as is without workes and more specially it may appeare by the verses immediately preceding wherein hee saith that Abraham was justified by workes when hee offered up Isaac and that Faith wrought with his workes and by workes was Faith made perfect and the Scripture was fulfilled which saith Abraham believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousnesse Now this clearly shewes that Abraham was justified by Faith and not by workes onely his workes did shew that his Faith was a true justifying Faith indeed and not as it is in many that pretend and professe Faith a vaine shew of Faith and a meere shadow of it For that which S. Iames citeth Abraham believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousnesse was as appeares by the story in the booke of Genesis long before that Abraham offered up Isaac and by those very words Saint Paul proveth Rom. 4. that wee are justified by Faith and not by Workes Therefore when S. Iames saith that by Abrahams offering up of Isaac that Scripture was fulfilled the meaning is that thereby it did appeare that it was truly said of Abraham that hee believed God and it was counted unto him For righteousnesse his readinesse in that worke to obey God did demonstrate that hee believed God indeed and that his faith was of a right stampe Thus also is it said that by workes faith was made perfect viz. even as the Lord said unto Paul My strength is made perfect in weakenesse 2 Cor. 12. 9. that is Gods strength doth exercise it selfe and shew how great it is in mans weaknesse So Abrahams workes did shew how great his faith was in this sense his workes did make his faith perfect not that they did adde any thing unto it no more then mans weaknesse doth adde unto Gods strength This opinion of yours saith the Marquesse S. Aug. de fide oper cap. 14. saith was an old heresie in the Apostles time and in the Preface of his comment upon the 32. Psal he calles it the right way to hell and damnation See Origan 5. to the Rom. S. Hilar. chap. 7. in Mat. S. Ambr. 4. ad Heb. Answ Austine de fid oper c. 14. speakes nothing against our Opinion but something for it That which hee speaketh by way of reproofe is against those who so thinke that Faith alone will suffice as that they heede not to doe good workes nor to order their life and conversation aright But this is nothing to us who are farre from holding such a Faith as that sufficient But in the same place Austine hath this for our purpose that when the Apostle saith that a Man is justified by Faith without the Workes of the Law hee did not intend that the Workes of Righteousnesse should be contemned but that every one should know that hee may be justified by faith though the workes of the Law did not goe before For saith hee they follow a man being justified they doe not goe before a man being to be justified If as this Father affirmeth a man must first be justified before hee can doe good workes then good workes are no cause of justification but an effect of it For the other place of Austine which the Marquesse alledgeth there is none such that I can finde viz. no preface of his comment upon Psal 32. but in the comment it selfe I finde this which makes for us Doest thou not heare the Apostle The just shall live by Faith Thy faith is thy righteousnesse What Origen saith on Rom. 5. having not his workes now at hand I cannot tell but I see what Bellarmine cites out of him on Rom. 4. and perhaps so it should have been in the Marquesse his writing However there is no doubt but Bellarmine would have made use of it if there had been any thing more for his purpose on Rom. 5. Now on Rom. 4. Origen saith that whose believe Christ but doe not put off the old man with his deeds their faith cannot be imputed unto them for righteousnesse This wee doe
easily assent unto it being our professed opinion as hath beene shewed before by Bellarmines owne confession that though faith alone doe justifie yet if it be such a faith as is alone and is not accompanied with good workes it is not that faith which doth justifie As little is that of Hilarie against us The safety of the Nations is all in faith and the life of all is in Gods Precepts That faith which alone doth justifie is not so alone but that there is joyned with it a care and indeavour to observe all Gods Precepts Of the same nature is that of Ambrose if Ambrose were the Author of those commentaries Faith alone is not sufficient it is necessary that faith worke by love and that men walke worthy of God Faith is not sufficient but there must also be added a life answerable and much care must be had that faith be not idle All this wee hold that faith must not be idle but operative and working through love and such is the nature of true justifying faith as the Apostle teacheth Gal. 5. 6. But all this is nothing against justification by faith alone without workes viz. as concurring unto justification In the next place the Marquesse pleades for the merit of good workes and that from Mat. 6. 27. so it is printed but it should be Mat. 16. 27. Hee shall reward every man according to his workes And Mat. 5. 12. Great is your reward in Heaven Reward at the end saith he presupposes merit in the worke the distinction of secun dum and propter opera is too nice to make such a division in the Church Answ But that mens good workes doe not merit any reward at the hands of God our Saviour hath sufficiently shewed saying When yee have done all things that are commanded you say Wee are unprofitable servants wee have done but what our duty was to do Luke 17. 10. If as Theophylact notes upon the place when wee have done all things that are commanded us we must take heede of thinking highly of our selves how much more ought wee to be farre from such presumption when as wee are so farre from obeying all Gods Commandements Besides if we doe any thing that is good wee doe it not of our selves by our own strength but it is God that doth inable us and make us to doe it and therefore properly wee cannot merit by it for wee are beholding unto God and not God beholding unto us for it I have laboured more abundantly then they all yet not I but the grace of God that was with mee saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 15. 10. Againe the reward which the godly receive in Heaven doth infinitly exceede their workes and therefore cannot bee merited by them The most that wee can doe is to suffer for the Name of Christ yet the sufferings of this present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us Rom. 8. 18. Both these reasons doth Bernard alledge against merits The merits of men saith hee are not such as that because of them life eternall should be due unto them of right or that God should doe them wrong if hee should not give it For to say nothing of this that all merits are Gods gifts and so man is rather indebted unto God for them then God unto man what are all merits unto so great glory Here Bernard useth indeed the word merits but so as that hee plainely denieth the thing which our adversaries understand by it and by a double argument confuteth their opinion Both these arguments also to this purpose before Bernard did Fulgentius use who speaking of eternall life saith It is not unjustly called grace because not only God doth recompence his gifts with his gifts but because the grace of Gods retribution doth so abound that it incomparably and ineffably exceedes all the merit of mans will and works though it be good and such as God hath given To this purpose hee cites Rom. 8. 18. and 2 Cor. 4. 17. And Gregorius Magnus not onely useth these same Arguments against the Merits of good workes but also hath that very distinction of secundum opera and propter opera which the Marqnesse so much disdaineth If saith Gregorie the happinesse of the Saints be mercy and be not acquired by Merits where is that which is written Thou will render to every one according to his workes If it be rendered according to workes how shall it be accounted mercy But it is one thing to render according to workes and another thing to render because of the workes themselves In that there is a rendring according to workes the quality of workes is considered so as that whose workes are found to be good his reward also shall be glorious For unto that blessed life in which wee live with God and of God no labour can be equall no workes comparable especially when as the Apostle saith The sufferings of this present time are not worthy of that glory which shall be revealed in us Besides also in this respect it may be justly called mercy because it is given for those workes which none can attaine unto without the prevention of Gods mercy Thus Gregorie who above a thousand yeeres agoe was Bishop of Rome both argues for us and also by a distinction answers that which is objected against us viz. that God doth render to all according to their workes And for the word reward which the Scripture often useth it doth not presuppose merit for a reward may proceede from the bounty of the giver not from the merit of the receiver They that wrought but one houre in the Vineyard though they received a penny as much as they that laboured all the day though I say they received this as the reward of their labour yet did they not merit it by their labour This very parable doth Prosper or who ever was the Author of the Booke de vocatione gentium apply in this manner without doubt saith hee they that were sent into the Vineyard at the eleventh houre and were made equall with those that wrought the whole day represent the condition of those whom to commend the excellency of grace Gods goodnesse doth reward in the end of the day and in the conclusion of life not paying the price of labour but powring out the riches of his bounty upon them whom hee hath chosen without labour that so they also who have indured much labour and yet have received no more then they that were last may understand that they have received the gift of grace not the reward viz. the deserved reward of their works Thus both Scriptures and Fathers are against the opinion of the Church of Rome as touching Merits I will adde to what hath beene already alledged that of Bernard Thy merit is Gods mercy I am not altogether without merit so long as hee is not without mercy See what merit it is that hee builds upon