before the Communion in which we are required above all things 'To give most humble and hearty thanks to God the Father and the Holy Ghost for the Redemption of the world by the death and passion of our Saviour Christ both God and man who did humble himself even to the death upon the Cross for us miserable sinners which lay in darkness and the shadow of death ' More of which nature we shall finde in the second Article Look on the Collect in the form of publique Baptism in which we pray ' That whosoever is here dedicated unto God by our Office and Ministrey may also be endued with heavenly vertues and everlastingly rewarded through Gods mercy O blessed Lord God c. ' And in the Rubrick before Confirmation where it is said expresly That it is certain by Gods Word that children being baptized have all things necessary to their salvation and be undoubtedly saved Look on these passages and the rest and tell me any one that can whether the publique Liturgie of the Church of England speak any thing in favour of such a Personal and Eternal Election that is to say such an absolute irrespective and irreversible Decree of Predestination and that of some few onely unto life Eternal as is maintained and taught in the Schools of Calvin 10. Some passages I grant there are which speak of Gods people and his chosen people and yet intend not any such Personal and Eternal Election as these men conceit unto themselves Of which sort these viz. To declare and pronounce to his people being penitent O Lord save thy people and bless thy heritage that it would please thee to keep and bless all thy people and make thy chosen people joyful with many others interspers'd in several places But then I must affirm with all that those passages are no otherwise to be understood than of the whole body of the Church the Congregation of the faithful called to the publique participation of the Word and Sacraments Which appears plainly by the Prayer for the Church Militant here on earth where having called upon the Lord and said To all thy people give thy heavenly grace we are taught presently to adde especially to this Congregation here present that is to say the members of that particular Church which there pour forth their prayers for the Church in general More to their purpose is that passage in the Collect for the Feast of All-Saints where it is said That Almighty God hath knit together his Elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of his Son Jesus Christ though it doth signifie no more but that inseparable bond of Charity that Love and Unity that Holy Communion and Correspondency which is between the Saints in Glory in the Church Triumphant and those who are still exercised under the cares and miseries of this present life in the Church here Militant But it makes most unto their purpose if any thing could make unto their purpose in the Common-Prayer Book that at the burial of the dead we are taught to pray That God would please of his gracious goodness shortly to accomplish the number of his elect and to hasten his Kingdom From whence as possibly some may raise this inference That by the Doctrine of the Church of England there is a predestinated and certain number of Elect which can neither be increased nor diminished according to the third of the nine Articles which were agreed upon at Lambeth So others may perhaps conclude That this number is made up out of such Elections such Personal and Eternal Elections as they have fancied to themselves But there is nothing in the Prayer which can be useful to the countenancing of any such fancy the number of the Elect and the certainty of that number being known onely unto God in the way of his Prescience by which he seeth all things past and all things to come as if present with him And therefore having past a general Decree of Predestination touching the saving of all those which believe in Christ and knowing most infallibly who and how many of all Nations will believe in Christ continue in the faith to the end of their lives and consequently attain salvation The number of the persons so Predestinated is as well known unto him in the universal comprehension of his Heavenly Prescience as if they had been personally elected unto life Eternal the accomplishing of which number that so his Kingdom may be hastned and the hastning of his Kingdom that we with all the rest which are departed in the true faith of his holy Name may have our perfect Consummation and bliss both in body and soul is the scope and purpose of that Prayer And being the sole scope and purpose of it cannot imply such a Personal and Eternal Election as some men imagine though it conclude both for a number and for a certain number of Gods Elect. CHAP. X. The Doctrine of the Church concerning Reprobation and Universal Redemption 1. THe absolute Decree of Reprobation not found in the Articles of this Church but against it in some passages of the publike Liturgie 2. The cause of Reprobation to be found in a mans self and not in Gods Decrees according to the judgement of Bishop Latimer and Bishop Hooper 3. The Absolute Decrees of Election and Reprobation how contrary to the last clause in the seventeenth Article 4. The inconsistency of the Absolute Decree of Reprobation with the Doctrine of Universal Redemption by the death of Christ 5. The Universal Redemption of mankinde by the death of Christ declared in many places of the publique Liturgie and affirmed also in one of the Homilies and the Book of Articles 6. A further proof of it from the Mission of the Apostles and the Prayer used in the Ordination of Priests 7. The same confirmed by the writings of Archbishop Cranmer and the two other Bishops before mentioned 8. A Generality of the Promises and an Universality of Vocation maintained by the said two godly Bishops 9. The reasons why this benefit is not made effectual to all sorts of men to be found onely in themselves 1. AS the speaking of Heaven doth many times beget the discovery of Hell so the foregoing Discovery of Predestination to Eternal life conducts me to the speaking of a few words concerning the Doctrine of Reprobation Rejection Eternal Death a point of which the Church of England is utterly silent leaving it to be gathered upon Logical inferences from that which is delivered by her in the point of Election for contrariorum contraria est ratio as Logicians say though that which is so gathered ought rather to be called a Dereliction than a Reprobation No such absolute irreversible and irrespective Decree of Reprobation taught or maintained in any publique Monument or Record of the Church of England by which the far greater part of mankinde are pre-ordained and consequently pre-condemned to the Pit of torments without any respect had unto their
aforementioned ' That our Saviour Christ according to the will of his Eternal Father when the time thereof was fully accomplished taking our nature upon him came into this World from the high Throne of his Father to declare unto miserable sinners the Goodness c. To shew that the time of Grace and Mercy was come to give light to them that were in darkness and in the shadow of death and to preach and give Pardon and full Remission of sin to all his Elected And to perform the same he made a Sacrifice and Oblation of his body upon the Cross which was a full Redemption Satisfaction and Propitiation for the sins of the whole world ' More briefly Bishop Latimer thus ' The Evangelist saith When Jesus was born c. What is Jesus Jesus is an Hebrew word which signifieth in our English Tongue a Saviour and Redeemer of all Mankinde born into the World This Title and Name To save appertaineth properly and principally unto him for he saved us else had we been lost for ever ' Bishop Hoâ—per in more words to the same effect ' That as the sins of Adam without Priviledge or Exemption extended and appertained unto all and every of Adams Posterity so did this Promise of Grace generally appertain as well to every and singular of Adams Posterity as to Adam as it is more plainly expressed where God promiseth to bless in the seed of Abraham all the people of the world ' 8. Next for the point of Universel Vocation and the extent of the Promises touching life Eternal Besides what was observed before from the Publique Liturgie we finde some Testimonies and Authorities also in the Book of Homilies In one whereof it is declared That God received the learned and unlearned and casteth away none but is indifferent unto all And in another place more largely that the imperfection or natural sickness taken in Adam excludeth not that person from the promise of God in Christ except we transgress the limits and bounds of this Original sin by our own folly and malice If we have Christ then have we with him and by him all good things whatsoever we can in our hearts wish or desire as victory over death sin hell c. The truth hereof is more clearly evidenced in the writings of the godly Martyrs so often mentioned as first of Bishop Latimer who discourseth thus ' We learn saith he by this sentence that multi sunt vocati that many are called c. that the preaching of the Gospel is universal that it appertaineth to all mankinde that it is written in omnem terram exivit soâ—us eorum through the whole world their sound is heard Now seeing that the Gospel is universal it appeareth that he would have all mankinde be saved that the fault is not in him if they be damned for it is written thus Deus vult omnes homines salvos fieri God would have all mankinde saved his Salvation is sufficient to save all mankinde Thus also in another place That the promises of Christ our Saviour are general they appertain to all mankinde He made a general Proclamation saying Qui credit in me habet vitam aeternam whosoever believeth me hath eternal life ' And not long after in the same Sermon ' That we must â— consider wisely what he saith with his own mouth Venite ad me omnes c. Mark here he saith mark here he saith Come all ye wherefore should any body despaiâ— or shut out himself from the promises of Christ which be general and appertain to the whole world ' The like saith Bishop Hooper also telling us ' There was no diversity in Christ of Jew or Gentile that it was never forbid but that all sorts of people and every progeny of the world to be made partakers of the Jews Religion ' And then again in the example of the Ninivites ' Thou hast saith he good Christian Reader the mercy of God and general promise of salvation performed in Christ for whose sake onely God and man were set at one ' 9. The less assistance we had from Bishop Hooper in the former points the more we shall receive in this touching the causes why this great benefit is not made effectual unto all alike Concerning which he lets us know ' That to the obtaining the first end of his justice he allureth as many as be not utterly wicked and may be helped partly with threatnings and partly with promises and so provoketh them unto amendment or life c. and would have all men to be saved therefore provoketh now by fair means now by foul that the sinner should satisfie his just and righteous pleasure not that the promises of God appertain to such as will not repent or his threatnings unto him that doth repent but these means he useth to save his creature this way useth he to nurture us until such time as the Holy Spirit worketh such a perfection in us that we will obey him though there were neither pain nor joy mentioned at all ' And in another place more briefly ' That if either out of a contempt or hate of Gods Word we fall into sin and transform our selves into the image of the Devil then we exclude our selves by this means from the promises and merits of Christ ' Bishop Latimer to the same point also ' His Salvation is sufficient to satisfie for all the world as concerning it self but as concerning us he saveth no more than such as put their trust in him and as many as believe in him shall be saved the other shall be cast out as Infidels into everlasting damnation not for lack of salvation but for infidelity and lack of faith which is the onely cause of their damnation ' One word more out of Bishop Hooper to conclude thiâ— point which in fine is this 'To the Objection saith he touching that S. Peter speaketh of such as shall perish for their false doctrine c. this the Scripture answereth that the promise of grace appertaineth to every sort of men in the world and comprehendeth them all howbeit within certain limits and bounds the which if men neglect to pass over they exclude themselves from the promise of Christ ' CHAP. XI Of the Heavenly influences of Gods grace in the Conversion of a sinner and mans co-operation with those heavenly influences 1. I The Doctrine of Deserving Grace ex congruo maintained in the Roman Schools before the Council of Trent rejected by our ancient Martyrs and the Book of Articles 2. The judgement of Dr. Barns and Mr. Tyndall touching the necessary workings of Gods grace on the will of man not different from that of the Church of England 3. Universal grace maintained by Bishop Hooper and proved by some passages in the Liturgie and Book of Homilies 4. The offer of Universal grace made ineffectual to some for want of faith and to others for want of repentance according
to God then he that is damned if God should use them both alike But notwithstanding all these Reasons the contrary Opinion had the general Applause though many confessed that the Reasons of Catanca were not resolved and were displeased that Soto did not speak freely but sayd that the Will consenteth in a certain manner so that it may in a certain manner resist as though there were a certain manner of mean between this Affirmation and Negation The free speech of Catanca and the other Dominicans did trouble them also who knew not how to distinguish the Opinion which attributeth Justification by consent from the Pelagian and therefore they counselled to take heed of leaping beyond the Mark by too great a desire to condemn Luther that Objection being esteemed above all that by this means the Divine Election or Predestination would be for Works foreseen which no Divine did admit VIII The Ground thus layd we shall proceed unto a Declaration of the Judgment of the Church of Rome in the five Articles disputed afterwards with such heat betwixt the Remonstrants and the contra Remonstrants in the Belgick Church so far forth as it may be gathered from the Decrees Canons of the Councel of Trent and such preparatory Discourses as smoothed the way to the Conclusions which were made therein In order whereunto it was advised by Marcus Viguerius Bishop of Sinigagli to separate the Catholick Doctrine from the contrary and to make two Decrees in the one to make a continued Declaration and Confirmation of the Doctrine of the Churches and in the other to condemn and Anathematize the contrary But in the drawing up of the Decrees there appeared a greater difficulty then they were aware of in conquering wherof the Cardinal of Sancta Cruz one of the Presidents of the Councel took incredible pains avoiding as much as was possible to insert any thing controverted amongst the School-men and so handling those that could not be omitted as that every one might be contented And to this end he observed in every Congregation what was disliked by any and took it away or corrected it as he was advised and he spake not only in the Congregations but with every one in particular was informed of all the doubts and required their Opinions He diversified the matter with divers Orders changed sometimes one part sometimes another until he had reduced them unto the Order in which they now are which generally pleased and was approved by all Nor did the Decrees thus drawn and setled give less content at Rome then they did at Trent for being transmitted to the Pope and by him committed to the Fryers and other learned men of the Court to be consulted of amongst them they found an universal approbation because every one might understand them in his own sense And being so approved of were sent back to Trent and there solemnly passed in a full Congregation on the thirteenth of January 1647. according to the account of the Church of Rome And yet it is to be observed that though the Decrees were so drawn up as to please all parties especially as to the giving of no distast to the Dominican Fryers and their Adherenrs yet it is easie to be seen that they incline more favourably to the Franciscans whose cause the Jesuits have since wedded and speak more literally and Grammatically to the sence of that party then they do to the others which sayd I shall present the Doctrine of the Councel of Trent as to these controverted Points in this Order following 1. Of Divine Predestination IX All man-kind having lost its primitive integrity by the sin of Adam they became thereby the Sons of wrath and so much captivated under the command of Satan that neither the Gentiles by the power of Nature nor the Jews by the Letter of the Law of Moses were able to free themselves from that grievous Servitude In which respect it pleased Almighty God the Father of all Mercies to promise first and afterwards actually to send his only begotten Son Jesus Christ into the world not only to redeem the Jews who were under the Law but that the Gentiles also might embrace the Righteousness which is by Faith and altogether might receive the Adoption of Sons To which end he prepared sufficient assistance for all which every man having free-will might receive or refuse as it pleased himself and foreseeing from before all Eternity who would receive his help and use it to Good and on the other side who would refuse to make use thereof he predestinated and elected those of the first sort to Eternall Life and rejected the others 2. Of the Merit and Effect of the Death of Christ Him God proposed to be a propitiation for our sins by his Death and Passion and not for our sins only but for the sins of all the World But so that though Christ died for all men yet all do not receive the benefit of his death and sufferings but only they to whom the merit of his Passion is communicated in their new birth or regeneration by which the grace whereby they are justified or made just is conferred upon them 3. Of mans Conversion unto God The Grace of God is not given to man by Jesus Christ to no other end but that thereby he might the more easily divert himself in the waies of Godliness and consequently merit and obtain eternal life which otherwise he might do without any such Grace by his own free-will though with more difficulty and trouble And therefore if any man shall say that without the preventing Inspiration of the Holy Ghost and his heavenly Influences a man is able to even hope love or repent as he ought to do that so he may be justified in the sight of God let him be Anathema 4. Of the manner of Conversion The Freedom of the Will is not so utterly lost in man though it be diminished and impaired as to be accounted nothing but an empty name or the name of no such thing existing in nature in that the Will of man moved and stirred up by the grace of God retains a power of co-operating with the heavenly Grace by which he doth prepare and dispose himself for the obtaining of that Justification which is given unto him And therefore if any one shall say that a man cannot resist this grace though he would or that he is meerly passive not acting any thing but as a stock or senseless stone in his own Conversion let him be also held accurst And so are they who have presumed to affirm and teach that it is not in the power of man to do evil but as well bad as good works are done not only by Gods permission but by his proper working so that as well the Treason of Judas as the Calling of Paul is to be reckoned for the work of Almighty God 5. Of the certainty or uncertainty of Perseverance No man is so far to presume
the rest before that is to say the reconciliation of all men to Almighty God the universal redemption of Man-kinde by the death of Christ expresly justfied and maintained by the Church of England For though one in our late undertaking seem exceeding confident that the granting of universal redemption will draw no inconvenience with it as to the absoluteness of Gods decrees or to the insuperability of converting Grace or to the certain infallible perseverance of Gods elect after conversion Yet I dare say he will not be so confident in affirming this That if Christ did so far dye for all as to procure a salvation for all under the condition of faith and repentance as his own words are there can be any room for such an absolute decree of reprobation 〈…〉 and precedent to the death of Christ as his great masters in the school of Calvin have been pleased to teach him Now for the Doctrine of this Church in that particular it is exprest so clearly in the second article of the five before laid down that nothing needs be added either in way of explication or of confirmation howsoever for avoiding of all doubt and Haesitancy we will first add some farther testimonies touching the Doctrine of this Church in the point of universal redemption And secondly touching the applying of so great a benefit by universal vocation and finally we shall shew the causes why the benefit is not effectual unto all alike 5. And first as for the Doctrine of universal redemption it may be further proved by those words in the publick Carechism where the Childe is taught to say that he believeth in God the Son who redeemed with him all mankinde in that clause of the publique Letany where God the Son is called the Redeemer of the world in the passages of the latter Exhortation before the Communion where it is said That the Oblation of Christ once offered was a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD in the proper Preface appointed for the Communion on Easter-Day in which he is said to be the very Paschal Lamb that was offered for us and taketh away the sins of the world repeated in the greater Catechism to the same effect And finally in the Prayer of Conservation viz. Almighty God our heavenly Father which of thy tender mercies didst give thine onely Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for our Redemption who made there by his own Oblation of himself once offered a firm and perfect and sufficient Sacrifice Oblation and Satisfaction for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD To this purpose it is said in the Book of Homilies That the World being wrapt up in sin by the breaking of Gods Law God sent his onely Son our Saviour Christ into this world to fulfil the Law for us and by shedding of his most precious blood to make a Sacrifice and Satisfaction or as it may be called amends to his Father for our sins to asswage his wrath and indignation conceived against us for the same Out of which words it may be very well concluded That the world being wrapt up in sin the Recompence and Satisfaction which was made to God must be made to him for the sins of the world or else the plaister had not been commensurate to the sore nor so much to the magnifying of Gods wonderful mercies in the offered means of Reconcilement betwixt God and man the Homily must else fall short of that which is taught in the Articles In which besides what was before delivered from the second and 31. concerning the Redemption of the world by the death of Christ it is affirmed in the 15 as plain as may be That Christ came to be a Lamb without spot who by the Sacrifice of himself once made should take away the sins of the world Then which there can be nothing more conducible to the point in hand 6. And to this purpose also when Christ our Saviour was pleased to Authorize his Holy Apostles to preach the Good Tidings of Salvation he gave them both a Command and a Commission To go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every Creature Mark 16. 15. So that there was no part of the world nor any Creature in the same that is to say no Rational Creature which seems to be excluded from a possibility of obtaining Salvation by the Preaching of the Gospel to them if with a faith unfeigned they believed the same Which the Church further teacheth us in this following Prayer appointed to be used in the Ordering of such as are called unto the Office of the Holy Priesthood viz. ' Almighty God and Heavenly Father which of thine Infinite Love and Goodness toward us hast given to us thy Only and Most Dear Beloved Son Jesus Christ to be our Redeemer and Author of Everlasting Life who after he had made perfect our Redemption by his Death and was ascended into Heaven sent forth abroad into the world his Apostles Prophets Evangelists Doctors and Pastors by whose Labour and Ministry he gathered together a great Frock in all the Parts of the World to set forth the Eternal Praise of his Holy Name For these so great Benefits of thy Eternal Goodness and for that thou hast vouchsafed to call thy Servant here present to the same Office and Ministry of Salvation of Mankind we render unto thee most hearty thinks and we worship preise thee and we humbly beseech thee by the same thy Son to grant unto all which either here or elsewhere call upon thy name that we may shew our selves thankful to thee for these and all other thy benefits and that we may daily encrease and go forward in the knowledge and faith of thee and thy Son by the Holy Spirit So that as well by these thy Ministers as by them to whom they shall be appointed Ministers thy Holy Name may be always glorified and thy Blessed Kingdom enlarged through the same thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ who liveth and reigneth with thee in the Unity of the same Holy Spirit world without end Amen ' Which Form in Ordering and Consecrating Bishops Priests and Deacons I note this onely by the way being drawn up by those which had the making of the first Liturgie of King Edward the sixth and confirmed by Act of Parliament in the fifth and sixth of the said King was afterwards also ratified by Act of Parliament in the eighth year of Queen Elizabeth and ever since hath had its place amongst the Publique Monuments and Records of the Church of England 7. To these I shall onely adde one single testimony out of the Writings of each of the three godly Martyrs before remembred the point being so clearly stated by some of our Divines commonly called Calvinists though not by the Outlandish also that any longer insisting on it may be thought unnecessary First then Bishop Cranmer tells us in the Preface to his Book against Gardiner of Winchester
threatnings of God as well believe the Law as the Gospel as well that there is an hell and everlasting fire as there is an heaven and everlasting joy as well they should believe damnation to be threatned to the wicked and evil doers as salvation to be promised to the faithful in Word and Works as well they should believe God to be true in the one as the other ' And for sinners that continue in this wicked living they ought to think that the promises of Gods mercy and the Gospel pertain not unto them being in that state but only the Law and those Scriptures which contain the wrath and indignation of God and his threatnings which should certifie them that as they do over boldly presume of Gods mercy and live dissolutely so doth God still more and more withdraw his mercy from them as he is so provoked thereby to wrath at length that he destroyeth such presumers many times suddenly for of such Saint Paul said thus When they shall say it is peace there is no danger then shall sudden destruction come upon them let us beware therefore of such naughty boldness to sin for God which hath promised his mercy to them that be truly penitent although it be at the latter end hath not promised to the presumptuous sinner either that he shall have long life or that he shall have true Repentance at the last end But for that purpose hath he made every mans death uncertain that he should not put his hope in the end and in the mean season to Gods high displeasure live ungodlily Wherefore let us follow the counsel of the Wise man let us make no sarrying to turn unto the Lord let us not put off from day to day for suddenly his wrath comes and in time of vengeance he will destroy the wicked let us therefore turn betimes and when we turn let us pray to God as Hosea teached saying Forgive all our sins receive us graciously And if we turn to him with an humble and a very penitent heart he will receive us to his favour and grace for his holy Names sake for his Promise sake for his Truth and Mercies sake promised to all faithful believers in Jesus Christ his only natural Son To whom the only Saviour of the world with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour glory and power world without end Amen ' 3. These are the very words of the second Homily touching falling from God in which we have many evident proofs not only that there is a falling and a frequent falling but also a total yea a final falling from the grace of God according to the Doctrine of the Church of England And hereunto I must needs say that I never met with any satisfactory and sufficient Answer how much soever some have slighted the authority of it or the strength rather of the Argument which is taken from it for Mr. Yates of Ipswitch from whose candle most of them that followed borrow all their light in his book intituled Ibis ad Caesarem writ against Montagues Appeal can finde no better answers to it or evasions from it then they four that follow viz. 1. That the Homily speaks of the visible Church and therefore is not to be construed in the same sense of all whereas the Homily speaketh of Gods chosen people his chosen Vineyard are the words and consequently not only of the mixed multitude in a visible Church He answers secondly That it speaks with limitation and distinction some beholding the face of Gods mercy aright others not as they ought to do the one of which may fall quite away the other being transformed can never be wholly deformed by Satan But this is such a pitiful shift as could not save the man from the scorn of laughter had he been dealt with in his kind the Homily speaking largely of those men which having beheld Gods face of mercy in Jesus Christ as they ought to do do afterwards neglect the same prove unthankful to him and order not their lives according to his Example and Doctrine c. for which consult the place at large in the former Church He answers thirdly that the Homily speaks conditionally if they afterwards c. that is to say if afterwards they neglect the same prove unthankful to him and order not their lives according to his Example and Doctrine c. and so concludes nothing positively and determinately which is a sorrier shift than that which you had before for if such conditional Propositions conclude nothing positively what will become of all those Propositions in the Scriptures by which we are assured That if a sinner do repent him of his sins and wickednesses he shall find mercy from the Lord Do they conclude nothing positively neither most miserable were the state of man if these conditional Propositions should conclude nothing to the comfort of a troubled conscience And finally he answereth thus that the Homily speaks of Gods dreadful countenance appearing in plagues sword famine and such like temporal punishments wherewith the Elect may be chastened as well as others that they may not for ever be condemned with the wicked the first part of which Allegation I confess to be true Gods judgements falling promiscuously on all sotts of people but the addition is unknown and is not to be found in the words of the Homily And secondly the Homily speaks not only of Gods temporal judgements with which the Elect be chastened as well as others that they may not for ever be condemned with the wicked but positively and determinately of taking from them his Kingdom and holy word as in the former so that they shall be no longer of his Kingdom governed no longer by his holy Spirit put from the Grace and benefit which they had c. 4. But Master Yates intends not so to leave the matter we must first see that he is as good at raising an Objection as at the making of an Answer and he objecteth out of another of the Homilies that though the godly do fall yet they walk not on purposely in sinne they stand not still to continue and tarry in sinne they sit not down like carelesse men without all fear of Gods just punishment for sinne through Gods great grace and infinite mercy they rise again and fight against sinne c. But first it may be hoped that Master Yates could not be ignorant how great a difference there is betwixt such passages as fall occasionally and on the by from the pen of a Writer discoursing on another Argument and those which do occur in such Discourses Sermons and other Tractates as purposely are made and fitted to the point in hand And secondly though it be affirmed in the said Homily that the godly man which shall adde sinne to sinne by Gods great grace and infinite mercy may arise again and fight against sinne Yet can it not be gathered thence that it is so at all times
In which last point it is affirmed that he amongst some others of the Protestant Doctors assented to the Doctrine of the Church of Rome at the Dyet at Ratisbone And it is more then probable that Peter Martyr was not Peter Martyr I mean that he was not the same man as the Zuinglian and Calvinian Doctrine is and his espousing the same being here as he was after his departure when he had spent some further time amongst the Suitzers and was thereby grown a nearer neighbour unto Calvin then he was in England For whereas his Book of Common-places and his Commentary to St. Pauls Epistle to the Romans are most insisted on for the proof of his Calvinisme it appeares plainly by his Epistle to Sir Anthony Coke that the last was not published till the year 1558. which was more then five yeares after his leaving of this Kingdom And as for his Book of Common Places although it was printed first at London yet it received afterwards two impressions more the one at Zurick and the other at Basil before the last Edition of it by Massonius after his decease An. 1576. By which Edition being that which is in Oxon Library and probably remaining only in the hands of Students or in the private Libraries of Colledges it will be hard if not impossible to judge of his opinion in these points when he lived in England 7. And now I am fallen amongst these strangers it will not be amiss to consult the Paraphrases of Erasmus in the English tongue which certainly had never been commended to the reading both of Priest People as well by the injunctions of Queen Eliz. as K. Edw. 6. if they had contained in them any other Doctrine then what is consonant to the Articles the Homilies and the publick Liturgie of this Church Now in his Paraphrase on the third chap. of St. Joh. v. 16. we shall find it thus Who saith he would have believed the charity of God to have been so great towards the world being rebelli us aegainst him and guilty of so many great faults that not only he did net revenge the ungracious acts that had been committed therein but also sent down his only Son from heaven unto earth and delivered him to suffer death yea even the most shameful death of the Crosse to the intent that what man soever would believe in him were he Jew Grecian or never so barbarous should not perish but obtain eternal life through the saith of the Gospel For albeit that in time to come the Father should judge the universal world by his son at his last coming yet at this time which is appointed for mercy God hath not sent his Son to condemn the world for the wicked deeds thereof but by his death to give free salvation to the world through faith And least any body perishing wilfully should have whereby to exercise his own malice there is given to all folks an easie entry to salvation For satisfaction oâ— the faults committed before is not required Neither yet obseration of the Law nor circumcision only he that believeth in him shall not be condemned for as much as he hath embraced that thing by which eternal salvation is given to all folk be they never so much buâ—dened with sins so that the same person after he hath professed the Gospel do abstain from the evil deeds of his former life and labour â—o go forward to perfect holiness according to the doctrine of him whose name he hath professed But whosoever condemning so great charity of God towards him and putting from himself the salvation that was freely offered doth not believe the Gospel he hath no need to be judged of any body for as much as he doth openly condemn himself and rejecting the thing whereby he might obtain everlasting life maketh himself guilty of eternal pain 8. By which passages and the rest that follow on this Text of Scripture we may have a plain view of the judgement of this learned man in the points disputed as to the designation of eternal life to all that do believe in Christ the universality of Redemption by his death and passion the general offer of the benefit and effect thereof to all sorts of people the freedom of mans will in co-operating with the grace of God or in rejecting and refusing it when it is so offered and relapsing from the same when it is so offered and relapsing from the same when it is received All which we finde in many other passages of those Paraphrases as occasion is presented to him But more particularly it appears first that he groundeth our election to eternal life on the eternal and divine prescience of Almighty God telling us in his Explication of the 25. ch of St. Matthews Gospel that the inheritance of the heavenly Kingdom was prepared by the providence and determination of God the fore-knower of all things before the world was made Secondly of universal Redemption in his glosse on the 1. chap. of St. John he telleth us thus This Lamb saith he is so far from being subject to any kind of sin that he alone is able to take away all the sins of the whole world He is so well beloved of God that he only may turn his wrath into mercy He is also so gentle and so desirous of mans salvation that he is ready to suffer pains for the sins of all men and to take upon him our evils because he would bestow upon us his good things Thirdly of the manner of the working of Gods grace he speaks as plainly in his Explication of the 6. chap. of the same Evangelist where he telleth us that of a truth whosoever cometh unto Christ shall obtain eternal life that by faith must men come to him and that faith cometh not at all aventures but is had by the inspiration of God the Father who like as he draweth to him mens mindes by his Son in such wise that through the operation of both joyntly together men come to them both the Father not giving this so great gift but to them that be willing and desirous to have it so that who with a ready will and godly diligence deserves to be drawn of the father he shall obtaine everlasting life by the Son No violent drawing in these words but such as may be capable of resistance on the part of man as appears by his descant on that plain song of our Saviour in Mat. 23. in which he makes him speaking in this manner unto those of Hierusalem viz. Nothing is let passe on my behalf whereby thou mightest be saved but contrariwise thou hast done what thou canst to bring destruction upon thy self and to exclude salvation from thee But to whom Free-will is once given he cannot be saved against his will Your will ought to be agreeable to my Will But behold as miserable calamity c. More plainly thus in the like descant on the same words in St. Lukes
never was any more destructive of humane Society more contrary to the rule of Faith and Manners or more repugnant to the Divine Justice and Goodness of Almighty God then that which makes God to be the Author of sin A blaspemy first broacht in terms express by Florinus Blastus and some other of the City of Rome about the year 180. encountred presently by that godly Bishop and Martyr S. Irenaeus who published a Discourse against them bearing this Inscription 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Viz. That God was not the Author of sin And he gave this Inscription to it as the Story telleth us because Florinus not content with those Vulgar Heresies which had been taken up before would needs break out into blasphemous Phrensies against God himself in making him the Author of all those sins which lewd men commit Which Doctrine were it once admitted not only the first sin of Adam but all the sins that have been hitherto perpetrated by his whole Posterity must be charged on God and he alone must be accountable for all Murthers Robberies Rapes Adulteries Insurrections Treasons Blasphemies Heresies Persecutions or any other Abominations which have been acted in the world since the first Creation For certainly there can be no reason why every man may not say on the committing of any sin whatsoever it be as did Lyconides in Plautus when he deâ—â—owred old Eudio's Daughter Deus mihi impulsor fuit is me ad illam illexit it was God alone who tempted and provoked them to those wicked Actions II. What Arguments the good Father used to cry down this Blasphemy for a Heresie is a name too milde for so lewd a Doctrine I cannot gather from my Author but such they were so operative and effectuall in stopping the current of the mischief that either Florinus and the rest had no followers at all as most Hereticks had or such as never attained to the height of their Masters Impudence And so that damnable Doctrine the doctrine of Devils I may call it seems to be strangled in the birth or to be buried in the same grave with the Authors of it never revived in more then thirteen hundred years after the death of Irenaeus when it was again started by the Libertines a late bâ—ood of Sectaries whom each of the two opposite parties are ashamed to own This taught as did Florinus in the Primitive times Quicquid ego tu facimus Deus efficit nam in nobis est That whatsoever thing they did was Gods working in them and therefore God to be intituled to those wicked Actions which themselves committed The time of their first breakings out affirmed to be about the year 1529. The Founders of this Sect Loppinus and Quintinus Flemmings both and this Prateolus affirms for certain to be the Progeny of Calvin and other leading men of the Protestant Churches They came saith he Eschola nostrae tempestatis Evangelicorum Bellarmine somewhat more remisly Omnino probabile est eos ex Calvinianis promanasse and makes it only probable that it might be so but not rightly neither The Libertines breaking out as before was said Ann. 1527. when Calvin was of little credit and the name of Calvinists or Calvinians not so much as heard of And on the other side Paraeus Professor of Divinity in the University of Hidelberg writing some Animadversions on the Cardinals Works assures us that they were both Papists acquaints us with the place of their Nativity and the proceedings had against them Nor was Calvin wanting for his part to purge himself from such an odious imputation not only by confuting their Opinions in a set Discourse but making one Franciscus Porquius a Franciscan Fryer to be a chief stickler in the Cause Against which I know nothing that can be said but that the doctrine of the Libertines in this particular doth hold more correspondence with Calvins Principles then any of the received Positions of the Fryers of S. Francis But whether it were so or not I shall make this Inference That the Doctrine must needs be most impious which both sides detested which the Papists laboured so industriously to Father on the Schools of Calvin and the Calvinians no less passionatly to charge on some of our great Masters in the Church of Rome III. But so it is that though the Impiety was too gross to appear bare fac'd yet there have been too many both in the Elder and these later times who entertaining in their hearts the same dreadâ—ul madness did recommend it to the world under a disguise though they agreed not at all in that Masque or Vizard which was put upon it Of this sort Manes was the first by birth of Persia Founder of the damnable Sect of the Manichaeans An. 273. or thereabouts This Wretch considering how unsuccesfully Florinus had sped before in making God who is all and only good to be the Author of sin did first excogitate two Gods the one good and the other evil both of like eternity ascribing all pious Actions to the one all Sins and Vices to the other Which ground so laid he utterly deprived the will of man of that natural liberty of which it is by God invested and therefore that in man there was no ability of resisting sin or not submitting unto any of those wicked Actions which his lusts and passions offered to him Contendebant item peccatum non esse a libero arbitrio sed a Daemone â—apropter non posse per liberum arbitrium impediri as my Author hath it Nor did they only leave mans will in a disability of hindering or resisting the incursions of sin but they left it also under an incapability of acting any thing in order to the works of Righteousness though God might graciously vouchsafe his assisting grace making no difference in this case betwixt a living man and a stock or Statua for so it follows in my Author Sed nullam prorsus voluntati tribuebant Actionem nec quidem adjuvante spiritu sancto quasi nihil interesset inter statuam voluntatem In both directly contrary to that divine counsel of S. James where he adviseth us to lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness and to receive with meekness the ingrafted word which is able to save your souls Cap. 1. ver 21. That of S. Peter exhorting or requiring rather That we work out our salvation with fear and trembling And finally that golden Aphorism of S. Augustine si non sit liberum arbitrium quomodo Deus judicabit mundum With what justice saith the Father can God judge or condemn the world if the sins of men proceed not from their own free will but from some over-ruling power which inforc'd them to it IV. Others there were who harbouring in their hearts the said lewd opinions and yet not daring to ascribe all their sins and wickednesses unto God himself imputed the whole blame thereof to the Stars and Destinies the powerful influence of
the far greater number must be damned necessarily and inevitably so that 't is not possible for them to be saved Which doctrine first makes God to be the Author of sin as both Piscator and Macarius and many other Supralapsarians as well as Perkings have positively and expresly affirmed him to be then concludes him for a more unmerciful Tyrant then all that ever had been in the world were they joyned in one A more unmerciful Tyrant then the Roman Emperour who wished that all the people of Rome had but one Neck amongst them that he might cut it off at a blow he being such in voto only God alone in opere VII But this extremity being every day found the more indefensible by how much it had been more narrowly sifted and inquired into the more moderate and sober sort of the Calvinians forsaking the Colours of their first Leaders betook themselves into the Camp of the rigid Lutherans and rather chose to joyn with the Dominican Fryers then to stand any longer to the dictates of their Master Calvin These passing by the name of Sublapsarians have given us such an order of Predestination as must and doth presuppose a Fall and findes all man-kind generally in the Mass of Perdition The substance of whose doctrine both in this and the other Articles were thus drawn up by the Remonstrants in the Conference at the Hague before remembred 1. That God Almighty willing from eternity with himself to make a decree concerning the Election of some certain men but the rejection of others considered man-kinde not only as created but also as faln and corrupted in Adam and Eve our first Parents and thereby the deserving the Curse And that he decreed out of the fall and damnation to deliver and save some certain ones of his Grace to declare his Mercy But to leave others both young and old yea truly even certain Infants of men in Covenant and those Infants baptized and dying in their Infancy by his just Judgment in the Curse to declare his Justice and that without all consideration of Repentance and Faith in the former or of Impenitence or unbelief in the latter For the execution of which decree God useth also such means whereby the Elect are necessarily and unavoidably saved but Reprobates necessarily and unavoidably perish 2. And therefore that Jesus Christ the Saviour of the World died not for all men but for those only who are elected either after the former or this latter manner he being the mean and ordained Mediator to save those only and not a man besides 3. Consequently that the Spirit of God and of Christ doth work in those who are elected that way or this with such a force of Grace that they cannot resist it and so that it cannot be but that they must turn believe and thereupon necessarily be saved But that this irresistible grace and force belongs only to those so elected but not to Reprobates to whom not only the irresistible Grace is denied but also grace necessary and sufficient for Conversion for faith and for salvation is not afforded To which Conversion and Faith indeed they are called invited and freely sollicited outwardly by the revealed Will of God though notwithstanding the inward force necessary to Faith and Conversion is not bestowed on them according to the secret Will of God 4. But that so many as have once obtained a true and justifying Faith by such a kinde of irresistible force can never totally nor finally lose it no not although they fall into the very most enormious sins but are so led and kept by the same irresistible force that 't is not possible for them oâ— they cannot either totally or finally fall and perish VII And thus we have the doctrine of the Sublapsarian Calvinists as it stands gathered out of the Writings of particular men But because particular men may sometimes be mistaken in a publick doctrine and that the Judgment of such men being collected by the hands of their Enemies may be unfaithfully related we will next look on the Conclusions of the Synod of Dort which is to be conceived to have delivered the Genuine sense of all the parties as being a Representative of all the Calvinian Churches of Europe except those of France some few Divines of England being added to them Of the calling and proceedings of this Synod we shall have occasion to speak further in the following Chapter At this time I shall only lay down the Results thereof in the five controverted Points as I finde them abbreviated by Dan. Tilenus according to the Heads before mentioned in summing up the doctrine of the Councel of Trent Art 1. Of Divine Predestination That God by an absolute decree hath Elected to salvation a very smal number of men without any regard to their Faith or obedience whatsoever and secluded from saving Grace all the rest of man-kinde and appointed them by the same decree to eternal damnation without any regard to their Infidelity or Impenitency Art 2. Of the Merit and Effect of Christs Death That Jesus Christ hath not suffered death for any other but for those Elect only having neither had any intent nor commandment of his Father to make satisfaction for the sins of the whole World Art 3. Of Mans Will in the state of Nature That by Adam's Fall his Posterity lost their Free-will being put to an unavoidable necessity to do or not to do whatsoever they do or do not whether it be good or evil being thereunto Predestinated by the eternal and effectual secret decree of God Art Of the manner of Conversion That God to save his Elect from the corrupt Mass doth beget faith in them by a power equal to that whereby he created the World and raised up the dead insomuch that such unto whom he gives that Grace cannot reject it and the rest being Reprobate cannot accept of it Art 5. Of the certainty of Perseverance That such as have once received that Grace by Faith can never fall from it finally or totally notwithstanding the most enormious sins they can commit IX This is the shortest and withall the most favourable Summary which I have hitherto met with of the conclusions of this Synod that which was drawn by the Remonstrants in their Antiâ—â—tam being much more large and comprehending many things by way of Inference which are not positively expressed in the words thereof But against this though far more plausible then the rigorous way of the Supralapsarians it is objected by those of the contrary perswasion 1. That it is repugnant to plain Texts of Scripture as Ezek. 33. 11. Rom. 11. 2. John 3. 16. 2 Tim. â— 4. 2 Pet. 3. 9. Gen. 4 7. 1 Chron. 28. 9. 2 Chron. 15. â— Secondly That it fighteth with Gods Holiness and makes him the cause of sin in the greatest number of men 1. In regard that only of his own will and pleasure he hath brought men into an estate in
lay open to such further informations as were offered to him which drew him to a better liking both of the Men and their Opinions then he had formerly entertained of either of them IV. It is objected secondly that these Doctrines symbolize so much with the Church of Rome that they serve only for a Bridge for Popery to passe over into any Church into which they can obtain admittance This Calumny first laid upon them in a Declaration of the States Generall against Barnevelt before remembred wherein they charge him with a design of confederating with the Spaniard to change the Religion of those Countreys and countenancing to that end the Arminian party as his fittest Instruments which clamor being first raised in Holland was afterwards much cherished and made use of by the Puritan or Calvinian party amongst us in England By one of which it is alleadged that Mr. Pym being to make a report to the House of Commons An. 1626. touching the Books of Richard Mountague after Bishop of Chichester affirmed expressely that the whole scope of his Booke was to discourage the well-affected in Religion and as much as in him lay to reconcile them unto Popery He gives us secondly a Fragment of a scattered Paper pretended to be written to the Rector of the Jesuites Colledge in Bruxells in which the Writer lets him know that they had strongly fortified their Faction here in England by planting the Soveraign Drug Arminianisme which he hoped would purge the Protestants from their Heresie Thirdly he backs this Paper with a Clause in the Remonstrance of the House of Commons 1628. where it is said that the hearts of his Majesties Subjects were perplexed in beholding the daily growth and spreading of the Faction of Arminianisme that being as his Majesty well knew so they say at least but a cunning way to bring in Popery To all which being but the same words out of divers mouths it is answered first That the points which are now debated between the Calvinians and the old Protestants in England between the Remonstrants and the Contra-Remonstrants in the Belgick Churches and finally between the rigid and moderate Lutherans in the upper Germany have been as fiercely agitated between the Franciscans and the Dominicans in the Church of Rome The old English Protestants the Remonstrants and the moderate Lutherans agreeing in these points with the Franciscans as the English Calvinists the Contra-Remonstrants and the rigid Lutherans do with the Dominicans So that there is a compliance on all sides with one of the said two differing parties in the Church of Rome And therefore why a generall complyance in these poynts with the Fryers of St. Dominick the principall sticklers promoters of that Inquisition should not be thought as ready a way to bring in Popery as any such complyance with the Fryers of St. Francis he must be a very wise man indeed which can give the reason Secondly it is answered that the Melanctonian or moderate Lutherans which make up infinitely the greatest part of the Lutheran Churches agree in these points with the Jesuites or Franciscan Fryers and yet are still as far from relapsing to the Church of Rome as when they made the first separation from it And therefore thirdly that if Arminianisme as they call it be so ready a Bridge for passing over to Popery it would be very well worth the knowing how and by what means it should come to passe that so few of the Remonstrants in the Belgick Provinces and none of those whom they call Arminians in the Church of England should in so long a time pass over that Bridge notwithstanding all the Provocations of want and scorn which were put upon the one and have been since multiplyed upon the other V. In the next place it is objected that the Arminian Doctrines naturally incline a man to the sin of pride in attributing so much to the power of his own will so little to the Grace of God in choosing both the means and working out of the end of his own salvation And for the proof hereof a passage is alleadged out of the History of the Councell of Trent that the first opinion that is to say the Doctrin of Predestination according to the opinion of the Dominican Fryers as it is hidden and mysticall keeping the minde humble and relying on God without any confidence in it self knowing the deformity of Sin and the excellency of Divine Grace so the Second being that maintained by the Franciscans was plausible and popular and cherished humane presumption c. The whole passage we have had before in the Second Chapter Num. 4. but we shall answer to no more of it then the former Clause Concerning which it may be said that though Father Paul the Author of the History hath filled the Christian World with admiration yet it is obvious to the eye of any discerning Reader that in many places he savoureth not so much of the Historian as he doth of the Party and that being carryed by the Interest of his Native Countrey which was the Signory of Venice he seldome speaks favourably of the Jesuites and their adherents amongst which the Franciscans in these poynts are to be accounted Secondly that either Father Paul did mistake himself or else that his Translator hath mistaken his meaning in making the Second Opinion to be more pleasing to the Preaching Fryers then the understanding Divines the name of Preaching Fryers being so appropriated in common speech to those of the Dominican Order that it is never applyed unto any other And Thirdly that the Authority of Father Paul is no otherwise to be embraced in Doctrinall matters what credit soever may be given to him in point of History then as it is seconded by Reason And certainly if we proceed by the rule of Reason that Doctrine must needs more cherish humane presumption which puffeth men up with the certainty of their Election the infallibility of assisting and persisting Grace the impossibility of falling from the attaining of that salvation which they have promised to themselves then that which leaves these poynts uncertain which puts a man to the continuall necessity of calling on God and working out the way unto his salvation with fear and trembling He that is once possessed with this perswasion that all the sins which he can possibly commit were they as many as have been committed by all Mankinde since the beginning of the World are not able to frustrate his Election or separate him from the love and favour of Almighty God will be too apt to swell with Pharisaicall pride and despise all other men as Heathens and Publicans when such poor Publicans as have their minds humble and relying â—n God will stand aloof not daring to approach too neer the Divine Majesty but crying out with God be mercifull unto me a sinner and yet shall be more justified in the sight of God then the others are For this we need produce no proof
before the foundations of the world were laid he hath constantly ordered by his Council secret unto us to deliver from curse and damnation those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of mankinde and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation as vessels made to honour Furthermore we must receive Gods promises in such wise as they be generally set forth to us in holy Scripture and in our doing the will of God that is to be followed which we have expresly declared to us in the Word of God 2. Of the Redemption of the world by the faith of Christ The Son which is the Word begotten of the Father begotten from everlasting of the Father c. and being very God and very man did truly suffer was crucified dead and buried to reconcile his Father to us and be a Sacrifice not onely for Original guilt but also for the actual sins of men The Offering of Christ once made is this perfect Redemption Propitiation and Satisfaction to all the sinnes of the whole world both Original and Actual 3. Of mans will in â—he state of depraved nature Man by Original sin is so far gone from Original â—ighteousness that of his own nature he is inclined to evil so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the Spirit and therefore Works done before the grace of Christ and the inspiration of his Spiriâ— are not pleasant to God forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ neither do they make men meet to receive grace or as the School Authors say deserve graâ—e of Congruity 4. Of the manner of Conversion The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such that he cannot turn and prepare himself by his own natural strength and good works to faith and calling upon God wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God without the grace of God by Christ preventing us that we may have a good will and working with us when we have that good will 5. Of the uncertainty of Perseverance The Grace of Repentance is nâ—t to be denyed to such as fall into sin after Baptism in regard that after we have received the Holy Ghost we may depart from grace giâ—en and fall into sin and by the grace of God we may arise again and amend our lives and therefore they are to be condemned which say they can no more sin as long as they live here or deny the place of Repentance to such as truly repent 10. Now in these Articles as in all others of the Book there are these two things to be observed 1. What Authority they carried in respect of the making And 2. How we are to understand them in respect of the meaning And first for their Authority it was as good in all regards as the Laws could give them being first treated and agreed upon by the Bishops and Clergie in their Convocation and afterwards confirmed by the Letters Patents of Edw. 6. under the Great Seal of England But against this it is objected That the Records of this Convocation are but a degree above blanks that the Bishops and Clergie then assembled had no Commission from the King to meddle in Church business that the King durst not trust the Clergie of that time in so great a matter on a just jealousie which he had of the ill affections of the major part and therefore the trust of this great business was committed unto some few Confidents cordial to the cause of Religion and not unto the body of a Convocation To which it hath been already answered That the Objector is here guilty of a greater crime than that of Scandalum magnatum making King Edward the sixth of pious memory no better than an impious and lewd Impostor in fathering those children on the Convocation which had not been of their begetting For first the title to the Articles runneth thus at large Artâ—culi de quibus c. as before we had it which title none durst adventure to set before them had they not really been the products of the Convocation Secondly the King had no reason to have any such jealousie at that time of the major part of the Clergie but that he might trust them with a power to meddle with matters of Religion this Convocation being holden the sixth year of his Reign when Gardiner Bonner Day and Tunstall and others of the stiffest Romanists were put out of their places most of the Episcopal Sees and Parochial Churches being filled with men according unto his desires and generally conâ—ormable to the Forms of Worship here by Law established Thirdly the Church of England for the first five years of Queen Elizabeth retained these Articles and no other as the publike â—endries of the Church in point of Doctrine which certainly she had not done had it been recommended to her by a less Authority than a Convocation lawfully assembled and confirmed And Fourthly that it is true that the Records of Convocation during this King and the first years of Queen Mary are very defective and imperfect most of them lost amongst others those of this present year And yet one may conclude as strongly that my mother dyed childeless because my Christening is not to be found in the Parish Register as that the Convocation of this year was barren because the Acts and Articles of it were not entred in the Journal Book 11. To salve this sore it is conceived by the Objector that the Bishops and Clergie had passed over their power to some ' select Divines appointed by the King in which sense they may be said to have made these Articles themselves by their delegates to whom they had deputed their Authority the case not being so clear but that it occasioned a cavil at the next Convocation the first of Queen Mary when the Papists therein assembled renounced the legality of any such former transactions ' And unto this it shall be answered That no such defect of legality as was here pretended was charged against the Book of Articles it self but onely against a Catechism which was bound up with it countenanced by the Kings Letters Patents prefixt before it approved by many Bishops and learned men and generally voyced to be another of the products of this Convocation And therefore for so much as concerns this Catechism it was replied by Mr. John Philpot Archdeacon of Winchester who had been a member in the former and was now a member of the Convocation in the first of Queen Mary That he thought they were deceived in the Title of it in that it owned the Title of the last Synod of London many which were then present not being made privy to the making or publishing of it He added That the said former Convocation had granted the Authority of making excellent Laws unto certain persons to be appointed by the Kings Majestie so as whatsoever Ecclesiastical Laws they or the most part of them did set
This said as in the way of Explication we will next see what hath been positively delivered by our first Reformers concerning the fatality or absoluteness of Gods Decrees maintained by Calvin then and his followers since Of which thus Bishop Latimer in his Sermon upon Septuagâ—sâ—mâ— ' Some vain fellows make their reckoning thus What need I to mortifie my body with abstaining from all sin and wickedness I perceive God hath chosen some and some are rejected now if I be in the number of the chosen I cannot be damned but if I be accounted amongst the condeâ—ned number then I cannot be saved For Gods judgements are immutable such foolish and wicked reasons some have which bringeth them either to carnal liberty or to desperation Therefore it is as needful to beware of such reason or Exposition of the Scriptures as it is to beware of the Devil himself To the same purpose in his third Sermon after the Epiphany viz. We read in the Acts of the Apostles that when S. Paul had made a long Sermon at Antioch there believed saith the Evangilist as many as were ordained unto everlasting life With the which saying a great number of people have been offended and have said We perceive that onely those shall come to believe and so to everlasting life which are chosen of God unto it therefore it is no matter whatsoever we do for if we be chosen to everlasting life we shall have it And so they have opened a door unto themselves of all wickedness and carnal liberty against the true meaning of the Scripture For if they must be damned the fault is not in God but in themselves for it is written Deus vâ—lt omnes homines salvos fieire God would have all men should be saved But they themselves procure their own damnation and despise the passion of Christ by their own wicked and inordinate living ' 5. Hooper is bolder yet than he even to the censuring of those who by the fatality of these Decrees make God to be the Author of sin And first he lets us know in general ' That the blinde Southsayers that write of things to come were more to be esteemed of than our curious and high-climing wits for they attribute the cause of ill to the evil Aspect and sinister conjunctions of the Planets ' Which said we shall hear him speaking more particularly to the present point in this manner following viz. ' It is not a Christian mans part to attribute to his own freewil with the Pelagian and extenuate Original sin nor to make God the Author of evil and our damnation nor yet to say God hath written fatal Laws with the Stoicks and in the necessity of Destiny violently pulleth one by the hair into Heaven and thrusteth the other headlong into Hell ' And in another place 'Our Gospellists saâ—th he be better learned than the Holy Ghost for they wickedly attribute the cause of punishment and adversity to Gods Providence which is the cause of no ill as he himself could do no ill and every mischief that is done they say it is Gods will ' And then again ' Howsoever man judgeth of Predestination God is not the cause of sin thou art not the God that willest sin and it is said That thy perdition O Israel is of thy self and thy succour onely of me ' And finally to shut up his discourse hereof with some Application he shall tell us thus ' Being admonished by the Scripture that we must leave sin and do the works commanded of God it will prove but a carnal opinion which we blinde our selves withal of Fatal Destiny and in case there follow not in us knowledge of Christ amendment of life it is not a lively faith that we have but rather a vain knowledge and meer presumption ' 6. Next let us look upon such passages in the writings of those those godly men which teach us to enquire no further after our Election than as it is to be found in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Of which Bishop Latimer in the first place thus viz. ' If thou art desirous to know whether thou art chosen to everlasting life thou mayest not begin with God for God is too high thou canst not comprehend him the judgements of God are unknown to man therefore thou must not begin there But begin with Christ and learn to know Christ and wherefore that he came namely That he came to save sinners and made himself a subject of the Law and fulfiller of the same to deliver us from the wrath and danger thereof and therefore was crucified for our sins c. Consider I say Christ and his coming and then begin to try thy self whether thou art in the Book of Life or not If thou findest thy self in Christ then thou art sure of everlasting life If thou be without him then thou art in an evil case for it is written nemo venit ad patrem nisi pâ—r me that is no man cometh to my Father but through me therefore if thou knowest Christ thou mayest know further of thy Election ' And then in another place ' When we are troubled within our selves whether we be elected or no we must ever have this Maxime or principal rule before our eyes namely that God beareth a good will towards us God loveth us God beareth a Fatherly heart towards us But you will say How shall I know that or how shall I believe that We may know Gods good will towards us through Christ for so saith John the Evangelist Filius qui est in sinu patris ipse revelavit that is The Son who is in the bosom of the Father he hath revealed it Therefore we may perceive his good will and love towards us He hath sent the same Son into the world which hath suffered most painful death for us Shall I now think that God hateth me or shall I doubt of his love towards me ' And in another place ' Here you see how you shall avoid the scrupulous and most dangerous question of the Predestination of God for if thou wilt enquire into his Councils and search his Consistory thy wit will deceive thee for thou shalt not be able to search the Council of God But if thou begin with Christ and consider his coming into the world and dost believe that God hath sent him for thy sake to suffer for thee and to deliver thee from sin death the Devil and Hell Then when thou art so armed with the knowledge of Christ then I say this simple question cannot hurt thee for thou art in the Book of Life which is Christ himself For thus it is writ Sice Deus dilexit mundum that God so entirely loved the world that he gave his onely begotten Son to the end that all that believed in him should not perish but have everlasting life whereby appeareth most plainly that Christ is the Book of Life and that all that believe in
him are of the same Book and so are chosen to everlasting life for onely those are ordained that believe ' Nor stays that godly Bishop here but proceeds after some intervening passages towards this Conclusion ' Here is now taught you saith he how to try your Election namely in Christ For Christ is the Accompting Book and Register of God and even in the same Book that is Christ are witten all the names of the Elect therefore we cannot finde our Election in our selves neither yet the high Council of God for inscrutabilia suâ—t judicia Altissimi Where then shall I finde my Election in the Compting Book of God which is Christ c. ' Agreeable whereunto we finde Bishop Hooper speaking thus ' The cause of our Election is the mercy of God in Christ howbeit he that will be partaker of this Election must receive the promise in Christ by faith for therefore we be elected because afterwards we are made the members of Christ So we judge of Election by the event or success that hapneth in the life of man those onely to be elected ' that by faith apprehend the mercy promised in Christ To the same purpose also but not so clearly and perspicuously speaks the Book of Homilies where we finde it thus viz. ' That of our selves as in our selves we finde nothing whereby we may be delivered from this miserable captivity in which we were cast through the envy of the Devil by breaking Gods Commandment in our first Parent Adam It is the Lord with whom is plenteous Redemption he is the God which of his own mercy saveth us c. not for our own deserts merits or good deeds c. but of his meer mercy freely and for whose sake truly for Christ Jesus sake the pure and undesiled Lamb of God c. for whose sake God is fully pacified satisfied and set at one with man Such is the Doctrine of the Church in the matter of Predestination unto life according to the judgement of these learned men and godly Martyrs who were of such Authority in the Reformation ' 8. Proceed we next to one of an inferiour Order the testimony of John Bradford Martyr a man in very high esteem with Martin Bucer made one of the Prebends of S. Pauls Church by Bishop Ridley and one who glorified God in the midst of the flames with as great courage as his Patron of whom we finde a Letter extant in the Acts and Monuments directed to his friends N. S. and R. â— being at that time not thorowly instructed in the Doctrine of Gods Election The words of which Letter are as followeth ' I wish to you my good Brethren the same grace of God in Christ which I wish and pray the Father of mercies to give me for his holy names sake amen Your Letter though I have not read my self because I would not alienate my minde from conceived things to write to others yet I have heard the sum of it that it is of Gods Election wherein I will briefly relate to you my faith and how far I think it good and meet for a Christian to wade in I believe That man made after the image of God did fall from that pleased estate to the condemnation of him and all his posterity I believe that Christ for man being then fallen did oppose himself to the judgement of God as a Mediator paying the ransome and price of Redemption for Adam and his whole posterity that refuse it not finally I believe that all that believe I speak of such as be of years of discretion are partakers of Christ and all his merits I believe that faith and belief in Christ is the work and gift of God given to no other then to those which be his children that is to those whom God the Father before the beginning of the world hath Predestinated in Christ unto Eternal life Thus do I wade in Predestination in such sort as God hath patefied and opened it Though to God it be the first yet to us it is the last opened and therefore I begin with Creation from whence I come to Redemption so to Justification so to Election On this sort I am sure that warily and wisely a man may walk it easily by the light of Gods Spirit in and by his Word seeing this faith is not to be given to all men 2 Thess 3. but to such as are born of God Predestinated before the world was made after the purpose and good will of God c. ' Which judgement of this holy man comes up so close to that of the former Martyrs and is so plainly cross to that of the Calvinistical party that Mr. Fox was fain to make soom Scholia's on it to reconcile a gloss like that of Orleance which corrupts the Text and therefore to have no place here however it may be disposed of at another time But besides the Epistle above mentioned there is extant a Discourse of the said godly Martyr entituled The sum of the Doctrine of Predestination and Reprobation in which is affirmed That our own wilfulness sin and contemning of Christ are the cause of Reprobation as is confessed by the Author of the Anti-Arminianism p. 103. though afterwards he puts such a gloss upon it as he doth also on the like passages in Bishop Hooper as makes the sin of man to be the cause onely of the execution and not of the decree of Reprobation 9. But it is said That any one that reads the Common-Prayer Book with an unprejudiced minde cannot chuse but observe divers passages that make for a Personal Eternal Election So it is said of late and till of late never so said by any that ever I heard of the whose frame and fabrick of the Publique Liturgie being directly opposite to this new conceit For in the general Confession we beseech the Lord to spare them that confess their faults and restore them that be penitent according to his promises declared unto mankinde in Christ Jesus our Lord In the Te Deum it is said that Christ our Saviour having overcome the sharpness of death did open the Kingdâ—m of heaven to all believers In the Prayer for the first day of Lent That God hateth nothing which he hath made but doth forgive the sins of all them that be penitent In the Prayer at the end of the Commination That God hath compassion of all men that he hateth nothing which he hath made that he would not the death of a sinner but rather that he should turn from sin and repent In the Absolution before the Communion That God of his great mercy hath promised forgiveness of sins to all them which with hearty repentance and truâ— faith turn unto him Can any one which comes with an unprejudiced minde to the Common-Prayer Book observe any thing that savoureth of a Personal Election in all these passages or can he hope to finde them in any other Look then upon the last Exhortation
first composed in which Provision seemes to have been made against all those who taught that men sinned against their wills or upon constraint or that men might excuse themselves from the blame thereof upon that consideration If any of the Calvinian factions can finde any thing in this Article against Arminianisme as they call it or in defence of the determining of the will by converting grace or the consistency of the freedome or liberty of the will much good may it do them But then they should think themselves obliged to give a better reason than I think they can why this Article is not to be found in the Book as now it is printed Either this Article was not made in favour of Calvinisme when it was published with the rest in King Edwards time or the Reformers of the Church under Queen Elizabeth were no friends to Calvinisme in causing it to be left out in the second Book Anno 1562. to which subscription is required by the Lawes of the Land 10. Proceed we next unto the Book of Homilies in the one of which we find this passage ' that few of the proud learned wife perfect and holy Pharisees were saved by Christ because they justified themselves by their counterfeit holinesse before men ' And in another thus ' But the corrupt inclination of man was so much given to follow his own fancies and as you would say to favour his own bâ—rd that he worships himself that all the admonitions exhortations benefits and the precepts of God could not keep him from their intent on ' More clearly and expressely in another place where after the recitation of some pious duties by God commended to the Jewes the Homily proceeds in this manner following ' But these things they passed not of they turned their backs and went their way they stopped their eares that they might not hear and they hardned their hearts as an adamant stone that they might not listen to the Law and the words that the Lord had sent through his holy Spirit wherefore the Lord shewed his great indignation upon them It came to passe saith the Prophet even as I told them and they would not hear so when they cryed they were not heard but were scattered into all Kingdoms which they never knew and their land was made desolate And to be short all they that may not abide the Word of God but following the perswasions and stubbornnesse of their own hearts go backward and not forward as is said in Jeremy they go and turne away from God ' Nor is this spoken only of such a temporary resistance as may be overcome at last by the unconquerable power of the Spirit of God but even of such an obstinate and perverse resistance as in the end will lead the way to a final Apostacy an unrecoverable forsaking of God and being as irrecoverably forsaken by him Of which we shall speak more at large in the fifth and last Article concerning the uncertainty of perseverance CHAP. XII The Doctrine of Freewil agreed upon by the Clergie in their Convocation An. 1543. 1. OF the Convocation holden in the year 1543. in order to the Reformation of Religion in points of Doctrine 2. The Article of Freewil in all the powers and workings of it agreed on by the Prelates and Clergie of that Convocation agreeable to the present Doctrine of the Church of England 3. An Answer to the first Objection concerning the Popishness of the Bishops and Clergie in that Convocation 4. The Article of Freewil approved by King Henry the eighth and Archbishop Cranmer 5. An Answer to the last Objection concerning the Conformity of the Article to the present Established Doctrine in the Church of Rome 1. BUt First I am to take in my way another evidence whiâ—h though it hath not so directly the force of Law to binde us to consent unto it and perhaps may not be considered amongst the Monuments and Records of the Reformation yet it speaks plainly the full sense of our first Reformers I speak this of a pithy but short Discourse touching the nature of Freewil contained amongst some others in the Book published by the Authority of King Henry the eighth in the year 1543. entituled A necessary Doctrine and Erudition for all Christian men Concerning which as we have spoke at large already in Chap. 8. of this Work so now we must adde something touching this particular of which there was no notice taken in the Bishops Book For when the Bishops Book which had been printed in the year 1537. under the title of An Institution for a Christian man had for some time continued without alteration it was brought under the review of the Bishops and Clergie assembled in their Convocation anno 1543. and having been reviewed in all the parts and members of it a particular Treatise touching the nature of Freewil which in those times had exercised the greatest wits Of which I finde this Memorandum in the Acts of the Convocation that is to say That on Monday being the last of April Lecto publice exposuo Articulo Liberi Arburii in vulgari c. The Article of Freâ—wil being read and publiquely expounded in the English Tongue the most Reverend Archbishops delivered it into the hands of the Prolocutor to the end that he should publish it before the Clerks of the lower House of Convocation as is accustomed in such cases Quo lecto per eos approbato which being read and approved by them it was returned with the residue to the upper House of Convocation with this Approbation Quod pro Catholicis Religiosis acceperunt nâ—c non gratias in gentes patribus egerunt quâ—d tanâ—â—s labores sudores vigilias Religionis Reipublicae causa unitatis gratia subicraâ—t that is to say that they embraced them all for sound and Orthodox rendring unto the Fathers there most humble thanks for the great care and pains which they had undertaken for the good of the Church and Commonwealth and the preserving of peace and unity amongst the people Which passage I have at large laid down to shew by whose hands and by what Authority as well the Book it self which we have spoken of before as this particular Treatise in it was at first fashioned and set forth And that being said I shall first present the Treatise or Discourse it self and after Answer such Objections as either prejudice or partiality may devise against it Now the Article followeth in hac verba The Article of Freewil 2. THe Commandments and threatnings of Almighty God in Scripture whereby man is callâ—d upon and put in remembrance what God would have him to do most evidently do expresse and declare that man hath Free-will also now after the fall of our first father Adam as plainly appeareth in these places following Be not overcome of evil neglect not the grace that is in thee Love not the world c. If thou wilt
the wise c. Mat. 11. why to the unwise the simple abjects and out-casts of the world of whom speaketh Saint Paul 1 Cor. 1 You see your calling my brethren why not many of you c. Why to the sinners and not to the just why the beggars by the high-wayes were called and the bidden guests excluded We can ascribe no other cause but to Gods purpose and Election and say with Christ our Saviour quia Pater sic complacitum est ante te ye Father for that it seemed good in thy sight Luk. 10. And so it is for justification likewise if the question be asked why the Publican was justified and not the Pharisee Luk. 18. Why Mary the sinner and not Simon the inviter Luke 11. Why Harlots and Publicans go before the Scribes and Pharisees in the Kingdome Mat. 21. why the sonne of the Free-woman was received and the bond-womans Son being his elder rejected Gen. 21. why Israel which so long sought for righteousnesse found it not and the Gentiles which sought it not found it Rom. 9. We have no other cause hereof to render but to say with Saint Paul because they sought for it by works of the Law and not by faith which faith as it cometh not by mans will as the Papists falsely pretendeth but onely by the election and free gift of God so it is onely the immediate cause whereto the promise of our salvation is annexed according as we read And therefore of faith is the inheritance given as after grace that the promise might stand sure to every side Rom. 4. and in the same Chapter Faith believing in him that justifieth the wicked is imputed to righteousnesse And this concerning the causes of our salvation you you see how faith in Christ immediately and without condition doth justifie us being solicited with Gods mercy and election that wheresoever election goeth before faith in Christ must needs follow after And again whosoever believeth in Christ Jesus through the vocation of God he must needs be partaker of Gods election whereupon resulteth the third note or consideration which is to consider whither a man in this life may be certaine of his election To answer to which question this first is to be understood that although our election and vocation simply indeed be known to God onely in himselfe a priore yet notwithstanding it may be known to every particular faithful man a Posteriore that is by means which means is faith in Christ Jesus crucified For as much as by faith in Christ a man is justified and thereby made the childe of salvation reason must needs lead the same to be then the childe of election chosen of God to everlasting life For how can a man be saved but by consequence it followeth that he must also be elected And therefore of election it is truly said de electione judicandum est a posteriore that is to say we must judge of election by that which cometh after that is by our faith and belief in Christ which faith although in time it followeth after election yet this the proper immediate cause assigned by the Scripture which not onely justifieth us but also certifieth us of this election of God whereunto likewise well agreeth this present Letter of Mr. Bradford wherein he saith Election albeit in God it be the first yet to us it is the last opened And therefore beginning first saith he with Creation I come from thence to Redemption and justification by faith so to election not that faith is the cause efficient of election being rather the effect thereof but is to us the cause certificatory or the cause of our certification whereby we are brought to the feeling and knowledge of our election in Christ For albeit the election first be certain in the knowledge of God yet in our knowledge faith only that we have in Christ is the thing that giveth to us our certificate and comfort of this election Wherefore whosoever desireth to be assured that he is one of the Elect number of God let him not climbe up to heaven to know but let him descend into himself and there search his faith in Christ the Son of God which if he find in him not feigned by the working of Gods Spirit accordingly thereupon let him stay and so wrap himself wholly both body and foul under Gods general promise and cumber his head with no further speculations knowing this that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish John 3. shall not be confounded Rom. 9. shall not see death John 8. shall not enter into judgement John 5. shall have everlasting life John 3. 7. shall be saved Mat. 28. Acts 16. shall have remission of all his sins Act. 10. shall be justified Rom. 3. Cal. 2. shall have floods flowing out of him of the water of life Joh. 7. shall never die John 11. shall be raised at the last day John 6. shall finde rest in his soul and be refreshed Mat. 11 c. 4. Such is the judgement and opinion of our Martyrologist in the great point of Predestination unto life the residue thereof touching justification being here purposely cut off with an c. as nothing pertinent to the businesse which we have in hand But between the Comment and the Text there is a great deal of difference the Comment laying the foundation of Election on the Will of God according to the Zuinglian or Calvinian way but the Text laying it wholly upon faith in Christ whom God the Father hath Predestinate in Christ unto eternal life according to the doctrine of the Church of England The Text first presupposeth an estate of sin and misery into which man was fallen a ransom paid by Christ for man and his whole Posterity a freedome left in man thus ransomed either to take or finally to refuse the benefit of so great mercy and then fixing or appropriating the benefit of so great a mercy as Christ and all his merits do amount to upon such only as believe But the Comment takes no notice of the fall of man grounding both Reprobation and Election on Gods â—bsolute pleasure without relation to mans sin or our Saviours sufferings or any acceptation or refusal of his mercies in them As great a difference there is between the Authour of the Comment and Bishop Hooper as between the Comment and the Text Bishop Hooper telling us cap. 10. num 2. that Saul was no more excluded from the promise of Christ then David Esau then Jacob Judas then Peter c. if they had not excluded themselves quite contrary to that of our present Authour who having asked the question why Jacob was chosen and not Esau why David accepted and Saul refused c. makes answer that it cannot otherwise be answered then that so was the good Will of God 5. And this being said I would faine know upon what authority the Authour hath placed Nachor amongst the reprobates in the same Ranck with Esau Pharaoh and Saul all
written spiritus ubi vult spirat c. And thus was the outward race and stock of Abraham after flesh refused which seemed to have the preheminence and another seed after the Spirit raised by Abraham of the stones that is of the Gentiles So was the outward Temple of Jerusalem and chaire of Moses which seem'd to be of price forsaken and Gods chaire advanced in other Nations So was tall Saul refused and little David accepted the rich the proud and the wise of this world rejected and the word of salvation daily opened to the poore and miserable Abjects the high mountaines cast under and the low valleys exalted c. And in the next place it is added in his own will by this falleth down the free will and purpose of man with all his actions councels and strength of nature according as it is written non est volentis neque currentis sed miserentis Dei c. It is not him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercy So we see how Israel ran long and yet got nothing The Gentile runneth began to set out late and yet got the game So they which came at the first which did labour more and yet they that came last were rewarded with the first Mat. 20. The working will of the Pharisee seemed better but yet the Lords Will was rather to justifie the Publican Luk. 18. The elder son had a better will to tarry by his father and so did indeed and yet the fat calf was given to the younger son that ran away Luk. 15. whereby we have to understand how the matter goeth not by the will of man but by the will of God as it pleaseth him to accept according as it is written non ex voluntate carnis neque ex voluntate viri sed ex Deo nati sunt c. Which are born not of the will of the flesh nor yet of the will of man but of God Furthermore as all then goeth by the will of God only and not by the will of man So againe here is to be noted that the will of God never goeth without faith in Christ Jesus his Son And therefore fourthly is this clâ—use added in the definition through faith in Christ his Sonne which faith in Christ to us-ward maketh altogether For first it certifieth us of Gods Election as this Epistle of Mr. Bradford doth well expresse For whosoever will be certain of his Election in God let him first begin with faith in Christ which if he finde in him to stand firme he may be sure and nothing doubt but that he is one of the number of Gods Elect. Secondly the said faith and nothing else is the only condition and meanes whereupon Gods mercy grace Election vocation and all Gods promises to salvation do stay accordingly the word of St. Paul si permanseritis in fide and if ye abide in the faith Col. 1. 3. This faith is the mediate and next cause of our justification simply without any condition annexed For as the mercy of God his grace Election vocation and other precedent causes do save and justifie us upon condition if we believe in Christ so this faith onely in Christ without condition is the next and immediate cause which by Gods promise worketh our justification according as it is written crede in dominum Jesum salvus eris tu domus tua Believe in the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved thou and thy whole house And thus much touching the Definition of Election with the causes thereof declared which you see now to be no merits or works of man whither they go before or come after faith For like as all they that be borne of Adam do taste of his Malediction though they tasted not of the Apple so all they that be born of Christ which is by faith take part of the obedience of Christ although they never did that obedience themselves which was in him Rom. 5. Now to the second consideration Let us see likewise how and in what order this Election of God proceedeth in choosing and electing them which he ordaineth to salvation which order is this In them that be chosen to life first Gods mercy and free grace bringeth forth Election Election worketh Vocation or Gods holy calling which Vocation though hearing bringeth knowledge and faith in Christ Faith through promise obtaineth justification juctification through hope waiteth for glorification Election is before time vocation and faith cometh in time justification and glorification is without end Election depending upon Gods free grace and will excludeth all mans will blinde fortune chance and all peradventures Vocation standing upon Gods Election excludeth all mans wisdome cunning learning intention power and presumption Faith in Christ proceeding by the gift of the holy Ghost and freely justifying man by Gods promise excludetâ—â— all other merits of men all condition of deserving and all works of the Law both Gods Law and mans Law with all other outward means whatsoever Justification coming freely by faith standeth sure by promise without doubt fear or wavering in this life Glorification appertaining only to the life to come by hope is looked for Grace and Mercy preventeth Election ordaineth Vocation prepareth and receiveth the Word whereby cometh faith Faith justifieth Justification bringeth glory Election is the immediate and next cause of Vocation Vocation which is the working of Gods Spirit by the Word is the immediate and next cause of faith Faith is the immediate and next cause of justification And this order and connexion of causes is diligently to be observed because of the Papists which have miserably confounded and inverted this doctrine thus teaching that Almighty God so far as he foreseeth mans merits before to come so doth he dispense his Election Dominus prout â—njusque merita fore previdet ita dispensat electionis gratiam futuris tamen concedere That is that the Lord recompenseth the grace of Election not to any merits proceeding but yet granteth the same to the merits that follow after and not rather have our holinesse by Gods Election going before But we following the Scripture say otherwise that the cause onely of Gods Election is his own free mercy and the cause onely of our justification is our faith in Christ and nothing else As for example first concerning Election if the question be asked why was Aâ—raham chosen and not Naâ—hâ—â— why was Jacob chosen and not Esâ—u why was Moses 〈◊〉 and Pharâ—â—â—â—â—â—dened â—â—â—dened why Dâ—vid accepted and Saul refused why few be chosen and the most forsaken It cannot be answered otherwise but thus because so was the good will of God In like manner touching vocation and also faith if the question be asked why this vocation and gift of faith was given to Cornelius the Gentile and not to Tertullus the Jew why to the poore the babes and the little ones of the world of whom Christ speaketh I thank the Father which hast hid these from