CHAP. I. Of the Church.

THe Church of England is no Church, [...] [Page 66] strange, considering your owne Writers conclude a Church to be there, where there is found ¹ doctrine of saluation, Georg. Cassan. consult, titul. de Ecclesia. according to Scrip­ture, ² the vse of the Sacra­ments, and ³ outward disci­pline, or Ecclesiasticall go­uernement, although the Churchmen should fall short of those Apostolicall, and primitiue perfectiōs, which flourished in their prede­cessours.

Yea, but it is not the Catholike Church men­tioned in the Creed, I beleeue in the Catholike Church.

1. No more is the Church of Rome: for there [Page 67] was no Church at all in Rome, when the Creed was made by the Apostles at Hie­rusalem; Ruffin in Symb. Augustin. Ser. 115. euery Apostle ma­king his Article, when they were to depart to plant par­ticular Churches in Rome, Id. Serm. 181. de Tempore. England, and other places.

2. But our Church is a branch, and portion of that Catholike Church, as is also theTheoriani collo. Damia­nus à Gots. Onuphrius in vita Iulij. Greeke, Armenian, Ae­thiopian, and Syrian as well, if not rather then the Ro­mane Church.

Peraduenture these other Churches may bee members of that Catholike Church, as ioyned and vni­ted with vs, but the vnion [Page 68] betwixt your Church, and ours hath beene cut asunder aboue an hundred yeeres agone, and therefore you are quite cut off from the Catholike Church.

This is more then you know, or then I am bound to beleeue. For

Cassand. consult. pag. 930. meer­ly spirituall consisting in Faith, Hope, Charitie, true Doctrine, &c. Institut. of a Christian fol. 19.This vnion of the mem­bers of the Catholike Church is inward, not out­ward, and therefore discer­ned onely by God himselfe: We neuer sundred our selues from the people, or Church of Rome, but from the Fa­ction, or Court of Rome, not from the sincere doctrine of that Church, but from the [Page 69] corruptions and innouations foisted into that Church.

And therefore although we be neuer so hated,Cassand. ibid. and excommunicated by your Priests, yet, we may be still vnited in internall societie with your Church, if you re­taine those principles of Reli­gion sound, and vnaltered, in the which our forefa­thers died, and (as we well hope) were saued.

How are you then gone from vs, if you be still vnited with vs.

As the Prophets went from the corrupt Churches of the Iewes, and as Christ, and his Apostles from the [Page 70] Scribes, and Pharises, claman­do, & dissentiendo, by crying out against your corrupti­ons, and dissenting from your innouations, and thisCas. consult. pag. 929. Gerson. de p [...] ­tate Ecclesiae.your owne men allowed vs to doe.

I, but some of your men say, that wee had no true Church of God in the West of many yeeres before Luthers time.

Their meaning is to be limited in respect of the Predominant, and preuai­ling Faction. Your Church held (I confesse) a sauing profession of the Trueth of God, but your Church-men mingled therewith many [Page 71] damnable impieties. And these innouators onely carry­ing the greatest shew of the Church, are denied by our Writers to bee the true Church of God.

This it is we Ca­tholikes obserue. You dare not for all your malice deny the Church of Rome to haue in some sort a sauing profes­sion of the truth of God, but our Priests conclude direct­ly that your Church hath no truth at all, and thatBarclaius paraenes. li. 1. pag. 7. none can be saued in that Church.

As in euery king­dome the generall estate is nothing so forward, actiue, quicke, and peremptorie, as [Page 72] the priuate Factions, and yet is found at the last more wise, and stayed in finall re­solution: So in the Catholike Church, theCan. loc. the­ol. l. 4. c. 1. Lindan. panopl. lib. 4. cap. 7. Factions are euer more headie, and pre­cipitate in their denunci­ations of Heauen, and Hell, then the maine body thereof. Hence it commeth to passe, that although the Greeke, Armenian, Ethiopian, and Sy­rian, and (for the most part) the Protestant doth censure charitably of those Laickes, who liuing rather In then Of the Church of Rome, hold the grounds of the do­ctrine of Saluation, without any notorious mixtures, [Page 73] with the late superstitions, and impieties crept into the same; yet doth theQuodlibet pag. 342. Papist, Russic. conun. c. 23. p. 103. Russeist, Sle. Hist. l. 5. Anabaptist, Allens confes. Fa­milist, andProtest. p. 16. Puritan hold no Church a Church of God, but his owne conuenticle, and all to bee damn'd, that are not of his societie, and com­bination. Now what beliefe you shall affoord these Bou­teseux of the Catholike Church, that dispose of Heauen, and Hell, as if it were their own Fee-simple, I leaue to your wisdome and com­mon vnderstanding.

Me thinks you now put me in minde of another obiection, which vsually we [Page 74] make against the Prote­stants of England that they bring in too much good fel­lowship in religion, and make Saluation a flowre, which growes in euery mans gar­den. Seeing that according to their Tenets, Papist, Prote­stant, Anabaptist, and Fami­list, may euery one of them by meanes offered in his own Church, as a portion, or frag­ment of the Catholike Church attaine vnto Saluation.

If you were learned I could answere you in a word, that none of these three Sectories considered in his owne Formality, Qua talie, as he is a Papist, Ana­baptist, [Page 75] or Familist can euer attaine vnto Saluation, but only as he is a Christian man, admitted by Baptisme vnto the visible Church, & there made partaker of Gods word, and Sacraments. For then (al­though these blessed means are very much weakened, and obscured in their Syna­gogues by the malice of Sa­than, and inuentions of men) yet may that holy Spi­rit, thatIohn 3.8. bloweth where he li­steth, worke in such a mans heart by these weake instru­ments, (and the rather, the more the Word is faithfully preached, and the Sacra­ments be in those places sin­cerely [Page 76] administred) a true faith in Christ Iesus, to bring him to saluation. So then we doe not hold, that Pa­pists, Anabaptists, and Fami­lists, but onely that some Christians liuing in their congregations may (though with great difficultie in comparison of this flouri­shing Church of ours, and these admirable meanes of Saluation tendered in the same) by the speciall mercy of God be saued, and preser­ued. If we be in an errour, it is safer to erre in Charity, then in Malice, and praeci­pitancie, considering the euent hereof is vnknowen to either of vs.

I but where was your Church before this re­formation began?

1. When our Sauiour Christ with-drew the people from theMatt. 16.12. leauen of the Scribes, and Pharisees, to the bread,Iohn 6.35. which came down from heauen, and to saluation by faith in his Name, was it fitting to demaund of him, where his Church was before that Reformation?

2. When these Chur­ches of1. Corin. 5.1. Corinth, Galat. 3.1. Galatia, Reuel. 2.12. Pergamus, andReuel. 2.18. Thiatyra, were full of abuses, if some part onely vpon the preach­ing of the Apostles had re­formed themselues, and so a [Page 78] diuision had growen: would you straight wayes haue tax't them of Nouelty, or ask't them where their Church had beene before this reformation?

3 When the Apostles cast off [...]he Lawe of Moses, excepting only thoseActs 15.29. three or foure Ceremonies: and when the Primitiue church some hundred yeeres after, cast off those Ceremonies also (for I finde them brea­thing of their last as it were about the times ofAnno [...]. 140. Dialog. qu [...] ins [...]tur Tryphon. Iustin Martyr) had it not beene a poore challenge of the Iewes, or Traskists of those times, to demaund, where this vn­ceremoniall [Page 79] Church lay hid be­fore the reformation?

I answer then, that our Church, before this refor­mation began, liued toge­ther in one communion with yours, with toleration of all those abuses, which you haue still retained, and wee most iustly reiected.

I, but I hope you dare not compare in the gifts of the Spirit with Christ, his Apostles, or those worthies of the primitiue Church. And therefore how presumed you to re­forme your selues? Refor­mation, being a worke fit­ter for a generall Councell to [Page 80] haue gone about, then for a small handfull of Nor­therne people.

Luther. in epist. ad Galat. in praefat. distin­ctio admissa in Comitijs Augu­stanis ab ipsis Germanis Principibus. Scultet. annal. decad. 1. pa. 43.The Court of Rome had so gained vpon the Church of Rome, that is, the Pope, and his conclaue of Cardinals had wriggled in themselues to that transcen­dencie of power ouer the rest of the Clergie, and well minded laity, that it appea­red both atIn the yeere 1415. Constance In the yeere 1546. & Trent, there was small hope of Reformation from such a Councell, where the Pope the partie to bee reformed, became the party reforming, and supreame Iudge, and president of the Reformati­on [Page 81] it selfe. Although poore seduced ignorant women are much caried away with the name of the Councell of Trent; yet you will quickly find out this ridiculous ab­surdity. In a generall Coun­cell (as now it is held si­thence the decay of the Em­pire) the Pope is the party to be accused, yet puts vp his owne endictment, passeth a iury of his own vassals, and finde they what they will, being to giue finall iudge­ment, he will be sure to do, as his supposed predecessor taught our Sauiour to doe, to wit, fauour himselfe. Matth. 16.22. So as there was no hope of doing [Page 82] good by a Generall Councell, See the histo­ry of the Councell of Trent. vnles it were a generous and free Councell, and such a one the Pope (you may bee sure) would neuer abide.Gerson. de con­cil. vnius obed. And therefore one of your own writers concludes, that in such a case, seuerall kingdomes are to reforme themselues by National Councels, which England and Denmark did put in practise.

Yea, but it is too wel knowne, It was no zeale of Reformation, but carnall re­spects, that mooued King Henry to touch vpon reli­gion.

To you (it seemes) it is giuen to know these se­crets, [Page 83] but I see no reason we should thinke so. The King could not bee induced to this reformation, as a meanes to possesse himselfe of the Abbeies for they were already swallowed vp.31. Henr. 8. Nor as a preparatiue for his woing (as Saunders thinks) because Fisher the Bishop of Roche­ster, who opposed his mar­riage, made vp the one and twentieth prelate in banish­ing the Pope out of this Kingdome.Instruction of a Christian in the Preface. But without doubt, the finger of God was the cause, whatsoeuer was the hint, or occasion. Act. 23.1. Fe­stus his popularitie, and hu­mour of pleasing gaue S. Paul [Page 84] occasion to appeale to Cesar, and to visite Rome, where, and when hee layd the first stone of the Romane church. Would you like it well a Protestant should say, that your Church was founded vpon courtship and popularity? If any carnall re­spect, whetted on the king, that was but the opportunity, God onely was the first mo­uer, and prime Agent in this reformation.

Nay surely, God is the God of vnity, but your Church being once seuered from the Romane, was pre­sently cantl'd out, into as many factions almost, as [Page 85] there are Countries; witnes the Lutherans soft and rigid, the Caluinists, Puritans, Con­formitans, Brownists, Anabap­tists, &c. So as one may ea­sily guesse, from what Ler­ma, and fenny ground this Hydra of so many heades had her first Originall.

This argument sounds very bigge in a la­dies closet, and weighs much with the ignorant, and vn­learned people, but with a man, but of a reasonable vnderstanding, this seeming diuision is no scandall at all to our reformed Churches. What man of any reading in the Histories of the time, [Page 86] but knowes well, that after the trumpet for this refor­mation had blowne, the first warning byIn the yeere 1375 Wicklef, In the yeere 1410. Hus, and Hierome of Prage, and then the second byde signis ru­in. eccl. Gerson, 1411. Peter de A­liaco, Bucholcer Anno 1517. Cardinall Cusanus, in Theor. Picus Mirandula Phil. Comin. l. 3. Saua­norola, and many others, (of whom we reade inGuic. hist. l. 4. Guic­chiardyn) whenIn the yeere 1512. Luther in Germany blew the last, and that there appeared no hope of a free and indiffe­rent Councell, so as seuerall kingdomes were thus neces­sitated to prouide, and take care for themselues, this worthy Act of Reformation, [Page 87] beginning in sundry estates, by reason, partly of their diuers shapes, and formes of gouernements, and partly, of a great disaduantage that one part of Christendome, knew not, what another did, nor consulted with their fel­lowes, that so they might with vnanimitie proceed in the same, did necessarily produce a seeming difference in the outward formes of particular Churches.

But loe, the goodnesse, and prouidence of Almighty God. Although these Chur­ches haue seuerall faces, yet haue they all but one heart, there being no essentiall, fun­damentall, [Page 88] or materiall diffe­rence amongst any of vs of the reformed Religion, as you may easily finde by rea­ding the confessions of our seueral churches. And ther­fore for these odious Nick­names of Lutheran, Caluinist, Huguenot, Zuinglian, and the like, be more sparing of them, vntill you haue re­concil'd your own church­men, as your Minorits, and Dominicans about the con­ception of the blessed Vir­gine, your Iesuits, and Do­minicans about predestina­tion, and those dependant questions, your Sorbonists, and Iesuits about the boun­ding, [Page 89] and mereing out the Re­gall, and Papall Authority: and you shall finde more doctrinall oppositions in your owne, then you can imagin in our Churches. But keepe you at home in your natiue countrey, and looke (with­out enuie or partiali­tie) vpon this flourishing Church of England, & name me one Kingdom in all Eu­rope that hath continued ve­ry neere this hundred yeres in that constancie, and immu­tabilitie of doctrine or dis­cipline. Wee are ordered with that consecration, thatSand. de schis. Angl. lib. 3. Archbishop32. of Hen­ry 8. Cranmer was, we renounce the Pope [Page 90] by that abiuration, that Arch­bishop Cranmer did, we sub­scribe to those Articles of re­ligion, whichIn the yeere 1552. Archbishop Cranmer in the Reformation pitch't vpon, before we can be admitted to any Ecclesia­sticall function. Some wilde coults we haue, that start, and boggle at the first, if they see but their owne shadowes, but by the discipline of the Church they are curb'd, and fetch't about againe, and taught in a little while to come on gently to this vni­formitie and subscription. So that malice it selfe cannot challenge the Church of England, this most glorious [Page 91] portion of that Catholike Church, of any fractions, or diuisions in points of Do­ctrine.

Nay, but I haue of­ten heard, that you haue no Bishops or Priests at all in your Church. But that in the beginning of Q. Eliza­beths raigne, lay-men in the Parliament did appoint you Bishops, who consecrated one another in a Tauerne at theSander. de Schism. lib. 3. Harding a­gainst Iewell. Nags-head in Cheapside, and that your Priests were ordered onely by these Par­liamentary Prelates.

This tale of the Nags-head, Harding, Sanders, and Stapleton haue forged [Page 92] out of their owne Nagges-heads without any ground, or likelihood at all. And yet as easily as they came by it, it put aM. Mason Archdeacon of Suff. Minister of our Church to an infinite deale of learned paines. Who by his Maiesties speciall com­mandement, did search out the auncient Records of the Archbishop of Canterbury (agnized sithence by many Priests and Iesuits, in the Clincke, and other prisons) and out of them hath com­posed a learned booke, shew­ing the successiue Consecra­tions of all the Bishoppes of England, from that first con­uocation thatInstitut. of a Christian. fol. 19. banisht the [Page 93] Pope about the yeere 1536, so as any Minister looking out that Bishop, who gaue him Orders, may presently ascend in a right line of Bi­shops to those Prelates, that liued in the raigne of Henry the eighth, before the refor­mation. And therfore if your owne Priests be lawfull, you may not quarrell with ours, differing onely from yours, in their renouncing of your impieties, and superstiti­ons.

This Record you speake of, is somewhat to the purpose, vnlesse the he­resie of those first Bishops did disable them for gran­ting [Page 94] of lawfull Consecrations, and Orders.

S. Basil. Nazianz. S. Ambros. S. Hierom. S. Austen: were in their times called heretiques. Lindan. panopl. lib. 4. cap. 7. Heretique indeed, is a common word for vs, in the mouth of euery wo­man, that is but a little Ro­manized. But is it not strange howInstitut. of a Christian, fol. 18 he should be an He­retique, that sayes the Creed, and the Lords prayer in that literall, and explicite sense, and meaning, that all the Fathers of the Church for the first 500. yeeres vnder­stood the same? Yet this is nothing to the point in hand. For first, if the Bi­shops in Queen Maries time were lawfull, notwithstan­ding their being consecra­ted [Page 95] by Cranmer, and other tainted Bishops (as you terme them) why may not the Bi­shops in Queene Elizabeth, and King Iames his time, expect the same priuiledge? And secondly, your owne Dominic. a [...] Soto. in 4. Sent. d. 25. Biel. in 4 d. 25. q. 1. Con. 4. Capreol, in 4. d. 25. q. 1. art. 3. &c. Writers confesse, that He­resie (which we suppose, but not yeeld these Prelates fal­len vnto) cannot rase out from that Character of a Bi­shop, this inseparable power of consecrating, and orde­ring.

Yet there remaines an obiection against your Church, that it cannot pos­sibly be a true Church, be­cause it is seuered from the [Page 96] true visible head thereof the Pope of Rome.

This is a stale ob­iection, and soone answe­red. The church ofEuseb. li. 5. c. 23. Eras. epist. in Agrippa de vanit. c. 59. Asia se­uered from Pope Victor in the yeere 200.Baron. tom. 3. ad ann. 375. Athanasius, and his fellowes from Faelix and Tiberius in the yere 375,Euseb. l. 7. c. 2. 3. 4. Casian. consult. art. 7. Cyprian, and his brethren, yea and three National Coun­cels from Pope Stephen, in the yeere 250,Bellar. de Ro. Pont. l. 2. c. 25. & 46. Lindan. panopl. l. 7. c. 89. Possevinus in Apparat. titul. Carthag. the Bishops of Carthage Schismatized from all Popes of Rome for an hundred yeres together, about the yeere 409. lastlyBellar. de Ro. Pont. l. 2. c. 31. Idem de Matri. c. 15. art. 2. the Greeke Church cut off from the Roman for 300. yeeres, are sufficient testi­monies, [Page 97] there may be a true Church of God, though se­uered▪ and diuided from the Pope of Rome. And here in this kingdome it was no Protestant, but Popish Bi­shops, that concluded in a Nationall Synode,Institut. of a Christian, set foorth anno 1537. by Au­thority. our King might (if he pleased) create a Pope of his owne in his own kingdoms, and dominions, and yet remaine a member of the Catholike Church.

Well the best is you haue beene so tedious in your answeres, that I haue (I thank God) forgotten all, that you haue said for your reformed Church.

But I will helpe that [Page 98] quickly by summing vp of all into these 12. Positions:

1 We haue a Church, as hauing

• Doctrine.
• Saluation.
• Discipline.

2 It is a portion of the Catholique Church.

3. It hath a Spirituall v­nion of doctrine with the vntainted members of the Church of Rome.

4 And yet hath seuered her selfe from the Church of Rome by crying against, and dissenting from her Su­perstions.

5 Which some of vs hold no true Church of Gods, in regard of the preuailing Fa­ction.

[Page 99]6 Although we iudge charitably of the Saluation of some in that Church.

7 Who notwithstan­ding are saued not as Pa­pists, but as Christians.

8 And in one lumpe, or communion with this Church liued ours before the Refor­mation.

9 Which then for want of a Generall, did seuer her selfe, by a Nationall Coun­cell, from the same.

10 Nor was it any by-re­spect of the Kings, but God, and the cry of that age, that caused this reformation.

11 Nor doe our refor­med Churches dissent a­mongst [Page 110] themselues in do­ctrine, but in outward poli­tie, and discipline onely.

12 Our Bishops and Priests come by a lineall Succession from Henry the eights time, nor can a supposall of Here­sie cut off this descent.

CHAP. 2. Of the Scriptures.

DOe you then hold this Church of yours to bee the ground of your Faith, and reason of your beleeuing, So as you doe therefore be­leeue [Page 101] all the points of your saluation to be true, because the Church doeth teach, and instruct you in the same? Or haue you any other rule, and ground of your faith?

The Authority, and good conceipt we haue of Gods Church August. con­tra Epistol. fun­dam. c. 5. prepareth vs to beleeue the points of our Saluation, and serueth as an introduction to bring vs to the discerning, and perfect apprehension of these my­steries of our faith, but the Scripture onely is the ground, and reason of our beleeuing. For as theIohn 4.29. Samaritans were induced, and drawne on to beleeue in Christ by that talk [Page 102] of the woman, but hauing heard Christ himselfe, pro­fesse plainely, they beleeue no longer for her saying, but Iohn 4.42. be­cause they heard him speake himselfe: So doe we beginne to beleeue; moued thus to doe, by the good conceipt we haue of the Church, but rest not in it, as the ground of our beleeuing, but onely in the infallible assurance of Gods truth in the booke of Scriptures.

Then God helpe you, if that be your last re­solution. For our Church can­not erre, but your Scriptures without the helpe of the Church, to tell you so much, [Page 103] can neuer bee ascertained vnto you, to be the word of God; And therefore what assurednesse of beleefe can you propose your selues vpon so vnsetled a founda­tion?

The Catholike Church indeed,Wald. doctr. fid. l. 2. art. 2. c. 27. spread ouer the world, cannot erre dam­nably, though the Church of Rome, and all other particu­la Churches, may, as your owne Writers confesse. But the Scriptures wee know to be the word of God, not because the Church, or Churchmen, doe tell vs so much, but by the Authority of God himselfe, Caluin instit. l. 1. c. 7. d. 4. whom we [Page 104] doe most certainely discerne to speake in his word, when it is preached vnto vs. For if we bring pure eyes, and perfect senses, the maiestie of God forthwith, present­eth it selfe vnto vs in the holy Scriptures, and beating downe all thoughts of con­tradicting, or doubting things so heauenly, forceth our hearts to yeeld assent, and obedience vnto the same. And therefore if you doubt whether that which you reade in your Bible be the word of God, or finde any reluctancy in your vnder­standing to the doctrine of the same, it is in vaine to flie [Page 105] vnto either Church, or Churchmen, to be perswaded in this point, but down vp­on your knees, and pray fer­uently vnto God for Faith, and the illumination of the Holy Ghost, which can on­ly assure you of the trueth of the Scriptures. Caluin. instit. l. 1. c. 7. dist. 5. For after wee are enlightned by the Spirit, we do no longer trust either our owne iudgement, or the iudgement of other men, or of the Church, that the Scriptures are of God, but aboue all certainety of hu­mane iudgement, wee most certainely resolue, as if in them wee saw the maiestie and glory of God, that by [Page 106] the ministerie of men they came vnto vs from Gods owne most sacred mouth.

But what certaine ground of faith can you place on the Scriptures, seeing by the seuerall interpretations of men and women they are turned and wrested like a nose of wax to euerie pri­uate designe and purpose? Doe not you obserue how the Catholikes, Protestants, and especiallie the Brow­nists, and Anabaptists, doe fit all their turnes out of the holie Scriptures? on which of these senses, and imagi­nations is your faith roo­ted? or peraduenture, haue [Page 107] you some odde capritchious kinde of interpretation of your owne apprehension to direct you in these busi­nesses?

Wee lay-folkes are licensed in the Church of England to reade, Doe all inter­prete. 1. Cor. 12.30. but not to interprete Scriptures, excep­ting onely those passages, which containe the neces­sarie points of our Saluation, the which passages are so plaine, & easie euery where, that any man, or woman of the meanest capacitie (espe­ciallie if he, or she be instru­cted in their Catechisme or grounds of religion) may perfectly conceiue,Staplet. cont. 6. q. 7. exp. si art. and vn­derstand [Page 108] them. But for the harder and more difficult places, we leaue them to be interpreted by our Church­men in their Sermons, and dailie ministerie. For the ordering of which inter­pretations, there are (as I haue beene told) 10. seue­rall helps, Obserued out of D. Field, M. Hooker, Chemnitius, and Trelca­tius. the which if they be followed wil be sure, and vnfallible guides, to bolt out the true meaning of each place of Scripture.

• 1 An illumination of the vnderstanding by the Holy Ghost.
• 2 A minde free from other thoughts, and desirous of the truth.
• [Page 109]3 Knowledge of the Scrip­tures, Creedes, Cate­chismes, Principles, and other Axiomes of Diui­nitie.
• 4 A considerations how our meaning suites with o­ther points of Christia­nitie.
• 5 The weighing of circum­stances, antecedents, and consequents.
• 6 Knowledge of Histo­ries, Arts, and Sciences.
• 7 Continuall reading, me­ditating, and praying.
• 8 Ioint, and vniarring expositions of the Fa­thers.
• 9 Consenting decrees of ⟨auncient⟩ [Page 110] Synods, and Councels.
• 10 Knowledge in the tongues.

Because therefore lay-men, and women, Papists, Brownists, and Anabap­tists, are wanting in all, or some of these helpes, they bring foorth many times such lame, and prodigious interpretations.

If wee make the Scripture, & not the Church the rule of our Faith, how shall we beleeue, the Creed, the Trinity, the Sacraments, the vnity of Essence, the three persons in the Deity, &c. words neuer read in the Bible, and yet necessarily to [Page 111] be apprehended of vs vpon paine of damnation?

I say that all these things are set downe in Scriptures, either in so many syllables, or at leastwise by necessarie inferences, and de­ductions. And wee doe not therefore beleeue them be­cause they are onely taught by the Church, but because they are rooted and groun­ded in the holie Scriptures, the onelie stay and pillar of our affiance.

CHAP. 3. Of Iustification.

HOW then doe you learne out of the Scrip­tures, that you are to be iu­stified, and saued before God?

I am to bee iustified before God, by an Act single in it selfe, but double in our apprehension, which is, By Gods not imputing vnto me my sinnes, and the same Gods imputing vnto mee Christs righteousnesse, and with­all [Page 114] by his creating of faith in my heart by the Holy Ghost, to assure my Soule that God, for the Actiue and Passiue obedience of Christ Iesus hath accomplished those two former Actes, of not imputing my Sinne, and of imputing vnto mee Christs righteousnesse.

A verie easie, no doubt, and reasonable religion, which you haue learned out of the Scriptures. Heere is no burthen left for your owne backe, you cast all vp­on Christs shoulders by the meanes of these two fine wordes, Not imputing, and imputing, and a third swim­ming [Page 115] notion of your own conceipt (which any man may haue with a little ima­gining) termed by you faith, it would be knowne there­fore, where your Church hath found out these words of Art, in the holie Scrip­tures.

We do in all humi­litie confesse, that the globe of our sinnes, and the world of that righteousnesse, which is to appeare in the presence of Gods Iustice, is too massie for vs to sustaine, that are but dust and ashes, and sup­portable only by that Atlas, Verba Lutheri ep. ad Henr. 8. tom. 2. ep. p. 290. Christ Iesus, vpon whose shoulders, not our conceits, [Page 116] but the goodnes of God hath plac't and pressed them. But that these wordes imputing, and not imputing, are such Greeke vnto you, I doe im­pute it to your not reading of Scriptures, and taking vp your religion by trust, and credit from such Fripperers, and Brokers, as by lending your soules, a false opinion of merits and good workes▪ do diue into your purses, and eat vp your estates, by way of interest. Not to trouble you (as I might) with a thousand places, aske Dauid, Psal. 32.1. whether not imputing of sin, and S. Paul, Rom. 4.45. whether the im­puting of Christs righteous­nesse [Page 117] doth not make vs bles­sed, and iustified. For the words vse your owne eyes, and inspection. And for the meaning, I referre you toAugust. tom. 8 in psalm. 31. S. Augustines vpon the one, andAmb. in ep. ad Rom. c. 8. S. Ambrose his com­mentarie vpon the other passage. Now that you fondlie imagine, that Faith, this heauenly hand, that reacheth at this double Act, and applies it to our owne Soules, is such an apprehen­sion, as you may command, when you please out of your owne phantasie, it is such a poore opinion, that no Soule, warmed with the least touch or feeling of re­ligion, [Page 118] but contemnes with a most holie scorne, and re­proach. I tell you, (and if you once haue it, your con­science will tell you no lesse) this Faith is the rich­est iewell in Gods cabinet,Ephes. 2.8. and can neuer be compas'd by any endeuour of ours, vntill the Holy Ghost comes downe from heauen to set, and enchase it in our hearts with his owne fingers as it were. And being once ob­tained, it new moldes, and fashions the whole nature of man, so as the vnderstan­ding becomes more enlight­ned to know God, the will to obey God, the affections, [Page 119] to loue God, and our bre­thren. Nor can it bee pre­serued (to the comfort of our conscience) without daily praying, meditating, do­ing good workes, reading the Scriptures, hearing good Ser­mons, and perusing of de­uout, and godly Treatises. My beliefe therefore is this: Gods not imputing of sinne, and imputing of righteousnesse is the worker, The Merits of Christ the procurer, Faith wrought by the holy Ghost the instrument, or applier, good workes, or my inhe­rent righteousnesse (poore as it is) a consequent onely, ef­fect, and follower, of my iusti­fication.

I haue heard some of your side, raile against the very name of inherent righteousnesse, which you seem now to acknowledge, & embrace. Do Protestants therefore challenge any o­ther righteousnesse, besides that of Christs, which is im­puted?

They doe acknow­ledge a Sanctification, or in­herent righteousnes, in the same sence as the auncient Fathers tooke the Word, but not as Iesuits of late mistake it. We haue righteousnesse inherent, or subsisting in vs, according to the which we shall be iudged, but not ac­cording [Page 121] to the which wee shall be iustified. You make your righteousnesse to goe before as the cause; we ours, to come after, as the effect of Iustification. You sup­pose yours so absolute as to euict from God; all wee ex­pect from ours, is, but to te­stifie vnto men, that we are iustified. You bragge of a perfection of degrees, wee onely teach a perfection of parts in our righteousnesse. For as in the dawning of the day, euery part of the hea­uens is enlightened, though none as yet in a full, and compleat splendour: so af­ter the Act of Iustification, [Page 122] apprehended by faith, euery facultie of the soule is san­ctified, and made righteous, the vnderstanding, the will, the affections, the thoughts, the words, the deedes, but none of those, so exactly perfect, as to implead a Iusti­fication at the throne of God. We therfore waue off this little righteousnesse of our owne, as a piece ofEsay 64.6. pol­luted cloth in the Act of our Iustification, and cast an­chor onely vpon the merits of Christ. But according to your Doctrine ofConcil. Trid. infused Charitie, not the Almighty reconciled, but the man qua­lified, not Christ patient, but [Page 123] an habite inherent, not God by grace pardoning, but an instilled vertue (like a re­ceipt of Mithridate) expel­ling sinne, is the cause of your Iustification.

But haue you any vse of your Free-wil in either righteousnes; I meane that imputed, or this inherent? Or are you (as some relate your opinions) meerely suffering, and passiue, like so many stockes, and stones, casting not so much as a sigh, grone, or short wish, to­wards this great worke of your conuersion?

In our first conuer­sion to be righteous, and the [Page 124] Act of our Iustification, wee are like so many Niobes, or images of marble, which moue not at all, but as they are, in the whole lumpe, car­ted, and transported; Our vnderstandings not affoor­ding themselues the least glymps of knowledge, nor our wils, the least shew of inclination vnto this Act, but as they are either of them powerfully bended by the Holy Ghost to lay holde by Faith on this imputed righte­ousnesse. But in our second conuersion to be more righte­ous, which we call the Act of our Sanctification, wee moue likeArist. polit. 1. c. 1. Daedalus his sta­tues, [Page 125] or pageants vpon wheeles, dull, and vnweldy in our owne natures, but so quickened, and enliued by those engines of Grace, and motions of the holy Ghost in our soules, and consciences, that now our vnderstan­dings, wils, and affections doe cooperate, and runne along, with the Grace of God in all our workes of pie­tie, and deuotion. To that imputed righteousnesse ther­fore we haue no freenesse, or cooperation of our Willes: to our inherent righteous­nesse we haue. Wee haue no concurrance in that first Act of our Iustification, but [Page 126] we haue a cooperation of the will (rouzed vp, and excited by grace) in all sub­sequent Acts of our Sanctifi­cation. The points therfore of this Chapter are these:

• 1. Iustification consists, in Gods not imputing of Sinne, and in his impu­ting of Christs righteous­nesse vnto vs.
• 2. It is not our conceipt, but the iustice, and mercy of God, which layes this loade on our Sauiour Christ.
• 3. Whosoeuer is acquain­ted with the Scripture, cannot be vnacquainted [Page 127] with imputed righteousnes.
• 4. Imputed righteousnesse is soone apprehended, but infused Faith, must bee first obtained.
• 5. We haue an inherent righ­teousnesse, which is the effect, but none, which is the cause of our Iustifi­cation.
• 6. Grace alone works our iustification; Grace, and we together (but wee in the second place) our Sancti­fication.

CHAP. 4. Of Saints, Soules of the Dead, and those dependant questions.

WEe are scandali­zed likewise at your Church, because you giue no more reuerence to the Saints then you doe, nei­ther praying vnto them, nor adorning their images, nor giuing them any set im­ployment aboue in heauen, or the least care of vs here on earth. Which smels ve­ry much of the heresies of [Page 129] theEpiphan. Cainans, and Eunomi­ans condemned so many yeeres agone in the Christi­an Church.

What employment the Saints haue in heauen, besides the contemplation of God face to face, Hugo de S. V. l. 2. de Sacram. c. 11. Al [...]is. l. 3.we know not, nor doeCassand. in consult. art. 21. we deny their praying for vs. Vpon earth they receiue in our Church, all that honour bespoken for them in the primitiue Church. Wee keepe duely the memorials of the blessed Ʋirgine, and the twelue A­postles, and a yeerely pane­gyricall commemoration of all the Martyrs, & Saints of God: respecting them▪ as [Page 130] ourAugust. contr. Faust. l. 20. c. 2. fellowes and friends, though not as ourIouius hist. lib. 24. Tutelar gods, and young little Saui­ours. We admire their liues, and as we doe not furiously deface, so doe we not adore their images. BecauseAugust. in Psal. 113. S. Augustin would faine know, where that Christian may be found, that prayeth or a­doreth, beholding an image.Idem de ciuit. Dei. lib. 22. cap. 10. We reare them no Temples, as to Gods, but trophees onely of praise, as to deser­uing men.Epi. ad Hebr. cap. 11. S. Paul him­selfe did all this, and hee did no more. We dignifie them as Saints by celebration, wee dare not deifie them, as Gods by inuocation. YourEckius in his Enchirid. owne [Page 131] men confesse, there is for this praying to Saints nei­ther precept nor example in all the Bible. AndOrig. l. 2. in Epist. ad Rom. Origen made but a question,Basil. cited by the Bishop of Lincolne. S. Basil an If, NaZ. Orat. 1. in Iulian▪ & orat. in Gorgon. Gregory Nazian­zene a thinking, or an opinion onely of this, which you make an Article of Faith. We are commanded to call vponPsal. 50 15. God, vpon himMatth. 4.10. one­ly, for he is ourPsal. 74.12. King of old, and we are starke mad if we thinke to better our selues by changing of Masters.

I, but how will you answere Antiquitie: For I haue beene told, that there are found in the writings of the Auncient Fathers, pray­ers [Page 132] made to many of the Saints and holy men de­parted.

If you please to ob­serue them well, you shall finde, they are no Orisons, but Orations. A certain kind of passionate, and rhetori­call exclamations made vnto the dead, concerning some notable euents happened vn­to the Church in generall, or the parties themselues in particular. This is easily beleeued of them, who vse to reade the Greeke Fathers, which are full of such eiacu­lations in their affectionate Discourses. And that their passages, are no prayers, this [Page 133] is an argument.Eliens. resp. ad Apolog. pag. 42. Because there is not any of all these Fathers, when they treat of prayer, (as it is their vsuall theme) of set purpose, and handle all the obiects, and kindes therof, that euer men­tion one syllable of this prayer to Saints. This is an answere will neuer be taken away by any of your side. Now if your Priests tooke an hint hereby, to erect Mas­ses for theVide Epist. Vratislauiens. apud S [...]lte­tum, Annal. decad. 1. p. 150 dead, I hope you know they loose nothing by the bargaine.

You likewise con­temne, and deride the Re­liques of the Saints, which are shewed, preserued, and [Page 134] adored in our Churches.

We are so farre from contemning any thing in this kinde, that did wee knowe them to bee true reliques, and no impostures, we should honour them more then you doe, to wit,K. Iames pre­face monit. with an honourable, and Chri­stian buriall. Wee heare indeed that there were of oldAugust. de moribus Eccle­siae. some Christians that attributed too much to the reliques of the Martyrs, but we heare from the same Fa­ther, August. de ciuit. Dei, l. 8. cap. 27. The better sort of Christians did not so. And we hold it very idle toPlin. Sec [...] [...] ▪ l. 4. ep. 8. pro­pose for our imitation any other, then the best, and [Page 135] most absolute patterne.

You do also speake basely of the blessed virgin, and compare her to your owne wiues, and such bag­gages.

A rayling French­man doth charge Melanc­thon with such a compari­son,Florim. Remond en son Histoir ex Hom. Mel. in euang. de in­carnat. but that booke or pas­sage hee cites, is not to bee found among the workes of that most learned and mo­dest writer: Howeuer, our Church hath neuer aRogers in art. 22. Saint Ruffyn (as yours hath) to heale all frenzies, and mad­nesses, and we count no bet­ter of those desperate spee­ches, that any one shall vo­mit [Page 136] against the glorious vir­gin. Yet I thinke your men abuse her farre more,Leo 10. ep. ad Bemb. 17. one calling her a Goddesse, ano­therRosar. Mar. the Goddesse of the sea, which is the title of Venus. Making of Mary the euer Virgin a meerein Petr. Arbit. Quartilla, that could neuer remember she was a Virgin. In euery deed you all abuse her. ForPolan: synt. l. 3. c. 24. as one wel obserues, when you say your Aue Maries, you pray for her. But wee hold, as to pray for her to be mostAug. serm. 17. de verb. Ap. iniurious, so to pray to her to be mostEpiph. l. 3. aduers. haeres. vn­lawfull and superstitious.

Also you neuer vse to pray for the dead, al­though [Page 137] the Auncients did so.

Wee dare not in­deed For if they bee in Heauen, P. Lomb. 4 sent. distinct. 45. we shall wrong them, if in Hell, we cannot helpe them; and Purgatory, Roffens. contra art. Luther. art. 18. your owne men confesse, was neuer heard of amongst the Auncients. Now for those prayers for the dead in the old Liturgies, they were conceiued (if you marke them) for men dying, Caessand. prec. eccles. and passing, not dead already, and so they are still vsed in the Church of England, and most diligently, & deuour­ly in the Collegiate Church of Westminster. But to [Page 138] stretch, and extend theseVide epist. Vra­tislau. apud Scultet. Annal. dec. 1. pa. 152. Collects to men stone-dead, and past their particular iudgements was a pretty pro­iect of the Monkes and Fri­ars, and they were very wel payd for their wit, and in­uention, as you shall finde, when you shall haue occa­sion to purchase a Masse for any of your kindred de­parted.

Nay say you nothing of the Masse, for out of ma­lice, and derogation from the Sacrifice therin offered, you haue bred in the peo­ple such a sleight opinion of the Blessed Sacrament, as they make of it, but a bare [Page 139] signe, or a token, or a figure, or I cannot tell what: And dare not conceiue Christ to be there, for feare of impri­sonment, or the high Com­mission.

Wee doe indeed ac­knowledge no oblation in the blessed Sacrament, but aSee common praier booke. liuely commemoration of that oblation of Christ, which he offered vpon the Crosse for our redemption. Nor any Sacrifice at all, but that Sacrifice of Collects, prayers, and thankesgiuing, which the Church powres out vnto God at the recei­uing of the Sacrament. And these commemorations, and [Page 140] collects, are the reason, why the Supper of the Lord, was termed by the Auncients, a Sacrifice, an Oblation, the Eucharist, the Hoast, &c. But the reuerence due to this great Sacrament is as ob­seruable, as the maner of Christs presence therein is vnexpressable. The names of a figure, a signe, a type, and the like, wee keepe to ex­pound the words onely, but not as though they were keyes to open, and vnfolde the maner of the mysterie. The speech is to be expoun­ded figuratiuely, becauseSchoolemen in 4. sent. This, and Christs body (be­fore the pronuntiation of [Page 141] the last syllable of the wordes) are disparats and of a contrary nature. But Christ is present there, for the matterAug. confess. a­pud Cassand. consult. art. 10. substantially, Caluin. in 1. Cor. 11.21. truely, Melan. in ep. ad Palat. & Granguellam. really, nay most truely, Fortunatus Caluinista a­pud Greg. de Valent. l. 1. de praesen. Chri­sti in Euchar. c. 7. dist. Istius. and most really, and more truely, and more really, then the bread and the wine, but for the maner ineffa­bly, and vnexpressably. And this is that Caluinisticall do­ctrine, you so much cauill at, and deride.

1 Wee honour the Saints with Ecclesiasticall ob­seruation, but not with a Spirituall adoration.

2 The ancient Fathers made Orations, but no Ori­sons vnto them.

[Page 142]3 The bles­sed Virgin is more abused by Papists who make her

• To giue sucke to a Priest. Vincent. Spec. h [...]st. l. 7. 84.
• Mend Thomas a Beckets old hose. Cantip. lib. 2. c. 29.12.
• Heale a scabd head. Caes. l. 7. c. 25.
• Clippe a Monke. Id. l. 7. c. 51.
• Kisse another. Id. l. 7 c. 33.
• Sing to a third. Id. l. 7. c. 22.
• Lie betweene man and wife. Vincent. lib. 7. c. 8.
• Supplie a Nunnes place that was gone to a Bawdy house. Caesar. lib. 7. cap. 35.
• Bring an Abbesse to bed gotten with childe by her Seruing-man. Vin­cent. Spec. hist. lib. 7. cap. 87.

4 Wee are ready to bu­ry, but not to adore re­liques.

5 We pray for men de­parting, as the Fathers did, not for the departed as the Friars did.

[Page 143]6 Christ is ⟨in⟩ the Sacra­ment really for the matter, ineffably for the maner.

CHAP. 5. Some idle personall exceptions.

HAue you any other points of our Religion that you stumble at?

These are the main points of your religion questioned. But some as­pers [...]ons more are cast vp­on the persons of your Mi­nisters. As that they lie wil­fullie, [Page 144] and against their knowledge in points of Diuinity, and are thus zea­lous in the cause, out of a desire onely to preserue their great estates in the Church, wheras our Priests haue no other worldlie comfort, but the goodnesse of their cause, and the testi­monies of their consciences.

Let your common discretion be your iudge in this case, whether wee, that ground our doctrines vp­on the word of God, inter­preted by those ten rules I formerly set downe, or these men, that put all to the determination of the Church [Page 145] that is, to their own proper phantasies, and the grosse ex­position of an vnlearned Pope, are most likely to gull the world, with crotchets, and Chimaeras. Besides, you know how full this king­dome is of men well read, as in all sciences, so especial­ly in Diuinity. You know (and yet none knowes it so well, as they that best know him) the profound learning and deepe apprehension of the King himself, as hauing perfectly digested, the very body and bulke of all sacred knowledge. And is this a stage for ignorance & impo­sture to play their parts on? [Page 146] Or doeth this learned Mo­narch, the Lord of 3. King­domes, woed and sought vnto, by all the Catholike Princes, palliate his religi­on, in hope of a Bishoprick? These are poore and tooth­lesse aspersions. Then for our Ecclesiasticall estates, they are so par'de, and pol'de with duties, and impositi­ons (all which had their O­riginall from the Court of Rome) that the time of the charge of breeding vp a mi­nister, would raise him a better meanes then he hath in the Church in any other trade or trafficque whatso­euer The King is gracious [Page 147] to his seruants of all profes­sions. But a Countrey Mini­ster cannot inne for the har­uest of a whole yeere, what a Iesuite can get in an hours confession. Lastly, concer­ning these professors of po­uerty the Priests, and the Ie­suites, it is too well knowne they want no maintenance. What by traducing our Nation abroad, and sedu­cing our people at home, their bones are full of mar­row, and their eyes swell with fatnesse; and what the Statute hath taken from vs, cogging, and cheating hath drawen vpon them, I mean the priuie Tithes, and Bene­uolences [Page 148] of the Kingdome. But to choke this Obiecti­on in one word. That our meanes is no cause to keepe vs in this profession, witnes our Brethren in France and elsewhere, who without the same means, teach & preach the selfe same doctrine.

They also inform vs that your Ministers haue neither learning, nor hone­stie.

It is true indeede, they teach their Nouices, that the greatest Doctor in our Church, doth not vn­derstand the common grounds of Diuinity, and must ofBritanno-Ro­manus pag. 19. necessity bee put [Page 149] to his A. B. C. againe. But common reason can inform you, whether this bee true or not. Againe, they are onely the base fugitiues, and discontented runnagates of our own nation, that spread these rumours, who thinke their Countrie-men the grossest fooles in Christen­dome, that they dare thus amuse them, and lead them by the nose, with such im­possible assertions. And therefore I will giue you a touch heere, how other Pa­pists haue ingeniously ac­knowledged the learning, and piety of many Prote­stants. Aeneas Sylui­us de orig. Bo­hem. c. 35. Pope Pius com­mended [Page 150] Hus for learning, and purity of life;Alph. lib. 2. ad­uers. haeres. tit. Ador. haer. 2. Alphonsus de Castro Oecolampadius for all kinde of knowledge, and the tongues especially,In annot. in Tert. coron. Mi­litis. In defens. conc. Trid. l. 1. p. 41. Rhe­nanus also Conradus Pellican as a man of a wonderfull sanctity, and erudition; An­dradius likewise, Chemnitius for a man of a sharpe wit, and great iudgement; Co­sterus all the Protestants for their ciuill behauiour, their almes, their building of ho­spitals, and forbearing from reuiling, & swearing;Enchirid. c. 2. p. 101. De pro­hib. l. 2. c. 13. Gret­zer himselfe, our ordinarie writers to bee (for the most part) of great learning,Recherches de la Fraunce, pag. 910. & 511. and iudgement, Stephen Paschier [Page 151] held Caluin worthie (set his opinions aside) to be com­pared for zeale and learning to the chiefe Doctors of the Catholique Church.Lib. 11. epist. 11. Epist. Eras­mus held Luther of that inte­gritie of life, that his very e­nemies had nothing to cast in his dish;Lindan. l. 3. Strom. cap. 33. Lindanus ac­knowledged Melancthon to be adorned with all kind of learning. In a word, your Writers themselues did so applaud the persons of their aduersaries for learning, and pietie, thatIndex expurg. distinct. 2. Pope Clement the 8. was faine to com­mand all your Controuer­sie-writers to bee reuiewed; and these graces, and praises [Page 152] bestowed on our men, to be blotted out, and expunged. And therefore when you next heare a Iesuite in this theme, thinke vpon these true relations, and withall laugh at him, and pray for him.

Sir, I haue receiued some satisfaction, that mat­ters are not so farre out of square in the Church of En­gland, as I haue beene infor­med. But yet my consci­ence will not serue mee, to come to your congregati­ons, because there are (be­side these triuiall) many o­ther points of doctrine ne­uer heard of amongst Pro­testants, [Page 153] which be in very deed the Caballas, and my­steries of the Romane-Ca­tholique Religion. You haue beene very tedious in your answeres and declara­tions, I pray you therefore bestow the last Chapter vpon me, to shew the reasons, why so many Ladies, and good Soules refuse to con­forme themselues to the Church of England.

With all my heart, I will therefore end my speach with the summing vp this fifth Chapter, and leaue the euent to God, and your Conscience.

[Page 154]1. The meanes of our Churchmen are not so great, as to make them maintaine a false religion, but their religion is so true, as it makes them contented with any meanes.

2. Yet in other countries, where no hope of prefer­ment appeares, there ap­peares an equall zeale of our Religion.

3. Our Church-men are com­mended for their liues, and learning, by the pens of their prime aduersa­ries.

CHAP. 6. Reasons of refusall to leaue the Romish religion, collected out of printed Authors.

I Cannot leaue my Religion.