I Vnfainedlie beleeue that there is one, immortall, vn­compoūded, vnlimited Es­sence, which created this worlde and furnished the shop therof with wonder­ful variety: who since doth guide & governe the same by a prescribed and regular order, taking imme­diate notice not only of Angels offices & mens actions, but of every yea the smallest and basest thing in the world, not permitting any thing to the lust of fortune, or commande of destiny; this supernall power I call God, and avow him to be the maintainer and rewarder of vertue, the re­venger and iudge of wickednes, and I ascribe vn­to him heauen for his throne, and the bal of the earth for his footstoole, & I subiect vnto his ab­solute commande all the powers of heauen and earth, and render vnto him obedience, praier, & thanksgiving for his tribute.

That there is such a God (beside the argu­ments which we haue from the booke of Nature [Page 4] S. Antonies Booke (liber meus ô philosophe! est [...]) in which it is true of every severall which S. Augustine hath of the heauens, Clamat coelum Deo, tu me fecisti.) I appeale to the consci­ence of the most desperat forlone wretch in the world, tell me whosoeuer thou be, that hast thy conscience most deaded & scared with a hot y­ron, when thou committest a sinne, and thinkest that thou hast a vaile cast before the eies of God, and resoluest thus in thy hart, Who seeth me? I am compassed about with darknesse, the wals cover me, whom need I to feare? the most high will not remember my sinnes;Nec consci­entia nostra nobis tam [...]e [...]e diem di­ceret, nisi a­li [...]m Iudicē, alia subsel­lia reformi­dares. Mor. [...]. [...]ie ver. c. 34. yet tell me I say, why is thy heart so disquieted within thee? why is thy countenance cast downe for shame? why do thy knees smite togither, and thy ioints shiuer for feare? If there be no power that doth know, or can punish thy fault, what neede this anguish? But I wot well that these stirring mo­tions within thee, are as so many summons to put thee in minde that there is a God in thy cō ­science which seeth thy sinne, and will arraigne thee for the same, and awarde condemnation a­gainst thee, if thou prevent not his iudgement by repentance.

I beleeue this God is one, as it is said in Deu­teronomie, [Page 5] Audi Israel, Deus tuus Deus vnus este there is not for every kingdome a God, a God for Zidon, a God for Amon, a God for Moab, & a God for Ekron, but one alone God manageth the affaires of the whole world, for if it bee true in goverment of an earthly kingdome, [...], much more in the being of a Deitie, for a multitude of Gods would crosse and incū ­ber the designes one of another, & none should be omnipotent, and so there should be a tumul­tuous disorder in the goverment of the world, which Ovid pointeth out vnto vs saying,

And therefore it is well said of Tertullian. Si non est vnus, non est. lib. 1. aduers. man. cap. 3. S^t. Bernards worde is v­nissimus.

This God is simply one in nature & essence, yet this one God doth subsist in three persons, each of them severally communicating in the whole of that one nature and essence: yet so as we cānot say that there are three Gods, but one God,Alius perso­nalitèr non aliud esse [...] ­rialitèr [...] for though the persons bee distinguished in number, yet they be not devided in Essence: which is a mistery to which mans vnderstāding [Page 6] must vaile, seeing that it hath not pleased God wholy to reueale it to the sonnes of men, and that the Cherubins do cover their fa­ces before it, as being not able to apprehend the perfit view thereof. Wherefore let vs say with holy Moses, Hiddē things belong vnto thee ô Lord, but revealed things vnto vs and our children; & let vs only learne as much of this vnity, & Trinity, as it hath pleased God to reueale vnto vs in his word, alwaies remembring that saying of

& that of another, De Deo cū dicitur nō potest dici.

[...].That there are three persons in the Deitie, the Father, the Sonne, and the holy Ghost, as it may be proved by many pregnāt places of scrip­ture, so it is evidēt from the baptisme of Christ in Iordan, where the Sonne was baptized by Iohn, the holy Ghost descended in the visible forme of a Doue, the Father gaue witnesse from heauen that this was his beloued sonne, &c: vpō which place S. Augustine giueth the note, Qui nescis tri­uitatem, ito ad Iordanem; And an other Father, Conveniat mens tua Sanctum Iohānem in Iordane. And yet that there is likewise an vnity of Esséce, of which without inequality the whole Trinity [Page 7] doth participate, may bee proved by an vsuall forme of speech in the Hebrew originall, when speaking of God, a nowne of the plural number is ioined with a verbe of the singular, as in the beginning of Genesis. 1. In principio creavit Elo­him (1) Dij coelum & terram-Dij for the persons in the plurall number & creavit to note the vnitie of the Essence in the singular number.

This Trinity of persons thus cōspiring in the vnity of Essence, is notwithstanding distinguish­ed by attributes, and proprieties.

These attributes or properties are twofold

• 1 Incommunicable. and
• 2 Communicable.

Incom­munica­ble pro­prieties are,

• 1. Of the Father, to be vnbegotten.
• 2. Of the Sonne, to bee begotten, the curious search of whose generati­on is sealed vp with that saying of Gre­gory Nazianzene, [...]. And Irenaeus, Si quis dixerit, Quo­modo filius à patre prolatus est? Dicimus et, Quia prolationem istam sive generati­onem eius Inenarrabilem existentem ne­mo novit, non Valentinus, non Marcion, [Page 8] neque Saturninus, ne (que) [...]asilides, ne (que) An­geli ne (que) Archangeli, nee principes, ne (que) potestates, nisisolus quigenerauit pater, & qui natus est filius.
• 3. Of the holy Ghost to be procee­ding.

How the generation of the Sonne, and the procession of the holy Ghost do differ, I cannot tell, only I say with S. Augustine that they do dif­fer, sedego distinguere nescio, non valeo, nō sufficio.

The communicable proprieties are, simple, infinite, immutable, eternall, iust, mercifull, onlie wise, omnipotent, of which the three persons doe inseparably communicate.

Out of these proprieties doe issue Apotelesma­ta, and actions, in which the Trinity doe likewise severally, yet inseperably, cōmunicate, I say in­seperably according to that Rule of the Schooles, Opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisa: by which wee may learne to vnderstand that other of S. August: Trinitas inseperabilitèr operatur, to be spoken onlie of such workes which God doth without his Essence in his Creatures These [Page 9] outward actions of the Trinity do belong vnto one of these three heads.

viz

• 1. Creation,
• 2. Redemption,
• 3. Sanctification.

All comprised in that hymne of S^t. Augustine Gloria patri qui ereauit nos, Gloria filio qui redemit nos, Gloria Sp. S. qui sanctificauit nos. Med. 33. cap.

Creation is

• 1. Of the world in generall.
• 2. Of man in speciall.

God created the fabricke of the world of no­thing;

bestowing but sixe daies for the making and a­dorning of it, and ever since by his watchfull eie of providence hath and doth carefully gouerne the same. Which Plato coulde teach vs, who a­voweth it to be one, & the selfe same supreame powers office to be [...], & [...]. We con­dēne therefore the blasphemy of the Epicures, which make our God an idle and carelesse God, like vnto Baal in the booke of Kings which was a sleepe and must be awaked; as also the opinion of Averroes (vpon how goodly pretence soever [Page 10] builded▪) who hemd the providence of God with in the circle of the Moone, saying as it is in Iob, The clowds hide him that he cannot see, and he walketh in the circle of heavē; thinking it absurd ad hoc deducere Dei maiestatem, vt sciat quot culices nascuntur.

For wee concerning our God haue learned of a better Master, that although he hath his dwel­ling on high, yet he abaseth himselfe to beholde things in heauen and earth, that he is a God not only of the mountaines, but of the vallies like­wise, lending his providence to the examinatiō of things of the least consequence, as feeding of Rauens, lighting of sparrowes vpon the ground, clothing of Lilies, and numbering of haires. A doctrine not fully beleeued of them, who, when they see the wicked to builde heapes of sinne as high as Bable, and yet to escape the vengance of God, whē otherwise the godly are vnder his rod [Page 11] and punishment, do breake out into blasphemy, and some out openly, that which Davids foole did but say in his heart. Non est Deus. Morn. de ver. Ret. Ch. cap. 12. Pompeium (que), dijs obicis. Luc. 9. lib. Hence Cato woulde faine haue God to giue him a rea­son-why Caesar overcame Pompey; and Hercules in the Poet complaines in the extremity of tor­ment, that he which had freed the world of rob­bers, and sauage beasts, and beene profitable to all men, had liued in miserie, and shoulde die in shame: when on the contrary, Euristeus a tirant did liue in the ruffe of pride, & was liues-like, & the rod of God was not vpon him. Et sunt qui credere possunt esse Deos? Neither did the mindes of heathen men only, but of Gods Saints also totter and reele in their iudgements cōcerning providence, for there was a time when Ecclesia­stes complained, Behold the teares of the oppressed, & none comforts them: & likewise Habacuck, Thou art a God of pure eies, and canst not see evil, thou cāst not behold wickednes, wherefore dost thou looke vpō the transgressours, and holdest thy tongue, when the wicked deuours the man that is more righteous then he? But to stop the mouths of heathen men, and the better to settle the strugling thoughts of all Christians, I will say no more thē that which Ec­clesiastes, & Habaouch, vpon better advise of Gods [Page 12] alwaies righteous iudgements, and after the tē ­pest of their thoughts was alaid, haue avowed before me; to wit, that howsoeuer God doth seeme not to see or to winke at the wicked, yet indeed if we suspend our hasty iudgmēt a while, and waite his patience til he hath whet his glit­tering sword, and his hand shall take holde on iudgment, we shal find that of Moses to be true, That hee rewardeth to their face them that hate him, to bring them to destruction; for so speaketh Ecclesiastes. If in a Country thou seest the oppression of the poore, and the defrauding of iudgement and iustice, bee not astonied at the matter, for hee that is higher then the highest regardeth, and there bee higher then they, & Habacuck likwise ô Lord Thou hast ordained them for iudgement, & O God thou hast established them for correction, if not in this world, yet vndoubtedly in the worlde to come. For J remember that the Apostle giueth it for a note, that because the Thessaloniās were afflicted with persequutions by wicked men, that this was an argumēt, [...]. 2. Thess. 1.5. That there is a iudgement to come, in which it should goe well with them and as ill with their enemies. Recepisti bona in vitâ tuâ & Lazarus similitèr mala. Luc. 16.

This God hauing created all things in the stage of the world by a word onely of his mouth, be­ing come in the 6. day to create man, as being a worke of more excellency, and therefore more difficulty, doth as it were call a councell, and ad­vise with the other persons of the Trinity, Veni­te, faciamus hominem, nor simply so, but a more excellent creature thē the rest, In similitudinem nostram, [...], Naz. Not only let vs make man, but let vs invest him with liberties and priuiledges aboue other creatures, & make him a None-such in the world, to rule over fishes of the sea, birds of the aire, & beasts that walke vpon the plane of the earth.

So then man was created of the dust of the earth, and God breathed into him the soule of life, Diuinae particulam aura. Hor. and had infusde from aboue such supernaturall graces, that hee was indeed the mirror of Gods creatures, and minion of the world, like vnto God, vpon whō the alone God had conferred in abundant mea­sure, all his speciall ornaments; for hee had no [Page 14] darknesse in his vnderstanding, nor perversnesse in his will, nor Rebellion in his affections, no sicknes nor crasines in his whole body, nor ne­ver should haue had, if neuer mispending this rich dowry of God, hee did neuer runne bake­rupt beyonde the bounds of Gods commande­ments. But this man thus highly exalted in the loue of God, Peacock-like taking a view of his own glory, discontinued his wonted obedience to his Soueraigne, nor only so, but hauing all that he could aske or thought he should receiue from God,Qui mandu canerunt vt essent quasi Dio, perdide­runt quod e­rant facto homines im­morrales. August. betooke himselfe to the Diuell to serue him vpon credit only of better pay, Eritis sicut Dij, thinking by violence to breake into heauen, and to exalt his Throne by the Throne of the Almighty.

But foolish man, by this his Apostasie and wilfull disobedience, forfeited his former more blessed estate, and was stript of his Masters liue­ry, and all his excellent graces, dispossessed of Paradice, and sent vnto the Divell to pay him his wages for his former seruice, and all his po­sterity by the guilt of his transgression haue their nature defiled, and are abandoned of God, and entitled to the Divel for his children and of­spring, a wicked seede, witches children, and sonnes [Page 15] of Beliall.

And now ô yee sonnes of men, saith God by his Prophet Micheas, c. 6. v. 5. Remember what Ba­lak king of Moab had deuised, and what Balarn the Sonne of Beor answered him, that you may knowe the righteousnes of the Lord, for so I hope I may apply this prophesie. O yee sonnes of men now at this time, during our bondage vnder the divel, remember what the Prince of darknes had devi­sed against vs, and how Iesus Christ the sonne of the living God, hath answered him, and stopt his mouth with a voice of blood, and nailed his ac­cusation to a Crosse, that yee may knowe the righteousnes, nor that only, but the exceeding loue and rich mercy of the Lorde to mankinde: for there being no way to free vs out of the po­wer of the Devill, but by satisfying the iustice of God for the former transgression, God the Fa­ther in the fulnesse of time sent his beloued Son made of a woman, and clothed in our flesh, by the shedding of his precious bloud to redeeme out of the power of the Devill all those, that by faith apply the merite of his passion vnto them­selues, and doe afterwarde shew their thankful­nes vnto God for so great Redemption. I be­leeue then, that Jesus Christ the only Sonne of [Page 16] God coessential to the Father and the holy Ghost was incarnate of the substance of the ever-bles­sed Virgin Mary, by the operation of the holy Spirit; that as Sampson married a wife in Tim­nah, of the daughters of the Philistins, that hee might seeke an occasion against the Philistins, for at that time the Philistins reigned ouer Israel. Iud. 14.4. So he by espousing our flesh, and by being become the seede of the woman, of Abraham, of Dauid, and our brother might condemne Sinne in the flesh, and by his power shrowded vnder this vaile ouerthrow and dispoile the strong mā of his possession, then was fulfilled that of S^t. Augustine, Christus pectatumest, & nos Iustitia. Christ is made sinne, and wee the righteousnesse of God in him.

So that in the person of Christ, I confesse 2. natures, the one Diuine, the other Humane, by the Diuine nature, I doe not vnderstand the Di­vine nature, simply and absolutly, as it is commō to all the three persons in the Trinity (for wee may not say, that the whole Trinity was incar­nate) but I vnderstand these words, Diuine na­ture, Relatiuely of the Nature only of the Sonne of God who is the second Person in the Trinity, as also by Humane Nature, I do not meane ths [Page 17] Generall or speciall nature of man, but the nature considered in the Iudiuiduum only, to wit, that substance of the humane nature which in the wombe of the Virgin Mary, the Sonne of God did assume into the vnity of his person. And these 2. Natures I confesse, to bee vnited in one person, [...] truely and [...], perfectly, & [...] indiuisibly, & [...] distinctly, in which 4. words, 4. principall heresies touching the per­son of our Sauiour of the Arians, Apolinarians, Nestorians, Euticheans, were confuted in 4. seue­rall councells, Nice, Constantinople, Ephesus, Calce­don. Yet in this doctrine we must heedfully be­ware of 2. extreames.

The first, that we do not thinke that the Deity assuming is changed into the Humanity assumed, assumpsit quod non erat, non amisit quod erat, saith S. Augustine: nor the manhoode assumed into the Deitie assuming, but each remaineth entire in his essentiall properties, yet without division of the person; Salvâ proprietate vtrius (que) naturae suscepta est à maiestate humilitas, à virtute infirmitas, ab ae­ternitate mortalitas, Leo ep. ad Flau: The second, that yet notwithstanding we holde for good all such propositions where that is attributed vnto the subiect in concreto, which is to be vnderstood [Page 18] [...] (as S. Cyrill speakes) in the same sub­iect; especially if the Attribute be [...] and an effect of the office of Mediatorship, As God redeemed the world by his blood, the God of glory was crucified, and we condemne for Blasphemous that saying of Nestorius, Noli gloriari Iudee, non enim Deum crucifixisti, sed hominē, as denying the two natures in 1. Hypostasis, and implying that the mā Iesus was assumed into the society only of the Di­vinity, and that [...] as one spea­keth of the same Heresie. To deliver al this more plainly, Christ Iesus the second person in the Tri­nitie assumed our whole nature both body and soule (Totus totum assumpsit me, vt toti mihi salu­tem gratificaret, quod enim inassumptibile est, incu­rabile est, Pet. Lomb. lib. 3. dist. 2.) into the vnitie of his person, and therein performed the whole worke of our Redemption, Non Mediator homo praeter Deitatem, non Mediator Deus praeter huma­nitatem, sed inter divinitatem solam & humanita­tem solam mediatrix est humana divinitas & diui­na humanitas. Aug.

Which worke of redemption consisteth of two partes.

• 1. Satisfaction for sin both in culpâ & poenâ.
• 2. Intercession.

[Page 19]The one performed by him in the state of Humiliation by his

• 1. Incarnation.
• 2. Passion
  • Externall.
  • Internall.
• 3. Crucifying.
• 4. Death.
• 5. Buriall.
• 6. Descent into hell.

The other in his estate of Exaltation & glory.

I beleeue that God, I doe not say approued, or suggested, or furthered, but permitted, & di­rected, and J may truely say, willed and ordeined the fal of Adā, that thereby he might take occa­siō to manifest his glory, & that in two respects.

1 In erecting a consistorie and tribunall for his iustice.

2 In exposing to the view of all mē the inex­haustible treasure of his rich mercy, or that I may speake in the words of a Prophet. In open­ing of a fountaine of mercy to the house of Dauid, & to the Inhabitants of Ierusalem, & to all the Israel of God, for sinne, and for vncleannesse.

Concerning the first, I confesse that there cā no other reason be assigned of the reiection of the wicked, but that of Christ in the Gospell, Etiam pater quia sic placuit tibi: Non dicit, qua ra­tione sic patri placuit, sed tantū gratias agit patri, [Page 21] quod sic illi placuit. Chrys. Or to speake to the ca­pacity of the ignorant, but the alone absolute will of God ordeining, and as I may so speake adiudging to distruction the wicked before they were presented vpon the stage of the world, or had done either good or euil. For hath the Pot­ter power of a lump of clay, to make a vessell to dishonour, and shall not the Almighty Iehouah by his vnlimited and transcendent power, or­daine vessells of wrath for the euill day, and for destruction? Seeing he is the Lord in the parable of Matthew, who said, An non licet mihi quod volo facere in meis? Yet againe I confesse that God condemneth not into hel any man, but for sinnes and trespases, for I hold this to bee a true position in Diuinity, that sinne is not the cause of reiection, yet may be, and indeed is the meri­torious and impulsiue cause of damnatiō; wher­fore whosoeuer thou art that settest thy face a­gainst heauen, and openest thy mouth in blas­phemies against God, lay thy hand vpon thy mouth, and looke backe vnto the fall of Adam, Looke vnto the Rocke whence yee are hewen, and to the hole of the pit whence yee are digged. Is. 51.1. v. and consider what thou broughtest with thee from thy natiuity, and from thy Fathers house. [Page 22] Doe not censure God in thy blasphemous thoughts, as if vpon lust only, and not of deser­ued iustice he did award sentence of condemna­tion against thee: and I could also wish that ma­ny men would be more sparing to scan this do­ctrine, and chose rather to admire and magni­fie, then strictly to examine by the Canon of our reason, the secret and hidden will of God; saying with S^t Paul, O the deepnesse both of the wisdome and knowledge of God, how vnsearchable are his iudgements, and his waies past finding out. And with S^t Augustine, Disputare vis mecum mî­rare mecum, & exclama, ô altitudo! Ambo consen­tiamus in pauore, ne in errore pereamus.

Concerning the second I beleeue, that al mē being infected from Adams sinne (not only with imputatiue guilt, as Pighius would haue it, but by naturall corruption also, as S^t Paul avouch­eth) haue iust cause inhering and residing in thē at their birth, for which they should bee reiect­ed of God, & left weltering in their filthy blood to the contempt of their person, yea to be sent into hell to haue their originall impiety expia­ted with brimstone: but that God for the glory & riches of his mercy, being loath to wreak his fury in the general perditiō of al mākind, not of [Page 14] foreseene either workes, or faith, but of his good pleasure, and only meere mercy hath called some out of the cursed estate of all mankinde, on whō to bestow fauour, & the kingdome of his loue, ordaining them in his secret counsell, to be Citi­zens with the Angels of the heauenly Ierusalem, and heires of blisse and coheires with Christ, And doth call them at due time, some at the third hower, and some at the eleventh, if not outwardly all by his word, yet inwardly all by the hidden vertue, and efficatious power of his holy spirit, out of the power of darknes, to be of the houshold of God, & in the bosome of the Church, there to be conse­crated by Baptisme, nourished at the Lords table, instructed by the word, governed by his spirit, & even then he bestoweth vpon them his Beloved, and with him [...], he giveth remission both of sinnes, and punishment, and all the benefits and merits not of his passion only but of his in­carnation also: and hath giuē vs the hand of faith, to reach and apply them vnto our selues, yea to owne, & possesse them, as truely, as if ours, not by imputation only, but originally and by inhae­sion; so that before God all the company of the faithfull are accounted as only one Numerical bo­dy with Christ. Sicut corpus vnum et membra habet [Page 23] multa, sic & Christus. 1. Cor. 11.12. where by Chri­stus is ment Ecclesia Christi, the Church of Christ head and body, the vine and branches; for the spirit of God by his sanctifying power by little and little doth worke away the old mā of our cor­ruption, & doth put on vs a new creature, making vs really partakers of the substaunce of the flesh, yea of the whole person of Christ, & his proper ornaments and graces, as righteousnes and san­ctification. The which great blessing of our eve­ry way vndeserued redemption, whē I seriouslie revolue with my selfe, I cannot but breake forth into praise, in the words of Zachary, Blessed be the Lord God of Israell, because he hath visited & redee­med his people, &c. And to vse those words of ad­miratiō otherwise applied I cōfesse in the book of Numbers; According vnto this time, it shall bee said of Iacob and Israel what hath God wrought?

Man having receiued these rich favours of God in his creation and redemption, hath no­thing charged vpon him for his tribute, but only to shew a good faithfulnes to adorne his christian profession, and to be carefull to shew forth good workes. Wherefore I confesse vnto the glory of God, that every one of Gods children, which hath his sinnes washed away in the bloud of the [Page 24] Lamb,Extra cau­sam Iustifi­cationis ne­mo potest b [...] na opera [...]a­tis magnifi­ce commendare. Luth. hath it not left vnto him as Arbitrary, but hath a necessity laid vpō him to do good works, and that in these respects following.

1. In respect of God, it being his will & com­mandement that they should be done, by such our obedience to testifie our thankfulnes for his great mercies of Creation and Redemption.

2 In respect of our selues, that wee by these fruits of Sanctification, as by certaine markes in the Kings high way, for they be viae regni, Ber. may knowe whether wee bee in the way of saluation or no, and be led backward to a cer­tainty of our Iustification, and effectuall Voca­tion, and Election, & so finding our names writ­ten in the booke of life, may be perswaded Cer­titudine fidei, cui non potest subesse falsum, of our future glorification.

3 In respect of others. 1. Ne quis de nobis con­queri possit. Philip. cap. 2.

2 That other men seeing our good workes, may be allured to glorifie our Father which is in heauen, & to say as the Gentiles to the Iewes, in the pro­phesie of Zachary, Ambulabimus vobiscum, for we haue heard that God is with you. This truth be­ing alwaies resolued on, that our best workes are not perfect in their owne esteeme & value, [Page 25] if examined according to the precise rule of the Decalogue (lex spiritualis est, ego autem homo car­nalis) and in the district iudgement of God, and therefore away with merit, and let vs say with S. Augustine, Vae laudabili etiāvitae hominum, si re, motâ misericordiâ discutias eam Domine: and as­suredly every one of vs may confesse with An­selmus, Terret me vita mea, nam diligenter discus­sa apparet mihi aut peccatū, aut sterilitas, tota vitae mea: and I conclude this point with the wordes of Petrus a Soto a Papist in his Scholia vpon this Article in the Confession of Wirtenberge, O si cog­noscant se homines, & qui gloriantur in domino glorientur.

God maketh his will knowne two manner of waies. 1. By his works [...], of which I haue spoken in the Creation,

2. In his word.

Of the word of God.

Not [...], the substantiall worde of God, of whom before, Verbum Christum & lu­men.

But [...] & [...], the enuncia­tiue, and created word of God Verbum Christi & Lucerna, called somtimes simply the Scriptures, somtimes with an Emphasis, the Holy (Rom. 12) [Page 26] and Sacred (2. Tim. 3. Ch.) Scriptures

That they are

• 1. The word of God,
• 2. Sufficient to saluation.
• 3. Plaine and therefore to be translated.
• 4. By whom they are to haue their sence.

I acknowledge all these bookes which make vp [...] as S. Chrysostome speaketh, The Canon and Body of holie writ, which we call the holy Scriptures, to be inspired by the holie Ghost, and to be vndoubtedlie the true word of God, of which I am perswaded not so much by the iudgement of the Church, as for these reasons following.

1. From the Maiestie of God, speaking in the scriptures, for in them nothing is set downe in so easie and simple forme of words, but I doe per­ceaue characters engrave by the finger of God, & genium humano maiorem.

2. From the efficacie of the scripture, for mee thinkes, while I read, my hart doth burne within me, as the hearts of the two disciples that went with Christ to Emaus: so that I cōfesse with the Prophet. Surely as the raigne commeth downe, and the snow from heauen, and returneth not thither a­gaine, [Page 27] but watereth the earth, and causeth it to bring forth and bud so is my word, &c. This I confesse a­gainst all those Vatican Rabsakes, who having a­damant harts, the which the spirit of the Lorde cannot pierce, doe impeach the power of this word: Hosius that doth cal it, or approues it to be called, egenum quoddam elementum; Stephen Pale­tus, rem inanimatam, Melchior Canus, mortuum iu­dicem; & Eckius more blasphemously, atramenta­riam scripturam; & I condemne Angelus Politia­nus, as blasphemous, that preferred Pindarus his Odes before the Psalmes of Dauid. Quid palea ad triticum? Nonne verbum meum est instar ignis (di­cit Iehovah) tanquam malleus conterens petram?

3. Frō the event of prophesies, everie one cō ­pleat in his proper time, although foretold long before, to wit, The people of Israels bondage in Aegypt, and delivery frō thence. The kingdome to cōtinue in the line of Iudah, vntil Christ came in the flesh. The prophesie of Iosias, given by name three hūdred years before his cradle. The captivity into Babylon, and freedome by Cyrus. The time, place, & manner of Christs birth, The reiection of the Jews, & calling of the Gentiles. So that God might well proclaime of himselfe, as it is in Isay, I am God, & there is none other, and [Page 28] there is none other, & there is nothing like me, which declare the last things from the beginning, and from of old the things, &c: saying, my councell shal stand, and I will do, whatsoever I will, evē so, good Lord, thy word, is the word of Truth, yea as one of thy Apostles hath it more Emphatically, [...] it is truth itselfe, and one iod thereof shall not fall vnto the grounde vnfulfilled, for though the Scheme of the world weare away, & the Prophets doe not liue for ever, yet thou ô Lorde with thy Angels wilt come to performe their prophesies in their moments.

4. And especially frō the testimony of the spi­rit of God, which perswadeth vnto our souls & consciences, the vndoubted truth of that word, which some doe contemne and deride as foolish­nes; and hence I iudge it to be, that martyrs being resolved by the powerfull perswasiō of this spi­rit, of the truth hereof, doe boldly offer to seale the same with their blood, protesting that no­thing shall remoue them frō profession of this truth,Vius. Lirin. non minae, non blandi menta, non vita, non mors, non palatium, non satellites, non imperator, non imperium, non homines, non demones.

2. I beleeue that almighty God hath made knowne vnto vs in his writtē word so much of [Page 29] his will, as is sufficient for the instruction of the faithfull, without the patching too of Traditiōs; So that I account that Canon of the Councell of Trent to be blasphemous, by which it is provi­ded, that Traditions are to be receiued pari pieta­tis affectu, with the written word of God, & cō ­cerning Traditions, I am wont to say with Saint Ambrose, Quod non legi vsurpare non debeo. That which I find not in the scripture ether expressed, or deducible by easie consequence I ought not to vse, and againe, Coeli mysterium me doceat Deus, qui me condidit, non homo, qui se ipsum ignoravit, and with Origene. Non sum aliorum sermonum discipulus nisi caelestium.

3. This Scripture so sufficient, I acknowledg to be easie, & facile, fitted to the capacity of the simplest, whose vnderstanding God hath not shut vp in that iudgement, vobis non datum est nosse misteria regni: so that the weakling in faith thence may draw milk for his weak stomake, & the more able Christian, may haue stronger meat to better his groath in the mystery of faith: wher­fore I could wish that the Scriptures were per­mitted to every natiō, & language vnder heauē, in their owne familiar tongue, that so every mā may haue and read them to his comfort: for [Page 30] why should I not with that the spirit of God did not only rest vpon Moses, and the seauēty ancient men in the book of Numbers, but that Eldad and Medad, yea & all the Lords people were prophets, & that the Lord would put his spirit vpon them.

That we might say of the whole world, as S. Hierome of Bethlehem, Quocun (que) te verteris arator stiuam tenens alleluiah decantat, & sudans messor psalmis se auocat, & curvâ attondens vitem falce vinitor aliquid Dauidicum cantat.

But since Scripturae non sunt in legendo sed in intelligendo, as S. Hierome contra Luciferianos wel observeth, & Apices, sine crimine, sensus in crimi­ne; Hil:de Trinitate: & seeing in thē some things are so difficulte, as that wee may truely say with the Eunuch to Philip, Quomodo possum in­telligere, si non aliquis viam praemonstret mihi? I woulde haue you for the sence of scripture not to advise 1 with humane reason, which is blind in matters of pietie: nor 2 secōdly with any Swen­feldian Enthusiast, that vaunts of immediate re­velations from the spirit of God: a lying spirit may speake in the mouth of such Prophets. Nor 3 with the Pope, that Tarpeian oracle, for I finde not warranted by Scripture anie infallibilitie in his iudgement, seeing he maie erre. Gerson in his [Page 31] Treatise, An liceat a papâ apellare in causis fidei saith papam deuiabilem à fide esse: & Catharinus in his Comment vpon the 2 to the Galat. Nihil pro­hibet papam errare posse etiam in fide & deficere, e­tiamsi quidam nouitij Scriptores ausi sint oppositū defendere praeter communem sensum Doctorum. Nor 4 with Councells, for 1 they cannot be called so often as the Church may want decision for sence 2 they are oftentimes an assemblie of ma­lignant persons against the godlie, as the coun­cell at Carmell against Elias, and at Gilead against Micheas, and at Trent against the Protestants, howsoeuer Campian be hyperbolicall in its cō ­mendation, Bone Deus quae Gentium varietas, qui delectus Episcoporum totius orbis, qui regum & Rerumpub: splendor, quae medulla Theologorum, quae sanctitas, quae lachrymae, quae ieiunia, qui flores Aca­demici, quae linguae, quanta subtilitas, quantus la­bor, quam infinita lectio, quantae virtutum, & stu­diorum diuitiae, Augustum illud sacrarium impleue­runt?

* Quae gentium varietas, qui delectus Episcopo­rum? In al but 270. Bishops and of them out of Italy 187. and to make vp this rabble Olaus magnus was intituled Arch: of Vpsala in Go­thia, and Robertus Venantius Arch: of Armah [Page 32] in Ireland, whence they neuer receiued peny of commodity.

* Qui regum & Rerump: splendor? Yet Henry the second, the French King next neighbor to Trent, al the time of Iulius the third was not summōned thither, & therevpō protest­ed by letters against the said Councel, which letters being thus indorsed, Sanctissimis at (que) in primis obseruandis in Christo patribus Conuē ­tus Tridentini, by reason of offence taken at the word Conuentus were like not to bee read in the Councel, they fearing, saith Amiot im­ployd in that businesse, that the King did e­steeme them all for Monkes.

* Quae Sanctitas? Yet two Bishops were there taken in Adultrery and stabbed, Illvr.

* Qui flores? Quos ego nō Synodi flores sed po­tiùs vrticas nominarem. Humf.

* Quae ieiunia? There is nothing true in this Hyperbole, but this, for the Embassa­dors of Charles the 9, the French King Du Ferriers, and Faber, to the said Councell held the third time vnder Paul 4, began an expo­stulatory oration in these wordes. Liceat P. S. nobis Oratoribus Regis Christianissimi ijsdem nunc verbis vobiscum agere quibus olim ege­runt [Page 33] Iudaeorum Oratores cum Aggeo Malachia, & Zacharia postremis Prophetis & alijs Dei Sa­cerdo tibus, qui tum Hierosolymis conuenerunt: Num Ieiunabimus & stebimus quinto adhuc & septimo mense? The reason of this Exordiū there followeth, Centum quinquaginta anni sunt & multo ampliùs, ex quibus Reges Christi­ani petierunt à pontificibus Romanis Ecclesiasti­cae disciplinae iam tum labentis restitutionē, &c.

* Quantus labor? To reforme nothing, Queene Mother her selfe in a letter could cō ­plaine that in 18 yeeres space nothing was there done, in which time and lesse Rome & Carthage in the second Punick warke did ac­tions remarkable.

Nor 5 with Fathers, for they are men, and may and doe erre; and againe they abrogate this au­thority from themselues, for so S^t. Augustine, Talis ego sum in scriptis aliorum, quales ego esse vo­lo intellectores meorum, and how did S. Augustine read other Fathers writings, hee will tell you himselfe, Cypriani literas non vt Canonicas habeo sed considero ex Canonicis. But with any of Gods children, I say, with any who hath the gift of Pro­phecy, which gift is not of mans wisdome but of the holy Ghost, and the holy Ghost we know [Page 34] is free, and not tied to any condition of men, & did inspire Amos a heardsman in Tekoa. Whom I would haue not vpon any Praetorian authori­ty to command men to beleeue whatsoeuer he list, as they in the Poet, Quod volumus sanctū est: but to proue the Spirit, and to examine Scrip­ture by Scripture, and to follow these rules fol­lowing.

1 To be acquainted with the words & Phra­ses of Scripture.

2 To humble himself in prayer vnto Almigh­ty God? vpon this hope.

3 To marke Antecedents & Consequences.

4 To obserue heedfully the occasion of the Text, the maine scope, & circumstances thereof.

5 To parallell like places: Ipsa verba Euangeli­ca secum portant expositiones suas. Aug.

6 To haue alwaies before his eies, for his [...], the measure of faith in the Articles of the Creede.

7 To advise with more thē one single Cōmē ­tary; and if the generall streame of Fathers run one way, not easily to be swaied by any priuate [...]eoterick opinion to the contrary. The learned Zanchius hath said it for me, Tollat Deus ex Eccle­siâ [Page 35] has Idololatrias, nam colere homines & eorum placita Idololatria est, and yet mistake me not, I haue heard a learned & most iudicious Doctor say, and I subscribe vnto him, that he would not willingly giue the sence of any Scripture vntill he had advised with Caluin.

Of the Church

• 1 The authority thereof.
• 2 The matter.
• 3 The forme.
• 4 The affections.
• 5 The head.
• 6 The Notes.

1. I confesse that by this immortall seede of the word, God hath begottē him a Church. So that the Scripture is the mother of the Church, and the Church the daughter of the Scripture: how preposterous then, I wil not say, blasphemous, is the iudgmēt of the Church of Rome, who set Ha­gar aboue Sara, and the daughters foote in the necke of the mother, and subiect the oracles of God to the censure of men, avowing the autho­rity of the Scriptures to be such, and such onlie as the Church doth afford it; yea more blasphe­mously, that the Scripture without the censure and approbation of the Church is in it selfe no more, and no more to be esteemed, then Aesops [Page 36] fables: know ye not ye Vaticā Rabsakes, that blas­phemers, and all lyers shal haue their part in the lake which burneth with fire & brimstone? Yea they debase the authority of the Scripture so farre belowe the Church, as, that they say ex­presly—Non omnem [...] esse peccatum: that e­very obliquity to the law of God is not a sinne: and yet Andradius erecting himselfe vpon his Porting all buskin, proclaimeth, Quicquid à Praela­torum Ecclesiae, ac maxime a Rom. pontificis iussu dissidet, immane esse peccatum; and againe, maiori scelere inuolui eum, qui pontificias, quam qui diui­nas leges perfregerit: and they account none to be obedient sonnes to their Sea, but such as wil say with Erasmus, that although indeed hee did knowe another sence then that of the Pope of Rome to be more consonant vnto the Text of Scripture; yet, Sed tamen, si hoc Ecclesia iusserit, credam: captiuaebo. n. intellectum meum in obsequium Ecclesiae. And Bellarmine himselfe, lib. 4. de Roman. pont. cap. 5. Si papa praeciperet vitium, aut prohibe­ret virtutem, Ecclesia teneretur credere, virtutem esse malam & vitium esse bonum, but it shoulde seeme this troubled him afterwards for in his Recognitions he endeauoureth to excuse it.

[Page 37]The matter of this Church is

• 1 Angells
• 2 Men

1 Angells, for not to conceale anie thing I knowe, I like not the sentence of M. Beza, and M. Perkins, be it spoken with reuerence to so worthy men, but choose rather to tread in the path of Antiquity, Et nemo bibens vetus Vinum sta­tim vult nouum, dicit enim vetus melius est. Luc. seing the learned Zanch. is perswaded that An­gells be parts of the mysticall body of Christ, and members of the Church, seeing they re­ceaue by the mediation of Christ, these bene­fits ensewing.

1 To be confirmed in their blessed estate.

2 To haue a more perfit Revelation of the wil of God touching the calling of the Gentiles.

3 To be reconciled to man, from whom they were averse before, as being executioners of Gods wrath vpon our sinnes, and hence is their ioie for our seuerall conuersions.

And I beleeue that this opinion is strongly maintained, and abetted with these places of Scripture: Ephes. 1.10. Coloss. 1.20.

2 Men. 1. Non Hypocrits, or wicked men, for howsoeuer they carry an outward profession of Sanctity, & the liuery of Christiās, yet indeed [Page 38] are they not true & liuing members of Christs body: for otherwise this would follow, that the Hypocrite being to receiue his portion in the firie lake, that Christ should condemne into hel, his owne members; only I must advise you, that in the iudgement of Charity you do esteeme al those for true members of Christ, which fashiō themselues to an outwarde conformity in the Church, alwaies remembring what S. Augustine answered Petilian charging him to be a repro­bate. In area domini sum vel frumentum, vel palea: sed huius areae ventilabrum non est lingua Petili­ani.

But 2. holy men, elect childrē, & Saints of God, for their sins being washed away in the bloud of the Lamb, they only are cloathed with the stole of righteousnes, and haue palmes in their hands, and do follow the lambe whither-soever he go­eth, singing honour, and praise, and immortalitie, to him that sitteth vpon the throne, and to the Lambe for evermore.

3. The inwarde forme of this Church is the bond of the spirit, by which the Saints of God dispersed over the whole earth of divers times, are knit togither and linked in a vnion to Christ their head, and a communion amongst thēselues.

[Page 39]4. I beleeue this Church to be invisible in re­spect of this inward forme, for although Momus desired, yet God never granted a window to the breast of mā, so that we cānot enter with a Cā ­dle to see their faith, their electiō, the Graces of the holy Ghost: & in respect of the better part, to wit, the Saints blessed in heaven, to whom as we cannot extend the torments of mallice, or the scourge of our tongue, so neither our bodily eies: yet visible in some particular churches, as now in England (for the welfare of which Church my praier hath ever bin that in the Canticles, Arise ô North and come ô South, and blow on this garden, that the spices therof may flow out) yet so as subiect to change, having a waxing, and a waning like the moone: for sometime we read that Christ saith of his Church, who is shee that looketh forth as the morning, faire as the moone, pure as the sonne terrible as an army with banners. Sometimes a­gaine we read of the church, that she is drivē by the red-dragō into the wildernes, & hath sent after her, a river of water, to swallow & drown her vp.

5. This Church is a body coupled togither by ioints. Eph. 4.16. and therefore must haue a head, the which head I cōfesse Christ, & Christ alone to be according to that, Coloss. 1.18. Et ipse caput [Page 40] corporis (i) Ecclesiae: for no other Creature what­soever can performe the offices of a head to this body, which are, vi intus agente, as Paule spea­keth, Eph. 5. To giue efficacy, & quickning to the same, and to powre foorth oile in great aboun­dance into the seaven lamps, which stand in the golden candlesticke in the temple, as it is in the vision of Zachary: Gregorius Meg none of the best Bi­shops of Rōe and immediate Predecessor to this Boniface, sic eragice de­clamitat Ego autem fiden­cer dico, quia quisquis se Vniuersalem Sacerdotem vocal, vel vocari desi de [...]at, in ela­tionae sua Antichristum prectortie quia super­hiendo se cae­teris praepo­ [...]is. and therefore the first, and best Bishops of Rome never durst arrogate vnto thē selues, to be the generall fathers, & heads of the Church, Verus successor Pauli dicet cū Paulo, Non quod dominemur fidei vestrae, sed adiutores sumus gaudij: Petri haeres audiet Petrum dicentem, Ne (que) vt dominantes in clerum. Ber. in ep. ad Eugen. Nor any in more corrupted times, vntill Boniface the 3. about 600. after Christ having absolved from Parricide Phocas, who had killed Mauricius the Emperour and his Lord, obtained in lew of this Cburch blessing, to be called the Oecumenicall and generall head of the Church; which ever since the Bishops of Rome haue continued (notwith­out their disadvātag, for it was not for nothing that Barcklay himselfe a Catholicke wrote thus to Clement the 8. Hanc potestatē sempèr censui om­nium fluctuum fontem esse, quibus bodiè haeresis tuū navigium lacessit: He giues instance in the Na­varrens, [Page 41] Grandfather, Father, and Sonne, who, their kingdome being given away by Iulius the second, revolted) and do seeke to mainetaine by a distinction minted by them. That Christ in­deed is the head of the triumphant, and Mili­tant Church both, and the Pope of the Militant only. Againe, That Christ is the head of the Church by soueraigne preheminence, in a more di­uine, ample, absolute, excellent, & transcendent sort but the Pope is head only Ministerially. Foolish men, that seeke to couer their ambition with such Figleaues, as these are, for what need Christ of a ministeriall head, to supply his presence in the Church; and if the Pope of Rome bee that head, how wisely hath Christ prouided, that Er­ror & Heresie shal neuer preuaile in it, seeing the Pope may erre, Non solum actu externo, in quaesti­one facti, errore exempli, in declaratione opinionis propriae, inijs quae obiter dicat, in medijs ante con­clusionem; sed etiam in rebus fidei, vt summus pon­tifex, vt publicum os Ecclesiae, in definitiuâ senten­tiâ; for many of them haue beene Heretikes, Anastatius the second is tormented in hell for the Heresie of Photinus, as Drantes Cant. 11. dell inf: reporteth (but he was factione Gibellinus saith Bellarmine, and therefore his Testimony against [Page 42] this or any Pope not available, Zepherin was a Montanist in Tertulliaus iudgement: Marcelliuus an Idolater according to Bellarmine himselfe, Liberius an Arrian and consented to the con­demnaiion of Athanasius. Yea flat Apostats, wit­nes Liràn in Math. 16. Legimus multos pontifices apostatâsse à fide, and this Bellarmine doth in some sort grant, when he faintly denieth it, if not ra­ther insinuateth the same. Non est propriè haereti­ca ista sententia, puta, papam errare posse. Est erro­nea & haeresi proxima, it may be an erroneus, a scandalous, an offensiue position, but nō est pro­priè Haeretica, They are his owne words.

6 The true markes acd badges of this Church are only two, the 1 sincere preaching of the word, & the 2 lawfull dispensation of the Sacraments, not Antiquity, nor multitude, nor miracles, nor the rest which Bellarmine repeateth to the number of foureteene.

1. The sincere preaching of the word to which we admit no body but him that is lawfully call'd by the Church, and Christian magistrate; we knowe where it is written: No man taketh this honor vnto himselfe, Nisi vocatus vt Aron; and that our Saviour did not intrude himselfe into the office of priesthoode, Missus sum à patre, à [Page 43] Meipso non veni; & his letters patens, are in these words, Thou art a Priest for euer after the order of Melchisedeche: and to that Demande whether the calling of our first Reformers were ordinary or extraordinary? I answere, it was in this respect Extraordinary, that when the ordinary Ministry was corrupted, God raised vp some of his better servants to reforme that which was amisse: and I deny that al such who haue this extraordinary calling, haue all of them & alwaies the gift of mi­racles; Iohn the Baptist did no miracles. Ioh. 10.41. And whereas they reply, that God did a miracle in his birth: and 2. that hee was of the linage sa­cerdotal: To the 1: I answere, the miracle which God did in his birth was knowne only to few: & 2. was done a great time before the Exequution of his charge: To the 2. that the charge which he entred vpon had nothing commō with the Le­viticall Priesthoode, wherefore his extraction could not authorize him to baptize. Neither yet do I see, how the Papists can obiect vnto Luther, and other ministers in the Reformed Churches to haue no lawful calling, seeing they receiue their ordination from themselues, and we do not deny but the Popish Bishops, in creating Ministers, howsoever they vse more ceremonies thē need [Page 44] of, truely to conferre the office vpon whō they lay their hands.

I professe that Ministers thus called haue a right to the vse of the Keies. The keies of the Church are the power of binding and loosing, of re­taining and remitting of sinnes.

I beleeue that sinnes are only remitted by God, for I acknowledge it to bee his incommu­nicable property to forgiue sinne; according as he proclaimeth of himselfe, Ego, ego sum, qui deleo iniquitates tuas propter me &c: and that mā hath but a secundary and ministeriall power, to wit, to publish forgiuenes of sinnes, to those whom God in heaven hath forgivē, for we are but Em­bassadors, and doe intreate for Christ sake, Recon­ciliamini Deo: otherwise if the minister doe take vpon him, [...], vpō any absolute pow­er resting in himselfe to forgiue sinnes, the sin­ner to be absolued may say vnto him, as Augu­stine hath it: Quid ego homo, nisi aeger sanandus? vis mihi esse medicus? mecum quaere medicum: for hee, sinfull man as he is, hath need of one to forgiue his sinnes likewise.

I acknowledge power in the minister to re­taine sin, and to award Excommunication, against desperate and scandalous offenders, only I could [Page 45] advise, they would remember, and practise these few rules following. 1 That such ecclesiasticall curses be denounced according vnto the worde of God.

2 That they put a difference betweene privat and publike sinnes, betweene delicta & scelera.

3 That they be not too sharp in their censures, remembring that of Chrysostome, Si Deus est tam benignus, vt quid sacerdos eius tam austerus?

Against the first, the Bishop of Rome highly offendeth, when euery Easter day he excommuni­cateth the Reformed Churches, before his solēne Masse; for whereas the Pope denounceth his curse against vs, Quòd haeretici, wee know the cause is false, & therfore the curse not effectual, seeing, as it is in the Prouerbs, A curse causelesse shall not come: & Neminem ligare debet iniqua Sen­tentia, Gelasius: and therefore wee saie with Ter­tullian, Dum à vobis damnamur, à Deo absoluimur.

2 The second note of the Church is the right­full administration of the Sacraments.

Now Sacraments are onlie two

• 1 Baptisme.
• 2 The Lords supper.

I confesse Baptisme to be a seale of the cove­nant of grace, and therefore children being contained [Page 46] in the covenant (promissio facta est vobis, et liberis vestris) are to receiue the seale of the covenant, and to be baptised, howsoever first the Pelagian, and since the Anabaptist with great fu­ry, and greater phrensie teach the contrary: and yet when I say Baptisme is a seale of the covenāt of Grace, I do not any way extenuat the efficacy of Baptisme: For I confesse Baptisme to be not only a signe or token what we receiue, but also an instrument or meane whereby wee receiue Grace: and to bee the dore of our actuall en­trance into Gods house, the first apparent beginning of life, [...] Bazil. a seale to the grace of election before receiued, but to our sanctification heere a step that hath not any before it. The efficacy of Baptisme I giue you in Tertullians wordes, Homo per aquam Baptismi licet à foris idem esse videatur, Tert. doc [...]r. resurrect. intus tamē alter efficitur, cum peccato natus sine peccato renas­citur & prioribus perit, succedentibus proficit, dete­rioribus exuitur, in meliora innovatur, persona tin­gitur & natura mutatur. And with the Poët:

So farre am I, which Campian impudently char­geth vpon vs, frō making Baptisme Adiaphoron, [Page 47] Si habeas recte si careas nihil damni.

Yet doe I not avouch that Baptisme is sim­ply necessary to saluation, for I am perswaded, that child may be saued which is prevented in his Baptisme, by suddaine death, and that saying of S. Bernard alwaies was of authority with me Non priuatio, sed contemptus Baptismi damnat; and that of S. Ambrose. Qui Sacramentum omit­tunt (to wit, in the case aboue specified) gratiam tamen, non amittunt; and I thinke, that S. August. if soberly vnderstood, is not so much my enemy in this point, as Papists and some Protestants do beleeue. For I doe conceiue that S^t. Augustine was more peremptory in this point, thereby to Euince against the Pelagians, that children were tainted with originall sinne: and therefore Extra feruorem disputationis cum Pelagianis, hee did somwhat remit of that seuerity, and we shal find in his booke de Bapt. contra Donatistas lib. 4. Cap. 22. that he is charitable to those that go out of this world vnwashed in Baptisme, Si fortè ad celebrandum mysterium Baptismi in angustijs tem­porū succurri nō potest: They are his own words: and I am not the only man of all the world that thus vnderstood S. Augustine, for S. Bernard in his 77. Epist. (whose iudgmēt of the same point [Page 48] what it was you haue before, addeth, Ab his ergo duabus columnis (S. August. is one, S. Ambros the other) crede mihi, difficilè avellor, cum his, in­quam, me aut errare aut sapere fateor.

I confesse originall sinne to be weakned, and bridled by Baptisme, yea takē awaie, quoad reatū & imputationem, but not quoad actum, & totali abolitione, as the Papists would haue it, for it stil remaineth in vs, as long as wee walke sub onere carnis, and is indeed a sinne, howsoeuer in Christ not imputed vnto the person in whō it is: or if you wil so haue it, I will giue you my iudgemēt of Concupiscence, remaining after Baptisme in Saint Augustines words, Remittitur in Baptisma­te, non finitur. And againe, Sed sufficit (inquis) quod in Baptismate accepi remissionem omnium peccatorum? Nunquid quia deleta est iniquitas, fi­nita est infirmitas? Adhuc carnem fragilem portas, adhuc corpus, quod corrumpitur aggrauat animam, adhuc vti (que) dicis, donec sanentur languores mei, Di­mitte nobis debita nostra. Baptisme is onlie to be dispensed by a minister, not by a laie man, much lesse by a woman: yet I am perswaded, that if a lay man, or woman haue de facto baptised, obser­uing the forme of words, the Baptisme is not to be repeated, Nescio an quis piè dixerit esse repe­tendum; [Page 49] Aug: S. Augustine was not himselfe vn­certaine what to thinke, but doubtfull whether any well minded man in the whole world could thinke otherwise: and I rest in the iudgement of a learned father amongst vs, whose words they are, piè fit, si minister tingat solus, at fit etiam, si tin­gat alius; and againe, malè factum est si laicus, D. Abbots loc. de Bapt. peius si faemina rem sacrosanctam hanc attigerit, sed fa­ctum est, & quod factum est, infectum esse non po­test.

We should indeed keep our selues within the li­mits of our vocations, each sexe apart, & there­fore when women Baptize (which I take to bee not a permission by lawe, but a presumption a­gainst law) they are to be censured as vsurpers of an others calling, who by vnsanctified hands execute that wherevnto the lawes of God, and his Church, haue deputed others. But yet farre be it from me herevpon, it being but a personall default, to disanull and annihilate the Action, and to make Baptisme no Baptisme to the pre­iudice of the Receiuer, for delictum cum capite semper ambulat; & factum alterius alteri nocere nō debet.

2 The other Sacrament is the Eucharist, in which the true body and bloude of Christ is gi­ven [Page 50] vs vnder the visible forme of bread, & wine, to bee receiued by the mouth of faith of everie beleeuer. And I am perswaded that as truely as the bread and wine is receiued by my hand, and conveied into my stomacke, so assuredly the bo­dy and bloode of Christ Iesus is receiued by the hand of faith, and conveied vnto my soule, and conscience, & this certainety is assured vnto me by those Emphaticall formes of speeches peculiar in the sacraments, by which the bread is tearmed the true body, and wine, the blood of Christ: so then the body of Christ is present in the sacrament, verè, non imaginariè, how be it non corporali prae­sentiâ, sed spirituali; according to that of S. Au­gustine, Quid paras ventrem, & dentes? crede, & manducasti.

Away then with the wheaten Idoll the Masse, and Popish Transubstantiation, for that there can be no such [...], or Transubstantiation, I protest vpon these reasons.

1 It crosseth the institution of Christ, he bid­eth vs to receaue his supper In mei recordationē, now we know that Recordatio is Rei absentis, non praesentis.

2 Christians would then be Anthropophagi, and the Lords table should bee like the house of [Page 47] Polyphemus in the Poet, ‘—Et trepidi tremerent subdentibus artus.’

3 This implies a blasphemy, for then Christ being chewed, and eaten, in ventrem cederet, and therefore according to the doctrine of the Gos­pell, in latrinam abijceretur.

4 Then the wicked should eate his flesh, and so haue eternall life.

5 We see the Accidents of bread, & wine to remaine, and therfore the propper substances of bread, & wine, must remaine, except we woulde haue an Accident to subsist without his proper substance, which is absurd in reason.

And I do accoūt that glosse which the master of the sentences doth set vpon this matter verie rediculous, to wit, that therefore the breade and wine being indeed vanished away, their accidēts must remaine to cover the flesh, and bloude of Christ.

1 Vt fides scilicet haberet meritum; Auerr [...]es in 12. metaph: Quoniam christiani manducant Deum quem adorant, fi [...] anima mea cum philoso­phis. quia fides nō habet meritū, vbi humana ratio praebet experimētū

2 Ne abborreat animus, si carnem ipsam oculi v­surparent.

3 Ne ab incredulis Religioni Christianae insulte­tur, as if they did eate mans flesh. I protest like­wise against the [...], and consubstantiation of [Page 48] the Lutherans, who doe faine a Coexistence of the body of Christ, in, sub, or cum pane, and I could wish that they would vse more moderation a­gainst their Opposits.

I conclude my iudgement of both sacramēts with this doctrine, that neither sacrament hath vim causatiuam gratiae, as the Papists speake, that I may explicate my selfe to the capacity of the simple, that there is not in the corporal elemēts of the Sacraments any supernaturall Grace inhe­rent and essentiall, but that the Sacraments are instruments & meanes, by the which the holy Ghost is effectually powerfull, to offer, exhibit, & apply, the merit of Christs passion, to every be­leeuer.

That which pessimè & pertinacissimè Eutyches as I read of him, I hope I may truely, and from a sober and Christian resolution averre: In hac fide genitus sum, vs (que) hodie vixi in ea, & opto mori,