A CONFESSION OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. Apoc. c. 18. ver. 2. Cecidit, cecidit Babylon illa magna. Senec. in Troas. — Hae manus Troiam erigent? Nullas habet spes Troia, si tales habet. Hil. de Syn. adversus Arrianos. Verè Drum nesciunt, atque utinam nescivent, cum procliviore enim veniâ ignorarant. Sisciens fallo. At Oxford, Printed by joseph Barnes. 1609. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. I Unfeignedly believe that there is one, immortal, uncompounded, unlimited Essence, which created this world and furnished the shop thereof with wonderful variety: who since doth guide & govern the same by a prescribed and regular order, taking immediate notice not only of Angels offices & men's actions, but of every yea the smallest and basest thing in the world, not permitting any thing to the lust of fortune, or command of destiny; this supernal power I call God, and avow him to be the maintainer and rewarder of virtue, the revenger and judge of wickedness, and I ascribe unto him heaven for his throne, and the bal of the earth for his footstool, & I subject unto his absolute command all the powers of heaven and earth, and render unto him obedience, prayer, & thanksgiving for his tribute. That there is such a God (beside the arguments which we have from the book of Nature S. Antony's Book (liber meus o philosophe! est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) in which it is true of every several which S. Augustine hath of the heavens, Clamat coelum Deo, tu me fecisti.) I appeal to the conscience of the most desperate forlone wretch in the world, tell me whosoever thou be, that hast thy conscience most deadened & scared with a hot iron, when thou committest a sin, and thinkest that thou hast a vail cast before the eyes of God, and resolvest thus in thy heart, Who seethe me? I am compassed about with darkness, the walls cover me, whom need I to fear? the most high will not remember my sins; Nec conscientia nostra nobis tam ●e●e diem diceret, nisi ali●m judicem, 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 down for shame? why do thy knees smite together, and thy joints shiver for fear? If there be no power that doth know, or can punish thy fault, what need this anguish? But I wots well that these stirring motions within thee, are as so many summons to put thee in mind that there is a God in thy conscience which seethe thy sin, and will arraign thee for the same, and award condemnation against thee, if thou prevent not his judgement by repentance. I believe this God is one, as it is said in Deuteronomie, Audi Israel, Deus tuus Deus unus este there is not for every kingdom a God, a God for Zidon, a God for Amon, a God for Moab, & a God for Ekron, but one alone God manageth the affairs of the whole world, for if it be true in government of an earthly kingdom, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, much more in the being of a Deity, for a multitude of Gods would cross and encumber the designs one of another, & none should be omnipotent, and so there should be a tumultuous disorder in the government of the world, which Ovid pointeth out unto us saying, Mulciber in Troiam, pro Troiâ stabat Apollo. And Homer in the 21. of his Jliades, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. And therefore it is well said of Tertullian. Si non est unus, non est. lib. 1. adverse. man. cap. 3. St. Bernard's word is unissimus. 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 cannot say that there are three Gods, but one God, Alius personalitèr non aliud esse●rialitèr 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for though the persons be distinguished in number, yet they be not divided in Essence: which is a mystery to which man's understanding must vail, seeing that it hath not pleased God wholly to reveal it to the sons of men, and that the Cherubins do cover their faces before it, as being not able to apprehend the perfect view thereof. Wherefore let us say with holy Moses, Hidden things belong unto thee o Lord, but revealed things unto us and our children; & let us only learn as much of this unity, & Trinity, as it hath pleased God to reveal unto us in his word, always remembering that saying of Arnobius— De Deo loqui et iam vera periculosissimum est. & that of another, De Deo cum dicitur non potest dici. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. That there are three persons in the Deity, the Father, the Son, and the holy Ghost, as it may be proved by many pregnant places of scripture, so it is evident from the baptism of Christ in jordan, where the Son was baptised by john, the holy Ghost descended in the visible form of a Dove, the Father gave witness from heaven that this was his beloved son, &c: upon which place S. Augustine giveth the note, Qui nescis trivitatem, ito ad jordanem; And an other Father, Conveniat mens tua Sanctum johannem in jordane. And yet that there is likewise an unity of Esséce, of which without inequality the whole Trinity doth participate, may be proved by an usual form of speech in the Hebrew original, when speaking of God, a noun of the plural number is joined with a verb of the singular, as in the beginning of Genesis. 1. In principio creavit Elohim (1) Dij coelum & terram-Dij for the persons in the plural number & creavit to note the unity of the Essence in the singular number. This Trinity of persons thus conspiring in the unity 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 unbegotten. 2. Of the Son, to be begotten, the curious search of whose generation is sealed up 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 Martion, neque Saturninus, neque●asilides, neque Angeli neque Archangeli, nee principes, neque potestates, nisisolus quigeneravit pater, & qui natus est filius. 3. Of the holy Ghost to be proceeding. How the generation of the Son, 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, non sufficio. The communicable proprieties are, simple, infinite, immutable, eternal, just, merciful, only wise, omnipotent, of which the three persons do inseparably communicate. Out of these proprieties do issue Apotelesmata, and actions, in which the Trinity do likewise severally, yet inseparably, communicate, I say inseparably according to that Rule of the Schools, Opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisa: by which we may learn to understand that other of S. August: Trinitas inseperabilitèr operatur, to be spoken only of such works which God doth without his Essence in his Creatures These outward actions of the Trinity do belong unto one of these three heads. viz 1. Creation, 2. Redemption, 3. Sanctification. All comprised in that hymn of St. Augustine Gloria patri qui ereavit nos, Gloria filio qui redemit nos, Gloria Sp. S. qui sanctificavit nos. Med. 33. cap. Creation is 1. Of the world in general. 2. Of man in special. God created the fabric of the world of nothing; Nothing but nothing had this Lord Almighty Whereof, wherewith, whereby, to build this City. bestowing but six days for the making and adorning of it, and ever since by his watchful eye of providence hath and doth carefully govern the same. Which Plato could teach us, who avoweth it to be one, & the self same supreme powers office to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. We condemn therefore the blasphemy of the Epicures, which make our God an idle and careless God, like unto Baal in the book of Kings which was a sleep and must be awaked; as also the opinion of Averro (upon how goodly pretence soever builded▪) who hemmed the providence of God with in the circle of the Moon, saying as it is in job, The clouds hide him that he cannot see, and he walketh in the circle of heaven; thinking it absurd ad hoc deducere Dei maiestatem, ut sciat quot culices nascuntur. Non vacat exiquis rabus adesse jovi— — Nunquam sic cura Deorum Se premit, ut vestrae morti vestraeque, saluti Fata vacent— saith Lucan of some vile persons. — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. For we concerning our God have learned of a better Master, that although he hath his dwelling on high, yet he abaseth himself to behold things in heaven and earth, that he is a God not only of the mountains, but of the valleys likewise, lending his providence to the examination of things of the least consequence, as feeding of Ravens, lighting of sparrows upon the ground, clothing of Lilies, and numbering of hairs. A doctrine not fully believed of them, who, when they see the wicked to build heaps of sin as high as Babble, and yet to escape the vengeance of God, when otherwise the godly are under his rod and punishment, do break out into blasphemy, and some out openly, that which David's fool did but say in his heart. Non est Deus. Morn. de ver. Ret. Ch. cap. 12. Pompeiumque, dijs obicis. Luc. 9 lib. Hence Cato would feign have God to give him a reason-why Caesar overcame Pompey; and Hercules in the Poet complains in the extremity of torment, that he which had freed the world of robbers, and savage beasts, and been profitable to all men, had lived in misery, and should die in shame: when on the contrary, Euristeus a tyrant did live in the ruff of pride, & was lives-like, & the rod of God was not upon him. Et sunt qui credere possunt esse Deos? Neither did the minds of heathen men only, but of God's Saints also totter and reel in their judgements concerning providence, for there was a time when Ecclesiastes complained, Behold the tears of the oppressed, & none comforts them: & likewise Habacuck, Thou art a God of pure eyes, and canst not see evil, thou canst not behold wickedness, wherefore dost thou look upon the transgressors, and holdest thy tongue, when the wicked devours the man that is more righteous than he? But to stop the mouths of heathen men, and the better to settle the struggling thoughts of all Christians, I will say no more than that which Ecclesiastes, & Habaouch, upon better advice of Gods always righteous judgements, and after the tempest of their thoughts was alaid, have avowed before me; to wit, that howsoever God doth seem not to see or to wink at the wicked, yet indeed if we suspend our hasty judgement a while, and wait his patience till he hath whet his glittering sword, and his hand shall take hold on judgement, we shall find that of Moses to be true, That he 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 poor, and the defrauding of judgement and justice, be not astonished at the matter, for he that is higher than the highest regardeth, and there be higher than they, & Habacuck likewise o Lord Thou hast ordained them for judgement, & O God thou hast established them for correction, if not in this world, yet undoubtedly in the world to come. For I remember that the Apostle giveth it for a note, that because the Thessalonians were afflicted with persecutions by wicked men, that this was an argument, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 2. Thess. 1.5. That there is a judgement to come, in which it should go well with them and as ill with their enemies. Recepisti bona in vitâ tuâ & Lazarus similitèr mala. Luc. 16. Abstulit hunc tandem Rufini poena tumultum, Absoluitque Deos, iam non ad culmina rerum Iniustos crevisse queror, tolluntur in altum, lapsu graviore ruant. Claud. l. 1. in Rufin. This God having created all things in the stage of the world by a word only of his mouth, being come in the 6. day to create man, as being a work of more excellency, and therefore more difficulty, doth as it were call a council, and advise with the other persons of the Trinity, Venite, faciamus hominem, nor simply so, but a more excellent creature than the rest, In similitudinem nostram, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Naz. Not only let us make man, but let us invest him with liberties and privileges above other creatures, & make him a None-such in the world, to rule over fishes of the sea, birds of the air, & beasts that walk upon the plane of the earth. So then man was created of the dust of the earth, and God breathed into him the soul of life, Divinae particulam aura. Hor. and had infused from above such supernatural graces, that he was indeed the mirror of God's creatures, and minion of the world, like unto God, upon whom the alone God had conferred in abundant measure, all his special ornaments; for he had no darkness in his understanding, nor perverseness in his will, nor Rebellion in his affections, no sickness nor crasines in his whole body, nor never should have had, if never misspending this rich dowry of God, he did never run bakerupt beyond the bounds of God's commandments. But this man thus highly exalted in the love of God, Peacock-like taking a view of his own glory, discontinued his wont obedience to his Sovereign, nor only so, but having all that he could ask or thought he should receive from God, Qui manducaverunt ut essent quasi Dio, perdiderunt quod erant facto homines immorrales. August. betook himself to the Devil to serve him upon credit only of better pay, Eritis sicut Dij, thinking by violence to break into heaven, and to exalt his Throne by the Throne of the Almighty. But foolish man, by this his Apostasy and wilful disobedience, forfeited his former more blessed estate, and was stripped of his Master's livery, and all his excellent graces, dispossessed of Paradise, and sent unto the Devil to pay him his wages for his former service, and all his posterity by the guilt of his transgression have their nature defiled, and are abandoned of God, and entitled to the Devil for his children and offspring, a wicked seed, witches children, and sons of belial. And now o ye sons of men, saith God by his Prophet Micheas, c. 6. v. 5. Remember what Balak king of Moab had devised, and what Balarn the Son of Beor answered him, that you may know the righteousness of the Lord, for so I hope I may apply this prophesy. O ye sons of men now at this time, during our bondage under the devil, remember what the Prince of darkness had devised against us, and how jesus Christ the son of the living God, hath answered him, and stopped his mouth with a voice of blood, and nailed his accusation to a Cross, that ye may know the righteousness, nor that only, but the exceeding love and rich mercy of the Lord to mankind: for there being no way to free us out of the power of the Devil, but by satisfying the justice of God for the former transgression, God the Father in the fullness of time sent his beloved Son made of a woman, and clothed in our flesh, by the shedding of his precious blood to redeem out of the power of the Devil all those, that by faith apply the merit of his passion unto themselves, and do afterward show their thankfulness unto God for so great Redemption. I believe then, that Jesus Christ the only Son of 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 Samson married a wife in Timnah, of the daughters of the Philistines, that he might seek an occasion against the Philistines, for at that time the Philistines reigned over Israel. jud. 14.4. So he by espousing our flesh, and by being become the seed of the woman, of Abraham, of David, and our brother might condemn Sin in the flesh, and by his power shrouded under this vail overthrow and despoil the strong man of his possession, than was fulfilled that of St. Augustine, Christus pectatumest, & nos justitia. Christ is made sin, and we the righteousness of God in him. So that in the person of Christ, I confess 2. natures, the one Divine, the other human, by the Divine nature, I do not understand the Divine nature, simply and absolutely, as it is common to all the three persons in the Trinity (for we may not say, that the whole Trinity was incarnate) but I understand these words, Divine nature, Relatively of the Nature only of the Son of God who is the second Person in the Trinity, as also by human Nature, I do not mean this General or special nature of man, but the nature considered in the judividuum only, to wit, that substance of the human nature which in the womb of the Virgin Mary, the Son of God did assume into the unity of his person. And these 2. Natures I confess, to be united in one person, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 truly and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, perfectly, & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 indivisibly, & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 distinctly, in which 4. words, 4. principal heresies touching the person of our Saviour of the Arians, Apolinarians, Nestorians, Euticheans, were confuted in 4. several councils, Nice, Constantinople, Ephesus, Chalcedon. Yet in this doctrine we must heedfully beware of 2. extremes. The first, that we do not think that the Deity assuming is changed into the Humanity assumed, assumpsit quod non erat, non amisit quod erat, saith S. Augustine: nor the manhood assumed into the Deity assuming, but each remaineth entire in his essential properties, yet without division of the person; Saluâ proprietate utriusque naturae suscepta est à maiestate humilitas, à virtute infirmitas, ab aeternitate mortalitas, Leo ep. ad Flau: The second, that yet notwithstanding we hold for good all such propositions where that is attributed unto the subject in concreto, which is to be understood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (as S. Cyrill speaks) in the same subject; 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 condemn for Blasphemous that saying of Nestorius, Noli gloriari Judaea, non enim Deum crucifixisti, sed hominem, as denying the two natures in 1. Hypostasis, and implying that the man jesus was assumed into the society only of the Divinity, and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as one speaketh of the same Heresy. To deliver all this more plainly, Christ jesus the second person in the Trinity assumed our whole nature both body and soul (Totus totum assumpsit me, ut toti mihi salutem gratificaret, quod enim inassumptibile est, incurabile est, Pet. Lomb. lib. 3. dist. 2.) into the unity of his person, and therein performed the whole work of our Redemption, Non Mediator homo praeter Deitatem, non Mediator Deus praeter humanitatem, sed inter divinitatem solam & humanitatem solam mediatrix est humana divinitas & divina humanitas. Aug. Which work of redemption consisteth of two parts. 1. Satisfaction for sin both in culpâ & poenâ. 2. Intercession. The one performed by him in the state of Humiliation by his 1. Incarnation. 2. Passion external. Internal. 3. Crucifying. 4. Death. 5. Burial. 6. Descent into hell. The other in his estate of Exaltation & glory. I believe that God, I do not say approved, or suggested, or furthered, but permitted, & directed, and I may truly say, willed and ordained the fall of Adam, that thereby he might take occasion to manifest his glory, & that in two respects. 1 In erecting a consistory and tribunal for his justice. 2 In exposing to the view of all men the inexhaustible treasure of his rich mercy, or that I may speak in the words of a Prophet. In opening of a fountain of mercy to the house of David, & to the Inhabitants of jerusalem, & to all the Israel of God, for sin, and for uncleanness. Concerning the first, I confess that there can no other reason be assigned of the rejection of the wicked, but that of Christ in the Gospel, Etiam pater quia sic placuit tibi: Non dicit, qua ratione sic patri placuit, sed tantum gratias agit patri, quod sic illi placuit. Chrys. Or to speak to the capacity of the ignorant, but the alone absolute will of God ordaining, and as I may so speak adjudging to destruction the wicked before they were presented upon the stage of the world, or had done either good or evil. For hath the Potter power of a lump of clay, to make a vessel to dishonour, and shall not the Almighty jehovah by his unlimited and transcendent power, ordain vessels of wrath for the evil 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 again I confess that God condemneth not into hell any man, but for sins and trespasses, for I hold this to be a true position in Divinity, that sin is not the cause of rejection, yet may be, and indeed is the meritorious and impulsive cause of damnation; wherefore whosoever thou art that settest thy face against heaven, and openest thy mouth in blasphemies against God, lay thy hand upon thy mouth, and look back unto the fall of Adam, Look unto the Rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Is. 51.1. v. and consider what thou broughtest with thee from thy nativity, and from thy Father's house. Do not censure God in thy blasphemous thoughts, as if upon lust only, and not of deserved justice 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 magnify, then strictly to examine by the Canon of our reason, the secret and hidden will of God; saying with St Paul, O the deepness both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgements, and his ways past finding out. And with St Augustine, Disputare vis mecum mîrare mecum, & exclama, o altitudo! Ambo consentiamus in pavore, ne in errore pereamus. Concerning the second I believe, that all men being infected from Adam's sin (not only with imputative guilt, as Pighius would have it, but by natural corruption also, as St Paul avoucheth) have just cause inhering and residing in them at their birth, for which they should be rejected of God, & left weltering in their filthy blood to the contempt of their person, yea to be sent into hell to have their original impiety expiated with brimstone: but that God for the glory & riches of his mercy, being loath to wreak his fury in the general perdition of all mankind, not of foreseen either works, or faith, but of his good pleasure, and only mere mercy hath called some out of the cursed estate of all mankind, on whom to bestow favour, & the kingdom of his love, ordaining them in his secret counsel, to be Citizens with the Angels of the heavenly jerusalem, and heirs of bliss and coheirs with Christ, And doth call them at due time, some at the third hour, and some at the eleventh, if not outwardly all by his word, yet inwardly all by the hidden virtue, and efficacious power of his holy spirit, out of the power of darkness, to be of the household of God, & in the bosom of the Church, there to be consecrated by Baptism, nourished at the Lords table, instructed by the word, governed by his spirit, & even then he bestoweth upon them his Beloved, and with him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, he giveth remission both of sins, and punishment, and all the benefits and merits not of his passion only but of his incarnation also: and hath given us the hand of faith, to reach and apply them unto ourselves, yea to own, & possess them, as truly, as if ours, not by imputation only, but originally and by inhesion; so that before God all the company of the faithful are accounted as only one Numerical body with Christ. Sicut corpus unum et membra habet multa, sic & Christus. 1. Cor. 11.12. where by Christus is meant 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 work away the old man of our corruption, & doth put on us a new creature, making us really partakers of the substance of the flesh, yea of the whole person of Christ, & his proper ornaments and graces, as righteousness and sanctification. The which great blessing of our every way undeserved redemption, when I seriously revolve with myself, I cannot but break forth into praise, in the words of Zachary, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, because he hath visited & redeemed his people, etc. And to use those words of admiration otherwise applied I confess in the book of Numbers; According unto this time, it shall be said of jacob and Israel what hath God wrought? Man having received these rich favours of God in his creation and redemption, hath nothing charged upon him for his tribute, but only to show a good faithfulness to adorn his christian profession, and to be careful to show forth good works. Wherefore I confess unto the glory of God, that every one of God's children, which hath his sins washed away in the blood of the Lamb, Extra causam justificationis nemo potest b●na opera ●atis magnifice commendare. Luth. hath it not left unto him as Arbitrary, but hath a necessity laid upon him to do good works, and that in these respects following. 1. In respect of God, it being his will & commandment that they should be done, by such our obedience to testify our thankfulness for his great mercies of Creation and Redemption. 2 In respect of ourselves, that we by these fruits of Sanctification, as by certain marks in the King's high way, for they be viae regni, Ber. may know whether we be in the way of salvation or no, and be led backward to a certainty of our justification, and effectual Vocation, and Election, & so finding our names written in the book of life, may be persuaded 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 works, may be alured to glorify our Father which is in heaven, & to say as the Gentiles to the jews, in the prophesy of Zachary, Ambulabimus vobiscum, for we have heard that God is with you. This truth being always resolved on, that our best works are not perfect in their own esteem & value, if examined according to the precise rule of the Decalogue (lex spiritualis est, ego autem homo carnalis) and in the district judgement of God, and therefore away with merit, and let us say with S. Augustine, Vae laudabili etiāvitae hominum, si re, motâ misericordiâ discutias eam Domine: and assuredly every one of us may confess with Anselmus, Terret me vita mea, nam diligenter discussa apparet mihi aut peccatum, aut sterilitas, tota vitae mea: and I conclude this point with the words of Petrus a Soto a Papist in his Scholia upon this Article in the Confession of Wirtenberge, O si cognoscant se homines, & qui gloriantur in domino glorientur. God maketh his will known two manner of ways. 1. By his works 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, of which I have spoken in the Creation, 2. In his word. Of the word of God. Not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the substantial word of God, of whom before, Verbum Christum & lumen. But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the enunciative, and created word of God Verbum Christi & Lucerna, called sometimes simply the Scriptures, sometimes with an Emphasis, the Holy (Rom. 12) and Sacred (2. Tim. 3. Ch.) Scriptures That they are 1. The word of God, 2. Sufficient to salvation. 3. Plain and therefore to be translated. 4. By whom they are to have their sense. I acknowledge all these books which make up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as S. chrysostom speaketh, The Canon and Body of holy writ, which we call the holy Scriptures, to be inspired by the holy Ghost, and to be undoubtedly the true word of God, of which I am persuaded not so much by the judgement of the Church, as for these reasons following. 1. From the Majesty of God, speaking in the scriptures, for in them nothing is set down in so easy and simple form of words, but I do perceive characters engrave by the finger of God, & genium humano maiorem. 2. From the efficacy of the scripture, for me thinks, while I read, my heart doth burn within me, as the hearts of the two disciples that went with Christ to Emaus: so that I confess with the Prophet. Surely as the reign cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither again, but watereth the earth, and causeth it to bring forth and bud so is my word, etc. This I confess against all those Vatican Rabsakes, who having adamant hearts, the which the spirit of the Lord cannot pierce, do impeach the power of this word: Hosius that doth call it, or approves it to be called, egenum quoddam elementum; Stephen Paletus, rem inanimatam, Melchior Canus, mortuum judicem; & Eckius more blasphemously, atramentariam scripturam; & I condemn Angelus Politianus, as blasphemous, that preferred Pindarus his Odes before the Psalms of David. Quid palea ad triticum? Nun verbum meum est instar ignis (dicit jehovah) tanquam malleus conterens petram? 3. Fron the event of prophecies, every one complete in his proper time, although foretold long before, to wit, The people of Israel's bondage in Egypt, and delivery from thence. The kingdom to continued in the line of judah, until Christ came in the flesh. The prophesy of josias, given by name three hundred years before his cradle. The captivity into Babylon, and freedom by Cyrus. The time, place, & manner of Christ's birth, The rejection of the Jews, & calling of the Gentiles. So that God might well proclaim of himself, as it is in Isay, I am God, & there is none other, and 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 council shall stand, and I will do, whatsoever I will, even so, good Lord, thy word, is the word of Truth, yea as one of thy Apostles hath it more Emphatically, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is truth itself, and one iod thereof shall not fall unto the ground unfulfilled, for though the Scheme of the world wear away, & the Prophets do not live for ever, yet thou o Lord with thy Angels wilt come to perform their prophecies in their moments. 4. And especially from the testimony of the spirit of God, which persuadeth unto our souls & consciences, the undoubted truth of that word, which some do contemn and deride as foolishness; and hence I judge it to be, that martyrs being resolved by the powerful persuasion of this spirit, of the truth hereof, do boldly offer to seal the same with their blood, protesting that nothing shall remove them from 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 believe that almighty God hath made known unto us in his written word so much of his will, as is sufficient for the instruction of the faithful, without the patching too of Traditions; So that I account that Canon of the Council of Trent to be blasphemous, by which it is provided, that Traditions are to be received pari pietatis affectu, with the written word of God, & concerning Traditions, I am wont to say with Saint Ambrose, Quod non legi usurpare non debeo. That which I find not in the scripture either expressed, or deducible by easy consequence I ought not to use, and again, 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 acknowledge to be easy, & facile, fitted to the capacity of the simplest, whose understanding God hath not shut up in that judgement, vobis non datum est nosse misteria regni: so that the weakling in faith thence may draw milk for his weak stomach, & the more able Christian, may have stronger meat to better his groat in the mystery of faith: wherefore I could wish that the Scriptures were permitted to every nation, & language under heaven, in their own familiar tongue, that so every man may have and read them to his comfort: for why should I not with that the spirit of God did not only rest upon Moses, and the scutcheon 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 upon them. That we might say of the whole world, as S. Hierome of Bethlehem, Quocunque te verteris arator stivam tenens hallelujah decantat, & sudans messor psalmis se avocat, & curuâ attondens vitem falce vinitor aliquid Davidicum cantat. But since Scripturae non sunt in legendo sed in intelligendo, as S. Hierome contra Luciferianos well observeth, & Apices, sine crimine, sensus in crimine; Hil: de Trinitate: & seeing in them some things are so difficult, as that we may truly say with the Eunuch to Philip, Quomodo possum intelligere, si non aliquis viam praemonstret mihi? I would have you for the sense of scripture not to advise 1 with human reason, which is blind in matters of piety: nor 2 secondly with any Swenfeldian Enthusiast, that vaunts of immediate revelations from the spirit of God: a lying spirit may speak in the mouth of such Prophets. Nor 3 with the Pope, that Tarpeian oracle, for I find not warranted by Scripture any infallibility in his judgement, seeing he may err. Gerson in his Treatise, An liceat a papâ apellare in causis fidei saith papam deviabilem à fide esse: & Catharinus in his Comment upon the 2 to the Galat. Nihil prohibet papam errare posse etiam in fide & deficere, etiamsi quidam novitij Scriptores ausi sint oppositum defendere praeter communem sensum Doctorum. Nor 4 with councils, for 1 they cannot be called so often as the Church may want decision for sense 2 they are oftentimes an assembly of malignant persons against the godly, as the council at Carmell against Elias, and at Gilead against Micheas, and at Trent against the Protestants, howsoever Campian be hyperbolical in its commendation, Bone Deus quae Gentium varietas, qui delectus Episcoporum totius orbis, qui regum & Rerumpub: splendour, quae medulla Theologorum, quae sanctitas, quae lachrymae, quae jejunia, qui flores Academici, quae linguae, quanta subtilitas, quantus labour, quam infinita lectio, quantae virtutum, & studiorum divitiae, Augustum illud sacrarium impleverunt? * Quae gentium varietas, qui delectus Episcoporum? In all but 270. Bishops and of them out of Italy 187. and to make up this rabble Olaus magnus was entitled Arch: of Vpsala in Gothia, and Robertus Venantius Arch: of Armah in Ireland, whence they never received penny of commodity. * Qui regum & Rerump: splendour? Yet Henry the second, the French King next neighbour to Trent, all the time of julius the third was not summonned thither, & thereupon protested by letters against the said Council, which letters being thus endorsed, Sanctissimis atque in primis obseruandis in Christo patribus conventus Tridentini, by reason of offence taken at the word conventus were like not to be read in the Council, they fearing, saith Amiot employed in that business, that the King did esteem them all for Monks. * Quae Sanctitas? Yet two Bishops were there taken in Adultrery and stabbed, Illur. * Qui flores? Quos ego non Synodi flores sed potiùs vrticas nominarem. Humf. * Quae jejunia? There is nothing true in this Hyperbole, but this, for the Ambassadors of Charles the 9, the French King Du Ferriers, and Faber, to the said Council held the third time under Paul 4, began an expostulatory oration in these words. Liceat P. S. nobis Oratoribus Regis Christianissimi ijsdem nunc verbis vobiscum agere quibus olim egerunt judaeorum Oratores cum Aggeo Malachia, & Zacharia postremis Prophetis & alijs Dei Sacerdo tibus, qui tum Hierosolymis convenerunt: Num jeiunabimus & stebimus quinto adhuc & septimo mense? The reason of this Exordium there followeth, Centum quinquaginta anni sunt & multo ampliùs, ex quibus Reges Christiani petierunt à pontificibus Romanis Ecclesiasticae disciplinae iam tum labentis restitutionem, etc. * Quantus labour? To reform nothing, Queen Mother herself in a letter could complain that in 18 years space nothing was there done, in which time and less Rome & Carthage in the second Punic work did actions remarkable. Nor 5 with Fathers, for they are men, and may and do err; and again they abrogate this authority from themselves, for so St. Augustine, Talis ego sum in scriptis aliorum, quales ego esse volo intellectores meorum, and how did S. Augustine read other Father's writings, he will tell you himself, Cypriani literas non ut Canonicas habeo sed considero ex Canonicis. But with any of God's children, I say, with any who hath the gift of Prophecy, which gift is not of man's wisdom but of the holy Ghost, and the holy Ghost we know is free, and not tied to any condition of men, & did inspire Amos a herdsman in Tekoa. Whom I would have not upon any Praetorian authority to command men to believe whatsoever he list, as they in the Poet, Quod volumus sanctum est: but to prove 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 unto Almighty God? upon this hope. Qui dedit, ut quaeras, addet ut invenias: 3 To mark Antecedents & Consequences. 4 To observe heedfully the occasion of the Text, the main scope, & circumstances thereof. 5 To parallel like places: Ipsa verba evangelica secum portant expositiones suas. Aug. 6 To have always before his eyes, for his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the measure of faith in the Articles of the Creed. 7 To advise with more than one single Commentary; and if the general stream of Fathers run one way, not easily to be swayed by any private ●eoterick opinion to the contrary. The learned Zanchius hath said it for me, Tollat Deus ex Ecclesiâ has Idololatrias, nam colere homines & eorum placita Idololatria est, and yet mistake me not, I have heard a learned & most judicious Doctor say, and I subscribe unto him, that he would not willingly give the sense of any Scripture until he had advised with Caluin. Of the Church 1 The authority thereof. 2 The matter. 3 The form. 4 The affections. 5 The head. 6 The Notes. 1. I confess that by this immortal seed of the word, God hath begotten 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 will not say, blasphemous, is the judgement of the Church of Rome, who set Hagar above Sara, and the daughter's foot in the neck of the mother, and subject the oracles of God to the censure of men, avowing the authority of the Scriptures to be such, and such only as the Church doth afford it; yea more blasphemously, that the Scripture without the censure and approbation of the Church is in itself no more, and no more to be esteemed, than Aesop's fables: know ye not ye Vatican Rabsakes, that blasphemers, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire & brimstone? Yea they debase the authority of the Scripture so far below the Church, as, that they say expressly— Non omnem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 esse peccatum: that every obliquity to the law of God is not a sin: and yet Andradius erecting himself upon his Porting all buskin, proclaimeth, Quicquid à Praelatorum Ecclesiae, ac maxim a Rom. pontificis jussu dissidet, immane esse peccatum; and again, maiori scelere involui eum, qui pontificias, quam qui divinas leges perfregerit: and they account none to be obedient sons to their Sea, but such as will say with Erasmus, that although indeed he did know another sense then that of the Pope of Rome to be more consonant unto the Text of Scripture; yet, Sed tamen, si hoc Ecclesia iusserit, credam: captivaebo. n. intellectum meum in obsequium Ecclesiae. And Bellarmine himself, 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 should seem this troubled him afterwards for in his Recognitions he endeavoureth to excuse it. The matter of this Church is 1 Angels 2 Men 1 Angels, for not to conceal any thing I know, I like not the sentence of M. Beza, and M. Perkins, be it spoken with reverence to so worthy men, but choose rather to tread in the path of Antiquity, Et nemo bibens vetus Vinum statim vult nowm, dicit enim vetus melius est. Luc. seeing the learned Zanch. is persuaded that Angels be parts of the mystical body of Christ, and members of the Church, seeing they receive by the mediation of Christ, these benefits ensuring. 1 To be confirmed in their blessed estate. 2 To have a more perfect Revelation of the will of God touching the calling of the Gentiles. 3 To be reconciled to man, from whom they were averse before, as being executioners of God's wrath upon our sins, and hence is their joy for our several conversions. And I believe that this opinion is strongly maintained, and abetted with these places of Scripture: Ephes. 1.10. Coloss. 1.20. 2 Men. 1. Non Hypocrites, or wicked men, for howsoever they carry an outward profession of Sanctity, & the livery of Christians, yet indeed are they not true & living members of Christ's body: for otherwise this would follow, that the Hypocrite being to receive his portion in the fiery lake, that Christ should condemn into hell, his own members; only I must advise you, that in the judgement of Charity you do esteem all those for true members of Christ, which fashion themselves to an outward conformity in the Church, always remembering 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 children, & Saints of God, for their sins being washed away in the blood of the Lamb, they only are clothed with the stole of righteousness, and have palms in their hands, and do follow the lamb whither-soever he goeth, singing honour, and praise, and immortality, to him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb for evermore. 3. The inward form of this Church is the bond of the spirit, by which the Saints of God dispersed over the whole earth of diverse times, are knit together and linked in a union to Christ their head, and a communion amongst themselves. 4. I believe this Church to be invisible in respect of this inward form, for although Momus desired, yet God never granted a window to the breast of man, so that we cannot enter with a Candle to see their faith, their election, 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 malice, or the scourge of our tongue, so neither our bodily eyes: yet visible in some particular churches, as now in England (for the welfare of which Church my prayer hath ever been that in the Canticles, Arise o North and come o South, and blow on this garden, that the spices thereof may flow out) yet so as subject to change, having a waxing, and a waning like the moon: for sometime we read that Christ saith of his Church, who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, pure as the son terrible as an army with banners. Sometimes again we read of the church, that she is driven by the red-dragon into the wilderness, & hath sent after her, a river of water, to swallow & drown her up. 5. This Church is a body coupled together by joints. Eph. 4.16. and therefore must have a head, the which head I confess Christ, & Christ alone to be according to that, Coloss. 1.18. Et ipse caput corporis (i) Ecclesiae: for no other Creature whatsoever can perform the offices of a head to this body, which are, vi intus agente, as Paul speaketh, Eph. 5. To give efficacy, & quickening to the same, and to power forth oil in great abundance into the seven lamps, which stand in the golden candlestick in the temple, as it is in the vision of Zachary: Gregorius Meg none of the best Bishops of Rone and immediate Predecessor to this Boniface, sic eragice declamitat Ego autem fidencer dico, quia quisquis se universalem 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 unto themselves, to be the general fathers, & heads of the Church, Verus successor Pauli dicet cum Paulo, Non quod dominemur fidei vestrae, sed adiutores sumus gaudij: Petri haeres audiet Petrum dicentem, Neque ut dominantes in clerum. Ber. in ep. ad Eugen. Nor any in more corrupted times, until Boniface the 3. about 600. after Christ having absolved from Parricide Phocas, who had killed Mauricius the Emperor and his Lord, obtained in lieu of this Cburch blessing, to be called the Ecumenical and general head of the Church; which ever since the Bishops of Rome have continued (notwithout their disadvantag, for it was not for nothing that Barcklay himself a Catholic wrote thus to Clement the 8. Hanc potestatem sempèr censui omnium fluctuum fontem esse, quibus bodiè haeresis tuum navigium lacessit: He gives instance in the Navarrens, Grandfather, Father, and Son, who, their kingdom being given away by julius the second, revolted) and do seek to maintain 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. Again, That Christ is the head of the Church by sovereign pre-eminence, in a more divine, ample, absolute, excellent, & transcendent sort but the Pope is head only Ministerially. Foolish men, that seek to cover their ambition with such figleaves, as these are, for what need Christ of a ministerial head, to supply his presence in the Church; and if the Pope of Rome be that head, how wisely hath Christ provided, that Error & Heresy shall never prevail in it, seeing the Pope may err, 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, ut summus pontifex, ut publicum os Ecclesiae, in definitiuâ sententiâ; for many of them have been Heretics, Anastatius the second is tormented in hell for the Heresy of Photinus, as Drantes Cant. 11. dell inf:: reporteth (but he was factione Gibellinus saith Bellarmine, and therefore his Testimony against this or any Pope not available, Zepherin was a Montanist in Tertulliaus judgement: Marcelliws an Idolater according to Bellarmine himself, Liberius an Arrian and consented to the condemnaiion of Athanasius. Yea flat apostates, witness 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 offensive position, but non est propriè Haeretica, They are his own words. 6 The true marks and badges of this Church are only two, the 1 sincere preaching of the word, & the 2 lawful dispensation of the Sacraments, not Antiquity, nor multitude, nor miracles, nor the rest which Bellarmine repeateth to the number of fourteen. 1. The sincere preaching of the word to which we admit no body but him that is lawfully called by the Church, and Christian magistrate; we know where it is written: No man taketh this honour unto himself, Nisi vocatus ut Aron; and that our Saviour did not intrude himself into the office of priesthood, Missus sum à patre, à Meipso non veni; & his letters patens, are in these words, Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeche: and to that Demand whether the calling of our first Reformers were ordinary or extraordinary? I answer, it was in this respect Extraordinary, that when the ordinary Ministry was corrupted, God raised up some of his better servants to reform that which was amiss: and I deny that all such who have this extraordinary calling, have all of them & always the gift of miracles; john the Baptist did no miracles. joh. 10.41. And whereas they reply, that God did a miracle in his birth: and 2. that he was of the lineage sacerdotal: To the 1: I answer, the miracle which God did in his birth was known only to few: & 2. was done a great time before the Execution of his charge: To the 2. that the charge which he entered upon had nothing common with the levitical Priesthood, wherefore his extraction could not authorize him to baptise. Neither yet do I see, how the Papists can object unto Luther, and other ministers in the Reformed Churches to have no lawful calling, seeing they receive their ordination from themselves, and we do not deny but the Popish Bishops, in creating Ministers, howsoever they use more ceremonies than need of, truly to confer the office upon whom they lay their hands. I profess that Ministers thus called have a right to the use of the Keys. The keys of the Church are the power of binding and losing, of retaining and remitting of sins. I believe that sins are only remitted by God, for I acknowledge it to be his incommunicable property to forgive sin; according as he proclaimeth of himself, Ego, ego sum, qui deleo iniquitates tuas propter me &c: and that man hath but a secondary and ministerial power, to wit, to publish forgiveness of sins, to those whom God in heaven hath forgiven, for we are but Ambassadors, and do entreat for Christ sake, Reconciliamini Deo: otherwise if the minister do take upon him, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, upon any absolute power resting in himself to forgive sins, the sinner to be absolved may say unto him, as Augustine hath it: Quid ego homo, nisi aeger sanandus? vis mihi esse medicus? mecum quaere medicum: for he, sinful man as he is, hath need of one to forgive his sins likewise. I acknowledge power in the minister to retain sin, and to award Excommunication, against desperate and scandalous offenders, only I could advise, they would remember, and practise these few rules following. 1 That such ecclesiastical curses be denounced according unto the word of God. 2 That they put a difference between private and public sins, between delicta & scelera. 3 That they be not too sharp in their censures, remembering that of chrysostom, Si Deus est tam benignus, ut quid sacerdos eius tam austerus? Against the first, the Bishop of Rome highly offendeth, when every Easter day he excommunicateth the Reformed Churches, before his solemn Mass; for whereas the Pope denounceth his curse against us, Quòd haeretici, we know the cause is false, & therefore the curse not effectual, seeing, as it is in the Proverbs, A curse causeless shall not come: & Neminem ligare debet iniqua Sententia, Gelasius: and therefore we say with Tertullian, Dum à vobis damnamur, à Deo absoluimur. 2 The second note of the Church is the rightful administration of the Sacraments. Now Sacraments are only two 1 Baptism. 2 The Lords supper. I confess Baptism to be a seal of the covenant of grace, and therefore children being contained in the covenant (promissio facta est vobis, et liberis vestris) are to receive the seal of the covenant, and to be baptized, howsoever first the Pelagian, and since the Anabaptist with great fury, and greater frenzy teach the contrary: and yet when I say Baptism is a seal of the covenant of Grace, I do not any way extenuat the efficacy of Baptism: For I confess Baptism to be not only a sign or token what we receive, but also an instrument or mean whereby we receive Grace: and to be the door of our actual entrance into God's house, the first apparent beginning of life, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bazil. a seal to the grace of election before received, but to our sanctification here a step that hath not any before it. The efficacy of Baptism I give you in Tertullia's words, Homo per aquam Baptismi licet à foris idem esse videatur, Tert. docer. resurrect. intus tamen alter efficitur, cum peccato natus sine peccato renascitur & prioribus perit, succedentibus proficit, deterioribus exuitur, in meliora innovatur, persona tingitur & natura mutatur. And with the Poet: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. So far am I, which Campian impudently chargeth upon us, from making Baptism Adiaphoron, Si habeas recte si careas nihil damni. Yet do I not avouch that Baptism is simply necessary to salvation, for I am persuaded, that child may be saved which is prevented in his Baptism, by sudden death, and that saying of S. Bernard always was of authority with me Non privatio, sed contemptus Baptismi damnat; and that of S. Ambrose. Qui Sacramentum omittunt (to wit, in the case above specified) gratiam tamen, non amittunt; and I think, that S. August. if soberly understood, is not so much my enemy in this point, as Papists and some Protestants do believe. For I do conceive that St. Augustine was more peremptory in this point, thereby to Evince against the Pelagians, that children were tainted with original sin: and therefore Extra feruorem disputationis cum Pelagianis, he did somewhat remit of that severity, and we shall find in his book de Bapt. contra Donatistas' lib. 4. Cap. 22. that he is charitable to those that go out of this world unwashed in Baptism, Si fortè ad celebrandum mysterium Baptismi in angustijs temporum succurri non potest: They are his own words: and I am not the only man of all the world that thus understood S. Augustine, for S. Bernard in his 77. Epist. (whose judgement of the same point what it was you have 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 confess original sin to be weakened, and bridled by Baptism, yea taken away, quoad reatum & imputationem, but not quoad actum, & totali abolitione, as the Papists would have it, for it still remaineth in us, as long as we walk sub onere carnis, and is indeed a sin, howsoever in Christ not imputed unto the person in whom it is: or if you will so have it, I will give you my judgement of Concupiscence, remaining after Baptism in Saint Augustine's words, Remittitur in Baptismate, non finitur. And again, 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 aggravat animam, adhuc utique dicis, donec sanentur languores mei, dimit nobis debita nostra. Baptism is only to be dispensed by a minister, not by a lay man, much less by a woman: yet I am persuaded, that if a lay man, or woman have de facto baptized, observing the form of words, the Baptism is not to be repeated, Nescio an quis piè dixerit esse repetendum; Aug: S. Augustine was not himself uncertain what to think, but doubtful whether any well minded man in the whole world could think otherwise: and I rest in the judgement of a learned father amongst us, whose words they are, piè fit, si minister tingat solus, at fit etiam, si tingat alius; and again, malè factum est si laicus, D. Abbot's loc. de Bapt. peius si faemina rem sacrosanctam hanc attigerit, sed factum est, & quod factum est, infectum esse non potest. We should indeed keep ourselves within the limits of our vocations, each sex apart, & therefore when women Baptize (which I take to be not a permission by law, but a presumption against law) they are to be censured as usurpers of an others calling, who by unsanctified hands execute that whereunto the laws of God, and his Church, have deputed others. But yet far be it from me hereupon, it being but a personal default, to disannul and annihilate the Action, and to make Baptism no Baptism to the prejudice of the Receiver, for delictum cum capite semper ambulat; & factum alterius alteri nocere non debet. 2 The other Sacrament is the Eucharist, in which the true body and blood of Christ is given us under the visible form of bread, & wine, to be received by the mouth of faith of every believer. And I am persuaded that as truly as the bread and wine is received by my hand, and conveyed into my stomach, so assuredly the body and blood of Christ jesus is received by the hand of faith, and conveyed unto my soul, and conscience, & this certainty is assured unto me by those Emphatical forms of speeches peculiar in the sacraments, by which the bread is termed the true body, and wine, the blood of Christ: so than 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 Idol the Mass, and Popish Transubstantiation, for that there can be no such 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or Transubstantiation, I protest upon these reasons. 1 It crosseth the institution of Christ, he bideth us to receive his supper In mei recordationem, now we know that Recordatio is Rei absentis, non praesentis. 2 Christians would then be Anthropophagis, and the Lords table should be like the house of 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 Gospel, in latrinam abijceretur. 4 Then the wicked should eat his flesh, and so have eternal life. 5 We see the Accidents of bread, & wine to remain, and therefore the proper substances of bread, & wine, must remain, except we would have an Accident to subsist without his proper substance, which is absurd in reason. And I do accounted that gloss which the master of the sentences doth set upon this matter very ridiculous, to wit, that therefore the bread and wine being indeed vanished away, their accidents must remain to cover the flesh, and blood of Christ. 1 fides scilicet haberet meritum; Auerr●es in 12. metaph: Quoniam christiani manducant Deum quem adorant, fi● anima mea cum philosophis. quia fides non habet meritum, ubi humana ratio praebet experimentum 2 Ne abborreat animus, si carnem ipsam oculi usurparent. 3 Ne ab incredulis Religioni Christianae insultetur, as if they did eat man's flesh. I protest likewise against the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and consubstantiation of the Lutherans, who do feign a Coexistence of the body of Christ, in, sub, or cum pane, and I could wish that they would use more moderation against their Opposites. I conclude my judgement of both sacraments with this doctrine, that neither sacrament hath vim causativam gratiae, as the Papists speak, that I may explicate myself to the capacity of the simple, that there is not in the corporal elements of the Sacraments any supernatural Grace inherent and essential, but that the Sacraments are instruments & means, by the which the holy Ghost is effectually powerful, to offer, exhibit, & apply, the merit of Christ's passion, to every believer. That which pessimè & pertinacissimè Eutyches as I read of him, I hope I may truly, and from a sober and Christian resolution aver: In hac fide genitus sum, usque hody vixi in ea, & opto mori, Etiam sic sentio sic credo. I. D. His qui contradicit, aut omnino à Christi nomine alienus est, aut est Haereticus. FINIS.