CHAP. I

THE glorious and incomprehensible TRINITY in vnitie,The steps of the Triniti [...] in [...]ll the creatures of God. hath so created all things in the spacious Theater of this round world, that although no­thing can perfectly comprehend or expresse his cause; yet in euery thing there is a certaine image and resem­blance of the great Creator. Cast your eyes vpward; you haue the heauenly bodies endued with light, with motion, and heare. Looke vpon the Sunne; you see the body, the beames, and the brightnesse, one from the [Page 2] other differing, but not diuided: sundry, and yet the same. Consider the things below; you discerne in Riuers the foun­taine, the breaking forth, the streame: in Trees, the body, the sap, the fruit. In euery thing, which Arte, or Nature doth bring forth, the matter, the forme, the inclination: so each with other, and euery one it selfe, that we may well in them perceiue and deprehend the footesteps of their great Archi­tect, Rom. 1.20. being considered in his workes.

Now if this bee true, in the basest and most contemptible of all his workmanship, how much moreHeb. 1.3. The brightnesse of the glory, the engraued forme of his Person? The eternall Son of the eternall God, beareth not a darke and obscure shadow (as other things) but a liuely and resplendent expression of the same.The image of the Trinitie in Christ above all other in respect of his per­son and offices. In his person, the Godhead, the Soule, the flesh, with ineffable connexion so together knit, that neither one is by the other swallowed, nor that by this abased: very flesh, very spirit, very God, and yet one Christ. After the same manner three great and holy offices in his function are in one conioyned. The PRIESTLY, by which he hath redee­med: the PROPHETICALL, by which hee sanctifieth (with the truth) all those that come to him: the KINGLY, by which he gouerneth not only the vniuersall Globe of the world generally, but his owne Church specially, and sitteth in the very indiuiduall Soule and Conscience of euery one of his chosen; yet in all these but one Messias.

The threefold office of Christ.These three great offices whoso denieth vnto Christ, or communicateth vnto any other, as they are in Christ, ouer­throweth the eternall Counsell of God in ordaining, the righteous truth of God in promising, the infinite loue of God in giuing his Sonne vnto the world, as the fulfilling of the Law, sufficient to saluation, and the reparation of our nature.The name of Christ more pro­per to our Sa [...]ior thē to any other. It is then duely to be considered, that the name of Christ is proper to our Sauiour aboue all other that haue beene anointed. For amongst men, some were by anointing ordained Priests, some by anointing were consecrated Kings, and some by anointing receiued the Propheticall Office: but in all these seuerall respects, our Sauiour is the Christ of God. [Page 3] Wherefore betwixt the vnction of Iesus the true and natu­rall Sonne of God, and other Christs the seruants of God, there is a threefold difference.

First, Christ was not anointed with material oyle as others were, but with the Spirit of God himselfe.Esay 42.1. I haue put my Spirit vpon him (saith the Lord by the Prophet Esay:) And againe,Esay 61.1. The Spirit of the Lord is vpon me, therefore hath the Lord anointed me. Secondly, when after the externall and ma­teriall vnction, the seruants of God did receiue the Spirit, it was in them by turnes and pauses; now more powerfull, then lesse powerfull in operation: but the Spirit on the Sonne of God, was an enduring vnction.Ioh. 1.33. For the Spirit (as Iohn witnesseth) did abide and tarry on him. Thirdly, Christ did not worke by the Spirit as a meere man, but with the Spi­rit, as one God coessentiall with himselfe: wherefore hee is Emphatically tearmed [...], the Christ of God.

In the thirteenth of the Acts, Saint Paul by conferring Scripture with Scripture proueth, that this is very Christ: And Iohn saith,Ioh. 2.22. Who is a lyer, but hee that denyeth that Iesus is the CHRIST? The Psal. 2.2. Kings of the earth (saith the Pro­phet Dauid) stand vp, and the Rulers take counsell together, against the Lord, and against his Christ. The Title of Christ giuen to our Sauiour so amply and Ener­getically, proueth his extraordinary dignity. The title in this ample maner giuen vnto Christ, doth euidently shew the prehemi­nence of the anointing of Christ aboue all other the chil­dren of men: and yet to make it more euident, Dauid wit­nesseth;Psal. 45.8. God, euen thy God, hath anointed thee with the oyle of gladnesse aboue thy fellowes. The same the Church in the Canticles doth acknowledge also:Cant. 1.2. Thy name is as an oint­ment powred out, therefore the Ʋirgins loue thee.

Now in that Iesus is absolutely called Christ, it is for that hee is anointed to all those holy offices, which I haue spoken of: which if any man desire to haue made more ma­nifest, let him hearken to the Psalmist,Psal. 110.4. The Lord sware and wil not repent, Christ a Priest. thou art a Priest for euer after the order of Mel­chizedech: but this Melchizedech (saith the Apostle) was King of Salem, Heb. 7.1. & Priest of the high God. Christ therfore must needs be a King and a Priest,Christ a King. or else hee cannot be of Melchizedechs [Page 4] order. The Wisemen in the Gospell acknowledge this, of­fering vnto him gold, as to a King; and Frankincense, as vnto their eternall Priest. Of this Kingdome Zechary doth witnesse;Z [...]ch. 9.9. Behold thy King commeth vnto thee, the righteous and Sauiour. And the Psalmist hereto agreeth, saying,Psal 45.12. So shall the King haue pleasure in thy beauty; for he is thy Lord God, and worship thou him.

Christ a Prophet.L [...]kewise, his Propheticall function is no lesse clearely set out in the Scripture:D [...]ut. 16.15. The Lord thy God (saith Moses) will raise vp vnto thee a Prophet like vnto me from among you, euen of thy brethren, vnto him shall you hearken.

The similitude betwixt Christ and Moses, as it doth in many things appeare: so in this coniunction of offices also it is very euident. For Moses was both a Prince, & a Prophe [...]: therefore, as Melchizedech did resemble Christ by ioyning in one the Priest [...]y and the Kingly office: so Moses was a type of Christ, by ioyning together the Princely and Propheti­call parts. To conclude: in the Gospell, the Iewes themselues did confesse;Luke 7 16. a great Prophet is raised vp amongst vs: and the two Disciples, which went with him to Emaus from Hierusalem the day of his resurrection call him a Luke 24 19. The re [...]son why Christ hath these three offices. Prophet, mighty in deede and word before God and all the people. Thus in our Christ doth all fulnesse dwell: and in his holy person is the Priestly, Propheticall, & Kingly office conioyned, that he might be1. Cor. 1.30. our wisedome, and our righteousnes, and sanctification, and redemption; Heb. 7 25. that he might be able perfectly to saue them, that come vnto God through him: and that we also might receiue a Kingdom, which cānot be shaken; according to the doctrine of the Preacher:Eccles. 4.12 Christs Priest­hood vnimitable and vncommuni­ [...]able A threefold cord is not easily b [...]oken.

As all these offices are giuen to Christ, so are they vncom­municably giuen vnto him: neith [...]r may they bee imparted to any other, as they are in him. Of the holy oyle, in Exodus, the Lord saith:Exod. 30.32. None shall anoint mans flesh therewith, nei­ther shall make any composition like vnto it, for it is holy, and shall bee holy vnto you. VVhich is spoken by a mysterie; and sig­nifieth, that the dignitie of our high & heauenly Priest Iesus Christ, must neither be imitated, nor applied to any other.

Some perhaps will obiect,Ob. that not onely Peter (speaking of the whole Church) saith,1 Pet. 2.9. It is a royall Priesthood: but in the Reuelation also, Saint Iohn witnesseth,Apoc. 1.6. Hee hath made vs Kings and Priests vnto God, euen his Father.

But to answere this doubt,Sol. it is euident that meere men are called Kings and Priests in another sense, and after an­other meaning then Iesus is. For these offices are inherent in our Sauiour, truely, substantially, and indeede. He is such as he is called: but they are in vs, the members of his Church, by imputation and figuratiuely, for that in some sort and af­ter a manner we are so called. Learned Beda therefore doth thus expound the place of the first of the Reuelation: Apoc. 1.6. Hee hath made vs Kings and Priests vnto God his Father, because be­ing King of Kings, and the heauenly Priest, offering vp him­selfe for vs, hee hath vnited vs vnto his owne body, so that none of the Saints now doe spiritually want the office of Priesthood, being members of the euerlasting Priest. This is confirmed by the ancient Father Augustine, where he saith,Aug. de ciuit dei. l. 20. cap. 10. As we call all men Christians for the mystical anointing: so al are Priests, because they are members of one Priest. And Ly­ra saith,Lyra in hunc locum. They are Kings, by subduing affections, and Priests by the sacrifice of deuout Prayer. But because the whole discourse, which I haue intended, doth depend specially vpon these vnseparable and vncommunicable offices of Christ, I desire the Christian Reader, not to thinke it lost labour to consider euery one of these functions by themselues, and to see how they differ in Christ, from that which they are in other men

CHAP. II. Of the Priesthood of Christ, and that it is vnto all others vncommunicable.

THe Apostle extolling the Priesthood of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ, alleageth the saying of the Psal­mist;Psal 110.4. No such Priest as Iesus Christ. Thou art a Priest for euer after the order of Melchise­dech. Now if euery member of the Church, nay, if euery Mas­sing Priest were such, what were the preheminence and dig­nitie [Page 6] of that vnspeakeable order, or what super-excellence did Christ thereby attaine aboue others? But Paul Emphati­cally calleth himHeb. 4.14. a great High Priest: Heb. 9.11. an High Priest of good things to come: Heb. 10.21. an High Priest ouer the house of God. All the Superlatiue honours are to him onely due, nei­ther can they bee attributed to any other of the sons of men. Wherefore many and sundry differences the Epistle to the Hebrewes teacheth, wherein the Priesthood of Christ doth surmount all other Priesthoods.

First,Heb. 4 15. Christ was holy and without sinne; so is not any of the sonnes of men: Secondly,Heb. 5.9. Christ was the author of saluation in his Priesthood; so are not other Priests: Third­ly,Heb. 5.6. Christ is an euerlasting Priest; of which honour no other Priest is capable: Fourthly,Heb. 7.4. vnto Christ in the type Melchizedech, Abraham; and in the loynes of Abraham, Le­ui, and all other Priests payed tithes. By which all Priests ac­knowledged the perfection of Christ, and that they are infe­riour vnto him: Fiftly,Heb. 7.16. Christ was not made Priest after the carnall commandement, but after the power of endlesse life: Sixtly,Heb. 8.1. Christ sitteth at the right hand of God the Father; so doth no other Priest: Seuenthly,Heb. 8.2. Christ is the Minister of the true Tabernacle, which God pight, and not Man; herein no Priest to Christ is equall: Eightly,Heb. 9.12. Christ by his owne bloud purged the people; other Priests are not like him herein: Ninthly,Heb. 7 27. Christ offered not for his owne sinnes, but for the sinnes of the people: Tenthly,Heb. 9.25. Christ made but one offering, other Priests did offer often: Eleuenth­ly,Heb. 7.28. Christ was made Priest by the oath of God, other Priests without oath. Wherefore most abominable is that of the Romish Missall, which euery Bishop and Confessor doth chant out:Non est inuentus [...]mili [...] illi qui con­serua [...]et [...]egem excelsi, &c. Rom Bre. com. Conf. Pont. ad Vesp. Ant. ibid R. post lect. 2. There was not the like of him found, which kept the Law of the highest; wherefore with an oath the Lord made him to grow vp in the people: yea, they are not ashamed to ap­ply vnto them that, which was spoken of Christ:Ibid. post. lect 3. No Pri [...]st cons [...] ­crated wi h the oath [...]f God, but [...]hrist on [...]ly. The Lord sware and will not repent, thou art a Priest for euer, &c. But if all the schoole and Colledge of Rome were summoned to­gether to tell vs, when, where, and how, God hath couenan­ted, [Page 7] or hath sworne vnto any one of the Saints, that hee should bee an euerlasting Priest for vs, they would lay their hand vpon their mouth, I trowe, and be as speechlesse as the Images they worship. For of this kinde of confirmation in his office, neuer any Priest but Christ could boast.

What doe I speake of the oath of God,No man hath the calling of Prie t­hood to cleanse sin, but Christ. the speciall forme of Christs owne consecration? Come wee to the ordinary calling. Saint Paul saith,Heb. 5.4. No man taketh this honour vnto himselfe, but he that is called of God, as Aaron was. Here there­fore I chalenge all the whole Hierarchy of Rome. Let them proue that euer any man but Christ, was called to bee a Priest, to cleanse and to take away sinnes, and to make men righteous before the tribunall of GOD: let them shew in what booke, in what chapter, with what words God euer conferred this honour to any other then his only Sonne, and I wil subscribe vnto them. Let vs proceed yet one degree fur­ther; and sithence,Gal 3. [...] though it be but a mans couenant, yet when it is confirmed, no man abrogateth, or doth adde any thing thereto, I require of them by what authoritie or priuiledge, with what warrant or colour, they haue ordained Mediatours to the Mediatour Christ,None can ordaine Mediators to Christ the Media­tor, without a due c [...]lling thereunto. and Priests vnto the High Priest Iesus Christ, to obtaine pardon for sinners by their merits, and to appeare before God, for men. I conclude therefore, sithence God hath ordained no Priest but Christ onely with an oath, there is no such Priest as Christ: and since God hath not cal­led any to this honour but Christ himselfe, there are no o­ther Priests at all but Christ himselfe. Lastly,The meaning is, that in the New Testament God hath ordai [...]ed properly no sacri­fici [...]g Priests but Christ. because Christ hath subordained by his Testament no Mediators to him­selfe, but himselfe, there are no other Mediators to him, but himselfe, who is both Priest and sacrifice, Angell and Altar, from whence the odours of the Saints prayers goe vp vn­to God.

It may bee perhaps obiected, that as in the Law,Ob. though the high Priest was endued with sundry honours, whereof the inferiour Priests were not partakers, yet the inferiour Priests did also sacrifice, burne incense, and cleanse the peo­ple: So in the Gospell, though Christ be the sole foundation, [Page 8] the principall expiation of our soules and bodies, yet other Priests inferiour to him doe cleanse, sanctifie, iustifie, & make intercession.

Sol.If there were no difference betwixt the first and the se­cond Couenant, the Law and the Gospell, this argument would strongly enforce: but we must vnderstand; first, the Priests of the Law did not verely, but sacramentally: not truely and indeede, but significatiuely and typically (as sha­dowes of the true expiation to come) take away sinne. Nei­ther was the High Priest onely a type of Christ, and inferi­our Priests vnder the Law, types of subordinate Priests to Christ vnder the Gospell: But both the high Priest, and the inferiour Priests vnder the Law (though the high Priest more eminently) were types of that one onely eternall Euangeli­call High Priest Iesus Christ the Sauiour of the world. Se­condly, in the first Couenant were many Sacrifices, and often iterated; many Priests, and often changed: but in the Gospell, as there is but one Priest, so there is but one Sacri­fice, and that but once offered for sinne, which may not be reiterated. And this is the doctrine, which the Apostle Paul doth so often, and so earnestly perswade;Heb. 10.10. We are sancti­fied euen by the offering of the body of Christ once for all. Heb. 10.12. This man after he had offered one Sacrifice for sinnes, sitteth for euer at the right hand of God. Heb. 10.14. With one offering hath hee consecrated for euer them that are sanctified. This singularitie therefore, both of Priest and Sacrifice, not to be renewed, Peter allu­deth vnto. Christ 1. Pet. 3.18. hath once suffered for sinnes. The word ONCE is here an exclusiue particle, denying any other re­petition of the Sacrifice. Wherefore it is called iuge Saecrifici­um. For it is alwaies before God, and the vertue thereof hath no end. It is (saith Leo)Potens ad priui­l [...]g [...]um, diues ad pret [...]um. ser. de pas. domini. potent in the priuiledge, rich in the price. Lyra saith;Lyra in 10 ad Heb. quia hostia Christi habet virtutē aeter­nam sanctificandi, & propter hoc, illa peracta, non habuit ampliùs necessitatem ministrandi, sicut habebat. Sacerdos veteris legis: The sacrifice of Christ hath euerlasting power to sanctifie: and therefore that being ended, hee had no more neede to offer, as the Priests of the Law. Theophilact agreeth with the [Page 9] rest, and teacheth, thatFuit illa rei in­gentes effectrix, vt vel temporis mo­mento per se terra­rum orbem purga­uerit. Theo. in p. ad Heb. The sacrifice of Christ was so ef­fectiue of the great Worke, that in a very moment of time by it selfe it purged the whole World. Thus we see, as to say one God, is to say, one onely God; so to call Christ our Priest, is to call him our onely Priest.

CHAP. III. Of the Propheticall office of Christ, and how it is in him vncommunica [...]le.

THe Priestly office, I trust, I haue sufficiently proued to be proper vnto Christ, and not communicable to any other.

Let vs now shew his Propheticall function also to differ from the Ministerie of all other Prophets: which many ar­guments doe plainely confirme vnto vs.

The first is, because we are commanded to heare him ab­solutely without exception, without triall or examination of his Doctrine, being himselfe,Ioh. 1.1. The Word with God, and God that Word: but this honour is giuen to none other Prophet;1. Ioh. 4.1. For it is lawfull to try the doctrine of all other spirits, whether they bee of God, or not. But concerning his Sonne, the Father commandeth an absolute hearing in all things:Mat. 17.5. This is my beloued Sonne, in whom I am well pleased, heare him. Wherefore of this Prerogatiue Moses speaketh Emphatically, Deut. 18.15. Vnto him shall you hearken.

Secondly, all other Prophets were sent by the Spirit; but hee together with the Father sendeth the Spirit, for that the Spirit proceedeth from him, as from the Father: yea,Lyra. he sendeth all the Prophets themselues, beeing the Lord of Prophets, who filleth and sanctifieth them. Behold (saith he) I Mat. 23.34. send vn­to you Prophets, and Wisemen, and Scribes.

Thirdly, the Prophets had the spirit in measure, and did speake as the spirit gaue them vtterance. Wherefore Thomas Aquinas saith,Vt aer indi [...]es noua il [...]uminat on [...] sic mens Prophetae noua reuelatione, secunda secundae. q. 171. vt col [...]ig. à Bern. [...]on Ioan. That as the aire needeth new light and illumina­tion: so the minde of the Prophet needeth new reuelation; But the spirit neuer departed from Christ, who thought it no robbe­ry [Page 10] to call himselfe,Luke 11.49. The wisdome of God. For (as the Apostle teacheth)Col. 2.3. In him are hidde all the treasures of Wisedome and Knowledge. Wherefore I cannot acquit Bernard of blasphemy, if he were authour of the Sermons, super Salue Regina; where it is said, thatSola totam spi­ritas sancti grat [...]am possedist [...], quam al [...] ba [...]uere per partes. Ser qui incipit Ante pererratis. Mary the mother of God had alone the whole grace of the holy Ghost, which other had by parts.

Fourthly, all other Prophets, though their motions were not priuate, nor their owne, yet they were Prophets by obser­uation of the Godhead: yea, they did receiue their Prophecy by the mediation of Angells; But Christ speaketh not onely immediatly from the Father, as hee hath commanded him, but he speaketh with the Father in the vnity of the Godhead,Heb. 1.3 beeing the brightnes of the glory, the engrauen image of his per­son, bearing vp all things by his mighty power. So Christ is not a Prophet by obseruation onely, as his trauelling seruants in this world are, but by way of full and perfect comprehension of all things, in the vniō of his humanity to his diuinity. And that knowledge is most excellent, which is merely intellectu­all, by simple contemplation, & doth not consist in the signes and similitudes of corporall things.

Fiftly, Christ is the end, to which all other Prophets aime;Apoc. 19.10. The testimony of Iesus is the spirit of Prophecy; Act. 10.43 To him (saith Peter) giue all the Prophets witnesse.

Lastly, Christ is a Prophet sitting at the right hand of the Maiesty, in the highest place. Thus (saith Lyra)In offic. b [...]at. Ma. vir. He is com­mended in hoth natures, as greater than the Prophets.

All these things being considered, I must once againe pro­uoke the whole fraternity of the Romish Church, to shew if they can, where, and when God did ordaine any other eter­nall absolute Prophet, who was able to giue illumination, & grace, and spirituall knowledge vnto his Church, of himself: or that beeing gone out of the world, should yet bee still pre­sent with the world by his spirit: or that doth from age to age sanctifie the vnderstanding of men with the truth; and then we shall grant their blasphemies to haue place still in the Church. Wherein they attribute vnto one, to be theIn offic. b [...]at. Ma. vir. win­dow of Heauen, the shining gate of light: to another to beDe Barth. dixit [...]um esse d uinae lu­cu splendorem, solē arbu cuncta [...] ­nantem. leg. Lomb. in San. Barth fol. 106. pag 1. col. 1 the [Page 11] brightnes of diuine light, the Sunne of the world lightning al things, and of euery virgin,Mis Sar. Con. Vrg et Mart. Se­quent exulte [...] in hac d [...] festiua. that shee is like Lucifer among the lesser starres.

CHAP. IIII. Of the Kingly office of Christ, that it is also vncommunica­ble.

AS our Priesthood is not the same with Christs Priest­hood, nor our Prophecy with Christs Prophecy: no more are we Kings as Christ is a King. For he is a King in re­spect of the vniuersall dominion ouer the whole world, and all that are therein: but we are called Kings by ruling our af­fections, and taming the lusts of concupiscence,Gal. 5.17. which re­bel in our flesh against the law of the spirit. Si ergo regnet in te animus, et corpus obtemperet: fi con­cupiscentias carn [...] sub ingum imperil tui mitias &c. Orig. sup. Iud. Hom. 6 If the mind (saith O­rigen) raigne in thee, and the body obey: if thou bring the lustes of the flesh vnder the obedience of the mind: if thou restraine the nati­on of vices with a seuere bridle of sobriety, thou art then worthily called a King, who knowest well how to gouerne thy self. Lyra doth expound the place of the Apocalips,Fecit nos regnum. [...] ascribi c ues c [...] ­testis regni. Lyra in Apoc. 1. Ver 6. He hath made vs kings, that is, to be written among the Citizens of the heauenly kingdome. Neither can the Romish Church dislike this interpretation, for they read the place,Com. trans. et Rhem. trans. huius loci Apoc. 1. The difference betwixit Christ the King, and other Kings. fecit nos regnum, hee made vs a king­dome vnto God, and not Reges Kings.

To come nearer to the question, there are diuers vncom­municable attributes giuen by the spirit of God to Christ the King, whereof no other King is capable. First, hee is a King of ineffable generation;Heb. 7.3 without father, without mother, with­out kinred, and hath neither beginning of his dayes, nor end of life.

Secondly, he is a King absolutely righteous;Psal. 45.6.7 The scep­ter of thy Kingdome (saith the Psalmist) is a Scepter of righteous­nes: thou louest righteousnes and hatest iniquity. Wherefore God e­uen thy God, hath anointed thee with the oile of gladnesse aboue thy fellowes. The Apostle shewing him to be a King after the or­der of Melchizedech King of Salem, argueth hee is a King of righteousnesse and peace: Vpon which words Athanasius sai­eth,Null [...] itaque ho­bominum compent iust t [...]ae et pacu &c. Athan. in ep. ad Heb. Ʋnto no man it doth belong to obtain the Kingdom of righ­teousnes [Page 12] and peace, but vnto Christ onely, according to that of S. Iohn, Apoc. 15.4. Thou onely art holy.

Thirdly, Christ is an eternall King;Psal. 45.7. Thy seat, O God, endureth for euer. And Daniel saith,Dan. 2.44. His dominion is an euer­lasting dominion, which shall neuer bee destroyed: Luke 1.33. Hee shall raigne ouer the house of Iacob for euer (saith the Angell) and of his Kingdome shall be no end.

Fourthly, he is not onely a King, but a Sauiour of his peo­ple:Psal. 72.12, 13, 14. He shall deliuer the poore when he cryeth, the needy also, and him that hath no helper: he shall bee fauourable to the simpl [...] and needy, and shall preserue the soules of the poore: he shall deli­uer their soules from falshood and wrong, and deare shall their bloud be in his sight.

Fiftly, hee is an vniuersall Monarch;Ephes. 1.21. farre aboue all power and Principalitie. Apoc. 19.12. On his head were many Crownes, Psal. 72.11. all Kings shall worship him, all nations shall serue him. Apoc. 19.16. For he hath vpon his garment, and vpon his thigh, a name written, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. Daniel therefore prophecieth of the Kingdome of Christ, thatDan. 2.44. it shall breake and de­stroy all other Kingdomes, and it shall stand for euer. 1. Cor. 15.25. He must reigne (saith the Apostle) till hee haue put all his enemies vnder his feete.

Lastly, he doth not onely ouercome our enemies in this life, but also in the life to come. For of Sinne, Death, and the Law,1. Cor. 15.57. God hath giuen vs victory thorow our Lord Iesus Christ.

Now therefore, if of their Saints the Romish Church can shew, that they are Kings and Priests together, praying for vs to God, and themselues giuing vs the things they pray for, we will confesse in this sense the verse true, which is so miserably, and blasphemously wrested contrary to the minde of the Holy Ghost,Constitues eo [...] Principes super omnem terram. Rom. Breui. An­ [...]ph post [...]ructauit in Com. Apost. Thou shalt make them Princes in all lands. But another King hath Esay foreshewed,Esay 9.6.7. Ʋnto vs a Child is borne, and vnto vs a Sonne is giuen: and the gouernment is vpon his shoulder, and hee shall call his name Wonderfull, Coun­seller, the mighty God, the euerlasting Father, the Prince of Peace: the increase of his gouernment and peace shall haue no end, hee shall [Page 13] sit vpon the Throne of Dauid, and vpon his Kingdome, to order it, and to establish it with iudgement, and with iustice from henceforth euen for euer. I will conclude this point, with the saying of Ec­clesiasticus, Ecclus. 24.28, 29, 30. Out of Dauid his seruant hee ordained to raise vp a most mighty King, that should sit in the Throne of honour for e­uermore: hee filleth all things with his wisedome, as Physon, and as Tigris in the time of new fruits: hee maketh the vnderstand­ing to abound like Euphrates, and as Iordan in the time of haruest.

Proceede we now to speake of the Priestly office of Iesus Christ. Which that I may the better doe, I will entreat first of the Titles and Appellations giuen vnto him: and then of the attributes of his glorious person, together with the Ca­nons and rules to be obserued touching the same.

CHAP. V. Of the Names, Appellations and Titles, in the holy Scriptures ascribed to our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ.

EVen by the light of Nature, and the purer reason of vn­derstanding, diuers of the very Heathens saw, that sinne could not bee taken away without a Redeemer. Wherefore though either they wanted true Faith to lay hold on Iesus Christ, the onely Anchor of Hope, and Raine-bow of our Peace; and therefore by such glimmering light of sense, may not be said to be in the number of true beleeuers; or else rea­dingVid. Genebrar. in l. 1. Chro. fol. 18. perhaps some of the ancient Prophets, frō them they collected darke apprehensions of the truth, which for their sinne God did not fully reueale vnto them: yet it is certaine, that of a Redeemer to come they dreamed, and sundry specu­lations concerning this argument they left behinde them. Zoroastes the most ancient Writer affirmeth, that God the Father made and perfected all things, and gaue them to the second minde. Pletho Gemistes, speaking improperly and ob­scurely, calleth this second minde, the second God. TheMerc. Tris [...]. in pae. cap. 2. ex domino Pless. ancient Chaldean Mages said, there were three begin­nings; God, the Minde, and the Spirit.

Mercurius Trismegistus saith, God, who is both Male and [Page 14] Female, the life, the minde, and the light, begate his word, another minde; and with this word there is another word, which is, the fiery God, or the Spirit of God.

Orpheus Iustin. Mart. in ser. exhort. ad gentes adiuro te, O culum, prudens opus dei; adiuro te sermo, quem deus primus mundum creans emisit. ex eod. also out of Mercurius Trismegistus calleth vpon the word, which God first spake when he created all things.

Plato Pl [...]. in Epi. ex [...]od. compareth the Father to the Sun, that shineth in the firmament; and the begotten Son, to the power of that Sun.

Proclus saith, Numenius worshipped three Gods, and that these three were one, the Father, the Creator, and the worke proceeding from both.

Plotinus saith, there is a threefold Essence; the Goodnes, the Wisedome, and the spirit of the World.

Now as the Heathens haue thus diuined of the appellati­on of the Redeemer of the world: So the ancient Iewes also haue much enquired after the name of him, who should be the restauration of all things; and that so much the more▪ because they esteemed this Sauiour, most especially to belong vnto themselues.

Rabbi Hadarsan vpon the second of Genesis saith, God created all things by his word.

Rabbi Isaach in his booke of creation, maketh three num­bers (as hee calleth them)Ibid. the height in Infinitie, the Crowne, and the Vnderstanding.

Philo Iudaeus calleth the worldPhi. in allegor. leg. & in l. de instit. ibid. the yonger Son of God; but his elder son cannot be comprehended, except onely by vnderstanding.

The later Rabbines did euery one giue a name vnto Mes­sias Vid. collect. Rab. Iacob. Salomonis filij de Christ. è Thalmud apud Genebrard. according to their owne fantasies, and such as came neerest to their owne appellations.

Rabbi Sila said, his name should be Silo, according to the Prophecie ofGen. 49.10. Iacob.

The Family of Rab. Ianai said, his name should bee Innon, because he should be for euerlasting.

Rabbi Hanina, would haue him called Hanina, or Mercy. Somesaid, hisLamen. 1.16. name should be Menahem; because of that in the Lamentations of Ieremy: The comforter which should refresh my soule, is farre from me. Other called himEsay 53.4. The [Page 15] White one: out of the Prophet Esay, Wee did iudge him as plagued, or leprous, and smitten of God. Thus euery one had his imagination, while euery one with full consent assure them­selues, that this World of Sinne must haue some bath to purge it; and our corrupt kinde, some iustification, by which it may bee made innocent: for that the eyes of God cannot behold vnrighteousnesse, nor shall any polluted dwell before him. But leauing all these, which through the slender creuisse of Naturall wisedome, or the Legall veyle of Iudaicall dark­nesse, did rather prye at the light, then behold it; Let vs search what Titles of honour, what Appellations, what so­ueraigne names full of mysterie & excellence, the Spirit of God in the Scriptures of truth, haue giuen to our Redeemer.

Of the names of God there are sundry. Some are Appel­lations, which substantially expresse what he is; as when he is called God: some by relation expresse the persons; as when we say, God the Father, God the Sonne, and God the Holy Ghost: some by way of Similitude expresse him; as when Christ is calledCol. 1.15. Heb. 1.3. Ioh. 14.17. & 1. Ioh. 2.27. the image, the brightnesse: and the holy Ghost is called the Spirit, the Vnction.

Some names are the names of the Essence, some of the persō, and office. Whatsoeuer Appellations declare the substance of the Godhead, are common to the Father, the Sonne, and the Holy Ghost: but the names which expresse the proprietie of the person, are not communicable to any, but the person of whom they are spoken.

Some things are spoken specially of the God-head of Christ, which yet by communication of properties, are at­tributed to the Manhood: as the onely begotten Sonne,Ioh. 1.18. which is in the bosome of the Father: some things are spo­ken of the Manhood, which yet are by communication of the properties, applied to the God-head; as when it is said,Act. 20.28. God hath purchased to himselfe a Church in his owne bloud. And Iohn saith,1. Ioh. 3.16. He laid downe his life for vs. God neither died, nor shed bloud substantially or properly: but because the person which died, is God and Man,Vid. Pet. Lomb. 3. sent. dist 21. therefore it is called the bloud-shedding of God, by communication of proper­ties: [Page 16] by which, what is absolutely true in the humanitie, is al­so spoken of the diuinitie.

Some Titles and Attributes are giuen to the Sonne, which alike concerne both natures, the diuine, and the humane; as [...]. Tim. 1 15. Iesus Christ came into the world to saue sinners: Act. 10.42. Iesus Christ is made iudge of the quicke, and of the dead.

Some things are spoken of the Godhead, which cannot be true in the Manhood alone; asPh [...]l 2 6. hee thought it no robbery to be equall with God. Io. 8.58. Before Abraham was, I am. Some things are spoken of the Manhood alone, which cannot be verified of the Godhead alone: asPsal 8.5. Thou madest him lower then the Angels. And againe, Hee Esay. 41.1. is called the seruant of God. The obseruation of this distinction, is most necessarie to them, that will rightly vnderstand the Scriptures, speaking of Christ.

The Name of God, and Sonne of God, is substanti­ally and eternally, before all time and ages, giuen vnto the Sonne: but this appellation was manifested to the world in due time, appointed by the eternall Counsell of God.

The name of the sonne of Man, Christ when hee tooke flesh in the wombe of the Virgin, tooke also vnto himselfe: and as in his eternall Natiuitie, the Name of God is his be­yond all eternitie: so in his temporall Natiuitie, which hee hath in the flesh, hee hath also a temporall appellation, taken in time, but shall endure beyond all time, euen for euer and euer. And here obserue the vnspeakeable humi­litie of Iesus Christ, who much more often calleth himselfeMat. 8.20. Mark. 2.10. Luke 5.14. Iohn 3.13. the Sonne of Man, then the Sonne of God.

Christ is called theIoh. 1.1. Word: not the Word created, but the Word begotten: not such a word as from God was gi­uen to Moses by the Angels, which was not begotten, but deliuered: nor such a word as is speld by letters, or pronoun­ced by syllables, the word created, and not begotten;Theod. but Christ is called, the Word vncreated, in his Diuinitie, but not vnbegotten. Formed and begotten in his Humanitie: begot­ten in his Diuinitie without time; in his Humanitie in time, but without passion. Whose generation was neither the vio­lation, [Page 17] the diminution, the separation, or the taking away of any thing from the Father. Christ then is not the word which beates the ayre, which begins from silence,Tho. Aqui. and ends in si­lence; but the word neuer ceasing, and euer speaking.

Wherefore as euery man declareth himselfe to another by his word: so God manifesteth himselfe to the world by his Sonne, who interpreteth the will of God to vs, and is the substance, very God of God his Father.

The Wisedome of God 1. Cor. 1.14. the Father hee is called: not that created wisedome, which is deliuered in the word, or appea­reth in the creatures, or is shed into the soule of Man, by the operation of the Spirit; but the substantiall wisedome, the Essentiall wisedome of God. Wherein wee see Gods infinite loue towards vs. For as the Mother by the milke conueyeth the meat vnto the Child, which of it selfe the Infant hath no power to receiue: so God hath sent his wisedome vnto vs, cloathed in our flesh, whose excellency and infinitie, our in­firmitie cannot receiue simply, and in the fulnesse of his glo­rie. And here note, that Christ is not called wise onely, but wisedome it selfe. This wisedome in his Deity is not a quality, but the substance of the Father; though wisedome in the Manhood of Christ, is a qualitie, superexcellently giuen vn­to it by the Godhead.Col. 2.9. Christ then is the substantial wisedome of God, eternall, vncreated; and hath also as Man, the created wisedome, a qualitie infused by grace. By this he encreased in grace and fauour: but the Eternall wisedome encreased not, being the fulnesse, to which there could be no addition; euer infinite. The Father is Wisedome, the Sonne is Wisedome, the Holy Ghost Wisedome: yet but one Wisedome, one Power, one Eternitie, one Essence, one Goodnes.

Christ is calledHeb. 1.3. Vid. Sedul. in cap. 1. ad Heb. The brightnesse of the glory; because, as the brightnesse is vnseparable, coexistent, the same with the light: so Christ is vnseparable, coeternall, the same with the Father.

CHRIST is calledIo. 1.9. The true light; because, as the light maketh all things manifest: so CHRIST declareth to vs the Father, and vnfouldeth the deepe [Page 18] abysse, and secret bosome of his eternall counsailes.

Christ is calledMath. 17.5. The Sonne of God: and men are called the sonnes of God; but Christ is the naturall Sonne, men are adopted sonnes: Christ is properly called the Sonne, Men vnproperly so called, and by fauour onely.

Christ is called theIoh. 1.14. onely begotten; because God the Fa­ther hath no other Son by nature: He is called theRom. 8.29. First begotten, by taking flesh vnto him, by which hee hath many brethren, sonnes by adoption. The appellation of onely be­gotten, and first begotten, is to bee giuen to no other but Christ, neither properly, nor improperly.

Christ is called aAct. 4.12. & 5.31. Sauiour. This name is common to Christ with the other blessed persons in the Trinitie: yet so, as euery person is called a Sauiour in a diuers consideration. God the Father is called a Sauiour, for that he sent his onely begotten Sonne to dye for our sinnes.

Heb. 5.7 8 9. Phil. 2.8. Iesus Christ is called a Sauiour, for that in his holy huma­nitie, hee was obedient to the Father, and sustained the pu­nishment of sinne. God the Holy Ghost is called a Sauiour, for that by his power, the Sonne of God was conceiued in the wombe of the Virgin;2. Cor. 1.22. Ephes. 1.13, 14. & 4.30. Rō. 8.15.16.17. and all that beleeue are taught, and sealed vnto Saluation, by the earnest of the Spirit, who wit­nesseth in vs, that we are the sonnes of God. So euery person is a Sauiour, by the vse of power, and operation of loue; for that euery person wrought in the work, that which was pro­per vnto it to doe. Common to all three persons vvas the Worke, the Loue, the Power, the Purpose.

Euery Person hath also his proper work in our Saluation, which to the other Persons is vncommunicable. The Father gaue, and sent his Sonne, by priuiledge of the authoritie: the Sonne also tooke flesh, and satisfied for sinne, by the humilia­tion of his Person: the Holy Ghost onely was the worker of the Words conception,Aug. de incar. dom. cont. Iudaeos. in the wombe of the Virgin. We see in Musike, the Art, the hand, the instrument. The Art di­recteth onely: the hand moueth onely: the instrument only soundeth.Peter Lomb. 3. sent. dist. 3. Euen so (if any thing may expresse this glori­ous worke of our redemption) the Father begetteth onely: [Page 19] the Sonne onely is begotten: the Spirit proceedeth from both, the loue and communitie of them both. The Father a Sauiour; for he sendeth: the Sonne a Sauiour; for hee suffe­reth: the Holy Ghost a Sauiour; for by the Holy Ghost Christ was conceiued in the Virgins wombe, and the holy Ghost, calleth, reproueth, sanctifieth, sealeth, assureth the Elect of God. As the Trinitie is vnseparable and vndiuided: so yet the Trinitie was not incarnate, but the person of the Sonne. The Trinitie did not say, This is my beloued Sonne,Pet. Lomb. 3. sent. dist. 1. cap. 3. but the Father: the Trinitie did not descend in the likenesse of a Doue, but the Holy Ghost.

He is calledPsal. 2.2. Christ, in respect of his anointing by the Spirit of God, to be our Priest, our Prophet, our King; wher­of I haue already spoken. He isMath. 1.21. called Iesus, in respect of the Saluation of the world.

Christ is called theIoh. 10.11. 1. Pet. 5.4. Shepheard; for that he hath brought home Man wandring in the Labyrinth of sinne, vnto God againe. He is called aEsay 53.7. Sheepe; for that hee was made a sacrifice for vs: and with such patience, humilitie and mild­nesse, he suffered all afflictions for vs, that he did not so much as open his mouth before the Shearer. The Word was silent and without speech: the Fire without heate: the mouing and working power, quiet and sleeping, as it were, for our sakes.

Hee is called aIoh. 1.36. Lambe, for his innocencie, purity, vn­spotted righteousnesse, meeknesse, and holinesse.

Christ isEsay 40.10, 11. called the power of God; which sheweth, that he was euer with God by eternitie, euer equall to God by consubstantialitie: and that he is no weake meanes, or vn­perfect inchoation and beginning onely of our saluation; but as absolute, as full, as sufficient a Redeemer, as a Creator: a Deliuerer, as a Maker.

Christ is calledMat. [...].22. Immanuel; that is, God with vs.Aug. de Ʋer. Apost. This name expresseth his wonderfull loue. For if hee bee counted full of humanitie, that taketh Man into his house, what is he that taketh Man into himselfe? Cyprian well saith,C [...]p de vanit. Idolorum. Christ would be what Man is, that Man might be what [Page 20] Christ is. This name also declareth the coniunction of the two natures in one person.

In the second of Mathew Mat. 2.2. the Wise men call him the King of the Iewes; but in the Reuelation he is calledApoc. 19.16. King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. The first place proueth, that hee is descended from the loines of Dauid, according to the Pro­phets. The second declareth,1. Cor. 10.26. that hee is a Monarch, to whom all creatures bow and obey.

In sundry places of the Gospell, hee is called Rabbi, or Master, theMat. 8.2. Apoc. 15. Mat. 2.6. Gouernour, the Lyon of the Tribe of Iudah, the King of Saints. All which shew his power, both ouer all crea­tures, and much more ouer his owne fould, which is his Church.

Christ is calledEsay 52.10. The holy arme of the Lord; because all things were made by it, and without it was made nothing that was made.

He is called ALPHA,Apoc. 1.8. and the BEGINNINGApoc. 3.14. and the FIRST; for that, both creation, and reparation are of him.

He is called OMEGA,Apoc. 1.8. or the last end: either because in the end of the world, he came in humilitie, and shall her [...] ­after come in glory: or else because all our thoughts, words and works ought to tend vnto him, and his honour, as to the appointed end:Rom. 10.4. Mat. 5.17. Esay 25. or because hee was the end of the Mosaicall Law: or because he is the end of the wrath of God, the Sab­bath and the Mountaine, in which the hand of the Lord ceaseth. And lastly, hee is called the last, or the end; be­cause hee shall put an end to the whole world, and all that is therein.

Christ is called theRom. 1.17. 1. Cor. 1.20. [...]er. 23.56. Righteousnesse of God, and our righ­teousnesse: not onely because hee is righteousnesse himselfe, butPet. Lomb. sent. 3. dist. 35. because he giueth righteousnesse to his elect.

Christ is calledLuke 2.30. The saluation of God, the sanctification, the redemption, the doore, the way, the life, the holy of holies; that we should know, that he alone is all vnto vs, that is required vn­to eternall life.

Christ is calledApoc. 2.17. Manna, bread, water, the garment: that [Page 21] as food and clothing are sufficient to the maintaining of the naturall life: so we should beleeue, that Christ is alone suffi­cient to our spirituall and euerlasting life; and hauing him, we neede no more.

Christ is called the first borne of the dead, and 1. Cor. 15.20. the first fruits of them that slept, and Apoc. 1.5. the first begotten of the dead; for that by his power, all the dead are raised vp.

Christ is called theHos. 1.11. Ephes. 4.15. head of the Church, the roote of the Vine, the Bridegroome. All these appellations signifie the communitie of loue, the vnseparable coniunction, the indissoluble vnity, that is betwixt Iesus Christ, and his Church.

Christ is called a1. Cor. 10.4. Rocke, for his soliditie, eternitie, constancie; for that euery one, which is built on him, shall not perish euerlastingly.

Christ is called theApoc. 1.5. Faithfull and true witnesse; be­cause in his mouth there was found no deceit. All the pro­mises of God in him are, Amen, truely, verely, perfectly fulfilled.

Christ is calledApoc. 2. [...]. Hee, that holdeth the seuen Starres in his right hand, and walketh in the middest of the seuen golden Candlestickes; for because hee is alwaies in the middest of his Church, by gouerning, and hath it in his hand, by de­fending.

Christ is called aEsay 49.6.15.23. Branch, a Flower, a Child, a Seruant, a Calfe, a Worme, in respect of his humanitie and appearing in the flesh; as also in respect of his great humiliation, which he vndertooke, for the redemption of his Church.

Christ is calledEsay 9.6. the Wonderfull, Counsellor, the mighty God, the euerlasting Father, the Prince of Peace; in respect of his di­uinity: and that wee should to him ascribe all our beeing, both that of Nature, and this of Grace, the first and the Se­cond birth.

These, and diuers other Titles of Honour, the Scripture giueth vnto the Sonne of God. All which may be reduced into two kindes. For they either declare the Essence of his Deity, which properly can neither be conceiued nor named;Damasce [...]. [...] 1 d [...] fide Orthod. ca. 13. [Page 22] or else they concerne his Office and Mediation; and then they declare either the Priestly, or the Propheticall, or else the Kingly office of Iesus Christ.Phil. 2. To whom let euery mouth confesse, and euery knee bow,Psal. 150. and euery thing that hath breath, giue praise and honour; neither let wretched Man enuy him the absolute appellation of a sole and sufficient Sa­uiour, Redeemer, and Deliuerer, which the Scripture so co­piously doth ascribe vnto him. Thus much of the Titles. Let vs proceede to the Canons.

CHAP. VI. Canons or Rules of Faith, concerning the person of our great High Priest Iesus Christ, taken out of the Scriptures and Fathers.

Canon 1 THough the vnderstanding of Man is in nature after a sort infinite and wondrously capacious: yet it is not pro­portionable to the infinite and incomprehensible Essence and Attributes of God. Wherefore of the supreme beeing of the most glorious God, nothing can be spoken directly, but vnproperly, by equiuocation, and by way of similitude, according to that wee see in his workes: insomuch that the name IEHOVAH, Exod. 6. which God gaue vnto himselfe, we cannot directly conceiue, nor apprehend, beeing altogether vnintelligible vnto vs. But the attributes of Iustice, Loue, Mercy, which are qualities of men, areIoh. 36.26. & vid. Iob. 38. per [...]ot. indirectly and vn­properly ascribed vnto God, and cannot sufficiently ex­presse the excellencie that is in him. Cyrill very well saith, It is great learning for a man to confesse his owne igno­rance: and Augustine saith,Esay 45.15. God is great without quantitie, good vvithout qualitie. Iulius Scaliger truely deemeth, with no words can a man so fully signifie God, as with those which confesse his owne ignorance.Vid. Barth. Kecker. syst. lag. lib. in trac. de voc. ambig. The first Rule then as an introduction of all the rest is, that all words and attri­butes common to God and his creatures, are Analogically and improperly giuen to God.

Canon 2 Iesus ChristMat. 15.22. God and Man, the sonne of God, and the [Page 23] sonne of Man, hath both natures in one person, really,Heb. 1.3. & 2.7 Iohn 1.14. aqualin patri, non crescendo, sed nascendo. true­ly, substantially;Phil. 2.6 equall in the Godhead with the Father, and with the holy Ghost equall, not by increasing, but by es­sence and natiuity:Io. 14.28.3 [...] inferiour to the Father, and the holy Ghost in his humanity. If he had beeneEsa. 40.28 God onely, hee could not haue died: if he had bene Man onely, heSam. 2.14.14 Iob 21.23 could not haue ouercome death. Wherefore hee is both God and Man, that he mightHeb. 10.5. submit the imbecillity of the one na­ture to suffering; and by the power of the1. Cor. 15.54.57. other, destroie death for euer. Who could destroy death, but he that is very life? Who could satisfie for sinne, but hee that is very righte­ousnes?

In the holy wombe of the blessed virgin,Luke 1.31 Iesus Christ Canon 3 was conceiued, and of her seed tooke substance of flesh. Shee did not conceiue by the eare, neither did the Godhead enter into her byIntroiuit per au­r [...]m virginis. in di. Nat. domini. the eare, (as the Missall of Sarisbury most blasphemously saith) Hee entred in at the Virgins eare: but his generation and conception was in the wombe. It is hereti­call, and sauoureth of the heresie of Marcion, to say with the Missall,Conc [...]pist [...] per aurem dominum nostrum. Thou didst conceiue our Lord by the eare.

Iesus Christ hath two natiuities: one in his diuinity, in Canon 4 which hee is Coeternall, Coequall, Consubstantiall with his Father. Of this natiuity the Psalmist saith,Psal. 27. Act. 13.33 Ioh. 1 1.2 This day haue I begotten thee; intimating the certainty of generation, not the measure or point of time when he was begotten; for this be­getting was before all time, and from all eternity. Of this ge­neration we may not say, Christ is still a begetting, although he be still begotten. For he saith not, I do beget thee; but,Nou dicit hodie [...]egi [...]no, sed hod [...]e te genus. psal. 2. To day haue I begotten thee: and this begetting giues him not be­ing of time, or of life, who had liued beyond all time, the be­ginning of life. The second natiuity is of the Manhood in certaine timeLuke 3.26 and place; of which may be truely verefied the saying of the Canticles,Cant 8.5 There thy mother conceiued thee, there shee conceiued that bare thee. For his humane conception and natiuity had both determinate time and place.

The generationEsa. 53.28 Luke 1.34 of the Godhead, & the Manhood are both ineffable. In the Deity;Ioh. 23.18 God begat him of himselfe: [Page 24] in the Manhood hee was begotten, and borne of a pure vir­gin, the power of the highest ouershadowing her, & the ho­ly Ghost comming vpon her. Here thinke not, that the holy Ghost was seed, nor that the holy Ghost did beget him, nor that the holy Ghost was his Father, nor that there was in his generationEsa. 53.2. either lust or passion: no, but as his diuineCol. 1.17 generation is without beginning: so his humane generation is withoutEsa. 53.1 example. His diuine generation was vnto God: his humane generation is for men. In the diuine generation, he is the beginning of life: in the humane generation,Tim. 2.1.10 by suffering death, he ouercame death for vs.

Canon 6 If this generation could be conceiued by Man, what great thing were in it aboue other generations?Esa. 53.8 Greg. Nazian. But his genera­tion who shall declare? Thou vnderstandest not how thy selfe wast created, and wilt thou enquire how Christ was begot­ten? It is enough to know that he was begotten, how he was begotten, the Angels themselues comprehend not:Esa. 40.13. Rom. 11.34 Ezek. 10. Who hath knowen the mind of the Lord, or who was his counseller? Canst thou describe the nature of Cherubins, the substance of Sera­phins? both which stand before him, & cast their eies to the ground, couering their faces with their wings, not presuming to looke vpon that vnaccessible light: and yet Man, who is but dust and ashes,Gen. 3. Ecclu 17 who knowes not himselfe, nor how soon he shal be dissolv'd; who vnderstands not how his own soule begetteth the word his mouth bringeth forth, dares pry into the secrets of the generation of the Sonne of God. Assure thy selfe, the truth hereof is nothing lesse, because thou canst not comprehend it; wherefore lay holde on him by faith, whom with words thou canst not express, & bring not that into dis­putatiō, which cānot be answerd: delight not in the torments of questions. If hisPhil. 4.7 peace be aboue al vnderstanding, his na­tiuity is aboue al vnderstāding. It is enough for thee to know thatIoh. 10.11 he is the good shepherd, who gaue his life for his sheep.

Canon 7 ChristIo. 1.14 the Sonne of God, was made the Sonne of man; notHeb. 1. et 2 per [...]etum. Esa. 7.14 by conuersion of one nature into another, but by ta­king the Manhood vnto the Godhead: so the word and the Manhood are one Christ, verely & truely, in person, by con­iunction, [Page 25] not by confusion of natures; not, that either na­ture doth suffer abolition,Vid. 1. ad Heb. but that both the natures are vni­ted in one person. Christ being Man on earth, was yet at the same time, & for euer God in Heauen, God in the earth, God in the wombe, God in the Manger, God on the Crosse. For the Godhead was neuer diuided, changed, separated or di­minished, but was in ChristCol. 2.9 fully, wholly, simply: and he was at the same time very Man, naturall Man, like vnto vs in all thingsHeb. 7.26 1. Pet. 2.22 (except sin) that the one nature might dy, & the other might raise it vp againe.

The GodheadEph. 4.9.10 Erat quidem in mundo: et mundus per ipsum factus est: sed mundus cum nō cognouit, non ergo venit qui aberat: sed apparuit qui la­tebat. Vnde et hu­manam in qua ag­nosceretur induit formam: Ber. ser. 3 de trip. domini aduentu. is said to descend and come downe: not, Canon 8 that it was subiect to mutation, or change of place; but the God of heauen tooke flesh on earth; which to expresse, the Scripture is compelled to speake according to the manner of men. God is said vnproperly, and by a borrowed speech, to come downe and to bee changed: for the Deity cannot bee changed. TheExod. 4.6.7. hand of Moses taken out of his bosome was leprous, & returned into the bosome cleane againe. Here was a true change and alteration indeed. The Godhead from the bosome of the Father comming downe, and taking flesh vpon itEsa. 53.23. Ioh. 16. & 17 seemed vnto men as debased, infirmed, weake, which indeed was not so. For hauing taken away our sinne, our death, our infirmity, and returning againe (as it were) in­to the bosom of the Father, he is, & was euer glorious, power­full and almighty. This is but a seeming change, a seeming al­teration in God (who indeed is euer the sameHeb. 13.8 without va­riablenesse, or shadow of change) quoad nos, in our respect, in our vnderstanding; not in nature, not in substance:1. Sam. 1 [...].19 God is in himselfe euer the same without variablenes or shadow of change in nature and substance.

The Godhead it selfe, in the passion of Christ did not suffer, Canon 9 it had no passion, though the humanityMat. 27 did suffer, and were tormented. This cannot be expressed by any similitude, yet we see in Man the soule so knit vnto the body,Calu [...]n in Inst. cap. 7. de side num. 1.3. that either nature keepes his owne property. The body hath actions, wherof the soule is not capable: the soul hath actions, which of the body cannot be verefied. And some things are cōmon [Page 26] to the whole man, which are neither true in the body alone, nor in the soule alone.Damasc. li. 3. c. 26. Damascen compareth the suffering of Christ to the cutting of wood, on which the Sunne shineth: though the wood bee strooken, the Sunne beame is neither cut, nor strooken. He compareth it also to water poured vp­on burning yron: though the fire be quenched, the iron is not consumed.

August. Austine compareth the Godhead to the light diffused into the ayre, which is alwayes vncorrupt, though the ayre bee corrupted. But fully and perfectly no earthly similitude can expresse, how Christ God and Man, in one person, suffered onely in the humanitie. Faith must beleeue, what sense can­not conceiue.Pet. Lomb. 3. sent. d [...]st. 22. If you speake of the distinct natures; God suffered not, God died not: If you speake of the vnity of the person; wee may say, God did dye, and God did suffer, that is, the person which is God and Man, did dye and suffer.

Canon 10 Christ is true and veryMat. 1.21. Man, the onely begotten of his Mother in his humanitie, as hee is the onelyIoh. 1.14. begotten of the Father in his Diuinity. The two natutes are not confoun­ded (as the Timotheans did dreame) but consociated: so that God and Man, is one Christ, as the body and the soule is one Man; not by versabilitie of the substances, as Apolinarius thought: nor by the copulation of man with woman, as E­bion blasphemed. For his Mother was a Virgin before and af­ter his birth, contrary to the opinion of Heluidius. His flesh was begotten in the wombe of the Virgin, not brought from Heauen, according to the dotage of Marcion; Not a phanta­sticall body, as Ʋalentinus taught; not onely flesh of flesh, as Martianus opinated: but true God of the Diuinity, true Man of the humanitie, hauing a body & a soule naturall, not a bo­dy without a Soule (as Eunomius beleeued) but a Soule en­dued Canon 11 with reason, and with sense.

All that Christ tooke ofPsal. 124 7. 1. Cor. 15.42, 43, 44, 45. man hee redeemed in Man; what he did notHeb. 2.14, [...]6 take, hee did not redeeme. Though his generation were aboue nature, yet the naturall Manhood of Christ tooke all ourEsay 53.3, 4. Heb. 2.17, 18. infirmities, affections, passions, with­out sinne. The very natureHeb. 2.14. must of necessitie bee taken, [Page 27] which should be deliuered, together with all naturall defects, and infirmities thereof.

Infirmities in him were not infirmities of fault,Esay 27.4. but of Canon 12 kinde. Wherefore they are not from the same cause, that they are in vs: we vndergoe them for necessitie, hee did vndergoe them forIo. 15.13. loue: they are the punishments of our owne sinnes in vs: they are the punishment not of his own sinnes, but ours in him;Esay 53.8. For the transgression of my people was hee plagued.

All the lawes of Ceremonies which Christ performed, he Canon 13 did obserue; not that hee had neede in respect of his owne person to bee clensed, or purged, or initiated with any so­lemnitie of rites, but onely to fulfill theIo. 3 21. whole law for vs, and therefore he wasLuk. 2.2 [...] circumcised: hee ate theMat. 26.1 [...]. Passeouer: hee kept the Sabbaths, that he might bee a per­fectMat. 3.15. obseruer of the Law, before God and Man. So like­wise he paid tribute, and offered himselfe to be baptised; not that hee had any neede of regeneration, but to giue dignitie to the institution, and to sanctifie it, and by his owne exam­ple to commend it vnto vs. Therefore the Missall of Sarum doth plainely blaspheme, where it saith,Concede propiti­us, vt fructus ancil­larum [...]uarum in orbem terrarum sa­nos & incolumes taliter disponas per­uenire, quòd ad son­tem baptismatis vna tecum regene­rari mercantur. Miss. Sar in Miss. pro Mulieribus pragnant. in secret. pijssime Christe Iesu. So dispose the fruit of thy Hand-maidens to come sound and safe into the world, that they may together with thee deserue to bee regenerate at the font of Baptisme.

Can. 14. GodCol. 2 9. Io. 14.11. Vid. Theod. Beza [...] aduersus conu. Guil. Hold. dwelt in Iesus Christ fully and perfectly; not as he dwelleth in Peter, or in the rest of the Apostles, by presence of the Essence of Diuinitie, or by habituall grace onely. For the holy Saints are not personally and Hypostati­cally knit together vnto God, as the Manhood and the God­head are knit together in the person of Iesus Christ. Where­fore theAct. 3.12 & Mat. 16.20. miracles of Saints were not so wrought, as Christs Miracles are.

Can. 15. Christ in his GodheadIer. 23.23, 24 &c. E [...]ay 48 13. Iob. 37 25. is infinite, incircumscrip­tible, incomprehensible: but the manhood is finite, circumscrip­tible, comprehensible, and inAct. 1.11▪ Act. 3.21. place contained. Wherefore Eustathius speaking of the Diuinitie well saith, God contai­neth all things, and is contained of none. And Seuerianus [Page 28] speaking of both natures saith,Continebatur qu [...]ad corpun quan­tum ad verbum at­tiret, contineri non poterat. v d. Theod. Bezam. ad Ho [...]d. Conu. he was contained touching his body, but as touching the word he cannot be contained. The body hath not the equipatence, or the vbiquitie of the Godhead, but is contained in his place as other bodies are; which if it were not so, the Angels could not haue proued his resurrection from the dead, because hisMar. 16.6. body was not in the graue. And Pauls desire were absurd,Ph [...]l. 1.23. wishing him­selfe to bee dissolued,Sicut à coelis abe­rat, quando in terra fuit, ita runc, quia in coel [...] est, non est in terra. Vigil. aduer. E [...]h. that hee might bee with Christ. The truth then is, Christ as God filleth earth and heauen at once: but Christs Manhood was not in heauen, when it was in earth; and is not in earth, now it is in Heauen.

Canon 16 We must take heede, that we giue not vnto Christ one will onely, with the Monophysicall, and Monothelitan Hereticks. For as Christ hath two natures, so also two wils, and two powers, and two operations. The humane nature, which is taken, doth serue the diuine nature, euen as the body of Man doth serue the Soule: yet either nature doth worke accor­ding to his propriety. At the resurrectionIo. 11. of Lazarus the soule groned, sorrowed: the body wept, and said, Lazarus come forth; but the Godhead gaue life vnto him, and raised him vp, who is the beginning and the life of all. Wee diuide not herein the person, with Nestorius; but wee say, the Man Christ wrought Miracles: yet not as mere Man, but by the Godhead. For though the Manhood of Christ bee adorned with all graces, yet it hath not the Essentiall proprieties of the Godhead,Mat. 21.18, 19. Ioh. 6 9, 10.11, 12. neither doe those properties goe out of their owne subiect. It was not the Godhead, which hungred at the Figge-tree: it was not the Manhood, that fed fiue thousand with a few Barly loaues, and two Fishes. Amphilochius well saith;Deu [...] sum & ho­mo, haeretice: deus, vt s [...]ondent mira­cula; homo vt testā­tur affictiones. O Heretike, I am God and Man: my miracles shew I am God, my affections witnesse I am Man.

Canon 17 Christ in his Manhood (though beautified with the most excellent graces) is yet to himselfe inferiour, considering his Godhead.Apoc. 8.3. The Angell standing before the Altar, is well expounded of the humanitie of Christ worshipping the Di­uinitie. For the humane nature is subiect and doth serue the diuine nature, euen in himself, that is, in one & the same per­son. [Page 29] But to thinke that in Christ there is one person seruing, another commanding, is the Heresie of Nestorius condem­ned in the Councell of Ephesus.

Christ was (as is formerly said) both Priest, Sacrifice, and Canon 18 Altar; for he offered as Priest, hee was offered as Sacrifice, and his owne worthinesse was theHeb. 13.10 Esa. 56.7 Col. 1.21.22 acceptable Altar. He is the SacrificeHeb. 5.10. which reconciled vs vnto God, when wee were enemies, and preserues vs still in his fauour being recon­ciled. This Sacrifice therefore tooke away bothHe. 10.14.18 fault, andHeb. 13.12 punishment; and therefore the punishment, because the fault.Ezech. 18 For God is righteous, and his iustice requireth to pu­nish where is fault. And againe, the same iustice of God per­mitteth him not to poure downeGen. 18.25 vengeance, where hee seeth no fault, no blemish, no transgression.

Euery first, orRo. 11.34.35. mouing cause is mooued of no other, Canon 19 neither receiueth helpe from any other. The Sunne which giueth light vnto all receiueth not light from any. The fire heats, and is not heated. Euery first working cause is perfect in his kinde. So Christ in the worke of our Saluation isEsay 63.3 assisted by none, he receiueth help from none, being the foun­taine of all grace and goodnes. Euen as theIob 38.24.25.26.28 showres and dew which falleth vpon vs, falles not by our helpe: or as the light shineth vpon vs, without vs, or any of our labour: so is the saluation from Christ free, vndeserued, wrought onlyRom. 11.36 by himselfe, and of himselfe, and for himselfe. Wherefore the Psalmist saith,Psal. 72.6 Hee shall come downe like the raine into a fleece of wooll, euen as the drops that water the earth. And the Prophet Esay saith,Esay 62.1 I will not rest, vntill the righteousnes therof breake forth as the light, and saluation thereof as a burning lampe. And againe,Esay 66.12 I will extend peace ouer her like a floud, and the glorie of the Gentiles like a flowing streame. And of the free mercie of God the Prophet Ieremy speaketh,Ier. 32.41 I will delight in them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart, & with al my soule. Ioel saith,Ioel 3.18 In that day shall the mountaines drop downe new wine, and the hils shall flow with milke. Raining, dropping, breaking forth, flowing, planting, are all Symbols of vndeserued grace, and vnmerited fauour.

Canon 20 Christ hadAct. 2.23.24 power to lay downe his life, and not to lay it downe. Wherefore in that he died, hee died to satisfie theHeb. 2.14.15 wrath of God; not for any necessity in his owne person. For hee was such, yea, a thousand times more1 Cor. 15.47 excellent then Adam in his creation. For this cause, his1 Cor. 15 56 Manhood beeing without sinne, was by4 Esd. 7.48 nature also without death. InIoh. 15.12.13. that hee died, it was the dispensation of loue and grace, not the exaction of necessity, (as himself witnesseth);Ioh. 10.18 No man taketh my life from me, but I lay it downe of my selfe.

Canon 21 All theCant. 5 10. ad finem. works of Christ were fully and sufficiently me­ritorious of eternall life for vs, in respect of the worthinesse of them. For euen in his baptisme the Father witnesseth of him;Mat. 3.17 that in him he was well pleased, but he died to testi­fie the greatnesse of1 Io. 4.9.10. the loue, and to obserue the order of GodsIo. 15.13 counsailes, with whom withoutHeb. 9.22 effusion of bloud there is no remission of sinnes. Wherefore Iesus ChristIo. 10.11 gaue also his life for his sheep, and by his punishment satis­fied the iustice and wrath of God; as it is written,Esay 53.10 It plea­sed the Lord to smite him with infirmity.

Canon 22 ChristEsay 63.3 suffered himselfe, and no other for him. Christ suffered in hisMa. 26.38.39. Mar. 15.34.37 whole humanitie, because whole man was to be redeemed, Wherefore he suffered both in body & soule; as it is written,Esay 53.11. My soule is heauy vnto the death: And Esay saith,Ibid. Of the trauell and labour of his soule shall he see the fruit. And againe, He poured out his soule to death. Hee suffered him­selfe alone, no other with him, for the taking away of sins; so witnesseth Esay, Esay 63.3 I haue troden the wine-presse my selfe alone, of all people there was none with me.

Canon 23 Adam, when he sinned, was aRom. 5 publique person, and in him all did sinne originally: so Christ when he suffered, was a publique person, and the benefit of his suffering redoundeth to all; not that all mankinde is saued by his passion, but that Christs passion was a sufficient sacrifice,3. sent. dist. 20. & powerfull enough in respect of the price, for the saluation of all, though it were efficacious onely for the elect, who were giuen to him of the Father. This is proued out of the words of our Sauiour him­self,Io. 17.9 I pray not for the world, but for them, which thou hast giuen me.

The whole life of Christ was nothing else but suffering & Canon 24 affliction, according to that of Ieremy, Lam. 3.5 Luke 2.7 He hath builded a­gainst me, and compassed me with gall and labour. The birth of the King of glory was in a stable, his cradle a Manger among brute beasts, no sooner borne, but presently persecuted and sought for by Herod. Mat. 2 Wherefore they flee with him into E­gypt, from whence returned, all his life long hee spent in temptations, hunger, labour, trauaile, infirmity, affliction, snares, dangers; till at last our glorious Sunne by little & lit­tle was wholly ouercome, & the most dreadfull Eclipse, ouer­cast the same, that euer was.Mat. 27 At which the naturall Sunne it self abashed, hid his face in darkenes; the earth quaked, and the very stones did rent asunder: all creatures are astonied, Man, onely Man, for whom all this he suffered, harder then stone, more vncompassionate then the very rockes,Ma [...]. 14.29.30 31.32. hath no sense of his Sauiours torments, no feeling, no commiserati­on.

The Natiuity of Christ, his death, resurrection and ascen­sion, Canon 25 were certainely foreshewed by the Prophets, at what time they should come to passe. Of his natiuity the Apostle witnesseth;Eph. 1.10 that God sent his Sonne in the dispensation of the fulnes of the times. And Iacob prophecied,Gen. 49.10 The Scepter shall not depart from Iudah, nor a Lawgiuer from betweene his feet, vntill Shiloh come. Esay foreshewed the same; namely,Esay 11. & 35 & 53. that he should rise out of the stocke or trunke of Iesse, out of the waste and dry ground: by which was shewed, that vpon the destruction of the Israelitish royalty, in the ouerthrowe of their state, in their confusion, their Anarchy, Others do other­wise account, but all comes in a ma­ner to one end. their misera­ble oppression, Christ should come. Daniel therefore setteth downe the precise time, how many yeares it should be from the going forth of the commandement, to bring againe the people, till the comming of Messiah; to witte,Dan. 9 seauen weekes, threescore and two weekes: which weekes being ta­ken euery one for a Sabbath of yeares (as Moses teacheth vs to account)Leuit. 25 arise iust vnto 490 yeares; the full number of yeares from Darius Neh. 2. Longhand (whom the Scripture calls Artahshashte) who sent forth the cōmand vnto the time [Page 32] of Christs appearing. Of his death, Daniel prophecieth, it should be after threescore and two weekes: now the moneth, the day, the houre, was typically foreshewed in the eating of the Paschall Lambe, which was on the fourteenth day of the first moneth at Euen. [...]ccording to the Iewish ac­count, who began their day about three of the clock in the afternoone. On which day, being Friday, Christ according to the Law did eate the Passeouer with his Disci­ples, and was betrayed in the night following, receiued the sentence of death about twelue of the clocke the same day, and during the said houre of twelue was led to Golgotha and crucified, and at three of the clocke in the afternoone yeel­ded vp the ghost. Neither doth Marke the Euangelist varie from this account where hee saith,Mar. 15.25. that Christ was cruci­fied about the third houre.Marke [...]aith hee gaue vp the ghost at the ninth houre. Verse 37. A day naturall comprehending the night, consisteth of foure and twenty houres; but the Iewes had a two-fold diuision of their day, not reckoning the night. The first was into foure quarters, which vvere called the foure great houres, for in euery one of them, three houres were contained:Ioh. 11.9. The second diuision of the day, excluding the night, was into twelue houres. Now Mathew, Luke, Luk. 23.44.46 and Iohn say, that the iudgement was pronounced, and Christ nayled on the Crosse about the sixt houre: that is, in the tract, or by the finishing of the houre, which vvee call noone, or twelue of the clocke, which was part of Markes third great houre; and so, at the ninth houre, or three of the clocke, he gaue vp the ghost. Some doubt of the time when Christ ate the Passeouer, because Saint Luke, and Iohn say, he was crucified on the day of the preparing: but the truth is, Christ ate the Passeouer on the fourteenth day of the mo­neth, according to the Law of God. But the Iewes had a tra­dition, that if the fourteenth day fell vpon the sixt day of the weeke, then they deferred their Passeouer to the Sabbath day following: wherefore Christ was crucified on the day of their preparation for the Feast. The resurrection the third day was typified in Ionas, and prophecied by Osee Osee. 6.2. andIoh. 2.19. his owne prediction also.

The kinde of death which our Sauiour Iesus Christ did suffer, was most shameful and ignominious, vpon a woodden [Page 33] Crosse: which manner of punishment was vsed among the Romans, and it was most odious aboue all other sorts of death. Cicero saith,Cic. act. 5. in ver ex Barth. Kecker [...], Syst. Theol. the punishment of the Crosse was the worst, and most cruell torture: wherefore the enemies of Christian Religion did vse tauntingly to call Christ, the han­ged and the crucified God.

Christs death was the separation of body and soule, as all o­ther Canon 27 dye: and when hee was dead, his side beeing pearced, bloud and water issued forth: the bloud was a Symboll of perfect expiation by him made; the water, of the cleansing and purifying of all them for whom hee died. So his bloud preached satisfaction, and the water the washing away of sinne.

Christ although he verely died, yet hee had alwaies life in Canon 28 himselfe. I Ioh. 10.18. 1. Ioh. 1.2. Symb. Atha. 34. haue power ((saith he) to lay it downe, and haue power to take it againe. Though in his death the Soule were separated from the body, yet the diuinitie was neuer separa­ted from the humanitie; but as the two ends of a broken boaw, are yet knit still vnto the same string: so the body and Soule of Iesus Christ were euer ioyned to the diuinity, though they were one from the other disioyned.Esay 63.5. Therefore my own arme (saith hee) helped mee, and my wrath it selfe sustained mee. Here then behold a wondrous strong connexion of the two natures of Christ, which death it selfe could not dissolue; and thence take comfort (Christian) vnto thy selfe, seeing the Manhood so knit vnto the Godhead, that nothing could make separation thereof: and what doth hee desire else but that all his may be one, as the Father is in him,Ioh. 17. and he in the Father?

Some say, Was there no other way that wee might be saued Canon 29 from eternall damnation, but by the miserable torture, and bloudy death of the Sonne of God? yes surely, the power of God might haue saued vs other waies: but God, who had condemned Man iustly for the sinne of one, would haue Man to be deliuered also iustly, by the obedience of one. So that the Diuell is not now cast by force onely, but by equitie, out of his possession, according to that of Esay, Esay 1.27. Sion shal [Page 34] be redeemed with equitie, and her conuerts with righteousnesse. Austine of this point speaketh well; There are some that say; Why? could not the wisedom of God otherwise deliuer Man? Surely it could: But if he had done it otherwise, it would haue as much displeased thy foolishnesse. The couetous di­slike that Christ was not made of gold: the vnchaste dislike that he was borne of a woman: the proud dislike that hee suffered contumelies and shame: the delicate dislike that hee suffered torments: the fearefull dislike that he suffered death. But let vs with thankefulnesse receiue and imbrace what hee did, who did all for our loue, whose wisedome the lists of our slender sense cannot containe.

Canon 30 The Godhead in Christ, being one person with the huma­nitie, did as it were (for who can truely expresse the maner?) delitescere, or cease his operation, and withdraw it selfe, that Christ might suffer. Insomuch that hee cried out vpon the Crosse;Mar. 15.34. My God, my God, Why hast thou forsaken mee? This was done; not that there was any passion or alteration in God: nor that the Godhead was separated from the Man­hood by diuision of the person: nor that the Father forsooke the Sonne with a finall dereliction: nor as though Christ did desperately cast off all hope of the fauour of God. But yet af­ter an ineffable manner, the Godhead permitted the Man­hood, to which it was in person ioined, to suffer, to dye, to sustaine and vndergoe the sinnes of the world, the wrath and iustice of God, as much as the seueritie of Gods righteousnes required, for the redemption of all sinners: yea, I doubt not to say, as much as all sinnes deserued. For though Christ suf­fered not the very same kinde of paine (the wages of sinne) which the Diuels and reprobate sustained in Hell: yet the torments, the extreme humiliation, the shamefull death of the Sonne of God, was an equiualent satisfaction, and as great a punishment, as all our offences did deserue. When thou thin­kest on the horror of thy sinne, thinke also on the excellency of the sacrifice, and the extremitie of the humiliation, and thou shalt confesse the prophecy to be most true which saith,Esay 43.24. Thou hast made me to serue with thy sinnes, and wearied me [Page 35] with thine iniquities. Let vs then acknowledge;Esay 53.6. Surely hee hath borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrowes; the Lord hath laid vpon him the iniquities of vs all.

The giuing vp of the Sonne of God to death was from the Canon 31 Father, from the Sonne himselfe,Vid. Pet. Lomb. 3. sent. dist. 10. cap 1. from Iudas and the wicked Iewes. The Father gaue him according to his eternall coun­sell: the Sonne gaue himselfe in obedience to his Father, and in loue to mankinde: the Iewes and Iudas deliuered him vp to be crucified, out of their malice and enuy. Wherefore the worke of the Father was good, and the worke of the Sonne was good; For Charitie was the cause, equitie was ths meanes,1. Tim. 1.15. and Saluation of Mankinde was the end thereof: But the worke of the Iewes and Iudas was euill, as their will was euill, and their intention euill. God and the Iewes did one worke, but not with one purpose. Wherefore when it is said,Acts 2.23. Ye tooke him by the hands of the wicked, beeing deliuered by the determinate counsell, and foreknowledge of God; this is not to bee vnderstood, as though God were in the obliquity of the worke, or partaker of the Iewish impietie, or as though Christ had kild himselfe, or desperately beene the instrument of his own destruction: But the meaning of the place is, that the euill will of the Iewes was the instrument to bring the good will of God to passe; and that, as the Father in wise­dome, in iudgement, in loue gaue his Sonne, and the Sonne in humilitie and obedience to God, and in exceeding chari­tie to Man gaue himselfe: so the Iewes gaue him and betraied him, sinfully, maliciously, treacherously. Wherefore to God the Father, the Sonne, and the Holy Ghost all honour and praise: to the Iewes and Iudas all punishment, shame and con­fusion is due.

The resurrection of Christ is our hope, and his ascension Canon 32 our glorification. Christ in that he rose,1. Pet. 1.3. Ioh 17.24. Heb. 10.12, 13, 14. did rise neuer to die againe, neuer to bee againe corruptible, passible or infirme: but his humanity hath put on glory & eternity, and remaines now and for euer in the glory of the Father.Iohn 14.2. Hee is gone vp to prepare a place for vs, to make intercession for vs, to be the first fruits of the dead. Hee hath taken vp our flesh into [Page 36] the heauens, that the head being glorified, the whole body might also arise vnto glory. So vnto the nature of which it was said,Gen. 3.19. Thou art dust, and shalt returne to dust; it is now saidHieron. super il­lua Psal 24. Attollite portas Principes vestr. Be yee lift vp yee euerlasting doores, and the King of glory shall come in. To him be honour, and praise, and dominion, and might, and maiestie vpon the knees of all hearts ascribed for euer and euer, Amen.

I will presume no further to set downe Rules concerning the Attributes of this vnspeakeable transcendent, whose praises in number surmount the drops and sands of the sea, in glory the brightnesse of the clearest Sunne:Ioh. 21.25. the world cannot containe the things which might of him be written: the Heauen is his seat,Mat. 5.34, 35. Psal. 99.5. the earth is but his footstoole. O vaine were he would goe about with the dropping of a quill for to expresse him.

CHAP. VII. Of the workes and benefites of Christs Priesthood, and of a double kinde of denying and ouerthrowing them.

OF the three Offices of Christ so excellent, although it cannot be said, which is the most profitable and benefi­ciall vnto mankinde: yet I will begin with his Priesthood; because his Priesthood goeth before his Propheticall and Kingly Offices in order of the worke. For, first hee doth re­deeme, and iustifie vs as our Priest, then instructeth vs as our Prophet, and lastly glorifieth vs as our King. Now as in the Law there were sundry duties belonging to the Priests of­fice: namely, to ouersee the lights of the Tabernacle, to make Shew-bread, to offer Incense, Sacrifices, burnt offerings, sinne-offerings, and such like: so, many, infinite and vn­speakeable benefites doe flowe vnto vs from the Priesthood of Christ, whereof the Leuiticall was but a shadow, or a type onely.

Redemption, the worke of Christ [...] Priesthood.Redemption from the slauery of Sinne, of Sathan, and of Hell, by the offering of his most holy body as a full satisfacti­on, wherein himselfe was both Priest and Sacrifice, the gift [Page 37] and the giuer, the incense and the Altar, is the first worke of this glorious Priesthood.

The second worke is Mediation,Mediation, the worke of Christ [...] Priesthood. or ioyning vs vnto God by vnseparable connexion. So that we, who before were ene­mies vnto him through the lust of our vncleannesse, are now one with him through his Sonne, whom hee hath made our peace, and our reconciliation.

The third worke is continuall Aduocation,Aduocation, the worke of Christs Priesthood. and Inter­cession vnto God for those, who are his by Redemption, that they may so continue, and be still one with him, & with the Father.

The fourth worke is Iustification of those,Iustification, the worke of Christs Priesthood. whom he hath redeemed; whereby in our elder brothers garments, like Ia­cob, we receiue the blessing of our Father, being clothed with pure reines, the long white vesture of Christs holy merits. And indeed, hauing put on Christ himselfe as our righteous­nesse, we are reputed and taken holy, blamelesse, vndefiled, without spot or wrinkle in the vncorrupt iudgement, and cleare seeing eyes of God. For Christ the true Elizeus, 2. King. 4.34. com­ming downe from the Mount, hath applied his liuing body to our dead bodies, his members to our members, his merits, and his workes to cure our sinnes, and our vncleannesse. By application then, and imputation of his righteousnesse, wee are all righteous.

The fift worke is Sanctification of those,Sanctification, the worke of Christs Priesthood. whom hee hath redeemed and iustified. Which sanctification is by the com­munication of his spirit, giuing vs grace to hate and abhorre the sinnes, which were so hainous, that with no other expia­tion they could be clensed, but the onely immaculate bloud of the Sonne of God; and to walke henceforth as children of the light, in all the good and holy workes, which God hath prepared for vs to walke in.

These, and infinite other benefites there are of Christs Priesthood. Which if we either deny to come vnto vs from Christ, or say, that wee receiue them from any other as au­thors and fountaines thereof (cauill and sophisticate vvith what curious quirks, and nice distinctions we will) we eua­cuate [Page 38] and frustrate the high and excellent office of Christs e­ternall Priesthood.

There are indeed many, which deny not Christ in words, but doe confesse him; yea, pretending that they are his Vi­cars, they say they cannot bee his enemies: but though they confesse him with their mouthes, yet if they deny the power, the vertue, the efficacie of his office, they are Antichrists. The Apostle warneth Titus of those that professe they knowe God, but by their workes deny him. Augustine also of such aduiseth vs;Inuenimus multos Antichristos, qui ore conficentur Christum, & mori­bus dissentiunt in 1 Ep. Io. tract. 3. We finde (saith he) many Antichrists, which with their mouthes confesse, and in their manners dissent from Christ. Ierome saith, there are many enemies vnto Christ, which are thought to bee of his house, that is, in his Church; they doe not depart from the head, but they hold against the head. Bernard saith,Heu, heu domine, ipsi sunt in persecu­tione tua primi, qui in Ecclesia tua vi­dentur primatum diligere, & gerere principatum: arcem Sion occupauerunt, apprehenderunt munitiones, & vni­uersam deinceps li­bere & potestatiuè tradu [...]t ince [...]dio ci­uita [...]em. Bern in ser. de Con. Paul. Alas, alas Lord, they are first in persecuting thee, that loue the Primacie, and hold the principalitie in the Church: they possesse the tower of Sion, and haue gotten into their hands the munitions thereof, and now freely and powerfully they deliuer vp the whole Citie to be burnt. Albert saith, Antichrist shall pretend a counter­feit shew of holinesse. And Hillary saith,Quisquis enim Christum negat, qualis ab Apostolis est praedicatus, An­tichristus est. Hill. Gon. Auxen. vel Arrian. that Iesus Christ, while he is thought to be preached, is denied: and against Auxentius he saith, Whosoeuer denyeth Christ to be such, as he is by his Apostles deliuered, he is Antichrist.

CHAP. VIII. Of Redemption:Of Redemp­tion. the first worke of the holy Priesthood of Christ, and the definition thereof.

COme we now to the most excellent worke of Redempti­on, the first benefite vvhich vvee receiue from the great and glorious Priesthood of our Sauiour Christ. Of which, first it must be considered, what it is, and then how many kindes are therof.Difference be­twixt Emption and Redemption. Betwixt Emption and Redemption the difference is, that Emption is the attaining by price of that which vvas neuer ours: but Redemption is to buy againe that which [Page 39] was once our owne, and now lost, alienated, and in possessi­on of others.

Thus is Christ called a Redeemer; for that vs, who sold our selues by sinne vnto Sathan, and were now fallen from the glorious liberty of the sonnes of God, to be the bondslaues of sinne, death, and Hell, hee hath with the price of his holy and precious bloud bought againe vnto himselfe, and paid our ransome: not to the Diuell,Christ brought vnto vs Redemp­tion. vvho had no right to hold vs (being poore seduced wretches, trained by him into his owne damnation) but vnto God was this satisfaction made, vvho held vs first as his Children, and now gaue vs ouer for our transgressions to the Diuel, the executioner of his wrath. Of these two diuers parts of our Redemption, namely, Satis­faction vnto Gods iustice by his humiliation and suffering, and conquering of the Diuell by power and victorie, the Scriptures giue plentifull record. Of Satisfaction to God the Apostle saith,Tit. 2.14. He gaue himselfe for vs, that he might redeeme vs from all iniquities. And Esay foreshewethEsay 53.10. He shall make his soule an offering for sinne. Now of the conquest ouer the Diuell, Death, and Hell, the same Prophet doth plainely wit­nesse;Esa. 27.2. In that day the Lord with his sore, and great, and migh­ty sworde shall visit Leuiathan that piercing Serpent, euen Leuia­than that crooked Serpent, and shall slay the Dragon that is in the Sea. And the Psalmist saith,Psal. 45.5. Thine arrowes are sharpe to pearce the heart of the Kings enemies. Wherefore Esay againe teacheth,Esay 9.4. The yoake of their burden, and the Staffe of their shoulder, and the Rod of their oppressor hast thou broken, as in the day of Midian. O Sampson of our strength, slaughtered,Iudg. 16.28.29, 30. and slaughtering at once, the onely Phoenix, who dying doth beget againe. The Pelicane, which feedeth his yong ones with his bloud.Iud. 14.14. Math. 17.5. The eater, out of which commeth meat. The strong, out of which commeth sweetnesse; sweetnesse towards God, For I am well pleased: strength against the ene­myEphes. 4 8. Psal. 68.18.; for he hath led captiuitie captiue and giuen gifts vnto men.

Man could not haue beene separated from God,Bernard. but by sin; nor the soule from the body, but by death. Now Christ, to bring both these together againe, hath redeemed the [Page 40] Soule from sinne, and the body from death, satisfying God as a Priest, and conquering the Diuel, Death and Hell as a King.

Christs double redemption, as a King, and as a Priest.Redemption then, as we see, is the giuing of a sufficient ransome for vs; wherby we that are captiues, are now bought againe, to be a peculiar people vnto himselfe: by it wee that were farre of, are now brought neare,Heb. 12.22.23 to mount Sion, and to the Cisie of innumerable Angels, and to the congregation of the first borne, which are written in heauen, and to God the iudge of all, and to the spirits of iust and perfect men: The fruits of our Redemption. by it we are called out of darknesse into this maruellous light, and we2. Pet. 2.10. which in times past were not vnder mercy, now haue obtained mercy.

CHAP. IX. Of the sundry considerations of sinne.

TWo things there are in sinne: the corruption of sinne, and the punishment of sinne. The corruption of sinne is seene in that continuall peruerse will and desire of ours, by vvhich wee striue to doe the things, that are displeasing to God, and to transgresse his lawes, & breake them daily. This corruption and deformitie doth ouergoe the body and soule of Man; so that hee, vvho in the beginning vvas created to the image and likenesse of God, hauing the innocence, the holinesse, the wisedome, and the eternitie of God shining in him, is now become like the Diuell, blacke, spotted, vncleane, leprous, foolish, mortall. For though the act of sinne when it is begunne, is also quickly ended: yet the corruption of sinne in vs, is euer in the sight of God, and for it to him wee are still abominable. Abominable was sinne in Adam, abomi­nable it is in vs: in him as the spring, in vs as the streame. Let vs speake of the deformitie of Adams sinne first, and then of our owne.

The vilenesse of Adams sinne in himselfe, three manner of wayes is declared. First the obiect, against whom it vvas committed. Secondly the person, vvho did commit it. Thirdly, the whole nature of Man, which he did deordinate [Page 41] and infect, doth shew the greatnesse of his fault. In that he sinned against God, infinite was the sinne; for hee sinned a­gainst the infinite power which had made him; the infinite wisedome which made him to his owne likenesse, the purest metall to beare the image of the King himselfe. He sinned a­gainst the power, the wisedome, the loue, the Father, the Sonne, the Holy Ghost. Wherefore from the whole Tri­nitie came that Sarcasm of indignation;Gen. 3.22. The Man is be­come as one of vs: Thus Man, vvho in all things else was finite and had limits, in sinne is infinite, and beyond all limits. Secondly, the person who did commit the sinne, doth ag­grauate the same: the power, the wisedome, the loue incom­prehensible created him in the body from the earth, in the Soule from the heauen, that heauen and earth conioyned, he might be another world in himselfe. Wherefore he deckt his earth vvith the fayrest feature aboue all other creatures; so farre, that there was nothing vvhereof he might be ashamed: and adorned his Heauen (the Soule I meane) vvith light more excellent, then of the Sun, or of the Moone; Ʋnder­standing, memory, Will; a Trinitie after his owne example, full of perfection, goodnesse and excellence. But Man, wretched Man, wilfully cast away his Trinitie of grace, giuen by the Trinitie of the supreme Essence, and gaue it vp to the Trini­tie of vile and base suggestion, delectation, consent; by which all the power, the wisedome, the loue, which from the su­preme power, vvisedome, loue, he had receiued, vvas turned into weaknesse, foolishnesse, vncleannesse; weaknesse of memory, foolishnesse of vnderstanding, vncleannesse and vvickednesse of will: and this he did, no necessitie compel­ling him, beleeuing the Diuell, louing his wife, preferring his desire aboue God the Father, the Sonne, and the holy Ghost. His sinne vvas spirituall, hearkening to an Apostata spirit: his sinne was corporall, pleasing himselfe in the taste of an Apple. The commandement easie to be obeyed: his vvill, iudgement, knowledge, loue, all perfect, and therefore hee might haue stood: his temptation onely outward, and there­fore hee needed not to fall. All things neglected, for a trifle [Page 42] he prouoked the highest God, vvittingly, vvillingly, mali­ciously, rebelliously; therefore his sinne vvas infinite, vn­speakeable, vvithout defence vvorthy of the deepest dam­nation.

Thirdly, Adam in his sinne did deordinate, or turne from the due end, himselfe and all his progeny that came from him: a murtherer before a parent, vvhose offence imposed a double necessitie vpon vs; necessitie of death, the corruption and the destruction of our nature. A little drop of Wine poured into vvater doth diffuse it selfe through the whole vessell. Euery little graine is infinitely diuisible (as Philoso­phers imagine) and so vvas Adams sinne transfused from him into all his posteritie: so that from the sowre and filthy fountaine proceed not but sowre and filthy vvaters. The end for vvhich Man was created,1. Cor. 2.9. Esay 35.10. Esay 43.7. vvas infinite good, which eye hath not seene, eare hath not heard, nor euer entred in­to the thought of Man. From this hath Adam turned all his posteritie. O infinite transgression! all eyes may deplore it, all eares glowe to heare it, and euery heart rent in pieces to thinke on it: which is to beare intolerable; to auoid, vnpos­sible; to answere, vnexcusable.

As our originall sinne is an vniuersall botch, a generall le­prosie ouer all mankinde: so of our own actuall sinnes none can describe the filthinesse; more innumerable then the haires of the head, more importable then the sands of the Sea. Adams act corrupted his nature, our nature corrupts our acts:Psal. 14.3. There is none that doth good, no not one. And as the pu­rest, gold hath his drosse if it be fined: so the holiest action of ours is sinne if it be examined. Wherefore all is conclu­ded vnder damnation. For he that committeth sinne is of the Diuell,1. Iohn 3.8. farre from God: farre from light: farre from life: farre from hope;Esay 57.19, 20. There is no peace vnto the sinner, saith my God.

Lastly, there is the punishment of sinne, whereof the Psal­mist speaketh,Psal. 11.7. Ʋpon the vngodly he shall raine snares, fire and brimstone, storme and tempest: this shall be their portion to drinke. And our Sauiour saithMat. 13.41, 42. The Sonne of Man shall send forth his [Page 43] Angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdome all things that of­fend, and them which commit iniquity: and shall cast them into a furnace of fire, there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Ecclus. 41 9. If ye be borne, ye are borne to cursing: if ye dy, cursing shall be your porti­on. Rom. 8.24 Deut. 27 O wretched Man that I am, who shall deliuer mee from the body of this death? Let vs hasten from this cursing Eball, to the Gerizzim of blessing: from the view of this lamentable cap­tiuity, to the means of deliuerance; from the fierie, to the bra­zen serpent.

CHAP. X. Of the sundry kindes of redemption from sinne.

ANswerable to the two considerations of sinne, namely,Two kindes of redemption. the corruption and punishment, there are also 2 kindes of redemption from sinne. The first is the taking away of the 1 corruption of our sinnes: from which Christ hath so perfect­ly purged his elect, that it shall neuer bee laid to their charge: yea, God when he looketh vpon vs, shall beholde no sinne in vs, according as it is written,Eph. 5.8 Yee were sometimes darkenes, but are now light in the Lord. And againe hee saith,Eph. 5.25.26.27 Christ loued the Church, and gaue himselfe for it, that he might sanctifie it, and cleanse it, by the washing of water through the word, that he might make it vnto himselfe a glorious Church, not hauing spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should bee holy and without blame. Hereto may be applied that of Malachy, Mal. 3.2.3 He is like a purging fire, and likefullers sope: hee shall euen sine the sonnes of Leui, and purifie them as gold and siluer, that they may bring offe­rings vnto the Lord in righteousnes. To this no doubt Ezechiel also aimeth, where vnto Israel he pronounceth,Eze. 36.25 Then will I poure cleane water vpon you, and you shall be cleane; yea, from all your filthinesse, and from all your Idols will I cleanse you. And E­say saith,Esa. 25 7 Hee will destroy in this mountaine the couering that couereth all people, and the veile that is spread vpon all nations. Ie­remy prophecieth,Ier. 50.20 In those daies, and at that time (saith the Lord) the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall bee none: and the sinnes of Iudah, and they shall not be found. Thus [Page 42] [...] [Page 43] [...] [Page 45] shall bee fulfilled the prophecy of Balaam, Num. 23.21. Hee seeth none iniquity in Iacob, nor transgression in Israel. The meaning whereof is, that the corruption and the punishment of our sinnes is so taken away in the bloud of Christ, that they shall neuer appeare against vs to eternall damnation.

I cannot here sufficiently maruel at the audacious impiety of one Kellison, a Doctour of Diuinity (as he tearmeth him­selfe) who feareth not to inferre,Kellison in sur­uey of the new religion. lib. 3. pag. 260. lin. 9. that if Christ hath freed vs from hell, and hath paid the punishment of sinne, and requireth no other satisfaction at our hands, so Christs passion, which was a sacrifice to abolish sinne, is a cause of all sinne; and Christ, who came to redeeme the world from sinne, filleth the world with sinne: and so is an absurd Redeemer, so to redeeme vs from sinne, that he inuiteth vs, & eggeth vs forward to sin. This is strange stupidity in a man of his degree: of whom I would gladly aske this question; Whether the Pope in his pardons forgiuing sinnes, and commanding the Angells to carry the soules immediately into heauen, of all those which dy in his warres, or conferre any thing vnto the same, doth egge then on to sinne? or doth the mercifull father, which payeth the debt of his imprisoned sonne, and deliuers him out of fetters, egge or prouoke his sonne to runne into debt againe? Such thoughts can neuer enter into the heart of him that is truely redeemed, as to say, I will sinne, because my sin is forgiuen me. But on the contrary, he loues much to whom much is forgiuen:Kell. in suruey of the new religion. lib. 3. pag. 259. lin. 24. Who will care for sinne (saith Kellison) that is perswaded, that Christs passion is so imputed to him, that no sinne can hurt him? Surely many hurts there are in sinne, though it doth not vnto the elect bring the hurt of eternall damnation. There are in sinne the offence of our God, the offence of our brother, the offence of our conscience: there is euill of ex­ample, euill of act, hurt of our neighbour, discredit of the Gospell. These things the redeemed are affraide of, though there were no stripes, no rods, no hell. It is true, thatIoh. 4.18 per­fect loue casteth out feare, yet it doth not cast out obedience: and though the redeemed doe not abstaine from sinne, out of the affection of seruile dread; yet whosoeuer are redeemed [Page 45] by the bloud of CHRIST, willPsal. 2.12. Kisse the Sonne, least hee be angry, and with the louing chaste wife, abhorre to pro­uoke so deare a husband. They vvhich care not for sinne,Christs free grace must not bee smo­thered, b [...]cause the wicked a­buse it. haue not Christs passion imputed vnto them: they are Re­probates and aliants from the commonwealth of Israel. And vvhat their care is, belongeth not to the Elect of God: nei­ther must the free redemption by CHRIST be concealed because euill men and Reprobates growe worse and worse.

Kellison proceedeth saying:Kel. lib. 3. ca. 2. pag. 260 lin. [...]0. So Christs Passion which was a sacrifice to abolish sinne, is cause of all sinne: and Christ, who came to redeeme the world from sinne, filleth the world with sinne. Who can bee patient to heare,We may not blas­pheme with en­forced inferences. by such enforced con­clusions, vvithout ground or cause, the holy vvorke of our Redemption blasphemed?Socra. Eccl. hist. cap. 10. Seuerianus of Constantinople, because Serapion passing by did not giue him reuerence, burst out and said, If Serapion die a Christian, Christ vvas neuer made man. The Witnesses that heard this, enforced against him, that hee said, Christ was not made man: and so he vvas worthily excommunicated. For indeede, it is the vvorst of all blasphemies, vpon idle suppositions, mis-repor­ted and enforced assertions, to inferre reproches, and to call into question the glory of God, and the grace of his Christ. And therefore it was a good and religious regard of the Em­perour Immanuel Comnenus. For vvhen the Church of Con­stantinople ordained a forme of detestation of the Mahometi­call impietie: Cursed be Mahomets God; the Emperour forced them to change the phrase, and made it, Cursed be Mahomet.

To stop the mouth of Master Kellisons cauill, the truth is, Christ hath abolished the guilt of sinne, so that it shall not appeare in the sight of God, but is cast behinde his backe. He hath sanctified vs also and deliuered from the Lordship of sinne which raigned in vs. So that now sinne shall not haue dominion ouer vs: which deliuerance though it is not in this life absolute, and perfect in vs,Ro. 6.14. & 18. as it shall bee in the life to come; yet is it daily made manifest in all the childrē of grace, being stirred vp by the spirit of Christ vnto newnesse of life,Vid Ro 7.5, 6. and assisted also thereunto. Of this freedome, if hypocrites [Page 46] and reprobates be not partakers, nor are renued in the spirit of their mindes, nor stirred vp by forgiuenesse and Redempti­on, to flye from sinne: yet the sonnes of grace and adoption, endeauour to tread vpon the traine of the Serpent, whose head is crusht, and abhorre the diuelish syllables, which doe pronounce; that Kellis. lib. 3. c. 2. pag. [...]60. lin. 14. Christ came to fill the world with sin: or that Christ is an absurd redeemer, because hee is a full and absolute redeemer. O wretched Man, Didst thou neuer yet taste of the spirit of liberty?Gal. 5.6. Or doest thou not know how faith worketh by Loue? Is there no meane, but either good workes must iustifie, or else they must not be done? Either we must be sa­ued by our workes, or else Christ fils the world with sinne? Is this Romish Logicke? are these conclusions?

The second Redemption from sinne, is from the punish­ment of sinne,Ephes. 1.14. Rom. 8.23. the first and second death; which is called Re­demption of Possession, and Redemption of the body, by the Apostle Paul. By this wee are brought out of death vnto life, out of earth and dust, vnto honour and eternitie: out of the darke deuouring graue, to the Crowne of vnmarcessible glo­rie;Rom. 8.21. vvhen wee shall be deliuered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the sonnes of God; and shall haue the fruition of all those ioyes,1. Cor. 2.9. which eare hath not heard, eye hath not seene,Vid. 2. Sam. 7.14.15. neither can enter into the heart of man. For though the sinne of the Elect hath in this life many transito­rie punishments,Vid. Heb. 12.6.10. or rather admonitory and fatherly correcti­ons: yet the staine and horrible corruption of sinne which crieth for eternall vengeance against vs, together with the e­uerlasting punishment, is vtterly taken away, according to that of the Prophet;Osee 13.14. I will redeeme them from the power of the graue: I will deliuer them from death: O death, I will bee thy death: O Hell, I will be thy destruction.

CHAP. XI. That none could redeeme vs but Christ, neither immediately nor mediately.

THere are in Christ two things, by which he is able (and none but hee) to redeeme mankinde from the fearefull [Page 47] thraldome and miserable seruitude of our spirituall enemies. The first is his mighty power: the second is his proper right. Let vs first intreat of his power.

The strength of sinne, and the Kingdome of Sathan, to­gether with the cruell hand of death, are so forcible and mighty, that no power of Men nor Angels, but onely the victorious Lyon of the Tribe of Iudah, Apoc. 5.5, 7.8, 9 is able to subdue and ouercome them. This we shall plainely perceiue, if we con­sider, first what sin is: and then what the Diuell is; and lastly, what death it selfe is.

Augustine defineth sinne to be,De libr art [...]. The despising, The first reason, taken from the definition of sin. or tur­ning away from the incommutable good, to mutable and transitorie good, which indeed is euill. Ambrose saith,Ex Tho. Aq. 1. secunde q. 109. art. 4. Sinne is the trans­gression of the Law of God, & the not obedience of the heauenly pre­cepts. Thomas Aquinas defineth sinneTho. Aq. 1. part. q. 63. art. 1. to be, An act turning away from the order of our appointed end, against the rule of na­ture, reason, and the eternall law. Out of these definitions it appeareth, that Man by sinne doth turne away from God, from Nature, from order, from the end for which hee was created. Wherefore it is by the Latines called Peccatum, quasi pellicatus, an whoredome diuorcing vs from God; euen as an vnchaste wife from her husband: and the marke and scope, against which all sinne doth striue, is God. For the sinnes of the first Table immediately, and the sinnes of the second Ta­ble, though mediately, yet principally are committed against the diuine Maiestie, and tend to the dishonour of God. Ther­fore Dauid hauing committed adultery, and murder together in deflouring Bethsabe, and killing Vriah, complaineth,Psal. 51.4. A­gainst thee onely haue I sinned, that is, against thee principally haue I sinned: as though he should say; against Ʋriah, Vid. Muscul. in hunc locum. crying is the sinne and bloudy: against Bethsabe, foule is the sinne and infectious: against my people, against my selfe, bloud and filthinesse attaint me, examplelesse example of euill haue I giuen, yet against thee onely haue I sinned. Against Ʋriah, Bethsabe, Israel, my selfe; all is nothing in respect of that I haue against thee done; a God, so gracious and mercifull vn­to me. Moses also diuideth all sinnes into two rankes:Leuit. 5. Leuit. 6. sinnes [Page 48] of Ignorance, and sinnes of Presumption; and for both, the offering must bee brought vnto God: therefore in both a­gainst God is the sinne committed. Out of these premises two conclusions doe arise. First, that all sinne is committed against God; therefore to God it is onely proper to forgiue sinne (as Alexander and Thomas Aquinas both confesse;In Comp. Theol. & ita citat. à Cent. 13. cap. 4. The fault which is committed against any, he alone can remit, a­gainst whom it is committed. Secondly,Alex part. 3. q. 1. memb. 6. art. 2. ex Cent. [...]3. God is infinite; ther­fore sinne in some sort is infinite. And for this cause, neither men, nor Angels, whose nature is not infinite, but finite, can redeeme from sinne, being an infinite transgression, beyond nature,Alex. ibid. measure, words, thoughts, and all that can bee ima­gined. Adde we hereto, that sinne being the deordination, or turning away from the appointed end, which is infinite and vnspeakeable blessednesse, is also in this consideration an infinite and vnspeakeable euill. It followeth therefore that if God require punishment answerable to the fault, none can beare it that is Man onely, or of a limited nature. If God require satisfaction,Innocentius. it must be done by such a one, as is infinite in righteousnesse, as Man is infinite in vnrighte­ousnesse.

The second rea­son, taken from the comparison betwixt Man in his innocence, & Man in his fall.Secondly, Man against God offended, in giuing vp the seruant of God, to the seruice of Sathan: but if man should seeke to make recompense to God for this theft and reuolt, he cannot doe it; for innocent Man reuolted, but now there is no Man innocent. Wherefore God gaue his Sonne, Man in substance, innocent in qualitie, to satisfie for sinne.

The third reason, taken from the captiuity of sinne.The third argument. The captiuitie of sinne is a generall captiuitie, extending it selfe to all Mankinde, and is a coue­ring, wherein all flesh is wrapped, as the Prophet saith:Psal. 14.3. All are corrupt and become abominable, all are turned out of the way: there is none that doth good, no not one. And if perhaps in actuall sinnes one doth lesse offend then another, yet the ori­ginall guilt alike hath corrupted all, and cast the same fetters vpon the whole posteritie of Adam; for [...]. Ioh. 3.6. That which is borne of the flesh, is flesh. Why then, of Prisoners in the same dungeon, laden with the same fetters, oppressed with the [Page 49] same calamity, bound with the same necessity, obliged in the same debt, and all of one condition, how can one bee ano­thers redeemer?Rom. 7 The whole nature of Man was by sin cor­rupted; therefore the righteousnes of a priuate person or two could not bee an equiualent recompense for the sinnes of all other. Wherefore Christ was made of God a publike person, and of infinite goodnes, which might counterpoize all our euill. The Prophet, of Mans righteousnes saith, The Esay 28.20 bed is narrowe and not large, and the couering so small, that a Man cannot winde himselfe vnder it,

Fourthly, the Angels, those glorious spirits,The Fourth reasō taken from the nature of Angels. which stand before God, could not redeeme vs. For though they bee not partakers of this wretched captiuity and thraldome with vs, yet they haue not impossibility of sin by nature, but by grace. Wherefore hauing nothing of their owne to offer vnto God for sin, but onely that which they haue receiued, they could not be redeemers from sin. But such a redeemer was needfull vnto vs, who was in himselfe vncaptiueable,Vid. Pet. Lamb. lib. [...]. sent. dist. 12. cap. 3 in whom was no possibility to sinne by nature, the humanity to the di­uinity being in one person conioyned; and therefore when he offereth righteousnes vnto God, hee offereth his owne to God. The Angels also, though in their nature absolutely con­sidered, they are more excellent then Man: yet they haue a finite nature, contained though not by circumscription of place, yet in the limits of their essence. But hee that was of­fended, is infinite, and the offence also infinite. Wherefore the finite and limited nature of Angels could not be sufficient to so great a worke.

Fiftly, the Scripture maketh the cleansing of sinne,The fift reason, taken from the power which for­giueth sin. part of Gods omnipotency. For so the Lord himselfe reasoneth with Iob, Iob 40.4.5.6 7.8 9 Hast thou an arme like God? or doest thou thunder with a voice like him? decke thy selfe now with maiesty and excellency, and array thy selfe with beauty and glory: cast abroad the indignation of thy wrath, behould euery one that is proud, and abase him: looke on euery one that is arrogant, and bring him lowe, and destroy the wic­ked in their place: hide them in the dust together, and binde their faces in a secret place: then will I confesse vnto thee also, that thy [Page 50] right hand can saue thee. This is plaine also in Exod.Exod. 34.7 where God maketh the taking away of sinnes, one of the attributes of his diuine nature, and part of that description, which hee gaue of himselfe.

The sixt reason, take [...] from the dignity of the worke of Iustifi­cation.Sixtly, the schoolemen confesse,Ex. Th. Aq. prima secunda et sic col. per Bo [...]. that the iustification of the wicked is the greatest worke of God; because the end of iustification is, to bring that which is transitorily euill & cor­ruptible, to the eternall participation of infinite good, which is God himselfe. And Idiota saith,Cap. 5. de const. anim. et Car. ex C [...]n 9. cap. 4 that Man in his creati­on was made like to God: but in the redemption, the Sonne of God is made to the similitude of Man; therefore the work of Redemption is greater then the work of Creation. Wher­fore Augustine saith, It is a greater thing to make a righteous man of a sinner, then to make heauen and earth: for they shall perish, but the saluation of the predestinate doth remaine. I will conclude this point with the words of the Psalmist,Psal. 3.8 Saluatio belongs vnto the Lord. And againe,Psal. 37.40 The saluation of the righteous Men is of the Lord, he shall be their strength in the time of trouble.

Seauenthly,Ecclus. 15.15.16 17. sinne proceedeth from the will of Man:Lam. 5 21. [...]z [...]. 36.26, Ioh. 6.44. Ier. 31.18 but the will of Man none can turne but God; therefore God onely can deliuer from sinne.

Eightly, originall righteousnesse was the gift of GOD, though it was made naturall in our first father Adam; Gen. 1.27 Eccles. 7.27 ther­fore the returne to this righteousnesse againe, must bee the grace of God onely in all Adams posterity.

Gen. 2. & 3Ninthly, sin entred, and through sinne, death into Man, by another, euen the tempter, the worst of all. Wherefore it was most conuenient, the reparation should be after the ma­ner of the transgression, from another, the best of all. But herein the redemption farre surmounteth the offence. The diuell to bring Man to destruction,Heb. 2.14 entred into the Serpent, and did it by the body of an vnreasonable creature: but God, that Man might bee repaired, tooke vpon him the flesh of Man, and in our nature wrought the deliuerance of our na­ture.

The diuell Mans second great [...]ny.The second enemy that tyrannizeth ouer vs, is the diuell; and he also impossible by any but by God to be subdued. The [Page 51] great force and power of this destroier is most fearefully des­cribed in the holy word, where sometimes hee is tearmedApoc. 12.15 a Dragon casting water out at his mouth like a sloud: sometimes, a roaring Lyon, the Prince that ruleth in the aire, the Prince of the darkenesse of this world: Nay, in respect of his greatnesse, and his might, he is calledEph. 6.12 Principality and power it self: whom God vnder the name of Leuiathan, witnessethIob. 41.1 to be so strong, that no man dare stirre him vp, nor can stand before him. Man in his kinde is weaker concerning power, blinder concerning knowledge, younger in experience, shorter in continuance: Therefore Man cannot be equall to him. The Angels are of the same nature and substance; and therefore nothing more powerfull in themselues, then the diuell is in himselfe. I con­clude then, since no nature is superiour to him but God, it remaineth that none can ouercome him but God himselfe.

The third captiuity wee are in, is that of punishment, by si [...]knes, infirmity, and death it selfe.Rom. 6.23 [...]he third captiui­ty of mankinde, death. For the wages of sinne is death; both temporall in this world, and eternall in the world to come. From this cannot any deliuer, but hee that hath life in himselfe, absolutely, originally, causatiuely. And therefore neither Angells, nor Men can deliuer from death, but the Sonne of God only. In whose death though the soule were separated from the body, yet the Godhead was neuer separated from the Manhood, neither aliue nor dead. There­fore hee had alwaies life in himselfe: and euen as the Father raiseth vp the the dead, so doth he. This, Alexander of Hales acknowledges;Alex. Hall. That which is not the beginning of mans being, cannot be the beginning of his reparation. But as the same imagination and conceit of the Carpenter, which made the house at the first, doth best repaire the same beeing in ru­ine: so the same word, the begotten word, the image, the wis­dome of the Father, is the restauration of Man-kinde, which was the creation and first maker.

It appeareth then, concerning our deliuery from the spi­rituall Egypt and the Pharaoh thereof,Ioh. 8.32 if the Sonne make vs free, then are wee free indeed: all other that promise to set vs at liberty, are deceiuers and impostours, likeAct. 5 Iudas Gaulo­nites [Page 52] and Theudas, which led away indeed much people after them, but to destruction.

CHAP. XII. That Christ hath the most proper right to redeeme vs.

AS it is most manifest, that Iesus Christ only hath power and might to subdue our spirituall enemies: so he onely hath proprietie of right, to redeeme vs from our captiuitie. The Law giuen to Moses concerning ciuill redemption or­daineth,Leuit. 25. that the Father shall redeeme the Sonne, the brother the brother, and the kinsman the kinsman, and so the next of kinde is alwaies the redeemer. Now what is the Law, but the couering, the shadow, the veile of the Gospell? As one well saith; the Law is the Gospell hidden, the Gospell is the Law reuealed. Therefore as in the shadow, so in the substance; as in the resemblance, so in the nature of the things themselues, the nearest of bloud must bee the Redeemer. Now who is there, O who is there, in the vvhole vniuersitie of things, in heauen, in earth, or vnder the earth, so nearely ioyned vn­to vs, as our Christ?

Our parents are not so neare; for of them wee haue recei­ued flesh indeed, yet we haue receiued nothing but flesh, the worst, and beastly part: but of Christ we haue receiued the spirit, yea, his owne spirit, as saith the Apostle;Gal. [...].6. God hath sent forth the spirit of his Sonne into your hearts. Who then but a mad Man vvill more esteeme of the carnall coniunction, then of the spirituall?

Secondly, though the generation euen of the body it selfe be from our parents, yet the creation at the first, and the for­mation now is of God. So saith the Psalmist,Psal. 139.12. My reynes are thine, thou hast couered me in my Mothers Wombe. Wee haue receiued of our Parents dead earth; and that, which either by misordered natures errour, might haue beene a Monster, or by casualtie of euill fortune, haue proued abortiue. But hee hath breathed into vs the breath of life;Psal. 139.4. Thou hast fa­shioned me behinde and before, and laid thy hand vpon me, Psal. 71.6. thou [Page 53] art hee that tooke mee out of my Mothers bowels. Our pa­rents are the instrumentall causes, God is the most noble cause, the efficient cause of our being.

Thirdly, wee are in Christ, and Christ in vs: but our be­ing is onely from our Parents, and not in them. Who can say, I am in my Father? butAct. 17.18. in him we liue, and moue, and haue our being. For this cause Aratus calleth vs the diuine Progeny. And Porphiry saith, that men by nature are Gods, sauing that mortalitie is cast vpon them.

If we be nearer to Christ then our parents, wee are much nearer to Christ, then to our brethren; for from them wee haue receiued nothing: but Christ calleth vs his sonnes; nay, vnto vs is giuen a Esay 56.5. name better then of the sonnes and of the daughters, euenIoh. 15.5. to bee his Members, his Branches; as Adam said of his Euah, Gen. 2.23. Bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh.

Lastly, Christ is not onely nearer to vs then our parents, our brethren, and our kinsfolke: but he is nearer to vs then we are to our selues. For in respect of the continuall vvarre betweene the sensuall part of the Soule, and the reasonable, and of the horrible corruption and deprauation of sinne, we are strangers to ourselues, vnlike to our selues. But Christ in the spotlesse purity of his innocent manhood (such as Man was in his creation) is nearer to vs in our nature,I doe not herein compare our per­fection in nature with the perfecti­on of the nature of Christ, but on­ly that we were by nature perfect in creatiō, though he [...]ore excel­lently. then wee to our selues can be. In him we may behold what wee vvere created: in him we may behold what we were, vvhile wee were our selues: In him wee may behold what Man was, when he was one, and not diuided in his affections. Finally, Christ onely is God in Man, and Man in himselfe: wee are Diuels in Man, and Man without Man.

CHAP. XIII. That Christ hath fully and absolutely redeemed vs from sinne, and from the punishment due thereto.

FOr the better vnderstanding and clearing of this Axiom, Can. 1 that Christ is a full and absolute Redeemer, from the steine [Page 54] and from the punishment of sinne, there are certaine vn­doubted verities, and assured conclusions to be laid downe, before we come vnto the proofe of the doctrine.

The chastisement of the [...]lect is the blessing of God.First, there is a great diuersitie and disparitie, betwixt the punishments of the Reprobate, and the louing castigations of God, toward his owne elect children of grace. For though the whirlewinde of reuenging ire lighteth vpon the vngod­ly, to the rooting out and vtter confusion of them; snares, fire and brimstone,Psal. 11.7. storme and tempest, being the portion and cup, whose dregs the children of Satan must drinke vp: yet all the rods and stripes, wherewith God at any time smiteth his owne children, are rather to be held admonishments, then punishments; preuentions then plagues of sinne; bridles to keepe them in awe, conseruations and instigations to righteousnesse, then the iron Scepter of his seuere iustice. As is plainely proued in Salomon the sonne of Dauid; of whose posteritie the Lord saith,2. Sam. 7.14. Psal. 89.32, 33. I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the plagues of the children of men: but my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I tooke it from Saul, whom I haue put away before thee. Osee therefore saith,Osee 5.15. I will go and re­turne to my place, till that they knowledge that they haue sinned. Here wee see, that the end why God withdraweth his pre­sence, is onely, that his people might see their offences, and acknowledge them. The same is taught also in Esay; where the Prophet makes a great difference betwixt the death of the godly, and the death of the wicked. Of the one he pronoun­ceth,Esay 26.14. The dead shall not liue, neither shall the dead arise: but of the Elect he saith,Ibid. ver. 19. Thy dead men shall liue; euen with my body shall they rise. Though the one and the other taste of the same death, yet diuersly, and with sundry effects. Yea, of excommu­nication, the great iudgement and curse of the Church, the Apostle Paul sheweth, that though it were inflicted vpon a most exorbitant and facinorous offender, the end was, that beeing admonished of his sinne, and forsaking the same,1. Cor. 5.5. The spirit might be saued in the day of the Lord Iesus.

Can. 2 Secondly, the members of the Church, the mysticall body of Christ, suffer therefore many afflictions and tribulations [Page 55] in this world,The chasti e [...] en of the Elect is to make them con­formable to the sufferings of Christ. that they may bee made conformable to the head, which is Christ.Gen. 1.26. In the first creation Man was made according to the likenes of God: and in his second creation why should not he be made also like vnto Christ?Iohn 3.2. Wee shall be like him when he appeareth: we must be like him also in our pilgrimage, as the Apostle witnessethRom. 8.29.; Those which he knew before, he did also predestinate, that they should bee like fashioned to the shape of his Sonne. And Peter saith,1 Pet. 4.13. Yee are partakers of Christs sufferings: and Paul againe,Rom. 8.17. So that we suffer together, that we may be glorified together with him.

Thirdly, the chastisements of the Elect are the seales of the Can. 3 loue and fauour of God towards them;The chastise­ments of the E­lect are Seales of Gods mercy to­wards them. and therefore are neither punishments nor destructions. This is proued by sun­dry Testimonies of Scripture;Apoc. 3.19. As many as I loue, I rebuke and chasten. And the Apostle to the Hebrewes saith,Heb. 12.6. Whom the Lord loueth hee chasteneth, and hee scourgeth euery sonne that he receiueth. It being thus euident, that all the afflictions of the children of grace, are rather medicines then punishments, conformities with Christ, and witnesses of his fauour and loue to vs, then rods and scourges; Wee ought therefore to ranke them amongst benefits and blessings, and not to account them torments of anger, and instruments of wrath.

Fourthly, the Redemption which Christ hath wrought for Can. 4 vs, doth not ouerthrow the lawes of nature, by which man in this life hath his infirmities, and at last is by death dissol­ued: but he maketh death which was before a bitter poison, now to be a sweet and precious potion, since thorow it, as the gate of the Citie, we passe into eternall ioyes. Wherefore it is called sleepe, and it is called rest; to shew that to the godly it is a benefite. Christ hath not forbidden it to bee pre­sent with vs, but to be hurtfull to vs.Minimè quidem abesse cogitur, sed co [...]itur non obesse: Ber [...] Ser. 52. sup. [...]a [...]t. Death is not a destruction, but a translation: it doth not take away, but change into a better: To conclude, death as it is the worke of the Diuell, the punishment of sinne, is perfectly ouercome to the elect; but yet it is left as a passage vnto life, vnto glo­ry and eternitie.

These Canons thus premised; To proue the absolute Re­demption Ratio 1 [Page 56] wrought by Christ, the first argument I will take from the person of the High Priest of the Iewes, in his com­pleat attire and holy vestures, standing before the Altar of God, the resplendent image of Iesus Christ, the great Priest of the second Couenant. In the Booke of Exodus, Exod. 28. the Iewish High Priest entring the sanctuary, to appeare before the Lord for the people, in his brest-plate, Ephod, Robe, broi­dered coate, Miter, and girdle of gold, blue silke, scarlet, and fine linnen; figuring thereby the glorious merits, and vn­speakeable graces of Christ, in which he standeth before God for his Elect, hath also in the choisest and most precious Onix stones embost with gold, the names of the children of Israel grauen vpon his shoulders. For this purpose (saith the Lord) ThatExod. 28.12. Aaron shall beare the names of the children of Israel, before the Lord vpon his two shoulders, for a remembrance. Secondly, Aaron in the brest-plate of iudgement beareth al­so the names of the children of Israel, cut in precious stones; to this end, thatExod. 28 30. Aaron when he goeth in before the Lord, shall beare the iudgement of the children of Israel vpon his heart,Christ bare our names, our sinne, our iudgement on the Altar of the Crosse. before the Lord continually. Thirdly, Aaron had a plate of pure gold, wherein was grauen (as Signets are gra­uen)Exod. 28.36. Holinesse to the Lord: and this was put on, thatExod. 28.38. Aaron might beare the iniquitie of the offerings, which the children of Israel should offer. Thus wee see, that Aaron ba [...]e the names, the iudgement, and the sinne of the house of Israel. Which, what doth it else preach vnto vs, but that Christ hath in our names borne our sinnes, and susteined the iudgement due vnto them? This is a place of vnspeakeable comfort, worthy euer to be in our minds; which doth so fully expresse the redemption wrought by our great High Priest, who scor­ned not to appeare before God in our names, and to take our sinnes vnto himselfe as his owne, and to vndergoe that dreadfull doome, and fearefull curse, which our hainous transgressions deserued.Esay 63.3, Wherefore, Their bloud (saith he) shall be sprinkled vpon my garments, Thou art my seruant Israel, for I will be glorious in thee. and I will steine all my rai­ment. Signifying hereby the imputation of our horrible and filthy abomination vnto him: Nay, to shew that all he suffe­red, [Page 57] he suffered for his Church, Esay calleth himEsay 49 3. Israel; in­timating thereby, that hee was a publique person, in whom all ISRAEL satisfied GOD, was punished, and blessed, and iustified. Peter saith, that1. Pet. 2 24. his owne selfe bare our sinnes in his body on the Tree. Of this we haue also a plaine figure in the Law of Moses. For at the consecration of the Priest, the Lord enioyned, that on theExod. 29, [...]0 Ramme to be sacrificed the Priests should put their hands: & of the bloud thereof some must be put on the right eare of the Priest, on the right thumbe, and on the great toe of his right foote. Of all which Ceremony there was no other signification, but that the great and excel­lent Priest to come (Iesus Christ) should haue our bloud-guil­tinesse, and our offences ascribed and imputed to him, and that euery part of his body should be afflicted, and he should wholly beare the wrath and vengeance of God for our sinnes.

My second proofe is, the excellency of the Sacrifice, Ratio 2 which was offered for our offences.Christ more ex­cellent then all the sonnes of A­dam, because he is the Son of God. The bloud of Christ is so much more sufficient for the sinnes of the whole world, by how much one sonne of God is much more precious, then all the sonnes of men.

Some perhaps wil obiect, that the Godhead did not suffer; and ther [...]fore, that Christ was God, it conferreth nothing to the excellence of the Sacrifice. But although the Godhead did not suffer, yet the Manhood being the instrument of the Godhead, and in one person knit vnto the same, did suffer. Wherefore the Godhead working by the Manhood,The excellence of Christs Sacri­fice by the vnion of the two na­tures. and with the Manhood, made the satisfaction infinite, as the debt was infinite. Hee doth satisfie fully for any trespasse or offence, who doth yeeld vnto him that is offended, the thing which he loueth more, then hee doth hate the offence: but Christ hath giuen for our trespasse himselfe to God his Father, whom God more loueth, then he hateth all our sins; therefore Christ hath fully satisfied for all our sinnes. This is it, which the Apostle Paul meaneth, saying;1. Cor. 7.23. Ye are bought with a price: which he speaketh Emphaticè, intending an vn­speakeable, infinite, incomparable price, aboue all the worth [Page 58] of gold and siluer;1. Pet. 1.18. Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as siluer and gold: Aboue all the worth of beasts and cattell;Psal 51 16. For sacrifice and burnt offerings thou wouldest not haue: aboue all the worth of Angels;Heb. 1.13. For, To which of the Angels said he at any time, sit at my right hand, till I make thine enimies thy footstoole? Aboue all the worth of men: forSap. 13.1. Surely all men are vaine by nature: aboue all the value of the offence;Ro. 5.15.16. for, The gift is not so, as is the offence, the fault came of one offence vnto condemnation, but the gift is of many offences to Iustification.

Ratio. 3 My third proofe is, the comparison betweene the Legall and the true Sacrifice, the shadow and the substance. For if the bloud of Oxen and Goates, and Calues, did perfectly clense, as concerning the purity of the flesh: and the bloud of Christ, which by the eternall spirit, offered vp himselfe an immaculate Hoste,Christ sacrifice [...] in his kinde can­not be inferiour to the Leuiticall sacrifices in their kinde. a Sacrifice of all Sacrifices vnto God, doth not purge our conscience fully from the dead workes of sin: then the Sacrifice of Christ in his kinde is inferiour, and not of such perfection as the Leuiticall sacrifices were in their kinde; which is most blasphemous to say. For Moses wit­nesseth,Deut. 32.4. The workes of the mighty God are perfect. Perfect (saith Albert) in redemption, as they are perfect in creation. Wherefore of the perfection of Christs sacrifice Zecharie speaketh,Zech. 3.9. I will take away the iniquitie of the land in one day. And againe,Zech. 9.11. Thou shalt be saued by the bloud of thy couenant. And the Apostle teacheth, that the offerersHeb. 10.2. once purged, haue no more conscience of sinnes.

Ratio 4 My fourth proofe is, the infinite & vnspeakeable torment, which our Sauiour Christ did endure.The vnspeakeable suffering of Christ Why was Christ ouer­flowed with such a world of plagues? such a sea of sorrowes? such a hell of miserable afflictions, if he did not fully suffer, that he might fully redeeme? Hereof we haue a liuely image in the Law;Numb. 19.5. For the Red Cow burnt, flesh and skinne, bloud and doung together, what doth it else foreshew, but Iesus Christ in all parts and powers of body and soule most extremely af­flicted? The Prophet Esay shewing the wonderfull humilia­tion of Christ saith,Esay 52.14. men were astonied at him, his visage [Page 59] was so deformed of men,Christ most lowl aba [...]ed himselfe. and his forme of the sonnes of men. Yea, what else is preached vnto vs in the Law,Dion Carth. ex Rab Mos. when for great and facinorous sinnes, not the most precious and excellent things, as gold, siluer, precious stones or Pearles,Gal. 4 9. Heb. 9.19. but base and beggerly rudiments, the bloud of Calues and Goates is offered; but that Christ became most vile, most base, euen the scorne of men, a worme of the earth, working our saluation, in the greatest humiliation of his nature? In the person of Christ Dauid complaineth;Psal. 69. [...]0 Rebuke hath broken my heart, I am full of heauinesse, I looked for some to haue pitie on me, but found none. And Ieremy, though literally he be­waileth the captiuitie of Israel, yet figuring thereby the infi­nite suffering of Christ, saith,Lam. 3.1. I am the man, that through the rod of his indignation haue experience of misery. And againe,Lam. 1.12. Behold and see, if there be any sorrow like my sorrow, which is done vnto me.

Though Christ did not suffer euery speciall affliction,Christ suffered all kindes of af­fliction. yet he did suffer in generall all kinde of affliction, and that three manner of waies. First, in respect of all sorts of men that conspired against him; Iewes, Gentiles, bond, free, men, women, Princes, priuate persons, Priests, Lay-men, strangers, and familiars: all encouraged one another,Mat. 21.38. This is the Heyre, come let vs kill him, and let vs seize vpon his inheritance.

Secondly, as he suffered by his enemies afflicting, so did he by his friends forsaking him.Psal. 38 11. My louers (saith the Psal­mist) and my neighbours did stand looking vpon my trouble, and my Kinsmen stood a farre off.

Thirdly, Christ suffered in all his humanitie,The horrible af­fliction of Christ. and in all the naturalities that belong thereto. In his holy name he suffered by blasphemies, in his honour by reproches, in his goods by stripping and spoiling: hee suffered in his Soule, by extreme heauinesse; yea, such a cloud of sorrow did ouercast his spi­rit, as neuer any heart was couered with: hee suffered in his body not onely by stripes and wounds, nippings and spit­tings, as though contempt, and smart did striue which should haue the mastery ouer him: but by pearcing also his hands and feete, the most sinowie parts of his body; and therefore [Page 60] most sensible of paine.Christs bloud shed six times for vs. Sixe times, it is euident hee shed his bloud for vs; in his circumcision, in his prayer, in his crow­ning, in his whipping, in his crucifying, in the pearcing of his side. Thus you see, hee suffered in euery member, and in euery sense of his humane nature: inwardly bearing the hea­uiest burthens, that euer were borne of any man; the sinne of the whole world, the curse of God, which euen rent his soule in peeces. The contemplation whereof caused the Pro­phet to cry out,Ier. 30.6 Demand now and behould, if a man trauaile with childe.

And he himselfe braieth forth,Mat. 27.46 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Outwardly he suffered the most shame­full and execrable death that euer was susteined:Christ suffered the most grieuous affliction. hee suffered by passion, enduring affliction: hee suffered by compassion, bewailing our offences.

Finally, three reasons there are alleaged, why Christs suf­fering was more grieuous then any other.Albert. in Mat. 26 First, because hee was more innocent then any other. And therefore (asHen de Vrim. [...] 3 distin. In Christ there was no cause nor desert, why hee should suffer. The more excel­lent the person, the greater the suffering. Christs sense the purest sense. Henricus de Vrimaria well collecteth) Christ suffered more then any Sainct; for that there was no cause, why he should suffer at all: but there are many causes, why Saincts should suffer. Second­ly, the excellency of his great honour made his suffering the greater; for greater is the affliction, when the honourable are abased, then when the vile and base are wronged. Third­ly, the most pure vnderstāding is most sensible of pain. Wher­fore Christs spirit most deeply aboue all other, had the sense & feeling of sorrowe, because it was most pure, intellectuall, and sensitiue.

To conclude, the Prophet Esay witnesseth, thatEsa. 40.2 Ieru­salem hath receiued double at the hand of the Lord for all her sinne. Which cannot be otherwise vnderstood, but of the superabun­dant satisfaction of Christ, sufficient vnto all them that lay hold thereon; euen as in Ieremy also the Lord vnto Israel the type of his Church, promiseth deliuerance;Ier. 16 but first hee will sufficiently reward their shamefull blasphemy. O what reward is sufficient, but the punishment of Christ!

Ratio 5 Lastly, the Scripture doth euery where testifie of the fulnes [Page 61] of his satisfaction.Ose 13.14 I will redeeme them (saith he) from the power of the graue, and deliuer them from death: O death, I wil be thy death: O graue, I will be thy destruction. And Ieremy of this absolute redemption saith,Ier. 33.6 I will giue health & amend­ment; for I will cure them, and reueale vnto them the abundance of peace and truth. Yea, God himself giueth vs an acquittance, and witnesseth that he is in Christ satisfied;Esay 25 10 In this moun­taine shall the hand of the Lord cease, saith Esay. And with his owne voice the Father proclaimeth,Mat. 3.17 This is my well beloued Sonne, In whom I am well pleased: Therefore,1 Cor. 15.55 O death, where is thy sting? O hell, where is thy victory? when God himselfe of himselfe acknowledgeth, I am well pleased: and that sinne hath receiued sufficient punishment;Lam. 4 22 Thy sinnes are fully pu­nished, O thou daughter of Sion.

CHAP. XIIII. That Redemption and Saluation are words of one signification.

SAluation properly vnderstood is more generall then Re­demption; for that Saluation is any kinde of deliuerie from our captiuitie, either by force, policie, price, or perswa­sion:Redempth pro­prie d [...]citur libera­tio, quae fit dato pretio. Inno. in Psal. 6. poenit. ex Cent. 13 but Redemption (as Innocentius saith) is that deli­uerie, which is by paying a price. And Albert saith,Albert. in pr [...]um Hier. [...]n Math. Christ came for two causes. First, to cure the nature of Man, and helpe it, by taking it on himselfe, and suffering in it: Second­ly, to bring vs into the Kingdome of God, by his resurrecti­on and ascension. Neuerthelesse, because the Saluation, which Christ hath wrought for vs towards God, was altogether by satisfaction through his precious merits, and offering of the infinite, inualuable, pricelesse sacrifice of his bloud for vs; therefore Saluation and Redemption in Christ are all one, and words of the same vnderstanding. Wherefore Esay com­prehendeth all the worke of our Saluation vnder this one part of deliuerie from sin;Esay 27 9. This (saith he) is all the fruit, the taking away of sinne. And againe,Esay 45.8. Let saluation and iustice growe forth, let it bring them forth together. And Zechary the Holy Priest ioineth them both together also saying,Luke 1.68. Hee [Page 62] hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised vp an horne of saluation to vs, in the house of his seruant Dauid. Bellarmine himselfe acknowledgeth,Non enim est nu­nus proprium Chri­sto n [...]men S [...]lne to­ris, qu [...]m Red [...]mp­toris Bell. de indulg. lib. 1. cap 4. that the name of Sauiour is as proper to Christ, as the name of Redeemer. Alexander saith,Alex. Hall. q. 17. memb. 3. art. 1. that Redemption could not be, but by satisfaction: nor satisfaction, but by his passion. And Thomas Aquinas, that the death of Christ did truely worke the destruction of our double death: that which is of the soule, and that which is of the body. Wherefore wee may well say, that Redemption and Saluation are all one in Christ, who by redeeming saueth vs.

CHAP. XV. That the Romish Church maketh many Redeemers, and many Sauiours.

THe true Church of God hath alwaies acknowledged a relation and reciprocall reference betwixt Christ and her selfe; as, in the Canticles,Cant. 2.16 My welbeloued is mine, and I am his. The Church vnto Christ alone, & Christ vnto the church alone. But contrarily, the false and the Antichristian Church, although she pretend her selfe to be the spouse, the Turtle, the onely darling,Ier. 3.1 Yet she hath plai [...]d the harlot with many louers. Ier. 2.13 My people (saith he) haue committed two euills: they haue for­saken me the fountaine of liuing waters, to dig them pits; euen bro­ken pits, that can holde no water.

Although when they meet with a tender conscience, and such as (reuerently considering the office of the Son of God) doth abhorre, that the title of Redeemer should bee ascribed to any other,Thre [...] manner of waies, by which the Ro [...]ish church ouer­throwes the priest­hood of Christ. but to Christ, they mildely temper and mode­rate the matter with quirks and friuolous distinctions: yet the truth is, that the Church of Rome maketh Saints, as full & absolute redeemers, as Christ himselfe: and this by three ma­ner of waies is brought to passe. Friers and schoolemen teach the doctrine: Monkes and Priests chant it out in Masses; & the Legend writers confirme it by miracles; euen as we read in the Prophet,Ier. 7.18 The children gather wood, the fathers kindle [Page 63] the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make Cakes for the Queene of heauen.

How oft doth Lypomanus, one of the Presidents of their great Councell of Trent, so hee testifieth of himselfe in his E­pistle to Pope Iulius the third (glorying & triumphing) pro­claime that the Saints are called Sauiours,Author Indieu scholierū in Sanct vit. Aloy Lyp. cont haereticos pro Cath. dogmat, veritate. and no wrong done vnto Christ. And speaking of the miracles of the Saints Cosmus and Damianus, he both saith in the text, Nullus erat, qui eos non vocaret Seruatores; there was none but called them Sauiours: and in the Margent it is noted,Vides Sanctos d [...]ed Seruatores, et tamen nullā Dom. Iesu Christ. fieri in [...]uriā part. 2. fol. 14 8. in impress an. 1568. per Mart. Verhess. Thou seest Saints are called Sauiours, and no wrong done vnto Iesus Christ our Lord. And he bringeth in an oration of Simeon Metaphrastes (as i­dolatrous a wretch as himselfe) who of Sebastian and his fel­lowes saith,Erunt Seruat [...]re [...] et Custod [...]s. They shall be Sauiours and keepers. And least this should passe without obseruation, it is noted as a matter specially remarkeable in the Margent, The Saints are our Sa­uiours and keepers.

Discipulus de Tempore saith,Ser. 5. de Sancta in conc [...]. virg. idem Mich de Hungan s [...]r. de Ras. Mari [...]. We may truely say of the Mo­ther, as well as of the Sonne, of her fulnes wee haue all receiued; the captiue, redemption: the sicke, consolation: the sinner, pardon: the righteous, grace: the Angels, gladnes: &c.

After the same manner she is worshipped by Bonauenture in his Psalter; Be mindefull of vs that are lost, O Sauiouresse. In one of the Rosaries she is called,Salus an [...]iorum, saluatrix langurdo­rum, reparatrix des­perantu animae. The health of the doubtfull, the Sauiour of the weake, the reparation and saluation of the despai­ring soule. Bernardine in his Mariall set out by publike autho­rity, saith of her,dedi re [...]ut sis sa­lus mea dextre­ [...]um t [...]rr [...] Bern [...]. Marial I gaue thee to bee my saluation vnto the end of the world.

If these things had dropt onely from a priuate pen, then should they haue had some excuse;Ezech. 24.7 But her abomination she hath set on a high Rock, and poured it not on the ground to couer it with dust. For in their Missalls, in their publique Lythurges, with full mouthes they proclaime the Idolatry. Vnto euery Byshop and Confessor Saint, the Roman Breuiarie applieth that of the twenty fourth of Ecclesiasticus, Ecce Sacerdos magnus, qui [...]n dio­bus sius placul [...] De [...] ­ [...]t imuntus est [...]us [...]us et in tempore ira­cundiae factus est re­conciliatio. Ro [...]r [...] in Com Cons [...]t Pontrif. Beholde the great high Priest, which in his daies pleased GOD, and was found righteous, & in the time of wrath was made a reconciliatiō. And as [Page 64] Christ is truely said to haue died for his enemies: so of Thomas Becket the vse of Hereford saith,Hestil [...] hosti [...] fu­t [...]ra [...]. Bren Heref. That he was to be a sacrifice for his enimies.

The Roman Breniary of the Apostles acknowledgethIst [...] s [...]t, qui plaia­uerūt ecclesia s [...]n­guine su [...]. that liuing in the flesh they planted the church in their bloud. Wherefore they pray,Bap [...]sa Chr sti preuius, et Clau [...]ger aetherius, cū caeteris Apostolis, no soluat n [...]x [...] crimint [...], is Hym. Iesu Saluat. The Baptist, messenger of Christ, the heauenly key bearer, with all Apostles, loose vs from the bonds of sin. And in the Hymne, Lux mundi beatissima, they acknowledge to the virgin Mary, Per te mundus siluatus est, per te sursum, eu itus est, per tei [...]m mors di­nata est, per te vita don ita est. vid. Cl [...]lh [...] in Is [...]n. Ecclesiasticis. By thee is the world saued: by thee is it lifted vp on high: by thee is death condemned: and by thee is life re­stored. The Missalls say, The Vitam datam per Vi [...]g [...]nem gentes re­demptae pl [...]ndit [...]. B [...]e. Sar. [...]t Bre. Ró. in hym. O gloriosa Domina. life giuen by the Virgin applaud O yee redeemed nations. And they of Sarisbury, Tustes certa mi­serorum, verè ma­ter orphanorum: tu leuamen oppressorū, medicami infirmo­rum Mis. Sar. in Conc. virg. Mar. in hym. Dies isle celebratur. Thou art the certaine hope of the miserable: the very mother of Orphanes: the reliefe of the oppressed: the physicke of the weake. And againe to the virgin they sing,Tu culpas nostras ablus, vt perennes sed [...]m gloria per te redempti valeamus scandere. in lect. sancta Dei genetrix. in seruit. beat. Mar. Virg. Wash away our offences; that wee be­ing redeemed by thee, may bee able to obtaine the seat of euerlasting glory. Nay, they are not ashamed to say, that the nature of Man in the blessed virgin is exalted aboue all the immortall spirits. If you demand how, let the Ladies Psalter tell you;Perillam fit vera satisfactio de peccatis. Psal. 136. By her is made the very satisfaction for sinne. But why doe I la­bour in a thing so manifest? since the Rhemists in their margi­nall notes vpon the first Epistle of Paul to Timothy plainely ac­knowledge,1. Tim. 2. gloss. in 4. anno [...]. that there may bee many Mediatours, as there bee many Sauiours and Redeemers euen in the Scrip­tures.

CHAP. XVI. Of the Limitations which they prescribe vnto themselues, when they say Saints are Sauiours and Redeemers.

Vid. Rhem s [...]. in 1. Tim. 2. annot. 4.CErtaine pretensed and fained Limitations and Modifi­cations of their doctrine, they make in this behalfe. For simply & absolutely to call any other Sauiour or Redeemer but Christ, they themselues confesse to be Idolatry. Where­fore Bellarmine maketh a double vnderstanding of the word [Page 65] Redeemer, & diuideth the debt also into two kinds. There is a Redeemer (saith he) properly & vnproperly called.Is proprie et abso­te dicitur Redēptor. qui redimi [...] [...] c [...]p­tiuit. [...]ō qui soluit pro alio debitū a [...] quod parus momēti, Bell. de Indul. li. [...]. cap 4 He is a redeemer properly called & absolutely, who redeemeth from Limit. 1 captiuity, and not who paieth some debt of small moment. By this it is euident, that he makes Christ our Redeemer ab­solutely and properly, because he redeemeth from the infinite captiuity, and Saints the lesser redeemers of lesser sinnes.

Another modification there is,Bell. de Indul. li. 1 cap. 4 ad 3 obiect. that Saincts are not so Redeemers, as though Christs passon were insufficient; but because it is meet, that the passions of Saints should not be in vaine before God. The obedience of the Law (saith Bellarmine) isIpsa obediēt [...]a le­gis est meritoria, et s [...]tisf ctoria▪ et po­test fier [...] vt [...]a sa­tis, actione pro suis del ctis nō egeat, qui legis obediē. tā pra­sta [...]ac propterea cū alijs eā cōmuni­car [...] possit. Bell. de indul lib 1 cap. 4 both meritorious, and satisfactorious: and it may be, that he which obserueth the law, hath no neede of satisfacti­on for his owne sinnes; and therefore he may communicate his satis­faction to others. Yea,Multi labores sā­ctorū mane [...] esset & sine fructu [...] nisi pro reatibus aliorū cō­sum rētur; cū [...]psi Sāctiau [...] nullis, aut certe minoribis la­boribus pro sut de­lēdi [...] reatibus indi­g rēt. Bell. ibid. many labours of the Saints (saith he) vvould bee in vaine and without fruit, except they were spent for the sinnes of other men; for the Saints themselues haue neede of no labours, or at least very fewe, to purge their owne offences. Out of this, his mynd appeareth to bee, that Christs passion is all-sufficient to our redemption: yet the passion of Saints, as a superabundant price, is thereto added. In which passion of Saints there are two things: the Merite, and the Satisfacti­on. The merite of the Saints is sufficiently rewarded in themselues: but the satisfaction of the Saints passion, is ap­plied to the Church.

A third mitigation also Bellarmine seemeth to make; thatNō l [...]cet a sācti­pet re, vt nobi [...] tan­quā [...]uthores diui­norū beneficiorum gl [...]riā, v [...]l [...]rat [...] al aequ [...] ad bea [...] ­d [...]nē mediac [...]ce l [...]t. Bell lib. 1. de Sanct. beat. cap. 17. [...]t ha­betur in Tho. Aq. 2a. 2ae. art. 4. we must not desire grace, or glory, or any other meanes, which Limit. 3 bringeth vs vnto beatitude, from the Saints as from the authors of such gifts. And these are the qualifications, the distincti­ons, the nyce reseruations, vpon which they thinke it law­full, to call Saints Redeemers.

But such is the disordered and headstrong violence of blasphemy in the Romish Church, that like a furious and vn­ruly floud, whome no bankes, no walls can conteine, they exceed al measure, transcend al bounds, & ouerflow al limits, which they propose vnto themselues; neyther can they com­mand themselues to obserue their owne lawes & Canons. [Page 66] At the first it was thought to be a sufficient answer to all our arguments, brought out of the treasurie of Gods booke; that they made Saints Mediatours of Intercession, not of Re­demption: but now they must bee the meanes of our Re­demption also, with a fewe rules & obseruations set downe. All which obseruations they keep as well, as Remus did the Sanction, that none should leap ouer the beginning walles of Rome: or as1 Reg. [...].37 cursing Semey the couenant, that hee should not passe ouer the brooke Cedron.

CHAP. XVII. That in the Romish Church Saints are made Redeemers, according to the proper vnderstanding of the word; because the phra­ses of Scripture, wherein Saluation and Redemption are pro­perly giuen to God, be ascribed to Saints, contrary to the first Limitation.

[...]xamination of the first LimitatiōTHere are diuers select significant phrases in the scrip­ture vsed by the Spirite of truth, wherby God himselfe, and his sonne Christ, is declared to be properly and perfect­ly, the only Sauiour and redeemer: as when the Psalmist sayth,Psal. 138.7 Thy right hand shall saue me. The hand of God is the power of God: as it is in the Gospell;Luke 1.66 The hand of God was with him. And in the Actes of the Apostles,Act. 11.21. The hand of the Lord vvas vvith them.

To saue by the hand, is to saue by that vnresistable power proper vnto God, which no creature can withstand. After the same maner the defensiue power of God is often called the shadow of his wings, as Dauid acknowledgeth;Psal. 57.1. & Psal. 63.7 In the shadow of thy vvings vvill I put my trust.

Another phrase there is which expresseth the free grace and bounty of God, redeeming and sauing: as when it is said;Psal. 106.8 He saued them for his names sake. And the Church saith,Cant. 1.2 Thy name is anoyntment powred out.

Some places do testifie the facility, wherwith God saueth and deliuereth, as;Mat. 3 8 Speake the word onely, and my seruant shall be whole. And Dauid saith,Psal. 147.15 He sendeth forth his comman­dement vpon the earth, and his word runneth very swiftly.

Other phrases there are, which intimate a ready presence of God euery where, in all our necessities to behould vs, and in behoulding to defend vs: as that blessing which the Priests vsed to the people;Num. 6.25, 26 The Lord make his face to shine vpon thee, and the Lord lift vp his countenance vpon thee. And the Psalmist saith,Psal. 67.1 God be mercifull vnto vs, and blesse vs, and shewe vs the light of his countenance.

Many times, to teach vs,Deut. 33.26. Ps. 146. & 74.13 that the help that is done vpon earth, God doth it alone, the Scriptures doe not onely speake of God in the Concrete, as the author of all goodnes; calling him our Sauiour, our Redeemer, our deliuerer: but in the Ab­stract he is enstiled our goodnes, our Saluation, our resurrection, our righteousnes, our life it self; as though one should say, he is properly your Sauiour & Redeemer, who is the thing it selfe that you desire, & all you want;Wis. 16.20.2 [...] Like the Manna, which applied it selfe to the taste of euery one, as he himselfe wished to eate: a Sauiour all sufficient; or, as the Heathens imagined of their Saturne; a storehowse, in whome all the vnexhausted treasures of plenty and bounty are to be found.

With these, & diuers other such figures of speach, the Scrip­tures teach, that God is properly our Sauiour, who deliuereth by power, giueth freely and with facility, is present in our ne­cessities, the very thing it selfe which we desire. But there is no honour nor attribute so proper and essentiall to God, which, doting in her blind superstition, the Church of Rome thinketh too great for her Saints.

Concerning the vnresistable power:In manu tua Do­min [...] salus [...]sep. ter­na est. Ps. 71. In thy handes (saith Bonauenture) is euerlasting life, O Lady. And againe,Liberes nos d [...] tra tua. psal. 73. Let thy right hand deliuer vs. Hugo Cardinalis saithVid. [...]ugo. in Psa. 88. sup. verba, Te­stis in c [...]elo fide [...]ia. the virgin hath Brachia longa ad desendendum, et ad dandum longè positis; long armes to defend, and to giue to those that are farre off. Wherefore Bernard flieth to her protection;Ber. in ser. saper Salut regum. Couer me (saith he) vnder the shadow of thy wings.

The free and bountious grace of Saluation, to Saints they bequeath also. For euen as the Scripture speaketh of God, so they speake of the virgin.Domina in n [...]mi­ [...]e tuo sa [...]uū me sac. ps. 13. e [...] in aurea lit [...]n. Saue me, O Lady, in thy name. Germanus saith, she Germ. [...]pud Sim. [...]etapaex Al [...]. I [...]phist. Sāct. par. 1 fol. [...]83. edit. Verhes. defendeth her seruants from the inuasions [Page 68] of the wicked enimy, by the only calling vpon her name, by which the Prince of the vvorld is cast out. And againe he praieth, That lying lippes may be put to silence, that they may know, that thy name is, our Lady. The name of the virgine is of so great power with them, that it both woundeth and cureth, killeth, and maketh aliue againe. Wherefore this name they will haue in their mouthes, not as a signe of Saluation, but as the thing it self;Ita etiā sāctissimū nomē tun. quod in o [...]e seruorū tuorum assiduè versatur, in [...]ani tēpore, loco, & modo, vitae, letit ae, [...]t auxelis nō solū [...]st signū. sed ea e [...]am procurat et cōciliat. apud Aloy. Lyp. sol. 23 [...]. part. 1. Thy name vvhich is continually in the mouthes of thy ser­uants, in all places, by all meanes, is not onely a signe of life, ioy, and help, but doth procure and effect the same. Albertus saith,Circūditus et te­n [...]b [...]is? et abscōdi­ta tibi via? respice illuminatricē, inuo­ca Des genitricē, & nom [...]na Na [...]ā. in Cap 1. super Luc. ex Cēt. 13. ca. 4. so. 498 Art thou compassed about with darknes? or is the way hidde from thee? looke vpon the illuminatrix, inuocate the Mother of God, and call her Mary. The Roman Breuiary saith,In octau. assūp. lect. Ecce quibus. In this day of solemnity and gladnes we call on the sweet name of Mary. In a praier vpon the names of our Lord, which beginneth, Omnipotens dominus, hauing a Crosse at the end of euery name, they adde, istanomina Regum, Iasper, Melchior, and Baltazar, with the twelue Apostles, whose names are Peter, Paul, Andrew &c. assist me in all my necessities.

As the facility of God in making or sauing, is expressed, in that he doth it by his word: so of al the Apostles they confess; O yee to whose command the health and infirmity of all is subiect, heale all those that be sick in manners, Quorū praecepto su [...]ditur salus et lā­guor omniū, sanate agros maribus, n [...]s reddē [...]es vi [...]tuti­bus. Ro Bre. in hym. Exu [...]t et coelū laudi­bu [...]. restoring vs to vertues. Bel­larmine saith, they stand not on the words, but on the sense,De Sanct. b [...]at. lib. 1. cap 17. col. 2. Est tamē notandū. And it is lawefull to say, Saint Peter haue mercy on mee, and Saint Peter saue me, so we vnderstand it thus, Haue mercy vpon mee, by praying for mee. So like, a Mountebank eating poy­son, to shew the power of his Tryacle, the Cardinall cares not to blaspheame, and to committe Idolatry, that he may declare what vertue is in his mentall reseruations. But this abomination no Tryacle of Gilead, no balme, no playster can heal. For first they confess, without mention of the prayer of the Apostles, that to their cōmand all saluation & infirmity is subiect: then they desire them not to entreat for health, but to heale: not to obtaine vertues, but to restore to vertues. Iustin Martyr saith,Que Deu facit per se, ea iussu facit. in lust Respons de [...]surrect. 4. fi sit ille liber Iustin. the things that God doth of him­selfe, he doth it by his command: as though to do by com­mandement [Page 69] were the proper and peculiar manner of Gods owne working. VVhat should we doubt, that to the com­mand & power of Saints they make all things subiect, when of the virgin they say,Offic. Ʋirg. anglo­lat. ad Mat. Grace is powred out of thy lips. AndDe haec, et [...]b liāc. et propt. hāc omnit scriptura facta est, et propt. hāc mūdus factus est, et haec gra­ [...]i [...] Deipl [...]na est, et per hāc homo redēptus est Ber. super Salu [...] reg. ser. of her, and for her, and because of her, all scripture was made: and for her the world was made: this is shee, that is full of grace: this is shee, by whome Man was redeemed. And againe,Ipsa enim regem portauit gloria, illū omni potenti de tu­ra [...]n tract. de lam. virg, Mar. she did beare the king of glory, whom shee doth giue to euery one that asketh. Wherefore the English Latine Primer calls her,in orat. Obs [...]ero t [...]. The fountaine of mercy, the fountayne of consolation and pardon, the fountaine of life and forgiueness, the fountaine of piety and gladness. Of Thomas Becket they sing;Thaecedūt et parē [...] omnia. in Miss. Tho. Beck. Vnto Thomas all things yield and obey. To Thomas Dydimus they simply and absolutely pray for deliuerance;O Th. Dyd per Christ. que meruist [...] tāgere &c. portif. Sar. in Th. Dyd. O Thomas Dydimus, by Christ, whom thou deseruedst to touch, wee beseech thee with our loud-sounding prayers, to succour vs wretches, that we be not dam­ned weth the wicked, in the comming of the great Iudge.

The phrases, which shew the ready presence of God a­mong all his creatures, to saue, to deliuer, to gouerne, are in like sorte giuen to Saints;Emitte luc [...]̄ tuā, et gratiā tuā, et repa­ra denu [...] vitā et cō­scitētiā meā. Ps. 142 Send out thy light, and thy grace (saith their psalter to the blessed virgin) and repaire againe my life and conscience. Hence it is, that the Saints are called,Beat. virg. Epi­theta in Missal. the light of the firmament, the port of light, the starres of the sea; because as the light filleth all things, and is euery where diffused: So the prouidence and power of the Sants filleth euery corner of the world. This presence the Roman Missall confesseth, calling her,In assūp. lect. 5 quae est ista. The dropping hony combe of Charity, the bowels of mercy &c. And applieth vnto her that of Eccle­siasticus, Ab inito et [...]nt [...] secula creata sum, et vs{que} [...]d futurū seculū nō disinā, eo in habitatione sacta corā ipso ministra­in. br [...]. Ro. in [...]ffic. beat. Ma. vir. in S [...] From the beginning and before the vvorld vvas I created, vntill the world to come I shall not cease, and in his holy habitation I ministred vnto him. Nō enim vos om­ni [...] relinquēt, [...]tiā­si hoc videatur, sed erūt Sergatores & Custod [...]s, [...]ūc quidē ita aduētātes, vt nō cadāt sub aspectū [...] post vitae antē exi [...]ū in ae [...]ern [...]s suscipiē­ [...]es Māsiones part. 2. pag. 150. What is this but a plaine acknowledgement of the virgins presence in all ages, and to the end of the world, before God for sinners? Wherefore they say of her also,Ex offic. anglolat. My abiding is in the fulness of Saints. Of the Saints Sebastian, Zoes, and their fellowes Simeon, Metaphrastes in Lypomanus saith, they shall not forsake you, though they seeme so to doe, but they shall bee Sauiours and [Page 68] [...] [Page 69] [...] [Page 70] Keepers; now so comming to vs, that our sense cannot behould them: but after the end they shall receiue you into eternall Man­sions. How oft doth Bonauenture call vpon the virgin, Splend [...]r sac [...]es tuae e [...] serenitas gratie [...] resulge­at [...] itimeae. ps 26 Let the brightnes of thy face, and the sweetnes of thy grace shine vpon my soule. And againe,In luce ver tatis tuae liberam: Ps. 27 Deliuer me in the light of thy truth. Finally in this sense the Roman Breuiarie termeth the virgin,3. d e [...]f. octau. ass [...]mp lect. Tu ver [...] Pelagus curationum, the Sea of healing.

Likewise, they so speake of Saints, as that they make them, not only instruments & intercessors for saluation vnto God, but saluation and all good things themselues, which wee of God desire. Vnto Saint Claudius they come with such po­werfull and omnipotent attributes, that you would beleeue it were a God at least, whome with such ambition of titles they so Pathetically adore;In Antiph. et o­rat. impres. per Iac. K [...]uer anno 1570 Moy [...]de Iune. 6. die. O comforter of the desolate, deli­uerer of Captiues, resurrection of the dead, light of the blind, hearing of the deafe, speach of the dumbe, defender of those that suffer shipwracke, the healer of the weake and infirme, the health of all that beleeue in thee, Saint Claud the benigne Confessor of Christ, pray for vs. In the howres printed at Paris the virgin is called,An Do. 1570 in [...]ra. ād bea. Ma. vir. Vid. offici anglolat. in orat. Obsecrote. The praise of holy soules, and the true Sauiour of them. In the Office of the blessed virgin, set foorth by the cō­mandement of Pius quintus, printed ann. Dom. 1598 in orat: Obscero te, she is called the health of all that hope in her. In the English Latine Primer, the consolation of the desolate, the way of them that goe astray, the safety of all that trust in thee. In the Roman Breuiarie, Ro. Bre. 3. die inf. octa. a [...]sump. virg. Ma. le [...] 4. lubilimus in arca Domini. All hayle holy virgin, the medi­cine of all our sorrowes, by whome death was expelled, and life brought in. And the Anthem saith,Salue regina, ma­ter misiricordiae, vi­ta, dulce lo, et spes nostra salue. ad lau­d [...]s a cōplet Sabb. post pent. vs{que} ad ad [...]ti. All hail Queene, Mo­ther of mercy, life, sweetnes, and hope. And of Martin they say,Ant [...]ph. ad magn. O beat pontificem. O Martin, sweetnes, Pyhsicke and Physition. Germanus the Patriarch, in Simeon Metaphrastes faineth, thatAde [...]dum repara­tio eorum, quae erant inueterata &c. ap. Lyp. part. 1. fol. 225 liu 2 et. 5. ed. l. Ʋerhessalt. Zechary the Priest called the holy virgin, The end of Gods counsells, the renouation of the things which were ould. So Michael Singelus confesseth of Dionisius Areopagita, Ei (id est Ciuit. Parisiensi) vt san­ctido coel. tus da­tus estus, qui &c. Aloy. Lyp [...] vita Dionis. Areop. par. 1 fol. 484. ad sinē. that He was holines sent downe from Heauen, to make holy the Company of Citizens, and strangers in Paris, that worship Christ. Germanus the Patri­arch againe calleth the virgin,A [...]oy prim part. hist. Sanct. in [...]cō. San. De [...]par. part. 1 [...]ol. 215. edit. Verb. the lampe of his Soule, the [Page 71] leader of his doubtfulnes, the strength of his weaknes, the clothing of his nakednes, the riches of his pouerty, the healing of his vncurable wounds, the taking away of his teares, the rest of his groanings, the ease of his sorrow, the change of his calamity, the loosing of his bonds, the hope of his saluation, and the reward of all good things. Innocent the Pope saith,In his praier [...] Clement. mi [...]ericor­di [...]e et ventae s [...]s ine [...]acuabi [...]s apud Chemnic. She is Misericordiarum et veniae fons incuacuabilis; The inexhausted fountayne of mercy and forgiuenes. The Roman Breuiarie calleth her,Oct. u. assump. lect. ecce quibus. The fulnes of grace. In a praier of one of the Rosaries, she is called,Which begins, O virtutum va [...]cu­lum. peccatorum ven. a, vinculum a­moris, medela vitio­rum, vas clementia, piscina gratiae, fons indulge [...]tiae. ex Ros. beat. vir. ap. Chemn. the forgiuenesse of sinnes, the bond of loue, the medicine of vices, the vessell of mercy, the fishpoole of grace, and the well of pardon. Adde heereunto that, which Germanus speaketh, calling her,In Aloy. Lyp. part. 1. fol 225 The honour of those that be honoured, the reward of all rewards, the height of all highnes. And that of the Missall enstiling her,Ro. Bre. in offic. beat. Ʋirg. mense Aug. lect. 2. Fuit vnus ad finem. The Mountaine vpon the toppe of Mountains. And of In­nocent, I [...]no ipsa miseri­cordia et venia. apud Chemnic. she is not only the veyne and fountains of mercy, but mercy it selfe, and pardon it selfe; and then tell me, whether this be to make Saints Redeemers, in the very propriety of the word? For what greater titles can wit inuent? or what words more powerfull and efficacious can any tongue deliuer, to expresse the glory of Christ himselfe? I hope, D. Kellison canot deny, he doth not attribute so much to the Redempti­on wrought by Christ, as these do to the Saints, and the bles­sed virgin.

CHAP. XVIII. That the Romish Church maketh Saints Sauiours and Redeemers from all sinnes, great and small, and from the generall cap­tiuitie thereof. Therefore the distinction of Bellarmine touching the deliuerie from great and small debts, is but friuolous.

HOwsoeuer Bellarmine, Answere to the se [...]ond part of Bellar. first Limi­tation. or any other seeme to giue limits and rules to their inuocation of Saints: yet such is the vnbridled rage of furious and headstrong blasphemie, that it regardeth no lawes, respecteth no bonds, but ouerfloweth all bankes, all measure, all orders which it prescribeth vnto it selfe. For in the Portuse of Sarum they acknowledge, that [Page 72] the holy Virgin taketh away both great and small offences.Dele peccata, re l [...]xa facinora: Misi Sir in Sera. Beat. Mar. 2. Lect. In facinus iurasse putes, saith Ou [...]d: nothing an heinous offence. Blot out our sinnes, release our heinous crimes; for so the word Facinus importeth. Discipulus de Tempore saith,D [...]s [...]. de Sanctu ser. 34. Col. 2. There are not so many necessities in our mortall nature, as there are effe­ctuall helpes in the holy Ʋirgin. Wherefore the Romane Missall prayeth to her,Ro. Breu. in versu ora pro populo. Let euery one feele thy helpe. Yea, the Legend of Lombardy bringeth-in the Virgin her selfe, assuring one Reginaldus of her absolute power in all occasions,Pete à me quid vis & d [...]bo tibi. Leg. Lamb. in Do­mimes. Aske of me what thou wilt, and I will giue it thee. The same is acknow­ledged in the Missall;Quicquid bo [...] reu [...]dus habet. ab illa habet. Portif. Sar. in ser beat. Virg. [...]ec. 3. Hac [...]inta. Whatsoeuer good the world hath, it hath from her. Neither is the Prerogatiue of the Virgine any greater, then any other of the Saints in this behalfe. For the Romane Breuiarie teacheth vs to pray,Ro Breu i [...] Ab­do 1. & Senon. Iulij [...]0. deus qui vt Sanctorum tuorum intercedentibus m [...] ­r [...]tis &c. That the merits of the Saints Abdon and Senon interceding, we may deserue to be deliuered from all our necessities. And of Leo, his merits interce­ding Ro. Miss. in L [...]one. absolue vs from all sinnes. To intercede by merite, is to redeeme; for therein the merits of him that worketh, are offe­red vp as the price and satisfaction for transgressions: and to deliuer from all our necessities, is absolute Redemption. Af­ter the same manner they confesse of Saint Nicholas, thatCu [...]us meritis ab ab omni cl [...]d [...] l [...]be­rantur, qui quae­rant illu [...] ex toto corde. Port. Sara [...] Sanc. Nich. in land. Ant. 5. by his merits they that seeke him with their whole heart, are de­liuered from all destruction.

Finally, great or small Saint, hee is of the same honour partaker;

And the Missall of Sarum saith,Angelorum con­cio sacra, &c. in hym. Christo in­ [...]to. The holy company of Angels, the excellent troupe of Archangels blot out our sinnes. The History of Lombardy doth report of a Penitent,Lege [...]d. L [...]mb. in Sanct. Iacob. that he reueiled to a certaine Bishop a stupendious sinne, from which the Bishop durst not absolue him, but sent him to the image of Saint Iames, with the sinne written in paper: which being laid vpon the Altar before Saint Iames, the sinner shortly af­ter, comming to know the doome of the Saint, they found the sinne taken cleane away, and abolished out of the paper: and thus by a dead Saint he was absolued from his great sin, [Page 73] vnto whom out of the liuing word, and the promises of Christ, the Bishop durst not pronounce forgiuenesse. By these proofes I doubt not, but euen with halfe an eye the e­quall Reader may see, how from all sinnes both great and small they make the Saints Redeemers and Sauiours; and so (by Bellarmine his owne conclusion) Redeemers proper­ly vnderstood; for to deliuer from the captiuitie of sinne he maketh Redemption in the proper sense.

CHAP. XIX. That the Romish Church maketh Christ insufficient to saluation, contrary to the second Limitation of Bellarmine.

ALthough to blinde the eyes of the ignorant,Examin. of thē second Limita­tion. and to car­rie captiue simple soules with false pretenses, they cast smooth and faire glosses, vpon their venemous and diuelish blasphemies: yet there are diuers strong and demonstratiue arguments, by which the Synagogue of Rome is euidently conuinced, that it esteemeth Christ as an insufficient Redee­mer. I will reduce all of them vnto fiue heads. First, because they make the Saints Redeemers of themselues: the second, because they make the helpe of Saints not onely profitable, but ab­solutely necessary to our Redemption: the third, because they make the blessed Ʋirgin Saint Mary the first mouing cause, or spring of Saluation: the fourth, because they make the Saints our sole and absolute Redeemers: the fift, because they make the Virgin the Sa­uiour of Women, as Christ is of Men. Strange assertions you will say: but I trust, by that time you haue well weighed and considered the proofes and Testimonies I shall produce, the cleare eye of an vnpartiall iudgement will easily discerne betwixt the Sheepes clothing, and the rauening Wolfe: be­twixt the bitter pill they prepare for the stomacke, and the gold, which is cast vpon it, to deceiue the sight.

CHAP. XX. That the Romish Church-Saints are made Redeemers of them­selues.

THis blasphemie is so intolerable, that the Synagogue of Rome it selfe (I doubt not) will bee ashamed thereof: yet by diuers reasons it is euident as the light, that they make the Saints redeemers of themselues. For proofe whereof let vs first consider, how they extenuate all the corruptions and sinnes of the Saints, and will haue them to be very easily pur­ged: and then in the second place I will shew, that they ac­knowledge the Saints, by their owne workes to be deliuered. Bellarmine saith of the Saints,Fuerunt omnes vi­re sanctis [...]imi; [...]a vt mod. ca omnino pro suis culpis sat [...]sfac­tio [...]e opu [...] habue­rint, & tamen tot angustijs & afflic­tionibus oppressi fue­runt, vt plurum: & m [...]xima peccata exp [...]are potuerint. Bellar. de indulg. lib. 1. cap. 2. They were all most holy men; so that they needed but a little satisfaction for their owne faults, and yet they were oppressed with so many miseries and afflictions, that they might expiate or cleanse their most and greatest sinnes. And to this purpose the Frier wresteth the words of Saint Paul. How little (saith hee) the Apostle ought to satisfie for his owne offenses, in his Epistle to the Corinthians it is euident; 1 Cor. 4.4. I know nothing by my selfe. But vnderstand, Christian Reader, in these words the Apostle to those that reproched and aba­sed his Ministerie,Vid. Theoph. in hunc locum. The crafty Car­din [...]ll suppresseth the words that ser [...]e not his turne. modestly answered, that hee knew not of any exorbitant flagitious scandal he had giuen to the church. Now from hence the Cardinall enforceth, that Paul had but little to answere for, and a small debt to satisfie; and so vvill haue the clearenesse of his conscience a step to his Iustifica­tion, contrarie to the words of the Apostle following in the Text, (d) Yet I am not hereby iustified.

Of the Virgin Mary, Bellarmine also saith, thatNon igitur eguit V [...]o Mar vll [...] satisfactione pro se. de indulg. l. 1 cap. 2. she nee­ded no satisfaction for her selfe; and therefore applyeth vnto her that which is spoken of the Church in the Canticles, Thou art wholly faire my beloued. To others (saith Discipulus de Tem­pore) was giuen in their Mothers wombe, Al [...] in vtero sanctifie. collarum est, quod nunquam pec [...]r ut mortali­ter. Mariae autem, quod nunquam pec­ [...]au t venial [...]ter ser 5 de Sanctu. that they neuer sin­ned mortally: but to her, that she neuer sinned venially. And in another place he saith of her,In Ser purif. Virg. In this present life shee neuer sinned. The Methode to meditate on the Rosary, in the fift do­lorous mysterie saith,

Bernard also saith,Proprium Maria delictum no habuit. Ser. 2. de assump. Mary had no sinne of her owne. The Missall of Sarum saith,Ex r [...]d ce vitrata si [...]e vitio prodijs virga, quae intelligi­tur b [...]atissima vir­go. in [...]er. beat virg. lect. 2. auth. mortis. Shee proceeded from a faulty stocke without fault. Gratian the compiler of Decrees saith,De consec. dist. 4. per baptism. in gloss. That neither Mary, nor Iohn could sinne. Durand saith,Durand. l. 3. c. 18. ex Tho. Bell. suruey of Pop cap. 11. Iohn Baptist was borne cleare, that is, without originall sinne. Then if they were free from the act and power of sinning, it is eui­dent, they had no neede to be redeemed by Christ, but did iustifie themselues. To these let mee adde the testimonie of Iohn Fisher Bishop of Rochester, who saith,Io. Rof. in p [...]nit ps. Some there bee which through grace in this life haue so purged themselues by pe­nance for their offences, Sanguine fuso meru [...]t sacra [...]um scandere coelum. Ro. Bren. in Com. Virg. ad magnif. Aue. in Hym. Virg. prole [...]. that they haue made a sufficient recompence for them. And to euery Virgin Martyr the Romane Breuiarie doth attribute;

So also the same Missall commendeth Lucia; Sanguine propri [...] inimicum vicist [...]. By thine owne bloud thou hast ouercome the enimie. Of all the Virgins ge­nerally they sing,Specie tua, & pulchritudine tua intende, prosperè procede & regna. Ro. Breu. in Com. pluri. Virg Antiph. By thy comelinesse, and by thy beauty, set forward, proceede and raigne. And as Christ appeareth before God in his owne righteousnesse: so of euery Virgin they say,Dilexist [...] institi­am, & edicti iniqui­tatem; propterea vnxit te Deus. Ro. Breu In com Virg. post. lect. 5. Haec nubes acrea. Thou hast loued righteousnesse and hated iniquitie; wherefore God, euen thy God, hath anointed thee with the oyle of gladnesse a­boue thy fellowes. Surely, whereas our Redemption hath two principall parts: the first, to deliuer from captiuitie: the se­cond, to bring into glory: you see that both these the Saints by their owne sufferings vnto themselues procure, as the Ca­tholick Missals affirme. Wherefore Lindanus blusheth not to auouch,Apud. Chemnic. That good workes are the cleansing and expiation of sins formerly cōmitted. And Soto, Ibid apud Chem­nic. That the mind of the Church is, that we must so put trust in good workes, that they be auail [...]le to cleanse sinne, to pacifie Gods wrath, and to attaine euerlasting life. If this bee true in all men, much more in Saints then, whose sinnes Bellarmine will haue to bee few and easie.

Canisius out of a saying imputed to Ambrose proueth, that Saints Possunt [...]ro p [...]e­catu nostr r [...]gar [...], qui pro [...] in Manne. [...] 10. may entreat for our sinnes, who [...]y their owne bloud [Page 76] [...] [Page 77] [...] [Page 76] washed away their owne sinnes, if they had any. Egidius saith,Egyp. l. 6. c. 21. The Reader may easily collect, that there are many men with­out sinne. All with one voice say, the Virgin is absolutely ho­ly and free from any sinne. Bonauenture saith, shee made her selfe holy:Sanctuarium quod firm [...]erunt manus tue, est sanc­tum templam corpo­ris tui gloriosi. Psal. 27. The Sanctuarie which thy owne hands haue made, is the Temple of thy glorious body. Now of late our Iesuites haue taken authoritie for this Doctrine, out of the mouth of the Diuell himselfe. For they say, that oneAct. Decemb. 15. pag. 69. Verrine a Diuell proclaimed, that Iohn Baptist tooke vpon him repentance, to shew sinners the way vnto repentance, when hee had not sinned, and that some goe to heauen by repentance, other through innocence. Where­for I trust, no man can doubt of the Doctrine, that it is true, since the Diuell preacheth it.

The Historie of Lombardy witnesseth of Francis, Legend. Lomb. in vitae Fran. that he neuer remembred any offence by him committed, which (through the mercy of God) he had not washed away by satisfaction. Nay, they not onely make Saints such, as haue little or no neede to be purified and cleansed themselues: but such, as in this life feele power and might in themselues to redeeme others. Wherefore Discipulus de Tempore saith,Imò si silij passio non sufficiens esset, ipsa cum filio pro nobis crucem ascen­disset: Disp. de Tem. ser. 163. lit. R. That if the Virgin had not seene, that the suffering of Christ had beene sufficient, her selfe would haue gone vp to the Crosse together with her sonne.

CHAP. XXI. The Romane Church maketh the workes and merits of Saints, not onely profitable, but absolutely necessary also vnto Sal­uation.

IT is a true position of the great Canonist Iohannes Andreas; Andr. in 1 Cle. de summa trinit. cap. fides Cathol. Of two things tending to one end, if the one bee suf­ficient, the other is superfluous. Hence then is it an euident argument, that they esteeme not Christs merits sufficient to saluation, because the merits of Saints are not onely profi­table, but absolutely necessarie thereto.

Necessitie doth alwaies presuppose, that there is not per­fect and sufficient fulnesse in one: for which cause wee flee to another meane. Iacobus Spigelius in his Lexicon of the [Page 77] tearmes of the Ciuill Law saith,Neces [...]e est, quod v [...] aliqua cog [...]nte fi [...]r [...] opus est Spig. in L [...]x. A thing necessarie is that, which by some force compelling must needs bee done. It is euident therefore, that whoso saith the merits of Saints are necessarie to our saluation, doth thereby make them such, as without which we cānot be saued; & so by consequence they make the merits of Iesus Christ our High Priest insufficient.

To proue their opinion concerning the necessitie of the helpe of Saints, there needeth no more but that, which the Missall of Hereff. speaketh of the Virgin,Non auertas oculos a ful, ore huius Syderis, si non vit obru [...] procellu [...] &c. Breu. H [...]re [...] in ser. beat v [...]rg. [...]ect. 3. & nomen inquit. If thou wilt not bee ouerwhelmed with the storme, then let thy sight neuer be from the brightnesse of this Starre. She holding thee vp, thou canst not fall: she being thy protector, thou canst not be afraid: Psal. 126. shee being thy lea­der, thou shalt not be weary. Likewise in one of the Rosaries, greatest Sūma necessitas nos cogit te rogar [...]. In Ros. apud Chem­nic. necessitie compels vs to call vpon thee. And in their Ladies Psalter, Except the Lady build the house of the heart, the building shall not endure. Againe,Quem vi [...] ipsa, sa [...] erit: à quo auertis vultū, vadit in interit. In pre. ad virg apud Chemnic. whom thou thy selfe wilt, he is saued: from whom thou turnest thy face, he goeth into destructi­on. Qui in hac vita te non inuocat, non perueniet ad regnū dei. Psal. 86. He that in this life doth not call vpon thee, shall neuer come into the Kingdome of God. Another saithSi hanc demitta [...] non es amicus Cae­saris. If thou let her goe, thou art not Caesars friend; for without her he shall not saue thee. There wanteth not also one that affirmeth,Audite Coeli apud Chemn. in precibus virg. As the infant cannot liue without the nurse: so without our Lady hee cannot haue saluation. Yea, Costerus a late Iesuite is not ashamed to say,C [...]sterus in lib. 5. instit. in explicat. Aue. Mar. that the King of Heauen doth nothing with vs, but according to the will of his Mother the Queene of Heauen. Thus you see by sundry their testimonies, how necessary they make the workes of Saints to our deliuerance. Wherefore the Missall of Sarum vrgeth, that the Virgin should be daily call'd vpon, and incessantly adored,Istam colas, ipsam ora, omni die, omni hora: sit meus sup­plex, vox canora in Hym. dies ista celeb. in Missa quotidia­na de beat. Mar. virg: Sequen. Ho­dur lux dies.

And the Breuiary of Hereff. yeeldeth reason hereof;Quia sine inter­mis [...]ione [...]nd g [...]t auxilio eius saluta­ri. Breu Herif. in seris. pleno beat. Ʋ rg. l [...]ct. 1. sacro, sanctam. Because that continually the Church doth want her sauing helpe. In the second Councell of Nice they made a Law, that Who­soeuer Synod. septima ex nono Ca [...]one. Qui venerant. Can. 7. did consecrate a Temple without the reliques of Saints, should bee deposed. By which a necessitie is imported, that [Page 78] Saints should bee implored as well as God, to helpe and deliuer vs.

The Romane Breuiarie to the blessed Virgin confesseth,In te beatiss est expectatio nostr [...]rū praemiorum. lect. 6. sit pet te excusabilē. In thee, O thou most blessed, is the expectation of our rewards. What can be more forcibly spoken, or more effectually vtte­red, to proue the Virgins helpe to bee necessary to our salua­tion, in whom is the expectation of our reward? Since the Missall maketh the Virgin necessarie to saluation, the Ro­sary must needs acknowledge the same. Wherefore there­in they pray,Summa necessitas cogit nos in fluctis positi [...] te rogare, &c. Ros. beat. virg. Extreme necessitie enforceth vs, whom pla­ced in the flouds the Sea doth beat vpon, to call vpon thee.

If the merites of Christ be, before the Tribunall of God the Father, sufficient; let them now shew why the merites of Saints are so necessarie, and what extremitie driueth them in the cruell Sea-beating floode, to flie vnto the virgin. Indeed the Tridentine Fathers, to colour the matter in their Canons, make it only Bonum et vtile, Synod. Trid. sess. 9. de inuocat. et ve­nerat, et reliquits sanctorum. good and profitable, that Saints should offer their praiers for vs; not speaking a word of their merits or satisfactions: but in the Catechisme of the same Councell, they plainly professe a Necessity, Eā obcausā inno­ [...]ādi sūt, quòd pro salute hominū pre­ces assidue faciunt, multaque eorum merito et gratis in no Deus cō [...]ert be­nefici [...]. [...]x Mart. Chemnic. that not only for their Intercession, but for their Merits, God pow­reth many blessings vpon vs; therefore the Saints must be called on, because they daily pray for the health of men, and God conferreth many benefits vpon vs for their merites and grace. And that they doe indeed (notwithstanding their smooth mitigation of Good and Profitable) make Saints to our saluation necessarie, it is to the eyes of the blindest vnder­standing perspicuous, since they condemne them as Hereticks thatAt{que} eorū opis impetrādae causa sanctorū memorias frustra frequētari om [...]o d [...]mnādos esse &c. Sess. 9. con­cil. Trid. vt re [...]ertur a B [...]rth. Carranz. hould it a matter needless to frequent for help the memorie of Saints. If the help of Saints be not of necessitie, why doe they not leaue it at liberty to euery mans consci­ence? It is euident then, they still retaine that opinion of Ga­briel Biel Gabr. Biel. super [...]ano [...]ē Misse & Bern. in Mar. al. [...]x Chemnic. that God hath diuided his Kingdome with the blessed Ʋirgin; Id [...]m et Hugo Card in postil. super Gen 1. in verba. F [...]cit Deus duo lunt. [...]. and retayning iustice to himself, hath assigned her to ex­ecute mercy. VVhich if it be true, it would follow that the vir­gin were more necessarie to our Saluation then God him­selfe.

CHAP. XXII. That according to the doctrine of the Church of Rome, Christ is not the first and originall cause of Saluation, but the vir­gin Mother.

MOst earnestly doth the Lord blame the Colonies, which the King of Assur placed in the Cities of Israel, for thatReg. 17.33. Ezech. 20.39. They feared God, and serued their Idols also. It is no excuse vnto Idolatry at all, that God and his Christ haue a part or a portion in our worship, or that they are principally adored.Deut 6.13. Math. 4.10. For thou (saith he) shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him onely shalt thou serue. And yet had the Church of Rome rested in this, there might haue been more hope; as of such as had not knowneApoc. 2.24. the deepenesse of Sathan. But as hisIud. 16.17.19 Phi­listim wife thought her selfe neuer satisfied with trecherie, nor full of vnfaithfulnesse, till shee was gotten vnto the Crowne of Sampsons strength:The Papists will haue the Virgin Mary to be the be­ginning of Sal­uation. So the Romish fraternitie ne­uer giue ouer, till they haue made a spoile of the highest ex­cellencie of the great Priesthood of our Redeemer; taking from him that, which by their owne confession, is the grea­test honour of Christ, to bee our first iustification, and the originall spring thereof.

The Missall of Sarum, in the Tract before the Office of our Lady, reasoning why Saturday aboue all other daies is holy to the blessed Virgin, saith,Dies Sabbati est ianua & introitus ad diem Dominicū; vnde cum in gratia sumus dominae no­strae, sumus quasi in ianuae paradisi. Igi­tur quia ipsa est no­bis porta ad regnum coelorum &c. in ratione tertia. It is the gate and en­trance vnto the Lords day. Therefore when wee are in the fauour of our Lady, wee are (as it were) in the gate of Para­dise; Ex Chenin. & ex Leg Lomb. in as­sump. virg pag. 103 col. 1. because she is vnto vs the entrance into the Kingdome of Heauen. Of all good things (saith Damascen to the child-bearing Virgin) Thou art the beginning, the middle, and the end. Hence come the attributes of infinite honour, all importing the Virgin to be the beginning of our saluation. As, vvhen shee is calledEx varijs locis in Missalibus. the first blessing of women, the window of hea­uen, the morning of our sunne, the gate of Paradise, the holy roote, the fountaine of loue, the Mother of grace and mercy; nay, prae­uia porta, M [...]ss. Sar. haec clara die. Foelix co [...]l po [...]ta, Ro. Bre. in Hym. Ave Mari [...] stella. the gate before the way; Offic. beat. V [...]rg. ad primam. as though they [Page 80] should say, the beginning of the beginning of saluation. Canisius in his Letany calleth herIn [...]tani [...] Ca i­sij exer. 11. 15. The causer of our glad­nesse. Neither is this spoken onely in respect, that our Sa­uiour IESVS CHRIST tooke the beginning of his mortall nature, in the holy closet of her vnpolluted wombe; but it is spoken in respect of the inherent vertues of the holy Virgin,Vid. Chemn. de Sanc [...]nu [...]. part 3 and for that saluation and life flowe from her manifold graces,Beata Virgo Ma­ria quia fecit vo­luntatem Pa [...]r [...]: h [...]c in e [...] magnifica­ [...]u [...] deu, quia fec t [...] lūt [...]tem patris, non quae caro genuit carnem Ro. Bren. in as [...]ump Virg. to the whole Church of God. Because (say they)Iud [...] [...]lix. quia verbā dei custodit, non qu [...]a in illa ver­bum caro factū est. in [...]est assump. she did the will of the Father, that was it which God did magnifie in her, because she did the will of the Father: not because flesh begate flesh. And againe,Iud [...] [...]lix. quia verbā dei custodit, non qu [...]a in illa ver­bum caro factū est. insest assump. Therefore she is happy, because she kept the Law of God, not because the Word in her was made flesh. In another place,Hinc promeruit gloriam, quam ipse post modum auxit. [...]nat. Virg. lect. 4. exult. Marax August. Thence she deserued the glory, which Christ afterward encreased. Albert saith, Shee Ex Chemnic. de S [...]nct. inuoc. par. 3. it called full of grace, because she is the meane and the cause of grace. And in the Romane Breuiarie she is tearmed the In Assump. lect quae est ist [...]. fulnesse of grace. The blasphemous Psalter, thrice imprinted, (at Paris, at Ʋenice, at Lypsia) thus confesseth,Psal 102. By her grace sinnes are released, and by her mercy sicknesse is r [...]paired. But to returne to our purpose: in the Legend of Lombardy they wrest the Scripture to the Virgin;Leg. Lomb. in assump. Virg. Behold I come, in the beginning of the booke it is written of me, that I should doe thy will, O God. As though in the beginning of Gods counsell, for the redempti­on of Mankinde, the Virgin had been ordained to satisfie by perfect obedience the iustice of God. To shew that the Vir­gin is the very spring of our saluation, they compare her with our first parent Eua, as the Apostle Paul compareth Christ with Adam. Eua Miss. Saris. [...]n seru. V [...]rg. Alt [...]or coelo & Ro. Bren. in lect. 5. Eu [...]niu [...] luxit. did by killing, hurt; Mary did by quickning profit vs: that did wound, this did cure vs. Fisher Bishop of Rochester saith,Roff. on the word, quae est ista, qua progreditur? By her humilitie she hath broken the Di­uels head. Paradisi portae per te nobis aperte sunt quae hodie glo­riosa cum A [...]gilis triumpha [...]. Ro. Bre. in assump. Virg. in prim. nocturn. Ant. The gates of Paradise (saith the Roman Missal) were by thee opened to vs, which triumphest most gloriously with the Angels. Another saith,Di [...]cip. de Temp. ser. 133 As death entred by the pride of Eua, so by the humility of Mary life is restored to vs againe. In the pre­face of one of their Rosaries they blush not to say,Iupr [...]s. Ros [...]r. beat. Virg. Mar. That God had not sent his Sonne into the world, except the deserts of the Virgin had beene so great. And in the Roman Breuiarie againe, [Page 81] Ro. Bre. 1. die insr. octau. nat. bea. Mar. O beatae Mar. et in Miss. Sar O beata Mar. quis tibi digna. By thy singular assent (say they) thou diddest succour the lost world. As God saued the world in giuing the Sonne, so with them the Virgin saueth the world by yeelding her consent; Nay, as God gaue, so the Virgin also gaue her Sonne for our Redemption. For in the Missall printed at Colen by Mar­tin Werdena we are taught, thatDedit enigen tū suū Maria pro nostro scelere, et sructū vētru sui pro peccato nostro Mis­si merātiū. Colon. impres. per Mart. de Werd. an Dom. 1505. in Mis. Compas. virg. The Virgin Mary gaue her onely begotten Sonne for our wickednesse, and the fruit of her wombe for our offenses. The Masse of Sarisbury corrupting the Text, IT shall bruise the head of the Serpent, and turning IT into SHE, doth afterwards shew how the Virgin doth breake the Serpents head;Si interrogetur in quo serpētu caput haec beata virgo cō­triuerit? nim [...]rum quod virginitatem simul cū humilitate sacrificauit Deo. Miss. Sar. in cōcep. virg. lect. 6. si vero i [...]terrogetur. namely, In that she sacrificed together Virgi­nitie and humilitie vnto God. And in another place, By thee the occasion of sinne is taken away, the curse of our first Parent is tur­ned into blessing. Wherefore in the same Missall they adore her as Christ is adored: By thy holy conception, by thy holy Natiui­ty deliuer vs.

It is by this which hath been spoken euident, that not on­ly in respect of the fruite of her wombe Iesus Christ, but also in respect of her owne humility, preuention of sinne, merits, consent, and such like, she is made the originall spring of sal­uation; according as Discip. de Temp. insinuateth, where hee saith,Iustū est iudicio ciuili et ecclesiastico vt, qui rē alterius reperit, restituat. at Maria inuenit gratiā à nobis per­ditā &c ser. 161. de beat Mar. virgine. It is iust, both by ecclesiasticall and ciuill iudgement, that he which findeth the lost substance of another, should restore it: But Mary found grace, which was lost by vs. Wherefore he will haue Mary to restore grace vnto vs. God grant the veile may be taken from their eyes, that they may see and bee asha­med.

CHAP. XXIII. That Christ is excluded, and Saints made onely Sauiours in the Romish Church.

IN the restauration of the Church by Christ, the Prophet Esay saith,Esay 2.17 The Lord onely shall be exalted in that day, and the Idols he will vtterly destroy. Yea, the Lord denounceth vn­to Israell, Zech. 14.9 In that day shall there be one Lord, and his name shall be one. But the contrarie heereof, hardening her heart [Page 80] [...] [Page 81] [...] [Page 82] like Adamant, the Romish Church doth dayly practise: so that the worship of God reiected, Saints are made our only Sauiours. What eare doth not glowe? what heart is not astonied, to heare the Roman Breuiarie call vpon the bles­sed virgin,Tu spes vnica p [...]cc [...]torū Ro. Bre. in [...]at. [...]eat. virg Sit ge [...]t [...] exc [...]sib. lect. 6 Thou art the onely hope of sinners. And in the praier Memento obsecro, O vnica spes miserorum, O only hope of the miserable: and againe,A [...]e vnicū mole­sti [...]ris le [...]nē, aue [...] [...]m [...]ū cerdu dolorū medicamētū Ro Bre. 3 die ans. assū. in lubi [...]mus. All hayle the only ease of troubles, the Medicine of all diseases. The onely hope, the only com­fort, are exclusiue particles, restrayning to one alone, and re­iecting any other. Iohannes Andreas their famous Lawyer doth teach them;Tūc quu habet v­nū q [...]ad [...] habet [...]li [...]d. ed tūc d citur habere t [...]u ū, quado no h [...]e [...]t aliud, nec sperat [...]bere aliud. Io. An. r [...]n c [...]p. de m [...]or. et obed. ex tran. cō. lib 1 Then a man is said to haue one, when hee hath another: but then hee is sayde to haue one onely when he hath none other, nor hope to haue any other at all. So also Saint Gregorie vnderstandeth the word only: for vp­on the seauenth of Luke he saith,Ecce de [...]ūctu [...] ef [...]r [...]tur filiu vni­cus m [...]ris et [...]s, qui­a mater [...]t [...]s [...]u [...]e v di [...], et nō sperab. filio [...] viterius: re­creare. Greg. ibid. ex Io. Andr. The dead which was ca­ried forth, whome Christ did rayse, was the onely son of his mother, which was a widow, and hoped not to haue any more children. And thus the prince of Orators Cicero vnder­standeth the word only; In orat pro Sex. R [...]s. Amar. Q [...] ­ramu q [...]ae vitia suerūt in filio vnico Let vs see what faults were in his ONELY Son. All interpreters thereforeVid. Amb. Cale­pin de vno et vnico. make the Latine word vnicus answerable to the Greeke word [...], which doth exclusiuely signifie one only, as the Phoenix is one only bird. To encourage vs then vnto this blasphemy, Pope In­nocent hath granted three hundred daies of Pardon, to who­soeuer shall say that praier (by himselfe deuised)O clemētissi. Dom. O clementi­ssima. In which, after many titles, the virgin is tearmed, The only hope of men in despaire. But grant that the word only were somtimes vsed not exclusiuely, but coparatiuely; yet because they will be sure to exclude Christ, with all words of excep­tion and singularity which may be, the Missall of Sarum vse the word Solam, Alone: Christi v [...]rgine [...] solā virginē matrē la [...]nū subsequā­tur. Portif. Sar. in Sāc. Agneta secūd. lect. 1 Let the virgins of Christ follow the virgin Mother of lights, Alone. And the sequens Salue sancta parens, Quod Eua tristis abstuat, tu sola mater tribuis. what sorrowfull Eue depriued vs of, thou only giuest vnto vs: and in the feast of the Annunciation,Sub [...]ni Domi­na cla [...]rā [...] [...]s ad te [...]ug ter, quo [...]ā pec­cato [...] i [...]o [...]premi­ [...]tur, et nō est qui ad [...]uet. Mis Sar. in armun. virg. v r [...]s pest lect. 9. Per te Dei. Help lady those that daily crie to thee, because we are burdened with our sins, and there is none to help. Is there no God in Israel? is there no Citty of refuge, but the holy virgin only? The Missall of He­reford is not behind the rest in this robbing of Iesus Christ. [Page 83] For whereas other Breuiaries falslie reade,Ipsa cōteret ca­put eiu [...], cui reser­uata est haec victoriae nisi virgi [...]i. in ser. beat. virg. she shall bruise the Serpents head, this restrains it only to the Virgin, saying, To whome is this victorie reserued, but to the virgin? And Pope In­nocent also saith,Cū nō sit spes al­tera nisi tu, virgo puerpera. in orat. O clem. Seeing there is no other hope besides thee, O thou Child-bearing virgin.

After the same manner speaketh Germanus the Patriarch of Constantinople, Psal. 11. Fonauē. If thou forsake vs, whither shall wee flee? Si tu nos deserue­ris, quonā cōfugi [...]e­mus? apud Aloy. Lyp. part. 1. fo. 283. impres. Verhef. vin [...] 1568. what shall become of vs, O thou most holy Mother of God? And in the Psalter of the virgin,Psal. 11. Fonauē. Thou Alone, Sola, dost com­passe the round earth, to saue them that call on thee. Anselm saith,Ʋt oculos cordis et corporis leuemus ad te Maria. Ans. apud Michael. de Hūg. ser. de Rosar. when wee haue offended the high King by sinning: when we haue offended all Saints and Angells: when we know our selues to be miserably burdened, & cannot tell what to doe; this only remaineth to vs wreches, to lift vp the eyes of our hearts and bodyes to thee, O Lady. The Orison saith,O regina poli, ma­ter gratissima proli, spernere me noli, cō­mēdo me tibi soli. in erat. ad virg. apud Mart. Chemn. A [...]e sāctissima mater. O queene of the heauenly pole, to thy son most acceptable, despise me not, I commend me vnto thee Alone.

Not onely to the virgin, but to Saint Sebastian they come also after the same manner, reposing all their confidence in him:In Miss. de Sāct. Sebast. tēp. pestis. in hym. Omnes vnae decātemus ad finem fere. since all our hope is placed in thee O Martyr, now let this deadly plague be remoued. If all their hope be in Saint Sebastian, where is God? where is Christ? Leo in the Legend of Lom­bardy tur [...]eth him selfe vnto the holy virgine,Leo ad beatā vir­ginē [...]e cōuert [...]t, et prouidētiae eius se total [...]ter cōmittit. leg. Lomb. in Sāct. Leon. in princip. and doth wholy committe himselfe vnto her, Totaliter, wholly. The praier Sancta Maria virgo virginum saith,Ign [...]r [...] ad qui [...] fugiā nisi [...]d te Do­mina meā, dulc [...]ssi­ [...]ā virginē Mariā. in erat. sācta Mar. p [...]rsec [...] virg. in Chemn. I know not to to whome to flee, but to thee my most sweet Lady, virgin Mary. And this praier hath a promise that who sayth it deuoutly, shall obtaine whatsoeuer lawfull thing he asketh. VVhat flat­tery? what intollerable hypocrisie is this? to deceiue God & his S [...]ints, pretēding now to one, now to another that they cōmitt themselues whollie to their protection. He that made the table before the Historie of Lypomanus doth plainlie auouch,Nō inferre Dom. Iesu in [...]riā, s [...] ad sācto [...] quis prius cō­fugiat. in indice S [...]holiar. 15. That they doe not sinne, which flee first vnto the Saints: and referreth the reader to diuers places of the booke to proue the same. And in the Marginall note hee bitterly taxeth those which affirme,Huc adeste, quo [...] sāctorū aduersarus [...]gitis, qui dicitis—peccare, qui, Christo omisso ad eos cōfugiūt. Aloy. Lyp part. 1. fol. 431. scholiar in. Huc adest [...]. That it is a sinne to leaue Christ, and to flee vnto Saints. Now this to proue and make [Page 84] manifest by liuely example, in come our Legendaries, the last Act of their Enterlude: and they haue Historie vpon Hi­storie, to proue the saluation of them, who worshipping no other did serue the holy virgin only. In the Promptuarie of examples,Clericus quidam qui nihil boni facie­bat. in Mirac, virg. exemplo. 71 The priest that neuer did good, but only sayd the howres of the virgin, going ouer a Riuer to committ wicked­nes, falling into the water, and there perishing, yet remem­bred his accustomed deuotions, & died with the salutations of the virgin in his mouth. He is brought before Christ, he is accused by the diuells, hee is defended by the virgin, the matter is brought to this period; The virgin challengeth a promise of Christ, that where he findeth, there hee iudgeth. Wherefore this man howsoeuer vngratious his life were, hee ended it in my praises. If the diuells will not beleeue, let them looke into his mouth. They did so, and there found written in letters of gold; Haile Mary full of grace: and so the dead Man was set free from Sathans tyranny. The like story Ia­cobus de Ʋoragine in the Legend of Lombardy telleth of an English priest, who was suspended by the Archbishop of Cā­terbury, In Tho. Cantuaer. because hee neuer said any Masse, but of the vir­gin onely. Wherefore she appeared to her deuout suspended priest, and sent him to the Archbishop, requiring that hee should absolue her chaplaine by the same token, that she the blessed virgin had secretly sowed the shirt of haire, which the Archbishop made vnto himselfe to do penance in, and had left the needle hanging at a red thred. Of another Bishop the same authour reporteth,Idē videre est in Prompt exēp. de mirac. virg. that when hee had suspended a priest from his function, that could onely say the office of our Lady, & none other, the virgin appeared to the Bishop and threatned him, that he shold dye within thirty daies, if he did not restore the said priest againe vnto his office. And if you wil haue it yet more plaine, the same Author is witnes, thatIn Prom [...]. exēp. de mirac. virg. 42 One Theophilus hauing by his bond or hand-writing giuen himselfe to the diuell, afterward comming to repen­tance, doth prostrate himselfe before the Image of the virgin hauing her sonne in her armes: but her sonne turned away his face, as much offended at the presence of such a flagitious [Page 85] offender. Which the Virgin perceiuing, laid her Christ down vpon the Altar, and tooke Theophilus with her to the Diuell, and commanded him to giue vp the handwriting; which the Diuell did, and Theophilus was restored to grace. This perhaps they will say, is the tale of some superstitious Monke, whose grosse inuentions they neither beleeue, nor approue: but let them know, that euen in their publique worship the Missall of Sarum it selfe pointeth vnto this narration, and reckoneth it as one of the Virgins praises,Per octau. assūp. hym. Aue Maria Theophilum re [...]or­man gratiae. In Hym. Aue Maria. Thou which to grace didst bring Theophilus.

CHAP. XXIIII. That the Romish Church maketh the Virgin Mary the saluation of women, as Christ is the saluation of men.

I Doubt not but that I shall be pursued, in respect of this as­sertion, with all the venimous exclamations, that the in­fernall brood of Locusts, Iesuites, Friers, Monkes and Semi­naries can spue out against me. But blessed be the Lambe of Mount Sion, whose seale shall defend mee against all their assaults:Vid. 1. Ap [...]c. Esd. cap. 1. Truth is greatest and strongest, it ouercommeth all things.

I must confesse, this may seeme a very strange Paradox, e­specially to those, who examine not diligently, the dregges of the Cup, wherwith the Babylonish dame hath made all nati­ons drunken: & yet considering, that vnto the blessed Virgin they ascribe the generall saluation of all; as George Nicen speaketh in Simeon Metaephrastes, Tu casum veteris nostrae nobilitatis erexisti, tu primae imaginis speciem rest [...]tuisti in suam pulchr. iudinem: e [...] Aloy. Lyp. par. 1. fol. 230. Thou hast restored the obscured forme of the first image vnto beauty againe. And Guiliel­mas Tornacensis saith,Ipsa est Mare & Christianis hospitiū aquarū omnium in periculis. Guil. Ter­nac. in sac. confirm. ad Princip. fere. She is the sea vnto Christians, the enter­tainment of all waters in peril: Missal. Saris. in praef. ad Offic. Mar. Virg. When the Virgin hath her cō­passion ioyned with Christs passion: when shee hath her Masse, as Christ hath his Masse, her Saturday holy vnto her, as vnto Christ his Sabbath, her temples, Altars, offerings, prayers, Letanies, as Christ hath: when she hath her Ladiship in heauen, as Christ hath his Lordship: when shee is wor­shipped with vowes, oathes, confessions, as Christ is wor­shipped; [Page 86] why should it seeme strange, that they make her the Sauiour of her owne Sexe also, as Christ is of his? Of her Spouse Christ Iesus, the Church in the Canticle confes­seth,C [...]nt. 1.2. Thy name is as an ointment powred out, therefore do the virgins loue thee. The same the Roman Breuiarie not without the spirit of blasphemie teacheth all women most falsely to acknowledge of the Virgin Mary, and to adde; Therefore Ro. Breu. in as­sump. virg Autiph. in odorem. ad laud. & per horas An­tiph. the maidens haue loued thee much. What is this but to ap­propriate the deuotion of women to the Virgin, because her name is their sweet sauing ointment? In the Houres of the conception of the Virgine, set forth in Greeke and Latine, they pray,In orat. Deus in­effabilu misericor­d [...]ae. O God, which didst ordaine the first offence of the wo­man to be purged by the Ʋirgin Mary.

The Breuiarie secundum vsum Hereff. doth teach no better Doctrine; for thus it singeth,Maledicta enim Eua [...]uerat, qu [...]m nunc cred [...]mus per M [...]riam ad bene­dictionem gloriae remeasse: Bre. Her. lect. Mar. è cōtrario. Eue was cursed, whom wee now beleeue by Mary to haue returned vnto blessednesse of glory. And againe, Come Venite Virgines ad virginem; ve­ [...]ite concipientes ad concipientem; ve­nite parientes ad parieatem; venite Matres ad Matrē: venite iuuencule, ad iuuenculam. Ideo omn [...]s cursus naturae virg. Mar. in domino nostro Iesu Christo susce­pit, vt omnibus ad se co [...]fugientibus foeminis subueniret, & sic rest aurauit omne genus ad se venientium foemi­narum noua Eua, seruand [...] integrita­tem, sicut omni ge­nus vir [...]rū nouus Adem recuperat domi [...]us Iesus Chri­stus. M [...]ss. Heref. in seru. pleno de beat. Virg. Mar. lect 3. venite virgines. Idem Bern. in tract. de Lam. virg. Virgins vnto the Ʋirgin, come you that conceiue to her that conceiued, come you that bring forth children, to her that brought forth: Come Mothers to the Mother, come you that gaue sucke, to her that gaue sucke: Come yong women, to the yong woman. Therefore the Virgin tooke all the courses of na­ture in bringing forth Christ Iesu, that shee might helpe all women that flee vnto her: and so the new Eue restored all the kinde of women sleeing vnto her, by keeping innocence, as the new Adam our Lord Iesus Christ hath recouered all mankinde. To the same, Radford in his Directory consenteth saying,Cap. 54. impress. anno 1605. that the Virgin repaired by her vertue, that which Eue lost by her vice. Blush drunken Babylon, blush for shame; thus hast thou taught the people: this is the cup, these the dregs of thy fornication. For this they pretend the authority of Fulgentius; who teach­eth, thatVt sic restauraret omne genus f [...]minarum ad se venientium. Ful. ser de laud. Mar. ex Chemnic. she receiued all the courses of womanhood, that so she might repaire all the kinde of women comming to her. The Mis­sall of Sarum agreeth with the rest, and saith;Haec est sola cunctorum hera, [...]aterna obs [...]u [...]an [...] piacula. This is the onely Mistresse of all, hiding the Mothers offence; meaning the offence of Eue. So in the Masse of pregnant women,Ad quem confugient desolata pregnantes, nisi ad te cunctarum consolatri [...] cum lachry [...]i? Portif. Sar. in Miss. prag. To [Page 87] whom shall the desolate Child-bearing women flee, Suasa est obedire Deo, vti virginis Euae v [...]rg. Mar. fie­ret aduocata, Ro. Bre. in offic. beat. Mar. virg lect. in sua propria. Ex Ireneo l. 5. post mediū. Irae­neus only compa­reth the transgres­sion of Eue, with the grace of Christ born of the virgin Mary, they referre it to the praise of Mary her selfe. but to thee the comfortresse of all women, with teares? The Romane Breuiarie also to the Virgins praise readeth; She was perswaded to bee o­bedient to God, that the Ʋirgin Mary might be the Aduocate of the Ʋirgin Eue, and virginall disobedience equalized by virginall obedience. He saith also, that asVehementer quidem.) new Adam was formed of the old; so Eue was transfused into Mary. Againe,Ro. Bre. in Nat. virg. plaudāt nunc organis Mar. ad finē. The sorrow of Eue, the song of Mary hath excluded. In the Letany of the Virgin they pray,In Litania virg. apud Chemnic. O virgin of virgins, the new exaltati­on, and the first blessing of women. Discip. de Temp. must not be forgotten; who according to the publique acknowledge­ment, frames his priuate censure and saith,Discip. de Temp. ser. 32. de assump. Virg. verbo vnde si­cut conuenien [...] fuit, &c. The taking vp of the Virgin Mary in body and soule, gaue great hope to women of their ascension and resurrection, as Christ gaue great hope to men by his resurrection. Wherefore as it was conuenient, that the re­surrection of Christ should be hastened, that thereby hope might be giuen: so it was necessary, that the resurrection of the Virgin Ma­ry should be hastened, that hope might bee giuen vnto the Sexe of women. Out of this same forge no doubt comes that blasphe­mie of the late Swite Gasper Loart; Gasper. Loart in in 5. glorioso Myst. Come out ye daugh­ters of Sion, and see your Queene, whom the morning starres giue laud vnto. And that of the English festiuall, Right The English festiuall in the Virgins N [...]tiuity. as our Lord followed the old Law and the new, and all that fell to Man of right: so our Lady fulfilled both lawes, and all that fell to woman.

CHAP. XXV. That the Romish Church maketh the Virgin mercifull to Christ God and Man, and Christ beholding to the Ʋirgin: which importeth her to be the Author and first cause of our Sal­uation, contrary to the third Limitation.

THe Apostle Paul, Examin. of the third Limitation. speaking of the free vndeserued grace of God, proclaimeth vnto all the sonnes of Adam; Rom: 11.35. Who hath giuen vnto him first, and he shall be recompensed? And the blessed Virgin her selfe, that the holy one of God should of her take flesh, doth acknowledge it as the meere mercy of [Page 88] God.Luk. 1.49. He that is mighty hath done for me great things, and holy is his name. Yet, notwithstanding the Apostles acknowledge­ment generally for all, and the Virgins confession in her own particular for her selfe, they are so darkened in their vnder­standing, that they spare not to auouch, that it was mercy and fauour in the Virgin toward Christ, which shee her selfe taketh to be dutie and obedience;Luke 1 38. Behold the seruant of the Lord, be it vnto me according to thy word. Compare wee now with this obsequious modesty of the Virgin, the Doctrine of the Romish Church.

The Romane Breuiarie out of Bernard saith,Coronauit eum, & vicissim ab eo meru [...]t coronari 3. di [...] infra octan nat. beat Mar. lect 4. Nouum fecit. The Ʋir­gin crowned Christ, and she deserued to bee crowned of him againe. Now what is this, but to giue vnto Christ first, and then to receiue of him? Discip. de Temp. affirmeth, that there is a threefold reason, why the blessed Virgin is so potent in the high Court of Heauen.Discip. de Temp. in ser. 161. in ver­ba beatam [...]ue dicent. First, because shee is Mother of the eternall King. Secondly, because of the grace she found. Coronauit eum, & vicissim ab eo meru [...]t coronari 3. di [...] infra octan nat. beat Mar. lect 4. Nouum fecit. Third­ly, because of the mercy shewed immediately, vpon God himselfe, clothing his flesh, feeding him with milke, receiuing him to harbour in her wombe, and visiting him when hee did hang vpon the Tree. Anselme therefore saith,Auxiliatrix Dei et hominum. de vulneribus. erat. 2. apud Chemnic. Shee is the helpe both of God and men. The Romane Breuiary consenteth thereunto and saith, thatIn offic. paruo. [...]eat. v [...]rg. R. post lect 3. [...]oelix nam{que}. the holy Virgin was worthy of all praise, because the Son of righteousnesse did arise from her. Surely in this respectLuke 1.48. she calls her selfe Blessed, but praiseth not her selfe. For blessing is of Grace, but Praise proceedeth of desert. Neither are they content with this, that the Virgin hath extended mercy vnto GOD, and giuen vnto God (as Discip, de Temp. spea­keth)Discip de Temp. in ser. de Sanct. ser. 5 in verbū sanctifica­uit tabernaculum. Of her fulnesse the Sonne of God receiued substance of flesh, and the whole Trinitie euerlasting glory: But they call vp­on the Virgin to insist and stand vpon these her great de­serts with Christ for vs;Ostende pectus & vie [...]ae filio. Antoni­nu [...] apud Chemn. Shew thy Paps and thy Brest to thy Sonne; and againe,Ro Bre. Monstrae­te esse matrem. in hym. Aue Maris stella & Miss He­ref. in seru. beat. Mar. Virg hym. Aue Mari. stel. Shew thy selfe to be his Mother.

Hence come these manifold enforcings of her merits;Que d [...]gnè m [...] ­ [...]uisti concipere, quē totus orbis nequiuit comprehender [...]. Miss. Sar. in sern. beat. Virg. Mar. Sanct. dei gen. Thou didst worthily deserue to beare, whom the world could not comprehend. And againe,Meruisti benedic­ta profe [...]re mundi pretium in seru. [...]eat Virg. in Sanct. Mar. succurre mi­s [...]ris. Thou didst deserue (O thou blessed) to bring forth the price of the world. This is she, In seru blat. Mar. Virg. Alti [...]r [...] g [...]l [...]. who onely [Page 89] deserued to bee called the Spouse and Mother of CHRIST:An nō Mon [...] sub­lim [...]s Mariae, que vt conceptionem [...]terni verbi pertingeret meretorū verticem supra omnes Chor [...] Angelorum vsqu [...] ad [...]olium de tatis trexit? Ro. Breu. in offic. beat. Mar. virg ex Greg. Is not Mary an exceeding high hill, which (that shee might conceiue the eternall Word) hath lifted vp the height of her merits aboue all the Quires of Angels, euen vnto the Throne of God?

But to returne againe vnto Discip. de Temp. who maketh the Virgin an helper immediately to the Godhead: Perhaps they will excuse this blasphemie, in respect of the vnion of the two natures, the Godhead and the Manhood in Christ Iesus. Now the Catholique Religion doth grant, that the things which are spoken of Christ, may bee spoken of both his natures, the Godhead and the Manhood: for otherwise God and Man should be two persons in Christ.

But to this I answere, thatVid. Bez. cont. Hold. p. 761. whensoeuer we communi­cate the properties of the seueral natures to the whole person, we do it in the Concret, not in the Abstract. Wherfore though we say,Vid. Th. Aqu. 3. part. quest. 16. God tooke flesh, and God was borne, yet we doe not say, God was passible, or God was mortall, or God was fed (as that blasphemous Psalter speaketh)Lacte Deifico saluatorem Iefu [...] c [...]utristi Psal. 15. with God-making milke thou hast nourished Iesus the Sauiour. Though we say, God is Man, or Man is God, supposing the vnion of Natures in one per­son: yet when wee speake in the Abstract discretiuely and disiunctiuely, the properties of the one nature, cannot bee giuen to the other. Wherefore when Discip. de Temp. doth say,Discip. de Temp. in ser. 161. in verba beatam me dicent. that the Virgin doth exercise mercy immediately vpon God, it is not to be allowed. For God is not immediately fed, or clothed, or harboured: neither can that of the Missall of Sarum well be maintained:Regn [...]i Deus d [...]i caro. [...]n vgilia as­censionis, hym. aeter­ne Rex altissim [...]. The flesh of God reigneth God.

This was the cause why Petrus Gnapheus was condemned as an Heretike, because he taught that God died, and God was crucified. Which though it might be defended in respect of the communication of the Idioms or natures: yet be­cause he added to the Hymne, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts, this sequence (which was crucified for vs) as though the Godhead it selfe had beene crucified, he was banished by the Fathers of that time, who desired to take away all scrupulo­sitie from religion. Euen so, when wee speake of the com­miseration [Page 90] extended to the Manhood of Christ in an Ab­stract consideration of the feeding and clothing of his hu­manitie, the same cannot bee properly, nor truely auouched of the Godhead, that mercy was immediately extended to God. Thus much for the Limitations: proceede wee now to other their errours.

CHAP. XXVI. That the Romish Church maketh the Ʋirgin more mercifull then Christ; and so they take from the Sonne of God the chiefest propertie of his high Priesthood.

AMongst the rest of the excellent graces in the eternall Priesthood of Christ, the Apostle Paul reckoneth, that he wasHeb. 2.17. made like vnto his brethren, that he might be a mer­cifull, and a faithfull High Priest in things concerning God. Esay therefore doth prophecie of him, that his mildnesse shall bee such, that a Esay 42.3. bruised reede he shall not breake, and the smoking slaxe he shall not quench. And for this cause Iohn Baptist calleth himIoh. 1.29. a Lambe: and the Law maketh the harmelesseLeuit. 1.14. Doue to bee his type, that wee might know, that his peace passeth all vnderstanding, and that his mercy is as great as himselfe. Yet notwithstanding Man hath found one more mercifull then God, and more gracious then his Christ, contrarie to that rule of Philosophie; NoNull u effectus excedit. virtutem suae causae. effect is more powerfull then his cause.Deus vltienum dominus, sed tu mater misericordiae God (saith Bonauenture) is the God of vengeance, but thou art the Mother of mercy. Christ (saith an­other)Anton. vt recitatur à Mar. Chemn. is not onely an Aduocate, but a iudge, who shall iustly discusse all things; so that nothing shall remaine vnpunished. If the righteous then be scarce saued, how shall the sinner come vnto him as to an Aduocate? Wherefore God hath prouided an Aduocate milde and sweet, in whom is no sharpenesse at all.

The Romane Breuiarie applieth to the Virgin that of Ecclesiasticus, which is spoken of Gods diuine wisedome;In me gratia omnis viae & viri­tati [...]: in me om [...]u spes vitae & virtu­tu. Ex eccl. 24. in Concep. Virg. in me is all hope of life and vertue: in me is all grace of the way and truth. What now remaineth vnto Christ? Where is [Page 91] his grace? and to whome is hee life, if the virgin bee all the hope of life?

Germanus the Patriarch in Simeon Metaphrastes tearmeth her without exception,Paratissimū resugiū peccatorū. apud Lyp. part. 1. [...]ol. 283. The readiest help of sinners. For full proofe hereof, you haue the Legend Historie rehearsed by the Iesuite Costerus, which witnesseth,Fra. Costerus [...]n epist. dedic. lib. 5 institut. that by the virgin, Christ was reconciled vnto the world, when being anry with the Albigenses, hee threatned an vniuersall destruction: but by his Mothers intercession, the two orders of Friers, Dominicks and Franciscans, were raysed vp to turne the mynds of men to God.

Reuolue diligently (saith Bernard) the Euangelicall wri­tings,Reu [...]lue diligētius, et si quod sorte incre patoriū, durū vel asperū inueniru in Maria, ipsā de caete­ro suspecta habe [...]s, et ad eā accedere ve­rearu: sed filius e­ius nō solū miseri­c [...]rs. sed etiā iustus in omnibus operibus eius. Ber. ap. Discip. de Temp. serm. 161. and if there be any sharp or hard reproofe in the virgin, then hereafter hould her suspected, and be feareful to come vnto her, but her son is not only mercifull, but iust also in all his wayes. And yet we know, that of the peaceable mediation of Christ, the prophet foreshe wed,Esa 17.4 Anger is not in me.

Discipulus de Tempore is bould to propose a quodlibet, whe­ther seeing the virgin Marie is called the Mother of mercy, she or her sonne be more mercifull.Resp. Quod filius eius in infi [...]itū plus habet de misericor. quia, vt est infinita potētiae, sic est infi­nitae misericordia. Vnde Psalmista; miserationes [...]iui supra omnia opera eius: sed ipsa beata virgo, mater mise­ricordiae dicitur quiae sēmp. miseri­corditer agit, et ideo quātū ad hoc peccatores fidu­cialius ad matrem misericordiae cōfu­giūt. Discip. de tēp. ser. 161. His answer is, that her sonne hath infinitely more mercie, according to the psal­mist; His mercy is aboue all his works: but she the blessed virgin Mary is called the Mother of mercy, because she doth al­waies mercifully, & in respect hereof sinners may more bold­ly come vnto the mother of mercy. Thus you see, Christ hath more mercy, but the virgin doth exercise more mercy; according to that of their Psalter,Bonauē. Ps. 71 O Lord giue thy iudge­ments vnto the King, and thy mercyes vnto the Queene his Mother. To this also let me adde that, which Michael de Hungaria al­leageth out of Orosius; Quos nō saluat Dei iustitia, salua [...] M [...]riae misericordia infinita. in ser. de Rosaer Mar. Whome the iustice of God doth not saue, Maries infinit mercy saueth.

CHAP. XXVII. That the Church of Rome maketh the merits of Saints, as effica­cious and powerfull as the merits of Christ.

THe Church of the excellency of her redeemer Christ cō­fesseth;Cant. 2.3 As the apple tree amongst the trees of the forest, [Page 92] so is my wel-beloued among the sonnes of men. And the Apo­stle Paul comparing all other things with Christ Iesus doth esteem themPhil. 3.8 as doung in respect of him. But such is the miserable blindnes of her, who yet saith, she is the foun­taine of the Gardens and the well of liuing waters, that shee shameth not to make the bloud of Saints equall to the bloud of Christ. For proofe whereof, consider (Christian reader) that they call much more, and oftener vpon Saints, then vp­on Christ the Lord.

The Rosarie is diuided into Mentall and Ʋocall praiers. Of Ʋocall praiers there are two hundred and Fiftie Aue-Maries, and but fifteene Pater nosters. The same in their Li­tanies is also manifested;Litania de Mar. quae incipit, Kiri [...] elyson, Christe ely­son, apud Canisium. as in that of the blessed virgin mentioned by Canisius. Where hauing fiue or six times only led vpon the name of GOD and his Christ, they in­uocate the Virgin at the least fowrescore times. The like you haue in the Lauritane Letany, set forth in the end of Gasper Loarts meditation; wherin a fewe times serue to cal vpon God & his Christ: but the virgins inuocation is mani­fould, and hath no measure. Yea, in some of the Letanies by him rehearsed, there is no praier to God at all.In litania quae in­cipit, Ancillae & mater Dei, et litae­ni [...] quae incipit, Al­tare Dei, and se­pulchrū nouū Chri­sti, and virgo Ma­ria sēper glorios. and maeter et virgo per­petua; and Alleluia regis aeterni, and cō­tritio prauitatis hae­retica: In all these Letanies there is no praier at all to the Father, Sonne or holy Ghost. vid. Ga. Loar. Let this then be my first argument; for, whome in troubles wee most flie vnto, him we acknowledge to be most powerfull for our deliuerance. My second argument is taken from the confes­sion of diuers particular members of the Romish church, whose authoritie is of singular estimation with them. Their Ladies Psalter sayth,Bonau. Psal. 12 The blessed virgin is the best help in troubles. Simeon Metaphrastes compareth the passion of the virgin, with Christs passion, and sayth, thatQuae qu [...]dē omnia trāsuerberaebāt eā profū [...]ius, quā vlli Claui, ex Aloy. Lyp. part. 1. pa. 238 edit. Ʋerhessal [...]. an. 1568. Louan. the Heauiness of her contemplations did pierce her deeper then any nailes. Gasper Loart the Iesuite maketh her sufferings the greatest sufferings;Gasp. Loart. in the praier after the 3. dolorous Mystery. What griefe was euer like thy griefe, O virgin, and most woe­full Mother, when thou sawest thy sonne exalted vpon the Crosse? And hee beseecheth her,Ib in 3. d [...]l. Myst. To offer vp these bitter griefes to her sonne, as he offred his bloud to the father. Innocent proclay­meth three hundred daies of pardon to him, that sayth the praier, wherein she is tearmedMiserorū patro­na. reorū aduocata doctissima. in erat. O clementiss. The most sweet Patroness of [Page 93] miserable men, and the most learned aduocate of the guilty. In the very same words almost Anselm saith,Medicina effica­cissima. Ansel. de 5 doloribus vir erat. 3 The virgin Mary is the most efficacious medicine: and in the Compassions also of the virgin,Te hodie et sēper in matrē et patronā prae cūctis elig [...] & praeopt [...]. Thee this day and euer I chuse before all other, to be my Mother and Patronesse. Germanus the Patriarch cal­leth her,In Aloy. Lyp. part. 1. pag. 283 The most powerfull recreation of those that are af­flicted. Herto helpeth not a little their ould friend Discip. de Temp. who telleth a long tale of one thatDisc. de Tēp. in exēp. de vir. ser. 164 came to the diuell to obtaine riches, and being by the diuell required to renounce God, he did so: but thou hast not yet performed all (sayth the diuell) the worke is yet vnperfect: thou must re­nounce his Mother also, for she it is that doth vs the greatest hurte; for whom her sonne would condemne by iustice, she doth by mercy saue.

The third reason is, the opinion that the merits of Saints are not a iust recompence to God for our sinnes, is condem­ned by Pius quintus, & Gregory the thirteenth (as Bellarmine Bell. de Indul. li. 1 ca. 4 in resp. ad ob. 6 Nor our satisfac­tion. himselfe doth witnesse) and yet Kellison saith of Christs merits,Kellis. lib. 3. fol. 261. lin. 12 that they are not our satisfaction. Wherfore if the me­rits of Saints are a iust recompence to God, and the merits of of Christ do not satisfie his iustice; it is euident that the merits of Saints are more powerfull then the merits of Christ.

My fourth proofe is, their publique worship, wherein when they offer those preheminences to Saints, which the word of God giueth only vnto Christ, what other construction can be made, but that they esteeme of Saints as of Christ? The Roman Breuiarie of euery Confessor singeth,Ro. Bre. in com. cōfat port if. Sar. post lect. quicquid igitur. I haue put saluation on the mighty: I haue exalted one chosen out of the people, my hand shall helpe him: I haue found Dauid my seruant, with my holy oyle haue I anoynted him. Who knoweth not, that this was a mystical & Propheticall speech poynting to the excellency of Christ only? Now if this bee be applied vnto Saints, what do they else, but thereby make them capable of the praise, of the honour, of the office, and of the excellencie of Christ?

But to make this poynte more euident, celebrating the memories of Peter and Paul, the same Roman Breuiary saith, [Page 94] Cū Dominus Ori­entu regionē propri­a illus [...]rauit p [...]ssio­ne, occidītu [...]lagā, nequid minus esset vice suae, Aposto­lorū ságuine illu­minare dignatus est. Ro. Bre. sexta die infra octau. Pet. & Pau. lect 5. Cuiu [...] autem. when the Lord had illustrated the Estern part with his owne pas­sion, the westerne world, lest it should be any thing lesse or inferiour, in his owne stead he did illuminate with the blood of the Apostles. If there be not an equality betwixt the bloud of the Apostles, and the bloud of Christ, let them tell mee how the bloud of the Apostles can make Rome, where they suffered, equall to Ierusalem, where the bloud of Christ was shed. I doe not find that the Citty where Christ suffered, had euer greater title then the holie Citty. But Iohn Andreas saith, Rome was called the most holie Citty, for the death of the Apostles. Of the Euangelist Iohn the Masse of Sarum witnesseth,Par post Christū alter quidāmodo relictus est filius. in die Ioh. apo. et E­uāg. lect. 1 Quicun­que in loco. that He was left after Christ, as his fellow or peere, being after a manner onother son. And the Hym. de patre verbum prodiens saithEx Clicthou. et Par post Christum filius; he was an equall son after Christ. Of Saint Francis, Turseline, the Iesuite is not ashamed to say,Ex diuersis locis in Missal.

Hereto agreeth Bensius, who calleth Francis the image of Christ. To conclude,Veni mater gra­tic, sons misericor­diae, miseris remediū ven [...], lux ecclesiae: In solamē oppresso­rū, medicamē infir­morū, omnibus es omnia. Miss. Sar. in visit. et [...]ōcep. virg. Mar. vid. de hac materia et Ro. Bre. God is the Father of mercy, the Vir­gin the Mother of mercy: Christ is the fountaine of mercy, the vir­gin the fountaine of mercy: Christ the light of the Church, the vir­gin the light of the Church: Christ the gate, the virgin the gate: Christ al things to all men, the virgin all things to all men. What difference then is now betwixt the merite of Christ, & the vir­gin, the equall & vnpartiall reader may easily iudge. If this be done in the publique worship, it is no maruell that Euthimius the Monke was so lauish in her praises, as to sayIn te omnē spem nostrā collocanim [...] et in te viuimus et gloriamur et su­mus. Euthi. Monac. that we are her inheritance, and all put trust in her, and liue, and glory, & are in her. Vpon which words the marginall note in Aloy. Lypom. triumpheth alowd,Vid. Mira. quae de matre Dei dicit, et eadē fere, quae de ip­so Dom. Deo dicu­tur. Aloy part. 1 pag. 286 See (saith he) the wondrous things that are spoken of the Mother of God, almost the same which are spoken of God himselfe. Almost the same; how doth this agree with the doctrine of the Apostle, who teacheth his Ephesians, Eph. 1.21 that Christ is exalted farre aboue all principalities & powers, and might and dominion, and euery name that is named, not in this [Page 95] world onely, but also in that which is to come. This notwith­standing, in our Babylon, Ziim to Iim and one Legendary to another answerethFere quot ipsi Christo, tot fiū [...] laudes ipsi virgins Mariae. ser. 161 ap. Discip. de Temp. Almost as many praises are giuen to the virgin as vnto Christ.

XXVIII. That somtyme in the Romish Church Christ redeemeth through Saints, and somtymes Saints redeeme through Christ, and somtymes the merits of Christ and of the Saints are ioyned together to redeeme.

NOthing is so importunate, nor so pertinacious as Here­sie; which like the Poets Hydra riseth vp still with ex­cuse after excuse, and defence after defence: neither wil it giue ouer, though it haue neyther hand to defend, nor ground to stand vpon. Hereof in this question of the inuocation of Saints we haue sufficient proofe. For albeit they are euery way beaten from their houlds, nor can find any footing for this impiety in the holy Canon; yet shift after shift, and wran­gle after wrangle they inuent, to prop vp this ruinous tower of their spirituall Babylon. And now forsooth, they haue an armour of proofe sufficient to receiue, and break the force of all obiections, that they doe not make the Saints helpers to saluation, through themselues, but through Christ only. Most true is that of Augustine, as God the father begate his sonne the truth, so did the Diuell begett falshood his Sonne.Aug. It is then no marueile if Antichrist his first begotten, build his Synagogue with lyeing & deceitfull vanities, as in this busi­nesse clearly appeareth; wherin their superstition is intricate, implicite, perplexed, and after sundry fashions, and diuers maneris doth vtter it selfe. Somtyme they faigne, that Christ doth saue vs through Saints: somtymes Saints do saue vs through Christ:Christ redeemeth through Saints. and somtymes the merits of Saints and of Christ are ioyned together, lik Spices in the perfume of the Apothecary.

Of the first; that Christ redeemeth thorough Saints, sun­drie are the proofes, both of priuate iudgements, and their publique worship. Discip. de Temp. saith,Iesus Christus fi­lius venit nos per eā ad statū immorta­litatis perducere. 16 3. The sonne of [Page 96] God came to bring vs to the state of immortality by the Ʋir­gin. And againe, He Ibid. sar. 32 would exalt the humane nature in a woman. In the Goulden Letany, they sayIn the golden Let any ioyned to the Iesus psal­ter in English, et Bre. diuersa. By the holy name of Mary haue mercy on vs; by the conception of the virgin thy Mother, which was sanctified in her Mothers wombe, haue mercy vpon vs. So the office of the virgin set out in English & Latin inuocateth al­so;Per Virginē Ma­trē cōcedat nobu Dominus salutē et pacē. in adu. ad Matit. By the virgin Mother, the Lord graunt vs peace and health.

Anselm a saint of their Church (and therefore his autho­rity may not bee reiected) in his praiers vpon the fiue sor­rowes of the virgin,Ansel. orat. de 5 dol. erat. 2. Au [...] ­atrix Dei et hom. beseecheth that Christ for those her sor­rowes will giue him pardon. And Bonauenture saith,Bonauē Ps. 66 The Lord be mercifull vnto vs and blesse vs, by her that begate him. And in another place;Per te, regina clemēs gratia sua munira largitur Iesus Christus. Ro. Bre in assup. virg. lect Ecce quibus. O mercifull Queene, let thy sonne Iesus Christ grant vs the gifts of grace by thee.

The same is the manner of their publique adoration also. The Roman Breuiarie saithPrecibus et meri­tis Maria siper virginis et omnium sāctorū, [...]erducat nos Deus ad regnū c [...]lorū. Ro. Bre in offic. Mar. virg. in absol. by the merits and prayers of the blessed virgin, and all the saints, God bring vs to the Kingdome of Heauen. The goulden Letany saith,Aurea litania. by the oblation of the three Kings, haue mercy vpon vs. So the Missall of Sarisburie,Tuper Tho. sā­guinē, quē pro te impēdit, fac nos Christe, scādere, quo Thomas ascēdit. in festo Tho. Cant. Thou by the bloud of Thomas, which hee for thee did spend, make vs, O Christ, to clyme, whither Thomas did ascend. And a­gaine,In aurea Lita. they intreate Christ, by the sword of sorrowe, which went through the virgins heart, and the compassion of teares, which she shedde vnder the Crosse, to haue mercy on them. To conclude; the Missall of Sarum shameth not to say,Ad. Mar. gloriā qui sedet ad dextrā patru, miserere no­bis an prap. āte Mis. Thou that sittest at the right hand of God haue mercy on vs, to the honour of the virgin Mary. As they will haue Christ deliuer them thorough Saints, so the Saints also are imagined to de­liuer through Christ. Hereof you haue sundry manifest and cleare examples, both priuate and publique. Ouer passing the rest, I will content my selfe with a few. In the Letany of the virgin;Per augustiā & dolorē passion [...] er [...]s libera nos Domina. in litur beat. Mar. virg. apud Chemnic. By the anguish and sorrow of his suffering deliuer vs, O Lady. And againe,Ex Chimn. in Cant. Prophet. Thou to deliuer banisht men didst take the sonne of God into thy wombe. So the Missall also,

And in another place,Hac est virgo, quae antiquū d [...]ab [...] ­licae seditionis Chi­rographū aboleu [...], tot [...]{que} seculo subue­nit &c. Bre. Sar. in lect sa [...]ro sanct. This is the virgin which blotted out the hand-writing of diuelish sedition, and did helpe the whole world, opened the kingdome of heauen, when by the spirit of God she conceiued the Sonne.

Of the third kinde of superstition, ioyning the merits of Christ and Saints together, infinite are the records. Bernar­dine in his Mariall saith,Apud Chemnic. Mary was an helper in our redemp­tion. And by Anthony shee is brought in thus speaking of herselfe; when the Seraphins at her assumption would haue staied her in their station, shee would goe on to her Sonne; saying;Nō est bo [...]ū ho­minē esse solū, data sū in adiutorū in sredē [...]tionē per cōpa­sionē: ad glorificati­onē per intercessio­nem. apud Chemnic. It is not good, that man should bee alone, I was giuen an helper to redemption, by compassion: and to glorification, by in­tercession. Soto saith,In Cōfess Catho. The saints are coadiutors and fellow wor­kers in our saluation. In the commendation of a Soule depar­ted out of this life they say,Ro. Bre. in cōmē. anima prof [...]ciscere Goe foorth Christian Soule out of this world, in the name of the Father, of the Sonne, and of the holy Ghost: in the name of the thrones, the powers, the Archangells, and Angells: in the name of principalities, in the name of Cheru­bins and Seraphins: in the name of all holy Apostles: in the name of all holy Suppose frie r Tecell, Garnet, and the Monke that poisoned King Ioh [...], or the I [...]c [...]b [...]n that kild Henry 3. Ki g of France. Monkes and Hermites. So likewise vpon the feast of all Saints in the Hymne, Iesu saluator seculi, Patriarcharū cunes et Prophetarū mer [...]ta nobis precē­tur ven [...]ā. cōfessio sacerdotū. v [...]r inalit castitas nos à pecca­tis abluāt ex. Ro. Bre. they ioyne together the praiers and merits of Saints. For hauing begunne with the help of Christ, and the intercession of the virgin, they desire, that the merits of prophets may pray pardon vnto them; that the confession of Priests, the chasti­ty of virgins may wash them from their sins. What should I speake of that blasphemie in the office of the virgin?Ro. Bre. in offic. beat Mar Mis. I [...]. lec. 3. vehemēter quidem. By one man and one woman all things are restored.

Thus you see, the merits of Christ and Saints are ioined to­gether. But whether one part of satisfaction bee made out of Christs passion for vs, and another out of the passion of Saints: or whether the satisfaction bee wholly and alwaies from the sufferings of Christ, and the Saints sufferings added to the heape, because he cannot tell (and yet ignorance must haue some excuse) Bellarmine saith,An explicetur part vna ex pass [...] nibus Christi, pa [...] a [...]ia ex passionibus sāctorū an vero in­tegra satisfactio ac­cip atur sēper ex passion [...]bu [...] Christi, et superaddātur ad cumu [...]ū sa [...]isfactio­nis passiones sacto­rū, [...]o videtur [...] curiosè inuestigan­dū. Bell. lib. 1. d­indul Ca. 4 in resp. ad 1 arg. nō est quidem opus. It ought not to be ouer curiously enquired. I blame him not; falshood cannot endure to be sifted: and to seeke after that which is not, were an vnpro­fitable [Page 98] labour. Better it is to hearken to the counsell, which Iob gaue to his friends;Iob 13.5. O that you would hold your tongue, that it might be imputed vnto you for wisedome.

CHAP. XXIX. That the Church of Rome attributeth vnto the Saints, the two proprieties of Christ; Power, and Right to saue.

ALthough in our whole discourse vpon this subiect, it is already made sufficiently euident, that both Power, and right to saue vs, is giuen vnto Saints: yet because in the eleuenth and twelfth Chapters of this booke I shewed, that Christ ONLY hath power and right to be our Redeemer, I hope the godly Reader will not thinke it lost labour for me to destinate a peculiar tract to this purpose; namely, to shew the violence, which vnto the holy Priesthood of Christ is offered, in giuing to Saints power and right to saue vs; properties onely to the great office of the Sonne of God pe­culiar. As in the former Chapters, the methode hath beene to bring in their priuate iudgements and publique seruice for witnesse, the like order I will also now obserue. Of the Virgin Discip. de Temp. teacheth,Ser. 34. de Nat. virg in verb. sapien­tia adificanit. That she doth effectually helpe, because she hath Power and Will; She hath power (saith he) for she is Mother of omnipotencie. Wherefore, Bernard saith,Ibid. To thee is giuen all power in heauen and earth, that whatso­euer thou wilt, thou maist obtaine. Power Ibid. is not wanting in her; for she is the Mother of omnipotence: will is not wan­ting; for shee is Mother of Mercy: neither is industry wanting; for shee is the Mother of wisedome. That she hath Power, it is proued; for she hath Power ouer her Sonne IESVS CHRIST, by command of motherly authoritie. Georgius Nicomediensis thus doth worship her;Nihil tuae resistit potētiae, nihil repug­nat tuis viribus in orat. d [...] exitu Sanct. donu [...]ū nost. des pa­ra ex Sym. Metaph. Aloy. Lyp. in part. 1. pap. 230. edit. Verbessale. Nothing resisteth thy power, nothing can stand against thy force: all things yeeld to thy command, all things serue thy power: he that is borne of thee, hath set thee high aboue all things. So in their publique worship,Teneanu [...] eam, [...]ec d [...]mittamus do­nec benedixerit no­bis, potens est enim. Ro Bre. in lect. A [...] ­plectamur. Let vs hold her, and not let her goe; for she is of Power. And thereforeDa mihi virtutem aduersus hostes tues Ro. [...]re. in effic. [...]at. virg. giue me power against thy enimies, saith that Respond in the lauds [Page 99] of the Virgin. What should I stand to recite the acknow­ledgement of the power of all Apostles?

Who seeth not this blasphemie? The power which by the preaching of the word, was giuen to the Apostles and Mini­sters of Christ in this life, is by the Missall giuen vnto them also after this life by absolute command; so that they are made eternall Priests. It is giuen to them, I say, not by mini­stration of the word, as here on earth: but by commande­ment and power, by their word and authoritie; and so they are made omnipotent and almighty Priests. It is giuen vnto them being absent from vs, and departed out of this life, to heare euery prayer, to see euery necessitie, to be present in e­uery place; and so they are made incomprehensible Priests, and of an infinite wisedome. Descend wee from their Power to the proper right they haue to saue vs.

The right of giuing Saluation vnto vs, is made the pro­pertie of Saints also in the Romish Church: and Discip. de Temp. doth affirme,Ser. 161. de virg. b [...]t. Seeing her sonne is our brother, by that reason she is compelled to be our Mother. Nicetas ex Me­taphr. apud Aloy. Lyp. part. 2. in fine [...]r [...]t. O oculi purs & luminosi, &c. fol. 146. Nicetas of Cosmus and Damianus in Aloy. Lyp. saith, They are the pure bright eyes of the Church, the Knees of the Paralyticke, the feete of the lame, to all men they are all things. After the same manner vnto Saint E­theldred speakes the Orison, In Miss. Eth. lect. 2. succurre Dom. O Mother defend thy children: O Lady defend thy seruants. The Missall of Sarum calleth Ced­da, In Miss. Cedd. pie Pastor, & Pater Ouium Merc [...]orū. Father, holy Father, and Shepheard of the flocke of the Mer­cians. Which if perhappes in respect of the teaching and doctrine of Cedda it might bee tolerable: yet why doe they inuocate Etheldred as their Mother? who neither carnally, nor spiritually either fed them, or begot them. Euery where the Virgin is not onely called our Lady; wherin her power: but our Mother; wherein her right to saue vs doth appeare. The Missall both of Sarum and of Rome consenting in the same impietie say,Omniū nostrorū habitatio est in te, Sancta dei gene­trix. in Antiph. si­cut habitantium. The habitation of all vs is in thee, O holy [Page 100] Mother of God. What nearer right can be conceiued, then to dwell in the Virgin,Ro: Bre. ad Mat. lect. 1. in omnibus. as we dwell in God, and God in vs? The Office of the Virgin applyeth to her that of Ecclesiasticus, In­habite in Iacob, and inherite in Israel, and take roote in my E­lect. As though, as Christ by his inward and working grace doth growe into his Elect and becomes one with them through the communication of his spirit; so the Virgin did also.

Hence now it is euident, how well they obserue the com­mandement of Christ,Math. 23.9. Call no man your father vpon the earth, for there is but one your Father, which is in Heauen. And Moses cryeth vnto them,Deut. 32.6. Doe ye so reward the Lord, O foo­lish people and vnwise? Is not he thy Father that hath bought thee? He hath made thee and proportioned thee.

Hauing now discoursed of the blasphemies and iniuries, which by the Church of Rome are offered vnto our great High Priest, the Bishop of our soules Iesus Christ, in the principall point of his Office, which is our Redemption; I wil only compare the doctrine of the Gospel, with the doctrine of the Church of Rome in this behalfe; that contraries be­ing set one against the other may the better shew themselues, and according to that of the Prophet,Ier. 2.19. Her owne wicked­nesse may conuert her, and her turnings back may reproue her.

CHAP. XXX. Of the second worke of the glorious Priesthood of Christ,Of Mediati­on. vvith his Mediation.

NOtwithstanding that the effect & fruit of Mediation & Aduocation in Christ bee all one and the same; euen to make vs neare, which were farre off, by his bloud: yet Medi­ation, and Aduocation in themselues differ not a little.

An Aduocate is hee, who either pleads the cause before the iudge, or arbitrates the businesse in priuate colloquie. Of the first the Canonist speaketh,Sext. decret. de poenis t [...]t 9. soelicis recordationis in gloss. Aduocatus non potest esse infamis; an Aduocate ought not to bee an infamous person. Of the second we haue example in the Comedy;Teren. in Phorm. Act. 2 scin. 1 I will ad­uocate my friends vnto this businesse for me.

Mediation is, when two things (formerly diuided and se­uered) are made one; as the poynt maketh two lines one, and the line maketh two extensions one. So the necke ma­keth the members and head one body: the body maketh the roots and the branches one tree: the glue maketh two peeces one arrowe. And thus Christ is called a Mediatour, because he hath made many coniunctions in himselfe.

First, he hath conioyned the manhood vnto the Godhead in one person, which is of all coniunctions the greatest. It is great power to ioyne contrarie elements together in one body: it is greater power to ioyne them to a spirit heauenly created: but to ioyne them to an vncreated, immortall, in­finite, glorious spirit, the God of Spirits, notwithstanding the infinite disparitie betwixt them; this is the greatest coniuncti­on that may be. Yet, Leo well sayth, [...] vtra{que} natura idē est Dei filius, no­stra suscipiens, in homine hominē re­nouā, et in se incō­mutabilis perseue­rā. Leo. [...]. insolem [...]at Dem fere in pr [...]icipio. in both natures he is but one son of God, taking vpon him that which was ours, not leauing off that which was his owne; redeeming Man in Man, and in himselfe remayning still immutable. This (Theodoret saith) was signified byLeu. 14.4 the two Sparrowes bound together in on Crimson lace; which are not to be vn­derstoode to be two persons, but two natures in one person, which saued vs.

Secondly, a Mother & a Virgin, two vnreconcileable con­ditions are vnited in one woman by Iesus Christ. For like theNum. 17.8 Exod. 32 Rodde of Aaron, which budded & blossomed, when it grew not on the tree: and like the tables of Moses, which were engrauen without a penne: so the blessed virgin became a Mother without the knowledge of any man, to make vp the fourefould creation of Man, witnessed in the Scripture. The first, neither from Man nor woman,Gen. 1 Gen. 2 Gen. 4. Mat. 1 Luk. 1 as that of Adam: the Second, of woman from a Man only, as that of Eua: the third, from Man and Woman, as Cayn and Abell: the last, this of our Sauiour Christ, from a woman only with­out a Man.

The third coniunction is of the Lawe and the Gospell in Iesus Christ; according as the Christian Poet well obserueth,Sic vetus at{que} no­uū coniungit gratia Christi. The ould and new testaments are by the grace of Christ conioyned.

The Fourth Coniunction in Christ, is of the sheep and the Goates in one fould: the Oxe and the Asse at one Crib: the two walls of the building, Iewes and Gentiles, vnder one head corner stone. This Mediation the Apostle Paul witnes­seth,Eph. 2.14.15.16 He is our peace that hath made of both one, and hath broken the stop of the partition wall, in abrogating through his flesh the hatred, that is, the law of commandements, which standeth in ordinances; for to make of twaine one new man in himselfe, so ma­king peace, that hee might reconcile both vnto God in one body by his Crosse, and slay hatred thereby.

Fiftlie, in Christ the righteousnes and the mercy, the loue and the iustice of God are reconciled together, according to that of the psalmist, Mercy and truth are mett together, righte­ousnes & peace haue kissed each other. Psal. 85.10 The righteousnes of God required satisfaction, the peace and loue of God promised mercy: Then Heb. 10.7. (said he) Loe I come, in the beginning of the booke it is written of me, that I should doe thy will, O God. For in that god gaue him to satisfy: in that he sent his son into the world, therin the loue and peace of God appeared: and in that Christ made a sufficient recompence, a ful & perfect satisfaction, the iustice of God & his righteousnes is abundantly contented.

Sixtly, in Christ the fayth of Man is conioyned vnto all these things, effecting in vs vndoubted assent vnto these wondrous workes of God, euen beyond sense the light of nature: beyond reason, the perfection of sense: beyond faith, the puritie of reason: beyond hope, the life-bloud of faith: beyond conceit, the farre stretching hand of hope: yea, be­yond the thought of Man, the quickest and the nimblest o­peration of the Soule. And therefore this reconciliation of the faith of Man, to so many impossibilities of nature, is a worke of our Mediatour, no lesse admirable then the rest. For,Dan. 2.43. as iron and clay cannot cleaue together, no more can the hart of Man be assured of such supernaturall difficu [...]ties, ex­cept the spirit of Christ be shed into our mindes, to teach vs to beleeue it. And yet now we see, faith doth so effectually feele and apprehend the same, that no torments of persecuti­on, no tyrants, no swords, no Gybbets, no fire, no racking, no mangling, no death, how painefull soeuer, can driue fraile flesh to deny this truth.

Col. 1.Seauenthly, Christ by his comming, and in his Mediation, hath reconciled, vnited, and conioyned vs miserable wret­ches, vnto our God and father againe. Wee were cast out of his sight by our sinnes, wee are brought home againe by his sonne.

By communicati­on of proprieties this must be vnderstood.There are many other strange Coniunctions in Christ; as that by incarnation the Maister became a seruant: the euer­lasting, temporall: the immense, little: the highest, lowest: God, an intercessor: the incomprehensible, comprehended: the simple, compound: and as Augustine saith, the inuisible is handled: the immortall is slaine: the bearer of the world, is borne in the armes of a Woman:Vid. Aug. lib. de Ca­techizand. r [...]dibus. Vid. etiā Aug in ser de nat. Dom. et de 8. v [...]rtut. charitat [...]. the foode of Angells is fed: the power of Heauen is made weake, and the life of all is dead.

Lastly, as in the Godhead there is Trinity of persons, So in Iesus Christ there is Trinity of offices, the Priestly, Pro­pheticall and Regall, though there bee but two natures; hu­manity, and Diuinity. In whose conception there mett to­gether, innated, infused, increated vertue. The innated vir­tue [Page 107] of the Mother gaue him substance: the infused grace pu­rified the substance: the increated power by vniting it to the Word made it one person, which nature could not doe.

Hauing spoken of the sundry Coniunctions in this Rain­bowe of our peace, this head corner Stone, the Center of Gods iustice, and Mans hope, Iesus Christ; Let vs now consi­der the extremes which he came to reconcile.

CHAP XXXI. Of the two extremes, God and man, and whence the great diffe­rence betweene them proceedeth.

ALbeit man in his creation was made vnto the similitude of God himselfe, wise, righteous, immortall blessed; insomuch that not only ouer all the creatures of God he had dominion, but had a higher title then the rest, to participate of God himselfe (as Aratus saith, we are the progeny of God: and Synesius, Synesius ep. 101. [...]n Cent. 5. cap. 4. the soule of man is the seede of God) yet Man from God was afterward diuided and dis-seuered, as farre as Heauen from Hell, the East from the West, the North f [...]om the South, light from darknesse, good from euill: Nay (which I tremble to recount) that which is, from that which is not. So that fire with water, height with depth, life vvith death, might sooner looke to be reconciled, then Man, mise­rable Man. O looke then wretch vpon thy selfe and the huge gulfe betweene God and thee, and confesse thy selfe (as thou art indeede) worse, then the worst of euils: Farther off from the light, then the very darknesse it selfe: more abominable to God then all the rest of the creatures which for thy seruice were created and in thy curse are cursed.

The cause of this great diuorce from God is nothing else but sinne, nothing but transgression.Esay 59.25. Your iniquities haue sepa­rated you from God, saith Esay. This is it which hath cut off the branch from the tree, and hath diuided the beame from the Sunne, the streame from the fountaine? Miserable Man, from his only Good, his only God. So that for disobedience the angry Father hath cast his onely Sonne out of the house: [Page 108] and Man from the greatest, the most excellent, the most glo­rious of all his creatures, is become the basest, the vilest, the worst of all; impure, vniust, foolish, corrupt, darknesse, cur­sing, death, a very Hell of euils.

Looke vpon his birth; he is therein most infirme. The tree doth come vp with his barke, the Fish is naturally armed with scales,Eccl. 5.14. Iob. 1.2 [...]. the Serpent with his sting, the Dogge with his tooth: but Man is borne naked, without armour, and with­out defence.

If you looke vpon the life of Man, as it is most sinfull of all others, so it is most mortall and corruptible aboue all o­ther.Rom. 5. Leuit [...]6. Psal. 78. & 106. The multitude of sinnes open a multitude of passages to death and to destruction. Euery creature hath the diseases of his proper kinde; Man onely hath all diseases, and of all sorts. Insomuch as the wise Physition saith, In the eye of Man onely are an hundred maladies.

Rom 7.Looke vpon his parts; the Soule is diuided, and at warre within it selfe: yea, such a confusion and ataxy is therein, that the sensuall and beastly parts beare rule ouer the reaso­nable and principall power, and the seruants dominiere ouer their Lord. As for the body; the Head is a forge of vaine ima­ginations, the eyes full of adulterie, the lips hote burning coales, the teeth are sharpe speares, the tongue a two edged sword, the throate an open sepulchre, the eares the wanton daughters of Musicke, the hands stuft full of bribery, the feete swift to shed bloud: yea, the very heart of Man (his pu­rest and most excellent part) is euill (saith Ieremie) aboue all things.H [...]e [...]. 17.9. Simile Bern. lib. Med. cap. 3. Iob 14. Iob 7. Iob 13. Iob 20.8. Iob 25.6 Eccle [...]. 12. Psal. 39. Hence is it, that the Philosopher defining Man saith, he is a bagge of doung, the foode of wormes, the Theater of inconstancy, the spoile of time, the sport of fortune. Iob cal­leth him a floure, a shadow, a winde, a leafe, a vapour, a dreame, a tale, a worme. And Salomon, Vanitie of vanities, nothing but vanitie. And this is the one extreme.

Looke on the other extreme; alas poore pore-blinde eye! how canst thou looke vpon that vnaccessible light, which powreth light into the Sunne? the Sun (I say) which thou canst not (no not couered with a cloud) behold. Na­ture [Page 109] hath not worlds: the world hath not men: men haue not tongues: tongues haue not words: words haue not force: force is of no force to expresse him. Good, iust, holy, light, truth, life, blessing, righteousnesse, wisedome, and all that he is, he is infinitely, and he is eternally. Daniel saith,Dan. 7.10. A fiery streame issued and came forth from before him, thousand thou­sands minister vnto him, and ten thousand thousands stand before him. Michea saith, The Mountaines shall melt vnder him, Miche. [...].4. so shall the valleyes cleaue as waxe before the fire. Nahum saith,Nah. 1.5. The Hils melt, and the earth is burnt at his sight. When God appeared therefore to giue his Law to Israel on Mount Sinai, Exod. 19.12. the peo­ple, when they saw the thundring, the lightning, the smo­king mountaine, and heard the trumpet, though they had sanctified themselues, yet they fled and stood a farre of, and durst not talke with God, lest they should dye, but besought Moses as a Mediator, to goe vp for them vnto God. After the same manner in Deuteronomy they plainely confesse the contrarietie betwixt God and mankinde, and how vnable Man is to stand before him.Deut. 5.25, 26. If we heare the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall dye, for what flesh euer was there, that heard the voice of the liuing God out of the middest of the fire, as we haue, and liued? Nay, they not onely could not abide the presence of God, nor the deliuerie of the Law: but the face of Moses their Mediator himselfe,Exod. 34. was too glorious to looke vpon. So that hee was constrained to couer his face with a veile, that they might behold their mediator by another me­diation. And thus it fared with the Prophet Esay. For though the glory of God appeared to instruct him, yet presently the contrarietie betwixt God and Man strake into his minde;Esay 6. [...]. Woe is mee, I am vndone, because I am a man of polluted lips, and I dwell in the middest of a people of polluted lips; for mine eyes haue seene the King, the Lord of Hosts. Hence comes the consternation, the feare, the amazement, euen of the ho­liest men, at the least visible signification, or smallest dis­closing and discouerie of Gods Maiestie vpon them; As in Adam, Abraham, Iacob, Daniel, Paul and diuers others, you may see. And this shall suffice to be spoken of the vnspeake­able [Page 110] diuision and separation betwixt the two extremes, God and Man: and how hard a thing it is to reconcile and v­nite them together, thus differing in will, in nature, in continuance.

CHAP. XXXII. The things which are requisite to be in a Mediator, that shall ioine God and Man the two extremes together, are found in Christ onely, and in no other.

THe first thing that is requisite in a Mediator is, that hee participate of both the natures of the two extremes. Euen as the Rainbowe hath the bright lustre of the Sunne, and the grosse darke vapours and clouds of the earth in one body: or as the euening hath part of the light of the day, and part of the darknesse of the night: or as the middest of a place conteineth both parts of the same in it selfe: So must the Mediator conioine both the natures of the two extremes together. Irenaeus therefore saith,Ireneu [...] aduers. Hareses lib. 3. c. 20. fere ad finem. If Man had not ouer­come the Diuell, he had not beene iustly ouercome: if God had not giuen saluation, we could not haue had it firme and assured: except the Manhood had beene ioined to the God­head, it could neuer haue beene partaker of incorruption. Wherefore it behooued that the Mediator should be dome­sticall and concording with both, to bring both together, and to procure that God should accept Man, & Man should giue himselfe to GOD. Augustine saith,Aug. confess. l. 10. cap 42. ex cent. 5. cap. 1.4. the Mediator betweene GOD and Man, must haue something like God, something like Man. Chrysostome saith,In 1. Tim. 2. hom. 7. ex Cent. 5. cap. 4. that meere Man cannot bee Mediator, because hee cannot speake vn­to GOD, nor stand before him: Meere GOD could not be Mediator,Exod. 19.25, 26. because Man could not receiue him, nor bee spoken to by him. ForD ut. 5.25. the Maiestie of God is incom­prehensible, and his glory vnconceiueable. Haymo saith,Haym. super 1. Tim. cap. 2. If he were onely God, he could not bee Mediator to the Fa­ther, being altogether one with the Father: and if hee were onely Man, he could not be Mediator, for that he could not be free from sinne. The truth is, None could make satisfacti­on [Page 111] but God: none ought to make satisfaction but Man. Therefore then, it was needfull, that the Mediator should be both God & man. Wherefore) as Lyra well saith)Lyra in 1. ad Tim. 2.5 Christ hath appeared; the meane betweene the immortall good, and the mortall euill, being mortall as Man, iust as God. And thus he is called a Mediator betwixt God and Man, because he is God and Man, reconciling both.

Plato and his followers did beleeue, that betwixt mankind and the supreme God, there were two kindes of Mediators; Daemones, and Heroes; Diuels, and soules of excellent men. And Philo Iudaeus saith, the Iewes had three Mediators to God; the Fathers goodnesse: the great founders of King­domes: and the workes of the penitent. But these are the dreames and fictions of such as meane to deceiue, and to be deceiued. For Angels are of two sorts; either Good, or Euill. The good are they which are blessed within the vnaccessible light, and are holy Ministers in the sight of God: the euill are wicked and vngodly spirits: but neither of them can be Me­diators for vs. For the first kinde, they cannot bee Mediators for vs; because though they bee glorious and eternall vvith God, yet of his nature they are not. Now with the other ex­treme they haue no manner of agreement. For they are nei­ther of our substance and nature, neither are they infirme and corruptible as Man is. The euill Angels haue many impedi­ments also, why they cānot be mediators. For though they be corrupt and sinfull, as Man; eternall and immortall, as God: yet they participate of the nature of neither of the extremes: and if they did, yet can they not be mediators for vs to God, that are seducers and tempters to euill, which is most con­trarie to God.

For the second kinde of Mediators, the soules of illustri­ous and excellent men, the reasons before touched in the Chapter of the Redemption of Man doe sufficiently proue, that they cannot mediate. But thereto let mee adde another reason from P. Lombard; MenVid. Pet. Lomb. l. 3. dist. 19. cap. 2. and Angels cannot bee mediators, for they haue natures mutable and variable: but our Mediator is without variablenes and shadow of change. [Page 112] Perhaps some will say,Though Christ tooke flesh of the Virgin, and so was of the [...] na­ture in his huma­nit [...]e, yet the Vir­gin was not of Christs diuinity; Wherefore she did not partici­pate of his whole nature. the Virgin Mother, and the soules of holy men may be Mediators to Christ God & Man, though not to the substance of the diuine Maiestie for vs. To this I reply, that if it be of necessitie that the Mediator must partici­pate of both natures, then the Virgin, nor Saints cannot be mediators to Christ; for that they doe not participate of the whole nature of Christ. Hereunto I must also adde, that as Christ tooke not this office of a Mediatour, but was called of God vnto it: so the Romish Church must proue that the blessed Virgin Mother, or the Saints haue such a calling from CHRIST, as to bee Mediators betwixt his Church and him. And it were a strange thing, if the mediation of the departed godly soules were ordained by God, but that in all the whole course of the Gospell, one sentence, word, or syllable, should haue commended a matter of such great con­sequence vnto vs.

CHAP. XXXIII. The second point necessarie in a Mediator, is to remoue the obsta­cles and impediments which hinder this coniunction.

AS it is needfull that a Mediator bee such, as hath abilitie in himselfe to conioyne the things that are separated: so he must also haue power to remoue all the obstacles, and im­pediments, which may hinder this connexion. The princi­pall impediments and lets vnto our ioining with God are sinne, infirmitie, death, Hell, the Diuell; the whole force of strong armed Philistims, standing betwixt Dauid and the well of Bethelem: a wall of partition, forbidding our prayers to goe vp vnto God, and his mercies to come downe to vs. These like the Angell with the blade of a shaken sword, keepe vs from the Paradise of eternall felicitie. Now all those mists, and clouds, and vapours hath the bright Sunne of righte­ousnesse Iesus Christ dispersed. Wherefore Behold, (saith Iohn) the Ioh. 1.29. Lambe of God, which taketh away the sinnes of the world. Bernard saith,Bern. ser. 4. an vigil. Nat. domini. Who can better take away sinne, then he that hath no sinne? He can surely wash mee cleane, that [Page 113] was neuer defiled himselfe. Let that hand wipe mine eie co­uered ouer with dirt, which is it selfe faire, and hath not a dust vpon it: let him plucke the mote out of mine eie, that hath not a beame in his owne: nay, let him pluck the beam out of mine, that hath not the least mote in his owne eie.

Christ then is he, that hath broken the stop and the par­tition wall: which hath abrogatedEph. 2.15 through his flesh the ha­tred; yea, slaine hatred, that he might reconcile vs vnto God. We see the cunning Fletcher in peecing the arrow which he maketh, taketh from the one, and from the other part, till he hath made both peeces fit, and then with his strong-knit­ting glue compacteth them together: so, from Man, Iesus Christ tooke away sinne, and from his Father he tooke away wrath: vs he purged; and God he satisfied: and by himselfe hath knit vs vnto God for euer; so may we now go boldely vnto the throne of grace, and cry, Abba Father. Euen as a pure riuer into his siluer streame sweepeth away the dirt and chanels, the silth and ordure of the city: so (O fountaine of the gardens! O wel of liuing waters! O spring of Lebanō!I do not meare, that Christ tooke into him our cor­ruption: but our punishment, and chastisement due to vs for our sins are in Christ by imputation, not by inhasion. Culpā tuā suscesit delendam no facien­dā Aug. ser. 37. de v [...]rb. Domini.) our Christ hath into his owne person taken, and with the streame of his inestimable prize-less bloud clensed the soules and bodies of sinfull men. This is the spotless crystall glasse, in whom all our sinnes appeared plaine to God, and recei­ued punishment. This is the faithfull pledge, who, though guiltless, hath in our stend pleaded guilty at the bar of Iustice, and hath vndergone condemnation and death in our name and place, and made his owne sacred person the sinke, (O sinke more sweet then any fountaine!) the graue wherein our sinnes are buried. Finally,Esay 25.6 this is the Mountaine, in whom the LORD hath made a feast of all fine and delicate things; who isLuke 15.23 himself the fat calfe slaine, to entertaine the prodigall son. What can bee more said? or what should not bee said in the praise of him, that hath made himself sin it selfe (though hee neuer committed sinne) for our sakes?Es [...]y 53.9 By the Psalmists pen hee prophecieth of himselfe,Psal. 40.12 My sinnes haue taken such holde vpon me, that I am not able to looke vp. The sinnes of vs men (vnthankefull men) became his,Vid. Musc. inhun [...] [...]ecton. [Page 114] that we might bee the righteousnesse of God through him. O strange exchange! What thanks can we yeeld vnto him, that is content to be our sinnes vnto God, that we might be his righteousnes vnto God?

As he remoueth sinne, so he taketh away all the Satelliti­um, the armour, and the retinue thereof; mortality, infir­mity, death, and the diuell; as it is written,Ose 13.14 O death, I will be thy death, O hell, I will be thy destruction. The same sa­crifice on the crosse was the satisfaction to God, by humili­ation: and the destruction of the diuell and all his kingdom, by power and victory. For euen in death hee triumphed o­uer death: and being crucified, the Law it selfe, and sinne, and Sathan were crucified with him. Our victorious Sam­son hath together in his own death destroied all the Esay 41.2 pow­er of the Philistim: they are all as dust vnto his sworde, and scat­tered stubble vnto his bowe.

CHAP. XXXIIII. The manner how Christ our Mediatour doth ioyne vs vnto God.

I Am now come vnto the burning Mountain, the mystery of all mysteries, which the tongues of Men and Angelles cannot sufficiently expresse: yet I trust, God will giue mee grace to shadow out vnto you some smal obscure Idea ther­of; such as my dimme eies can comprehend, and my vncir­cumcised lips with harsh and vnproper words, concerning this high and incomprehensible argument, expresse. It is a very perfect incorporation, when of two things which must bee made one, each groweth into the other, and assumeth what is anothers, communicating also their natures toge­ther. So the graffe groweth into the tree, and the tree grow­eth into the graffe: so wine and water are together blended; wine taking of the taste of water, and water sauouring of the sweetnes of the wine, so that both in substance and qualitie they are vnseparably vnited. After the same manner (sauing that earthly similitudes fully expresse not spiritual things) Ie­sus [Page 115] Christ and his Church are together vnited; God, an vn­created, an infinite, a powerfull spirit knitteth himselfe vnto Man, fleshly, mortall, finite, weak: and inspireth into man a certaine liuely and powerfull vigour,Faith, hope, and loue. by which he againe is knit also vnto God.

There are wise and learned Philosophers,Vid. Io. Picum Mirandul. in 1. cap. lib. 4. Heptap. who of the con­iunction of the humane soule vnto the body, teach, that it is done by mediation of the vitall spirits, more grosse and carnall then the Soule, and somewhat more spirituall and ghostly then the body. How true this is, I wil not contēd: but sure I am, that by Iesus Christ inferior to God in his holy hu­manity, superiour to Man in the dignity of his person, this vnion and coniunction is made. But this is a generall con­iunctiō, in which not only the true members of Christ, but all mankinde seemeth to be knit vnto God. Wherefore this is not the effectuall and entire vnion which wee haue with CHRIST. For though in this, God seemeth to come neare vnto Man, yet there are many impediments, which suffer vs not hereby to be vnseparably ioyned vnto God. Christ in­deed hath taken flesh and was made Man, yet betwixt his manhood and ours there is great difference; his body and soule holy, ours corrupt: his humanity pure, ours impure: he Man without sinne, we men, but sinners. Christ died not of necessity, for hee is omnipotent: hee died not as owing death a debt, for hee was without sinne. Wherefore his hu­manity was of it self immortal, (but that by dispensation he made it mortal and gaue it to dy) we are mortal and of neces­sity must die.

Christ therefore after a double manner hath vnited him­selfe vnto vs. First, in nature,Christ vnited vn­to m [...]n two man­ner of waies. which is a generall coniuncti­on, by which hee is in some sort ioyned to all Man-kinde: without this, his elect could not be ioined to God; yet more then this is also required. Wherefore secondly, hee vniteth himselfe to his Church, and to euery member thereof, and to none other by communication of his spirit. For as a mem­ber of the naturall Man, though it growe into the same bo­dy, and be couered with the same skinne, yet liueth not, and [Page 116] is not to be reckoned as a part, except it be quickened by the same soule which animateth all the rest: so the effectuall v­nion with Christ is wrought by the spirit of Christ, and the grace thereof communicated vnto vs. Mariage is the com­munication not onely of bodies, but of loue and affection; and they are verely one, which haue not onely one matter, but also one forme, one efficient, one end, & one effect. Such is our copulation with CHRIST.The materiall Coniunction. Hee hath taken our flesh, he hath giuen vs his Spirit, working in our hearts and quick­ning vs together in God, and to the glory of his name. The Apostle Paul therefore saith,1. Cor. 2.16. Wee haue the minde of of Christ. And in his Epistle to the Ephesians hee compareth the ChurchEphes. 4.16. to a naturall body,The formall Con­iunction whereof the members being knit and coupled together by euery ioint for the fur­niture thereof; according to the effectuall power which is in the measure of euery part, receiueth the increase of the bo­dy, to the edifying of it selfe in loue. What can bee more plaine? We see, as Christ doth participate with vs in the flesh, that thereby he might satisfie in our owne nature for sinne: so all that are Christs haue also the Spirit of Christ, and doe participate of the effectual inward power of his grace, which doth enlighten our vnderstanding, and raiseth vp our saith, to lay hold vpon him, and to cleaue vnto him. For as the head is the principall seate of the Soule: so is Christ of the Spirit of God, from whom it is dispersed into the whole Church, Anselme well saith, all that beleeue in Christ, by secret inspiration and communication of ghostly grace, are iustified; because they all are one spirit with him. Wherefore,Ioh. 14.20. I am in my Father (saith he) and you in me. And this is the cause why hee is called Immanuell, Esay 7.14. God with vs. For hee is in vs, and his Spirit is in vs also, as hee himselfe wit­nesseth;Ioh. 17.23. I in them, and thou in me, that they may bee made perfect in one.

This coniunction Christ by many excellent Parables hath set out vnto vs. For he calleth himselfeIoh. [...]. the bread of life, his flesh meate, and his bloud drinke indeed. As then our na­turall foode is incorporate into vs, and groweth into our [Page 117] substance, and wee into it: so spiritually receiued by a liuely faith, Christ becomes one with vs, and we one with him.

In the Gospell he intituleth himselfeIoh. 15.5. a Ʋine, and his Disciples branches. For because the branches and the Vine are one, nourished with the same sap, couered with the same barke: so Christ and his chosen are one; because they haue the same spirit, being clothed with the same nature.

The Apostle Paul in the same manner declareth this vni­on vnto vs, when he saith,1. Cor. 11.3. God is the head of Christ, & Christ is the head of Man. So that by a due and seemely subordina­tion, wee are one with Christ, and Christ is one with God. And againe, he calleth our1. Cor. 6 15. bodies the members of Christ, and the Church the body of Christ. Why then here, O taste and see how sweet the Lord is: behold (I say) Mercy be­yond mercy, and grace beyond grace, which hath made vs himselfe; and our members, members of his owne body. Wherein we are told, that as our soule animateth euery part, and euery member: yea, and is in euery part, and euery mem­ber whole and the same, although in greater excellencie in some of the more principall parts, then in the inferiour: so God and the same spirit of God is in vs, which is in Christ, by our beeing in Christ; although in a more glorious and perspicuous manner God bee in Christ the head, then in vs the members. Wherefore it is well distinguished of one,Vid. Theod. Be [...]. co [...]tr. Conu Guil. Hold. pro corp. Christi ver. edit. 1581. pag. 76. God is in Christ after three manner of waies; by filling; and so hee is in all his creatures, euen the wicked and vngod­ly: by peculiar Sanctification; and so, as he is in Christ, he is in the Elect after their measure: by fulnesse of the God­head vnited personally to the Manhood; and so he is onely in Christ. And thus the Deitie hath mingled it selfe, as it were, with the humanitie, that taking vnto him that which is ours, he might giue vnto vs that which is his:Leo d [...] pass. Christ [...] Vid. s [...]r. 3. in se [...] N [...]s. and Christ was made like vnto Man in his conception, that wee might be made againe like vnto God in our Redemption.

CHAP. XXXV. That a Mediator must be one onely.

THe first proofe, to teach vs that the Mediatour betwixt God and Man can be but one, I will take out of the wit­nesse and authority of the holy Word it selfe. Of which what other scope is there, but to proue that Christ is the sole Me­diator? in whom weEphes. 2.22. are knit together to bee the habitati­on of God by the spirit:Leuit. 1.3. Exod. 29 11. The onely doore of the Tabernacle, to which euery offering must be brought.

Reason 1 The Iewish High Priest there is none but doth acknow­ledge, to be the figure and foreshewing type of Christ: but this Priest was but one, and when hee entred into the most holy Sanctuary, he went in alone to make expiation, as you may see it ordained inLeuit. 16.17. Leuiticus. By which what is inti­mated but this? That Iesus Christ is our alone and onely Mediator before the Throne of God. The same is signified, in that for all the Tribes there was but one Tabernacle: for all the people there was but one Temple. Wherefore Paul the Apostle maketh it euident by a comparison;1. Cor. 15.21. By man came death, by Man came also the resurrection of the dead. This is a plaine resemblance betwixt Adam and Christ; that as the first Man alone was our mediator to damnation: so the se­cond Man was our Mediator to saluation. The same in an other place hee teacheth,Rom. 5.15. If through the offence of one, many bee dead: much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one Man Iesus Christ, hath abounded vnto many.

Reason 2 My second reason to proue that there can be but one Me­diator is; Without satisfaction Man could not bee fully re­paired. There Esay 48.22. is no peace (saith the Lord) vnto the wicked. Now this reparation required as great humiliation for the purging of sinne, as was presumption in the transgression by sinne. But the presumption proceeded from the lowest of all creatures endued with reason, which is Man, against the highest rationall or reasonable Essence, which is God. Ther­fore [Page 119] it was necessarie, that from the equalititie of the God­head, the Mediator should abase himselfe to the lowest estate of man. For which cause he saith,Zach. 13.7. Arise, O sword, vpon my Shepheard, & vpon the man that is my fellow. And the Apostle saith,Heb. 5.8. Though hee were the Sonne, yet learned hee obedience. Wherefore it is euident, that none but God can be Mediator vnto God; and God is one.

Thirdly, if a meere creature could be a Mediator, then Reason 3 wee should bee more beholding to a creature, then to our Creator: and in vs a creature should doe a more excellent worke, then the Creator; because it is more excellent to bee made a righteous Man, then to be made a Man.

Fourthly, hee is a perfect Mediator, who prayeth and Reason 4 intercedeth for all other, and none for him: But Christ onely hath this prerogatiue; therefore Christ onely is our Mediator.

Fiftly, Bernard defineth a true Mediator, to bee such as Reason 5 steeketh not lightly, but efficaciously, all things that belong vnto peace. This could none performe but Christ; therefore there is no true Mediator but Christ.

Sixtly, it is against the dignitie of Iesus Christ to make any Reason 6 other mediator vnto God. For thereby we acknowledge that God is well pleased in others, satisfied in others, and commu­nicateth himselfe to vs in others, as he doth in Christ. Wher­fore, as he dishonoureth God, who maketh many Creators: so he doth more dis-honour God, who maketh many waies of new being, and of new creation, which is the greatest of all the workes of God. Sedulius saith, that if the Soule yeeld any thing at all of that which it oweth to God, vnto any o­ther, it commits adulterie. As it is then Heresie to say, God made the world by Angels, or by any other but by himselfe: so to say, that Christ procureth the Saluation of the world by any, or with any but himselfe, is Hereticall doctrine. Yea, to make others mediators to Christ himselfe, is derogation from his infinite & vnspeakeable loue: as though any other could be nearer to vs in loue and charitie then our Christ; or that we might more boldly call vpon any other then him.

Reason 7 Seuenthly, it is a derogation from the dignitie of the hu­mane soule it selfe, to prostrate it selfe vnto his owne kinde. For the soules of holy men deliuered from the burthen of the flesh are not superiour in nature,Ex Musculi. but equall to ours. And if there be any inequalitie, it is by our fault, not by our sub­stance, or creation. Whatsoeuer (saith Augustine) the soule doth serue as God, it must of necessitie thinke it better then it selfe. Wherefore the Apostle requireth his Colossians, Colos. 2.18. That no man beare rule ouer them by humblenesse of minde, and worship­ping of Angels: and yet who knoweth not that the Angell in his creation is more excellent then Man?

Reason 8 Lastly, we are forbidden to trust in men, to put confidence in men, or in our religion to haue manyMath. 23.9. Fathers and many Masters: but to haue one Lord,Ephes. 4.5. one Faith, one Bap­tisme. All which commandements wee breake, when wee make Saints our Mediators vnto Christ. For, to maintaine the mediation of Saints, they confesse that we ought to be­leeue and trust in Saints; as in the Missall of Saint Nicholas, Credo piè Sancte Nich. tu [...] me preci­bus esse saluandū Io orat. ad Nico. ex Mart. Chemnic. I verely beleeue, holy Nicholas, that I shall bee saued b [...] thy prayers. And in the Legend of Lombardy, Saint Peter is brought inLeg. Lomb. in as­sump. v [...]r [...]. c. 114. sol. 10 c. Col. 2. Rhem. 2. in verse 5. counselling the High Priest of the Iewes to beleeue in Christ and his Mother. The Rhemists vpon the Epistle to Philemon doe plainely confesse, that wee may be­leeue and trust in Saints. As in men they put trust, so vnto men they acknowledge themselues children and seruants, in their glorious and holy worship; which in due place, I trust, I shall aboundantly declare.

Ob.Here perhaps some will obiect, that as our owne euill me­rits helpe to encrease our damnation which we haue from Adam: so our good workes helpe to encrease our Saluation which we haue from Christ.Sol. The answere is easie; there is not the same reason of our good and euil workes. Our sinnes are infinite, and deserue the deepest condemnation: but our good workes are full of spots, staines, and imperfecti­ons: therefore they cannot merite at Gods hand the tem­porall good of this present life, much lesse the eternall glorie and vnmarcessible crowne, which we shall receiue in heauen.

The Scripture euery where is full of Testimonies in this behalfe. For to this end tendeth that of the Apostle,1. Cor. 8.6. There is but one God, which is the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him: and one Lord Iesus Christ, by whom all things are, and we by him. And againe,1. Tim. 2.5. There is one God, and one Mediator betwixt God and Man, which is the Man Christ Iesus. The same Apostle witnesseth in another place,1. Cor. 1.30. Yee are of him in Christ Iesus, who of God is made vnto vs wisedome and righte­ousnesse, and sanctification, and redemption; according as it is written,2 Cor. 10.17. Ier. 9.24. Hee that reioiceth, let him reioice in the Lord. Ephes. 4.4. There is one body, and one spirit, euen as yee are called in one hope of your vocation: But Popery hath many hopes. This trust­eth chiefely in the Virgin, he in Saint Peter: another in Saint Iohn, that in Saint Iames: Some hope more in one Saint, then in another: nay, in one Saint in one place, more then in the same Saint in another.

CHAP. XXXVI. Whether Christ be our Mediator in both natures.

IT is a question much controuersed betwixt the two Chur­ches (the Romish, and the Reformed) in which nature Christ is our Mediator. For, because the Apostle saith,1. Tim. 2.5. There is one God, and one Mediator betwixt God and Man, which is the Man Christ Iesus; Therefore many doe conceiue, that the Apostle Paul hath restrained the Office of Mediation vn­to the humane nature of Christ onely. Thomas Aquinas saith,Tho. Aq. [...]. part. q. [...]6. art. [...] & [...] collig à B [...]r. Bon. Iohn cap. 26, that two things requisite in a Mediator are wanting in the Godhead of Christ. First, the nature of mediation. Se­condly, the Office and meanes of coniunction. The nature of a Mediator is wanting (saith he) in the Godhead of Christ; because Christ as God doth not differ from the Father. But the mouth of this Cauill is easily stopt, for it is a meere falla­cie, which the Logicians call à malè diuisis, ad bene coniuncta. For when we say, Christ is a Mediator in both natures, wee speake of Christ God and Man, one person: neither nature in it selfe meerely and alone considered can be Mediator be­twixt [Page 122] God and Man as Haymo well saith);Christus Iesus per hoc quod homo pariter et Deus est, Mediater noster est, verba patris refe­rē ad nos, et modo nostra ad illū Isay. in Heb 12. Iesus Christ, by that he is God and Man together, is our Mediatour, brin­ging the words of the Father vnto vs, and reporting ours vnto God.

Secondly, Christ Iesus though hee differ not in the sub­stance of the diuinity from God; yet he differeth in the per­son of the Sonne from the Father. And therefore when we say, Christ is a Mediatour in both natures, we say as much, as that Christ the sonne of God doth mediate vnto his Father for vs.

To the purging of the filthy leperLeu. 14.6. in the law, the priest must take two sparrowes, and one of them hee must kill ouer pure water in an earthen vessell: after, hee must take the liue Sparrow with Cedar wood, and a scarlet lace, and hysop, and with these, and the liuing Sparrow dipt in the bloud of the dead sparrow, he must sprinkle the leper seauen times & clense him, and let goe the liuing Sparrow into the broad field. This is a mysticall allegorie, telling vs that in Christ there are two natures; the manhood, which was offered and became a dead sacrifice for sinne; the Godhead, which pre­sents the sacrifice, makes it acceptable, and offers it to the Fa­ther. Eusebius Emissenus well saith,Euseb. Emiss [...]le nostro obtulit sa­crificiū, de suo con­tulit pretium. He offered the sacrifice of that which was ours: but of his owne hee made it preti­ous, and gaue honour to the gift. And so farre is this honour giuen, that the liuing sparrow is dipt in the bloud of the slaine: and God is sayd, to haue died for the sinnes of the world, not in his Godhead, but in the nature of Man assu­med into the vnity of the second person the son of god who is God & Man. Iustine Martyr therfore sayth,Filius Dei vt De­us et homo lapsū A­dams i [...]tegrum re­stituit. Iust. Mart. lib. de trin [...]t. The son of God as god & man restored againe perfectly the fal of Adam. One also wel saith,Diuinitas suit in lo [...]ēte, n [...]̄ in dolore. the Godhead was in the sufferer, not in the suffering. Arnobius maketh a liuely comparison to teach vs the truth of doctrine in this behalfe, though the similitude be not each way correspondent. The Godhead (sayth he) could no more suffer with the Manhood, then the Sunne beame which shineth on the wood, is cut, when the wood is cut. And Ʋigilantius excellentlie saith, Christs passion did [Page 123] pertaine to the flesh, in respect of the nature suffering; and vnto the word, in respect of the person. Irenaeus saith,In lib. 3 cap. 2 [...] that if Man had not ouercome the diuell, the diuell had not been iustly ouercome: but if God had not giuen saluation, the manhood had not sufficiently attayned it. I wil conclude with that of Albert; That Christ touched the leper (saith he) it was the act of his humanity: that by touching he cured, it was the act of his diuinity. So did the coniunction of the diuine nature to the humane make the satisfaction infinite; and for whome his Manhood did suffer to the vttermost, them his Godhead doth iustifie to the vttermost. Thus Christ both God and Man in both natures doth mediate.

The second obstacle that Aquinas obserueth in the deity of Christ, for which he cannot mediate betwixt God and vs is, because the office of a Mediatour is to ioyne two extrea­mes, by giuing that to one, which is the others. Now that (sayth hee) cannot bee done of the diuine nature, but only in the humane nature, which differeth from God in nature, and from Man in dignity. But it must bee still remembred which I spake of heretofore, that Christ is not diuided from himself to become our mediatour, but in his owne person of two natures is theGen. 28.12.13. ladder of Iabob, by whome our praiers ascend to God, and Gods blessings descend vpon vs.

The Apost. doth plainely shew, that Christ is our mediator according to the forme of mediation in his diuine nature. For he sayth,Heb. 9.14. By the eternall spirit he offered himselfe without spotte to God. And againe, in these last dayes God hath spoken to vs by his sonne, whome he made heyre of all things. Who Heb. 1.2. et ver. 3. being the brightnes of the glory and the engraued form of his person, both by himselfe purged our sinnes, and sitteth at the right hand of the Maiesty in the highest places. Here you see, first, that God spake vnto vs by his sonne, and this sonne is God. For so Iohn witnesseth,Io. 1.1. That word was God. Therefore if God speake vnto vs by God, God is a mediatour vnto vs from God. Se­condly the same that hee spake to vs by, hee purged vs by: but hee spake vnto vs by the brightnes of the glory; ther­fore he purged vs by the brightnes of the glorie. Thirdly: that [Page 124] which redeemeth vs, sitteth at the right hand of the Maiestie of God. Now though the right hand of God be taken for the excellencie of reward, yet the right hand of the Maiestie of God, is taken for the vnity of the godhead;De Christ. lib. 1. cap. 16. verb. Res­pond. illud. As Bellarmin himselfe truly collecteth out of those wordes of the Apostle, Then shall the sonne also himselfe be subiect vnto him; that is, in his glorie Christ as Man shall be subiect vnto God. Wherfore the sitting at the right hand of the Maiestie of God, must needs be vnderstood of the Godhead of Christ. And then I may well conclude; God spake vnto vs by the brightnes, & purged vs by the brightnes, that sitteth at the right hand of his Maiestie; therefore the brightnes is the Mediatour, euen God himselfe.

The work of Mediation was wrought in the humanity, as far as cōcerneth sorrowing, suffering, & dying: It was wroght also by the Godhead, as concerning making of the sacrifice infinite in price, efficacious of so great a worke, and in ray­sing his owne body againe for our iustification, which hee gaue for our redemption. Neither doth it hence follow (as Bellarmin and Kellison doe foolishlie inforce) that there bee then three Mediatours, or that there is a confusion of Na­tures in Christ, or that Christ in his Godhead is inferiour to the Father.Let no papist here accuse me, that I make the Godhead of the Sō vnequal to the Godhead of the Father, which I do not: but I only speake of the of­ficiall respect of the Father and the Son. For though the Father and the sonne be equall in essence, yet the sonne in office is inferiour to the Father.

Bellarmin imagineth,Lib. 5 de Christ. mediat. cap. 5. ad finē Igitur vide. that as the same worke of a pri­uate person, & of a King, differeth much in respect of the dig­nitie that the person of a King bringeth with it: yet the Re­gality of a king doth not send forth any substantial influence into the work: so the sacrifice of Christ had exceeding digni­ty from the Godhead, though it were wrought by the hu­mane nature, and no waie by the diuine.

This similitude agreeth not with the purpose. For regali­ty is an accidentall thing in Man: but the Godhead is sub­stantiall in Christ. And though there are two operations; the one of the Godhead, the other of the Manhoode; yet (as Leo teacheth in his epistle to Flauian)Agit enim v [...]ra­que forma cū cōmu­nione alteri [...] quod est propriū. Leo ad Flau. cap. 4 et in ser. 3. de pass. Dom. vid. Tho. Aq. 3 a. part. q. 19. art. 1 & sic coll. Bo [...] Io. either forme, or eyther nature doth worke with the communion of the o­ther, that which is proper to bee wrought. The word wor­keth [Page 125] that which to the word belongeth, and the flesh per­formeth that, which is to the flesh pertaining; the Man­hood being as the instrument to the Godhead, and the God­head as the principall mouer or worker of the Manhood.

CHAP. XXXVII. That Saints are made Mediatours in the Romish Church.

THe Church of Rome is so farre from denying the medi­ation of Saints deceased, that both in their publique & priuate writings they euery where profess the same. Wherfore the Councel of TrentSess. 9. d [...] [...]. s [...]ct verb. mand [...] sanct, Synodu [...]. commandeth al Bishops & others to teach diligently the faithfull, touching the intercession of Saints the inuocatiō of them, & the honour of their reliques. Thomas Aquinas saithTh. Aq. 2.1.2 a. q. 83. that Saints must be praid vnto, be­cause they are already in the promised glorie, and more full of charitie then before. The reason hereof he bringeth out of Ierome: If they then praied for vs, when they were yet carefull for themselues, now after the crowne and victorie obtained, they much more praie for vs. The Missalls of Sa­rum and Rome call to the virgin: Coeli fenestra facta es, In hym. O glorio­sa Dom. in Ro. Bre. et Sar. Bre. quasi aurora rutilam. tu regis alti ianua, et porta lucis fulgida; the windowe of heauen, the shining port of light, the morning of the Sunne. And Dis­cipulus de Temp. expounding this, saith:Disc. de Tēp. ser. 162. therefore the virgin is assimiled to the morning; because as the morning is the middest betweene the night and the daie: so the virgin is the mediator betwixt God and Man. And the same Author saith againe,Ser. 163. that the virgin is compared to the Necke; For that, as the necke ioyneth together the body and the head, so doth the virgin vs vnto God. Anselme also enstileth herMediatrix Dei et hom. et f [...]ns mi­sericordiae, indesinē­ter effūdēs riues copiosae gratiae. in orat. 1. de 3. dol. ver. The mediatrix of God & Man, the spring of mercy, powring out the vn­deficient Riuers of her plentifull grace. The Legend of Lom­bardy faineth Saint Paul to take his leaue of Saint Peter in these wordes:Pax tecū fūda­mētū ecclesiae, pa­stor ouiū et agrorū Chr [...]sti, mediator, et [...]ux salutis [...]usto­rū de sact. Pet. fol. [...]3 edit. His [...]et. Peace be with thee, O thou foundation of the Church, the shepheard of the sheep and lambes of Christ, the me­diatour and leader of the saluation of the righteous. Yea, in that forged donation of Constantine hee is feined to ordaineEligēte. nobis ip­sū princ [...]pē Apost. vel eus vicarios sirm [...] apud Deum esse patron [...] ex d [...]a [...] Constā. apud C [...]nt 4 cap. 7 [...]. all the Vicares and Successors of Peter, his mediatours. [Page 126] Neither is this the prerogatiue of the greater Saints onely, but of euery one.

Antonius Florentinus saith:Ant. 3. part. sum. tit. 3. ex Chemnic. as concerning the gift of grace the Saints are the middest betwixt God & Man. Thus all Saints are Mediatours; and all the Pope doth Canonize are Saints. Therefore what mediatours the Pope pleaseth, he may thrust vpon vs; As Saint Becket, a traytor to his King; of whom it was questioned by the Masters of Paris whether he were saued or damned.Ex Caes. Monath. lib. 8. de ilo. cap. 69 Saint Thais the whore, famous for her name, and nothing else; Saint Sophronia, and Saint Pelagia, who slew themselues; Saint Hermannus an Heretick, who was twentie yeares worshipt as a Saint in Ʋerona; Platin. in Bonif [...] Eusib. lib. 8 hist. ec­clesiae cap 17. verbo sunt quidem. Amb. lib. 3. de virginibus. Saint Cuthlake, Saint Cuthbert, Saint Wolstane, miserable wretches: in whome all the merite was, that they promoted Monkerie. Austen of Canterbury, Anselme and Lanfranke proude contentious wranglers for worldly preheminence. Dunstane suspected of Necromancie; Dominicus, Lubinus, Medardus, Franciscus, Didacus, Hiacinthus; som vnlearned, some superstitious and barbarous. Yea, the Pope in Canoni­zing Saints maketh a protestation,Fulk. in 2. Mat. ex Pōtef. Marel. Ar­chiep. Corciri. Vid Melch Canū. li. 5. loc. ca. 5 pa. 174 Litanen [...]c in lib. 2. q. 16. Sāct [...]rū igitur ca­nonismi authores ac m [...]gistri fu [...]re [...]lim suis in Dioce­sibu [...] episcopi ac primates quilibet. litanen. lib. 2. ca. 10 Leo the 3 was the first pope that e­uer solemnly did canonize any Saint. He at the req [...]est of Charles the great put Sui­bertus into the Albe of Saints Vid. Sur. [...]m 2 et Bel. lib. 1. de [...]ā be­at cap 8 v [...]rbo, dices plurimi. If hee should happen to be deceiued in the party, and hath ere now canonized one against his opinion. Finallie, who knoweth not the ould saying? Many bodies are worshipped in earth, whose Soules are burning in Hell. Therefore Cardinall Bessarion might as well doubt of the honestie and vertue of some Saints, as of the truth of their histories (howsoeuer Serarius the Iesuite sayth, that thereof Bessarion neuer doubted). For who know­eth not that in ancient time, before the Pope made a Mono­poly of Canonizing Saints, and tooke that power to him­selfe, euery Bishop in euery diocess made Saints, as Cyprian and Austin witnesse. Wherefore when there were so many Saint-makers as were Bishops, can any man bee assured of the holinesse of all the Saints? May not Bishops as well make vnworthie Saints, as worthlesse Ministers? And may not the succeeding age looke one day to see Iames Clement, and Francis Rouiliac of France: Parry, Lopez; yea Garnet, Faux, Gunpowder traitors of England, graced with redde letters in an Almanacke?

We know how ready the Romish Church is to aduance, & encrease the dignity of her Saints, & how euery order striues for their Patrone.Alex. 4. in literis Anag [...]. dat 5. anno pōt ficatus, ex spec­tus. Ex Dec. Sexti 41. d [...]t. Rō ap. Sāct. [...] et oc [...] [...]us Sept. pō [...] an. 2. in spe­culo Minerum. When Francis was admitted by the Papall Bull to bee painted with the wounds of Christ in his hands, feet, and side, and all men enioyned by remission of sinnes to beleeue the same, and none to contradict it: what swelling? what enuy? what emulation was in the other orders? inso­much that the Sisters of the order of Saint Katherine of Sene, and the seruants of other Saints said, That their Patrons also had the same markes conformable to the fiue wounds of Christ. They caused this to be preached in pulpits, to be deliuered to the people: they painted, graued, and formed the Images of them with wounded feet and hands, and with the pearced side: Nothing was omitted that might make them equall to Saint Francis. So that Sixtus the fourth had much adooe by his letters to suppresse the same; forbidding, enioyning, inhi­biting, that no man should presume to preach or teach that the said woundes are found in any Saint but Francis: com­manding also that all Images so painted be amended, vntill the Apostolicall Sea shall grant speciall priuiledge to Saint Katherine, so to be painted and preached. Wherein you see the cunning of this ould Synon, who after the thunder bolte of his blustring inhibition, that such honour to Saint Ka­therin should not be giuen, being false and not pertaining to her, yet hee giueth hope, that in time Saint Katherin from the purple strumpet may receiue fauour to decke her self with her owne lies, and to be boared thorow hand and foot. Quid non speramus, si nummos possideamus? Christ and Saints are to bee sould for money.

CHAP. XXXVIII. That Saints as the Papists affirme haue the two attributes of a proper Mediatour ascribed vnto them; which is, to par­ticipate of the two extreames, and to remoue the obstacles of coniunction.

IN the former Chapter I declared, that the virgin is com­pared to the Necke, ioyning both the head and the body [Page 128] together. Now all men know, that the Necke ioyneth the head and the body together by matter of the same substance with both. Of the virgin the Missall thus singeth:Quae Deū homi­nibis, et im [...] coele­sti [...]us [...]ūg [...]. O puer­perae. in v s [...]. Mari [...] seq [...] Ve [...]i mater grat [...]. in Miss. Sar. which God vnto Man, the lowest vnto the highest hast ioyned, O child-bearing virgin. This cannot bee, except the virgin partici­pate of both natures.Ser. 161. Wherefore of her coniunction to our nature, Discip. de Temp. saith; Shee is compelled to be our Mo­ther, because her sonne is our brother: and of her coniunction to the Godhead the same author telleth;Pater elegit in s [...] ­l [...]a, silius in matrē, Spiritu [...] sāctus in [...] ser. [...]ocādū q [...]d sic [...] d [...], in princip [...] ap. the Father did chuse her for his daughter, the sonne for his Mother, and the holy ghost, [...] Deu pa­ra [...] cū [...] pater est et D [...]ū omniū ita [...] genetrix [...]l [...]ria meritis suis [...]cta [...]arādom [...] ­ [...]r est A s l. in lib. de exc [...]l v [...]rg cap. 11. ex Cēt. 11. cap. 4 tit. de Maria. for his wife. Anselme of her coniunction to man­kind saith; as God by his power ordayning al things is our Father: so the Mother of God by her merits repairing all things is our Mother. And of her diuine nature another saith; [...]x cū silio sedes in gloria patris. apud Chem [...]. in tibi omnes chori. thou with thy Sonne sittest at the glory of the Father. Likewise of her coniunction to the Godhead, the Masse of Sarisburie saith, Concathedrat, She sittes together in the same throne. Nay An­tonius Florentinus saith, she is the Throne of God it selfe, wherein God doth rest. But I will deferre the further tractation hereof vnto the place wherein I shall shew the Apotheosis, Maria est thronus Chr [...]sti, in quo qui­ [...]uit, ex Chemn. de Sāc. [...]moc. part. 3 or God-making of Saints. The Roman Breuiary saith, (shee is the sleece betwixt the earth and the deaw, the woman betweene the Sunne and the Moone, in lect. amplecte­mu [...]. euen Mary betwixt Christ and the Church. Let vs now descend to the second propertie of a Mediatour, which is, to remoue all obstacles which may hinder the coniunction.

I sayd before, that the impediments betwixt God and vs were sinne, death, hell, and the diuell: but the strength of these did cheeflie consist in sinne. The taking away of which principall impediment, the Romish Church doth attribute vnto Saints. For so they praie vnto Martin;Mūdās immūda, qui sugas daemonia, nos hic libera. in transl. Mar. Thou which clensing the vncleane dost driue out Diuells, deliuer vs. Likewise vnto Bartholomew; I Te precor vt metuis pretiosis meritis liberes ab omnibus persi [...] diaboli, & insidu [...], et terrori­bu [...], et im [...]ugnatio­nibus, et dānatione, et illusione hosti [...]: et in dic suroris Dom. et i [...] si [...]e vitae m [...]ae cōtra aduersarios m [...]o in adiutorium m [...]ū ven [...] [...]et br [...]i [...] lumin bus suff [...]to agni ves [...] osten­ [...]. apud C [...]emnic. in orat Sanct. filled with all filthinesse beseech thee, that thou wilt deliuer me by thy precious merits, from all deceits of the diuell, ambushes, terrours, assalts, and damnation, and illu­sion of the enimy: and that in the day of the wrath of the Lord, and in the end of my life, against my enemies thou wilt be my defence [...] and [Page 129] being vphelde by two lights, thou wouldst shew mee the steps of the Lambe.

Discip. de Temp. to the virgin praieth;Copiosa charitas tua nostrū cooperi­a [...] mu [...]t [...]no [...]ē pec­catorū, D [...]mina no­stra, aduocata no­stra. Disc. de Temp. ser. 162. ex Bern. Let thy plentious charity couer the multitude of our sinnes, O Lady, our Mediatrix, and our Aduocate. And in the Missall;Mala nostra pella bona cūcta posc [...]. Bre. Sar. et Ro. in hym. Au [...]. ma. stella Driue away all our euills, procure for vs all good.

Thus I haue made it cleare, neither can it be denied, but that both the proprieties of a Mediatour are by the Church of Rome ascribed vnto Saints. God grant, that they may be taken in their owne heart, (as the Prophet saith) that seeing their owne errour, they may forsake it, and turne againe vn­to the Lord.

CHAP. XXXIX. Of the Limitations, which the Church of Rome prescribeth vn­to it selfe in making Saints Mediatours.

THe first & principall distinction, wherewith the Church of Rome (attributing the office of mediation to Saints) goeth about to colour her impiety, is,Vid. Bull [...]g. de orig. cultus diuorū, et simulacrorū. cap. 13. ex Musc. in loc. cō. tit. de Sac. nou. test. that they make Saints mediatours of intercession ONELY, and not of re­demption. A second shift Aquinas bringeth in,Esse mediatorem simpliciter et perfe­ctiue est proprium Christo [...]al [...] ūt me­diatores dispositiue et ministraliter, pr [...] v [...] cooperātur ad v­nionē cū Deo. Aq. vt coll. per Bo [...] Io. part. 3. cap. 26. et sic in tex q. [...]6. ar. 1 that be­twixt God and Man simply and perfectly to mediate, is pro­per only vnto Christ: dispositiuely, and by way of ministra­tion, the Saints worke together with Christ. Thirdly, they deny,Kellis. lib. 3. cap. 12 fol. 3 [...]4. that they make Saints immediate mediatours vnto the essence of God and the glorious Trinity. And they say, that [...]he āno [...]. in [...]. ad T [...]m. [...].5. they aske not grace in this life, nor glory in the next but by Christ: and that they acknowledge, that all seconda­ry Aduocats haue access to God, only throgh him. Fourthly, they make Christ a mediator by giuing, not by praier. For no man amongst them (as the Rhemists teach) saith,Vid. Bel. de Sanct. beat. lib. 1 cap. 17. Christ pray for vs, but Christ haue mercy on vs. They esteeme not so basely of Christ, as to invocate him to pray, & to beseech, as they do Saints. Fiftly, the Rhemists haue found out a spi­ders webbe of no small strength to couer their nakednes: namely,Rhem annot [...]n 1. Tim. 2. sect. 5. that Christ is such a Mediatour as praieth for all, [Page 130] and hath none to pray for him: but such (they say) Saints are not.

These are the armours of proofe, wherewith they suppose that all obiections may be repelled. But in all these, Menti­ta est iniquitas sibi; iniquitie lieth vnto it selfe. If it lied to it selfe onely, the fault were the lesse: but it lieth vnto men, it lieth vnto the holy Ghost; as I doubt not in the ensuing dis­course, it shall to all those that will vnpartially deeme, eui­dently appeare. So that laying aside all these cloakes and vi­sors of deceit, you shall see them nakedly, simply, plainely, make Saints Mediatours as Christ is a Mediatour.

CHAP. XL. That Saints are Mediatours of Redemption, contrary to the first Limitation.

ALthough of this argument it is sufficiently discoursed in the former treatise of Redemption:Answer to the [...]ast Limitation. yet in this place also (that it may more fully appeare with what falshoodes they excuse their blasphemies, and with what vntrue glosses and deceits they bewitch the vnderstanding of the simple) I will bee bould to deteine the reader with a suruey of this their Limitation againe. First, it is needfull to define the me­diation of Redemption, and to know what is meant there­by; and then it will easily appeare, how well this Canon is obserued.

Mediation of Redemption is the offering of the full price and sufficient satisfaction for offences, and so to procure ab­solution of the same. But all this they confess that the Saints performe for vs; therefore they make Saints Mediatours of Redemption.

I need not to seeke farre for arguments to make the mat­ter plaine: they are euery where offered vnto vs in their pri­uate and publike writings. The Rhemists say,Rhemist. in 2. C [...]r. [...] annot. 5. that the satisfactorie and penall workes of Saints are communicable and applied to the vse of other. Antonius Bishop of Florence saith,Vid Chemnic. in Sāct. inuoc part 3. That Mary is the gate of heauen; because what grace [Page 131] soeuer came from heauen, it came through Mary: & what­soeuer cōmeth vp vnto heauen, entreth by Mary. Bernardine saith, thatVid Chemn. in exam. con. [...]id. d [...] cultu Sanct. ex Bre. in suo Mar [...]al. the virginis Mediatrix of saluation, of coniuncti­on, of iustification, of reconciliation, of intercession, of communica­tion. If there could haue bin more waies of Mediation found out, surely more hee would haue repeated. The Missall of Sarisbury in like manner offers the merits of Peter vnto God as the price of their sinne;Huius amore deus seruorū terge rea [...] vt tibi qui placu [...] placido [...] nos r [...]dd [...]ra pos [...]t. Bre. Sar. in Cath. Petri. in sec. noctur. For his loue, O God, cleanse the guilt of thy seruants, that hee which pleased thee, may make vs please thee also. What can be more plaine? Gods loue to Pe­ter, and Peters acceptable pleasing of God, is alledged as the cause, for which he should haue mercy on vs.

So in the Primer printed by Arnold Connings, set forth by authoritie, confirmed with the same graces and priuiled­ges that the Latine Office it selfe is, thus they pray;Sit tibi domine merit [...] beatae virgi­nis genetricis tua Maria & emmum Sanctorum gr [...]t. & accept morat post Confess. sit tibi domine The like the Ro­mane Breuiary al­so hath in the ab­solution precibus & meritis. Let this confession, O Lord, bee acceptable vnto thee through the merits of the blessed Virgin Mary thy Mother, and all Saints. But be­cause there hath beene so much of this argument before deliuered, I will no longer hold thee (gentle Reader) with a te­dious Discourse, to proue that which none can deny that hath a forehead to blush.

CHAP XLI. That the Saints doe mediate perfectly and properly in the Romish Church, contrarie to the second Limitation.

THe vanity of this euasion doth at the first blush bewray it selfe.Answere to the secōd Limitation. For the ministeriall mediation to saluation is onely in this life,Bellar. de iustif. l. 1. c. 2. Vbi exem­plificātur causa iu­stificationis, in causa instrumentari [...] se­parata. and that by preaching the Word, ad­ministring the Sacraments, and exercising the keyes of the Church. And in this sense Moses is called the Mediator of the Old Testament.

The truth is, that in the Law there were diuers Mediators betwixt God and Man. For Moses was not an immediate me­diator betwixt God and the people. But when it is said, God appeared, or God spake vnto Moses, it is alwaies meant, that an Angell appeared, or an Angell the substitute of God spake [Page 132] vnto Moses. Vid. Luther. in 3. ad Galatas. Angels therefore were mediators betwixt God and Moses, to bring the Law vnto him. And of this mediation Saint Paul speaketh;Gal. 3.19. It was ordained by Angels in the hand of a Mediator. So Stephen telleth the Iewes,Act. 7.35. that God sent Moses by the hand, that is, by the dispensation or ministerie of an Angell.

The Angels were subordinate vnto God, becauseExod. 33.20. Moses (though with extraordinarie sanctification adorned) could not stand before the presence of God. And Moses was subor­dinate vnto the Angels, because the people (though they also were sanctified) could not sustaine,Exod. 20. nor abide the glorie of Angels deliuering the Law in fire, in lightning, in thundring, in tempest and in earthquake. Nay, thisExod. 34.33. glorious appariti­on made the face of Moses so resplendent, that hee was also compelled to couer his face with a veile, that it might bee a Mediator betwixt him and the people. For on his face it selfe (so brightly shining) they could not looke.

Now these sundry Mediatours in the first Couenant were necessarie; for that the first couenant deliuered the glory of God, and the power of God to iudgement and to vengeance: It set forth the puritie, and the spotlesse rigour of his vnflexi­ble righteousnesse: It thundred out the Law, the curse, the death which was due to all mankinde. So that the deliuerers thereof were as intolerable to the people, as the things them­selues were. Neither were they properly Mediators as Christ is; but messengers to denounce, and declare vnto the people the righteousnesse of God, and his wrath against sinne. But the Gospell is a couenant of sweetnesse and peace, wherein God weakeneth and humbleth himselfe (as it were) and hath sent his owne Sonne in the cloud of flesh, by which God is communicable and familiar with vs; that thereby we might behold and draw neere vnto himselfe. And this is the diffe­rence betwixt the first, and the second Couenant, and the mediations of them both.

Now therefore it is to be considered, that in the New Te­stament, though there be diuers Ministers, yet none is called a Mediator but Christ onely; for that in none wee can be­hold [Page 133] God, or come neare vnto him, but in CHRIST. As it is absurd and traiterous ambition in an Earle or a Duke, to bee called a King, because hee is a subordinate power to the King: so it is blasphemous and sacrilegious in our reli­gion, to call any other but CHRIST, by the glorious and soueraigne title of a Mediator. Augustine very soundly tea­cheth,In 8. cap. contra Epist. Parmen. it is an intolerable blasphemy to say, Bishops are mediators betwixt God and the people.

Let vs now proceede further vnto other Reasons, which proue Saints deceased not to bee ministeriall Mediators for vs vnto GOD. The Office of ministration ceaseth in men, when men cease to be among the liuing. And hereof are ma­ny probations. First, the soules of the Saints,Apoc. 14.13. after they bee dis-burdened of the flesh, enioy an euerlasting Sabbath and rest from their labours. Ministration then ceaseth with them, which belongeth to trauellers in the way: glory and thanks­giuing remaineth to them, as vnto Citizens of the new Ieru­salem in the Paradise of happinesse.

Secondly, the Apostle Paul maketh this difference betwixt Christ and all other Priests;Heb. 7.23.24. for that other Priests were forbidden by death to endure, but this Man, because hee endu­reth for euer, hath an euerlasting Priesthood. Now if the Saints being dis-burdened of the flesh, and dead, doe yet still make intercession for vs, their Priesthood endureth still, as Christs Priesthood endureth still; and there is no difference betwixt our High Priest Christ and other Priests, in respect of conti­nuance and indurance. Which if it were granted, the A­postle should bee found a false witnesse concerning Christ. An impietie that no Christian eare can endure.

Thirdly, no place of Scripture teacheth, that the departed Saints are ministeriall Mediators in Heauen, or that they pray for vs there as Mediators. Neither haue wee example of any, that euer in the Gospell of IESVS CHRIST was taught to call, or did attempt to call on Saints to be his mi­nisteriall Mediatours. Augustine acknowledgeth;August. whom should I finde that might reconcile me to thee? Shall I goe to the Angels? With what prayer? with what Sacraments? [Page 134] as though hee should say, in all the holy volume there is no Ordinance, there is no Rite, there is no Ceremonie nor fashion, according to which any should bee worshipped but God alone.

But what goe I about to beate the ayre? Or why doe I sight with this Chymera and phantasticall imagination of ministeriall Mediatorship? whereas indeede they make Saints full, perfect, absolute, and proper Mediators in all their worship. And this is euidently proued by all the Attri­butes, which can be giuen to a perfect Mediator.

It is the Office of a perfect and absolute Mediator, to vnite by his merits and prayer sinners to God; But this they ac­knowledge Saints to doe. For proofe whereof looke into the Masse of Saint Anthony, where you shall finde,Tua pr [...]ce, laudi & gloria nos copu­lat sanctorū coetui. Miss. Sar. [...]n Sanct. Anth. foelix corpus & foelix anima. By thy Prayer, thy praise, and thy glory, God ioineth vs to the fellowship of the Saints. And vnto the Virgin they pray;Nos in pertu sa­lutari tua s [...]at gratia. in concep. virg. Miss. Sar. Let thy grace make vs stand in the Heauen of health. To this purpose Bel­larmine vrgeth a saying of Chrysostome; Bellar. de Sanc. beat. lib. 1. cap. 18. As souldiers shewing their wounds to the King doe boldly speake: so the Martyrs bring­ing in their heads cut off, may obtaine what they will, of the King of Heauen.

A perfect Mediator is such,In omnibus, que ad pacem siuit, non perfunctorie, sed ef­ficaciter quaerens. Bern. as doth not lightly, but efficaciously, seeke those things which belong to peace. But this, they say, is by the Saints performed. ForPortis. Sar. in sert [...]. b [...]at. virg. lect. 1. sa­crosanctā. leg. 4. the Virgin hath abolished the handwriting of diuelish sedition; as it pleaseth the Missall of Sarum to say. Anselme calleth herAnsel. i [...] 2. [...]rat. de 5. dol. virg. auxi­liatrix dei. the composition of eternall peace. Of Saint Claudius they say;Fere totus orbis Christianorū pro suis neces [...]itatibus ad ipsum affinit, & quicunque eum p [...]è & deuotè quaesierit, desolatus nō rema­nebis in Suffr. Sanc. impr. Paris. per Ia­cob Ker [...]er. anno 1570. Moys de la [...] in orat. deus qui per haec tāta tāque. al­most the whole world of Christians flyeth vnto him for their neces­sities: and whosoeuer doth deuoutly and godly seeke him, shall neuer remaine desolate. The Romane Missall prayeth, that the me­rits of Leo interceding, they may bee absolued from all their faults: so for all men and all causes Saints are Mediatours: orat. Exaud. quaesumus. He is a perfect Mediator, who is an vniuersall Mediator, sauing all. Such the Virgin is; for the Mis­sall saith,Sācta v [...]rg. digno exigit venerari pre­c [...]to ca [...] constat m [...]ndus saluitus suffragio Bre. Sar. in ser [...]. beat. virg. O beat Mar. & Ro. Bre. in assūp. virg. This great and so holy Ʋirgin requireth with wor­thy praise to bee worshipped, by whose suffrage it is manifest the world is saued. Another saith,Ex quo è terra tra [...]sl [...] [...]es, te vni­uersus mund [...]s con­ti [...]et co [...]. propi­tiatorium. Aloy. Lyp. hist. per. 1. fol. 270. ex Andr. Crete [...]si. Since thou wast translated [Page 135] from the earth, the whole world holdeth thee a common propitia­tion. And of Nicholas; Credo, [...]iè Sanct Nico. tuis me preci cibus esse sal [...]m cū. apud Chemn. in orat Sanct. I deuoutly beleeue, O holy Nicho­las, that I shall be saued by thy prayers.

He is a perfect Mediator, in whom all the treasures of Gods mercy are exposed vnto vs: But such the Romanists acknow­ledge the Saints to be. For the second counsell of Nice cal­leth Saints,In act. 3 apud Barth Caranz. Promptuaria dei, Gods Butteries or his Spence, wherein belike all his riches are comprehended. Vnto Saint Erasmus they pray;In orat. modo Sanct. Eras. apud Chemnic. O blessed Erasmus, I commend all my counsels, all my actions, and all things, that are subiect vnto mee, to thee & thy holy faith: deliuer me from all my aduersities, and all my enimies bodily and ghostly, for the promise which God to thee hath made. So to the Virgin they call,Bre. Sar. in a [...] nū­ciat. beat. Mar. virg. & Ro Bre in aue Maris Stella. Bona cuncta posce, pro­cure for vs all good things. Pardon to the guilty: medicine to the sicke: strength to the faint-hearted: comfort to the afflicted: Ro. Bre. in assūp. virg lect. ecce quibus. helpe to them that are in danger, saith the Romane Breuiarie. She is the true Arke of Mercy, the Lady of Kings, the glory of women, the congratulation of Saints, Vera Arca pro­p [...]tatorij: Haec est ergo domina Regū, decus mul [...]erum, &c. port. Sar. in seru. beat. Maria. virg. hac ta [...]. the consolation of the mise­rable, the refuge of sinners, the reparation of all beleeuers. What can be more accumulated to the perfection of a Mediatour? And yet the History of Lombardy doth attribute as much vnto Saint George. For when he was beheaded,Et d [...]ana vox ve­r [...]t quod sic es [...]t. in Leg. Georg. He prayed vnto God, that whosoeuer did call vpon his aide, should obtaine his Petition, and the diuine voice came vnto him, that it should be so. Thus God makes a couenant with George, an vniuersall co­uenant, that all things should be giuen for his sake: a coue­nant of Salt, or an euerlasting couenant, to endure for ages; that Whosoeuer calleth for his helpe, should obtaine his petition.

He is a perfect Mediatour, in whose intercession God and Man resteth. In whom God resteth himselfe as in the Sab­bath of his iudgement, Man resteth as in the Sabbath of his conscience: God resteth from punishment, Man resteth from feare: God resteth, as pleased and satisfied: Man resteth, as hopefull and assured. But both these rests are in the Saints. For first, a sinner may confidently (say they) repose and rest himselfe in Saints, and be secure in Saints, although by a liue­ly faith out of the Word of God he cannot be secure in the [Page 136] mediation of Christ. Of the Virgin in the assumption they sing,Quam id circo de praesenti seculo trā­stulisti, vt pro pecca­catis nostris fiducia­liter crare [...]. Miss. Sar. in vigil. assūp. virg. secret. mun [...]ra nostra. Thou didst translate her from this present world, that she might confidently intercede for our sinnes. Now they cannot here by any distinction auoid iust reprehension, or say, that Fidu­cialiter, may be taken for light hope, as not onely Tho. Secunda secundae q. 129. Aqui­nas teacheth,Lib. 5. cap. 7. and Bellarmine de iustific. But Seneca also to Lucilius saith;De te spem babeo, nondum fiduci [...]m. I trust thee, but yet haue no confidence in thee. But let vs returne to our Romanists, who pray;In orat protege diem ex Mart. Chemnic. De­fend, O Lord, thy seruants being confident in the patronage of Pe­ter and Paul, and other Apostles. And the Romane Breuiarie prayeth,Itaque eius preci­bus glorialis deuota permaneat, & secu­ra consistat. Ro. Bre. infest. Agap. orat. laetetur Ecclesia. That the Church may remaine deuout, and secure by the glorious prayers of Saint Agapet. The Schooleman al­so saith, that the Saints must be called vpon with great bold­nesse, because they haue deserued that they may helpe vs in our necessities. And therefore one Orison prayeth;Ecce domi [...]a salva­trixmea, fiducialiter agam in te, & non timebo. apud Mart. Chemn. in exam. Co [...]c. Trid. de cultu Sarc. Be­hold, O Lady my Sauioresse, I will bee bold in thee, and will not feare. And the Antidotarium calleth her Spem tutissimam, the safest hope of a sinfull soule. Bernard saith;Vt fiducialiter sequuntur dominā. ser. de assump. 1. Our Queene is gone before vs, and so gloriously receiued, that her seruants might confidently follow her: as a sinner may quiet his conscience in the mediation of Saints, so God is also at rest and p [...]cified in them. Anto. Arch Flor. Mary is the throne of Christ, in which He rested, saith Antho­ny. Among the seuen ioyes of the Virgin this is not the least, That the highest Trinitie, and the Ʋirgin haue but one will: and that as the day is made ioifull by the Sunne: Discip de Temp. [...] exemp. 11. so the whole Court of Heauen is cleared by her presence.

Anselme saith, It is impossible he should perish, that turnes to our Lady. Michael of Hungaria saith;In ser. de Rosario. I speake it confident­ly, hee that offers himselfe faithfully to serue our Lady in the fra­ternitie of the Rosary, shalt not perish for euer. Bernard saith;Ex Mich. de Hūg. serm. de Rosar in c [...]nfirm. frat. Ros. If thou be deuout to Mary, Velis nolis, whether thou wilt or not, thou shalt be relieued with her grace.

Lastly, to conclude concerning this friuolous distinction of Perfect and Vnperfect Mediation; what should they cloke the matter in saying, that Saints are not perfect Media­tours? since they make not the Mediation of Christ himselfe perfect without Saints. For that cannot bee perfect, vnto [Page 137] which of necessitie another must bee ioyned. But Eckius plainely saith,Quemadmodum deus est qui vot [...]. nostra exaudire, qui orationes implere potest, dominus est qui gratiā & gloriā dabit▪ ita quoqu [...] dominus deus inte­r [...]m neque votis an­ [...]uit ne{que} exorabi­lem se praestat, nisi intercedētibus diui [...] Eckius de Vener. Sanct. part. 2. fol. 216. iuxta impress. Paris. anno 1572. As it is God, which can heare and fulfill our Petitions, and the Lord which shall giue vs grace and glory: so the Lord in the meane while, neither granteth our Petitions, nor is ex­orable to bee entreated, except the Saints intercede for vs. And Bonauenture saith of the blessed Virgin;Psal. 86. He that calleth not on thee in this life, shall not come into the Kingdome of God. And a­gaine,,Psal. 136. propitiation shall not be found without her. And Mi­chael de Hungaria in his Sermon on the Rosary out of An­selme saith;Mich. de Hung. ex Anselmo. Who euer obtained pardon of his sinnes, except Ma­ry did mediate for him? I might here inferre diuers Histo­ries reported by Iacobus de Ʋoragine, which import a necessi­tie of worshipping Saints. As, that when all Apulia was like to perish by reason of dearth, there was a reuelation giuen, that it was, because they did not celebrate the festiuall of Saint Mary. And the plague raging in Italy, to another it was reuealed, that it should not cease, till an Altar vvere at Papia erected to Saint Sebastian. But what neede I busie my my selfe in proofes hereof? sithence the shamelesse Suites haue brought the testimonie of the Diuell himselfe in this behalfe.Sebastian Mi­chael. in act. 19. Decemb. 1610. Ʋerrein forsooth (for so they call him) pronoun­ceth, That who denieth intercession of Saints, denieth an Article of his Creede.

CHAP. XLII. That Saints in the Romish Church are made immediate Media­tours vnto God, and that by them they aske grace in this life, and glory in the life to come; contrarie to the third Li­mitation.

THis Limitation is much enforced by the teachers of the Romish Church,Answere to the third Limitation. as though thereby the staine and im­putation of blasphemie were altogether taken away. Where­fore Doctor Kellison affirmeth,Kellison in his Suruey of the new religion. lib. 3. cap. 12. that they (a) pray otherwise to Saints; and otherwise to Christ. To him they pray, as to their su­preme Aduocate: to them as secondary Aduocates, who haue no accesse to God but through him. Now although it bee presump­tion [Page 138] enough to ordaine officers vnto Christ without his war­rant, yet either Master Kellison is very ignorant in the busi­nesse, wherein he would be thought most exercitat: or else he cannot but know, that the Church whereof he is a mem­ber, maketh Saints mediatours vnto the Essence of the Tri­nitie and Vnity it selfe; to the Father, to the Sonne, and to the holy Ghost. Examples heereof are too too plentifull.Sācte Paule Apo. pradicator verita­tis, et doctor gētiū, int ercede ad Deum pro nobis, qui te ele­git. Ro. Bre. in sest. Apo. Pet. et Paul. Holy Paul teacher of the truth, and Doctour of the Gentiles, intercede for vs vnto God, who hath chosen thee. Soe in the Hymne common to euery virgin; By huius ob [...]ētis, Deus alme, nostris parce tā culpis, vitia remit­tē [...]. Ro. Bre. in hym. virg. proles. her obtai­ning, O gratious God, spare our offences, and forgiue our sinnes. This is immediate mediation vnto God, without once na­ming Christ. Againe in the Missall vnto the blessed virgin Mary they pray;Sic per te excusa­bile, quod ter te in­gerimus▪ in Ro. Bre. Let it bee by thee excusable, that by thee wee offer. In another place also the same Missall feareth not to make Saints to help vs for Christ his sake, as well as Christ helpeth for the Saints. For it sayth,No [...] solise vincu­lis seculi amore filij Dei. in com. vnius Mart. in hym. martyr. De [...]. Loose vs from the bands of the world, for the loue of the sonne of God. Sundry praiers they haue wherein they desire Saints to bee mediatours for them vnto God, without any mention of Christ, or the ordi­narie conclusion, FOR, or THROVGH Iesus Christ our Lord; as in the seruice of our Lady, where theEx Fulk. in annot. in no [...]. testament. three Orisons; Holy Mary Virgin of virgins, and Mary the holiest of holies, and holy Mother of GOD, are not concluded with the clause, By, or Through Iesus Christ our Lord. Wherefore all these are wicked and vnlawfull praiers, as by the testimony of Saint Augustine in his treatise on the hundred & eight psalme it is euident: who saith,Nō est iusta ora­tio nisi per Christū; oratio autē, quae nō sit per Christū, non solū nō potest delere peccatū, sed etiā ip­sa sit in peccatū. ex Hen. B [...]ll. de orig. cult. diuorū. cap. 23 it is no iust praier, which is not made by Christ: it cannot only not take away sinne, but it is sinne also it selfe. The Missall of Sarum, of Saint Anne sayth; Let Nostra suit ad­uocata in Des praesē­tia. in Sequent. test [...]ment vet. her be our aduocate in the presence of God. In the An­tidotary they pray to the virgin;Tu ergo, O virgi­nea mater, accedēs ad illud super coele­ste sacrariū sēper venerādae trinitatis offer pro me. ex Chemn. Thou therefore, O Virgin, Mother of Ʋirgins, hauing accesse to that supercelestiall holy place of the euer venerable Trinity, offer for me. To Bernwardus the Bishop they thus praie;O gēma Saxoniae, norma pretatis. pie praesul Bernwarde, tuorū memer ope­rū, sta corā sumin [...] iudice, pro tuorum coetu pauperum. ex Chemnic. O gemme of Saxony, the rule of piety, O godly prelate Bernward, being myndfull of thy worke, stand before the high iudge, for the company of thy poore suppliants.

Chrysostom in Aloysius Lypomanus out of Simeon Metaphra­stes is forged thus to praie to the Apostles Peter and Paul; Trinitati princi­pio carēti, nullo in­ter medio, assistētes. ex orat apud Aloy▪ Lyp part. 1. pa. 318. Doe not forget, but standing before the holy Trinity, which hath no beginning, without any meane betwixt, desire of GOD those things which you know to be fit for vs. So vnto Saint Cy­prian, Gregory Nazianzen doth pray;Sācta trinit. cui nūc astas splēdorem nobis perfectiorem gratific [...]re. Gratifie vnto vs the light of the holy Trinity, before whome thou standest, more per­fectly and more cleare. And to Saint Anne; Offer ante thro [...]ū trinitatis, miseror. miseratrix An [...]a, stumē pi [...]tatis, si [...] pro nobis aduoca­trix. in Miss. Colon. impr. per Mart. Werd. an. Dō. 150 [...] O Anne, riuer of pittie, and pittier of the miserable, be thou our aduocate before the Throane of the Trinity.

As they make Saints Mediatours to the Essence, so also vnto euery person of the Trinity. For thus Nicetus praieth in Simeon Metaphrastes; Domine pater, Dom. fili, Domin [...] paraclete, tri [...]itas sācta et cōsubstātialis et supersubstāt. intercessionibus cha­stiss. Dei matris, et omnū sāctorū, e [...] ipsius quoque nostri post te seruatoris, patron [...] et defēsoris Steph. ad gloriā & honorē et laudē &c. Aloy. Lyp. part. 1. fol. 446. iuxta editi­onē an. 1 [...]68. Lo [...]. per Mart. Verhess. O GOD the Fa­ther, O GOD the sonne, O God the comforter, thou holy and supersubstantiall Trinity, by the intercession of Mary, the most chast Mother of God, and of Stephen our Sauiour, our Patron and defender after thee, vnto the glory and honour and praise of thy adored name, now and euer through all ages &c. A Primer prin­ted in queene Maries dayes saith of the virgin;In the 7 spiritu­al ioyes of our La­dy. ver. Reioyce O flower of virgin [...] all., By liege of dignity thou art coupled with God so neare, that thou mayest at thy desire obtaine whatsoeuer thou wilt require. Canisius out of Augustine saith;Sācti [...]hori, Arch. ī angelorum, patriarchar. atque propheta [...]. euāgeli­sta [...]. et martyrū, cō­fessor. sacerdot. leui­tar. monachor. v [...]r­ginū, omniū{que} iusto­rū, per illū, qui vos elegit, et de cuius cōtēpl [...]tione gaude­tis, vos rogare prae­sumo vt pro me culpabili peccatore. ipsi Deo supplicare dignem [...]ni. ye holy Quiers of Archangels, Angels, Patriarchs, Prophets, Euangelists, Martyrs, Confessors, Priests and Leuites, Monks, Ʋirgins, and all righteous, by him that hath chosen you, and for whose contemplation you reioyce, I pre­sume to desire you to pray for mee culpable offender, vnto God him­selfe. The praier,Orat. O intem. in Chemnec. O intemerata, which was ordained by Edmond Archbishop of Canterbury, a Canonized Saint, approued with a speciall myracle (for Saint Iohn clapt him gently on the hand with a Ferula, because Edmund had one day neglected this his owne praier, and comman­ded him to doe so no more, and therefore must not bee doubted of) set forth also in the Primer or office of our Lady, with many graces from the Apostolicall Sea ador­ned (And therefore the authority thereof may not be called in question) after it hath instiled the virgin Mary and Iohn to bee celestiall iewells, and lights shining diuinelie be­fore [Page 140] GOD (so that thereby they are constituted Me­diatours in the presence of the eternall Maiestie it selfe) sendeth them vnto the Holy Ghost to bee Mediatours for vs also vnto that blessed third person of Trinitie;Ex primario vel offic. virg. Mar. An­glolat. impress. anno 1599. per Arnold. Coning. Pro­cure, I beseech thee, procure by thy glorious prayers, that the pure spirit, the best giuer of graces, may vouchsafe to visite my heart and dwell therein, which may througly purge me from all filth of vice: lighten and adorne me with sacred vertues: cause me perfect­ly to stand and perseuere in the loue of God, and my neighbour: and after the course of this life, the most benigne comforter may bring mee to the ioyes of his Elect, who with God the Father, and the Sonne liueth and raigneth world without end. So doth Bona­uenture also make the Virgin his Mediatrix to the holy Ghost;Pac domina, vt viuamus in gratia spiritus sancti. Psal. 86. Procure Lady, that we may liue in the fauour of the Holy Ghost. Many other prayers I might recount, wherein the Saints are made Aduocates to the substance of the God­head, to the Essence of the Trinitie, & to the seuerall persons thereof.

CHAP. XLIII. Of the vanity of the fourth Limitation, wherein they pretend that Christ is a Mediatour onely by giuing, and not by praying; but Saints contrariwise are Mediatours onely by praying for men.

Answere to the fourth Limita­tion.AN ancient Father truely & wisely saith, there is a double kinde of blindnes, when men see not the things that are, & yet would seeme to see the things that are not. And surely this miserable darknesse is fallen vpon the Romish fraternity, who cannot behold the great High Priest and Bishop of our soules at the right hand of God, making intercession for his Church continually, and yet can see swarmes and armies of other Mediatours commending their cause to God. It is no iust defence or Apologie to say, they doe not esteeme so base­ly of the Mediation of Christ, as to beseech him to pray for them; seeing that Christ doth both pray for vs as a Mediator: [Page 141] and giueth to vs as our God. Hee prayeth in his humanitie, wherein he is stil inferiour to God: he giueth in his diuinity, wherein he is equall to God: his prayer hath relation to his person: his giuing hath reference to the substance of his Dei­ty. Wherefore the Apostle saith,Heb 7.25. Hee is able perfectly to saue those, that come vnto God by him, seeing he euer liueth to make in­tercession for them. And in another place;Rom 8.34. Christ is at the right hand of God, and maketh request also for vs. Vpon which words Ambrose saith, the Apostle makes vs secure both of the Father, and the Sonne. For before he said, that God doth iustifie: and now, that the Sonne doth intercede.

Two parts there are of Christs eternall Priesthood. The first to Sacrifice: the second to pray. The Act of sacrificing was but once done, and neuer to bee renued; hee himselfe thereof hauing witnessed,Io. 19.30. It is finished. And the Father also doth acknowledge the same. For the sweetExod. 29.38. and fragrant odor of the Holocaust is euer before GOD; whereof the daily SacrificeExod. 12.11. was a type and figure. And hee in this respect is tearmedApoc. 13.8. a Lambe, which was slaine from the beginning of the world. But the second part of Christs Priestly Office, which is prayer, is now in doing, and shall euer con­tinue till the accomplishment of our redemption, and that his whole body be glorified with him their head. Wherefore Saint Iohn saith,1. Ioh. 1.1. Wee haue an Aduocate with the Father, Ie­sus Christ the righteous. Now then the Romanists, if they please, neede not feare to come to this open fountaine and professed Aduocate: and they may bee bold to beseech him to pray for them; which if they doe not, it is their owne fault. And whereas they account it a debasing, or the disgrace of our Redeemer, in his holy humanitie to pray for vs, there is no such cause. For his prayer is infinitely excellent aboue all the prayers, that we, or any other Priests can send vp vn­to God; and that for many considerations.

First, Christs prayer hath satisfaction ioined with it, it isGen. 8 2 [...]. odor requiescentiae, the sauour of rest, which was figured in the Sacrifice of Noah, wherein God is fully contented. But our prayer is the prayer of a loathsome and corrupt Leper, [Page 142] Leu. 13. who must haue his clothes rent, the head hare a couering before his lips, and cry; I am vncleane, I am vncleane. Neither may we offer it vp, but with the acknowledgement of our corruption.

Secondly, as wee our selues are vnworthy, so our prayers are vnperfect: but the prayer of Christ is absolute, and per­fect. ForCol. 2.3. Iob. 16.30. he knoweth all our necessities, nothing is hid from him.

Thirdly, Christs prayer maketh all our prayers acceptable; as you reade in the Reuelation, that vnto theApoc. 8.3. Angell stand­ing before the Altar, hauing a golden Censer, was much more o­dours giuen, that he should offer with the prayers of all Saints vpon the golden Altar, which is before the Throne. Which place Lyra their owne Glossator expoundeth of IESVS CHRIST, which came, that is (saith he) vnited flesh vnto himselfe, and stood before the Altar: that is, before himselfe, and repre­senteth the prayers of the Saints vnto the Father. By this it appeareth sufficiently, how vaine their excuse is, who feare to make Christ their Oratour to the Father, according to the Gospell; and yet feare not to make men their aduocates, con­trarie to the Gospell.

The Law ordaineth,Leuit. 21.18. that the Priest may not be lame of any of his members. But they haue shamelessely dismem­bred and dissolued Iesus, taking from him one of the most ex­cellent parts of his Priesthood, which is Intercession at the right hand of GOD by prayer for vs; the most sweet and soueraigne salue of all wounded consciences: and in place thereof haue put those to pleade our cause, and to pray as our Aduocates for vs, who haue no warrant for such an office.

Concerning the second part of this Limitation, wherein they pretend, that they come not to Saints, as vnto such as haue power to giue, but onely to pray; Let vs now examine it. And not to goe farther for examples, beeing compassed with such a cloud of witnesses, the matter in controuersie is made manifest in their publique Orison; Omnes{que} ciue [...] coelici annuant vo­tis supplicum. Ro. B [...]e. [...] Hym. Iesu salu [...]tor seculi. Let all the hea­uenly Citizens grant the prayer of the suppliant. Bonauenture to [Page 143] the blessed virgine saith;Cō [...]de [...] locū in­ter [...]ctos [...]e. [...]sa. 19. Or P [...]t Eremica. Graunt my Soule place amongst the elect of God. After the same manner speaketh the praier recorded by Martin Chemnicius vnto Nicholas; Post hāc tuā nos m [...]u [...]as ad aterna g [...]udi [...] ex Chemu. After this life bring thou vs into eternall ioyes. And vnto Saint George; Hic nos saluet à peccatu, vt in [...]oelo cum beatis possi­mus quiescere. Let this man saue vs from sins, that in heauen with the happy wee may rest. The Roman Breuiarie sayth of Iohn and Paul, Habent potestatē claudere coelū nubi­bus, et aperire por­tas eius, quia lingu [...] esrū claues coeli. That they haue power to shut vp Heauen with the clowdes, and open the gates thereof: their tongues are the Keyes of heauen. Bernard saith,Ser. 15. in Cant. iuxta medium. If Philip and Andrew bee our Porters, wee shall take no repulse. Thus now is Peter put out of his office, who elsewhere is saluted with the title ofClauiger a [...]here­us. ad manis Antig. in Rom. Bre. Hea­uenly Keybearer. Yea, the Lion of the Tribe of Iudah doth hereby lose his place also; euen he, that hath the key of Dauid, and shutteth, and no man openeth, and openeth, and no man shutteth: except (perhaps) Heauen haue many doores, and many waies into it.

Michael de Hungaria in his sermon on the Rosarie of the virgin saith;In confirm. Ro­sarij. ad finem. Michael the captaine and prince of the heauen­ly host, together with all ministring spirits obey thy cōmandements, O virgin, in defending the bodies, and receiuing the Soules of them that commit themselues vnto thee day and night. So Bernard sai­eth,Ascēdēs ergo i [...] altū virgo be ta, d [...]b [...]t ipsa dona ho­minibus apud Lyp. part. 1. fol. 22 [...]. vul. ser apsiu de assum. virg. ser. 1. The holy virgin ascending on high shall her selfe giue gifts vnto men: Dabit ipsa, shall her selfe giue. Where is now the Limitation of Tho. Aquinas, thatSoli Deo pore [...]gi­tur oritio [...]uasi per ipsū m [...]lēda. [...] 2ae q 83. vnto God onely praier is directed, as by him to be fulfilled? where is now Bellarmins reseruation?Nō licet à sanctis petere &c Bell, de Sanct. lib 1. cap. 17. protos. prima It is not lawfull to require of Saints, that they should as authours of diuine blessings, giue glory or grace, or any of the meanes, by which wee come vnto the same.

Learned Chemnicius recordeth a praier vsed to Martin af­ter this manner;In orat. quae inci­ [...]it, Martinus qui­niam. For Martin doth attend the praiers of the faithfull, giuing all wholesome things vnto his seruants which doe rightly sing. And againe to the Angels;Tu nostros Gabri­el prosterne hostes­tu Raphael a [...]ri [...] af­fer mede am. ibid. Gabriel, destroy thou our enemies: Raphael, bring thou medicine to the diseased. Nay, as the true Ortohd [...]x faith teacheth, that Christ is such a Mediatour, as both praieth to the Father, and also giues with the Father: so they also call vpon the Saints in one prai­er, [Page 144] both to pray for them, and to giue vnto them. As, in that Orison of the blessed virgin;Accipe quod of­ferimus, redena quod regamus, excusa quod timi­mus. Miss. Sar. in ser. beat. Mar. Accept that we offer, giue that we pray for, excuse that we feare. Heere three things they re­quire of the virgin; To accept, to giue, to excuse. In the first they acknowledge her dignity: in the second her power: in the third her office. Yea, vnto euery Martyr they make their petition, as well to forgiue, as to pray for forgiuenesse; Now Miss. Sar. de vn [...] Mart. nō de collato. are the bonds of thy holy body loosed, loose vs also frō the bonds of the world, for the loue of the Sonne of God.

This is cleane contrary to their foresaid Limitation. For heere they desire not Christ for the Saints sakes to forgiue; but the Saints to forgiue for Christs sake. Aloysius Lypom. re­cordeth a praier vnto Cyprian; Tu vero nos ab alto propitius res­pice, nostrū{que} ser­monē, ac vitā diri­ge. et sāctū ouile hoc pasce, aut vna rege, Lyp part. 2 pag 57. Behould thou vs merciful­ly from aboue, direct our words and life, feed this sheepfolde, and gouerne it withall. The like they haue of Saint Nicholas; Bles­sed In portif. Sarisb. festo. Nicho. Nicholas enioying now his triumph, knoweth how to giue vnto his seruants, which with all their harts desire his bounty. Here is neither intercession, nor mediation, nor aduocation, but triumph and bounty. Now if they replie, as Bellarmine doth, that it is no matter for the words, so the meaning bee, that Saints should saue by praier. I reioyne thereto, that in our religious worship our words must be perspicuous & plaine, to edifie the ignorant, not to ensnare them. Wee must not vse (f) cadauera verborum, Vid. Barth. Keyker. dead words, which are not such as they seeme. Austin saith, It is a token of a good dispositi­on, in verbis verum amare, non verba; to loue the trueth in wordes, not the wordes themselues, or the sound of them. Our religion doth not seeke after dark & difficult speeches; but plaine, and such as may edifie. Ornari res ipsa negat, contenta doceri. And Augustine saith, that the diligent desire of plain­nesse doth somtimes neglect fine wordes, Nec curat quid bene sonat, sed quid bene indicet at{que} intimet; it careth not for the fine sound of the word, so it bee manifest, and doth intimate and declare well. We ought not so to put one word for another, as God may be thereby dishonored, and his power giuen vn­to others: We ought not to put stumbling blockes before the blynd. But happy is that religion, wherin speake what you [Page 145] will, it is no blasphemy; for mentall reseruation helpeth all. If the Iewes had been allowed such interpretation of wordes, I thinke none should haue beene stoned to death by the LaweLeu. 24.15. against cursing of God. But the truth is, they plainly desire, and will obtaine health and blessings from the Saints themselues. Wherfore Clichtoueus, who expoundeth all their Hymns and busines of the Masse, vpon the Hymne of one Martyr, Spe mercedis, and the sixt verse of the same;Nō est morbus, quē nō curet, dum morborū nō obdu­ret plagā disfidētia. There is no euill which hee doth not cure, so that distrust do not encrease the plague of the disease, expoundeth it thus: The Omnē morborum molestiā curat hic sāctus martyr, si modo diffidētia de curatione morbi cō­sequēda nō reddat plagā morbi obdu­ratiorē et deteriorē. paine of all diseases this holy Martyr cureth, so that distrust do not make the plague of the sicknes the worse and harder to bee healed. Now let them pretend what excuses and reseruations they will, their exposition, and their text are the same: their wordes and meaning all one. After the like manner they pray vnto Saint Stephen, both to giue and to forgiue, in that Hymne, Sancte Prastās gēti per­sequēti preces pro lapidibus, ne repē­das te petē [...] lapides pro precibus, sed in­dulge pia mēti, plus­qua audet vocibus. Vid Cl [...]cth [...]. dei pretiose; vnto the nation persecuting, for stones thou yieldest praier, then paie them not that praye to thee, with stones insteed of prayers, but graunt thou to the mind de­uout more then it doth desire. And to Saint Iohn;Absolue nostra crimina. in hym. [...] Patre verb. prodiēs. For­giue to vs our faultes.

CHAP. XLIIII. Of the last Limitation, which they prescribe vnto themselues in the worship of Saints, That Christ is such a Mediatour as praieth for all, and none pray for him; but that Saints are not so.

TƲlly saith,Answer to the last Limitation. in Philosophie there should bee no place for fables. Much more in the profession of our religion truth and sincertiy is required. I cannot therefore but maruel at the shamless falshood of the Rhemists, who in their notes vpon the first Epistle to Timothy haue set downe this Limitation; 1 Tim. cap. 2. in annot. that none make intercessiō for Christ, nor giue grace to his praiers; but hee to all. For the better vnfoulding of this cauill, you shall vnderstand, that herein the glorified Saints differ not from Christ. For Bellarmine out of Augustine doth [Page 146] acknowledge, that the suffrages of the Church do not profite those that are Valde mali, that is, reprobates, swallowed vp of the second death: Nor those that are Valde boni; which are the Saints dwelling in the glorie of the Father. Now therefore (saith Bellarmine)Sacrificatur enim pro sāctes; nō vt ijs aliquid petamus, sed vt pro [...]loria illu [...]o lat [...] Deo gratias 4 amus. Bel. de purgat. lib. 2. cap. 18. We sacrifice for Saints; not that wee doe aske any thing for them: but that wee may giue thankes vnto G [...]d for their glory. And in this sense they sacrifice for Christ himselfe. For in the Canon of the Masse they say;Vnde et m [...]mores Domine, no seruitur [...] sed & plebi tua sācta eiusdem Christi filii tui Do­mini Dei nostri tam beatae passionis: nec nō et ab inferi [...] resurrectionis sed et in coelo gloriosae ascē­sioni [...], offerimus praclara mitestati tuae de tuu donis ac datu. in Can. Miss. wee thy seruants, O Lord, and thy people, being myndfull of the blessed passion of the same Christ thy sonne, and of his resurrection also from the dead, and his glorious ascension, offer vnto the excellent Maiesty, of thy owne gifts and largess, a pure Host, an holy Host, an immaculate Host.

In these words it is euident, that the sacrifice of thanksgi­uing is offred for Christ: and otherwise then this to sacrifice for a Saint, they acknowledge it to bee vnlawfull.Iniuriā facit martyri, qu. orat pro martyre. Aug. ser. 17. de verb. apo. ex Bell. de purgat. lib. 2. cap. 1 [...]. Hee offereth wrong to a Martyr, that prayeth for a Martyr. But to stop the mouth altogether of this false suggestion, only vsed to be a cloake of errour & Idolatry, the gentle reader shal vn­derstand, that the Romish Church maketh Saints mediatours fiue manner of waies. First, vnto Christ: Secondly with Christ: Thirdly without Christ: Fourthly, for Christ; Fift­ly, one Saint is made mediatour to another Saint. And these be the sundry sortes of mediation, which wee finde them to at­tribute vnto Saints: whereof we will intreate in order as they lye.

CHAP. XLV. Of the first kinde of Mediation of Saints, which is vnto Christ.

THe Mediation of Saints vnto Christ they do not deny, but acknowledge it as a positiō of their Church: which howsoeuer it carry a plausible shew of outward and worldly holines,Ignorance of Christs office the first cause of the inuocation of Saints. as acknowledging their vnworthines, and therfore sending Saints as their Oratours to Christ: yet the truth is, it doth proceed, first, out of ignorance of the office of Christ. [Page 147] For they looke on him, not as on an Aduocate, or a Redee­mer, or a Mediatour, or our reconciliation, our peace, our righteousnes: but as a truculent iudge, a seuere Censor, or a wrathfull executioner.

Secondly, it proceedeth out of an opinion,Desperation in the forgiuenes of sin, th [...] second cause of the inuocation of Saints. that they them­selues are not so throughly cleansed by the bloud of Christ from the guilt of sinne, that they should bee able to haue ac­cesse to him, to stand before him, or to be accepted of him: which by this ensuing of Discip. de Temp. plainely appeareth; for thus the virgin Mary he saluteth:Ser. 162. By thee wee haue ac­cesse vnto the sonne: O blessed finder out of grace, parent of life, Mother of Saluation, let thy plentifull charitie couer the multi­tude of our sinnes; our Lady, our aduocatrix, present thou vs vnto the Sonne. They teach also, that as the wounds of our Sauiour Christ by dispensation are yet fresh appearing in the body of Iesus Christ: so the Virgin sheweth vnto Christ, Pectus & v­bera, her breasts and her teates. Yea, as Christ sheweth his wounds vnto God: So Frier Francis sheweth his wounds to CHRIST; as wee reade in the blasphemous Hymne,O Francisce Iux solaris, crucifixe s [...]n­gularis, tam cum Christo gloriari, in Ch [...]ro coelestiū, in si [...] nobi [...]s v [...]tae v. 1, in pro nobis semper p [...]a, prode Christo stigmata. O Francis, the light of the Sunne, thou onely crucified, which now triumphest with CHRIST in the heauenly societie, shew for vs thy euer holy wounds to Christ. In the methode to meditate on the Rosary it is said,

So in the Missal,M ss Sar. in bene d ct A [...]m [...] virg. The Virgin of Virgins intercede for vs: and againe,In Iesu s [...]luator seculi. the Quires of holy Virgins, and of all Monkes, toge­ther with all Saints make vs partakers of Christ. Wherefore Germanus the Patriarch prayeth;Apud [...]l [...]y. Lyp. par. 1 fol. 225. ad Vithessals. Deliuer vs in all our necessi­ties, in all our dangers, in all great sicknesses, from all kinde of ca­lamity, and from the iust threatnings of thy Sonne. In the Hymne, Te matrem laudamus, they sing; Intreat him for vs, O Virgin Mary, whom wee beleeue shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead. The Romane Breuiarie to the Virgin saith; Intercede for [Page 148] the people, Ro. Breu. pray for the Clergy, beseech for the deuout woman­kinde.

It is to bee obserued, that whereas the Scripture, and the Fathers speake many times of Christ comming to iudgement at the later day, as thereby importing matter of great com­fort and consolation vnto his Elect, for that the same shall be both our iudge and our Aduocate, the Church of Rome tur­neth the same into matter of feare and terrour, onely to driue vs thereby from Christ to other Mediatours. To proue this by example,Disc de Temp. ser. 161. ad finem. Discip. de Temp. hath an History ready coi­ned. For a grieuous sinner standing on a time before the I­mage of the Virgin Mary with her Sonne in her armes, and seeing the bloud drop downe from the little childe into her lappe, as it did flowe from Christ vpon the Crosse, being a­mazed said, Who hath done this? The Virgin answered, thou and other sinners, which crucifie my sonne more then the Iewes, are the cause of this. The sinner replyed, O Mother of mercy, intercede for mee. Shee answered, you sinners call me Mother of mercy, but you doe not cease to make me Mo­ther of sorrow and misery. Then turning her to her Sonne (the stonie mother to her stonie sonne) prayeth, but shee is not heard. She prayeth againe, and is answered; Cease Mo­ther, for I prayed vnto my Father, if it were possible, that the cup might passe from me, but he would not heare. The Vir­gin prayeth againe, and is againe reiected. I (saith he) prayed vnto my Father the second time, that the cup might passe frō me, and was not heard. Well, the Virgin moueth the third time, and Christ the third time replyeth, I prayed vnto my Father the third time, that the cup might passe from me, and could not preuaile. Then, when no prayer would serue turne (for belike the Christ of stone cannot bee so mercifull as hee that is partaker of the flesh of his children) shee went vnto the Altar, and laid downe her sonne vpon the same, and fell downe at his feete. This the childe beholding said, Mother what wilt thou haue me doe? She said, I will with this sinner so long lye at thy feete, till thou grant pardon: to this the Sonne replyed, Not so Mother, it is ordained by the Law of [Page 149] God, that the Sonne should honour the Mother. Thus you see, first, that they come to the Mother, as more pittifull then the Sonne. Secondly, how hard Christ is become, and how inexorable vnto sinners: And lastly, the Virgin hath still her motherly commaund ouer him as a little childe.Deut. 32.34. Is not this laid vp in store with God, and sealed vp among his treasures? Psal. 74.23. Arise O Lord, maintaine thine owne cause, remember how the foolish man blasphemeth thee daily.

CHAP. XLVI. Of the second kinde of Mediation of Saints, being ioined with Christ.

AS I haue formerly shewed, that the merits of Saints are ioined together with the merits of Christ in the redemp­tion of Man: so now must I in this Chapter proue, that Christ and the Saints are ioined together in Mediation. To bring this to passe I must needs open to the Reader a most de­testable fraud, vsed by the Architects of the spirituall Baby­lon, both in their publike and priuate writings. Which when hee shall deprehend, I doubt not, but hee will acknowledge,Psal. 36.3. that the words of their mouthes are iniquitie and De­ceit: or, as Amos saith,Amos 2.4. Their lies haue caused them to erre after the which their fathers walked. For whereas the common translation, which only is authorized by the Tridentine coun­cell, readeth the words of the ninth verse in the fortie fift Psalme, Astitit regina à dexteris tuis, the Queene stood on thy right hand; by which is literally meant the Daughter of Pharaoh standing on the right hand of Salomon; and mysti­cally, the Church his Spouse on the right hand of Christ: Now the Missall, not content, against the minde of the Holy Ghost, to apply this vnto the Virgin Mary, turneth also Astitit, Ro. Bre. in assūp. b [...]t. virg. Maria lect 4. hodi [...] Regina as [...]isteus. into Assistit. Standeth, into Helpeth; for so the word, Assistit, is commonly vsed. And to shew that this did not by chance drop from them, Gasper Loart, and his inter­preter follow the same errour. Insomuch that hee rendreth this in English, The Gasp. Loart Ie­sutta in [...]. glor. myst. [...]ag. 110, lin. 2. Queene hath assisted at thy right hand [Page 150] in a garment of gold inuironed with varietie. After the same manner Ambrose Catherinus in the Councel of Trent blusheth not to call herEx Chemn. in exam. Conc. Trid. part 1. fol. 4. Sociam eius, the fellow of Christ. All these things necessarily import, that the mediation of Christ and the Virgin are together ioined, as the one to the other help­ing. Wherefore the Iesuite againe prayeth;Gasp. Loart in orat post. 2. dol. mist. I beseech thee, holding vp my hands to thee in most humble wise, O Mother of mercy, by the most vehement anguish of thine, and his afflictions, that sithence he hath beene tyed for my trespasses, I may bee loosed by meanes of thy sacred intercessions: and that I may for the merit of so many his blowes escape the punishment due vnto my most grieuous sinnes. Hereunto I may adde that blessing recorded by Martin Chemnicius; Chemnic. The peace of our Lord Iesus Christ, the vertue of his Passion, the signe of his Crosse, the integritie of the blessed Virgin, the blessing of all Saints, the custodie of Angels, be betweene mee and all my enimies, visible and inuisible, now and euer, and in the houre of death. And Soto in plaine tearmes saith,Soto in conf [...]si. Cathol. [...]x Chemn. The Saints are coadiutors and Cooperators in heauen, in the worke of Saluation. Bonauenture therefore ioineth them toge­ther in his thankes;Ibid. Psal. 77. Thankes bee to God and thee, holy Mother, for all that I haue obtained by thy pitty and mercy. Gasper Loart pronounceth;Gasp. Loart. in 5. glor. myst. Let vs beleeue that as God gaue to the first Adam, a companion like vnto him, to the end he might not be alone in terrestriall Paradise: So was it conuenient that such a like com­panion should be giuen to the second Adam, who beeing risen vp and glorious, might raigne with him risen vp and glorious in the coele­stiall Paradise.

CHAP. XLVII. Of the third kinde of Mediation of Saints in the Romish Church, which is without Christ.

ALthough then they may bee rightly said to make Saints Mediatours without Christ, when their prayers to Saints, or to God, that the Saints may be their Mediatours, doe not end with the clause, Through Iesus Christ, or for Iesus Christ: yet this is not inough vnto her that hath a whoorish [Page 151] forehead, and cannot blush, but that she must proceede vnto the height of all iniquitie; according to that of the Prophet, The Osce 4.12. spirit of fornications hath caused them to erre, and they haue gone a whoring from vnder their God. In the seruice of our Lady, this is most manifest;In an [...]n. beat. virg. [...]ar. post. lect. per te dei [...]ertitudi­nem. Miss. Sar. Haue mercy on those that cry vnto thee continually, because we are oppressed with the burthen of our sinnes, and there is none to helpe. If there be none to helpe, surely Christ hath made a vaine expense of the inestimable treasure of his sacred bloud: If there be none to helpe, Christ hath lost his Office of Mediatourship, and they haue laid his greatest honour in the dust. Likewise againe of the Virgin they say,Isac sola coelum ac terram amplitu­dine [...]uperauit. Ro. Bre in dic infra octau. Nat. virg. lect. magnū reuera miraculum. Shee alone hath wonne Heauen and earth with her greatnesse. In the same sort Bonauenture brayeth out also vnto the Virgin;Bonau. Psal. 7 [...] The enimie hath bent his boaw against vs, and there is none to comfort. The Missall of Sarum saith,Que tuo solo com­mercio recuperandi vitam aditum in­uen. t. in [...]er. beat. virg. lect. O beat. Maria. that mankinde hath found entrance to eternall life by her onely commerce or entercourse. The same is proued out of all the prayersVid orat. obsecro te, domin [...]: & orat. Missus est Gabriel. i [...] horu impr. per Iacebum Keruer. anno 1570. wherein she is called our health, our life. Surely, health is but one, and life but one. Wherefore in giuing these titles to the Virgin, they make her our onely Mediatour.

But aboue all abominations is that of Berengosius most im­pious: who doth discharge vs flatly, that wee come not at Iesus Christ the Sonne of God in this matter of Mediation any more (as by these his words doth appeare) to recon­cile God the Father vnto vs;Bereng. apud cent. 12. c. 4. de inclinatione doct. de inuoca­tione. Wee ought not now to pray vnto him the Sonne, but vnto the Mother, that by the aide of her most holy intercession, she may suffrage for vs before God and her Sonne.

I know thy eares tingle, and thine eyes are much displea­sed (Christian Reader) in beholding and considering such and so stupendious blasphemie: and thou wilt say, Vox non hominem sonat; It is not the voice of a Man, but the very mouth of Sathan: yet maruell not, hee is not alone in his sinne. The English Latine Primer allowed by Pius Quintus, and with the like priuiledges adorned as their Latine Office is, setteth downe a prayer, wherein wee are taught, Ʋnto In commend. ad virg. Mar O domi­na Mar. Sancta. the singular custodie of the Virgin, and into the bosome of her [Page 152] mercy, to commend our selues. Which words are plaine restraints of the Office of Sauing vnto the Virgin; That as the bosome of the Mother is the infants only safety: so the Ʋirgin, the singular or onely refuge of sinners. Germanus the Patriarch in Lypomanus out of Simeon Metaphrastes (three theeues concurring in one robbery) saith;Aloy. Lyp. part. 1. fol. 183. Thy aide, O Mother of God, is powerfull for vs vnto saluation: There is no neede of any other intercessour vnto God. The Missall of Hereford saith;Vbi mater m [...]s [...]ri­cordiae, impe [...]ratrix vent. mediatrix ad Deū pro crimine, nisi Maria? Br. He­ref. in lect 3. in v [...]sit. Mar [...]ae. Gaudet axtem Deus. Where is the Mother of mercy, obtainer of pardon, the Mediatrix vnto God for sinne, but Mary? And againe,Ibid. in lect beatis. mater Dei. All that are in necessitie flee vnto her as their singular refuge, when mans helpe sufficeth not. To these let mee ioyne the Legend of Lombardy, which feineth, that all the Apostles thus saluted the virgin;Hoc solū refrige­riū habemu [...], qu [...]d [...]e mediatricē apud Deū nos habere spe­ram [...]s. Leg Lomb. in assump. virg. Wee haue this only comforte, that we hope to haue thee our Mediatrix to God. I will conclude with the blasphemy of the Romish Missall, to which nothing can bee added more abhominable; for to eueryStatuit es Domi­nus testamētū pa­ci [...], et principē fecit [...]ū, vt sit illi sacer­dotij dignitas in aternum, Martyr Bishop they plainly ascribe the eternall priesthoode due only vnto Christ.

CHAP. XLVIII. That the Saints are Mediatours for Christ.

I Very well know how strange a Paradoxe this assertion will seeme vnto many; and what exclamations against mee for this, the virulent tongues and venimous pennes of the fauourits of the Babylonish strumpet will cast out. I beseech thee therefore (godlie reader) not onely to weigh my reasons with an equall balance, which I shall alledge for the probation of this strange position: but also to con­sider their Apologies and defences in this behalfe; and then according to the vprightnes of thy Christian heart iudge of the matter, and giue glorie vnto God.

My first proofe that they make Saints mediatours and in­tercessours for Christ, is that, which Martin Luther, Georgius Maior, Martin Chemnicius, and diuers other haue obserued; that in the Secrets of the Masse they euer commend the Sa­crifice, which is Christ, vnto God the father, through the [Page 153] merits and intercession of Saints. As in that of Saint Ʋalen­tine, Sacrificiū, queso D [...]mine, quod offe­rimus, gratis tibi beatu [...] mar [...]yr Va­lēt [...]n suffragator e [...]ficiat. Secreta in Miss Sar. Let the sacrifice, O Lord, which wee offer vnto thee, be made acceptable to thee by the blessed Martyr Val [...]ntine the inter­cessour. The like the Roman Missall hath also in sundrie pla­ces. I will alledge one for all;S [...]ipe quaesu­mus Domine, mu­nera dignater obla­ta, & beati Mar­celli suffragātibus meritis ad nostra salutis aux l [...]ū pre­t [...]enire cōcidas. Ro. Mis [...] in Sanct. Ma­rcell. Papa. Receiue wee beseech thee, Lord, the gifts worthily offred, and by the suffrage of the merits of blessed Marcellus cause them to proceed to the help of our sal­uation. But they answer perhaps, that in these and the like se­crets their intent is not to commend the body of Christ, or his bloude to the Father: but the bread and wine, which is the matter to be transubstantiate. For so Bellarmin seemeth to say, when he teacheth, that Bell. de Miss. li. 1. ca. 27. postremo l [...]c. of the Masse there are fiue partes; of which the first part is the offering of the bread and wine. To this I must replie, it is a needless thing to commend vnto God, that which they meane not to offer vnto God: that which they know of force by the power of the wordes must perish and vanish away. And in the whole Gospell and Ca­nonicall volume of the new Testament, there is no com­mandement, no example, to offer bread vnto God; it is a mere Iudaicall tradition without any warrant of the word of God. Againe, the bread is not the Hoste to bee consecrate, but the body and bloud of Christ is the Host, except they will make two Hosts; one of the Bread, another of the Body.

But the secret in the feaste of Primus and Foelicianus doth make the matter most plaine; for therein thus they praie,Piat tibi, domine, quesum [...], hostia sacrāda, placabilis pretiosorū celebrita­te martyrū tuorum Primat Foeli, quod per corū merita gloriosa, et peccata nostra purific [...], & tuorū tibi vo [...]a con­ciliat, alia secreta in Miss. Sar. in mem. Primi et Foeli. in sect. Iunij. Let the Hoste to be consecrate be pleasing vnto thee, by the celebrity of the Martyres Primus and Foelicianus, that by their glorious me­rits and prayers, it may purge our sinnes, and reconcile to thee the praiers of thy seruants. Many things there are in this praier, which make it clearely euident, that by the word, Hoste, neither bread nor wine can be vnderstoode, nor any thing els but the body of Christ. For first, to call bread and wine in their owne natures a sacrifice, is merely Iudaicall, and may not be granted. Origen truly saith,Ipse solu [...] est ho­stia peccatis et ips [...] est hestia sancta sanctorum, hee is the only Hoste, or sacrifice for sinnes: hee is the Hoste, the holy of holyes. Neither can the Hoste bee tearmed the thanksgiuing of the Church. For Harding himselfe, the greatest Oedipus of the [Page 154] intricate riddle of Transubstantiation saith,Has. ling. artic. 17. sect. [...] verbo per hanc autem. The oblation of the New testament is not the sacrifice of our deuotion, but the body of Christ it selfe.

Secondly, the secret of Primus and Foelicianus doth ex­pound and vnfould it selfe. For they desire the Hoste to bee accepted by the merits of Primus and Foelicianus, that it may purge their sinnes, and reconcile their praiers vnto GOD. Now they cannot say of the substance of bread and wine, that it purgeth the sinnes, or reconcileth the praiers: nor of any thing else but the body and bloud of Christ. Therefore it is manifest, that the body and bloude of Christ is comen­ded vnto God the Father by the merits of Primus and Foe­licianus.

The Roman Breuiarie in the secret of Saint Ierome praiethMunera que de­ferrimus, intercedē­te beato Hieronimo cōfessore tu [...], et me­delā nobis operētur et gloriā. Ro. Bre. in secret. sāct. Hierom. donu coelestibus. that the gifts which they offer, by the intercession of Saint Ie­rome the Confessor, may bring vnto them medicine and glory. I know there is none so impudent to deny, that this gift which bringeth medicine and glorie, is Christ alone. Wher­fore they must of necessity confesse that they praie, that Christ in his office may bee commended to God by Ierome the Confessor.

The Secret of the fourteenth sunday after Trinity, in the Missall of Sarum thus saith;Propitiare, Dom. populo tuo, propiti­are muneribus, vt hac oblatione place­turet indulgētiā nobis tribuas, et postu­latae cōcedes. secret. Forgiue thy people, O Lord, and be thou propitious to thy guifts, that being pacified by this obla­tion thou mayst grant vs pardon, and what else wee desire of thee. The Roman Missall in the Secret of Saint Peter saith;Oblatū tibi Dom. sacrificiū intercedē­te beat. Pet. apost. tuo vinificet nos sē­per et ma [...]at per Dominum nostrum. Let the sacrifice offered by thee, O Lord, by the intercession of the Apo­stle Peter, quicken vs alwayes and defend vs. If they say, the ob­lation which God is pleased with, which quickneth and de­fendeth, is the bread and wine, it is Iudaisme; and supersti­tion more then Pharisaicall: If the oblation be Christ, then they praie for Christ it is most manifest.

My second proofe is taken from the praier in the Canon of the Masse, which beginneth,Supplicet te roga­mus omnipoteus. in Ro et Saris. et [...]m­ [...]tb [...] Breuiarus. Supplices te rogamus; supplyant, we beseech thee, O holy Father, command these things to bee caried by the hands of Angells into the high Altar, in the sight of thy diuine maiesty. Now in these wordes either the bread & [Page 155] wine, or the body and bloud of Christ, or else the praiers of Saints must needs be vnderstood. Bellarmin himselfe, because he thinketh itBel li. [...]. de Missae. [...]4 ver [...]. fatemur absindissime. were very grosse to grant the first, and to make Heauen like a bakers Bynne, will haue this to bee vn­derstood of the seruice of the Church: But how vntruly, the circumstance will declare. For the speech of the Priest is ap­plied to the Host, which is the body and bloude of Christ; wherfore in speaking hee kisseth the Altar, crosseth the Host, In Cā. Miss. Sar. euen as he doth, when hee maketh the body and bloude of Christ: hee pronounceth the demonstratiue pronoune, Haec, These: which in all construction pointeth to that, which is before vs, and which is next in hand: But that is the very body and bloud of Christ in their Hosts, whereof in the words also going before immediatly he spake. It is euident therefore, that they meane by the Host the body of Christ it selfe; Euen as in the Legend it is storied of Hugo de Sancto Victore, Leg. Lōb. in pelag that calling for the Host, when he was sicke, they brought him one, that was not consecrate. Which Hugo per­ceiuing sayd, god be mercifull to you my brethren, this is not my Lord, which you haue broght me. Wherat the company amazed fetcht another Host that was consecrated indeed: but Hugo not able to receiue it sayd; Let the Sonne ascend vnto the Father, and the Soule to God that gaue it, and presently the body of Christ vanished. Hugo, you see, is a Mediatour by his praier for the taking vp of the body of Christ into Heauen. Why should they then denie, that they make An­gells mediatours to carrie him vp in their hands, which the Canon it selfe professeth? Much more sincerely dealeth Odo in his exposition; who interpreteth the words as the truth is indeed, after this manner;hostia perferri in cōspectū Dei, quid est, nisi oblat­onem nostrā cō ūg [...] ver­bo. fieri Deū, per eā nos in Deū assumi, et nostra vota ac­ [...] p [...]ari? Odo Ca­mer. [...] [...]enpos Cā. M ss dist. 3 Our sacrifice to be car­ried into the sight of God, indeed what is it but to bee ioyned to the word, to be vnited to the word: to bee made God, and by it vs to be receiued to God, and our vowes to bee accepted? This is plaine dealing. For herein hee teacheth the Orison to bee twofould. First, that the oblation (which you know after the words of consecration is the very body and bloude of Christ should bee ioyned and vnited to the Godhead. Secondly, that our [Page 156] praiers should be thereby accepted. The Master of the Sen­tences saith,Missa autē dici­tur, vel qua Missa est hostia cuius cō [...] Immoratio fit in il­l [...] officio: vnde di­c [...]tar [...]te Missa est. 1. sequemi [...] hostiā, quae miss [...] est ad coelest [...]a [...]̄dētes post eā: vel quia Missus coelestu ve [...]it ad cō­sacrādū corpus Do­minicū, per quē ad altare coeleste de­sertur hostia &c. Pet. Lomb. in lib. 4. dist. 14. in finē. et sic coll. Henr. Vrimar. It is called Missa, or the Masse, either be­cause the Host is sent vp to Heauen, whose commemoration is in that office. Wherefore it is said; Goe yee, it is sent, that is, follow the Host, which is sent vp to Heauen: or els it is so called, because an Heauenly one comes to consecrate the Lords body, by whom the Host is brought vnto the Heauenly Altar.

Clichtouius likewise agreeth herein with Odo, and the Ma­ster, expounding those words, First, of the praiers of the congregation: Secondly, of the verie body and blood of Christ. For so his words witnesse;Potest et altera huic loco ad [...]ptari expositio: secūdum quā Sacerdos hic r [...]gat, quod Deus iubeat haec, corpus scilicet et sāguinem filis sui in altari ob­lata et praesētia, perferri per mini­steriū angelorū Sā­ctorū in sublime al­tare suū, scilicet in coelū, vbi sedes eius est et thronu [...]: perferri (inquā) nō secun­dū ipsā loc [...] trāsla­tionē, quādoqu [...]dem ibi nūc residet ad dextrā patris gloria et honore corona­tus, sed secūdū gra­tā acceptationē. Cū enim princep ad­mittit munera sibi dono data in suū of­ferri cō [...]pectū, id ar­gumētū est, quod ea nō auersatur, s d cū beneuolētia ample­ctitur. siqua nāque alominatur et exe­cretur dona [...]ia, non ea finit suo cōspe­ctur praesentari: ita quatenu [...] accepta finit haec munera quae offeruntur, petuntur ea perferri in conspectu diuinae ma­iestatis summaeque d [...]uinitatis, Angelico m nesterio. Nam si non patiantur ex indignitate offerentis repulsam, sed admittantur d [...]uino conspectu [...], omnino grata erunt. Clichtou. in Can. Missa. There may bee another interpretation (saith he) fitted vnto this place, according to which the priest doth pray, that God would command these things, that is the body and bloud of his Sonne offered on the Altar, and there present, to bee brought vp by the ministerie of his holy Angells into his high Altar, which is heauen, where his seate and Throne is; to bee carried, I say, not by locall translation (for hee is there now sitting at the right hand of his Father crowned in glory and honour) but according to the gratious acceptance thereof. For when a Prince doth admitte gifts into his presence, it is a token that he reiects them not, but doth gratiouslie accept the same: & the gifts, which hee abhorreth, he suffereth not to come into his presence. So then in that respect that they should bee accepted, the petiti­on is, that they should be brought into the sight of the diuine Maie­sty, and of the high deity, by the ministery of Angells. For if they bee not repulsed by the indignity of him that offereth, but bee admitted into the diuine presence, they must bee altogether accep­ted. This opinion is receiued of all them, which thinke the Etimologie of the word, Missa, to come from the sending vp of the Sonne vnto the Father in the Masse.

Much wresting thou seest (Christian reader) there is to make an honest vnderstanding of this petition: and all that the best excuser Clichtouius can say, is this in effect; that for the very body of Christ the Angells must mediate: euenVid. Henr. Bullinger. de erroribus circa Missom. [Page 157] the body that is on the Altar, that it may bee brought into Gods presence, not locally, but acceptably, lest in respect of the indignitie of the offerer, it should be repulsed from the diuine presence. For if it once gette into the presence of God, there is no doubt, but it will bee accepted.

By this which hath beene spoken it appeareth, that Bellar­mins euasion is a false and impudent figment of his owne, and that the carrying of these things into the high Altar, is either the vniting of his Manhood to the Godhead, as Odo: or the procuring of acceptance for it, and admission into the pre­sence of God, as Clichtouius expoundeth. Yea, vnconstant Bellarmine himselfe forgetfull of his owne position, after the same manner doth salue the sore. For hee saith,Ex parte ministri, vel populi astātis, qui simul etiam of­ferūt. p [...]test nō pla­cere. Bel [...]. de Missa. lib 2 cap. 24. verb [...] sed facilis. that al­though the oblation in respect of the principall offerer, and in respect of the thing it selfe do alwayes please GOD: Yet in respect of the Minister, and of the people it doth not alwayes please God. Into what impietie? into what blasphemie doth not obstinate heresie bring him whosoeuer hath sould himselfe to ini­quity and to resist the truth? Who would haue thought that the penne of a Christian man could leaue such blottes of blasphemie behind him? as to say, that Christ in respect of the offerer doth not please God. Incidit in Scyllam; to auoide one blasphemie, the Iesuite is carried into another: to ex­cuse the imputation that Angels with them bee Mediatours for the Reall carrying of Christs body into Heauen, hee is driuen to saie, that they are Mediatours for the acceptance of Christs body: which because simply vnderstood, is as blasphemous as the other, now he mends it by saying, that Christs body may be vnaccepted in respect of the offerer; an hellish and diuelish speech, fitter for the barbarous mouth of an infidell Mahometane, then the penne of a Christian. Though wee and our seruice bee often tymes hatefull vnto God in respect of our manifould abominations: yet that our corruption should make Christ to the Father vnaccep­table, is no lesse a sacrilegious speech, then false and vnproper. If he had said that the priest or the people had not pleased God in that sinfull Masse and oblation of theirs, I would [Page 158] easily haue beleeued him: but that the consecrated Host, which is according to the Romish Church very Christ, God and Man, should in any respect be said to be brought out of the fauour of God, or vnacceptable by any fault of ours, is an intollerable position, and full of heinouss iniurie to God and his sonne Christ. But there is good hope notwithstan­ding. For though they bring Christ out of his Fathers fa­uour, they will by praiers bring him in againe. And this is the cause, perhaps, why guilty vnto themselues of the wrong they haue done him, euery priest is his mediatour, praying and wishing saluation vnto Christ, and vnto euery member of his; asSalue tremēdum iūctis potestatibus [...]put, salue specio­sissima saluatoris nostri Iesu Christi facies, salue me [...]li­stuū [...]s, guteurque suauisumum. He that saith this praier, hath 3 [...]0 daies of pardon for euery salue. Saued bee thou, O head, dreadfull to all powers, most bewtifull face of our Sauiour, saued bee thou: saued bee you most benigne eyes of our Lord Iesu Christ: saued bee thou, hony flow­ing and most sweet throat of our Lord Iesus. And at the last, ha­uing runne ouer all the parts and members of the body, they adde, Saued bee thou, O most holy soule of our Lord Iesus Christ.

To mollifie this by a gentle exposition, their english-latin primer translateth it,In salue. ad omne membrū Christi In the primer or of­fice of the blessed virgin printed by Arno Conings an. 1599. and priui­ledged with the like graces as the Latin. All haile dreadfull head, all hayle beautifull face &c. But they are neuer a whit heereby holpen. For the authour of the Compendium of theologicall veritie saith,Io. de Combis in Cōpēd. Theol. verit. lib. 4 cap. 2. Aue, or, All haile is a word importing Health or Saluation. So that their praier is, that Christ should bee sa­ued.

My third proofe I take from their post-communion prayers. In that of Saint Barnabe thus they pray;S. cramēta coele­stia quae per [...]ati [...]arn. Miss. Sar. The heauenly sa­craments, which for the passion of the blessed Apostle Barnabe we haue offered to thy diuine Maiesty, let them bee healthfull to vs by his intercession, in whose birth day they are receiued. I hope, they cannot deny this to bee spoken of the very body of Christ, because it is called an heauenly Sacrament; and for that after consecration (as they say) no substance of bread and wine remaineth. Yet they pray that Barnabees interces­sion may make it healthfull: which is all one, as to pray that power may bee giuen to Christ in his office and mediation for Barnabees sake. So in the post-communion, on the natiui­ty [Page 159] of many Confessours;Praesta, quaesumus omnip [...]tēs [...]u [...], vt cuius [...]estiuitate [...]o­ti [...]a sūt s [...]ramēta, eius salutaria [...]obis intercessi [...]ne reddā­tur. Grant we beseech thee, O Lord, that for whose festiuity these Sacraments are desired, by his inter­cession they may be vnto vs healthfull. After the same manner they desire, that by the praiers of Saint Bertine and Saint Nico­medes, the holy things, which is Christ, may defend them. The same is common in the Roman Missall. I wil content my self with one example amongst many;In post cō. sanct. Steph Haec nos communi [...] &c. Let this communion, O Lord, purge vs from sinne, and by the intercession of Stephen thy Martyr and Bishop, let it make vs companions of the heauenly medicine. Sundrie such other there are; in all which they de­sire, that the Host for the praiers and merits of Saints may haue power to sanctifie, or to defend, or to saue them. And thus are men made Mediatours for Christ, that hee may be­come an effectuall Mediatour vnto God for vs.

Of this argument I will entreat no further, since not only with praier for the eternall acceptance of Christ they come vnto GOD, but they haue an Orison also which wisheth vn­to him temporarie and limited health.

How manyQuo [...] marū sunc guttae et arena, ter­ra grana et gram [...] ­na, arborū fructus et folia, stella coeli, et angelus spiritu, tottes cū filio [...]uo. Aue castissima ma­ter Dei, foecūdissi­ma{que} virg. Maria. droppes and Sands the Sea, how many graines and grasses the earth, how many leaues and fruits the trees, how many starrs and Angells the heauens do containe: so many times, Hayle Ʋirgin with thy Sonne.

CHAP. XLIX. That Saints are Mediatours vnto Saints: the fift and last kinde of Mediat [...]on.

THe Missall of Sarum with plentifull record shall free me of my promise in this behalfe. Vnto the Angell Ga­briel they praie;Nūc igitur prae [...] accelera p [...]e matris &c. in Miss. archāg. Gabe. A te precor virge amabili [...]. Now, O thou Herauld, make haste, I thee be­seech, pray thou the bowells of the holy Mother to shew vnto her son her breasts and her teats. Here you see is mediation vpon me­diation. Gabriel to the virgin, the virgin to Christ: all this is done to set the Lord Iesus farre out of the sight of a wounded conscience, that neither the eye of an oppressed mind, nor the feeble hand of a distressed heart should laie hould on him: and therefore Christ is made a Tetrick iudge, to whom [Page 160] Mediatours themselues cannot come but by a Mediatour.

After the like sort they pray vnto Anna the Mother of the Virgin;Tua prole [...] est Re­gina in coelesti pa­tria, ipsa cūctis iam pralata per te su­mens hec precata. I [...] sequent. testa­mento veteri. Thy childe is Queene of Heauen, shee before all is now preferred: by thee receiuing our prayers, be she our Aduocate in the presence of God. And the Missall Itinerantium, printed by Martin de Werdena in Colen, prayeth to the same Saint Anna; Tu nos matriat{que} proli, regi ac reginae p [...]li, cōmendare non def [...]ne. in Sequent. Anna pia Mater aue. Thou to the Mother and the Sonne, vnto the King and Queene of Heauen cease not to commend vs. Neither is this do­ctrine without example. For Iacobus de Ʋoragine in his Le­gend of Saints witnesseth of Saint Martha, That shee built a Chappell to the Ʋirgin Mary: And Albert maketh the Virgin a Mediatour betwixt Christ and the Saints in heauen. For hee saith,Maria illuminat Sa [...]cto [...] in gloria. Albert. Mary doth illuminate the Saints in glory; which cannot bee verefied but by mediation, because the Lambe is the light thereof (saith Iohn) and not the Virgin. To conclude, the Virgin her selfe is said to pray vnto an Angell at the time of her dissolution,Legend Lomb. in assump. virg. that her soule might not seee any euill spirit, and that no noisome power of Sathan might meete with her. To whom the Angell answe­red, What needest thou to feare the malignant spirit? who hast crushed his head, and spoiled him of all his power: yet thy will be done, thou shalt not see them.

CHAP. L. Of the third worke of the glorious Priesthood of Christ, which is Aduocation.Aduocation.

I Haue said before in the Tract of Mediation, that the effect and fruit of Mediation and Aduocation are all one, al­though the things themselues are sundry in their own kinde. What therefore hath beene spoken of Mediation may suffice for the matter of Aduocation. Yet notwithstanding because to expresse fully that Iesus Christ is all things to all men, and that of himselfe alone without any other hee is sufficient to our Saluation, the Scriptures, and (following the Scrip­tures) the ancient Church hath giuen vnto him all Titles of Office; as Redeemer, Mediatour, Aduocate, Intercessour, and such other: I will also of the Title of Aduocation speake briefely.

In the great high Priesthood of the eternall Son of God there is nothing more comfortable, then that hee hauing vnited vs vnto God generally by the coniunction of our na­ture to the diuine nature: specially and effectually by giuing vs his Spirit to knit vs also vnto God; and hauing sacrificed himselfe on the Altar of the Crosse, in which wee finde full and perfect Redemption: yet moreouer hee now also euer liueth to make intercession for vs. The worke of Redemp­tion hath graffed vs into his body: but this restlesse and vn­cessant Aduocation doth continue vs in his body; who dai­ly of our selues start out, and hourely fall away from grace, but he still helpeth our infirmities; being our spirituall Mo­ses, holding vp Exod 17.11. vnwearied hands to the father for vs: Dan. 12.1. The onely Michael, the great Prince, who standeth for the children of the people. He standeth (I say) like Aaron betwixt Numb. 16.48 the liuing and the dead, that the plague may stay: He standeth like Iosuah, Zech. 3.1, 2. before the Angell of the Lord, whom though Sathan would re­sist, yet he is not able.

Now in the handling of this excellent Office, because the effects thereof are all one with the fruits of his Mediation, as [Page 165] I haue shewed; therfore I will touch only three points of ob­seruation. First, that his Office of Aduocation is proper vnto Christ, and can by none but by him be performed. Second­ly, I will answere the Arguments vpon which they ground the intercession and Aduocation of Saints. Thirdly, I will shew, that the Romish Aduocation of Saints is inuented to the imitation of the old Heathen.

CHAP. LI. That there can be but one Aduocate, which is Christ.

THe Scripture calling Christ an Aduocate, taketh the Me­taphor from worldly tribunals, & seates Iudiciall: where in respect of the ignorance and vnabilitie of the common sort, learned and well experienced men are appointed to de­fend and pleade their causes. Into this temporall function of an Aduocate, as none can intrude themselues, but such as by the iudge (who hath power) are thereto ordained: so none may take vpon him to exercise this spirituall Aduocation, but such as are by sufficient authoritie appointed. But to or­daine an Aduocate in heauenly things, none hath power but God: and hee hath constituted his Sonne onely. There­fore there can be no other Aduocate but Christ.

It is worthy due and serious consideration, that the Scrip­ture so often and almost euery where setteth out vnto vs the Commission and authoritie, by which Christ vndertooke his office.Heb. 5.5. Christ tooke not vnto himselfe this honour, to bee made the High Priest (saith Saint Paul) but hee that said vnto him, Thou art my sonne, this day haue I begotten thee, gaue it him. And vnto the Corinthians hee saith, that1. Cor. 1.30. Christ is of God made vnto vs Wisedome, and Righteousnesse, and Sanctification, and Redemption. And in Iohn, 1. Io. 4 10. God hath sent his Sonne to bee a reconciliation for our sinnes. And Christ himselfe saith,Ioh. 5 30. I can of my selfe doe nothing. And againe the Apostle witnesseth,Rom 3.25. God hath sent him out to be a reconciliation. Christ therefore calleth himselfeIoh. 5.30. Him whom God hath sent. And the Apo­stle saith, that1. Cor. 11.3. God is the head of Christ. These and sundry [Page 166] other places proue, that Iesus Christ was by the Father ordai­ned, appointed, and called to this Office of Aduocation; without which calling he could not haue had the same. All then, that chalenge this office, must shew their lawfull cal­ling and constitution: Or if the Pope will set vp Aduocates, he must shew his Commission, and what right he hath so to doe. Wherefore I cannot sufficiently maruell, that Pope In­nocent the fourth, commending Saint Edmund of Canterbury in his authenticke instrument of Canonization, bids all the world reioice,Quod nouellus [...] [...]i apud [...] [...]a­tron [...] ac [...]. M [...]th W [...]stm [...]a­ste [...]ien. [...]. Hen 3. That there is a new Patron growne vp for them to God, but telleth not who called him, who admitted him, or with what authoritie hee was ordained Patron. The Apostle Saint Iohn intreating hereof saith,1 [...]a. 2.1, 2. We haue an Ad­uocate with God, Iesus Christ the iust, hee is the reconciliation for our sinnes. And Saint Paul saith, thatHeb 9 24. Christ is entred into the very heauen, to appeare now in the sight of God for vs. Surely, if there had beene any other aduocates, or any other reconci­liation, or any other that appeared in the sight of God for vs, the Apostles would not haue spoken of Christs intercession in such singularitie. Yea, vnto the Ephesians the Apostle saith, thatEphes. 2.14. He is our peace, which hath made of both one, and hath broken the stop of the partition wall. Now lest perhaps we should thinke, that after this obstacle is remoued, and this partition taken away, we should haue accesse by any others vnto God, the Apostle in the next verses addeth,Eph [...]. 2.15 16 To make of twaine one new man in himselfe, and that he might reconcile both vnto God: as though he should say, Christ hath taken away the partiti­tion wall; not that now by other subordinate waies you should come to God, or be knit together in one body, or be reconciled in any other, but in him that hath made an en­trance vnto grace, and remoued all that kept vs from God, that we might enter by him, and that hee might reconcile vs. So that as our Redeemer is one, our Aduocate is also one; euen as he witnesseth,Ephes. 2.18. Through him we both (that is, Iew and Gentile) haue an entrance vnto the Father by one spi­rit; not by many spirits, but by one spirit, euen the spirit of Christ.

As it was then with Israel the figure, so it is with the Church the very spirituall body of Christ, and all the members there­of.Numb. 35. No Cities were allowed for refuge vnto the defiled with bloud, but such onely as were appointed. So no Aduo­cate for sinne, nor refuge, nor deliuerance can bee, but such as is ordained by authoritie. Wherefore, except the Roma­nists can proue their Saints to be appointed for Cities of re­fuge, and that the Lord spake to them, as he spake to Iosuah and to Moses, to ordaine such Sanctuaries and Asyles for offend [...] In vaine they flee vnto them, in vaine they call vpon them. Let vs now descend vnto their arguments.

CHAP. LII. The reasons which the Romish Church hath for the Aduocation of Saints.

SOme few vnnecessarie and vnconcluding reasons for the defence of this Aduocation and Inuocation of Saints, the Romish Church hath inuented vnto it selfe, wherewith shee could neuer haue beene perswaded, except shee had sold her selfe to commit Idolatry, and had beene willing to be decei­ued, and had said vnto her selfe, as her rebellious sister the Iewish Synagogue speaketh in the Prophet;Amau [...] alieno [...] & illos amabo. Ier. 2.25. I haue loued strangers, and them I will loue. The weake, vniointed, and vnsinewed shadowes of argument, which they haue in this behalfe, are deriued from two especiall heads.

The first is the wisedome of flesh, and reason of the car­nall man, so often condemned by the Holy Ghost in the sa­cred volume.

The second is the authoritie of Scriptures, miserably wrested from the true and naturall sense, which is enforced contrarie to the minde of the holy Ghost, to speake what it speaketh not, and to proue what it doth not intend.

Of the first kinde, their Rabbi Alexander of Hales bringeth three Reasons.Alex. Alens. ex Chemnic. de inuoc. Sanct. First, our owne want, imperfection and weakenesse in our selues. Secondly, the glorifying and prai­sing of Saints, whose honour is thereby exalted, in that wee [Page 168] confesse them able to commend our prayers to God, and to obtaine graces for vs. Thirdly, the reuerence wee owe vnto God, being of our selues wretched sinners, and therefore cannot be bold to thrust our selues into the presence of our glorious God; And for this cause wee must make the Saints our Aduocates. To these three heads may bee well reduced all the Reasons taken from humane vnderstanding, which the Romane Church can alledge for their defence in this controuersie. Of the second sort of arguments taken from the Scripture, I will speake in their place. Now le [...] consi­der the first.

CHAP. LIII. Of the first argument taken from Mans reason, which is our want and imperfection.

THe want and imperfection of our nature doth in three things especially vtter and declare it selfe. The first defect is of our righteousnesse in deseruing. Wherefore wee haue neede (say they) to borrow of the merits of Saints to supply our pouerty in desert.

The second is our want and defect of knowledge in contemplation. For our eyes are as the eyes of an owle vnto the bright sunne beames, neither can we behold the vnaccessible light. Wherefore wee must commit our cause to the Saints, who doe behold him.

Thirdly, our want and imperfection in loue and deuotion, which should be the strength of our prayers. Therefore (they say) That Man being full of imperfection doth feele himselfe oftentimes to be more stirred vp in deuotion towards Saints, then towards God himselfe.

Alex Halens.Now although these reasons be so friuolous, that there is no great neede to ouercome them, which fall to the ground of themselues;Ezek. 13. like the vntempred morter, that the Prophet speaketh of, which cannot cleaue together, neither endure: yet because foolishnesse must bee answered, lest it seeme wise vnto it selfe, I will briefely shew the weakenesse and idlenesse of these Sophistications (wherewith none can be entangled [Page 169] but those, whose mindes are blinded, and iudgements led astray by the wilinesse of Sathan; So that, as Cyprian saith,Cypr. they will not easily yeeld beeing ouercome, although they know it is not lawfull what they doe.) Beseeching thee Chri­stian Reader, duely to consider, what Austine well saith,August. con­cerning the nature of Man, There is nothing in it better then the minde and reason; yet who desireth to liue blessedly must not liue thereafter, but must liue according vnto God, that he may attaine vnto blessednes: for the obtaining wher­of it ought not to be content with it selfe, but our mind must be subiect vnto God.

CHAP. LIIII. Of the first part of the first reason, want of righteousnesse and of worthinesse.

TO the vnderstanding of the weakenesse of this shadow of reason, it is necessarie to discerne betwixt Man in himselfe, in his corruption, as hee is meerely naturall, full of sinnefull abominations, from the sole of the foote vnto the crowne of the head, nothing but boiles and botches; And Man in his Christ, in his regeneration and new birth, being washed and sanctified in the bloud of Christ. When we come then to God in our inuocation and prayer, though wee be in nature sinners and loathsome Lepers, both to our selues, and to all that looke on vs: yet we pray in the Name of Christ, the true salt of euery sacrifice, and wee put on,Gen. 27.15. like Iacob, our elder brothers garments, to obtaine the bles­sing, wherein wee are cleane and holy, and for such are ac­cepted in the sight of God.Ioh. 9.31. We know (saith the blind man in the Gospell) that God heareth not sinners. Wherefore that God should heare our prayers, it is necessary that wee be not sinners but righteous: and such wee are onely in the bloud­shedding of Iesus Christ, and by his sanctification. Indeede I must confesse, it is Pharisaicall pride, to say,Luke 18. we are holy in our selues, or righteous in our selues: and so it is also despe­ration to deny our selues to be holy in Christ; and that in [Page 170] Christ we are not worthy to haue any accesse vnto God. We haue in Christ a treasure of merits, a full satisfaction to offer vnto the Father. His deseruings are a superabundant recom­pence for all our transgressions and debts: a superabundant paiment for all our purchase. God doth require nothing at Mans hand, which Christ is not vnto God for Man. Where­fore there can be no want of merit in them, who, when they come vnto God, come in CHRIST IESVS, and offer vp their prayers seasoned in the bloud, and sweetened with the perfume of the Tabernacle, which maketh the flesh, euen of beasts and of birds, acceptable sacrifices, and the prayers of sinners welcome oblations vnto God; especial­ly, seeing Iesus Christ prayeth for vs, as our Priest, and our Sacrifice: prayeth in vs, as our head: and is prayed vnto of vs as our Aduocate.

CHAP. LV. Answere vnto the second part of the first carnall reason, which is our want and defect in knowledge of contemplation.

THe second cause which the first reason pretendeth, why we should seeke helpe of Saints, is the defect of contem­plation. Wee are so ignorant, that Man knoweth not him­selfe, nor his owne soule within him: how should hee then know the things that are without him, the diuers wants both for this and the better life? It may therefore seeme, that these blinde eyes haue neede of better directours then themselues, euen the Saints, who in the face of him that vp­holdeth all things, doe all things know, say they.

To this Sophistication wee may truely answere; that, as Christ is our righteousnesse, so he is also our wisedome, by whom we know so much of God, as is sufficient to be known to eternall life. For he hath taught vs, who it is, that must be prayed vnto: by whom he must bee prayed vnto: for what we must pray vnto him: and after what sort we must pray vn- him. And these are the foure parts necessarie vnto prayer; which being obserued, euery prayer is acceptable. For this [Page 171] cause no doubt Iohn calleth ChristI [...]h. 1.9. The light that lighteth euery one, that commeth into the world: And againe,1. Ioh 4 7. Euery one that loueth, is borne of God [...]nd knoweth God; as though he should say, as we haue the beginning of loue, or inchoate loue: so we haue in this our pilgrimage, the beginning of knowledge, or inchoate knowledge of God, such as sufficeth here to inuocate him, and to pray vnto him withall.

Thomas Aquinas well teacheth,Tho. Aq. secunda secundae. q. 82. art. 4 & sic. eo. Bon Iohn. c. 82 c [...]mp. that there be two con­templations in a Man, which stirre vp deuotion. The first is, the beholding of Gods great blessings & graces: the next is, the beholding of our infirmities and offences, which maketh a man to cleaue vnto the Lord, which hath made heauen and earth.

For the further clearing of this point, the Apostle witnes­seth, that the Spirit of God it selfe helpeth our infirmities, and teacheth vs how to pray vnto God. Wee know not what to pray as we ought,Rom. 8. [...]6. But the Spirit it selfe maketh request vn­to God for vs with sighes, which cannot be expressed.

Lastly, whereas they presuppose, That to call perfectly on God, requireth perfection of knowledge: It is euident, that the departed Soules neither know God nor Man perfectly. That they know not God perfectly and fully, who can doubt, since God is infinite and incomprehensible, whom the heauen of hea­uens containeth not? That they doe not know man and his necessities, Esay witnesseth;Esay 63.16. Though Abraham be ignorant of vs, and Israel know vs not, yet thou, O Lord, art our Father and our Redeemer, thy name is for euer. And in the second of the Kings, the Lord saith of Iosiah; 2. Reg. 22.20. I will gather thee to thy fa­thers, and thou shalt be put in the graue in peace, and thine eyes shall not see all the euill, which I will bring vpon this place. But if the holy departed did knowe what necessities the liuing want, then how should they bee hidden from the eyes of Iosiah? Wherefore it is manifest which Ecclesiastes speaketh;Eccles. 9. The dead know nothing at all: nothing of this worlds businesse: nothing of the necessities of their militant brethren.

CHAP LVI. The third part of the first reason; Our great want of loue, which is the strength of prayer: insomuch that vnperfest Man doth feele himselfe to bee more stirred vp in deuotion towards Saints, then towards God.

TO speake of the third reason of the first argument, which is, the want of loue in vs, and that vnperfect Man is often more moued in deuotion towards Saints then toward God, there is no neede. For it is of all fantasticall conceits the most idle. Who knoweth not that wee are boundDeut. 6.5. to loue God with all our heart, with all our soule, with all our strength? This loue if at any time we finde to waxe cold in our selues, wee must not therefore runne to Saints, and to departed soules of holy men with our deuotion; but, by all the meanes we can, stirre vp our loue, towards God, and strengthen the weake things, that are ready to die. Origen well obserueth, that there are two sweet and gratefull names in Christ, which doe allure men vnto him; God calleth him his Welbeloued Sonne. These appellations (saith hee) are so printed in our senses, that euen the communitie of the names ioineth vs to the societie of the gifts. Appellations of such sweetnesse mol­lifie our hearts, and kindle in vs the affection of deuotion. And Augustine saith; Tutius & iucundius loquar cum meo Iesu, quàm cúm aliquo Sanctorum spirituum dei; I speake more safe­ly and sweetly with my Iesus, then with any of the holy spi­rits of God. The proposition therefore it selfe, That infirme Man is more affected in religion toward Saints, then to­ward God, is very vntrue. We are most affected vnto that, which the Law of nature leadeth vs vnto; but the Law of nature moueth vs rather to the loue and worship of God, who is our Creator and preseruer, then of Saints from whom wee haue receiued nothing at all. Aquinas saith, GodD [...]u [...] est m [...]ximè d [...]ligib [...]li, quia est suinus [...] bonus. secū­d [...] secu [...]dae. q. 24. art. 2. ob secunda. is most easily loued, because he is supremely good.

Secondly, euery thing we loue, wee therefore loue, be­cause it is good: but euery one knowethLuke 18.19. Psal. 118. God is most good. Therefore by nature we loue him most of all. Hereto may [Page 173] wee adde, that wee loue GOD for himselfe; but wee loue Saints for God. Therefore our loue is naturally more toward God, then toward Saints.

Lastly, what man is so infirme, but that he knoweth that1. Ioh. 4.19. God loued him first,Rom. 5.8. and that he loued him more, then Man doth loue himselfe? Therefore the most infirme doth know,Math. 22.37. that God is to bee loued with all the heart as the Creator: with all the soule as the Redeemer: with all the minde, as the reward. Which if we doe not, but wanting loue towards God call vpon men to be our helpe, we shall one day feele the fearefull curse, which it allotted vnto them thatIer. 17.5. make flesh their arme.

CHAP. LVII. Of the second argument, by which they would proue, that Saints must be prayed vnto as our Aduocates; Because they must be honoured.

THis argument, if it bee duely considered, doth aboue all other wound their owne position concerning the inuo­cation of Saints. For if prayer be a religious worship (as A­quinas saith)Secunda secundae 83. coll. à Berard. Bon Ioan. Patet orationem esse actum religionis; it appea­reth that prayer is an act of religion, vnto which it belong­eth to yeeld reuerence and honour vnto God, then it cannot be due or appertaining vnto Saints, for that in religious wor­ship God requireth,Deut. 6.13. Math. 4.20. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him ONELY thou shalt serue. Alexander of Hales saith, that Idolatry is the giuing of the honour due vnto God to the creature. Out of these Antecedents it is euident, that since religious honour is due onely to God, and prayer is a religi­ous honour; who so giueth prayer vnto Saints, committeth Idolatry with Saints. Neither can the distinction betwixt [...] and [...], that is, Saintly and Diuine worship, help them any iote. For prayer is an act of religious worship, wherein we confesse and presuppose a power in him that we pray vnto, to helpe vs, and euery where to be present, and at all times, and to bee as the soule in the body, whole in the [Page 174] whole, & whole in euery part. Wherfore Master Kellison doth vainlie inferre,Kellis. in the sur­ [...]ey. lib. 3. c. 12 pag. [...]48. d [...]t duac. a [...]no 1603. That if we must honour none but God, wee may not honour our parents. For wee acknowledge two kinds of honour; Ciuile honour due to men, to Saints, to priests, to princes: but we denie vnto thē that honour, which is Religious worship; whereof praier, by Aquinas confession is part. For so the Apostle teacheth;1. Tim. 1. iuxta cōmunē versionem. To God only glory; therefore to God only praier.

Eckius and Bellarmine vrge,Bell. ib. de Sanct. beas. cap. 19. prate­ [...]ea viro{que} testamē. that if the Saints may not be prayd vnto, then much lesse might the Apostle desire his Colossians, his Ephesians, and the Hebrews to pray for him, First then to stoppe the mouth of these Cauills, wee must consider, it is one thing to desire our liuing brethren to pray for vs as fellow members: another thing to make dead Saints Aduocates and Mediatours, offring vp both their praiers and their merits, as a satisfaction to God for our sinne. When Paul requesteth the Ephesians and Colossians to praie for him, hee doth seeke only a charitable consociation of fellow members in earnest inuocation of God. But the Church of Rome praieth vnto Saints as vnto superiour powers; vnto such, Quos veneramur officio (as the Missall saith)Miss. Sar. in Sāct. Agrete. orat. Deus qui nos. et Ro. Br. ib. whome wee worship by duty. The Apostle Paul desireth the praiers of his Col [...]ssians and Ephesians vnto God; but the Romish Church desireth the Saints themselues to grant vs forgiue­nes of sinnes, and all other graces. For so they sing vnto Thomas Becket; Tho. cedūt et pa­rēt omnia, pestes, mor. [...], damonia ig­itu, aer, cel [...]u [...], [...]t ma­ria. Tho. mūaū re­plenit gloria. Tho. mūdus pra stat obse­quia. in Bre Sar. To Thomas all things giue place and obey; plagues, diseases, maners and diuels, fire, earth and Sea: Thomas hath filled the world with glory, let the world to Thomas yield o­bedience.

Secondly, the Apostle desireth the Colossians & theEph. 6.19. Ephe­sians to pray for him, and for other disposers of the word and Mysteries of God; to the end that the door of vtterance might be giuen him, to speake the Mysteries of Christ: that hee might open his mouth bouldlie, to publish the secrets of the Gospell. This is but a praier of the congregation, that God would blesse the Minister with gifts fitt for edification of the body of Christ, and of themselues. What is this to [Page 175] the calling vpon Saints to bee our Aduocates with God?

Thirdly, to request our liuing brethren to praie for vs, we haue warrant and example in the worde of God: but to be­seech the glorified Soules of Saints so to do, we haue neither precept nor example. But I will goe forward to answer their other arguments. For answer vnto the third argument tou­ching our reuerence due to God, that which hath been spo­ken in the 53. Chapter in answer to the first part of the first reason, may suffice.

CHAP. LVIII. Answer to the arguments of Eckius and Bellarmine, taken out of Scripture to proue the inuocation of Saints.

BEllarmine, and his Master Eckius before him will needs proue the inuocation of Saints out of Scripture. To which purpose they alledge the fortie eight of Genesis; Gen. 48.16 The Angell which hath deliuered mee from all euill, blesse the children, and let my name bee named vpon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaack.

To the answering hereof wee must vnderstand, that the word Angell hath a double signification; somtime it is taken for aPsa 103.20. & Heb. 1.7 Ministring spirit; somtime for Iesus Christ himselfe: and so Christ is calledEsay 63.9. the Angell, that went foorth from his presence. Now Iacob here praieth not to the other com­mon Angells, but to the great Angell of office, Iesus Christ.

Three places they bring out of Iob. The first, out of the fift Chapter;Iob 5.2 Call now, if any will answer, and to which of the Saints will thou turne? Ergo, there is inuocation of Saints. The very words, which went before, shew the meaning of Elyphas to bee, That God is onely righteous, and all men sinners: God only et [...]rnall: Man, yea the Saints themselues, transi­torie; which hauing finished their course, rest with God and cease from humane things, neither can giue helpe to any. Wherefore call (saith hee) If any will heare thee, and to which of the Saints wilt thou turne? Surely Elyphas yieldeth as litle [Page 176] helpe to the Church of Rome in the questiō, as he did cōfort to Iob in his miserie. But admit these words of Elyphas were to their aduantage; yet what foundation can bee layd vpon the speeches of such an one, of whome the Lord himselfe hath pronounced,Iob 42.7 My wrath is kindled against thee, and thy two friends: For yee haue not spoken of mee the thing which is right, like my seruant Iob. Againe, the verie contexture of the place alleadged doth altogether proue the contrarie.Iob. 4 For Elyphas was striken into terrour: his bones trembled in him: his hayre also stood vpright: and a winde passed by, and one stoode before him like an Image, whome hee knew not. All which circumstances teach, that this was a vision, and the doctrine thereof was this; that God found sinne in his Angells, much more in men, which dwell in houses of clay, who perish for euer without returne: so that if you call to them, they will not answer. Wherefore wee must enquire of God, and turne our talke vnto him.

The other place in the ninth of Iob, where the patient man saith,Iob 19.22 (Miseremini mei, amici; haue mercy on me my friends: the common latine translation, which they so much approue, sheweth that Iob in the complaints of that Chap­ter was a type of Christ, and his great afflictions. Which if it bee so, I hope, they will not say, that Iob being typicall Christ did praie for the help of Angells: but if the words bee literally taken, they euidently require the true and faith­full compassion of his friends, that stoode by; who in stead of a louing visitation did vnkindly vpbraid him, and vex him with taunts and bitter reproofes. As for that place in the thirty thirde of Iob; Iob 33.23 si fuerit pro eo Angelus loquens, if an Angell shall speake for him; the text is corrupted. For the Hebrew soundeth thus; if an Angell or Messenger speake to him: and not for him.

Lastlie they vrge the place of the thirtie two of Exodus, where Moses saith,Exod. 32.13 Remember Abraham, Isaack & Israel thy seruants, to whome thou swarest by thy owne selfe. But (as I be­fore sayd) this place is no proofe of praier vnto Saints; for that, by Bellarmins owne confession, before the comming [Page 177] of Christ the Soules of holy men departed were not in hea­uen. Therefore they could not bee prayed vnto, because they could not praie for vs, who did not thē in the face of Chr. (as they say) behould our wants. This place then doth set Gods owne Couenant, which was his mere mercy, before the eyes of God, as a motiue sufficient to implore forgiueness of sins and continuation of his grace. The same is to bee vnder­stood of that place,Psa. 132.10 For thy seruant Dauids sake turne not away the presence of thine anointed. Dauid was the type of Christ: and many times by the name of Dauid, Christ is vnderstood. As for Aaron standing betwixt the li­uing and the dead with his censer, it was a figure of Christ also, and praieth him to bee our only Aduocate.

Of all vanities, that of Eckius doth excell, who saith, Be­cause God doth honour his,Ioh. 13 and Christ did minister to his Disciples, therefore wee muct pray vnto Saints, and honour them in our religious worship: as though Christ washing his Apostles feet did adore his Apostles: or the honour of reward, which god giueth to his chosen, were a sufficient argument, that the honour of adoration & inuocation may bee giuen to them.

CHAP. LIX. Concerning the arguments for the inuocation of Saints, taken from the Fathers of the Church.

HOw venerable the consent of the ancient Doctors of the Church is in matters of religion, where they agree vnto the Scriptures of god, ther is, I think, no man but wil confess.

Ieremie commandeth toIer. 6.16 inquire for the ould way, which is the good way, and walke therein. And Moses exhorteth Is­rael to Deut. 32.7 remember the dayes of ould, and to consider the yeares of so many generations: aske thy father, and hee will shew thee; thine elders, and they will tell thee. Iob 3. Bildad therefore calleth vpon Iob to inquire of the former age, and to prepare himself to search of his Fathers. Tully well saith in Philosophie, that men the nearer they were to the beginning, and to the diuine progenie, so much better did they discerne the truth. Yet notwithstanding there are diuers cautions and rules to [Page 178] bee obserued in alledging the sentences of ancient Doctors, without the which the authority euen of the best Fathers is but a Spiders web instead of clothing, & grauell instead of bread. Wherefore the Papists themselues admitt not abso­sutely of the authority of the Fathers, but only where they serue their turnes; As you may see in Bellarmine. Who in the controuersie,Bell. de Sāc. beat l [...]. 1 cap. 5. ad finem. whether Saints are fully blessed, re­iecteth the authoritie of Tertullian, as an Hereticke: and of Lactantius, as one better read in Cicero, then in Scriptures: and of Ʋictorius, as one altogether vnlearned.

Can. 1 That authority is alwaies fit for our example, which doth not swarue from the rule & Canon of al truth, theDan. 7.9 word of the ancient of daies, who is before all tyme;Ioh. 1.9. the light of lights, & the Father of all that is called Father in Heauen & Earth. By his spirite, the Prophets, Apostles and Euange­lists in deliuering of scriptures were directed. Which scrip­tures being neglected, wee may answer, as Socrates did to Eleusius; Quomodo, Eleusi, to [...] qui Antiochiae cōuenerūt patres nominas: illorū au­tē maiores patres esse insiciaru? Socr. lib. 2. cap [...]1. How commeth it to passe, that you call them Fathers, which mett in the assembly at Antioch, & deny their elders to be Fathers who assembled long before in the Coun­cell of Nice? Why doe they accept of some of later daies as Fathers, & doe not receiue the Apostles & Prophets in their Canonicall writings as Fathers? Wee must then so alledge Fathers, as that wee acknowledge them to bee all seruants, and in subiection to the word of God. A Doctor (saith Chrysostome) may adde nothing besides the lawe, out of his owne sense: nor take away any thing from it after his owne vnderstanding; But must preach that only which is contei­ned in the lawe. So doth Cyprian also teach, that the opini­on of Fathers must bee no further receiued, then they agree with the scriptures.Quare si solus Christus audiēdus est, nō debemus at tēdere quid aliquis ante no [...] faciēdū pu­tauerit; sed quid, qui ante omnes est, Chri­stus prior secerit: neque en [...]m hominis cōsuetudinē sequi op [...]rtet, sed De [...] ve­ritatē. Cyp. l. b. 2. ep. 3. ad C [...]cilium. Wherefore, if Christ alone must be hearkned vnto, wee ought not to attend what any one be­fore vs doth thinke meet to bee done; but what Christ, that is before all, hath done. For wee must not follow the cus­tome of men, but the truth of God &c.Tert. de praescrip. aduersu [...] Heret in pri [...] fere. Do wee trie the faith by the persons, or the persons by the faith? saith Ter­tullian. Ambrose saith,N hil i [...]itur, vel quod bonum [...]de­ [...], addēdū est Nothing may bee added to the [Page 179] commandement; no, though it seeme to bee good. Augus­tine saith;Aug. sup. Io tract 46. ca. 10. circa medi [...]. Sitting vpon the chaire of Moses they teach the lawe of God; therefore God teacheth by them. But if they will teach their owne things, heare them not, doe not after them; for such seeke their owne things, and not the things of Christ. And this is the first caution to bee obserued in the reading of the Fathers, To try them by scriptures, and to acknowledge their writings to bee but seruants and hand­maydes to the word of God.

Secondly, it must bee considered, whether the Father, Can. 2 whose authority is alledged, were not misled with any phantasticall opinion of Heretikes, or superstition of false teachers in his time. VVherefore wee may iustly ex­cept againstVid. C [...]nt. 3 a. c. 10 Tertullian in the controuersie of Mariage, and of fasting, and of difference of Meats, who fauoured the dotage of the Heretick Montanus concerning Mariage, and choice of meates; which little differeth from the opinion of the church of Rome.Grat. dist. 15. The workes of Tertullian by Gra­tian himselfe are counted Apocryph. So the bokes of Origen in the matter of free will, orignall sinne, Purgatorie, and such like cannot be alledged; in which points hee is notoriously knowne to haue dispersed many venimous opinions. As, that in this life the Saints haue the same perfection, that Adam had before he fell: that euery Man may exterminate from himselfe the Seede or inclination to sinne, which is cal­led Fomes peccati. Yea, the Romish Church it selfe reiecteth Origen and all his works; which Ierome approueth not.

Thirdly, wee must consider, whether the books of the Can. 3 Fathers become to our hands vncorrupted or not. Of Ori­gen Ruffinus saith,Ea C [...]nt 3 [...]. that many things which are repre­hensible in his bookes, were foysted in by his enemies: and he bringeth foorth an Epistle of Origen to his friends in Alexan­dria, in which Origen himself doth therof complaine. Hierome saith,Vid. Hieron. in ep. [...]d Pam et Oceani [...] de erroribus Orig ser [...] ad finem that Origen confest his errours to Fabian the Ro­man Bishop, and blamed Ambrosius his friend, who did immaturely diuulge the writings, which Origen for his owne priuate vse secretly composed. The same my bee said of the [Page 180] rest of ther Fathers, and of Augustine himselfe. Of this sort are the Apostolicall Canons: whereof the most part are plaine forgeries, and the rest doubtfull. For touching them there hath neuer been any certainty in the Church. Diuers condemned them all as Apocrife and false.E [...] Pet. Soto [...]or ad sine. [...]st. ded. in Can. Apost. a [...]ud [...]th. Car­ranz & ex Grat. [...]an. 14. Some allow only 60; and of that opinion is Pope Zepherim: some approue but 50; & of this opinion is Pope Leo in his Epistle against Abbot Nicetas: the 6. Councell approueth 85. Canons. Now then what sound authority can be taken frō such doubtfull & am­biguous surmifes, whereof euen Rome it selfe is not resolued?

The same estimation is to be made of the decretal Epistles, which they pretend to haue beene written by the Primitiue Bishoppes of Rome. But Esops Asse is easily bewraied by his eares. For the argument of them agreeth not with the time of those Fathers, nor the phrase with the stile of those times: besides sundry other euident reasons, by which they are de­prehended to bee false and forged deceipts. They haue not the testimonie of any Fathers: they are not al­ledged by any ancient Councells: no approued Histories re­cord them. And it is manifest that the Popish Iugglers haue thrust diuers things into them, which they neuer wrote; as not only those famous learned men; Erasmus, and Philip Melancthon abundantly declare: but the sundrie editions of the Fathers at Rome, at Paris, and at Lyons, within these for­ty yeares printed, euidently witnesse. To this let vs adde those Indices expurgatorii, perfidious falseries, worthie to bee condemned by the Cornelian law;Posse [...]. in se­lect. bib. li. 1. ca. 19. especially that Spa­nish Index, mentioned by Posseuinus. But of the falsification of Fathers I shal no more need to speake, being so notably de­tected by Andreas Crastonius; Mr. Iohn Fox in his Historie, the Magdeburgenses, and by that Star of Oxforde Doctor Rey­nolds; and lastly, by the excellent learned man Doctor Iames, to whose fidelitie the famous librarie of Oxforde is cōmitted.

Can. 4 Fourthlie, we must diligently regard in what time or age of the Church, the Father, whose authouritie is pressed against vs, did liue. For euery authour must not be reckoned among the Fathers; but such only as liued neare the time of the [Page 181] Apostles, or in the Primitiue Curch. For then the Church (as Eusebius well obserueth) was a virgin. Wherefore, as onePlut. in vita eius. said of Philopemen, that he was the last of all the Gre­cians: so may wee say, that the age of the Fathers ended al­most with Saint Austin; as that learned man Bartholomeus Keckermannus truly obserueth.

By this rule then, the testimonies of Bernard, Gregorie Beda, Damascen, Theophylact, Anselme, and diuers others, whome the Romish Church hath put into the Albe of the Fathers, is to bee iudged and examined by the reasons and arguments they bring, not by the authoritie and celebrity of their names; since they liued long after the tyme of the Churches puritie, in corrupt and superstitious ages.

Lastly, it is specially to bee obserued, that wee iudge not Can. 5 any of the Fathers by one or two singular or speciall senten­ces, nor yet the whole colledge of Fathers by one or two that are called Fathers: but (asOportet secūdum plura intelligi pau­ciora. aduersus Praxiam. Tertullian saith) the fewest must be vnderstood by the greater number: the Tree must bee iudged by the woode: the branch by the Tree: the dropp by the Riuer: the sparke by the fire; That is, one particular saying by the whole Tenet and doctrine of a Father in the rest of his works, and one particular Father by the ge­nerall concent of all the whole quire of the Fathers. For it were most absurd to iudge the generall by the speciall, all the doctrine of a man by one sentence, or all the Fathers by one Father. These rules and Canons being obserued, the Church of Rome shall haue no cause to boast of the Fathers in the matter of Inuocation and adoration of Saints, or any other question. Now to the third point.

CHAP. LX. That the Romish worship of Saints is an imitation of the old Hea­thens.

MVch labour the Romish church doth take, to proue the worshipping of Saints to be receiued from the venera­ble antiquity of the church, the gray-headed truth. But if they would duely and sincerely indeedEsay 51.1. looke backe vnto [Page 182] the hole, out of which they were digged, and the pit, from whence they were taken, then they shall finde, that in this and sundry other their abominations,Ezek. 16 3 their Father was an Ammorite, and their mother an Hittite, & thatEzek. 11.12 they haue done after the maner of the nations, that were round about them. To begin therefore with their strongest defence, where­in they most of all triumph; that though they worship diuers subordinate meanes and mediatours to saluation, yet they acknow­ledge but one God and one Lord: Wherefore the blacke reproach and foule spot of Idolatry cannot be imputed vnto them. You shall vnderstand, that neuer any wise or ingenious Heathen did allow, or acknowledge any more but one God of Nature, though they had diuers subordinate and mediate Gods of office.Ex et Bulling. de orig. cultu diuorū c [...] 8. Orpheu [...] apud Iustin. ibid. Orpheus vnto Musaeus (as Io. Franc. Pico interpre­teth) thus doth sing;

And againe also;

And Iustinus Martyr in his admonition to the Gentiles bringeth in Sybilla thus diuining;

Sophocles saith, indeed there is one God, which hath framed the earth, the heauens, and the shining water, & the threat­ning windes. But we mortall men deceiued in our mindes to the destruction of our soules haue made Images of wood, or of stone, couering them with gold or Iuory: to whom we haue ordained holy Rites and Festiuals, thinking hereby to worship holily. Pythagoras also taught, that Vnitie was the beginning and cause of all good things. Which what is it else, but as though hee should say, that God is one and a­lone? Aristotle in his booke of the world saith,Vnu [...] porro cū D [...] sit, pluribus nomin bus appella [...] tu [...] est à suu, [...]s{que} v [...]i{que} affect [...]bus omnibus denomina­tus quorū specimen edere ipse solet. Although there be but one God, yet hee is called by sundry names, ac­cording [Page 183] to his effects which he sheweth of himselfe.

The fame, Seneca teacheth;Sen. lib. 5. de beneficij [...]. Whether thou call him Nature, Destinie, or Fortune, they bee all the names of the same God, vsing his power diuersly on them.Ibid. The same God is called Iupiter; as much as to say, helping Father. Mercury, because he is alwaies running amongst vs, and present vvith vs. Neptune, for that he succours trauellers by Sea. Pluto, for his riches. Mauors, for his ruling of great things. Saturne, because he satisfieth all. Lyber, because he deliuereth. Apollo, for destroying. Osyris, because he hath many eies. Pan, because hee is preseruer of all things. Iuno, of helping. Venus, because by that vigour all things are produced. Minerua, for threat­ning. Isis, for antiquitie. And so all the rest are but the seue­rall powers of one and the same God. Heerein the Romish Church doth nothing differ from the Idolatours. For as they acknowledge one onely true and immortall God, so did the Heathens also confesse the same.

The beginning of the Heathenish, and the Popish Idola­try was much after the same fashion. For the Heathens put their excellent Kings, and the inuentours of workes benefi­ciall to mankinde, yea, sometimes their Friends and their pa­rents into the Albe of their Gods; as Ninus did Belus, and Aeneas Anchises; as Tully in the second booke de natura De­orum, and Pliny in the worlds historie, and Ʋirgil in his Aeneidos teach. Yet these they neuer held equall to the God of Nature, but put alwaies a difference betwixt their mortall & immorral powers; the Gods that were made, & the glori­ous maiesty of the eternal vncreated Deity. Wherfore they are tearmed Heroes & Semi-dei, half Gods, & worthies, whose vertues and noble acts men sung at great feasts and solemni­ties, to honour their memories with Hymnes of praise, and to stir vp others to follow their example.

The same is the progresse of the Christian Idolatry. At the first the memories of Saints were solemnized onely to excite men to follow their vertues; as the Epistle of the Church of Smyrna to the Philomelians touching the buriall of Polycarpus doth witnesse. Wherein they plainely professe the honour [Page 184] of Martyrs to be no other, but that the minds of Men should bee prouoked by notable examples, vnto the waies of their predecessours. This also the second Nicen councell in the fift sanction declareth, saying;Etsi [...]acimus ho­minū piorū simili­tudines nō tamē ea fūt vt adorētur vt Dei, sed vt eas vi­dē [...]s [...]d [...]mitationē s [...]cinerū illorū irri­tentur. 2. Con. Nice. act 5. Although wee make the similitude of holy men, yet they are not made to bee wor­shipped, but that behoulding them we may bee stirred vp to the imitation of their noble acts.

Natalis Comes, a man very exercitate in the study of these things, doth acknowledge, that the Images of Saints were at first set vp, to be Monumenta amicorum Dei, the remembran­ces or Monuments of the friends of God.

After this the Heathens proceeded farther, from supersti­tion in remembring, to Idolatry in seruing and praying to their Heroes, Bulling. de orig. cult. dus et Su [...]. [...]rr. cap. 9. lib. 1. who were intituled Medioxumi Dij, as Media­tors and intercessours betwixt God and Men: yea, they fai­ned (as many now also dreame) that euery one had two par­ticular Angels, a good and a bad, by whose administration from the supreme Deity all things were ordered vnto a Man. So in the Church, from celebrating the memories of Mar­tyrs they proceeded to build Altars ouer their Tombes, to honour them with Temples, with praiers, with gifts, vvith oblations, running to them as Mediatours betwixt Christ and his Church in all dangers and all diseases.Ro. Bre post. com. pro pluribus pōtif. Quaesumus Domi­ne solu [...]aribus. Yea, they shame not to worship saints with the same sacraments wher­with they worship God: and with the very same praier which Iesus Chr. taught his disciples to come to the Father with; as not onely the Scottish Frier openly taught in the pulpit: but Costerus the Iesuite also in his Institutions ordainethOratio dominica ad angelū custodē. Costanstit lib 1. ca. [...]5. ad ipsum finem. euery one to come vnto the Angell Gardyan with the Lords praier. Neither can they say this is a priuate opinion, seeing that whole booke of Costerus is approoued by all the faculty of diuines in the Vniuersity of Mentz, and of the Vniuersity of Collen, of Treuers, & of Louaine; together with the censure of H. Cuykius an Apostolicall Censor of books to bee prin­ted.

The Heathens gaue vnto their Saints seasons, & months, and daies, & houres, & times, ouer which they made them [Page 185] Presidents. But the Christians haue gone beyond all Hea­thens, and haue multiplied their Saints; not according to the number of their cities, but according to the number of the months, and weeks, and daies; insomuch that one day is consecrated to eleuen thousand virgins.

The Heathens haue ascribed to their Saints particular pla­ces, which they defend, and where their Deity especially would shew it selfe. Babylon hath Belus, Egypt Osyris, A­phrica Neptune, Mauritania Iuba, the Massagets Phoebus, A­thens Minerua, Rome Quirinus: Iuno hath Samos, Venus Pa­phos, Vulcan Lemnos, Iupiter Crete, and beastly Priapus his Lampsacum. Thus euery countrey, and Citie, and field, and Riuer, and Wood, and house, and place had Deos tutelares, singular Gods of defence; Insomuch that Oenomaus Vid. H. Bullinger de orig. error. circa deos Gentiū. cap. 9. and Hesiod speake of 30000. Gods Christians also haue learned this kinde of superstition of the Heathens. For the Saints haue their speciall places, wherein they delight to bee ado­red, and make their power knowne. England had Saint George, Spaine Saint Iames, France, because they would be the more sure, Saint Michael and Saint Denis, Panonia Ludoui­cus, Colen the three wise Kings, to the protection of Saint Am­brose Millaine, and vnto Huldericus Augusta was commit­ted, the Virgin is most famous at Loretta, and Saint Marke at Venice; Nay, euery particular Church in Townes and Cities glorieth with his singular Patron, euen as Virgil spea­keth of Troy. Excessere omnes, odites [...]risque re­lictes, Dij, quibus imperium hoc stete­rat. Enead. 2. lib.

Yea, as among the Gentiles one Heros was surnamed of sundry places (As Diana, Agietora, Coryphaea, Laphyra, Cory­thalia, Ephesia, Eremitana, Aquensis, Campensis) So one Saint hath also the Sirname of diuers places; as our Lady Loretta­nae, our Lady of Worcester and of Walsingham, the faire Lady, the Rosie Lady,Nostra domina candida C [...]st. in prae. 9. lib instit. the Lilly Lady, the Lady of power at Paris, the Lady of ioy in Pycardie, the LadyNostra d [...]mm [...] de Pul [...]. of the fountaine in Auernoys; as Costerus the Iesuite in his Epistle Dedicatorie to his fiue bookes of Institutions vvitnesseth. [Page 186] Did euer any Euangelist or Apostle giue her such titles? Is there more zeale in Friers, or more humilitie then in the holy Writers?

The Heathens ascribed particular offices to their Gods: some of Warre, some of Peace, some of Sea, some of Land were soueraignes. M [...]ia and Flora of the Spring. Ceres of Autumne: of Sheepe and Cattle Pan: Mercury of Messages: Apollo of wisedome: of the Sea Neptune: Eolus of the windes had care. Hereunto they adde diuers others; some obscene, and some sicke, and miserable Gods; as Stercutius, Cloacinus, Feare, Palenesse, Rust, the Feuer, the God of the Furnace, Mutinus, Virginius, Subigus, Prema, Iugatinus, Domiducus, Maturna, Partund [...], Priapus, whom for modestie I may not English. So in the Romish Church; of Painters, Luke; Nicho­las, of Shipmen: the Virgin and Christopher, of the Sea: Vr­ban of Vines: Iodocus of Corne: Guendolin, of Sheepe: Pel­lagius, of Oxen: Eulogius, of Horses: and miserable Antho­ny hath the charge of Swine: Ʋalesian, or (as some say) Gal­lus keepes the Geese: Gerrudis rules Battes and Mice: Theodulus, is the Saint of Windes: Agatha of fire: Sebastian helpes the plague: Saint Rocke the Poxe: Ʋalentine, the Fal­ling sicknesse: Petro iella, Feuers: Wolfgang, Conuulsions: Ro­manus, the Lunaticke: Marke, sodaine death: Margaret, though she be a Virgin, doth stand in stead of Iuno Lucina vnto childbearing women, and hath her Niobe Saint Not­purgis to assist her: Saint Ita, though she be an obscure Saint, is gouernesse of the head: Otylia, is Saint of the eyes: Saint Kath [...]rine rules the tongue: Apollonius, the teeth: Saint Blase, gouernes the Necke: Saint Lawrence the backe and sides: Erasmus the guts and bowels: Saint Bughart the legs and feete: Apollinaris lastly comes into Priapus place, and is made Patrone of the members of shame. I will stirre this sinke no longer, least they should take me for some Atheist Lucian, making warres against the holy Saints, whom, God knoweth and my conscience beareth witnesse, I honour as much as themselues, with all the reuerence, which the word of truth hath taught mee to giue vnto the glori­fied [Page 187] members of IESVS CHRIST.

Consider againe, I pray you, that as the Heathens of their Heroes erected Images, before which they worshipped: so the Romanists haue of their Saints made the pictures, to whom they also doe seruice.

The Heathens kept the Reliques of their Gods, and gaue great worship vnto them; and the head of Orpheus in Lesbos, the Cradle of Iupiter in Crete, the Image of Diana at Ephe­sus, which was sent down from heauen, and a thousand such. But herein Gentilitie cannot compare with the Romish Church, who haue their Ladies Milke, her Girdle, with our Sauiours Swathe-band, the bones of Saint Bartholomew, Iose­phus shooe, Saint Thomas shooe, Saint Martins bootes, Saint George his sword and arme, Saint Peters chaire, Saint Denis hand, Saint Adelberts arme sent by Boleslaus King of Polon to Otho the Emperor: the coales of the burning bush,Exod. 3. the coales that broiled Saint Lawrence, the part of the Gridiron where­on he was laid, a feather of Saint Michaels wing, the flagge that Christ did harrow hell with, the foote and the taile of the Asse, the bloud of Christ in Mantua: And in Hales, pee­ces of his Crosse so many, that twenty Carts cannot carry, what poore Simon of Cyrene bare on his shoulders,Mar. 15. Math. 3. the three Nailes multiplied to threescore at least, the water of Iordan where Christ was baptized,Mar. 15. Math. 27. the Spunge that was offered him with Vineger, the Thornes of his Crowne at Malmsbury, the Oile of the Candle which burnt on his Sepulchre,Ioh. 19. sent by Pope Benedict to the Abbey of Cassinum, anno dom. 1203. the speare that pearced his side, extorted by Henry the Em­perour from Rodulph Duke of Burgundy, for which he gaue him the Dukedome of Sweuia; and thousand thousands more, which in sundry Abbeyes and Churches are proposed to be seene.

Another agreement there is betwixt the Heathen and the Christian Saints in miracles. For the Pagans pleaded for their Gods, that they were workers of great wonders. Castor and Pollux in the Latine warre were seene washing their horses at the Lake Iuturna. And in the Macedonian warre, [Page 188] vpon white horses they offered themselues to P. Ʋalerius go­ing towards Rome, and declared, that the very same day King Perses was ouercome. So the Idean Mother, when the Ship, wherein she was brought toward Rome stucke fast in Tybur, to shew the chastitie of Claudia, whom for her ouer­much nicenesse in attiring her selfe the people tooke to be a strumpet, was content that the Ship should follow Claudia vp the Riuer towed by her Girdle onely. A myracle also they report of Esculapius, deliuering Rome from the pestilence: and how Appius Claudius was strooken blinde, when contra­rie to the Oracle he had translated the holy Ceremonies of Hercules to the seruants in Rome: and how Fuluius the Censor was stroken with madnesse, because hee tooke the marble tables out of the Temple of Iuno, to couer the house of Fortune which he built: Much they speake of Turulius ouerthrowne in battaile, after hee had cut downe in Coos the wood of Esculapius to make Ships therewith. And what should I speake of Milesian Ceres? who strucke blinde with lightening the souldiers, which brake into her City to spoile the same.