A sinner does evil not because he cannot do all things that he will but becaus he will not do all things that he can
His wil against evil is determined not by any blind impuls of his nature but by free election guided by understanding. ffor evil is folly & God avoids his understanding is too perfecter then to choose that yethe choice of folly is always avoyded is always avoided isby a perfect understanding, & where yethe understanding is most perfect yethe will is most free
So Christ sinned not, not for want of power or freedom doto do any thing: for he professed he could have disappointed yethe prophesies concerning him (matt 26.53, 54.) but yet through yethe perfection of his understanding.
In fulfilling the Prophesies therefore
Scite Dicta.
Verba volvere et celeritate dicendi apud imperitum vulgas admirationem sui facere indoctorum hominum est. Hieronymus ad Nepotianum Epist 2.
Authores notandi.
Pighij Annales Romanorum fol 3. Vol. Lightfoot's Horæ Heb. &c. Seldens de
Kabalæ denudatæ Tomi duo. Primus continet Apparatum ad studium Kabbalæ Ebræorum. Post septem annos (anno 1684) prodijt tomus alter in 4to ffrancofurti apud Io (Francofurti apud Ioh. Davidem Zunnerum to) inscriptus Kabbalæ denudatæ Tomus secundus id est Liber Sohar restitutus. Præmittitur Præfatio de Simeone Ioachide quem composuisse librum Sohar fama est. Tomus ipse in tres partes divisus est quarum prima duos tractatus Ebraicos latinitate donatos exhibet, illis viam sternentes qui palatium Arcanorum ingredi cupiunt, quamplurima ænigmatibus involuta tradens. Pars secunda primum tres libellos sistit totius Cabalæ compendia quæ in opere Soharistico continentur: deinde commentarios in libros Zenuitha & Idra Rabba & Idra Suta R. Nepthali Hirz. Tertia appendicis loco continet Ebreorum doctrinam de spiritibus creatis e libro cui nomen Beth Elohim & Manuscripto ad opera Loriensia pertinente. Plura promittit author.
Out of
Chillingworths yethe LdLord Falkland's discours of infallibility.
This Author writing against yethe Papists about their doctrin of infallibility, urges yethe tradition doctrine of yethe millenaries as of most indisputable & yet tradition & yet rejected by them. If, saith he as they would perswade us yethe relation of Papias could so far couzen so far [as they pretend] all yethe prime doctors of yethe Church Christian church into a beleif of yethe celebration of yethe thousand years after yethe resurrection so as ytthat no one of those two first ages opposed it (wchwhich appears plainly enough becaus those that after rose up against this opinion never quoted any thing for themselves before Dionysius Alexandrinus who lived at least two hundred & fifty years after Christ;) nay, if those first men did not only beleive it as probable, but Iustin Martyr saith he holds it, & so do all ytthat are in all ꝑparts orthodox christians ἐγὼ καὶ ἐί τίνες ἐισιν κατὰ πάντα ὀρθογνωμονες Χριστιάνοι & Irenæus sets it down directly for a tradition, & relates yethe very words ytthat Christ used when he taught this, wchwhich is plainer then any other tradition, is proved, or said to be (out of antiquity by them:) If, I say, these could be deceived, why might not other of yethe ancients as well be deceived in other points, & then what certainty that shall the learned have when after much labour they think they can make it appear ytthat yethe Ancients thought any thing tradition, ytthat indeed it was so, & that either yethe folly or yethe knavery of some Papias deceived them not? I confess it makes me think of some ytthat Tully speaks of who (arcem amittunt dum propugnacula defendunt) loose yethe fort while they defend yethe outworks: For while they answer this way yethe arguments of tradition for yethe opinion of yethe Chiliasts, they make unuseful to themselves yethe force of tradition to prove any thing by.
For wchwhich cause it was rather wisely ynthan honestly done of them who (before Faverdentius set him forth) left out ytthat part of Irenæus wchwhich we alledg (though we need it not much, for many of yethe fathers take notice of this beleif of his) yet he justifies himself for doing it by a wors blow to them then this it self wchwhich is saying ytthat if they leave out all yethe errors in yethe books they publish (that is, I suppose all opinions contrary to yethe church of Rome) bona pars scriptorum, Patrum orthodoxorum evanesceret, a great part of yethe writings of yethe orthodox fathers must vanish away.
Out of
yethe Iesuites Answer.
To this yethe Iesuite answ (having made premised a discours about infallibility) thus answers. The Body, saith he, of our position shoots forth yethe branches of divers questions, or rather yethe solutions of them: & first how it happened that divers Hereticks pretended to tradition, as yethe Chiliasts, Gnosticks, Carpocratians & divers others yet they wthwith their traditions have been rejected & yethe Church only left in claim of tradition. For if we look into what catholick religion is tradition is, & what yethe hereticks pretended, yethe question will remain voided For yethe catholic Church calls tradition ytthat doctrine wchwhich was publiquely delivered, & yethe heretiques called tradition a kind of secret doctrin either gathered out of privat conversation wthwith yethe Apostles or rather pretended that the Apostles besides what they publiquely taught yethe world had another mysticall way proper to schollars more endeared wchwhich came not to publiqꝫque view; whereas yethe force & energy of a tradition residing in yethe multitude of hearers & being planted in yethe perpetuall life & actions of Christians it must have a publicity that it cannot be unknown amongst them.
The
LdLord Falklands Reply.
Of yethe Carpocratians & Gnosticks I have spoke before, but sure for yethe Chiliasts this is only said & not proved. Howsoever this undeniably appears ytthat either Papias & Irenæus thought not this tradition to have come such a way as you speak of, or els they thought it no heretical way but such a one as was (at least reasonably) to be assented to; & both what was yethe way by wchwhich traditions ought to come & by wchwhich this came they were more likely to know then those of following ages: wchwhich proves that this objection (as much as concerns them especially) remains still so strong, that (in spite of Fevardentius) it will be better to answer it (scalpello quam calamo) wthwith a penknife then wthwith a pen; & no confuter will serve for it but an expurgatory Index, no non si tuus afforet Hector, not if Cardinall Perron live.
And a little after.
I know, saith he, why you resolve this opinion of yethe Chiliasts to have had only such a private tradition; for though they name Iohn yethe disciple & mention certain Priests who heard it from him, yet they deny not a more general delivery of it. But least peradventure men might think ytthat yethe general opinion (that it came from yethe Apostles) might arise from places of scripture (wchwhich fallacy, their testimony when not so fully expressed, was still in danger of concerning any point but this that these books were written by these men) they therefore thought it fit to name to us their witnesses, that it came from Christ's own mouth, & in what words. And if they had done ethe differences between us, I beleive you would now have few Protestant adversaries left for you would have converted yethe greater part & by that have been enabled to burn yethe smaller.
And in another place of the same reply.
That yethe Chiliasts are hereticks or your Church not infallible wchwhich counts them so is most certain & most plain & if you be in yethe right, & that shee teacheth nothing but what shee hath received uninterruptedly down from yethe Apostles, then they must always have been esteemed so by christians: whereas their doctrin is so far from having any tradition against it that if any opinion whether controverted or uncontroverted (except yethe Scripture wchwhich never was doubted) may wthwithout blushing pretend to have that for it, it must be this of theirs. My reasons are these.
The fathers of yethe purest ages (who were yethe Apostles disciples but once removed) did teach this as received from them who professed to have received it from yethe Apostles, & who seemed to them witnesses beyond exception that they had done so, they being better judges what credit they deserved then after comers could possibly be.
All other opinions witnessed by any other ancients to have tradition may have been by them mistaken to have been so, out of StSaint Hierom Austin's & Tertullians rules:whereas this for this, & for this alone are delivered the very words wchwhich Christ used when he taught it.
Of yethe most glorious & least infirm building wchwhich ever in my opinion was erected to yethe Roman Church honour of yethe Church of Rome Cardinal Perron was yethe Architect, (I mean his book against King Iames) & ytthat relies upon these two pillars that whatsoever all yethe ffathers (he means sure ytthat are extant) witness to be tradition, & yethe doctrin of yethe Church that must be received for yethe doctrin of those ages & so rested upon. If these rules be not concluding, then yethe whole book being built upon them becomes necessarily becomes as inconsiderable for what he intended it as Bevis or Tom Thumb. If they be then this doctrin wchwhich is now hereticall in your churches beleif was yethe opinion of the ancient Church. For if being taught by yethe fathers of any age none contradicting it, be sufficient, this all for above two ages (& those yethe first) teach, not any father opposing it before Dionysius Alexandrinus (250 years after Christ at least) ytthat we know or StSaint Hierome or StSaint Austine knew & quoted: wherein I note besides, that both these fathers either thought that no signe of yethe opinion of yethe Church, or cared not though it were.
And if fathers speaking as witnesses will serve let Papias & Irenæus be heard & beleived who tell us it came to them from Christ by verbal tradition, & Iustin Martyr who witnesseth that in his time all orthodox Christians held it, & joyns yethe opposers wthwith them who denied yethe resurrection & esteems them among yethe Christians like yethe Sadducees among yethe Iews: wchwhich proves ytthat you have yethe same reason (expallescere audito Ecclesiæ nomine) to grow pale at yethe mention of yethe ancient Church (the nearest to yethe Apostles) as we have to start at that of two hundred years agoe, & be ashamed of your Dionysius Alexandrinus as we of Luther.
Neither must you think ytthat you have answered yethe Chiliasts by tying them to yethe Carpocratians & Gnosticks (wchwhich is but like Mezentius his joyning mortua cor
pora vivis dead bodies to the living ones) since yethe opinions of yethe two latter assoon as they were taught made yethe teachers accounted hereticks & were opposed by almost all; whereas ytthat of the first found in yethe first two above two ages no resistance by any one known & esteemed person, & yethe teachers of it were not only parts but principal ones of yethe Catholique church & such as ever have been & are reputed saints; though I know not by what subtilety you dispence wthwith yoryour selves for departing from ytthat doctrin wchwhich was received from them as come down from yethe Apostles, & yet threaten us wthwith damnation if we will not beleive more improbable tenents to be tradition upon less certificate.
Neither can I find out what it is by wchwhich you conclude that their tradition was gathered yethe heretical way from private discourses wthwith yethe Apostles: Irenæus indeed tells us that Presbyteri meminerunt, one of wchwhich Papias was, but not a word that it was delivered in secret, or yethe Auditors but few, nor that others had not heard other disciples teaching yethe same doctrine. And me thinks if you had evinced what you desire (as you seem to me not to do unless to affirm be to prove) it would make more against you. Sure if from so small a ground as yethe word of one only disciple that he in private discours was taught this by yethe Apostles, a fals doctrine could so generally be received by all yethe first doctors of yethe Christian Church; & ytthat so long after Dionysius Alexandrinus had used his great authority to destroy it StSaint Hierom was yet half afraid to write against it, as seeing how many catholiques he should enrage against himself by it as he testifies in his Proem to yethe eighteenth book of his comment upon Isaiah: what suspicions must thesethis raise in yethe minds of those of your own party, lest what they esteemed tradition, had at first no greater a beginning & no firmer foundation but only better fortune. ffor why might not yethe same disciple have couzen'dcozen'd them from whom their beleif is descended in twenty other things as well as in this? & why not twenty others as well as he?
If you say (as it hath been said to me by one whose judgment I value as much as any one of your party) that if this opinion had indeed had tradition it could never have been so totally extinguished: I answer ytthat I affirm not that it had but only that if yethe rules of yoryour part be good & valid, then it had. – Besides although it had, yet when doctors of great authority wthwith yethe people had won upon many first not to think it tradition & then not true, & lastly courage increasing wthwith their multitude (for StSaint Hierom durst not call it) had made it accounted an heresy, it is not strange ytthat none should rise to oppose it: for by that time burning was come in fashion wchwhich was a ready way to answer all objections & end all controversies: especially piety being grown more cold & so men less apt to suffer for opinions, & yethe times more ignorant & so men less able to examin what had been beleived before them. But you who affirm that your church receives nothing but what hath come to her by verball tradition down from yethe Apostles, must not only destroy yethe Arguments wchwhich prove this to have had tradition (wchwhich you or any els will be never able to do) but must affirm ytthat yethe contrary hath such: wchwhich yet their most ancient opposers never pretendet to but ethe opinion as ridiculous & & savouring of Iudaism, wchwhich as wise men & as good christians as they, before them beleived to be orthodox.
"Thus you see yethe tradition of yethe chiliasts is so notoriously plain that in one of yethe best books (& I think I may say yethe very best, for they never did nor ever will be able to answer it) agtagainst yethe Papist's infallibility, it is urged & relyed upon as the main argument against their doctrin of tradition, & this by a person who was not biassed by any kindnes for yethe doctrine, (for he beleived it not;) but was only moved by yethe undeniable plainnes of yethe its tradition beyond ytthat for any other doctrin what soever, the tradition for yethe authentickness of yethe scriptures only excepted. This therefore coming from an unbiased person or rather from one who was biassed inclined yethe contrary way, hope will have yethe more force. Nor need it breed any hesitancy ytthat yethe Author himself was not persuaded of yethe opinion by yethe fore tradition, since that was not from want of any force in any defect of yethe tradition but from yethe extinguishing of it in after ages (as he intimates,) wchwhich can be no objection to them that consider how great & durable an Apostasy there was to happen. See 2 Tim 1.13 & 2.2. & 4.4. Dan 7.25."
Out of
yethe Lord ffalkland's Reply
Cardinal Perron confesseth ytthat an Arrian will be desirous to have his cause tried by those Authors we now have wchwhich lived before yethe question arose: for there saith he will be found ytthat yethe father Son is yethe instrument of yethe Father, yethe Father commanded yethe Son, when things were to be made, yethe Father & yethe Son are aliud & aliud; which who should at this day say now yethe language of yethe Church is better examined, would be accounted an Arian. Now though there be no reason for you to disbeleive so learned a Prælate in a matter of Fact (especially since ὄικοθεν ὁ μαρτὺς) yet if you pleas to reconsider those Authors seriously, if you have not markt it before (as Prejudication often blinds extreamly) you will then confess it. Sure then if Fathers in yethe first ages taught their children that so they had received from theirs as yethe doctrin of yethe Apostles, how could yethe chief pillars of christianity have been ignorant of it? or if they knew it, how would they ever have written so directly against their knowledg. For that answer wchwhich StSaint IeromHierom gives (as StSaint Austine to yethe Pelagians) that before Arius arose yethe ecclesiastical writers spoke minùs caute wthwith less circumspection, though it brings some salve to yethe ꝑpresent objection yet it is a weapon against Tradition in generall. For if through want of care yethe best & wisest men used to contradict tradition (as you must grant they did) then sure much more likely when they taught by word of mouth when less care is always used then in books, & how then can any age be sure that by this reason (of minùs cautè locuti sunt) their Ancestors have not mistaken their ffathers & misled their posterity. Look but into Athanasius & see but what he answers to what is brought against him out of Dionysius Alexandrinus. Truly in my opinion when he strives to make it Catholiqꝫque doctrine he doth it wthwith no less pulling & halling then Sancta Clara useth to agree yethe articles of yethe English Church wthwith yethe Tenets of yethe Roman. Consider what 80 Bishops, & those orthodox, decreed against Paulus Samosatenus, & if you make it consent wthwith Athanasius his creed, I shall beleive ytthat you have discovered a way how to reconcile both parts of a contradiction. This I say not as intending by it to prove yethe Arrian opinion to be true, but yethe contrary party insisted not upon yoryour grounds but drew their beleif out of Scripture: ffor if there had been such a common & constant verbal tradition, the chief christians would not through want of caution have contradicted it, neither could Constantine if it had been then as known a part of yethe Christian religion as Christ's resurrection, have ever so slightly esteeemed yethe question when it first arose; neither would Alexander yethe Bishop of Alexandria have remained any while in suspence as Zozomen saith he did πή μεν τουτοὺς πὴ δὲ ἐκείνους ἐπαινων: but this being then a question newly started & spoken of before but by accidents & so peradventure minùs cautè (for yethe same Author says that they did ἀγειν ἐις ζήτησιν τὰ πρότερον ἀνεξέταστα) they were therefore fain to try it by scripture, (esteeming written tradition as sufficient a rule as verball,) as you may see by Constantines own words at yethe Concill of Nice ἐυαγγέλικαι βίβλοι καὶ ἀποστόλικαι καὶ των παλαιων προφετων τὰ θεσπίσματα σαφως, ἡμας, πως χρη περὶ ethe Evangalists & yethe Apostles & yethe oracles of yethe Ancient Prophets teach us clearly what we ought to think of yethe Divinity. Let us therefore out of these Divinely inspired discorses seek yethe solutions of orour questions. Which being yethe Emperors Proposition & passing uncontradicted (wchwhich yethe Bishops would not have suffered it to do if they had known your's to be so much the best & most certain way & this hazzardous as you suppose), we have reason to beleive that they for want of direction made yethe Scripture their rule & sought out yethe truth by yethe same way that we damnable Heretiqꝫques do, & by that condemned yethe Arians as not having such a Tradition as you speak of, or if they had (wchwhich is very unlikely) counting it so insufficient as that they were not to cocludeconclude by that.
ethe Arrians there was no such tradition as you speak of (at least ytthat was yethe ground upon wchwhich they were condemned) consider if you pleas ytthat in yethe Epistle wchwhich Eusebius of Cæsarea writ to some Arrians after yethe CoucillCouncill of Nice, he saith: ffirst that they assented to yethe ὁμοούσιος Consubstantial becaus also they knew των παλάιων λογίους τίνας καὶ ἐπιφανεις ἐπισχόπους και συγγραφέας some eloquent & illustrious Bishops & writers had us'd yethe term. In wchwhich I note that neither claim'd he any such verball tradition for this as you speak of, & of that sort wchwhich he claimed he names only τίνας some as knowing twotoo many had otherwisewrit otherwise to give such a tradition leave to be general.
Secondly he saith they assented to anathematise yethe contradictors, chwhich he saith (& that truly) that all confusion hath come into yethe Church. And if it be asked why yethe same reason made them not keep out yethe word ὁμοούσιος, I answer That I beleive (or els he is not constant to his own reason) that he meant only those words to be unwritten wchwhich were in scripture neither themselves, nor equivalently, whereas he took ὁμοούσιος to be in yethe scripture in yethe latter sense. And ytthat by written he meant in yethe scripture only, appeardappears by wt follows, ytthat no divinely inspired writing (μηδεμιας θεοπνεύστου γραφης) using yethe Arrians phrase, it was neither fitting to say nor teach them. Neither can you say ytthat Eusebius being him self a secret Arrian prevaricated herein, for Theodoret makes this Epistle an argument against them, wchwhich he would not have done if either it had seemed to to say any thing contrary to yethe catholiqꝫque doctrine & not to have opposed yethe contrary by a Catholiqꝫque way, at least wthwithout giving his reader some caution concerning it.
All wchwhich reasons move me to think ytthat yethe generality of Christians had not been always taught yethe contrary to Arius's doctrine, but some one way, others yethe other, most neither as having been only spoken of upon occasions, & therefore methinks you had better say with yethe Protestants ytthat yethe truth was concluded (as Constantine said it should be) by arguments from Scripture, or (as some of your own say of other points) ytthat before yethe Councill it lay in Archivis Ecclesiæ in yethe Desks of yethe Church then claim such a tradition for it as appears it can never be defended ytthat it had.
Some less meetings or Conciliabula there were before [Constantine] but none of these accounted infallible by yoryour selves (though me thinks they should by yoryour grounds) & indeed it would go ill wthwith yoryour own infallibility if they should; for of yethe two most notable yethe one defended Rebaptization, & yethe other condemned Samosatenus, & in doing so taught as plain Arrianism (if we might know mens meaning by their words, which if we cannot, all arguing especially from Authors is ended) as even Arius himself was condemned for at Nice. Ib. p. 102
7
That Infants are not to receive yethe Eucharist is now both yethe Doctrine & practise of yethe Roman church; but six hundred years yethe church used it. StSaint Austine accounted it necessary at least in some sence of yethe word if not absolutely (wchwhich last is most likely becaus from yethe necessity of that wchwhich could not be received but by them wchwhich had received Baptism he & Innnocentius a Pope prove yethe necessity of Baptism) & an Apostolicall Tradition. LdLord. Falklands Reply p 82.
The Papists have many differences among them: as whether yethe Pope be infallible? whether God predeterminate every action?, whether election & Reprobation depend upon foresight? Which seems to me as great as any between their adversaries, & in yethe latter yethe Iesuites have ancienter & generaller Tradition on their side then yethe Church of Rome hath in any other question. Yet this must not make yethe Dominicans hereticks & must us. If they say yethe Church hath not resolved it (wchwhich signifies only that they are not agreed about it, wchwhich is ytthat we object) I answer it ought to have done so if uniformity to yethe ancient Church be required in wchwhich all ytthat ever I could hear of before StSaint Austine (who is ever various I confess in it) delivered yethe contrary to yethe Dominicans as not doubtfull. LdLord Falklands of Infallibility p
A great controversy being risen between yethe Dominicans & Iesuites, it was heard before Pope Clement, who appointed both sides to prove wchwhich of them followed StSaint Austine, & according to that he have givengive sentence if yethe advice of Cardinall Perron had not prevailed to yethe contrary. But many days they spent in examining what he thought, who thought so variously concerning it, that he scarce knew himself wchwhich: whereas before him all yethe ancients ytthat ever I could ever meet wthwith were wthwith yethe Iesuites wthwith an unanimous consent. LdLord Falklands Reply p 108.
Out of the
LdLord George Digbies letter to
SrSir Kenelm Digby.
– Hardly shall you find scripture alledged more frankly by yethe Fathers, or yethe Church tradition proclaimed more loudly in any point of faith ynthan by Iustin & Tertullian in yethe rigid censure of yethe use of Images, & in yethe same Tertullian in affirming Christ's descent to free yethe Patriarchs; & in these two & divers others yethe gross assertion of yethe Angels copulation wthwith weomen: & lastly then in all yethe Millenaries most confident authorising of their Iudaic doctrin.
Out of
SrSir Kenelms answer
– Christ's descent to free yethe Patriarchs not only Tertullian but all yethe Fathers ytthat ever spake of ytthat particular deliver it as a matter of faith, & so it hath been ever held by yethe church – The error of yethe Millenaries appeareth plainly to have grown among some of yethe Fathers (wthwith whom yethe Authority of Papias weighed much) by literally interpreting a text of yethe Apocalyps: but never any of them urged yethe generally received opinion of yethe Church nor public tradition from Christ & yethe Apostles. And besides yethe Church has never yet to this day condemned as an heresie ytthat part of yethe Millenaries belief wchwhich some of yethe fathers held (wchwhich is of yethe Saints reigning wthwith Christ a thousand years upon earth after their resurrection & enjoying only spirituall delights) but only other foul enormities wchwhich went under yethe name of yethe Millenaries heresies. — Further concerning yethe Millenaries Iustin Martyr saith him self saith it is an opinion not generally believed in yethe Church but ytthat many of yethe Orthodox reject it — It is true Papias seemeth to intimate as though it were in some obscure manner derived from Christ, but not as a thing commanded to be preached and taught. by to some of yethe Apostles whom he would oblige more then their fellows ethe rest should be ignorant of. But no such by-rivulet (though it should come from yethe true fountain) can ever fall into yethe main & avowed Channel of Ecclesiastical tradition. Indeed it's like ytthat Cerixthus yethe Heretic to justify his new device in ytthat particular fathered it on StSaint Iohn as whispered to him by Christ in Conference & from him Papias ytthat was an easy & simple man, taking it, passed by his name & vouchsafed only yethe Apostles.
Out of
yethe LdLord Digbies Reply.
The Authority of yethe fathers in orour differences are is (not to insist upon yethe fewness of their writings, yethe many suppositious children that beare yethe name of ffathers they do not so much as Ore refer, & yethe alterations rasures & insertions wchwhich through ignorance fraud or malitiousness that have corrupted even those few st Their contradictions one to another. 2 Their variance from themselves. 3 Their repugnance to both Papists & Protestants, & 4th their want of ability in many points of orour controversies, in most of will to decide them.
1 They clash wthwith one another first in point of Government. To name yethe superiority of yethe Sea of Rome will be enough to call to yoryour memory yethe Epistles of * * Epist 53 ad Anatol 54 ad Martian 55 ad Pulcher. 56 ad Martine 61 ad Iuvenal. Leo contrary to yethe 28 Canon of yethe Councel of Calcedon who had elevated that of Constantinople to an equall height with yethe other. And likewise those Epistles of Gregory yethe 9t, 32 ad Maurit. 34 Constant l. 4. wherein he inveighs in sharp terms agt whosoever should take upon him yethe title of universal BpBishop. hardly reconcilable wthwith those passages of yethe fathers ytthat yethe Roman Drs cite for yethe Popes supremacy, & least of all wthwith yethe practise of Boniface yethe 3d ytthat soon after assumed ytthat appellation. To name yethe question of appeals to Rome will suffice to draw an acknowledgment from you of yethe gtgreat contestations between yethe African BpsBishops & yethe Roman, condemning ytthat point; wchwhich was likewise oppositely decreed by yethe Synods of Sardis & Calcedon. Sard Com. 3. 2 Concil. Calced. Can. 9. To name yethe Election of Bishops will be sufficient to call to yoryour thoughts the direct opposition in ytthat points of yethe ffathers of yethe 8th General Council (Canon 22) against what Cyprian (Epist 68 p 166) taught at large to be Apostolic tradition; to wit ytthat yethe people should have their votes also in yethe choise of BpsBishops. And lastly you will easily be put in mind how that wchwhich is delivered by many, & particularly by Epiphanius p 908 against Arrius for a received sense of yethe Church touching yethe preeminence of a BpBishop above a Presbyter is flatly impugned by S. Ierome Ep. ad Occan 83 p 614, & others.
Secondly they clash in matters of practise. Call but to mind Victor's heats agt yethe BpsBishops of Asia touching yethe observation of Easter day, Fabian's and Tertullians Tenants about Marriage, yethe first holding all marriage pollution yethe last esteeming yethe second unlawvull. Origen (contra Celsum l 5 to p 479) & Athanasius (Orat 1 Contra Arrianos p 394) speake expresly agtagainst invocation & wpworship of StsSaints: to wchwhich those wchwhich Bellarmin (L. de Beatitudine sanctorum l. 13) are not like yethe rest so impertin cites out of Iustin & Augustine are not like yethe rest so impertinent but that they may stand in some opposition. Let me but remember you of yethe opinion that Hereticks ought to be baptized, so contradicted by Optatus by Austine & generally by all that impugn yethe Donatists, wchwhich was notwithstanding most peremptorily maintained by Tertullian, Cyprian (ep ad Pompeium) & Firmilian, so far ytthat Cyprian for this cause brake into most notorious heats agtagainst Stephanus BpBishop of Rome (both Stephanus & Cyprian 9 urging tradition for contrary doctrines) & Firmilian agtagainst all yethe Roman Church in generall, saying in an Epistle of his (wchwhich is yethe 75t among Cyprian's works) ytthat Rome did not in all things observe yethe tradition of yethe Apostles & in vain boasted of their authority. Accord I beseech you that passage of S. Austin serm 17 de verbis Apost (Injuria est pro Martyre orare) wthwith yethe practise of yethe Church in that point wchwhich appear's to have been general & is recorded in divers of yethe ffathers as Clemens Cyprian Austin 17 Serm de verbo Apost. & particularly by Epiphanius against Aerius. Lastly in point of confession & penitence, be pleased to confront those passages of Chrysostom Homil de pœnit. & confess. It is not necessary saith he that thou shouldest confess in yethe presence of witnesses let yethe inquiry of thy offences be made in thy thought, let this judgment be wthwithout a witness, let God only see thee confessing. And again in Epist ad Hebr. c. 12. Hom 31. I do not say to thee, bring thy self upon yethe stage nor accuse thy self unto others, & likewise that of StSaint Austin confess l 10 cap. 3. What have I to do wthwith men that they should hear my confessions as though they could heale my disseases? Be pleased, I say, to confront these wthwith some passages of other ffathers cited by Arcadius upon that subject & likewise by Bellarmin, l 3. c 2 de Pœnitentia, & confess the ffathers in matters of practise as well as of government irreconcileable.
Thirdly their contradictions in matters of beleif are infinite. I shal only summ up such as I esteem most important either in yethe points themselves wchwhich they concern or in relation to orour controversies in yethe Doctrine of yethe Trinity. That of Iustin Martyr p 357 agtagainst Tryphon wchwhich cannot be salved from making a distinction of nature betwixt yethe father & yethe Son. That of Tertullian adv. Prax c. 9, 10 Pater tota substantia est, filius verò derivatio totius & portio. & many other passages in yethe same book. That of Origen Tract. in Ioan. Tom. 3. where he implys little less as Genebrard observes ynthen ytthat yethe father is as much above yethe Son & yethe holy Ghost as they above yethe creatures. That of Theodoret part 3 Concil Eph. p. 496. where refuting Cyril's 9th Anathema, he saith ytthat in it Cyril doth Anathematize all yethe Apostles & yethe Arch-Angel Gabriel himself, whilst impiously & blasphemously (they are his words) he curseth such as do not believe yethe holy Ghost to proceed from yethe Son. I can easilier accord these Doctors wthwith Arrius then wthwith Athanasius or yethe 318 fathers of yethe Nicene councel. Of yethe state of yethe Soul after death in point of reward & punishment; & likewise concerning Christs descent into Hell, I could here cite you multitudes of oppositions; but I shall have occasion to speak of these in another place. Lastly touching yethe Eucharist – That of Iustin in Apol 2 The sanctified food (saith he) wherewthwith orour flesh & blood by conversion are nourished we are taught to be yethe flesh & blood of Iesus incarnate, being made such by yethe word of prayer, after yethe same manner as Iesus Christ orour saviour by yethe word of God took on him flesh & blood for orour salvation. How will it suit wthwith yethe latter part of yethe 40th Chap of Tertullian agtagainst Marcion where his whole argument runs upon this, That in yethe Eucharist yethe Bread & wine are yethe figure & representation of Christs body (for it would have been a very extravagant argument to one ytthat denyed (as Maryon did) Christ himself to have a body of flesh, to alledge ytthat bread was yethe flesh of his body,) His words are; Having profest (saith he of orour Saviour) a desire to eat yethe Passover, he took bread & having distributed it to his Disciples, he made it his body saying, This is my body, that is, yethe figure of my body, of wchwhich it could not have been yethe figure if he had not in truth a body. And again wthwith that other passage of yethe same Author lib de Anima cap 14: The tast of yethe wine wchwhich he consecrated for a memorial of his blood. And also wthwith that lib 1 agtagainst Marcion cap 14: The bread by wchwhich he represents his body (I dare not translate yethe rest) Etiam in sacramentis proprijs egeus mendicitatibus creatoris. Survey that passage of Cyrillus Hierosol.Catach. cap. 4. Vnder yethe form of bread his body is given thee & under yethe form of wine his blood. And again Knowing this for a certainty ytthat yethe bread wchwhich we see is not bread though orour tast find it to be so: So how this will suit wthwith that place of StSaint Austine upon yethe 98th Psalm, where he bringeth in orour Saviour speaking of this matter after this manner: You shall not eat of this body wchwhich you see, nor drink ytthat blood wchwhich they shall shed which will crucify me; I have commanded a certain sacrament unto you wchwhich being spiritually understood will quicken you. Next consider those passages of Gregory Nissene quoted by Bellarmin: We beleive, saith he, the bread rightly sanctified by yethe word of God to be changed into yethe body of God yethe Word. And again a little after: This doth yethe vertue of yethe benediction effect, changing yethe nature of what wee see (Bread & wine) into yethe body of orour Lord: To wchwhich I oppose that of Theodoret Dialog 2. The mystical symbols are not removed from their own nature after sanctification, but remain in their former substance form & figure. & Dialog. 1. Our Lord, saith he, in delivering those mysteries called yethe bread yethe body & yethe mixture in yethe cup blood. And soon after, saith he, Our Saviour inverted yethe names giving to his body yethe name of Symbol & to yethe symbol yethe name of his body; so having named himself Vine, he called yethe symbol blood. Next let us confront that of Chrysostom Hom. de Encænijs; Is it bread ytthat you see? is it wine? do they go into yethe privy like other meats? away wthwith such a thought; for as wax being put into yethe fire unites it self so in substance to it that nothing thereof remains so imagin here that the mysteries are swallowed up in yethe substance of the body. Therefore when you approach thereunto, think not that you receive the divine body as from man, but fire from yethe Pincers Pincers of yethe Seraphim wchwhich Isaiah saw, so think ytthat you partake of yethe divine body as if you joyned yoryour lips to his pure & spotles side. Confront this wthwith Origen in cap 15 Matth. As nothing, says he, is impure in it self but is made so to yethe polluted & incredulous by his own uncleanness & unbeleif; so neither doth that wchwhich is sanctified by yethe word of God & prayer, in its own nature sanctify him ytthat useth it. And forasmuch as belongs to that eating, we are neither defrauded of any good by yethe not eating nor enricht wthwith any good by yethe eating of yethe sanctified bread, wchwhich for as much as it hath of materials goes into yethe belly & yethe privy, but becomes usefull & effectual according to yethe proportion of faith, making yethe soul perspicacious & considering of what is profitable. Lastly to conclude this point, let me set before you Macarius Homil 17 & Theophylact, more remote from one another in this article of faith then in yethe times wherein they lived: Macarius telling yus that we offer bread & wine yetheἀντίτυπον of his flesh & blood; & they wchwhich are partakers ethe flesh of orour LdLord spiritually. And Theophylact teaching yethe direct contrary doctrin upon yethe 6t of StSaint Iohn. Note here (says he) ytthat yethe bread wchwhich wee eat in yethe mysteries, is not ἀντίτυπον of yethe Lord's flesh but yethe very flesh of yethe Lord. And let no body be troubled ytthat yethe bread should be beleived flesh since yethe bread wchwhich he did eat when he walked here was altered into his body & made yethe same wthwith his holy flesh; so would yethe wafer be turned into his flesh if Christ as man did eat it.
2. The ffathers clash wthwith themselves. — But in this I may be excused from alledging examples, since Genebrard & Pamelius thought it their best course to purge, the one Origen, yethe other Tertullian from gros & impious errors in many places by shewing how they teach yethe contrary in others. though by yethe way I must needs say ytthat Pamelius his manner appears to be very extravagant for as to some poisonous doctrins of Tertullian a Montanist he rightly applys a cure from some other passage of Tertullian a Catholic, so at other times to what he thought venemous in Tertullian a Catholic he preposterously prescribes an antidote out of Tertullian a Heretic; as you may see in yethe 8th of his Paradoxes where he confutes an error in his Apologetiqꝫque & de Testimonio animæ, books wchwhich ytthat father wrote being a Catholic, wthwith a passage of his book de Anima composed when he was turned Cataphrygian: & yet who so forward as Pamelius when any passage in such books makes for us, to cry out, Away wthwith it, 'twas a saying of Tertullian a Montanist. —— Had StSaint Austins admirable monument of humble ingenuity (as well as high erudition) his Retractations perished as Origens, wchwhich as StSaint Ierom saith he made in an Epistle to Fabian BpBishop of Rome [Hieronymꝰmus in Epist. 65 ad Pamach. & Occan.] did before him, StSaint Austin might perhaps have had a calogue place in some others Catalogue of Heretiques, as wel as StSaint Origen in his. And truly who can secure us ytthat yethe like mishap hath not befallen others of yethe ffathers now taxable wthwith erroneous doctrines by yethe loss perhaps of some after survey of their own writings.
3 Thirdl The Fathers are repugnant to yethe governmntgovernment practise & belief of both yethe Romish Church & orsours: But in this I have prevented yethe need of examples by many of yethe instances both of my former letter & this, as ytthat of yethe equality of BpsBishops & Presbyters, that of Rebaptizing, ytthat of Angels, ytthat of yethe Millenaries &c: to wchwhich I will only add that wchwhich so many & particularly StSaint Austin delivers of yethe necessity of childrens partaking of yethe Eucharist, & his rigour agtagainst infants unbaptized.
4 The ffather's wanted ability or will decideto decide orour controversies because they either were wholly ignorant of them (most of orour controversies being unthought of in yethe Church for yethe first 500 years) or thought them not materiall, though now yethe injunction of them by one side for articles of faith has made them so. – And this I am induced to think, first becaus I meet wthwith them no where in Scripture, Secondly becaus in yethe father's several catalogues of hereticks (as that of Philastrius, Epiphanius & StSaint Austin) I find none branded wthwith Heresy for not holding those articles imposed on men's beliefs by yethe Church of Rome & rejected by orsours – & thirdly becaus these articles appeared not in those severall pieces wherein yethe fathers of set purpose & designe professedly set down all yethe essential doctrines of Christianity agreed upon throughout yethe Church universal. Such were their Symbols: Such Irenæus his unity of faith in Lib j. cap 2. Such Origen's introduction to his book de Principijs, such Tertullian's rule of faith in his prescription agtagainst Hereticks, such Epiphanius his conclusion of his work wchwhich he calls yethe settlement of truth & assurance of immortality. Such likewise (to fit you wthwith some of all ages) was yethe work of Gennadius (written wthwithin these 200 years) de recta Christianorum fide: I will not say in some of wchwhich, but in all wchwhich together there is not one article of faith received by yethe Church of Rome & rejected by us so much as mentioned save only in Epiphanius of Christs descent into Hell; a point variously & uncertainly understood amongst yethe Fathers, as shall in another place be demonstrated. Now for further proof of yethe little agitation or great neglect of orour controverted points in yethe primitive times let me appeal to yoryour own observation. Do you know of any of yethe Fathers for yethe first 400 years that hath purposely & of designe composed yethe least treatis of any one of orour questions? or in some other tract handled them so much as in a formal digestion? Inform me I beseech you, for I profess all yethe works ytthat ever I have met wthwith of them appear to have been wholly directed either to deride yethe Pagans, to confute Philosophers, to convince yethe Iews, to confound prodigious heresies, or deliver precepts of good life, or els to expound some pages of scripture most useful to yethe same ends.
Thus noble Cousin I have laid before you my principal reasons that led me to 11 deny the fathers testimonies to have such validity whereon we may justly pas a verdict in orour questions of religion –
– If you lay yethe rule absolutely generall that what article soever is delivered directly or by intimation from yethe fathers to have been a received doctrine of yethe Church ought to be swallowed for an infallible verity, it will easily be made appear that this method must betray you not only into some Protestant tenents, but also into beleifs on both sides confessed to be erroneous. It must draw you to be a Millenary, to hold a necessity of Children's partaking yethe Eucharist, to abhor yethe use of Images as Idolatrous, & to reject out of yethe Canon those books wchwhich wee esteem Apocryphal: for all these do yethe fathers deliver wthwith somwhat more then intimations that they were taught to them as derived from yethe Apostles, & from generall receptions of yethe Catholick Church.
First for yethe doctrine of yethe Millenaries, I conceive you make a right judgment of yethe original thereof from Papias whom StSaint Ierome (yethe best critick in Ecclesiasticall Antiquity) says to have been yethe first author of it; wchwhich error it is probable yethe said Papias ran into either by flattery to win upon yethe Iews or els as you say by yethe gross understanding of a text in yethe 20th of yethe Apocalyps himself being one but of a dull & easy spirit, wchwhich being taken from him by those that reverenced yethe antiquity & piety of yethe man was delivered wthwith reccommendation to their successors, & so took possession of most of yethe D-sup-rsDoctors of yethe following ages. As for that of Cerinthus, I beleive wthwith Sextus Senensis that it was a distinct Heresy wchwhich fed carnal men wthwith hopes of beastly & sensual delight for it is not likly ytthat a doctrin taken from such an arch Heretic as Cerinthus could have found such reception among yethe catholic fathers; & least of all is it probable that Cerinthus could have fathered it upon StSaint Iohn whom yethe Apostle is said to have detested so much ytthat Ireneæus (lib 3 cap 3) a chief Champion of yethe Millenaries, in ytthat very chapter where as you say he reccons up yethe succession of Bishops in divers Churches, relates ytthat wnwhen StSaint Iohn was entring into a Bath where Cerinthus washed himself, StSaint Iohn no sooner saw him but he stept back crying out. Let us forsake yethe place least that enemy of truth draw down yethe house upon orour heads: a fit Author for so foule a doctrine but one very unlikely to be believed acquainted wthwith Christs whispers to StSaint Iohn. But as this enormous part wchwhich passes also wthwith most under yethe name of Millenaries heresy was generally condemned: so yethe other more spiritual of Papias, was & is far from being approved at this day either by yoryour Church or orsours, much more from finding so firm & entire assent as you will be obliged to give it by yoryour rule of swallowing for unquestionable & infallible what doctrine soever yethe fathers deliver as taught unto them & to be yethe general sense of yethe Christian Church in their times. And for proof ytthat it was delivered for such by Papias (who gloried in nothing more then in being a carefull collector of yethe doctrines taught by yethe Apostles (viva voce) I referr you only to Nicephorus Calistus Hist. Eccles. l 3. c 20.
That Iustin Martyr delivered it for such a passage in his Dialogue wthwith Tryphon will easily testify where he saith, that he, & all in all parts Orthodox christians held it, & calls them only Christians in name wthwith many other circumstances of aggravation that denyed it. It is true as you say, he confesses a little before that some good & honest Christians did not acknowledg it, but this may be an argument how careless & oftentimes repugnant to themselves some of yethe fathers were in their writings or els how little scrupulous of setting to doubtful doctrines that seale wchwhich you account so sacred; but it can no way salve him from having taught it wthwith those circumstances that you esteem yethe notes of infallibility.
That Irenæus took it & taught it to be of tradition from Christ I think is so manifest that it were superfluous to insist upon particular passages in that Author. And lastly to omit Tertullian & others, who clearly (me thinks) imply as much though not in yethe very terms; What think you of can expres more a doctrine rightly delivered & generally received then Lactantius lib 7. Istitut. cap 26, his conclusion of his long discours upon this subject; Hac est doctrina sanctorum Prophetarum quam Christiani sequimur, hoc est Christiana sapientia.
Secondly for yethe necessity of Children's partaking yethe Eucharist, although yethe evident practise of yethe Church for yethe first 600 years according to all orour records of antiquity might excuse me from proving by any particular instance that some of yethe Fathers taught the necessity of it for a received tradition; yet take this of StSaint Austin lib 1 de peccat. mer. & remiss. c 24 Rightly saith he do yethe Punic Christians call Baptism by no other names then health & safety nor yethe sacraments of Christs body by no other then life, Vnde nisi ex antiqua, ut existimo et Apostolica traditione qua Ecclesiæ Christi insitum tenent præter Baptismum et participationem Dominicæ mensæ non solum non ad regnum Dei sed nec ad salutem & vitam æternam posse quenquam hominum pervenire.
Thirdly for yethe use of Images consult yethe invectives of these fathers agtagainst them Tertull. lib j de Idololatria. Orig: lib 7 contra Cels. Arnob. lib. 6. Lactant lib 2. Epiphan Ep. ad Iohan. Hierosol. inter opera Hier. Epist 60. Ambr. de fuga secul cap 5. Aug. de fide cap. 7. See more of yethe Author's discourse
Lastly concerning yethe Apocryphal books I need cite no other proofs then that of Ierom. Iudith, saith he, Tobiæ & Maccabæorum libros legit quidem Ecclesia sed inter Canonicas scripturas non recipit, added to that of Ruffinus: Ideo, saith he quæ sunt novi et veteris Testamenti volumina volumina quæ secundum majorum traditionem per ipsum spiritum sanctum inspirata creduntur, et Ecclesiæ Christi tradita, competens videtur in hoc loco evidenti numero sicut ex patrum monumentis accepimus designare. And accordingly he enumerates only those books received by us for Canonical, & goes on, Hæc sunt quæ patres intra Canonem concluserunt ex quibus fidei nostræ assertiones constare voluerunt: sciendum tamen est quod et alij qui non canonici sed Ecclesiastici a majoribus appeallati sunt: & reccons up all those wchwhich we reject; & thus concludes: Hac nobis a patribus, ut dixi, tradita, ut opportunum visum est hoc in loco designare ad instructionem eorum qui prima sibi Ecclesiæ ac fidei elementa suscipiunt ut sciant ex quibus sibi fontibus verbi Dei haurienda sint pocula.
— When Gregory Neoces Ariensis [Thaumaturgus] said ytthat yethe father & yethe Son according to orour conceptions were two, but one in Hypostasis; StSaint Basil Ep 64 p 849 Tom 2 excuses him saying that it was spoken οὐ δογμάτικως. ἀλλ᾽ ἀγωνιστικως, & that being to perswade a Gentile, he thought it not necessary to be exact in his expressions. — likewise where Dionysius Alexandrinus had stiled yethe son yethe workmanship of yethe father as yethe ship to yethe shipwright, & many other expressions that no Arian could mend; Athanasius is ready wthwith an Apology for him p 551, 552 Tom 1 de Sent Dionis. They were saith he κατ᾽ ὀικονομίαν γραφομένα, & are not to be taken malitiously.
— But becaus my opinion (that yethe scriptures are yethe only rule of faith) is little considerable wthwith one of so far a better judgment; take in this point yethe Opinion of yethe fathers wchwhich you so much rely upon. To begin wthwith Tertullian, these are yethe last words of his 22th chapter against Hermogenes. Scriptum esse doceat Hermogenis officina: if it be not written saith he, let him fear yethe wo desteind to such as shall add or take away. Can any thing be inferd more rightly then from this passage the sufficiency of scripture & yethe superfluity of any other rule? But take yet somewhat more direct from Athanasius (in his Oration ad Gentiles toward yethe beginning.) yethe holy & from God inspired scriptures (saith he) are ἀυτάρκεις of themselves sufficient to yethe discovery of truth. I appeal to StSaint Basil himself of all yethe fathers yethe greatest attributer to tradition in all things wherein regard is justly due to it. Hear what he says, handling a point wherein scripture (I think) is as dark as in any necessary one whatsoever; I mean that of yethe Trinity: Beleive what's written, saith he, what is not written seek not. Hom 29 advers. Calum. stan. Trin. pag 623. And in another place: I (De vera ac pia fide pag. 251) It is a manifest falling from yethe faith (says he) & an argument of Arrogance either to reject any of those things that are written or to introduce any that are not of yethe written. And lastly to summ up all that can be said by a Protestant in one sentence of a father of greatest learning & authority: Listen but to StSaint Austin De Doctrina Christiana lib 2 cap 9. In ijs quæ aperta in scriptura posita sunt inveniuntur illa omnia quæ continent fidem moresqꝫque vivendi. He had need be a confident sophister that would undertake to evade these Authorities; but yet if they may not be admitted, let yethe Scripture be heard for it self. 2 Tim 3.14, 15, 16, 17. Galat 1.8, 9, 11, 12. Deut cap 4 & cap 12. 1 Cor 4.6, 7 in wchwhich last text [that you may learn in us not to think above wt is written, that no one of you be puffed up &c] yethe Apostle makes yethe scripture a remedy for ytthat wchwhich yethe Ap some of yethe Papists object agtagainst yethe use of it, namely that it puffs up yethe learned above those of weaker capacity.