A Christian and Modest Offer, Title page – Dedication
A CHRISTIAN AND MODEST OFFER OF A MOST INDIFFERENT CONFERENCE, OR DISPVTATION, ABOVT the maine and principall Controverſies betwixt the Prelats, and the late ſilenced and deprived Miniſters in England: TENDERED BY SOME OF THE SAID MINISTERS TO THE Archbiſhops, and Biſhops, and all their adherents.
1. Theſſ. 5.21.
Trie all things, and keepe that which is good.
Ioh. 7.24.
Iudge not according to the appearance; but iudge righteous iudgment.
Ioh. 18.23.
If I have evill ſpoken, beare witnes of the evill: but if I hauehave well ſpoken, why ſmiteſt thou me?
Imprinted. 1606.
TO THE HIGH AND MIGHTIE PRINCE, IAMES, BY THE GRACE OF GOD; KING of great Britaine, France, and Ireland, Defender of the faith &c.
MOſt High and mightie Soveraigne, As it is the office of every Chriſtian to endevour, by all good & lawfull meanes, to procure the peace and proſperitie of Sion; ſo is it principally required of the Miniſters of the Gospell of Ieſus Chriſt, not onelyonly that they be Gods Remēbrancers, giving him no reſt, untill he ſet up Ieruſalem the prayſe of the world, but alſo that they be humble ſuiters unto thoſe that, under him, be in ſupreme & ſoveraigne Authority, that, according to their places, they will become nurſing Fathers, & nurſing Mothers to the Churches of God within their Dominions. And as this is a duety that lyeth both upon Miniſter & people at all times (for the neglect whereof they ſhalbe accountable to that great and mightie God, whoſe ſervants they are) ſo are they then eſpecially to be carefull of it, when they ſee the truth of God, and the Ordinances of Chriſt Ieſus, the ſole King and Prophet of his Church, to be oppoſed & oppugned, and the ſyncere Profeſſors of the Goſpell maligned and traduced, yea oppreſſed, and in a ſort troden under foote, by men who ſeeke nothing but themſelues, and who, for the maintayning of their owne Pompe, and for the feeding of their idle bellies, ſtick not to wreſt the Scepter out of the handes of Chriſt, and to thruſt him out of his chaire of Eſtate. The conſideration hereof (moſt deare and dread Soveraigne) hath imboldened vsus, Gods moſt unworthy ſervants, your Maieſties loving and loyall Subiectes, at this time to caſt downe our ſelues at your royall feete, and to craue your Princely favour.
Your Maieſtie knoweth right well what Controverſies there hauehave been amongſt us in this lād, about the Prelacy, Ceremonies, & Subſcriptiō, ever ſince the bright ſhinīg beames of the glorious Goſpell of Chriſt firſt diſpelled & chaſed away the foggie miſtes, & black darknes of Popery from out of our coaſtes. You know likwiſe how hotely & egarly the Approbatiō of theſe things hath been vrged by the Prelates; who, being wiſe in their generation, hauehave left no ſtone vnrolled for the upholding of their ruinous & tottering kingdome; they having from time to time not onelyonly reviled and diſgraced, both in Pulpit and in Print, thoſe whom they call their brethren, and fellow ſervants of Ieſus Chriſt (who out of a fervent Zeale of the glorie of God, and a perfect deteſtation of Poperie, hauehave witneſſed againſt theſe Corruptions) but having alſo ſuſpended, deprived, degraded, and impriſoned them, yea cauſed them to be turned out of houſe and home, denyed them all benefit of law, and uſed them with ſuch contempt & contumely, as if they were not worthy to liue upon the face of the earth. Shall theſe Controverſies be kept a-foote for ever? Shall they not once be finally decided & determined? Will it not be miſery in the latter end, if the Prelates be not reſtrained in time? It is true that bookes hauehave been, and are daily written, on both ſides: and yet the differences are as great, and greater now, then they were at the firſt; and ſo are like ſtill to be, unles (by ſpeciall order from your Maieſtie) the matter may once come to ſome ſuch direct, and iuſt Triall as is heere offered.
Wherein that your Maieſtie may be the more willing and readie to harken unto us, we beſeech you to conſider, and that ſeriouſly, that the Cauſe, which here we preſent unto you, is not our owne, but that it is the Cauſe of Chriſt Ieſus, who is become a Suiter vntounto you, and deſireth that he may hauehave Audience: for whom whatſoever you ſhall doe, it ſhalbe remembred unto you, and abundātly recompenſed at that great & laſt day of account, when you ſhall come to ſtand before his Tribunall, who is King of Kinges, and Lord of Lords; who is not unrighteous that he ſhould forget any thing that is done for him, or for any cauſe of his. And howſoever the Prelates, and their followers, do beare your Maieſtie in hand, that the Church-Government deſired is an enemy to your Crowne and dignitie; beleeue them not, we hū bly beſeech you, neither harken to their Syren ſonges: It is (as we are readie to proue) a holy Ordinance of God, which will ſtand when all ſuch as oppoſe it, and blaſpheme it in the eares of your Royall Maieſtie, ſhall melt away as ſnow before the Sunne. And if by ſuch an indifferent Conference as is heere tendered, we ſhall not make it as cleere unto your Maieſtie as the Sunne at Noone-day, that the Governement of the Churches of Chriſt by Paſtors, Teachers, and Elders is much more agreeable to the State of a Monarchy, then is the preſent Governement by Archbiſhops, Biſhops, Archdeacons, Commiſſaries, and the reſt of that Romiſh Hierarchy, let us then finde no favor in your Maieſties eyes.
Your Maieſtie profeſſed before you came to the Crowne, that you did equally louelove & honor the learned & graue men of either of theſe opinions: Basil. dor. Epiſt. pag 11.and it is no ſmall heartes-griefe unto us, that, ſince your comming into this land, your Affections are ſo alienated & eſtranged from us, who hauehave done you no hurt in the world, but hauehave wiſhed you all the good that your owne ſoule deſireth; nay, who, before we ſaw your face, laboured by all good meanes (not without ſome danger) to promote your Maieſties iuſt Title to this Crowne, and hauehave ever ſince caryed our ſelues duetifully towards your Maieſtie, and peaceably in the ſervice of God, and of his Churches. We are not ignorant what the Prelates doe pretend, and what they ſuggeſt continually in your Princely eares; they cry out againſt us with open mouth, that we are ſtubberne and refractarie perſons, and enemies to your Soveraigne Authoritie: wherein they doe both highly abuſe your Maieſtie, and wrong us exceedingly. For it is well knowne, and the Lord beareth us witnes, that we doe, in the ſinglenes and ſynceritie of our heartes, aſcribe much more unto your Maieſtie and the Civill authoritie under you, then any Prelate in the land either doth, or is willing to doe. And for the matters in queſtion, we profeſſe heere in the preſence of that great God, before whom we ſhall one day appeare to anſwer it, if we ſpeake not the truth, that we ſtand not againſt them out of any wilfulnes, or peeviſhnes, but out of the tendernes of our Cōſciences, as being perſwaded in our very ſoules, that we cannot yeeld unto them, without ſinning againſt Chriſt Ieſus, whoſe Miniſters and Meſſengers we are. And if, upon ſuch a due Triall of our cauſe as is deſired, the truth of the enſuing Propoſitions (which are the ſpeciall groundes on which we ſtand) ſhalbe infringed by the Prelates; nay, if we ſhall not be able to make them ſo cleere and manifeſt by the infallible & undeniable evidence of the holy word of God, that who ſo doth not wilfully hoodwinke himſelfe may plainely ſee and diſcerne the truth of them; we doe heere promiſe, and binde our ſelues in the word of Chriſtians, that we will preſently change our mindes, and become wholly Conformable to the preſent State.
Wherefore we, being herein privy to our owne uprightnes both to God & to our Soveraigne, cannot but conceiue ſome hope, notwithſtanding all the contrary plottes and practiſes of the Prelates, that your Maieſtie (who are even as an Angell of God to diſcerne betweene good and evill) wilbe pleaſed now at laſt both to take a more exact knowledge of our cauſe, and (out of the tender bowells of your compaſsion) to thinke upon and pity the diſtreſſed eſtate not onelyonly of us the Lordes poore ſervants, who are without any iuſt cauſe caſt out from ſerving at his Altar, but alſo of the Churches of Chriſt in this land, which doe mourne and grone under the burden of humane Traditions. Oh that this ſhould be told at Gath, or publiſhed in the ſtreetes of Aſhkelon, amongſt the daughters of the uncircumciſed, that, under the Governement of ſo worthily renowned and famous a Prince, the Churches of God hauehave been thus miſerably waſted, and ſuch a woful havock made in them by vſurping & time-ſerving Prelates, as the like hath never been heard of in this land, under the Goſpell. Oh that this ſhould be either ſaid, or written in ſucceeding ages, that in the raigne of Noble King Iames (whoſe name ſhall liue amongſt men, when he, having finiſhed his courſe, ſhall ſleepe with his Fathers) ſo many painefull Preachers of the Goſpell (even three hundred, or there-aboutes) hauehave in one yeere and a litle more, been turned out of Chriſts ſervice, onelyonly for refuſing ſuch Ceremonies, as hauehave their life, breath, and being from Poperie, and ſuch a Subſcription, as the like, for ought we know, hath neuer been urged upon any Church of Chriſt, in any age, under a Chriſtian Magiſtrate: there being in the meane time whole ſwarmes of idle, Idole, ſcandalous, Popiſh, and Non-reſident Miniſters tolerated every where amongſt us.
The Prelates hauehave left no meanes of rigour and extremitie vnaſſayed, for the ſuppreſsing of this cauſe, and for the diſcouraging and daunting of all thoſe that either ſpeake or write for it; and yet the glorious evidence of the truth is ſuch, that it wanteth no witneſſes; there being at this day many hundreds of the moſt painefull & profitable Preachers in this Kingdome (beſides thoſe alreadie turned out) which are readie to loſe both their Miniſtery & their Maintenance, and to expoſe themſelues & theirs to all manner of miſery, rather then they will renounce this Cauſe, and conforme themſelues to the Corruptions of the times. If therefore there be in the Prelates any louelove of the truth, or any ſparke of deſire of the peace and proſperitie of our Churches (which is the thing that they ſo much pretend unto your Maieſtie) it will now appeare and ſhew it ſelf, and you ſhall eaſily diſcerne it, by their indeavour to procure the admittance of this Offer, which is the likelieſt & the readieſt way, that hitherto hath been thought upon, both to finde out the truth, and to put a perpetuall end to all theſe long-continued Controverſies. Some other thinges there be, which we would willingly hauehave brought to this, or the like Triall, as namely, the Oth ex officio, which is a cruell a racking of the minde, as the moſt exquiſite Torture can be of the body; and ſundrie of the late Canons. But becauſe they be of another nature, and we take them to be not onelyonly contrary to the word of God, but alſo directly againſt the lawes of the land, we mention them not in our Propoſitions, in which we hauehave endevoured to ſet downe onelyonly the groundes of all the maine differences betwixt us & the Prelats: which if they be once throughly debated, & ſoundly agreed upon, your Maieſtie ſhall ſee ſuch a bleſſed vnitie and vniformitie in all the Churches within your Dominions, as your owne heart deſireth.
May it therfore pleaſe your moſt excellent Maieſtie to reade, & examine this Offer, & to weigh in all the partes therof the equitie & iuſtice of it, & the moſt certaine advantage that the truth (on which ſide ſoever it is) ſhall receiue by the acceptance of it: may it pleaſe you likewiſe to urge the Prelates, whom it deepely concerneth, to admitt of it; and to ſecure by Royall protection thoſe that ſhalbe Actors in it: who, howſoever they are forced to conceale their names (in regard of the rigor and ſeveritie of the Prelates) will notwithſtanding be moſt willing & readie to ſhew themſelues, if your Maieſtie ſhall vouchſafe, to ſignifie your gratious pleaſure touching the admittance of this Conference. If therefore we hauehave found favour in your Maieſties eyes, and if this great cauſe of Chriſts be regarded; Our humble ſuite vntounto your Highnes is, that you would make it knowne by ſome publike Act, that the Offer ſhalbe accepted, and they protected by your Royall Authority, that hauehave, or ſhall hauehave to doe in it. So ſhall we hauehave occaſion, every day more and more, to intreat the Lord, as we hauehave done and will doe for ever, that he will continue vponupon your Maieſtie, with a happy increaſe, all his graces both bodily and ſpirituall, even untill, and in the day of Chriſt.
The Lord Ieſus bleſſe your Maieſtie, and your Royall poſteritie, and graunt vntounto you a long and a happie raigne over us: the Lord multiplie all his mercyes upon you both for this and a better life, and cover with ſhame the faces of all ſuch as wiſh you the leaſt evill. Amen.
Your Majeſties obedient Subjects, moſt readie to doe your will in all thinges, wherein they ſhall not diſobey the will of God: Some of the late ſilenced and deprived Miniſters.
A CHRISTIAN AND MODEST OFFER OF A MOST INDIFFERENT CONFERENCE or diſputation, about the maine and principall Controverſies betwixt the Prelats, and the late ſ…nced and deprived Miniſters in England: TENDERED BY SOME OF THE SAID MINISTERS TO THE Archbiſhops, and Biſhops, and all their adherents.
Wherein are ſet downe,
1. The Propoſitions which the Miniſters offer to maintaine againſt the Prelats.
2. The Conditions, forme, and maner of the Conference or Diſputation.
3. Iuſt Conſiderations moving the Miniſters to make this Offer.
4. An Anſwer to ſuch oppoſiſions, as may be made by the Prelats againſt yeeiding to the ſaid Offer.