An Epistle Unto Two Daughters of Warwick, Response to letter · Response 18 – Response 19
H. A.
OH what a slight and serpentlike subtilty is this / that H. N. should abuse and deprave the words and actions of Gods servants in this manner; as if by their meek and patient suffrings for Christs sake / they thought to appease God wth an elementish body. It is far from the harts of al the faithfull / to imagine that any thing which themselves can eyther doe or suffer / in body or sowl / is able to appease God. They have otherweise learned to know the guilt and wages of syn / the infinitenes of Gods majesty who is angry with the world for their misdeeds / the weaknes and vnworthynes of al mens works and suffrings. To that therfore which H. N. pretendeth to say on Gods behalf; I answer with Job / and ask him / ‡Iob. 13. 7.if he wil speak wickedly for God; or talk deceitfully for his cause? For we esteem our suffrings nothing / and all our righteousnes as dung. It is the†Heb. 10. 5. 6. 10. body of our Lord Jesus that was hanged on the tree / which is the onelyonly sacrifice for our synns / and appeaseth the wrath of his Father: and the things that we doe or suffer / benifit not him but our selves: for the chastisements of God / whither on our bodies or sowles / are (as the Apostle teacheth vsus / )|Heb. 12. 10. for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holynes. Wherfore H. N. hath⸪Psa. 7. 14. conceived mischief and brought forth a lie / whiles labouring to abolish the outward confessing and suffring of Christians / he falsly imputeth vntounto thē this error / to beleev they appease God with an elementish body, yea the frawd of this falser is manifestly discovered / as the reader may observ; for the error which he would lay vponupon others / is found to be in himself / whose doctrine is such as teacheth men to be their own saviours. By the Apostles Gospel / we have our redemption and forgivenes of syns through†Col. 1. 14. Heb 9. 28. the blood of Christ once offred; to him also give|Act. 10. 43. al the prophets witnesse / that through his name / al that beleev in him shal receiv remission of syns / (sayth Peter:) but by H. Ns. Gospel / we obteyn it|First Exhor. ch. 20. s. 19. by our own imitation of Christ in his death / and taking vp of our crosse. And many such like deadly venimous doctrines are sparsed in his writings / to disanull the true Christ / with his suffrings and merits / and to set vp a false and imaginary Christ bred / and born in his corrupt hart / as I have before proved. Now though we hold not God to be appeased with our suffrings / as this man cavilleth; yet hold we vponupon ground frō the scriptures / that we must serve and glorify God both with our *1 Cor. 6. 20.bodyes and with our spirits / because both ar Gods; and therfore are we willed to give vp‡Rom. 12. 1. our bodies / a living sacrifice / holy and acceptable vntounto God / which is our reasonable serving of God. And if by bonds and prisonment / by racking / scourging / stoning / hewing asundex; or other the like torments of body / as†Heb. 11. 35. 36. 37. & 13, 3. 2 Cor. 11. 23. 25. &c. others before vsus have suffred / God also try vsus: we ought with patience to bear them / and not to go from the confessing of Christ and his truth / for avoyding them / as this deceiver would perswade vsus. His conclusion therfore / which he maketh agaynst these two daughters / namely / that they have not confessed Christ according to the truth, &c. is yet to be proved / for asmuch as he hath not by any ground from Gods word / overthrowen their faith or confessiō in any poynt / but onelyonly sought to vndermine it / by falshood and deceyt; abusing the readers / ād perverting the holy scriptures; his desire being to draw others into the same destruction with himself; who in sted of confessing Christ according to the truth, hath like an Antichristian overthrown the whol Gospel of Christ / denyed him to be come in the flesh / and set vp an Idol in his place / even the Lovely Being out of his own fleshly hart.
H. N.
31. God is my witnes, that it is true which I here write vntounto you; & the occasion of my writing is chanced, for that I bear a sorrowfull hart with you both. But this is my hope over you, that ye will take it at my hands, as out of the Love of Christ, and not to be in any case obstinate in your selves, for to wind away your selves from the reading of these Letters with humble harts.
32. And when ye have deliberately read the same witnesses, and the Lord added his wisdome therto, wherby the eyes of your harts mought be a little opened: then spare me not to be your servant, and give me to vnderstand by the bringe therof, & ther shal yet more be brought vntounto yow, then that which yow have presently.
33. And if yow cannot acknowledge this for the truth, yet look well alwayes hereto, that ye do not blaspheme the same which ye know not. And I likewise shal not blame yow, although that yow cannot comprehend the same. For the godly gifts cannot be brought to any one by violence or compulsion, for they are the gifts of God.
34. Herewith I salute yow both, (whose names I know not,) very hartily through the love of Christ; & wish vntounto yow, out of the ground of my sowl, the knowledge of the very true Spirit of Christ, that ye mought learn to know aright, your caling in Christ. That grant vsus the Almighty God, through his Love, Amen.
By your vnknown friend H. N.
H. A.
IF God were witnes, that it is true which H. N. here hath written; the scriptures / which are Gods witnesses or testimonies would approve of the same; but by holy writ / his errors are disproved; and the evils which he vnjustly layeth vponupon others / are justly returned vponupon his own head; and found to be in himself and his bewitched folowers / whom I leav to the doon of him which hath sayd / |Mal. 3. 5.I wil come neer to yow to judgement, and I wilbe a swift witnes against sorcerers, & against adulterers, and against false swearers. &c. And for al that shal read these writings / as they ought to be farr from blaspheming the truth which they know not; so should they be far also from approving or hearkning to a knowen deceiver and blasphemer of God; such as this Henry Nicolas by this Epistle and his other vngodly writings is proved for to be. His fawning words and submissive cariage / with promise of more matters after; are but the behaviour of the*Prov. 7. 14—21. Lewd woman / that vseth to entise with flattering lips; when her†vers. 27. howse is the way vntounto the grave / which goeth down to the chambers of death. What thank or reward then remaynes for H. N. for al his paynes and proffered kindnes / but that which the wise man hath appointed saying / He that blesseth his friend with a lowd voice, rising early in the morning, it shal be counted to him as a curse. Pro. 27. 14.
FINIS.
In pag. 47. lin. 5. before the end, for love read live…
End of the text · Henry Ainsworth, An Epistle Unto Two Daughters of Warwick (1608)