The Christians Bulwark, Chapter 13
CHAP. XIII. Of the generalitie and vncertainety of Romane-Catholicke Faith: the generalitie of it confuted, by the contrary confirmed.
BEsides the forenamed properties and limitations of that kinde of faith, which Pontificians appropriate to themselues, though common (by their owne confession) with the Diuels and damned; wee cannot omit two other speciall markes, whereby they would dignifie and commend this their faith vntounto the world. The first whereof, is the generality and implicity of this faith: the second, is the vncertainty of it. Wee ioyne these two together, generality and vncertainety, because the former is a necessary inducement to the latter, and as it were the foundation of Babels tottering Tower of vncertainty. For, grant once such a generality of faith as they require, and the vncertainty of it will easily follow.
Now concerning generality of faith, we noted before out ofSoto de nat. & grat. l. 2. c. 7. Soto, that they vtterly disclaime that speciall faith in Christ, & in the promises of God in him. I may here fitly apply that sentence vsed by his Excellent Maiestie in his late speech to the honorable house of Parliament, wch I humbly craue leaue to borrow, Dolosus versat…r in vniuersalibus: The deceitful man loueth to walke in vniuersalities or generalities. The Pontificians in this their vniuersality or generality of faith, deale like the timorous, and therefore cautelous Hare, who to deceiue her pursuers or tracers, makes many doubles, and crafty windings out and in, that vneath it is for the most sagacious pursuer, to deprehend, or finde her out. Their end is, that faith, in the height of sins deluge ouerflowing the soule, might hauehave no solid and firme ground, to pitch and rest her foote vponupon. And herein lyes the mystery of their Antichristian iniquity, to pull men quite away from Christ, that in matter of faith they may wholly depend vponupon that Papall imaginary infallibility, hauing no other security, than to pin their soules vponupon a sinnefull mans sleeue: Which Vega doth not a whit dissemble, saying, Deus summam salutis fidelium in Sacerdotum Vega lib. 13. de lapsis & eorum reparatione. c. 31.posuit potestate: That God hath placed the summe of the saluation of the faithfull in the power of the Priests: the summe whereof is the Pope, the Arch-priest. But of this more in the proper place. But for their faith, it must bee generall in two respects: first, in respect of the generality of the obiect of Faith, the whole Word of God (as they say) written and vnwritten, an vnlimited obiect: secondly, in regard of the generality of men to be saued or iustified, as they teach. They must neither in particular beleeue the promises of God in Christ, nor any man must beleeue that the promises of God belong vntounto him in particular. To which purpose Soto saith, Fides Catholica, Christianae familiae necessaria, vtpote qua Christiani Soto ibid.censemur, non est specialis illa, qua indubitato credit quisque, ac constituit sibi, remitti peccata propter Christum, & esse in gratia Dei: sed ille assensus in genere, quo firmiter credimus Iesum Christum, vniuersalem esse Redemptorem, &c. that is, The Catholick Faith, necessary for the Christian family, as whereby we are reputed Christians, is not that speciall Faith, whereby eueryevery man doth vndoubtedly beleeue and resolue with himselfe, that his sinnes are forgiuen him for Christs sake, and that he is in the fauour of God; but that generall assent, whereby we firmely beleeue, that Iesus Christ is the vniuersall Redeemer, &c. as we touched before. Now the grounds of this their generall Faith, wee finde in the sixt Chapter of the sixt Session of theConcil. Trid. Sess. 6. cap. 6. Councell of Trent, of the manner of preparation to iustification: as first, for the beliefe of things reuealed and promised, the generall obiect of it: and secondly; In spem eriguntur, fidentes Deum sibi propter Christum propitium fore, &c. Men are brought to hope, beleeuing that God will bee, or may bee mercifull to them for Christs sake. Marke, they doe not say, beleeuing that God is mercifull vntounto them, but that hee will be, or may be, as Vega interprets it; Se posse saluari: that they may possibly be saued. And when they speake of a particular iustification of any one man in the present tense, then also they expresse it by an indefinite speech, and generall phrase: Credentes à Deo iustificari impium per gratiam eius, &c. Beleeuing that a sinner is iustified of God through his grace: not that a mans selfe is iustified. For, for a man to beleeue in particular, that himselfe is truely iustified by Christ, such a man they anathematize and curse, Can. 14. yea, this Faith isibid. Can. 14▪ so generall, and so little respecteth Christ as the obiect of it, as that Vega, in his Commentary vponupon the said sixt Chapter of the sixt Session, saith: Persuaderi potest, non solum iustificari Vega lib. 6. de praepar. adult. ad iustif. cap. 19posse homines, sed & saluari sine fide Christi explicita: It is very credible, that men may not only be iustified, but also saued, without the explicite, or cleare, and vnfolded Faith of Christ. Where note, that they not onelyonly exclude the necessity of a distinct Faith in Christ, but also put a maine difference between iustification and saluation: For a Pontifician may be iustified, and yet not saued. Vega addes his reason: for (saith hee) although Christ bound all men to beleeue the Gospell, when he commanded his Apostles, that they should preach it throughout the whole world, & pronounced them damned, that beleeued not: yet seeing there may be an inuincible ignorance of the Gospell (that is, eyther for want of the meanes, or by reasonIgnorantia prauae dispositionis. cap. 18. ibid. in fine. of a wicked and peruerse disposition, as they say) this shall be no impediment in this respect, why they may not be both iustified and saued, which shall obserue other naturall precepts. Thus the Councell of Trent, with her Pontificians, deale with Faith and Iustification, as Cheaters, who when they play with Nouices, doe so shuffle and packe the Cardes, that they make the game sure on their owne side, and all to cheate the other of his money. So the Pontificians cheate their simple people of their siluer, and soules too, by shuffling the particular sauing faith in Christ, with such sleight of hand, in the whole pack of generall faith, that they are sure neuer to rise sauers.
Well, come wee now to shew the vanity of this generall faith, by setting against it the speciall particular faith, which Gods Word teacheth and requireth of eueryevery one that is truly iustified, and so consequently perfectly saued.
We hauehave spoken before sufficiently of the proper and speciall obiect of sauing faith: to wit, Iesus Christ, the summe of the Gospell, and the substance of all Gods promises. Therefore we will now confine our speech to the specialty and particularity of sauing faith, in respect of the common subiect of it; to wit, eueryevery beleeuer in particular. It is the Catholicke Doctrine of the holy Scriptures, that eueryevery beleeuer must hauehave a speciall, particular, proper faith of his owne; yea a cleare, explicite, and vnfolded faith in Christ: that hee is not onelyonly the Redeemer of mankinde in generall, nor onelyonly that we may be saued by him, but that eueryevery one in particular, doe beleeue Christ is his Redeemer and Sauiour. This is the speciall property of sauing faith, particularly to apply Christ, with all Gods promises in him, to my soule, and thy soule. The Scriptures are very pregnant for the proofe of this point; both in the Law, in the Prophets, and in the New Testament. In the Law, this particular faith is shadowed vntounto vsus by three remarkable types: one of the hand, another of the eyes, and the third of the Sicle of the Sanctuary. To which also we may adde the particular sacrifice, which eueryevery man was to bring for his owne sinne: We will begin with the last. In the Law, eueryevery man was to bring a particular sacrifice for his particular sinne. Leuit. 4. 27. 28. If any of the common people sinne, &c. not onelyonly the Priest, as vers. 3. nor onelyonly the Congregation, vers. 13. but if any one of the common people sinne, &c. then hee shall bring: What? an offering in generall? no: hee shall bring his offering, as a Kidde without blemish, for his sinne which hee hath sinned. Now this offering without blemish, what was it, but a liuely type of Christ, as of the Lambe without1. Pet. 1. 19. spot, as Peter speaketh, who was offered vp, and sacrifised for eueryevery sinner, beleeuing in particular? For the further confirmation of this point; in the second place, eueryevery man bringing his particular offering, for his particular sinne, was to lay his hand vponupon his offering, as Leuit. 4. 29. Thus the Priest must doe also, vers. 4. thus the whole Congregation must doe, vers. 15. All must lay their hands vponupon their sacrifice. Now what is meant by the hand, but a particular faith in eueryevery beleeuer, apprehending and applying Christ, to the taking away, and purging of his sinne? This we touched before in the point of imputation, where wee shewed that the hand thus layed vponupon the sacrifice, was a figure of faith. OrigenOrig. in Leuit. applies the laying on of the hand, to the imposing of our sinnes vponupon Christ, the true sacrifice. Hence it was, that together with the imposition of the hand, the sinnes of the offendors were confessed ouer the sacrifice, and put vponupon the head thereof, Leuit. 16. 21. So that this imposition of the hand, as it did figure the laying of our sinnes vponupon Christ, whereby he became sinne for vsus, by imputation, bearing them vponupon him: So also it was a reciprocall signification of the imputation and application of Christs righteousnesse to eueryevery beleeuer, whereby wee become the righteousnesse of God in him: the hand of faith comming betweene, laying our sinne vponupon Christ, our sacrifice, and receiuing his righteousnesse vntounto vsus. Among the Hebrew Doctors, Maimony saith of this imposition of the hand, or hands, that deafe men, fooles, children,Maimony in tract. de sacrif. offerend. cap. 3. seruants, weomen, the blinde, and the stranger, might not impose their hand vponupon the sacrifice. Now wee know, that the deafe, fooles, and children, are voyde of actuall faith; seruants, weomen, blinde, and strangers, might be, in a mysterie debarred and excluded: for seruants were types of the seruants of sinne: weomen, wee know, were denyed the vse of Circumcision; they were not reckoned in the number of those sixe hundred thousand, that came out of Egypt, who were all men of warre, types of Christs Souldiers, who must be of a Masculine vertue. And Abraham, the Father of the faithfull, is said in Scripture, to beget sonnes, but not daughters: Abraham non genuit filias, saith Origen. But this was in a mysterie only; as Melchisedechs birth and death are not mentioned in Scripture, and that in a mystery. The blinde were of the nature of the deafe; and the strangers, argued thoseEphes. 2. 12. that were aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel, and strangers from the Couenants of promise, as the Apostle speaketh. Not, that I meane, these were denyed to hauehave any part in Gods Couenant, but in a mystery and type onelyonly, as we hauehave said. Also the same Rabbi saith, that this imposition of the hand must be done by a mans self, & not by another, as the iust man shall liue by his faith, not by anothers faith. Abac. 2. 4. It must bee done with all a mans might: as Philip said to theActs 8. 37. Eunuch, If thou beleeuest with all thy heart. And immediately vponupon the imposition, the sacrifice was slaine; figuring our faith in Christs bloud, Rom 3. 25. Origen compares faith to the figure of the holy Sicle, Leuit. 3. Siclo sancto comparandus Origen super …euit.nobis est Christus, qui peccata nostra dissoluat. Siclus sanctus fidei nostrae formam tenet: We must with the Sicle of the Sanctuary purchase vntounto vsus Christ, who may take away our sinnes. The holy Sicle is the figure of our faith: for (saith hee) if thou shalt offer faith as a price, Christ, as it were the immaculate Ramme, being giuen to be sacrificed, thou shalt receiue remission of sinnes. Now this particular faith in Christ, is absolutely necessary for eueryevery one that will be saued. And therefore the same Origen concludeth: Certum est, quod remissionem peccatorum nullus accipiat, nisi detulerit integram, probam & sanctam fidem, per quam mercari possit Arietem; cuius natura hoc est, vt peccata credentis abstergat. Et hic est Siclus sanctus, probata (vt diximus) & syncera fides, id est, vbi nullus perfidiae dolus, nulla hereticae calliditatis peruersitas admiscetur, vt synceram fidem offerentes, precioso Christi sanguine, tanquam immaculatae hostiae diluamur: It is certaine, that no man can receiue remission of sinnes, vnlesse he being an intire, approued, and holy faith, wherewith hee may purchase the Ramme: the nature whereof is this, to blot out the sinnes of the beleeuer. And this is the holy Sicle, an approued and sincere faith, that is, where no perfidious fraud, nor peruerse hereticall craft is mingled, that offering a sincere faith, wee may be cleansed with the precious bloud of Christ, as of an immaculate sacrifice. EueryEvery man therefore must bring a speciall, particular, holy, sincere faith of his own, wherewith, as with a holy Sicle, he may purchase Christ; and which, as his hand, he must lay hold on Christ, which no man else can doe for him. His generall implicite faith, to beleeue as the Church beleeueth: that is, to beleeue he knoweth not what, will not serue the turne.
This speciall particular faith in Christ, requisite in eueryevery beleeuer, in eueryevery one that lookes for saluation, is liuely prefigured by the eye: as Numb. 21. 9. if a Serpent did bite any man, when hee beheld the Serpent of brasse, hee liued. This brasen Serpent was a liuely figure of Christ crucified. A man bitten with the Serpent, is eueryevery sinner: the way for him to be healed, is to looke vponupon the brasen Serpent lifted vp vponupon the pole; that is, vponupon Christ crucified. EueryEvery man that was Serpent-bit, hee must looke vponupon the brasen Serpent with hisIob 19. 27. owne eyes, not with any others eyes: as Iob said, I shall see him with these eyes, and none other for mee. Christ himselfe applyethIohn 3. the truth to the type: As Moses lifted vp the Serpent in the wildernesse; so must the Sonne of man be lifted vp, that whosoeuer beleeueth in him, should not perish, but hauehave life euerlasting. As therefore none of the stung Israelites were cured, but those that looked with their owne eyes vponupon the brasen Serpent; so none of the Israel of God is healed of the sting of sinne, but by his speciall, cleare, viue Faith, as the Chrystall eye of his soule, looking vponupon Christ crucified. As St. Augustine vponupon the place applyeth it: Interim modò Fratres, vt à peccato sanemur, Aug. in Ioan. tract. 12. c. 3.Christum crucifixum intu…amur. Quomodo qui intuebantur illum Serpentem, non peribant morsibus Serpentium: sic qui intuentur fide mortem Christi, sanantur à morsibus peccatorum: Now Brethren (saith he) that wee may be cured of our sinne, let vsus looke vponupon Christ crucified. As they which beheld that Serpent, did not perish by the bitings of Serpents: so they that by Faith behold the death of Christ, are healed of the bytings of sinnes. As therefore eueryevery one must look with his owne eyes, and that not vponupon eueryevery obiect, but vponupon the Serpent, and liue: so eueryevery sinner must looke with the cleare eyes of his own faith, & that vponupon no other obiect, but Christ crucified, that so he may liue eternally, and be healed of all his infirmities, as Dauid saith, Psal. 103.
If we look into the whole Word of God, we shall finde this particular faith of eueryevery beleeuer to hauehave beene in all the Saints of God. The Prophet Abacuc saith of eueryevery iust man,Abac. 2. 4. The iust man shall liue by his Faith: by his owne Faith, not by anothers. This was Abrahams faith (the Father and Figure of all the Faithfull) who hearing Gods promise concerning the blessed seed, to wit, Christ, in whom all the Nations of the earth should be blessed, as the Apostle applies it, Gal. 3. 16. hee thereupon beleeued. How beleeued he? not as the Pontificians would hauehave it, by a general faith concerning the truth of that which God had said: for it is not said barely Abraham beleeued God, but▪ Abraham beleeued in the Lord, and it was imputed vntounto him for righteousnesse, Gen. 15. 6. And the Apostle saith, That Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through vnbeleefe, but was strong in Faith, giuing glory to God, Rom. 4. 20. and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousnesse, v. 22. But the Pontificians willsay, this was a speciall Faith, which Abraham had, not common to ordinary and common beleeuers. No such thing: for looke what kind of Faith Abraham had, the same kinde, though haply not in the same measure and degree, hauehave all true beleeuers. This the Apostle plainely resolueth in the next words, saying: Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him: but for vsus also, to whom it shall bee imputed, if wee beleeue on him, that raised vp Iesus our Lord from the dead, who was deliuered for our offences, and was raised againe for our iustification. If therefore Abraham had a speciall and particular faith, then eueryevery true Beleeuer hath the like faith in him. But Abraham had a speciall and particular Faith: for, first he beleeued in God: secondly, hee beleeued in God especially concerning the promise, the substance whereof was Christ. This Faith was imputed to Abraham for righteousnesse. If it had not been Abrahams speciall Faith, how had it beene imputed to him for righteousnesse? It was Abrahams peculiar, proper, owne Faith, looking with open eyes vponupon the promise of God (which promise was Christ, whose day Abraham, though a farre off, saw and reioyced) which was imputed to him for righteousnesse. Thus it is with eueryevery true beleeuer, whose owne speciall, cleare, Chrystall-ey'd Faith, beholding and applying Gods promise in Christ, is particularly imputed to him for righteousnesse. This the Apostle concludes in generall, from the example and instance of Abraham, and makes it the common case of all true Beleeuers, saying, Rom 4. 5. To him that worketh not, but beleeueth on him that iustifieth the vngodly, his Faith is counted for righteousnesse. This beeing so cleere a Conclusion, what neede we adde further testimonies? Christ himselfe said to Thomas, when he confessed, and said, My Lord, and my God: Thomas, because thou hast seene me, thou hast Iohn 20. 28. 29beleeued: blessed are they that hauehave not seene, and yet hauehave beleeued. Where note two things: first, Thomas his Faith in applying Christ to himselfe, saying, My Lord, and my God: and secondly, Christs deduction, shewing the same Faith to be in eueryevery true beleeuer, the property of which Faith, is, to apply Christ to himselfe, as Thomas did, and to say with the voyce of faith, confessing Christ, in his death and resurrection, testified by those scarres in his sacred side, My Lord, and my God.
In a word, all those*The most ancient and authenticke Creeds require explicit faith in Christ, and the promises of God in him. Creeds vsed in the Church from all antiquity, do vnanimously, and with one ioynt consent, confirme this Catholicke truth of that speciall explicit, cleere, particular Faith in Christ, required in eueryevery true beleeuer. For first of all, they do all say, I beleeue in God, &c. not, We beleeue. So the Apostles Creed: the Nicene Creede saith, I beleeue in one God, &c. not, We beleeue. Athanasius his Creede saith, Whosoeuer will be saued, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholicke Faith, &c. that is, EueryEvery man in particular must beleeue. And this particular Faith is required, not only in regard of eueryevery beleeuer, but also in regard of the speciall obiect of Faith; which is no confused, or vniuersall (I wot not what obiect) but a speciall obiect, to wit, the sauing knowledge of God in Christ, and the promise of life in him. Looke vponupon all the Creeds, which the Fathers call the obiect of Faith, as containing the summe of that which we are to beleeue to our saluation; and doe they not mainely present to our Faith, Iesus Christ, and him crucified? Nor this onelyonly in generall, that Christ is the redeemer of the world; but the specialties of this redemption are set downe; to teach vsus, That not a generall implicit faith will serue the turne, but it must bee a particular explicit faith, comprehending all those particulars in the Creede, declared at large in the Word of God. Thus the foundation of Popish vncertainty of Faith being remoued, to wit, a certaine vncertaine implicit general faith: the building it selfe threatneth immediate ruine.