A Stay Against Straying, Part 2 · Section 11
SECT. 11.
THE 11. Objection is thus laid down: The ſheep of Chriſt heare his voyce, but ſtrangers they will not heare: Joh. 10. 3. 8. 37.
He anſwereth: Chriſt doth not there ſpeake of the outward hearing, but of the hearking unto; that is, as he expounds himſelfe, Verſ. 3. 4. 5. 14. 16. 26. 27. of the knowing and beleeving of his voyce, and following it, &c.
Anſw. It is a ſpeach of Auguſtine aNe ſitis multi Magiſtri diſſentientes a Doctrina vnici magiſtri Chriſti. in Lib. 1. detraction.: Be not many maſters, diſſenting from the Doctrine of Christ, our only Maſter.
The Counſell is good, for it is a great ſinne and hurtfull vice, to be raſh and adventurous upon opinions, in matters of Religion, where men are not firſt well informed in judgement, by true grounds of knowledge. Now truely I have not ſeen in ſo ſhort a Tract. any man that hath more adventured to broach private conceits‡In Eccleſia ponitur idolum, quan do novum dogmaſtatuitur. Ier. in Her. 32., then the Treat: and to ſingle himſelfe out from all writers, ancient and moderne. As if his fancies like Oracles were to be lickd up; and his foreign, he ſaid, as another Pythagoras bDiogen. Laer. in Pythag.muſt be reſted in; or as the Popes TraditionscCounc. Tren. Seſſ. 4. dec. 1. p. 11. diſtinct. 19. c. ſic omnes. to be received, as if Chrſt ſpake them. But before I come to diſcover the nakednes of his anſwer, I will firſt from this Scripture lay downe this argument.
Such as Chriſt intenteth by ſtrangers in Ioh. 10. 5. may not Lawfully be heard.
But Christ by strangers in Ioh. 10. 5. intendeth unlawfull Ministers.
Ergo unlawfull Miniſters may not Lawfully be heard.
The Major is without controverſie. For 1. the Greeke foreign, is of that plainenes, as no witt of man can put by the …orce thereof; Properly it imports a going after another bodilydMat. 4. 20. 22. 25. Mar. 1. 18. Ioh. 1. 37. 38. 40. Act. 11. 18.; as a Scholer followeth the Maſter to be taught.
2. It cannot be ſhewed*If they can, let them. that words ſo generally laid downe, as theſe, (foreign, &c.) are uſed any where to reſtraine a perſon only from beleeving the Doctrines of falſe Teachers, and allowing him in meane time freely to heare them.
3. Whereas Chriſt ſaith, they will flee from him, this muſt ſurely bee underſtood, animo & corpore: For otherwiſe with reverence be it ſpoken: The prohibition here were unneceſſarie and vaine: Conſidering if true Miniſters ſhall erre in Doctrine, wee muſt flie from ite1. Theſ. 5 21;. So then by this Expoſition, there is nothing more meant of flying from strangers, then from Chriſts owne Houſhold ſervants. The which to affirme is foreign, as the Philoſopher ſaithfAriſt. l. 2. Elench. c. 3., abſurd & idle.
Finallie, Learned Men generallie, underſtand it of flying with bodie and mind. And ſo not to come neere the breath of unlawfull Miniſters. So Auguſtine gDe verb. Dom. Serm. 49, Cyrill hComment. in Ioh: 10. l. 8; Tom. 1, Chryſoſtom iHom. 83. in Ioh., Calvin kComment. in Ioh. 10. 5;, Hunnius libid;, Zepperus mibid.Toſſanus nComment. in I. 10. 5., Stumfius oPoſtel: Alleg. Dom. 8. Poſt. Trinit. p. 481, Royardus pHom: in ſeria tert. Pent., and others.
The Minor is undeniable, and proved 3. wayes. 1. By divine*Pro 2, 16 & 10, 20, 24. & 7. 5 authoritie, which gives them often this title. 2. By their agreement and likenes: in Scripture men are named ſtrangers in 4 reſpects. 1. Of their ſtrange ſect.qMat. 17 25. Eſa. 62 8 2. Of their ſtrange Religion. rMar 2 11. Pſ 81. 9;3. Strange Lawes.sIudg. 19, 12; Neb. 92. And laſtly, of the ſtrange workuLuk. 16, 12. and ſervice which they doe. This holds true here in the caſe of unlawfull Miniſters; For 1. they are not citizens with the ſaints and of the Houſhold of God*We ſpeake not here of the inviſible Church, but the true viſible. 2. Their way and manner of ſerving God, is contrarie to the rules and orders, which hee hath praeſcribed. 3. Their Canons and Inſtitutions are none of his, but Satans and the Biſhops. 4. In their adminiſtrations (according. to their Service-Booke;) they ſerve not Chriſt, but Antichriſt. Mali thripes, mali ipes.
3. By the teſtimonie of Learned men, as Pareus aComment: in Hebr: 5, v. 4. p. 211., Polanus bIn Ezech. c 44; p 800., Danaeus cComment. in 1 Timot. 5, 22, p. 343;, Toletus din Ioh. 10, p. 597., Luther eEnarrat. in Evang. Tom. 5, p. 158., Hoffmiſter fHom. in Evang: Dom. 9; Poſt Trinit., Guiliaudus gComment. in Gal. 1, p. 241., Poligenarus hDom, 7, poſt pont in Evang: p. 26., Topiar iIn Evang; Dom. 8; poſt. Trin; p. 73., Anton: Gonigſton kPoſtil; Oct; poſt. pent; p. 175;, the Rhemiſts lAnnot; in Ioh: 10; v. 5.. All theſe affirme, that vvhoſoever taketh upon him to preach without a Lawfull ſending, commeth in, not by a Lawfull Election, and holy Church Ordinance, but breaketh in againſt Order; By force and favour of men, & by humane Lawes. he is a ſtranger, a thiefe, a murderer, according to Chriſt, ſaying in Io. 10. and thus have the old Writers expounded the place. As Irenaeus mL. 4. c. 4., Clem: Alexand. nL. 1. Stromat.Cyprian oLib. 1. Epiſt. 6 & 76., Didymus pIn Ioh: 10., Rupertus qIn Ioh. 10., Theodorus ribid., and others.
To come now to the Treat: 1. His whole anſwer is meerely a declyning from the ſtate of the queſtion.
A negatione unius disparatorum ad poſitionem alterius non valet argumentatio.
He reaſoneth for all the World, as if one ſhould reaſon thus: A man may not put in practice the bad Counſell of a murderer or thiefe; Ergo, he may heare them. Chriſt (ſaith he) will not have us to beleeve and obey the unſound Doctrines of ſtrangers; Ergo, he doth not ſpeake of the outward hearing of them.
Diffido oculis meis, & identidem interrogo, an legerim, an viderimsPlin. Paneg.
I ſuſpect my ſight, I queſtion my Copie, I aſke of my ſelfe againe and againe, could the Treat. write ſo unſkilfully; For if this be not a non-ſequitur, then fooles cannot ſpeake Nonſence.
2 His diſtinction betweene hearing and hearking, is much like to that of the Papiſts tBellarm. de Eccleſ. triumph. l. 1. c. 12., between Dulia and Latria. The Scripture forbids worſhipping of angels: True ſay they, as Mediators, uHaſſels pro invocat. c. 19. p. 47.ſo it is unlawfull, otherwiſe not; Chriſt bids us to fly from ſtrangers, and not to heare them: yea, ſaith he, as to obey their Doctrine? otherwiſe we may follow them, and heare them; is not this to preſume above that which is written? Surely, if men may take ſuch boldnes in expounding of the Scriptures, the groſſeſt Idolater may excuſe himſelfe eaſily.
3. I grant that to heare is ſome time taken for beleeving, approving, following, &c But what of this? Will it therefore follow, that Chriſt in Ioh. 10, 5. doth not ſpeake of the outward hearing of ſtrangers.
I may ſafely proteſt his proofe here, is onelyonly his bare opinion‡And ſo it is all along the booke. And he argues ex non conceſsis: From that which is not granted. I thinke no wiſe man will engage himſelfe to defend the concluſion, which cannot be defended.*Ne conare quid fieri non poteſt.
4. Where he ſaith, the ſtrangers of whom Christ ſpeaketh, were of the true Church and of Iſraell.
Jf his meaning be, that Chriſt here hath reſpect only to them, he is greatly deceived. For he intendeth all ſtrangers, which in the ſence of the Scriptures, either then were, or afterwards ſhould come into the world, whether of the true Church & of Iſrael, or not.
It hath hitherto been a ruled caſe among divines, not to diſtinguiſh where the Word makes no diſtinction; But the Treat: keeps ſeldome this Canon; For as Lizards, who out of the open field doe runne into Buſhes; So he leaves the plaine Text, and literall ſence of the Scriptures; And turning their necks cleane about,*I heare that ſome ſay, that theſe later workes of the Treat. are farre better then the firſt. Now, theſe ſay ſo, becauſe they lead to looſe walking, and therefore they like them the better. For otherwiſe they are much worſe. Vnles to prove a thing ſoundly by the Word of God: is not ſo good as a bare and bold affirmation, makes them ſpeake what he pleaſeth; And by this meanes neither dealeth with the Objectſon, nor cauſe of the Lord, as is meet.*I heare that ſome ſay, that theſe later workes of the Treat. are farre better then the firſt. Now, theſe ſay ſo, becauſe they lead to looſe walking, and therefore they like them the better. For otherwiſe they are much worſe. Vnles to prove a thing ſoundly by the Word of God: is not ſo good as a bare and bold affirmation
5. Jt is a queſtion, whether the Godly in the Iewiſh Church, having by hearing diſcovered the Scribes & Phariſes to be ſtrangers, that is, falſe Prophess, mought afterward heare them againe. The Treat aSee his justificat. ſeparat. pag. 434.was once of the mind that they might not; and gave ſome reaſons for itbTo be lightly moved in Religion, is Childiſh weakenes, ſayth he: divine & Mor. Obſerv. p. 44. It had been a happy thing, for the Church of God, if he had not ſhewed ſuch a Childiſh weakenes.. But howſoever, the caſe is not eaſily to be determined; conſidering the ſtate of that Church & time; Yet this is cleare to all men of ſound judgment, that in the Churches now under the Goſpell, falſe Prophets may not bee ſuffered; But after due and orderly conviction, (beeing found ſo, and abſtinate) they are to be rejected, and ſo no outward hearing of them any more. Of this judgment Camerius cComm. in. Apoc. c. 3., Borrhaeus dIn Apoc. c. 3., Toſſanus eIn Mat. c. 7., Oecolampadius fIn Mat. c. 7., and others
Laſtly, by his anſwere, all falſe Prophets may bee heard; For, if nothing make a falſe Prophet, but (as hee ſayth) unſound Doctrine; And Chriſt doth not forbid the outward hearing of ſuch; Then what I ſaid followes neceſſarilie. Now, if this were true, Lord, in what a miſerable caſe were Gods people. But it is neither ſo nor ſo; For the Scriptures ſhew the contrarie; beſides he contradicts here himſelfe, and is ſo variable and unſetled in that thing. As it may be ſaid of him as it was ſaid ‡Melanch. in Cron.of Severus: Omnia fuit & nihil fuit. Hee turneth every way, and cannot paſſe any way. He anglieth in all waters, and yet catcheth nothing; he hath ſpent all his oyle, in making a ſalve for the foule ſore Antichriſtian Preiſts; and yet to ſay (as the truth is) hath left them in a worſe cauſe*For they need not by his writing leave their unbleſſed ſtanding. For ſo they only preach the truths of the Gospell. They ſinne not. And then what need is there to lay downe their falſe Office. then he found them.