A Stay Against Straying, Part 2 · Section 6
SECT. 6.
OVr. 4. Objection is laid downe for vsus thus: Hee that heares them preach, heares them as ministers of the Church of England, and as ſent by the Biſhops, and ſoe in hearing them heares & receaves them that ſent them: according to that of our Saviour hee that heares you, heares me, and hee that dispiſeth you, dispiſeth me, and hee that diſpiſeth mee diſpiſeth him that ſent mee.
It was ſome addition to Davids n1 Sam 17▪ 51.victory over the Philistime, that he ſlew him with his owne ſword. The ta…ke is very eaſie, to cō fute all that the Treat: here writes againſt vsus, by the engine of his owne acknowledgements: For to ſay the truth, Howſoever hee frames Objections for vsus, yet originally they are his owne, and even word for word publiſhed by himſelf in former books to the world: ſo that Obliquus curſus forgetting (as it were) What he had before held and written, he makes himſelfe in this controverſie his owne greateſt oppoſite.
Th…t this Objection can call no man Father, ſo properly as the Treat; Jt is certane; for to my knowledge no man but himſelfe hath uſed it: Indeed he hath done it, and applyed i…to the ſame purpoſe, that he brings it here for us, that is, againſt the Hearing of unlavvfull Miniſters. His words are theſeoManumiſſ: to a Manuduct. pag: 9..
If it belong to the chief Prelates to call Miniſters, & that in calling them, they give them power and authority (though no abſolute charge) to preach according to the order of that Church; Then followeth it undeniably, that thoſe Miniſters thus preaching doo therein exerciſe the Prelates power: And that it may be ſaid of the Miniſters, & Biſhops, as Chriſt ſaid of his Diſciples and himſelfe, that whoſoever receives them that are ſent, receives them that ſent them. In ſubmitting unto, or withdrawing from him that is ſent by the King in a worke of his Office, men doe ſubmitt unto, or with-draw from the King himſelfe, and his authority; So it is in all estates and ſubordinations whether Eccleſiasticall or Civill; as every one that is not dimme in himſelfe, may ſee by the light of nature. So writes the Treat: Now let us ſee how he confutes himſelfe.
I grant the former part of the Objection,Treat: and account the denying of it a point of Familiſme, ſeeing the Officers of publique states in the executing of their offices, are to be esteemed according to the publick Lawes and Orders of thoſe ſtates, and not according to any under hand courſe or intention either by themſelves or others.
Anſw. A man that goes with a vaile before his eyes; comes now and then into his waye, although he know it not. The Treat. in this walke about Hearing in falſe Churches, is ſometimes cut, otherwhile in, he ſayes and unſayes; But ſo farre as he ſpeakes the truth, he ſpeakes it againſt himſelfe: for his anſwer here, it is nothing but a yeelding the caſe, in ſome compaſſe and circumlocution of words; and that the Reader may perceive it is ſo, I will make it obvious and cleare to him by an argument or two; and firſt thus:
If to heare Antichriſtian Miniſters, be to ſerve God in, and by an ordinance, way, or inſtitution, deviſed by idolaters, and with idolaters; Then is it unlawfull.
But the firſt is true, therefore the ſecond.
The propoſition is undeniable by the Treat. owne confeſſion: For he grants that … courſe of hearing is no ordinance left us by Chriſt: Then … it muſt be from Antichriſt: Againe he profeſſeth▪ they … as they preach, and preach as Miniſters of the … according to the publicke … is, to ſpeake … forme religious worſhip to God, in, and by a publick ordinance, way and ſtate which idolaters have invented, and with idolaters.
This I ſay (aperto pectore) he grants to the full: And no marvaile, for to deny it, were an audacious fiction, monſtrous unparelled preſumption▪ and would marke a man out, for an Atheſticall Familiſt, as perſpicuous as the leproſie of Vzziah, which brake forth in his forehead.
The Aſſumption is as manifeſt; For 1. by the ScripturesaDeu. 12. 30. Levit, 18. 3. Exo. 23. 24. Levit. 9, 27. 28. Deu. 14. 1 Levit. 19. 17. Gen. 35. 2. 3. Eſa, 27. 9. wee are prohibited from all conformitie with idolaters in any of their wayes, order, and manner of worſhip, and Religious Obſervations. It was the cuſtomebHerodot. in Thalia: Becan. in analog. vet. & nov. Teſt. c. 15. of the Arabians and other Heathens, in imitation of Dyoniſius, that is Bacchus, to round the corners of their head; Now this the Iſraelites might not doecLevit. 19. 27. (though in it ſelfe an indifferent thingdCalvin. in Levit. 19. 17.) becauſe God would not have them to bee like idolaters.
This alſo may be further proved by the teſtimonie of learned men; For to have any thing common with idolaters, or to ſerve God after any way of theirs; Or to take up, and make uſe of any of their rites, orders, obſervations, inſtitutions for to worſhipp God in, or by them: they hold to be unlawfull. Yea howbeit a man be not in Eccleſiaſticall union with them. Thus have the old Fathers affirmedeTertull: de Coron. Milit. Greg. lib. 1. Epiſt. 44. ad Leon. Theod▪ l. 1. c. 10. Auguſt. Epiſt. 86. ad Caſul.; So our later writers: CalviniſtsfPareus in 1 Cor. 10▪ 14. Bucer in Mat. 18. fol. 143. Beza Tract. Theol. vol. 3. pag. 210., LutheransgCent. 4. c. 13 col. 406. Chemn…t. Exam. Theol. Melanct. par. 2. pag. 491., formall ProteſtantshB. Iewell upon 1. Theſ. 5. p. 219. Sulclief. Chal. pag. 62. in England, ReformiſtsiPerth. aſſemb. p. 55. 56. Alt. Damaſ. p. 539. PapiſtskBellar. de Monach. c. 40. & de effect. ſacr. l. 2. c. 31. Sect. 10. Rhemiſt. annot. on 1. Cor. 6. 14. & 1. Timot. 6. Sect. 4. in Apoc. 1. 10., and SchoolemenlAquin. 1. 2a. q. 102. Art. 6. c. 6. m., yea many Iew-DoctorsmSee Mr. Ainſworth in Levit. 19. 27., ſome CouncilsnToledo Can. 5. & 40. Laod. c. 38. Brac. Can. 32. & 73., have thus concluded, and the Cannon-LawoDeer. Par. 2. Cauſ. 26. quaeſt. 7. c. 13. &c. 14. &c. 17. ſpeakes ſo too.
And here I deſire the Reader to obſerve, that were the grounds true which he layes downe for hearing: to wit, that there is no Religious Communion betweene the perſons preaching and hearing; They cannot be chalenged to approve of the Miniſters ſtate or ſtanding: They have no communion with the office of the Miniſtery, &c. I ſay, were theſe things ſo, (which are not) yet would this practice be found ſinfull; becauſe (as we have before ſhewed) herein men worſhipp God in, or by a way and meanes, which idolaters have inſtituted.
Our ſecond argument is taken from the Treat. words following, which are theſe:Treat. I profeſſe I heare them, as Ministers of the Bb. ſending, and of the Pariſhes ſent …. Hence I argue thus:
He that heares the Ministers of the Bb. ſending, and of the Pariſhes ſent too: hee heares (in the ſence of the Scriptures) falſe Prophets: But it is not lawfull to heare falſe Prophets:
Therefore it is not lawfull to heare the Ministers of the Bb▪ ſending, or of the Pariſhes ſent too.
The Major is proved clearely in the defence of our 12. Objection. The Minor is certaine by theſe reaſons.
1. The hearing of falſe Prophets is forbidden in the Word of GodaEx. 20. 5. Pro. 5. 8. Mat. 7 15. Philip. 3. 2. 1. Timot. 5. 22.. 2. The practice of it is will-worſhipp bJoh. 4. 23. Rom. 12. 1. 2. Mat. 15. 9▪ Col. 2. 23; the which is vnacceptable to God. 3. It is to rebel againſt the Lord, and to ſeeke what is in man, to uphold that thing which the Lord will caſt downe and conſume.cNum. 16. 2 Theſ. 2. 10. 11. Rev. 18. 1. 2. 1 Sam. 15. 22. 4. This is to embrace the boſome of a ſtranger, & ſo to cōmitt ſpirituall whoredome againſt the LorddPro. 5. 20. Pſal. 106. 39.. 5. It defileth the name of GodeEzech. 43. 7. 8.. 6. This is to hold conformitie with idolaters, and to be like them; The which thing ought not to befLevit. 18. 3. and 19. 19. 27. 28. Exo. 23. 24. Deu. 12. 30. 32.. 7. It ſhewes that a man is not one of Chriſt ſheepe, but carnall and unconvertedgIoh. 10. 4. Eſa. 30. 22, & 27. 9.. 8. It manifeſteth great want of the love and zeale of Godh2 King. 23. 4. Rev. 2. 3. 4. Pſal. 119. 128. Ioh. 2. 16.. 9. It is to ſerve Satan and Anti-Chriſt; as it is written: His ſervants ye are vvhome ye obey i2 Chro. 11, 14. Rev. 9. 20..
10. It defiles the ſoulekEze. 20▪ 7 Laſtly, the doer hereby is expoſed, to the wrath of GodlRe. 144. 2. Theſ. 2. 8, 10..
Thus the Treat: like the Bee is drownd in his owne Honie; And truely pitty it is, but all pleaders for Baal were alwayes thus entangled in their owne words,Rev. 14▪ 9 Eze. 16. 54. according to that in Ovid.
Non eſt lex iuſtior ulla
Quam necis artifices arte peri…e ſua.
The Treat.Lib. 2. de arte amand. ſpeakes on thus: But not as my Miniſters, either ſending,Treat: or ſent to, except I be of thoſe Pariſhes, or at leaſt in Eccleſiaſticall Ʋnion with them.
Anſw. A man bent to declyning, is glad of every couler which he may pretend to juſtifie him…el…e in declyning; It is a poore diſtinction, which he uſe…h here to declyne the point in queſtion: For 1. what uſe was there to tell us, He beares them not as his Miniſters; This well might have beene ſpared, and ſomething ſaid, to warrant by Scripture the hearing of them at all. If a woman be accuſed of adultery, and to excuſe her ſelfe, ſhall ſuy: The adulterer is in no covenant or band with mee. Is this enought to cleare her? No. I have proved before, that all religious performances in falſe Churches, are idolatrous actions; Now then to worſhip God there, & for excuſe to ſay, we are not in Eccleſiaſtical union vvith the ſtate or Miniſtery; I may well ſay (lingua quo vadit) it is idly ſpoken; and much like the Fryars plea, vve are exempted Lord.
Againe, for his diſtinction, it is the ſame which Papiſts, and others alleadge, to juſtifie there idol-Ceremonies; They ſay, how ſoever theſe are things, which Ievves & Pagans did be ore them, yet their end and reſpect in doing them, is different. What is ſaid of ſome, in anſwer thereunto, I may here ſay the like: To practice that thing in Gods worſhipp, which neither directly nor conſequently is included in the word, is an open breach of Gods Law, bee the doers meaning this or that.
What jealous or wife huſband, if his wife ſhould receive ſome love-tokens frō a knowne adulterer & one that goes about to undermine her honeſtie; would take it for a ſufficient excuſe, if ſhe ſhould ſay, I receive indeed ſuch things from a knowne adulterer, and as he is an adulterer, but not wine &c. The weight of the Treat: diſtinction, lies betweene meum & tuum; Hee pro…eſſeth to reciue love-guifts from ſpirituall adulterers and as they are ſo, but not his.
Now I maruaile how his pen could drop ſuch poyſen, and he not ſmell the ſtinck of it When he wrote it. I wiſh all men in all places, to take heed, that they deceave not their owne ſoules by ſuch foliſh diſtinctions: for if ſuch things will not ſtand before ſor-ry-man: how then before the greate God, Who is a jealous huſband, and a conſuming fire.
Now let vsus heare what followes in the Treat:Treat. By hearing and receiving there, Chriſt meanes properly the hearkening too, beleiving & obeying the doctrine taught by the Apoſtles, which many diſpiſed, vntounto whome he oppoſeth the former that heard it.
Anſw: He that cōes to the field without his weapon it is an argument, he meanes to ſave himſelfe by flying, and not by fighting. Whether the Treat: had on any armour to fight with againſt this objection. I will not determine, but this I ſay (and will abide by it) he flyes away from the poynt, and ſpeakes nothing either for it, or againſt it: For 1. Were his diſtinction granted, betweene hearing them as BB: Miniſters, and not as his. And againe that by receiving the Apostles, Chriſt meanes properly hearking to, and obeying their doctrines. I ſay ſuppoſe this (but I grant it not) yet doth not this take a way the weight of our reaſon, nor in truth ſo much as touch it.
I ſhall expect that he who comes nex to the field, in the behalfe of Antichriſtian Miniſters, doe prepare a better Anſwer to this objection. And that he may know, what he hath to confute, I will a litle inlarge the poynt.
1. The Treat. in applying hearing & receiving to the doctrines of the Apoſtles, doth not well; For the firſt only reſpects their teaching, the latter their perſons; This is evident in the Text Mat. 10. 14. whoſoever ſhall not receiue you, and hea…e my words &c. Implying that Chriſt is two wayes received, in the miniſterie of the Goſpel; viz. In the perſon of the Teacher, and in the doctrines taught by him. And thus doe out beſt Expoſiters vnderſtand the place. Caluine, Pareus, Piſcator, Aretius, Muſculus.
It is further to be noted, where Chriſt ſayh▪ he that receiveth you, receiveth me &c. His meaning is that ſuch as hearken to, and obey the doctrines of his Miniſters, therein doe acknowledge his authority, power & kingly office over his Church, to appoynt her lawes,I meane in a worke of their …ffice. offices, ordinances; &c. and alſo the fathers donation or the delivering up of the ſame into his ſonnes hand.
To apply this; As they who hearken vntounto Chriſts miniſters; doe therein approue of his lawfull power over his Church, & of the fathers guift this way to him; ſoe contrariwiſe, ſuch as hearken * to Antichriſts Miniſters, doe therein approue of Antichriſts vnlawfull power over the falſe Church, and the devils ‡Satan is the author of falſe miniſtries in the apoſtaſie of the man of ſin.donation; or his putting of that power into his eldeſt ſons hands. If any ſay we intend not ſo, I anſwere (Res ipſa aliud oſtendit) the actiō which they do is ſo. quid verba audiam cum factae videam. And here that ſaying of a learned (a) man is fulfulled: There are ſome▪ which deny that they worſhip Idolls, T. C. Repl 1. p. 88. & 204.when in the meane time their owne doings chargeth them with it: Now there are too many in thoſe daies groſly guilty this way.
His next words are, Lavat. in Ioſh. 22. Hom. 61. Treat.The Minisſters in the Pariſhes, hauehave not the doctrines of the Goſpel from the Biſhops as they hauehave their offices, but from God in his word.
Anſw. It was a lawbEugin. Boron. Iure conſult. l. 1. p. 120. among the Romanes, that whoſoever paſſed not into their Citty at the gates, but attempted to break throw the walls, or to clyme over them, ſhould be put to death. The Treat. in preſſing the hearing of the truths of the Goſpel, would perſwade us, ſo we do receiue them, it is no matter whether it be by order or diſorder, whether from the Miniſters; of Chriſt or Antichriſt. Whether in a true Church, or in a falſe. But this counſell we cannot take, becauſe to our knowledge, ther is a divine ſtatute in force againſt it: & therefore as we muſt cT. C. Repl. 1. p 155.care for the truth, ſo muſt we care of whom we hauehave it: & he giues this reaſon. dIbid. p. 83.As God hath ordained that the truth ſhould be preached, ſo alſo hath he ordained in what order, and by whom it ſhould be preached. We may not therefore adventure ePenry Exhort. to the govern. of Wales pag. 46.to go vntounto him for thoſe, things, which he hath no commiſſion to deliver.
Suppoſe Carah or ſome other in that Conſpiraſy, ſhould hauehave ſaid thus: Come to us yee men of Iſraell, and hearken to; beleeve and Obey the truths taught in our Tents. If you object that our Calling is anti-Moſaicall and falſe: we anſwer, this cannot be any barre or let in the thing, ſeeing the doctrines we teach are from God in his law.
J cannot ſee according to the Treat. arguing, how in ſuch a caſe they could hauehave ſtaid without: for if we may go into the Sinagogues of Antichriſt; ſo the Doctrines of the Goſpel be there preached? I would know then of our Oppoſites, why an Iſraelite vponupon the ſame ground (viz. to heare the Doctrines of the law) might not hauehave gon with them rebels into their Tents. I beleeve if we come to open termes, theſe will be found to be par pari things alike, and the one as lawfull as the other, & both ſtarke naught.
But to come more neerer to the point, the thing which the Treat, harpes moſt vponupon, is, that they teach the truth: And our oppoſites vſe this as their ſpeciall and main poſition viz. Where the truth is taught, there they may lawfully heare. To diſcover their follow herein. J pray let it be minded what was ſaid before, As the hearing in queſtion, is a religious action, ſo to hauehave it lawfull and good, the circumſtances perteyning to it, muſt neceſſarily be obſerved, of which circumſtances the truth taught, is only one particular. It is a received maxime both in divinity and Philoſophie, that circumſtances make actions formally good or bad, ſo write Junius fDe pol., Aquinas g1a. 2a. q. 8. Art: 3▪, Camerius hPraelect▪ Tom. 2. p. 49., and Burgeſse iof the lawfullnes of kneeling C. 1.confeſſeth they are intrinſecall and eſſentiall to actions, and eſpecially making up there nature. Fed: Morellus vponupon theſe words of Seneca, k Scho. 2. Lib.refert quid, cui, quando, quare, ſaith that without theſe circumſtances of things, perſons, time, place &c. facti ratio non conſtat. Friar Ambroſius Caturinus lCounc. l. 2 p. 224.following the doctrine of Thomas, meanteyneth in the covnſell of Trent, that to do a-good worke the concurrance of all circumſtances is neceſſary.
What theſe circūſtances or parts are, is ſhewd in that old verſ. Quis, quid, vbi, quibus auxilijs, cur, quomodo, quando. And to apply them to our point, howſoever it be granted, that their teaching may be without vitium rei, yet in it there is vitium perfōae, loci, ordinis, relationis, &c as the. Tr….*in aletter to D. Ames publiſhed in Browniſts ſchiſ. phraſeth it elſe wher.
1. The Perſon deſigned is not lawfully called: now a falſe Office and a true worſhip (are foreign) they are no way compatible. 2. As it reſpects the place, (that is the Idoll-Churchſtate) ſo it is to worſhip God there, where he hath forbidden men to worſhip him. 3. For the inſtruments and meanes, in this men make themſelues beholding to Antichriſt, for his order, conſtitution, manner and way to ſerue God in, and by. Now fye for ſhame, that any ſhould be ſo baſe, as to ſcrape acquentance with that Babylonian whore, who is the greateſt enimy that the Lord hath vponupon the earth. I… is a most certaine …igne (ſaith onemEſtque merae proditionis certiſſimum indicium ſi quis aliquē ex ſuis, videat, concilia clā cum hoſte captantem aut in eius aurem inſu…ure antē. of a very traitour, when a man ſhall ſee one of his owne, take ſecret counſell with his enimy, & whiſper him in the eare.
Touching the other circumſtances: viz. why, how, when: theſe all are alſo here wanting, as I could inſtance in ſundry particulars, if need were. But to winde vp all, & bring all the former into ſome fewer heads. the goodneſſe or badneſſe of divine worſhip, is to be conſidered either in actu ſignato and quo ad ſpecium: or in actu exercito and quo ad individium. Divine worſhip is ſaid to be ſpeciated by its object, and individuated, by its circumſtances: when divine worſhip is good or evill, in reſpect. of the object of it. we ſay it is good or evill, quo ad ſpeciem. when in reſpect of the circumſtances, we terme it good or evill quo ad invidium. Cartewr. kiſt. ch. l. 1. p. 253.Now I will not deny, but this hearing worſhip quo ad ſpecium, as God is made the object of it, ſo it is right: but quo ad invidium, as it hath circumſtances and parts, ſo it is a falſe worſhip: and this is ſo cleare a truth as no man will deny it vnleſſe the denier will deny all religion and reaſon, all ſence' and ſcinence. It is not ſufficient (ſaith Rivetus nComment, in Hoſ, 4, 14, p, 152,vntounto thē true wor' ſhippe of God, that a man erres not in the object which he ought to worſhip, that is, if he propoſe to himſelfe to worſhip the true God, but alſo that, that manner bee exactly kept, which God hath praſcriin his law: from the tenour or rule whereof whoſoever in the leaſt departeth the ſame cannot be held lawfull.
He endes thus: Treat.And ſo farre forth as a man heares, that is bearken too, & reciues them by receiving it, he ſo farre bearkens too & receives Chriſt.…
Anſw. This is ſpoken gratis, and without any foundation, and therefore not more eaſily avouched then rejected. But ſay we grant that So farre forth Chriſt is hearkened too, &c. yet doth not this hinder but So farre forth as he heares in an Antichriſtitian aſſembly and a falſe officer,… and performes a religious worſhip in away and manner which Idolaters hauehave diviſed, &c. I ſay let his (ſo farre) ſtand, yet in theſe reſpects and conſideration, He ſo farre forth hearkens too and receiues Antichrist.
If I ſhould put over the Treat, reaſoning in ſpiriturl things, to things civill and worldly: the very expreſſion of them, would make them odious: For ſuppoſe aman ſhould vſe the helpe of a known ſorcerer, to recouer ſome loſt gould or ſilver; & being afterward reproved for it, would reply, Seeing they were good things & from God, hee did well therefore to get them in the way & manner that hee tooke. Or if a theeſe offering certaine ſtollen goods, ſhould perſwade another to receive them, becauſe howſoever he hath no right to give ſuch things away, yet ſeing they are good, and from God, hee may take them ſafely: for it is all one, whether they are received in away of falſe-hood & theift, or by the Ieaue and grant of the true owner,
If theſe things appeare vile and abſurd, no otherwiſe is his reaſoning here, if it be with the eye of Iudgment lookd vponupon: the Prieſts for whom he pleads, in the Scriptures are ſaid to be robbers and theeues, yea Spirituall ſorcery is charged vponupon them. But all this with the Treat. is nothing; For ſo they deliver good things, the ſame may be received from them in a worke of their office. But if a man ſtood before an earthly Iudge, accuſed of vſing a forcerers aſſiſtance to recover his loſt mony… or for receiving goods from a knowne theiſe, it would not free him to ſay, the things are good which I tooke. Neither will it excuſe men when they ſhall appeare before the Iudgment ſeat of Chriſt, to ſay it was the truth which they heard, though not in the way and order, which the word taught them.
Be not deceived God is not mocked:Gal. 6, 7. for whatſoever a man ſoweth that ſhall he alſo reape.