Heresiography, To the reader
To the Reader.
THou which hast atender Conscience, and desirest nothing so much as to know the right way to Heaven, having many doubts which cause thee to leave thy own Pastor, and runne not only to other publike Congregations, but also to the private meetings of the Separatists and others for resolution.
For thy sake and safety I have published this Treatise, in which thou maist discerne Truth from Error, having their Errors set before thee, with the confutation of them out of the holy Scripture.
OU… Lord and Saviour in his holy Sermon in the Mount, telling his Disciples of the narrow way that leadeth unto life, hee specially forewarneth them of false Prophets: Beware of fals… Prophets which come to you in sheeps cloathing, but inwardly they are ravening Wolves. As if he should say, my deare Disciples, you hearing of the way to heaven, wil be inquiring after it, and especially of Prophets; But let me forewarn you of false Prophets, for in stead of directing you, they will put you out of the way.Come. False prophets wil come, they are not sent: St. Paul asketh how they can preach except they be sent? and this standeth with good reason: every true Minister standeth in Gods room being the Lords Embassadour to deliver his will, who dare to this unsent? No man taketh this honour unto himselfe, but hee that is called of God saith my Author to the Hebrews.
But whence come they now, from the Schooles of the Prophets? no, many of them from mechannicke Trades: as one from a stable from currying his horses: another from his stal from cobling his shooes, & these sit down in Moses chaire to mend all, as Embassadours of Jesus Christ, as Heralds of the most high God: these take upon them to reveale the secrets of Almighty God, to open and shut heaven, to save mens soules.
But to heare these fellowes to discourse of the holy Trinity, of Gods eternall decree and other deep points of Divinity: you may heare the mad men in Bedlam prate as wisely as they: and are not their hearers that run after them as mad as they? Are they not bewitched? as St. Paul telleth the Gallatians.
To you that are my Disciples: daily experience sheweth us whom the Anabaptists, To you.Brownists and other Sectaries go about to seduce, viz. not drunkards. Adultere…s, Swearers, and prophane persons whom the Devill hath ensnared already, but such as are desirous of heaven. They lead captive (saith St. Paul,) silly women who are alwaies learning. They come unto you in sheeps cloathing. In sheepes clo…thing.That is, like Zealous and holy Christians, For example, the Devill turneth himselfe into an Angell of Light: Baals Priests used long prayers: the blasphemous Arrians (as St. Bazill writeth) were easily beleeved because of their counterfeit holinesse.
The Romish seducers pretend great Sanctimony▪ the begging Fryers befool'd the Christian world with their pretended holinesse, with which they … their lewd lives. Generally they come to you with outward sanctimony, with a seeming contempt of the world; with long prayers, fasting teares, …lmes deeds, seeming-zeale, seeming-humi…y, seeming harmlesnesse, &c.
They come to you in sheepes cloathing, insinuating themselves into you under colour of giving you good counsell: as the Divell their chiefe, counselling our first Parents to breake Gods Commandement, promised to make them like God: and tempring Christ in the …dernesse, promised to give him all the Kingdomes of the world and the glory of them.
And that you may the better avoyd their inchantments, I will shew you the method they use in deceiving. As first they indeavour to separate the sheepe from their Shepheards, bringing them into contempt with their people, …ff…ming them to be unprofitable, unpowerfull, taxing their conversations as prophane, and doctrine as erroneous. Thus smiting your Shepheards with their tongues, they draw you to their Conventicles.
2. To palliate their Errors, they parvert the holy Scriptures, as that Monster Arrius pretended to have 42 places of Scripture against the Deity of Christ, and this he learnt of his father the Devill, who perverted part of the 91. Psalme, to tempt our Lord to cast himselfe downe from the pinacle of the Temple.
And for this cause these Heretikes are enemies to the ten Commandements, being some of the Law: to the Creed being a briefe of the Gospell, and to the Lords Prayer, being a perfect forme of Prayer, containing all that can be asked or prayed against, by which only a simple man may discerne any Heretick, contradicting any Commandement of the Decalogue, Article of the Faith, & Petition of the Lords Prayer. And for this cause the Church of Rome teacheth the Laity them in Latine, and also they leave out part of the decalogue in their Catechismes: and for other He…etikes, some doe null the whole Law, some the Creed, and others the Lords Prayer, affirming it to be abhominable.
Againe, whatsoever outward shew they make of holinesse, they are indeed ravening Wolves; therefore our Lord biddeth us beware of them. The word beware precedeth danger: As sheep are in danger among Wolves, so are your soules in danger among false Prophets.
The j…urney of the Israelites to the earthly Canaan, was a type of our journey to the heavenly. And did not one false prophet, Balaam, doe them more mischiefe in their journey then Og the King of Bashan, Sehon King of the Amorites, & all their enemies besides? yea, would the Devil himselfe in his own likenesse have been more noxious to the Church of God then some Hereticks have beene? As one Heretick, Arrius, denying the Deity of Christ, in a manner infected the whole world.
The like did one other Heretick Eutyches, erring concerning his humanity, affirming the immensity of Christs divine nature to have swallowed up his humane. Now if Christ had not been man, how could he have dyed for us sinners? and if not God, how could he have wrought the salvation of mankind?
Alas, what danger are we in now, being invironed with such a multitude of Here…ickes? Our Lord telleth us againe, by their fruits yee shall know them: they pretend that they are led by the Spirit. The workes of the Spirit S…. Paul s…t…eth forth to bee love, joy, peace, …long-suffering gentlenesse, goodnesse, faith, meekenesse, and temperance. If they were led by the holy Spirit, these would be their Characters. But St. Paul telleth us that in the latter dayes there shall come men, …. 3.lovers of their own selves, boasters, proud, cursed speakers, disobedient to Parents, unthankefull, unholy:
Master Calvin that admirable man of God, whose name is yet terrible in the Kingdome of Pope…y, setteth down certaine Characters of these Impostors, taken out of St. Augustine.
1. Great Boasters, making ostentation of their owne worth, like Simon Magus, who bewitched the people, sayng that he himselfe was some great man: Like the Gnostikes who had a high conceit of their owne knowledge, as if they were the onelyonly knowing men of the whole world: their common talke is of their own worth and actions.
2. Superbia tumidi, blowne up with pride, and among us many proud spirits having not these preferments which they thought themselves worthy of, have forsaken our Church, and gone to Rome and Amsterdam.
3. Calum…ijs insidiosi, deceitfull slanderers: and in this faculty of all other Sects the Brownists excell: The …esuites are not so bitter against our Church as the Separatists compare their writings. Michael the Arch-Angell durst not give the Devill such cursed speaking, nor raile upon him as they doe upon us and Gods Church.
4. Treacherously seditious, not preaching peace as Christ commanded his Disciples to doe, but division: yea, the Brownists arrogate to themselves, the name of Separatists, which well they may, be…ng separated from their Mother Church, from … the Reformed Churches, and malitiously divided amongst themselves.
5. Lest they should seem to be destitute of the light of truth, they arrogate to themselves the shadow of austerity and shew of holinesse.
6. Sacri…egious, what the appetite of all Schismaticks hath been in this way is notorious, caring no… for the ruine of the whole Church, upon condition that they might get somewhat. They have so taught, that some thinke there is no such sinne as Sacriledge at all.
Our Lord fore-warning us of false Prophets, and so lively describing them, and we having such Characters and markes to know them: Thou understanding the Decalogue, Creed, and Lords Prayer, if thou be misled, thy sin will light upon thine owne head. For is there any man so simple but can …ell when their Doctrines they teach crosse any of these?
And one thing more will aggravate your defection before Almighty God, viz. Your Covenant and Oath wherewith you bound your selves in the presence of God, to suppresse all Errors, Heresies, and Schisme; God forbid but that you should keep your Covenant which we ministred, and you received with great alacrity.
To draw to an end, Epiphanius writeth of the heresies of this time, calleth his Booke Pae…arium, that is, a medicinable box, containing saving medicaments against lying doctrine.
The end of my writing is not to hurt any man, but to give warning to well minded soules, and espesially to them that are entangled with Errors, to pray to God to give them grace to see and …enounce their errors, and to acknowledge the truth, that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil.
And if my paines shall do any good in the confirmation of any against seducers, in forewarning them to beware of private Conventicles, and to keep them close to the publick Ministery of the Word, & communion of Saints in Gods Church, I shall thinke my labour well bestowed.
The God of peace grant that all they that confesse his holy Name, may agree in the truth of his holy Word, and live in unity and godly love, Amen.
So prayeth thine in the Lord, Old Ephraim Pagitt.