The Chief Passages Between Wotton and Walker, Title page
A TRVE RELATION Of the chiefe passages betweene Mr. Anthony Wotton, and Mr. George Walker, in the yeare of our Lord 1611. and in the yeares next following untill 1615.
Written by George Walker, out of his owne papers which he hath yet to shew; for the vindicating of himselfe from some imputations laid on him by Mr. Thomas Gataker, in his defence of Mr. Wotton.
Printed at London for William Branch, and are to be sold in St. Olaves Churchyard upon Breadstreete hill. 1642.
A true relation of the chiefe passages betweene Mr. Anthony Wotton, and Mr. George Walker, in the yeare of our Lord, 1611.
THe foule brand which Mr. Gataker hath laboured to set upon mee in his preface, to wit, breach of piety and charity, and defect of humanity and common honesty, is so scandalous to the person and calling of a living Minister and Pastor in Gods Church, that Mr. Gataker in going about to set it on me, doth manifestly appeare to have printed it deepely in his owne forehead. The words of truth spoken of a dead man, in the defence of a divine and saving truth, and in confuting of a dangerous error can bee no such breach of piety or charity, as the unjust scandall and slander laid on a man living and labouring in the worke of the Lord: For this tends to bring his Ministry and the word of God by him preached into contempt; to disgrace his person most uncharitably, and to adde affliction to him who hath suffered persecution and bonds for the truths sake, by wounding him deepely in his reputation, which is contrary to humanity and common honesty.
Mr. Wotton in his papers which he dispersed in this Citie, and which he acknowledged to be his owne when I brought them to his face before Mr. Gataker and eight other grave Ministers, doth deny the imputation of the whole obedience of Christ, to the Law of God; both active and passive, both joyntly and severally. He affirmes that there is no end or use whatsoever of the imputation of Christ his righteousnesse for justification. He renounceth the law in whole and part, performed by our selves, or any other in our stead for our justification. In stead of mans owne workes of righteousnesse, performed to the law in his owne person which was the condition of justification, and life in the first covenant, and instead of Christs fulfillng of the law for us which is the condition of justification and life to beleevers in the covenant of grace, he sets up faith, even the Act of beleeving for righteousnesse, affirmes that it is said to be imputed in a proper sense without a trope, and serves for all purposes in our justification under the Gospell, as perfect righteousnesse of workes performed to the whole law did for mans justification in the first covenant. Hee denieth the punishment of our sinnes in Christ, and the satisfaction wch. in him our head & surety was made to Gods justice for purchase of our pardon. For (saith he) I see no place left for pardon, if we in Christ be said to have satisfied Gods justice, & to have suffered in him the punishments due to sin; for pardon and punishment are contrary. Thus he overthrowes our redemption by Christ, and that Christ is our ransome, as Socinus did, (though hee hold the words of Scripture with Socinus in an improper sense; to wit, Redeemer, Ransome, Propitiation, and the rest.) For no man can dreame of any other way by which Christ is said in Scripture to redeeme us, and to be a ransome for sinne, but onelyonly by being made under the Law, and a perfect fulfiller of it in our stead. If faith serves for all purposes to justification, as a mans perfect righteousnesse of workes performed to the full in his owne person would have done in the first Covenant; then it serves to this purpose to be our formall righteousnesse; yea our owne inherent righteousnesse by which we are justified. Which is most contrary to the truth of the Gospell, and contradictory to his owne words in other places. These and such like speeches I condemned for Socinian Heresie and blasphemy, as Beza, Paraeus, and Lubertus had done before me, and for this Mr. Gataker did deride me, when I gave in my charge against Mr. Wotton 27. yeares agoe, and now blames it in mee as falshood and dishonesty. I desire no better defence of my innocency but Mr. Wottons owne confession in his Expositions which Mr. Gataker hath published for his defence. For in his answer to the first proposition, he confesseth that the denying of the imputation of Christs righteousnesse as a meritorious cause of justification is both hereticall and blasphemous. And this he himselfe doth in the words which are cited out of his owne papers, to prove him guilty of the first error, as you may see in the 12 page of Mr. Gatakers defence, where they are thus laid downe and translated out of Mr. Wottons Latin Theses. No necessary use or end can he assigned of the imputation of the obedience of Christ to the justification of a sinner. And in an English Manuscript of his, which I also shewed, and he acknowledged for his owne, he useth more peremptory words, saying, I dare not admit of Christs righteousnesse imputed to any end whatsoever. I find no testimony or proofe of it in any part of Gods word, no signification in any Sacrament of the Gospell, no necessary use or end thereof. Which words if we take them as Mr. Gataker hath related them, prove him to be an Heretike and blasphemer by his owne confession. Unlesse Mr. Gataker can perswade us, that to be imputed as a meritorious cause, is to be imputed for no end or use whatsoever.
But before I proceede to my narration, I will first lay downe the occasion, by which I have provoked Mr. Gataker to proclame so bitterly against me, and to brand me with breach of piety, charity, and defect of humanity and common honesty. In my discovery and confutation of Socinianisme I perceived that Mr. Goodwins disciples did admire and extoll him as a deepe searcher out and discoverer of divine truth, which none could ever find out before him; To convince them of folly and ignorance I rehearsed the names of severall persons who had published and taught the same things before Mr. Goodwin, and for them and other errors and Heresies which are therein necessarily included, have beene condemned in former ages; as Peter Abailard, Servetus, Socinus, Arminius, and Mr. Wotton, out of whose booke De Reconciliatione, Mr. Goodwin stole his opinions. My words are these, The fifth perverse publisher of this heresie, who first openly professed it in England, and in manuscript Pamphlets, and printed bookes dispersed it in London, and from thence into severall places of the Countrie, about twenty eight yeares agoe, was Anthony Wotton. I would gladly know what just offence can be taken at any of these words. That Mr. Wotton was the perverse publisher of this heresie, and the first that openly professed it in England, is a manifest truth; as my parallell of him with Socinus published by Mr. Gataker now in print, proveth most fully.
If he be offended, because I call this errour an heresie, though he and his fellow Subscribers to Mr. Wottons exposition, out of their great love to Mr. Wottons person, and upon his promise of reformation, did thinke it not fit to call any thing in his exposition of his speeches, by the name of heresie or blasphemie: I answer, first, that his speeches which I cited in my parallell are manifestly blasphemous and hereticall by his owne confession; and of them and his opinion in them published, doe I speake and call it heresie. Secondly, though I rather assent to Beza, Paraeus, Lubertus, and other most learned and orthodox Divines, who condemne some things in Mr. Wottons expositions for heresie, & blasphemie, rather then to Mr. Gataker and his fellowes, who were pleased to thinke otherwise; I hope I give therein no offence, especially seeing I have Gods Word for my warrant, and have such cleare knowledge and full perswasion of the blasphemie of some of his speeches, That I did (as Master. Downham, Dr. Gouge and others present at our meeting did heare and see, and if their memories faile them not, will confesse) challenge Mr. Wotton and Mr. Gataker also, if he would take his part to defend some passages in those expositions, and promised that I would aske Mr. Wotton forgivenesse on my knees, if I did not by convincing arguments in strict syllogismes prove them to be hereticall: which they cowardly then refused with shew of scornfull disdaine.
But if Mr. Gataker be so highly offended, because I call Mr. Wotton by the bare name of Anthony Wotton; I must answer that therein I did him a favour. For under that obscure title, his person might have beene hid, and not made knowne to any, but those who were acquainted with all the passages betweene him and me. But Mr. Gataker by discovering him more plainly, and blazoning his armes, hath exposed his person to much shame, and stained the name and memorie of him long agoe dead and buried in the dust with the brand of Heresie, & hath made all the world see, that he was the man who first sowed these Socinian tares in the faire field of the Church of England. As for my selfe, I am assured, that the goodnesse of my cause, which is the cause of God & his truth, will beare me out, & justifie me against all his misreports. And if any man be forestalled with prejudice and a sinister opinion of my proceedings against Mr. Wotton, let him read this my relation, which I can justifie both by living witnesses, and by my papers, which I have in my custody untill this day.
When Mr. Wottons opinions were first made knowne to me upon the occasion mentioned in my letter to Mr. Wotton, which hereafter followeth; I by meanes of my late reading of the controversies betweene Junius & Arminius, Lubertus, Bertius, Gomarus, and others of the Remonstrants, did easily discerne them to be of the same stampe with the heresies of Servetus, and Socinus, newly revived and set on foote in Holland by Vorstius, Arminius, and those of that faction. I shewed Mr. Wottons papers to Mr. Alexander Richardson a most learned and judicious Divine, to whom for his singular learning in Divinity, and all other learned Arts, and excellent knowledge in the originall tongues of holy Scripture, divers studious young men did resort from Cambridge to his dwelling in the parish of Barking in Essex, to be directed in their study of Divinity, and other arts: among which these proved men of good note in our Church, Mr. Hooker, Mr. Chauncey, Mr. Yates, Mr. John Barlow, Mr. Perry, with others. Mr. Richardson approved my censure of them, and so detested them that he could not read one passage without sighing. He also sent to Mr. Wotton, to meete him in a conference before some judicious hearers, which Mr. Wotton promised, but did not performe. I also sent and desired that he would admit me, to come to him and conferre with him; but as he was afraid to meete Mr. Richardson, so he disdained my youth and yeares, and referred me to one Spencer a tradesman, a factious Disciple of his, as I have objected to him in my letter: upon this I preached two sermons in the Church of which I am now Pastor, in the one I laid open breifly, the true received doctrine of justification; in the other I discovered Mr. Wottons opinions to be Socinian heresie, and shewed the danger of them. The next day some of Mr. Wottons friends being startled came to me, and intreated me to goe with them to him, and promised that he should purge himselfe from those errors, and give me good satisfaction: I yeelded to their desire, and went along with two of them to Mr. Wottons house, who welcomed me coldly in words, though his heart seemed by his countenance to be hot with indignation and disdaine. At my first entrance into his Studie he told me very abruptly, that I had untruly affirmed that the whole streame of learned Orthodox Divines did hold the same doctrine which I had taught concerning justification by Christs righteousnesse imputed to beleevers. And withall he shewed a place out of Luther upon the Galatians, in which Luther denyed justification by our owne workes and righteousnesse of the law: but in the words which next followed upon the top of of the next page, (which Mr. Wotton covered with his fingers as he held the booke in his hand) Luther in plain words affirmed that Christs fulfilling of the law for us is our righteousnes; & in the same page also saith, that faith is not sufficient for righteousnes without Gods imputation of Christs righteousnesse. I snatched the booke out of his fingers, read the words, which were directly against himselfe, blamed him before the two witnesses for his dealing d…lo malo, and going about purposely to delude us, and with great compassion and teares in mine eyes professed my griefe to see him, a man of great esteeme (whom I had never seene before, but had much reverenced for the reports which I had heard of his great learning) to play the prancke of a deceiver and jugling Sophister. After many words which passed betweene us, but in no strict forme of disputation, which I desired and M. Wotton refused; he confessed that my doctrine, which I taught concerning imputation of Christs righteousnesse, was sound and saving truth, able to save beleevers, though they went no further: but he had dived more deepely into the poynts of justification, and did goe further, but not a contrarie way; But I protested against his opinion and told him it was as contrarie to my doctrine and faith, as darknesse is to light. Mr. Standish one of the witnesses who went along with me, desired me to rest satisfied and to breake off; to which I yeelded, and tooke my leave. And no sooner were we entred into the streete, but the said Mr. Standish brake out into speeches of dislike against Mr. Wottons fraudulent dealing, protested that he would never hearken to his opinion and doctrine in these points any more, and that he was much comforted and confirmed by that acknowledgment of the truth which I at length did wring from Mr. Wottons owne mouth. The second day after this I went to Cambridge & returned not to London till three months after; in which time what lyes were dispersed in London concerning my apostasie to Mr. Wottons errors, my letter to him sheweth.
The next yeare after I came to be setled in my pastorall charge, and because I found some in my parish much inclining to Mr. Wottons opinion out of respect to his person more then any knowledge, being not able to give any reason for it at all, I spent many Sabbaths in preaching the doctrine of justification out of the fifth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans; and in discovering and confuting all errors contrarie to the truth professed in the reformed Churches, and amongst the rest the errors of Socinus: What affronts were offered me in the Church & what clamours raised against me in the citie, my letter to Mr. Wotton will tell you in part. I could rehearse many passages which would move laughter and discover the absurditie and ridiculous folly of divers people who were factiously addicted to admire all things in Mr. Wotton, good or bad; I will Instance in one example onelyonly. It was this. I was requested to preach at Black-friers on a Wednesday in the absence of Mr. Gouge, some weekes after I had finished my text concerning Justification. In that assemblie, there were many ancient professors of Religion, who knew me not by face, and who were so taken with my Sermon, that they were verie inquisitive to know my name, and hearing that I was Pastor of Saint John Evangelists, and my name Walker, they were so possessed with an evill opinion of me by the slaunders and railings of Mr. Wotton, and his disciples, that they cryed, Hang him, he will be hanged before he come to preach such a godly Sermon as this is, we will never beleeve that this is that Walker which hath preached against that man of God, Mr. Wotton, and belyed him in the pulpit. My Clerke being well acquainted with them, and overhearing, did affirme to them that I was the man, and told them that they themselves might easily come to be hanged in hell, if they did not repent of their wicked railings against me so unjustly: By this you see what wrong I suffered, and what hu…t shamelesse slaunders of wicked hypocrites, may doe to the good name of the most innocent, even among them that are religious. These & such injuries and reproaches heaped on me together with a ridiculous booke written against me by one Spencer a disciple of Mr. Wotton, forced me to write a challenge in my letter to Mr. Wotton, by which I at length brought him to the conference, which is the subject of M. Gatakers invective against me. This letter, because it containes a just complaint and a rehearsall of the ill behaviour of M. Wotton and his Disciples towards me, I have thought good here to insert, that the world may see the intolerable provocations, wherewith I was provoked to call M. Wotton to account, before some brethren in the Ministery equally chosen by both parties.