Works of Joseph Hall, Section 4
SECTION IV. That the Confeſsion of the ſame Creed is not with them ſufficient for Peace.
IT is not Caſſanders ſpeech onelyonly, but eueryevery wiſe and honeſt mans,Lib. de offic. boni v…ri. that the Creed is the common cognizance of our faith; and wee all doe with one voyce willingly profeſſe it. Surely Theodoret, when be would by a fauourable report allay the bitter contentions of thoſe ancient Chriſtians of Antioch, writes thus:Theod. hiſt. l. 3. c. 4. Both parts (ſaith he) made one and the ſame confeſſion of their faith; for both maintained the Creed of the Nicen Councell; And yet this poſition is ſpightfully handled by Cardinall Bellarmine, Bell. de la…cis lib. 3. c. 19.and can ſcarce draw breath ſince his laſt ſtripes: What care we (ſaith he) for the ſame Creed? Faith is not in words, but in the ſenſe. And indeed, I remember, what Ruffinus reports done by Arrius. That worthy Conſtantine had charged him to write what faith he held; he deliuered him a Creed in words, ours; in ſenſe, his owne; and how right his wicked brood tooke after their father, in the inſuing times of the Church, let Hiſtories witneſſe: ſure I am, whoſoeuer ſhall read the Creeds of their ſeuerall Sects, ſhall hardly fe…ch out any thing,foreign. which an Orthodox Cenſurer would thinke worthy of reproofe: How oft doe they yeeld Chriſt to be God, yea, God of God; and yet perfidiouſly reſerue to themſelues, in the meane time that abſurd conceit; That he was created, ex non …tibus! As therefore Seuerianus the Syrian in Theodoret. ſpake Greeke as a Grecian, but pronounced it like a Syrian: ſo there may be many, which may ſpeake truths, but pronounce them heretically:Iren. l. 1. c. 9. Petr. Chryſ. Ser. 109. Trinitatem vocabulis mentiuntur. Decr. 22. q. 5. humanae. For all Hereſies (ſaith Irenaeus) talke of one God, but marre him with their miſconceits; yea, for the moſt part all Hereſies (ſaith Chryſologus) ſet a face of the Trinitie; To little purpoſe; It was not ill ſayd of Gratian, that no man is to care for words, ſince that not the meaning ſhould ſerue the words, but the words rather the meaning; Let vsus grant all this, and more; Let it be ſaid of the Creed, as Ierome ſaid of the Booke of Iob, that eueryevery word abounds with ſenſes:Hier. in praef. Tert. de praſc. There is no Diuine Word (as Tertullian ſpeaketh wiſely) ſo diſolute and de… ſed, that onelyonly the words may be defended, and not the true meaning of the words ſet downe. To put the Cardinall out of this needleſſe feare; The proper and natiue ſenſe of the Creed may be fetcht out; and I adde yet more (except but that one Article of Chriſts Deſcenſion into Hell, which Ruffinus confeſſes he could not find, either in the Roman, or Eaſterne Creedes) is openly confeſſed on both parts: And yet for all this, we are neuer the neerer to peace: For from theſe common Principles of Faith, the ſubtle deuice of Hereticall prauity hath fetcht ſtrange and erroneous conſequences, which by their ſophiſticall and obſtinate handling, are now improued into Hereſies, and dare now threaten not onelyonly oppoſition, but death vntounto thoſe very principles, from which they are rayſed: Of this kind are the moſt of thoſe Romiſh opinions, which we vndertake to cenſure in this Diſcourſe.
But, if by the vniuerſall conſent of all, it ſhould appeare that both word and ſenſe are intire; that both the principles, and neceſſarie concluſions thence deduced, are vndeniably ſound:Nulla tamen pax cum Lutheranis. De Laicis. l. 3. 19. Sect. 4. yet (ſaith Bellarmine) there can bee no peace with Lutherans. Let all the World know this, and wonder, Our King, (be it ſpoken to the enuie of thoſe which cannot emulate him, an incomparable Diuine for a Prince, yea, a Prince of Diuines, a King of men, and a wonder of Kings, mighty both with his ſcepter, and his pen) going about in that learned and ponderous Diſcourſe to cleere himſelfe from the aſperſion of Hereſie, which that foule hand had vnworthily caſt vponupon him, profeſſes ſolemnly and holily, that whatſoeuer is contained eyther in the Sacred Scriptures, or the three famous Creeds, or the foure firſt generall Councels, that he embraces with both armes, that He proclaimes for His Faith,In praefat. ad Imper. & Princip. that He will defend with his Tongue, with his Pen, with His Sword, in that he will both liue and die.
Yea, but this is not enough, ſaith that Great Antagoniſt of Princes; For there are other points of faith wherewith religion is now of late times inlarged,Bell. reſp. ad Regem. Non ſatis eſt ad haereticum nomen fugiendum, illa recipere quae Rex Anglorum recipere at que admittere ſe dicit, pag. 80. Etiamſi nouitia & n…p…ra illa ſint, ſi quis tamen ca neget, immu…m ab hereſi nō fo…e Bell. reſp. and Regem, pag. 98. Bell. l. de laicis. 2. c. 19. Diſt. 22. Omnes. Margaritae Decret. vel Tabula Mortini…. I… verb. I…obedi…ntia. as Tranſubſtantiation, Purgatory, the Popes Primacie (a whole doozen of theſe goodly Articles hath the Tridentine Councell created, in this decayed age of the World, leſt the Fathers of Italy ſhould ſeeme to come ſhort of the Apoſtles, and the Pope of Chriſt) any parcell whereof, whoſoeuer ſhall preſume to call into queſtion, is an Heretike preſently, and ſmels of the Faggot: and how ordinarily is that layd in eueryevery diſh? that he cannot bee a member of the Church, which withdrawes his obedience from their Pope, the Head of the Church. Neyther is that any whit milder, which Gratian cites from Pope Nicholas the Second. VVhoſoeuer goes about to infringe the priuiledge of the Roman Church, or derogates from her Authoritie, is an Heretike.
But that is yet well worſe, which the allowed Table of the Decree hath peremptorily broched, Whoſoeuer obeies not the Popes Commandement, incurres the ſin of Idolatry; or (as Gregory the Seuenth, from whom Gratian would ſeeme to borrow this, which yet is not to be found in his Epiſtles) of Paganiſme. Whatſoeuer therefore Chriſt Ieſus, whatſoeuer the Apoſtles, whatſoeuer the counſels, & Fathers of the Primitiue Church hauehave commended to vsus, to be beleeued, ſhall auaile vsus little, neither can euer make vsus friends, vnleſſe we will bee content to beſlaue our Faith vntounto their Popeling: And can they thinke wee will looke at peace vponupon ſuch a condition? That hope were bold and fooliſh that could expect this. Neither doe they more ſcornfully caſt vsus out of the boſome of their Church, for ſpetting at theſe Articles of Straw, which their vanitie hath deuiſed, than wee can confidently condemne, and execrate their preſumption, which hauehave ſo imperiouſly obtruded ſuch traſh as this vponupon the Church of God.