Works of Joseph Hall, Section 3
SECT. III. The obſtinate and aduerſe diſpoſition of the Romaniſts.
AND as for the firſt, I ſuppoſe we need not labour much. Indeed, God can eaſily make the Wolfe to dwell with the Lambe, and the Leopard to lodge with the Kid.Eſa. 11.6. How eaſie is it for him, ſo to ſoften the adamantine hearts of men; by bathing them in the bloud of that immaculate Lambe, that they ſhould melt into pure louelove! but, as the times now are, it would be no leſſe miraculous, to finde a Popiſh heart truly charitable to vsus, than to ſee the Lions fawning vponupon Daniel. Euen where there is ſtrife about indifferent things, there is neceſſarily required a conſpiring of the minds of them, which would be reconciled: neither is it enough, that one ſide is content, together with armes, to lay downe hatred; and how will our Romaniſts endure this? Surely that hatred of Eteocles to his brother, or that of Vatinius, is but meere louelove to this of Papiſts.Sacr. Cere. l. 1. Alas! when, and where, are wee not ſpet vponupon, as the moſt deſperately hereticall enemies of the Church? Rome admits Iewes into her boſome, from whoſe hands their Popes holineſſe diſdains not to receiue the booke of the Law of God;Socr. l 7. c. 3. but Proteſtants ſhe may not endure: That which Socrates complaines as iniuriouſly done by Theodoſius a Grecian Biſhop againſt the very Macedonian Heretikes, is daily done by them againſt vsus; No Arrians, no Circumcellion heretikes were euer more cruell:Bellar. de notis Eccleſ. l. 4. c. 9. Nota Sexta ſic accuſ. Luth. Cal. Brent. Bellar. ib. Reipſa Calumiſtis in Anglia mulier quaedam eſt ſummus ſacerdos. Bellar. Anno …532. Teſle Surio apud Bell. l. 1. de Chro. Ibid. haereſ. 16. Zuingl. & Bucer. Ibid. Haer. 9. Calu. l. 4. Inſtit. c. 1. ſect. 7. Aug. Conf. art. 7. Ibid. Haereſ. 8. Luth. art. 36. Cal Iuſt. 2. c. 2. Ibid. Hereſ. 10. Haereſ. 6. cit. Cal. Iuſt. 4. c. 19. Quaer. reliq. Ib. apud Bellar. and theſe idle Fablers in the meane time ſlander vsus to the world, as guiltie of the ſame outragious proceedings againſt them. What hereſie is there in all times, which that Romulean Wolfe, and her bawling Clients are not wont to caſt vponupon vsus? One while wee are the Schollers of Simon Magus, becauſe wee doe but once mention Grace and Saluation; for what hauehave wee elſe to doe with that wicked Sorcerer? Another while we are fetcht from the curſed ſchoole of Eunomius, for that we attribute too much to Faith; and yet no more than that holy Heretike Saint Paul. One while we are Pepuzians that aſcribe too much to women; then wee are Origeniſts for holding the Image of God to be defaced in man: then contrarily Pr…clians for holding the ſinne of concupiſcence not enough defaced: One while we are the followers of Sabellius, becauſe I thinke we liued in the ſame age with Seruetus; another while of Eutiches, becauſe wee liued in the time of Swinckfeldius; for what buſineſſe hauehave wee euer had elſe with thoſe branded Heretikes? Wee are Pelagians one while, for holding the wages of ſinne to bee death; then wee are Donatiſts for admitting none but the iuſt into the Church of the elect: ſometimes wee are Manichees for denying Free-will; ſtraight, we are Arrians for refuſing traditions; then Nouatians for taking away penance; another while we are Aerians for reiecting oblations for the dead, and faſtings; then Iouinianiſts, for not allowing a ſlippery and vaniſhing Faith; the followers of Vigilantius, for diſclaiming the adoration of reliques; of Neſtorius, for diſliking the aſſeueration of the Sacramentall bread: now we are Xenaites, for demoliſhing of Images, then we are Lampetians, for diſallowing the ſeruitude of idle vowes. It matters not whether the foule mouth of that hired ſtrumpet accuſe Timotheus the Preſbyter, or Athanaſius the Biſhop,foreign. …nos carpere malorum ſolatiū eſt, Hier ad Theop. ad ver Io. Hier. Quotidiana fornax noſtra, aduerſariorum lingua. Aug. Confeſ. l. 10 c. 37. And Fricius Modreu…us lib. de emendanda rep. Examen pacifi que de la doctrina des Huguenots. ſo that ſome body be ſmitten; It matters not what be ſpoken, ſo it be malicious: That is fully reſolued of, which Nazianzen hath; No man ſhall hold in the reines of a riotous and lawleſſe tongue: for (as Hierom. ſaith well) it is the paſtime of the wicked to ſlander the good: That therefore, which was the ſolemne faſhion of the Lindians, neuer to do ſeruice to their Hercules, without railing, the ſame is too ordinary with theſe publike Heralds of our patience: Our daily fornace (as Auſten ſpeakes wittily) is our aduerſaries tongue: How eaſily might I here vnlode whole car…s of reproches, that hauehave bin heaped together by the ſcurrilous paraſites of Rome? What riuers of bloud, what bonfires of worthy Saints might I here ſhew my Reader? All theſe the world knowes, and feeles too much: And as for thoſe honeſt and good-natured men, which would needs vndertake to be the ſticklers of theſe ſtripes, as Caſsander, Fricius, the Interimiſts, and that nameleſſe Apologiſt of the French, how ill hauehave they ſped on both parts? With whom it hath no otherwiſe fared, me thinkes, than with ſome fond ſhepheard, that thruſts himſelfe betwixt two furious Rammes running together in their full ſtrength, and abides the ſhocke of both; Neither may it euer ſucceeded better to theſe kind Philiſtims, which will be bringing this Arke of God into the houſe of Dagon. And for vsus, ſince we muſt needs be put to it, we ſhall not here (as it often falls out in other quarrells) ſtriue to our loſſe. Abraham far…d well by the diſſenſions of Lot; all the milke and hony of whole Paleſtine hereupon befell to him; whereof hee ſhould elſe hauehave ſhared but the halfe: Doubtleſſe theſe contentions (through the goodneſſe of God) ſhall enrich vsus, with a great increaſe both of Truth and Glory.