Uniformity in Human Doctrinal Ceremonies, jeanes 27 – hammond 28
Jeanes.
In theſe three Sections I ſhall ſtay upon nothing but your charge of m… and Ameſius with this ſenſleſſe and irrational poſition, that nothing is indifferent; who almoſt that hath heard of your great parts, learning and ingenuity (and who is there ſuch a ſtranger in our Jſrael unto whoſe eares the ſame thereof hath not arrived) but wil upon this conclude us both guilty? whereas we are both free. & innocent, and moſt untruly aſperſed by you, for which I expect & challenge ſatisfaction. Sir, herein I deſi…e no favour at your hands, but ſhall intreat you to put any of our words upon the ra…ke, and if by all your Logick y…u can extort any ſuch inference from them, I ſhall confeſſe my ſelf worthy of all that diſgrace which your pen can powre upon me To c…ea… my ſelf from this your impuration I have joyned herewi…h a Treatiſe concerning the indifferent actions of man; And as for Ames, his own writings will ſufficiently acquit him in his Modul. Theolog. lib 2. cop. 3. theſ. 13 he exprefly affirmeth that many acts in the generall a…e in their own nature indifferent, and in his Caſes of Conſcience he hath a whole chapter de Adiaphor is and there too his reſolution is, that var…e dontur …ctiones quae in ſua communi ac nuda natura antequam circamſtant…s v…ſtiantur, nullam includum bonitatem aut ma…itiam. Taies ſunt c…medere, bibere, iter facere, ambulare &c. lib. 3. cap. 18 There be divers actions which in their common and bare nature, before they be as it were cloathed with circumſtances, doe include in themſelves no goodneſs or badneſs; as to eat, to drink, to take a journey, to walk &c. Dr. J. Burges impureth unto Bradſhaw his opinion, which you father upon Ames, and Ames his defence of Mr. B…adſhaw will ſerve for his own apology. Dr. Burges ſaies th…t Mr. Bradſh…w h…d good reaſon to reverſe his opinion …f things indifferent, for againſt all learning and ſenſe, he reſolves that there is nothing indifferent, and unto this Ames thus anſwereth T…pli…at. cap. 2 S. 8, 9 If this were ſo as tis related, reaſon would perſw de to ſome reca…tation, but tis only the Bejoinder his telling again without any ſhew or proof. The Bejoynder raiſeth up a report, without ſhewing from wh… h… received it, which untill it be ſome other way confirmed, then by an adverſaries bare telling and that in a humour of di…gracing his perſon, it moſt be accounted a meer tale. I for my part, can find no ſuch word: in Mr. Bradſhaw his treatiſe, neither any thing from whence ſuch a raw ſentence may be reaſonably collected. He concludeth indeed cap. 3. that there is no abſolute indifferent thing j. e. every way, a… well in order of nature, as of moralitie. He affirmed alſo cap. 7 there is nothing actually indifferent, which is not potentially good or evill, and cap. 8 there is no action of mans will ſo indifferent, but the d…ing thereof by ſome circumſtances, may be evil. There is no action that a man can doe, by the power of his will, that is meerly and abſolutely indifferent. Humanum act…in ind… v…duo conſideratum ex …elther at â rat…one pro cedentem vel bonum eſſe vel malum neceſſe eſt.Theſe paſſages come the neareſt to that which is here fathered upon the treatiſe: in all which this crudity appeareth not: there is nothing indifferent. Nay the ha…ſheſt of theſe aſſertions, may be found not only in little Pamphlets made by Ca…pent…s Boyes, againſt learning and ſenſe, but in great volumes, written by thoſe that goe for very learned, and ſenſible in ſuch matters as this is. Thomas Aquinas, in the great book called his Summe, prima ſecunde. q. …8 r. 9 hath this concluſion: it muſt needs be that every individuall act of man (proceeding from del…herate reaſon) is either good or bad. And all (or almoſt all) thoſe which have written upon that place, doe confi…e and defend th… ſame, who yet were men, that in queſtions of ſuch a nature, did not uſually write againſt all learning and ſenſe.
Dr. Hammond. ſect. 34.
This argument of Ameſins againſt things indifferent, that learned Biſhop was well ac…ted with, by his familiar conferences with Mr. Gla…thorn, a vehement diſputer againſt Ceremonies, and whom the Biſhop thought fitter to refute by trifling inſtances, of unb…ttoning and buttoning his Caſſock, than by more ſerious attempts of conviction. i. e. in plain rearms to deſpiſe and ſmile at, than to dread; and if Mr. J. have really read Mr. Hooker, whom he ſomewhere entitles our Patron of Ceremonies, hee may in him remember a diſcourſe of Laws, which will ſuperſede all neceſſity or benefit of my farther inlarging on it.