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You will now be free, both in your profession and gift.

You give us to have renounced many false doctrines in Popery, and to have embraced so many truths: we take it, until more.

You profess where you stick, what you mislike: in those four fa mous heads, which you have learned by heart from all your prede cessors *; a hateful Prelacy, a devised Ministry, a confused and profane Communion, and, lastly, the intermixtures of grievous Errors.

The Prelacy of the Church of England.

Sep.-"But what if this truth be taught under the same hateful Prelacy, in the same devised office of Ministry, and confused Communion of the profane multitude, and that mingled with many Errors?"

WHAT if this truth were taught under a hateful Prelacy? Suppose it were so; must I not embrace the truth, because I hate the Prelacy? What if Israel live under the hateful Egyptians? Exod. i., ii., iii., &c. What if Jeremiah live under hateful Pashur? Jer: xx. 1. What if the Jews live under a hateful Priesthood? Jer. v. 30, 31. What if the disciples live under hateful Scribes? What are others' persons to my profession? If I may be freely allowed to be a true professed Christian, what care I under whose hands?

But why is our Prelacy hateful? Actively to you, or passively from you? In that it hates you? would God you were not more your own enemies! Or, rather, because you hate it? your hatred is neither any news, nor pain.

Who or what of ours is not hateful to you? Our Churches, Bells, Cloaths, Sacraments, Preachings, Prayers, Singings, Catechisms, Courts, Meetings, Burials, Marriages! It is marvel, that our air infects not; and that our heaven and earth, as Optatus said of the Donatists, escape your hatred. Not the forwardest of our Preachers, as you term them †, have found any other entertainment. No enemy could be more spiteful: I speak it to your shame. Rome itself, in divers controversary discourses, hath bewrayed less gall, than Amsterdam. The better they are to others, you profess they are the worse t. Yea, would to God that of Paul were not verified of you; hateful, and hating one another! Tit. iii. 3.

But we have learned, that, of wise Christians, not the measure of hatred should be respected, but the desert. David is hated, for no cause; Ps. lxix 4: Micaiah, for a good cause. Your causes shall be examined in their places, onwards. It were happy, if you hated your own sins more, and peace less: our Prelacy would trouble you less, and you the Church.

*Barr. and Gr. against Gyff. Confer. et Exam. passim. Penry, in his Exam,
↑ Johns. Pref to his vii. Reas.
Johns. vii. Reas. p. 66.

1

SECT. 26.

The Truth and Warrant of the Ministry of England.

FOR Our Devised Office of Ministry, you have given it a true title. It was devised, indeed, by our Saviour, when he said, Go, teach all nations, and baptize; Matt. xxviii. 19: and performed in continuance, when he gave some to be pastors and teachers; Eph. iv. 11.

And not only the Office of Ministry, in general, but ours, whom he hath made both able to teach, and desirous; separated us, for this cause, to the work; upon due trial, admitted us; ordained us, by imposition of hands of the Eldership, and prayer; directed us, in the right division of the Word (ogoro.); committed a charge to us *; followed our Ministry with power; and blessed our labours with gracious success, even in the hearts of those, whose tongues are thus busy to deny the truth of our vocation.

Behold here the Devised Office of our Ministry. What can you devise against this?

Your Pastor, who, as his brother writes †, hopes to work wonders by his logical skill, hath killed us with Seven Arguments, which he professeth the quintessence of his own and Penry's extractions; whereto your Doctor refers us ‡, as absolute.

I would it were not tedious, or worth a reader's labour, to see them scanned. I protest before God and the world, I never read more gross stuff, so boldly and peremptorily faced out; so full of tautologies, and beggings of the question never to be yielded. Let me mention the main heads of them; and, for the rest, be sorry that I may not be endless.

To prove, therefore, that no communion may be had with the Ministry of the Church of England, he uses these Seven Demonstrations: first, Because it is not that Ministry, which Christ gave, and set in his Church: secondly, Because it is the Ministry of Antichrist's Apostacy: thirdly, Because none can communicate with the Ministry of England, but he worships the Beast's Image, and yieldeth spiritual subjection to Antichrist: fourthly, Because this Ministry deriveth not their power and functions from Christ: fifthly, Because they minister the holy things of God, by virtue of a false spiritual calling: sixthly, Because it is a strange Ministry, not appointed by God in his Word: seventhly, Because it is not from heaven, but from men.

Now I beseech thee, Christian Reader, judge whether that, which this man was wont so oft to object to his brother (a cracked brain) appear not plainly in this goodly equipage of reasons. For, what

* 2 Tim. ii. 2. 1 Tim. iii. 1. Acts xiii. 2, 3. 1 Tim. iv. 14. 2 Tim. ii. 15. 1 Tim. v. 21, 22.

Discourse of the Troubles and Excom. at Amst.-Certain Arg. against the Com, with the Minist. of England.

+ Counterpois.

is all this, but one and the same thing tumbled seven times over? which yet, with seven thousand times' babbling, shall never be the more probable. That our Ministry was not given and set in the Church by Christ, but Antichristian, what is it else to be from men, to be strange, to be a false spiritual calling, not to be derived from Christ, to worship the Image of the Beast? So this great challenger, that hath abridged his nine arguments to seven, might as well have abridged his seven to one and a half. Here would have been as much substance, but less glory.

As for his main defence: "First, we may not either have, or expect now in the Church that Ministry which Christ set: where are our Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists ?"-If we must always look for the very same administration of the Church which our Saviour left, why do we not challenge these extraordinary functions? Do we not rather think, since it pleased him to begin with those offices which should not continue, that herein he purposely intended to teach us, that, if we have the same heavenly business done, we should not be curious in the circumstances of the persons?

But, for those ordinary callings of Pastors and Doctors, intended to perpetuity, with what forehead can he deny them to be in our Church? How many have we, that conscionably teach and feed, or rather feed by teaching! Call them what you please, Superintendants, that is, Bishops, Prelates, Priests, Lecturers, Parsons, Vicars, &c. if they preach Christ truly; upon true inward abilities; upon a sufficient, if not perfect, outward vocation, such a one (let all histories witness) for the substance, as hath been ever in the Church since the Apostles' times; they are Pastors and Doctors allowed by Christ. We stand not upon circumstances and appendances of the fashions of ordination*, manner of choice, attire, titles, maintenance; but if, for substance, these be not true Pastors and Doctors, Christ had never any in his Church, since the Apostles left the earth.

All the difficulty is in our outward calling. Let the reader grant our grave and learned Bishops to be but Christians, and this will easily be evinced lawful, even by their rules. For if, with them, every plebeian artificer hath power to elect and ordain by virtue of his Christian profession †, the act of the worthiest standing for all; how can they deny this right to persons qualified, besides common graces, with wisdom, learning, experience, authority? Either their Bishopric makes them no Christians, a position which of all the world besides this sect would be hissed at; or else their hands imposed are thus far, by the rules of Separatists, effectual.

Now your best course is, like to a hare that runs back from whence she was started, to fly to your first hold: "No Church, therefore no Ministry." So now, not the Church hath devised the Ministry, but the Ministry hath devised the Church. I follow you not in that idle circle: thence you have been hunted already.

But now, since I have given account of ours, I pray you tell me

* Ubi res convenit, quis non verba contemnat? Aug. de Ordin. 2.
+ Brown, State of Christians.

seriously, who devised your Office of Ministry. I dare say, not Christ; not his Apostles; not their Successors. What Church ever in the world can be produced, unless in case of extremity for one turn, whose conspiring multitude made themselves Ministers at pleasure? What rule of Christ prescribes it? What Reformed Church ever did or doth practise it? What example warrants it? Where have the inferiors laid hands upon their superiors? What congregation of Christendom, in all records, afforded you the necessary pattern of an unteaching Pastor, or an unfeeding Teacher ?

It is an old policy of the faulty, to complain first. Certainly, there was never Popish Legend a more arrant device of man, than some parts of this Ministry of yours; so much gloried in, for sincere correspondence to the first institution.

SECT. 27.

Confused Communion of the Profane.

YOUR scornful exception at the Confused Communion of the Profane Multitude, savours strong of a Pharisee; who thought it sin to converse cum terræ filiis, "the base vulgar;" and whose very phylacteries did say, "Touch me not, for I am cleaner than thou."

This multitude is profane, you say; and this communion confused *.

If some be profane; yet not all: for then could be no confusion in the mixture. If some be not profane, why do you not love them, as much as you hate the other? If all main truths be taught amongst some godly, some profane; why will you more shun those profane, than cleave to those truths, and those godly? If you have duly admonished him, and detested and bewailed his sin; what is another man's profaneness to you? If profaneness be not punished, or confusion be tolerated, it is their sin, whom it concerneth to redress them. If the officers sin, must we run from the Church? It is a famous and pregnant protestation of God by Ezekiel: The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself; Ezek. xviii. 20. And, if the father's sour grapes cannot hurt the children's teeth, how much less shall the neighbour's +?

But, whither will you run from this Communion of the Profane? The same fault you find with the Dutch and French ‡; yea, in your How well you have avoided it in your Separation, let M. White, George Johnson, Master Smith be sufficient witnesses §;

own.

Perplexe sunt istæ duæ civitates in hoc seculo, invicémque permixte, donec, ultimo judicio, dirimantur. Aug. de Civit. Dei. I. i. 33.

+ Orig. Unusquisque propter proprium peccatum morietur, in propriá justitia vivet, &c.

Fr. Johns. Artic. against the Dutch and Fr.

Answ. against Broughton. Discover. of Brown.-Troubles and Excom. at Amst. Charact. Præf.

whose plentiful reports of your known uncleannesses, smothered mischiefs, malicious proceedings, corrupt packings, communicating with known offenders, bolstering of sins, and willing connivances, as they are shameful to relate, so might well have stopped your mouth from excepting at our confused Communion of the Profane*.

SECT. 28.

Our Errors, intermingled with Truth.

Sep." Shall some general truths, yea though few of them in the particulars may be soundly practised, sweeten and sanctify the other errors? Doth not one heresy make a heretic? and doth not a little leaven, whether in doctrine or manners, leaven the whole lump? 1 Cor. v. 6. Gal. v. 9. Hag. ii. 13. If Antichrist held not many truths, wherewith should he countenance so many forgeries, or how could his work be a mystery of iniquity? which, in Rome, is more gross and palpable; but, in England, spun with a finer thread, and so more hardly discovered. But, to wade no further in universalities, we will take a little time to examine such particulars, as you yourself have picked out, for your most advantage; to see whether you be so clear of Babel's Towers in your own evidence, as you bear the world in hand."

How many and grievous Errors are mingled with our truths, shall appear sufficiently in the sequel. If any want, let it be the fault of the accuser. It is enough, for the Church of Amsterdam to have

no errors.

But ours are grievous :

Name them, that our shame may be equal to your grief. So many they are, and so grievous, that your Martyr, when he was urged to instance, could find none but our opinion concerning Christ's descent into hell t; and, except he had over-reached, not that.

Call you our doctrines "some general truths?" Look into our Confessions, Apologies, Articles; and compare them with any, with all other Churches; and, if you find a more particular, sound, Christian, absolute profession of all fundamental truths in any Church, since Christ ascended into heaven, renounce us as you do, and we will separate unto you.

But these truths are not soundly practised:

Let your Pastor teach you ‡, that, if errors of practice should be stood upon, there could be no true Church upon earth. Pull out your own beam first.

* Cypr. Ep. 2. Iidem in publico accusatores, in occulto rei, in semetipsos cen‐ sores pariter et nocentes: Damnant foris, quod intùs operantur.

+ Barr. Confer. with M. Hutchins, &c. and D. Andr.

Inquir. into M. White. p. 35.

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