RE

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13. holy writ, "the fervant of the Lord ought "not to love ftrife and quarrels, but to be gen

"tle, affable, and patient towards all mankind, "and to reprove with modesty those who differ "from him in opinion."-" Let them only treat you with rigour, who know not how difficult "it is to find out the truth, and avoid errour. "Let those treat you with rigour, who are ig"norant how rare and painful a work it is calmly "to diffipate the carnal phantoms, that disturb

even a pious mind. Let thofe treat you with " rigour, who are ignorant of the extreme diffi"culty that there is to purify the eye of the in"ward man, to render him capable of feeing "the truth, which is the fun, or light of the "foul. Let those treat you with rigour, who "have never felt the fighs and groans that a foul "must have before it can obtain any knowledge "of the divine Being. To conclude, let those "treat you with rigour who never have been "feduced into errours, near a-kin to those you

are engaged in. I pafs over in filence that

pure wifdom, which but a few spiritual men "attain to in this life; fo that though they know "but in part, because they are men; yet never"theless they know what they do know with certainty for, in the catholic church, it is not penetration of mind, nor profound knowledge, but fimplicity of faith, which puts men "in a state of safety.

"Barbari quippe homines Romanæ, imo po"tius humanæ eruditionis expertes, qui nihil "omnino fciunt, nifi quod à doctoribus fuis "audiunt: quod audiunt hoc fequuntur, ac fic "neceffe eft eos qui totius literaturæ ac fcientiæ ignari, facramentum divinæ legis doctrina, magis quam lectione, cognofcunt, doctrinam potius retinere, quam legem. Itaque eis tra"ditio magiftrorum fuorum & doctrina invete, " rata, quafi lex eft, qui hoc fciunt, quod doV. 16,

centur.

CONFESSIO FIDEI.] Periculofum nobis admodum at14. que etiam miferabile eft, tot nunc fides ex

iftere, quot voluntates: & tot nobis doctrinas "effe, quot mores: & tot caufas blafphemia"rum pullulare, quot vitia funt: dum aut ita "fides fcribuntur, ut volumus, aut, ita ut volu

mus, intelliguntur. Et cum fecundum unum "Deum & unum Dominum, & unum baptifma, " etiam fides una fit, excidimus ab eâ fide, quæ "fola eft: & dum plures fiant, id effe cœpe"runt, ne ulla fit; confcii enim nobis invicem fumus, poft Nicæni conventûs fynodum, nihil "aliud quam fidem fcribi. Dum in verbis

pugna eft, dum de novitatibus quæftio eft, "dum de ambiguis occafio eft, dum de autori"bus querela eft, dum de ftudiis certamen eft, "dum in confenfu difficultas eft, dum alter alteri "anathema effe cæpit, prope jam nemo eft

Chrifti, &c. Jam vero proximi anni fides, "quid jam de immutatione in fe habet? Pri"mum, quæ homoufion decernit taceri: fequens « rurfum, quæ homoufion decernit & prædicat. "Tertium deinceps, quæ oufiam fimpliciter à

patribus præfumptam, per indulgentiam ex

cufat. Poftremum quartum, quæ non excu"fat, fed condemnat, &c. De fimilitudine au"tem filii Dei ad Deum patrem, quod mifera"bilis noftri temporis eft fides, ne non ex toto, "fed tantum ex portione fit fimilis? Egregii "fcilicet arbitri cœleftium facramentorum con"quifitores, invifibilium myfteriorum profes"fionibus de fide Dei calumniamur, annuas at

que menftruas de Deo fides decernimus, de"cretis pœnitemus, pœnitentes defendimus, de"fenfos anathematizamus, aut in noftri aliena "aut in alienis noftra damnamus, & mordentes

invicem, jam abfumpti fumus invicem." Hilarius, p. 211. in lib. ad Conftantium Auguftum. Bafil. 1550, fol.

"It is a thing equally deplorable and dange"rous, that there are at prefent as many creeds

as

15.

"as there are opinions among men, as many "doctrines as inclinations; and as many four"ces of blafphemy, as there are faults among "us; because we make creeds arbitrarily, and

explain them as arbitrarily. And as there is "but one faith; fo there is but one only God, "one Lord, and one baptifm. We renounce "this one faith, when we make so many different creeds; and that diversity is the reafon "why we have no true faith among us. We "cannot be ignorant that, fince the council of "Nice, we have done nothing but made creeds. "And while we fight againft words, litigate "about new questions, difpute about equivocal "terms, complain of authors, that every one

may make his own party triumph; while we "cannot agree, while we anathematise one an"other, there is hardly one that adheres to

Jefus Chrift. What change was there not in "the creed last year! The first council ordained "a filence upon the homoufion; the second "established it, and would have us fpeak; the "third excufes the fathers of the council, and "pretends they took the word oufia fimply; "the fourth condemns them, inftead of excufing "them. With refpect to the likeness of the "Son of God to the Father, which is the faith "of our deplorable times, they dispute whether "he is like in whole, or in part. These are rare "folks to unravel the fecrets of heaven. "vertheless it is for thefe creeds, about invifible

Ne

mysteries, that we calumniate one another, "and for our belief in God. We make creeds

every year, nay every moon we repent of what "we have done, we defend those that repent, we "anathematife thofe we defended. So we con"demn either the doctrine of others in ourselves, "or our own in that of others, and, reciprocally

tearing one another to pieces, we have been "the cause of each other's ruin."

HÆRETICI.] centur. Hæretici ergo funt, fed non V. 13. " fcientes. Denique apud nos funt hæretici, 16. " apud fe non funt. Nam in tantum fe catho"licos effe judicant, ut nos ipfos titulo hæretica "appellationis infament. Quod ergo illi nobis "funt & hoc nos illis. Nos eos injuriam divinæ

generationi facere certi fumus, quod minorem "patre filium dicant. Illi nos injuriofos patri "exiftimant, quia æquales effe credamus. Veritas "apud nos eft; fed illi apud fe effe præfumunt. "Honor Dei apud nos eft: fed illi hoc arbi"trantur, honorem divinitatis effe quod credunt. "Inofficiofi funt, fed illis hoc eft fummum re

сс

ligionis officium. Impii funt, fed hoc putant "effe veram pietatem. Errant ergo, fed bono ❝ animo errant, non odio fed affectu Dei, honorare fe dominum atque amare credentes. Quamvis non habeant rectam fidem, illi ta"men hoc perfectam Dei æftimant caritatem. "Qualiter pro hoc ipfo falfæ opinionis errore "in die judicii puniendi funt, nullus fcire poteft "nifi judex. Înterim idcirco eis, ut reor, pa"tientiam Deus commodat, quia videt eos, etfi "non rectè credere, affectu tamen piæ opinio"nis errare. 162 Salvinus. 339.

This bifhop fpeaks here of the Arian Goths and Vandals: "They are, fays he, Barbarians, "who have no tincture of the Roman politeness, " and who are ignorant of what is very com

monly known among other men, and only "know what their doctors have taught them, "and follow what they have heard them fay. "Men fo ignorant as these find themselves un"der a neceflity of learning the myfteries of the gofpel, rather by the inftructions that are given "them, than by books."

"The tradition of their doctors and the re"ceived doctrines are the only rule they follow, "because they know nothing but what they "have taught them. They are then heretics, but they know it not. They are so in our

account,

account, but they believe it not; and think "themselves fo good catholics, that they treat "us as heretics, judging of us as we do of them. "We are perfuaded that they believe amifs con"cerning the divine generation, when they "maintain the fon is inferior to the Father ; " and they imagine that we rob the Father of "his glory who believe them both to be equal. "We have the truth on our fide, and they pre"tend it is on theirs. We give to God his due "honour, and they think they honour him bet"ter. They fail in their duty, but they imagine they perform perfectly well; and they "make true piety to confift in what we call impious. They are in a mistake, but with a great deal of fincerity; and it is so far from being an effect of their hatred, that it is a "mark of their love of God, fince, by what they do, they imagine they show the greatest respect "for the Lord, and zeal for his glory. There"fore, though they have not true faith, they "nevertheless look upon that which they have

as a perfect love of God. It belongs only to "the judge of the universe to know how these "men will be punished for their errours at the "laft day. Yet I believe God will fhow com

paffion towards them, because he fees their "heart is more right than their belief, and that, "if they are mistaken, it is their piety made

"them err.

INDE X.