A Brief survey of the old religion which may serve as a guide to all passengers, yet members of the militant church desirous to know & keep, among divers wayes, the old-good-way to Heaven ...

CHAP. VIII.

IN the beginning of the fifth Centurie, I finde no new wayes invented; but the disciples of the former Hereticks, running headlong, in the way of their masters, whom they never knew, not were able to maintaine, having the tenents only without ground; as the Marcionites, Monta∣nists, Novatians, Manichees, Sabellians, Tertullianists, Arians, Messalians, Anthropomorphits, Nazarens, Patritians, Pris∣cilianists, Donatists & the like; till Pelagius broke into a new dangerous way, robbing Gods grace to enrich nature & free-will; followed both by Papists & Arminians: the Lord in mercy reclaime them.

Wee read of Anastasius & Nestorius, the one broaching, the other enlarging heresie: succeeded by Eutyches, mislik∣ing the Nestorian, stept rashly into a worse way. So com∣monly men doe, furiously opposing one, run into another extream; as Basil the great hath observ'd of Dionisius of Alexandria, that out of his zeal in opposing the heresie of Sabellius, he did first sow the seeds of the Arrian heresie; which afterwards so much prevailed in the Church. And Sulpitius Serverus noteth of Ithasius, that he so hated Pris∣cillian, that the very habit which good men used, if it were such as Priscillian had used, made him hate them also.

In the sixth & seventh ages, I finde very few errors, except some branches of the Eutychian, or other fond heresies scatter'd here & there, as the Monothelites, Tritheits, Theo∣paschits.

In the eigth, ninth, tenth & some ages succeeding, there were fewer (for it will not quit the cost to speak of such abortive births, which by & by dyed, before they came to any kinde of ripenes, & such as were quickly consumed, a•…•… the ice of one night under the Rays of the Sun,) one Grandi•…•… way, drowning all the rest; or drawing them into it: the

reason is plaine; because Anti-Christ that notorious man of sin, (all former Hereticks being but his fore-runner) who was to make a way for himself of all the rest, did appeare, nay, domineer, in the Church; drawing after him, Empe∣rours, Kings, People of all sorts; to walk in a Catholick way: Catholicke, because it takes something from every one of the wayes before mentioned; (In the same sense may Mahome∣tisme be called Catholicke, being the scum of Judaisme & Paganisme sod together, here & there strewed over with a spice of Christianitie.) For the making & maintaining where∣of, the Arch-Heretick Satan hath & doth exercise the depth of his pollicy; therefore the Apostle calls this way, A mysterie of iniquitie: a mysterie, both in the close creeping by little & little out of the old-goodway, into it; (for could the time & persons of this aberration be directly pointed out, it were not a mysterie) as also, in regard of the cunning craft & sub∣tletie used in the maintayning of it.

But that which deludes most ignorant persons, is, in that it is miscalled the old way; that it hath been of long conti∣nuance & that many learned do walk therein (this tempta∣tion makes the Labyrinth more mysterious) never consider∣ing, that were it not so, it could not be Anti-Christian, which must have the name, but not the truth of antiquitie. The fore-runners & Factors for Anti-Christ, were & are men of great learning & least grace; of whom it may be said, as it was of Faustus (who was the sword & buckler of the Manichees;) that he was a man of a fair presence, had charms in his tongue & many attractives in his con∣versation, able to ensnare the most subtile wits: & as it is written of Angustine before his conversion, that having suf∣fered his minde to mount up, unto many curiosities, for∣saking the helm of faith & reason, conceived himself as able as he was ready, to shape a divinitie on the Ideas of his own brain. Severall heresies rejecting scripture, were the certain preparatives for Antichrist: so thought Atha∣nasius, apol: 2^do. Chrysos: hom. 49 in Matth. Theod. in cap. 2. Epist. 2^dae. ad Thessalon. There were many Anti-Christs in S. Iohns time; fore-runners & harbingers to the great one. For companie & continuance, you must know, that he

being the head, must have more followers & a longer reigne, than all that went went before him had, being set together. Yet were not all in that way, of the way; some bodies joyn'd with them, whose hearts & souls went another way. I commend them not! Opposed it was though weakly in every age. Not alwayes openly with∣stood; till at length it pleased God, to enrich some with understanding & an heroick spirit above the rest, to stand, enquire, & protest against the errours of that hereticall faction publickly. Whence it came, the way being parted, that some were called Protestants, from their protestation against new errors; others were called Papists, with divers particular factions on both sides; viz, Iesuits, Seculars, Franciscans, Dominicans, Antitrinitarians, Lutherans, Ar∣minians, Anabaptists, Brownists, Familists, Thaborites, A∣damites, Swenfeldians, Zuinglians, Libertines, &c. With many other carnal sectaries: all erring in some thing; not absolutely agreeing in all things with the good-old-way. But which comes neerest, shall be hereafter endeavoured in faithfulnes to be manifested in this discourse, as my best ob∣servation (but not without much labour & great charge) hath learned, veiwing the steps of the antient.

If it be demanded, what may be the cause ground & ori∣ginal cause of this diversitie of wayes & opinions amongst men in every age? I answer some of these following, as I conceive or all; viz.

First, a vehement delight in, & an earnest pursuit after singularitie & noveltie in opinion & place; men loving ho∣nour & preferment more than piety & the truth, were easily drawne to betray the one, to obtaine the other: Like those of old who could as earnestly provide oyl to burne in lamps of Idols, as in those of the living God; they imbrace all sorts of sects, making their arrows of every wood, so they might hit the mark of honour. For dignities Eclesiasticall, especially Bishopricks, (for which there hath been such scufling among worldlings, thrusting one another out of the way; what strange combates have been made for the Mitre, whose golden borderings, & diversified glistrings have so darz'd mens eyes, that they covld see nothing els!)

many have been strangly alterd: some in seeking; as Dona∣tus labouring to be Bishop of Carthage, & Aerius, in Pon∣tus, but missing those eminent places, became great ene∣mies to the Church & fell into most fearful & damnable here∣fies; as Epiphanius & others declare. Arius envying Ale∣xander a famous Bishop who was preferd before him in the Episcopall chair of Alexandria, entred into desperate jealousies, Searching out all possible meanes to cry downe this Bishop, & raise calumnies against him, to disposses him of his charge. And the life of Alexander being so un∣spotted, that no least stain of reproach might be seen there∣in, he resolved to involve him in some captious dispu∣tations, thereby to accuse him to hold opinions not con∣sonant to the doctrine of the Church; It came to pass that the Bishop in preaching & speaking of the Son of God, put him, as he ought, in equality of power & honour, with the Celestiall father; whereupon this man, sought to reprehend him, alledging some passages of Scripture maliciously interpreted, of which he made use, to estab∣lish the unhappy heresie which denied, that the Son was the same essence of God his father, & took away from Christ Iesus the Diadem of the eternal Divinity, by making him a meer creature. So others in keeping & enjoying; as hath been noted in Theophylus Bishop of Alexandria, who was nicknamed Euripus, because of his inconstancy in matter of Religion: he for a Bishoprick would swear to the Council of Nice, & then to keep it, would forswear it againe. And Eusebius Bishop of Nicomedia, furnished with all those dispositions & industries, which the most subtile hereticks have at any time exercised to trouble the Church of God; he sold his soul to ambition, which was so much the more pernicious, as it was coverd with a veil of Religion; for he made it to serve as a buskin for all feet, for it had no other bounds, but that of his own interests, & he ever like weather-cocks on the tops of steeples, turned his face on what side soever the wind blew. In the perse∣cutions of the Church he made himself an Idolater: in the garboils of Lycinius, he leaned much to his side, & when he saw Constantine absolute in the Empire, never was man

more plyable to flatter him. He little regarded the repu∣tation of a good Bishop, so that he might arrive to the height of his enetrprizes. To which shal be added, thi•…•… one more; Liberius Bishop of Rome, that was sometime zealous against the Arians, & was respected as a Sampso•…•… of the Church; he suffer'd banishment for the truth, bu•…•… to recover his Bishoprick, sided with the Arians. Which being common & observed, caused Ambrose & Augustine to flie & fear it as a snare; with whom we may reckon Gregorie Nazianzene who refused the Bishoprick of Constan∣tinople, as Sozomen witnesseth. lib. 7. cap 7. The worlds honour & the truths of Christ cannot stand together; they are like Dagon & the Ark, if the one stand, the other must fall. Ambition rideth without reines, it keepeth no bounds. The malignitie of this itch, frequently turneth men•…•… brains even to the making of Heaven to bow under the rules of earth.

Secondly, pride & high-conceitednes, (which ordinarily fixeth on Spirits, as it is said Cantharides rest on fair flowers;) when men are puft up with a fleshly minde, as the Apostle speaks of some, Colloss. 2.18. This tumor of the mind hath been the cause of most heresies in the world. The Gnosticks boasted of their knowledge, & had their name from it. The Eunomians had vainly & blasphemously bragged, that they knew God, as well as he knew himself: & some in these later dayes, have not been afraid, to compare them∣selves above the Apostles, for gifts & illumination. It is related of Augustine before his conversion, that he was overswayed by a presumption of his own abilities; an un∣separable companion of heresie. He was so far from ac∣knowledging a fault, that he would maintain it, & thought it was to make a truth of an errour, opiniative to defend it. He had that which Tertulian saith, is familiar among Here∣ticks, viz, swellings & ostentations of knowledge; he made it his design then to Dispute, not to live. He acknowledgeth himself, that two things a long time made him tumble in the snare; the first whereof was certain complacence of humour, which easily adhered to vitious companies; the other, an opinion, he should ever have the upper hand in dispu∣tation.

Surely he was of a better spirit, when one admi∣ring his learning & using this expression, Nihil te latet, answered, Nil tristius legi; because he knew the falshood of it, because of his ignorance in an innumerable places of Scripture. It is a terrible blow when one is wounded in the head by his proper judgment, whose ill never rests in the mean. This way are men caried out to new-inven∣tions.

Thirdly, a malicious wresting of Scripture, as Athanasius testifies of the Apollinarians; & an atheisticall bending of it, to the crooked rule of Philosophy; as Basil writes of Apollinarius & Eunomius, that they would have all divine truths confirmed by humane reason & naturall arguments, els reject it; The old Serpent doth garrison their brains full fraughting them with unsubmitted principles to higher truths, as Valentinus & Photinus, with others, & by these hucksters, he hath driven so great a trade, that heresie in many places might well boast against truth, as Theodata in Aelian against the Philosopher, that her followers exceeded the number of his. Ex Philosophorum ingentis omnes haereses animantur, sath Tertulian, adver: Marc. l. 1. To love hu∣mane more than divine authours, & to be exercised more in them, so placing the hand maid before the mistrisse, is the root of heresie, though it may not actually break out. What els are the doctrines of the Popish Schoolmen, concer∣ning worship, freewill, inherent righteousnes, the merit of works? but streams which flowed from the Ethicks of Philosophers, surely not from S. Pauls Epistles; they de∣livering many things for articles of faith, which they never received from divine doctrine, but from the discourse of blind reason. Consider this yee Platonists, Porphyrians & Origenists of our time, that goe about daringly to circum∣scribe the great God in the universalitie of his nature with the short arms, & shut up the vast ocean of faith in the Cockle shell of your reason, or deny them! Consider & be wise, least on such a foundation you unsensibly build your own ruine.

Fourthly, a vehement admiration of the persons of some, by following whose steps, men have perswaded themselves

they could not err; with a superstitious resolution to d•…•… as they doe. Malle cum Origene errare, quam cum aliis ve•…•… sentire; as Hierom of Origen. Erasmus was certainly guilti•…•… when he said

that the Church had so much power over hi•…•… & he gave so much veneration to it, that if she should co•…•… clude the Arrian & Pelagian heresie to be the true faith he would beleeve it.

I far better like the saying of Sr. Th•…•…∣mas More, in this behalf, I will not pin my faith on any ma•…•… sleeve, because I know not whither he will carry it. The form•…•… is the certain way to betray truth. Hence it comes to pas•…•… that many wayes begun well, in the end have turnd her ticall. Men beware not of imitation without examination. They see not things with their own eyes; & no wond•…•… they take glass for Diamonds, copper for gold. You know that building stands weak, which is held up by a shore,〈…〉〈…〉 some neighbour house it leanes on, rather than on an•…•… foundation of its own; when these goe that fals to th•…•… ground also. Not the authority of men but of the word should conclude our judgement; that 's but a shore, th•…•… a foundation. O't is hard (as he said) amare hominem hum•…•… niter! to love & esteem man as man, to reverence such so as not to be in danger of loving their errors also. Augustin had been a meanes to convert Alypius from one error; & h•…•… confesseth, this was an occasion, why he was so easily led by him into another, no less than Manichisme. Alypiu•…•… thought he could not pervert him, that had converted him. It is no wonder to see the child gape at & be ready to swal∣low, what ever the nurse puts to its mouth, though never so hurtfull. On such a confident mistake it was that Alex∣ander took poison from his Physician, conceiving it to be physick. When men call Father on earth, then they forge. The Father which is in heaven.

Fifthly, want of learned men boldly to suppress false∣wayes rising; of examination of them being risen. So La∣ctantius lib. 5. c. 3. de orig: errorum. And the Ecclesiasticall historian ascribeth the spreading of the Pelagian heresie to the same cause. Such was the ignorance & lazines of the Brit∣ish Bishops, having little care & lesse comfort to study, being in those dayes none of the deepest Divines, or most learned

Clerks. Fuller Eccles. Hist. Cent. 5. p. 28. It is good to try the way we go in, from others; & that men may have something extant still to discerne condemned wayes, why & whereupon they have been rejected: it is necessary some should record in every age for posterity, what they know & learne in this kind. For who knowes, whose work shall longest escape the devouring teeth of time, to benefit a second or third generation? We labour & plant for posterity, let every Studie containe something against heresie, that may speak for God & his truth, when the Authour is turn'd to clay.

Now the reason why the Lord permits this, is espe∣cially to prove his people. Deut. 13.3. Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet or the dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether you love the Lord your God, with all your heart & all your soul. To stir up their eare & diligence, amongst many wayes, to find out the old way. Constantius put his courtiers to tryal & found who were for Christ & who for idols. So the Lord tried his people in the Palatinate, when many among them fell to Poperie as fast as leaves in Autumn, 1 Cor. 11:19. There must be heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest. All are not Israel that are in Israel. Many have a from of godlynes without the power. Divers play Alexander on the stage, but a few only in the field. When the storm comes, then the rotten fruit drop off. It is not every guilded peice that will stand before the touch stone, nor all mettall that will abide the fire. Leaves are blown of, but the tree stands; empty Professors are blown off by such winds, but solid Christians continue firm. God will have his people known; & likewise their graces to be more conspicuous; his truth more eminently disco∣vered & established. Black shades set forth brighter colours; & the rotten principles of ungodly men serve to commend the grace & beauty which God hath given his servants, which by this meanes are drawn forth & exposed to the world. If Arrius had not been born, who maintained a Trinity of substances, & Sabellius, who on the contrary maintain'd an unity of person with the unity of essence; the

truth of this question about the glorious Trinity, had not been so sufficiently determined by those great doctors of the Church, bright & shining lights, as were Athanasius, Au∣gustine, Hilary & others, who by their writings have illu∣strated that great principle of Christian Religion. These Jewels had never shined so bright, but for opposers who were their foyl. God would never permit venemous & poysonous creatures in the world, but that out of them he can work wholesome medicines. Thus our love to God & zeal for truth doth appear. The living fish are discovered, viz, such as swim not downe the stream; The sound sheep are marked, such as feed in the green pastures of ordi∣nances not turning aside. The Doves are known to be such as live in a fresh air, where the spirit breaths. Light abides pure; though the air wherein it dwels be corrupted, yet it admits of no corruption, & 'tis a rare spectacle, to be∣hold beleivers preserving their beauty in the midst of blacka∣moors. They are sound bodies indeed, that continue healthful in an infections season.