Primary source material
Primary source material The English Reformation: we Protestants are the true Catholics
As for our doctrine which we may rightly call Christ's catholic doctrine, it is so far off from new that God, who is above all most ancient, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, hath left the same unto us in the Gospel, in the Prophets' and Apostles' works, being monuments of greatest age. So that no man can now think our doctrine to be new, unless the same think either the Prophets' faith, or the Gospel, or else Christ Himself to be new.
And as for their [Roman Catholic] religion, if it be of so long continuance as they would have men ween [think] it is, why do they not prove it so by the examples of the primitive Church, and by the fathers and councils of old times? Why lieth so ancient a cause thus long in the dust, destitute of an advocate? Fire and sword they have had always ready at hand, but as for the old councils and the fathers, all mum—not a word.
They did surely against all reason to begin first with these so bloody and extreme means, if they could have found other more easy and gentle ways.
And if they trust so fully to antiquity, and use no dissimulation, why did John Clement, a [Roman Catholic] countryman of ours, but few years past, in the presence of certain honest men and of good credit, tear and cast into the fire certain leaves of Theodoret—the most ancient father and a Greek bishop—wherein he plainly and evidently taught that the nature of bread in the Communion was not changed, abolished, or brought to nothing?…50
The old fathers Origen and Chrysostom exhort the people to read the Scriptures, to buy them books, to reason at home betwixt themselves of divine matters—wives with their husbands, and parents with their children.
These men [Roman Catholics] condemn the Scriptures as dead elements, and—as much as ever they may—bar the people from them. The ancient fathers, Cyprian, Epiphanius, and Jerome, say, for one who, perchance, hath made a vow to lead a sole [single] life, and afterwards liveth unchastely, and cannot quench the flames of lust, "it is better to marry a wife, and to live honestly in wedlock." And the old father Augustine judgeth the selfsame marriage to be good and perfect, and that it ought not to be broken again. These men [Roman Catholics], if a man have once bound himself by a vow, though afterwards he burn, keep queans [prostitutes], and defile himself with never so sinful and desperate a life, yet they suffer not that
person to marry a wife; or if he chance to marry, they allow it not for marriage. And they commonly teach it is much better and more godly to keep a concubine and harlot, than to live in that kind of marriage.
The old father Augustine complained of the multitude of ceremonies, wherewith he even then saw men's minds and consciences overcharged.
These men [Roman Catholics], as though God regarded nothing else but their ceremonies, have so out of measure increased them, that there is now almost none other thing left in their churches and places of prayer…
But, say they, "ye have been of our fellowship, but now ye are become forsakers of your profession, and have departed from us." It is true; we have departed from them, and for so doing we both give thanks to Almighty God, and greatly rejoice on our own behalf. But yet for all this, from the primitive Church, from the Apostles, and from Christ we have not departed.
True it is, we were brought up with these men [Roman Catholics] in darkness, and in the lack of the knowledge of God, as Moses was taught up in the learning and in the bosom of the Egyptians. "We have been of your company," saith Tertullian, "I confess it, and no marvel at all; for," saith he,
"men be made and not born Christians."
John Jewel The Apology of the Church of England, ch. 5
Reformation now!
They [Anglicans] say, "Behold, we have a Christian Prince, and a mother in Israel." But can they [rulers] be Christians, when they make them
[believers] to refuse or withstand the government of Christ in His Church, or will not be subject unto it? If they therefore refuse and withstand, how should they be tarried for? If they be with them, there is no tarrying: and if they be against them, they are no Christians, and therefore also there can be no tarrying. For the worthy may not tarry for the unworthy, but rather forsake them, as it is written, Save yourselves from this froward generation: and cast not pearls before swine, nor holy things unto dogs: and rebuke not a scorner, sayeth the wise man, lest he hate thee: and inquire who is worthy, sayeth Christ. He that will be saved, must not tarry for this man or that: and he that putteth his hand to the plow, and then looketh back, is not fit for the kingdom of God.
Therefore woe unto you, ye blind guides, which cast away all by tarrying for the Magistrates! The Lord will remember this iniquity, and visit this sin upon you. Ye will not have the kingdom of God to go forward by His Spirit, but by an army and strength forsooth: ye will not have it as leaven hid in three pecks of meal, till it leaven all, but at once ye will have all aloft, by civil power and authority: you are offended at the baseness and small beginnings, and because of the troubles in beginning reformation, you will do nothing. Therefore shall Christ be that rock of offence unto you, and ye shall stumble and fall, and shall be broken, and shall be snared, and shall be taken. You will be delivered from the yoke of Antichrist, to the which you do willingly give your necks, by bow, and by sword, and by battle, by horses and by horsemen, that is, by civil power and pomp of Magistrates: by their Proclamations and Parliaments: and the kingdom of God must come with observation, that men may say, Lo the Parliament, or Lo the Bishops' decrees: but the kingdom of God should be within you. The inward obedience to the outward preaching and government of the Church, with newness of life, that is the Lord's kingdom. This ye despise. Therefore shall ye desire to see the kingdom of God, and shall not see it, and to enjoy one day of the Son of Man, and ye shall not enjoy it.
Robert Browne A Treatise of Reformation without Tarrying for any The difference between justifying and sanctifying righteousness
There is a glorifying righteousness of men in the world to come; and there is a justifying and a sanctifying righteousness here. The righteousness wherewith we shall be clothed in the world to come is both perfect and inherent. That whereby we are justified is perfect, but not inherent. That whereby we are sanctified, inherent, but not perfect. This openeth a way to the plain understanding of that grand question, which hangeth yet in controversy between us and the Church of Rome, about the matter of justifying righteousness… "Doubtless," saith the Apostle, "I have counted all things but loss, and I do judge them to be dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God through faith"… Then, although
in ourselves we be altogether sinful and unrighteous, yet even the man who in himself is impious, full of iniquity, full of sin, him being found in Christ through faith, and having his sin in hatred through repentance, him God beholdeth with a gracious eye, putteth away his sin by not imputing it, taketh quite away the punishment due thereunto, by pardoning it, and accepteth him in Jesus Christ as perfectly righteous, as if he had fulfilled all that is commanded him in the law: shall I say more perfectly righteous than if himself had fulfilled the whole law? I must take heed what I say; but the Apostle saith, "God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." Such we are in the sight of God the Father as is the very Son of God Himself. Let it be counted folly, or frenzy, or fury, or whatsoever. It is our wisdom and our comfort; we care for no knowledge in the world but this: that man hath sinned and God hath suffered; that God hath made Himself the sin of men, and that men are made the righteousness of God.
You see therefore that the Church of Rome, in teaching justification by inherent grace, doth pervert the truth of Christ, and that by the hands of his
Apostles we have received otherwise than she teacheth.
Now concerning the righteousness of sanctification, we deny it not to be inherent; we grant that, unless we work, we have it not; only we distinguish it as a thing in nature different from the righteousness of justification: we are righteous the one way by the faith of Abraham, the other way, except we do the works of Abraham, we are not righteous. Of the one, St. Paul, "To him that worketh not, but believeth, faith is counted for righteousness." Of the other, St. John, "He is righteous who worketh righteousness." Of the one, St. Paul doth prove by Abraham's example that we have it of faith without works. Of the other, St. James by Abraham's example, that by works we have it, and not only by faith. St. Paul doth plainly sever these two parts of Christian righteousness one from the other; for in the sixth to the Romans he writeth, "Being freed from sin and made servants of God, ye have your fruit in holiness, and the end everlasting life." "Ye are made free from sin and made servants unto God": this is the righteousness of justification; "Ye have your fruit in holiness": this is the righteousness of sanctification. By the one we are interested in the right of inheriting; by the other we are brought to the actual possessing of eternal bliss, and so the end is everlasting life.
Richard Hooker A Learned Discourse of Justification Degrees of faith Lastly, we are to consider the degrees of apprehension,51 and they are two: there is a weak apprehension and there is a strong apprehension, as there is a weak and a strong faith. The weak faith and apprehension is, when we endeavour to apprehend. This endeavour is, when we bewail our unbelief, strive against our manifold doubtings, will to believe with an honest heart, desire to be reconciled to God, and constantly use the good means to believe. For God accepts the will to believe for faith itself, and the will to repent for repentance. The reason hereof is plain. Every supernatural act presupposeth a supernatural power, or gift: and therefore the will to believe and repent, presupposeth the power and gift of faith, and repentance in the heart.
It may be objected, that in the minds of them that believe in this manner, doubtings of God's mercies abound. Ans. Though doubtings abound never so, yet are they not of the nature of faith, but are contrary to it. Secondly, we must put difference between true apprehension, and strong apprehension. If we truly apprehend, though not strongly, it sufficeth. The palsie-hand is able to receive a gift, though not so strongly as another. The man in the Gospel said, Lord, I believe, help mine unbelief. Mark 9:24. That is, help my faith which by reason of smallness thereof may rather be called unbelief than faith. This is the common faith of true believers. For in this world, we rather live by hungering and thirsting, than by full apprehending of Christ: and our comfort stands rather in this, that we are known of God, than that we know God.
The highest degree of faith is a full persuasion of God's mercy. Thus saith the Holy Ghost, that Abraham was not weak through unbelief, but strong in faith, Rom. 4:20. But wherein was this strength? In that he was fully persuaded, that God, which had promised would also perform it. This measure of faith is not incident to all believers, but to the Prophets,
Apostles, martyrs, and such as have been long exercised in the school of Christ.
And this appears by the order, whereby we attain to this degree of faith.
First, there must be a knowledge of Christ: then follows a general persuasion of the possibility of pardon, and mercy, whereby we believe that our sins are pardonable. An example whereof we have in the prodigal child,
Luke 15:18. After this the Holy Ghost worketh a will and desire to believe, and stirs up the heart to make humble and serious invocation for pardon.
After prayer instantly made, follows a settling and quieting of the conscience, according to the promise, Matt. 7:7, Knock, it shall be opened, seek, ye shall find, ask, ye shall receive. After all this, follows an experience in manifold observations of the mercies of God, and love in Christ: and after experience, follows a full persuasion. Abraham had not this full persuasion, till God had sundry times spoken to him. David, upon much trial of the mercy, and favour of God, grows to resolution, and saith, Psalm
23:6. Doubtless kindness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.
This distinction of the degrees of faith, must the rather be observed, because the Papists suppose that we teach, that every faith is a full persuasion, and that every one among us hath this persuasion. Which is otherwise. For, certainty we ascribe to all faith, but not fullness of certainty.
Neither do we teach, that all men must have a full persuasion, at the first.
William Perkins Commentary on Galatians 2:15-16 Meditations to stir us up to morning prayer
1. If, when thou art about to pray, Satan shall suggest that thy prayers are too long, and that therefore it were better either to omit prayers, or else to cut them shorter, meditate that prayer is thy spiritual sacrifice, wherewith God is well pleased (Heb. 13:15-16); and therefore it is so displeasing to the devil, and so irksome to the flesh. Bend therefore thy affections (will they, nill they) to so holy an exercise; assuring thyself, that it doth by so much the more please God, by how much the more it is unpleasing to thy flesh.
2. Forget not that the Holy Ghost puts it down as a special note of reprobates, They call not upon the Lord, they call not upon God. (Ps.
14:4, 53:4)… On the other side, that God has promised that whosoever shall call on his name shall be saved. (Rom. 10:13). It is certain that he who makes no conscience of the duty of prayer, has no grace of the Holy Spirit in him, for the spirit of grace and of prayer are one (Zech.
12:10) and therefore grace and prayer go together. But he that can from a penitent heart morning and evening pray to God, it is sure that he has his measure of grace in this world, and he shall have his portion of glory in the life which is to come.
3. Remember, that as loathing of meat, and painfulness of speaking, are two symptoms of a sick body; so irksomeness of praying when thou talkest with God, and carelessness in hearing, when God, by his word, speaks unto thee, are two sure signs of a sick soul.
4. Call to mind the zealous devotions of the Christians in the primitive church, who spent many whole nights and vigils in watching and praying for the forgiveness of their sins, and that they might be found ready at the coming of Christ; and that David was not content to pray at morning, at evening, and at noon (Ps. 55:16-17), but he would also rise up at midnight to pray unto God (Ps. 119:62). And if Christ did chide his disciples, because they would not watch with him one hour in praying (Matt. 26:40), what chiding dost thou deserve, who thinkest it too long to continue in prayer but one quarter of an hour? If thou hast spent divers hours at a vain ball or play; yea whole days and nights in carding and dicing, to please thy flesh, be ashamed to think that praying for a quarter of an hour is too long an exercise for the service of God.
5. Consider, that if the papists, in their blind superstition, do in an unknown, and therefore unedifying tongue, fit only for the children of mystical Babylon (1 Cor. 14:14, Gen. 11:9, Rev. 17:5), mutter over upon their beads every morning and evening so many scores of avemaries, paternosters, and idolatrous prayers, how shall they, in their superstitious devotion, rise up in judgment against thee, professing thyself to be a true worshipper of Christ? If that thou thinkest these prayers too long a task, being shorter for quantity than theirs, but far more profitable for quality, tending only to God's glory, and thy good; and so compiled of Scripture phrase, as that thou mayest speak to God, as well in his own holy words, as in thine own native language: be
ashamed that papists, in their superstitious worshipping of creatures, should show themselves more devout than thou in the sincere worshipping of the true and only God (John17:3). And indeed a prayer in private devotion should be one continued speech, rather than many broken fragments.
6. Lastly, when such thoughts come into thy head, either to keep thee from prayer, or to distract thee in praying, remember that those are the fowls which the evil one sends to devour the good seed, and the carcases of thy spiritual sacrifices; but endeavour with Abraham, to drive them away (Gen. 15:11). Yet notwithstanding, if thou perceivest at times, that thy spirits are dull, and thy mind not apt for prayer and holy devotion, strive not too much for that time, but humbling thyself at the sense of thine infirmity and dulness, knowing that God accepteth the willing mind, though it be oppressed with the heaviness of the flesh
(Matt. 26:41; 2 Cor. 8:12), endeavour the next time to recompense this dulness, by redoubling thy zeal, and for the time present, commend thy soul to God in this, or the like short prayer…
Lewis Bayly The Practice of Piety A confession of faith I believe, O Lord, in You, the Father, the Word, the Spirit, one God; that everything was created by Your paternal love and power; that by Your kindness and love to humanity everything has been gathered into unity in Your Word, who, for us mortals and for our salvation, became flesh, was conceived and born, suffered and was crucified, died, and was buried, and descended, rose again, ascended, and took His seat on high, will come again, and will be our judge; that by Your Holy Spirit's radiant manifestation and energy a people belonging to You has been called out of the whole world, into a community of belief in the truth and holy living, where we share in the fellowship of saints and the pardon of sins in this world, and expect the resurrection of the body and life for evermore in the world to come.
This most holy faith, which was once entrusted to the saints, I believe, O Lord; O help my unbelief, enlarge my small faith!
Grant that I may love the Father for His love, revere the Almighty for His might, and to Him entrust my soul in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.
Grant that I may experience salvation from Jesus,52 anointing from Christ,53 adoption from the only-begotten Son; may I serve the Lord in faith for His miraculous conception, in humility for His birth, in longsuffering for His sufferings, yet with impatience toward sin.
For the sake of His cross, may I crucify everything that would lead me to sin; for the sake of His death, may I put to death the flesh; for the sake of His burial, may I bury evil thoughts in the soil of good works; for the sake of His descent, may I ponder hell; for the sake of His resurrection, may I ponder the new life that He gives; for the sake of His ascension, may I fix my mind on things above; for the sake of His being seated on high, may I fix my mind on the superior realities found at His right hand; for the sake of His return, may I tremble at His second coming; for the sake of His judgment, may I judge myself before I am judged.
Grant that the Spirit may breathe saving grace upon me, that I may have my calling, my sanctification, and my fellowship in the holy catholic Church, sharing in her holy things – prayers, fastings, cries, vigils, weeping, sufferings – for assurance of the remission of sins, for the hope of resurrection, and admission to the life that knows no end.
Lancelot Andrewes Private Prayers It should have been me Spit in my face, you Jews, and pierce my side,
Buffet, and scoff, scourge, and crucify me, For I have sinned, and sinned, and only He,
Who could do no iniquity, hath died.
But by my death cannot be satisfied My sins, which pass the Jews' impiety:
They killed once an inglorious man, but I Crucify Him daily, being now glorified.
O let me then His strange love still admire:
Kings pardon, but He bore our punishment.
And Jacob came clothed in vile harsh attire But to supplant, and with gainful intent;
God clothed Himself in vile man's flesh, that so He might be weak enough to suffer woe.
John Donne Holy Sonnets, sonnet XI Send not to know for whom the bell tolls No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee. Neither can we call this a begging of misery, or a borrowing of misery, as though we were not miserable enough of ourselves, but must fetch in more from the next house, in taking upon us the misery of our neighbours. Truly it were an excusable covetousness if we did, for affliction is a treasure, and scarce any man hath enough of it. No man hath affliction enough that is not matured and ripened by and made fit for God by that affliction. If a man carry treasure in bullion, or in a wedge of gold, and have none coined into current money, his treasure will not defray him as he travels. Tribulation is treasure in the nature of it, but it is not current money in the use of it, except we get nearer and nearer our home, heaven, by it.
Another man may be sick too, and sick to death, and this affliction may lie in his bowels, as gold in a mine, and be of no use to him; but this bell, that tells me of his affliction, digs out and applies that gold to me: if by this consideration of another's danger I take mine own into contemplation, and so secure myself, by making my recourse to my God, who is our only security.
O eternal and most gracious God, who hast been pleased to speak to us, not only in the voice of nature, [which] speaks in our hearts, and of Thy word, which speaks to our ears, but in the speech of speechless creatures, in Balaam's ass, in the speech of unbelieving men, in the confession of Pilate, in the speech of the devil himself in the recognition and attestation of Thy
Son, I humbly accept Thy voice in the sound of this sad and funeral bell.
And first, I bless Thy glorious name, that in this sound and voice I can hear Thy instructions, in another man's to consider mine own condition; and to know, that this bell which tolls for another, before it come to ring out, may take me in too. As death is the wages of sin it is due to me; as death is the end of sickness it belongs to me; and though so disobedient a servant as I may be afraid to die, yet to so merciful a master as Thou I cannot be afraid to come; and therefore into Thy hands, O my God, I commend my spirit, a surrender which I know Thou wilt accept, whether I live or die; for Thy servant David made it, when he put himself into Thy protection for his life; and Thy blessed Son made it, when He delivered up His soul at His death: declare Thou Thy will upon me, O Lord, for life or death in Thy time; receive my surrender of myself now; into Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
John Donne Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, 17 Divine love's welcome to the sinner Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack From my first entrance in, Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning If I lacked anything.
"A guest," I answered, "worthy to be here":
Love said, "You shall be he."
"I, the unkind, the ungrateful? ah my dear, I cannot look on Thee."
Love took my hand and smiling did reply, "Who made the eyes but I?"
"Truth, Lord, but I have marred them; let my shame Go where it doth deserve."
"And know you not," says Love, "who bore the blame?"
"My dear, then I will serve."
"You must sit down," says Love, "and taste my meat."
So I did sit and eat.
George Herbert
Love (III) The Christian's true self and best being are in Christ That which most troubles a good man in all troubles is himself, so far as he is unsubdued; he is more disquieted with himself than with all troubles out of himself; when he hath gotten the better once of himself, whatsoever falls from without is light. Where the spirit is enlarged, it cares not much for outward bondage; where the spirit is lightsome, it cares not much for outward darkness; where the spirit is settled, it cares not much for outward changes; where the spirit is one with itself, it can bear outward breaches; where the spirit is sound, it can bear outward sickness. Nothing can be very ill with us, when all is well within. This is the comfort of a holy man, that though he be troubled with himself, yet by reason of the spirit in him, which is his better self, he works out by degrees whatever is contrary, as springwater, being clear of itself, works itself clean, though it be troubled by something cast in, as the sea will endure no poisonful thing, but casts it upon the shore. But a carnal man is like a spring corrupted, that cannot work itself clear, because it is wholly tainted; his eye and light is darkness, and therefore no wonder if he seeth nothing. Sin lieth upon his understanding, and hinders the knowledge of itself; it lies close upon the will, and hinders the striving against itself.
True self that is worth the owning, is when a man is taken into a higher condition, and made one with Christ, and esteems neither of himself nor others, as happy for anything according to the flesh. 1. He is under the law and government of the Spirit, and so far as he is himself, works according to that principle. 2. He labours more and more to be transformed into the likeness of Christ, in whom he esteemeth that he hath his best being. 3. He esteems of all things that befall him, to be good or ill, as they farther or hinder his best condition. If all be well for that, he counts himself well, whatsoever else befalls him.
Another man, when he doth anything that is good, acts not his own part; but a godly man, when he doth good, is in his proper element; what another man doth for by-ends and reasons, that he doth from a new nature, which, if there were no law to compel, yet would move him to that which is pleasing to Christ. If he be drawn aside by passion or temptation, that he judgeth not to be himself, but taketh a holy revenge on himself for it, as being redeemed and taken out from himself; he thinks himself no debtor, nor to owe any
service to his corrupt self. That which he plots and projects and works for is, that Christ may rule everywhere, and especially in himself, for he is not his own but Christ's, and therefore desires to be more and more emptied of himself, that Christ might be all in all in him.
Richard Sibbes The Soul's Conflict with Itself and Victory over Itself by Faith, Chapter 9
The spiritual awakening of George Fox As I cannot declare the misery I was in, it was so great and heavy upon me, so neither can I set forth the mercies of God unto me in all my misery. O the everlasting love of God to my soul, when I was in great distress! When my troubles and torments were great, then was His love exceeding great. Thou,
Lord, makest a fruitful field a barren wilderness, and a barren wilderness a fruitful field! Thou bringest down and settest up! Thou killest and makest alive! all honour and glory be to thee, O Lord of Glory! The knowledge of Thee in the Spirit is life; but that knowledge which is fleshly works death…
Now, after I had received that opening from the Lord, that to be bred at Oxford or Cambridge was not sufficient to fit a man to be a minister of Christ, I regarded the priests less, and looked more after the Dissenting people. Among them I saw there was some tenderness; and many of them came afterwards to be convinced, for they had some openings.>
But as I had forsaken the priests, so I left the separate preachers also, and those esteemed the most experienced people; for I saw there was none among them all that could speak to my condition. When all my hopes in them and in all men were gone, so that I had nothing outwardly to help me, nor could I tell what to do, then, oh, then, I heard a voice which said,
"There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition"; and when I heard it, my heart did leap for joy.
Then the Lord let me see why there was none upon the earth that could speak to my condition, namely, that I might give Him all the glory. For all are concluded under sin, and shut up in unbelief, as I had been; that Jesus
Christ might have the pre-eminence who enlightens, and gives grace, and faith, and power. Thus when God doth work, who shall hinder it? And this I knew experimentally.
My desire after the Lord grew stronger, and zeal in the pure knowledge of God, and of Christ alone, without the help of any man, book, or writing.
For though I read the Scriptures that spoke of Christ and of God, yet I knew Him not, but by revelation, as He who hath the key did open, and as the Father of Life drew me to His Son by His Spirit. Then the Lord gently led me along, and let me see His love, which was endless and eternal, surpassing all the knowledge that men have in the natural state, or can obtain from history or books; and that love let me see myself, as I was without Him.
I was afraid of all company, for I saw them perfectly where they were, through the love of God, which let me see myself. I had not fellowship with any people, priests or professors, or any sort of separated people, but with Christ, who hath the key, and opened the door of Light and Life unto me. I was afraid of all carnal talk and talkers, for I could see nothing but corruptions, and the life lay under the burthen [burden] of corruptions.
When I myself was in the deep, shut up under all, I could not believe that I should ever overcome; my troubles, my sorrows, and my temptations were so great that I thought many times I should have despaired, I was so tempted. But when Christ opened to me how He was tempted by the same devil, and overcame him and bruised his head, and that through Him and His power, light, grace, and Spirit, I should overcome also, I had confidence in Him; so He it was that opened to me when I was shut up and had no hope nor faith. Christ, who had enlightened me, gave me His light to believe in;
He gave me hope, which He Himself revealed in me, and He gave me His Spirit and grace, which I found sufficient in the deeps and in weakness.
Thus, in the deepest miseries, and in the greatest sorrows and temptations, that many times beset me, the Lord in His mercy did keep me.
George Fox Journal, Chapter 1 A biblical defence of religious liberty for all In the multitude of counsellors there is safety: it is therefore humbly desired to be instructed in this point: viz. whether persecution for cause of conscience be not against the doctrine of Jesus Christ the King of kings.
The Scriptures and reasons are these.
Because Christ commandeth that the tares and wheat (which some understand are those that walk in the truth, and those that walk in lies) should be let alone in the world, and not plucked up until the harvest, which is the end of the world, Matt. 13:30, 38, etc.
The same commandeth Matt. 15:14, that they that are blind (as some interpret, led on in false religion, and are offended with him for teaching true religion) should be let alone, referring their punishment unto their falling into the ditch.
Again, Luke 9:54, 55. He reproved his disciples who would have had fire come down from heaven and devour those Samaritans who would not receive Him, in these words: Ye know not of what spirit ye are, the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.
Paul the Apostle of our Lord teacheth, 2 Tim. 2:24, that the servant of the Lord must not strive, but must be gentle toward all men, suffering the evil men, instructing them with meekness that are contrary minded, proving if God at any time will give them repentance, that they may acknowledge the truth, and come to amendment out of that snare of the devil, etc.
According to these blessed commandments, the holy prophets foretold, that when the Law of Moses (concerning worship) should cease, and Christ's kingdom be established, Isa. 2:4, Micah 4:3, 4, They shall break their swords into mattocks, and their spears into scythes. And Isa. 11:9,
Then shall none hurt or destroy in all the mountain of My holiness, etc. And when He came, the same He taught and practised, as before: so did His disciples after Him, for the weapons of His warfare are not carnal (saith the Apostle) 2 Cor. 10:4.
But He chargeth straitly that His disciples should be so far from persecuting those that would not be of their religion, that when they were persecuted they should pray (Matt. 5), when they were cursed they should bless, etc.
And the reason seems to be, because they who now are tares, may hereafter become wheat; they who are now blind, may hereafter see; they that now resist Him, may hereafter receive Him; they that are now in the devil's snare, in adverseness to the truth, may hereafter come to repentance; they that are now blasphemers and persecutors (as Paul was) may in time become faithful as he; they that are now idolaters as the Corinthians once were (1 Cor. 6:9.) may hereafter become true worshippers as they; they that are now no people of God, nor under mercy (as the saints sometimes were,
1 Pet. 2:20.) may hereafter become the people of God, and obtain mercy, as they.
Some come not till the 11th hour, Matt. 20:6, if those that come not till the last hour should be destroyed, because they come not at the first, then should they never come but be prevented.
All which premises are in all humility referred to your godly wise consideration.
Roger Williams The Bloody Tenent of Persecution for Cause of Conscience Thou shalt not covet Remember, man, that thou hast another world to live in; and a far longer life to make provision for; and that thou must be in heaven or hell for ever. This is true, whether thou believe it or not: and thou hast no time but this to make all thy preparation in: and as thou believest, and livest, and labourest now, it must go with thee to all eternity. These are matters worthy of thy care. Canst thou have while [i.e. time] to make such a pudder [fuss] here in the dust, and care and labour for a thing of nought, while thou hast such things as these to care for, and a work of such transcendent consequence to do? Can a man that understands what heaven and hell are, find room for any needless matters, or time for so much unnecessary work?…
Look up to heaven, man, and remember that there is thy home, and there are thy hopes, or else thou art a man undone for ever; and therefore it is for that that thou must care and labour. Believe unfeignedly that thou must dwell for ever in heaven or hell, as thou makest thy preparation here, and consider of this as becometh a man, and then be a worldling and covetous if thou canst: riches will seem dust and chaff to thee, if thou believe and consider thy everlasting state. Write upon the doors of thy shop and chamber, I must be in heaven or hell for ever; or, This is the time on which my endless life dependeth; and methinks every time thou readest it, thou shouldst feel thy covetousness stabbed at the heart. O blinded mortals! that love, like worms, to dwell in earth! Would God but give you an eye of faith, to foresee your end, and where you must dwell to all eternity, what a change
would it make upon your earthly minds! Either faith or sense will be your guides. Nothing but reason sanctified by faith can govern sense.
Remember that thou art not a beast, that hath no life to live but this: thou hast a reasonable, immortal soul, that was made by God for higher things, even for God himself, to admire Him, love Him, serve Him, and enjoy Him.
If an angel were to dwell awhile in flesh, should he turn an earthworm, and forget his higher life of glory? Thou art like to an incarnate angel; and mayst be equal with the angels, when thou art freed from this sinful flesh,
Luke 20:36. O beg of God a heavenly light, and a heavenly mind, and look often into the word of God, which tells thee where thou must be for ever; and worldliness will vanish away in shame.
Richard Baxter Christian Directory Part 1, Chapter 4, Direction 2.
The glory of heaven Now the poor soul complains, "O that I could love Christ more!" Then thou canst not but love Him. Now, thou knowest little of His amiableness, and therefore lovest little: then, thine eyes will affect thy heart, and the continual viewing of that perfect beauty will keep thee in continual transports of love. Christians, doth it not now stir up your love, to remember all the experiences of His love? Doth not kindness melt you, and the sunshine of Divine goodness warm your frozen hearts? What will it do then, when you shall live in love, and have all in Him, who is all? Surely love is both work and wages. What a high favour, that God will give us leave to love Him! that He will be embraced by those who have embraced lust and sin before Him! But more than this, He returneth love for love; nay, a thousand times more. Christian, thou wilt be then brim-full of love; yet, love as much as thou canst, thou shalt be ten thousand times more beloved.
Were the arms of the Son of God open upon the cross, and an open passage made to His heart by the spear; and will not His arms and heart be open to thee in glory? Did not He begin to love before thou lovedst, and will not He continue now? Did He love thee, an enemy? thee, a sinner? thee, who even loathedst thyself? and own thee, when thou didst disclaim thyself? And will
He not now immeasurably love thee, a son? thee, a perfect saint? thee, who returnest some love for love? He that in love wept over the old Jerusalem when near its ruin, with what love will He rejoice over the new Jerusalem in her glory!
Christian, believe this, and think on it: thou shalt be eternally embraced in the arms of that love which was from everlasting, and will extend to everlasting; of that love which brought the Son of God's love from heaven to earth, from earth to the cross, from the cross to the grave, from the grave to glory; that love which was weary, hungry, tempted, scorned, scourged, buffeted, spit upon, crucified, pierced; which did fast, pray, teach, heal, weep, sweat, bleed, die; that love will eternally embrace thee. When perfect created love and most perfect uncreated love meet together, it will not be like Joseph and his brethren, who lay upon one another's necks weeping; it will be loving and rejoicing, not loving and sorrowing. Yes, it will make
Satan's court ring with the news that Joseph's brethren are come, that the saints are arrived safe at the bosom of Christ, out of the reach of hell for ever. Nor is there any such love as David's and Jonathan's, breathing out its last into sad lamentations for a forced separation. Know this, believer, to thy everlasting comfort, if those arms have once embraced thee, neither sin nor hell can get thee thence for ever. Thou hast not to deal with an inconstant creature, but with Him with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning. His love to thee will not be as thine was on earth to Him, seldom, and cold, up, and down. He that would not cease nor abate His love, for all thine enmity, unkind neglects, and churlish resistances, can He cease to love thee, when He hath made thee truly lovely?
Richard Baxter The Saints Everlasting Rest, Chapter 1 1 If what people admire is Reformed theology, it would be better to say so, and not confuse the issue by introducing the word "Puritan".
2 See below for all these figures.
3 Many of these differences (and others) were aired in the debates of the Westminster Assembly, which is covered in section 5. Richard Baxter's Reformed Liturgy, which received the assent of the 12 Puritan delegates at the Savoy Conference of 1661 (see Chapter 4, section 1.2), contained the Apostles' Creed.
4 There must have been more religious dissidents than "real" criminals in Bridewell at this time!
5 See section 4.3 for the first Baptists.
6 For John Foxe, see VolumeThree: Renaissance and Reformation, Chapter 7, section 4.
7 For Ramism, see Chapter 2, section 1.1.
8 See Chapter 2, section 1.7.
9 For Ames, see Chapter 2, section 1.4.
10 This was not a violation of the classical Reformed belief in the independence of the Church from state control. Reformed theology in the 16th and 17th centuries held that the state could lawfully set up a Reformed Church; only thereafter, the Church having been established by the state, should the state then respect its independence.
11 The oldest professorship in Cambridge university, established in 1502 by lady Margaret
Beaufort, the mother of King Henry VII.
12 Very similar to the Jansenist-parlement coalition of interests in Catholic France. See Chapter 6, section 4.
13 The number of those entitled to vote in local and parliamentary elections in Elizabethan England was miniscule. Most people did not have the necessary financial qualifications to vote. Even 200 years later, a survey in 1780 revealed that only 3% of the English population were entitled to vote. So we can forget any idea that anything remotely resembling democracy existed in the England of Elizabeth I.
14 Peter Wentworth, Job Throckmorton, Robert Bainbridge, Edward Lewkenor, and Ranulf
Hurleston.
15 The "holy discipline" was a Presbyterian phrase for their form of church government.
16 A Spanish word derived from Latin, meaning a large body of ships.
17 Mary Stuart's claim to the English throne derived from her being the grand-daughter of Margaret Tudor, sister of King Henry VII, first of the Tudor dynasty of English monarchs.
18 Three further books were published much later in 1662, but seem to be (arguably) first drafts that Hooker never finalized.
19 More extreme "High Church" Anglicans found it more problematic because of Hooker's
Reformed stance on matters like the eucharist, and his disbelief in the absolute necessity of Episcopacy. See under Lancelot Andrewes in section 4.4 for High Church Anglicanism.
20 Hooker distinguished between being justified by faith, and believing in justification by faith. He thought the former was possible in the absence of the latter: a person did not necessarily need an intellectual understanding of the doctrine of justification by faith in order to be justified by faith.
All a person needed was faith. Travers accused him of selling out to Rome, but Hooker has
C.H.Spurgeon on his side: see his sermon Justification by Faith: Illustrated by Abram's
Righteousness, preached on December 6th 1868.
21 Puritans regarded wedding rings as Pagan in origin, baptized into Christianity by a corrupt medieval Catholicism, and thus a relic of Paganism and popery alike. They also objected to jewellery as sinfully frivolous.
22 I omit any discussion of the Greek text on which the King James Bible was based. Those interested in these matters can easily enough pursue the topic through an extensive literature.
23 Theories concerning why the King James Bible finally dislodged the Geneva Bible from popular usage are many and complex. I do not have space to explore them here.
24 For Bunyan, see Chapter 4, section 1.6.
25 See Volume 3: Renaissance and Reformation, Chapter 5, section 1, under Menno Simons and the Mennonites.
26 See Chapter 1, section 3.
27 New Haven was merged with Connecticut in 1664, and Plymouth was amalgamated with Massachusetts in 1691.
28 The English Civil War was one aspect of a larger conflict, engulfing Scotland and Ireland too.
The wider conflict is known today as "The War of the Three Kingdoms".
29 November 5th had the same resonance back then as September 11th does today.
30 See above under High Church Arminianism and archbishop Laud, and Chapter 2, section 2.5.
31 Donne could just as well have been considered under the reign of James I. Since however his
Christian fame flowed from his preaching at Saint Paul's, and he spent twice as long there under Charles I as under James, I have placed him in this section.
32 Set to haunting music by John Tavener in 1985.
33 Either that or he had somehow founded a distinct group: it is difficult to be dogmatic.
34 The Cavalier Parliament of 1661–79 was in reality even longer, since it did not suffer from the military coup that purged the Long Parliament to a "rump" of republican MPs in 1648, and the lengthy interruption that suspended this parliament entirely between 1653 and 1659.
35 John Pym, John Hampden, Denzil Holles, Sir Arthur Haslerig, and William Strode.
36 Prebyterial is a 17th century variant of Presbyterian.
37 For Amyraut, see Chapter 2, section 3.
38 The foremost Independent John Owen rejected the Lord's Prayer thus: "Our Saviour at that time was minister of the Circumcision, and taught the doctrines of the gospel under and with the observation of all the worship of the Judaical Church. He was not yet glorified, and so the Spirit was not yet given… That, then, which the Lord Jesus prescribed unto his disciples, for their present practice in the worship of God, seems to have belonged unto the economy of the Old
Testament." Works vol. 15, p. 14 (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1965). This view, however, did not win its way in the Assembly, whose Directory positively commended the Lord's Prayer:
"because the prayer which Christ taught his disciples is not only a pattern of prayer, but itself a most comprehensive prayer, we recommend it also to be used in the prayers of the churches."
39 Enjoy here has the older sense of "share in", "experience", "receive the benefit of," as the prooftexts indicate.
40 Given its origins in Rous, maybe it should be called the Devonshire Congregationalist psalter.
41 Tenent is 17th century for "tenet".
42 See below for Fifth Monarchists and Seekers. Levellers derived from the Bible what we would call a radically democratic philosophy of society and government.
43 See Chapter 5, section 3.6, under Division in the ranks, for the Scottish situation, and the wrenching split among the Covenanters over the pro-Charles invasion of England.
44 See Chapter 5, section 3.7.
45 For Bunyan, see Chapter 4, section 1.6.
46 They took their name from Daniel's vision (Daniel ch. 2) of the four earthly kingdoms, generally identified as Babylon, Persia, Alexander the Great, and Rome, to be followed by a kingdom that will never pass away—the fifth monarchy.
47 One further point about distinct religious groups: Cromwell is often credited with "readmitting the Jews to England" in 1656 (they had been officially expelled in 1290). In a sense, Cromwell did do this; but it was a private decision to give a greater degree of de facto toleration to an existing Anglo-Jewish community—the 1290 "expulsion" had not been completely effective.
Cromwell issued no official decree of toleration, and his motives for extending a pragmatic tolerance may partly have been commercial. Jews already lived and worked in London as a prosperous merchant community, and had strong links with a flourishing Jewish business community in Amsterdam which had far-flung financial interests.
48 For Judge Jeffreys see Chapter 4, section 2.2.
49 It would take too long to analyze and disentangle what was really distinctive about Baxter's theology, and its thematic motivations. Suffice it to say that it was a highly eclectic system that drew from almost every school of thought, past and contemporary. Critics believed that Baxter's system risked turning the Gospel of free grace into a new kind of law ("Neonomianism").
Baxter of course rejected the accusation, and he has had his defenders as well as his critics. The topic can be pursued through a forest of primary and secondary literature.
50 In other words, Theodoret did not believe in transubstantiation.
51 Apprehension = laying hold of Christ for salvation.
52 Jesus = "God saves".
53 Christ = "the anointed one".