papists will keep to the first and ancient rule, the word of God, they must be of our religion; if they will not, but add or diminish, they will never answer to the charge of novelty laid upon them.

So that their insulting and ridiculous question so often used, "Where was your religion before Luther?" is plainly and fully answered: "It was where the Romish religion never was, in the Scriptures, and in the primitive churches." And methinks, learned papists, who can read the writings of the fathers, and determinations of ancient councils, should be ashamed to propound such a question; but they do it to amuse the common people that cannot read Greek and Latin authors, and are not acquainted with the history of the church; whilst I am persuaded they themselves know better, and could resolve this question themselves, if they would read and judge impartially. But the people that cannot read the fathers, councils, &c. might be abundantly satisfied, that our religion is the old religion, because found in, and founded upon the word of God; for all the books in the world must give place to the holy, sure, infallible word of the most true and faithful God.

CHAPTER III.

THE RELIGION OF PROTESTANTS, HELD AND PROFESSED BEFORE LUTHER.

BUT though we show our doctrines to be found in the Scripture, our adversaries call for a catalogue of such as have taught them, from the apostles' times successively to the time of Luther, as they pretend they can do for theirs; and would persuade the people, that the church as now reformed, and the doctrines now received by them, are new and upstart things, and have not been since the apostles' times, or before Luther. On the contrary, we assert that there have been such doctrines, and a church owning them in all ages, since they were preached by the apostles; which we will prove by two heads of arguments; the one taken a priori, that such a church cannot, shall not cease, but always be in some part or other of the world; the other a posteriori, that it has not ceased, but has always actually been, and therefore before Luther.

The first, that it cannot, shall not cease to be, taken a priori, stands firm upon these two grounds: First, upon the promise of Christ, that is of infal lible verity. Christ has promised that the true church, which is built upon the doctrine of the Scripture, and is conformed thereto, shall continue

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always, and not fail. That the reformed churches are built upon the doctrine of the Scriptures, and are conformed thereto, appears from the parallel of doctrines before laid down. So that there is evidence from the promise of Christ, that the church holding such doctrines as the reformed churches do, did continue, and could not fail; and therefore our church and religion were before Luther.

Secondly, upon the relation between Christ and his church. Christ is the only head of the church, and the church is the body of Christ. Christ is the king of his church, and the church subject to Christ. Christ is the husband and bridegroom of the church, and the church the wife and spouse of Christ. Such a church, then, could not cease to be, else there would have been some time in which Christ would have been a head without any body upon earth; a king without subjects, a husband and bridegroom, without a wife or spouse; all which are absurd. But the controversy does not lie between us on this point, but which church is this body, subjects, and spouse of Christ, which, by virtue of Christ's promise and its relation to him, could not fail or cease to betheirs, or such as the reformed churches are. There is this ground (among others) on our side. That church which owns Christ to be her only head, husband, and king, and no other; which owns and professes subjection to the laws of Christ, and no other, as necessary to salvation; and worships the true God according to the Scripture, and no other,

is the body, spouse, and subjects of Christ, that could not cease to be in any age. But such churches as the reformed are, own Christ to be their only head, husband, and king, and no other; and profess subjection to the laws of Christ, and no other, as necessary to salvation; and worship God according to the rules contained in the Scripture, and no other. All which the Roman church, as papal, does not do; for they own another head besides Christ, as necessary to salvation, and profess subjection to the laws of another, besides the laws of Christ, and that equally with them, yea, before them, though distinct from, and contrary thereto, and give religious worship to others besides the true God, and so play the harlot. Hence, we conclude, that such churches as the reformed are, and not such as the papal, are the body, subjects, and spouse of Christ, which could not cease in any age to be, since the apostles' times; and therefore our religion was before Luther.

The second evidence, that there have been the same doctrines, necessary to salvation, taught all along since the apostles successively, to Luther's times, is a posteriori, from the writings of men, and histories of the church, abundantly satisfactory to us, and undeniable by our adversaries. It would be no real prejudice to the truth of our doctrines, if we could not give a catalogue of names that held and professed them in all ages, so long as we find them in the Scripture; nor could they for want thereof be

justly charged, either with falsity or novelty; for what is in the word of God is true and old, and what is not contained therein and made necessary to salvation, is false and new, though of many hundred years' standing. That this is unreasonably required by the papists, and is no hurt to our religion, as to the truth and antiquity of it, and no cause of stumbling to any, will appear by these things following.

1. It is not necessary in order to prove ourselves men, to give the names of all the men that have lived before us, no, nor of any of them. It is sufficient that we can prove we have the same essential constituent parts of men as our predecessors had. That we have such bodies and such souls as they had, is a proof we are real men as they were, though we know not the names of all the intermediate persons successively by whom we have received our beings from them. So here; so long as we can tell and are sure we own and believe the same doctrines that the apostles did, we are sure we are of the same religion as they were, though we could not give the names of the persons that have from time to time professed the same.

2. It is not necessary in order to know the falseness of any doctrine that we should know the names of the heretics that have handed them down from one age to another; but we know them to be false, by their being contrary to the Scripture.

3. We know that the dictates of the law of na