WHAT the Divel hath attempted in vain by the effusion of Christian blood , with the Sword of Heathen Persecutors , that he hath too successfully effected , by the infusion of a Spirit of Division , into the minds of professed Christians , that the Church might perish , as Christ her Master , by the treachery of her own houshold . This Engine , Julian the Devils most skilful Agent , did chiefly employ for the ruine of the Church : He knew that as it was founded in the blood of Christ , so it was watered and made more fruitful by the blood of the Martyrs ; he therefore , as the envious man , soweth tares , and suffers bryars and thorns to grow up in the field of God ; he summons the Bishops that contended about the Arrian Heresie , and other destructive opinions , Ut civilibus discordiis consopitis suae quisque Religioni serviret intrepidus . Am. Marcell . and chargeth them to preserve the peace of the State , and gives them all liberty to profess what Religion they pleased , knowing that by fomenting divisions among the Pastors , he should beget in the people a hatred to Christianity , and then easily win them to his own perswasion . In order to which , he did at the same time cause a greater solemnity in the Worship of his gods ; Nazianz . Orat . 3. contra Julian . he gave order that the Priests should carefully observe an outward form of piety , that they should set up Seats in the Temples , and appoint certain days and hours , and forms of prayer , which for pomp and shew should exceed the Christians . {αβγδ} . By these means ( as S. Augustine observes ) he thought to root out the very name of Christians from the earth , if he could destroy the unity of the Church from which he had fallen , and contrive a liberty for sacrilegious divisions . Can any of us take delight to persue such impious designs ? or can we think that the like actions will not tend to the like end ? Certainly if there be such a sin as Schism in the Church , some among us are guilty of it , and when it hath spread it self so general , through the Nation , and hath been manifested in more dreadful confusions in Church and State , than ever were acted in any Heathen Common-wealth , it is very strange , that no man thinks himself concerned , either to repent of what is past , or to prevent the like desolations for the future . The Wheels of Providence ar● still in motion , and the same pride and contention , idleness and wantonness , the same ingratitude to God and hatred to one another , will draw them on in the same tract , and revolutions as formerly .

How should not the like causes produce the like effects ? Experience teacheth us , that no discord is so mischievous as that , which is carried on upon religious pretences , by which ( as the sweetest Wines make the sharpest Vinegar ) the best affections have the keenest edge set on them : and persons , otherwise of a good meaning , supposing themselves to be ingaged with Christ , think it their duty to call for fire from Heaven on every one that follows not them : as if their love to his service , could not be sufficiently expressed , but by their hatred to their Brethren .

And yet alas ! what is the ground of our implacable feuds ? Are the Articles of our faith suppressed ? and new Creeds imposed ? Are we called forth to the Fire and Faggots , except we will renounce Christ , and turn Idolaters ? These evils God may justly bring upon us , but as yet , blessed be God , there is no such thing . The vitals of Religion are sound , we may be as pious as we will , our Assemblies are as solemn , our Prayers as devout , the Word and Sacraments as purely dispensed , and the Lords day as duly celebrated ; in a word , the Doctrine , Government , and Worship of our Church as truly Apostolical , as in any Church since the Apostles days . What is it then , that puts us into such fits of distraction ? and like the evil spirit , makes us cut and wound our selves , and all that come near us ? The appearances of superstition and pollution in the Garments and outward dress of Divine Worship are pretended , and things in their own nature indifferent , are against all reason made the cause of our irreligious differences , yea less than this , meer noise and clamour , exotick phrases and empty tones , like the noise of Drums and Trumpets , or the shewing of red Clothes to the armed Elephants , have animated and inraged us to mutual destruction . And here we may take such a sad prospect as S. James presents us with , Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth , when once it gets within the Sanctuary . When we think our flames kindled by a coal from the Altar , and our passions warranted from Heaven , we account it our duty to act them to the highest degree , to be deaf to all sober counsels , and ( as Rebels in the State , having drawn the Sword cast away the Scabbard ) are resolved against any terms of reconciliation . There is no Faction , how notoriously heretical and schismatical soever , be it Socinian , or Anabaptistical , but they pretend , that Religion and the Church of Christ must flourish or fall with them ; and usually the weakness of the cause is supplied by violence in the prosecution . And as the Turks propose a greater reward for him that shall kill one Persian , than seventy Christians , they perswade themselves that it is more meritorious to destroy a dissenting Christian , than many Infidels . The more absurd their Tenets are , the more studious are they to set them off and hallow them , by glorious names . The Cause of God , the Kingdom and Scepter of Christ are pretended by them , that turn Christ's Scepter into a Reed , shall I say , or to an Iron Rod , or a Scorpion ; which , as the fiery Serpents in the Wilderness , have stung a great part of the Nation , and put them into fits of madness and convulsions , and so weakned and wounded us , that Simeon and Levi may with the more ease make havock of us . May we not justly fear , that God hath numbred us out to destruction , when we are deaf to all Arguments and methods for safety and self preservation , when we will not be convinced that there is such a sin as Schism , or that there is any truth in that saying of our Saviour , That a Kingdom divided against it self cannot stand ; but are earnest in our contentions , who shall be the chief ( for indeed that is the ground of the controversie ) when the Church , like her Saviour , was ready to be betrayed and crucified . What hope is there , when all the condescentions and conferences in the days of Queen Elizabeth , and King James , could not mollifie them , when that Oracle of solid , learned , and meek piety King Charles the First could not charm them , when the Indulgence of our present Soveraign is requited with obstinacy , and the men ( instead of confuting the Arguments of their spiritual Guides , such as Whitgift , Bilson , Bancroft , Hooker , Moreton , &c. ) have by their professions and practices when they were in the Chair baffled their own Arguments , and yet live in contradiction to themselves as well as others . What little hope is there yet left , that such men will be perswaded , though one should come to them from the dead ? Let us therefore try this experiment also , and because among all them that are free among the dead , there is none whose person or works , were , and still are ( next to the Holy Writ out of which we have argued already ) of greater authority than Mr. Calvin ; we shall readily join in an appeal to Mr. Calvin , and make his Writings the judge of our Controversies . When contentious men have exhausted their Treasures in vexatious Law-suits , and perceive greater charges and difficulties still growing upon them , they do usually submit to a friendly reference , especially when they agree on a person that is beyond all exception . Such a one I suppose ( on your behalf at least ) you will judge Mr. Calvin , and seeing we have laboured in the flames of contention , which have exhausted the spirits and wasted the vitals of Religion , let us to preserve the little that remains , submit to his determination . I know the mediation of many worthy men hath been rejected , Peter Martyr and Bucer have been thought too partial to the Church of England , Melancthon and Zanchy are objected against as timerous men , Chemnitius exploded as a Lutheran , and many other moderate persons , Reply to Bishop Moreton . as not being well informed of the state of our differences , but none of these exceptions lay against Mr. Calvin . We receive Mr. Calvin , saith T. Cartwright , and value him as the notablest instrument that the Lord hath stirred up , for the purging of his Churches , and restoring the plain and sincere interpretation of the Scripture , that hath been since the Apostles times . He was of such repute among our English Presbyterians ; that I have heard it credibly reported ( saith Bishop Bancroft ) that at disputations in a certain Colledge in Cambridge , Holy Discipline p 63. when the authority of S. Augustine , Ambrose , or Hierom was urged , it was slighted , but if the Respondent had denied Mr. Calvin's authority , he made himself ridiculous . The Story that Zanchy tells of a Frenchman , of his acquaintance , is very famous . Zanchy's Epistle to his Misce●● . At Geneva ( saith he ) where Calvin preached at S. Peter's Church , and Viret at S. Gervas's , this Frenchman was observed constantly to hear Calvin and neglect Viret , and being asked a reason of his partiality , he answered , that if S. Paul should come and preach the same hour that Calvin did , he would leave S. Paul to hear Mr. Calvin . Besides , as Mr. Hooker observed in his time , so it is still , they are judged the best Divines that are most conversant in his Writings , his Books are made the very Canon to judge Doctrine and Discipline by . Indeed they had his person in too great admiration , witness that expression of Jacobus Bernardus , who thus congratulates his return to Geneva , This is the Lords doing and it is marvellous in our eyes , that the stone which the Builders refused is now become the head of the corner . — If any prejudice lay against Calvin , it is on the behalf of the Church of England , and to submit her right to his determination , will be thought no less than to betray it . First , because he was not throughly informed with her condition and affairs . Secondly , because he was actually ingaged in erecting and maintaining a Discipline very different from hers . To the first objection , I answer , That Mr. Calvin flourishing , when our Reformation was first begun in the Reign of Edward the Sixth , and living until May 1564. which was the seventh year of Queen Elizabeth , during all which time he had correspondence with the greatest and most learned men of our Nation , both in Church and State , and having frequent conference with divers of our Exiles in the Marian days , he was without question well informed of our Affairs , and knew particularly what our Reformers had setled , as to Doctrine , Government , and Worship , he being of an inquisitive genius , and concerning himself particularly in our Church-Affairs . And we find him offering his personal assistance to Archbishop Cranmer ; Epist. 126. If you think there may be any use of me ( saith Mr. Calvin ) it will not trouble me to sail over ten Seas for such a good work . So that I shall not be injurious to his memory , to ingage him in that work which he was so willing to undertake . But for what reasons his service was not accepted , I shall not now enquire . I do believe by all that I have heard or seen , that he was very well satisfied with our Reformation , and that with great prudence and moderation he did perswade those that were unsatisfied to a conformity . Epist. 228. In Anglorum controversiâ moderationem tenui cujus me non poenitet ; I ever observed moderation in the English Controversies , of which I do not repent . He was generally of a stout spirit , but tempered with moderation and discretion , as he describes himself , Si te delectat mansuetudo , Epist. 393. neque ego ab eâ sum alienus ; quod autem severus nimium tibi videor , hanc mihi crede , personam imposuit necessitas . It is well known with what rudeness and vile language Luther dealt with him ; yet his return to him was , Epist. 57. Saepe dicere solitus sum , etiamsi me Diabolum vocaret , me tamen hoc illi honoris habiturum , ut insignem Dei servum agnoscam . Though Luther call me a Devil , yet I honour him as an eminent servant of God .

Many learned men of our Church do greatly esteem him for his moderation , as well as his learned Writings . Holy Discipl . p. 63. Mr. Calvin ( saith Bishop Bancroft ) was surely an excellent man . A man of no small learning and judgment in the Church of God , saith Bishop Bilson . Pag . 109. Judicious Calvin , Pag . 635. saith the Bishop of Down and Connor . How constantly that reverend Divine carrieth himself against your Opinions , saith Doctor Burges to the Non-Conformists .

Two things ( saith Mr. Hooker ) of principal moment deservedly procured him honour throughout the Christian world ; the one his exceeding great pains , in composing the Institution of Christian Religion ; the other , his no less industrious Travels for exposition of holy Scripture ; in which two things , whoever after him bestowed their labour , he gained the advantage against them if they gainsaid , and of glory above them if they consented . In a word , to my great admiration ( and I believe it will be so to the impartial Reader also ) I still observe that when our Controversies are handled by men of greatest note in our Church , against dissenters , the judgment of Mr. Calvin is more successfully urged , than of any modern Divines whatsoever .

As to the second objection , from his being ingaged in a Reformation far different from ours , I hope to give some satisfaction in a brief relation of it . By the preaching of Farel , and others , the Citizens of Geneva being informed of the impurities of the Romish Church , declared against Popery , and drove away their Bishop , who was also their temporal Lord . Taking the power of the Church , as well as of the State , into their own hands , conforming themselves in both to the Government of Berne , another reformed City ; th● Bishop , to recover his right , joins with the Duke of Savoy , and assaults the City , but by the assistance of Berne , and other reformed Cities is defeated . An. 1536. In this juncture of affairs Calvin comes thither , and is admitted as a Doctor to expound the Scriptures ; by whose perswasion , with Farel , as Calvin acquaints Cardinal Sadolet , it was offered , that the Bishop might return to his jurisdiction and Government , if he would disclaim Popery : but upon his refusal to do so , the Citizens undertake the Government of the Church and State . But in a short time great disorders growing , for want of an established Discipline , the Reformation being opposed by the Papists on one hand , and by the Anabaptists and Libertines ( whom Calvin often calls phreneticos & fanaticos homines , distempered and fanatick men ) on the other hand , it was a very difficult work for him and his Brethren to establish any orderly form . He must not by any means come near the Popish Government , not only the furious Anabaptists , but the chief Citizens who had taken the Government Ecclesiastical and Civil into their hands , would oppose that ; and to gratifie the Factions would bring all to confusion ; he suits his model therefore to the exigence of the times , and perswades the Citizens , that the Church ought to be governed , as the City was , by a Senate , which was to consist of twelve Lay-men , to be chosen out of the chief of the City every year , and six of the Ministers , to be fixed in their office for term of life ; whereby he gratified the Magistrates , and yet secured the authority of the Ministers sufficiently . For it was no difficult work for him , and five other chief Ministers , being men of learning and repute , to prevail against twice as many ignorant persons , who being to turn out at the years end , would be careful not to displease their Ministers , during the short time of their office . This Discipline , it is evident , Calvin did not erect , as a thing of choice , but of necessity .

However it being of his own contriving , and no other like to be admitted , he was necessitated to defend it against all Opposers ; and no wonder if in the heat of disputation , being urged also by necessity , he did maintain it to be agreeable to the Word of God , when nothing less would please that people than such a pretence . We know how many of the Fathers , disputing against Hereticks , have opposed their Errours with such earnestness , that by an {αβγδ} , they have cast themselves into an extream , almost as dangerous : this was Calvin's infirmity , common to most men ; as was also another , namely to be too fond of our own inventions , ( especially when we see them to thrive ) and strenuously to endeavour the prosperity of them . But I think I should much wrong the memory of Calvin , to say , that those things which he did out of necessity , to prevent the ruine of a Church , and ( when rebus sic stantibus ) he could not do otherwise , may be a justification of all those disorderly confusions , which some , that pretend to be his Followers , are still endeavouring , to the subversion of the best established Church in the Christian world . And I verily believe , if Calvin were now alive , and consulted by any of us , concerning our Church , he would give the same approbation ( if not more perswasive to Conformity than this ) which I shall now produce from his Works . It shall be my care , not to wrest his words to my own sense , as he complains of many , that enquire to other mens Writings , non ut quod rectum sit teneant , De vitanda superstitione . sed ut responsionem eliciant , veto suo congruentem . He may , as other wise and good men , vary from himself in some expressions , and more private transactions with his friends , Opere in longo fas est obrepere somnum ; but consider him in his most publick and serious consultations , wherein he was assisted by the advice of other learned men , as in the Confession at Auspurge , to which he so willingly subscribed in the Treaty at Wormes and Ratisbone ; in that elaborate Book of his Institutions , and consider how generally his other Writings agree in the most substantial matters of Doctrine , Government , and Worship with them , and you shall find it all one to be a moderate Calvinist and a sober Conformist . Which will appear by demonstrating from his Works the truth of this Argument .

This Caution I think fit to premise , that the Church of England needeth not the authority of Calvin , it neither stands nor falls at his Consistory . I know he differs in some things from us ; but in many more from our Adversaries . This therefore is only an Argument ad homines .

I Shall lay my Scene thus . I suppose a Non-Conformist unsatisfied as to his present mode of serving God , desirous to be resolved by Mr. Calvin , concerning the particular practices in the Church of England , to whom he thus addresseth himself .

Nonconf . Reverend Sir , I have heard very honourable mention of your name , not only by my Parents , and the Ministers under whom I have had my education , who are of the Presbyterian perswasion , but also from divers of the chief Conformists in the Church of England , within whose Pale I was born and baptized into the Faith of Christ , the sum of which I have heard to be comprehended in that which we call the Apostles Creed : but having never been well catechised in the Articles of that Faith , which are of special importance to my salvation ; I desire to be instructed by you , first , concerning the Creed in general , and then of an Article or two , which , to my best remembrance , I never heard expounded by any . Whence I pray you had the Creed its original ?

I greatly commend your ingenuity , Mr. Calvin . in using all lawful means , that may assure you of the truth of that Doctrine which you profess , for I find it to be pernicious beyond measure , Epist. 303. that men do so presume of their own judgments , as to think all their opinions firm and true , before ever they weigh them , and are so confident as to refuse communication with learned men . As to the Creed , Instit . l. 2. c . 16. S. 18. which I also call the Apostles , not troubling my self with the Author of it , I find by a great agreement among the Ancients , it is certainly ascribed to the Apostles ; whether they thought it to be written , and delivered by the Apostles in common , or because they thought to confirm by such an appellation , that summary of faith , which was sincerely collected out of the Doctrine by them delivered . For I do not in the least doubt , from whomsoever it first came , that from the very first infancy of the Church , and so in the very Age wherein the Apostles lived , it was received as the publick Confession , approved by the consent of all ; neither is it probable that it was written by any private man ; for as much as it appears from the very first Records , that it was esteemed to be of sacred authority among all good men .

Nonconf . I did suppose it indeed to be both of good authority and great usefulness , because the Church of England not only so solemnly useth it , as the summary of that Faith , into which all Children are by that Church baptized , but doth rehearse it in their daily service , Morning and Evening , and expound it by those two other Creeds ( viz. ) the Nicene and Athanasian occasionally , as also in the Church Catechism . But I find some Articles of it very obscure , whereof I beseech you to give me the true sense ( viz. ) the holy Catholick Church and the Communion of Saints .

Calvin . I did omit to treat of them with the body of the Creed , because I intended to speak more at large concerning them , in my Chapter of the Church , Lib . 4. c . 1. S. 1. where I have given the full sense of them to this effect .

In the Creed , where we do profess to believe the Church , it is not sufficient , that I believe the company of Gods Elect , unless I apprehend such an unity of the Church , into which I am verily perswaded , that I am ingrafted and made a member of the same . For this Article of the Creed belongs to the external or visible Church , Lib . 4. c . 1. S. 2. S. 3. that every one may contain himself in a Brotherly agreement with all the Children of God , giving to the Church its due authority , and behaving himself as a sheep of that Fold : and therefore is that Article of the Communion of Saints adjoined , which intimates , that the Saints are gathered unto the Society of Christ , to this end , that whatever blessings God bestoweth on them , should be communicated to each other . Now this communion with the Church brings us into the Society of God ; S. 4. and how profitable and necessary the knowledge of this is , the very name of Mother given to the Church visible may teach us , seeing there is no other way of entring into life , unless she form us in her bowels , and nourish us with her own breasts , and unless we live under her tuition and government , until we lay aside mortality . For out of the embraces of this Church , no remission of sins is to be hoped , nor salvation to be had . Isa . 37.32 . Joel . 2.32 . Ezek . 13.9 . Ps. 106.4 . S. 5. S. 9. In many places of Scripture the Fatherly love of God is restrained to his Flock , so that the departure from that is alway destructive , for God hath obliged us to his ordinary manner of teaching , which while Fanatick men do refuse , they involve themselves in many deadly snares , and they are devilish spirits that study to destroy the unity of the Church .

You do infinitely oblige me , Reverend Sir , Non-conf . by this familiar exposition of these Articles , whereby you convince me , not only of the great benefit , but the indispensable necessity , of living in the Communion of the visible Church , and not adhering to schismatical Factions . I have read the like in a learned Book ( viz. ) That when we say we believe the Holy Catholick Church , Thornedike's Weights . p. 208. the meaning is , that there is a Corporation of true Christians ( excluding Hereticks and Schismaticks ) to which we join our selves , and hope for salvation in that Communion : I beseech you , Sir , what are the notes of a true Church ?

Calvine De vera Ecclesiae Reform . p. 322. I approve of these marks of the visible Church . First , pure Doctrine . Secondly , the right use of the Sacraments . And thirdly , a holy unity depending thereupon .

Non-conf . What is your judgment of such Parochial Churches as are now constituted in the Church of England ?

Calvine Inst l. 4 c . 1. S. 9. Those Congregations that are setled in Towns or Villages ( as humane necessities do require ) have justly both the name and authority of a Church , as being in communion with the Church Universal , and to despise the authority of such a Church , to scorn her admonitions , to be refractory to her counsels , and mock at her corrections , S. 10. is not without guilt ; much less to separate from it , and break its unity ; for God doth so value the communion of his Church , that he judgeth him an Apostate from Religion , that shall contumaciously withdraw himself from the Society of such a Church ; and no crime can be conceived greater than such sacrilegious unfaithfulness , whereby we violate that Covenant which the Son of God vouchsafed to make with us . Instit . l. 4. l. 4. c . 1. S. 1. Therefore those things which God hath joined no man may separate ( viz. ) that to whom he is a Father the Church also be a Mother . Calvine contra Anabapt . Wherever there is a Minister rightly constituted , who faithfully dischargeth his office , every one that will be accounted a Christian , ought to adhere to him , and to enjoy his Ministry with the rest of the Flock : But what do they ? because we follow not them in their Errours , although we purely preach the Word of God , Honorius Reglus observes , that our Sects make it . Partem libertatis Christianae , non audire proprium ministrum . they account us as ravenous Wolves , and they so abhor us , that they think they should commit a deadly sin , to be present at our Sermons ; therefore they create inferior Ministers , and being made in a moment , are employed to rend the Church , divide the people , and gather Congregations contrary to one another , that the name of God may not be invocated with the joint consent of all , and with that concord which becomes it .

You know , Sir , Non-conf : that Papists boast theirs to be the true Church , and our Bishops are said to grant so much ; I have heard that Bishop Hall , a man otherwise well deserving of the Church of God , hath published that opinion in Print .

And so have I also , Calvine ad Sadolet . I granted to Cardinal Sadolet , that the Churches under his jurisdiction were the Churches of Christ , and the reason of my judgment in this particular I have given at large in my Institutions , L. 4. c . 2. S. 9 , 10 , 11 12. the sum whereof is this . No man well in his wits ever held that Christianity was quite extinguished , wheresoever the Romish tyranny did prevail , whence it follows , that in some respects there is a Church yet remaining . As in Israel when Idolatry prevailed under Jeroboam and Rehoboam , good men had a tolerable estate of a Church ; for Circumcision , and the Law , and Sacrifices , and invocation of God remained : So I willingly grant that in Rome God hath preserved some footsteps of a Church , as when a building is demolished , the foundation and ruines remain ; besides how else should we prove the Pope to be Antichrist , Dan . 9.27 . 2 Thes . 2.4 . unless we grant him to sit in the Temple of God , as the Prophets foretold he should , for his Kingdom doth not abolish the name of Christ or of a Church ; God hath there preserved some remnants of his people , and Symbols of his Church , which the subtilty of the Devil , nor the impiety of men could destroy ; however , they are so miserably profaned , corrupted , and poysoned , that they want the lawful form of a Church properly so called .

Non-conf . But , Sir , the Creed calls the Church holy , and I have been taught , that we ought not to communicate in the Ordinances of God , with wicked men , whereof there are too many in every Parochial Congregation .

Calvine S. 7. The Church of God is called holy , but not perfect , Christ is and will be still purging of it , until he present it without spot and wrinckle ; you hear the Parable of the Net , Matth . 13. Matth . 3.12 . and of the Tares , and of the Chaff , by which our Saviour shews , that there will be a mixture of good and bad in the Church , to the end of the world . S. 14. For a full answer to this question , consider the Church of Corinth , among whom there were not a few that erred , but pollution had almost over-run the whole body : there was not one kind of sin , 1 Cor . 11. C. 3.3 . C. 5 1. C. 6.7 . C. 9.1 . C. 15.12 . but many ; nor were they light errours , but certain horrid enormities : there was not only corruption of manners but of Doctrine : what doth the holy Apostle in this case , who was the instrument of the Holy Ghost , at whose testimony the Church stands or falls . Doth he endeavour separation from them ? Doth he expel them from the Kingdom of Christ ? or strike them with the fatal Thunderbolt of an Anathema ? He doth not only forbear these methods , but he both owns and declares them to be a Church of Christ and a Society of Saints ; if there were a Church in Corinth , where contentions , Sects , and emulations were so hot , where strife and brawling with covetous desires did grow , where a wickedness abominable ( even to the Heathen ) was publickly approved , where the name of Paul was wantonly abused , whom they ought to have reverenced as a Father , where some laughed at the Resurrection of the dead , with the denial of which the whole Gospel fell ; where they served ambition , not charity , where most things were acted indecently and inordinately ( and yet it remains , the Ministry of the Word and Sacraments was not to be refused ) who dares to take from them the title of a Church , where the tenth part of such Vices cannot be fastned . To separate from a Church for this reason , as it is a sin to which we are prone , so it is a subtle device of the Devil . S 13. There have ever been some who being conceited of their own holiness , as so many aereal spirits , despise the communion of all , in whom they perceive any humane infirmities : such were the Catharists and Donatists of old , and the Anabaptists now , whose morose humours proceed rather from pride and a false opinion of holiness , than from a true endeavour of sanctity ; and lest it should appear , that they want the light of truth , they make use of the shadow of rigid severity , to whom I commend the advice of S. Augustine . That they charitably amend what they can , and patiently endure what they cannot , and in love sigh and lament until God amend all . Calvin advers . Anabapt . But when under a pretence of zeal for perfection , we cannot dispense with any imperfection in the body , or members of the Church , then we are to be admonished , that the Devil swells us with pride , and seduceth us by hypocrisie to desert the Flock of Christ .