472, A epelation oftlie tapc aiypfe. C A P.414. it indeed by invocation of Saints, woríhipping of Reliques, and o- ther wicked fuperítitions. Certainly there was fcarce any headof doctrine which they taught alwayes conftantly after the fame man- 11 F. They made therefore a confuted noife, which did rather over- whelm the fenfe with a mighty found, then informe the miede with profitable knowledge. For as the words ofa man when he is giving up the Ghoft, dye within his jawes, neither do they found diftint`tly to the underftanding of thofe thatheare them; fo the truth that was then ready to dye, did found fo confufedly in the bickeringofcon- trary opinions, that there could fcarce any voyce thereof be under- flood. Yet in this diforderly noife, the Saints did perceive as much as availed tohelp them to Salvation. If we follow this interpreta- tion, which the event maketh to be of credit, a man may obferve what is the judgement of the Holy CJhoff concerning the writers of that age, namely, that very puredoctrine can be fcarce any better drawn out oftheir writings, then any profitable notion can be ga- thered out of the noife of the waves when they dath one upon ano, ther. I wouldhave nothing detra6ted from their due commenda- tion, for what was wanting in them, is to be imputed to the decay ofthat Age,not toany want oflearning or wit in them,in which they did excell.Bnt I cannot but marvel at the daintineffe of our Age that would feed on Acorns again,now when the ufe ofcorn is found out. Thefecondvoyes is ofthunder, loud and terrible, giving a crack by certaine fits. This is thevoyce of the Church when it was beginning to ruin, made by waldcnfes, 4l6inienfes, y/ricli and Halre. Thefe thundred out very vehemently, and the worldwa's a'ftoniíhed with the crack that they gave, but all,"the feare of it vaniíhed away with ;he noifeofit, till a new crack came ruíhing again,like as it fareth in Thunder, wherewith men are no longer afraid, then while their cares are filled with the "noife. The voice of the Harpers, is that of the Truth When it was fully restored, ftraight beforeThe *moan came out of the wïlderneffe, when therewere confeífions fet forth every where by the Chur ches, the Anguf ere, that ofStrasburg, Bstfll, SNvitz'ertand, Saxony, which all did make a'nioft'fweet harmony by their aloft pleafant confent inohe and the fättre truth.This threefold voyce therfarehash fet before our eyes fummarily, the whólccourfe ofdoctrine from the firtt beginningof that lurkingof the Church during thelong raigne of Anlichi'iff. By whichwe fee, howevery latter ProjThecie is more evidentthenthe former. Fussofall,the quality of the company of the
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